Dan Rossi Memorial Ultra 2004 50 Mile Race Report - Jim Harris There were many stars out and all of the weather reports were indicating that we would have a beautiful day. The race was scheduled to begin at 7:00 AM, and Leo was running around the golf course parking lot checking all of us in. All 27 of us in the two races were present and accounted for, and after a picture of the group, Ruta said go. The first half lap and full lap went by very fast. We were past the two hour mark and very excited to be well into the race. I was running at this point with Joan Messick and Wayne Vereb, and the leader Mike Senour, had been off the front since the one mile mark, and he ended up being gone for the rest of the race. Wayne and I were never more than a minute apart during the whole race, and we traded a lot of stories and shared a lot during the race. At this point I thought that there were a few grades to the route, but then during the second lap I noticed that the grades undulated a bit more than they had earlier. At the end of the second lap Wayne commented that we were way ahead of schedule and should think about taking an easy third lap and then see how we felt for the last two. Wayne's main goal was to qualify for the Wasatch 100, and he needed to break 10 hours. My main goal for the day was to finish, hopefully under ten hours, but I also wanted to break nine hours, maybe the course record, and then eight hours if at all possible. Many times Wayne commented on how we needed to slow down, but then we would start talking some more and we never seemed to be able to ease up any. We walked portions of the hills finally on the third lap. The hills seemed to be longer than from the first two laps, and they were more rolling than I had originally thought. I was watching my GPS unit and was waiting for my marathon split to see what it was going to be. It came in around 3:41, which made me very happy as I really still felt great halfway though the race. Heading east the sun was really shining down and even though it was maybe 55 degrees, I was hot with a dark top on, but then as soon as we turned back to the west we had a pretty stiff head wind and the temp would feel like it had dropped 15 degrees. I couldn't make up my mind to change tops or not. When I was heading east I would make the decision to go to a lighter top, but then going west I would decide to stay with what I had on, and during every lap I would waver back and forth like that. After three laps I was feeling tired, but not hurting anywhere and at this point I was confident I would make it in, and started to predict my finish time. I was still hoping to be in under 8 hours. Wayne keep warning me that we needed to get through the forth lap before we started predicting anything. The fourth lap was definitely the hardest. On this lap if it even looked like an uphill section, I walked it. The hills were much steeper than earlier, and had gotten longer also. It was during this lap that Joan and Sharon Hathaway both passed me, and I just watched them go by. I was feeling the effects of our earlier pace, and knew that if I could get through this lap, it would be all downhill to the finish. Making the turn at Dellroy and heading back to the golf course so I could start on the fifth lap was a relief. This was the last portion with the long slog into the wind. As I started out for the fifth lap things started to come back around. Mentally knowing that there were only 9 more miles, and that I would not have to do any of this portion again was encouraging. Wayne and I started chatting more, and we were both looking for the finish. We leapfrogged a bit back and forth, but were still close together. We still walked the hills, but with a very determined effort now. Then after the cabin aid station, there were only 5 miles left. We both grinded out the last few miles to beat the 8 hour mark. With about a quarter mile to go, Wayne said to sprint for the finish. That made me smile, because there was no sprint left in me after 7 plus hours of running, but I took off anyway for the finish line. That was very generous of Wayne to allow me to go and finish ahead of him, because he is a tough and very competitive guy. His presence kept me pushing the whole distance, and I was glad for his stories and encouragement throughout the day. Wayne was an inspiration and I hope that in fifteen years from now I am still going strong and motivating guys way younger than me. Thanks Wayne, for sharing the day with me. Because I am such a geek, here are the numbers. My average heart rate for the run was 150 beats per minute. My finish time was 7:48:11, and my Forerunner showed the distance to be 50.03 miles. The finisher's award was a matted print of a tortoise, and the words "Dan Rossi Memorial" were across the bottom. The print was a unique award and it is already framed and hanging on the wall at my house. I wore my t-shirt to the office on Monday as a proud finisher of a real ultra, which Wayne pointed out to me afterwards, because he doesn't believe that a 50K is an ultra. This was my first 50 miler, and only the second time past the marathon distance. It has only been a few days, but I can hardly wait to participate in another ultra, and there are a few in December that are singing my name, and I will try and participate in one of them. The people at Ultras are one of the main attractions to participating in ultra events. They are the greatest bunch of characters you can ever meet, and I mean that as a positive. Over the weekend I had several offers from people to use their floor in case I needed some place to crash, and also an offer to travel out west for some ultra running. I now have a bunch of new friends, and am looking forward to meeting them again at other races in the future. The people running the 100 were amazing. That distance is still hard for me to comprehend because you have to be so very tough to go there. One thing I learned over the weekend, I would never hesitate to jump in a foxhole with an ultra runner. Every single one of them are incredibly tough and they have the ability to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Ruta Mazelis is the race director, and I want to thank her for sharing her time and effort to put this race together. Even though I didn't spend enough time with Ruta to get to know her very well, my time at the race over the weekend has led me to believe that she would be a great person to have as a friend. Every single person who was out to support the race was positive and I enjoyed talking with all of them. From Leo Lightner to Charlie, and everyone whose name I have forgotten already, what a great bunch of friends you have Ruta, and thanks for sharing them with us at the Dan Rossi Memorial.