Subject: Sunmart 50K Race Report From: "Chuck Gulker" Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2001 23:06:04 -0500 Hello fellow runners, racers and friends. I just had the pleasure of racing a trail ultra marathon last Saturday. Here is my race report. After seeing several full page ads for the Texas Sunmart Trail Endurance Run in recent issues of Ultra Runner magazine, I decided to book a flight to Houston, Texas and race the 50K Trail Ultra in Huntsville, Texas (Huntsville State Park) on Saturday, December 8. I left Columbus at 6:40 AM and arrived in Houston at 11:05 AM on Friday. The weather in Houston was gorgeous.....70+ degrees. Much to my surprise, I was unable to rent a car due to my license being expired! Now what? How am I going to get to Huntsville (the site of the race and my hotel)?? Luckily I ended up taking the Sheraton limo to the race headquarters hotel where I lucked out and booked a room. Once there, I immediately paid $ 10.00 and signed up to take a race shuttle bus to Huntsville (70 miles north of Houston) the following morning. Whew! I didn't need a rental car after all. The moral of the story ---- renew your license. Attended the expo, picked up my race package (REALLY filled with goodies.....the organizers call them 'Premiums'), and ate like a pig at the pasta dinner. Great food. Waited to hear the pre-race words of wisdom by the Race Director and also a talk by 5 time Western States winner Tim Twietmeyer. Ran into several folks I recognized from last years Huff 50K (The snow race). Hit the hay around 10:30 PM after setting my alarm for 4:00 AM. Got on one of the '15 passenger' vans and made the 1 hour 5 minute drive north to Huntsville. It poured down rain all the way there. The trip was rather interesting in the sense of not talking to the racer sitting next to me (he was from Peru and didn't speak any English), and barely being able to communicate to the couple sitting directly behind me......they were from Russia! I learned from the driver that they had just won the Mens and Womans overall at the San Antonio Marathon and were about to race their first ultra. Later that day, they won the 50K ultra......the man shattering the Sunmart course record in terribly muddy conditions. I ended up waiting in the van (hoping to stay dry for as long as possible) until 7:30 AM.......15 minutes before the start of the 50K. Took some Aleve to deaden any hip flexor pain which might creap up later in the race. By now I could see the massive crowd of racers beginning to form at the starting line. I proceeded to place myself in the second row. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 ---- "Go"......the race is underway!! Note: the race was scored using a computer chip. It's still raining steadily (low 50's) as we race 1.1 miles down the park entrance road. I was about 30th place when we made a sharp left turn onto a wet two-track dirt trail. The first stage was an out and back 10K. I ran decently in this stage, concentrating on staying on two feet! Took in two cups of sports drink at the 3.1 mile first aid station. I was now in 42nd place overall. My body felt good and I had high hopes of a strong race. Once back to the starting area, we ran through some more two-track trails and eventually came to our first water crossing. While many runners tried to find a 'dry' way around the flowing 8 inch deep water, I just blasted right through it hoping to make up time. I took a chance and it was the right decision. We then come to a 2.6 mile out and back section of VERY slippery uphill mud. The only 'good' line was the extreme outside and that only gave a barely runnable surface. I ran strongly in this section passing several good runners. Continued to take in fluids, cookies, and my Hammer Gel at the aid stations (about every 3 miles). Feeling great in all respects. Have not fallen once so far. Eventually we come to a fork in the trail.....the left is for us 50K'ers, while the right branch is for the 50 milers. We come to some single-track trails with numerous roots and grooved muddy ruts.......good stuff. I hit a 4 mile section where I never ran with or saw another person. Total desolation. I came into a nice tight section along the lake where someone had placed a series of tiny American flags. That was kind of cool and motivated me greatly. This section of the trail lead back to the Start/Finish area where I then began my second of two loops. Like the first loop, the second loop was really very uneventful. The best moment of the race occurred around mile 26 when I blasted by 3 runners who slowed down for a long mud section with close by trees and shrubs. None of these guys ever caught or passed me. The only time I ever looked at my watch was at the 4 hour mark into the race. I decided to 'go for it' now knowing that if I crashed and burned, I'd still have a good finishing time. Luckily I finished very, very strongly and wasn't even close to being spent. I passed under the scoring tower in a time of 4:22......good enough for a 38th place overall out of 667 runners and 6th out of 77 in the largest age group (Mens 45-49). Each finisher got a nice medal/ribbon and a choice of a 4x5 foot Sunmart blanket or a colorful Tyvek jacket. I picked the jacket. I attended the Bar-B-Que, talked to a bunch of runners, and took the van back to the hotel. Later that night at the hotel, I had the pleasure of meeting many fine racers at the hotel sports bar. I also had the pleasure of meeting and talking to UltraRunner magazine editor Don Allison. It was during this time that Don told me of a fatality on the course.....one of the 50K racers had a stroke. A very sad way to end the day. All in all, I had a great trip and felt very pleased with my effort and fitness level. I was only 5 minutes off from finishing in the top 3 in my age group. Sunmart is the largest ultra marathon in the United States and had racers from 44 states and 15 countries. The competition level is very, very high at Sunmart. Oh well, there is always next year. Sunmart was a very well organized race.....from the registration process to the fine pre/post race dinner/lunch to the course to the awards to the quick posting of results. They even gave us a great looking 30 page Race Program. I can't wait until next year. Chuck Gulker (age 45) Dublin, Ohio 50K Sunmart 2001 -- 4:22 finishing time