Subject: Virgil Mountain Madness 50K (and more) [Long] Date: Sun, 15 Aug 1999 19:09:00 -0500 From: Bob Metzger It's been an odd running year for me and my wife, Chris. For the past few years we have concentrated almost exclusively on events of at least marathon distance, all pretty much here in MN or Wisconsin. We kicked off this year with a local 50K, and followed it, in order, with a 10K, FANS 24 Hour, a 4 miler, a 10 miler, and last Sunday, the Virgil Mountain Madness 50K, near Cortland, NY. We were in the Rochester area (about 2.5 hours NW) to visit Chris' mom and sister, and thought it would be fun to try an eastern trail run. VMM was billed as a rugged, challenging, and hilly course, and it fell perfectly into our training plans for our favorite event of all, the always tough Superior Trail 50 Miler, coming up on September 11. Virgil Mountain Madness lived up to, and perhaps exceeded, its billing. We arrived in Virgil late Saturday afternoon, to clear skies and blissfully cool weather. We spent the night in a lovely, immaculate little cabin about 25 yards from race "HQ" (packet pickup, pasta feed, pre-race breakfast, start/finish area, etc.). Between the evening pasta feed and morning muffin feed, however, the humidity rose and the skies turned overcast and threatening. By the time the (I'm guessing) 40-50 starters were sent on our way, the temperature was still a very comfortable 65 or so, but the dewpoint was clearly identical. The first half mile of the course was on a flat, dead-end dirt road, and the small pack spread out a little. We then made a 90 degree right hand turn, and began a steep climb that continued for something like 1.7 miles. The course was listed as having 6000+ feet of ascent and descent, but it seemed that an awful lot of that 6000+ was happening in that first half hour or so. The climb ended as some powerlines came into view, and we knew we were now beginning the ~9 mile loop that we would run three times before descending back down the trail we had just climbed. My legs felt like jelly. A bagpiper strolled along the trail, alongside another man with a llama in tow. Ultralister Leo Flynn, who had made the ascent with us, affirmed that he also suffered from jelly-legs, and both he and Chris, to my relief, confirmed the presence of the man in the skirt and the wooly beast. We reloaded our water bottles at the aid station, and began the loop section, a figure-8 that would take us over the two tallest mountains within a 70-mile radius, Virgil Mountain (predicatably) and Greek Peak (a ski hill). Three times, that is. To counterbalance the temporary flatness of the course, rain began to fall. Within minutes, the course ceased to be flat, but the rain did not stop falling. As was recently mentioned in another post to the Ultra list, this eastern trail was typically rife with rocks and roots. The rocks aren't at all like our friendly, roundish midwestern rocks. These NY rocks were like shark fins, about 1/2 inch wide, and sticking out of the ground anywhere between 1 and 6 inches in height. The trail was almost 100% in gorgeous, dense forest, so the rain and clouds made the trail very dark, and the visibilty very poor. The steady rain also slowly turned the trail muddier and muddier. Much of the trail was single-track, and in places it was little more than maybe 12 inches wide. The trail continued to rise and fall without mercy, and even the sections of gravel road that were mixed into the course were far from flat. Through the first loop, my legs recovered nicely, but as we began the second loop, Leo and I watched Chris proceed to pull away from us. "Hmmm, now that she's got the lay of the land, she's gonna show us how to run this thing", I remarked to Leo. About that same time, there was a little roar of thunder, and the rain also picked up its pace to something in the torrential range. Leo voiced his concern about making the 5:30 cutoff for starting the third loop, a constraint I had not previously taken too seriously, since it seemed rather generous for perhaps 20 miles. I realized he had a point, though, and we both also began to pick up our pace. To my surprise we reeled Chris back in fairly quickly, and the three of us slopped and slid our way to the cutoff point with 45 minutes to spare. The four lead runners each passed us during that second loop, the third and fourth just as we were completing it. It was obvoius that only the lead runner was likely to complete the course in under 5 hours, so it was becoming clear that this was indeed a tough course, and a tough day, and not some major breakdown on our parts. We charged into the last loop with renewed vigor, and the comforting knowledge that we wouldn't have to do it again. Leo started to drop back a little, a victim of cramping. Chris and I continued to run side by side, something we seldom do during events, unless it's by pre-race agreement. Recognizing this odd situation, and in solidarity against the course and the weather, we agreed to stick together for the remainder of the race. We completed the third loop, got a nice round of applause from the aid station volunteers, and began the long, steep descent to the finish. About 25 50Kers had made the descent before us. There was also a 15K that started an hour behind us, and all the 15Kers had ascended and descended that same ~1.7 mile stretch. This was that same hellacious slope that had greeted us after that first turn. It had now seen all this traffic, plus about seven hours of rain. If the trail wasn't so littered with rocks and roots, the easiest thing would have been to butt-slide down it. In fact, Chris unintentionally and very temporarily employed this strategy, but Mr. Gravity caused her butt and the ground to meet with a far greater impact than was comfortable, and Mr. Shark-Fin Rock impeded her forward and downward progress with an immediacy that elicited a stream of language whose filth was surpassed only by the mud and grit that became one with my otherwise lovely wife's body. We somehow reached the finish intact (dignity notwithstanding) nearly nine minutes before the eight-hour mark. Seven hours and fifty-one minutes, about ninety minutes slower than my previous slowest 50K (on a day I had the flu), nearly two hours slower than Chris' previous slowest 50K. In fact, I strongly suspect that most of my 50K splits during 50 milers have been swifter than this. One heck of a course, one heck of a day. I cheered and hollered as Leo came limping in a few minutes behind us, and a few other runners came in while we showered and then pigged out at an outstanding post-race feast of bbq chicken, corn, potatoes, and salad. Our overall impression is that Virgil Mountain Madness is a quality event, on a well-marked, tough course, in a lovely setting. The cost was a bargain $20, which included the muffin/juice/coffee breakfast and the copious post-race feast. T-shirts are optional for $8 (I love that), and the aid stations were frequent and adequate, with a number of them self-serve drops of water & sports drink. It was uncrowded, and the volunteers were very supportive and friendly, despite their unavoidable discomfort from the inclement weather. We won't hesitate to do it again if it works into our schedules. On another note, Chris and I tried (for the first time) the Succeed! pre-race and post-race recovery vitamins for VMM, with terrific results. We went for a long walk Monday evening (the next day!) along the Lake Ontario shore, and did a 40 minute road run on Tuesday, with minimal discomfort. We've used the Succeed! electrolyte capsules for a long time, and will make the vitamin packs part of our regular ultra routine now as well. I ran almost 4 hours yesterday in Afton State Park with some MN-DRS friends (Chris stayed 4 days longer in NY than I did), and another 1.5 with Chris this morning in our local Murphy-Hanrehan park reserve, all without discomfort, although I will admit a fair amount of fatigue still lingers from last Sunday's effort. We also encountered an elderly (i.e. even older than us) couple and their dog wandering around the Murphy-Hanrehan trails this morning. We walked these two travelling Arizonians back up to a point on the trail from where I was able to point them in the general direction to get back to their vehicle, which was a good 1.5 miles away. Chris and I continued our run, circled a lake, and then headed back to the same parking area the couple had been seeking. Sure enough, just as we neared the parking area, they were hiking along, dutifully following my directions, and greeted our approach with big smiles and thank-yous. I asked them how long they had been out there. The woman said, "since about 9". It was noon. They carried no water. We immediately insisted on sharing the remainder of our gallon thermos of ice water with them, and collectively gave thanks that it was a cool, dry day. Yikes. Hope to see some of you at the Superior Trail 50 and 100 milers in 4 weeks! ====================================== == Bob Metzger & Chris Markham == Lakeville, MN ======================================