Recap of my first ultra!
The Run Toto Run 50k is the winter version of the Psycho Wyco hosted by the Trail Nerds. The race is mostly on bridle trails at Wyandotte County Lake Park with 4,263 feet of elevation. For the 50k, you run the same loop three times. That can get a little boring. And there are many hills that are too steep to run. From the bottom of the dam, to the entry of speed-demon ridge is a 220 ft climb. That's like walking up stairs in a 22 story building.
The weather for February was unusually warm - 70 degrees - which is not something I could train for in December and January leading up to the race. I logged plenty of miles and did regular squats and lunges training for the race. It paid off. While I hit the typical wall, it came a little later around mile 22, and I had pretty fast recovery. My goal was 7:30, so I was extremely pleased with 6:55:58 which was 73rd out of 101 finishers.
What sets Trail Nerds races apart from others is the quality of the volunteers. Friendly, supportive and here's the real difference, knowledgable. Not only are they willing do anything for you, they know what to do for you. Many are ultra runners between events, and there is great variety of food that you can get at the aid stations.
The SWAG included an awesome hoody, a sweet medal with an actual spinning tornado, and most impressively, a finisher's trucker hat. Hope to make this race an annual tradition. It's an nice regular for achieving my New Hampshire Compulsion of 50 marathons before September 1, 2023.
