Marquette 50 Miler
My A race this year was the Marquette 50 Miler on August 21st 2021. It was my first 50 miler and it did not disappoint. I knew coming into the race that the course would be unlike any of the trails that I’ve trained on down state. There would be scrambling up peaks and running across rocky areas. I knew it would be tough but I had put in some solid training for it and I was ready for the challenge. I had also convinced a friend who had only ever done road halfs to try the 50K so I was excited for a bit of company.
Despite my best efforts I did not sleep well the night before. I also woke up before my 3am alarm clock since I was a ball of energy. We got to the start line a little before 5am and took off running at 5:30am. The race comprised of an 11 mile loop done first and a 20 mile loop run clockwise and counterclockwise. I spent the first couple of hours with my friend taking it easy and once I settled in and the sun came up I started to really enjoy the beauty of this trail. After a couple of hours I bid my friend farewell since I knew I would be chasing more aggressive cutoffs than her. The remainder of the 11 mile loop I took it easy and talked to a bunch of people. I knew all of the climbs were in the 20 mile loop so I wanted to save my energy. I also knew it was going to be an uncharacteristically hot day and that I always struggle with heat.
I definitely underestimated how challenging the 20 mile loop would be. There were 4 peaks (and 1 bonus peak) in each 20 mile loop. Not only was it a struggle to scramble up some of these climbs but then there was a lot of scooting to get down them. Mix in all the rocky portions of the flat sections and I knew this race was going to take me longer then expected. Not to mention everyone I talked to who had run the race was shocked I picked this race as my first 50 miler due to its difficulty. The things that made it worth it was the great people I met and the gorgeous views. I did slow down considerably during the first 20 mile loop and I contemplated many times dropping at the 50K mark. I had a lot of great people encouraging me to keep going and when I finished the first 50K I filled up my water bottles and kept going for another loop.
I was feeling down but I told myself just keep walking and if you don’t make the cutoffs at least you tried. I didn’t know this until after the race but 2/3 of the 50 milers dropped which would explain the lack of runners I saw for the last 20 miles. I realized I was leaning on talking to other people to push me forward and when I didn’t have that I struggled. My legs had been tired for miles and I knew I had a long way to go. I tried to not think about that and just focus on the distance to the next aid station. It worked for a good chunk of the race and a decent amount of the last 20 miles. In these miles though I went from stopping occasionally, to sitting down on the ground, to straight up laying down on the rocks. I think all of the exhaustion got to me in the last 10-15 miles and it as rough. I didn’t think I would be chasing cutoffs going into this race but that is what happened. Part of me kept going slower and slower and stopping more in hopes that at the aid station they would tell me I wasn’t going to make it and let me stop. However, the volunteers were the best group of people I have ever encountered. They filled up my water bottles without me having to open them, gave me words of encouragement, and even wiped off my sweaty and salty face with a wet paper towel. Somehow I made it to the finish line with less than an hour to the cutoff and man was it glorious.
