Sulphur Springs 50 miler recap

My name is Adam Hill, I am a new Running Free Team member.

On Saturday May23rd I ran in the Sulphur Springs 50 mile trail run.  It was a beautiful day sun was out and the course was dry and fast, minus the rolling hills.  Rolling hills do not roll that well by about the 40th mile.

I had just finished having some good fortune a month ago in Viriginia at Bull Run Run 50 miler finishing 3rd overall in a time of 6hrs 54min.  With some smart training and rest I was hoping to carry over my good form into Sulphur Springs.

On race day, Saturday, everything went great.  Right from the start my legs felt light and quick, the shoes helped (more on that later).  My mindset was good for a long day of running and the km’s just started ticking by.

Suphur Springs is a 20km lap course of a mix of fine gravel path, single track, rolling hills, with a couple of steep climbs, and some great flat sections to fly along.

50 miles meant doing 4 laps: the first one went by quickly in 1:30.  Probably a little too quick but after a month of running by myself and a month with no competition I am always really excited about running with other people.  I find the key with ultra running is to settle into a good pace that I am comfortable with, so for the remander of the day I did my best to keep this in mind.  I slowed my pace slightly as to not blow myself up and just started running from one spot to the next.  I like to break the race down into sections, it helps to pass the time and it makes 80kms not so extreme of a distance to cover.  The other big thing for me is eating on a regular basis.  Hammer Gels every 20 minutes and Cliff Bloks I just constantly chew on.  Total Hammer Gels used: 15 and 4 Bloks.  I also drank 1 bottle of Eload (mandarin orange) per lap, and would grab water at each aid station.

I felt great all day.  I did start to get some calf cramping with about 10km to go.  It is not a new issue for me and I know who to deal with it.  It just slows me down a little that is all.

I finished in a personal best time of 6 hours 27 minutes and 30 seconds and was 1st overall,  about 40 minutes ahead of second place.  This is my 3rd year in a row winning this event.

My equipment was: Team Running Free Jersey: worked perfect,  I love having some pockets and a zipper is a bonus when things get hot.  Love the new colour.

Running Free Headsweats Hat:  this is best hat every for summer time running.

New Balance 904 tr shoes:  Perfect trail shoe for  what Sulphur Springs has to offer.  I still can not believe how light these shoes are and that they still have the support they do.  This has been one of the best shoes I have run in in a long time.

Adam