Sulphur Springs

On Saturday May 29th, a number of Barrie RoadRunners gathered for a run in the woods down in Ancaster, near Hamilton. For some it would longer than others, some would be exploring new distances and seeing what their bodies are capable of doing. Catherine Harding and Rick MacLean were attempting their first 50 Mile race, while Kevin O'Neill and Keith Lascelles were attempting their second 50 miler. Bill Lovett was taking part in his first 50k, along with Chris Battaglia who was doing his second this year. Tracy MacLean and Lorna Avery Cooper were running the 25k.
It was an early morning on Saturday (4am) to get up and get to the race for a 6 am start for the 50 milers and those doing the 100. The rest were starting at 7:30. At 6am it was still warm and as we descended into the woods the humidity became noticable. the 50 mile race consisted of 4 20k loops through the Sulphur Springs area including the Dundas Vally Conservation are, it was an absolutely beautiful area, most of the run in the shade of the canopy and only short periods out in the open and even less on a short stretch of road. As shaded as it was, it was still very warm. My goal was to pace my self correctly for what I would need for my 100 miler coming up in July. I figured 20 minutes of walking and 2 minutes of walking should do it, but the 20 minutes of running should be done at a pedestrian pace, which I through out the window right from the start. First lap done in 2 hours, but the tell tale signs of trouble were already there, I was drenched in sweat. How would I survive when the sun got higher in the sky? Shade or no shade, it was going to get warmer. A refill of the secret formula in my water bottle and off I went for the second lap, I expected to do the second lap 15 minutes longer than the first and came in at 2 hours 13 minutes, not a bad guess, but still too fast and as I went out on the third lap the doubts had set in deeply. The first lap I had gone through 1 bottle of fluid, the second I had gone through 3, on the third lap I couldn't quench my thirst fast enough, my legs were feeling fatigued, my feet felt like they were on fire and hurting. Instead of doing 20 minutes of running and 2 minutes of walking it had almost become 20 minutes of walking an 2 running. Before the 10k mark of the 3rd lap I had decided that I wasn't accomplishing anything conituing on this way and decided to drop. Unfortunately I still had to climb out of the ravine up the worst hill on the course.
Others faired much better. Rick, even though really doubting himself at the end of the 2nd lap soldiered on and had great 3rd lap and finished in 12 hours and 8 minutes. Catherine with Kevin's pacing kept at it and finished in 12 hours and 42 minutes. A great job by both, with a special credit to Kevin, who didn't even sweat throughout the race.
The 50k participants had a great race too. Bill Lovett finished 9th overall and 3rd in his age group, in 4:42. Chris Battaglia finished in 6:16.
The 25k racers were Lorna Avery Cooper in 3:39 and Tracy MacLean in 3:40. A good day had by all (almost).