Arctic Frog 50k race report (04:26:40; 11/112)

What a great day to run the trail!

I had not been in a training mode, but kept running as usual. The good thing about ultra running is that I do not get nervous.  Still I consider myself as a novice though and I will tell you why a bit later...

This is the 3rd time my family came with me for races.  I was a little worried about them as the temperature is somewhat unpredictable in Illinois. But thankfully the weather was very kind to us as well as the participated runners.


I decided to experiment something new.  yes new things which sounds risky. First, instead of taking energy gels, I filled a 20oz water bottle (20oz) mixed with carbo pro+nuun two times (one for each loop) and it worked like a charm. After mile 22, my stomach was grumbling a bit asking some solid food so grabbed some salty potato chips a couple times.  That was all. yeah..no stomach issues.. Second, I ran with hoka one one clifton. It was okay running through the waterfall glen trail. However, it was not for the soggy and soft ground that I felt I was sinking with clifton into the ground although I can't complain due to the forgiving light weight (< 8oz). I may reconsider it for a soft ground running thou.

This event was initially capped at 100 people, but we had about 140+ runners which I think was nice.  And I got to know a few runners before and after the race.

The course was 2 loops of 15.5mi with only a few (insignificant) rolling hills. My garmin watch tells me the elevation gain of 637ft, but I found it was all runnable.

1st loop.  My focus was to relax and maintain an even pace, but it seems I failed to find an ideal pace. Or it could be due to my competitive (yet unintentional) nature when entering a race which I sensed and improved a bit along the 2nd loop. The plan A was to complete this loop by ~ 2 hours which I actually did.  When I saw the finish line (15.5 mile), my boy saw me from a distance and started running into me so I picked him up and ran to the drop bag area. Since the sun was up and getting warmer, I got rid of my wind jacket, headband, and gloves. Refilled my water bottle and then I took off for the 2nd loop.


2nd loop. It was funny that I could not figure out where to go at the beginning of the course (pavement). During the 1st loop, I only needed to follow the lead pack, but now I am all alone. So waited Larry Hall, a 62-year-old ultra marathon veteran, instead of getting lost. Luckily I felt much comfortable once I was on the trail. I had a few runners passing by me around mile 22 -24 and my legs were definitely tired. Still my focus was on the pace, but later I found it was not really matter.  Instead, I looked around to appreciate and enjoy the nature, and to greet runners as much as possible. This paradigm shift made me feel much better and helped move my feet one after another.
















--> the final stretch to the finish line


--> asking my boy to cross the finish line together, but didn't happen this time.


--> finishing with big smile..

I can tell this was one of the fastest 50k trail races ever and highly recommend esp.
for those folks looking for entry-level ultra races.

Strava data: https://www.strava.com/activities/445055763