Posted for Nick Whited:

The Garden Mountain FA is finalized – The run will begin on Saturday, August 18, 2007 at 7:30am.

The run will begin at the old Burkes Garden Elementary School (now called the Community Center.) It will proceed South on paved 623 for 2 miles before climbing the ridge. The road turns to gravel at 2 miles and after proceeding through a number of switchbacks we will turn left on the Appalachian Trail heading North to I-77. It is 18 miles to the bridge over I-77 once on the AT. It is 4.5 miles on the road before getting to the AT.

The course is a simple out and back and will end once you get onto gravel 623 (where you proceeded to get onto the AT.) This will make the distance approximately 36 miles. This is a tough and rugged run. I will have water placed in gallon jugs along with some energy bars and soda at 4.5 miles, 10.5 miles, and 19.5 miles. I will set them out the night before and hopefully no one will mess with them, if so, we will depend upon a few sparse mountain streams. There is an option of doing an 18 miler, but you have to come back to the top to pick us all up. Last year running it moderately hard I ended up with a 7:35.

I should have posted this information earlier in the year. I love running in the heat of summer and believe it's just fine to run on the hottest days -- if you know what is going on with your body. Your heart rate will be higher for a given pace, and you circulatory system will move blood away from your muscles and into your extremeties. Fatiuge is a warning sign, your brain's sign that your core body temperature is rising. A hot day is not the right day to take your workout "to the next level."

Here are some previous postings and links you should read if you are not aware of issues with heat and running:

It's that time of year again...
More info on Hyponatremia
Michelle Harmon's VT100 Hyponatremia Story
The Laurel Valley Pressure Cooker
google search on hypothermia, hyponatremia, and running

With the heat indexed temperatures well into the 100's on Saturday 13 athletes faced tough conditions on the Umstead single track. The only 50K finisher, Brad Smythe, started 2 hours ahead of the field and had a slight advantage due to marginally low temperatures. But conditions were hot and humid at dawn and only got worse during the day. The 10am start was convenient, especially for those arriving from out of town, but put the race firmly into the hottest hours of the day.

When it was all over, the SB50 had a finishing rate of around 8%. (not a typo.) Brad Smythe started early and completed all three laps in 6:46. The rest of the field finished either one or two laps. This was not the kind of day to push people to their limits. Brutal heat like we had is dangerous and the field was smart to stop when they did.

Our daughter Ashley provided a lot of logistical support during the day. Overall people liked the course, which proved tough. Most said they would like to come back in the Winter and run it again.

Results and Photos.

Happy Independence Day! Once again today I put on my flag shorts and went running on the morning of July 4th. The photo is from July 4th 2005 when Melinda and I ran the 10K at the Provo Freedom Festival. Three years ago I was running in my flag shorts around Regency Lake near our home. The path around the lake was closed because a pyrotechnics crew was setting up the Town of Cary's fireworks display. I ignored the closure and went on around the path. I finally came to the fireworks and a guy told me to stop and turnaround. Another guy said "let him through, he's wearing flag shorts."

Running in my flag shorts is a simple way I celebrate freedom every year on Independence Day. Among our liberties in America is the freedom to associate with whomever we wish. As a result we have a diverse range of communities in this country. As ultrarunners we share one of the richest communities.

Many of you may remember Annette Bednosky's post about her 2005 injury. This week she writes in her Blog about overcoming the injury and returning to Western States. This is a unique kind of race report that shows humility, perspective, and describes the satisfaction we all feel by being out on the trail:

"I am home now writing this. This was as powerful in a much different way than winning in 2005. I feel so human and humbled and grateful for George and my life. I cried more during the post race interviews. I had endless patience in the airport the next day as flights were overbooked, luggage locked up and it took me 24 hours longer to get home."

Congratulations Annette! And congratulations to all of you who competed at WSER, finish or not!

Annette Bednosky demonstrated she has successfully battled back from her 2005 injury by finishing WSER this year 28th overall and 6th Female. She was joined at the finish line by NC residents Anne Lundblad, Geoff Scott, Barbara Mack, former NC resident Anita Finkle, and honorary NC resident Jay Finkle. (If I missed anyone let me know.) Joey Anderson completed more than half the course, which is also an impressive achievement. Instead or running WSER this year Dean Karnazes chose to turn himself into a Vaudeville Act by running on a treadmill in a glass enclosure above Times Square. If Dean would have been there he would have been beat by Hal Koerner (five hours) and Nicki Kimball (2 1/2 hours) based on his previous performances at WSER.

Results.

The Boogieman Doug Dawkins
Photo: LauraJoeyAlan

The Boogie is a race I've alway wanted to run and never have because of business travel or family vacation. This year I made it down to Bethel Hill. I should mention right away that I was one of the 20 who did not finish the race. I knew from my first steps that I wasn't running well and as the miles went by my first impressions proved to be correct.. But I was on the course long enough to get a real feeling for this race, and I liked what I felt. The Boogie is a stripped-down, hard-core, pure ultrarunning event. It is hot, the course is tough, and venue is just some rural backroads in North Carolina with a lot of hills. There is no hype, sponsorship, race promotion, and no media coverage. Its just a run on a hot night. Everyone is there because they love running.

Adam Hill is hosting the 3rd Annaul Mt. Pisgah to Mt. Mitchell 100K on Saturday October 6. There is also a 50K option:

This run is reaching the point where it needs no introduction. The Pitchell is a burly run that starts at the summit of Mt. Pisgah and then follows the MST (white dot) for 67 miles all the way to the summit of Mt. Mitchell! The cumulative climb for this run is 16,000 feet and only two people have completed this challenging run! This is the 2nd running of the FAC 50k and is not much easier of a run than Pitchell! This 32 mile run has a cumulative climb of 11,000 feet and starts at the Folk Art Center and takes the MST to the summit of Mt. Mitchell! 8 people completed this run last year, with 3 of those tackling their first ultra ever!! In the past years, others have been invited to join in for smaller sections of the trail as they deemed fit with their fitness and schedule. RSVP to Adam if interested in running at all or volunteering for the fun!!

Adam is also hosting a series of fun runs beginning with the Turkey Pen 20 Miler this Saturday June 16 (Read More for details).

Sarah Almodovar is hosting a fun run in the mountains on Sunday July 15 in the Pisgah National Forest south of Asheville:

Dancin' in the Trees Ultra Fun Run, July 15, Start Time TBD (10 or 11 a.m.).  No fee, no official (or unofficial) results-- through the Pisgah Nt'l Forest, estimated to cover about 35 miles.  We will start at Pink Beds that Sunday morning and wind our way around some extremely scenic terrain.  The route consists of some very runable singletrack and gravel roads, as well as some lung busting ascents as we haul up and over Pilot Rock and Slate Rock!  There will be 3 or 4 spots with aid stashed for beverage and food refill, and only one short spot along the gravel road that we will travel twice.  The finishing 9 miles will be worth every minute of the struggle up the final climb as we hit one of best (and mostly downhill!) sections of the Mountains-To-Sea trail.   Post run entertainment will be the rope swing on the Davidson River and hopefully some good eats somewhere along the path home!  RSVP to Sarah: saralmod at yahoo dot com.

July 15 is the day after the Grandfather Mountain Marathon so you can make a weekend of it and run in the mountains two days in a row!

The runner's high is old news. Most of us have read that running alter's brain chemistry to produce natural pain-relieving chemicals and induces a general feeling of well-being. I read here about a recent study on the brain chemistry of Ultra Runners:

"...ultramarathoners have altered their basal levels of most major circulating hormones and thus, most likely, brain neurochemistry, and after extremely strenuous exercise will exhibit strong stress responsivity paired with an adaptive compensatory response that helps them return to their normal (elevated) state...All while experiencing one hell of a runner's high"


The heightened brain chemistry that accompanies training for and running ultramarathons is a big reason why I continue in the sport. I continued running off and on through college and young adulthood (including some lapses and the resulting overweight and poor conditioning), but got serious once again about running as a response to crippling cluster headaches. We all have our reasons, and its nice to see a scientific view of some of the benefits of ultrarunning. Perhaps this also explains why ultrarunning is so addictive.