If you have followed me for awhile, you know that we are a running family. Well…not me as much anymore but I had my running life too at one point. Now it is my husband and all four kids and thank goodness I am around to take them to all of the practices/races/things associated with people who are running all of the time. My husband Sam is not your average runner, however. He is an ultra runner.

Ultra runners are a special breed. Distances over a marathon (26.2 miles) are considered “ultra” distances. A basic ultra distance is a 50 K, which is roughly 31 miles. Next up is a 50 miler…followed closely by a 100K (which is 62 miles). Then the piece de resistance is the 100 miler. Yes, there are even a few crazy races that go 200 miles or there are stage ultra races (see the “Four Deserts” site and the documentary on the Four Deserts Grand Slam for a truly inspiring view of stage ultra races. It is mind blowing). Ultra runners need a vast well of mental stamina in addition to what seems like super hero stamina and strength. Sam has molded himself into quite the machine over the last five years and it has been fascinating to see the ultra runner he has become.

Sam is currently preparing for his biggest ultra yet – the Zions 100 miler in April. He decided last summer he was going to tackle this beast and has been preparing ever since for this 24+ hour race in Zions National Park next month. When he first told me he wanted to do it I must admit I was genuinely concerned. He is totally healthy and fit and very careful but you just never know how your body is going to react after RUNNING 100 MILES. Yes, that is in all caps for a very good reason. Anyway, as a part of his preparation for Zions 100, he needed to do a 50 miler about a month before his 100. He decided on the Inside Trail Marin Ultra Challenge 50 miler.

We are so fortunate with where we live in the Bay Area, being close to countless beautiful trails, elevation, coasts; basically everything needed to prepare for an ultra race. Sam’s training and racing partner (and also his partner/pacer for Zions!) is Sandra and they teamed up to do this race together. The weather forecast was exactly the opposite of what you really want for an ultra run: RAIN. Basically rain was forecast for the entire day with a temperature that was not expected to rise above 52 degrees. This was not good news but these two needed to get this race in and the miles on their legs so it was a GO. I drove Sam into the Marin Headlands around 6 AM for a 6:30 start.

It was not raining for the start which was AWESOME and dare I say, it was actually beautiful? Chilly…but beautiful nonetheless. Inside Trails had the start area very well organized and racers took off right on time.

The 50 mile course gave runners a 10,500 foot elevation gain throughout the race which sounds awful to me but if you are an ultra runner and you are preparing for an even bigger race, this elevation gain is an important part of your training. I was pretty dismayed when an hour or two later it started pouring. Just POURING. And it didn’t really let up. I was really feeling for my runners, knowing they were wet and cold and far away in these hills. But they persevered and just ATE up those hills!

I think once these runners got past a certain mile marker they started to be a little crazy…

Doesn’t this look like a beautiful place to run? Minus the rain, of course. The rain actually forced race directors to make some changes to the course as a chunk of it was washed out and impassable. Simon and I were supposed to meet our runners at mile 41 to switch out shoes, administer hot soup (Sam’s request) and just do an energetic check-in but because they were re-routed we had no choice but to head to the finish line area to wait for them. Wifi wasn’t strong and it was hard to track Sam on his phone but I had a window where I could see his little tracker dot moving and we sprang into action. I sent Simon to the top of one of the hill we knew they would be descending and my timing could not have been more perfect. As soon as he got into position, we saw them coming down the hill! Simon turned on the GoPro and ran down with them.

They made it! Not only did they make it but they did it in under 11 hours with smiles, no injuries and great attitudes to spare! I always get really nervous with rain on trail courses because there is no accounting for slipping in mud and tweaking your knee/ankle/name any body part. Sam had really worked on his fueling for this race and discovered that Pringles are the key to a happy racer :). The medals and shirts from Inside Trail were fantastic; the hats basically glow neon orange and weren’t as much of a hit with Sam but Sebastian immediately claimed it for himself and has been wearing it to school basically every day.

Sam told me that it rained straight for the first 20 miles and it had been cold…but not so cold that they couldn’t work through it. They were muddy and tired but again, no injuries! I was thrilled that we drove away still in daylight and so happy that he had a great time. Sam’s recovery plan afterwards involved a hot shower, lots of laying around, pizza, multiple sodas and compression gear on his lower half. Inside Trail put on a great ultra with plenty of solid aid stations and clearly marked trail so we are happy with the whole experience. Next stop: Zions 100 – don’t worry, there will be a BIG post on that one!