My trip to Pensacola

My beautiful family

Ouachita 50 here I come! But first I must drive across the country to get there and take you on.

I did just that. I had to leave my beautiful family to go to a school in Pensacola. I decided on the way out I'd take a small detour to Little Rock, Arkansas and run a 50 miler. I am training for a 100 miler so I need as many races and/or miles I can get. I left Wednesday afternoon and headed east. I stopped off at the PCT to get a quick 8 mile run, then back on the road again. I arrived in Little Rock Thursday night, sooner then I thought I would. Which gave me Friday to explore.


Pinnacle State Park















I first went over to Pinnacle Mountain State Park where most of the race would be ran. It was a very beautiful park. I didn't see any of the trails but it has some great views. I had to wait till 4 PM to pick up my race packet at the park so instead of waiting around I headed downtown.

River Market














Once downtown I went to the River Market. Which had a lot of restaurants, museums, and parks. I walked around, took in the scenery as well as some pictures. I had a difficult time picking which place to eat at but decided to try Flying Saucer. I must say I made a great choice. They had 200 craft beers to choose from. It took me over 15 minutes just to decide which beer to drink. After a few beers and a slice of pizza, it was time for me to go pick up the race packet. The park, downtown, and my hotel were all within 15 minutes of each other so I quickly grabbed my race packet and headed back to the hotel to gather my stuff.

I set all my gear out, set 2 alarm clocks and requested a wake up call. It's always hard to sleep the night before a race. Your a little nervous, anxious and afraid of oversleeping. After 5 hours I woke up at 0300, ate my breakfast and was out the door at 0430. The race was to start a 0600 but I hate being late for anything. So I always arrive early, I was there by 0500.

We got our prerace brief and were told to follow the blue marks and blue ribbons. As long as we do that, there is no way we'll get off course. What they didn't say was that you'll hardly ever be able to lift your head to see the ribbons because of all the rocks and roots. The last thing that was said, "Oh ya and Texas sucks."

Start line














We all then headed to the start line and waited. This gave me time to take a quick pic and ask where the hell the trail starts. I was told that we go up a road for almost 3 miles then hit the trail for a mile before we ascend Pinnacle Mountain. I saw pictures of people in the past races climbing Pinnacle Mountain and it looks like your rock climbing. I just didn't know it would be at mile 4. Knowing that a majority of people will be cluttered up at mile 4, it's going to be a low climb.

"Are you guys ready? One, Two, Three go!" I took off with the front group as we headed down the road. My plan was to be with the front 10-20 people depending on how fast the front runners were. I guess I was lucky because they were only going a little over 7 MPH. By the time we reached the trail I was where I wanted to be. Leading up to the mountain the trail was mostly descending. Which is never fun on the way back because in trail running, on out and back course, what goes down must come back up. The first aid station was at the bottom of Pinnacle Mountain but I just thanked everyone for being out there and ran on. As we started to climb the trail started to bottle up. I heard someone say we're going the wrong way, as I looked up a guy was running by me going the opposite direction. The guy behind me said don't worry I've been here before and we're fine. Well a couple minutes later 5 -10 other runners said the trail deadends. We turned around and we're back on the right course but now my plan was out the door. As we started climbing there was just too many people. You'd go up a rock and have to wait for those in front of you before you can go any further. This was almost like rock climbing at certain areas. I took a few pictures but it was difficult as I fell a few times.
Climb up Pinnacle Mountain











Once I finally got to the top there was a photographer there taking everyone's picture. Here is the link to mine (My Pic). Too bad I was watching my step and not the photographer. But let me tell you the view up there was amazing.
I had about 10 seconds to take it in before I headed down on the back side. I was hoping for a lot easier trail on the way down but it was just as rocky.

Heading down Pinnacle Mountain

Once off the mountain there was another aid station. Again I just thanked everyone and went on my way. The course then headed into single track trails. I started to realize that this was going to be a harder course then I originally thought. There were so many rocks and roots and to make things worse they were hidden by leaves. I kicked a rock or root every 5-10 minutes.

The next aid station was at mile 10.6 and I grabbed a Hammer gel, thanked everyone and headed out. I wasn't stopping at the aid stations because I was experimenting with a new drink. I bought a drink from Infinit and their claim is you don't have to worry about salt pills and gels. My plan was to not eat as much as normal and to only use a few gels, Larabars, energy chews and see how well Infinit actually is.

After the 10.6 mile aid station I wanted to play it safe and take a gel. The next aid station, Northshore, was suppose to be at mile 16.9 where I had my drop bag. But in between the two aid stations there was a gentleman that setup an aid station in the middle of no where. The funny thing is he had a cooler full of beer and yes some people were actually drinking the beer. I thanked him for being out there and headed toward Northshore. No beer for me until after the race.

On the way to Northshore, I was running with Simon, a guy I just met. Simon is from Louisiana and this was his first race further then 13.1 miles. Simon did what any of us would do and pick another ultra runners brain for advice. Unfortunately I don't have much advice to give considering I'm not even a full year into ultra running. But I did tell him all that I've learned from trial and error. Simon and I ran into Northshore, with another guy, who I never did get his name. We said our goodbyes and wished each other luck. While at Northshore I went with my plan of a fresh change of socks and a refill of Infinit. I also grabbed a Larabar and Honey Stinger organic energy chews. Thanked everyone for volunteering and headed in the direction of the 50 Miler. Northshore is where the 50K and 50M split off. I'm proud to say it never crossed my mind to drop down to the 50K. The option was given to us but I came here to run the full race.
One of many ponds














In my experience at races where the 50 milers split off from the 50K runners, it gets lonely fast. Most people either sign up for the 50K or they drop down to it. Sure enough, as soon as I took off in the 50 mile direction everyone was gone. But I was ready for this and pulled out my Ipod shuffle to listen to some music. I was all alone for 4 miles. Then I was passed by two guys. One of who I would later know as Rich. They both passed me and went on ahead.

This section of the course is just like most of the whole race. Hilly but nothing too serious of a climb. Rocks and roots all over the place. I must have kicked about 20-30 rocks and roots. There were a ton of small creeks and ponds we ran by. The creeks were tricky because we always had to cross them and the rocks were slippery. There were a few times in between Northshore and Highway 10 aid station(the turn around), I slipped into the creeks. Luckily they were never that deep but the water was cold. Around mile 20 I started to feel achy and sore. This was a lot sooner then normal which is around mile 30.

Around mile 24 we had an aid station but I was set on water so I gave my thank yous and headed on. Next stop would be a good one because it's the turn around. In between mile 24 and 26 I really started seeing the lead runners. I thought I may have been in the 20 to 30 range and if my count was right I was 21st.
Lake Maumelle














At the turn around point we ran next to Lake Maumelle. Which was a nice change of pace from the rocky and covered trails. The trails were covered up by the trees and at a lot of points I lost signal on my GPS. Once again I didn't need anything at the aid station so I thanked the one person that was there and plodded along. It is an exciting moment hitting the turn around point because the race is half way over. I started having stomach cramps at this time. They weren't that bad because I was able to run on but more of an annoyance.

Now there was no more surprises. I just run the exact same trail I ran out on. From the turn around until back at Northshore, there was 2 guys that I played the leap frog game with. They'd pass me and a mile later I'd pass them. But Northshore was the last time I saw them.

Once at Northshore my plan was to switch socks and shoes but I got lazy and decided to just fill up my Camelbak bladder with Infinit. While filling up the two leap frog guys came in along with a girl. The girl was in and out before I could fill up. I said my thank yous and off I went.

One might notice that I'm thanking everyone, everytime at each aid station. The reason being, there are no races with out these lovely volunteers. I make sure that they know I appreciate them taking time or shall I say spending there whole day for us crazy folks. Back to the race....

I was still running by myself until I finally saw a guy that passed me awhile back. Once I caught up to him he started running and I stayed with him for the next 5-6 miles. His name is Rich and we got to know a lot about each other in the 5-6 miles we ran together. It was nice to finally run with someone again. Not only do you get lonely after awhile but talking to someone keeps your mind off the pain. Rich and I stopped at the beer aid station. No one was there but there was coolers labeled for us. Sodas, beers, water, Red bulls and there was also some food leftover. It was the Red Bull that caught my eye. Hey I was tired and needed some wings.

Rich and I headed out together but it had to come to an end because Rich's pace was a little too slow for me at that moment. We wished each other luck and I ran up ahead. Not too much further I saw the girl that was in and out of Northshore. Either she slowed down or I was speeding up. Either way I told her good job and passed her. I figured she'd be the last person I passed but I was wrong. A few miles later I saw an older gentlemen walking along the course. He was running the 50K and I didn't know it at the time but he's 79 years old. I can only hope I'll be doing 50K races 50 years from now.
One of the many creeks











Another aid station ahead. Once in there I was told only 7.9 miles to go and then was offered a pickle. I said no to the pickle but I did have to ask why there were pickles at a lot of the aid stations. I was told because they're high in sodium. Well high in sodium or not a pickle just did not sound good to me. I thanked everyone and headed on.

This section of the course scared me because I knew it was close to Pinnacle Mountain and I didn't want to climb it again on accident. I paid very close attention to the ribbons and made it to the last aid station without going off course. I only had 4 miles to go until the finish. I was showing 10 hours and 30 minutes so I quickly said my thank yous and ran off toward the finish. I knew the last 3 miles were road so I thought I might of had a shot making it in under 11 hours. But I forgot that the last mile of trail was nothing but up for the most part. Once I hit the road I knew my shot for sub 11 was gone but I still wanted a good time. This stretch of road seemed like it was never going to end. I honestly thought I was on the wrong road. Since my GPS wasn't accurate. I couldn't use that to monitor the miles. I looked all around and couldn't see any runners in front or behind me. But off in the distance I heard some cheering so I had to be close to the finish. Sure enough the finish line was now in sight. Actually the road I turn into was in sight. As I made it around the corner people were cheering and congratulating me. The funny thing, there was only one person at the official finish line. She gave me my medal and gave me my time, 11 hours and 16 minutes. Not a dramatic finish but my best 50 miler yet. Maybe I'm getting faster or the course was easier. Maybe a combination of both but I'll pretend I'm getting faster.

I have to say thank you once again to all those wonderful volunteers and the race directors. The Ouachita 50 was a challenging and fun race. If you ever have the opportunity to run it, I say go for it.

After the race I had to head back to the hotel and pack up for my long drive in the morning
to Pensacola. Where not only do I start my training for the Navy, I also step up my training for the San Diego 1oo Mile Endurance Race. Until next time, Happy running!

Jerry "El Tigre" England