#5 - Seaton Trail 53k (Nasty)

Well the anticipated start of the season came with a bang. Never ever competed in anything like this, not even in my past adventure racing days. The rain is one thing, then you add cold weather, then add +40km wind gust, add some trails full of mud and what do you get? Unbelievably hard conditions.

My original plan was to run a 3hr first loop (1.5hr each way) and basically run the entire 53k race in about 5:20 (~6m/hr). I was right on track since I left for my second loop right at 3hr, but the second loop took a lot out of me and I finished around the 6hr mark, so the final 23k took me ~3hr.

It was almost impossible to move in some portions and it was so hard to get a constant rhythm. I fell twice, which I think is less than average but I managed to cut my leg somehow, of course I didn't now I had cut it until I got home since my I ran with shorts and my legs were frozen. My hands were also frozen from about the 20k mark and they were useless to open my water bottles or my gels.

As planned I did not stop at any aid station until the second loop since I had sufficient gels and water/gatorade. The first loop generally went ok, with the exception of the elements. I wasn't looking forward to going back out for the second loop but as approached the end I could see some of the leaders going back and that gave me some motivation. As I started my second loop one guy turned back and said he had enough and he was too cold. I knew that DNFs were abundant as I saw less and less people as the day went on, and some on the 50m that were out there were way behind the time limit, so I knew more DNFs were coming. The elements were getting worse and the trail was basically disappearing under water and mud.

On my way back I thought I would be passed by many since I was going slow and started to feel the tired becuase of the weight of the water and mud, but for some reason when I got to Whitevale station I felt better and started to get some sort of rhythm going, no idea why. No one passed me on the second loop. I saw JD and had a quick laugh at the state of the trail and the weather and seeing the faces of some of the other runners just gave me more motivation to finish and move forward. There was a trio of runners having way to much fun, taking pictures on a hill packed with mud, good for them and it put a smile on my face.

All in all, I think I has a successful run considering the weather and conditions. These type of races are the ones that make you stronger and the ones I need to cover to get ready for for my 100m. I doubt that any other race will have such tough conditions, at least the cold will leave us soon.