An Ultra good time

The next race on the docket was the Afton Trail Run 50k.  I really enjoyed the Birkie marathon last year, and so decided that if I could run a trail marathon and still walk the next day an ultra couldn't be that much harder.  I was wrong, at least in this case.  The race was supposed to be held at Afton state park, and is known for being hilly and tough.  It would be 2x25km with about 6 significant climbs each loop.  When the Minnesota government completely failed at it's job of coming up with a budget (a problem still not solved 2 weeks later) the state park closed and I hoped briefly that a cancellation would ensue and save me from this race.  Instead the resourceful race organizers moved the race right next door to the Afton Alps ski and mountain bike area and made good use of some single track and ski slopes to create a 12km loop that we would traverse 4 times, still with about 5 major climbs each time around.  The total elevation gain ended up being somewhere around 1600m. 
The long runs started out rough a couple months back with some digestion problems making me wonder if I still had it in me to do these long races.  As I built up my mileage and started to play around with my diet though things worked themselves out alright.  I put in a 25 mile run the week before Chippewa and then counted on my racing to hold my fitness until the race.  With only 2 days of just "running" logged in June I was a bit apprehensive going into the race, but when the gun went off at 6:30 am I was ready to go.  I quickly settled in as the trail immediately narrowed and most of the race was walking.  I watched a group of 4 go off the front pretty much right away, but I didn't worry about them.  I was here to finish, not to win any prizes.  I did want to finish in a timely manner however, so I passed a number of people when the trail opened up to a service road.  Jeff stuck right with me and I pulled us around on an uncertain first lap.  There were plenty of people even near the front walking some of the more steep uphills, and I took a cue from them and walked as well.  It made for a pretty pleasant race experience actually, it is a unique atmosphere where everyone I was around was racing, but not at the expense of the racers around them.  I could walk up the hills and chat with the racers around me (when I could catch my breath.  Even walking these hills were no joke) and when things flatten out go right back to a race pace.  There were "fun" hills with cool names like "pirates point" and "easier loop" (it wasn't).
The first water station was about 4 miles into the 7.5 mile loop, and it was a welcome sight.  I didn't carry water with me so I had 2 or 3 cups of water or heed (another huge plus of this race, they used the same drink I train with year round) and a banana, part of a peanut butter sandwich and some M&M's.  The aid stations were veritable buffet tables, and I made the most of it.  The race director was out acting as a course Marshall, so I gave him a thumbs up for the course selection, fun and challenging single track.  It was shortly after that I saw the sign indicating I was headed "to the Manhandler".  After a bit of winding around sure enough, there was a monster climb up to the back side of one of the ski slopes.  I was walking it so I was not man handled, but the prospect of making the climb 3 more times didn't seem super appealing.  From there things went downhill fast, right to the base of the ski slope in fact.  Then in a cruel twist we were right near the lap/finish line, but instead of finishing the lap there the course turned and went straight back up the steepest ski slope it could find.  If the race directors were worried about the course being hard enough up to this point (I'm sure they weren't) this climb surely settled any lingering doubt that this course would be an equal in challenge to the course at the state park.  Shortly into the second lap I began to catch 25k racers who's race had started an hour after mine.  This fueled me to push the pace a bit more than I may have otherwise done and Jeff's labored breathing reminded me to reign myself in from time to time.  There is something quite satisfying about flying by people who know you've already been on course for an hour, and probably will be for another hour after they finish.
Jeff decided to dial the pace back at the start of the third lap, and I continued to weave my way through 25k racers, albeit at a slower rate than the lap previous.  When I reached the easier route climb I found myself walking behind a rather attractive lady doing the 25k race.  I passed her on the short running section at the top of the hill and she tucked in behind me and easily kept my pace for the ensuing descent.  I paced her for a bit, then got a bit of a gap before the food station.  While I took my time feasting she cruised by, and I caught back up to her a hill or so later and ran with her for the rest of the lap.  It was nice having someone at close to my pace to make me keep up the effort, and to talk to while walking up the hills.  I didn't think to ask her name, so I don't know who she was, but she made a great pacer.  My friend Dean was out taking pictures of the race, so he popped up at various locations to give encouragement,  Dave and Caitlin came to cheer and hung out near the big hills at the lap/finish area, and the winding nature of the trail means I saw Jeff at several points too and we cheered each other on.  Once my pacing lady had finished her race I was on my own a bit behind a group of 3 runners.  I caught up to them and one turned out to be Kyle Donovon, one of my brothers friends from RF.  I ran with him for a while until the hills began in earnest when much to my dismay I found I was no longer able to run downhill without my legs starting to give out on me.  I kept the pace up on the flats and climbs to try to compensate, but as they say what goes up must come down.  I walked, even walked backwards when possible to try to keep the downhills manageable but still lost major time on the group I had caught.  The last time up and down the final slope near the end of the race was pure torture, but being able to see the finish line the whole time was a good reminder that it would all be over soon.  I finished and immediately started eating and drinking anything I thought my stomach would hold down.  It was an exciting time.  When I recovered enough to move around I went to wait and cheer for Jeff, who came in about 1/2 hour behind me.  My goal was to not take as long to finish this race as I did Chippewa, and I made it, by only about 10 min.  My time was 5:26:00 or somewhere thereabouts.  Not a bad day's work.