Limberlost Challenge - July 14, 2012

What a day....really!  

Limberlost is a must do race.  It highlights the best of the Muskoka woods and then some.      We had some pretty hot conditions to deal with and it really was the story of the day.  

 The course is a 14K loop so the 56Kers ran it 4 times.  My goal was to try to complete each loop in under 2 hours aiming for a sub 8 hour finish.    I was surprised just how quickly we all spread out in the first loop.  By teh first aide station 5K in I was pretty much on my own.   7K in in the trail that runs along a series of Beaver Dams I was taking in the scenery and BAM I went down hard.   I know better then to let my guard down but there is just so much to see its tough not to look around.    Took most of the fall with my right forearm and hip and came away relatively unscathed however my big toe on my right foot would hurt for the rest of the day.  Finishing the first loop there was a pleasant change the last 2Ks looping around a lake instead of the trek down the gravel road....very nice!  Finished the first loop in 1hr53min pretty much where I wanted to be.  Heading out of the second loop it the temperature was starting to push into the mid 20s but it was still manageable.    I was wearing my Ultraspire pack with 2L in the Bladder.  The plan was to take in lots of fluids at the Aide stations and use the water I carried in between.  Knowing that the heat would come into play today  I was taking  one S!Cap on the hour as well as Gelling.      Slowed a bit on the 2nd loop but I completed it  in 2hrs00min.  I felt really good heading out on the third loop and really felt that 8hours was still possible.   Past the 1st aide station the route along the Beaver Dams had become Dam HOT.   It was nearly 1pm and the Temps were creeping up into the low 30's and the humidity was really building.    Caught up with Chris McPeak at the 2nd Aide Station and we ran together ,  or should I say walked!   We both admitted that the day was more or less over ,  time goals out the window and it was SURVIVAL mode.    We started running in the easy parts and that was the last I saw of Chris until after the race although I  suspected that we wasn't too far ahead.   1K before the end of the 3rd loop I was done ,  completely done.   I took off my Ultraspire Pack and Shirt and sat on  log contemplating quitting.  About 5 minutes passed as well as  few runners.  One fellow stopped to talk to me ,  a 50Ker on lap 3 like me.   He said that he was done.  I congratulated him on accomplishing a Marathon under some really tough conditions.  He went on to tell me that it was his first trail race and that his family was waiting at the finish.  Bedsides the obvious reason for quitting he said that his Wife and Children were waiting at the finish and he didn't want to have them wait another 3 hours for him to finish.   I don't know what motivated me more ,  talking to him or the little break I took but when I stood up I decided I was going to go on and complete the race!     So I crossed the timing mat logging 2hrs37min for the for loop 3.    Heading out on the 4th and final loop  it was a shuffle/ walk combo to the only big hill a little less then 2K in.      I did shuffle along where it was easy but it was mostly walking to the first Aide Station the 5K mark.     I was dreading,  absolutely dreading the fully exposed to the Sun 2 or so Ks along the Beaver Dams.   OMG it was like a blast furnace through this section and all I could manage is a walk and even that was tough.    It took awhile before I was able to get back to the shuffle /walk combo but after a few Ks out of the Sun I started to move along a bit better.  At the last Aide Station I got a big bag of Ice and rotated it between the top of my head ,  back of my neck and my belly. It really seemed to help and I actually started to get something back and was able to run ,  albeit rather slowly.   Crossed the timing mat for the last time logging a   2hr42min loop and a total time of 9hrs14min25 seconds for the 56K.   AS is so often the case there was very little reward at the end ,  no Metal,  no Ultra Challenge Challenge  Metal ( Did Creemore the week before ).  I laid down on the grass for a few minutes ,  kicked my shoes off and my big toe was incredibly painful  (Its swollen and bruised the next day)  I think I broke it!!!!!!  I  didn't stick around,  jumped in the Car and headed out.   Did the drive through at Tims before I hit HWY 11 and ordered a Large Caramel Ice Cap and some Chicken Wraps,  stopped a second time close to home for Pizza and a Coke.   

 Looking at the results it was no big surprise that of the 87 folks that started the race 56 finished it.   The 35% drop out rate is the highest I have seen for this distance.   I finished 47th out of the 87 starters , 6 out of 10 finishers  in my AG  and 30 out of 36 male finishers.