Sulphur Springs 50K Trail - Saturday May 27, 2017

 Returned to Ancaster again this time running the Sulphur 50 K race.    The last time I did thsi distance at this event was in 2010 then in 2011 it was my first 100 miler.  In 2013, 2013, 2014 and 2015 I did the 50 miler and last year I attempted a 100 miler and DNF logging 80K.     I narrowly missed a course PB by less the a minute tripping the clock at 5hrs45min40sec compared to 2010's 5hrs45min09sec.

 Race start was at 07:30 am I gave myself 2 hours drive time but I arrived just before 06:30 am.   Had about a Ks hike for the race kit ... I was expecting that!    Doing the 50K we headed out for a 10K jaunt including the Lollipop's Three Sisters as well as a climb up Martin Rd then out on the 20K loop done twice.   Decided to play the fade going out fast ,  really fast running 2 of the Three Sisters as well has half of the Martin Rd climb.   I was through 10K in under an hour although my Garmin said somewhere closer to 9Ks ... still very happy with that.    Flew through the first 20K loop felling pretty good in crossing the start/ finish somewhere around 3hrs10min to 3hrs15min...  will have to check the actual splits!   The day wasn't hot ,  high teens to low 20's but it was humid with zero breeze.    I was sweating heavily and should have jumped on the hydration a little sooner because it hit me pretty hard around 33Ks in... a wee bit dehydrated ,  not terrible bad but enough to take the wind out of my sails.   I kept moving well through the last 17Ks but it was much slower then before and I was walking just about all the hills running the flats and the downhills.    Did about 7 gels and a around 6 S Caps over the course of the race.  I started to get a little more pop in the legs across the top of the Lollipop but there was not much course left and I had already burned and extra 15 min or so on the last loop.   At around the 30K mark I figured that I may have a shot at around 5hrs30min but I knew I was slowing but I was confident in a sub 6 or so I thought...doubt crept in ,  actually the " Ultra Brain "  so I was pretty happy with the time that I logged.

Garmin Splits,   10K 56min,   30K 3hrs9min, 50K 5hrs45 min.  1st 20K look was 2hrs13min and the second time around it was much slower in 2hrs36min


 So the jury is out ...suspect that I would have had a similar time or possibly slightly better if I had of paced myself more evenly.  Possibly if I had of hydrated a wee bit more in the beginning I may have been a bit faster.   Regardless it was a good day with great results.

 Saturday I am running a local 10Ker then the following week its the CTC 50K Saturday the 42.2K Sunday.


Fitbit data was a little spotty in the last couple of hours ... too much sweat between the watch and my skin.  HR was high start to finish but I really didn't notice it until I peaked here and there in the 150's then I backed it down a wee bit.

Garmin Data ...