How? Why? Are You Crazy?

 With the Dogwood Canyon 50k falling just 2 weeks after the Arkansas Traveller 100 miler it has been hard to find time to recap the race. I plan to write about it at some point because it was a great race for me and almost makes me feel worthy of claiming to be an “UltraMarathoner”. Almost. Whatever. I’ll talk about that junk later. 

I never really know what people want to read about. Soooo…… I would like to extend the opportunity for you to ask ANY questions you have about this race/100 milers/50 milers/Ultra’s/running in general. Please don’t be afraid to ask even if it seems dumb. I can pretty much guarantee that there will be 10 other people that want to know the same thing. It’s seems silly but I take a lot of this stuff for granted…. 

Here are some questions I’ve already received….

Did you have a feeling going into the race that you would do this well?

It looks like you ran with a group part of the time. Did you already know those guys or did you meet some new interesting people?

Is that how you usually run ultras – stick with a group for a while then move on if you feel like you can carry a faster pace?

At what point in the race did Charley start running with you?

This was an out and back course, wasn’t it? How often along the course did you see Charley before he started pacing you?

I’ve read that the volunteers at that race are really awesome. What did you think?


Did you have a plan on how you were going run this race? If so, did it go according to plan?

I’ve heard you talk about goals – you have your “A” goal, your “B” and your “C.” I’m thinking this race was an “A” Am I right?

Was the terrain pretty challenging? The elevation chart looked really, really tough.

It was cold and a little drizzly here. The weather was pretty nasty there, too. Did it make the run much harder?

What shoes did you wear? Do you change your shoes during the race or do you just wear the same ones throughout?

What did you eat?

I saw your post where your weight stayed about the same. You didn’t have any dehydration or electrolyte imbalance issues at all? How do you do that over such a long distance?


What was the very best point in the race?



What was the worst?

Would you do anything different?

Did you win your age group?

Will you do this race again?

Tell me about the end of the race. It kind of looked like several of you came in fairly close together. Did you have to push really hard for fourth place?

Do you think training with PrsFit made a difference? I know you were doing a lot of the same stuff before, but it did seem like you were logging a lot of training miles.

what is wandering through that mind of yours at about 50 miles then again 85 miles?

How do keep up with the fueling… That’s a long time to keep running but even longer to have to keep up with the energy requirements I would think

how do you deal with tummy issues? do they ever arise?

So oreos are a good fuel source?

Yeah, I’m still trying to figure out fuel and electrolytes, I’d certainly like to hear your take especially since you’re about the same weight class as me. Those little guys don’t need to worry so much about that.

People who don’t run at all will want to know why you put yourself through this.

Did you have a pacer/have you ever paced? I’m pacing a friend in a 100 next weekend. Pros/cons?