One of my goals this year is to complete a 50 mile event. This is definitely a stretch for me, but with hard work I think it's something that's achievable. I haven't decided on which 50 miler I want to do yet, but here's a short list of ones I'm closely considering.
The Nashville Ultramarathon - If I ran this Erin and I would fly down and visit her sister at the same time. I'm optimistic I'd be able to talk my brother in law into coming along and crewing for me. Downsides of this one are the 12 hour time limit and dealing with the travel logistics. This race is late enough in the season that it would be my last of the year, I also wouldn't have to sacrifice events before this to rest up.
The Northface Endurance 50 - This race looks well organized and has a 13 hour cutoff. Driving to Wisconsin will be a bit easier then dealing with travel arrangements to Tennessee and Erin could run a trail marathon at the same time I run my event. The downsides to this event are it's the same weekend as Bismarck where Erin, Rick, Kristy and I planned on running the relay again, it's the weekend after the Dick Beardsley half marathon so I wouldn't be able to run that hard, and I'm guessing I wouldn't have enough time after the event to recover to try for a fast half at the FM mini marathon.
Surf the Murph - This event has a luxurious 14 hour cutoff and only about a 4 hour drive away. It's even later in the year then Nashville so it doesn't conflict with any other events. It's hard to come up with a drawback to this event, perhaps that should tell me something.
Leanhorse - This one didn't interest me too much until the past few days when I leaned that Maggie is looking to run the 50 miler this year as well. Having a friendly face at the event and someone who has been there before would be a great help. It's in late August which works well with my event schedule, so well that I might be able to do this and Surf the Murph. It is a bit earlier in the season then where I've been looking and I do have some concerns about being ready for this with all the events I have going on during June and July this year. Other downsides to Leanhorse include the 12 hour cutoff and the heat that I will need to run in.
You're going to do very well in whatever event you choose to run. You have the determination and mental toughness to run these longer ultras (I think that's a nice way of saying you're stubborn?). You really are an inspiration. Of course you know that means I can accuse you of inspiring me to set my sights on a longer race :-)
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