Black Warrior 50K Race report

I will be brief with my report being that I am not the seasoned blogger and I don't want to bore you . So here goes, the day was about as perfect as one could hope for. 32 degrees at the start with a forecasted high of around 64.From start to finish everything went as planned. I knew it was going to be tough because of both the distance and the fact that I had never ran anything over 22 miles. My race plan was simple: (Just Finish) of course I had a time in the back of my head that I thought I could do and in the end I did beat that time with a few mintues to spare. AS#1(6.0) came pretty fast and with the day heating up I dropped my swiftwick arm warmers there, reloaded and was on my way. Upon reaching the 50k/25k split we also reached our 1st major water crossing(8.3)and although it looked as if I was going to get wet I some how managed to get a cross with out wet feet. After what seemed like forever I finally arrived at AS#2(12.52) with a group of about 8 runners. I quickly refilled my bottles and gels and ate as much as possible. AS#3(17.18)came pretty fast with out any problems, now I just needed to get to the 2ND major water crossing @ approx.
(19.51)and then on to AS#4 (22.52) and see how I felt, I arrived there right on time and feeling good not great but just good! After stocking up on a new supply of gels, food and 2 fresh bottles I was off and into uncharted territory. After climbing up and down for what seemed forever I finally reached AS#5(29.54)(Was this the hardest section of the race or was it fatigue?) All I had left was a short 2.8 miles back down to the finish. Upon reaching the finish I was relieved not to have to run any more, but WOW what a great experience!! Official time (5:44:46) I was not exhausted and not refreshed by any means, I just felt complete if that works, I seemed to some how use just the perfect amount of energy and still have enough left to really enjoy my 1st ultra experience. So what did I take away from this? I was prepared to do the distance with the mileage I put in, swiftwick socks are the best socks I have ever put on my feet(zero blisters) Ultrarunning is a beautiful sport I can't think of a better way to spend 5/6 hours than running in the woods. I am definitely hooked and I have already started looking for the next ultra. Thanks Jeff for the pic!!

keep moving forward!!
rw