Promise Land 50K
Article by Danny McDonnell
I've just run my 14th Ultra in 11 months and I can finally say that the
beauty of the run outweighed the pain that it induced. This is a tough
statement to make after a 7 hour 50K but even tougher to comprehend when
the R.D. is David Horton.
WHen you become a Horton +++ mileage runner you accept long miles and
tiresome climbs up white gravel roads as part of the journey he takes
you on to find the small part of your soul that wants to know just what
you can endure while still enjoying this thing we call ultra-running.
The Promise Land 50K starts out in the black of morning at 5:30 am
climbing one of those dusty 18% grade hills you expect to run when your
shirt has words like Montrail, Patagonia, & Frank Villa (Optometrist) on
it. The difference in this race started after 42 minutes of walking 2.5
miles up that hill with 150 other runners. We entered a rocky trail and
kept climbing, but the views were spectacular. Early Spring was
everywhere and the higher we climbed the more views we got of the Blue
Ridge Parkway area of Virginia. After 1 hour and 6 minutes of total
climbing, trudging, and walking, we entered a grass covered forest road
that was as green and well kept as a golf course. We began a rolling
run with even better views of mountains and valleys.
After 3 hours I met my wife at the first crew accessible aid station.
This was only 12 miles into the race. As usual at David's aid stations
the people running them are so gracious and helpful you would think they
get something out of helping us besides a tee shirt that has Montrail,
Patagonia, and Thanks Again (Frank Villa) written on them but they
don't. Thank you all (volunteers) for your friendships and help during
these awesome runs. When you're at the 12 mile aid station, you realize
there are no leaves on the trees and everyone is wearing winter
clothing. My wife, Patti who has crewed for me at the Mountain
Masochist, comments how great the directions are that David provided for
this race and how awesome the views are on top of this little of
Virginia.
WHen I leave this aid station I head into a blend with the Appalachian
Trail where I meet a thru-hiker on his way to Maine that was more
concerned with how far the race was that I was running. I yelled back
to him "32 miles." He said, "God Bless you all."
I returned the wish
to him and continued down a very steep rocky decent that ran next to a
beautiful stream for 5 miles. It only took 40 minutes and yet I was
passed by 6 people on the way as they were screaming with joy at the
thought of downhill running. I had a felling I would see these people
again because when David entices you with a downhill run, you had better
save yourself and your quads for the climb back out.
When the run flattened out again there was my wife at the 17.8 mile
point with a short sleeve shirt on and leaves on the trees around her.
I took a moment to spray some bug spray on me and took off. She yelled
behind me did I know when I'd get to the 27 mile point to see her
again. Seeing how the race had progressed I figured 9 miles would take
between 2 and 2.5 hours, that turned out to be about right.
I met up with Ken Hubbard a 53 yr. old runner from Richmond and we ended
up getting along so well that we helped each other all the way to finish
some 15 miles later. Ken and I had both run cautiously down the 5 mile
slope and ended up passing 12 people on the way in but especially up a
2.5 mile climb that took 58 minutes to walk. This section was the
prettiest and toughest trail I've ever been on for a solid hour. It
included a 100 ft. waterfall with modern wood bridges around its base
that must have been brought in and built by 5000 Boy Scouts with very
large calf muscles.
When Ken and I way my wife at the top of this climb, it was the same aid
station where I first saw her. Sure enough she had her coat on again
and was as happy as I've ever seen her when crewing for me. I told her
I'd see her at the finish and took off running.
Ken had told me he thought we couldn't break 7 hours, but we'd be within
15 minutes of it. As we got to the last aid station at top of the 2.5
mile hill we had climbed some 6.5 hours before we decided to give it all
we had. We passed 4 more people going down that hill and felt every
step in our quads. It all paid off as we spilled across the finish to a
cheering David Horton in 6:59:53!! We tied for 57th place out of 150
runners and loved every step of the way.
Dave Horton deserves so much credit for what he does for this sport. I
can't thank him enough. He puts his heart and soul into a thankless job
and I admire him for that more than all of his running accomplishments.
Thanks Dave. You've got a winner of a race at the Promise Land.
Danny