I headed out to Circleville, OH Friday night before the
\nSaturday race after work. It had been hot most of the week (and humid), with
\nthe same weather predicted during race day. It\u2019s pretty unusual for the
\ntemperature to be in the high 80s and low 90s in Northwester Ohio in the beginning of May, and
\nit reminded me of the hot temps during last year\u2019s Woodstock 100 (in which the
\nheat index reached over 100!). I\u2019m not a fan of hot and humid weather so I knew
\nit was going to be challenging, especially with these temps so soon in the
\nyear. Most of the training for races in the beginning of spring is done in the
\nwinter months, so there is obviously no chance to acclimate to very high
\ntemperatures during this time. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

The ride down to Circleville was pleasant enough through
\nflat state roads that traversed wide open farm land. The single lane roads were
\nslow which made the trip longer than expected, but I arrived around 8:00 PM
\nwith some day light to spare to set up my tent in the A.W. Marion State Park
\ncampground. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

It wasn\u2019t the best campground in the world, especially for
\nthe price, but cheaper than a hotel so I can\u2019t complain too much. There was an
\nobnoxious family around 200 yards away who had a small child who kept crying
\nwhich kept me up later than I wanted to. I forgot to pack earplugs, a big
\nmistake! Luckily around 11:00 I heard fighting and who I expect was the mom
\ntold her husband she was leaving with the kid. She drove off soon after and the
\nnoise was a lot better, letting me sleep for 6 hours before waking up at 5:00
\nAM.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

It was humid when I woke up \u2013 a bad sign. I ate some
\nbreakfast, 2 bananas, an orange, and a protein bar, and packed up my things.
\nThe starting\/parking area was only a 5 minute drive from the campground, on the
\nopposite side of Hargus Lake. Hargus Lake is the central attraction of the
\npark, and there is a trail system that travels around its circumference. The
\nrace course follows most of this trail and has a few detours to make it 8.2 miles
\nfor one loop. 4 loops get you to 50 kilometers (~33 miles).\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

50K Course<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

I arrived at the start\/finish area and picked up my race bib
\nand packet. There were a few odds and ends in the packet, including a nice
\nshirt which was unfortunately a little too large for me. After pinning my bib
\nto my shorts I sat down on a bench looking over the lake and waited for the
\n6:15 AM pre-race meeting as the sun slowly rose over tranquil waters.<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

$\"\"$ <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Hargus Lake & Dam<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The pre-race meeting was held with enthusiastic participants
\nhuddled around. There were maybe only a 100 or so people at the race, giving it
\na nice, small intimate feel. This is much different than the Glass City
\nMarathon in Toledo I ran in two weeks prior, which had thousands of runners. I
\nmuch prefer this small feel. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

We all lined up soon after the meeting, toeing the starting
\nline. We were off running at the sound of the horn and first ran over the dam
\non the west side of the Lake. The trail soon dipped down into the woods on
\nsingle track trail where we remained for the entire loop. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

The first miles went easy, up and down gentle hills, and I
\nwas feeling pretty good. There is a water stop at 4.8 miles and an aid station
\nat 5.8 miles at the Campground on the other side of the lake. I reached the aid
\nstation after an hour of running and continued on to the beginning of the loop.
\nI reached the starting area in 1:20, and was feeling pretty good after grabbing
\na gel and some ice water. I headed out on the second loop feeling pretty
\nstrong. The second loop was a little slower, with the heat and humidity steadily
\nincreasing. I got to the campground aid station and ate some pineapple and
\ngrapes, grabbed a gel, and filled my water. I reached the start\/finish aid
\nstation soon after at around 3 hours. After passing through the aid station I
\nstarted to feel very nauseous. Nothing I ate or drank seemed to settle well in
\nmy stomach. I got rid of my shirt, soaked in sweat, before starting the 3<\/span>^{rd<\/sup><\/span>
\nloop. I tried to run but was soon defeated to a brisk walk because of my
\nstomach. If I ran I would have thrown up. The heat and humidity had bested me.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nI walked almost the entire third loop, waiting for the
\nnausea to go away. I grabbed a salt tab at the campground aid station and ate
\nsome more fruit. By the time I walked back to the start\/finish line, it was 5 hours
\nand 30 minutes; the third loop took me a pitiful 2 and half hours to complete! I
\nate a gel and another salt tab and filled up on water. I instantly felt better
\nand began running the final loop. I felt great for the first time until I
\ntripped on a root and fell head first into some mud. I got up and brushed
\nmyself off \u2013 I was by myself so no one saw what I just did!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nI reached the finish line in 7:36 \u2013 much longer than I
\nanticipated, but at least I finished. After having to drop out of the Woodstock
\n100 last year I knew the feeling of not finishing and did not want to repeat
\nthat. Even though it took me longer, I\u2019m glad a saw it through. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nOverall the course was a lot hillier than I thought it was
\ngoing to be. It had a lot of sharp inclines at around 30% or more, which wore
\nme down over time.\u00a0 The best part was being able to select the finisher\u2019s medal.
\nThis is the fifth year this race has been put on, so they offered a choice of
\ngetting a medal from the first few years, which were really nice hand-crafted
\nmedals. I picked the one from the first year \u2013 it\u2019s really neat!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Finisher\u2019s Medal<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\nOverall it was a fun little course that challenged me harder
\nthan I thought it would. It\u2019s a great course for the spring as a training race
\nor a first Ultra and I would definitely recommend it to anyone living in the
\narea. Again, many thanks to the volunteers that spend a lot of time supporting
\nand putting on events like these. They wouldn\u2019t happen without everyone\u2019s
\ngenerosity!<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Waterville, OH I headed out to Circleville, OH Friday night before the Saturday race after work. It had been hot most of the week (and humid), with the same weather predicted during race day. It\u2019s pretty unusual for the temperature to be in the high 80s and low 90s in Northwester Ohio in the beginning 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