This morning I ran the Chase the Coyote 50k at Mono Cliffs Provincial Park. This was my second time completing this event, though it was not without incident and my day was nearly cut very short. However, an aid station volunteer - no, a hero - saved the day. Let's start at the beginning.
Last year when I ran the race, after a series of detours on the way to the park, I got lost and arrived (and promptly started) 12 minutes after the race had begun. In a sense, it was a bit of a relief because I found that I was running all alone and without any pressure. I was too far back to catch up to the pack that I would normally run with so, instead, I decided to just enjoy the beautiful trails. I ended up having a great day. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and actually ran quite well and eventually made my way up to 4th place.
This morning, I carpooled with my friends Jay West and Jennifer Coleman (both had great races). We arrived bright and early and I was greeted repeatedly with "Oh, you're starting on time this year?". Never gets old. I had all my excuses lined up for the day. I had a sore knee, achilles tendonitis, and, most importantly, I was simply not ready to run a hard effort 50k. I wanted to run a conservative race and use it, along with the other three 50k races I have between now and the end of October, as training runs for my December 100 miler.
I started at a pace that I felt was sustainable- at least for the first 25k loop. It certainly wasn't a fast pace but I did find myself breathing pretty heavy after only 5k. Just like last year, the course was in great shape and very enjoyable. I made sure to look around and enjoy the scenery, as I usually do. I tripped on a root and, with the grace and elegance of a professional ballerina, I flew through the air and somehow landed in the full splits. Ok, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, let's call it a 1/4 splits, which is more accurate. In the process, I further split the crotch of my shorts, which already had a hole in them. More importantly, I also split my underwear creating a large tear in the crotch. Although I appreciated the gentle breeze as I pranced through the meadows, the area started chaffing almost immediately. For this race, I didn't bring any gels or nutrition and I didn't carry a bottle. Literally the only thing I had with me was a small container of an anti-chaffing salve called "Squirrel's Nut Butter". Seriously. Between kilometres 6-10 of the course, I stopped 3 times to reapply but the situation was too severe for even this magical product. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty down about my situation. Every step caused a stinging sensation and I knew that I would not be able to continue. If you've never had severe chaffing before, the pain is said to be 4 times worse than natural childbirth (ridiculous exaggeration but it does hurt a fair bit).
When I arrived at the next aid station, I decided that I simply could not continue. My friends Victoria and Jamie were running the aid station and I informed them of my situation and told them that I would have to stop. I've never DNF'd in a 50k race before and was disappointed because I was actually feeling pretty good. Just as I was about to throw in the towel, Jamie said the words that no human has ever said to me before: "Would you like to borrow my underwear?" At first I didn't know what to say. It was a very kind gesture for sure but, really? Wearing another person's underwear? To be clear, I am not referring to a spare pair that he brought with him but in fact, the actual underwear that he was wearing. Victoria LOVED the idea. "Please,please please! Do it!". I looked him right in the eyes and said, "Jamie, let's do this!". You've heard of people willing to give someone the shirt right off their back but this guy, he was willing to go one step further and give me the underwear right off of his... well, you know (I had a long list of terms to use to crassly describe his privates, such as his "tan banana, Russell the one-eyed muscle, frank and beans, womb raider, or the Foreman" but I decided to keep it PG, since my mom reads my blog. Sorry mom!). As I left the aid station, Jamie told me "Those are yours now. I don't want them back".
They say that before you judge someone, try walking a mile in their shoes. Running 40k in their undies is just as effective.
My chaffing was not an issue for the remainder of the day. I ended up running pretty decently up until around 30k and then slowed down a fair bit. I continued to push on, albeit quite slowly, and eventually picked up the pace a little bit in the last 5k. Even though I didn't run particularly well in the second 25k loop, nobody passed me. If the course was 2k longer, I definitely would have been caught by my friend Stephan.
Heather and her son ran the 12k event and had a great race- he even managed to place 3rd in his age group (under 19), which is difficult for a 12 year old to do.
I had some nasty calf cramping in the final 10k of the race and, after finishing, I was surprisingly sore. It felt more like I had just run 100k, which I attribute to my lack of long training runs over the past 2 months. Chase the Coyote is a great race. It is challenging but not overly difficult and suitable for beginners. It is well organized and has a great vibe. I highly recommend adding this to your calendar. Bring an extra pair of undies!
