Katelyn Benton

This past weekend I ran my very first 50 mile ultra marathon. First of all – the video Blog. Enjoy!!

Now, take a look at the elevation map.

First 25 mile loop

Second 25 mile loop

Looks more like a ski slope than a trail race! Because of the way May and June went, I came into this race knowing how under-trained I was, but didn’t doubt my fitness and my mindset and that’s truly what made the difference. This race was a gigantic success. I felt comfortable, I was euphorically, stupidly happy, I had no nutrition issues, no GI problems, no dehydration or nausea, what a positive experience. I may go as far as to say this was one of the most wonderful days of my life. Knowing I was under-trained actually took a lot of edge off of the race. It was like a day long moving picnic with beautiful scenery and I happened to also be running.

Near the end I was having a hard time with the downhills. At mile 47 I had to stop running the downhills. As you can see from the elevation map, the last few miles are at a pretty steep grade going down. The last segment of the video where it shows me seeing the finish was taken about a mile and a half out of the finish. It took me close to an hour to do that last mile and a half because of the steep downhill. I’m glad I had my headlamp! When it got dark at the end, it was still challenging to stay on course with the headlamp.

It’s been 3 days now and I feel great. My quads are still a little sore, but no big deal.

Ultra marathons are the best.