HAT Run 50K - 21 March 2015 - A Long Muddy Day

Susquehanna State Park - Havre de Grace, MD
7:11:54 Gun
203/277 Overall and 53/67 M40-49
First Ultra of 2015 and fifth career ultra
Second MD 50K

83.4 Miles raced in 2015

My decision to race the HAT Run 50K was taken less then two weeks before the race.  We had scheduled our spring family vacation to pass through Maryland to visit friends (having just moved back Toronto from Annapolis last summer) and noticing that a number of friends were planning to race the HAT 50K on 21 Mar 15.  Since there were two remaining spots in the race, the wait list was empty, I was able to scrape into the race.  With my spring focus on being for preparing for the Laurel Highlands Ultra (70.5 M) in mid-June, I decided to use HAT as a 50K long training run. 

Pre-Race.  The weather leading up to HAT was fairly good with the trails looking good until Friday 20 Mar when a first day of spring storm dropped an inch plus of snow across northern Maryland which would lead to a rather challenging race day.  We drove down to Maryland from Toronto overnight on the evening of Thur 19 Mar.  My specific objectives for the race beyond getting time on feet were to work on my long ultra pacing and nutrition.



Snowy morning at Susquehanna State Park

I really liked the drop bag access at the Start/Finish

Race Day.  Race morning dawned sunny and crisp at 32F.  I carpooled from Annapolis with a number of friends from the Annapolis Striders (thanks Kim and Jimmy for driving) to arrive at SSP to find an inch to 1.5 inches of crunchy snow covering the ground.


Mass Start Ready

The Opening Loop Conga Line

  After picking up our packets, we dropped off our drop bags at the Start/Finish aid station pavilion and headed down to a mass cross-country style start.  There was about 500 yards for the 402 starters to try and space themselves out before hitting the single track.  Despite that, the inevitable conga line formed and for initial 3.5 mile figure eight, for those runners deeper in the field it was walk run similar to traffic on I95 between Baltimore and Washington.   The initial loop took in a few hills and a single track through both forests and open fields.  The end of the loop came back through the start/finish area and access to runner's drop bags.  I had gone out pretty easy on the start and found myself really mired in the field unable to run my desired pace.  The next two loops were just over 13.5 miles each.  The next five miles had a steady diet of sharp rolling single track hills with a few chunks of open fields as well as three feet wet creek crossing.  I fell crossing the first creek which just added to the fun. At the 10 mile point the course moved onto two miles of roads before coming through the Deer Creek Aid Stn for a second time.  Leaving the aid station the next were 5 miles were largely sharp rolling single track along the Susquehanna Ridge trail back to the start/finish line.  Through the first two hours the course conditions had held up but as the temperatures warmed, snow melted and the heavily ran over course started to significantly deteriorate.  Midway through the run along the Susquehanna Ridge trail came the deepest creek crossing of the day. 

Second loop along Deer Creek

View of Susquehanna River

 

Deep Creek Crossing

I finished the first lap around 3:45 and headed back onto the course for the second lap.  The course continue to deteriorate with grip becoming particularly challenging especially on the descents.  I found it very challenging to sustain a decent pace for the rest of race, which was largely ground out on a run/walk mix through ever deepening mud.  I finally crossed the finish line at 7:11:54 (Garmin Connect File).  It was a particularly tough year with only 277 finishers from 402 starters.  I found that the race was really well run, the course was generally very well marked, both aid stations were excellent and I really liked the drop bag access at the start/finish.  I was largely able to practice my planned fueling strategy of a gel + Gatorade every 30 minutes but I'm still looking for something balance the acid build up after 5+ hours on my feet.  Pacing  was a struggle throughout between the conga line at the start and mud later on but I'll continue to work that.  The course was a steady diet of hills, totalling somewhere between 3500-4500 feet of climbing (Ultra Signup states 4300 feet).

At the line - Photo credit - James Wilson

With Jimmy at the end

The Bling

Travel and Bling.  The HAT run had two sets of premiums.  The starters premium included the standard tech shirt and a nice cooler bag with the finisher's premium including a running hat (it wouldn't be the HAT run without a hat) and an umbrella.  Susquehanna State Park is located about 10 minutes north of I-95 at Havre de Grace, MD which is about 45 minutes north east of Baltimore.  We had drove down as part of our vacation but local airports would be BWI or Philadelphia.  There are a number of chain hotels in Aberdeen MD which is 15 minutes from Havre de Grace on I-95.

Final Thoughts.  Although it was a really tough day this year, I really enjoyed the HAT run.   It was great to run with friends from the Annapolis Striders (Thanks Jimmy, Kim, Darrell, Tom and Mike). This is a challenging, rolling course but it was race directors put on an outstanding event.  For me, its time to really focus in on the training over the next few weeks leading into a series of warm-up races including Pick Your Poison 50K (25 Apr), Wisconsin & Kalamazoo Marathons (2/3 May) and the Seaton Trail 50 K (9 May) all on the road to Laurel Highlands on 13 June.