Veteran 50-Mile Race Advice
One of the greatest things about ultrarunning, and more specifically, ultrarunners, is the comraderie that exists in the sport. Most experienced runners are eager to offer advice and guidance to new ultrarunners taking on seemingly surreal challenges.
Below are responses from a variety of runners, from the race director himself who holds completion records for the Appalachian Trail and PCT, to first-timers who completed the Mountain Masochist with a big sigh of relief. Their input and feedback plays a big part in my race preparation.
Mountain Masochist 50-Mile Race Advice from the Pros
“Make sure you do long runs on trails, really no longer than 25 miles. Find some climb that goes up for 2 to 5 miles and run up and down it once a week for speed and strength and leg turnover.”
“The pre race dinner is like a homecoming of sorts with tons of folks there. Masochist attracts a lot of the national talent and is a great opportunity to meet folks.”
“Don’t believe Horton’s mile markers, they are off (example: the 1st part of the race is on the road – he says 5miles, but it is definitely closer to 7)”
“I always feel like I’ve been run over by a dump truck whenever I finish the Masochist, partly because of the long stretches of very hard-packed forest roads, mainly because of the big ups and downs.”
“The reason the cutoffs are so tough is because the race is actually 54 miles rather than 50. ”
“You will hear a lot of talk from some about the infamous 5 mile ‘loop’ about how hard it is. the talk is all bunk! The loop starts with about 1 1/2 mile of slightly downhill single track on a moss covered trail followed by a fairly killer hill of about 1/2 to 3/4 mile, hey you just walk it and when you top out get back into your running routine. The last 2 to3 of the loop is mostly downs with a few medium hills, no big deal.”
“The loop is the best section of the course and most of it is runnable.”
“Remember not to waste a lot of time at the aid stations, get what you eed and get out shouldn’t be more than a minute at each (16 minutes for the hole race) more than that and your losing time. You only have to average 3:20 per mile and that’s figuring on 54 miles.”
“Leave a drop bag at the half-way station (you will need it; it directly precedes a 3mile uphill)”
“If the weather is hot you should concentrate more on volume of fluid . . . maybe drink more water and dilute your replacement drink. If the weather is cold concentrate on drinking your replacement drink and possibly mixing it a little stronger.”
“I put a Red Bull in the drop bag just before the “hill” 6 miles worth that you hit at mile 26.”
“…remember the second half of the race is much harder starting with the climb up Buck Mountain.”
“After the last aid station is some sweet downhill, so go for it…but at the bottom you will still have almost 1mile to the finish (via a road)”
“Beware the rubber snake at the end of the tunnel.”
“There is a little general store where you can get some food and drink after the finish so have some cash in your drop bag”
