Well, we made it! What a FUN weekend we had up in Maine with our friends, as we run our very first ultra-marathon! We went up to New Gloucester, Maine for the Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival, and wow, what a weekend! It was so much fun, and the races/atmosphere/everything was AWESOME!
On Saturday, Bethany ran the Barefoot 5k and Ryan ran the 5k with shoes. Both races were very fun, and Bethany had a blast running through the woods and open fields with no shoes on. She's a nut. Ryan went out a little too hard storming through the woods up and down hills, and then tripped on a rock and took a nice spill down a hill around mile 2. We both had a great time with this little introduction to trail racing.
On Sunday, we ran the 50km together, and we've never had so much fun running a race together! Everything about the day was so much fun. The course was two - 15.5 mile loops, through beautiful woods and open fields, with wide trails, non-technical, and very windy and relentless hills. We started out strong, doing the first loop around 2:54, but ended up fading a bit in the second loop (especially in the open fields) when the sun came out and was beating down on us (Ryan does not do well in heat), but Ryan got his second wind in the last 5 miles, and we finished with a strong final time of 6:13:15 (12:01 pace). The aid stations were plentiful and so helpful, and the course supporters were SO NICE. The whole atmosphere of the whole weekend was amazing, great people, and nice post-race free beer and bbq. This is certainly a race we'll have circled on our calendars for years to come! Although next time, Miss Bethany is already talking about the 50 miler. =)
The best part is, the trails were so nice that neither one of us is sore today!
Here are some pictures from our awesome weekend!
At the starting line.
Miss Bethany all smiles, no shoes, courtesy of David Colby Young, race photographer.
Post-race bare feet. Notice the nail polish.
Ryan coming in for a strong finish, after his wipeout, photo courtesy of Don Penta, race photographer.
Awesome 50km race photo, courtesy of David Colby Young.
Post-race, all smiles, with our finisher cow-bells, Ryan's newest most prized possession.
Remember our good friend Barefoot Kevin with the blistered foot from the Providence Marathon? Here he is doing a headstand, minutes after a strong finish in the 50 miler.
Stay tuned for more pics from the weekend, and also Miss Bethany's elbow-licking photo!
26 comments:
AMAZING and INSPIRING. You make it look and sound so easy, but I am sure it was not. Way to go to the both of you.
How was the barefoot running?
Great job to the two of you. What a great thing you two do together...I love it.
Hi, I'm a new follower and just wanted to say great job on the ultra - sounds like you had an amazing weekend!
GREAT JOB!! That is such an awesome accomplishment!
Awesome pictures! Great job!
Great job on the ultra!
Barefoot Bethany is an animal, geesh! I love the picture of you dashing across the street! Nice job to the both of you on the ultra, you make it sound like a little run around the park. Hugs to you both!
Awesome Awesome Awesome!!!! Great job!!!! What a huge accomplishment.
That's awesome!! Congrats to both of you guys, I'm so very happy for ya both!!
What a fantastic weekend! Thanks for sharing! So great that you can do that together, well done!
Awesome job on the Ultra! That is great! Congrats on a wonderful racing weekend!! it sure was a great weekend to race!!
That race pace sounds wonderful :) How did you speed demons allow yourselves to go nice and easy?
WOW, congrats to you both on your first 50K! Awesome that you have been bitten by the trail (and ultra!) bug.
Wow, just wow! I'm so impressed! A 50K has been in my sights, but now I want to do one SOON!
Love the pics, congrats!
Congrats on an amazing weekend! How wonderful that you did your races together!
Great photos. I love the smiles.
Nice running skirt! Congrats on finishing your first ultra!
not only an ultra but a 5k first! you guys rock
Congrats both of you! I'm glad you had such a blast!! I'm so impressed!
Amazing! And yes, do give details about the barefoot running:)
Thanks, B!! I totally remember your toes the night of the marathon!!!!!! I'll look into buying this magical polish that makes kids flock to me, maybe BS will bow down at my feet, too!!
So impressed! Way to go you two!
Love the pictures - especially the head stand guy. Too funny!
Patiently waiting for the elbow licking.
It was so nice to meet both of you at the race. Lets keep in touch!
amazinggggg job! wow you guys are awesome :)
Great job for both of you, and you had fun too!! I love the nail polish and all the race pix. Thanks for sharing!
Congratulations!! What a great accomplishment.
AWESOME!!! Great job on the ultra. i ran a 50k, too this wknd to get ready for my ultra! we could have run together.
no idea how you ran barefoot. i would have been so worried!
Congratulations on your first 50K. Must be a little cooler up there now. It is in the 90's with high humidity here in East Texas. We don't worry about the snakes on the trails; it's the darn biting horseflies that hurt. Keep setting new goals.
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