Ice Age 50 .....
by Michael Jones

When I look back at the Ice Age 50 I see quite a challenge. I've run the Ice Age 50 twice before, so I knew what I was in for when I signed up for the race, but I did it anyway.

To start with the Ice Age 50 is not a road race. It's a trail race, and not an easy one at that. It is held in the Kettle Moraine Forest on the Ice Age Trail. The Ice Age Trail was formed when the Wisconsin glacier receded. Per the Ice Age web site "The race course you run is a living museum of the imprints of the last glacial advance, with its glacial boulders, steep ridges, knobby hills and kettle depressions."

Now the first 10 miles aren't too bad. They are run on the Nordic ski trail. It is very beautiful with rolling hills, and good views. Most of the trails have mulch on them, making them very easy to run and just a lot of fun. The problem for me on these trails was to keep the speed down. Yes that is right, you don't want to go too fast there because you still have 40 more miles to go and you just don't want to burn out. The other thing is on almost every hill you don't want to run them. If you do, you won't finish. It is very hard to resist the urge to run on the hills!

On the next 23 miles you go to the actual Ice Age trail on narrow rock covered trails, but it is still very beautiful and there are some great views with several lakes to run past. The first point of interest for me was the half marathon point. I was running the race with Martin Graupner, when we hit the half point at 2:14. Pretty slow. Well I don't know. Will I have energy at the end? The course keeps getting harder as you go on in the race.

At each aid station I was eating M&M's and drinking water and Succeed. The Succeed wasn't going down very well, so I switched to Coke, Yes Coke. It is a good sports drink and don't let any one fool you. It is available at most Ultra aid stations. The fizz is mostly gone as the drink sits out. I also had my water bottle filled in most aid stations. Which I would drink in between aid stations.

When we got to mile 22 there was a turn-a-round. Leading into the turn-a-round you got to see the leaders and where you stood with them and after it you could see who was behind you. Those are fun, if you are doing well. The first one was around a small lake and quite scenic. What is even more fun it is only 4 miles to the marathon point. What you have to do is take races like this and break them up into small parts. It helps keep your mind in the game. For example at the last turn-a-round there is only a Scenic 10 left. Well not that easy, but at least you can play it out in your mind that way. Or you can think of the distance from the last two aid stations to the finish as only a 5k. It just helps you mentally get through it. Well we made it to the marathon point in 4:48. What a marathon time. Oh well, still 24 miles to go, and those are harder than the first 26.

At mile 33 the trail gets very tough. We have a 4.2 mile leg with continual large climbs on rocky trails. you have to watch each foot placement or you trip. It is long and challenging, and guess what - they make you do it twice. There are 2 3 mile-not-quite-as-bad legs leading to the 40 mile turn-a-round.

I was doing OK at 33 and still running well at the 40 mile turn-a-around. But at just over 41 mile I started getting leg cramps. This is a big problem. I had to start walking, but what to do about them? I told Martin I had a problem. Just then our friend Dick Canterbury came by in the other direction. He had some Succeed electrolyte pills. I took 2 and it fixed my cramps right now and I was running again and ready to take on that last tough 4.2 mile leg.

After we reached that point, it was just a 5k to the finish on fairly easy trails with competitors around. Let's go after them and get it over!

When we did finish I had a PR at 50 miles at 9:48 and fourth in my age group. Felt better than ever before, but very very tired, and glad to have it over. Ready to eat like a horse.

It was fun to run with someone. I would say that it would not be nearly as much fun if you weren't running with someone. You have someone to talk to. You have someone to give you encouragement, and to give encouragement to. It doesn't become boring, running for almost 10 hours. It was great to have Martin along.

Mike Jones