Toward the end of September my friend AK asked me if I would
do a race with her. She wanted to do the Stone Steps 50k in Cincinnati. This
race is billed as “Cincinnati’s Toughest Ultra.” It is no joke. And even though
I hadn’t ran any real distance (any more than 8-10 miles at a time) in recent
months I decided why the hell not? So I signed up and went about formulating a
4 week training plan that would at least give me a shot at finishing the race.
The day before the race I did something I’d never done before:
bought a pair of trail shoes. Yes, that’s correct. Although I run on trails
quite regularly and was about to embark on my 4th ultra (all 4 on
trails), I didn’t own a pair of trail shoes. Yes, I know getting shoes the day
before a race isn’t ideal. To be fair, I didn’t plan on running in them the
whole time. (Spoiler alert: I did run the whole race in them.) Anyway, I
visited my local running store, Up and Running in Troy, and tried on a few pairs.
I fell in love with the Mizuno Waves. They were lightweight yet sturdy. And
after Sunday’s race, I’m hooked on them. I walked away from that rugged trail
race with NO blisters. And I’m not going to lose any toenails either. Woot!
I left my house at 6am on Sunday morning and drove to
Cincinnati’s Mount Airy Forest, an absolute gem of a park very close to
downtown. To be honest, I was really nervous on the way down. It was over an
hour away and my stomach was in knots the whole time. I felt tired and
nauseated and wondered why I was wasting some perfectly good sleeping time to
run around in the woods. (I am not a morning person.)
When I arrived at the race I quickly found AK at the sign-in
spot. It was chilly and dark when we got there but by the 8am start time the
sun had risen. The race directors gave us all a pep talk (I think there were
around 100+ people signed up to run) and turned us loose on the trails at 8am.
This event consisted of 4 big loops of 5.3 miles alternating with 3 loops of 3+
miles each. Both loops lead back to just one very well equipped aid station. There’s over 10,000 feet of elevation change. Basically that means
that you’re always going either up or down. There are very few flat stretches.
It is also mostly one track and very technical – meaning full of rocks and
roots. There are spots where a misstep could send a person tumbling down a
ravine that looks beautiful but probably wouldn’t be fun to land in.
The namesake of the race happens during the big loop – the
dreaded stone steps. I started calling it the hellish hill to Hades. Those steps last forever. And we had to do them FOUR times. That loop
also had Gummy Bear Hill to contend with, another extremely
challenging uphill battle. (It did have a big bag of Gummy Bears at the top. That was nice.
It would’ve been better if they were soaked in vodka, but beggars
can’t be choosers.) The smaller loop was no piece of cake either. It didn’t
have any HUGE hills to contend with but it had plenty of gradual raises of
elevation followed by quad busting downhills.
In the weeks leading up this race I had faced some emotional
turmoil. I was looking forward to talking with AK while we conquered the
trails. We run well together. There are times when we talk non-stop, and other
times there’s complete silence. I also got some solo time as I ended up running
the last few loops on my own. I needed that – time alone to absorb some recent
changes and reflect on life.
Although I have some excellent friends I talk
to on a regular basis, I desperately needed some time to do some deep thinking
– just me and the trails…a time where no one was asking anything of me and all
I had to do was concentrate on the moment. A time to reflect and think about
what is important to me - what to hold on to, as well as the things I need to let
go of. It was a perfect day to do that. It was a sunny day – crisp and cool.
The color of the leaves on the trees and the ground ranged from green to gold
to vivid orange and red.
While in some ways those last few loops felt very cleansing,
they were also painful. My left hip and knee were killing me. My quads were
also extremely unhappy. I’ll be honest, I was giving myself pep talks during
the last 5 miles. Out loud. In the woods. Alone. Judge if you must, I don’t
care.
As I crossed the finish line at the end of my final loop the
race director caught me and asked my name and age. I answered, curious as to
why he wanted it. Was I the last one on the trail? I knew I wasn’t setting in
course records on this crazy hard course but was I the reason he and many of
the EXCELLENT volunteers were hanging around? But to my extreme surprise, I
actually placed first in my age group. I was shocked. I’m 41 – the age group
for 40-49 females is usually very competitive and there are plenty of women in
that range that excel at ultras. I don’t consider myself an accomplished or
expert runner. But when the race director handed me the award, I was stoked. I wish I would've gotten a picture with him, the guy is a legend. Thank you, David Corfman!
Overall, this race was as fabulous as it was challenging. The trail was well marked. The volunteers were incredibly supportive. The other runners were
encouraging – including the ones who were flying by and trying to set course
records. The scenery was breathtaking. I
drove home exhausted but happy. I was very sore for a few days. Getting up and
down the spiral staircase at work required time, effort, and a few choice
words. Don’t get me started on the
chafing in my armpits and from my sports bra. I guess all that’s a small price
to pay. And I’m already scoping out ultras for next year… there may just be a
50 miler on the horizon.
If you're looking for an intense race that will cause you to dig into your inner reserves just to finish, Stone Steps 50k is a good option. It is not for the faint hearted...but it is well worth the effort. Be sure to train on hills...
P.S. I didn’t run for a week and then went out and did The
Narrows 10k this past Sunday. It’s put on by ORRRC and was super fun. There
were over 150 runners and I managed to place 5th in my age group. No
chafing this time. Holla!
