Susan Donnelly

Running through the bamboo.

In all the years I’ve been running ultras, I’ve avoided timed runs like the plague.  They seem like the worse form of mental torture – confining something you love to do in a tight little box.  Running a loop for 8-hours just to see how many miles you can squeeze out of your body.  The same thing over and over, running round and round and lots more rounds like a hamster on a wheel, going nowhere.

So it took a supremely odd combination of schedule changes and other goals to get me to sign up for 8-hour Hot to Trot in Atlanta, but I figured if I was going to do one, it would have to be one directed by Sarah Tynes.

The inestimable Sarah Tynes, RD Extraordinaire!

Now, anyone who knows Sarah won’t be surprised to hear this.  Those of you who don’t know her are missing out.  Sarah could make bamboo inserted under your nails fun and sure enough, she did the same for Hot to Trot.

First off, she found a nicer course than expected.  The 1.1-mile loop had definable sections – the bird garden, the boardwalks, the kudzu jungle, the bamboo forest, the turn to the road, the road, and the start/finish/lap counters.  Somehow, even though you saw the same stuff every loop, the different sections gave you the sense you were going somewhere.

Then there were all the friends running AND working.  It was like a critical mass of just the right people to create the perfect day.  Bill Keane, Jo Lena Pace supporting Jeff, pros Janice Anderson and Sally Brooking working the aid station, David Ray, Gary Griffin, Christian Griffith, and on and on.  No matter where you were, there was always someone to talk to and laugh with.

Jo Lena, always smiling.

Steve, who always calls me "kid."

Bill, in a rare moment not ahead of us.

And even run with!  Sarah and Jo Lena joined us for several loops.  Great, because you can’t ask for better company on a run but bad because they were running fast enough to make me work.  My strategy was to get them to do all the talking but that didn’t work either because they were making me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe anyway.  Looking back at it, breathing must be highly overrated because those were some of the best loops.

Sarah even ordered up perfect weather.  Not what you’d imagine for the first of August in Atlanta.  In other words, actually tolerable and (dare I say it?)…pleasant.

Rob taught me some tricks (who knew there were any?) on how to approach a timed run, cutting my learning curve mercifully short.  I had no idea running loop after loop could actually be that complex.  We ran our planned 50k, quit, and got to watch others finish while Chef Ray served up the veggie burgers.

So yes, surprise of surprises, I actually liked it.  The one-mile distance was just perfect – not too long, not too short, just right, and the company couldn’t have been better.

I have to laugh at how I dismissed this format out of hand without ever trying it.  Life has a way of making you grow and learn whether you choose to or not! I’d never voluntarily give up trail racing for timed runs but…here goes…I’d even do it again.

(Good thing, because I’m doing another one this next weekend!)

Timing area. Home sweet home.

Posted: Friday, August 7, 2009, 1:20 pm | Tags: Blog | Respond | Trackback