Monday, September 26, 2005

YUT-C 50K Ultra


September 24th was the first annual Youngstown Ultra Trail Classic 50K. This was my second go at an Ultramarathon. For non-running types, an Ultramarathon is anything longer than a marathon. In this case, it was a 50K (about 31 miles.) This race was a three loop course in Mill Creek Park in Yougstown. That was my first time there. Pretty nice park


Strange thing on this race. On the way to the race, Jeff and I was behind a car that was clearly a runner. We started to realize, this car was on its way to the same place we were heading....the race! All of a sudden, the car pulls over. We stopped to see if there were ok. That is when we met Kathy and Dolores from Medina. They were lost, so we offered for them to follow us. To make a long story short (too late), Jeff ended running most of the day and finishing with Dolores.

This was the first time this race was ran. I think they did a good job being the first one. This being only my second ultra, I am still not an expert on what a good or bad one is, yet. This could have used a bit more markings on the trails. I ended up off the course a few times and wondered if I was on it other times. However, the volunteers for this event were great. I have heard talks of next year doing a 50 mile and 100K version of the course. I had a great time.