North America, The United States of America

Lakewood

September 30, 2017

Race Report: The Bear Chase

The Bear Chase 50K is nothing too crazy. It is a good little run.

This is looped run. The first lap is shorter, and then the next two are longer. Each loop comes with a couple of water crossings. It is a very exposed but overall, a relatively flat course. There is one climb on all the loops. The longer loops have another more sloped hill. These climbs are all reasonably manageable.

The looped format felt good for my first attempt at a 50K. I will say, that passing through the start line made going back out a little harder. When you are way out on the trail, the choices are: keep going and finish or … uh, hope someone comes to get you (?). Because quitting is so much easier on a looper course, I made a point to get in and out of the start area quickly. The last thing I wanted was any temptation or reason to stop.

Although the looped format was a good safety net for my first 50K, I didn’t need it. I this point I had 7 marathons under my belt, including a disaster of a Dopey Challenge (that I finished despite not training). I should have had more confidence in myself and just jumped into a “real” 50K. I was a better runner than I gave myself credit for. This wasn’t that hard and that surprised me.

There was, however, business to settle here. Years prior I had run my first half marathon on this course. The cold water at the water crossing gummed up my knee and I had to hobble the last few miles. Going back, and blasting this 50K course was nice.

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Race Website: https://www.bearchaserace.com/