In the beginning of September, I did a backyard ultra. It was my second time trying this kind of a race. If you have not heard about it before, I’ll try to explain it briefly. You start every hour on a 6.7 km lap. You can run the 6.7 km in 30 minutes or 59 minutes, the only rule is that to continue in the race you have to start another round the next hour. Some races do 12 laps while others are a Last Man Standing race, where you race until only one runner is left. Those races can go on for days! The pros of this kind of an ultra are that you have a base with extra clothes and food and drinks, so you don’t have to carry everything with you. Navigation is also not an issue. The cons are that if you have a down period, you risk not making it to the start of the next lap. The first time I tried one of these I had nutritional issues, threw up and could not hold my electrolytes. It was 30 degrees C and I started cramping like crazy. I did not make it back to the start of lap 7. It was not a good experience. This second time, however, I was more prepared. I had run several ultras in the meantime, it was a different season and we had 15 degrees C at the highest, so I did not have any problems getting to 50K. On lap 9 I started feeling my legs getting heavy. It was also dark, everything had become muddy after some rain, and the people who had stopped was having a bonfire at the start/finish area. I was weak and stopped after the 9th lap and 65-ish K. Although the race was a really nice experience in all possible ways, I was a bit upset with myself afterwards that I did not try to push through all 12 laps, or at least closer to 12. I was really not in a mentally super dark place which you should be if you quit. I got in as 5th woman out of 44, which is not bad for me. I am always more of a mid-pack runner. I already signed up for next year because I do not feel finished with this race. Photo evidence of me climbing one of the hills of the race.
