To begin, I’ll say my goal for the Knobstone 50 event was around 13 hours, hopefully a little less. But here comes the power of supported and not having to filter your own 3-4 gallons of water, I was able to go sub 12!!
The day started more humid than it had been so far, there was not a chill in the air as we stood around Deam Lake.
At 6 o’clock, we were off. Crossing the dam, there was almost an hour of darkness ahead and a few easy miles to warm up on before the Knobstone shows its true character approaching Round Knob. I turned my headlamp off nearing mile 5, meeting my first metric of success to get to Bartle Knob Rd in ~75 minutes. So far I had the fortune to be running with Nathan Broom and some others that trailed behind.
I started to fall into a steadier pace and the handful of us in the front were starting to spread out. Nathan and I were leap frogging up until mile 11 or so, where he pulled ahead and I didn’t run into him until later. With the aide station out and back at New Chapel I was able to see a few of the men in front, but after leaving this aide station I was alone. I was still feeling fresh and knew the upcoming section was muddy and after that down trees. I met those obstacles with an opportunity to fuel, using this portion of the race to stay steady and not get behind on liquid and carbs (Skratch diy gel and huma gels I was picking up at aide stations) as Leota was just around the corner. In a few creeks, I made sure to stop to dunk my hat and bandana to mitigate the warm weather.
By the time I got to Leota, I felt adequately fueled to begin the second half and got my trekking poles ready. This was about six hours in, which should have been foreshadowing, but I was just taking the day as it landed, feeling good but respecting the journey ahead. It had rained off and on, which helped cool things down, and it was overcast enough at times to kept it from feeling too muggy.
I got to Elk Creek in under 7.5 hours, completely stoked as other times I had done Elk-Deam they were around 8.5 hours. I refilled my water and a spare bottle, shuffled snacks around in my pack and made my way to the power line climbs. My fueling was nearly 60% liquid carbs (Skratch to start, then relying on events Tailwind), 30% skratch/huma gels and the rest gummies. I wasn’t as interested in my more solid snacks like rice krispies and honey nut bars. I was using my poles more than on past attempts and thankful I had gotten better at strength training over the last year. I was also taking salt tabs every 90 minutes or so, all of these factors I believe contributing to less muscle cramping and a strong day.
There is reprieve around Oxley, the prospect of single digit miles soon all that is left and the worst hills are behind you, save Delaney. I also found reprieve in running into Nathan again! Once or twice I vaguely saw someone in the distance, not sure if I would get close to them. But after a few turns we were closer than I thought and caught up; we were moving along about the same pace and enjoyed the valley stretch to Spurgeon together as we chatted about the abundance of spring wildflowers. Getting closer to the aide there, we spy Kim, a KT legend! Kim and Joe help us refill bottles before Delaney greets up with a climb up to the ridge. Nathan and I are still moving steady, up and down hillsides knowing one of them will eventually be the last climb. After a long descent and a shorter climb, we know we are close. The creek comes in to view. We made it! I beam a smile at the Northern Terminus as we pass, today’s official finish is at the pavilion up the road. We finish strong, taking in the lake view and cheers as we run our final steps.
I edited my gpx file of the Knobstone 50 race course route (which included a road start from Deam Lake beach to Southern Terminus and road finish from Northern Terminus to Delaney Creek Pavilion) to reflect time I was on the Knobstone proper.
Photos by Kim Hall (start and near Spurgeon AS), and my selfie with the great burl tree by mm 29
I was initially torn about posting this attempt as it was a race/not what I planned/want to do other unsupported attempts, but with support from others on the matter, I decided to celebrate this achievement more formally! You can’t guarantee a good day or tomorrow, so take advantage while you can.