Buckeye Trail Winter Run 50K

So I’m doing a training run for the Crown King Scramble. It’s a “fun run”; the Buckeye Trail 50K.

Yeah, I guess this is taper madness at its finest. Jan 28th. $40, no awards. There are two loops; 5 miles and 8 miles. So theoretically, if things go poorly, I can bail. Naturally, Helen will be my partner in crime.

They run this course twice a year, there’s a winter run and a summer run. There is some speculation that the course is closer to 34 miles than 31.. that can be pretty common in trail races.. the distances are estimates.

I was in FrontRunner today, and the sales guy told me he thought that the Buckeye Trail may actually be more challenging than the Crown King. He said the course is challenging, but also it being winter will make it more difficult. Sure enough, I looked up the results of some individuals who’ve done the winter and the summer versions. Pretty significant time differences…

1)
S03 – 6:16
W03 – 7:43

2)
S03 – 6:51
W03 – 7:40

3)
S03 – 5:31
W04 – 7:36

4)
W03 – 8:20
W04 – 7:40
S04 – 7:03

5)
W03 – 7:28
W04 – 7:15
S04 – 5:57

Yes, that’s right, all the winter times are over 7 hours. This year, no one broke 6 hours. So it will definitely be much longer than I have ever been out before (my longest race is 3:57:43). But it’s all about the experience, right? And those PB&J sandwiches at the aid stations!