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Mississippi 50 Mile Race

March 4, 2017 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
warm.
Last yr I took 1st place womens in the mississippi 50 mile footrace with a time of 9 hr 47 min. With that 1st place came a free entry into this year's race. Thursday, we loaded up Mom and dad's (John Aston and Christine Elfrink-Aston) motorhome with the kids, dog and my running stuff. We spent the night on a Wal Mart parking lot in Granada, MS. We finished the journey to Laurel, MS on Friday.
Today I toed the line with a great upbeat, let's see what I can do today attitude and a purpose of spreading awareness for #22toomany as u ran for Jeremiah Honaker on my back!
I tried hard to keep an 11 min pace...but you all know how that goes... 10 min... 10:30... dang it heather slow down... I started talking to a pastor from Jackson MS. He was running the 50 k. We ran the first 2 loops together.. does this sound familiar? Last year I met CJ CJ SchneiderIII on loop 1 and ran 2 loops with him... next year I need to befriend a 50 mile runner. . . Ha ha.
Anyways as I started loop 3... which was bound to be quiet and lonely... I met Liz at the split of the 2 loops. She said she was working the aide station 4 and going on a 12 ish mile run and couldn't decide to do the blue loop twice or the orange loop 1 time. I thank God she chose the orange loop. I was a mess and in need of salt tabs, my feet and hands were starting to swell. I tripped and fell on a root. I took a minute to gather myself. The 2 ladies who were running their first 50 together, that I'd met on the first loop, passed me... dang. I ended up gaining energy from those salt tabs and caught and passed them on the little .75 out and back. They never caught me again and ended up not completing the race.
Liz got me through that lonely loop. And all the way to aide station 4 which is 2 .2 miles into the 6.2 mile blue loop. That is where I was informed I was in 3rd place.
I loop around and Johnnie says he will run the last loop with me and that I'm in 4th place... hmm. Ok. The aide station said differently. We make it to the pit stop with Liz. I refill my waterbottle and go to the bathroom. I look up and there is a lady running the 50... where did she come from. She knew Liz. She took off quickly... she was competing. . . I told Johnnie she can have it. Johnnie Stevens said, really? She could have left quickly then slowed or walked. You don't even want to try to get her. I said I'm going to eat these gold fish then decide. He knows me well. He knows I'm a competitor and my hips weren't the worse they've ever been. So I start the jog. Then it started to feel good. I put music in my ear to keep my mind off the pain. I felt like Johnnie was my scout...he was... (but reading native American books with Lauren, I really felt like we were in the 1600's) come on, she's walking! 3 miles left. My mind went to the 100 mile tace when I picked up the pace for the last 4 miles with Ashley Cosens Olson (cliff). I look at my watch we gradually picked up the pace to a 9:56 mile. I catch her by running up the hills and not thinking twice about mud or creek crossings. My breathing got heavier. I stay behind her just waiting for her to make a move. We get to a tree over the coarse. She stops and walks over it. I ran over it and kept going. 1.5 then 1 mile left. Now we are on the part of the trail that is shared by both the blue and orange routes so it's familiar. I enjoyed striding out the downhills and kept moving at a jog on the uphills. I made it across the finish line slower than last year, but I still ran 50 miles in 10 hrs 30 min. 4th place! Thank you everyone who ran with me across crewed. Gregory Miller

Distance Duration Pace Interval Type Shoes
50.0 Miles 10:30:12 12:36 / Mile Race Pure Grit