Potomac Heritage Trail 50k Race Report (2019)

I ran my first ultramarathon yesterday! It was only a 50k (shortest race that qualifies as an ultra), but it was a trail ultra, which made it a bit more interesting but also more difficult. I got lost and added a few miles, but I’m happy to have completed my first ultra.

Here’s the actual course map provided to us by the race director. It’s an out and back course, beginning in D.C., crossing the Key Bridge, going to the American Legion Bridge on the Potomac Heritage Trail with the exception of Turkey Run, and coming back across Chain Bridge and back into D.C.

The race began on Sunday, November 3rd, 2019 at 8:00am. It was put together by the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club, and I had the opportunity to meet and chat with quite a few of them before, during, and after the race. Overall, they were a nice, friendly group of people who enjoy running trails. The race was capped at 60 runners, and some of the runners would be doing a short loop and turning back early.

Preparation
I ran high school cross country, but since then, I’ve been on and off with running. I began running seriously again in June of this year, so I put in a little under 5 months of training. The longest distance I ran this year was 16 miles before I attempted this 50k (31.1 miles). I felt somewhat prepared, but I planned to take it slow early in the race and to save my energy for the end if I had any left.

Race day morning
We got a bunch of emails from the race director in the week prior to the race with course information and instructions. We were informed of our entry fee (no monetary cost, just bring something for the aid station). I was told my entry fee was a box of Pop-tarts. Others were told to bring water, gatorade, pretzels, etc. On the morning of the race, we were told to find street parking in the Mount Pleasant area of DC and walk over to the Race Director’s house on Lamont St. NW, where the start/finish would be. We gathered at a small “park” at the end of the street and chatted with each other for a while. The temperature was perfect for running, in the low 40s. We dropped our bags off at the house, checked in, and walked over to the park. The race director came by a few minutes before 8, gave some final instructions, and the race began promptly at 8am.

Aid Stations (AS1-AS6)
1. Battery Kemble Park – 4.7 miles
2. Theodore Roosevelt Island – 8.6 miles
3. Chain Bridge – 12.5 and 24.5 miles
4. Turkey Run – 17 and 20 miles

Miles 1-4.7 (AS1) D.C. to Battery Kemble Park
The course begins running down Lamont St., which is all downhill. I began at a very comfortable pace and joined the second pack. There were some hills here, but with fresh legs, the hills felt easy. We hit the trails right away, running through a few parks in D.C. before we hit AS1. AS1 was a water-only station. I refilled one of my bottles and continued on. I stayed with Keith Knipling for most of this section, and I would be following him for most of the race later on until mile 26. He ended up the 4th fastest finisher but 5th place net of bonus points, running it in 6h 15min. Looking at the history of results, he ran the course in 4h 27min back in 2008, 7 minutes off the course record. I guess he was taking it easy today.
Mile 1: 8:20
Mile 2: 9:15
Mile 3: 11:10
Mile 4: 10:04
Mile 5: 11:41

Miles 4.7-8.6 (AS2) Battery Kemble Park to Theodore Roosevelt Island
The next few miles took us over some more trails before hitting some flat terrain. We crossed over Key Bridge and hit AS2. I had to take a leak since before the race began but had been holding it until now. I saw a great spot just past AS2 and jumped at the opportunity. It felt like it took a whole minute to let it all out (sorry if TMI!) I refilled one of my water bottles at this station too. Up until now, I think I took a few salt tablets and started on one UCAN energy bar for nutrition. I had two soft-flasks on my hydration vest but found I only used one for most of the race. I stayed with a group of 3 or 4 people during this section.
Mile 6: 9:49
Mile 7: 8:35
Mile 8: 8:31
Mile 9: 10:28

Miles 8.6-12.5 (AS3) Theodore Roosevelt Island to Chain Bridge
Looking at the elevation chart, this is one of the flattest sections, so I thought we would cruise through quickly. But it turned out to be one of the rockier and technical sections. This section had a big rock climb with the metal handrail. I took this opportunity of slower pace to down some more nutrition (UCAN energy bars).
Mile 10: 9:10
Mile 11: 12:22
Mile 12: 13:23
Mile 13: 18:56 (big rock climb and hill)

Miles 12.5-17 (AS4) Chain Bridge to Turkey Run
This is the section I had done earlier in the week. The trial run was a big wake up call that this would be no cake walk. This section is fairly technical and has some big hills. At this point, I was running with Keith (a few steps behind) and the field had spread out now. I would stay pretty close to him for the next 14 miles or so. He was definitely an experienced runner (he’s done Western States 100 and a bunch of other ultras), so I followed his lead and his pace. He would go at an easy pace on downhills and flat terrain, but he would walk quickly up the large hills and take some water. At a stream crossing that was about 1 ft. deep, he just trudged through the water. I thought about trying to find a way to keep my feet dry for a few seconds, but I just followed his lead. I was in no rush, so I did as he did. The water would drain out of the trail shoes in a mile or two. Until then, I heard squish-squish-squish every step. I was feeling good even up until now, as I had continued taking salt tablets and was taking in nutrition well.
Mile 14: 13:25
Mile 15: 12:40
Mile 16: 12:29
Mile 17: 13:52

Miles 17-20 (AS5) Turkey Run to American Legion Bridge turnaround and back to Turkey Run
This section takes us to what I consider the mental halfway point at the American Legion Bridge. There were some steep areas here with switchbacks that weren’t so bad going down, but coming back up was killer. I continued following Keith, of course, and we saw the #1 – #3 runners heading back as we neared the American Legion Bridge. As we began heading back, we began to see some of the other runners that were behind us. We were running #4 and #5 at this point. This section also has a large stream crossing with large boulders. With all the hills, my glutes were starting to feel it now. As I reached the Turkey Run aid station again, I was surprised to see my friends Jen and Jen (and sister) there cheering me on. Jen had run the Marine Corps 50k the week before in the pouring rain. Thanks so much for the support! It gave me such a boost. Sorry I couldn’t stick around for more than a couple minutes.
Mile 18: 12:09
Mile 19: 13:03
Mile 20: 12:41

Miles 20-24.5 (AS6) Turkey Run to Chain Bridge
Early into this section, Keith took a few seconds to cool off in a stream. I felt comfortable enough in this section to go off on my own since I had ran here earlier in the week as a trial run. I passed him and continued at a good pace, walking the hills, and jogging the downhills and flatter sections. I was running in the #4 position now, and when I arrived at AS6, the final aid station, the #3 runner was there. To my surprise, about 30 seconds after I arrived at AS6, Keith showed up right behind me. So runners #3 – #5 were all at the last aid station (AS6) together.
Mile 21: 16:24
Mile 22: 11:06
Mile 23: 15:35
Mile 24: 15:07
Mile 25: 14:01

Miles 24.5-34.1 Chain Bridge to Finish (add 3 miles getting lost for me)
I was ready to take off, but I decided to follow Keith for both pacing and to let him guide the way. Up ahead around mile 26, runner #3 had missed a turn and came back to meet us as we went into the tunnel that you have to climb through at Fletcher’s Cove ( I think). As we climbed through that tunnel, Keith’s leg cramped up, so I passed him for a few seconds before my leg cramped up. I took a minute to stretch out and drank some water. That was the last time I would see Keith and the other runner until the race was over. After I recovered, I began to run slowly again and was on the right track until mile 28 when I accidentally took a wrong turn. I repeated 3 miles in a tougher section of the course, and I estimate I lost about 45 minutes and a lot of much needed energy to finish the race. Luckily, I ran into Dan (another runner) who asked where I was going because I was apparently running outbound again. At this point, I decided to stay with him, and we ended up finishing together. I had run out of salt tablets at this point, and he was nice enough to give me a couple of his. I ended up finishing a full hour after Keith. Those extra 3 miles were extra painful since I had run out of nutrition at this point and was feeling a little disappointed for getting lost. But I never had it in my mind that I would quit, so I continued on, running through the pain. Had I not gotten lost, I think I could have finished in the top 10 and maybe top 5, but I ended up around the middle. But I don’t care too much about that. I learned a valuable lesson, and it could have been worse (think Walmsley getting lost at mile 91 of a 100 miler then setting course records in subsequent years). My first ultra is in the books, and I hope to run more in the future, better trained and better prepared.
Mile 26: 12:59
Mile 27: 14:32
Mile 28: 15:10 (got lost and added 3 miles in a hillier section ~28.5-31.5)
Mile 29: 15:26
Mile 30: 16:55
Mile 31: 15:03
Mile 32: 13:39
Mile 33: 12:26
Mile 34: 13:48
Last 0.1 mi: 1:34
Total time: 7:16:03 (34.1 miles; 12:47/mi pace)

Post race
After the race, there was a party in the Race Director’s house with curry and cookiers and beer. I ate some rice and curry, a couple chocolate chip cookies, and chatted with some other runners. I then made my way home and took a nice, long, warm shower.

Kudos to my wife for watching both kids by herself all day. Thanks for letting me run! It was quite the experience.

Here are my Strava and Garmin activity links:
https://www.strava.com/activities/2839619086
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/4220235027
The GPS looks a little bit off during the time I got lost (miles 28.5-31.5)

Here are the final results from the Race Director. I couldn’t figure out a way to fit a table with all this data on this page. POINTS column: You get bonus points by doing challenges to reduce your time. Ryan Brown was the fastest finisher without bonus points at 5h 42min. I believe Andrew Miller got 10 minutes off of his time with bonus points, and won with the fastest time net of bonuses.
RI – Roosevelt Island, CB – Chain Bridge, TR – Turkey Run

Name POINTS RI CB1 TR1 TR2 CB2 FINISH Distance
Andrew Miller II 9:11 10:00 11:04 11:50 12:44 5hr 38min 50k
Ryan Brown 9:20 10:09 10:59 11:45 12:34 5hr 42min 50k
Matt Christovich III 9:17 10:09 11:11 12:04 13:01 6hr 3min 50k
Jana Fridrichova II 9:27 10:22 11:18 12:08 13:04 6hr 15min 50k
Keith Knipling 9:27 10:22 11:14 12:02 13:00 6hr 15min 50k
Aaron Clark-Ginsber I 9:38 10:29 11:21 12:10 13:04 6hr 20min 50k
Jake Stephens I 9:29 10:23 11:20 12:07 13:01 6hr 20min 50k
Mark Domanski I 9:28 10:22 11:17 12:18 13:12 6hr 21min 50k
Dmitriy Valekha 9:12 10:00 11:05 11:52 12:58 6hr 21min 50k
Ted Bielawa I 9:30 10:25 11:21 12:12 13:10 6hr 26min 50k
Alfred Jasins 9:29 10:25 11:21 12:12 13:20 6hr 45min 50k
Charles Bowles IIII II 9:28 10:29 11:33 12:34 13:43 6hr 57min 50k
Ryan Quinnelly 9:28 10:29 11:34 12:33 13:43 6hr 58min 50k
Bernard Pesjak I 9:47 10:47 11:47 12:40 13:40 7hr 4min 50k
Dan Aghdam I 9:33 10:40 11:43 12:36 13:40 7hr 5 min 50k
Larry Huffman I 9:40 10:40 11:47 12:47 13:50 7hr 6min 50k
Ian Robertson II 9:39 10:40 11:47 12:40 13:45 7hr 10min 50k
Peter Han I 9:28 10:29 11:41 12:40 13:52 7hr 15min 50k
Peter Folan III 9:35 10:38 11:47 12:48 14:04 7hr 16min 50k
Daniel Lee 9:27 10:21 11:14 12:02 12:58 7hr 16min 50k+ (34.1)
Russell Merrick III 9:40 10:40 11:41 12:41 14:00 7hr 25min 50k
Marty Fox 9:40 10:47 11:50 ? 13:55 7hr 28min 50k
Christian Stanton 9:38 10:40 11:48 12:47 14:01 7hr 37min 50k
Gaynor Bourgeois II 9:48 11:06 12:20 13:24 14:35 7hr 59min 50k
Paul Sherlock II 9:52 11:06 12:16 13:19 14:33 8hr 3min 50k
Christiana Fogg 9:40 10:47 11:58 12:51 14:33 8hr 9min 50k
Laurel Lundstrom I 9:48 11:06 12:21 13:24 14:35 8hr 11min 50k
Robert Kolb II 9:48 11:01 12:35 1345 15:09 8hr 38min 50k
Alex Stone 9:39 11:02 13:43 13:55 15:09 8hr 56min 50k+(33.5)
Robert Grolemund 10:00 11:24 13:00 14:10 15:38 9hr 37min 50k
Elaina Stanton 10:00 11:24 13:00 14:10 15:43 9hr 37min 50k
Quatro Hubbard 9:52 11:20 12:50 14:22 16:06 10hr 18min 50k
Raisa Slepoy 9:52 11:20 12:50 14:22 16:06 10hr 18min 50k
Thomas Mauger 9:47 11:12 12:45 14:03 7hr 42min 29.32 miles
Brian Kolb 10:22 11:47 13:30 15:09 9hr 27min 28.5 miles
Nate Mauger I 9:26 10:22 11:18 12:08 DONG@1 4hr 50min 23.02 miles
Carolyn Gernand 11:12 12:55 7hr 46min 21 miles
Francesco Smith 10:10 12:06 DONG@1 6hr 21min 20.6 miles
Paul Crickard 10:16 12:06 DONG@1 6hr 21min 20.6 miles
Mark Zimmermann I 10:16 11:47 DONG@1 5hr 43min 20 miles
Dipak Bhattacharyya 10:16 11:47 DONG@1 5hr 43min 20 miles
Charlene Howard 9:39 10:40 DONG@1 4hr 33min 19.4 miles
Shae Dempsey 10:01 11:27 DONG@1 5hr 38min 19.4 miles
Stephanie Dempsey 10:01 11:27 DONG@1 5hr 38min 19.4 miles
Catherine Howard 10:01 11:32 DONG@1 7hr 7min 19.4 miles
Kari Anderson 11:13 7hr 13min 18 miles
Alan Gowen 11:13 7hr 13min 18 miles
Pamela Gowen 11:13 7hr 13min 18 miles
Carole Williamson 11:13 7hr 13min 18 miles
Patrick Vaughan I 9:26 10:18 11:12 3hr 5min 16.5 miles
Brett Martin 9:39 10:32 11:38 3hr 36min 16.5 miles
Doug Levy 9:52 11:06 DONG@1 ?
Jack Turner Reported left after Roosevelt aid station ?

Featured image source: AllTrails