Howl at Moon Race Report

Last weekend (August 10) was my 12th Howl at the Moon 8-Hour race. It didn't go very well. I ended up with 40.98 miles which is slightly below average for me (42.57 average for all 12 of my Howl efforts). Still, it was good enough to get me 33rd place overall (about 300 starters) and 5th in age group (40-49 year olds). It wasn't extremely hot (only about 84 degrees), but it started rather warm (about 72 degrees at 7am) and it was sunny most of the day. I ran too hard the first 2 hours and that put me into a dehydrated state. By 3 hours, I was ready to call it quits. If I drove to the race by myself, I would have dropped and driven home before the half-way (4 hour) point. Fortunately (or not) I carpooled with Gregg and Jeff so going home wasn't an option. I sat down for about 10 minutes, put ice on my head and neck, then decided to walk until I felt better. The change did me good! I chatted with more runners and eventually started to feel better. In fact, the last 3 hours of the race I was cruising along fairly well (at least compared to other runners). If I started the race slower and simply held a consistent pace, I think I would have racked up about 44 total miles (one extra full loop). I'll know for next time. You can click on the "view details" above to see all of the Garmin GPS data. No heart rate data this time.

A big shout out to two buffalo runner friends, Rob and Tim, who took 3rd and 4th place overall! They both completed more than 50 miles. Well done guys.

Here are my up-to-date Howl at the Moon race statistics (12 completed races):

Total Races: 12
Low: 33.9 miles (2010)
High: 47.06 miles (2006, 2008)
Total Miles: 510.83
Average Miles: 42.57
Best Placing: 12th (2005)
Worst Placing: 99th (2010) 

I finally broke 500 total Howl at the Moon miles! 

Can't wait until next year and race #13. For the rest of this year, I have three fall ultramarathons planned: Evergreen Lake 32 miler, Farmdale 30 miler, and McNotAgain 30 miler. I'm really looking forward to those trail ultras. I may throw in a road marathon too--if my brother Mark decides to do his first this fall I'll do it with him!

A big "thank you" to Marc the race director, and all of the Kennekuk Road Runner volunteers, for putting on another great event. My only complaint is that the post-race festivities doesn't include vegetarian options. After 8 hours of running, you want more than left-over bananas and soda. Of course, the all-you-can-drink beer wagon is pretty cool (and vegetarian). Still, can't you throw in a few veggie burgers or brats?