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Race Report from Ricky Scott: My 50th marathon was supposed to be in February at the Myrtle Beach Marathon, but due to a very rare snowstorm, it did not happen. They canceled the race, thus my 50th would have to wait. So after giving it some thought, I decided to go to North Carolina and do my 50th with an event the Mangum Track Club puts on, the Ellerbe Springs Marathon. The short time frame and the most snow we’ve seen in 10 years put a damper on the training, but then again I generally train to do a marathon anytime, anywhere. So we’ll put it to a test.
The last time I did this one, I ran with Ron Horton. Sharon spent the day following us around, meaning we did not have to carry water and she also took pictures of us while we were running. This time she was going to do the marathon. The marathon is literally out in the country. With the exception of the start it’s all on paved roads. It features about 10 miles of uphills. Some of which have a 5% incline. This leaves 16 miles of downhills as nothing is flat. Of course even the downhills have up to a 5% decline, so you’re going to work your legs on this one. Rest assured you are either running uphill or downhill (more than likely before this one is over, some of that running is going to be walking)! We stayed in Asheboro on Friday night, which gave us an easy drive to Ellerbe for the 8AM start. It rained hard the night before, but the sun rose before we arrived and it looked like we’d have a rain free day unless we stayed out on the course too long. We parked and went straight to check in. It’s a small race so check in was no problem and we saw a lot of familiar faces. Just before the start, as the race director was telling us to stay on the left so we did not get lost, I saw my first really weird sight of the day. (You always see something weird at these things.) I notice that this guy to my left was getting ready to start the race in some CROCS. Purple ones no less. Of all the times I did not have my camera……no one is going to believe me! I was about to ask him if he was going to do the entire race in them, but just then Fred, the RD said go! Off we went, up a muddy road and out on to pavement. Soon, I saw the mile 26 marker and thought how good its going to feel seeing that again. This course is tough, you really do not get much of a chance to get into a good easy rhythm as it has few flat places. You are usually going up or down and then on top of that, the road usually has quite a camber to it. I started the race worried that my lower back would act up and cause my hip flexors to lock up, so I started easy. “No hurry,” I thought, “just enjoy #50.” However that was easier said than done. My mind said to me, “I don’t want to do this today!” We (as in my mind and I) had quite a conversation for about a half mile and then just past mile 1, I saw an old friend helping with the race. Frank, aka “The Professor”. He saw me, came running up to me, shook my hand and gave me a hug as I made the turn by him. I told him to watch for Sharon who should be along soon. Frank is a great guy and I always look forward to seeing him. As I made my way along the course, my mind kept saying. “We’re not in this today, we wanna stop!” (Not a good thing to deal with when you are in the early miles of a marathon). I thought about waiting for Sharon and/or Chuck to come along and give me some company. I figured some of the other runners I know would be along quickly as well, since I was running slow. Then up ahead, I noticed a young lady running all alone, and I thought of something I learned from The Professor years ago. It’s the Professor’s secret, so I can’t share. When I finally caught up to her, I had all but forgotten how much I wanted to stop. We talked for about a mile, then went our separate ways (she ahead of me, leaving me in the dust). It had taken 6 miles, but I had finally started feeling like running. So my attention turned to the new concern, the weather. No rain, but the clouds had left and it was quite sunny and warm. I’m not going to complain about the temperature, as I’ve grown tired of all the snow and freezing temps from this winter, but suffice to say, I have not run in temps like this since November. As we reached mile 10, I had only walked one hill, a real steep one around mile 5. Everyone else was walking it, so I figured I had better as well. I was feeling pretty good. I knew there was one really big hill somewhere ahead, but I was not sure how far away it was. As you make your way on this course, you see all the markings. Usually little arrows, especially at turns or other roads, and of course the mile markers. So I’m running along letting my mind become one with the universe, not a care in the world when all of a sudden, something catches my eye. In big orange letters the word “Hill” was written on the road. I looked up and it did not seem to be that bad, but looks can be deceiving. After taking what seemed like forever, I reached the top. I’d estimate this baby was about 1½ miles long and it was steep. Everyone was walking it! Just past the halfway point, there was an aid station with a nice downhill. Which reminds me. - all the aid stations were the best I’ve ever encountered. They had good workers, young and old. They’d start yelling when you came into sight and tell you how good you looked no matter how bad you actually looked. Let’s face it, exactly how good can someone look after 13 miles with salt and sweat hanging all over their bodies. They were always encouraging. There were a few folks driving around checking on the runners. Frank would come by, stop, and give me an update on Sharon and Chuck. At one point he slows down as I’m walking up this one hill and says, “Sharon is back there having a great time with Chuck”. As Frank drove off I thought, “At least someone is having fun.” Doug the Boogieman remembered me from the Freedom Park 24 hour race and stopped and talked to me as well. Little things make a big difference you know? While all these things may be little, they really do offer a lot of encouragement! I had other runners with me up until about mile 17, which is the stretch of the course that goes down by the Dog Pound (the ending point of the shirt run and the aid station on the Boogie Course). From about mile 17 to 21, I was all alone. I could see one person way up in front of me and one person way behind me when the road opened up. As I got to mile 21, a few more folks had caught up to me. Finally, I made it to Ellerbe which was about mile 23. A little town, but I knew from here the last few miles only had hills right at the end. As I made the turn onto US 220, I glanced back and I could see Tony and Anita (some really good ultra runners) bearing down on me. I had been looking for them for awhile, thinking I might be able to catch a ride. However, by now I could only run about a third of a mile at a time, before my legs and back forced me to walk again (yes even the downhills). My easy approach today had gotten me to mile 18 before I really noticed the lower back issue and even then I had still been able to run in ½ mile spurts before having to walk. I ran behind Tony for as far as I could and then watched him disappear into the distance. Even though I didn’t get to run with him, (he was pacing a young lady, must have listened to The Professor as well), he helped me get to mile 25 and from there, it’s a short couple of hills to the finish. Finally ran past the mile 26 marker that I had seen so long ago, made the turn and was greeted by several MTC’ers at the finish. I made my way back to my truck, got my camera and headed back to the finish to wait for Sharon and Chuck. It was a long painful journey. Since he was in charge of the finish line, I asked Mark Long for permission to do the finish again so I’d have a picture of me finishing my 50th marathon. Tony was gracious enough to take it for me. You just have to love these small marathons!
Chuck said Sharon
tortured him, made him run. Sharon said every other word from Chuck
had to do with a walk break. We may never know the truth!
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