The Fall 50
By Drew Sills
The idea for running this race/distance came from David Nichols, who ran the Nashville Ultra last year and his positive experience. Like any other sane runner, I thought it would be a good idea to also run 50 miles!! With this, I started to research races of this distance within the Midwest, hoping to find one in the fall for cooler weather. The Fall 50 in Door County WI on October 20 was chosen as the next new adventure. This race is designed mainly for relay teams but allows up to 200 solo runners to complete the course. During one of the BOR training runs, I casually mentioned the idea to a few others and before you know it, we had the Fall (50) 5: Michele Applegate, Leah Hoffherr, Jeff Alvey, Cathy Downes and myself.
With the 20 week training plan and long miles behind us, we all departed for Door County on Thursday, most of the group leaving early to make the 10 hour drive that day. My family and I left after school got out and drove to Chicago to stay the night. We got up on Friday morning and finished the drive to Sturgeon Bay, where our hotel was located and also the location of the finish line. I met up with the other runners that afternoon to discuss the logistics of Saturday, or race day. We all left around 3 pm to attend the expo, which was held at a bar and consisted of an outdoor tent and a few tables. The group got our race T-shirts, bibs and final instructions for the next day.
I was kind of jealous leaving the bar because some of the relay teams were enjoying their beers/carbs for the next day. I knew to stick to the nutrition plan and beer was for AFTER the race. The group all did their own thing for dinner that night and the plan was to meet at the room at 5 am. We had to go to another hotel that morning to catch the shuttle bus to the start line, 50 miles north. The bus ride was uneventful and we arrived at Gills Rock at 6:45 am, leaving 15 minutes before the start of the race. It was dry and overcast at the start, which was such a relief because it had rained for 7 straight days prior to the race. It was supposed to remain dry until Monday but the clouds looked like they could open up at any time. At 7:05 am, the race began for all of the solo runners. Relay teams started in waves beginning at 8 am.
The first few miles seemed easy because our group and most of the other solos stayed together. We were able to chat with other runners and find out where they were from. The first exchange point/water stop came 8 miles into the course. By this time, Jeff, Michele and Leah were ahead of Cathy and I. Cathy and I stayed together the entire race so most of my account of the race includes Cathy. The miles still seemed relatively easy because we were keeping a 9:45 pace and walking the big hills. The course was quite hilly for the first 25 miles and had rolling hills for the last half. At the beginning of mile 16, we entered a large state park that included a golf course and many walking/running trails.
Near mile 18, we first saw our first support crew/cheering section. This included Miki and her husband Jerry, Wayne (Michele’s fiancé), and Cathy’s husband Brian. It was good to see some friendly faces and hear some encouraging words. After seeing them, we came up on the third water station. We started eating normal food at this time. The park we were in lasted for 8 miles and I knew at the end would be my personal cheering section. This included my girls, wife, 2 cousins, 3 aunts and parents in-law. It was great to see all of them and know they would be cheering us on. They also helped crew and cheer on Michele, Jeff and Leah throughout the race. At mile 32, Miki joined Cathy and I and ran with us for 15 miles. This helped a great deal just to have someone in the group with fresh legs and other discussion topics.
At mile 42, my wife jumped in with us and ran until mile 47. Once we got to mile 47, those two got into my family’s vehicle so they could make it to the finish line before us. Those last 3 miles were quite tough but we know what satisfaction we had at the finish line. Coming to the last half mile, Miki was there to run Leah, Jeff and Cathy in. The highlight of my race was having both daughters run with me through the finish line. It was a very emotional finish and it felt so good to just stop running.
The group met up at the end and took some pictures with the finisher’s banners. Once we were all ok to move again, we made it into the party tent where they had unlimited beer and pizza for all the runners and families/friends. The group got a chance to sit down and discuss the race. It was so nice to sit down and take in what we were able to accomplish that day. We all finished under 8.5 hours and Michele got 3rd in the Open Female division.
Overall, the race was well organized and the group all had a great time. It would be fun to run the race again but I may have to join a team next time. I would enjoy cheering on the solos and not being one of them!!
