Ghost Town 38.5 Miles Ultra began at 6am running the first 50 minutes in darkness with the exception of guys like Keith who thought ahead to bring a race lamp. Thank goodness too, that of the 38.5 miles (marathon distance + half marathon distance) the first 6 miles were on asphalt. This Ultra is located in the southwest section of New Mexico, a small village called Hillsboro, about 45 minutes drive south of Truth or Consequences. January in New Mexcio you need to know three things. The mornings are cool, the snakes are dormant, and the evenings are cool. Midday temperatures were hitting close to 70 degrees F. This was the 4th running of the GT38.5 with a field of 71 runners of which easily their were 12 elite ultra runners.
The trail started as a rough road slowly & gradually turning into red clay, then crushed stone all the elevating through the Black Range Mountains. Our altitude was anyway between 5,000 & 7,000 feet. My game plan, was to try and ignore the whole thin air mystic as Keith Lascelles and i had just landed in Albuquerque 2 days ago. I really did not feel the effects until running up long inclines where my breathing became heavy. It wasn't a huge deal, but it did mean taking a few more breaks than normal just to catch your breath. Keith did well the altitude didn't seem to effect him as much as i. When Keith & set out we knew we were in the company of some dam serious ultra runners. Some from Utah, Colorado & NM, who had done the infamous 100 Miler known as Leadville, Co. Nevertheless our competitive spirit took over. For the first hour or so we were 6th & 7th place. I was worried we had gone out too quickly. I told Keith a few times, let's slow down we still have 6 hours of running in front of us. In the same breath, as Keith is a better Ultra runner than I, I told him, "don't let me hold you up ; when you need to go, Go!" As it was, Keith & I ran together for 30km almost the turnaround point. The view & scenery was unreal. Mountainous terrain with Horseback Guides looking out for us. We were forewarned that we may see Elk, Courgars & Wild Pigs with tusks. The race Director also armed all of us with whistles as precautionary measure. We saw the occasional hawk & that was it. The terrain was tricky at points running on jagged chunks of rock. Several times my ankle did go over. However, no harm was done, just a brief scare as at this time i had been running alone for several hours. Keith & I about a third to half way into the race took a wrong turn. The trail came to a fork & we were unable to see any runners in front of us. We took a guess, and of course it was wrong. We ran for 1.5 km or a total of 15 minutes going the wrong way. Several runners at the finish line had asked us, "i finished ahead of you, but don't remember passing you."
My camelback worked well with my Cytomax mix. It lasted almost my entire time of 7 hrs 21 minutes placing me 23rd overall. Keith Lascelles placed 19th with a time of 6 hrs 54 mins. The winner Tim Long finished with a time of 5 hrs & 24 mins. Just unbelievable. For me this was my longest race to date. The last 4 miles were agonizing. I would run 100 meters walk 50 meters, pushing myself as hard as i could. Your quads are telling your brain, this hurts, stop. Deep down you know it's just 3 more miles, 2 more miles and you don't want anyone to pass you at this point. I kept checking over my shoulder the last 4 miles making sure there wasn't someone gaining on me. As i ran on the asphalt road the final stretch i could see a runner about 350 meters in front of me. I know he saw me, so as much as i tried to catch him, he wasn't going to let me. GT 38.5 was a fabulous experience & a race that i will do again one day.
