Black Hills 50K

Published June 29, 2019

Badlands-Sturgis quik trip. No regret, DIG our National Parks. Hour interstate to Rapid City, 30 minutes more to Sturgis. RV Park bib pick-up, 10 minutes to spare. WHEW! Tomorrow almost an expensive ‘free’ day in South Dakota. Uncluttered mind, ready for my 2^nd trail xtreme of the month.

Sleeps mile-half from our school bus pick-up. Morning more reminiscent of Bighorn than Deadwood. Trail cliques vs Maniac social-hour. Different motors. Maniacs are time-obsessed (BQ & pace splits). Trail runners, pure adrenaline junkies. Elevation climbs & battle scars (blood, broken limb talk).

Hour-twenty ride on forest dirt. Summer GREEN, African Queen dense. Crazy beautiful ride. High SUN & 6000ft elevation. ‘Tis the season, gonna be a warm one. H-O-T sizzle! 🌞

Dalton Lake trailhead. Cheered three 100-mile bibs before our 50K Start. Out there all-night, WOW! Never, ever? I wish. Goal stuck in my head. Next 50-mile try: Tunnel Hill, this November.

Hydration vest readied. Comfortable 70-degree morning. Last minute instructions. Right, quick left, then diamond-follow’d the Centennial Trail. Marker ‘89’ – well defined, easy read.

Long hike day. Lotta climb. Whereas Bighorn was crazy high elevation & straight UP, Black Hills quad-punished with multiple climb switchbacks. End of the day, similar gain stats – climbs just 4x as often. No water cups, no crew. Walk out or learn to mountain dwell. Trail day.

Run highlight? FIVE water crossings. Ropes strung to steady the trek across. CRAZY FUN. Way outta my day-to-day norm. Broke up the run, cool water REFRESH. Not just the legs – mental refresh too. Dipped my hat, washed off face salt. XTREME. Temp upper 80’s, sun HIGH and five back-to-back river baths. Plugged-in again.

7 hours, 18 miles. Dense jungle, wilderness isolated, no more human interaction. Popped on tunes to quiet the demons (filter out negativity). 11:25 my record long, Bighorn 2018 DNF.

9 hours, stomach bonk. Meadow laid 15 minutes; tall grass surrounded. Rolled to my side, emptied. Side of my face. In my beard. Yep, pretty. Not another soul. Even my Garmin died.

UP. Right leg spasm’d, popped another salt pill. Uncontrolled cramping. Walk’d it out, more painful to stop than keep moving. Reality: warm day but dodged yesterday’s Badlands heat. Overcast skies every exposed stretch. For us believers: felt a higher power moved clouds, brought cool water streams EXACT time I needed. Non-believers? Crazy string of good luck on a hot summer day. Grateful 🙏

Graveyard on my left, town of Sturgis must be close. Easy stomach after the meadow retch. Another HILL, ‘nother UP UP climb. Another playlist too. Push, push. Forward. Out-buildings, road, a bike path. Off Centennial, outta the forest. Calf rock-hard. Stuck mid-cramp, would not release.

Hobble-jog, hobble-jog. No DNF, no demons. I start, I run, I finish.

TEN HOURS, almost 11. Longest FINISH ever. No shame, MY journey. Key word ‘FINISH’. Two ULTRAS & a second 50 State completion month of June. Colorado HOME in the morning.

Monday: Dr. Josh. PT exercises, 3 days of ice, right calf flushed & horizontally-taped to relieve inflammation but no tear. Wednesday switch: heating pad, hamstring/calf re-taped vertical.

OREGON for the holiday. My first QUADZILLA. I start, I run, I finish. Anything is possible!