Bills Bad Ass 50k - The 10th and Final Edition

Bills Bad Ass 50k, a local trail race, has been well known to dish out the pain not only because the route basically ebbs and flows in and out of a valley, but since it is held in Ohio and in November you can guarantee that the weather will dish out some of Mother Nature's finest work. She did not disappoint this year, the 10th and last time the race will be run, unfortunately.

I knew full well it would be cold and wet when I woke up Saturday morning (11/10) but wasn't quite expecting to see a blanket of snow on the ground with the temperature hovering at 24*. Ooof ... hello Winter ... nice to see you took Fall out back and took it out of commision. So that's the way it's gonna be, eh? Well, screw you and the sleigh you slide in on! Woke u early, thru some grub down the hatch, jumped in the care and quite literally slide my way to packet pickup. One nice thing about this being a local race is that my drive time is all of about 10-minutes. Grabbed my bib + shirt and headed back home to change before having my rockstar wife carry my carcass to the start line.

Awesome pic from a fellow trail racer and friend Jennifer M. She is stellar at the camera fo'sho!!

Race Description - Bills Bad Ass 50k

• Race start was at 8am from Cuyahoga Valley, OH (covered bridge)
• Number of Registered for the race was ... no clue. 
• Distance is 50k - 5-mile loop x6 plus one demoralizing out-and-back on Candy Ass Mtn
• Aid station was a pit area at the start/finish w/ more goodies than you know what to do with
• The weather was forecast ... it's OH so who knows ... but it snowed, of course
• The Fuel - Infinit Nutrition 1/2 bottle + 3-GU + Small PB Cookie x1 (seriously all I ate)

There's a bit of elevation on this race course.

Every year the course direction changes from clock-wise (as it was run in the first year) to counter-clockwise. Honestly, I am not sure there is much of a difference in terms of difficulty because covering 6-laps in either direction just hurts no matter who you are or how fast or slow you take on the challenge. It had been communicated for a few weeks that the direction, which is really always up to The Bill's discretion, would be counter-clockwise, opposite of what it had been for 2017. Made sense to me since I raced it last year and they ran the course clockwise so most of my training leading up to the race was counter-clockwise. I had sections of the course marked as far as how long it would take me going all out or at a comfortable pace, I knew it quite well. Remember when I mentioned it was up to The Bill's discretion? Yup, as we lined up ... they changed the direction to clockwise. Meh. Whatever ... like I said ... it hurts no matter which direction.

BBA 50k Race start/finish every loop.

At 8am we all "launched" off the line and heading up the first climb with the top 10 runners quickly off to the races, me being one of them. Yay!! The first la was all about finding a comfortable pace and figuring out course conditions. It was fairly solid to start since the temps were well below freezing and fortunately, the 3-stream crossings (per loop), which were raging rivers last year and at over knee deep, were honestly not terrible. Your feet were going to get wet for sure but nothing like last year, fortunately.

Another great pic from Jennifer.

My biggest concern was having soaked feet with sub-freezing temperatures ... to me, that is a recipe for getting sick. I held on fairly well to the top 5-ish runners and was keeping pace with a well-known trail runner by the name of Stephen Godale. I have raced Stephen a couple times at the Buckeye Trail 50k and man the guy is one heck of a strong runner and has a few years on me. I yo-yo'd with Stephan quite literally all day long. We would go back and forth and see each other at the turn-around point every lap. I usually had a minute or so lead on him, but just when I thought I would gap him and not see him again ... he would be in my rearview mirror, so to speak, or just flat out pass me.

Yup, it got quite sloppy on the course.

Back and forth we went lap after lap, foot soaking after foot soaking, up and down the climbs and descents. On the fourth lap, about halfway around I came upon a fellow runner and she had been, at least in my mind, crushing the course. At one point I was thinking she was not only the first place woman but also second overall. Damn strong! Well ... she had hit that ever so hateful wall and was bonking hard. As I strode past her I asked if she was ok and she said no. I asked if she needed anything and she asked if I had any GU on me. Well ... seeing as how I wasn't really eating much of anything (seriously, I ate practically nothing on this run for whatever reason) I had 3-GU in my back coat pocket. I fumbled for a minute and told her to grab whatever she needed from my back pocket. She was thankful and I was on my way. Meanwhile, Stephen and another runner he had been with for a good part of 4-5 laps passed me. All good ... I cannot even begin to tell you all how happy it made me to be able to help a fellow human being in distress. The opportunity does not come often and I am glad I had what she needed and was able to help. It's about the people first and everything else comes second.

I managed to catch back up to Stephen and kept pace with him (and the other runner whose name I do not know .... strong guy for sure though) back to the start/finish line. Annnnnd ... that was lap four. Two more of dem'loopy thingies to go. I grabbed a swig or two of my trusty Infinit Nutrition mix (I think this one was Apple-Crack Cinnamon aka JetFuel with a different flavor). Stephen was in and out of the aid station fast than I this time and well ... I figured ... bye bye Stephen. Its like he had a shot of espresso because the dude just smoked me on the first half of the fifth lap. I mean ... he was out of sight!! Just wow!! I was in awe of his ability to crank out that kind of speed and power so late into the race. Very impressive!! (I later discovered that Stephen had it in his head that the race was only five laps and not six ... that's why he launched a serious attack on the fifth lap) Annnnnd much like the first part of the race went, for whatever reason, I managed to reel him back in on the 2-mile flat to a downhill section that leads back to the start/finish. Somehow I put in a fairly good gap on him by the time I got to the start of the 6th and final lap.

Race pic compliments of Muh'BFF

Let me tell you, I enjoy lap races but I REALLY enjoy the final lap in any lap race whether it be an MTB race or a running race. Want to know what goes through my head on the final lap?? Pretty much this phrase: "That's the last time I have to climb that monster" or "That's the last time for that section" and "Finally done with that mud pit of despair". Seriously, that is what motivates me to the end, knowing that I am almost done, the barn door is ready to be closed, and the food is about to be consumed after a solid effort.

As the trail climbed and descended I just kept motoring as much as my body could handle. I did have some IT Band pain start to crop up halfway around the last lap and honestly prayed to the good Lord to help strengthen my body to allow me to finish strong. The good Lord did not let me down. He never does. I kept looking back trying to see if Stephen was hunting me down for the kill but I did not see him. Of course, your ears can play tricks on you and ya keep thinking ya hear someone closing in or that those voices were a whole pack of runners pulling you back and going to take the wind out of your sails. Nope, never happened. Last year a runner took 2nd place away from me, I say took but he absolutely earned every bit of it, in the last 2-miles. That was a bummer, but heck I had nothing left to give that day, so I settled for third place. Today was a different story. I honestly felt strong the entire day and worked hard as to not slip in the mud too much, like what happened at the Fools 50k in March, when in the last few miles my body just plum gave in and the IT Band pain overtook me in a bad way. I pushed through the discomfort, which never got terribly bad, and finished the sixth lap.

The race is done, right? Over? I can eat whatever the heck I want now? Nope nope nope. The final insult, the last demoralizing bit of this race is a brutal climb up Oak Hill aka Candy Add Mountain. They call it Candy Ass Mtn because at the top where you can turn around and actually finish the race, is a basket filled with "something". It is usually candy. Last year is was a piece of candy aptly named "Slow Poke". So up I went ... its just a nasty climb that has 6-7 separate sections of stairs (yes, its that steep) followed by another shorter singletrack climb, descends down a bit with a final much kinder and gentler climb to the basket of goodies. This year? Not even something I can eat. LOL

I finally reach that basket at certainly now where near my fastest time, grab the lips and chapstick, thinking I needed to grab both to prove I had been there and hauled butt back to the end of the race. When I reached the bottom of the descent I saw Stephen starting the climb. He was smiling and we fist bumped and there ya go. It's about the people first and everything else is secondary.

The final time was 5-hours and 11-ish minutes. A course record for me as last year my time was 5:34 + change. Happy to be done and earn second place for this 10th and final year for Bills Bad Ass 50k. I suppose I am officially a badass once again, but I am just happy to complete my 5th ultra marathon this year with this being the second year I have run these insane events. I don't feel like a badass for sure, I feel like I just ran 31+ miles and am flipping tired. That's how I feel.

Many many many thanks to my awesome wife. She helped me out on several laps during the race and it always warms my heart and puts a big smile on my face when I see here at any of the races that I take on. She's my BFF, my soulmate, the love of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Ever.

Mega, super-duper, stoke-a-riffic props and THANK YOU to Rescue Racing's sponsors that helped me out during the race through there incredible support!! Christopher Bean Coffee for waking my sorry butt up and getting my all geeked up and the adrenaline pumping before the race!! Best Coffee Evah!! Chamois Butt'r for their superb GoStik that I use on my Piggly Wiggly toes to prevent blisters and other nasty things that can happen (yup, no blisters this time either!!).  Lastly, HUGE thank you to Infinit Nutrition for their continued support and incredible fuel!! This is my go to training and racing fuel for both MTBing and Running!! Today I went with JetFuel in Apple-Cinnamon flavor and it kept me going with the added caffeine that I needed to maintain focus throughout the race.

One final note on this race. What's cool about it is that the race registration is actually free, but ... you are encouraged to donate money to Running Forward and Giving Back. Of course, I donated. Great cause and a great bunch of race directors!!

Mission Statement

Running Forward and Giving Back is a non-profit 501c3 organization consisting of eight NE Ohio trail races which share a mission to support runners, our precious parks, and local individuals or small organizations who require a helping hand.