This year, 2017, was the first year for the Algonquin 50K, and from the course to the volunteers to the fellow runners to the swag and the race management, it was just awesome.

I have run marathons, but this race, on Feb. 11, 2017, was my first 50K. I signed up because it seemed like a lot of my friends were doing it and my friends were also the race directors. Everything was very well-organized and the course, on trails, was very well-marked. I, along with fellow first-time ultra marathoners, even got a letter in the mail ahead of time. I paid $45 (early rate) plus a processing fee, which I feel is a good value.

The course is on the Algonquin Cross-County Trail in the Pocomoke River State Park. It feels like a very remote area, and there was just about every sort of terrain, from single-track dirt trails to wider trails to rocks, sand, grass and mud/water. It is a beautiful area to run in nature and the course doesn't get boring (although that doesn't mean I didn't get sore or want to be done!). It is a very flat area, but I gave the "Elevation Difficulty" a 3/5 because I thought the course was difficult — I do run most of my runs and races on the road, but I thought the difficult terrain was worth noting.

I didn't rate the "expo" because there was not really an expo with different vendors and things like that. There was packet pickup at 1400 South/Hopper's Tap House in Salisbury. It was easy to get my packet, which included my bib, along with a long-sleeve tech shirt, trucker hat (first time I've gotten a trucker hat at a race!), stickers, water bottle and calendar. 1400 South is a food court where people can get drinks at Hopper's and enjoy barbecue, pizza, wings or grilled cheese from the different eateries.

The aid stations were great. Each was manned by a local running group - the Eastern Shore Running Club (disclosure: I am secretary and my boyfriend is the president and aid station captain), Athletes Serving Athletes, the Pemberton Running Club and Midshore Multisport. (I am also a member of Pemberton Running Club and Midshore.) Knowing the people at the aid stations made these even cooler because I got to see friends and be greeted, but they were also good with providing other items. Among the items at aid stations were water, TriFuel, pickle juice, soda, M&Ms, cookies, scrapple, doughnuts, trail mix, potatoes, chips and more.

People who finished the course in under eight hours received a handmade mug at the end. I love the mug and it's such an awesome item to have to commemorate my achievement. The Top 3 males and females earned large handmade trophies, which were also really cool (I didn't earn one of these).

I'm really happy this was my first ultra, and spending it with so many friends made it even better. But there were people from out of town, too!

Read my full blog post here: https://sherunsbytheseashore.com/2017/02/12/the-algonquin-50k-my-longest-run-ever/