After training for months it was finally the day! It was time for my first ever 50k. Unfortunately, my body didn't cooperate and I had to withdraw after 22 miles. And although my day didn't end well, that was through no fault of the race itself.

Let's start with the parking. They have the entire campground for parking, so there is plenty of room to park your car and set up for the race. It is well organized and volunteers point you to the correct location. It is a smaller race, so if you weren't able to pick up the bib the day before, it was very easy to do a pick up on the day of.

At 8 am, the 50k race starts. At 8:10, the 5-mile, 10.5 mile and 21 mile races all are let out. We got going at 8, with no delay. Unfortunately, there was a volunteer miscommunication, and we 50k runners were pointed in the wrong direction and added about 0.6 miles. However, it's a 50k ... if we can't handle another 0.6 miles, then why are we out there? Mistakes happen.

The course. Mostly single-track trails around Lake Cunningham in the North Omaha area. There are two courses, the 5-miler that runs with most of the others then branches off and heads back, and the 10.5-mile loop that becomes the other races. The 10.5-miler is one lap, the 21-miler is two laps and the 50k is three laps.

The trails themselves were mowed well, and well marked once you know what to look for. The trails were challenging in their unevenness, and some of the hills will get the blood pumping. However, this isn't like running a trail race in the mountains.

The aid stations. There are two full aid stations -- at the start and half way -- and one more water station to fill your own bottles. The full aid stations included water, Tailwind, sodas, pickles, potatoes, salt, candies, fruits, Stingers, and more. It was quite impressive. I spent a good amount of time getting more calories into my body.

The swag. A sweet long-sleeve hoodie shirt, and an awesome gym bag. Also, the "medal" is actually a wooden medal with the logo. This is a G.O.A.T.z signature, and I love it. It's a trail run, so yes, I want my medal to scream trails. How better to do that than use a wooden medal?

Overall, the race is a good one, and I hope to take another crack at it in the future. Unfortunately, I developed blisters during the first lap and had to change my shoes. Bigger issue is put more pressures on the other leg after this happened, and the extra pressure on that leg resulted in cramps that locked my leg up -- couldn't bend my knee -- and I had to withdraw after two laps and 22 overall miles. Hopefully I'll get that Ultra finish at some point.