Last year was the first year I ran this event and loved it so much I had to come back and do it again! This year marked the 7th annual running of this awesome little race. I say little because race reached capacity and this year, that was about 130 runners! Most runners come from Wisconsin, but this year, 9 other states, plus New Zealand were represented! So excited that this race is going popularity! Can’t wait to see what the future holds!

The Titletown Ultra Series is not a distance event. It is a time event. You don't sign up for you far you want to run, but rather how long you want to go. It gives runners the opportunity to push themselves to new limits, new distances and so much more. Last year I signed up for the 8 hour event and covered 26.8 miles in 7.5 hours. This year, I wanted to hit that 50k mark, so I signed up for the 15.5 hour solstice event so that I had as much time as I needed to get in my miles. Best part was, I had friends that decided to join me on the adventure and we made it a day of fun!

Packet Pick up: You can either pick up your packet the evening before or the morning of the race. A few tents are set up in the grass at the golf course. This is the central hub for the event. The race directors and their small crew are there ready to help you out, answer any questions and make sure you are ready to run!

Race day – A day like no other!

When the alarm is set for 3am, you try to get to sleep early. But the excitement, nerves and everything else about race morning usually keep that good nights sleep from happening! This time was no different. Headed to bed by 8:30pm on Friday night, only to toss and turn for a few hours, waking up several time and then realizing at 2am, I can’t fall back asleep. I finally turned off the alarm off just before it is set to go off and crawled out of bed.

I really couldn’t have asked for a better day (ok, yes I could have done without the knee issues, more on that later). I started the race surrounded by friends. My tribe.

Running 31+ miles is never going to be an easy task. No matter how you slice it! But when you have good friends along, it really does make the time and miles go by faster! At one point I looked at Renee and commented that it really didn’t’ seem like we had already covered over 10 miles. We were 1/3 of the way to our goal!

One of the highlights for this race is the local massage therapists who spends the day at Race Central to help work on any aches, pains or tweaks that runners encounter. After about 15 miles, I made a stop to see her! My knee was not happy and I knew that I needed her to take a look at it. Once Christine got done man-handling my knee and taping it up, I was on my way again. This time, I had my posse with me! They all joined me for the next loop, which ended up being more walking that running, since I was trying to figure out how my knee was going to react.

We walked, we laughed, we got wet. Yup, it was about 1.5 miles into this loop that is started to rain! And not just a little bit! But we didn’t let it stop us. Best quote from the loop came from 11 year old Aurbee! “Mom, she’s already run over 20 miles and she is still walking faster than us… we really should keep up!” was not stopping.

when I reached the Race Central, before heading out to finish my last partial loop to hit my 50k, I stopped briefly to talk to Ann (co-race director) for a few minutes, band knew that I just needed to keep going. I headed down the trail to make it around to where our tent was to refill my water. Then I heard Ann yelling to me to wait. She turned and said something to the gal that was near her. Little did I know that this was my Guardian Angel for the day. Ann introduced me to Wanda, and told her that I just needed to make it to aid station two. Wanda looked at me and said “ok, let's go! Time to get you that 50k!). I really didn’t know what to say!

Wanda waited for me while I refilled my tailwind and we headed out. Before long, Aid station 2 was right around the corner! I finished my first 50k! Wanda, I am eternally grateful for the selfless thing that you did for me! One day, I hope that I can return the favor to another runner!

I have always been a firm believer that nothing happens by chance. There was a reason why Wanda and I were at the Main Aid station at the same time. I am truly blessed for the amazing running community and how everyone is so willing to help a fellow runner out. Not only did she help me finish, but I finished in under 9 hours!

It was my first 50k, so I was ringing the PR gong! I may have taken me 9 hours, but I finished. I have nothing to complain about! In fact, I might celebrate all week!

Love this race, love the enviroment and love the crew that puts in all together! Not sure if I'll be back next year (other race challenges might have me traveling) but I will guarantee, I have not run my last TItletown Ultra!

For the full recap and photo's, click here: http://crazyhamster.run/2017/06/it-takes-a-tribe-to-run-50k-titletown-race-series-2017.html