After a successful Double Chubb 50K race six weeks ago I was eagerly/anxiously awaiting another 50 miles of Eastern Missouri single track trails.  I had been training pretty hard (for me) with lots of quality long runs and a fair amount of cross-training with weights.  I even managed to get in a bike ride or two.
 
As the 7 A.M. start time approached more people than ever before began assembling on the parking lot of Berryman Campground.  This year’s races drew a record 130 entrants.  Word has gotten out all around the U.S. and even Germany about how fantastic SLUG events have become.  The credit for most of the glory should surely rest with David, Victoria and Jessica White.  They are the backbone, life blood and brains of our races.  I just hope the military doesn’t take note of their organizational skills and draft the bunch of them!
 
The cow bell rang and we were off!  My plan was, as usual, to begin slowly and not let my heart rate go over 125 beats per minute for the first 25 miles.  For the second half I would try to keep it at or above 125.  That’s easier said than done for this old gwampa.
 
This spring I had been doing lots of training and racing with three 36 year old fraternity brothers and some other kids who just love to whoop up on old guys.  At Berryman those boys decided to pace off of me for a while and then just zoom off into the distance.  That’s what they did except for the “different” one.  The Peace Corps veteran.
 
Seamus decided to hang with me so as to make sure I didn’t hurt myself or get lost.  The other reason he stayed with me was that he had NEVER RUN A MARATHON BEFORE LET ALONE A 50 MILER!  Talk about your irrational exuberance!!  That kid hung on to my shirt tail for 37 miles.  Then he acted like he was too tired to keep up but I think the real reason he dropped off the pace was that he had heard all of my jokes and stories a couple of times by then and just couldn’t bear hearing them again.
 
At the Orienteer’s aid station Ken DeBeer said “Greg is 9 minutes ahead of you”.  I decided to chase after that sassy kid and see if I could catch him.  About 6 miles later as I crested a hill I saw Greg on a switchback going down the other side.   He saw me and kicked it into launch and disappeared never to be seen again until I crossed the finish line.  Same thing happened last year.  I saw him at the last aid station and then he was gone.  The only difference was, last year he started his race an hour before me.  This year he beat me fair and square and my time was 23 minutes faster than last year!  I had a good race.  His was fantastic!! 
 
And Seamus?  He finished and promptly announced his retirement from ultrarunning.  Two days later he was looking for another one.  It's great to see more and more new people enjoying this sport. 
 
Next EMUS event: Flatlanders 12 Hour Race, Fenton, Missouri.   Labor Day weekend.  Let’s go kids!!!!
 
Jim