Race Preview: Voyageur 50 Mile

Tomorrow, I'll have the joy of running in a race that is older than I am! The Voyager 50 mile, Minnesota's oldest trail ultra, will turn 32 years old bright and early on Saturday morning (6am start) when all 200+ of us set out from Carlton High School into the woods.

Age improves many things in life—wine, whiskey, wisdom in people—and ultras are no different. I'm a big fan of tradition and history, and love the feeling an older race gives you of "connectedness" to a longer-running narrative. The course record dates back to 1998 (Scott Jurek, 6:41:16), and there's even a list of past winners dating back to the '80s!

Wonder what the 2013 chapter in the Voyageur story will hold ... ?

The Course

Here's how the race is self-described:

Founded in 1981, the Minnesota Voyageur 50 Mile Trail Ultramarathon is one of the oldest trail ultras in the nation. The race follows a rugged, varied, out-and-back course that takes runners on a journey from Carlton, MN through Jay Cooke State Park and heads northeast over difficult, rough woodland trails to Duluth, MN and back. Enjoy scenic overlooks of Duluth and Lake Superior, the iconic Swinging Bridge over the St. Louis River, and the infamous Power Lines. Weather can be extreme. There have been several years when it was hot and humid, including 2003 when it was brutally hot with 90% humidity. In other years it has been cool, in the mid-50's, and wet. Plan for everything, except snow -- at least not so far!!

Rugged ... varied ... difficult ... rough ... trails ... sign me up!

I'm not sure about the total elevation loss/gain (and probably don't run enough in the mountains for it to be a meaningful figure anyways!) (Edit: just saw that elevation gain is listed on the map below as +4452'—which means that it's about 2x as hilly as Afton but also over a distance of ~20 more miles, which means it's probably a little tougher on the climbs, though it may feel noticeably tougher since it's over more technical terrain. End edit.), but here's the course map and profile. We basically run from Carlton to Duluth, then turn around and come back:

Every course has its unique spots along the way (like "the walls" at Strolling Jim—I think my dad wrote a poem about them one time), those things you tend to remember for years to come. While I haven't experienced them firsthand on the Voyageur course yet, here are a few places that I've heard mentioned enough in conversation to build anticipation. Out-and-back means I'll get to see them twice too:

The Powerlines!

Everyone that I've talked to about Voyageur inevitably brings up the Powerlines, usually with a
pain-filled grin across their face. I've gotta see what all the hype is about!

Jarrow's Beach!

They call it a beach, but I see no sand—rocks, rocks, and rocks!!

A cool bridge!

The bridge-lover in me was thrilled to see this "iconic" swinging bridge over the
St. Louis river advertised in the course description.

The views!

It just looks like a really pretty course—always a helpful medicine for the soul when the body is feeling the miles.

Pre-race Musings

• Beyond 50k: I'm eager to test myself beyond the 50k distance again. I've dabbled in a few longer ultras before, but it's been a while (late 90's). (I did manage to get in a few extra miles at the Wild Duluth 50k last year, but that was mostly unintentional.) I feel relatively confident though (as confident as you can be heading into an ultra!)—my training has been consistent this year and my recovery from the Afton 50k three weeks ago feels complete and has even been a bit quicker than I expected. Hopefully this will be a good "stepping stone" for the Superior 100 coming up soon!
• Race strategy: The racing strategy will be more to run on "effort" than on time/splits. This feels like the best approach since a) this will be my first time out on the course and b) it's generally more freeing to run this way. Crossing the finish line anywhere from 8-10 hours after the start will bring a smile to my face (and to Ashley's face!).
• Nutrition strategy: With my stomach giving me some issues in my last outing, I'm going to test out a new nutrition strategy. The current plan is to just go with water, some gels, and whatever looks good at the aid stations. Lower temperatures are typically better for the stomach, but I'll play this one conservatively and see how it goes. Oh, lower temperatures ...
• Weather: It could be a "cold" race. In mid-July. The local forecast tonight in Carlton calls for lows ~45F. For all those reading outside of Minnesota where it's actually summer, that's only 13 degrees above freezing. Where water turns into ice. In mid-July. Temperatures will get into the upper 50Fs and low 60Fs later in the day, but am I seriously considering starting the race with a light pair of gloves? In mid-July? Where am I ... ?

Anyways, stay tuned. It's go time ...