RI 6hr (v. 2.0): October Long Race #2

My race season was "unofficially officially" over with this race, the RI 6hr Ultramarathon & Relay, presented by TNT runner and friend Bob Jackman and his crew at A Better Pace.  Great race.  This would be my 5th straight year running the 6hr, which makes me the longest consecutive active streak for this race!  And the race got moved to Pulaski State Park, and would contain no pavement whatsoever!

Great race...now on dirt!

Rewind a bit.  I believe it was after the Li'l Rhody Race last year that I was having lunch and drinks with Bob, Jackie and some other characters at the Mews Tavern, when Bob let me know that he wasn't going to put on the race any longer.  He was thinking about doing something else.  Cool, I'm in, just let me know!  Imagine my delight when the race was back on, but moved to dirt!  Sold!

So I got up fairly early, had all my gear already packed, and made the 40-minute drive out on Saturday morning to Chepachet.  I really like this location.  Great parking, and a big open field for registration/socializing/race timing and stuff.  As the race mimicked the beginning and ending portions of the RWTB race, I knew pretty much what the course would be, sort of...

After chatting with a bunch of friends, we lined up for the pre-race.  I lined up in the front row with Seth, and as the race started I surged out to the lead, for the first 30 seconds or so, haha...man, that felt unnatural!  Then reality set in, and I got passed by the relay runners and the fast people.  My friend Adam was running the race, and after I settled down, we ended up running together for a while, maybe 8 miles?  The course is laid out as an initial climb in the first 1/2 mile, gradual descent for the next mile, then climb/descent for the last .7 miles, roughly.  200+ ft gain for the loop.  The awesome part is coming into the start/finish and getting cheers from friends and strangers alike, and my friend Amie was working the aid station, and shouting encouragement every time I came through.

So 10 or more loops gets you the "Ultra" award, which in this case was a logo hoodie.  I, for some reason, got the Limp Bizkit song "Nookie" stuck in my head for the entire race, with the word "hoodie" substituted for "nookie."  I did it all for the hoodie, the hoodie...hahaha, and of course I had to get the hoodie.  So I ground out 10 laps at 27-ish miles in around 5:20 with 2200' of climbing, and called it a day.  I maybe could have gone another loop, but it would have been a stretch on fatigued legs and with no guarantee of making it in time.  Been there before!

Annnd...another pint glass!

Weather-wise, it was the perfect day.  Really.  Everything went right, and after running Bimbler's Bluff 6 days earlier, I felt like I ran a sensible race, didn't try to overdo it, and walked away without any ill effects.  Glad to have finished both races and gotten some redemption.  Definitely a tougher course than the original 6-hour layout, but I liked it a lot more, and if some singletrack trail accidentallly got thrown in for next year?  I'd be OK with that!

Great job by Bob and his crew at A Better Pace!!!  Thank you!

(Big shout out to Scott Deslongchamps, who placed 2nd overall with 37+ miles only a week after finishing the Ghost Train 100-miler.  WOW.  That's badass.)