The Bad Apple Ultra is a small timed trail ultra race in Greenville, Michigan. Held at Klackle Orchard, the race consists of a four mile loop that takes racers on gravel roads, grass, dirt and single track trails over rolling hills. Racers complete as many loops as they can during their given race time. If you finish your last lap before the cutoff time, you are allowed to go out for one final lap. There are three time options… 12 hours, 6 hours and 3 hours (with team options). The 12 hour racers start at 6am. 6 hour racers start at noon. And 3 hour racers start at 3pm.
After my DNF (did not finish) of my Ultra attempt, I felt like I had unfinished business with the ultra distance. I don't know what made me look up races on Ultrasignup.com. I saw this race and remembered that a few of my November Project friends did the race last year. I "stalked" their posts from the race to see if it was something that interested me. Honestly, the biggest selling point was this line on the race website, "The goal is to have everyone finishing around the same time. This way everyone will have a chance to eat and talk together." SOLD! As a last of the packer, it is extremely RARE that I will finish a race with other people. I signed up for the 12 hour option, figuring I could enjoy the race and take time to complete the 50k.
I only told a few people that I was going to attempt the distance again. I even did my normal workouts so that I wouldn't tip too many people off. Mostly because I didn't want to explain myself to anyone.
The night before the race I put all my gear together. I planned to divide the race into thirds with three separate outfits. I had backups for my backups. I mixed my Gatorade Endurance (watermelon). I charged all my devices and portable chargers. I was ready. The trunk of my Chevrolet Trax became my personal organized storage space. Looking back, the only thing I forgot was a trash bag for my dirty stuff. (More on that later)
Race morning I pulled into Klackle Orchard for the race around 5am. Packet pickup started an hour before the race. So, with only a few cars in the lot, I went to the tent to pick up my shirt and bib. While it was extremely dark, they already had the bonfire going. Bonus points! I returned to my vehicle to stay warm and attach my bib as it was raining.
15 minutes before the race, the Race Director (Ben VanHoose) went over some logistics and lead the 12 hour racers out for the first lap. In the dark at 6am, seeing the glow of headlamps was pretty cool. It's like there was a line of Christmas Lights telling me where to go. The race course is marked in several different ways. There are pie tins with arrows, orange flag markers, chalk arrows and orange caution tape. The pie tins and orange flag markers were very visible in the dark. The idea of getting lost didn't even cross my mind.
The lap starts out by heading down a dirt road to the orchard. With the rain, the grass in the orchard was slick. Oh, did I mention this was my first official trail race? As I made my way through the orchard, I got into a rhythm with my run/walk intervals. I could hear people around me, so I never felt like I was alone in the orchard.
I crossed the road to head to the back portion of the loop and I continued in the orchard. The orchard opens up to a field filled with pumpkins. The race crew lined up two rows of pumpkins to direct us to the opening in the woods. Now, this part gave me a fright. All I could see with my headlamp was an opening between two pine trees. I had no idea what was on the other side. Was this going to be my end? Isn't this how stories of people being taken captive in the woods starts? (Yes, I can be a little dramatic when it's dark out) I slowed down and crept through the opening. In the dark, all I could see was the trail and the pine trees next to the trail. The change in ground covering was nice. Pine is so much softer than the apple orchard. The course did a lot of winding through the woods. And, then it came to a steep downhill. Now, it wasn't more than 10 feet…but for a clutzy person, it was terrifying. I took extremely small steps and kept going out of the woods and back into the orchard. At this point the course passes the 2 mile aid station which is run by the Race Director's dad. After that, the course heads back into the woods. This section was much different than the first. It was filled with maple trees and the ground was covered by leaves. Later in the day, the colors of this section would become my favorite portion of the course.
Then, the course took me back across the road and into the orchard. This was the one section of the course that I did not like. There wasn't anything wrong with it. It was just a really long stretch that didn't seem to end. Once it turned, it was only a couple more turns until the course led back to the start through the orchard. I checked in with the timer and continued through the tent and past the bonfire to start another loop.
So, what did I learn about trail running during that first lap? Don't trust the ground. You never know what is under the leaves/grass/etc. Pumpkins are very slick when smashed. And, there is a lot of side to side movement when trail running.
The second lap was pretty much the same as the first. I was still in the dark and alone for the majority of the lap. I would be passed by some of the fasties. But, I didn't really see anyone else. The most eventful part was my initiation as a trail runner. I completely ate ground while running through the field portion. There was a lot of overgrown flowers, bush, grass, meadow…I don't know what you call it exactly. I was doing a run interval and didn't lift my foot enough. My toe got caught in the weeds and down I went. My foot stuck but my knee kept going. At first I tried to brush it off. No bruises and no bleeding so I was good. But as I tried to run again, I noticed how much sharp pain I was having in my knee. So, I decided to walk for a while. I had plenty of time.
I got to watch the sunrise and it was beautiful across the orchard. It continued to rain but luckily I had plenty of clothes and shoes available. After 3 laps, I changed my socks and shoes. I was smart enough to bring a bag chair to sit in. The thing I didn't plan was the amount of dirt that would be caked on my shoes. I wasn't sure where to put the dirty stuff in my vehicle. Then, I remembered I had the dog mat in my backseat. It was the perfect place to store all my dirty/wet clothes. Side note - One should not wear white socks for a trail run.
The day continued nicely. I did some more walk/run intervals once my knee stopped hurting. At noon, Coach Amy arrived to do a lap with me. My booty was hurting (probably from limping on my knee) so I decided to walk from this point on. We spent the lap chatting. I felt very good mentally and was enjoying the race…other than the booty pain. After the lap, I had Amy leave. As, I wanted to make sure I could complete another lap by myself before my sister arrived. Did I mention I signed her up for the three hour race? (Ha ha ha, I am sure she loves when I rope her into things) Unfortunately on the 6th lap, my body started to tighten up and I slowed down to a snails pace. By the time my sister got there, I was in an awful mode. I stopped at my vehicle to change my socks/shoes and she joined me for the next loop. Knowing only two laps stood between me and 50k, I struggled to get my mind around 8 more miles. 2 laps sounds A LOT better than 8 miles. As we completed miles 24-26, I could not get out of my head and past the pain in my booty. We stopped at the 2nd aid station so I could get some coke and little candy. (Totally loved that he had a Halloween bucket with candy) This was the point that I knew I wasn't going to do another lap. (Sing it with me… My ass is on fire…thank you Alicia Keys) 28 miles would be enough for today. As we finished the lap, I was relieved to be done but disappointed that I did not complete the full 50k. I checked in with the timer for the final time and received my dog tag finishers award. I completed 28 miles and became an official ultramarathoner.
Now that we are more than a week out from the race, I've had time to think about every piece of that day.
The good: I was prepared. I didn't have the pain that I expected. I planned on having tired legs and feet…like you worked a 12 hour day on your feet. But, I didn't have any of that. My mind stayed in the race WAY longer than I predicted. The people were amazingly kind. From the other runners to the volunteers, everyone was incredibly supportive of this slow AF racer. I cannot say (type) enough about how supported I felt in this race. I never once felt like I didn’t belong or that I was not welcome based on my slow AF speed. As someone who is constantly searching for races that are accepting of the back of the packers, I knew within a lap that this was a place for us.
The bad: My booty pain. (Aka piriformis)
Last of the pack seal of approval: YES, this race is hands down the best race for last of the packers. Since there is only one official end time, you see most people multiple times. And everyone gets the same amount of support.
Will I do this race again: YES! I will be there next year!
