Overview. I wear a Road ID bracelet and on it is inscribed, “Last Place > DNF > DNS.” Translated, that’s, “Last place is better than did not finish is better than did not start.” Coming in undertrained and in conditions that I’d rather hike than run, I hiked. A lot. And got that last place finish with only seconds to spare:-)

Location | Stearns, Kentucky
Trails on Course | Lick Creek, Sheltowee Trace, Negro Creek, Yahoo Arch, Yahoo Falls, Ledbetter, Kentucky Hiking, Forest Roads
Total Distance | 33+ miles
Elevation Gain | 3,937 feet
Cutoff | 11 hours
Overall Difficulty | Moderate

Course Details. This is Kentucky’s prettiest 50K, and the first half of the race is lined with creeks and waterfalls plus the always beautiful Yahoo Arch. From there, the course moves through a forest stretch before gaining elevation via a set of forest roads that are wonderful when it’s cool and miserable when it’s hot.

For anyone who finished on this day, that stretch from mile 18 to 28 was fun, right?!

Throughout the race, runners are treated to massive boulders with a good number of sandstone windows worth checking out. Some of the big pretties on the course include:

• Princess Falls

• Yahoo Arch

• Yahoo Falls

• Cranberry Falls

• Jones Branch Falls (upper)

• Julia Lynn Falls

• Catawba Overlook

• …and plenty of sandstone windows, massive boulders, and wet weather waterfalls in between

Recap. Yamacraw Trail Races (50K, 25K, and 10K) usually take place the first weekend of April. With a brutal Winter of ice, deadfall, and flooding on the trails, the race was pushed back - and wow what a difference! All sun and mid-80s.

Fortunately, I’ve done a good number of marathons and ultras, so I’ve come a long way in terms of hydration and nutrition over the years. On days like this, I plan for about 12 ounces of hydration each mile split between water and electrolyte drinks (Sword at this race), salt tablets every 3-4 miles, and 200-250 calories per hour. In terms of pace, it’s just going slow and running only as much as is needed to finish on time.

The cutoff for the 50K is eleven hours or about a 20 min/mile pace - a reasonable amount of time that translates (for me) into about 75% purposeful hiking and 25% running.

While it’s nice to think of these ultras as a long hike, there is one very notable difference - no breaks. To hike this large portion of a race, the most important part is to always move toward the finish without stopping for more than a few minutes.

Coming in, I was undertrained in terms of running, but I always have a good number of hours on my feet hiking. To ‘simply’ finish, that last bit is what matters most - time on feet. If you ever sign up for one of these, training is mostly about time spent walking, hiking, and running with pace as a secondary concern.

So, how did it go? It was a GREAT race! No, not in terms of pace, but in terms of executing my game plan, it was basically perfect.

The goal here wasn’t to post a fast personal time, but to finish. After the pandemic and the swirl of poo around it in our household, finishing represented one very important thing to me - getting back to how I do life.

Keeping this in mind throughout the race, it was just managing hydration, nutrition, and pace to beat the cutoff at each aid station (and to enjoy the scenery along the way) and eventually, post an official finish ahead of the eleven hour cutoff.

I did all those things, but it got a little squirrely toward the end. I saw a sign that said 2 miles to Blue Heron, checked the time, and thought I had plenty of time to just hike it in.

A mile and a half later, I remember thinking, “I’ve hiked this before, and I think that sign was lying.” I checked my map did some quick guesstimating, and realized that it was probably 2.5 miles - a big difference after you’ve already covered 30+ miles and feel like a walking heap of death.

At that point, there was one goal - run it out. No stopping, no walking, no hiking - only running. It took a full out run on that last mile to beat the clock.

I crossed the finish line with the clock at 10:59:XX (don’t ask me how many seconds) - good enough for last place and triggering a level of satisfaction that I only get after finishing an ultra.

It. Was. Perfect.

To Ultranaut Running who puts on the race and to all the volunteers, thank you so much! This was another wonderful race. And big props to the last aid station for having an ice cold Coca-Cola and for moving me out ahead of the cutoff.

AND, if you ever want to run this race, sign up for the email list and register as soon as it goes on sale. This race sells out annually - usually in a matter of hours. [LEARN MORE]

Note for Last Place Finishers. For anyone who finishes last, always remember that you beat everyone that didn’t finish, everyone that didn’t start, and everyone that never signed up! Buy the ticket and take the ride, friends!!!