Mohican 50 mile was a great experience. I really loved the feel of the ultra, it a very laid back feeling compared to most road races. We started at 6:00 AM on the first of two loops, which was 26.8 miles and included the famous Lyons falls area. At the falls we encountered a wooden stairway descent and then a hand over hand climb up the tree roots a little later. Also a lot of mud, which I mostly avoided, due to my superhuman capability to avoid getting muddy shoes! Shortly after that we came out at Pleasant Hill dam where I met my wife, refilled a few supplies and we were off again. Had a nice peaceful run down the side of the river to the covered bridge aid station (had to avoid a large puddle again but thankfully there was a very convenient log laying right by it that I could hop onto).

After grabbing a few things at the aid station we were of up the hill towards Hickory Ridge, and that section seemed like the longest to me for some reason. Refueled a little at Hickory Ridge and we were off again to the start area.

We started the 2nd loop shortly after noon, this loop included a portion of the 1st, but then split off and was 23.2 miles total.Somewhere in this section the downhills really started getting to me, my quads really started to hurt when running the downhills.When we got back to Hickory Ridge the second time, I could have stayed and ate for half hour if I would have let myself, but since that would not have got me an closer to the finish line, I refilled my bottles and stuffed my face with: chips, a ham and cheese sandwich, more chips, a doughnut & some Twizzlers and I was off. My friend Daryll (which I had run with for about 90% of the race) had taken off before me and was about 1/2 mile ahead, so I ran a bit more till I caught up with him.

When we got the campground area close to the end I met my support crew (my wife Victoria and daughter Natasha) and we walked a good part of the rest of the way, then closer to the end Natasha ran with me to the finish line, and I finished in 14 hours & 14 minutes.

The next morning we headed back to the finish area and watched some of the 100 milers finish, including my friend Marilyn Hershberger who finished in 28 hours and 32 minutes.

It was a great weekend, and I had that feeling I used to get after a marathon, it's hard to explain but it felt really good (in a painful way).

There will be more of these in my future and I sense a100 miler in my future!