Dizzy Daze 50k

     I felt so good recovering from Chuckanut 50k I decided to sneak into the Dizzy Daze 50k. I've never gone back to back on race weekends but I had 22 miles scheduled and I was planning on running around Seattle's Greenlake pacing Dizzy Dazers anyway so I hit up Matt and Betsy for a bib.
     My main competition was none other than Megan Arbogast , member of the USA 100k team and holder of the Western States 100 women's masters record. I had been beaten the weekend before by Ellie Greenwood of the England 100k team and I really didn't want to be "chicked" two weekends in a row. Even though, if I was, it was by two incredibly fast women so no shame there.
     Race day dawned clear and cold, the antitheses of Chuckanut. The race started at 7:00 and consisted of 10 3.2 mile loops around Greenlake counterclockwise. That's it. I went out fast because I was cold and needed warmth. I stayed fast and on loop 5 Megan caught me and we ran for a while chatting then I pulled ahead. She caught me again at mile 17 or so and I stayed on my pace and pulled away but only because my pace was my pace and I was running my race. My goals were to A- win, B- set a 50k PR and C- Beat Phil Kochik's Course Record of 3:40. My old PR was just under 4 hours so I knew that was beatable. I ran on and the loops passed by as I passed 100kers, dog walkers, running clubbers and many many ducks. I fueled mainly on potato chips, S Caps and 2 Gu Chomps. Laps 8&9 sucked as you might imagine and I'd lost track of Megan but was still running scared that she would waste me in the last 2 miles. Loop 10 was a full out sprint including raspy breathing and a saliva trickle to the finish line. I came in at 3:35:59 achieving all three goals and winning a bottle of wine and a free entry into next year's race.
     Post race I hung out with volunteers and finishers as they came in then decided to "walk" a loop with Allen Skytta who was running the 100k, then ran another loop with him before calling it a day and heading home as the new "King of Seattle Ultras" As I hold CRs in 2 of the 3 Ultras in the Seattle city limits. Allen got 2nd in the 100k by 1 minute. Kevin Douglas shamed us all by running 33 laps of Greenlake for the first known Greenlake 100 mile run.
     Good times had by all. Matt Hagen and Betsy Rogers put on a great race. My gear was perfect for the day. Montrail Rogue Fly shoes and Drymax socks. My 4th 50K of the year and I still own 10 toe nails!