Jen Runs With Dogs

As many of you know, I run theGoldenRatio4 social media empire for our squad of golden retrievers. We do a weekly podcast that's mostly about the dogs, but we've gotten in the habit of posting bonus episodes to celebrate big runs (my ultras and any full marathons I run with my husband). If you need a little extra podcast action, here are links to some of our running-related episodes! The Covert Ultramarathon   The Palm 100   Chicago Marathon   All About Running   The Epic Weekend (on the Wildcat 100)

After pacing me at the Palm 100 , my husband was regretting not running the 50K and notching his first ultramarathon. Since there were no local races coming up, I decided to play race director and make one for us! I had a bit of a head start on this because I'd planned a solo 50K for myself in August that got abandoned in favor of emergency gallbladder surgery (goodbye gallbladder, you will not be missed). I'd designed myself a logo and everything because that kind of overdoing things is how I roll. I'd named my race the Covert Ultramarathon because it ran past CIA Headquarters (vaguely - we were on the other side of the river). I was pretty pleased with that so when the idea to make a race for the two of us popped up, the Covert Ultra was revived! The course was simple: start in Bethesda, MD, run the Capital Crescent Trail down to Fletcher's Boathouse on the C&O Canal, and follow the towpath north until we hit 15.5 miles. Then do it backwards. We parked a car

I've been wanting to do the Palm 100 for a few years. It moved to the fall this year which worked out perfectly in my schedule so, 3 weeks after the Chicago Marathon, I headed down to Deerfield Beach, FL for the race! This was a first for me because my husband came, too. I've done all my other long ultras alone. The race is pretty straightforward. It's an out and back 50K. You can run that, go out for another 19 miles for the 50 M (my distance this time), or do it twice for the 100K. It's on sidewalks most of the way and has really nice views of the beach. Sunrise around mile 5 My husband ran the first 10 miles with me before heading back to finish the 32K. Only a couple aid stations were staffed, but there were plenty of unmanned stations with lots of goodies. It was pretty warm that day and when I came back into base after 50K, I was really tired. A bunch of people were lingering around the pavilion with that look of longing for the sweet release of death, a

One of my favorite stories to tell over drinks is that of my first ultra, which was not really me running an ultra as much as it was me walking and crying all day to prove a point. I wrote about it for Ultrarunning Magazine and even managed to work an internet miracle and find a picture of me from that race in 2001! My First Ultra: Out of spite - https://ultrarunning.com/featured/my-first-ultra-out-of-spite/

I ran 100K! It's like this year has tried to stop me from running a longer ultra. A work trip scuttled my Keys 100 (50M) plans. Ridiculous heat made me skip the Running with the Devil 50M. Emergency gal bladder surgery on August 2 killed plans for even a 50K. But I needed a race and as I laid on the couch last month, I browsed races. I wanted something 50M - 100K. Relatively flat and close. Long time limit. No technical trails. These are hard to find, but as I scrolled, a choir of angels started singing and this race appeared. The Wildcat 100. Pensacola. 100K. 40 hour time limit! I WAS IN! The race was September 1, basically 1 month after my surgery. I ramped up my distance a bit for the 2 weeks I had to prepare, but I felt like my training had me in good shape for this race. However, I almost skipped it. The forecast for the week leading up to it remained consistent: rain rain rain. I knew that running for that long with wet feet was not going to be good. I was SO FRUS

I was excited to see this 50K road race in Florida at a time I was nearby. I'd seen some complaints about the organization because the 2017 race was abruptly cancelled for weather, but I wanted to like this race. I did not. For a while, it was fine. Runners for all races (5M, 13.1, 26.2, and 50K) ran along the shoulder of the road. It's not the most scenic, but it's fine. I understand why races need to do this. Up to this point, the aid stations were well stocked and the volunteers were great. The volunteers remained great, but things went downhill after the half marathon runners split off. We headed on to a paved trail system which was open to the public but fine to run on. The time limit for the marathon was 7 hours, and ultra marathoners had to be at that pace up through mile 16 when we split from the marathon to do a 4.9 mile out and back to gain our extra distance. I was very much ahead of this pace, and the aid stations on the spur were fine. But when we