8 Hr Run From the Ducks UltraMarathon, Sept 26, 2009

The 8 Hr "Run From the Ducks" Ultra-Marathon was held on Saturday, September 26, 2009 at the Clark Botanical Gardens near Mineral Wells, TX. Three of us from Abilene made the trip over for the event: myself, Gary Garson, & Lisa Snow. We left Abilene about 4:15am and arrived at the race site before dawn. After it was light enough to see, we realized what a beautiful place this Clark Gardens was. On the property were two ponds surrounded by all kinds of trees, plants, and flowers. The race course was a .48 mile loop around one of the ponds. They only needed one aid station because you went by it every half mile. There was plenty of room to set up a chair and drop bag along the path for needed supplies. The race director, Tony Mathison, did a great job along with the volunteers, who were all Vietnam Veterans. All the proceeds went to benefit the National Vietnam War Museum being built near Mineral Wells. There was no chip timing at this race. Instead, the volunteers used tick sheets to manually record each lap. To keep the event interesting, Tony put up signs along the path with inspirational quotes and kept changing these throughout the race.

The race started at 7:00am. The morning was fairly cool. I felt really good at the start and was running well. By mid-morning, the clouds had moved out, the sky was perfectly clear, and the temperature was rising. With the entire race course being slightly less than a half mile loop, the logistics were interesting. We started out all running the loop clockwise. At the 4 hr point, they turned everyone around when we reached the start/finish line and had us start running counter clockwise. We were now seeing the course from an entirely different viewpoint! One of the things that made this race fun was that you were never alone. Unlike most trail runs where you can end up not seeing anyone for miles, you were never by yourself on this course. I was able to meet and talk with lots of runners from many different places.

I made it through the half marathon and marathon distances feeling pretty good. But after this point, my legs began to cramp from the heat and I had to do a lot of walking. Even the walking got hard near the end! The watermelon at the aid station kept us going. I stopped after 72 loops. My Garmin GPS watch showed I had been 36 miles. My official finish, however, was 34.6 miles in 7:43.27. Lisa's goal was to get in 20 miles and she made it! Congratulations, Lisa! Gary's goal was to reach the 31 mile mark, which would be a 50K distance. He made it! Congrats, Gary.

After the 8 hours was up, everyone gathered for the awards presentation. The race director, Tony, didn't want any runner to be last, so he ran a couple of loops himself so that he would be last. Everyone was recognized and applauded for their efforts. Mr. Clark, the founder of the Gardens, gave a very touching talk. Their website is http://www.clarkgardens.com. One of the directors of the National Vietnam War Museum also spoke and thanked us for our efforts. Their website is http://www.nationalvnwarmuseum.org/index.htm.

On our way back home that afternoon, the 3 of us talked about what a fun race this was and hope that more runners from Abilene will attend next year.