I have never done an ultra that I enjoyed more.

My other experiences in ultra have been the Sierra Club’s 100K Georgetown to Harper’s Ferry, and the JFK 50. Of course this CCT Fat Ass 50K is much smaller in scale to the JFK 50, or even the Bull Run, but I think that is part of its appeal. A less-than-formal start flows nicely into a moderately paced run which feels more like a Saturday morning club run with friends than a race. There was quite a bit of within-cardio-pace conversation amongst the group. Much of the conversation centered around upcoming directions and previous encounters with bush-wacking and other off-track forays. If you are the type of runner who wants clear direction for your race pace competition, this is not the race for you. With a rugged course, and bits of orienteering thrown in throughout the day, the CCT Fat Ass 50K is for those “racers” with a casual attitude, who can roll with the punches.  That said the support and support staff were excellent, with special thanks to John Coogan (RD) for all of his efforts. The aid stations/check-points were well stocked and well supported by enthusiastic volunteers.
        Right from the start I settled into a pace with Scott Crabb; we both kept saying that we were going too fast, and remarkably enough managed to slow down as the race went on, imagine that. After Wakefield, we picked up Gaynor Bourgeois at the almost treacherous turn “Just past the "2.25" milepost”. From then on we were Team Gaynor. The three of us co-navigated all the way to the Colvin Run check-point. We had brief or extended encounters with others along the way; veterans Michele Harmon and Mike Priddy joined the team for about 10 miles in the middle and Ed Cacciapaglia always seemed to show up right when we needed direction, thanks Ed. Thanks are also in order for the pre-race directions, which were detailed, accurate, and referred to often by our Team Gaynor. And though I didn’t run this race last year, I heard often how much better marked the trail was with ribbon and chalk. 
        At Colvin Run, Scott’s fresher legs helped him to pick up the pace, and he finished about 10 minutes ahead of Gaynor and I. Gaynor and I crossed Difficult Run about a mile too early and mistakenly hacked our way through the tougher left side of stream and missed our photo op at the correct stream crossing. I guess we needed a little extra adventure. Once in Great Falls Park, Gaynor drove a hard pace on tired legs and finished with Ed a couple minutes ahead of me, nice job guys. As for me, my now ragged legs and sore knees brought me in about 15 minutes faster than my pre-race plan of 6 hours; I’ll take it. Thanks team, it would have been much harder without you.
        Hot pizza, followed by an even hotter shower and several cold beers capped off a day which was well worth doing. The CCT Fat Ass 50K is already on the table for next year.

Rock On!

Nick Neakrase, Fairfax,VA