Killen’s Pond
2019 Angela Ivory Memorial 50k
Killen’s pond is a looped trail tucked away in the rural area of Felton, DE. The trail loops can range anywhere from 3.1 to 7.5; depending on the path you take and the amount of time you have. I have traveled the trails many times over, whether it be for running or rucking. It is a familiar path and really one of the best trails in the state of Delaware. It is not too technical, there are a few hills and I can basically run the entire course without my gear. There is a parking lot directly next to some picnic tables and this is a great starting part for any looped race.
The Angela Ivory Memorial 50k is a fatass race that has been held for many years. This will be my second time racing it, but I knew what I was getting myself into as far as the course was concerned, meaning, I wasn’t worried about that. However, a cold spurt had just come through the county and created a small amount of wind chill on top of the already freezing temps. Look ahead, I saw the day was going to be roughly 20 degrees when we start and would get to a really cozy 34 degrees by the end of the race.
The week prior to this race I had a race in Maryland called the Phunt run. The race was PHun, but it was serving as my guide to how much I needed to train for the 50k that week, a few stretches, or really working on the legs. I learned a lot from the Phunt Run and it helped me with nutrition and the clothes I would be wearing for the Killens pond 50k. Maybe you are thinking I overdid it a bit with preps for a fatass, but I had something to prove, it was my course, and I wanted to show that I could run faster since the first year I ran it. The week leading up I did 5 miles, total. Just enough to keep my legs and muscles feeling the movements, but not enough to feel worn down or worn out. I ate my normal vegan diet the week before, and then ate the shit out of my own pizza the night before. I am still a firm believer it is what you eat that helps or hinders a long distance race. I pack my bags and took the obligatory picture of my haul. I went to sleep thinking, I have no idea how this is going to go, but I better not fuck this up.
Morning of was cold. I hate the cold. I wore a coat to a race, something I had legitimately never ever thought about doing. I’m not the smallest guy, so I looked a little bit like the dough boy with all my layers. I will review them all later. The director was not there when I started running. We were on our own; timing, most food, and trail. I set off twenty minutes before the clock started and ran with two other guys I had been talking with prior to the race. I knew the course so I helped them through one of the more difficult turns and then took off. I had a coat on, which is ridiculous to me, but I was worm. I had gloves on, which is to this day the best thing I have ever received as a runner. My gear was just so spot on I felt great. 7:45, 8:15, and 8:10: my first three miles were so much faster than I wanted to go, but I felt so great I kept it up. Mile after mile I could feel the work I had put into my legs, I could feel how strong my steps were and I could feel the feeling of pride for running on the trail I had trained on so many times before. I had Kevin McCallister in my head saying “this is my house, I have to defend it,” replaying in my head whenever I felt like slowing down. I pushed my pace and remembered my Batona trail run from months prior, I ran that almost straight through, 28 miles I ran without stopping. Could I make it more? 22, 24, 26 miles passed, only a few laps left and then I was finished. At mile 28, I had not slowed down, I had not stopped to walk to the hills, my legs said hell no, my lungs said MORE MORE. I could feel the excitement pump through my body as I finished my second to last loop. I came to the straight away and I saw my three kids and dog. I chanted to the director 1 more loop, my three children joined in. 1 more loop, 1 more loop we said…the excitement was extreme. I gave them all big kisses, two for good luck, took the reins of the pup and we were off. I wasn’t going to slow down for her, she needed to keep up. One and a half miles into the run the worst thing happened, she had to poop. She slowed down, pooped, but the damage to my legs was done. I had walked and stopped, mile 30 was how far I made it. Thirty straight miles of 8:00 to 9:30 minute pace. I didn’t know where the rest of the runners were, but I had to keep going, I wanted to finish and win!
I finished the loop bottoming out at 10:50 minute pace for the last mile, but I was happy to be done. I crossed off my last tally for the loops and welled up, knowing I had just ran my fastest 50k ever. One full hour faster than last year and 20 minutes faster than my fastest 50k. The training I had done had worked, I felt great, I didn’t want to do more, but I felt great. I knew my training plan had worked, the days at the gym were spot on. I had created a training plan that actually worked!
I finished up the day being second place overall to a lovely lady I had seen on the trail all day, she beat me by 6 minutes. My finish time was just more than 4 hours and 34 minutes: 1st place male, 1st place age group, and I made one of the top 10 fastest times for the race ever. Put this race on your list for next year, it fills up fast, but is totally worth the price of admission.