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2025 Fire Tower 50k

I ran the 2025 Fire Tower 50k on October 4, the last hot day of the year.  I was happy with the result, but it wasn’t the triumph I had hoped for, which I think was due to the heat and my need to relearn some old lessons.  I thought I was well prepared physically and had good fueling and hydration strategies, but I ended up running only about the first twenty miles and walking most of the remaining ten.  The trudge across the finish line was a far cry from the joyous romp I had imagined. What went wrong?  Though I put the miles in, I wasn’t as well prepared as I thought.  I ran trails all summer, which I prefer over pavement, but in retrospect my trails were the best of both worlds, as flat and smooth as a paved trail without the joint-abusing hardness of pavement.  I thought I’d be able to just run free, while the reality was that, although the Fire Tower course is reportedly not as technically demanding as some others, it has its challenges. My strategy t...
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Fire Tower Trail Races

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I participated in the Fire Tower Trail Races 100k in Minnesota's St. Croix State Park, near Hinckley, on October 1, 2022.  I'm a citizen runner, and I was very much a novice participant, as my first ultra event was the 2021 Fire Tower 50k, and this was my third ultra race overall.  I could quibble here or there about decisions I made along the way, but as I finished I couldn’t have been happier with how it went. But more about that later. The event itself is warm and welcoming.  The directors, volunteers and every participant I crossed paths with were friendly and encouraging.  As explained later, I walked a lot, and I received a steady stream of encouragement and “good jobs.”  My limited experience with ultras has left me with the impression that some courses are more challenging, given that this one is pretty flat.  My watch had a total elevation gain of 1,414 feet over the 100k, and that included the fire tower (once).  But while it’s flat, the terr...
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