I stumbled upon the Killer Creek 50k race by sheer luck. A few days after DNF’ing the Allison Woods Halloween Hobble (AWHH) 100 on Oct 10 at 52 miles due to insane weather conditions, I was already back on Ultrasignup looking for the next ultra to run. After looking at a few of them and reading the various descriptions on the website, I kept gravitating to the Killer Creek 50k that was on Oct 31. Despite the race being 3 weeks from the AWHH 100, and some plantar fasciitis that hit me immediately after that race, I felt good about it and wanted to give it a shot.
Course Description
The Killer Creek 50k race took place at the Cane Creek park in Waxhaw, NC. The 50k was 4 loops through the park on trails with roughly 900 feet of elevation gain. The elevation gain is debatable because it varied for so many people, but that was the estimate from the Race Directors so I am going with it. Run it for yourself to decide.
Cane Creek park is a recreational park that has campgrounds as well as a large lake that the park surrounds. The trails run throughout the park around a large lake to the other providing for varying views and trail surfaces. Over the course of the 8 mile loop, the trails would vary from easy to technical. Of note, I consider a surface to be technical based on the number of roots or rocks. Easier portions of the trail included sections of gravel road, grass covered trails, smooth and flat dirt surfaces. These easier sections were the opportunity to increase pace. Whereas, the more technical sections, were narrower portions of the trail. These sections had plenty of roots and rocks to catch a toe on. There were a few bloody shins on the first loop as runners were learning the joys of trail running.
Day/Night Before
Cane Creek park is a 3 hour drive from where I live. With a start time of 7:30, I chose to spend the night in a town about 25 minutes away. I worked all day on Friday and was packing my gear during work breaks. Being my 8th 50k, I was not stressed out about making sure I had everything packed. As the day went by, I just kept throwing things into a pile and eventually into a bag. Out the door by 3pm on Friday and on my way.
Ate a good dinner and went to bed early to get some sleep. Unfortunately, when I travel, if my wife isn’t with me I always struggle to sleep at night. Awe I know, but it’s still true. And, to top it off, it was also the night before the race. Which, basically translates to no sleep also because you can’t stop thinking about all the details of the next day.
At 12:30am, still wide awake and running through the race details in my brain, I realized. I left my hydration pack at home. So much for not being stressed about having everything being packed.
Sleep became a lost cause.
I won’t go into all the frantic details of my mind during that moment, but will say that by 3am, I had come up with a worst case scenario plan and drifted to sleep at 3:30am, just in time to get up at 5:15am. I dressed, checked out, stopped by Dunkin Donuts for some coffee, and yeah, a couple of donuts. Finally, I arrived at Cane Creek park for packet pickup at 6:30am.
Race Organization
A brief note about the race organization. The McCaslin brothers, or Vagabond Endurance, ran a smooth race. The Race Directors sent out multiple pre-race emails providing information about race day logistics and Covid restrictions. With all the info, I felt pretty comfortable with how things would be set up on race day. One hiccup would be the need of some sort of light or something near the port-o-johns. Lesson learned, always bring a headlamp for setup even if not needed for a race start.
Yeah, I know, why does the discussion have to turn to the bathroom??? Because, if you run races of any length, it is one of those critical pre-race visits. The challenge that many ultras have though, is that unlike the shorter counterparts (5ks and 10ks), that are held on roads, most ultras are held on trails, in woods, in the dark. Fortunately, there is moonlight, but once you close that door. Well…it’s a cave that you don’t want anything to go wrong in.
But, other than a portable light for the port-o-john, the race was a well run operation. The McCaslin brothers love the sport and their passion was obvious. They are awesome hosts who I enjoyed meeting and chatting with post-race.
Race
After the pre-race meeting, I finalized some things at my personal aid station and chatted with Jeremy and Shannon, who had come up for the day for support and to broadcast some live feed on The Ultra Running Guys Instagram feed.
At 7:30am, the race started. I socially distanced in the corral with the other runners. I wore a mask along with the other runners at the start. Once we started and separated a little from one another, I shoved my mask in my pocket to be used later at any aid station if needed.
With no hydration pack, I carried my 12oz handheld along with shoving a few SIS electrolytes and Maurten’s gels in my pockets.
Even though it was an 8 mile loop, there were multiple portions that were more of an out and back. This allowed for being able to pass other runners coming from the opposite direction. This is great if you are vying for a podium spot so you can see where your competitors are. As a middle-to-back of the pack runner, this gives a lot of opportunities to wish fellow sufferers the courteous “great job” on passing. This gave me the chance to be impressed with the leaders flying by.
The Killer Creek 50k race also had a 25k and 8 mile race built in. This is common in ultras where RDs introduce shorter distances to increase the numbers of runners which helps create a good energy and also allows for those running the shorter distance to see an ultra and perhaps catch the bug to commit to running an ultra themselves one day.
Having the runners from the shorter distances participating on the same course has its pros and cons. I love seeing the runners flying by, but also have to make sure that I don’t try keeping up with them. In other races, having these “extra” runners out there can cause issues on a single track run, but with Killer Creek, the course had wide enough trails that there were seldom times where you would have to step to the side for the extras to fly by.
Laps 1 and 2 went well and I was running comfortably. Having done a few of these now, I have learned the importance of paying attention to the course and which parts feel more like work than others. And, knowing that the race is not a sprint, pacing in the first lap is important to prevent blowing up later. The elevation did start taking its toll on the legs by the end of lap 2, but my nutrition and hydration were on point and I was feeling well overall.
Lap 3 was the hardest lap by far. Pace began to slow somewhat more here as I was finding myself walking a lot of the hills. The energy from the 25k and 8 mile runners began to wane as they were wrapping up and were less prevalent on the course. On the bright side, the middle of the pack runners began to settle in as well as we jockey back and forth with one another. So seeing familiar faces of effort alternating with smiles and anguish is one of my favorite things to be a part of. Shared experience knowing we are all in the same fight now.
Lap 4, the final 8 miles was filled with relief. When you know it is the last lap, it is a mental boost. I picked up the pace the last couple of miles because I knew the end was in sight and was stoked to finish up the final stretch to the finish line.
That’s a Wrap
Overall, my time was 6 hours and 44 minutes. My second slowest 50k to date. But, with the course layout and elevation that I hadn’t been able to train for due to Covid keeping me away from the gyms and treadmills, I am pretty happy with the time and effort.
Special thanks to Jeremy and Shannon for being able to come up to the race. Was great to have them there for encouragement. And, especially grateful for Jeremy going “live” on our Ultra Running Guys Instagram page. This made it possible for Cathy and my kids to tune in and see me finishing the race. When you exert a lot of effort and then hear that they are watching live, it fills you with energy.
All in all, the Killer Creek 50k was a great time. The runners in the area are some of the most welcoming that I have been around in a while. If you live in the Waxhaw or Charlotte areas of NC, you need to check the race out. Or, at a minimum reach out to the folks at Vagabond Endurance or Run Charlotte Run. Great groups of runners that you should be a part of if you are in that area.
If you ran the Killer Creek 50k (or any of the distances that day), feel free to leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the race, catch up with me on Instagram at @winchesterjeff or send an email to [email protected]. Don’t forget to head over to our Video and Blog pages for more content!
