Spitfire Ultra

The Spitfire Rebel Addition

#livingourbadashlives

Mark and I thought we'd be running the Spitfire Ultra in April, but because of COVID, it had to be postponed until the beginning of October. We were originally signed up for the 25K (me), and the 12K (Mark), since it was an early season race. When the date switched, we were in heavy training for the Dead Horse 50 miler (me), and 50K (Mark), so we took the plunge and increased our distances for Spitfire. I ran the 50K, and Mark did the 25K. We both had great races! 

The 50K started in the dark, which I was thrilled about. I made it all the way up and around the first volcano and was headed for the second one before it was light enough to turn my headlamp off. Perfect! I would rather conquer as many of the hills as I can in the dark, and when it's still cool outside. The course changed and added the south butte this year. It was a really cool area to run! I was making great time, and covered the first half of the course pretty fast. I felt so good! I paid for it on the second half though. This is the first race where I've had trouble with nutrition. I think I just got in a zone, and forgot to eat on the first half. By then, I couldn't really stomach anything. I made it off the north butte the second time around, and I could really feel my energy being zapped from me. That's right about the time Amanda caught up to me, and it was perfect timing. We ran the rest of the race together, and it helped the miles go by so much faster.  Fran was working the aid station on the south butte, and she cut up some oranges for us to take with us in a biggie. That's exactly what my body wanted. It's about the only thing I could even consider eating, so it really saved my butt! I placed 11th overall. Amanda and I were the 4th and 5th females, and I won my age group. It ended up being just shy of 33 miles, so that officially makes it the farthest I've ever run.

Time: 7 hours, 37 minutes

Amanda-Tricia-Steph-Jenn
Getting ready to start.

This picture was taken from the top of the south butte, looking back at the north butte, where I had just come from.

Sunrise!

Round one, and still feeling great!

Amanda
We were on our way to climb the south butte for the final time. This section of trail along the water was my favorite.

Swans in the water!

Round two-not feeling as great, but still going strong!

At the south butte aid station. This is looking across the caldera.

When I was two hours into my race, Mark was starting the 25K. This was totally his kind of race; pretty technical, lots of good downhill, and hard climbing (which he isn't a big fan of, but he's getting really good at). He finished 7 minutes faster than his goal time. I feel like this is the best he's run, especially for such a hard course. He finished 10th overall, 9th male, with a time of 3 hours 31 minutes.

Nick-Mark-Mat
Getting ready to start!

Climbing the rocks on the north butte.

We all wore our IFTR 'Women Run' shirts.

Yay for another great race in the books.

This race is awesome because it's local, and it's fun to see all of our fellow IFTR people out on the trail, or working the race. It was a little mental pick me up every time I saw a friend on the course. Mark and I passed each other twice!

Tackling two volcanos, twice, is no joke. This course was a brutal one, and perfect training for our upcoming adventures. I'm sure we'll be back in April to tackle it again.