50 MILES - THE NORTH FACE ENDURANCE CHALLENGE

Yillik The North Face Endurance Challenge kosu yarislari serisinin en son duragi her Aralik ayinda San Francisco’da gerceklesiyor. Golden Gate koprusunun hemen kuzeyindeki Marin bolgesinde benim surekli kostugum okyanus kenarindaki patikalarda hem de. Arka bahceme kadar geldikleri icin de son yillarda her sene bu seri kapsamindaki en uzun mesafe olan 50 mili kosuyorum. Yaz sonu Turkiye donusu sonrasi Aralik’a kadar haftasonlarim bu yarisa hazirlanmakla geciyor. Bu sene cok ciddi bir hazirlik programi takip edemedim. Oyle ki son 20 mili pacer olarak benimle beraber kosmasi icin de arkadaslarimdan hic kimseyi ayarlamadim. Pacer (tavsan diye cevirebiliriz herhalde) uzun yarislarda kosucuyu motive eden ve cok yavas ya da cok hizli kostugunda uyaran kisi. Avrupa yarislarinda boyle bir gelenek yok ama Amerika’da 50 mil, 100 km, ve 100 mil yarislarinda cok yaygin bir durum. Velhasil, ben 50 milin son 20sine geldigimde pacer’im olmadigi icin baya bir depresif hale burundum ve ozellikle son 10 mil acaip zor geldi. Neyseki tamami camur olan parkuru yine de hic fena olmayan bir derece ile bitirdim. Bu yaris, bir serinin parcasi ve son yarisi oldugundan, ayrica da North Face markasi sponsorlugunda gerceklestiginden butun elit kosuculari ceken bir yaris, dolayisi ile lokal yarislarda ara ara podyumlara ciksamda bu yarisi duzgun bir zaman ile bitirebilmek yetiyor. Ama bu yarisi ilk kostugumda maraton (dag maratonu) mesafesini kosmustum ve genel kategoride 3. kadin olarak bitirmistim. Sahane bir duyguydu.

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The last race of the annual North Face Endurance Challenge series takes place in San Francisco on the trails of Marin just north of the Golden Gate bridge. Since it is right in my backyard, I try to run the 50 mile race, the longest distance in these series, every year. At the end of the summer, after I get back from Turkey, I spend my weekends usually doing training runs for this race however I couldn’t follow a very strict program this year. I didn’t even arrange a pacer to run the last 20 miles with me. Having a pacer is not a common practice in the races in Europe at all but in the US in almost every 50mile, 100km, and 100mile race people have pacers with them. I wish I did too since I really got depressed the last 20 miles and dragged myself during the last 10 miles. I still finished with a decent time I guess given it was all mud throughout and given how this race is very competitive and attracts all the elite runners as it is sponsored by the North Face and is the last race in a series. Although I can have occasional podium finishes in local races, not likely in this one. Having said that though, the first time I run this race, I did the regular trail marathon and became the 3rd woman overall. That was a super cool feeling.