Cowtown Ultra Marathon Recap.

Happy Leap Day to you! I hope you are having a great Monday so far. This past weekend was full of running, relaxing and fun! I ran the Cowtown 50k on Sunday out in Funkytown…that’s Texas slang for Ft. Worth. Ultra marathon, baby! I am back in the ultra running game and it feels so good.

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Saturday morning I was up early for a quick shake out run with my Irving Running Club buddies. Most of us that were racing the next day did a nice and easy 5k while chatting and catching up on life.

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I also went to the expo to get my runner swag…love how they printed my name on my bib all festive and fancy.

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I am an absolute fan of when races have health and fitness expos because I can stock up on all of the runner goodies. This one was no different…I purchased some energy gels, got my shirt and even purchased some cryotherapy for later on this week. I have heard it is like a glorified ice bath…I will let you know how it goes.

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Race day! Sunday I got into my corral and we took off. This race was pretty massive so it took what seemed like forever before I crossed the start. I took a quick pic to pass the time.

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I saw a bunch of my running buddies along the course, ran with some folks I have not seen in forever, and even met some Marathon Maniac friends since I was wearing my shirt. A lot of folks this year were rocking the ultra which was so cool to see. I started off at a solid pace and was proud of myself for maintaining it for a majority of the race. The course is mostly rolling hills with a nice juicy incline at mile 9. I kind of always look forward to it and also look forward to running through the Ft. Worth Stockyards…it really is true to Texas/cowboy culture.

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The half marathoners split off from the full and ultra runners at mile 10 and then we go through some beautiful neighborhoods where lots of folks post up outside, play music and drink their mimosas while cheering us on. I love this course because the community really comes together to cheer on the runners.

After galavanting through neighborhoods, we go into Trinity Park which is really nice and usually this is where the sun comes out to play around mile 23 or so. Things were starting to warm up and I started feeling a little tired here. I took some more GU and (yes) a little shot of beer that someone was passing out. For some reason that mini shot gave me a boost of energy! I don’t know if it was the carbs or what…haha I picked up the pace a bit and kept it going. Close to mile 25 the marathoners split off and then the ULTRA crazies keep going and do a little out and back further down the trail. This is where it got real!

The little out and back part was pretty quiet but all of the ultra runners got to see each other heading back so we were all cheering each other on…we all knew we were fighting through the heat and humidity! At the turn around to head home they had a really neat aid station where someone had set out an RV and had sprite, pretzels, and all kinds of fun snacks for us to grab to get us through. I basically kept hydrating the entire day and sipped at all water stops so I grabbed some powerade here and kept it going.

We winded back around and I saw the awesome Irving Running Club crew cheering me on at the finish! A lot of them that were not running came out to volunteer which was so awesome. I really loved having all of that support on the course…something I have not had in a while since coaching with Luke’s Locker a few years ago.

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I finished the 31 miles in 5:12…a PR for me from last year’s 50k. I was thrilled with that time considering the heat and humidity at the end!

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I had so much fun at this race and I’d definitely recommend anyone who is looking for challenge and to push their limits a bit to put this race on your bucket list. You will not regret it! I am looking forward to running some more ultras this year. And of course…MORE 26.2s and such! Stay tuned.

How was your weekend? Did anyone rock a long run or race? Tell me about it!

Published by thedancingrunner

Marathon runner & group fitness instructor at 24 Hour Fitness. Passionate about family, friends, traveling. Loves destination races. Loves dining out, cooking in, being around down to earth people, writing, sunrises.

32 thoughts on “Cowtown Ultra Marathon Recap.

  1. Congratulations on an awesome run and a new PR! An amazing time for 50k, wow! I was looking forward to your race recap and as always it is fabulous…congrats again on a great race day…nice bling too 🙂

  2. Holy cow girl! What an awesome 50 K. Totally rocked it with a crazy good pace! I had a pretty solid 18 miler that boosted my confidence in training for the Nashville marathon in April in hopes of a BQ time. 🙂

  3. I was dying to read your recap but was so swamped at work yesterday!!! CONGRATULATIONS girl!! You did a fabulous job and PR. You are truly an inspiration.

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