Pages from Matt Mahoney's Journal. Take a look at his web site!
Some Ultras I've Run
12/30/90 - Space Coast 50K - 6:01
Cocoa Beach FL, out and back on the beach, sunny and 80 F. Figured I could walk the first 12 miles and run the rest, but the sand turned soft about where I started running. Ended up walking half of the last 6 miles too.
12/22/91 - Space Coast 50K - 5:21
Sunny and 74 F. Beach conditions change each year, and this year the first 8 miles of sand was soft. Pain in hip flexor and knee. Started 5 minutes late.
11/21/92 - Space Coast 12 Hour - 54.2 miles
1/4 mile track, Titusville FL. Late again, by 1 hour. I registered day of race and found they changed the starting time. Right hamstring and arch were sore, which I later traced to worn shoes. I didn't notice during the race but it was obvious the next time I wore them.
8/21-22/93 - Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon - 4:40, 6:42
The ascent climbs 13.4 miles from Colorado Springs at 6280 ft. to Pikes Peak at 14,110 ft on trail. The marathon is the next day, out and back (actually 26.3 miles, which makes it an ultra). I spent a week in Colorado mostly at 6000-8000 ft, so I was not well acclimated to the altitude. I had a headache after the ascent and a wet cough for 2 hours after the marathon, early signs of pulmonary edema. On the way down in the marathon, I stopped to pull a sharp stone out of my shoe only to discover there was no stone but a half-dollar size blister on my heel that had popped.
12/3/93 - Key to Shining Keys 100 - DNF
Key Largo to Key West FL on the narrow shoulder of a busy highway. It was 68 F, 100% humidity at night, 80's and sunny the next day. Started at 5 p.m. with a 31-hour cutoff. I dropped at noon at the 100 km aid station with swollen feet that made even a slow walk extremely painful. An hour later I was fine. Only 25 of 55 finished, and the race was never held again.
Quitting, admitting failure, was the hardest thing I had done. A DNF gets no mention in the results. I had to turn in my race number, the one that I would have added to my collection for every race I had ever run since my first 5K in 1986. I was determined to try again.
