Skydive Ultra 26-29 January 2017

I think the first year of the race was 2013 and it was a social event called "Drop and Give me 50", where Eric Friedman, RD, Skydive addict, and founder of the FUR Florida Ultrarunners Facebook group which is 3000 members strong decided to get some friends together, jump, then run 50 miles.  It then became "Ultrasignup Official" in 2014, which is the first year I went out there to volunteer after a DNF at my first 100 attempt two weeks prior.  This race is like a family reunion for Florida Ultra Runners and being centrally located in Clewiston, people from all over the state show up to run, volunteer, and just hang out with friends.  Although a "local hangout" type race, due to the unique factor of having a skydive right before running anything from a 10K to 200 Miles, it has been getting a ton of people escaping the winter to see what the Florida Ultra scene is all about.

The course:

Right when you pull into the Skydive Spaceland Clewiston which is also the Clewiston Airport, you see the aid station for the halfway point of the 7.5 mile loop course.  The first part is actually at 3 miles, and the second part of the course is 4.5 miles.  The only reason I'm making that point is that people like the 3 miles MUCH more than the 4.5 miles of the back part of the course. More on that in a moment.
When you drive to the start finish area, there is a huge square field and a road that goes around it.  The start/finish is right next to the hangar and airport office where there is activity and skydives all day.  There is always a DJ and music pumping and also it's set up like pit row, where the runners come through and stop by the aid station always has bacon, and is almost always manned with seasoned ultra runners.

View of runner pit row from the hangar entrance

When the runners depart, they go down the road and make a right out into the sugar cane fields for the first 3 mile section.  It is basically dirt roads at that point with some rocks and very runnable.  You end up out by the highway on a levee separated from the road with a large canal as you are heading towards the aid station.  This section is also runnable but not level by any means, and it can wreak havoc on your ankles after loop after loop.

Garmin course view

You then arrive at the halfway aid station, that for the past few years has been manned by another ultra race director, and local kids from her town who participate in the kids outdoor camp that she runs.  They have the aid station on lock down and are attending to every need of every runner.  It's a great spot for crew also because they can drive out from the start finish, park and hand off things as needed.

Halfway Point Aid Statiom

Departing the aid station, there is a large lake on your left and the same canal and highway on your right.  There was an alligator chilling out about 25 feet off the shore near the aid station, and the only people who were worried were the out of towners.  After about a mile you make a left and run a long straight section for about another mile then start making your way back towards the airport.  Somewhere in this section is where you turn left and end up on very soft sugar sand, that is a fine mixture of sand and clay.  What's special about this is that when it's dry, it soft and slows you down, but when it's wet, it turns into mud and sticks to everything and slows you down.  Super fun!  You finally get past that, back onto a grassy trail, then hit the road for about 3/4 of a mile back to the start, but not before feeling like your life has just been sucked away.

Miscellaneous ramblings:

Weather was great for most of the race.  Florida folks were cold and bundled up like eskimos, and everyone from up north was dying from the heat.  The weather was perfect, until it wasnt... The rain came. 2-3 AM the drizzle started, then it got bad around 5-6AM on Sunday and it was just miserable.  There is a 24 hour walmart about 10 minutes away and  Jake and I almost cleaned them out of ponchos and hand warmers to give out.  People were very appreciative hopefully it helped save someone's race!

I had planned on pacing a friend doing the 150 and also offered pacing up to a couple of folks from out of town who didn't have a pacer.  I was crashing in my car at 2AM and there was a knock on my window.  Kristen the aid station caption told me that my runner was there and was asking for a pacer.  I geared up and paced the gentleman for 18.5 miles.  His name was Adam from NY and he ran like a boss, and after showing up at the HURT ultramarathon in Hawaii having to drop early because of a stomach flu, came out to Florida, and ended up with 3rd place in the 100 miler.  I was thankful that we made it in what seemed like moments before the entire sky opened up.

3rd place... Sub 24 buckle.  One. Bad. Man!

There were a number of people who got their first 100 mile buckle after several attempts.  Some of them had GREAT races.

Tony Mehta and Marcus Casiano both got their first buckles this weekend!

I want that crew when I race next!  Dusty had him on lock every time I saw him.

Dave Krupski, 200 Mile Winner, Sally Libonati 200 Mile first female 2nd overall: Both of them are just ridiculous and looked strong every time I saw them.  There are no words to describe what they did this weekend.  Pure insanity!

Cortland Wheeler, 150 Mile Winner: This time last year I paced him to his first 100 after he was having a little rough patch.  Since then He's won 100 mile races and absolutely become an ultra beast!

Dave Yancey, 150 Mile Second Place:  David and I worked the aid station at this race the first time I was here in 2014 all weekend long.  He was a consistent machine and seems to get faster and stronger with every race.

There were multiple reported sightings of a large cat, with a head about close to hip high on a relatively tall dude.  I thought he might have been seeing things, but 5 minutes later some other lady came in and said she saw a very large cat out there that was hissing at them.  That would have freaked me out if I was solo running at night!  Also heard that there was a bear sighting.  For you out of towners, be lucky it was cold, usually you get rattlesnakes too!

I think that's about it for now, it was so wonderful to see all my ultra friends and make some new ones this year.  I plan on jumping and toeing the line for some distance next year for sure!

In the meantime, I'll see you guys at the Dunes 100 on February 25th!