Potomac Heritage Trail 50k Race Report (2021)

I ran a trail ultramarathon (50k) this past weekend.

I ran this same one in 2019 and wrote a much more detailed race report then (2019 Race Report), so I’ll keep this one short. I got very lost in 2019 but only a little bit lost this time. Staying with a couple other runners helped (Mike and Jack, thanks!). I only took one hard fall but had many close calls where I caught myself. Lots of roots, rocks, water crossings, and hills!

They changed the DC part of the course a bit. The race starts in DC, crosses the Key Bridge in Arlington, goes out to the American Legion Bridge just north of Tysons, returns back and crosses over Chain Bridge back into DC.

This year, Michael Wardian, an elite runner sponsored by Hoka One One, ran the race and cruised to victory with a pace of 10:14/mi over a tough, technical course. There are rock climbs with handrails fixed to the boulders in one area.

The bonus points you see there are for fun challenges at the aid stations. The first one was eating a smallish chunk of onion for 10 minutes off your time. I ate it and reported it to the volunteer, but somehow it wasn’t credited to me in the results.

Another challenge I did was guessing the flavor of Asian Pringles mystery containers. There were 6 to choose from and I chose mystery Pringles #5. I guessed spicy crawfish, and got 3 bonus points for that.

The last challenge I did was trying to catch M&Ms in my mouth. They give you 5, and each one you successfully catch and eat is a bonus point. I got 2, but the volunteer marked it as 3 to be nice.

I ran this one with Mike and Jack (Jonathan) until about mile 25 or so, but then I slowed down a bit over the last few miles. I was the 7th finisher not counting bonus points.

The hills were tough, and I could definitely feel it in my glutes and even lower back. I felt a little undertrained for this since I only averaged about 25 miles/week for 5 months coming into this.

The race was well organized, and the volunteers were awesome and really nice. There was no entry fee, and all the food/snacks/drinks at the aid stations were provided free of charge. Kudos to the VHTRC for putting on a great event. I hope to do this again in the future, maybe with a bit more training next time.

PHT FA 2021 FINISHERS 

Place Place	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	GENDER	AGE	Finish Time	Bonus Points	TOTAL TIME	Total miles
1	Wardian	Michael	M	47	5:08:10	0	5:08:10	30.5
2	Jollymore	Stewart	M	37	5:51:08	0	5:51:08	30.5
3	Erb	Matthew	M	43	5:58:20	5	5:53:20	30.5
4	Loewus-Deitch	Jonathan	M	34	6:40	7	6:33	30.5
5	Christensen	Mike	M	39	6:47	11	6:36	30.5
6	Bryson	Jonathan	M	26	6:47	10	6:37	30.5
7	Knipling	Keith	M	45	6:58	17	6:41	30.5
8	Bielawa	Ted	M	51	7:07	16	6:51	30.5
9	Lee	Danny	M	36	6:58	6	6:52	30.5
10	Huffman	Larry	M	61	7:21	16	7:05	30.5
11	Archuletta	Israel	M	42	7:25	10	7:15	30.5
12	Perraud	Art	M	63	7:21	5	7:16	30.5
13	Calabrese	John	M	41	7:17	0	7:17	30.5
14	Lundstrom	Laurel	F	41	7:22:25	3	7:19:25	30.5
15	Bourgeois	Gaynor	F	53	7:22:51	3	7:19:51	30.5
16	Pesek	Sophie	F	23	7:33:29	7	7:26:29	30.5
17	Miller	James	M	56	7:33	3	7:30	30.5
18	Burns	Alice	F	42	7:44	10	7:34	30.5
19	Sherlock	Paul	M	65	7:46	11	7:35	30.5
20	Brown	Ryan	M	35	7:43	0	7:43	30.5
21	Chipkin	Laura	F	41	7:55	10	7:45	34.5
22	Rasmussen	Loki	F	27	8:10	22	7:48	30.5
23	Koenig	Jeremy	M	45	7:51	0	7:51	30.5
24	Short	Logan	M	21	8:10	18	7:52	30.5
25	Solinsky	Larry	M	56	7:52	0	7:52	30.5

Place	LAST NAME	FIRST NAME	GENDER	AGE	Finish Time	Bonus Points	TOTAL TIME	Total miles
26	Dempsey	Stephanie	F	44	8:15	14	8:01	30.5
27	Mauger	Thomas	M	63	8:24	14	8:10	30.5
28	Mauger	Nathaniel	M	32	8:24	13	8:11	30.5
29	Gonzalez	Eliot	M	38	8:39	10	8:29	30.5
30	Kolb	Brian	M	36	8:32	3	8:29	30.5
31	Maylath-Bryant	Fiona	F	24	9:15	19	8:56	30.5
–	Howard	Charlene	F	49	(5:15)	10	(5:05)	19
–	Hord	John	M	53	(5:15)	0	(5:15)	19
–	Turner	Jack	M	65	(6:23)	0	(6:23)	22.5

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