The Next Hairbrained Scheme

I've signed up for the 2008 Swinging Bridge 50K on January 19th. I'm seriously undertrained and nursing a 4 week old ankle injury, but I'm still planning on starting the Bear Creek Lake State Park trailblazing ultramarathon with my camera gear on my back. What I'm most worried about is the lack of any real trail for much of the first 20 miles, and where there is visible singletrack, it's mostly covered with 6 inches of dead leaves. We shall see what transpires. I should at least get shots of everyone after the 10 mile turnaround.

This will be my second 50K (assuming I finish) with my gear - or without for that matter. The first was the Bel Monte last March. That wasn't too bad - until about mile 22 when it started to get too warm during the mile-and-a-half uphill switchbacks. Then it was topped off with 4 miles of jagged rock-hopping down to the Sherando Lake area. I was fortunate enough to have trained better for that one. Michael George, Mike Lipton, Mike Gholson and I spent 8 hours doing the 'Double' on Three Ridges and The Priest.

I need to make some modifications to my backpack if this becomes a regular occurrence. The camera support at the bottom of the pack tends to rub my lower back raw when I reach a 9 minute pace or better. I emailed the MountainSmith folks to see if I could help out with R&D on a new 'runner's' pack, but haven't heard anything as of yet. It would also help to have a more sweat-resistant padding against the wearer; maybe with some rubberized channels to wick the moisture down to drip off to the ground.