Race Report - Badwater Cape Fear 51.4m
Badwater Cape Fear is run on Bald Head Island, a barrier island at the mouth of the Cape Fear River just south of Wilmington, NC. The southern portion of the island is accessible only by ferry and there are no cars on it, just golf carts. Lots and lots of golf carts.
My training for this race was a bit of a train wreck, so I didn’t expect to do much more than survive. I didn’t know I was running it when I finished my 50 miler in February, so I took a couple of weeks off to recuperate and then had oral surgery which set me back a couple more days. A friend came through with a bed in their rental house on the island around that time, though, so all of a sudden it was a scramble. I got one solid week of training in and then hurt my foot the next week so I shut it down under the “better undertrained than injured” clause of the runner’s manual.
The race itself starts with 12 miles on paved road and a section of maritime trail before heading out onto the beach for a double out and back totaling 39 miles. One of the appeals to this race was that it had a 50k option and after the first out and back you could bail (or if you missed the time cutoff) and still be classified as an official 50k finisher. Little did I know that changing conditions on the open beach would make each leg essentially its own course, so with the initial portion it was like running 6 different courses, all requiring their own strategies.
The race started promptly at 7:45 in the shadow of Old Baldy Lighthouse and immediately ran onto a boardwalk over the salt marshes before hitting the paved golf cart roads. Beautiful. Not much to note on this section of the race other than it was pretty with lie rolling hills and I was cranking out easy 11:30 miles. At the end we hit the maritime trail section and things changed abruptly. This was the worst single track I’ve ever run on. You had to follow pink ribbons at eye level while simultaneously not tripping over roots or cracking your head on low hanging trees. It wasn’t fun and I fell in behind 4 other runner and we just walked it.
After checking in at the Bald Head Island Conservancy (Race HQ), it was out on the beach. The tide was low and starting to rise, leaving wide sections of hard pack sand to run on. It would have been ideal if not for a 10-15mph headwind gusting at 25-35mph making headway tough and miserable. The wind was picking up loose sand from up the beach and sandblasting us with it. I was pretty windburned by the time I hit the turnaround at Fort Fisher.
On the return leg, the wind was a nice boosting tailwind, but the tide had risen to the point that it was eating a lot of the runnable sand. The leg became a continuous game of chicken as you ran the remaining good sand on the edge of the water while watching the waves washing up to avoid getting your feet soaked. I didn’t always dodge in time, but stayed “dry enough”.
A lot of that out and back was spent asking myself what the heck I was doing and did I really want to go back out after finishing the 50k. The (relative) ease of the inbound leg convinced me to go for it. I finished the leg and the 50k in 7:10 (cutoff was 8:00 for 51.4m runners).
I was having a bit of trouble with my nutrition strategy at this point, too, as the drying effect of the wind along with a little stomach discomfort made my Uncrustables unpalatable. I knew I was in trouble if I couldn’t get calories in, so I had the aid stations start filling my pack bladder with Tailwind and subsisted on Tailwind, Coke, orange slices and bananas from that point on.
Heading back outbound again after changing shoes and socks. I knew I could almost walk out the race given the 14:00 time limit. Little did I know... The tide had completely eaten the runnable sand at that point and was starting to fall. The wind had slackened a bit, but was still a significant headwind. I couldn’t find anywhere to run. Every time I tried I ended up slipping and sliding and sinking in, spending far too much energy. After 2-3 miles of trying I just gave up and walked and watched my time bleed away. By the time I got to Fort Fisher again, sand accumulation in my shoes had blistered the bottom of my left foot, making it hard to walk. I did as much as I could for it, mole skinning and double socking, but it wasn’t going to be a pretty return trip. Hard-learned tip: gaiters are your friend on sand!
Fortunately, the time walking the third leg along with the repair work at the aid station had bought some time for the tide to recede and the sand to dry and harden. I was reenergized from the rest and was able to get back to run/walking in the mid-13:00s on the way back. The wind had largely calmed and the sunset was gorgeous as I made my way back down the beach. It was interesting running the beach in total darkness trying to locate the route markers to the finish. Another tip, check the batteries in your headlamp before the race. It doesn’t help when it dies on you in the darkness.
I ended up rolling in to the finish with an unofficial 12:48:54 finish. I’m very happy with that, given the conditions faced. This was by far the most beautiful course I’ve run and would not hesitate to do it again. And I got my first belt buckle! Woohoo!!
As always, thanks for bearing with me through another long winded race report. It was a great, fulfilling weekend, but I am looking forward to a little rest after a lot of long races the past 6 months.
The starting line at Old Baldy Lighthouse.
Time to hit the beach!
This is what I saw all day Saturday. Except half the time the water was on the left.
The route.
All for my first belt buckle!
The bad news, my ankles hurt for portions of the run so the 3 months off didn’t help at all. The good news is, the ankle braces I bought are very comfortable while running, as much as a brace can be that is. 
