Carl Blake – HAT Run – Saturday, March 19, 2016

This past Saturday in Susquehanna State Park was the 28th annual HAT run. Every March, hundreds of runners gather to run this popular 50k, and many religiously return year after year. It’s not an easy run. There’s nearly 7200’ of climbing along with a variety of stream crossings, but even with that, I think I too am completely hooked.

My regular routine on Saturday mornings involves an 8 mile trail run with a small group of ultra runners, regardless of the weather, and four of us in this group signed up for HAT. For me, it would be my second 50k, having done the Rosaryville 50k last fall.

On Saturday morning the race began with about 483 of us lined up in a field just down the hill from a barn, a farm house (complete with rooster), and a large State of MD Parks pavilion under which there were 4 rows of picnic tables.

The first 3.8 miles of the race consists of a short loop followed two 13.5 mile loops. Generally, the strategy is to have your bag of extra clothes, water, shoes, food, etc. on one of the picnic tables by the start. You have two opportunities to pass by the start to pick up anything you need, once after the first 3.8 miles, and then again after the first big loop at around mile 17.

The aid stations were extraordinarily well stocked with just about anything you can imagine. It was like a post-race buffet at every stop. There may have even been plates. I made the mistake of chowing down on random snacks at Rosaryville, so this time I was determined to not need the Tums. I used only Infinit in my 50oz salomon pack and nothing else, with the exception of a few orange slices and two swigs of Mountain Dew at the second-to-last aid station to get a jolt of caffeine.

My training consisted of a number of hill repeats, some on the Mormon Temple hill and some near my work on the hills in Dumbarton Oaks in DC. Fearing the distance and also the elevation profile at HAT, I also ran lots of long slow miles, some on the roads but mostly on hilly (dirt) trails.

Despite that, I didn’t have much confidence at the start, and I began the race very slow. Basically, I let everyone go, and my plan was to slowly catch and pass people along the way based on how I was feeling at the time.

While it was depressing to see most people take off in the beginning far ahead of me, picking off other runners one by one, mile after mile, was a huge confidence booster. I ran fairly strong and consistent right to the end, finishing at about 5:25.

One of the perks about finishing HAT is the free stuff you get at the end. This year they gave away small camping chairs and running hats, which is in addition to the free shirt at check-in. On top of that they also had a mini-store setup at check-in where you could you buy more deeply discounted stuff with the HAT logo. I came home with lots of gear.

For more info about the race, go to www.hatrun.com. It was a fantastic experience. I’ll definitely be back next year.