Saturday at Norrie Point

Every year, I put off planning for it. Every year, I dread the idea of standing out in the cold, next to a frozen-solid Hudson River for 8 or 9 hours. Every year, my good old friend Charlie and I say to ourselves, “Why in God’s name are we doing this?”

And then, like clockwork, every year while it is going on and when it is over, we are smiling and quietly planning for next year.

What am I talking about?

The Fat Ass 50, of course.

OK. Now that I have thoroughly confused much of the blogosphere, I will explain.

Back in 1995 -- incidentally the year we got married -- my friends Charlie and Larry and I were into running ultra-marathons. We were an odd pairing, to be sure. Charlie is an old, retired NYC firefighter with salty vocabulary (to say the least) and an old-school running mentality; Larry is a bit older than me, very much into trash talking and undertraining for long races; I got sucked right into their crazy ways, and we really had a lot of fun together.

We were bonded by the camaraderie of really long races involving a fair amount of discomfort and travel (mostly to the NYC area). One time, in the stupor of a post 12-hour race hangover (yes, we ran/walked for 12 hours straight; it was fun!; ask me about it sometime …), one of us – I think it was Charlie – came up with the idea of organizing an ultra of our own. But not just ANY ultra. A Fat Ass 50.

If you Google “Fat Ass 50,” you will find that there are a lot of these 50-kilometer events (that’s 31 miles, for those keeping score at home) around the United States. We figured we could put one on ourselves. Sixteen years later, we are still doing it.

The politically correct name for our race is the “Mid-Hudson Road Runners Club Recover From the Holidays 50K.” You can look it up at our club’s Web site, linked here. But to us, and to the ultra community, this was/is/and will always be the “Fat Ass 50.”

Our race is held up at Norrie Point in Staatsburg. For team members, Norrie is the park just south of Ogden Mills, where we do our season-opening hill workout each August in preseason cross country camp.

Our course is an out-and-back 5km road loop, and it is hilly. How hilly? According to one of my ultra buddies who obviously has a fair amount of free time on his hands, he determined with some online tool that the course has 350 feet of elevation change each lap. That means, over the course of 31 miles and 10 laps, that’s 3,500 feet of elevation change. Wowsers!

Our FA 50 draws a nice crowd, with the majority of women and men coming out to do their weekend long run, while a few hearty souls will venture forth for all 10 laps. This year’s race was Saturday. In the week leading up to the race, I’ll be honest when I say I really wasn’t looking forward to it this year.

The impending snowstorm had potential entrants stressed out about whether we would cancel or postpone. There was a flurry of emails and phone calls. We determined we would have it Saturday – snow or shine, and that’s it. Compounding my crabby mood is the fact that, due to poor planning on my part, the race was held on the day after our Armory meet – meaning it would be a quick turnaround from Friday night to Saturday morning.

And then, upon arriving at the park, I noticed with dismay that the course was covered with 8 inches of untouched snow. The roads hadn’t been plowed! If I did not have an AWD Subaru, I wouldn’t even have been able to get to the starting line!

But it all worked out. The course was slick. The big hill was a sheet of ice. Several runners fell. But no one complained. Everyone was appreciative of our efforts. They love it, and keep coming back for more, no matter the conditions.

So yeah. That’s what I did with my Saturday morning and afternoon. That’s why splits and other info on Friday’s meet have yet to be posted here. FA 50 Day is a day that I recall fondly each year, and thoroughly enjoy every hour spent alongside the frozen Hudson River. It’s just the planning and anticipation for it can be a drag at times.

If you are interested in my race report and results, go to the MHRRC Web site or read my fancy running column in Thursday’s edition of Dutchess County’s Finest Daily newspaper.