2006 Promise Land was my 2nd 50k race, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and recommend it to other ultra-novices provided that you train for the hills.  To summarize, the course is beautiful, and the race well-organized.  I particularly enjoyed starting out in the predawn mists with spooky lightning in the background, cruising down the grassy road on the backside of Onion Mountain, as well as hopping from rock to rock on the technical section of the course heading down into Colon Hollow.  The aid stations were well stocked, and I discovered that watermelon is very easy to eat and digest in the middle of a race (but not so easy to carry, so thank you to all the volunteers!).  Not to say there weren't some low points.  Slogging up 1000 ft in pouring rain, through rivers of mud -- how do you train for these conditions?  Stumbling past Orchard Falls with cramps in my feet and shins -- should I have taken more electrolyte pills, or was that my legs' way of telling me they'd rather be home, propped up on the coffee table, watching TV?  On the final downhill stretch, I felt like the squirrel from Ice Age and let's just say I concentrated on remaining upright, rather than rolling/sliding across the finish line.

 

For other novices, I will say that I had done a fair amount of hill-training in preparation for this race.  While I still walked the steep hills, I was able to trot up the moderate inclines at a decent pace and even passed a couple of people.  That said, for next time I plan to incorporate more steep uphill walking into my training regime.  Also, beware of "Horton miles" which are apparently a little longer than ordinary ones.

 

Kenneth Posner