The Holiday (Holliday) Lake 50K++ The 2007 Holiday Lake 50K++ was my first ultramarathon. "Hmmm, I wonder what the plus plus is all about."  On 10 Feb, 2007, I found out. Turns out that when David Horton holds a 50K, he means AT LEAST 50K. Funny, I wanted AT MOST 50K. The race was a joy from start to finish - well, until about mile 31. After that, it was like my legs knew we had come 50K and started to shut down. "Wait. Wait!  There's some more to do!" but it was no use.  My pace slowed for the last mile and I got passed but a couple of runners who seemed to me like they were just beginning an afternoon run.  Don't they always. The race began at 6:30am in the dark.  I've done many adventure races spanning several days, but never a SOLELY running race longer than a marathon. I opted to carry a camelbak with 50oz of Perpetuum in it and two energy bars. In hindsight, it was probably a mistake, but I did get a few puzzled looks as a blew through the aid stations without stopping.  The pack was small and under my shell so it appeared that I wasn't carrying any water at all.  The aid stations, by the way, were huge arrays of munchies!  It was as if I were turning down a gourmet buffet as I ran through them.  I was a bit envious of the runners that were stopping. For the second lap, I realized the error of my ways and that this setup wasn't optimal, so I ditched the pack (and shell) and raced with a handheld bottle (given to all first time ultra-runners by David the night before!) filled with Perpetuum.  I got water and grapes at the aid stations but nothing else.  This worked better - less weight overall and easier to deal with.  I did lose some seconds at the aid stations, but the reduced weight certainly (in my convoluted runner's mind) made up the difference. There were two stream crossing reputed to be uncrossable without getting wet. Being an adventure racer, I'm always looking for ways to protect my feet.  I could just run through the streams but keeping my feet dry seemed worth a few seconds of investigating.  As I approached the first corssing, the three runners in front of me blasted through it.  It was three steps and mid-calf deep.  I stopped anyway and looked upand down the creek.  "What's that?"  Just to my right was a bridge - a big bridge!  A mere ten yards downstream was a 10' wide wooden bridge over the creek - and there was a small trail to it.  I ran over to it, across, and back to the main path losing a few seconds that I quickly made as I caught the three runners ahead of me on the following uphill. The next crossing was more ominous - wider and full of ice.  I arrived there alone so I don't know how deep it was, but it sure looked deep. Same routine. This time, to the left was a large downed tree spanning the creek. Harder to get to, but easily crossed and I was on my way again.  I smiled to myself.  The next lap I would know about both of these and the stream crossings would barely slow me down at all.  Of course, I'd prefer really uncrossable creeks and no aid stations (and in fact, no flagging), but each crossing was a mini-puzzle to me and I had to take the challenge.  This time, Ifeel it was worth the effort.  Next time, who knows? Overall, the course was a delight to run and well-flagged.  I met some nice runners to help pass the miles (thanks Jack!) and can't wait until the Promise Land 50K.  Rumor has it that it is more rugged, more scenic, and MUCH more hilly.  Most be since we get ten hours to finish it instead of only seven and a half. "I'm hooked", I think as I fill out my applications for the Promiseland and the Mountain Masochist! Mark Lattanzi of Blacksburg, Virginia PS: I was curious about the different spelling of "hol(l)iday".  The road, the lake and the state park have two L's; the YMCA camp has only one.  The story is that the secretary at the camp was tired of writing two L's, so she dropped one.  I can only imagine the extra hours of confusion that decision has caused over the years. -- Mark Lattanzi