Night Train 50K DNF - June 20, 2026

Gathering the Pride

Arriving at Camp Paradise State Park, we spot Markus and Sonia and their two children.  They have driven over from where they are vacationing at Lake Anna to tale part in the Night Train events.  Sonia is running the half marathon and Markus is joining Emaad and I for the 50K.

Markus and Emaad confer at the start.

Markus had originally thought he would target a six hour finish, but has now revised that down to a five hour target.  That means that once the race begins we won't see him until we see him returning on the out-and-back course while we are still headed outbound.

Runners mill about waiting for the 6 p.m. start.

The race starts promptly at 6 p.m. We leave Camp Paradise and head west, crossing High Bridge in less than a half mile. The 2400 foot long former railroad bridge provides excellent views of the Appomatox River valley 125 feet below.

Crossing High Bridge.

In a bit my right hip begins to hurt.  I didn't know why.  My back had bothered me in the weeks before, but that had gone away.  When I walk, the hip is pain-free.  Running for more than a few strides brings pain.

Entering Farmville.

I take a pair of 200 mg ibuprofen tablets and go on, while waiting the usual twenty minutes for the pain reliever to kick in.  Meanwhile, we approach Farmville, I use a trialside toilent, we pass an herb garden alongside the trail, pass Three Roads Brewing and reach the first aid station (mile 5.7) at the old train station.

Trailside herb garden.

My condition is improving but I'm uncertain how far I can go.  I turn down a shot of Fireball ("I'll get it on the return," I say) grab a slice of pepperoni pizza and go on.  I tell Emaad to go on.  The race allows 50K runners to drop to the half-marathon during the race, so that is an option.  I also figure that even if I go beyond the half-marathon turn around, I can still turn around and finish a long half marathon.

The half marathon turnaround
(later in the evening).

By now I'm pretty much at the tail-end of the runners.  In fact, I'm not certain that I'm not DFL.  But I get the the turnaround and feel well enough to continue.  The Tuggle aid station is about another 3.5 miles. I now feel good enough to try to get there. The hip pain is gone.

Emaad early on.

The Lion of  the Serengeti

The trail is flat and frequently straight, befitting of its ancestry as a railroad line.  Far ahead I see two women whom Emaad and I had spoken with earlier.  Seeing them provides an opportunity to engage in a mind game to provide an incentive to keep up the pace.

I am now the lion of the Serengeti and they are antelopes who are my prey.  I am a patient lion as the distance is great and they may be fast and bolt if startled.  But they are unaware of the stealthy beast stalking from behind.

I occasionally look behind me to see if there is anyone else.  It's hard to tell.  Maybe there is a figure or maybe not. No matter.

Then I see that they have stopped and one is helping get something out of her friend's pack.  One is in\jured! The lion is now confident that he can run down the weakened prey.

Over a couple of miles I gradually eliminate the distance between us.  Finally, within striking disance, the lion pounces.

"How y'all doing," I say.

The one explains that her knee is bothering her.  I sympathize, offer ibuprofen (declined) and return to walking.  They run off, but the lion is not troubled; he knows that he can catch the prey again.

Tuggle Aid Station

I catch up with the antelopes at the Tuggle aid station (mile 11) and decide to go on, knowing that I can always turn around if need be.  I'm in and out of the aid station pretty quickly.

It's about 8:30 p.m. leaving the aid station and now it is getting dark.  In another mile or two night has fallen and the headlamp is necessary.

But I've now caught up to a runner or two.  We chat and move forward.

Feral Feline

Suddenly my compnion jumps to the side and gives out a yell.  Out of the corner of my eye I spy a black shape dash past his leg, but cannot tell what it is.

"It's a cat," he says 

Before reaching the Prospect aid station I see Markus coming toward me and we exchange greetings.

Prospect Aid Station

The Prospect aid station (mile 15) is an opportunity to sit for three minutes and evaluate.  My hip is fine but my back is starting to talk to me.  The turnaround is only a mile further, and once there, the course will give back the sneaky hundreds of feet of gradual climb since Farmville, so there is no reason to turn around now (Oh? Google "summit fever.").  On the way out to the turnaround I meet Emaad who is inbound. 

The 50K turnaround.

Reaching the turn around I take care to count how many runners are still outbound.  I count four, including the antelopes.

Back at the Prospect aid station (mile 17) I see another runner outbound.  He is so far behind everyone else that I wonder if he will be pulled from the course as it is unlikely that he will make the eight and a half hour cut-off.

Feral Felines

Appoaching the spot where the black cat spooked the runner outbound, I see a pair of yellow eyes looking at me low from the other side of the trail.  Approaching, my light illuminates a young cat watching me, but not the one from earlier.  A few more yards down the trail another pair of yellow eyes appear, and these belong to the earlier cat.

The Tawny Scrawny Lion

My lower back is starting to hurt. When I get to the Tuggle aid station (mile 21) I sit down.  Another runner comes in and also sits.  The aid station volunteers are starting to pack up. but they still provide us with all that we ask for.  I tell David that I'll wait for him before heading down the trail.  In a bit he is ready and we go on.

We chat, but after a bit he tells me he has to sit again.  He takes a seat on one of the old concrete footings from what had been a base for railroad signals.  I go on, mostly walking.

After a bit two headlights come down the trial toward me.  I step off the trail. A Park Ranger pickup pulls abreast and asks if I need assistance, as they have had a report of a runner in distress.  I assure them I'm OK, inform them that I left David sitting and we both go on in opposite directions.

Now my back is really barking at me.  I'm reduced to walking, and after awhile David overtakes me.  Then Alex overtakes us.  We three go on and I start to talk about dropping at the Farmville aid station.  Alex reminds me of adivce I had given him hours earlier - if you think you are going to quit, slow down time and sit for at least five minutes before dropping. 

Finally we can see the lights of the Farmvile aid station.  But my back is agonizing.  I follow what David had done earlier - I sit on a concrete footing to relieve it. He sits with me.  It isn't more than a couple of hundred yards to to aid station but I sit for three minutes before getting up and going on.

The End

At the Farmville aid station (mile 26.3) I drop into a chair and note the time.  The Fireball is long gone.  I drink some Coke.  David and Alex have some aid station food and beverages.  The encourage me to go on.  The antelopes arrive. Sooon they are all gone.  I sit.  Five minutes passes.  My back still hurts.  I weigh the pros of finishing versus the cons of nearly two hours of pain trudging along  the rails-to-trails path in the dark, on a path that I have run twice in years gone by. Once last thing to check.

I call Emaad.  He is about a mile from the finish.  Before the sttart I gave him the extra car key in case he finished before and wanted to chill before I arrived.  I tell him I'm going to drop and ask him to pick me up.

I tell the aid station workers that I'm dropping so they can call it in.  I'm getting cool and they let me sit in their car to stay warm.  

Mismatch

Sunday morning, as I pack up my clothes and shoes, I take a second look at my shoes. They are different - I wore my old Altra trail shoe on the left foot and my current Topo trail shoe on my right.  Further, the right shoe had a heel pad, making it slightly higher than the left.  That may have caused the hip issue. As to my back, it had been bothering several weeks before but seemed cured by race day.  But the shoes and the early hip problem likely didn't help.

Altra on left; Topo on right.

Results

I went 26.4 miles in 7:02 in my DNF.  Markus finished in 5:35 good for third place in his age group.  Emaad finishes in 7:29, ten minutes faster than in 2022.  Sonia runs the half in 2:08, good for fitth female overall. and first in her age group (by 21 minutes!).

Swag: bib and sticker.