Eagle Up Ultra is a 24 hour race in Canal Fulton, OH, a little bit outside of Canton, OH. It’s a smaller town that has a nice canal running through town (hence the name) and the canal has a nice running path on it. The race would take place on 2 of the limestone paths that run next to the canal and the river, with only about 25 feet of road per loop. The loops are 5 miles exactly, and the goal is to run as many as you can in 24 hours (Eagle Up is a bit unique for a 24 hour race as it’s designed to help folks achieve a distance PR so racers select what they’re aiming for when they sign up, though they are allowed to stop early or exceed that distance).

I went out to Eagle Up with some friends, all of which are preparing to go out to the Badwater 135 (more about that in later posts). My friend Mel was going to use it as training (she is the runner) and the rest of us, Jack, Joe, and myself (we will be crewing Mel, along with one other member, Brandon, who couldn’t join us), would be working towards our own goals. The race itself had plenty of space for camping, so we all set up camp the night before, and were able to walk right to the start line.

Woke up on race morning about 4am, not necessarily out of a need to get ready then, I just couldn’t sleep anymore. At 4:30, I decided it was time to start getting ready for the race. It was a nice morning, cool, almost cold. I grabbed a small breakfast, filled my water bottle with Sword, and got my gear on. I was ready for a nice day of running.

For the first few loops, I kept a steady pace and tried to enjoy the cooler morning air to get some good miles under my feet. I knew it would warm up later, so I estimated I would be slowing down by around lunch time. I felt mostly great the first few laps. Energy wise, I felt great, and my feet felt mostly good. The flat course helped the miles tick away, as did the shade an cool breeze. I ran most of the first 50k with Joe and we talked and mostly dialed in our pace. Mel was also coming in for her loops as Joe and I would get food and water at our aid station, so we spent a lot of time talking and enjoying the morning.

After 50, it started getting warmer, but never felt overly hot. Joe and I had picked up another buddy of mine, Jeff, and we ran for part of the next loop together. I had to make a pit stop halfway through and told them to continue on. After I took care of my minor issue, I started to run again, but my left leg started to have issues. I have been having some on and off issues with the left leg since Umstead, so I slowed down to try to rectify. After being able to run most of the morning, I had to walk more due to the leg issue, but energy wise I was still feeling good.

At 35, the leg felt worse and I stopped to try and stretch. I was able to loosen it up a bit and was doing a walk/ run. I ran most of this loop with Mel and we kept a good walk/ run ratio. After the loop, the leg felt tight, so I tried to stretch again. I decided to walk the next lap hoping to loosen it up, but I believe it did the opposite. I made it through an additional, slow 2 loops to hit 50. I decided to stop and rest a bit and stretch some more. I planned to rest for about an hour, eat some food, stretch, and continue on. I took a short nap, woke up, and the hip just wasn’t feeling right. I decided to call it a day at 50 as I have many other races and this wasn’t an A race.

The itself is very well run. The main aid station is well stocked with plenty of food including pizza, donuts, soup, plenty of vegetarian, etc. The other aid stations have water and the one at the halfway point had some snacks and other items. The race director is out the entire race to congratulate runners as they come in. The course can be flat and fast, but you need to be ready for flat. This race is definitely worth checking out if you’re wanting to do a 24 hour race, or want to go for a distance PR. Worth noting, once you’re done for the day, there is a pool, some hot tubs, and a beer garden (for those of age) that one can enjoy, which gives the race an almost family like feeling.