Back again for another 4.2 laps of the part of Black Rock Desert that is enclosed by Burning Man. I’ve run this 50k in 2023, 2022, 2021 (Renegade), 2021 (Virtual), 2019, and 2018, so you can read more detailed race reports there.
This year was a bit different. I decided on Monday, after Burning Man had already started, to head out for the weekend of the event. While the 50k race is on Tuesday, the weather was very bad at Burning Man for the first half of the week with 50mph winds, rain, thunder and lightning, etc, which meant that many runners weren’t able to get into Burning Man in time to run the race. Cherie, the race director (and an awesome person generally), made an announcement that folks could run the race on their own and submit a time, so I decided to do that.
Thursday – when I arrived – is also when the Odyssey occurs. The Odyssey is a 24 hour event that requires eating running, donuts, drinking beer, and some other stuff. So when I got there, I decided to double down, and both participate in the Odyssey and run the 50k solo.
Highlights:
- Ran laps with friends, including Bob (who was my crew chief at Badwater and is a long-time burner and runner), Chuck (who I met for the first time as he was running with me), Jeff (also a new friend), and Vlad (a friend from Burning Man 2023)
- Only got almost hit by bikes twice
- No dust storms while I was running
- Got to see art
- Donuts are pretty good for fuel
- I ran by a Barbie camp a few times, and they started cheering “Marathon Barbie!” every time I passed
Lowlights:
- Drinking beer while running is gross and I do not recommend it
- I only slept for four hours the prior night, then drove for seven, then immediately started running. I also don’t recommend this
- I started running around 9:30-10am, which meant I was running (or, honestly, mostly walking towards the end) at the hottest part of the day
- A lot of sparkle ponies on the 2:00 road, weirdly at all hours of the day
Here are some photos
BRB Running 