From Runners World authored by Hailey Middlebrook:
- Ellie Pell of Ithaca, New York, won the Green Lakes Endurance Run 50Koutright in 3:58:37 on August 10, earning awards for both first place woman and overall winner.
- Since a woman has never won the race before Pell, there was no award prepared for the first place male.
“Heading into her fourth and final lap of the Green Lakes Endurance Run 50K in Fayetteville, New York, on August 10, Ellie Pell figured she’d make one last pit stop before kicking it into the finish. The 27-year-old ultrarunner from Ithaca, New York, was having a great race so far, splitting between 7:00 and 8:00 per mile on the grassy, uneven loops that were each about eight miles long.
“I’ve been running that pace for my easy runs lately, so the first two laps felt really smooth,” Pell told Runner’s World. “I thought the third lap would be the hardest, but I didn’t slow down this time. Miles 20 to 30 are always my sweet spot in an ultra—that’s when I start feeling really good. So the fourth lap was cake.”
When she approached the aid station halfway through her final lap, she saw the first place man taking a drink. And just like that, she squashed her thought of stopping for the bathroom: It was go time.
“I blew past the aid station,” she said. ‘It was like a switch flipped. I’m not usually competitive—in workouts, I usually run behind my training partners—but there was no way I was going to lose that race.’”
