Challenge Complete: Local finishes 11th place in 50-mile race

On a good traffic day, a car traveling the speed limit can glide from Houma to New Orleans in about an hour – a 50-plus mile drive.

How long would it take Houma native Stuart Babin to run that same distance? Eh, give him a little more than nine hours, and he can make it happen.

Babin recently completed the Nashville Ultra Marathon in November – a grueling 40-person race that pushes a competitor’s body to its absolute limit throughout the painstaking day.

The race demands that competitors run for 50-straight miles from sun-up to sun-down, overcoming Nashville’s hilly terrain throughout the duration of the course.

Babin’s joints and muscles ached throughout the race, but he finished 11th, completing the course in approximately nine and a half hours.

The Houma native and Morris P. Hebert employee shared his story this week, touting that his 50-mile hike was a journey that he’ll never forget.

“I’m the kind of guy that’s always looking for the next challenge,” Babin said. “I wanted to go, and I wanted to compete well. I wanted not just to finish, but to finish well. For me to be able to finish 11th is something I’m proud of.”

CHALLENGE-DRIVEN MENTALITY INSPIRED RACE

Believe it or not, but Babin actually isn’t an avid runner. It’s the sport of cycling is what breads this man’s butter when it comes to athletic competition.

The Houma native said he started cycling in 1999, mostly using the sport as a hobby to stay in shape. From there, Babin said he worked his way up the conditioning ladder to the point where he is now able to complete countless miles on a bike at a time.

“Cycling is sort-of what I do first – it’s how I’d say I got involved in all of this from the beginning,” Babin said. “I’m always looking for new challenges and new things to do, but cycling is something I’ve been doing since I was younger.”

Babin said he got the itch earlier this year to delve into some running. He said his father has experience with marathons, so it’s a sport that he’s always been familiar with throughout his training.

But because of his tip-top physical condition, he wasn’t sure where to look.

He knew a 5K wouldn’t do too much to push his body to the extreme because of the miles he’s logged on the bike.

Babin considered a marathon, but said he wasn’t sure that that style of race would do the trick, either, because he knew that he’d be able to run 26 miles in a good amount of time.

So he hopped onto the Internet and started searching for Ultra Marathons, discovering the race in Nashville.

Babin said he dove in headfirst, starting his training in June amidst Louisiana’s deplorable summer training conditions.

“It was absolutely miserable,” he said with a laugh. “I focused my energies just on running and I got to where I was running 70 miles in a week. I started in June and I trained all throughout the summer. But it was miserable. You have to change shoes all of the time and change clothes. You have to run slower than normal because you’re soaked and wet.

“There’s not much fun about training in 90 degree heat with 100 percent humidity. But doing that prepared me for race day.”

HE’S A ‘NO-MEAT ATHLETE’

After several months of training, race day finally arrived.

Babin said he wasn’t overly nervous before the race, touting that his main focus was the competition side of things.

“I wanted to do well,” he said.

The Houma native said things started off nicely. The temperature was right at freezing, ideal for a runner going long distance.

“That’s the perfect weather for something like this,” he said. “The course was beautiful. It had some hills and some inclines, but it was relatively flat. It took you through just about everything beautiful that there was to see in Nashville.”

In a nine-hour race, it is of utmost importance to stay hydrated and to keep food pumping through your body. Babin said the race did a great job providing rest stops throughout the way where athletes could get a short snack or a drink.

But because he’s a strict vegetarian, Babin said he came prepared, stocked full with his own goodies to munch on as he ran.

Babin’s vegetarian roots stuck with him throughout the duration of the race. He wore a green shirt with “No-Meat Athlete” across the front.

His tattoo-filled legs were covered by black shorts. He ran in blue running shoes laced in green trim.

“I’m a vegetarian,” Babin said. “My diet, obviously doesn’t have any meat. The race provided fruit and snacks, but I’m very careful about that kind of stuff, because I like to make sure I’m in-taking all-natural products. I bypassed a lot of the rest stations early in the race, but the support was outstanding. The race organizers were great.”

DAD LENDS BABIN A HELPING HAND

Right around the midway point of the race, Babin knew that he was in for a fight.

He said that right around mile 28 or so, he started to feel a little fatigued, fighting the sheer strain that a 50-mile race places onto one’s body.

“Running is so taxing on your whole body,” he said. “Just the sheer accumulation you put on your bones and joints – it pounds on you.”

But right around Mile 30, Babin got a little support from a friendly face. He said that his father met him at the 30-mile marker and followed him for about 10 miles on his bike, cycling forward as his son pushed through the terrain.

Babin said getting help that help provided him with a big jolt. He added that the key in any long-distance race is to break it down into several short distances.

“If you look at 50 miles, you’ll never get it done,” Babin said. “You have to take it and break it down into smaller increments. That’s sort of the mindset. If there are three miles left until the next rest tent, then you’re thinking, ‘OK, there’s three more miles to go.’ Then from there, you find another goal and pull that one out. It’s a lot easier mentally to make 10 smaller goals and knock them down one by one.”

Bit-by-bit, Babin pushed his body through 48 and a half miles of Nashville’s landscape. He then took himself to the last mile – arguably the toughest of the day. It was an up-hill climb over a bridge.

“That was brutal,” Babin said. “It’s definitely hard to push yourself to keep going when you’re that tired.”

But when he finally made it about halfway up the bridge, Babin said he looked up and saw the light at the end of the tunnel – the finish line.

“There was a time where I was like, ‘OK, let me walk a little bit,’” Babin said. “But once I saw the finish line, it was different. Then, it was, ‘OK, let me run as fast as I can to the finish.’”

Babin did just that – pushing across the finish line at 9 hours and 24 minutes.

Doing the math, that’s an average of about 11 minutes per mile or an average speed of 5.5 miles per hour.

His 11th-place finish was impressive when one considers that it’s the first such marathon that Babin has ever competed.

“It was one of the more fulfilling things I’ve done,” Babin said. “Crossing the finish line definitely was something I’ll always remember.”

WILL HE DO ANOTHER?

Babin said when the race ended, his entire body was stiff.

“It was hard getting from the truck to the hotel,” he said with a laugh. “My entire body hurt. That’s the thing about running – it works out your whole body. I sort of drug myself around, but I was in a ton of pain. The amount of fatigue you get is so taxing. It’s hard to explain.”

Babin said he initially told himself that he absolutely, positively would never again do another ultra-marathon. But looking back, he thinks that he will probably explore competing again in the future.

But not anytime soon. The MPH employee said he’s going to be smart and let his body fully heal from his latest endeavor before trying another.

“All I’m doing is riding the bike for a while,” he said with a laugh.

Babin is 38 – not an age that one usually associates with athletic prowess. But he begs to differ. He said he isn’t even sure if he’s reached his prime just yet.

“Usually ages 40-45 are your prime ages in this kind of stuff,” he said. “Older people are more established – they have more time for training. This takes a lot of discipline and a lot of determination to do. To prepare for a race like this, you have to be willing to do two, 20-mile runs on back-to-back days. That’s brutal and it sucks, but you just have to be willing to practice that level of fatigue.

“Will I do another one again? Probably so. I’m resting now, but knowing me, I won’t be resting for long.”

Houma native Stuart Babin carries his tired body across the finish line at the 2014 Nashville Ultra Marathon. Babin completed the 40-person, 50-mile race, finishing in 11th place. He said that after taking off the rest of 2014, he will likely attempt to complete another race in the future. The local touted that the love of challenges and a desire to push his body to the limit are what motivates him to do these races.

COURTESY PHOTO