No wonder that trail is closed, I had no idea and was salty when my running route got diverted

Pacing is pretty individual, general guidance is slower so that you aren't running yourself too hard but depending on the athlete "slow" is super individual.

Theres a pretty great documentary on the backyard ultra that the people who host the Barkley marathons put on, I think it does a great job of capturing the psychology of the last few standing. TLDR starting the next lap is the hardest part. https://youtu.be/ZRXKZSqvtrw

8 Laps would put you at a little over 33 miles if your using the standard 4.167 mi laps. With a marathon under your belt I'm sure you would be able to hit your goal with a similar level of training following a 50k plan.

I'm assuming the 8+ lap goal is because you don't plan on running all night, because of that, sleep (what most people consider the biggest challenge) won't be a concern.

So not having to worry about a sleep plan, the biggest differences are going to be

• Total time on your feet
• Running on trail (assuming your marathon was road, if not disregard)
• Refueling throughout the race

From a training standpoint I would make sure you're getting trail miles that are going to be similarly hilly to the race course, target that zone 1 - zone 2 while training, and break up some of your longer runs into multiple short ones with 15-20 min breaks between them. If you can take a 12 mile run and break it into three 4 mile runs with short breaks you can dial in your refueling and recovery strategy and see what works for you.

Backyard ultra is a great goal and tons of fun!

It'a going to be up to admins to relieve communities of mod squatters. I believe they have been responsive in the past, I just don't have direct experience with them.

Do I get the tip in this instance?

I had a couple that got stuck, I was able to retry the sub and they went right through.

That's wild I'd never heard of anyone doing that!

Is that a Catalina? Looks like my dads 22' a super fun boat.

This brings up an Interesting discussion I end up having with people, which one gets more holes, the salt or the pepper? I've always done salt with more holes and pepper with less.

Always, traveling solo is great but the video call at the end of the day always pulls on the heart strings.