Race Report:
After my DNF at MMT I didn't know what to think coming into this race. I knew it wasn't as tough in regards to elevation but I forgot that it's not exactly flat and, oh yeah, it's still a hundred miler (101.1 miles to be exact). There's more elevation than what I remembered from last year as I discovered over the 28+ hours. One thing I did remember was that the trails are really nice and very runable. Our training ground is rocky so when we head off to races 9 times out of 10 we are loving it.
This year we were lucky enough to stay at the Hilton right across from the finish line. It was also the place we had to be to get the bus to take us to the start. So we were psyched that we only had a minute walk to the bus and to and from the most important part of the race - the finish.
2:30 AM
Alarm goes off, get up, put my eyes in (contacts), glide up, get dressed, get my gear, grab my breakfast, grab John and head out the door. Oh, I forgot, we applied bug spray before we left and filled the room with a nice cloud of deet aerosole enough to kill any bedbugs that might be lurking around. Poor Katie couldn't breathe but we didn't care because it was all about us. Sorry Katie.
Get on the bus Gus
Our short walk over to the bus was really nice. Normally we have to trek to any start line. We signed in, picked one of the buses and hopped on. I started eating my breakfast and enjoyed listening to John's conversation with some older dude that claimed he decided to do this race because it was a USATF sanctioned race in his "back yard". He only runs USATF races because of the money and because he's so freakin' awesome. (Ok, I added the awesome part but what a snot! Who the hell cares!?!) The best part was John f'ing with him telling him that he only runs 5K's. He just signed up to give it a shot. Hilarious! By the way, Mr. Awesome DNF'd.
5:00 AM - The Start
When we got off the bus we headed straight for the port-a-potties just like everyone else. Pre-race jitters were calling for a final nature call. Once everyone did their business we headed over towards the start line. All the FATRUMPS were present - Bill, Mary, Lisa, Leah, Rob, John, Jim, Phil and myself. The runners sang "Happy Birthday" to the RD Joe Jurczyk and soon after we were off. Here we go again... Another run that will take an insane number of hours to complete. Why couldn't I have taken up checkers or bird watching or something else that doesn't take a lot of energy and take forever to complete?
The Start at Squires Castle (imagine it dark at 5am)
Everyone has plan - except for us...
John and I decided to have fun, take it easy and not kill ourselves at the start. No pace chart, no expected arrival at point A at X time, etc. Just go man. There was a lot of road in the beginning so we were able to go at an easy clip and "bank" some time for the second half of the race. That way we either have a good finishing time or insurance to get to the finish if the wheels fall off and it all goes to hell. John and I were running with Lisa from the start and at 33.3 miles we entered Station Road Bridge aid station. When we left the aid station Lisa finally blew up because her IT band had been flaring up due to all the hard surfaces. "I thought this was a f*cking trail race! There's too much f*cking asphalt for a f*cking trail race! I've had enough of this f*cking asphalt! I'm never f*cking running this f*cking race again! My f*cking knee is f*cking killing me because of all this f*cking asphalt! F*CK THIS! This f*cking sucks! F*CK!!!" Her venting went on and John and I looked at each other and decided she needed some "alone time". She told us to go on and we took her up on the offer. Now don't get me wrong, we all have our 'lows' and we all deal with them in a different way. I remember last year hitting a low and getting worried that I wouldn't be able to climb out of it but I did. I just remember getting very quiet and not saying much. I know John is the same way when he hits his lows. Lisa, on the other hand, handles hers in a much more vocal way with a few "f" bombs thrown in for kicks. (note: she's already thinking about going back)
Marching on. (photo by BR100)
(photo by BR100)
1/2 Way Point
When John and I rolled into Boston Store, we were still feeling "ok". Even though the weather was good compared to previous weeks, the heat and humidity drained us more than what we liked. The good thing was that we rolled in to the first check point (49.1 miles) in 11 hours 40 minutes. We were shooting for around 12 hours so things were right on track. We arrived before Katie (our pacer) so we immediately headed out to do the loop. When we got back Katie was there and ready to go. I chose only to change my shirt and shoes unlike last year when I wasted a lot of time changing everything. The RUMPS had gotten strung out over the course of the day but most of us were there at Boston Store. It was nice to see everyone but weird at the same time. John and I thought we were pretty far ahead of Lisa because of her IT problem but she was close behind. We also thought we were pretty far behind Rob and Leah but they were just leaving as we were changing. Mary was right there with us as well. (At the finish most of us finished within a 20 minute gap.)
After Boston Store things were "going". Going as in not well, not badly but just "going". Finally around mile 65 or so I just ran out of steam. I was drained and just had no energy. I had been eating, taking my drugs (Endurolytes) and drinking. Why in the hell was I so tired? To this day I really can't figure it out but I may have been dehydrated. Somewhere between Happy Days aid station and Pine Hollow (aka The Sound of Music aid station) the wheels fell off. When we arrived at Pine Hollow I just wanted to go to sleep. I walked the entire loop. I held John back and really felt badly about it. I actually ended up walking most of the next 20 or so miles. It was a death march. If I only would've felt like Julie Andrews... It was definitely not a "rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens" moment!
And then there was life!
After trudging into the Covered Bridge aid station still feeling like crap, I knew I needed to take a good #2. (Hey, this is how ultra people talk, get use to it!) I had been trying for the last 15 miles but had no luck. Finally on the out and back loop I would try again. Success! I felt like the typical dog who runs around like a puppy after they do their business. It was a relief and a good one at that! Granted, I didn't run around like a puppy but I felt I could try to start picking up the pace. When we left the Covered Bridge aid station for the second time I was on a mission to make up some time. I was still moving slowly but at least the death march pace was behind me. We ran/walked the road portion and entered the trail. By this time I had my second wind and actually took the lead. I thought John was just being nice but I had more energy than him now.
Final Stretch
The last section of the race has a lot of runable towpaths, trails and the road to the finish. With 4.8 miles to go, Katie bowed out with a sore knee. I did some quick calculations and told John that we could beat a certain someone's time if we ran it in. We both popped a 5 Hour Energy and started running. We averaged just under a ten minute mile pace for the segment. We rolled in with an official time of 28:19:29. We finished better than 40 minutes faster than last year. If only I wouldn't have had that 20 mile death march we definitely would've come in under 28 hours. Ughhh!
Finished!
Overall the race was very well organized. The aid stations were great. The people were great. The food was great. The trail was great and the trail markers were great. If you got lost, you were an idiot. It was nice rolling into an aid station and having some of the volunteers say "Hey, did you guys run last year? I remember you!" That happened a couple of times. There were also times that I forgot about my drop bag and turned around and there was a volunteer handing it to me. I bet every race director craves for such great volunteers. What a pleasant surprise! You can become very forgetful during a race and I demonstrated that several times. There have been many times in races where I left an aid station and forgot to get something from my drop bag. It was impossible to do that here. That's how it should be! Well done Joe!
