IMTR, so close [Day574]

This might be a long addentum to my last post. A week before, I was thinking of skipping the Iron Mountain 50 mile race and instead to go on a backpacking trip.

In the end I chose the run because the other trip did not pan out. The friend who invited me never got back to me with the details (5w 1h).

I might have gotten cold feet about the run because I was not confident I could finish the 50 mile under 12 hours. In the end, I just had to show up and do my best.

If the title is any hint, I did not finish in time but I did finish. It was not close at all unlike last year. But it was so close that I could have made it. In the end It took me 13 hours. I was hoping originally to at least have a repeat of last year of 12:15.

I knew the race would be a nail-bittingly close for me to finish under 12 hours. I have done 50 mile under 12 (JFK), but this was on trail and significantly harder. Last year I came in 12:15, I knew I could cut down those 15 minutes over the course of the race. I was trying to run differently.

First off, last year I started the first 5 miles very slowly. I think I was the last guy. I learned in ultras you have to go slow. I was patient and mostly took my time the first 8-13 miles. Not this year. I started the road section with more of my 5K speed. I was determined to run fast but not out of breath fast on the road portion. I thought I did fairly well. I was mid pack in the 40-milers. As for the 50 milers, I was probably at the tail end. Both the 40 milers and 50 milers had 12 hours to finish. For the 40 milers, they could walk (fast) and finish.

Then there was a mile-ish climb. I was going up pretty well. I am usually a strong uphill hiker. No one passed me except a 40 miler, Andy from Durham. He was strong, and much stronger hiker than me (he finished the 40-mile in 10 hours). After the climb, we had maybe 4-5 miles of more gradual uphills. I wish I could have pushed on this section harder. I did chase some 40 milers. Passed one of them.

The 30 mile runners who started maybe half hour later caught up to me. I knew in the past, it normally took them more time to catch up to me (like 8 mile in). But today, they seemed to reach me a mile or two sooner than I was expected. Usually they did not show up until I get to the FS 90 aid station. It was this section to the second aid station, I was a bit slower.

I think I reached the FS90 aid station by 9 am. I was still in the game. It was two hours after the start. It was about the same time as last year. We were maybe 8 miles in. Averaging 15 mins a mile is not bad. I could go a bit faster. (We needed to maintain 14:24 min mile pace to finish under 12)

However, the next segment to Skulls Gap at mile 16-ish, I was a bit much slower (note they say it is 4 (correction: 6) miles, I think it should be 4, but it is the 30 mile turn around point, so could be 8 miles). It took me two hours. Same on the way back. I was not as aggresive as I used to in attacking the hills. This section has steeper rolling hills. I was slow on the uphills and just as slow too on the downhills. Still I think was maintaining a 15 mins mile pace but that was a bit too slow to make the 12 hours cutoff. I was hoping the 7-mile road section at later on (mile 20-27), I could make up the time.

I arrived at Skulls Gap at 11 am (right at the cut off). I think I was behind the soft cutoff of 10:50. My goal was to get there by 10:30. Last year I was there around 10:40-10:45. Last year, I spent more time at the aid station changing shoes and socks, so this year, I was hoping to cut down on my time at the aid stations to give me that 15 mins needed to finish on time. But this year, I was 15 mins slower, so I would have to make up that 30 mins. Hurricane Gap would have the hard cut off.

From Skulls Gap to Hurricane Gap was about 5 miles, with one steep climb and then mostly a downhill run. Again I was not as aggressive with my run. Last year, I went a bit faster and was able to catch up to several other runners, but not this year. I was the last runner. There was no one to catch, not even the 40 milers. Last year I caught a bunch of 40 milers. I expected to be cut when I arrived at Hurricane Gap, but I made it with 5 mins to spare at 12:15. So I decided to continue on. It was going to be tough to make the next cut.

The next section was also mostly downhill and on road – the infamous quad ripping 7 miles of downhill run and then a hard climb back. This is what makes Iron Mountain so hard. It requires fast running on the road as well as on the trail. The downhills just destroy the legs.

Barton Gap had about a mile of trail, maybe half mile of uphill and half mile of downhill, but it seemed like 2 miles to me. Unlike last year, I could not run at all going uphill. The road was fine, occasionally, I could break out into a fast jog/run. I tried to keep an even pace. I walked some. It was a mental game. I tried to count mile. I got to the Rowland Aid Station by 2 pm. Happy to get there. The aid station people treated me like king, because I was their last customer!

I then had a four mile climb to get back to Hurricane Gap by 3. (I did not know the cut off was 2:45, and the aid station workers did not pull me from the race). They said I could make it but I had to work on the flat sections before the 1000 ft climb. I did not think I could. This year though there were not much mud so this section was ok to run on. It was a bit rocky. The uphill was not as steep as I remembered it but still about a mile of decent grade climb. It was not long until I reached the top. I surprised I made the cut off by 10 mins. I did not think I was that fast, but I was faster than last year.

The next section would be to go back to Skulls Gap on the road with two miles of trail on the Iron Mountain. This is supposed to be an easy section. I know from last year this section was long. I have an hour to get to Skulls Gap by 4 pm, amd felt like a 5 mile long. I arrived at 4:03. (The actual hard cut off was at 3:45, and I was 20 mins late. I did not know at the time.) I had a sinking feeling it would be hard to make the cut. I know if only I could hustle a bit in that 4-5 ish miles, I would have made the cut. My race technically ended here.

I was now at mile 37. There were 13 miles left. I would try to get back to the finish by 7 pm. 3 hours for 13 miles is doable. I did not feel that tired.

The sweeper offered me her car to give back but I refused. Usually, it is somewhat a difficulty for runners to find a ride back to the start after having dropped from the race. Here she was so excited saying you got to drive my car back as if I won the lottery. It was good news but I had already decided to run back, like last year. I needed the long hard run.

One reason, was after 37 miles of running, I was not ready for a drive. It was kind of her, but no way I would be driving. I prefer to run back. She stayed for maybe a bit more to find another driver to take her car back to the start before begining her sweep. I was trying to get as fast away from her. It is never fun to be chased by a sweeper. (By the way, the sweeper duties were to make sure no other runners on the trail, and to take down the course markings).

It was supposed to be 4 miles (correction: 6 miles) to the next aid station at FS90. I know they would be closed at 5 and last year, I reached there by 5:15. The situation was about the same. Last year, I left the aid station at 3:50-3:55. This year I left at 4:08. Still I should not be too far off. If not by 5:15, then 5:30 would have been acceptable to me. I felt I was running better than last year, but because the pressure was off from having to make the cut off, I did not arrive at FS 90 until 6 pm. I guess I was walking more than I should. By then the sweeper had caught up to me. I also caught up to a 40-mile runner, Dave Lance (apparently that was a fake name) from central West Virginia. It was the first time I caught up with anybody this late in the race. He was timed out by now being close to 6 pm. Later I learned he refused to be pulled from the earlier aid stations after being cut and so was disqualified. He was not moving that fast. The sweeper was pulling the course markings. Unless he knew the way, he was not allowed to be on the trail. I just he was being stubborn. Night fall was in an hour ish and he did not have a headlamp. They tried to convince him to take a ride back to the start. Finally, he gave in. The sweeper was not having it and so did not wait on him.

I had 9 miles to go. Last year, it took me two hours to get off the mountain. Because the last section where there were supposed to be only 4 miles took me over 2 hours, it might take me 3-4 hours to do the final 9 miles.

Now the sweeper was chasing me again and she passed me like 10 mins later and it was me chasing her. It was impossible. She was fresh and super fast, looked to me running a 9 min pace or faster. Still I did not want to be on the mountain after dark. Apparently, now after 12 hours, I finally found my running strides. I made longer strides and lept over rocks and stuffs. I was amazing flying down the trail. I was not that fast per se like the sweeper but I was moving much faster than any other time in the whole race. If I had moved like that during earlier, the race would have been well within reach. I reached the finish before 8 pm. I was faster coming off the mountain this year than last year. One thing I noticed, the final rocky section was not as rocky as I remembered it to be. I was able to run on it.

How to do better next year: I really need to practice hill run both going up and coming down. This year unlike last year, I just didn’t have the energy to run until the final 12th hour. Not sure what is wrong. How did I hold up onto my reserve until the final hour does not make sense to me.

The 4-mile section from Skulls Gap to FS90 really hampered me both on the outbound and inbounding. If not for that extra slowness on this stretch, the race would have been in the bag. Outbounding caused me being cut at Skulls Gap later on (3 mins over). Inbounding, I was 45 mins over my expected time.

I did well on the Rowland (mile 27-31). I did especially well on the final 9 mile descend (under 2 hours). This was on tired feet.

Thank you for all volunteers and aid stations. My friends waited for me at the end. Adrien, Scott, Eileen, and others. They gave me a lot of goodies, left over aid station food, sodas, pops. It was another unforgetable year. Adrien was the last to finish and how I wish I could have caught up to him.

[updated for some corrections]