[637] Burning River 100

Last year (report here), I could not finish the race even when I was so near to the finish (mile 85-ish, stopped at Botzum Park, 8 am).

This year, I decided to challenge the race again, Burning River 100, at Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, near Akron, which is south of Cleveland. Akron is headquarter of Goodyear (Didn’t know that). I flew into Cleveland but stayed in Akron. On a side note, I wish to be back to visit Ohio in the future.

Burning River was indeed on fire one time in the past due to pollutions and it rallied a massive clean up and environment movement across the country. Today, there is a water treatment plant there and a nice park system along it. And so it was almost pleasant when we ran along it.  The river still smells bad in certain portions (and has a strong chemical smell near the treatment plant). I assume it is so much better today than couple decades ago.

Early Start: We had an option for a 2 hour early start at 2 am this year.  This would give those of us who are chasing cutoffs in a normal 30 hour race two additional hours to finish. Last year, I was thinking if I only had two extra hours, I would be able to finish!  My wish was granted!  Note, this year, I finished before the 30 hours, but it was still good to have the buffer time, so I did not feel pressure of getting it done before the aid stations close.

However, the trade off was, the early starters would not have supports from aid stations until closer to 6 am, which means about 4 hours of unsupported run. Aid station opening times, were based on a 16-ish min pace, my pace in the early part of the course was closer to 12-14 min-per-mile pace, so I outran my supply line. This included not having water, fluid, and food. Nada. It was a bit tough. Also, overall awards were not given (or included) for the early starters. These restrictions were I think to discourage the faster runners from starting early (The fastest runner in the early start finished after 26 hours).  Definitely, it was not intended for the sub 24 runners. It did not stop me from trying.

I made sure I carried enough water for the first 4-6 hours. It worked out fine for me.  I carried a candy bar and ate it during the early morning hours.  By the time, I got to a fully aid station with real food (Oak Hill), around 8 am, I was hungry.

Two races/rationale:  I knew I wanted to do Burning River after last year disasterous ending. I would not want the clip to be on my shoulder.  I signed up right after the registration opened to get the early discount. Note, this was before I knew I would be running the Vermont 100 (a week before).  I knew it would be hard on my body to do two 100 races back to back. I wanted to run Vermont as well as Burning River and there was no way for me to wait for another year. I just had to do it and finish both. I did finish Vermont last week, report written and posted.

Also a friend of mine would be there too.  I think it would be fun to do a race together.  I have done a few races with her in the last few years. I like going to races with people I know.

So, since it was my second time around, I drew from my previous year’s experience, mainly to not stay too long at aid stations, especially, the earlier ones.

Doing better. What killed my race last year was staying over 30 minutes at Oak Hill and Pine Hollow, which was too long (so, out-and-back course, I used over 2 hours at aid stations). Those two hours could have been on the trails for 6-8 miles. Normally one only needs a few minutes at an aid station.  If I had done that last year, I would be within 5-8 miles from the end, with two hours to go (enough time to make a dash for a finish). I tried to avoid last year mistakes.

Drop Bags. I packed only one drop bag this time (and ended up did not need it). Since it was an out and back course, we would pass each drop bag location twice (unless it was at mile 50, the turn around point). I left my drop bag at Kendall Lake.  A related note is the less you pack, the faster you get out the aid station. Normally, you need less than you think (such as changing clothes, shoes, or socks, or food — these are good to have, but not really essential). Drop bags are good at a race that has fewer aid stations.

Sleep/pre race:  I confess it was hard waking up at 1 am to get to the race by 2.  It was an weird starting time. I ended up feeling like 3 nights without sleep. I woke up just a bit after midnight so I could be at the race location at 1 am. I was ready.

I started out the race with Randy, another friend.  I did not know he was running in it, until before the race, the race director gave a brief introduction of calling out the who’s whos. Randy was their race oldest participant. Randy is a strong runner and had outran me in previous 100 mile races we have done together such as the Massanutten 100. In fact, that how I met Randy, was at the MMT100 training run several years ago!

I finished. Long story short, Randy and I finished the race together when he found me snoozing at one of the last few aid stations. I latched onto him and paced with him and we arrived to the finish under the 30 hours, with a time of 29:35:21.

Now about everything else with the race!  The Weather – Last year we had lot of rain, so the whole trail was wet and muddy  — ankle deep mud. Not this year.

Course: This year was dry, and the course was very runnable. There was only a little bit of technical sections.  Note, we did have a runner felt and broke their wrists while running and needed emergency service. The course is not dangerous, but risks of falling are there. We had about 30% on road, then like 65% on single track trail and the rest were harder stuff.

Temperature. The race is usual run on a hot day.  This year was no exception. Some runners ran without wearing a  shirt. Some had ice bandana. For me, I felt I had enough heat training (after Western States and Vermont 100), I did not have to do anything special for the heat.  My body has adapted to it.  I found it was not too hot. It helped too that I had the earlier start time, to get through the early road section before sunrise. There were some folks though who had to quit the race because it was too hot (from medical issues like dyhydration or heat exhaustion).

Hot – The heat was unavoidable. It was impossible to avoid the hot sun in the later afternoon, especially near the mile 50 turn around point where the course is exposed to the afternoon sun for about 12 miles (3 hours).  I reached the turn around by 3 pm (13 hours).  I was aiming for a 26-ish finish.

Race start line’s atmosphere. We lined up at 2 am.  Having been to last year race at 4 am, 2 am start was much subdued. We arrived before the race was set up. I usually arrive to a race an hour ahead.  So at 1 am, there was no music. I think too was to avoid waking up the neighbors. There were one or two other runners warming up and milling around.  Couple volunteers were beginning to layout the starting chute on the road. There were a few police cuisers setting up the blockade on the road.  They would later lead us out when the race start.  Some of the restaurants had just closed (they opened late till midnight).  So it was just a weird feeling walking down the street in the middle of the night.

By 2 am, we had quite a size of runners.  I think there were 42 of us (out of 220) choosing the earlier start. (17/42 DNF, 40% typical ultra rate, I was hoping the numbers to be lower). I think most of us who chose the early start finished. When the gun went off, we shuffled out the gate.  I was running along with Randy.  I was quite happy to see him.  We talked and such.  Soon we picked up another runner, Doug, from Illinois. 

We had quite a good time.  The trail was not packed like last year at the 4 am start. I never like following a long line up on a trail (the conga line). We still see runners this year, but it was not crowded.  We ran with 5-6 other runners.  We were all decently spaced.

Finding direction and trail marking. One thing I usually worried was getting lost.  The race provided the Race Joy app.  Randy found it was useful to have turn by turn direction and other announcements.  I could not get mine to work (I think because I had the power saving mode on). I did have a backup gpx offline map, so I checked that from time to time to make sure we were on course.  The trail marking was generally good (It was heavy marked at every 0.1 mile), still some turns could easily missed because their flag markers, and turn signages are very tiny (like an index finger). They could  easily missed at night.  We ran the first 4 hours in the dark!

Once, we reached the road section around mile 15, Doug and I picked up our pace, and we left Randy behind. 

Doug is doing the midwest grand slam. This is his second race in the series. He finished Kettle Moraine earlier. (We were waiting for Doug to finish the next day and somehow missed him when he came in (we might have been looking for our drop bags at the time)).

At this time, the fast 4 am runners started too started to catch up to us.  It was fun to see them running so fast, passing us by.

First aid station stop. My first aid station was at Oak Hill, mile 22.  I reached it around 8 am.  It was first full aid station with pancakes.  I probably, did pass Valley Picnic or Robinson field and had water refilled, but I don’t remember now. All I knew was I was glad to reach Oak Hill because I was getting hungry. Water was not an issue for me. I carried a full pack, plus a handheld bottle.

I did not leave a drop bag here, so there was not a reason for me to stay there long.  After taking a few pancakes (probably top off on my water too), I headed out.  I felt comparing to last year, I did great. Only spent 3-5 minutes here instead of 25-30 minutes. It put me on a 26 hour finishing pace.

My next goal was Pine Hollow Station, mile 33.3.  It smacked at a third of the way, which makes pace calculation easy. I normally divide my race into 4th or third (like at every 25 miles, or every 33 miles). 8 hours, every 50k would put me on pace for finishing a race.

Crew and spectators.  I remember coming into to Pine Hollow quite early, maybe around 11 am.  It was not as hot as last year.  Pine Hollow, like Oak Hill is a crew accessible station, so we had a lot of fans cheering us as we came through. It was good to be near the front pack (even though, we started 2 hours early). I went through this station quickly. I was suprised that unlike last year, Pine Hollow is no longer a drop bag location!  I did not stay here too long.  I got some watermellon slices and some popsicles, refilled my water and electrolytes and headed back out. 

Other events occuring concurrently. We had some marathon distance runners joining in at this stage.  They outran us regardless of their physical fitness or age. They had two different start times, like us, I think 6 am and 8 am. Those I saw were probably from the 8 am.

The next section would be Kendall Lake and Silver Lake (mile 50). Kendall Lake was my dropbag location (mile 40, and 60). It is also a crew accessible location.  I passed by them uneventfully. 

By now it was around 2 pm (12 hours into my race) and heat was getting there. We had a long straight-away on a rail-to-bike trail (about 6 miles).  They called the bike and hike trail.  The Rt 8 aid station at mile 45 was my savation both for the out and back.  It was so hot by this time.  I stopped here for the longest time, to use the port-a-johns, eat, and drink. This aid station was more crucial to me than Silver Lake at mile 50.

The good thing about running on the out and back course is you get to see the whole field of runners of those who were ahead of you when they turn around and those coming up from behind. It was a joy to wave and cheer them or receiving their greetings and cheers in return.

I saw Randy after 15 minutes from reaching Silver Lake, the race halfway point. So I knew I was two miles ahead of him. I did not know if he were able to catch up. Indeed, he did later the next day.

Randy had his struggle during the night. He told me he considered quiting at one time but a runner Laura Range urged him to continue. He also took a fall.  I had a few close calls because some areas were rooty. They both finished! That with running ultra, one minute you felt it was the end of the world, and the next moment, you were alright. He was pretty ok when he caught up to me.

My struggle during the night was sleepiness. By sunset, I was feeling it. I have been going to bed early around 8 pm, so it was natural for my body to want to sleep once at nightfall.

My goal was to get back to Pine Hollow by 9 pm, which I did.  I knew then I had 33.3 miles left. I knew I had 13+ miles to do.  I reached Pine Hollow around 8 pm and mile 75 around 10 pm, which was then just a marathon left and everyone can run a marathon! A finish was guaranteed.

Night time running. There were families and friends at various locations through the night cheering for us. This of course, was not permitted. Spectators were only allowed at a few selected locations (such as Silver Lake and the finish) and not at various places in the Cuyahoga Park even though there were parking lots. Fans did obey the race rules earlier in the day to stay away, so normal park visitors could use the park, but by night time came, they bended the rules a bit!  It was good for us runners to have a bit of crowd support like at 2 am in the morning. Well, the crowd might be from relay exchange points (but I could not tell for sure).

  I remembered passing through those places in the dead of night with no one around except for park rangers or local police in the previous year.

I was feeling the effect from fatigue by the time I reached Oak Hill (mile 78).  I kept telling myself, it was good to get here before midnight than at 3 am in the morning like last year. In my low points, I recalled how much worse it was the year before, and this year it seemed I am flying through from check point to check point. A helpful volunteer helped me filled up my water, and later I saw him back at the finish.  He and I ran Vermont 100 the previous weekend and we both were wearing our Vermont 100 shirt!  Randy teased me of being a show-off of running two 100 milers back to back at the finish. He took a picture of me. He joked I should point at my shirt where it says Vermont to let the world knows!

Randy has been to Western States too and ran a fast marathon time (I believe a BQ’d time) in his younger days.

The rest of my race from mile 22 was a blur. At some aid stations, I slept.  I slept on a bench at one of the parks. Runners would come up to me and woke me up, asking if I needed anything, defeating my intention of trying to sleep.  I set an alarm clock too.  The few minutes of shut eyes helped, for I was swaying around while running.  Cuyahoga park (or Summit Metro Park) has plenty of benches to sleep on. I already scoped out places during morning, knowing I might need to stop by some of them at night to sleep.

Randy, I believed caught up to me at mile 12 at the Chestnut aid station or the one after that around 5 am (It took me about 6 hours to go just 15 miles).  It was good he saw me resting in a chair otherwise he would have passed me without me realizing.  It was around 5 am, and hour before the trail get lighted. I quickly got up and followed him out.  It would be nice to have a pacer, but if a pacer is not available, a friend or anyone in the race to run together is fine too. My sleepiness was gone.

We ran the remaining section together. I had a great time to catch up on his stories and his struggles of the night. I was glad to see him all fine.  We were estimating our arrival times.  He thinks it would be 6-ish or 7 o clock.  I was guessing more like 7:30.  We want to make it under 30 hours (8 am). The other runners who were running around us were probable going for 6-6:30 am. Randy asked if I wanted to run to the finish.  Nope. I have recovered enough to run now  but I was also happy with my current pace.  I was sure I could finish, and there was no need to rush.

The final section was mostly on the road, which is my element. They made us do the longer way back with going down some hills and climbing back up.  It was all worth it when the finish line came in sight. Randy and I ran it in.

Friends waiting at the finish. We stayed till the end watching other people finish. Lynne and her friends were there to cheer. One of her friends from Toronto ran this race under 24 hours.  He had a previous finish. Jennifer, another of her friends also ran the 50 mile the previous day, she was working at the finish line handing out medals and serving meals.

Aftermath. It was a great race. I finished with a time of 29:35:21.  There were a lot to do after finishing. I was hungry, sleepy, dirty and wanted to get back to my room.  The first order of business was of course to take a finisher photo.  Lynne was quick to took some for me. Then, Randy and I went to look for our drop bags. Then we changed out of our dirty clothes. We went back to the finish line (they only served pancakes, so it was unappealing for me, because I was looking something more substantial). Randy and I decided to go for “lunch” in one of the restaurants at the finish but we did not realized at 9 am in the morning, none of the places were open.  Brain fog at the time. Both of us were in need of much sleep. Food would have to wait.  Randy slept in his car and I slept in mine for a couple hours, before attempting to drive back. 

Lynne had checked out earlier and drove back to the DC area. If I have known earlier she would be coming back to DC, I could have carpooled with her. I stayed an extra night and flew the next morning. This concluded my journey.

Swags. As for thoughts and such, it will need to wait for future posts once things get sorted out and if I have any thoughts. I have done so many races, and many of them were A+goal races. It is like having too many good things. It just need some time to appreciate.

 Ram (my safety runner during Old Dominion 100), congratulated me.  He waited till 2 am at the start to text me a well wish. He was tracking me and knew I finished. What a thoughtful guy. Saying this because other of friends and family were asleep at the time. Not that I care to have supports, because everyone else have their own life. Virtual crowd support, though good to have, could not meaningfully affect my race.

It was such a good race.  I ran some tougher ones like Western States, Old Dominion and Vermont where the stakes were high and everyone was watching.  Those races were good also. Burning River was my personal set of grand slam (Massanutten, C&O, Burning River and Grindstone) before I embarked on the traditional classic grand slam. Burning River, though not easy, reduces the level of stress (and competitiveness) down a notch. Compare to other races, this was like a vacation and a fun run.

Aid stations were fun and volunteers were great.  I am grateful for the supports and friends (and coworkers) who made this trip possible.  Last but not least, thank to Mordy who recommended this race to me a couple years ago! I almost forgot the guy, because of him I went. Plus, Tek, and Lynne too who had done the race couple years ago. From their stories, I was hyped up about it.