I have many thoughts about this race. I DNF (did not finish). It is one of dreaded word in a race. Now I have collected a few DNFs, it was not as dreadful as when I first got it at the Devil Dog or at the Massanutten Race last year.
If I knew I was definitely going to DNF, I probably would not have run it. I felt I had a good chance of finishing before I started. I checked the course on paper and it did not seem too hard for me. The race was not hard, is what I still believe. It might be even easier than the Devil Dog. Most of the problems I found troubling, such as hills and rains happened early in the race. Technically, they could have overcome and I could have finished. … But that is a lot of what-ifs. I accept if I could not finish, I could not finish.
As I reflected on it, I did not finish mostly due to reduced training after finishing the Massanutten race in May. Then I had an injury (actually several injuries) during the Catoctin run (50k). I rollwd my ankle in that race on my left foot and I forced myself to finish it in 11 hours, when I should have stopped halfway, maybe at 5 hours in. Immediately after Catoctin, every movement of ankle hurt. However, it was recovered enough for me to run Catherine Furnace 50K two weeks ago. So I thought I should be okay for BR100 (Burning River).
The race started at 4 AM. This was like my 5th or 6th 100 mile race so I know the drill. I had my drop bags packed and ready. I arrived a day before. Sleep-wise, I felt I was ok. I was up before 3 AM. I had like 4 hours. I had been pulling usually 4 hours of sleep during the week. I was not sleep deprived, but I think a bit more sleep would have helped. During the race, that wee hours around 4 AM Sunday really hit hard and I wished I had more sleep the previous nights, so I was not too drained.
Also, I had couple big runs right before BR100. I wished I had tapered my mileage so as not to be so exhausted for the race. Pretty much, I drained my reserve before the race, so there was not much left for the late push.
I do not have hard feeling about the DNF. I felt it was just a matter of fact I came up short. I ran until I timed out, arriving at mile 86, Botzum aid station after they closed. I knew there was no way for me to continue. I did not fuss about it. I had whole night to think about it.
Weather might have played a part. Rain started early almost immediately as the race got underway. First it was a drizzle. By the first aid station (4 miles in), the heaven opened. We were receiving buckets of water pouring down on us. Many cheered. Not me. It meant we would have a cooler run. The temperature high was around 80. At the time it was around 70 F. Humidity was off the chart, I think around 80-90%. It did not bother me, but many runners mentioned it made them unbearable. Rain did not initially affected me other than reduced vision. I could see better not wearing my glasses than wearing them, since they fogged up and rain droplets made them virtually impossible to see through. At some point, I put away my glasses.
Occasionally there was dense fog. We had maybe 3-5 feet of vision. Since this happened early, and most people were walking up the trail anyway, it did not feel so bad.
About maybe 2 hours in, the trail started being saturated with water and soon became a muddy mess. The muddy course remained a feature through out the race. Mud was at first not too much an issue but on a slope, mud became extremely slipery. The first few hills I was fine. As I started getting tired though, I started falling all over the place due to slipery hills. In a couple of those falls, I ended up scraping my left elbow. I might have injured my left foot by then but did not realized. This was a new injury. My old injury was the outside ankle of my left foot, but this was the inner ankle on the left foot.
At the time, I did not feel any pain, but later in the race after 66 miles, somehow the pain became obvious. It was swelling.
The first 50 miles were boring. I was mostly on pace. I was doimg 7 hours every 25 miles. It was not fast but it was on pace for a 28 hour finish.
At mile 22, first dropbag was like a savior. It was 10 am. By then chafing was a big issue. I was cut by my shorts and underwear. My shoes were causing a lot of problem too. Feet being wet all the time was not good. I swapped shoes. I applied vaseline liberally. My private part and my thighs were cut from rub burn. So everything hurt when I moved.
Nothing much happened between mile 22 to 50. The second dropbag location was at mile 34, which I reached around 2 pm. At the time, I believed I could get to mile 50 by 5 pm.
My feet were in bad shape. I spent a lot of time to take care of them. I changed shoes and socks. I applied a lot of vaseline to places where I was burned. Luckily I had my sissors with me at that station, I cut the sides of my short to made them split-fly. This helped a lot, so that when I moved my legs the fabric did not tighten around my thighs and causing the rub burn. One thing I failed to do was cut my underwear to release some pressure at the time. I did not get back here until near midnight (8 hours later). I think my underwear had high percentage of cotton, so when wet, it was rubbing my private area and this race causing those areas to bleed. I regretted leaving the aid station without taking care of this stress point.
By mile 40, I was tired but was still able to run. I think I reached mile 50 around 5:40. Unfortunately, I again needed to take care of my feet and other hurt areas. I did not get out the station until 6:00 pm. It was way too much time spent. Now 14 hours into the race. At this time I was still on pace of 7 hours every 25 miles. I was regretting of so much time wasted during the morning hour at the aid stations. I could have saved an hour by now.
Mile 50 to mile 66 was hard. My running pace was just a slight faster than people’s walking pace. Many people passed me including some older people. I was not panicking yet. I reached Kendall Lake at 9:00 pm. The sun was setting. It was mile 62. 100K done. I knew I was a bit behind schedule. I wanted to get to mile 66 before midnight. It was only 4 miles away but it took me more than 2 hours to get there.
Mile 66 was our dropbag station. I arrived at 11 pm. My average pace was 2.2 mph. It was a struggle. Again feet were pretty raw. I changed shoes or socks I think. My memory was a bit vague. I had a new headlamp. Unfortunately it did not fit me. It was too loose. It was my first time trying it on. I might have spent 10 minutes adjusting the strap and I was furious at the time wasted. I knew now was not time to waste on it.
I then spent a lot time fixing my feet and applying vaseline. In my heart I knew, this was the turning point of the race. I wish I could have gotten in and out under 5 mins. I did not get out until 11:25. More importantly, I was behind on my nutrition, but I did not do enough to fix this deficit because I did not have the appetite to eat. If I could have done it again, eat up well at this station to get me through the night. Better yet, to eat up at mile 50.
By then my body and muscles had cool off too much and I no longer could run. I made it to next checkpoint at mile 70. It was just a bit past 1 am. That was my goal. I knew I was moving very slowly. There I picked up a random pacer.
I was calculating my pace in my head, from 6 pm to midnight, 6 hours, I only moved 17 miles. At most 18 miles. That was like 3 miles an hour or 20 mins per mile. We need to have a pace under 18 to be able to finish.
Mile 70. Amanda was pacing her friend, but her friend decided to bail, so she ended up pacing me instead. She paced me all the way to the next dropbag station (Oak Hill), mile 78. We arrived at Oak Hill at 3:45 am. Unofficially, it was more than mile 78, because we were taken on an alternate trail due to flooding at the finish. I think it was at least 2-3 miles longer. However, station closing time was not changed. Oak Hill station still closed at 4 am. We had to get out before then. Normally it would not be a problem, but at this point, I knew I was chasing cutoffs.
Again unfortunately, I could not move any faster. My feet were raw. Luckily I now had on fresh socks. I emptied all the sands and grits from the shoes. Feet felt a lot better. I was freezing though. My pacer was wonderful in helping and feeding me. Unfortunately, I was unraveling. I did not have enough food but I also could not eat much.
Technically, we were still on pace to finish if we could keep a 18 min per mile pace. However, I was done. The next station was 11 miles long. Many parts of this stretch were runnable. Yet I could not run. My pacer had great patience. She got me to run every 25 feet and walk every 25/50 feet. Something like that, but to me my walking and running pace were basically the same. However, running was dreadful for me. Every time, Amanda asked me to run, boy, it was like the end of the world for me. She was a demon to me.
The next 4 and half hours were unrelenting walk. Sky brightened after 5 am maybe around 5:30. The morning did not bring much hope. Amanda was hoping my mood would improve and thus to run faster when light again. I told her, it is not my mood, it was just impossible for me to move any faster. Even my walking pace was decaying too. No longer could I take bigger steps.
Deep down I knew it was impossible to finish by now. I was thinking I needed couple extra hours to make it to the finish. I was not beating myself too much on wasting much time at the aid stations, though if only I had gotten out each one under 5 mins, I would have made it.
Also I really wanted to sleep. I told my pacer it would be so good she ahe would carry me. I knew that would be a DQ, and of course she refused. I could hardly kept my eyes open. We passed couple people who just gave up and sat on the side of the roads to be picked up. My pacer urged me onward and would not let me stop. I felt if I could just sleep for 5-10 mins, I might feel better.
The aid station seemed never arrived. 5 am. Then 6 am went by. Then 7 am. No aid station was in sight. 8 am. Still no station. By then we knew the station we were expecting had closed. The area was unfamiliar to neither nor to my pacer. We had no choice but kept on going. It was mostly downhill. We arrived then at Botzum, mile 87 officially, but probably mile 90 unofficially. It was 8:30. Botsum had closed since 7:30.
Both my pacer and I decided to stop here no matter what. Luckily a volunteer was still around and could drive us back to the start/finish. He saved us an uber ride. I did not mind taking an uber, but having an immediately ride back was the best. It was obvious the station had closed.
My legs were pretty dead afterward. Finally I could sleep.
The recovery was not bad. The same day after a few hours of sleep, I was pretty much back to my old self. I could move around without much pain. I had some blisters which I did not take care until the following day. My ankle was swollen. It took a week for it to go away. There was still some pain today. However, I think I could run again.
Summary: If I could do again:
-prepare for the rain, bring a lot of socks, bring extra shorts and underwears
-having a crew would have help, with a quicker turn over at the aid station. They could have dress the feet faster, apply lotion
–nutrition wise. I felt I was behind on my nutrition. This was on me. I brought a lot of sweets but they ruined my appetite. I wish I had more solid food
Shoes – grits got in. Having gaiters would have help. Mud was messy. I tossed away two of the three pairs used. I wish I had more shoes, like six pairs for this race. I wish I had shoe inserts. I could have swapped the inserts.
Carrying sissors might have help. Cutting my shorts on the side splits was creative. I wish I had started this early in the first few miles. It might have help with avoiding the chafe. Chafe took so much of my time to deal with. Also carry a lot of vaseline (lube up) all the time.
Sorry, there is no joy in describe much of my run. Most of my run was me just going through the motion. I started with high hope that I could overcome the weather and distance and hills. The race was wearing me down bit by bit until it was no longer possible to finish. Turning point was pretty much at midnight, but at the time, I did not know it. If I could quit, I should quit then instead of grinding it out the next 8 hours, for next 20 miles.
Deep down though, I enjoyed the race. The grinding is what running ultra is about. Joy came when there was a finish. It seems depressing when the finish was impossible to reach. However, I praise the race and grateful for the opportunity to run it. I think it was well managed and I appreciate all the volunteers for their long hours and being out there regardless the rain or the late shifts.
I am behind a post or two. Time does seem to go by fast.
Last week, I ran the Catherine’s Furnace Fatass 50K. I enjoyed it a lot. The trail course turn by turn directions were not as hard as I thought. There were only a few turns.
The trail itself was not as technical as I thought. It was nothing I could not handle. The 50K still took me 9 hours to finish. I was not in my best state. There were couple long climbs. The course was runnable, but I mostly walked it. The weather was not as hot.
We started at 7. I arrived a little before 6:30 and almost everyone did too. I almost could not find a place to park. There were about 75 of us trying to squeeze to a parking lot made for 35 spots.
I saw many familiar faces. Wayne and Costi, friends I made from MMT race were there. Both Larry were there. One of them ran in the Western States this year. The other was whom I met at Old Dominion 100. I met up with Elana, who was my hero from MMT. Her husband still talks of how they found me on the trail completely exhausted. I was glad to be able to run the first section with her and later finished the race together. Amy whom I ran with at the Bull Run Run 50 was there as well.
Physically, my ankle has improved. Now I have recovered enough like when I ran Blackbeard Revenge 100 in March. It still feels uncomfortable but it is no longer hurting. I think this is the best I could do. My ankle has regained the flexibility. I could handle the trail in an acceptable way. I was still wary of not to put too much strain on it.
The run was nothing much to say. We hard 4-5 aids stations. Larry (from Old Dominion) manned one of them. Tracy and several others volunteered at the Bird Knob station. Most of the run was uneventful.
I was able to help someone during the run. The course was like a lolipop. I was on my way back with maybe 6 miles left. I just passed the Bird Knob Aid Station, maybe a mile in. I climbed the road, passed the gate and was a bit on the Ant Hill. There I saw a guy laying across the trail on his side. He did not look okay. I called out to him. He gave some vague answer. I think he wanted me to go past him. I would have done so but I felt I need to check on him first. He said he has stommach pain. His eyes were closed. Most of the time he was not responding to my questions. I believed I was there for 10-15 minutes. People who were behind me started showing up. They seemed not stopping for him.
I know he has two choices and staying where he was was not one of them. The race is almost over, unless he moves or else he be stuck on the mountain. Based on my morning run of that section and my MMT experience, it would take 2 hours to reach the finish. We just passed the last aid station about a mile ago. So I asked him if he wanted to go back to the aid station or continue to the finish. He said he wanted to go back. Now, I know from experience the aid station should be closing soon. So he said, why don’t I run to the aid station to let them know to wait for him. I did. They sent people out to pick him up. By then he had recovered enough to walk and he was able to make it back to the aid station. They took him off the mountain.
As for me, I continue on with my race. I lost about 45 minutes. To me it was not a big deal. I had my training in. I know I would still finish. I ran hard to catch up to the last person who passed me (it was Elana). I still took me almost an hour to catch up to her. She was descending from Bird Knob by then. Together with her we chased down Stuart and his son. It was not long until we reached the finish.
Many of us stayed a long time after the race to chat. The food was good. We had burgers. I stayed till almost sunset.
This brings us up to the present. This weekend I will be running the Burning River 100. I signed up not long after finishing the MMT in May. Now it is the end of July. The last 2.5-3 months have gone by fast. I did not get as much training in as I had hoped. It is what it is. I am about to go to Ohio for the race.
I am excited. It is a big race. Surely, I am nervous. I have done enough 100 mile races🤗🍊 that I should not feel this way. Personally I think I will finish but who knows, 100 mile races are always hard.
Not related, I renumbered my last two posts because the “date” was off by one, in case anyone wonders why they are seeing post 568 twice.
I started to run more consistently in the past week. My left foot still hurts but it is getting better. I could flex and unflex and rotate it. Shin only hurts after running 3-ish miles. Yes, I know, I have three events coming up. I need the foot to be ready.
This weekend, Catherine Furance 50K. Hot run. If it will be as hard as Catoctin, I might not be able to finish it. I think it will be hard. MMT hard.
Sunday, Birthday 5K. I run this every year. I look forward to eating cupcakes afterward.
Next week is the Burning River 100. The challenge would be the distance and the heat.
I told a friend that I will be running the burning river and he said, is that the river that is so polluted that it caught on fire. Maybe. I thought it was just a description of a hot run and did not expect it to be literally on fire.
Nothing much to report. I haven’t touch IT stuff for the past 7-ish years except for work after I found myself a new hobby (running). I started this blog hoping to write more of the geeky stuff.
This week I had a chance to look into buying a wifi router for the house. After looking at many models, I picked one and had it shipped to me.
I felt like a kid again drooling over many different models. They are all like looking at lamborghinis. Sure, I could technically affort them but is it partical for the house. It was hard to finally pulled myself away from the highends of the latest and greatest to settle on something mundane.
I felt proud of myself of having set it up successfully last night. Our home network is still “bad”. I did not go with the latest gizmo, though my mouth was watering for those 10 gbps connections! I settle for 1 Gbps backplane connection. It’s a two generation old router, but their immediate availability and low cost hooked me.
Truly we only have a 10 mbps uplink at our housr so any would do, and a 1 gbps network is an overkilled. We don’t even have any computers any more. Only phones. Anyway, I had my fun setting it up. However, in the future, I plan to dabble back having a server in the house. That’s for a future project.
A general update, nothing much for me to write about. Last week Catoctin run was hard.
slight injury: My left ankle improved a bit but still hurt whenever I run. It takes a lot of stretching for the pain to go away. It wasn’t just the ankle being weak, it was everything hurts. Flexing and unflexing the foot hurt. It hurts when it is extended and it hurts when it is curl up. Rotating it too hurts. My left shin hurts too.
My 100 mile race is in two weeks. Yikes indeed. I don’t know how that will be. Of course I cannot run with an injured ankle, foot, or what-not.
Next week is Catherine Furnace Run. It is a 50K. I think it will be challenging. It will heat training. It will be my first time running it. The course is similar to MMT, at a nearby trail (two hours drive for me), but near the MMT race. I should be familar with it. I hiked around there and got lost before.
Martha Moats Baker Race signup was this week. Originally I wanted to run it because the course was similar to Grindstone, and in the same vicinity. Then the Grindstone Organization (RD) sent out a call for trailwork/ volunteer session for the same day. I still need to fulfill my trail work (8 hrs) for the race, which means I had to turn down the Martha Moats Baker run. I am not happy, but have to do the volunteering service. I might take the Friday’s off to go there early to run on Friday, then Volunteer on Saturday, and then run again on Sunday.
August 12 will be a busy weekend. This year, Iron Mountain Training run falls on that weekend too. I will miss it. I will miss the July training run too since I will be in Ohio for my 100 miler. IMTR (Iron Mountain) is very important to me. Because I have other races lined up already, I cannot cancel them. The best part about IMTR is their training runs. I have been going to them the last 3-4 years. They are usually my summer defining runs.
My cousin said there are cheap flight to Saratoga, Fl, for only $75 and asked if I want to go to Clear Water Beach. He has been there last summer. They had cheap hotel near the airport. My mantra is I only travel if there is a race. So he asked me to Google for it if a race would match up. And there are races there! Tampa 100 is taken place in November (I think the first weekend). We ended up Google for youtube videos of the Tampa 100, however, ended up watching the Keys 100 race without realizing. He and I said maybe we will be the first one to do a documentary/video on the Tampa 100. However, on a more practical thinking, I don’t think I can fir another 100 mile race in my schedule, but I am open to it for next year.
There is also the Clear Water Marathon in January. However, flight sales are not yet available for January. I am thinking I will still go. This will help me finish Florida in my 50 states quest.
Relating to crossing Florida off, my plan initially was to do the Space Coast Marathon. However, the schedule falls on the thanksgiving weekend. As you know flights are expensive for that particular time. Clear Water Marathon would present a better alternative.
I signed up a couple races this week but I don’t remember what they were. One was on the spur pf the moment, while waiting for Catoctin 50k to start. I met with Caroline at the start of Catoctin and she said, she signed up. I was surprised the race registration has open, so I signed up on the spot. It is a winter race up in a remote town in Pennsylvania. You know, they get a lot of snow up there. I don’t know why I signed up. Last year after I ran it, I said, it was a once and done race for me. Now, I signed up.
That is all. My bandwith is still pretty low. There are just too many things going on in my private life. I will have a new housemate, so things been busy rearranging my schedule around to meet up and everything. This weekend will mostly spend cleaning and getting rid of things.
I did not finish it in time. The race was 9 hours but it took me almost 11 hours. I am not too upset about compare to the devil dog or MMT. It is what it is. I have accepted DNF as the fact of life. Over all, I am quite pleased with the race. I like a hard race.
I ran the Catoctin 50K. It was my third time. First time was a 25K (by mistake), last year was the full 50K and this year was the full. It is a race I signed up on January 1st or a little after. I have been doing this the last few years. It is a race I look toward year after year.
50K doesn’t sound hard, but this one is. It is not tremendously hard like the MMT, but there were enough hills and technical sections to make running on it hard.
I think my failure to finish was a combination of things. I started way slower than I wanted. I thought I could catch up later on, but the surge never came.
One of the thing was I never knew I was way behind time during the first half. I was with a bunch of people who were hiking it. I guess I picked the wrong group. That was what I did last year too. But last year I was power hiking up hills. This year I kind of took my time. The flat section, I was not going very fast, since I did not want to pass anyone. I had problem with downhills, somehow I was afraid to run downhill. Last year I was flying downhill. I became tired even halfway in, so I couldn’t make the cutoff.
At the first Aid Station, Delauter Rd, (mile 7) I had on 15 mins until cut off. I arrived about 10 am. It had taken me 2 hours to get there. Yes, it was way too slow.
At Hamburg Road Aid Station, (mile 10) I was 5 mins from the cut off. I arrived just before 11 am. It has taken me an hour to do 3 miles. Though these three miles were rocky. I knew I wanted to get to High Knob by noon-ish. By then I knew it might be hard to reach, with 1 hour to cover 6 miles. I remembered last year, I took off here. I was hoping for the same. This year I couldn’t dial up my speed much. Some people caught up to me. I figured I could get there still by 12:30, and was hoping to make the cutoff there.
I did not arrived at High Knob (midway point in the race, mile 16) until 12:40. By then, I had missed the cut off.
I decided to hike back to the start to my car, 16 miles away. Actually I did not start off until closer to 1 pm since I was going to do it with Caroline, the sweeper (who is my friend). They were held up, so I started without them.
A fellow runner and friend also decided to run back, but he was going to use the road instead of the trail. That was probably a smart move. However, I wanted some hard training in.
Some incident: Another runner who misses the cut off also decided to hike back to the car. Carly started before me, and about two miles in, she tripped and fell and hit her head on a rock. I arrived about 40 minutes later. The outbound sweepers (Ram, also a friend and couple other people) were helping her. There were some bleeding. They tried to get her to the road so someone could pick her up. I was debating whether to give up on my hike and be with them.
I continued on to hike to Hamburg Aid Station, which was maybe 4 miles away. I caught up with a runner, bib 250, Fred. We were maybe couple miles from the station, I slow down to match his pace and hiked with him in. He had run out of water, so his pace was very slow. Unfortunately we arrived at the station an hour late, and the station had closed and left. The aid station captain was still there. He had half a pitcher of water, and I guess it was for himself or the sweepers that would be coming. I knew the sweepers were at least an hour behind me since they were held up. I had my pack filled up to 1 L mark. It was not much because we wanted to leave some water for the sweepers. Also Fred had a cup of water to relieve his thirst. He then waited for someone to pick him up. I would prefer to have a full pack of water but I know the sweepers need their water, so I headed out the final 10 miles with just 1L. I knew I would run dry soon, but I hope I could stretch it for at least 5 miles. We were at the hottest time of the day.
It was 3:30 by then. I hope to make it to Delauter. I hope its aid captain would still be there, even though by now it was very late. But I was hoping they would wait for the sweepers to come through. I might get some water or food from them. I know it was a fool’s hope, but this hope kept me on.
I arrived back at Delauter, with no one insight. I was a bit disappointed though I knew it. The sweepers might have left was what I was thinking. I know my water was running low, I hope I could stretch it for another hour until 5:30. It was about 4:30. The station might have closed since 3 pm. It was too much to hope that they would still be there. I set up a new goal to catch up to the last runner maybe by 5:30.
I still had 7 more miles to go. I remember passing a road post showing 8.5 miles earlier to Manor (the parking where we started). That was actually a motivation because nowhere on the trail has mile markers and this was the only place I knew how far I still had to go. Then I made couple wrong turns just after Delauter but I realized early enough to back track. I lost maybe 10-15 minutes and no more than 30 mins. It was the reason I felt the sweepers must have leapfrogged me. Time seemed to stand still. I was not rushing to finish and I knew I would get back eventually. I then reached another mile post, 4 miles to Manor. This was a surprise since I did not remember seeing this on the way out. This was a relieve because I knew I could do 4 miles even without water. By then I drank my last drop of water. My body temperature was getting hot and I could not run. I was thinking to drink out of a creek or pond if need be. The time was about 5 pm. I knew by then the race has ended. There was not or should not be anyone on the trail. I had kind of wish someone would come out to search for me. Maybe bringing me some water. Deep down though, I knew I brought myself into this situation and I had to perservere to get myself out.
I hope to get to White Rock because I knew I would be safe. It is about a mile or so from White Rock to the Manor’s Parking. I could literally hear the highway. I hope to get reach White Rock by 6 and aim to finish by 7 pm.
As I entered the Road that separate White Rock, Caroline texted me asking if I was still on the trail. I said yes. I was relieved that she got back, since the trail was too hard for her in my opinion. Later, I learned that she had bailed out and had someone to pick her up. I told her I was descending from White Rock. I was guessing I had 2-3 miles to go. Maybe 1 to 2.5. I was probably hiking around 2.5 miles per hour so I told her I will be down by 7. I tried to run. She had got my hope up again.
Not long later, I reached another road crossing. I saw a house and knew I was back. After the road crossing was a creek. Someone was bathing/swimming in it. And after the creek was the visitor center and parking lot. I arrived around 6:40. I was completely exhausted. The race already closed since 5 and most people left. A few friends and volunteers stayed to wait for me and the other sweeper. They asked me if I have seen anyone out on the course. I said no.
Fred was the last guy I saw and they drove him back already. Apparently they missed a runner and not sure where he went. I stayed until 7:30. The runner came in a little after 7. I celebrated his finish. We took some pictures and I shared with him some of the food I had. They were nothing much, just some fruit cups.
The sweeper was still out on the course. I assume the sweeper would not make it back until 8 pm. Caroline who was one of the sweepers bailed early because she was cramping up. I glad she did not do the whole 16 miles. I was worried about her since she did not carry much water and aid stations had closed. She had enough sense to call it quit early. During the whole run I was worried about her, knowing she was behind me. I was quite capable runner and was suffering, she would be much so.
Again, I have been a sweeper myself before, I felt how the race was doing sweeping is a bit unconventional. The race should not leave the sweeper unsupported for a 16 mile stetch when it takes 6-7 hours to do on a hot day with no water. Most sweeping duty should usually be 8 miles. Aid station should not close before the sweeper comes through. Sweeper should have followed the last runner, meaning once the last runner left the aid station, they should be able to set out. There was no point in sweeping when they were starting two to three hours behind the last official runner. Anyway, I felt the race left the sweepers high and dry.
It took me 6 hours to get back to the finish/starting area. Outbound took 5 hours. In bound took 6.
The run was harder than I had expected. It might have to due to the heat. Also on the way back, the aid stations were closed already, so I ran without the course support. I had to conserve my 2 L of water for 16 miles back (and I finished half of that by first 4 miles), by taking small sips I had to stretch it out for the final 10 miles with less than 1L. My water ran out at the last four miles. Note, I am not criticising the race, I knew after being cut, I was on the trail at my risk without supports. There were multiple locations I could have stopped and could have asked for a ride back. However, I knew I could finish the run. I anticipated running out of water.
I had trouble breathing during most of the race. The air was heavy. I felt my chest was heavy. I could not get into a good running pace, so I ended up walking most of the race.
If any fault to blame, it was my slacking off with my training after the MMT. So for two months, I was floundering. Also, I was not used to the heat. The temperature was 89F and humidity was around 60%. Note, I like running in hot weather because I like being down and dirty. I felt it really bringing the best out of me, except this time I was not ready.
My ankle also was not happy with me. It was hurting most of the way. I did not have a strong ankle support. It has been an ongoing issue since the Devil Dog. It was ok during the MMT, but since couple months that I had not run much, the ankle issue returned. It is not in great pain, but minor pain like the funny bone being hit. Also there were a lot of popping noices coming from it during the run. Something definitely was not right. So I hike most of the way than running.
It was just a 50K, but it was a hard 50K. I am a bit disappointed. Yet it was a good training. It reminded me how high the bar is. Last few months having completed some very hard races I have been complacent. This reminds me that I have to continue to train for hard races. I got to be able to run these kinds of trails.
Not much is happening with me. I am just being lazy…with everything, my training, and life. There’s not much available bandwidth…
Looking back, The MMT race took a helluva out of me.
Not complaining. It has been my focus for the last two years and was finally over. Now what do I do?
I do intend to run it again next year. Looking back, why was it so hard? It does not seem to be that hard.
I know one person who ran it 5 times. I was wondering why so many times? And then my next question I had was if it is so good why stopped?
I wish I’d never lost the passion.
Lately, I have been doing a lot of evaluations. Do I still have the fire in me. I know it is always like this. Training up and hitting the low points once the race is done.
For me, I believe I can run a 100 mile now. It is not that much tougher than a marathon. I have done it 5 times. Eight if counting the 3 that I did not finish.
Last weekend (two/three weeks ago by the time this is posted), I watched the Western States 100. It was incredible. My eyes were glued to the youtube livestream and engaged what they called angry watching! I was not angry though. Yes, the live chat had some incidents. Many trolls were banned was what I read. Yes, I saw the course record being broken by two female runners. A record that hasn’t been touch for over a decade. They believed this record will stand for a long time. Courtney D. and Katie S. ran a record breaking time. The live coverage was so good. We don’t have anything like that at our races.
Definitely Old Dominion was pale in comparison. It is a different culture. There were a lot of hypes and celebrations for Western States. My races here were less so. I saw so many famous runners at the Western States. Oh the golden hour or the final hour of the race was a tear jerking moment. A runner came so close of finishing, missing it just a minute or so! We were cheering for him to make it in on time at 29:59:59. He did not. He no less ran a 100 mile.
I wish I can get into the Western States. I have a chance for the lotto ticket from having finishing the MMT this year. I just have to remember to enter the drawing in December. Yes, please pray to the lotto god for me. I entered once two years ago after the Laurel Highlands race, but didn’t get in.
Anyway… It is a pipe dream.
Relating to this, not sure if I wrote about it, last year or the year before when a few of the runners attempted to run through Shenandoah National Park on the Appalachian Trail from the south to the north. It is about 100 miles (104). I offerred to pace a runner, however, the runner turned me down because I was not fast enough. At the time I don’t think I had done a 100 mile yet and was kind of interested in this craziness. It has since been on my mind to do it.
This past weekend, I got a chance to help a fellow runner attempting this feat. He did not finish (did only 30 miles), but had a good training run out there. I did not think he was serious in doing the whole length. Anyway, I got to learn more about the trail.
July 4, I plan to run a 5k. I will report on it once done. (probably).
Been laying low last week. I think I ran total maybe 4 miles. I haven’t run at all this week. For the whole month, I think I did about 50-60 miles. I am sad. I usually do many times this like in the 500-600 miles range.
Anyway.
I also spent more time working on my car. I love doing mechanical work as much as running. I wish I have my own garage for me to take everything apart.
I am not that good with mechanical stuff, but I replaced my own oil for the first time on this car. I love it. Oil was flowing everywhere! Ah, but I love it. I did alright.
This week I am attempt to replace the coolant and thermostat in my car. Wish me luck!
Any since this is published on July 4th (US Independent Day celebration), Happy 4th everyone!
I got back on a normal training schedule, Tuesday/Thursday and Saturday run. Plus I had a race this week.
A race is always good for me to catch up with my running friends once again.
I did not expect to see the people I ran with at the MMT to show up, since this was kind of a small local race.
A bit of background, OSS/CIA 50, takes place in Prince William Forest, Triangle Virginia, just maybe 14 miles outside of DC (oh and it took me 90 minutes to get there on a Saturday afternoon, due to traffic, my goodness).
It is a night race, starting at 6:00 evening and ending the next morning 8:30. We have 14 and half hours to run this.
Why it is called OSS/CIA because Prince William Forest was a place used as training camp for OSS officers/agents back in the early days (post WW2). OSS was the former name for the CIA. Barracks/cabins used are still around
I ran in the park a few times, three times for the Devil Dog, and once for the Redeye 50K, and once with the same organization for an 8 hour night run. I am familiar with the course, though I still get lost in this park because there are just a lot of trails.
I have heard of OSS/CIA 50 a few years back and did not run it back then because I saw the cutoffs and many people who could not finish (usually around 50% would DNF). Plus it is a night run, which is tougher in many ways. I was not ready for it back then.
However, having done a few 100 milers, the race does not put much a fear in me any more.
I signed up this year after I could not get into the Highland Sky 40, which is a much preferred run for its scenic route and many of my local friends run in it. Truth to be told, I did get off the waitlist for Highland Sky a week ago, but I already signed up for the OSS/CIA. I was on the 40-50th place and thought my chance was not that great to get in for the Highland Sky when I signed up.
I think I tried OSS/CIA last year too but it was full. My friend said, I could have emailed Alex the race director and he would have let me in. Well I did not know Alex well back then.
I only started to know various people in “high positions” recently after having done some of our local hard races such as the MMT and Devil Dog.
Note, I am not a fast runner, but I guess I am making splashes with people because of my DNFs in both races and that I went back to redeem them. I guess that is one way to make aquantance with the local race officials and get my name out there.
As mentioned some of the MMT runners were there. Many went to Highland Sky either to run or volunteers. Those that did not, showed up at this race. Jana was there helping out as well as running in it (she took first place in the marathon distance). She is in many running podcasts. She is our local heroes. We trained and ran in the MMT. Everyone knows Jana.
My friends Wayne and Charlie from the MMT also showed up. I told Wayne about my Grindstone race in September, and he promises to pace me. He will have the UTMB (100) in September too, but he said he could pace me for 50 miles!
No doubt Wayne is an impressive runner and having him pacing me at the Grindstone would be an honor. I asked if Charlie would crew me, but he has his kid’s event (soccer I think) to go to. Anyway, having someone to promise to pace already is very good. Crew could be found later.
My other friends John H and Charleen were there. John is planning to run the Shenandoah 100 (a self fatass event). I volunteer to crew John. So more to come about this event in a couple weeks.
Plus I made a new friend Lynn. I met Lynn at the MMT too, and she recognized me at the OSS/CIA and said she will be doing Grindstone too. I took down her contact in case we might go to course to train together. I did not know at the time that she is from upstate NY. It seems though she comes to the DC area a lot. The more people I have for Grindstone the better. It will be a hard race, but do-able. I have heard it is comparable to the MMT. I plan to meet up Lyyn.
There are people once you meet, you know they will be a good friend. All these people, I met at OSS are amazing. I think Lynn is one of them.
I am on a quest to do 50 states and 100 of 100 mile races. So knowing people like Lynn from out of my state is helpful to me! I don’t go out of my way to make friends or with an agenda in mind. It is just their interest matches mine.
I already looked up races Lynn has done and will be going, and I want to pick her brain about the 100 miles she has done.
Lynn has done the Burning River 100 last year. She told me to get the Fairfield Hotel for the cheap price and close to the race. Sharaton already sold out and costing $500 a night is just too much for my budget. I will have to get back with Lynn about the run though. She finished it in 29 hours, so that is some confident builder for me since I am about her pace.
I met Orico too. I met Orico on the second loop just before halfway maybe around mile 32-33. She seemed to running fine according me when I was chasing her from behind. I had run with Wayne most of the night but at that point in time Wayne took off from me and disappeared. I came across Orico thinking it was Wayne. By the time I caught up, it was definite not Wayne because Orico is much smaller (and female).
Orico was breathing heavily. I could heard her from behind. In my mind, this is an ultra and not a 5K run. We were little over halfway and still many miles (hours) left. Runners should not run like they are out of breath.
True, we have high level of pollens in our area and the Canadian smoke from their fires is back in the area. So people who have asthma were having tougher time breathing.
I called out to her, that it is OK to walk in an ultra. However, she did not respond back to me. In ultras, we love talking since there are not many of us out on the course and we would be spending a significant of time running together (sometimes hours and days).
It was strange yet not so strange she did not answer back. As I mentioned in previous posts, DC area has a lot of runners who come off as unfriendly and this is due to the culture here where no one says hello or look at people in the eyes in public.
I was afraid I might be scaring her and as well as pushing her to run faster. In a race, if somone is following me, it tends to push me on running faster. As a young runner, I fell for that a lot. As I now become more experienced, I know to run my own race.
I told her that, she was not in my way. If I wanted to pass, I would announce it. This is the trail ettique. Since we are a single trail, it is hard to pass. Usually we wait for a place where the trail widens, unless the runner in front would stop to step to the side, to let the runner from behind to pass.
She also did not say anything back. In my mind, I was in no rush. She was running a decent pace though I was catching up to her. Then she took a wrong turn and I used that time to pass her, since I took the correct turn. Taking a wrong turn usually means she was panicking or distracted. After I passed her, I did not see her catching back up. I think she started walking from then on. Her pace/groove was broken.
Later at the finish I found out this was her first 50 mile race. It explained a lot. In our race there were 10-12 first time ultra runners. It is good to have new people joining. It makes the race so much more special. It is like initiation. I always remember my first 50. In my opinion OSS/CIA is a hard first time 50 miler, due to night run and trail condition.
About the course, we had a dry course, even though it rained the nighr before, but still it was technical course for first time runners. For me, now, the trail is smooth and buttery and very runnable. I remember my first DNF there and every rock was hard. Every stone and every hills I struggled in my first DNF I could still recall as reran on the same course that evening.
In fact, my first 5-10 miles that night was hard. My feet forgot how to run on the trail and I had to stare intensely at where my feet were stepping to avoid tripping. Later though, they gained back the natural ability to run without looking. Having a brighter flashlight on the second loop helped too.
My run was pretty uneventful. When I first arrived and saw Wayne and Charlie. I pulled up in my car right behind Wayne. We were both “late” 15 mins before the registration was to be closed. There were no more parking spots left. A volunteer (Jana) told us to pull to side to go for the check-in first before looking for parking. I think we were the last few to arrived. Then we drove to the back lot (ball park), where luckily there were enough spaces for us. It was not too far a walk to get back to the starting line.
I started out running with Wayne and Charlie since they are both good friends of mine and our paces are pretty much the same.
Not having run seriously for over a month since the MMT, I was a bit rusty. Soon Wayne and Charlie pulled away. Everyone was running a fast click, I think it got to be around 10 min pace (fast for ultras). My goal was to do about 15 mins, though at the time I was probably running about 12 mins.
Lynn passed me and gave me encouraging words. We passed each other a few times through out the first loop. There were several out and back sections, so we got to see those who were a bit ahead and those who were behind.
I then slowed down to the pace of that of John Hord was running. I met John from MMT training since John and Charleen were doing aid stations. I remember seeing John at the second and third training run. John was great at giving me encouraging words at the Chocolate Bunny and at MMT since he was crewing for Charleen that night.
Tracy C was about our pace too. We were running together. I got to kept pace with Tracy until near first half on the first loop (13 ish mile). Tracy has her own story.
My first MMT’s racing strategy kind of build around her. She is known in our club for DNF-ing too. You know you can be famous either you are the first place runner or the last place. Tracy is not slow! She is faster than me on many of the runs but she is still chasing for her buckle for the MMT. She is a bit sensitive about it, and I would too. She was saying people should tone it down. I apologized for using her as the person to beat at the MMT. She is commended of being brave to still sign up for races. I have been there after running my first MMT and didn’t finish, and I was thinking to myself if I still get what it takes to finish a 100 mile. It takes courage to show up and run. I felt I know Tracy a bit better that evening when she shared how she felt about the MMT race.
At the first Aid Station, I caught back with Wayne and Charlie. Wayne loves to take his time at the station, I think 10-15 minutes each time. It allowed me to catch up. We basically ran together for the rest of the night. Wayne did not wait for me, but I would catch up from time to time. I ran my own race. I did not wait for Wayne either, at the aid station, if I finish first, I took off, knowing both Wayne and Charlie could catch up to me.
We finished the first loop after midnight. 25/26 miles in the book. It is 25 miles but some people’s gps watch was reporting a mile more. It didn’t matter to me. I was treating it as 26 miles because it felt like a marathon length.
At midnight the marathon (25 mile) event took off. We saw many runners coming out.
I saw Tracy and John coming in from their first loop. Also Lynn came in. The cut off was at 1 am. I saw Lynn around 12:30 which was not too bad. We had until 8:30 (I didn’t know at the time) but that was plenty of time for a second loop.
Lynn said the course has way more double track trails (gravel roads) than she expected and was tired of running on them. I think about 5-6 miles of them. It was demotivating to run on gravel roads. One loop was enough for Lynn. As for me, I love roads and gravel because I could run faster on them than on trails.
Also Charlie did not go back out for his second loop. Wayne believed he might have some stomach issue like at the MMT. I had a 10 minute head start over Wayne on the second loop but he was quick to catch back to me and by mile 10 and passed me to get to aid station first. He took off when I arrived at Oak Ridge.
However, the next three miles, and it was 4 am by then, Wayne was exhausted. His running was the pace of my walking. I caught up to him just by walking/hiking.
We arrived back at Oak Ridge aid station the second time on our second loop. I told him to eat and he did. However, I could not wait for him to finish eating because I was getting cold. When a runner headed out, I followed. The runner in front of me was fast and disappeared. I must have sometimes passed Travis, another friend. Travis is fast. But as the night grinded on, I was passing people. Travis was the aid station captain at the Old Dominion Race (couple weeks ago), and I got to know him there.
The time was 4:30 ish then. Morning should arrived soon. The RD told us, tonight is the shortest night (summer soltice is couple days away). Initially I wanted to finish under 12 hours if possible. Meaning less than 2 hours left. At this time, I was willing to compromise for 8 am (14 hours). Still I felt I was behind schedule to finish by 8 am. We had 13 miles left to do.
I got to the next water point (Burma Road), around 6 am. Morning has dawned. From then I caught up maybe 10 runners. On the out and back I saw Wayne was only two places behind me maybe about 5 minutes behind. It is not bad and I thought he would surely catch up.
I had about 2 hours to do remaining 8 miles. Normally it should be fine, 15 mins a mile. 4 miles an hour. I felt though my pace was slipping. I thought 8 am was the final cut off since 8 am is the marathon cut off time. It was natural to assume the ultra would have the same cut off too.
In my mind, I believed I had only 6 miles left since the first time arriving at the Burma aid station is 4 miles. The out and back on Burma road was at least two miles, which gave 6 miles remaining. I asked the radio guy at the Burma station how many miles are left, and his reply was 8. So eight it is for me even though I was sure there should be 6 miles left.
My goal was to get to swinging bridge by 7 am. This would give me three miles (2.5 miles) for the final section. The laurel trail is about a mile long. The start/finish trail is less than a mile. It was about half mile to get to the Laurel Trail from the swinging bridge. So about 2-ish total.
I finished at 7:28. I had many people cheering me as I came in. Total 13:28 h.
We had breakfast and then the award ceremony. It was good to catch up with everyone. Marty (another friend) who always give me words of encouragement out on the trail, was there. He was pacing Adeline, who was only 10 minutes ahead of me. I was chasing her all night. I knew she had maybe a mile ahead. I see her in many of my races too.
Wayne came in 15 minutes after me. He made it before 8. We talked on many things. He will be running the Eastern States and Iron Stone 100K. I unfortunately already signed up for the Catoctin. I might go to see him after Catoctin since Iron Stone starts at 2 pm. I believe, I might get there by evening and then hang out with the Pennsylvania runners. This will be in couple weeks. I am excited for that.
Conclusion: I like running, because it gets me to run some more. This race is kind of help me get my act together for my summer races. Also many plans were made.
By the way, my Saturday was jammed packed. I had Catoctin training that morning with Billy C. I had a tea time with my other running group (Siri) in DC at 2 pm. Then the race was at 6. It took me almost two hours to get into DC and almost 2 hours to come back out. The traffic almost killed me that afternoon. Luckily I got all my fun in. I was with three different running groups that day. Yep. I was so tired the next day and Monday. Luckily, Monday was a holiday and I could recover. It was exactly how I like it.
I am behind on a post or so, because nothing much (of interesting things) happened in my life. I go to work, I come home, and I get tired, and I sleep. Then I repeat. You can get tired by not doing anything. Also, you can get tired and can’t fall asleep. That is the worst.
The post marathon blue really hits me hard this time around. My last marathon was in May. Someone please help me get out of this, jk.
I don’t know if this is consistently happening every year, but I go through this cycle of being bored, then sign up for races, run them and get bored again.
I ran, I trained, then I now in a phase where I pause. For what? I don’t know. I just don’t feel like doing much.
Sure I want to run more. If only I can go to say the Grand Canyon and do the Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R), to run from one side of the canyon to the other side and back. That would be an epic adventure. Why don’t I? Because it is hard!
There are times where I just have the spirit to sit down and take care of all the logistics in one shot. But I hate to make decisions.
How I got the Bay Bridge signed up was my friend was next to me and and kind of telling me what to do. Bay Bridge is one of those big races like the Rim-toRim, but instead we are closing the longest bridge in our area (the Chesapeake Bay). It is about 4 miles long, so it makes a good 10K.
When I was a younging runner a few years back, I dreamed of cross that bridge on foot. I actually did sign up, but lo and behold we have the pandemic and it was canceled or something. I was offerred to run as a virtual event. I received a virtual medal (it was a real one, they sent to me).
Anyway, then I lost interest to do it after I came to run much longer distance. The glamor and novelty kind of worn off.
Here I am again to give it a second go because my friend was thinking of going to do it but reluctant because he wanted to do an ultra the day before (Stone Mill), one which I actually signed up.
I said surely you (or me) could do two events on the same weekend. So it is a new challenge to me. I know I could run a 50 mile and a 10K the next day. It is not even an issue. So I signed up.
What I was going to write though was I had a thought while driving home that most of us can be a one dimension person. I am. I was thinking how light is polarize. In that with certain lense you could filter out its components. I was thinking how some streamers on social media can be so famous such as they get tons of views on their stuff when they post certain subjects. For example, I know some cosplayers, where they get tons of likes in their cosplay postings, but when they become their every-day-self say their game play on twitch, they have no viewers. However, they love doing their less glamorous stuff.
Anyway, I was thinking, like how I like running and posting about running. I don’t know how to write about any other things. But as I was thinking light and EM wave (electro-magnetic) can be polarize, and it dawns on me, when people read my stuff, what if they have a polarized lense on, and I my topic is outside of their interest, I am like the polarised light get filtered out. Anyway, it is fine. It was just an insight while commuting to work.
My life is pretty boring. I was thinking on what to write. Then of course, I write about the topics I like.
Another thing I think is very impactful to me was during my run at the MMT Race. My friend was telling me to make time my friend because time was my enemy/challenge during that race since I was afraid I might get behind on my pace.
Making time my friend is easier said than done. However, it means to me is to make the most of my time. In that race, it means to run smart. Always moving. Always look for ways to cut down the time. It means be faster at the aid stations, be faster getting out, be faster at climbing, be faster at coming down. Run when possible. No waste energy etc. It helps. It carries into life too.
I have been thinking a lot, of what can be done now as whether to do it later. Yes, many times it pushes me forward.
I ended the week with a surprised. I will be taking part in a 50 mile race, called OSS/CIA. It was a race I wanted to do last year or the year earlier. I got to know the race director these last couple years. It is a small world. Last weekend (two weeks ago, and three weeks by the time this is published) I was at the Old Dominion Race. I was cheering for my runner and some of my friends. Alex, was there. I did not connect him to being the RD of the OSS/CIA. He was crewing the second place finisher and some other runners. He knew me, but I didn’t know him. We chatted and such. Lo and behold, tonight we had the pre-race meeting, and he said hello, nice seeing you at the Old Dominion, and I looked closer. It was him! Silly me.
That’s all for now. I don’t get everything solved in my life. Things are hectic. There is no perfect life. I don’t have to. I am just trying to hold onto a tiny piece where I found perfection.
By the way OSS/CIA is hard. They say maybe 50-60 percent will finish. I remembered running that course (same as the Devil Dog), where it takes me 7 hours to do 26 miles. So looking at the course cut off of 13 hours, I will be a bit tight in time.
Oh, note to self, half a year review is near. I need to refocus and get my second half of the year together.
It was a quiet week. I did very little running, maybe 3 miles logged.
I did not have the motivation.
Also, we had a few days of smoky air quality due to smoke from forest fires in Canada. We are a thousand miles away but we had a code red/purple day. It smelled like a camp fire outside. Some still ran. I took that as an excuse to stay indoor.
Air quality improved significantly over the weekend and we had a small shower Monday. I still stayed indoor.
I did some house chores. Some long overdue cleaning. Afterward, I just crashed in my living room. My car needs upkeep too. I plan to do my own oil change to save a few bucks.
The most significant thing I did was to look into my Burning River race in Ohio. I signed up. A friend I met at the Old Dominion Race Weekend said he will try to line me up with a pacer. So I have to start bustling with my training. I put together a pace chart and kind of formulating my race strategy. This is the first step. I watched some videos on the race. I need to do more. I pulled up a friend’s Strava from last year. She ran this course. I hope to gain some insight from her time splits. I need to do a detailed course study. Good thing about this race is there are a lot of information available.
Now how do I get there. Driving will take me 8 hours. It is not necessary cheaper. Flying is about $350-400, then an hour drive. Akron has a regional airport, but not sure how long the flight to there. It might be better for me to fly to Cleveland and then drive the rest of the way.
That’s it for now. Race management is a chore for me. I try to avoid them. I love signing up races, but as to the logistics, I don’t like it. Though of I don’t plan ahead, I would end up with no place to sleep and no flights booked.
As I was writing this, I went ahead to sign up two other races, the Bay Bridge 10k and the Hayden Lake Marathon (Idaho). I am excited.
My weekend has been Hustling and Bustling. First week of June usually is my volunteering weekend at the World End’s Ultra. I love the race and the people behind it. I met some cool running friends, one of my first few running friends who share the same passion of ultra trail running like I do. I’m sure everyone who runs ultra because they love it. These people really hit it off with me. Not sure if because the races there were harder or something, but we developed a bond. I don’t run hard races! To others the races I ran seem hard, but there is another level of difficulty out there. My first truly hard race I did there was the Laurel Highlands and since then I don’t dare to run it any more, but from that race I met really good friends, who introduced me to volunteering at the World End. Every year since, I try to give back to the community by volunteering there.
This year, the World End’s race was in conflict with my cousin’s wedding. So there was no way for me to drive 5 hours to Pennsylvania, literally to the End of the World to me (in the middle of nowhere), and then another 5 hours back. It did cross my mind though to try. Volunteering for the event started Friday night, with registration, or course proofing, or even sweeping the early sections or I could come back for the course clean up on Sunday.
I was thinking to get there in the middle of night and start proofing the first section, maybe.
Then I thought it is just crazy. I spend most of the time in the car. I might be late for the wedding. I know I don’t do well without sleep.
So that plan did not work. Then someone posted on the Facebook in my running club about needing a last minute crewing for Old Dominion 100. I said sweet, I could not be there for the whole time but I could do it until noon or early afternoon. The Old Dominion race is just an hour away and not 5 hours like World’s End. It was doable and the runner was fine with my half day’s help.
Friday after work, I drove to Woodstock, Va, to the fairgrounds, where the race would start and end. It was my first time there, but the trail and race is not new to me. Everyone have heard of Old Dominion (at least for trail/ultra ulrunners). Friday night was the race’s mandatory check-in day.
OD is 2nd oldest 100 mile race in America second only to the Western States 100 (in California). It also started as a horse race but in around 1979, a runner decided to enter and run with the horses. It led to the start of the running event. Back then no one thought it was possible to run a 100 miles or compete in a race for that distance. It is still a horse race today at Old Dominion, but the horse racing event would take place on a separate weekend and is run by a different organization. OD has similar background as Western States, which is the ultimate race for ultra distance runners, just like Boston Marathon for marathoners.
OD is part of the Grand Slam Series of 5 races, (Old Dominion, Western States 100, Vermont 100, Leadville Trail 100, and Wasatch Front 100). Old Dominion is the first race of the series and in the past, it was either Old Dominion or Vermont to make the grand slam (runners choose either one to run and run all other three races). I can’t say whether these two races are easier than the other Grand Slam races, but since it is the first, many people who are chasing the Grand Slam title would run this. Indeed, this weekend a dozen of so showed up for the grand slam title.
I was curious about the race and crewing would allow me to be up close to see the “elite” runners. I don’t ever consider myself to be competing in these races because the requirements to finish are so high. For me, I am just a baby in the 100 mile race.
Plus it is nearly impossible to get into one, I think. Most are managed by a lottery system. My chances of getting in are slim.
But anyway, crewing allows me to get close to such highly known race first hand.
There was a lot I did not know. And I glad I went. One thing was I thought all five races of the Grand Slam have a similar culture. I thought I would know everything about the Old Dominion from what I know about the Western States’s race, such as the competitiveness and how glamorous the race is. I thought OD is like that, of having camera crew following everyone around etc.
It was not like that. OD is a world apart. OD is typically a Virginia, back country lay back race. They used to not even have a website or something that was dated and it would not be updated with the current information. For many years, they would not even publish a list of runners. Friends would be guessing who would be running in it. But everything a runner needs to know is written in a small red booklet. Only a registered runner would be handed one at the race bib pickup.
It is family-run, home grown race. There was devoid of sponsorship or commercial often tied to many other bigger races. In a sense it is good. There is a lack of money and it brings out the authenticity. A race for runners by runners.
I felt I was stepping back in time, since I came from the big city marathon culture like the Rock-n-Roll Marathon. Everything was done and tracked with pen and paper. There isn’t any high tech gitzmo. At the race briefing, someone asked wheather there would be live tracking so that friends and family members could know where the runners are at, and it came across almost like a joke except no one was laughing. Tge race director was like, what do you expect. Nope there wouldn’t be one. The timer person is the same person who has been doing timing since the beginning. Though the race has improved a lot but don’t expect much is the take away. It was a low frill race on a hot day.
It is also an old tradition to run a 100 mile race under 24 hours. Many other races had made theirs easier by loosening the finishing time to draw more average runners to sign up, with say a 30 hour cut off or even 48 hour cut off. OD had relented a bit by adding 4 extra hours, but runners only received a buckle (sterling silver) if they come in under 24 hours. I think there is only a few races that still adhere to the 24 hour time.
Another thing I noticed, we do have turn by turn directions, but to me the course seemed confusing since it crosses on itself at several places (and at one places 3-4 times). Unless you are a local runner, those turn-by-turns make no sense. They were using state road numbering system, and to me turning right on 770 or left on 758 is quite gibblish (my brain just couldn’t memorize a bunch of numbers. The funny thing is I found, not all the turns have street numbers, and some don’t even have a sign. You kinda need to know where to turn. Race director explained that back then all the country roads are numbered as such and only until recently the county started naming streets like Mill Rd and so forth, so that the emergency service crew could find places. It explains why though turn-by-turn instructions are given in road numbers but the actual roads might have a road name. I had a hard time matching the road number to road name in google map and in-person! My advise is go to the mandatory race briefing (the confusing turns became clearer to me).
Fortunately for runners, at least the course was marked! But every year people do get lost and sometimes many miles. I have seen the course first hand this year and it is not too bad, besides I ran the MMT which is in the same vicinity, so I am kind of familar with the area. Runners getting lost seemed to a badge of honor for the race. One year, a runner ran an extra 19 miles and finished. It made quite a story. This year, I met the guy who ran an extra two miles. Wayne (one of my friends and runners whom I was crewing) too got lost early on. I also met a guy who got lost last year by making the wrong turn at four-point and could not finish, he redeemed himself this year. Most runners kind of accept it as a matter of fact. I got lost in my other races so I know how that feel. So did Tek (also a friend and runner, and I will write more below), who was not able to finish last year because she couldn’t her way. My conclusion is A pre-race course study is not impossible, but it is a bit tougher than any other races I ran. It just take a bit of resource to find a local map, plus a trail map, and then trace the course. Or ask a former runner while their memory os still fresh.
Second thing I was surprised was the race is 80% on country roads, mostly paved or horse trails. It should not surprise me because it used to be a horse race. Horse could not go up too steep a climb on the mountain. So the course while do have some serious elevation gain/lost, but it is doable (14000 feet). MMT, a race I recently ran has close to 18000 feet gain/lost. They said the state or county started to pave many of the roads. I think it makes the race a bit easier (or tougher, depends on the perspective). Easier, meaning faster time, but tougher because harder road surfaces hurt the knees and legs. It is a blister making place.
The time requirement was not a surprise to me. I knew it is a 24 hour race. They do have a 4 hours grace period (28 hour) but no buckle for those who came in after 24 hours. One year, they had it as 30 hour, but reverted back to 28 now.
With the 28 hour time, I might have a chance at this. I finished the Blackbeard a little over 26 hours, but that was with zero elevation. Two of my other friends ran this and they finished. I believe my face is compatible to theirs. I was also crewing them at couple stations. This makes me want to sign up in the future. I was glad I came to crew them because it inspired me to try.
Now about crewing, my guy, Greg, gave a good set of instructions before the race and basically, get the water, make sure he has his nutritions, and no blisters or sunburn. It was typical stuff. He gave me his pace chart. He was aiming for a sub 24 hour goal but doesn’t mind if he missed it and he would go for the 28 hour (just to finish).
Long story short all my three runners finished.
I was to meet Greg at the first dropbag/crew location around 8:42 and the second crew location at 11:52 (toward noon). From what he was saying, he might be later than his predicted pace. I did not check his pace chart but assumed it was set at even pacing.
Lucky though and I think he would have caught it too that the race has only one timed (well two technically if we count the finish time) cut-off that is at midnight runner must leave the mile 75 aid station. It means runners have to be going faster than their average race pace to reach there. I think we calculated around 16 min mile. He was basing a 17 min pacing for the 28 hour finish and it originally had 1 am as the time to arrive at mile 75. It was good we caught it early. It meant he would have to hustle a bit in the early miles. There is no starting slow strategy. The elites are a diffent breed of runners.
I watched the start at 4 am. Actually it was hard for me to fall asleep. I had couple hours of sleep in the back of the truck. It was fine. I was awake and saw the race off then I slept for couple hours till sunrise.
It dawned on me Greg might get their earlier than planned! Because I came across an aid station planning chart indicating that the first crew station was estimated to close by 8 am (my guy had it down that he would be there by 8:42). If the race officials think all the runners would gone by the station by 8 AM, then, my guy probably would be an hour faster too, say 7:42. So by 7:00, I was off to the first crew station. I knew I was in trouble, and might be behind schedule. They expected everyone to go out fast! Four hours to do 20 miles, technically wasn’t too fast, but that is my marathon pace! I brought some snacks before I went since I don’t know when I would be back to the city.
I think I arrived around 7:00-7:30 ish. Time is a bit hazy for me now. A few runners already came in and I could see they were elites because a few chose not to stop! In my mind that is crazy! This is the first crew area and they ran straight through! What is wrong with these people. They are too good. 20 miles and not need a break.
It was not long before my guy showed up. I helped him with his electrolytes. It seems that was the most important thing. It was my first time using a funnel and trying to get the tailwind powder into his flasks. I filled up the water first so the funnel got wet and power just would not go down through it. We wasted some minutes there. I was embarrassed as a crew, we have to snappy and here I was wasting all my time with a funnel. Finally, it seemed faster to use the zip bag which has a V-shape opening at either end and poured the powder from the V-shape end of the bag into the flask. It worked well!
My guy only relied on the tailwind powder and not the aid station food. However, I was concerned about his nutrition plan. From my own experience, you need real food to sustain a long race. However, that was his plan and we stuck with it. He did finish, so it worked for him. I was not sure if he changed his strategy mid race or not. It did make things simple for us. So mostly take care of his water and his powder and everything was smooth.
He was on pace. He was half hour ahead of his calculated pace. About midpack runner in this race. Not bad. From his history, he just ran his first 50 miler to qualify for this race and now it is his first 100. Later, I learned too there were couple others who ran this race as their first 100. I wouldn’t have done so, but again everyone who run this are on a different level.
I stayed a bit to wait until the station closed since I did not have to be at the next crew station until 11 ish, even if my guy is fast, he was not at the front of the pack, so I was not worried of him reaching the second crew station before 10:00 am. He had about 13 miles to cover. I kind of knew he would not run a sub-2-hour half marathon. I was giving him at least two hours to cover that distance.
My friend Tek came in. I did not recognize her and was not sure if she would recognize me. I knew she was in the race. We met last year at C&O when I was volunteering there. I wrote about her back then. Thinking back I did saw her at the race expo. I was not sure if it was her. She was the first person to inspire me that there is someone out there who can run a 100 mile every week. Since then I met a could more of these crazies (my friend Franando, and Wayne, and Wayne was running in the Old Dominion too). They helped me to see that I could do it too.
She did recognize me at the aid station. So I crewed her. She was not that far behind. Her strategy with her dropbags was similar to mine. I don’t remember what I did for her. She didn’t need sunblock or ice(?). I don’t remember, but everything was real simple. She was not rushing through the station. Her calmness made me slow down too. I think she spent time eating and sitting on the ground, and that what I would have done too. I sat with her on the ground. I think one of runners big no-no was to sit and my first guy refused to sit. Now thinking back, I learned for 100 mile races, sitting is ok, just don’t sit for too long. I did manage to get Tek out. She was not stressed about time. She could run fast to make it up for it (and she did).
Then I waited for the third guy. Wayne. Wayne was taking his time. I knew, since I ran with him two weeks ago at the MMT, and he almost gave me a heart attack at one of the final aid stations where we stayed over 20 minutes waiting for him to finish eating. I at the time, did not plan to spend much time since we were so close to the finish and I wanted to just get over it. We did get out the station and we finished the race. Wayne amazed me to recover enough from that race to do another 100 with only two weeks apart. Anyway, he is like Tek, running 100 miles like I would run a marathon every weekend. I was rooting for him because a 28 hour finish is tough. His last race took him 35 hours.
Neither Tek nor Wayne was aiming for sub 24. I know Tek had a better chance. I know Tek could be fast. Tek ran the race before. Wayne is fast too but Wayne has a higher risk of not finishing due to lack of rest between the two races and also I knew Wayne more, since having run with him prior.
Wayne came in near the tail end. I think after 9:00. Again, my time now recalling back the event is hazy. He was not the last guy but was like the last 10 guys. At first he felt it was not right for me to crew him because I did not check with my other runners. People can get jealous. I told him my runner(s) already passed, and I have time to crew him before getting to next station. I don’t mind helping him.
Wayne was easy to crew. I knew he wanted to stay forever at the station. My job is to hustle him out. We did fill him up with water, he ate the stuff at the station. We got him ice for him to fill up his pockets.
I also said I have to leave in the middle of the day, and won’t be back until midnight.
We got Wayne out. A few other runners came in. A race official drove by and updated the station captain who would be the last runner because I think some already were dropping out. By the way, I also know the aid station captain. I think he was one of our running club people. This year our club managed 4 aid stations. The last guy came through. I then went to my next crew area.
It was still early. I think I arrived around 10 AM, maybe even 9:30. Maybe about 10 runners had gone by. I don’t remember much. But I had to park all the way back because all other crew people already took up their spots. There was a long line of cars, we had to park as close to the edge as possible, because the road is a one way/one lane road. It was a two way road but seems can only fit one car width at that location. Thinking back, I wish I parked on Moreland Gap Road, so as to be easier to get out, but I was afraid I might get my runner disqualified to park in a place outside of what the race designated for us to park.
It did not matter to me. A little walking does not hurt me. I got to make friends with other people around. It was a waiting game.
Crewing could be so stressful. I knew when my guy would show up because I had his pace chart, but the wait was just killing me. My heart was beating fast like what if I had missed. I knew I would not have missed him. No way would I have missed him. I did not have calmness.
He arrived an hour plus ahead of schedule. He said he felt good and found some company to run along with. He arrived like at 10:45 and I got him out before 11. Roughly that time. I don’t think we took 15 mins at the station. This second time went more smoothly with the funnel and tailwind powder. He took care of all other stuff. He was good in that he worked along side me. I ran down a mental checklist of things he needed.
I warned him he might be going too fast. Here at 4-point station, runners would come through twice. I knew I wouldn’t be there the second time he comes through. He knew too. I had a wedding to attend in the afternoon so had to leave early to prepare for that. I told him he would be uncrewed next time he came through.
I remembered seeing him filled up water from the water jug I brought him, but I forgot to check with him or his pack before he left if he had enough. He later commented that the next 10 miles, mile 30-40 was his hardest miles because he ran out of water. I felt bad anyway, However, this was noon time and the first time in a race where the next aid station was 6 miles apart rather than 3 or 4 miles. Plus the next station had limited aid available, since it was in remote location on a trail, they had to use mules to haul in supplies. I think they might have ran out of water at the water station. My runner did not give the reason why he was out water. I think he might have forgotten to refill. It is on me as crew though for him to be out of water. In my own races, first thing I would do when I come in would get my bladder filled up, then I would drink my fill to quench any thirst. I think I forgot to remind him to drink up! Anyway, out he went.
I waited for Tek. The lead pack of runners came through the second time. In my mind, I could leave for the wedding, because after the lead pack came through, their crew started leaving and I could follow. I wanted to leave too (to get to the wedding) and it would not be a taboo to leave the station before everyone. I was afraid earlier if I was the first one to leave because by an implicit rule, I was to stay there for 4 hours till my runner comes through the second time and I did not want my runner(s) getting disqualified on my account. In truth, I was tempted to stay. I wanted to crew Tek and Wayne and others. I was also volunteering, helping as many other runners as I could (I noted many other crew did not help other runners). There was only a few volunteers (3 usually) at the station. Most runners help themselves.
Tek came through (her first time in). Tek was lowkey. She only needed food. I helped her changed shoes (into trail shoes) since the next section would be on trails. She was eating from a can of spagetti-O. It was like something I would do. Junk/processed food but they do give good calories. I, in fact, thought about eating that in one of my ultras. She did not bring a spoon, but luckily the station had one. I thought it was just funny choice of food. I got her out the station once she was done eating. She might have stayed in the station for 15 or more minutes. It was way too long in my opinion (as you know, I learned to carry food on the go and eat them outside the station). She was fine becasue she was still ahead of the 24 hour pace. She could run fast.
I waited for Wayne. Wayne took forever to arrive. In hindsight, I should not have waited for him, because on his account I was late for the wedding. They said there were only 3 runners left, who did not come through yet. A female and two guys. I knew one of the guys is Wayne. I felt bad of leaving without seeing Wayne. The female came in — she was also a friend of a friend because she was part of the Virginia Happy Trail Runners. I have seen her somewhere but didn’t know her name. I think it could be Amy. Many of my running friends were supporting her and other people of our club. I saw John and Charleen there. There was also Jamie. I knew Larry, who was running in the race. Larry spoke to me many times like a friend, but I kept not remembering his name, though in this race, I truly got to know him and his wife Kathy. Jamie was crewing for Larry and Larry was running with other members of our club (Scott and Sean). I saw many of my Virginia Happy Trail friends, such as Denise, Mordy and Janna. Mordy was one who recommended me my next 100 mile race — Burning River in Ohio. He might be able to find me a pacer. We reconnected because of Old Dominion.
Then after a long wait, Wayne came. I learned he was part of the Asian Montgomery Running Club and they were out there crewing for their members so they took over crewing for Wayne. I knew Wayne was in good hands and I said goodbye. I was happy Wayne came by around noon and it was not too bad timewise.
So I left the course to attend the wedding back home. You know Google said it only took 28 minutes to get to the venue. I had three hours. There should not be a chance I would be late. I ended up being late anyway due to traffic and couple stops I made (I needed to shower/and change/and buy a card). I did not waste my 3 hours but it was very stressful. Traffic was horrible in Northern Virginia and I should have known. The venue was near my former college and I knew I used to drive there every day and it took me an hour and half or something back in those days, but that was like 15-18 years ago. I was expecting weekend might be better and also we made many road improvements since. I learned traffic is still so bad even a saturday, like any major city. I pulled out all my tricks like taking the express lanes (and paying tolls). It was stressful and embarassing being late to a wedding. I did make it to the wedding. Actually at one point I was considering turning around and going back home (to catch some sleep).
At my cousin’s Wedding. It’s a beautiful setting. My stress from crewing (and sleepyness) was temporary suspended
People were asking me where was my mom. I shamefully said I forgot to pick her up. My mom texted me at the last minute saying I promised to drive her. It was completely out of my mind. My mom was mad at me! I wrote back, I could adjust my plan, but she said she found someone’s else. In fact though, there was no time left for me to pick her up.
Anyway, it was stressful to have two concurrent events. I could only be at one place at a time. There was no way for me to make it to the wedding and pick up my mom, while I was coming from the race, unless of course she waited at my house, but then I was not planning to stop by my house or buying a wedding card, or taking a shower or dressing up. It was formal event though. Out of respect, I had to be at least presentable.
After the wedding was the reception. It was just as stressful getting to the reception venue due to traffic. I think it took me another hour/hour and half. My runner was keeping me up to date of his progress. He was not doing so well. I only hoped for the best that he could finish.
After the wedding reception (around 10 pm), I made a drive back to the race course. I could have gotten back earlier but I promised to give a ride to a family member. I learned my lesson of having priority. Since my duty at the race was done, it did not matter if I got back to the race an hour earlier or an hour later. I knew I would still want to go back at least to see the finish. The finish would be at 4 am. Later the person said they found a ride from someone’s else, so I was relieved. If I did not have to give the ride, I could have left once the dancing started. I stayed until 9:30 pm, originally I planned to leave around 8 ish. Even then, things did work out for me.
At first, I was tempted to be a safety runner (pacer) for miles 75 to 87, hence the rush back to the race. However, as I was driving back to the race, with the whole day being out in the sun, and also the lack of sleep from previous night, fatigue finally set in. My friend Caroline called me to report about her race from Iowa and it helped kept me awake for my drive back to the course. I knew there was no way I could run that night. I would end up being more a liability to my runner than helping them.
I got back to the race around 11-ish at mile 75. Many runners were coming through the aid station at Elizabeth Furnace. It was the “golden hour” because the cut off was at midnight. They had to leave the station before then.
Tek already gone through, I believed. I did not see her. I was pretty confident Greg too had gone through. I was waiting for no one really. Amanda (my friend and runner at the MMT) was there. We waited together. I was not sure who she was crewing. I did not ask. The woman who crew Wayne showed up and I was relieved in a sense knowing he was still to come. We waited and waited. Many dropped from the race at this point as it was getting late.
Time was creeping toward midnight. I walked down the field and waited for Wayne at the gate. I saw in the distance I saw a flashlight, and Wayne was rushing up the road. I could recognize his form from a distance. I said Wayne, you have five minutes but I knew he could make it to the station in time.
He did. It was a station where they have to do a medical check. They weighed him. He was alert. The crew at the aid station just poured stuff into his two hands and sent him him back out. There was no time to stay. I felt sorry for him. He made it out with three minutes to spare. That was a close!
There were three or four more runners out still. We waited for another 15 to 30 minutes or so. They all came in. A female came in (she might be one of our club members). She seemed familiar to me. We delivered the bad news that she could not go on. I saw the courage of taking the bad news. The female had a crew, so the crew drove her and couple other runners who dropped too.
Then two other guys came. I helped Tracy (male), earlier at noon when he had bad blisters on one of his toes. He wrapped them up, but I guessed it was causing too much pain, so he paced slowed down much. My car could only take one runner, so I chose the guy who came in before Tracy (out of fairness). The race organizers had to give Tracy a ride. I felt bad leaving Tracy behind, but I could only do so much.
It was sad someone got cut. They seemed to me still pretty strong. Much stronger than me if I were to run it at mile 75. However, the rule was they must make mile 75 in 20 hours or less to go on.
The ride back to the fairground was about 45 minutes. I had some coffee at the aid station and it helped. I was alert enough for the drive. The runner I drove was very kind and polite. We did not talk much. I knew the feeling of being DNF’d. I had two myself. The running did question why but didn’t elaborate. I did not ask. I overheard at the station that he couldn’t keep his food down. I was afraid he might throw up in my car. The trip back was without incident. In fact, he helped with the navigation since I was not familiar with the area at night (I am a visual person). We had to go through Strasburg, which I had not been to previously.
Once I reached the fairgrounds, I knew I had no more energy to go back out to the other stations to see my other runners because I was spent. Greg’s wife would take up the night shift for Greg, so I didn’t have to. Wayne had his crew. Only Tek was left for me. There were at least three stations I could have gone to. I decided to sleep instead.
I managed some close eyes until maybe 5:00. Then I got up and went to the track where they finished. I was there earlier around 1 AM, and saw someone came finished. I think it was the tenth finisher or something. It was the dead of night. There was no water given out, no medals or celebration at the finish. I felt bad there was not many people cheering except for a family member or their crew. Some runners did not have a crew so the finish would be in dead silence without cheering or clapping. It was kind of surreal.
By 6 o’clock more and more people came. I was with a group of friends, same people who have been crewing the Virginia Happy Trail people. Unbeknown to me, Greg came in. We saw a fast runner in the distance. None of us know who he was, but he was hammering it. So we cheered loudly! We were outside horse track at the time, since my friends like to hang out close to their cars. I had my folding chair there, sitting and chatting.
The runner came by. I then recognized the bib number! Wait that is my guy I have been crewing earlier! He zoomed by. So I rushed onto the track chasing him. He still had to run half a mile on this big horse track. It would take some time to go around the track. He later said he was running a 10 min pace (fast for a 100 miler), so it took about 5 minutes to do a loop around. His wife later showed up. It was my first time meeting her. At first, I thought Greg was going to finish alone. I said, now his wife could take pictures for him.
My friends came along to cheer. It became a bigger group instead of me and Greg’s wife. We all got onto the track and cheered him.
I was so happy. I know he wanted a sub 24. However, I did not track him during the night. There were no live-update unless you know one of the officials. They were using pen and paper to track runners, so you would have to be physically present at an aid station to know if a runnet had come through. I thought I wouldn’t able to see Greg’s finishing.
It was satifying to see someone you helped, though I only played a small part, finished a race. I did not expect to see him for I thought he must have finished while I was sleeping!
Other runners came it. 27th hour went by. It was the golden hour now, the last hour is at hand. Many runners came it, like 5 minutes 10 minutes apart. Family came and went.
Then Tek came. I knew Tek was still out there from word of mouth from other runners who finished. The said she was sleeping/napping at one of the aid stations. I was excited that she was on her way finishing. So I waited and waited. I think Tek came in around 27:30, she was the last four or five runners. She came in front of my VHTR friends who were running in it. Tek seemed alright and made good strides. Then of course she went to change and stuff, I did not see her again. I thought she went to bed. She said she wanted to shower. I was so happy for her, yet had to hold in my excitement too.
After Tek left, I went back to the track to wait for Wayne. We knew he was on his way but was not sure if he could make it under 28 hours. We waited some more. The final minutes before 28th hour was creeping closer. Then we saw a guy in red shirt from the distance. I knew it was Wayne. He was running. Maybe just as fast as some runners I saw earlier. He was the last guy. We knew he was the last guy, because words had been passing along. He got on the track. We knew it would take sone time to go around. His crew person was so anxious for him, she ran around the track with him. I afraid he might get DQ for having a pacer! Runners were not suppose to have a pacer after mile 87. The race official was understanding and did not nitpick on the no pacer rule. Wayne had 10 minutes to spare but it was indeed very close! For ultra that is like a just a hair width.
Wayne in the distance and his crew person there trying to get him in time before the cutoff (I do have closer shots). The horse track is huge! It is a half mile track instead the usual 400 meters.
Third thing I learned about this race was the finish ceremony. All sub 24 hour runners would stay behind for breakfast and the award ceremony. Many of the 24 to 28-hour finishers stayed as well. I sat with Larry and his friends. We had a long two hour breakfast because the timer had to finalize the finisher list. They announced each runner name and their finishing time and they went up to receive their awards. It was a torture, because I could see many crew members and their runners were about to fall asleep with the long wait, but we had to wait for the awards.
All finishers received a finisher swag (a bag and hat). They were also required to give a speech. It was interesting to hear everyone’s stories (just short 1 min speech). Sometimes, the race official would add to it with comments. The RD knows everyone, having been observing them over 24 hours. We witness a 10th year award. One runner ran it 10 times! It was the 7th time in the race history they gave out this award. The person giving out, Kimberly, and I knew her as an RD from another race (Lake Claytor/Lake Ridge Endurance run), was the daughter fo the first winner of the award, so it was very special. I did not know that bit of history before this race.
I think some runners were too tired and did not come. There were maybe 5 – 6 who did not showed up. All but 1 sub 24 hour showed up. Their crew accepted the awards on their behalf. I did not do it for mine, first because I fear public speaking, also second, I did not have the contact info (now thinking back, I did have my runner’s AirBnB address), third, my runners did not ask me. Tek later did show up to pick up her drop bags but I did not let her know she missed the finisher award! Shh. We kept that as a secret.
My ride back home was a torture! The lack of sleep really hit me hard. I slept at night too, but I guess I did not get to the REM sleep stage. I made frequent stops to catch some rest/closed eyes. Then started driving again. I slept at a walmart for couple hours around noon. Somehow even though I did not run a 100 mile over the weekend, my body was as tired as if I had run it. It was unbelievable. I got home eventually. A one hour driven became like a 4-5 hour drive. I got good some food after arriving then went straight to bed. I slept for the next 12 hours! Woke up and then slept some more until it was time to get up for work. I think 15-16 hours total. I was drop dead tired. Monday was fun. I woke up like where have my weekend gone, remembering very little of it.
Aside, Tek told me about her race in Georgia, of last year I think, or earlier this year, where she dropped out at mile 95 after spending 40 hours on the trail because she had to drive 20 hours home to make it to work on time. That was one scary woman. I don’t think I have that kind of endurance, running 40 hours and then making a 20 hour drive and then working a full day. It is insane (72 hours, at least, of being awake!) By the way, she did drive down for this race. I did not dare ask if she was planning to drive back home immediately after the race. She lives way farther than me, like 8 hours away. My one hour trip became like half day on the road, hers, I don’t know. She said Vermont is her local race! A long drive for her to get down to Virginia indeed.
Exhaustion as well as satisfaction at the end of the race pretty much summed up my weekend too
It helped me see, often time my mom came with me to races, and I thought spectating should be easy, but it is not. The anxiety and responsibilities took a toll. My mom had not crew me for my longer distances, but sometimes, I kind of relied on her of offering me snacks and drinks at shorter ones (marathons), the pre-race/post race stuff. The stress does get to her. Most of the time was trying to get me to the race on time! Other time was to meet up with me again at the end of the race. I could think back how stressful it was when I did the Toronto Marathon! That trip I was stressed as well. Crewing helps me to aprreciate the other side of racing.
conclusion: I learned some new stuff with crewing. One runner has several water packs (camelbak) and the family just prefilled them with water, and the runner would come in and switch the pack. I think that is a pretty neat trick of efficiency. It might save a minute or so. Crewing is about being efficient!
I love my weekend. It was a bit jam-packed, but we had good memories that will be remembered for a long time.
In awe 