In awe

Category: running

  • [Day592] Bay Bridge 10K

    A fine beautiful morning, there were many people running this, but I was lucky to get a shot where it did not seem to be so crowded

    This was a double event weekend, I wrote several weeks back. Initially, I did not feel good to write about this run because it was not a run in my view. I had Stone Mill the day before, a 50 miler. Then I rushed to do this. I ended up walking, which I was not my intention, yet could not really blame anyone but myself.

    My two races required waking up around 3/4 AM. It meant sleeping early or having very little sleep. For me it was not enough sleep. The were relatively far from my house. Both required about an hour to 90 min of driving.

    Saturday event required more energy from me, since the race lasted 13+ hours. I was there from 5 am to 9 pm. I finished it, hungry, tired, cold, and sleepy. This was the beginning of my “tilt” (tilt in gamer term means anger that causes one to lose concentration in a tournament and ultimately causing a lost. It is like a building or a leaning object that eventually would tumble over). Things went down hill actually even way before Saturday night. The second race required even more mental energy.

    Why do I do it? I wanted to run the Bay Bridge 10K a few years back when I first heard of it. I tried a few times to sign up but usually one reason or other I did not get to run it.

    I have driven over the bridge many times. It is awe inspiring in our area due to its length. It id quite scary to drive on it. I used to white knuckle holding on the steering wheel on this bridge.

    It might not be the longest bridge in the nation but it is probably the longest in this area because it connects one side of the Chesapeake Bay with the other side. The bay is quite wide. It is 4 miles across at this crossing. It is also high too.

    I always like bridges and this one a bit more. There is also an annual event where people swim across the bay at this location. It is quite beautiful to look down at the water below, seeing sail boats and other water crafts. 

    It is a novelty for me (the wow factor). In our area, we have couple races like this such as running on our biggest airport runways or the cherry blossom 10 mile in DC. It is once in a life chance event.

    In fact, I have done both. The Dulles run was more memorable. Running on the Dulles Airport’s runway was unforgetable. Now every time I fly in or out, I’d say to myself, I ran on that runway before, like an airplane. Imagine, they stopped all the flights for us that morning so that we could run on it (actually it has couple runways, they only shut down one of them). Same for the bridge. It is a crucial crossing point, but they shut down the traffic on one of the spans for us to run across, which I think is quite cool. There is a special feeling to able to run in a landmark location. Now I can say, I walked across this bridge.

    As a joke, I want to remember it also by peeing over the side of the bridge at its highest arch for some reason. I think someone did at the New York Marathon (at a different bridge, maybe Brooklyn). I think it is funny that whatever silly idea I have, some other people too had considered or done it. There were too many course marshals and police officers here though to pull it off. They also had Coast Guard in boats below patroling. It would have created a scene for evening news if someone did do it. I might get locked up somewhere if I had tried.

    In a previous year, I ended up running the Bay Bridge virtually. The virtual option is still available this year. Some virtual races, I did them pretending them as a real event, but this one, I wanted it run in real life since I could get to it.

    This year, my friend said his parents were going to do it. This was exciting. I always wanted someone like my mom to join me in my races to share in my passion but I knew my mom’s physical fitness is not capable and it is not ever likely she would be able to do it due to her health issue. I was similarly excited for David’s parent who are in my age to decide and run/walk a 10K with us. David was obligated to join them. When I heard about it, I decided to join in as well. I felt like an honor to be part of this (their) epic event. This was a few month ago in the fall or near the end of summer when I signed up.

    At the time, we also wanted to run Stone Mill 50 which fell on a day before of the same weekend. So the logical choice was either to run Stone Mill or the Bay Bridge. I have signed up for Stone Mill. The question then to me, would I add a second race to make it a double header.

    I was pretty sure I could do both, Stone Mill on Saturday and Bay Bridge on Sunday. The challenge is more on the recovery and the mental readiness.

    My friend David too felt he had to pick one over the other. I did not force him to do Stone Mill with me, but I believe he could run in both events like me and a 10K would be easy. Though if he had to pick, I would support him doing the Bay Bridge over Stone Mill because I wanted him to enjoy the run with his parents rather than with me.

    A little background about why we wanted to run Stone Mill: David, me and another friend, Alex had run Stone Mill last year together. At the time, it was David first 50 miler. I had thought it was a once and done thing for them. But this year, they wanted to it again. Stone Mill was one of my favorites, so I already signed up. David though was on the fence. He did not want to get injured by the distance then could not run in the 10K, plus he has other races such as the New York Marathon.

    As it turned out the day before Stone Mill, David told me he registered at the last possible moment and would run Stone Mill with me and Alex. He kept it as a secret to not alarm his parents, because they would not want him to overdoing it. However, I was happy someone joined my craziness to do a double header.

    My other friend Caroline heard of me running the Bay Bridge wanted to do it too at the last possible moment. Because we became closer friend through couple trips and races we did together this year (Connecticut and Idaho), she made it my responsibility to sign her up.

    Since it was a last minute sign up for her, many amenities, like shirt and parking was no longer offered. As how she was to travel there, it became my responsibilty too somehow. I did not want her with me because I had my own race yet was impossible to turn her down without upseting her.

    She had a 50K scheduled on Saturday. Her race would finish way before me because mine is almost twice as long. She would have to wait for me.

    I had to go out of my way to pick her up after my own race. I also had to drive Alex home first after my Saturday race before picking up Caroline. Initially, I tried to refuse or at least have her meeting me at my race or the hotel, since her race is not too far from the hotel. At some other previous events, she had done so. Personally, I think she could have stayed at her house and maybe it only added 15-20 more minutes to her commute. It was frustrating to me she added a significant time to my travel for no reason, but anyway, I was willing.

    To readers, the best course of action was to say no to both Alex and Caroline.

    The hotel when we arrived had issues and we ended up either having to share the same bed or sleep on the floor. It shouldn’t happen but sometimes, things don’t work out. We were in an awkward situation and it was embarrassing. The whole thing was preventable because I had in mind for her to get the room ahead of time since she was in the area after her morning race and her race ended much ealier than mine at 3-4 pm instead of 9-10 pm. I believe we could have gotten our room if she had done as I wanted. All the extra work, I had to put through and now we didn’t have a bed.

    At my Burning River Trip next year, I will share a room with another female runner (note, not my idea); From this 10K experience, I might need to rethink on sharing a room. I might have to decline my friend kindness in order to get a good sleep.

    I knew running my best was impossible when I woke up, because I hardly slept. Caroline and I started talking a bit too early in the morning. We were sleeping on the floor, so it was uncomfortable and we did not sleep well. As to why, because we did not want to share the same bed, which was a given. The irony. We slept too late at night. Still morning arrived, we had to make our way to the event.

    The morning was colder. I dressed in multiple layers, more than usual, for as if I knew I would not be running that day. Or maybe because I overdressed, which prevented me from running.

    We drove to Annapolis which was about an hour away. In picking the hotel I had considered this, either taking a long drive in the morning or a long drive at night. I chose a long drive in the morning because I wanted to sleep early after my 50 miler. Usually, I am not a good late night driver but I’d rather be an early riser. This time, it seemed to be a mistake.

    We had a beautiful sunrise. We followed other cars into the parking lot at the Navy-Marine stadium at the Naval Academy. The directions given and organization of how and where to park once we arrived were well done.

    Initially, I was nervous because I haven’t been there before. I did not want to get lost (like at the Philadelphia Marathon). We still needed to make the shuttle ride and so forth, because we couldn’t park at the start or finish. There were a lot of things Google map can’t tell you, like where the shuttle located and how to get there, since there would be road closures. Google usually is not good at detecting closures. We parked. The lot was huge. They used the extra field around the stadium as additional parking spots. There were many thousands of cars there and yes finding our car afterward was hard, since the lots have no labeling system. To me all directions around the stadium looked exactly the same (I even snapped a picture beforehand to help me). My friend who has been there before warned me about this. She had difficulty in finding her car in past events.

    We found the our shuttle that would take us to the start. Underwent security check, which was pretty quick.

    There was an incident on the bus too. Maybe this was the one tiny thing that got magnified and remembered. When you think you are having a bad day, you start to notice a bunch of bad things.

    Caroline trying to get to a seat almost tripped over by a guy who was man-spreading in his seat because either his arm or leg was in the aisle.

    He took up two seats even though he was not a big guy while everyone on the bus shared a seat. We were not going to sit next to him anyway because Caroline and I were going sit together.

    He gave us a mean look maybe because he was expecting an apology. I am sure we had apologized. He might have thought, we were falling on top of him. We avoided further escalating the situation and so ignored him. Usually runners are a nice bunch of people. This was unusual. He had ruin the joyful atmosphere.

    Once we reached starting area, we got in line for the bathroom which like any other races took almost an hour because everyone chose to use the first bathroom area they saw.

    Note, there were more bathrooms at the starting line and on the bridge throughout the run, so there was no need to panic at the time, but we did not know. We lined up for bathroom here because we saw other people doing it. Everyone got off the bus and saw people lining up, so we did as well. I did not really needed to go. Of course, going was better than holding it in. It was group think.

    My starting wave was at 8 AM. We just barely made it in time. We were lucky to have set out so early to only barely made it to the start. We can imagine where some might have missed it. We were in the first wave where they allowed walking about middle of the pack. I think there was a 9 AM start and maybe even 10 AM.

    We had another friend, Jana, who was running in this event. However, I believe she started at 7:00 so we did not get to see her. Initially, we were planning to meet up at one point either before, during or after the race. There were just too many people and due to various parking locations and we did not get to meet up. Jana was also at the Philadelphia Marathon, I also did not meet her there because I was doing too much that weekend. We only see each other through social media even though we ran in same races, which was no different than any other days. It drives home the point, unless it is arranged or destined to meet, it is impossible. I count it as a blessing at least I ran with David and Caroline in-person.

    I also met a fellow local runner and blogger, Vanessa from SheRunsbytheSeashore. She wrote about meeting me in her 10K Bay Bridge report! So as a return courtesy, I am returning the honor. Please check out her blog. She typically runs 5k to marathon distance. She is a running coach and the president of her running club ESRC. She reviews races and products on her blog. She is a race ambassador (Bib Rave or Rave Bib), so gets free runs on some of the races. I followed her blog since forever. She has been improving at her mile time, something I am jealous about and wanting to do the same.

    We both are chasing our 50 states. She is about where I am at 14-15 states. I am usually a few states behind. There are some states she done that I haven’t such as Georgia and Rhode Island.

    I was glad to see her. Sometimes you bump into people you really look up to. Out of thousand and thousand people you get to see a familiar face. As the race got under way, Caroline went out ahead and was gone. Of the races we did together, we never waited for one another. Maybe this was the first time I am being left behind. I was a bit salty. Soon I caught sight of David not far from start line. Maybe a quarter mile in. He was walking in his jeans. I did a double take. So he explained to me that he might have injured himself the day before while running Stone Mill. I felt sorry about that. I originally, promised he would not get hurt because I would pace him gently in the 50 miler.

    Walking the 10K. I chose then to walk with David rather than trying to catch up to Caroline and we talked and took pictures. David’s father occasionally dropped back and took pictures of us or asked us to take pictures of him. David urged me to run ahead but I was not in a mood for running anyway, so I stayed behind and kept David company was a better option. Maybe also finally, it was a down time where I could better process my Stone Mill run from the day before too.

    Question to self, if I didn’t encounter David, would I have enjoyed the run more? Original that was my intention to run “fast” on the 10K, but by then, it was no longer the goal. I was glad I ran into David. Even though I gave up running my event (so the whole event did seem like a waste of time and money by my usual standard), I did not regret it. My friend Caroline commented that, I finally understood running is not everything.

    David too could have blamed me too for getting him to run in Stone Mill and so resulted in him not being able run the Bay Bridge. He did not blame me though. The least I can do was to join him in our slow walk across the Bay. I think this way, we could enjoy the view more.

    Time flew by. I was bundled up. Most people around us (80-90%) were walking. There were some runners running by on the left side. Many of them should have been in the earlier waves but maybe because of bathroom issue started in the later waves and trying to run through the crowd. There were just so many people. A note to self, if I want to run in this race again, to request for an even earlier starts where walking is not allowed.

    We finished after an hour or so. Maybe 90 minutes. I did not check my watch. I was there to just enjoy a good walk. The day was good. The weather was chilly and windy but being prepared for the cold, it was not much. There were times when I felt overheating and had to take off my coat, but then I felt the chill and had to put it back on.

    We had plenty of snacks after we finished. We had a free beer. There were various tents with different sponsors. So we went tent to tent to check on various sponsors and get free stuff. Most of the times, it was candies they were giving out.

    I found Caroline. She did not know I was walking the course instead of running it and thus I finished like 30+ minutes later. David and I were remaining inside the finishing area to eat our fill before exiting. It was one expensive buffet of eating fruit cups! We were having fun. It was a one way ditection for the runners, once you exited, you could not go back, so we stayed. Caroline already exited, so she asked me to bring her some food to the outside. There was not much to do once we were out so we decided then to head home.

    Getting back on the bus was a bit chaotic. There were buses to different places. No one knows where to go and there was of course a long line. It was not as well managed as when we arrived in the morning. We eventually found the correct bus and got back to our car.

    In term of running, it was below my effort. I had fun being around other runners. There was band playing on a stage. The atmosphere was festive like any big marathons. There were give-aways. We didn’t stay too long but still, it was an all morning affair.

    The lack of sleep kicked in soon in the afternoon as we were driving back to DC. David and Jana and I were originally planned to go somewhere near Annapolis for lunch, but we were quite late in getting back to our cars and I did not want to fight for a table with ten thousand other runners there. Both David and I have extra people with us (David with his parents and I with Caroline). We understood it would have been hard to get a table for a large party. It was best each of us to have lunch separately.

    Caroline and I headed for northern Virginia because we were more familiar. She has a favorite restaurant in Annandale. We had Korean seafood, and best of all Caroline paid for my meal. After that I got home, all I wanted was sleep, since I haven’t slept for nearly two days. I slept till the next morning.

    Looking back, probably I should not have done both events together. I wanted to do 20% more in everything. I imagined if I had a good rest, and even if I ran into David, I would be so focus in my run, I might shout out to him and wave and then pass by. It would have been a different experience. Whether that is a better experience is hard to say. However, I would have missed the chance to talk or hang out.

    We did cross the Bay Bridge on foot. It was an accomplishment and I might never get a chance to do again. But if I do get to do it again, maybe next time will be better when I actually run across the Bridge. There’s always next year they say.

  • [Day591] Races in 2024

    Happy Thanksgiving! Black Friday sales for races.

    My race schedule has gotten maybe a bit simpler and a bit complicated.

    A few months ago I went on a soul search as I do every year of what races and goals I should try to reach for, so that by the time races open for next year I would jump on for cheaper signups.

    Some (many) races have Black Friday sales.

    Around this time previous year, I would start signing up for races. See my previous plans from last two years, 2021 and 2022. This year I felt my schedule has gotten out of hand because I keep on adding more and more races.

    I become demotivating for me to plan for next year. For the last two months I kept asking myself what races do I want to sign up. I knew in my heart I want to do all of them. But I would have to pick and choose due to constraints. In the end, I did not sign up that many races.

    So here are my goal for next year: I am running some of same races as this year. Massanutten is a repeat. Burning River 100 is another repeat. I want to do Catoctin 50k or maybe Iron Stone. Grindstone 100 also a redo. Iron Mountain 50, I would like to finish it for real. These were pretty much the goal for this year.

    My most hyped race will be running a marathon in Taiwan (Wanjinshi) in March.

    Some other lofty goal is maybe will sign up for C&O Canal 100. I might do some of Midwest 100 races (Indiana 100, Hallucination 100, Mohican 100, or Kettle Moraine).

    Yeti 100 too is on my target.

    As for marathons, I only have one Clear Water Marathon in Fl and Providence in Rhode Island. I have not thought much about my 50 states. I might do Fargo too. They kept on sending me Black Friday promotions. I think it was their 20th year.

    Tbh, I have lost interest in the 50 states goal. I am willing to run any marathon. Eventually, I know I will reach my 50 states. Like every year, I think I start focusing on my 50 states toward the end of the year when I don’t have anything else to do. At least that was the pattern the last two years. States I wanted to run did not happen but states I did not plan to run were done (e.g. New Jersey, Idaho, and Connecticut).

    Below schedule is still much in flux. The live version is up on the site. As in the past, it will be constantly modified through out the year. I like a static version here, so I could look back and see how my goals changed.

    I penciled in those races I wanted to do a few months ago. I think it is a good outline of what to come.

    Unlike last year, I think it is fine not having every race written down yet before the start of a new year. I am at peace with it. Sometimes I just have to be patient that I can’t run in every race out there.

    Happy Thanksgiving all.

    ====

    Jan 5 (considering) La Cruces Marathon, NM

    Jan 27 (reg’d) Clear Water (Tampa) Marathon.

    Feb 17? Austin Marathon / Baton Rouge?

    Feb 17, Red Dirt 100? Forgotten Florida 100?

    Mar 17. (registered) New Taipei City Wanjinshi Marathon.

    March 17 – 27: possibly away for Sydney Trip, Six Foot Track 50K (not met qualification 4:20 marathon time), March 10.

    March 23, (not to sign up) Blackbeard’s Revenge 100K. /Aussie Trip

    Apr 20. (reg’d) Roanoke Double Marathon 1:00 Am – 2 pm.

    Apr 28? (goal) C&O 100

    May 5 (reg’d) Providence Marathon, RI, need flight. 434 mi, 8 hrs driving. recommended by sherunsbytheseashore. Or fly!

    May 4, (considering, but probably won’t do) Atlanta Greater Southern Endurance 100K.

    May 18 (reg’d) MMT 100. open on Oct 31.

    June 22, 2024, (considering) New York City running Exposition (100 mile)

    July 8-9 (likely) Catoctin 50K. or Iron Stone 100.

    July 28 (reg’d) Burning River 100

    Sep 20-22 (reg’d) UTMB, Grindstone 100

    Nov. (considering) Tampa 100.

  • [Day590] Philadelphia Marathon

    Why I ran the Philadelphia Marathon even though I ran a marathon in Pennsylvania before? As some know, I am trying to run a marathon in all 50 states. So in theory, it doesn’t make sense for me to run another marathon there. However, occasionally, there some states (like Virginia), I would run in again and again. Pennsylvania is also one of those states.

    Short explanation of how come, is no reasons other than I wanted to.

    The longer answer is more convoluted. Last year around this time, I ran the Atlantic City Marathon to have New Jersey done and met a guy there who said he wanted to do the Philadelphia Marathon this year. I said cool, I would join him. I signed up, hoping to meet him there again. I do have his contact. Anyway, he ran and finished, however, there were too many people, and so I missed him as he came in.

    Philadelphia is not that far from me, about 3 hour drive on a normal day. However, nothing is really normal with me. I left for Philadelphia after work and it took more than 4 hours, in traffic. When I came back, I was also stuck in traffic because some freak accident in the DC area. Also I-95 is usually heavy in traffic. I think it took me 4 and half hour coming back. I was totally exhausted, not so much by the run but by driving.

    What I did not mention was I made the same trip on Saturday because I went to cheer people who ran in the JFK 50. It was a lot of driving for me this weekend (probably 12-15 hours total in the car).

    Overall, I love the event and my time there. My weekend was a busy one because I wanted to be in three places at once. In the end I settled for two. I went to watch the JFK 50 race on Saturday and skipped out of going to New York for a convention. We were blessed with good warm weather on both days.

    I kind of wanted to run in Philadelphia for a long time, but I did not do it because very early on I had Pennsylvania met when I ran in the York Marathon. This is for running in all 50 States. It made no sense to me to repeat a state, but finally gave in.

    I still wanted to do a run in Philadelphia for its historical significant such as the Liberty Bell and city hall.

    There is also cultural significant. For me, it is the Rocky movie and for Philly cheese steaks. Unfortunately, I did not have time to stop in the Italian quarter (and the Philly cheese steaks at the finish were all sold-out). However, I did manage to secure myself a cheese steak hoggie in New Jersey the night before. I know, it is not the same, but was close enough, that it blew my tastebuds away. For context, last week, I had my physical, and my doctor recommended me to stay away from red meat…so I would have to follow my doctor’s advices soon and eat healthier stuff. Yes, I will start my dieting after this. Dieting always starts tomorrow.

    In the mean time, that cheese steak was so good. It was like a once in a lifetime food.

    When I started running a few years ago, I wanted to go to Philadelphia to do the Rocky 50K, where you run around the city and then do the rocky steps by running up the steps of the Art Museum like in the movie. Rocky 50 is a fatass, meaning it was not an actual race but an informal run where you are responsible for yourselves and there is no award and such.

    The Philadelphia Marathon fulfill most of those wishes. I did not get to run up the steps, but I was there near the steps. There were antiwar protests going on, so I did not want to go near there to do the rocky run. Anyway, I was too exhausted after the marathon to climb any stairs but I did see some wandering up the steps.

    We finished in front of the Art Museum. We were separated from the steps by fences. I don’t think the museum would be happy if ten of thousands of people decided to run up on its steps. But I was thinking it would be awesome if we get to run up them as a finish.

    The marathon weekend came. I drove there Friday after work to pick up my bib. Hotels in the city were too expensive for me, so I stayed in New Jersey, the cheaper side, even cheaper than Delaware. Friday, I did not know where to park for cheap and paid quite a lot for parking near the city center ($30) and that was after-hour parking for couple hours. Normal hour is about twice of that. I was lucky on Sunday to only pay ($12) for the entire day in a decent lot near Drexel University. Initially, I was afraid my car would be broken in. There was one lot near a community college I initially planned to park where it was mentioned in a review that undesireable (zombies) people would hang out in the lot. Philadelphia has a homeless problem like any major US cities. I am used it in the DC area but seeing them in other places kind of scares me.

    I stayed in New Jersey because it is cheaper. It has a bit of feel of being back home. I prefer staying in smaller towns. I think outside of Philadelphia would be cheaper too but it would require me to travel further north and west. New Jersey neighborhood does not seem to be that modern (or clean) either but my stay was comfortable and I felt safer.

    Pretty much like any other marathons, I did not get much sleep the night before. I woke up every hour to check my clock. By closer to 4 am, I started to feel sleepy but I knew I wanted to get up at 4, so I could get into Philadelphia by 5. Usually this is the case, when I wanted to sleep I can’t and when I need to get up I feel I am about to sleep.

    I already knew what I would be wearing. I picked them out few days before. The temperature was decent at 45 F and would go up to 55-60 (I think about 15C). It would get warm by noon. So Layering was the key. I had a T shirt as my base and put on a long sleeves and I decided to run in shorts. I knew I had a long wait time, so I would wear a sweater and sweat pants on top. I had on a wind breaker too, a head buff and pair of mittens. I decided to not to wear my hydration pack to make going through security easier. Don’t follow my advice here. I read online that some people experienced not receiving water at some water stations when they ran the half marathon the day before. It did not matter, many people brought their hydrations pack on. It did make it a bit easier for me of not wearing one. Less things to be checked when I went through security.

    They fenced off the whole start and finish area. Those who entered inside had to go through security check at a gate. Apparently this was their first year doing it based on comments I read. This was one of the reasons to arrive early. Some people who arrived at 6:30 were stuck in long security queue and also long bathroom lines. Parking too was probably hard to find by then. Probably some missed the start because of the various delay of getting to their corrals. We had close to 13000 according to the organizer.

    As for me, even though I left my hotel early, the entrances to the freeway were blocked due to construction and I had to use local roads to get across New Jersey. I had to fight with my google map direction because it tried to rerouting me back to various closed entrances. Apparently Google Map did not know about the closed roads.

    I arrived in Philadelphia with no further issue once I crossed over the river. There was no traffic. The lot where I parked was already seemed to be full. I got a spot. I was just happy things worked out. Another reason I did not sleep well was I was trying to figure out the Philly train system and if I should use the train into the city. For me, driving ended up being a better choice. The race though recommended people to walk or use public transit. They also had shuttles from various points in the city.

    Then I walked with the rest of everyone. It was easy to pick out people who were running the marathon. There were no other people walking around at that time but us. We all headed toward one direction. We all had our running gear. They gave us clear plastic bags for putting our clothes for the bag check and everyone was using them. You could spot runners with their clear bags from far away.

    I got through security without issue. The check bag lines too were not that long. It pays to arrive early. I decided to take off my sweater and sweat pants and checked those in. It was nippy and so I had to keep moving to stay warm. A lot people were huddling and hunkering down. I believe the best things to do was to walk around. They had heated tents and VIP tents, but yes, you have to be part of them to use their tents.

    Soon it was after 6 am and the start was about an hour away. Bathroom lines started to grow long. I knew there were bathrooms outside the security area where I passed earlier. I felt I needed to go but did not want to stand around waiting for a bathroom. So I went back outside the security check zone and indeed there were empty ones.

    The security lines at various entrances were pretty long though. People were lining up several blocks away to trying to get in. Now it was about 20 minutes until the start. Some people started to run from entrance to entrance to find a shorter line. There was a sense of panic in me as to how would I getting back in. I came from northside (Art Museum), where when I exited earlier had no lines. Most people though arrived from east/south east side. So I walked back to the north entrance that was about a mile or even two away as the clock was ticking down. It was a long walk. The north side now had a few people forming a short line, which took me maybe five minutes to get through. The announcer even was telling people to move to the north side, but many people either think it was too far away or did not want to leave their places in the line.

    There was hardly anyone at the north entrance

    The race itself was like any marathon I ran. I was placed into the 4:30 corral (purple) but I decided to move back two corrals to the (blue). There I found the 5:00 pacers. I know possibly I could run a 4:30 finish but I felt more comfortable if I run with the 5:00 people.

    We had a clear bright and glorious morning. I entered my corral with thousands others. The race kicked off on time. By the time my corral crossed the start, it was 7:30. We were excited. They said there were 11000-13000 of us. Crowd support I felt was pretty good, and I think better than many marathons I did. The city felt very welcoming (unlike when I ran the Toronto Marathon or Baltimore). I was hyped and started pushing my pace early. Soon I was overheating and had to take off my long sleeves. The winds were blowing at a minimum. I could imagine how much colder this race could be. We traveled through the downtown, chinatown, Italian quarter, and out to somewhere in the suburb to the south. There was always something to look at. It was less busy. The corrals separated runners out well, so were not too crowded at any point unlike the Marine Corps Marathon where constantly there were sea of people running elbow to elbow.

    We started going up some long hills by mile 10. Everyone ran up on the hills though. I guess the locals were used to this. We crossed back the river / railroad and the last 10 or so miles were an out and back along the river. My pace slowed down quite a lot by then. At mile 17/18 we saw the 3:15-3:20 people at their mile 24. They were amazing as their pace was so much faster than us. They were crushing the hills. We were running downhill. I knew they were almost two hours ahead of us.

    I like the out-and-back not so much as running it but for seeing people, you could get to see the past people coming back as I headed out and on the return I get to see the slower people (the tail end). I was trying to spot my friend. On occasions, someone on the other side would stick out their hands for a slap or say something encouraging. I would do the same.

    I ended up walking a few times. My goal was to not let the 5:00 people passing me since I started with them. So I ran when I could. At the last mile, we had people lining the street cheering. I finished at 4:41, almost 4:42.

    It was a time I could live with. I wanted a 4:30 but I knew it was a bit hard to reach that day. Heck, I could even settle for a 5 hour. Even if I did not slow down in the second half, it was probably hard to hit it. I think I only lost 5 minutes in the second half. After checking my split, I slowed down about 10 minutes during the second half. My first half was 2:14. Yes, aiming for 4:30 was hard if not impossible at my pace, unless I could do an even pacing.

    I stayed maybe an hour more to cheer people coming in. This was one race where a lot people stayed behind a bit to watch and cheer. It got colder for me. 50F was still pretty cold if standing still. So I left for warm food in chinatown and then drove home.

    You alway learn something new. At this marathon, what surprised me was there were plenty spectators handing out tissue paper to runners. I ran for 7 years and this is something new to me. What do people do with tissues? To blow their noses! There were some handing out toilet paper too, but let leave that to imagination. There were piles and piles of tissue paper on the ground;) I thought that was interesting. I ran in colder races before and this was a first to see such as sight.

    Also, this is the first time on quite a few occasions people moving from left to right or right to left without looking where they were going and bumped into me. There usually some jostling around but this was not it. I think the runner either seeing someone or something at the other side (like their friends) and decided to go from sideline to sideline to say hi. I guess I was not paying attention either. A few times, we had a bit of a close call of tripping each other and crashing to the ground. I am judging them for wasting their energy and not using it to running the tangent.

    Philadelphia is a beautiful city for its buildings. At night though, the town is scary. This is my opinion. Locals probably don’t feel as unsafe as I was. I’d rather stay indoor. I guess it is like any major cities in the US, you just have to watch your surrounding.

  • [Day589] Eastern Divide 50K

    Last time I ran Eastern Divide was in 2019 (report). It probably would be interesting to look back. I will do it maybe after this post goes live.

    The race captured my imagination the first time I did it. At the time, this was a hard race. I finished in 6:54 h and I thought I was slow because in a previous 50K I did it under 6 hours.

    The race used to be in June. I was a new comer then in the ultra racing and in the trail running world. I did my first 50K in December 2018 at First Landing State Park and I wanted more. Eastern Divide was that next step due to elevation of the course.

    I remembered it being hilly. I liked the point to point aspect of the course. It makes me feel I was going somewhere. The scenery too is amazing, both summer and fall have their own beauty.

    This year the race was moved to the fall. The atmosphere was different. There were less runners running this time than before. Maybe because it is colder and also fall has too many choices in term of racing. For me, this race was in conflict with 3 or 4 other events I want to do. One was the Rim to River 100.

    We used to be have total participants near capacity of 200 people. Now it was about 70 runners. Being in the fall means cooler temperature. It was actually cold for me.

    I was just recovered from a virus or head cold and was not really ready to run it. In normal time, I am afraid being cold. That day, it was very cold for me because I was weaker. I put on plenty of layers.

    I stayed in Beckley West Virginia the night prior, due to I need to get back there (actually to Fayetteville) after the race. It was about two hours away.

    So I got up around three in the morning and got to the race around 5 AM. Because it is a point to point, we were told to meet at the finish at Mountain Lake (Tree Top Adventure Course, which was a mile up from the Mountain Lake Resort) and be shuttled to the start. Note, in a former year I ended up at the resort, but luckily someone led me to the correct place. Note, the instructions of where to go were very clear on the race website, it was on my part I did not read them carefully that year. We had to be on time because the last bus would leave at 6:30. The race was at 7:30.

    As you can tell, this race has these minor particulars that if not followed, as a runner you will be screwed. You might be disqualified or missed the start and so forth. Following their instructions is important. It is not hard, but every year there bound to be someone like me, who skims through stuff and misses pertinent information.

    There were parkings available at the start but not for runners due to race permit requirements. We could be dropped off at the start, but as a runner, we could not leave our cars there, since the park wants the spots to be for park visitors. RD said, every year, there is someone who did not read the instructions and would be surprised by this.

    This year I was the second person arrived, the race director Steve being the first. He had marked the course, set up cones and signs leading to the parking.

    I was surprised to see him already there. I thought I had time to catch some sleep before anyone shows up. He told me where to park. I parked. I had my brief breakfast, used the bathroom, and settled in. I seeing him standing alone out in the parking lot, so I joined him and we talked.

    I have done a few of his races since 2019. I did all of them you can say. Old Glory (report) was next race I tried and that was his hardest. His races have a progression. High Bridge 50K (report) being the easiest due to it being on a flat course. Eastern Divide is in the middle. It is mostly on roads with some trails and country/forest roads. Then there is the Lake Ridge at Lake Claytor (report). It is a timed loop course, where a runner chooses to run either 6 hours, 12 hours, or 24 hours. I love Lake Ridge the best and have been at every single one but the corona year.

    As we waited, soon the buses arrived. Some volunteers showed up. Runners showed up as well. Steve left to show the bus drivers where to park. I was left to direct traffic into the lot. Initially, I panicked that I might misguide people. Runners are smart. They soon figured out where to park by following one after another. We made an informal parking lot out of the back of a farm.

    As it was time to leave, I gathered my stuff. It would be a one way trip, so I had to decide what to bring along and what to leave behind in my car. I needed my water pack, my running shoes. I changed into clothes I think I needed. The base layer stayed on me but I was switching my outer and mid layer. I had a buff and gloves. I don’t remember if I ran in shorts or long pants. Likely I kept my long pants on with shorts underneath.

    I was excited. I got on the bus with 20 other people. I think the other half would meet us at the start. Not everyone used the bus. The RD said every year, there would be someone arriving late. So he had two buses. The first bus left on time. The second bus was to catch those arriving late.

    The bus ride only took about half an hour. It took us into the the Appalachian, to Cascades Fall. It is supposed to be the lowest point of the course and we would run back out from there to Mountain Lake. Yes, several thousand feet of climbing. I think 4-5 thousand for the whole race. I don’t have the exact number. I am sure it is on the website. It is a lot of elevation gain. Many runners did not realize they are climbing from the valley to the mountain top.

    I did not pick up my bib the day before, so I had to pick up that morning at the start. I was nervous of being late and not getting a bib and could not run. It worked out. We got to the start as the sun was about to rise. It was still dark but the sun would rise within half an hour. We did not need a headlamp to run but it was good to have one in the early hours before the race such as using it in the bathroom. The bathroom was the warmest place. Maybe one or two would try to stay warm in there, but the rest of us, we braved the cold outside.

    Kim the co-race director gave us her briefing. I don’t remember what was said. We walked down to the trailhead by the creek, then she counted down and we went.

    I was not feeling well even early on and slowly became the back of the pack. I stayed in front of a lady and so avoid being the last runner. Slowly, I caught up a few others. I knew my pace was not good. I was probably 7-8 from the rear. Each time I passed someone I would keep the count in my head.

    About a mile in, we reached the fall. This was one of those places to take picture. The fall sight is different from summer when I first ran this. We took a series of stairs to get up.

    In this race, there is an award to be the fastest male and female to reach the ridge, I think abour 4-5 miles in. at the first aid atation. Our race director would be there waiting for us.

    I know I wouldn’t be first to get to the top but I had to try. Climbing is my strong point. I was able to pass couple people. One guy said he remembered seeing me before. We chatted and I found out he was from NC so he probably saw me at the Iron Mountain 50 Mile. He agreed.

    After reaching the Aid Station, we got on a jeep road. For the rest 20 miles or so we were on one road after another. There was no car driving on it but it was hunting season so occasionally we saw hunters or their cars on the side of the road.

    I was behind a woman. Sometimes I passed her other times she caught up and passed me. I don’t remember her name, but she said she came here with several friends and they talked her into running this. Her friend though dropped down to run the 8 mile instead of the 50K. Later her friend came out to pace and we found out she won first place for female. She was being humble saying she won by technicality because the initially first place runner made a wrong turn got lost at the last few miles and so she won without realizing. A win is a win.

    We were descending from Butt Mountain and we were heading toward civilization. We reached a small town or could be an area with some camping cabins. Then we made a long climb up to Wind Rock. It was past noon now. Carrie’s friends came out and met us saying we just have a few more miles to go. They urged us on to make the 1:30 (6 hour) cut off.

    I was hoping I would not make the cutoff so I couls go back into my car. The cutoff was near where we parked at the finish. I said if I could see my car, I would not want to continue. Fortunately, Carrie’s Friends said we would not see our car before we make the turn into the woods to an aid station (AS4).

    Our race director Steve was waiting us there (again). I think I was cutting close to the cutoff. RD Steve said it is up to me to quit or continue, he would not sway me one way or the other. We still had about 10K left and this part is the “fun” part around Mountain Lake. Indeed I like this the best out of the entire course. It was challenging in term of path finding and foot work.

    They changed the course slightly this year to avoid going through a shooting range. In previous years, they were able to negotiate with the range to temporary stop for a day.

    Why it is this part fun? It is most technical part of the course. There is no clear trail. It is a mountain bike trail but it goes all over the place. It is the place easily get off trail and make a wrong turn. I prefer to stick close to the runner before me (Carrie). We did not get lost. One time she went off the trail, and I was able to warn her in time.

    There were a lot of climbings. Soon we came out to an aid station at the top. We we ran down a mountain road that let us to the resort. At the Mountain Lake Resort, Carrie’s friend came out again and paced Carrie to the finish.

    We had maybe 2 miles left. We had to climb up a hill to an overlook. It was worth it. This part was new this year. We went around the “lake” (dry now). It would pop out to a field where the finish line is.

    I was the third from the last runner. Two more finished behind me. Two people DNF’d. I was fifth from the bottom. Two people passed me since the start (Carrie and a dude from NC). I don’t mind. I felt I tried my best in my condition.

    Also, I did hold back through the run. I felt I could have pushed a bit harder but I planned to pace a runner that night in a 100 mile race (though I planned to do only 30-40 miles), so I had to hold back. Carrie said the total milage was closer to 28 miles instead of 31. I was moving about 16.5 min per mile pace. However, because of my weaken state, even though I thought I was holding back, the race exhausted me. I ended up would not be able to pace Lynne at Rim to River that night (pacing).

    The finish line food was good. We had chili, one of my favorite food.

    My time was 7:37:55. I signed up this race thinking I could beat my previous time, but ended up finishing much later.

    Would I run it again? It usually is in conflict with my other races. If I do have a free weekend, I would like to run the course again. It is a trail race, but since most of it is on road, dirt road, gravel, etc, I am no longer a fan of road running.

    Steve said, the Old Glory one, due to not many people interested in it, it is no longer held. He said that race is expensive to host and last time I did it, there were only 20 people signed up.

    Next year, 2024, I know I would not be able to do Eastern Divide. I promise to pace a friend and this time for real, I would not try to run in a race on the same day I have pacing duty. I promise I would be a good pacer.

    (Meta/context/Note, this Eastern Divide was held on the same weekend of Rim to River 100, which I wrote couple entries ago).

    Sorry no pictures. The course was beautiful. It was a nice day

    Some civil war history. Union troop from West Virignia made a raid int Virginia and used this turnpike to retreat back to West Virginia. This place was a spa (salt/sulfur spring that was popular with the people at the time)

  • [Day588] double header (Stone Mill 50)

    Running races back to back is not uncommon to me. I have done so since the beginning. This past weekend I signed up to do both a 50 miler and a 10K. I chose to run Stone Mill 50 but walk the Bay Bridge 10K. I will leave the Bay Bridge for a later post. It was a good day, but there are just too much to say. I primary focus on running, so Bay Bridge, while was still a running event, came off to be more a social one. If I have time, I will go back and write about it.

    TLDR – It was a good weekend and a good race

    Stone Mill 50, It was my 4th time running this. If I can have one more finish, I will receive a jacket as a finisher prize. I started running it in 2020, the year I got serious with ultra racings. These are the three previous reports (2020, 2021, 2022). I haven’t reread them, but I guess they are pretty similar. I love this race. I always think it is a hard race before running it, until I run it and after finishing, it does not seem that bad. Each time, I step across the finish line like it was a cake walk.

    I have done many harder races than this. This one is not what I should say hard. The cutoffs are generous. However, in my mind I always feel a bit of fear before attempting because of the cold and some creek crossings and the distance. I have to give the distance the respect. The course also has a decent amount of rolling hills. It feels like always an uphill 12-13 hours climb.

    We probably had one of the best racing weather this time. It rained two days before, which helped a lot to pack down the leaves. It gave a more solid path to run on. I have been out on the course the last few weekends and running on leaves was a problem for me because they slided around underneath and also they cover over roots and rocks. The rain made the path easier to see. While rocks and roots and a bit of wet did make the course slipery at times, but generally, I think it was better than a totally dry course. The trail though was dry enough to run on. The day as any year started off cold (38F, and lower at some part), but it got up to 60 F, where we could be comfortable in a t-shirt and shorts. I dressed in layers and striped when needed. Some bridges had ice on them from frost. We saw a runner fell after stepping onto a bridge. I had a couple close calls.

    We started at 6:00 AM. There was a 5:00 AM start for those who believed they needed an extra hour. Many of those who trained with me took the earlier start. Many also were their first time running a 50 miler. This was the first year I saw those early runners off. I always arrive to the race early but usually I stayed in the car to get ready such as eating and final preparation before going to the start line.

    The 5 AM start. There were some timing issue with the laptop. Runners were waiting for the go signal from the RD.

    The course is open for 13 hours typically. 14 hours for the earlier start. There were several cutoffs. Generally, we had to maintain a 15-16 min-mile pace to finish by 7 pm. The first three cutoffs required about the same pace. The last cutoff was at 6:40 PM at RT355, and the pacing to reach that was a bit more lenient (20 min pace). Technically, in order to finish within 13 hours, you have to be at the last cutoff by 5:40 pm. But they gave us until 6:40 pm before the aid station closed, so I think that is quite lenient and they would leave to finish line open until everyone arrives, which is about an hour more than the posted time. This year was the current Race Director (Barry) last year, so next year there will be a new director and these cutoffs might change.

    Basically if you pass the last checkpoint, the finish line would be kept open until you finish. In a typically year, it means it would stay open until about 8 pm (imagine 15 hours to run this). Usually there were not many people that need that extra hour at the end, since if they could not make the earlier cutoffs, they likely would not have made it to the final one. There was not a person that went over 15 hours.

    This might seem counter intuitive of why the cutoffs are longer at the end but I found it was helpful that as long as you are determined to finish, you could and would (at least you don’t have to be stressed with the cutoff of the last 4-8 miles). You just have to at least get to mile 42 in a decent pace of 15.5 min pace.

    Cutoffs are not usually my worries. This was my four times running it. So I prepared a pace chart. Not blaming on my pace chart, but this year was my worst performance, coming in at 12:47. My previous times were 12:37, 12:21, and 11:16, with each year being faster than the one before. I was actually expecting to come in under 11 hours this time, but instead was closer to 13 hours.

    As to why I was slower? I think mentally, I was not as competitive. Physically, since Grindstone, I have not trained as aggressively as before. The week leading up to the race, I did not run for a full week. It showed. I was tired by 8 miles in. Mentally, I knew I could pull through a 50 miler (and more). Physically, my legs were screaming at me. It was not until after mile 34, I felt the legs finally relaxed and gave in to allow me to run at the pace I wanted. Note, there were significant climbs after this, so on my pace chart it did reflect that I was running faster.

    I was big on pace chart this time, since I have been pacing other people recently in their races and pace chart is one of the needed tools to accurately pacing someone. I wanted to have better gauge of my pace through various aid stations and it also would give me an assurance how much time and what pace I needed to run to finish. Previously in my other runs I do these kinds of rough calculations in my head. But this year, I created a spreadsheet that takes the mental load off me. I still do mental maths, but not too many at the same time. The interesting take away was the last cutoff would give runner enough time to finish. In previous years, I was always stressed out about the 7 pm finish, but not this year. Knowledge is power!

    I was targeting to run around 15 min mile pace. I hit this target. In the beginning I was a bit ahead of pace, running near 13 min (the time including spending at aid stations).

    I also was running by feel, which mean if I don’t feel well, I don’t push myself to run harder. There were several times I intentionally slowed down for others. I paced with several runners through the course, otherwise, I could have done maybe 30 minutes faster if that was not the case.

    The first couple miles, I ran with my recently found pacer (Wayne) who paced me at Grindstone, and also my to-be pacer at the upcoming Devil Dog in a couple weeks. However, his pace was too fast for me in this race to keep up, so I dialed back. Soon I found a woman who gave me a decent pace (#104). We were running around 13-14 min mile pace. It was slightly slower than I want but since the race was still early, it did not matter. It was good that I don’t go out too fast.

    I was with her for about 6 miles until we reached Seneca State Park (Clopper Lake). There I met Lee and Christen. We were still maintaining a 14 min pace. #104 passed us. I stayed with Christen, but she became slower still became she frequently needed to use the bathroom break. Lee pressed on ahead and was out of sight and never seen again. I tried to pace Christen to Riffleford (mile 12). Christen had her crew there, however, she was a few minutes slower in coming out from the aid station. I waited for her at a road crossing about a mile away while chatting to a volunteer. We then ran down the road segment together (RT 28). We had a good pace of even (9 min according to Christen’s watch). It think it was more like an 11 min pace. The road segment allowed us to catch back up on the time lost at the previous aid station. However the road was short, and lasted about 2.5 miles.

    We entered the Muddy Branch. This was a segment I did not train on this year because either I was away for Hayden Lake or was at Guilford, Connecticut. It felt long and not too familiar to me. Christen’s pace was alright, it was not fast or slow. We were passing people. Normally, here was when I would really run fast. Today I was with Christen. She was slightly slower. I promised her we would get to Pennyfield (mile 24) before noon. It was 10 am and we had 8 miles to go. Usually my goal was to arrive at Pennyfield by 11:30 or earlier. I could run a marathon under 5 hours and Pennyfield is about a marathon distance. Today, we only had to keep a 15 min pace to get there.

    Pennyfield was our first cutoff (at 12:30). My goal was to be there by noon based on the average pace required to finish the race before 7 pm. So 12:30 cutoff time was a more generous time. I told Christen we should leave Pennyfield by 12:00. My pace chart was based on time leaving an aid station and not on arrival time. So any time spent at an aid station, had to be earned.

    About couple miles before reaching Pennyfield, Christen took a fall and landed on her nose. She was a bit shaken up and also she had a slight cramp in one of her legs. Her speed suffered a bit. I went on ahead and ran with Sophia (who was passing us at the time), while she called her husband.

    But all three of us reached Pennyfield at about the same time. It think at 11:50. Christen had her crew to take care of her. I helped myself first with water, refilled my pack and got various food to eat. Also a volunteer (Mike) told me that my friend “Daniel” (David) already passed by the station. All this time I thought David was behind me. This news kind of shock me that he was ahead. It meant my pace was slower than I thought (at least slower than David and last year).

    It was not that it would matter much. Everyone runs their own race (pace). But I would like to catch up to David somehow. I figured (or guessed) that David had a mile on me, so if I run a minute faster at each mile, I would catch up to him about 15 miles later. We were at mile 24, so I would imagine catching up at mile 39 – ish (just before the Riffleford AS, which was at mile 42). I caught up to him at mile 44.

    Sophia was a lady we were chasing early of the day. She was initially ahead, but Christen and I caught up to her at the Muddy Branch and she then followed closely behind, but passed us at Quince Orchard Aid Station, while Christen was using the restroom, then we passed her again near Pennyfield. Just maybe five minutes before Christen fell, I happened to turned around and saw Sophia falling, so I went back to help her up. Not long later, Christen fell too in the front.

    Sophia explained she torned her ACL couple years ago and this morning while crossing one of icy bridges, she kind of tweaked it again. It was hurting. She had both her knees taped up. She was thinking of quitting at Pennyfield. Her boyfriend Keith is the famous runner who had run this race every year (14 times), who happened to run 70 miles one year after taking a wrong turn and still managed to finish in time.

    I kind of convince her she still had time to finish the race based on her current pace. And she was not walking but running at the time, so there should not be an issue of making the cutoff. Again, because I had my pace chart, I knew exactly how much time we had and what effort needed to arrive.

    I told her she needed to get out of the Pennyfield station fairly quickly. She had blister on one of her toes and she planned to pop it at the aid station. Gretchen, one of volunteers helped her with the antiseptic. I helped her with her shoes. She brought an extra pair at Pennyfield, so in my mind she was not so new to ultra running (though she said, this is her first 50 miler). My presence seemed to help Sophia and there was no more talks of quiting.

    We left Pennyfield together exactly at noon. Christen was not around at the time, so we did not wait for her. Later Christen said she left couple minutes behind us at 12:02. I paced Sophia with running and I think we were hitting about a 12 minutes pace. It was a bit too much and Sophia was getting out of breath. She asked if we could walk. I agreed. So we did run/walk. Usually our walk was less than 30 seconds and our run was about 4-5 minutes. I told her to aim for running every 100 yards or so. We reached Stone Mill ahead of schedule, with an average pace of 13.1, which was quite good. We were 40 minutes before the cutoff. Sophia told me her pacer would meet her at Stone Mill. I did not plan to pace her beyond the Stone Mill aid station.

    I did not stay too long at the Stone Mill Station. There were a lot of food available here. They were all good to eat. I took a chicken noodle soup here, because that was the easiest to swallow and I mixed in with some advocado and rice before heading off. Christen was fast in getting out. She actually caught up to Sophia and I, but Sophia went to talk to her crew and new pacer, so Christen and I left the station together without waiting around for Sophia. Also we caught up to #104.

    We ran maybe half a mile to a mile up the road before making the turn to the Seneca Creek Greenway. Because Christen did not have much sleep the night before, she explained she would be extremely tired and having hard time focusing. Her pace slowed significantly once we hit the trail. I decided not to wait for her. We discussed this couple hours beforehand, saying I would take off once I passed the Stone Mill Aid Station. It was not like I suddenly dumped her.

    I passed a few other runners as I climbed up, though not as many as in previous years. This was where I shined because of the hills and because of the endurance aspect, I felt I was stronger than others at later stage in the race.

    I felt finally I could run the race at my own pace. My feet were tired but I tried running whenever I could. This year, Gretchen was not at the Berryville Road (side trail) with her wagon and private aid station. I reached Rt 28 West Aid Station by 2:25, way ahead of the 3:10 cut-off. There were a lot of people here.

    Ben, one of race directors of Rock and the Knob race, was there to cheer me. I have seen him in couple of my other races (such as MMT). I think he has moved back to the area. The aid station here was just as good as any other. I tried to keep my time short and headed back out. A runner recognized me (I think was Carl from Ashburn). He decided to drop from the race. I sat with him a bit. At the time my calves were tingling, almost hurting but not. After resting a bit, I headed back out.

    I followed a woman out. She was moving fast (or faster than me). I thought there might be some epic battle between me and her for the next four miles. I stayed on her for about a mile until we reached a mill, and there she let me pass. I did not see her again. She was one of the heavier runners and I was surprised she could run as well as I was. I felt I was half her size.

    There were not many other runners on this trail at this time. In prior years, here was when I would be passing a lot of runners. I passed a guy, I didn’t know his name (could be Rob or Dan), but I remember him from a training run. Soon afterward, I reached the Germantown Rd Aid Station. This was a fun one. The pie and some adult beverage gave me a boost. I know I would reach Riffleford on time.

    Riffleford mile 42 (or 41.5 depending who you ask) is I believe the true cutoff for this race. I arrived at 4:25 pm, pretty much on pace. You have to reach here by 5:10. Which means a 15.9 min pace for the 6AM starters or 17.3 min pace for the 5AM. The reason why this was the “real” cutoff is if you reach this station by 5:10, you could move at an easier pace for the final cutoff at 6:40 at RT355, and there is no more cutoff for the finish line. Runners had only needed to maintain a 20 min pace to get to RT355. 20 min pace is a walking pace for most of us trail runners.

    At Riffleford, I met so many friends. Riffleford was in charge by people of my running club (Virginia Happy Trail people) I met Annie, Sue, Crystal, and another woman I forgot her name, (probably Grace). Soon too I caught up to David. I didn’t catch up to David until after leaving the Aid Station and outside the Seneca Park. I walked with David maybe over a mile or so. Night was coming. We had our headlamps on. David asked me to go on ahead. I reached the RT355 somewhat 20 minutes behind schedule at 5:45 PM, probably, I was more tired than I thought. Billy C was there to greet me. He had been at various aid stations. He was supporting his friends who came down from Frederick to run this race. Night was getting colder. I took a vegetable soup to go. It was a good thing I packed a jacket (and gloves) at Riffleford aid station. I put on my jacket.

    The final climbs to the finish line was in the dark. I passed a gentleman (Mike or Michael), he later was awarded as being the last official finisher of Stone Mill (under 13 hours and starting at 6:00 am). For those who ran enough ultras, would know the DFL award (dead freakin last; some races would use a different accronym to avoid profanity, but it symbolizes the persistency to hang on to be the very last finisher.)

    I then was alone for quite a time. I felt I could run and press the hills. My legs no longer seemed tired. I felt I was flying. My goal was to catch another runner before me because I renember from a prior year, the next person might be 20 minutes away. That I how I came across Sue. She did not have her headlamp. I think it died. She had one tiniest lamp on. It was part of her hat and could barely generate enough light.

    As I passed her I was thinking, if the person does not have a lamp, I would stay and walk with the person. But because I saw the person had on some kind of light, I did not stop but was going to pass quickly. Her light was like one of those Christmas tree lights for decorative only and not for illumination. It think you could hardly see the trail with those. As I was passing, she called out my name. Is that you, she said. Well, I was intrigue, I did not know (recognize) her yet she knew my name. It meant she was one of those who did the training runs with me. She indeed was from Frederick, one of Billy’s friends. She said, she might not have introduced herself before (Sue), I knew who she was. We did run together in the last training run. With light from my headlamps, she began running the last few miles. We were moving at a 13 minute pace. Her watch had died but I knew exactly where we were. We had about a mile of trail left. I could hear cars from the Watkins Mill Rd. We ran the last mile on the pavement and finished together. Her friends were waiting for her at the finish. I got recognitions and hugs from helping her.

    I stayed to wait for David. Alex (also a friend) already arrived before me. Alex and David ran with me last year and this year we decided to do the same. Alex finished an hour ahead. David did not come in until about half an hour later. In the interim, I saw many people I met on the trail coming in. It was joyous because all of them were people I met during training and here they came in.

    For many this was their first 50 miler. Sophia came in. I did not see Christen. I believe she must have dropped. I would like to know though at which aid station. I was thinking, likely at Riffleford. She should have no problem meeting RT 28 cutoff. #104 came in, either must have come in as I was leaving or after I left. It was reassuring when I checked the results, she made it. Her pace must have slowed significantly but she made it.

    Why was this race special? I guess as I run more, people started to recognize me. This was a race where several of our running clubs gathered (Baltimore, DC, Frederick, Virginia Happy Trail and West Virginia). Some big name local runners join us, like Carl B. and Michael W. I recognized the 2nd, 3rd and 6th place finishers.

    The truth is after a year, I probably would not remember any of these people. I reread my previous year report, I was scratching my head, who was Dan and who was Jeremy. However, I still remember vaguely the moment I had fun out on the trails.

    My two day-to-day running friends, David and Alex also joined me on the run. We carpooled together. David originally was not going to run but he signed up the day before the race. Wayne also is my friend but he left after he finished and we did not get to celebrate together. Wayne finished like two hours before me. John and Charleen were volunteering at an aid station. I was happy to see them. My finish time was not as good as prior years but I think I had one of the best time just seeing people and helping them during the race. Even without seeing friends, I would still enjoy spending time on the trails. I use races also as a training run, because it beats of doing it on my own.

    Some lessons: watch out from falling but we all do fall, don’t spend too much time at an aid station, don’t wait for people, keep moving, be friendly and enjoy the run. I think I did all that

    A side note, I put a drop bag at Riffleford (mile 42) but not Pennyfield (mile 24) this year. A bit different strategy but it worked out

    Morning Fog on Clopper Lake

  • [Day587] Rim to River Pacing

    Past weekend, was one of those walking down on memory lane moments. I ran Rim to River in 2021 as my second 100 mile race, which now seems ages ago, having done now 5 100s. Plus a few attempts of some other ones but unfinished such as the Burning River and Grindstone.

    I always wanted to go back and do Burning River again but the sign up had been difficult. You had to sign up the moment the race is open otherwise it filled up and you will ended up being placed on the waitlist. This year the waitlist had almost as many entries as entrants. It is crazy.

    My friend Lynne (newly met this year) was lucky enough to snag an entry and I promised to be there to pace her.

    Except, there was one problem. This weekend I already committed too to run in a 50K in Pembroke about 2 hours away.

    No problem I said. I would do both. As it turned out, there was no way I could pace 50 miles and also having ran 30 miles several hours beforehand. It was ludicrous. Not sure what gave me the confident to do such a thing.

    So the big weekend arrived and I drove down to Fayetteville, WV on Thursday afterwork. Actually, I stayed in Beckly, about 20 miles south of Fayetteville. The reason was I wanted to be tad closer to the Eastern Divide 50k I had planned to run on Saturday before my pacing duty at night.

    Back story on the Eastern Divide, 50K. I ran it in June 2019 and always been wanting to go back to attempt it again. I was not happy with my time the first time I ran it. I felt I could get it closer to 6 hours. I just did not have the chance doing so because each year it conflicted with something. 2020 and 2021 was with Laurel Highlands. 2022 was I think was Grandma Marathon. 2023, too originally there were so many races on this weekend I wanted to do, but I blocked them all just to run Eastern Divide. Then until I met Lynn, at Grindstone, I realized I had to pick one or the other. I chose Eastern Divide of course. And this decision kept coming back — even the morning of, I kept asking do I want to still go to Eastern Divide?

    Now you know, I have a policy of first-come-first-serve. Since I signed up for Eastern Divide, I had to carry it through. New River came second, so whatever energy I have left, I would give.

    What I did not anticipate was getting sick early in the week. I caught a cold on Tuesday. It might have started Sunday after the Marine Corps 50k since I did not feel well after the run, as mentioned in my report due to the unusual hot day.

    The cold just would not leave me. Maybe I was too optimistic that I could bounce back after a day. I was hoping for a day of rest and by Saturday I would be good. It was serious enough I had to be bed rested for 3 days. Even on Saturday, I was not in a running condition.

    I also could not stand even tiny bit of cold weather due to my sickness. I needed the temperature around 85F to feel comfortable. My body had lost the ability to self regulate its temperature. I was thinking how could I even stand being outside for more than a few minutes, but my pacing duty would have me outside for 12-14 hours.

    By Friday night my cold finally left me. I made it to the pre race meeting and met with Lynne. I was not confident. I said, it would have to be determine when I show up at the Fayette Station at 10 pm. If you see me there, then I would pace, if not, I wouldn’t.

    By 3:00 AM Saturday, I had to get up to get ready for my own 50k at Pembroke, VA near Blacksburg. It was not that far away but still I planned for a 2 hour drive. I arrived race on time (5:30) because we had to take a shuttle to the start at 6:30. The race itself started at 7:30. Note, this was my race — the Eastern Divide that I was running first before my pacing duty.

    The morning was as cold as it could be I think around 29 F and it got colder just before the sunrise. Anyway I ran the race. I was not fast. I felt weak. I finished as the last 3rd person on the course. It took me almost 8 hours but I met all the cutoffs even the last one by bare minutes (17 min pace on mountain, I was too trying to dial in the walking pace to pace Lynne at). I was hoping to be cut so I go get back to Lynne, but I made it. I have done this race 4 years before and that time I ran it in 7 hours. This year I finished around 3:00 pm. I rushed back to my hotel in Beckley, WV.

    The time was around 5:00 pm, still Saturday. I could have and should have gone straight to Lynne’s race to see where she was at, but I decided to shower first to freshen up. Then I wanted dinner. I felt sleepy after. I think I did nap for an hour until 6:00-6:30 pm.

    In hindsight, I should have gone to the course first. She probably needed me to crew her at mile 43 at Fayette Station when she passed around 5-6 pm. I could then still nap and get ready by 10-11 pm. It was an out and back course, so I could have remained at Fayette Station for next 5 hours and had plenty of rest. It would have given me enough time to sleep if wanted to. This was a miscalculation on my part to rest at the hotel.

    I repacked my evening bag to take to the course while at the hotel. It was good I tried to reorganize, but it was totally unnecessary. I ended up over-dressed and left out my lighter clothing behind because I knew it was going to be cold and I wanted to be 100% ready. I over did it. I regreted after I had left the hotel. (next time, I should bring everything and leave them in the car).

    When I was ready to set out, I made a stop at the finish place, which is at Ace Adventure Resort, Oak Hill, WV. It is nearby, but going in and out costed me an hour.

    This originally seemed smart but ended up a time waster. No one was there. Originally, I was hoping they might have some sort of tracking board at the finish, maybe a message board or something about the runners progress. I was hoping to find out Lynne’s progress but there was no information available. Not online and not in person. I was hoping too some other families or crew teams being there and maybe I could get a ride to my location so I would not have to drive out. I wanted my car to be safe at the finish. Thinking too what if Lynne plans to drop, maybe I should bring my car, so in the end, I drove.

    The time was still early. It was 7 pm Saturday. My expected meeting time is still a few hours away. Lynne should have passed by the Fayette Station going outbound already. My next safe bet was to get to Ansted at the 50 mile turn around point. It was only 15 ish minutes of driving from Oak Hill. I felt a bit hungry and decided to stop by a Walmart for some food. But after I made the turn into the Walmart’s parking, I was not that hungry any more. I decided only thing I needed was soup. I had cans of them in my car. I opened one and ate.

    By the time I got myself to Ansted, it was around 8 pm, Saturday. The volunteers there confirmed Lynne had not arrived yet. So I waited. I knew soon she would come in. I made couple trips walking back/forth to and from car. First was I forgot to lock my car. Second was I felt where I parked I might get towed because I was double parking outside a Walgreen’s. Walgreen business had went under so probably I could park outside.

    Anyway, the point was my mind was unsettled to commit to start pacing Lynne at mile 50 at 8 o clock, but I had to see her at least, in case she was planning to drop.

    Also the distance was quite a bit longer than I was comfortable of doing that night. I know I just had to get her continue walking until the morning, and that could be at Cunard, mile 80 (7 am) or mile 90 at Concho Rim. Concho Rim would mean 40 miles of pacing. I was balking internally at the distance. I hope to negotiate with Lynne about starting pacing at a later location.

    Lynne came in at 8:24 pm. It was not a bad time. There were about 27 runners behind her and we were 1:30 hours from the cut-off. The AS was to be open until 10 pm. Looking back, she had good chance to finish at this time, if I would just pace her from there!

    So I knew while she is not as fast as I expected but still should be enough time to finish. (I had expect her to come in at 7:30-ish to 8:00, because she was stronger a runner than me, at least at later stage; I came through here at 8:00 the year I ran it). Coming in now at 8:30-9:00, she would still be in the game. Lynne’s chance of finishing was still good.

    She gave me her status update. She was struggling with eating. Her stomach was upseting. She threw up her food. I gave her my status, I, though could pace her there, but prefer to start at Fayette Station mile 58. I would meet her in 2-3 hours. I felt she could make it back to Fayette Station in reasonable time on her own.

    She had some warm broth at Ansted and left at 8:37. She was cold and asked for my jacket and I gave that to her. Note, in hindsight, she shouldn’t have eaten while at the station, but should have taken her food out with her. 10 minutes spent at the station was meaningless other than resting.

    At first I was going to head directly to Fayette Station, which was only 22 minutes away. I could be there by 9:00. However, fearing the parking situation there to be crazy as the bulk of runners were arriving there at the time, there might not be enough room for me yet to drive or park. Roads in that part is on a one way/single lane, cliff side one edge and mountain the other. It was scary driving, with also runners running next to you.

    So I decided to go back to Walmart in Fayetteville to do some shopping and sleep. I brought a gallon of water and a liter of Coconut juice because I was so dehydrated after my own race. I brought myself a new jacket because Lynne took mine. I would need something warm for the night. I planned to be at Fayette Station by 11 pm. I didn’t think Lynne could get there any earlier like by 10 or even 10:30. I had about 2 hours. I slept in the car a bit. At little bit past 10 pm, I started out heading back to Fayette Station. I arrived around 10:30. The overflow parking lot had plenty of spaces for me to park. Indeed, I wondered what if I had arrived earlier.

    At the Aid Station I met my VHTRC friends John Hord and Charlene. They were crewing Toni. I never met the person. The year I ran this, I was already passed here around 10 pm. By 10:30 pm most runners passing through were seriously struggling. Toni did not look so well. Besides Toni, I saw couple other runners. One stayed for almost 30 minutes trying to bandage his foot. I think because of blisters. I was like that too the year I ran. I stayed maybe 30 minutes trying to wipe my butt that year. By the time I realized the runner might need my help, he was done taping. I told him, he has to leave the station soon for he has stayed there for too long. He knew. The guy said he was cold but I had nothing else to offer him. He was not looking for anything from me either, knowing he had to do with what he had. Poor guy. I wish he had a crew. I felt sorry that I was too slow to realize the poor guy was struggling by himself and might of needing my help. He didn’t ask and by the time I checked on him, he was ready to head back out.

    Another runner came in at 10:45. He was older maybe in his 60s. His team of pacers and crew was ready for him. They let him sleep maybe 15 minutes. I think he wanted 2 hours, but his crew would not let him. I was next to them and hearing the exchange. The runner was tired but they were able to get him out. I didn’t know when because I decided to sleep on the ground. I had my sleeping bag with me, so I could sleep anywhere. I set my alarm for 11:10 based on Lynne walking pace she would arrive by then.

    Lynne arrived at 11:05 pm. I didn’t see her but she saw me.

    What happened next is a failure on my part as her crew and pacer. My mind was on pacing and I felt my shift hadn’t started yet. But looking back, my duty too should get her to be out at the station as soon as possible. She already stayed too long at Ansted I felt (long enough for her to be cold there). The same was going to happen here at Fayette Station. In hindsight, I should have rushed her out because time was critical. She had less than 1 hour from the cut and I walked around as if she had two hours (indeed in my mind she had the time).

    She took a seat and started changing her clothing for warmer ones. She changed shoes. She requested food, and soup, and coffee. I forgot to even check for if she needed water. The soup was not good after she took one sip. Her stomach was not strong enough to take it. All these probably happened within first 5 minutes. As a pacer, I should have kept the time! As now every minute counts!

    I don’t know what happened next but it was a long time she did not move. Then she said she was cold. I covered her with my sleeping bag. She actually asked for my jacket, but I was planning to use it for myself. Thinking back I should have given it her and immediately have gotten her on her feet and should have marched her out the station. This was my first tactical mistake of not doing so. I was tired or just waiting for her to say lets go! It should have been me pushing her.

    Another Tactical mistake is to eat and drink in the station or get warm in a station. She did this at Ansted and now doing it again. Me, being her crew and pacer did nothing to prevent this was unacceptable.

    A second mistake if readers have guessed is, I was only reacting to what Lynne was asking instead, those basic stuff should have been anticipated by me. I should got her a bunch of food and drinks and let her choose. Also I should have prepare her clothes, pants and and things to change out and in including shoes and socks. My mind was completely blank that night. I blamed it on my fatique of doing the morning run also my head cold I was still recovering from. It was not my first 100, but I was acting as if I never ran one before.

    Third mistake is also obvious. We stayed too long, following the first mistake and also I was not helping her much by anticipating her needs and doing it for her. Usually a mistake is not an isolated thing but a compounded problem. Not taking care one thing let to another.

    Fourth mistake was I let my runner get cold. This was a big no-no for night running. It was because we stayed too long, she had cooled off already. Also I didn’t cover her. This is a number 1 to-do is to wrap the runner with a jacket or blanket when they come in. Experience ditates, to stay no more than 5 minutes. Thinking back on this, I felt so guilty.

    Fifth, doubts creep in. Also a big no-no. Runner’s worst nighmare. Also because we stayed too long. If we kept on moving there would not be time for doubts and second guesses. She was guessing if could finish because her pace has became slower than race pace. She was going at 20-22 min per mile. The race pace ditates 19.2 min mile. I did the calculation, it would be too close to call. We might make it to the final few miles before timing out. Of course, we could pick up our paces too. 40 miles is too far to predict. By now Lynne was convinced she was not going to finish. She was sick. She called her husband to tell him she was quitting. Because, I let her sit so long now, we were facing 30 minutes from the cut, at midnight.

    Sixth. Letting the runner quit. This is a hard decision. Yes ultimately it is the runner’s choice. Yet many times a runner picks their pacer is that the pacer would not let the runner quit so readily. There has to be a challenge first. We were suppose to fight this. I did not fight with Lynne. Yes a hard choice on me — I paced her before at Yetti and I knew what she was capable of. I knew her speed and even without eating, she is capable of running once the sun is up! It is a weakness on my part that I could not bear the responsibility of what if she is really hurt. She said she rolled her ankle three times on her way from Ansted to Fayette station. This is the worst part of being a pacer is to take this decision: to fight or not to fight with the runner. How much trust does the runner rely on you for their safety. I chose the safer path – that is to let Lynne quit.

    Seventh – I was pretty tired myself both due to my cold and my earlier 50k run. Thinking back if I did not run my race, I would have more strength and I would be more eager to do a night run with Lynne. But I was tired and wanted to head to bed if possible. I was not sleepy at the time, but I knew it would come in couple hours. My self-interest would be in favor Lynne to quit, so I don’t have to suffer myself. It is a reason, I quickly agreed with her.

    Eighth – My mind was preoccupied with my pace chart I had set up. It had some bugs. I was trying to debug it before we heading out. Also my mind was on my car, like how will I get back to it after finishing. Also, what if my runner drop, how do we keep warm. I was thinking of carrying my sleeping bag along. Note, no one carry this much stuff on a run, but my mind was on what if we could not make it.

    There were countless of things on my mind. We would go by my car, and I was thinking what things do I leave behind. I had a 28L backpack with me. I was debating to carry it or not (either to put clothes in it later or to bring more depending if I expect Lynne to be cut or to run fast). If she were to be cut, where would it be most likely? Those were some questions I was reflecting, when Lynne announced she was dropping here. My worries were solved.

    It was now near midnight (11:37) when Lynne finally got up to turn in her bib/announced to the timer that she was quiting. Thinking back, this 32 minutes sitting around, plus the 10 minutes at Ansted, we could have used the time to get to to Longpoint, the next aid station, mile 63. We would definitely arrive there around 12:30 or 1 pm. I knew if I reach mile 60 by midnight, there is no way I would not finish a hundred miler. We were at mile 58, only two miles away at 11:37 pm. Yes too much time was wasted at the station to let Lynne have self-doubt.

    It was a relief for her and myself once she made the call and we walked to the car. That was it for the weekend.

    There’s not much to conclude. Lynne told me not to beat up myself. Ultimately it was her decision. She knew her ability and body best. She had tried her best at the time. Based on the available information at the time, it was the best choice to make.

    I felt I was a good pacer at the Yeti 100. This time, the event ended even before I get to pace. I did not do so well from the initial to the final conclusion. There were some good lessons learned, even for my own race. I knew them before, but to see things blew up in that short span of time (probably about 15 minutes from coming in with a high expectation to zero) was a bit unpleasant and something I need to remember. Things can change bad very fast! I know it was not my race. I did not want my runner to feel bad just because I felt bad. Anyway, it was a good day. At least, I got to prepare and I can take away the lessons learned for my own race.

  • [Day586] MCM48

    Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) is a favorite for many people. It has a cult following. I met many people who have done this race year after year. This year we are back to what it was used to be: a lot of people, heat, and thanks to the soldiers, the event was as well run as it could be. There were a few oopsies but they were quickly mitigated.

    First the heat. We knew ahead of time it was going to be a hot one. MCM sent out multiple emails on this regard. One of the small oops, was when people started fainting at noon, the race chose to “close” the race early by diverging runners in stages to a shorter course. I heard rumors that they ran out of water. They had more than a gallon per runner. I personally think that is more than enough. I carried my own water though.

    We knew ahead there were three cutoffs called the gaunlets. DC gaunlet was first to be closed and diverting running starting at 12:00 pm, 30 minutes early. Then the Bridge, not sure if this is the same as the DC gauntlet, but they started to close at 12:30 and moved people over to Crystal City. There was the Crystal city gauntlet, that also had a shorter version. In total, I think runners could shorten about 6-9 miles. However, many of those in the tail end were not doing that great. The sad part is they don’t receive an official finish.

    My MCM44 report is very different from this year. I did mostly the same thing. Woke up at 3 AM. I arrived at the Metro early 45 minutes before they were scheduled to be open. We could take the train at 5 AM. Last time, I took the train at 6 AM. I almost missed the race that year. This year, I did not have to do a transfer at Rosslyn, but instead I exited the station there and walked about a mile to enter the race area. I followed a runner who had used this way before. There was no crowd. Using the Rosslyn’s entrance was a vast improvement over the Pentagon exit.

    The best thing of this year was running with many people I know. I recognized several people I rode the Metro with that morning while on the course.

    There were also a dozen of my running friends who were in the race. However, due to the sheer size of the number of runners, it was almost impossible to recognize anyone I know. I only came across two people on the course. And one before the race began and one at the finish. So a total of 4 out of like a dozen people I knew that ran the race.

    My friend Tony E came from Colorado, and I met him at the first mile. Lynn came from New York, and I saw her before the 50K start. It was actually she saw me first and called out, because she went up to the 50K starting area, probably to look for me and someone, but she was actually running the marathon. She said her friend is the pacer for 6:30 hour group in the 50K. It was the group I was planning to stay with. That pacer had paced me before.

    Lauren lives in DC, but her sister Liz came from out of town to cheer and support her. I only saw them at the finish. They were wearing matching outfit. I would not have recognized her. I might have been ahead of her when the 50K rejoined back with the regular marathon course.

    My friend Scott, whom I met at Iron Mountain and Grindstone this year, drove from North Carolina for this. He said this was his first road race in 9 years. And he PR’d it, settling his personal record on the course and running his best.

    I saw Scott long after he had finished, and that was only by chance he was there at the exit area, waiting for his friend to finish. He kept saying how hot the weather was. He had changed to regular clothes by then, otherwise, I would tell him to take off his shirt. His friend did finish and might have walked past us, without us realizing. In the same way, many of my friends slipped past us, while we were waiting. We were just not that good at spotting people in a crowd.

    A few friends came out just to cheer me. Jana did the 10K that morning and then afterward went to the course to cheer the marathon at mile 17-18, probably my mile 22-23. I didn’t see them, but they told me they were there. I guess she missed me as well. There were just too many people.

    Another Lauren and Siri from my running club were also there to cheer. I only later linked up with them at the exiting area. They got drinks and snacks for us.

    They explained the tracking app was probably delayed in updating the runner’s positions. While they saw us passed by them on the tracking app, they said they did not actual see us on the course.

    They cheered nonetheless. We likely already passed by the time it showed up on the tracker, at least that what we like to believe.

    A note for future spectators, maybe go to one of the less crowded places. I think the steps at Lincoln is a good place. Somewhere before we get on the National Mall too would be a good place, such as the a long three miles around Hains Point on Ohio Drive. The pool outside the Capitol too had less crowd there.

    Some people held up big bubble head pictures. It helps runners to identify their friends or family from far away. Also, I saw some people held a big picture of their pets. Those signs stood out to me while running.

    I so happened to see coach Mike (one of the coaches from the Stone Mill training runs of the Muddy Shoes running club). He was not really my coach. He was one of couple people hosting the training I attended the day before the Marine Corps Marathon. I was not supposed to do a training run right before a big race. I did not tell a lot of people that I would be running it. He was cheering me as I made the turn onto Independent Ave, heading back toward the Congress. He was just at the right place at the right time. It was out of the blue I saw him around my mile 20. It did give me a boost.

    While on the course, there were 22000 runners (30000 later annouced, probably with the 10K runners included). I had crowd fatigue from staring at the runners for too long, every runner on the course became a blur. Even though I knew my friends were out there on the course, I did not get to see many. After the race, we did not get to link up, because everyone went their separate ways.

    During my run, I only came across Tony, who was running the 50K. It was by chance too. In the first mile, the runners had spread out a bit after the start. I was running near the end of the pack and I looked over shoulder and there he was, just like I when met him at Grindstone. I first met him this year at one of the MMT training runs. He was passing me when we were running on the mountain. I knew this old guy can run. He flew in that weekend just for the training run. Since then, he has always stuck in my head.

    Tony was one of the older gentleman maybe 20 years older than me. He did finish. He said it was his hardest run he had. He is also a friend of my friend, Caroline.

    The other person was my friend, Caroline. We ran a few races together recently. I had my eyes out for her throughout the day but I did not see her. I had given up by then. I passed her at her mile 12. It was my mile 18. It was so happened I looked over to the sideline and saw her, so I called out. She was walking on grass and off from the road where we were running. I guess, she was not feeling well and step off to make room for runners surging up from behind. This was after the Blue mile. I was not doing too well either. I guess it was hitting my wall (proverbial marathon runner’s wall), when the body has reached its glycogen’s limit and thus the point where it refuses to run any more. It did not occur to me at the time, that I was at my limit. I was walking along the other side. So I went over and joined her. She started running again and almost out-ran me. I told her in that case, I need her to pace me, jokingly of course.

    At the time, I came across two families offering us candies and water. I stopped by both booths. The second one was the best. The lady manning a small table had grapes, sodas, chips, Miller Lite beer, and shots. These are the fun stuff at an ultra. I was surprised many people did not stop for this. Maybe, many runners are not familiar with private aid stations or just being vary of meeting strangers. This used to be common in marathons, but this year there were not many private aids offer along the course as compare to other marathons I did.

    I, having run a lot of races, love this kind of imformal race supports more than the official aid stops. I think it is fun and the stuff they offered were actual the good stuff.

    MCM food wasn’t bad, but they are all processed stuff like gummies, honey waffles, apple sauce and gels.

    Those are fine, but nothing beat fresh fruits. I took some beer, and she poured me some Coke, and I ate some grapes. I stayed a bit there to reset my pace.

    It was worth staying. Caroline was already out of sight. I took a pong cup from her and this actually helped me at the next few refilling stations. People just poured water into my cup and I was set to go. I always carry on me a small cup, but I like the bigger cup better. This private aid station revitalized me. I know, some races, receiving outside help (away from an aid station) is ground of a DQ (disqualification). This is though a fun marathon. Those rules don’t apply. I don’t strictly follow this rule, unless it is a trail race, because it falls under the no muling rule or crewing outside the designated areas.

    By my mile 22, marathon mile 18, a family was offering me ice. That was the best I could ask for. It is better than beer or candies. I have been looking for ice on the course. I was sure they had them in the medical tents but I did not want to stop by a medical tent for ice, because they would then evaluate me for heat exhaustion. I know I was good on that front but I did not want any wasted time with a health evaluation.

    At this time some runners started having health issues due to the heat. One even had to airlifted out. They sent a helicopter right down on the grassy area. We were redirected at one point to the sidewalk away from the medical staff working on a runner I think.

    The ice from the family saved me. I put the ice under my hat. I carried some a spare sock, and I put some ice in it and kept it on my chest for the whole way till after Crystal city when it was all melted. The sock prevent the ice from melting too quickly. It took the ice a long time to melt under my shirt. I only learned of this trick this weekend. Got to keep a spare sock on you for situation like this. My pace picked back up afterward.

    I beated the bridge. There are several “hard cutoffs” they called it the gaunlets. There was the DC gauntlet, the Bridge, and the Crystal City Gauntlet. I had no problem in beating them. As long as we stay above 14 minute pace, we were good. Later, after the race, I learned they shortened part of the course early because too many people were fainting and overwhelming the medical staff. The 14 st Bridge cutoff was moved up to 12:30, instead of 1 pm and the DC gauntlet was moved up to 12 pm.

    Having experience the bridge section in prior years, I knew this was the hardest part of the course. Many people chose to walk across. It is about 2 miles long. It was also the hottest time of the day and humidity was high passed 70%. We reached a cupless water point midway. Many just drank out of the faucets because they did not bring a cup. Some let the water running down on them. I poured some water over me too to keep cool.

    We entered Crystal City. It was as I imagined it. Crystal City had good crowd cheering all the way from one end to the other. It was just a mile out and a mile back. I stopped for a fireball. I knew they were there from a previous year, people who handed out hard liquor. They gave me some. Someone offered me jelly beans and gummy bears. The fire department opened a fire hydrant and spayed water. I ran under one. There were slight breezes in Crystal City, so I was cooled off sufficiently.

    However, my pace continued to slow but I managed to finish. I haven’t checked but I felt beat previous time. I couldn’t find my previous result. I reached 26.2 miles under 5 hours (I think it was 5:54). I finished at 5:56:51 on the 50K. My previous time from 2019 was around that, close to 6 hours, at 5:58:45.

    There were several other friends running the race, but I did not get to see them. Alex did the 10K. Jeff (David’s coworker, who I met at package pick-up) was slower than me and was finishing at 6:10. Jeff did not get an official finish because he was part of the crowd that was diverted. Caroline finished at 6:00. Lynn was 14 minutes ahead of me.

    Only time I saw Lynn was at the start when she spotted me. My goal was to catch up to her, but it was not meant to be. I was hoping she would not run so fast. I am to pace her the following week at the Rim to River 100. I checked her pace, she seemed to handle MCM well. I just hope she did not exhausted herself. She ran the second half in a very controlled pace, so I guess she knew what she was doing. David finished half an hour ahead of me. Scott was 3:38, but luckily I saw him at the end.

    I was lucky to be spotted by Lauren at the exit. She was waiting for Lauren E. Soon Siri found us and brought drinks and snacks. We had a little reunion.

    Meeting people at the MCM was all happening by chance. Even with a phone it was hard to link up. Scott had a hard time to link up with the guy he came with. We waited like an hour and still did not find the guy, and they were in communication of where to meet. He kept saying he went to left or to the right. I think runners had runner’s fog at the end of their race so they could not communicate clearly. I think the best place to link up was by the UPS trucks where they returned the drop bags.

    I thought back to my first MCM, and I did not carry a phone at the time, but my mom did not tell me she was going to come, showed up at the finish area, just by wandering around and saw me as I was coming out. That was very lucky on her part. My mom did not know about the family link up area or any those things. Just by accident she saw me. I had completely forgot about this until she mentioned it. That was my first MCM in 2017.

    A race is fun when you get to do with other people or there are other cheering you.

    Rachel was asking after I finished, if I wanted to sit on the curb to stretch out my legs. We were sitting in a circle at the time. I was reaching down to sit on the road. I said, I used to running long distances and I am almost running just as far every weekend. I was not that tired. I sat cross-legged on the road just fine. It was good to have someone to celebrate with at the end of the run.

    Did I run hard? I did. I also had a 18 mile training run the day before. So my legs were a bit tired even before the start. I was built for endurance. So even without the training run the day before, I might not have done any better. Maybe a tad better. I should one day, train to run faster. Seeing couple of my friends to be able to run a 3:38 marathon was exciting. Mine, was like a 5 hour marathon.

    This was my third time running the MCM. I was well familiar with the course and how to get there. My friend Caroline has done it 25 times. The guy I rode the Metro with, ran it a dozen times. I like the race. Weather can be iffy. This year is one of the hotter years, but it was better than 2019, when there were floodings. We take it what was given. No complaining.

    Is it better than other marathons? Maybe not. I am a local, so I saw all the sights on my daily commute. The festival was subdue compared to other marathons I did such as Shamrock in the beginning of the year. It was a typical DC area with high transient. We came with a dozen friends, I only get a hold of one or two at most during and after the race. Locals wanted to leave as quickly as they could to avoid the crowd. Not a complaint. I went into the race and I enjoyed my time there. I would be better to celebrate the finish with someone, and I did, but it was never a planned thing. I sat at the steps leading up to the Rosslyn Metro. All my friends were gone by then, trying to beat the traffic out of Arlington. I had a bowl of Korean Rice and bulgogi. I was watching as the UPS trucks packed up and drove away. They had emptied all the drop bags. There were a few runners milling about, but the bulk of the crowd has dissipated. I was just taking things in. My two previous marathons, all I remembered was rushing there and then rushing home. This time I had the time to let it wind down. I finished my race at 1 pm but did not leave until 4 pm or so. Some races, I like it to be like this, just letting it go slowly.

    pre dawn photo of random strangers. They were giving an interview to the press. Later the startline would get crowded. We had a sold out event of 30000 people

  • [Day585] Race Report of Bimbler’s Bluff

    I feel so tired after running Bimbler Bluff 50k, an accidental 14th state completion.

    About this time last year, I reached a point when I did not know what to do because of a free weekend, I decided to look for a nearby state where I had not run before to run a marathon. I went to Atlantic City. I thought that was a long drive, but this year the drive was almost twice as long, 7 hours.

    Last year, I was walking by myself along the boardwalk. Shops closed early. A major casino had gone out of business and no other business had taken its place. It was dark and gloomy for a big section. I was thinking, I should not be there, but walking and hearing the ocean was quite relaxing.

    This year, it was a long drive from afternoon to night time. The drive was meh, uneventful. I got used to the droning noise of the engine. I had a friend coming along. We chatted all the way though I don’t remember what we talked about. Probably our discussion centered around running.

    At Atlantic City last year, I ran one of my fastest time, a little over 4:20. Note this time. I might get back to this, because, I needed that time as a qualifier for a race, I was going to sign up. This year though, at Connecticut, I ran a 8:16. It is on trail. They can’t be compared with one another, but I am significantly slower.

    At the present, is a time of peace. A calm before a storm, I think. I had a feeling I wish I could cross off a state or two in this waiting period, kind of time between some big races. I wanted to run in all 50 states. Last year I had reached 10th states. This year, I made some progress of getting to 14th, unexpectedly. I only planned for running in two new states, Texas. I attempted for Ohio and North Carolina too (but they were ultras, not that it matters).

    So by some coincident, I went to Idaho the week before and this week, I decided to go to Connecticut. To me it seems accidental, but my friend Caroline, pointed out everything is planned by heavenly father.

    Actually I did not really have any feeling for this race. My usual way of signing up a race is search for that feeling that draws me to a race. Bimbler Bluff did not have that attraction. Not saying the race was not great, it was. It fits me well because I love the hard trail races.

    I want my 50 states completion to be purely of marathons. Bimbler is a 50K, which is close enough but it is not the marathons of my first love, you know those that are pompous and have crowd cheering at every mile.

    As mentioned in a previous post, I came to it because a friend kind of wanted me to go, first to run Nipmuck and then this Bimbler. I did not get in at Nipmuck, because the registration had passed before I realized. I felt I do have to go for Bimbler.

    Anyway, I did not have a great feeling about the race. The only redemptive point is the race had a 10 hour cut-off. This is insane for a 50k. I knew I was in for some fun (hard) racing. I love hard races.

    Second redemptive point is the race price was quite low. You know now marathons are 100 to 200 mullars. This even with my late signup was only 65 mullars, which was like a local 10k pricing. I like cheap races.

    I had nothing to do for the weekend. My friend was going to run this race too. If not for her, I likely would not drive 6-7 hours to Connecticut. It was the farest I ever driven, besides Toronto, which for that trip I actually spent a night at Niagara Falls and we made multiple stops. This trip to Connecticut was one straight shot.

    We started late for our trip because I had a training run in the morning. On Saturday, I was preparing for Stone Mill 50. I ran 20 miles. It was a “hard” run. It was supposed to be easy but I had not been on running trail for some time so my legs were not used to it. Afterward, I was feeling it.

    Looking back, I probably should not have run a 20 mile before a hard race.

    We got to Connecticut about 10 pm. Only thing left was to sleep. The next day, we got up by 5. We left the hotel by 6. Race didn’t start until 8, but usually I wanted to get to race early. My friend wanted to run in the early start (7 am) for the full 10 hour.

    I watched her went off and went back to the car to prepare for mine. I slept with the clothes I was going to race in, a typical thing for me to do, so no change needed. I made minor adjustments. Ate breakfast. Since the weather should be warmer, I decided to run in t-shirt and shorts but brought along a long sleeves tied around my waist, just in case, since when I looked around everyone was mostly bundled up in couple layers. I felt I should do what the locals were doing. The temperature was supposed to be staying steady at 50F. The morning was 45-48 ish, and was a bit nippy cold. I was bundling up in layers too during the pre-race hours. This was the second time running the cold this season (Idaho, the week before, was my first cold running).

    The crowd of runners was of a decent size for a 50k. I think we had maybe 75 people. We received the briefing from the race director. I had it twice, since I attended the 7 o’clock one earlier. People were introduced. We went over a few gotchas of the course. The trails were well marked but my friend who had done it 7 times said turns can easily be missed. I paid attention. I did not have much time to study the course before hand. I could not get my hand on a trail map of the place, but I did look at the Google map. I had a general idea of the direction we were running, but I couldn’t run it without trail markings. Normally for a race especially trail races, I want to know the course well enough, I could run it with my eyes close.

    I have done enough trail races to know how to stay on the course. I did get lost once due to talking with another runner, but the turn was marked. It was my own fault for missing the turn. Some said they had 36 miles at the finish. We had 33 miles (I know GPS watches are not accurate, but I felt the course was a bit long). I don’t mind, trail races generally run long (and never measured to be an exact distance).

    The first 4 miles went by fast. I was not as strong as my usual self and even quarter mile in, I already dropped to the back of the pack. There were maybe 3-4 runners behind me.

    I stayed with a woman, but soon she dropped behind. A guy and another lady passed her. I followed.

    By mile 4, only Jessica was with me. I did not know her name at the time. We did not talk during the first couple hours, maybe until past noon (4 hours into the race). This was pretty strange, but I tried to be strange too, by refusing to talk. In fact no one really talked. I was able to have a few words with another woman who commented when I walked on the up hills. She was asking if that is how to do it. She said this was her first time on the trail. However, she was strong and passed me and I did not see her again. Only Jessica was still around.

    I tried to run away from Jessica and I thought I succeeded in getting away from her a few times, but every time I turned around she was still there.

    I got to mile 9, she was right on my heels. We made a big climb to the bluff. The scenery was impressive. I caught up to two other runners and passed them finally. Then I tried to catch a seemily father daughter team. We yo-yo passing and leapfrogging for a few miles and then finally Jessica and I were able to passing them for good.

    a look from the bluff. One of few times I got to see the leaves before it is too cold to be out. I am not a New Englander

    The race at this point was getting interesting (fun). The first few miles were technical but we were stronger at the time and because of the crowd we went slowly, but now, it was quite runable without the crowd in front of me and trail also became a bit more challenging, but runable.

    So Jessica and I were flying down hills and running up smaller hills. I leapt over blowdowns and rocks, startled some runners. I had too much fun. Soon though, my energy was drained by the time afternoon came about.

    This section was Jessica stumping ground and she said she ran these sections a lot because she lives nearby. She said it is easy for her to zone out because she got into a habit to running only certain trails during training.

    We paid extra attention because the course would go off on various side trails and then weaved back on the main trails. We kind of run in a zig-zag in and out on the main trail, and thus we had to be extra careful. We tried to suppress our tendency to stay on the main trail, which was the wrong way. We had to overcome our internal auto-pilot mode. Jessica at this point passed me and led the way.

    We got to mile 18. I finally chatted a bit with Jessica. She had done a 100 mile before. She is recovering from an injury about four weeks ago. She said she had a boot on but took it off for this race. I was thinking, oh no. She hoped to use this race as a qualifier for some other ultras, such as one in Zion NP. The course was less marked in this section. The RD sent out an email post race apologizing, since he marked this section. However, we believe it was course vandalism (someone removed the course markings).

    During this time, I missed a turn (the marker was on my side) while talking with Jessica. Jessica rolled her right ankle about this time too. Due to the distraction, we both missed a turn.

    We backtracked and found the house where the Race Director warned us about the owner used to pull off our trail markers in past races. I know now I we are more than halfway to the finish. We marched on.

    We arrived to the Renee aid station, a little after (maybe 45 mins later). I had my water filled. I ate whatever was available on the table. Food choice was good and plenty. There were enough choices. The most unusual was banana on bread (like baguette). It was interesting. It was like a banaba split. I wolfed it down.

    We were now at mile 22. I thought we had 8 miles left. I put in all my effort to pass Jessica and ran to the finish. She told me to go ahead. I felt a bit sad leaving her since she had been with me for 6-7 hours. Normally, in other races, I usually would stay with the person who had been with me. Not today. I was concerned about my other friend Caroline, who started the race ahead of me, but I never saw her on the course. It meant either she had gotten off course or quit or she was really still ahead of me. I needed to finish early to know.

    Most of this last section was easy to run. We were on a long jeep road, a double track trail. There were some long climbs. I ran until my feet were tired. I passed a few runners who walked. I wanted to walk as well, but I wanted to finish by 4. I had not reached the last aid station. My goal was to get there by 3:45. Someone then told me we had 5 more miles. I doubted, because I believed I had only 2-3 miles left.

    I finally reached the last station about 3:45 pm. The crowd told me I had 2.3 miles left. I caught up two more runners. These people were running it like me. I did not stay at the station long, but only enough to pick up an Oreo cookie and went back out. With only 2 miles left, I did not need anything substantial. They offered to refill my water, I declined. I actually wanted to empty all my water to lighten the pack.

    The trail at times became rocky. My feet were heavy. The lady I passed caught back up to me. She was too fast for me to stay with. Then another guy also caught up to me. He followed closely behind. Soon I let up and let him passed me too. I ran at every moment I could. Then I heard cheering and knew we had arrived at the finish.

    Jessica came in maybe 15 mins after me. I saw a few more people whom I passed earlier came in. At 5 ish, 5:20, the Race Director came to me said he had to cut my friend who was still on the course and had not arrived at the last aid station. The cut-off there was supposed to be 5 pm. I said I would go to pick her up there.

    I found my friend, who soon appeared from the trail. I almost decided to go back in to seek for her but fear that the course markings were already been removed by the sweeper and I would get lost, as night was approaching.

    She was in good spirit. I knew she had a tough day. People told me the early starters had more miles, 36 ish, due to running the wrong branch on one of the loops. We (based on Jessica’s watch) had 33 miles. We too, added extra miles for missing a turn. Personally, even without getting lost, I believe the course was a bit longer than 31 miles.

    Conclusion: I like the race. It ran like Catoctin, a race I DNF’d in the summer, but this was a bit easier. We had more time at Bimbler. Catoctin was too tight with the cut offs. I believe it was 8 hours. Here at Bimbler, we had 10 hours. I ran it in 8:16. I probably could have done it under 8.

    Looking back, if I did not do the training run on Saturday, I would have done a bit better. I felt I needed the double day long run for some future races. This race, Bimbler had everything for a good training. It was a good training to test all the system (hydration, endurance, fast run, climbing, technical rocky section, water crossing, muddy trail). It was the work.

    After this race, I will have the Marine Corps Marathon this following weekend. After that is Eastern Divide 50k and the same day pacing my friend at Rim to River 100, which will be a 80 mile day for me. It is probably my toughest day. Soon, I have Philadephia marathon in November and Devil Dog 100 in December. It was the reason why I needed a double hard run to prepare for the upcoming races.

    We drove back the same day. I had work the next day. Yes, the lack of sleep took a toll. My legs were a bit beaten up. My left foot hurt for some reason, probably from being over used. I took the week easy for it to heal.

    There is nothing much to add. I guess it was a good time with running with my friend. The day was fine.

  • [Day582] Hayden Lake Marathon

    Two weeks since Yeti, I was not doing or feeling very well. Usually feeling a bit of the blue after a big run is normal for me. Missing the Army Ten Miler last week really set me off in a bad way. Hayden Lake Marathon came at the right time to turn things around. There’s no depression that a little marathon could get me out of.

    My friend wanted to run in Idaho for one of her fifty states marathon goals back in the summer but due to some circumstances, she was not able to go during the summer. The race director allowed her to transfer her registration to the fall.

    I checked my fall schedule and it aligned to my goal of getting my 50 states marathon in. I joined her.

    It was a good choice for me. Originally, Hayden Lake was not on my radar. I wanted to do Lake Tahoe instead because I am more familiar with that, having been there maybe 10 years ago and I wanted a lot of miles (Tahoe Marathon was a three day running series, where on Friday if you like, to run 70 miles around the whole lake during the night). Because of lack of crewing, I did not sign up. Hayden Lake was my second best option.

    Before going, I knew the course was going to beautiful. Hayden Lake is near Coeur D’Alene. I have heard a lot of Coeur D’Alene. I didn’t know how to pronouce the name for this place, but the locals seem to say it like “quarter lane”.

    The Hayden Lake is just big enough for doing a marathon around it. People asked if I have driven around the lake as preparation. In my younger days, driving through the course is what I would do the day before the race. Now with plenty ultra distance races under me, I didn’t feel a need to do so. Besides, I flew in late the night before. There was no time for prepping as I normally would. There was no big chinese buffet for me as I normally do. And no pho at the end. (We went to a gas station next to our hotel, and brough cup of noodle).

    One word, the course was hilly. For me, I am fine with a hilly course. I like the extra challenge. We are talking about couple mile long climbs, something we don’t normally see in a marathon.

    The total elevation was 2600 ft, which is not typical either. The two big climbs are at Mile 4-5 and mile 17. There were also a lot of descents but the course is on rolling hills, so it went ups and downs. A few descents were over a mile long, which were fun for me.

    In getting to the race, we flew into Spokane, Washington on Friday. The race was on Saturday. I arrived late near midnight (intended), but I also ran into some delays and flight changes. My friend picked up my bib for me.

    Going from the east coast to west coast for a race is usually beneficial. Though I arrived late, I slept on the plane. I slept too on the way back.

    We woke up early around 4 AM, the next morning, since our body had not adjusted to the time zone changes, it was not that early for us.

    The temperature was a bit chilly for me. It was my first “cold weather” running. I wore a buff, arm sleeves, shorts, and a CC t-shirt. I was still feeling a bit cold. I wanted to stay in the car, but my nervous pre race jittery, required me to walk around. I had on a light jacket before the race, but I knew I like to run without the jacket on because I tend to warm up pretty easily.

    The race did not have many parking spots on site (Honey Suckle Rd). There were two satellite parking sites about a mile away. They had shuttle running through the race to bus racers and spectators to/from various parking lots.

    We originally parked about a mile away but seeing no one, we were not sure it was the right place. We did not know we were to park inside the construction site as there were no signages as to where were to park. A few cars pulled up next to us, but they soon drove off. We followed them and they led us to a parking off the side of the road right outside the marathon start (within a walking distance, 0.2 mile away). I was prepared to walk a mile as a warm-up but Caroline wanted to ride the bus. We walked back and forth without realizing the start was right there literally.

    For future runners, it always good to go early to get a parking closer to the start. We did not need a shuttle to our car.

    The Lake was beautiful. The leaves were turning. I like the pine trees. I couldn’t tell if some were douglass firs or not. There were some very tall trees.

    The event was not big. There were only about 75 runners for the marathon. The half marathon started half hour later. They also held a quarter marathon and a 5K. Probably a big event when all were combined together. I heard they had street food trucks. We had plenty of pizzas when we finished but the local food trucks were gone. Those shorter distance events were all finished by the time I got back to the start.

    I like hills. Running trail prepared me well for the hilly course. One person asked me how we trained for this. I think you just have to run on a lot of hills. There are training plans out on the web. As for me, I have built quite a good base, so not much training was needed to do a marathon, whether hilly or not I run it the same way. Most runners were from local areas so they were well trained on the hill aspect as well. I could tell, because though it was a hilly course, people were running up on all the hills, a rare sight in a marathon.

    I started off with my friend. I usually started off slow and today was no exception. I kept at her pace for about a mile. We talked to runners around us. I surveyed the field. We made good friends. Again, something you could not do at a big marathons, but in a smaller marathons everyome are friendly.

    I did not come in with a set goal of how I would run it. Only goal was to finish so I could cross off the state. I know my usual marathon time for this year was around 5 hours. My last marathon in August was a bit over 5. I was hoping I could finish in 5 hours. My Toronto Marathon was my fastest time this year at 4:30. I was not sure if I could get a 5.

    Runners were friendly. We talked to many people. Jeff, started with us and I got to know him. He and I started to run a bit faster and we soon left my friend Caroline behind. I did not intend to pace her in this race, knowing she would do fine by herself.

    Jeff had run a backyard marathon recently. I knew he should do quite well. Soon his pace was too fast for me to keep up, but he was too polite of not leaving me behind, and I did not want to hold him back, so I told him to run on ahead. He did. Later, I found him at the end of the race. We joked that our conversation at the beginning had kept him from getting the marathon under 4 hours.

    I enjoyed the scenery and I made a few stops to take some pictures after the first long climb up. Couple people also stopped with me and took pictures of the valley and the lake.

    I just love our first long descent. There were hardly any traffic

    We had a good decent after mile 5. I love a long descent but I was careful to reign in my pace lest I exhausted myself.

    Miles passed by quickly. My goal was to reach halfway. By mile 12, I was feeling a bit tired and stopped for more pictures.

    Fishermen in their boat out on the lake

    Mile 17 finally broke me. This was a second long climb. I was a too tired to run up on the hill. It was over a mile long and so like most people ahead and behind me, I walked up.

    By mile 19, I had recovered enough to run again. I came across a runner who was struggling kind of badly. He did not know he missed an aid station. Apparently it was closed earlier and by the time I reached mile 19, they just reopened it. However, the runner in front did not see that. He was bending over stretching his legs. I passed by to see if he was OK.

    We were already some distance away from the aid station, and so only way was to go forward instead of turning around to return to the aid station.

    He had gel on him and I urged him to use his gel now. It would enable him to get to the next aid station. He took my advice. I also ate mine. We paced him, with run and walk to mile 22. It was his first time running a marathon. He was experiencing hitting the wall. He said he felt a cramp was about to happen. I urged him take it easy and not to force it.

    I knew he would be fine soon with only a few miles left. Mile 20 was my pick me up time. I started running in earnest to catch back up of a few runners who passed me.

    There was a lady, she was quite strong. I saw her still could run up the hills this late in the race. I kept pace behind and closing in a bit at a time. Soon I was within earshot and heard her breathing heavily. I knew her pace was not sustainable. Soon she paused to walk. I could have passed her but I decided to pause my pace and walked with her too and I offered to pace her. We were maybe 3 miles from the finish. I got her to mile 25. She ran a good pace behind me.

    Mile 25 had the last aid station, there she rested. I ran ahead to get water then to pour it on myself to invigorate me for the final push. The cold water helped shocking my system awake. I ran at my full speed then.

    I caught up with another runner. We ran into the finish together. I finished under 5 hours, at 4:48.

    I was happy. The sun came out. They offered pizzas and fruits. I had many plates while waiting for Caroline! I saw Jeff again as he was going home. I asked him how he did, guessing he must have finished under 4 hours. He was close and got 4:01. We laughed at that because he slowed down to talk with me and my friend Caroline and caused him to miss the 4:00 finish.

    Caroline came in around 6:00. She made a few friends who were around her pace. The two ladies were running their first marathons. One of them (Nene) said we must be pros. We laughed. I said it was Caroline 45th marathon and mine #13. Actually my real count is around 50 something for full marathons. 13 is my state count. We had our meal and pictures taken, then we parted our ways.

    I am completely satisfied with my trip and the race. My trip home was a long one due to a fairly long layover in Seattle. I went out the airport for lunch at Pike Place (farmer market/wharf) about an hour train ride away. Something I wanted to do anyway. Originally, I wanted to go to Vancouver for couple days too.

    I have been the Wharf before but this time I took the public transport out, called the Link. It was a good tour of the greater city, riding the electric train (bus). Yes, there are tent cities etc. There are more homeless people than last time I visited. There were some weird people even on my train. As I rode, a guy behind me was explaining the local history and what he encountered with some scary people.

    See the mountain in the distance! I did not remember seeing that on my last trip. People said it’s Rainier. I called it Mt Fuji (sorry)

    The rail is a technological wonder to me. We had to pay to ride but I did not see anyone paying. I went to a booth and brought a whole day ticket for $6 (fairly cheap in my opinion). They did not have a fare gate to separate outside/inside. I saw everyone just walked through a painted area. I followed the same. I doubt my ticket stub is a RFID enabled. Later on my way back to the airport, I saw one passenger (out of a thousand), scanned his Orca pass at one of the posts at a corner. I did not have an Orca pass but just a normal ticket stub. Weird. I walked through the painted line like everyone else. I don’t know how they enforced fare evaders. I am just curious because in the DC Metro area, we are pretty serious here, with alarm beeping if one tries to hop over a fare gate. I think for most people, it was a free ride.

    The rest of the trip home was uneventful. My flight home was on-time. Well, I rather not say about my trouble with Uber/Lyft. Maybe the lesson there was to get a flight in earlier. I eventually reach home but not until after 2 AM, that is for another time.

  • [Day580] giving back at Yeti 100

    Grindstone 100 is still big on my mind. After a few days of rest and pondering, I committed myself to the next year event. Pre-registration actually opened before we even ran this year event. Some runners were offended by the “money taking” move. However, I am glad they open the registration already! Because I can sign up at a discounted price. It is about $20 more than than last year, about 6% increase. Inflation, what can we say, but please take my money.

    I have been feeling great so far. After Burning River in July, I was crushed, not so much because of the DNF, but something about that race just did not sit well with me. I did not run much for two months after that. It just sapped my energy.

    I was in motion but was not getting anywhere. I tried to sign up for other races next year, but was not able to will myself.

    After reading a friend’s post, it reminded me that, I possibly was having a burnt out at the time. For doing too much in things I no longer find joy in.

    I don’t mean that I have been running too much. As for the amount of running, the “much” part is relative. Some considers running 100 miles in a month being too much. I do that amount in a weekend.

    Grindstone helped me find or rediscover my mission. I did not want to run races just for the sake of it. I know I have a longer term goal of to run in all 50 states, because that was fun to me and it gives me a reason to travel, which I really enjoy. But that my mission has a component to help others achieve their running objective! I think that what energized me over the weekend.

    Something about Grindstone, that my neighbor said I looked more recharged. This is rare because usually after doing a 100 mile, I am beat up. My neighbor was asking what has changed in me. I said just a race!

    This was for the first time, I actually finished the race feeling more refreshing than going into it. My outlook changed too. The past whole week has been great. I have been asking myself, what races to do for next year. I am upbeat. I did sign up for Grindstone again for 2024.

    This weekend, I helped a friend with her 100 mile race. She was with me at Grindstone (Lynn). It was tough for her to do two big races back to back. Her third big race is in a month from now (and I might help her in that one too). On a side note, I checked the entrant list, and saw a few familiar names of those who ran Grindstone with me last week. There are some amazing people out there. I was rooting for my runner. I am excited for her and of her ambition, and so I was willing to help what I can to get her through this.

    From Grindstone, I had more realistic expectation as a pacer. My experience helped Lynn through her difficult times.

    Just a small update, I originally wrote this entry before Lynn’s race, and was going to publish it, but somehow did not have the time. Lynn finished her run. As a pacer, I could not take any credits for it. It is her own strength, she found somewhere to get her through.

    I was with her from mile 49 to miles 85. 34 miles-ish.

    I met her around 6:30 from Damascus crew station and we arrived back 6:30 in the morning.

    She was the first person I paced who actually finished! It was not easy for her. My job on the otherhand was quite easy. I just stayed with her and made sure she’d keep moving.

    The exciting part is sharing her finish. It was her hard work, yet I got to say, I helped! Back to the topic of finding joy! Yes, I had a good time. I met several other runners at the finish, and they were surprised to see me there, and I said, I paced my runner!