In awe

Category: running

  • [673][626] 2024 C&O 100

    This past weekend, I had a chance to be at the C&O 100 helping out at an aid station and cleaning up after runners finished.  I love the race and had run it the year before.  If I could do it again racing, I would do it in a heartbeat.  But money is tight for me this year and I have to be careful in choosing which races to do. I can’t be like last year when I could just sign up every race that comes into my inbox.  Helping out at the race is the next best thing to running in it. I brought back memories I had when I ran it.

    I wrote the entry below right after my 2024 race, though I ended up publishing a slightly different and shorter version.  I still like the one I published more, but this version below I like it in a different way, maybe it expresses more what I was feeling while running it. It is more raw.  Basically, I like the race. I like racing.

    I reread it recently, and since I don’t have anything to publish this week,  So, here goes something from my old draft (rejected) folder:

    —

    This will be a big one compares to the last few races.  I did the New Taipei Marathon, and was throughly happy once got it done.  Then there was the Bull Run Run 50, which was another high point, with a result better than I expected. Last week was the Blue Ridge Marathon and I left my heart in that race, with another successful run.  Can we have more?  Indeed. Those who have been following weekly know I have a full summer of fun (in racing).

    We are going through the spring races. There will be many races before the fall season kicks in. 

    The C&O Canal 100 went well, far above and beyond what I dreamed.  I ran my personal best time.

    A bit of history.  I wrote about how I choose my races, especially the 100 mile races. There are not that many 100 mile races compares to marathons.  So, I “did my research” of which ones I want to run by either from a word of mouth or from reading some blogs. I wish I can recall the specific blogs I read about this race. There was one that left a good impression. I wish I had the reference saved.

    My interest in the C&O 100 might have started from a blog I read. I couldn’t remember which came first. The idea to run a 100 or I came across a blog that gave me the idea to do it. From reading the blog, I learned about the course and everything.

    The following events are kind of related.  In 2019 I ran the JFK 50.  A lot of the course was on the C&O Canal towpath.  I also did my first half marathon there and later did a marathon (with the Safety and Health Foundation) on the towpath, though in a section closer to DC.  Also one of my early 5k/10k runs (Fall in Love 5k) was on the towpath. It has some kind of attraction subjectively, that I need also to do a 100 miler there, because it has such a long personal running connection I built with the place. 

    What I wanted at the time was to do a one day hike (100k/62 miles) from George Town in DC to Harper Ferry. I was into backpacking/hiking at the time in 2017 and hiking on the canal was something I was building up to do.  However, each year, I kept missing the signup from the Sierra Club.  Then Covid came. The event was not held. To this day, I have never signed up.

    So what led me to decide to run a 100 mile on the canal?  I don’t remember but I was googling if I were to do a 100 mile which ones would I want to do.  And the short list were the C&O 100, the Blackbeard ‘s Revenge, Umstead, and lastly Rocky Raccoon (as recommended by a friend from Texas).  Covid closed a lot of them.  I did not get into Umstead, missed the signup, but the following year (2021), Rocky Raccoon was available for me.  C&O was too, but I did not want to wait till April and there was a risk that it might get canceled again due to Covid, so I flew to Houston, Texas and ran the Rocky Raccoon as my first 100 mile. Also, possibly, my a running friend was going to do the Rocky Raccoon, so I went there. I also wanted to travel needed for my 50 states plan.

    Now four/five years later I finally circled back to do this C&O 100.  It is not because I am a completionist, but so happened I needed a “training run” and also to pace a friend.

    It was also it happened two years ago (2022), the race sent out a call for volunteers and I responded.  During the event, I met an ultra runner (duh) who totally blew my mind of by running 100s like I was running marathons (which at the time I just got accepted into the Marathon Maniacs club, and was very proud of my standing, reaching 5th level out 9th). I have gone back to volunteer the following year because the race organization was special to me. Since so much energy is vested in this race already, it is reasonable to take the last step, to run in it.

    The last reason is, while training for the Bull Run Run around year 2022 (I trained over 3 years for BRR), I met someone (Iris, who crewed for me at Devil Dog 100 in 2022) who did both the MMT 100 and C&O 100 back to back in the same year.  It was an unimaginable accomplishment.  I  have the urge to imitate.  It blew the whole theory that you can only run one 100 mile race a year or in a season as my mom has been telling me.  It has been awhile since and finally, I feel this year is the year to go for it. Lets try for a multiple 100s!

    Side story, I am very afraid of the MMT 100 because I DNF’d there the first time and adding a 100 mile couple weeks before it doesn’t seem like a smart idea.  Anyway, I want to face that pressure.

    Now onto the race! I arrived Friday night near 9 pm. I timed it so I could go straight to bed for there was nothing to do there. I camped in the back of my truck, actually outside for the fun of it. This time unlike at the MMT 100, there was no condensation (dew) on me while I slept, which is something I always forget. (Side story: there I met my guy Jeremy for the first time, who now became a good runner partner).

    The start time was 7:00 am and we had full 30 hours to run it.  The start time was a bit late for a typical 100, but I love having the later start because it allowed me to sleep in a little bit more (the volunteers were arriving around 4 am though). I was actual up by then. I had me move my truck to where other cars were. They did not like how I parked.

    The night was cold and windy, I slept but was interrupted by the elements from time to time. I slept without a tent, which would have helped a lot in a windy time like that night, but due to being too lazy to set up and break it down in the morning, I did not use it. (I brought one but didn’t want to use it). I prefer cowboy camping.

    My goal for this run was getting it done and not break any records.  It was to me a long training run.  My friend Lynne from NY would join me and I was excited.  I promised to pace her at least for the half of it through the night portion. I was her pacer at the Rim to River 100 and Yeti 100 last fall and I did not do my job there and this time I wanted to make it up. I prepared a pace chart (28 hours), and was confident I could do it.  Normally, I don’t use a pace chart, because it gets me off my natural pace. I did it this time for Lynne.

    This race being in the local area means my other running friends would be there as well. Indeed. I saw many people I know.  Caroline was there to cheer and volunteer. I did not need to be crewed. I packed everything into one big bag and left it at the start (One big drop bag), which we would be passing by twice, at mile 40 and 70. I did not plan to leave a drop bag at Brunswick.

    The course: The course was one loop of 40 miles and 2 loops of 30 miles. 

    The loop goes like this: [(from West) North Turn around ….<—5 miles—>…Antietam (towpath Mile Marker 70) …<—5 miles—>…Dargan Bend (Camp Manidokan, 1 mile away off towpath)…<—7 miles—>… Keep Tryst, which is Harper Ferry … <—3 miles—>…Brunswick (Towpath mile marker 55)]. 

    We would start from Manidokan, then head toward Antietam and go beyond it to a North turn around point. Then we head to Brunswick and do another turnaround, then we would go back to, Manidokan, the start of the second  loop. Then a third loop and done.

    The first loop was slightly longer than the last two loops. Second/third loop we turned around at Antietam.

    During the first loop, I mostly walked the first 40 miles with my friend Lynne and then ran (15-16 min mile-ish pace, sometimes a bit faster) the next 60 miles. This year we could have a pacer starting at mile 1.4 due to security concerns (there were couple recent attacks on the towpath near the area at Point of Rock;  note, I did see a suspicious person on the AT bridge during the race at night watching us running through, but it could have been someome’s crew).

    If I really wanted to run for time, I would have several pacers with me, even early on.

    My friend initially did not want to run in this race. Somehow, it might be a late text message from me convinced her to come out. She signed up kind of late and did not have much training. I promised I would go slow. However, her lack of long runs really hampered her progress once we hit the ultra distance. I didn’t know the extend of her lack of training, and hoping she could manage, with a walk and run pace.

    On the flip side, it would help me, because I did not plan to go out fast in this race. I wanted someone to hold me back. The computer (ultrasignup) predicted my finishing time to be 25:30, and I thought it got to be joking at the time.  I believed it should be more at 28/29 hours, thus planned my race for 28 hours (with no stopping at the aid stations).  There were 20-21 aid station stops (7 total, but some we would encounter more than once). With the aid station breaks included, it should get us around 30 hours. I expected 3-6 minutes break per station. If I wanted a longer break, I would have to run faster in order to have the time.

    There were no earlier cut-offs at the beginning of the race so we could leisurely stroll along in the early part.  I did not have crew or pacer other than L. There were several other people I knew running in the race, but we were moving drastically at different paces. John was 8-10 miles ahead. Even the new guy Jeremy passed me. I only stayed with L at her pace.

    My friend Lynne kept me going until later when she was hurting from the run.  The first 10 miles were fine. We were moving fast, around 11-12 mins pace.  I wanted to tell her to slow down.  But many were going even faster than us.  They must be going for a sub 24 and that was like 95% of the runners, so likely running at 9-10 min pace.  Even people I usually think of them as slow (unnamed) were passing us.

      I knew each year there would be about 20-30 runners not going to finish. So I started to count how many runners who were behind me.  It was an out-and-back course, so I could see who were still behind me at each turn around point. I counted there were 25 runners (I underestimated, this year there were around 60 dnfs).  I felt we were mostly at the pace I wanted. As long as we were not the last bunch of runners, we would be fine.

    My friend Lynne, started slowing down after the first 10 miles.  We walked more than run.  Then the rain came as we reached Harper Ferry (towpath mile marker 62).  It was about 11 am, as the weather app predicted. I put on my rain poncho.  My friend Lynne on had her wind jacket and it was not waterproof. Soon she was wet and cold. She said she did not bring extra socks or shoes, since she wasn’t planning to run the whole 100 miles. Well good luck.  100k was her goal. I told her I had an extra jacket and socks (and shoes) in my drop bag at Camp Manidokan, but we needed to get there first and that was still 20-25 miles away.

    There was nothing we could do while still on the course (I did have one of those space reflective emergency blanket and some hand warmers on me in my hydration pack if it comes to that).

    We reached Brunswick aid station (mile 30).  There, rain came down heaviest.  I stayed under a canopy at the aid station until the storm passed.  Then we went back out heading to Camp Manidokan.  We reached Keep Tryst or Tryst Keep (I never remember which is which).  There, Caroline was volunteering. She gave me a ginger rice congee/soup. It helped keep me warm. Lynne loved the Congee too and it got her going again.  We still had 7 miles.  Lynne no longer could run.  She was in serious pain at every step. I could see her hands clenched and eyes focused. We stopped talking, and she said I could run ahead and leave her. I felt sorry she did not quit at Brunswick nor at Keep Tryst. We managed to arrived back at Camp Manidokan. 

    I already concluded, I would not stay with Lynne once we reached the Camp.  I actually went ahead first so I could get into camp to change shoes, etc and to prepare for the night portion of the race. It was about 5:15-5:30 pm, pretty much on pace for me. It would be dark soon.  I wanted to be sure I had dry clothes, a warm jacket, couple of headlamps, and food.  A volunteer prepared a cheeseburger for me while I was taking care my feet (and chafe in my private area).  This was my first meal of the day.  I had some rub burns (hot spots) that I needed to take care asap before they got worse. Lucky my clothes were mostly dry due to having a rain poncho covered me. So no clothes needed changing for me. I used baby wipes to clean myself.

    Lynne decided not to go back out. I agreed with her decision. I urged her not to use painkiller to subdue the pain, which was her original plan to get through the midnight portion. But now it was too early in the race for that, there was still 6 hours before midnight and then another 6 hours before sunrise.  The night was long, there were 60 miles to go.  It would be a suffering fest for her go back out. She could barely made it up the hill at the campsite. I believe she made the right choice to quit.

    Lap 2 (mile 40-70)

    My lap 2 and lap 3 were uneventful after Lynne left.  Going back out, I was still fresh and I followed the pace I had during the day time. I believed I hit it and gained an hour back ahead of pace by the time I reached Antietam.  My friend Jana was there  cheering and volunteering. She would still be there too later in the wee hours.  I didn’t know she was the captain of the aid station.

    I did not stay too long but headed back out after getting some food. John C came in. I was happy to have caught up to John C because he was way ahead of me in loop 1, but now he did not seem too good. He seemed to be in a terrible shape. I thought he would quit. Later seeing him again in the morning, I knew he pulled through whatever was troubling him and I was rooting for him to finish. People joke about me trying imitate the man, indeed. He ran at every race I did.

    My next target was to reach Brunswick by midnight. It got dark by the time I reached Harper Ferry (towpath mile marker 62). From there to Brunswick, I was surprised so many runners did not bring a headlamp.  Many were heading back toward Camp Manidokan (faster than me). They were running in the dark.  It soon got very dark on the towpath.  We were just couple days after a full moon but the moon had not risen yet and there were also thick cloud covering.  I don’t remember if I saw the moon at all during the night.

    I called those runners commandos.  They were practising their ninja skills or their superhero’s night vision ability.  The towpath was mostly smooth and without rocks or roots, but still there could be a million things a runner could trip on at night. Soon it was completely dark and there were still many runners running without a headlamp.  I was not sharing mine. Anyway, there were not many runners in front of me or going in my direction. Note as a PSA, I always keep a headlamp in my runner pack even while day time because you don’t know when you will need it. Too many runners were over confident in their pace of getting back to their drop bag before dark but they miscalculated.

    I wasn’t that ambitious, even if I run a 5 hr marathon pace, by mile 75, it would be around 10 pm. Yes, all those runners, were calculating based on 4 hour marathon pace, so it would still be light by the time they reach mile 75 (and would have gotten through to Manidokan to pick up a head lamp). 4:30 marathon pace would be, right on verge of getting dark, at 8:30, but that would be too risky. I would have packed a lamp at Brunswick if I were them (and of course they didn’t). Hindsight is always 20-20 they say. It goes to show, either they lack doing the planning or they were overly ambitious.

    As for me, I assume my pace was a 6 hr marathon, e.g., to reach mile 50 by 7 pm, and mile 75 by 1 am. (Sorry, I love math, hope readers get the gist, I simplify a marathon length to be 25 miles instead of 26 miles, to make mental math calculation easier).

    I arrived at Brunswick two hours ahead of my pace schedule, around 10 pm. My friend Mike E was there.  He asked if I could accompany a runner.  I said sure if the runner wanted a pacer, because I am a good pacer. I could guarantee a finish or at least get the runner to camp Manidoken by 3 am. Mike said the runner wanted to quit and I believe he wanted me to encourage them not to (we were at mile 60 [100k] by now at the time, so it was a high time to make a quit decision for a lot runners). 

    Unfortunately, that was something I could not help — I didn’t want to babysit someone. It is the runner’s own decision to go back out or not. I would not try to convince otherwise. It is hard decision for the runner. From personal experience, it is usually a multitude of issues a runner has to deal with all at once, food, foot issues, chafing, low energy, low motivation, lack of sleep, etc. When one part falls apart, everything too. It is seldom just one isolated issue to deal with. Having a crew would help manage some of those. I had own race to care about and no time for this. In the end the runner did quit. I headed back out alone.

    Running is no longer fun when things get hard in the wee hours. We were about entering that twilight zone (10 pm-4 am), the hours when our body was not used to running at, where things could get really ugly.

    As for me, I was just getting started. I told Lynne, nightfall is when the true race begins.  I got very excited for this, because I have been looking toward it. To me this is the best part of the race. The morning portion was just a rehearsal.

    My pace chart had me back at Camp Manidokan (mile 70) by 3:20 am. I was 2 hours ahead, so I expected to be back by 1:20. I reached it by 12:40, gaining 35-40 minutes. For the rest of the race, I held onto this 2.5 hours gain. Indeed, the race got hard for me after midnight as well, otherwise, I would have a 24 hr ish finish. 

    At the camp, I needed a bit of time to clean up. I don’t remember if I ate anything before heading back out from Camp Manidokan.  My clothes were wet from sweat but I did not have time to change them. I took care of some chafing issues (my private area was hurting, yes).  I ran many 100s and still haven’t figured out what the best underwear to wear, many recommend EXOskin, plus nutbutter, which I haven’t tried either of them, though in this race I seemed to zero in the right type (similar material). I am kind of allegic to lycra material, so a lot of sportwears are not good for me.  I did not change shoes or socks this time around. They were fine. My feet were in good condition.

    Loop 3.  Mile 71-100-ish.

    Now it is the final loop.  Just another 30 miles were left. By now, I was confident I could finish the race no matter what. I had roughly 12 hours to run 30 miles. 24 mins per mile pace.

    I was tired but still could run.  A volunteer asked me if I needed any food, I said, the next aid station is just down the hill less than a mile away at Dargan Bend, I could get something there rather than now.  I was going to get myself a cup of coffee but forgot.  When I got to Dargan Bend, I again forgot to grab a cup of coffee. I did eat. I asked for a vegan soup to be mixed with mashed potatoes. At the time, I did not feel like eating, but something watery made the food goes down easier. Dargan Bend had a tent set up with a fire going.  I sat down there each time to clean my shoes.  Running on the towpath, means a lot of grits found their way into my shoes  and I would have to clear them from time to time otherwise I would expect blisters forming soon. I consistently cleaned out my shoes and so had avoided having any blisters. 

    And since lap 2, I had swapped to my trail shoes, and that helped a lot compared to loop 1 when I was wearing the road shoes. I love my trail shoes. Someone (Jeremy) asked me the night before the race what shoes to recommend for this race, I said I swear by road shoes, but sadly, it was trail shoes that saved my butt! To future runners of this race, bring both, change them out if one doesn’t work.

    Now arriving at Antietam, mile 75 at 2:17 am, Jana gave me a rock with a heart shape (I need a picture).  She is someone who always find rocks in a shape of a heart. She was so happy I remembered about the rocks and she brought out a whole pitcher of rocks for me to choose.  She gave me one of the smallest.  A volunteer joked about letting a runner carry the heaviest one (1kg) back to the finish. We all laughed. She wasn’t going to give me a 1 kg. In the back of my mind was the Georgia Death Race a friend of my just ran, where they carry a 1 kg spike from start to finish to drop it into a casket at the end.  Jana is a sweet person I see at many of my races, either volunteering or running. She is a speedy runner.

    The night was quiet.  It was roughly 3:30 by the time I got back to Dargan Bend.  On the way, I saw more runners’ headlamps went out. Oh my goodness.  There were still few more hours to go before daylight. Now is the worse time to have a headlamp died. So I saw runners running in the dark again or some with very dim light. They were heading the other direction, so I couldn’t help them. These were runners behind of me. It was not poor planning, but unfortunate that their batteries died. Mine too was getting dimmer. I was praying the whole time, because on this run, the spare batteries were left in my drop bag instead of being carried on me.

    3:45 AM was the cutoff time at Camp Manidokan.  I wanted to see who was the last runner out before the cut off time. There were not a lot runners in the very back of the pack after Dargan Bend. Dargan Bend was a very busy place at this time as runners making in and out just before the cutoff (3:20-3:30). Runners have their sixth sense, so they all rushed ahead of the cut of 3:45. They liked bunched together in one big group. I was sure other runners were probably cut at Manidokan at the time and did not get to Dargan Bend while I was there.

    My last trip heading to Brunswick was pretty uneventful.  There were not many runners ahead of me. I ran for hours before coming across one or two.  I knew I could not make it under sub 24, those who were trying to make sub 24 were at least 8 miles ahead. I actually saw those runners on their way back from Brunswick as I was heading toward it. And there were a lot of them. I gave them labels, like 4 AM finishers, 5 AM, 6M, so forth. They also knew their time table too.  They were all running, none of them walk.

    Then John called me in the dark or I thought was him. I was intrigued knowing John (H) was not too far ahead. I made it my goal to chase whoever was in front of me.

    At 5-ish, I reached Keep Tryst.  My phone died so I did not know the actual time from there. Volunteers told me it would soon be daybreak. I did not want to know the time either. There was a sense of rush to get to Brunswick before day light.

    On my way to Brunswick, I was very sleepy. I was swerving left and right on the trail like a drunken runner.  I wanted to close my eyes so bad or lay down just a bit. I knew where a bench was on the trail but couldn’t find it. My headlamp then died. It was my turn to be a commando of running without a light. But luckily indeed daybreak came a few minutes later. I was saved. 

    Then I saw the real John H and Charleen. The real John and not the imaginary one I thought I heard earlier. They actually called me by name because I couldn’t recognized them as it was still dark, twilight zone. They are always smiling. They were coming from the other direction. That got me very  excited. My savior. They were only about 2 miles ahead of me. I could catch them! If I hurry.  They had maybe 7-8 miles to the finish. I had maybe 12-13 miles.  Let’s go. The race is on. I need to run almost twice as fast as John to catch him. I figure, if John is walking, I most certainly would reel him in.

    I arrived at Brunswick one last time. Emily (later I found this was the famous Emily whom I was wondering who all this time when I got into Western States 100, and here she was the same Emily serving me coffee, and I knew this Emily for two years but never made the connection), she handed me a cup of coffee.

    Actually she was not the one who made the coffee for me, but a volunteer behind the counter. She was dishing out her wisdom as an ultra runner by saying no need to make it too hot, so that I could drink it down quickly. She was right on, without me saying it. The coffee helped. They had made it in the right temperature. I then asked her what time she got. She said it is 6:07.  I said I will try to make it to the finish by 9 am. There were 12 miles left. I made it back before 8:30.

    People who saw me said I was moving strong. Charlie said I looked like being out doing my morning run like I was not tired at all. Emily said, she knew I could get it under 3 hours. I said, it is the coffee. Charlie replied, coffee helps but not like that. We joked.

    The finish.  I remembered people whom I passed earlier as I headed toward Brunswick. So now they were my targets to chase, especially John H. Behind me (on the other side), I saw the rest of the runners who were chasing their cutoffs (I think Brunswick was closing by 9 am). I saw the last runner, Judith. I was rooting for her to finish (and she did make it in with seconds to spare). She actually ran and finished this race several times before. She ran this race every other years or so, and volunteered on her off years. She has been at my other races, such as the Devil Dog, but I didn’t know her back then.

    I was praying that John would take a slightly longer break or walk a bit more, so I could catch him.  In my mind, I needed him to take a 15 min. But Charlene, his pacer is too good and kept him on pace. I was estimating, likely it would be at the final hill battle when I would catch him. I would have to run fast to catch him there. I found out at the finish, John finished just two minutes ahead of me.

    Indeed he was at the top of the hill while I was at the bottom.  Anyway, I was more than pleased to see John at the finish. My time was very good. 25:30 was a personal best. I did not plan to run that fast. I did it almost effortlessly. I am still puzzled over it, whether being slower at the first 40 miles helped me so I could run faster in the final 60 miles?

    A lot of friends came either to watch their runners or to volunteer.  Ram was there, he spent the night pacing someone, maybe Larry. I didn’t get to see Larry when he came in. My mind was fading in and out due to the lack of sleep for the next 5-6 hours. I showered, cleaned up, slept on and off a bit.  Also during the race, I had a strong urge to use the bathroom for #2, but I did not want to do it until after the finish. I was bloated.  I felt much better afterward. Everything was out of the system.  I talked to a first time finisher, Jeremy and then Charlie. They were tired but felt so happy. Also finding out who Emily C is was enough for me. It was like a piece of puzzle is completed. I was in a zen like state, happy.

    Aftermath. Other than suffering from being lack of sleep immediately afterward, I had no usual problems with legs being sore or having clamps or having any blisters. 

    This is pretty much first time that I finished a 100 and didn’t feel like dying. I was suprised my body was taking the race well. I had less fatique than when I ran in the New Taipei Marathon or the Roanoke Marathon. My body, the next few days though, was not in a runable state. More on this in another post. Basically, I am near paralyzed.

    There were two challenges. Rain came early around at mile 20-30 for couple hours.  I had a poncho on, so I did not get wet.  Shoes got wet. I changed those out when I reached the first bag drop area.

    The second challenge was after night fall, it got windier and relatively colder. I brought my winter stuff and had those, so I was toasty warm. I was also moving fine to generate enough heat until morning came.

    Nutrition was fine. This time I didn’t pack any gel or had prepared meals ahead.  I ate whatever the course had for us. I had two main meals: tacos and burgers, and some pb&j.  I snacked on fruits and chips.  My digestive system didn’t shut down. By mile 70, I felt a bit nauseated, so I held back eating a bit until the feeling gone. By morning, I was ok again. Coffee was a wonderful thing.

    I ended up finishing at my personal best of 25:30, by 8:30 am in the morning, and was able to take a long rest until evening before driving home. 

    I did not set out to chase my PR, but when I was at mile 90, it seemed doable and I still felt fresh at the time, so I went for it. Granted it was a flat course, but last year Blackbeard Revenge 100 was on a similar course, I ran a 26 hour something (26:17:50). This was my second time I finished a 100 below 30 hours.

    My next event will be much different. It will be running through streets of Atlanta. It won’t be a race in the usual sense. There won’t be cutoffs, or rules. Mostly will be self-guided. We had 18-ish hours. The pace would be faster (for me) and it would be on pavement. Temperature would be hotter.  We will see how it goes. It will be a fun run. Praying my body to be recovered in time for it.

    As this was only the beginning of many more runs.

  • [672] MMT Chocolate Bunny Run

    (2022 and 2023 report)

    Chocolate Bunny is the 4th and last official training run for the Massanutten mountain 100 race (MMT).  I am not sure how many times I have done this training run, probably twice.  It is always take place at night on the Saturday before Easter, so it is known as the Chocolate Bunny Run. 

    It covers the hardest section and final section of the race (about 25/26 miles). Most runners would be going through this section at night. It makes sense to train this at night.

    Night run has an spooky feeling and beautiful at the same time. We were blessed that all my Chocolate Bunny runs happened on a clear night with moon rising. 2022 year we had a full moon, but this year though was the final quarter. I didn’t notice it because I was already passed the Waterfall Trail.

    Last year, the Chocolate Bunny was canceled due to a mountain fire in the area.

    I have come to love the Chocolate Bunny run.  It is very cool to run at night with some of best people, whom I call friends.  I believe it is only one night run we do as a club other than the MMT race itself.  Rumors had it the club used to do a no-light night run and Bull Run night run. Probably, local law enforcement did not appreciate a bunch of runners running around somewhere in their parks, and we no longer do it except the Chocolate Bunny.

    Indeed, as fate would have it, someone (not one of our people) broke their foot on the Big Run Trail and called the police for help at 4 am.  No one was pleased to try to locate the missing injured hiker somewhere up on the mountain. We denied, it was not us. I hope the club was not implicated in it and we will continue to have Chocolate Bunny Run next year.

    This year I am not running in the race and so I have skipped the first 3 training runs (also it was because of scheduling conflict).  I was debating whether to sign up for the last training run since it happens over Easter, and there was church event (Good Friday) and then Saturday Scripture reading through the night, and then Sunrise Worship on Easter morning). I tried to do them all, but in the end, it has to be one or the other, run or church.

    My friend Jeremy will be running in the MMT this year.  So I had a private training run with him in the day time. 

    We also did a made-up MMT 3 training run a week before, which is almost like the Chocolate Bunny run but in the day time and the course was 10 miles longer.  We covered it in 12 hours.  We were proud of our ability to pull off a training run on our own without support, but placing couple water drop.

    On the day of the the Chocolate Bunny, we again went out to the course early, waking up at 5, and starting our run at 7:30. We ran part of the MMT 1 training run, since Jeremy hasn’t done that section before, mostly we wanted to cover the Short Mountain Section, which was about 10 miles.  Then we hiked up Edinburg Gap, for an out and back of maybe 4 miles, so ended up having a total of 18 miles for the day so far.  We knew we have to conserve our energy for the night time run.  So we finished our morning run around 2 pm and went into town (Woodstock) to get rested, food, and be refreshed.  In truth, we were almost spent all our energy.

    The afternoon was hot, so there was nothing much to do but to head to the Chocolate Bunny meeting point and hoping to catch some sleep in thr shades before the run.

    We drove separately and I arrived later at around 5:30 pm. I thought I was being there early to get a parking spot but many other runners were already there.  Fellow runners and friends: Bob, Jeff and Laura  were about to set out early.  When I found out, I asked if I too could go with them.  They said yes. There really no need to ask.  It was a training run, everyone could start whenever they want but it is good to have accountability. 

    I wanted an early start because I am usually the last runner to finish.  By starting early, volunteers would not have to wait at the end for too long for me to finish.  I quickly looked for Jeremy to see if he was interested in the early start.  He was. So the five of us, start at six.  Robert P. too started out early after we have left.

    We had to be careful of not to run too fast to pass the first aid station at Gap Creek ahead of volunteers showing up. Generally, it takes me about two hours to cover the Big Run section to Gap Creek. By 7:30, we already got to Crisman Hollow Road.  Larry (Rusty) our RD (race director) and his wife drove by as we came off the trail.  It was a good sign we would have aids at the aid station.  About a mile later, we arrived at Gap Creek and we were greeted by cheerful volunteers. They were my favorite people, Ram, who paced me last year and Amanda who I ran with a few times in other events.  Kevin, our trail boss was also there (he and his people are in charge of marking the course for the MMT 100 each year).

    This was my first time getting to Gap Creek while sun had not set yet. 

    After Gap Creek we climbed up to Jaw Bone and crossed Kerns Mountain. By now, the fast front runners caught up to us.  It would be a night where many runners would pass us while we were on Kerns. By 11 pm, we reached the Visitor Center, our second and final aid station, which is also about the halfway point. I estimated that it would take another 4 hours to finish the run.

    Jeremy by now had run on ahead. My other friend Wayne who started at the normal time caught up. I checked back my previous run, and it seemed tonight I was a bit slower.

    It could have been the food I ate that was not settling well, by the time I climbed up on Bird Knob, I felt I wanted vomit. Note, others also mentioned similar experience.  It could be a flu or something going on (looking back). We were spreading germs.  I was lightheaded and was feeling unwell.  Robert P. passed me and it was kind enough for him to stop to check on me.  I told him I was not feeling well and possibly due to lack of salt.  So he gave me some Salt-caps and tums.

    I slowed down my walk hoping my body would recover.  After about an hour or so, by midnight, I felt a bit better but by now, I still could not bring myself to run, but at least moving faster.  I am guessing there were 8 miles left.

    The climb up on the purple trail (Brown Hollow) was long and tough. More runners passed me.  I got to meet a new runner, Ian who had gone too far and missed a turn and he was backtracking. He helped me too so I was aware of not going too far.

    I gave him some tips that MMT 100 is doable as long as one keeps on pressing and not give up.

    He and I ran the next four miles together always staying ahead two runners who were trying to catch up to us.

    It so happened the two runners that kept chasing us were also our friends (Emily and Lance). It was good we finally learned who were behind us.

    Now there were only couple miles left. I haven’t gotten lost yet.  A volunteer joked with me earlier saying don’t get lost out there.  I tried not to.  The trail was more familar to me by now where I kind of know where to turn except the last hill up to the finish.  Somehow I got off the trail and for a brief time unable to locate it.  It took me 15 minutes trying to find it and then hiked out. I almost gave up and just bushwhacked out but ended up finding the trail again.

    My fellow friends were waiting for me at the finish.  We cheered, laughed and chatted till wee hours when the cops showed up to look for a missing hiker.  So the party ended for me.  I made a trip home.  The rest of the trip was uneventful.  I made a pitstop at a Sheetz gas station and slept till I was good enough to drive again.  Coffee helped. Days later, looking back, we were grateful to make it back home safely. 

    Lessons/thoughts:  None.  I just love to be out there whether alone or with a friend or in a group, it was a good run.  My weekend was all of the above.  We thank volunteers of sacrificing their sleep and time for us to be able to enjoy and train up on a race.  Actually, it is better to sleep at the trail after the run instead of making the long drive home. I would still be able to make it to the Easter Worship on Sunday.

  • [671] BBR 50

    Bull Run Run 50

    (2024)(2023)

    It is my favorite race from my favorite running club, the VHTRC people.  BRR and MMT are my two beloved events, if readers haven’t noticed yet from my  posts of last few years. 

    I mentioned them day in and day out.  My spring training was always occupied by these two events.  Why?  The people, the challenge, the grit and everything about ultra running are captured in these two events. See my 2023 and 2024 race report.  I have been repeating the same things each year report to say I love these two events a lot.

    This year I am not running the Massanutten 100 (MMT), so Bull Run Run 50 (BRR) is my only club race I am taking part in. 

    This year, unlike the last two years, I did not have time to join the group runs but instead I trained on my own.  I started the training in middle of December, when it was still winter, immediately right after the Devil Dog 100 mile. 

    I went on the trail almost every week, sometimes near my house at the Centreville side, but  my focus this year was mostly around at the around the Fountainhead, called the Do-Loop.

    The reason why I needed to train at the Fountainhead was because on my first race there in 2023, I got lost.  Last year during the Do Loop training run there, I got lost again. Ram, a friend of mine, then took me into the Do Loop and learned it before the race.   This year, a few times on my own into the park, I got lost too in the Do Loop.  So I told myself I need to know that section so I would do fine on race day.

    The trainings paid off.  My race went without a hitch. I finished at 12:35 elapsed time.  My time was an hour slower than last year, which could be because my body was not recovered from a 40 mile run the week before.  

    However, from other metrics such couple 5k races I have done, I am getting slower with age, and possibly from inadequate/improper training this winter/spring season.

    Some lessons learned:  I was reminded not to goof off during a run. Some people, every race is a race, meaning, it has to be a PR attempt (for a personal record). It demands a full concentration.  There is no such thing as a social run. 

    I do take my race seriously, such as arriving early, sleeping early, packing my things ahead of time, studying the course, memorizing the pace table and cutoffs chart as well as knowing where the aid stations located, and creating a race day plan and strategy. Racing is a lot of work. 

    However, the moment the race begins, all the stressing of racing faded away.  I was a happy camper and I wanted to be in the moment and laugh and enjoy everything, the view, the flowers, the people, and temperature and such. 

    I would stop to take photos.  I would talk and laugh with volunteers.  I even waited for a friend at an aid station.  Then a volunteer reprimanded me, saying, what are you waiting and goofing around for, and dare me to run the course over twice (100 mile in a day).  He was half joking and half serious. He himself has done the feat of running a 100 mile in a 50 mile event when he was his prime. I am never come close to that level of fitness, but I understood the mentality. One has to be serious to attempt it.

    Indeed, volunteers took their time off so we could have our race, we better make it worth their time.  This was a race and not a weekend training run. 

    Treat it as such, I told myself.  To me, it reminded me to pick up my pace or else, I might not even finish. 

    The race got hard after mile 12.  This year I did not cramp up like a previous year.  Still my legs were tired.  I ran with a good pace to the first Hemlock, arrived basically the same times as last year at 10:06 am (a tad slower maybe). The race started at 6:30, so it was 3:35 elapsed. Hemlock was around mile 18. 

    All my friends were around.  Wayne caught up to me.  I passed Dan.  Jamie and Jill too were there.  I was in a good company.  These people usually were faster than me but today I was in their company. 

    But my legs were tired.  So not long later, all my friends passed ahead of me except for Scott.  Now Scott has always been a stronger runner than me.  I was surprised when he and I left the station together and we ran a few miles together.  He told me today was not his day.  I could see that he would walk more than run.  However, he was still gaining distance ahead of me.  I did not chase him but I ran at my own race, so soon he was too out my sight and I ran by myself.  I learned by now, there were certain people, I could not beat and I would just ruin my race if I had tried to keep up.

    So all my friends disappeared ahead of me.  Some “slower” people I passed earlier overtook me too.  It was fine.  Patricia was one I overtook, now she was passing me.  My strategy was the same, let people pass and focus on my own race, such as telling myself to drink, to eat, and to move at a constant pace of not too fast nor too slow.

    Patricia was one of those few would I ended up with staying together for a long time for the rest of the race. I believe, we ran 30 miles together. Sometimes, she disappeared far ahead but sometimes I found her catching me up again from behind.  I must have passed her during an aid station.

    I arrived to the next aid station, Bull Run Marina. It was joyous. I know the volunteers there. They got me everything I needed.  Wayne was there too but then he took off ahead of me again. I believed others did as well.  It was similar to the earlier stations. I went onto the next station.

    Wolf Run Shoals station.  It was long and hot.  My feet were tired.  I walked more than run. Me and several others were around me.  Less people were passing me now.  Maybe a group of 7-8 people caught up to me then passed me.  I called them a train.  They passed me like a train.  I did not care.  The best thing happened to me was my other friend David somehow caught up.  We were together earlier at the start and ran maybe first 5-7 miles together.  But he was a tad slower and I have left him after the Centreville aid station, but now twenty miles later, he caught back up or I really had slowed down quite a lot. I got him into running in this race and it was good to have a fellow friend running along side.

    I refueled with some chicken noodle broth.  Q, another volunteer I know,  was helping at the aid station and we joked around. I got myself some ice cold stuff.  Off I went with David out the station. 

    We had a series of climbs up to the Fountainhead.  David was laboring on the slopes.  I was fine.  David then would run at a quicker pace on the flatter section, but I would catch up once there were hills. Together we made it to Fountainhead by 1:15 pm, 6:35 elapsed, this was mile 28, a little over halfway. In theory, if we keep the same pace, we could finish it under 13 hours.

    But time was getting tight.  I knew during the first year, 1:15 was the time I arrived at Fountainhead too, and that was my slow year.  The Do-Loop is a section that has a lot of climbs and it might take me 3 hours to get through them.  4:15 pm was Fountainhead cutoff, meaning we have to finish the Do Loop and get back at the Fountainhead by 4:15 pm.

    David and I set off after a brief stay at Fountainhead. I did not have the appetite to eat real food.  Jeff, another volunteer I know, offered his hamburgers. I know from past races, his food are delicious.  You don’t pass up his food. Today though, the burger tasted dry and the sun was too hot for me to take in hot food.  He said try it with ketchup and added ketchup for me.  Ketchup helped get the burger down.  Jeff made the burger bite size (like a restaurant slider). It gave me the energy I needed for the Do Loop. 

    One crazy thing I did was to fill my pack with only ice.  This was a bad idea.  I thought the ice would melt and I would have ice cold water.  The thing is, the melting was happening too slow.  I did not have much water to drink for the next 4.5 miles. The ice method worked in the previous section when I was not drinking that much, but here, I was thirsty and it took forever for the ice to melt. It took us a long time before we arrived at the real Do-Loop.  I think a little over  an hour to go 4.5 miles. 

    David was saying, this does not look familiar.  I said of course, during the Do Loop training, we never run in the White Loop.  We had to do the “White Loop” first before doing the Do Loop.  It was new ground for us.  Luckily, I had the experience from my previous two years. The turns in the White Loop was vaguely familiar.

    We finally reached mile 32.9 at the “Do Loop in” aid station.  The Do Loop itself is only a 2.5 mile loop.  Time was ticking. I felt, I must finished the Do Loop before 3 pm to have a chance at finishing the race.  I believed I arrived back at 3:00.  The Do Loop only took me 45 minutes.

    At this time, I needed to get to the Fountainhead by 4 pm.  Aid station there closed at 4:15.  It also took me about 45 minutes and I arrived at 3:45 pm. 

    On my way out of the Do Loop, I still saw people coming in.  I think the Do Loop station closed at 3:45 pm.  I saw 5-6 runners were heading in, including some runners I know.  I fistbumped them and gave them encouraging words. Then I saw the sweepers.  They were running in from the Fountainhead, very lively and full of energy. I told myself, I really need to get this race done before they over took me.

    From Fountainhead to Wolf Run Shoals on the way back was just as long timewise.  After 30 minutes of running, I passed the mile marker 1.  I think it was misplaced.  I must have run 2 miles by then.  And some trail hikers I passed said to me I still have two miles to go before the aid station. BS.  At that time I did not know who was right. I told myelf, soon I would arrive at the aid station.  Indeed a few more minutes went by and I arrived at the Wolf Run Shoals station.  The trail marker was likely wrong.

      After Wolf Run Shoals, I just had to repeat the course back to Hemlock.  I started passing various people.  Many of them were not feeling good.  Some sat down on a rock waiting to cool off. 

    I saw some of my friends when I got back to the Marina.  I was surprised seeing Scott and Dan.  I have left David in the Do Loop, but was hoping he would make the cutoff.  Marina closes at 6 pm.  I was there at 5:45, which should be enough to finish by 7:30, with 5.4 miles left. Patricia also arrived at the same time I did.

    Joe, a runner I met at Stone Mill was out running ran up to both of us and I found out he was also a friend of Patricia.  Joe got into Western States this year.

    On our back to the finish. Joe ran along side of us and we had a brief chat.  I kept my mind occupied. I caught up to Scott and then Dan as I pushed for the finish.  The moment we saw blue bells, we knew we wete in the Hemlock general area.  Dan told me about a bench they placed in memorial to a former club member Ed Cappacino (not his real name, just a name we called him) as a marker exactly a mile to the end. I never met Ed before he died, but I love the bench there. I think it was 6:55.  I was a bottom of the hill.  I was going to walk with Dan, but he told me to hurry up and finish. 

    He was right. I should not goof around. So up the hill with my best effort and run about quarter mile and I arrived back with crowd cheering. Dan and Scott and Patricia came in a few minutes after me.

    Blue bells: The course was filled with wildflowers such as blue bells

    We stayed an hour more waiting for a few others to finish.  My friend David came in.  I was exhausted.

  • [670] Hone Quarry 40

    Dayton, Virginia. 

    It seems like a classic race in our area but this was only the third year.  I have heard about it last year, when a friend recommended it to me as a good training run for the Western States, but due to scheduling conflict or possibly it was being sold out, I only got to run it this year.

    I love it.  It has some big climbs. Not just big but out of the world big, that I can only compare it to Wasatch or Grindstone level climb or maybe Massanutten kind of climbs.  I almost fainted at one of the midway climbs.

    I had gone expecting it to be easy because a few months ago, I have been there to scope out the trails. To me it was just a 50k with 10 miles (a lot) of road running added on.  I was hoping to get it done in 10 hours.

    The race allowed for 13.25 hours so I knew I had plenty of time.

    We stayed in Harrisonburg overnight, so that we could arrive the next day early for the bib pickup.  It was maybe 20 minutes away from the city.  The race started at a normal hour of 7:00 am after lighted. We were advised to carry our headlamps but it was not really needed.  I still carried mine just in case.

    The first four miles were on the road.  It gave a fast easy run to the Hone Quarry park/trailhead. 

    Runners gradually sorted out according to their respective paces. I was running with two new friends Scott from New York and a young man, I believe is from Richmond.  Scott is a seasoned runner having done many tough course.  He was preparing for a 350 miler.  As for the young man, this was his second ultra. He has done the High Bridge 50k (or Night Train 100k) which was almost all flat.  This would be a step up.  It seemed he stayed back to feel the course first.

    Once we entered the trail, my pace slowed down a lot.  I was then left alone most of the day.  A few stronger runners caught up and passed me.  Then heard my friend from behind when we got to the first out and back where there a hole puncher to punch our bib.  Some runner was fidgeting the thing to get it to punch to no avail.  I tried too but was not able to get a hole to punch. Sissou, Caroline’s friend came up and punched all our bibs for us. She has a stronger grip than all of us.

    The view was amazing. 

    Lover Leap rock: I took this to prove I have been to the out and back section since I was having a hard time with the hole puncher.

    We continued on to the first aid station at mile 6.  It was too early for a break.  We had plenty of fluid. I was still full from my breakfast. In fact, I was too full.  I felt I still had a pound of steak in my tummy from the night before and two pounds of Thai Druken Noodle I just ate few hours early.  The noodle was not settling well.  Every jump I hopped, I felt the stuff inside was bouncing along.  I needed a big belch to relieve the tension.  Eventually, it came. I was a happy camper. Looking back, the heavy meals were what I needed for this race. It ran more like a 50 miler.

    After the aid station, we had 7 miles of climb (maybe 5 and 2 miles of descent).  It seemed a lot but it was not too bad. It was steeper at the beginning then it began to ease out.  We were still moving upward most of the time. Eventually, we reached a split in the trail. We turned right for Union Spring (aid station).  The aid station was still a couple miles away, but this is another out and back, a lollipop section.  I was able to see the faster people heading back already.  I recognized many.  Soon, we made another right, at the top of the lollipop loop.  There was a sweet down hill section that I could really open up my strides.

    I was glad to finally reached the aid station and also caught up to 4-5 other runners.  I stayed here a bit to rest up and refilled my pack.  I was only at mile 12.5 and I already finished 1.5L of water.  I mixed 50-50 Tailwind and water to my pack. Grabbed some peanut butter and jelly squares and was ready to head off.  The 4-5 runners ahead of me were already long gone. Sissou came up from the road, I waved and headed out.

    We started climbing again, maybe about a mile long.  The guys in front of me were slowly losing stream and I was able to catch up and passed them.  Before the highest point of that section, I was able to catch up to Bruce and friend, who has done this course the prior year, whom I was not expecting to pass until maybe very end of the day since he did the course in 10 hours. 

    They were comparing their time at the summit.  This year they did it 10 minutes faster reaching the second summit in 4 and half hours. This was my first year, so there was no standard for me to base off of.  But catching up to Bruce was a good thing.

    He along with others let me ran down the other side first and it was maybe 4-5 miles still to the 2nd aid station at mile 19.5.  I was hoping to be there before noon. 

    After the down hill stretch, we had about a mile plus on the road to run once we left the trail for the HQ camp aid station.  It was a boring stretch. It was hot in the middle of the day on a jeep road.  A positive side was I could wave and say hi to those who were heading back out.  They were from the middle of the pack.  Many of them are about a mile or two ahead of me.

    I reached the aid station at 12:35, an hour before closing.  There were not many behind me.  Bruce and I headed back out on the jeep road to get back on the trail for the biggest climb of the day.  We came across Caroline as she was heading to the aid station.  She had about 30 minutes before the cutoff.  For us, we were heading to the waterfall for our second bib punch.  I came across Kiran, Jamie and Jill, the happy bunch.  Kiran and I shared many miles on the MMT course last year.  It was a happy reunion.  Jamie too, I met her at my first MMT, thinking I could out run her but in fact blew up my race. It is funny to me now looking back that one has to be extremely patient on the trail.  They started on the hill maybe 15 mins ahead of me.

    This hill was brutal.  I believe I started climbing around 1 pm and the sun was out in full force.  It was the hardest climb. Eventually I caught up to Kiran and Jamie and Jill.  Kiran was having some leg cramp issue.  I offered her my salty food, but she said she had some in her pack.

    Eventually, we reached the top and followed along the jeep road to Flag Pole, mile 25.  Jamie and Jill were then resting at one of the open areas, campsites or knobs. I thought they had quitted because Jamie was on her back on one of the big rocks, chilling.  I stopped and chatted. They seemed alright.  The aid station was literally maybe a thousand steps away.  We were saved.  I had ran out water again and was feeling a bit dizzy.  A dude decided to drop there.  I glad to see the young man I met earlier in the day.  He was in good spirit and sprinted off.  I saw him many times later.

    Kiran too decided to head out but I still needed maybe another few more minutes.  Jamie and Jill then arrived.  They got what they needed and I headed out with them.  However, their pace was too fast for me.  I dropped back to my own walking pace while they ran and so soon they were out of my view.

    From Flag Pole to Big Hollow Station was not too far, about 4-5 miles.  I had hiked this section previously and the trails and the turns were familiar to me. It was mostly jeep road.  A dude I was with earlier were sprinting down the road in big strides.  I too decided to let gravity to do the work.  This was also a short 0.7 mile of out and back and so I saw again familiar faces of friends who were ahead of me.  They gave me a heads up that the aid station was just ahead. 

    I arrived at the aid station at 4 pm,  mile 29.  The aid station would close at 4:35 pm.  I was wondering if my friend Caroline would make it in the next 30 minutes. This race was tougher than I tought.  Next section would be the longest section, 8 miles, and I had 3 hours to reach it (by 7:05 pm).

    Helen and I started off together heading back uphill on the road.  It was a long road.  I think we stayed on the jeep trail for the next 4-5 miles.  The view was wonderful.  Time ticking by, 4 pm, 5pm, 6 pm, and I was wondering how much farther to go.  Helen asked me if 7 pm was the cutoff.  I said yes.  We needed to get there before 7.  I was confident both of us could reach it. I checked the map, we should be still on the course.  In my mind, last time I was on this, it only took an hour or so it seemed.  We should be descending soon. Not today. I didn’t get lost, I was just tired.  So I munched on food I brought out from the aid station.

    The jeep road eventually turned into a single track.  It became more technical and interesting with lots of ups and downs.  We climbed maybe a dozen or so ups and downs but it was still always heading the same direction.  Eventually, I saw the trail sign of Heart Break Trail with mileage (2 miles). Yippy, only two miles left.  It was one last climb they say on one of the race signs.  Actually there were like 4-5 climbs always going up, but I had my second wind so hills not were not an issue.  I started passing couple more people.

    Then I knew I reached the top.

    Top of Heart Break hill

    I don’t remember when I got to the last aid station, likely at 6:15 pm.  I was out of water again and filled up maybe a cup since it was about a 5k to the finish (they said 4 miles, but I told myself, it was just a 5k on the road).

    I saw couple more guys ahead of me, so I chased them.  I caught up to another young man and he said he was cramping and he had tried everything.  I offered him my gel but he said he still had plenty of those. So I asked if he wanted some gummies, tossing him my bag of gummies.  He took them.  I used my first gel of the day there for myself. I started off running leaving him behind.

    Not long later, maybe 10 minutes or so, I heard fast footsteps approaching from behind.  As courtesy, I was prepared to step aside to let the runner pass, but as I turned around, it was this dude, the young man I gave the gummies to. He was all happy and running fast.  H*ll no, he is not passing me today.  I pushed off harder.  Really, there was no way I could keep up with his pace.   I figured I must be moving at a 12 min pace, he was likely doing 10 min. 

    Later he told me he was doing a 9:30 pace, fastest mile in the whole race.  We were grinning from ear to ear. He, of course, passed me and said something.  I said, no matter our pace, we’d push to the gas station (since that is the end of the road, and a turn). I shouted after him, to go, go faster. I did not know how much farther to the finish but I knew we had to make it to the gas station.

    I felt I had plenty of gas in my tank and pushed harder.  Our gap got wider and wider and soon he was outside my voice range.  I then saw the gas station ahead and I turned and looked there’s the church on the hill with a big cross.  That was our finish line.  The dude ahead of me already reached it.  I gave myself a finish push and soon arrived there also a few minutes from behind.  I finished at 7:08 pm, so it was 12:08 elapsed (hr:mm).

    This was not even a big hill, but we had to climb many like this. Oh the misery.
    The 15 foot waterfall or something, a little disappointed and there were many flies nearby. Proof I was at the hole puncher (dangling from a string).
    yuck, don’t zoom in. flies crawling everywhere. They could be bees. My friend said she was stung

    Conclusion:  It was an amazing race.  I had a good time.  I did not like the jeep trails that much but it was also a blessing to have a faster run.  The race had a mix of trails, big climbs, rolling down hills, and a good chunk of road portion. After such a difficult day, I did not mind having a fast run on the road at all. Will I do it again?  Iffy, unless I am training for something that requires the big hills workouts.  

  • [669] Virginia Marathon

    Things are getting busy for me, so I won’t be able to do a long post like I always want.

    It has been a long time since I ran a marathon.  Back in the days, I did like 4-5 every years.  Last year, I only ran twice.  This year, this was my first.  I have been running a lot, and mostly ultras the past year.  The marathon distance I love was but had to put away to focus on the 100 mile distance. Now finally, got to do it again.

    Some stats:  I ran a total 14 one-hundred-mile races up to now and last year, I did eight of them.  In about the same time frame, I ran 15 (states) marathons.  It showed a transition from going from marathons to ultras. (I haven’t counted up exactly how many marathons I have done, maybe guessing around 30).

    In between, I ran 50k and other distances like recently a 40 mile, or a timed event such as 6 hours or 12 hours.  In total I have done about 90 marathons and ultras combined (with a few dnfs, so the exact number of races finished is not certain). Yes, I likely with reach 100th race this year.

    I love doing a marathon as much as running a 5k.  I felt marathon is my thing.  50k, 50 mile, or a 100 mile, those distances are fun, but nothing is like running a marathon.  I can get really fast at some early portion, then settling in a good pace, and then struggling to reach the finish line, and the relief once stepping across it.

    We had an excellent spring weather.  It was cool and chill in the morning.  We arrived at a little after 6:30 in the morning (set 4 am alarm clock, with hitting the snooze button once, but finally got up at 4:30).  It was about an hour drive for us.

    I packed a can of chicken noodle soup.  It was not enough and my friend shared with me her peanut butter banana sandwiches and apple slices.  Still they were not enough, but oh well, I got to run with what was in me.  I had a heavy dinner the night before too, but I also ran a half marathon (Annapolis Half, no write-up posted yet, and might not get around to it), so maybe, I was lacking some calories.

    The course was beautiful but hilly.  It had a total 3000 ft of elevation gain, a small mountain (Buck Hollow Trail, we did a week earlier, has a climb has 2600 ft, from parking to Summit, note for international audience, meter conversion ft, is about 1/3 of it), which is about 1000 meters.

    early first mile

    Our start time was 8 am.  The sun just rose for not too long. The first mile was not easy.  We immediately got some rolling hills. I just took it slow.

    One hour in, we reached mile 4.  I got into my pace.  We had a segment of 6 miles (about 3 miles out and then 3 miles back). It was still rolling hills.  I love the out and back because you get to see the runners that are ahead as they loop back and then we get to see the runners from behind.

    They had sweepers!  Often sweepers for marathons are done in a van or truck, but this race, they had couple volunterts at the last runner following.

    I saw a few of my friends.  Christine and Chris.  We ran Stone Mill two years ago with her husband and she volunteered the last one. Caroline’s friend took a picture of me. I made new friends.

    My other friend David was running in the 20 mile distance called a merikos.  I have never heard of a merikos.  He started half hour later.  My goal was to catch up to him.  It was likely impossible but I was like shooting the moon to try it anyway.  David actually ran a minute per mile pace faster than me, so really no chance in that for me to catch up.

    At mile 11 after the first out and back, we saw the half marathon people joined in.  They took the righthand branch and we were heading for a left turn for another out and back with the merikos runners.  Merikos runners were actually coming back so I saw David, thinking, I was maybe 30 minutes behind.  In reality, I was closer to an hour behind by then.  The going out portion was mostly uphill.  It was another nearly 6 miles (3 miles out and 3 miles back). I reached the top around 10:45 at maybe mile 14-15.

    On this portion, I met new friends, Joseph and MaryJane.  They were like couple minutes behind me. I was able to chat with Joseph a bit. He came down from NYC and this was his second marathon and he will tackle a 50 miler in May.  Quite a feat.  It was like looking at my young self.  He was so enthusiastic.  MaryJane and I were ones who hooted loudly at every runner we saw, shouting “Good Job, your doing great!” and such.  It was fun for me.

    We got to mile 17.  We joined back into the main crowd now with runners having red bibs (half marathoners), light blue bibs (merikos), and dark blue/black bibs (marathons).  It was still another out and back but the climbing was less severe so felt fast for me.  I think the out portion was mostly downhill.  By noon, I reached the turn around point around mile19.5.  Now only six miles to the finish.  It was mostly uphill now.  I was hoping to get back by one pm.  Feet were heavy.  I walked ocassionally.  Then there were 3 miles left.  Wanting to use the rest room, I stopped to do it, thinking, hey it might take me another hour to get back to the finish, better to stop now.  After my brief break, I decided to try finishing before 1:30 pm.  The time was 12:55.  So I busted out running near a 10 minute pace. It felt fast.  I crossed the mat at 1:25.  My official net time was 05:25:50.  It is one of my slower marathons, when in the past, my acceptable time was around 4:30. 

    Still, I think I had fun. It was a beautiful course.  I met wonderful people and ran with my friends. We stayed around for chocolate ice cream, chocolate milk, and to see other people finishing. Anna and Yana came in. They were from the Virginia Happy Trail and said we will see each other again at the Bull Run in two weeks. I don’t remember seeing them before until at this race. We met some other 50 states people.  A family/friends came down from NY and did the Annapolis Half the day before and then ran the Virginia half marathon. I said me too, I did that. They took our photos at the finish for us.

    We waited for our last friend to come in.  She did it.  It was a waiting game because we don’t know if she had dropped but the course official said the sweepers were a mile away, so we knew it would not be too long.  Then our friend showed up. Happy to see the appreciation.  David probably waited for a long time for me too, so in the same way we waited for others.

    That is the conclusion of my 2025 first marathon (and might be the only one).  A look back at 2024 first marathon (in taipei, here). The Virginia Marathon also reminded me of Lake Hayden Marathon I did in 2023. It also reminds me the Gettysburg Marathon (2020).  People asked me, which marathon is the best, I said all of them.  This one is the best so far for this year 🙂

  • [668] Hiking Buck Hollow & St Patrick’s 5K

    It has been a long while since I went on a real hike!  Hiking was how I get out into the woods before I discovered trail running.  I used to do it all the time along with backpacking.  I haven’t touched my backpack since the Corona/Pandamic.

    I missed doing it.  I started my blogging journey since picking up ultra running.  Most of my entries were about running.  My last time out on the Buck Hollow trail was recorded here (2018).  

    Not that I don’t like hiking any more but when you can run on it, why hike? Unless something happened, hiking was not an option.

    So I dug out my backpack.  Actually I got a hand-me-down pack from my cousin and I needed to test it out to make sure it was comfortable for an up coming trip to the Grand Canyon (still in planning stage).

      For the last 5 years, I have not done any backpacking.  So this past Saturday was a perfect time.

    I drew up the plan to hike up on Buck Ridge, cross the Appalachian Trail and Skyline Drive, and ascend to Mary’s Rock and then back track and use Buck Hollow Trail to loop back to the car.  We parked on 211, just a few miles west of Sperryville.

    I have not been back to this section of the trail since forever.  I used to go there all the time.  My memories were not as good.  So I printed out a trail guide from HikingUpward and followed it.

    Since it was on a weekend, I was afraid the small trail parking lot would be overflowed.  We planned to arrive early at sunrise to avoid the crowd.  As perfect a plan it was, we slipped by two hours and did not start until 9:15.  We were lucky there were still a few parking spots left.  The plan B and C was to either park further down and use Pass Mountain Trail (not as scenic) or to drive to Skyline Drive and use one of the bigger lots there. 

    I loaded my pack with the usual stuff, clothes, supplies, water, minus the tent, and food.  Originally I wanted a fully loaded bag to pretend going on a camping trip but the weight was too much, so I took the tent and food out. It saved about 10 pounds.

    A friend told me, to be ultra light in packing, is not the brand of equipment I am carrying but the philosophy of what to bring and leave behind.  I want to bring everything including multiple sets of the same thing. I am the opposite of an ultralight trail person.

    I knew the pack was going be heavy.  On a flat and none technical trail, it is doable.  But when you are outdoor on a technical trail, and here at Buck Hollow, the first thing we had to do was to hop across some rocks.  Boy was the pack heavy.  I remembered the last two times, I almost fell in the creek.  This time, I did a bit better.  I was standing there rehearsing multiple times in my head of how to jump across and finally did it without incident.  Phew.  My feet remained dry.

    The hiked upward was uneventful.  It just climbed without end.  We got to  a fork and I asked my friend which way she wanted to go.  I had in mind of going to the right but I like choices.  My friend chose left.  In normal time, I probably would take right and race up to see who get up first.  Note, I already knew both trails would meet back together a few miles later.

    So we took the left branch.  It was steep climbing.  By 11 ish we reached the end.  We came across other hikers out with their dogs.  Some were friendly and we took our time to chat and said our hello.

    We also came across couple runners.  Though their names escaped me now, but we have seen them (or they’ve seen us) in other races. We chatted too.  All trail runners are friends when we are out on the trail.

    We then hiked the last mile up to Mary’s Rock.  I have been there before but it was a long time ago.  

    We had an amazing day because the sun was out but there were some mist and the clouds form some thick stream like ice cream.  

    We had lunch up on the rock.  By lunch, I brought like 5-6 fig newtons.  I already ate all of them during the ascend.  My friend shared with me her sweet potatoes and tangerines/Hallos or Cuties.  Then it got crowded. Groups of people showed up, there were like 20+ people around us.  We stayed there long enough and so we needed to descend.  

    The coming down was faster.  It was all downhill.  Sperryville was close by and was a perfect spot for a reach late lunch or an early dinner.  Forgot what the place was called, Hidden Twig or something.  It was a good ending to a perfect day.  (total: 9 miles)

    ****

    Next day I ran the Lucky Leprechaun, a 5K St Patrick’s Day Run with Potomac’s PR Race, my local shoe store.  I ran it before but recently as in the last couple years, longer races like 100 miles have taken over my schedule and shorter races, I just couldn’t squeeze them in. 

    This weekend finally I got to circle back to do one of my local races.  The course was familiar to me.  I ran it once or twice before.  

    We arrived early so as to get parking. We got a street parking. Note parking was not an issue, but street parking there were only limited spots available.  The sun was just rising.  When we went into the PR store, it was still dark outside but by the time we got out bibs, it was already lighted.  Not that there were a crowd in there but I was amazed how fast the time went.

    The hour before the race was quickly passed.  We were first looking for coffee and then for bathroom.  Then the starting line.  Reston Town Center is huge.  I always get lost there. 

    I ended up had to hold in without finding a bathroom.  (Bathroom/Pottyjohns were located at the purple parking lot like in the past, but I could not find them until at the end of the race).

    Off we went.  There were quite a lot of runners.  First mile had some wicked hills.  I run ultras so it was not that bad but I was not warm up yet so,  I walked the hills.  I felt tight in my calfs and shins.  Better to ease it in than running too hard.

    By mile two, I caught up to my friend and was about to pass her.  She planned to walk it. But maybe because of some friendly competition, she took off. 

    I was about to hit my strides by now.  Things were loosen up.  Then came more hills. 

    Mile 3 seemed forever to get to.  People in the back surged forward.  I felt still maintaining a good pace of 11 min ish pace. 

    The finish was on a slight uphill. 

    Note, then I saw the bathrooms!  Hey, just what I needed.  Better take care of business first, I told myself.  I saw another runner did the same.  Now there was no line for the bathroom, so I hopped in on one. I was sure maybe later, they might not be quite empty.

    So  I crossed finished after coming out, finished 37:09.  Not bad. It was under 12 min pace.  If I could keep this pace for 24 hours!  I could run a 100 miles.

  • [667] Seneca Creek Weekend (2025)

    My finishing times at Seneca Creek

    • 2025: 7:48
    • 2024: 7:44
    • 2023: 7:38
    • 2022: (probably schedule conflict)
    • 2021: 7:14
    • 2020: 6:29

    My finishing times through the years indicated I am getting slower.

    It is fun to run fast but also fun not having to push the pace too hard.

    What reasons why I am slower? Maybe I weight a bit heavier than before.  I have not trained to run hard and fast.  Also my foot hurt and not at 100%.  I have been resting but I might have put too many dings on my left foot.  100 milers do make run slower.  Also, I am not pushing the pace as hard as before.  My competitiveness has gone a bit down.

    Almost every year I run in the Seneca Creek 50k.  I missed one year I think was due to scheduling conflict with the Newport-VA Marathon. 

    This year weather might have been one of the best compares to last year and 2022.  There’s a rainy year and snow year and as far as I remember always cold.  This year too.  We started relatively warm in the 40s and later rised to mid 50s but I felt chilly and stayed in the car with the heat on until 5 minutes before the start.  My friend and I arrived early by 6:15 to secure a parking spot with couple steps from the start. I was pampered.  I remembered former years, I would be out there in the cold jumping around to warm up.

    The race was uneventful.  We started by running down maybe half a mile on the road and then entered the trail.  And couple miles later we passed the Riffleford aid station on our way out.  I knew we would not be back until at least 6 hours later.

    Because I ran in the race a few times, everything was familiar.  The first aid station was 7.5 miles away.  One needs to be patient. I sat on my pace and actually slowed down to a walk.  I think at 2.5 miles, I rolled my ankle (the weak one) not sure why.  I don’t think I roll it but might have kicked a root and it started hurting.  I could not put any weight on it.  So I limped for couple miles and people passed me by.  One even asked (I think was Dr. cooper) if I was okay.  I was fine.  I felt I could at least walk to first aid station and might have to call it the end there.  However, after couple miles my pain went away and I started picking up speed.  I arrived at Rt 28 aid station with My friends Robert and Caroline.

    I knew I had to take it easy and Robert went out ahead of me.  I went for the potty.  After some rest, I went out.

    The second Aid station at Berryville Road was also about 7 miles away.  It was a long way.  My goal was to get there by 11.  The aid station closed at 12:45.  I forgot my split time now but I remembered I was on pace compared the week before, maybe at around 10:35-10:45.

    Then, I was hoping to get back to RT 28 aid station (5.5 miles) through the Seneca Creek Trail by noon.  This was at mile 19.  The week before, I was able to do 20 miles in 4.5 hours. So I was hoping the same this week. I think I arrived at 12:15.  Not bad, a bit over my target.  I did kind of stop to talk with Bruce, who will be going go to Western States this year.  I was hoping to run with him today on the trail together but our pace did not match up, so he let me to run a few minutes ahead.

    After the 2nd Rt aid station, the next one was at Riffleford Rd.  It was about 7.5 miles using the Seneca Ridge Trail but I believe it must have been 8.5 or more.  It took forever to get there.  I arrived exhausted around 2:30 pm.  We were an hour ahead of the cut off at the decision point.  I was hoping to finish by 3 pm. 

    We had about 5 miles around the lake left.  There I met my fellow friend  Elliot from the Stone Mill and the Catoctin run.  Elliot was moving strong and I was tailing him hoping to catch up.  I finished a few minutes ahead of him but he started like 15 minutes late so he bested me by the bib time.

    I came in a bit after 3:15 pm and I spent the rest of the afternoon cheering other runners as they finished.  Bruce came in.  Then Caroline came in. It was a great day.  I was tired but satisfied. I stopped at Mc Donalds for some fries and chicken nuggies to celebrate, plus an shamrock shake.  I have been wanting a good milk shake for a long time.

    The next day, my friend Jeremy and I went back out or the lower portion at the Muddy Branch Trail and ran 10 miles out and back to the C&O Canal, to make a 20 miles day.  It took us a little over 4.75 hours.  The pace was a bit fast for me, but I glad I hung on (14.2 min pace). 

    Then on Sunday night, I added 5 more miles by walking around my neighborhood.   I think I ran a total of 62 miles this week. It was quite an accomplishment and I haven’t run that much for a long time.  I think usually I keep my weekly mileage to around 30-40 miles.

  • [666] Naked Bavarian 40M & Reston 10

    I’ve been quite busy (and lazy) lately, but finally got a chance to do something I like a lot this weekend, and that is racing!

    Last weekend (two weekends ago by time this is published): Helped out at the Reverse Ring 70.  Nothing much to share on here. I loved to be out on the Massanutten trail.  It was tiring but happy at the same time to see runners reaching their goals.

    I helped out at the event for two years in a row.  I needed it for my Vermont 100 volunteering hours.  Hopefully, next year I will get to run the Reverse Ring.  It is a hard a 70 miler in the winter with minimal supports.  The only way to get a spot on the start list is first to finish the summer version called the Ring (from the movie/book the Lord of the Ring).  It is exactly the same trail/course but in the opposite direction.  Some say the summer version is the harder one. I think the winter one is harder because of the cold temperature. 

    This weekend, I did a relatively cold run of 40 miler called Naked Bavarian (see last year’s report 2024).  This is a similar race I ran in December called the Naked Nick 50k.  We ran on the opposite side of the Blue Marsh Lake at Leesport, PA.

    February version is definitely tougher due to the distance, cold temperature and more elevation gains (4000 ft for the 40 miler).  We had also shorter time being available, about 10.5 hours to finish. I did it in 09:42 hh:mm, meaning tighter cutoffs, and so required us to run a bit faster. I had my doubts if I could finish it.

    While a 50k is a normal distance, a 40 miler is an unusual distance to race.  I like to race in whatever the distance, usually the longer the better. 

    I am sure the race director could have made it a 50k (30 miles) or extend it to a true 50 mile race. But 40 it was.  So it was a bit difference in term of pacing and timing.

    It was a two loop course.  My first loop, I ran in 4:30, a good pace for me, 13.5 min pace (and 7 mins faster than last year).  My second loop was way slower coming in at 05:15 (hh:mm), at a 15:45 min pace, moving 2-3 mins slower per mile.

    I was hoping to finish under by 4:44 pm, a play on my friend’s bib number of 222, but I knew it was not possible.  At 2:22 pm, I was near 27 mile, maybe at mile 26. By mile 30, the time was 3:33 pm, and I had 10 miles left to do it in about an hour, I would have to run in a 6:66 (~7) min per mile pace.  I was probably moving about 15 min pace by then. At 4:44, I was still about 2 miles away. So, 5:15 was a more realistic goal, no 5:55 or 6:06.

    The whole day, I thought I was the last runner.  And I was probably the last except people started dropping after halfway.

    Then I was able to pass a few runners after the first loop.  I became friend with Mark, whom I ran with for the last two hours after mile 10.  I was not sure if I could finished the first loop before 12:30 pm (5 hrs), by the cutoff, and he predicted we we were on pace for 4:30 for the first loop.  I came in exactly at noon.  We went out together. Later, I passed Mark after two miles.

    Other thing I like was the lake was frozen over, even though temperature wise was around 40-45.  I ran in shorts.  I saw a lot of male runners in shorts so I braved the cold and wore shorts.  My upper body though I put on a long sleeves and a t-shirt.  I packed a windbreaker and by second loop I had to add a second long sleeves because the temperature was dropping back to low 30s and wind was picking up.

    My friend had the warm car ready when I finished so I did not shiver too much. But it was cold. What a joy.  We stopped for a steak dinner at an Outback.  Yay food. And afterward was a sleepy ride back home.

    Then the next day, we ran the Reston 10 Miler.  We (or rather I) planned exactly that to run fast on tired feet.  Not sure if this is the correct way, but I felt fast through out the 10 mile race.  I felt I was steady gaining on people.  I was averaging 11:05 (mm:ss) pace, and finished at a time of 1:50:42 (h:mm:ss).

    I needed more fast runs (fast but on tired legs) like this to train up for the Old Dominion 100.

    Then also, we added maybe another 7-10 miles brisk walk at the Manassas Battlefield.  My legs were too sore to run by then. We then had Pho for lunch and another sleepy ride home.  I slept for 16 hours till the next day.  It was an exhausting weekend, just the way I like it.

    Some asked if I keep a daily record of my training plans for my big races.  Nope, this blog is it.

    Other news: my friend Jeremy finished Swammie Shuffle 200.  It was a race I wanted to do myself for couple years back as my first 200.  So possibly next year, we will see me there.

  • [665] a race jitter

    (old write up) My experience at the Vermont race is brought up from time to time in conversation.  I found an old unpublished post in the draft folder and since I have nothing to share this week, so I’ll post this for this week.

    The night before my trip to Vermont 100,  I was anxious about the up coming trips to Vermont and Wasatch than I was for the Western States 100.

    I didn’t want to jinx it.  Last year, I had a difficult time to finish a 100 mile race under 30 hours.  This year, I am 3 for 3 already (C&O, Old Dominion, and Western States). This weekend was my final one.

    I tried to tell others of my fears but their words of comfort such as “don’t worry” did little for me.

    I needed to see it in my mind eye that I could do it.  For this race, I could not see it.  The course was a mystery to me beforehand. I had no elevation charts or maps or youtube videos to follow and prerun the race in my head.

    My Strategy: The whole course has a lot of up-and-down hills. Elevation should be similar to Western States or Old Dominion.  I hoped for a fast course, since there seems to be a lot of it being on road pavement.

    I did well at OD100 because I had two buddies who though we ran at the back of the pack, but ran a steady near sub 24 pace with me.  We were maintaining a 14 min pace.

    If I could repeat that kind of performance of not being shaken by many faster runners in the first 50 miles, I should be able to finish the race.

    At C&O100, I had a slower friend at the beginning, pacing together. I was not panicking when I went slower than everyone.  Later though in the second half, I could run a bit faster to even it out.

    The key is to pretend the first half is not important and go really slow.  We all know this, but to do it during a race is hard when everyone guns out the gate and you feel you too could keep up with them. 

    It is hard to not let the crowd get 2-4 or even 10 miles ahead. 10 miles ahead might be a bit too much, but usually if the course feels empty, I start to panick of being too far back.

    At C&O and at OD100, I had two good people who knew what they were doing and so I did not panick.

    Sleeping arrangement:  I planned of sleeping at the start.  So I could roll out of bed and run.  At first, I planned to sleep in my car, but my friend planned to be in it since she would be starting later than me.  I am hoping for a clear sky and no rain, bugs, or dew, so I could sleep outside. 

    When my friend said she was going to carpool with me, I was wondering how that works whether she would also sleeping under the stars.

    Ended up, she planned staying at a motel. So I would be back to cowboy camping.

    I hoped it should be fun.  I never really did a cowboy camping before.  I did it couple times on the mountains, but not for an important race like this.  I felt shy if people stare at me. 

    We had 450 runners and many too chose camping.  They would be in their fancy tents and here I was laying on the grass suntanning or moon tanning through the night.

    I was not bringing a tent because I did not plan to check my bag and so it would difficult to bring a tent onto a plane as a carry-on. 

    If only they make tent rods out of fiberglass instead of metal (which I think they do, but not my tent). Still I don’t have enough space for a tent. It is the same dilemma when I go camping, certain things have to left out.  I have done slack packing (minimalist backpacking) before, so I know ditching a tent is sometimes a hard choice, but it got to be done.

    A benefit of not having a tent is to save that extra hour of setting up and putting away.  Many people don’t realize how long it takes to put away the tent (you have to clean, dry, fold before packing up).  Usually, if we go camping, we have to put in an hour from waking up, to time of departure, for packing away.  Yes, I have done rush job of couple minutes of collapsing a tent and stuff everything in sack and go, but that is only for extreme circumstances (like one time we thought we were being danger).

    At my first MMT100, I overslept, so I crawled out from the tent and ran to the start with only couple minutes spared before the race.  Luckily, the tent was still there when I finished the race and it didn’t get blown away.  I don’t like to leave my tent out in the sun for long either because the sun would damage the plastic linings and so it becomes less water resistant. When you are late, you got to do what you got to do and not pack things up.

    (update/ps) All these plannings were moot because I missed my flight and I ended up catching a ride with a friend to Vermont. We barely were able to sleep at all before the 4 AM start.  We had to leave the hotel by 2 AM and we just arrived after midnight. It was fun to look back.

  • [664] Holiday Lake 50k+++

    Holiday Lake.  I did this race couple years ago, in Feb 2023 (report), as part of a long President Day’s weekend fun.

    This year it was a Holiday Lake three-plus- plus-plus, because the trail/course was extra long.  I think it ended up like 33-34 miles for a 50k. And also, I did 3 events like last time. Triple crown.

    A friend recommended me to run this race back in 2019, when I was still new to trail running. 

    I was out training on my favorite course at the Signal Knob one afternoon.  It was the only course at the time where I knew I could get some decend hill runs.

    I ran into a trail runner G (an amazing dude).  I did not know who he was at the time. 

    As usual I started talking to people during the run. I asked what trail races he would recommend.  He rolled off his tongue, Highland Sky, Promise Land and Holiday Lake. So far I only have done Holiday Lake because it have been very hard in getting in them (I don’t sign up in time).

    He said, tell them his name and the RD would know him. 

    At the time I was scare of running in the winter.  Holiday Lake takes place in February.  So the race was not one I was going to run.

    Then of course in 2023, I forgot about it and signed up.  What exactly prompted me to sign up and run was lost in history.  I thought that was a once and done thing.  I admired people who done it year after year.

    There are too many things going on in February for me.  I have the MMT training and the BBR training every year for the last three years. It was almost every weekend full.  And there is the C&O training, or the O Dominion training.  I just did not want to add on a Holiday Lake too.  And TWOT too, but that is for the future.  All those events fighting for one precious weekend.

    Originally, I chose the MMT training run over the Holiday Lake because MMT course is free to run. A lot of my mighty trail friends too prepare for their MMT race would run in it.  I would not want to miss it because I love to be with them. This year though, I will be volunteering at the MMT 100 race, so missing the MMT training would not be too big a deal.

    But Holiday Lake seems to be important for my other friend.  I don’t have to be there but it would be nice if I go.  There’s a chance to camp too the night before the race and night after the race and as well as the third night.  It is a long holiday so in theory we could run on Monday as well to make it into a big weekend fun.

    This year, I took a half day off so I could get to the pre race briefing early.  As usual, Dr. H would be giving a talk on trail running. I did not know him in the past but he is a local legend.  He set the first FTK on some of very long trails around the nation in his younger days.  I wanted the free pizza dinner too offered before the talk. I kicked myself for missing the talk and pizza last time I race at the Holiday Lake.

    As it turned out, due to traffic and various reasons (I did not plan for stopping for dinner or gas), we missed the opening ceremony.  We should have left in the morning to avoid the afternoon rush hour traffic.

    Instead of camping out, we stayed at a hotel for all three nights. Uff-dah! The weather was cold, so it was a good call.  I could have still camped out if were alone, but did not want others to suffer with me.  It was raining heavily as well on Saturday, so a hotel would allow us to dry our stuff. 

    The race itself was good. It was a hard run but was not too hard (I barely finished, with a time of 07:45).

    It was good I  went for a prerace training run a couple weeks ago, so the course was still fresh in my mind. I did not get lost except for a small section, maybe losing 5 minutes.

    It was cold as usual for February here, being in the winter. By noon, rain came down. First was drizzling then it was a steady ‘light’ rain.  It didn’t seem light to me.  I was drenched head to toes. We were glad the race was not canceled, that being snow was originally in the forecast.  Some might have preferred snow but here, if it snows, it would also become icy.

    The first loop, I came in at 03:30, which was a bit slower than last time (I think I had 3:10-3:15 previously). The course was maybe a mile longer since a bridge was washed out.  So the slower time was expected and understandable.

    The second loop really hit me hard.  I knew I was totally out of shape and ran too hard in the beginning. I was breathing hard.  I was trudging through the muddy trail.  Rain came.  Some runners caught up to me. 

    Wilbur, the guy who ran it 23 times was running with me. His friend Marshall caught up.  Marshall and I ran the Old Dominion last year and shared 35 miles of trail.  I think it was closer to 50 miles. Anyway, we chatted and I listened to him chatted away with Wilbur and Alyson.

    They finished maybe 5 minutes ahead of me.  At one point on the power line trail (Tailor trail), someone put ribbons leading to an unknown trail. I think it is likely course vandalism to purposefully confused runners.

    Marshall called out to me as I was going the wrong way but I saw other runners going down the wrong trail and I followed them. Few minutes later, they turned back around.  I did too.  Marshall and Wilbur were on the correct path.  I lost a precious time here.

    My legs were tired.  Trails were muddy, slick and wet.  I managed to finish.  My friend brought me two hamburger and I gladly ate them and I changed into dry clothes at the same time.  I was shivering for a long time.

    It was the end of the day. I was glad to be back at the hotel for a good night sleep.  We ate the left-overs from the day before, but I was still hungry, so we went across to a gas station, Sheetz or Wawa for ramen but we could only find the instant mac-and-cheese.  I had spicy Buffalo Mac & Cheese. Not recommended. So I ate my friend’s portion too.

    ****

    Farmville.  The next day was also raining.  We planned to run 10 miles on the High Bridge Trail nearby (in Farmville, VA).

    High Bridge, mile 0.0. I ran (walked) with an umbrella

    I love this bridge.  I did another 50k race here back in who knows when (report).  The High Bridge 50k race is no long being held.

    Why it is called High Bridge? I think it was Virginia highest bridge back when people still used railroad.  Now it is just a rail-to-trail path. We think it is about 50k in length.

    We ran 5 miles out and 5 miles back to Farmville.  Some notable events were a tree fell on the path while we were running back to town. It was very windy. There was a high wind advisory. We also saw a group of Longwood’s college students running in the rain too.  We initially thought we were the only ones out there.

    ****

    MMT. The weekend could not be complete without a time on the MMT (Massanutten Mountain Trail).  Initially, we planned to go to Dragon Tooth on the Appalachian Trail near Roanoke, but the drive there and back would take significant time.  I didn’t think we have the time.

    I’d rather want to do the MMT3 training loop, but in the end we settled for MMT 1 training run.  We did a out-and back from Woodstock to Edinburg Gap. This would allow us to be back at home before nighfall.

    It was still a cold day but I enjoyed being on my favorite course any time of the year.

    Sunday, we made our way to Woodstock.  At the time, we had not finalized our plan yet.  We passed Harrisonburg, then New Market and Edinburg.  We then continued to Woodstock. There we had coffee while waiting to check in to our room.  It was too cold to camp out that night.  Earlier, we had the best meal of the weekend at Cracker Barrel. So we did not need to eat that night. I was still drained from the run the day before. 

    In theory, there was still plenty of day light left to do some hiking around but wind really picked up in the afternoon and it was too cold to be outside. Hotel it was.

    Woodstock Tower.  The following day, we had a choice to run up on Woodstock on foot or drive up.  To prepare for my race for Old Dominion, running up on the road is preferred. However, I really did not want to wake up that early to try.

    We ended driving up.  I kind of expect the gate to be closed. Indeed it was.  So we drove back down and went the other way by going around to Strasburg and passed the Signal Knob on Fort Valley Road.  I drove based on memory of having crewed someone back in 2023 for the Old Dominion race. Luckily, I found the Woodstock Tower Road from the other side and we drove on up.  It took us a good chunk of the morning, so we started around 8:30 (late).  The temperature was still very cold. It was good the sun was up and was sunny.

    We did 14 miles that day.  7 miles out and 7 miles back.  The ground was frozen, but overall it was a very nice day.

    Normally during training run, we rarely wanted to leave the trail to check out the Tower.  Today was the day we had time.  Actually, it was too cold and I just wanted to go home, but my friend wanted to climb up.  Some ruffians who came before us back in January drew some PG-13 images on the floor. 

    Woodstock Tower, East and West.  Bottom is the hand glider launch point. 
    [unsensored] We assumed it is a still life painting of pears, banana and apples or oranges.

      Night. We ended the final day for a nice bowl of tofu soup amd some ginger tea to close the day.  I preferred rice tea.