In awe

Tag: 100 mile

  • [694] Devil Dog 100 (4x)

    December – another year gone by.

    I finished the year with my own tradition of running the last ultra at Devil Dog Ultras (100).  I have gone to this race for the last five years. (2024 race report).

    To me it is a low stress, fun, but also known as a sneaky hard race, which it still surprises me after so many times how hard it is. 

    I usually don’t train for it but just go in and wing it.

    Some people got a natural talent.  Mine is to squeak it out and that I did it again.

    I think the downfall comes when people underestimated how hard the race is. Pointing finger at me!

    Speaking from experience, I did not finish (DNF) this race on my first try at their 100k distance. Ever since, I got a bit better at it.

    The finishing rate for this 100 miler is around 50 percent to a low 30%.  This is surprisingly low since the trail is not that hard (just my opinion) and is in the suburb of Washington DC, meaning it is easily accessible for training and the terrain is nothing like on top of a mountain or something. It is in a Forest Park, meaning both easy and hard.

     This year 61 runners finished out of 112 started, and 8 did not show up, which put it right over 50% and this is a good year with the most finishers ever.  The race was sold out too this year.  I remember a year when only 37 people finished, was that last year maybe? That speaks a lot.  The race is definitely sneaky hard.

    I think it is hard because there are slight elevation changes (rolling hills) and roots and a little bit of technical footwork where it feels very runnable, but as the miles pile up, with a slight unfavoritable condition like a drop in temperature (always since it is winter)  would easily derail one’s race plan. Even obe slight fall would do it.  I took two falls this time and twerked my ankle twice. Each could have been a race ending event, but I walked it off.

    While I love running other 100 mile races, such as The Massanutten 100 or Vermont 100 and calling those my favorites, my action proves stronger than words, that Devil Dog 100 is the one race I have come back again and again. I might want to get a 1000 mile, joke one would receive a puppy.

      I almost could not finish it this year or the last year or the year before that.  I have always firted with cutoffs and this time around too.

    I thought I had a plan coming into the race.  I set a goal to run 17 min pace first 33 miles and 18 min pace for 2nd third and 19 min pace for the final third.  And it is a slow progression, easing my way to the finish two a 31 hour finishing.  It was a bit ambitious, I finished at 31:22 (hours).

    My body and my feet had a different goal.  It ended up being moving slower than I wanted to, 18:05 min (per mile) first third, and 19:30 second third and then 18:30 final third. Noting it down for future planning, if I happen to reread it before my next Devil Dog.

    So what happened?  The usual.  I could not run fast maybe due to lack of training or feet just not ready for the trail.

    On the very first loop, I rolled my ankle on a flat section about halfway in maybe at mile 10 or 12.  And it hurt. Silly me. I went limping to walk it off.

    Then with maybe 3 miles left in the first loop, I slipped and landed on my butt because I was trying to look cool like everyone else running down a steep hill.  The cooler 50k people people were passing me at the time.  In my mind, I still got that cool light steps of flying down a hill and I wanted to be like them.  Nope. Not any more. The back of my shoe slipped and down I went. Luckily, I sat on my butt and all the cool kids from behind started asking if I was okay. Embarrassing.  Me an old man trying to run and fall. A fellow runner, Bruce, who is a bit older than me was right behind but did not comment.  Then he ran off and I did not see him again until the last loop.  Apparently he gained an hour on me by the third loop.  That is quite impressive.

     So my pace was not going well.  I started slow on my first loop and ended up even slower in subsequent 4 loops.

    It is a typical ultra thing.  I was wishfully thinking I could do a reverse split.  I proud that I did pull it through for a finish.  No reverse split but did save the race. It took me all effort.

    I ended up pushing harder to make the late cutoffs.  It was never fun to chase cutoffs. 

    Overall, the race was peaceful.  I have done it so many times and each time is a little different.  Some years I was very excited.  Last year was cold.  This year was still cold with light snow covering the ground. But we are thankful the worst such as freezing rain that was forecasted a week out did not occur. 

    The temperature was 37F (the car reading) in early morning and it got to maybe low 50s.  Overnight dropped again to high 20s and low 30s.  Wind was calm.  It was foggy at times.

    It was not as cold as last year (17F). Still, it felt pretty cold without proper clothing.

    I did prepared by dressing well though.  Two layers, shirt underneath, and a long sleeve on the outside.  I had a winter coat on while waiting for the start and ditched it once we got moving. Gloves, hat, bluffs, arm sleeves, and a windbreaker or light jacket too is almost a must.  Note, the park is big so there are some places that feel cooler than in another.  So from time to time, we either put on or pull off what we were wearing.  I think Camp Gunny is a bit nippier than the rest of the course.

    At night, I added a third layer, it was a thin thermo material, maybe wool on the outside and that did the trick for me.  I threw on a fourth layer, a light windbreaker after midnight.  Since I was moving (running) fast to chase (soft) cutoffs, I did not feel the cold. In the past years, I would put a hoodie or even a winter coat in the middle of the night because my pace was too slow to generate enough heat.  Night time was near 20s, subfreezing temperature and many people quitted because of the cold.

    Coming into the race with prior years’ experience, I told myself not to worry too much about the race, but I did. 

    I made a pace chart on a spreadsheet, searching things for my drop bags, packing them and delivering them to the race a day before, and messing with my nutrition plan.  It was hectic trying to pick up bibs two days out.  Then I went to the race site again the day before.  Plus, I did couple training runs there a few weeks out.

    I was rushing to get the right stuff into drop bags even up to the last minutes.  I started purchasing my food and supplies couple weeks out! The best purchased I did was headlamps from Costco for $25. They served me well, maybe more on it later.  I need another pack because it was such a good deal.

    The race consisted of 5 loops of 20 miles.  Well, technically the first loop is 23 miles and the rest then are 19 miles.  In my mind though, I treated them as equal distance for easy math/splits in my head.  Generally, I was aiming for 6-6:15 ish hours per loop.  With 5 loops meaning 30 hour ish finishing time. The race allows for 32 hours but really one should aim for 31 hours due to the earlier than expected cutoff on the last loop. You have to start the last loop with more than 6.5 hours or else it is very tough to finish. I personally, recommending minimum 7 hours for the last loop.  Start the last looo at 7 AM and will be fine.  For the 100K, start the last loop by 6/6:30 PM. Otherwise, tricky. Yes, the 100 milers could go at the 100k pace (almost, maybe at the first or 2nd loop).

    There are three aid stations on the course with 3 additional water only locations.  However this year, I did not use any water-only station to save time.  I might reconsider that in future race as part of my race strategy.  It worked out well this year for not stopping for water at any station but the first one.

    I drank only about 1L of water sometimes even less on an  entire loop 20 mile loop.

    I did have an extra 12-16 oz of gaterade or various other liquid that I would sip for time to time.  I actually did not use my extra bottle until the third loop. I had extra liquid like Red Bull in my drop bags, but because I was short on time, I did not get to use my drop bags often. Later in the race, I just skipped by aid stations or drop bags due to lack of time.

    Oh, I wasn’t going to carry the extra Gatorade bottle but someone forgot it in the dinning area before the start of the race and a volunteer thought it was mine and rushed out with it saying I’ve forgotten it, so I took it. It was unopened.  It might have been someone’s race plan to run with a bottle of Gatorade. Sorry, but thank you for whoever left me the bottle in the dinning hall. I would complain that it was a zero calorie version, but free is free. 

    I started off slow at the back of the pack and met other people around my pace.  My friend Bruce was there and I wanted to run with him  and so was Scott and his son Brandon.  Then there was Kevin. Charlie, John, Jeremy, Caleb and Ben we met and chatted before race but they were way far ahead.  I met my idol Phil for the first time, who I only know through his race reports for Eastern States.  I finally met him in person.  I think it was awesome.  As the race got going we settled into our own pace.  I was mostly with Scott and Bruce on the first loop though later they too either took off or fell behind my pace by the second loop. Scott’s wife was kind enough to crew me too at various aid stations before Scott and son dropped out. I was pressing for time then and it was good to have someone to help the resupplying when I came in. She was back at the finish to cheer.

    The course has a portion of out and back and so I got to see some faster runners.  Jeremy and friends were 3 miles ahead of me by end of the first loop.  I anchored in the rear as the unofficial sweeper I called myself.  I came across Sisou too twice, end of the first loop and then third loop. We chatted and were happily reunited again.

    First two loops I maintained an average pace of 18 min.  I wished I could have gone out faster. I thought I was doing great too on the third loop but I realized by the end of it, I was slipping behind with my pace.  I wanted to finish the third loop around 12:30 am but I did not come in until 1:15 am.  This makes finishing the fourth loop by 7:30 am tough. I realized I would have to run for it to make the cutoff.

    Volunteers were great.  I arrived middle of the night at Gunny 2:45 am, and I was going to be quick.  They brought me hot cider. I was going to skip the aid station table.  I drank it while I swapped out my headlamp for a fresh one.  Note, pro tip, don’t change the batteries but swap to a new/fresh lamp to save time.

      I was wearing the new headlamp I just brought from Costco.  They could last 7 hours on low and 3-4 hours on medium brightness and 2 hours on high.  I had it for 5-6 hours and I felt safer to swap it out before it dies.  They were available at Costco, 3 for $25. Sorry don’t know the brand. They were well worth the money spent.  They work like a $100 headlamp with all the features such as using rechargeable as well as can be used with AAA batteries.  I trusted plain AAA battery headlamps over rechargeable ones in the past because I know with new batteries they will last me through the night but with rechargeable ones, you can’t ever be certain.

    I got to say it works out well.  The downside with AAA headlamps is they are dim.  Costco ones are bright and the battery life is good enough. It just a bit heavier in my opinion but about just slightly more than my normal AAA headlamps. I had heavier lamps in the past. Of course, some of those $100 ones are super light.

    So I started chasing my self imposed cutoffs on the fourth loop.  I wanted to be at Gunny (mile 66/67) by 3:15 am and I arrived by 2:42 am.  That was really good.  I surprised myself of able to move that fast this late stage in the race.  I knew I did it in previous years but this time was a bit harder without a pacer to draw motivation from.

    I wanted to arrived next at Toofy by no later than 5:25 am and I did it by 5:12 am.  If any later, I would not make the first morning cutoff.  Then I wanted to reach Camp Remi (mile 81) by 7:25 (7:30 is the first official hard cutoff), I arrived there at 7:12 am.  I added some cushion to my cutoffs.  It was not right up to the cutoff, but generally 10-15 minutes to spare.

    I had an extra motivation because about 6 miles out from Remi (middle of the fourth loop), I met Alex, who is a godsends fellow runner, as I was passing people one after another and I thought he was struggling on his 4th loop and did not realize he was on his fifth and last loop.  He was in pain at the time was stopping for some ibuprofen (note, not recommended for ultra runners to take but that seems to what everyone I know does). He said he promised his wife to be finishing around 7 AM.  So he and I partnered up, though none of us was going to wait for each other.  We spurred each other on to run our heart out and chatted on hill climbs when slowed down.  I had to make my morning cutoff, but he had a faster pace than me and is a really good strong runner.  So we ran and we made it.  He made it in like at 7:05. I arrived at 7:12, just a bit after he did.

    I still had a final lap to go.  There, Bruce asked if I am going out again or I asked him the same thing.  I was suprised to see him still there. While I just got in so I needed fueling on water and stuff, he was ready to go.  He waited for me a bit and that might be his undoing because he unfortunately missed a later cutoff by a few minutes. I believe he would have finished, if he got out the station ahead of me instead of waiting.

      I knew the day time would warm up and I wanted to ditch my layers.  I kept my gloves because my hands were freezing.  That is another story of misplacing my gloves and head bluffs in my drop bags that I could not find them when I needed them. So my hands were cold to freezing the whole previous day until night fall when I realized I could use a spare set of socks as mitten and I wore my sock mittens.  I finally found my gloves later on and had them on the whole final 6 hours of the race.  Only regret was I did not took off my long pants in the morning.  I could have ran with just shorts I had on underneath.  The frictions and heat created chaeffing during the morning time.

    Well, Bruce left first (not by much though) but I caught up in no time.  We had to get to Gunny by 9:00.  So I was running my heart out again and did not wait for Bruce, with the best hope of reaching it by 8:45. Running is a cruel sport. At any other time, I would have stopped to chat and walk with Bruce. I arrived at Gunny around 8:43.  It gave me couple minutes of buffer for my next cutoff attempt.

    The next cutoff at Toofy, which is mile 94 is at 11:30.  I made some wrong mental math errors thinking I now have three hours to get there instead of 2 and half hours. So I wasted a bit of time with  slow walking.  I told myself, I pressed hard on the last loop and it took me 2.5 hours to get to Toofy, so if I realy want to make the cutoff, I should be running just as hard as the last loop regardless what the math says.  So I started running all over again, pushing my pace at every opportunity.  I got there by 11:20.  The plan was to arrive before 11:25.  I prayed hard as I ran, please don’t let me be cut with just a few minutes over. I was not sute how strict the aid station captain/timer was (the Bligans), though they are my friends. Rules are rules I told myself. I have to make a good effort to arrive on time.

    From Toofy to Gunny, I knew I had enough time to finish. Another 2.5 hours but only 6 miles to go instead of 8.5 miles on my the last push.  My pace slacked down a bit.  I sat at every bench available whenever I saw one to rest my feet.  The first two miles after Toofy was an eternity.  Then I toughened up mentally because if I had continued at the current pace, I might not make it in by 2 pm.  I must aim to reach the unmanned water station at midway (mile 97). I seriously believe I was the very last one on the course. So I again tried to go at a faster pace by brisk walking.  I reached it around 12:30. I wanted to let Caroline know I had only 3 miles to go, but phone had no signal. 

    These last three miles are familiar to me.  I tried to memorize every feature there is in my previous loops.  I said there are two big hills to climb and three bridges to cross. And however many rock piles (1) to climb over.  I was expecting every unusual tree and turn. I got to the final turn at 1:15.  Caroline was waving at me near the top of the hill.  Together, we climbed the rest of the way  to the finish line.

    Like every year, there was good finishing line food in the dinning hall.  I got to wind down.  Caught up on things.  I avoided the DFL (known as dead last finishing) by finishing in 2nd from the last place. It was good enough.  The whole time I thought I was the DFL.

    Any lesson learned? The Goods:  I finally have a good set of headlamps.  When I have the chance, going to buy an extra pack for future races.

    2nd: set short clear goals during the race.  Reach for them. Thank you Jeremy for teaching me this at Grindstone when he paced me.

    Bads:  Have to train better next time, and not get caught behind the cutoffs.  I had a pace chart written out but did not get to use it when I was rush for time.  3. Know where I put my stuff. I spent so much time packing my things (2 hours) but still could not find anything.

    Nutrition/water was spot on. Clothing was almost perfect. I still packed too much in my drop bags, working on being more efficient, but it was better to overpack than underpack.

    Thank you for friends, family, volunteers, race management team of making the race possible. Thank you Caroline, my love, for putting up with all my stresses and fusses in my preparation. Those who finished or did not finish, may God grant me another chance to come back and do it again and run with them.

  • [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.

  • [643] Grindstone 100

    I sat out of running in the Iron Mountain 50 this year, hoping to recover from Wasatch and getting ready for Grindstone.

    I had about two weeks of very little of running events.

    Grinstone 2024, was a repeat for me.  I did not finish (dnf) last year and my goal was to finish it this year.  A good report, here, reminded me I faced with similar circumstances as last time.

    The trail was familiar to me. Compared to Wasatch, there was not anything too big of a climb to scare me.

    The race started at 6 in the evening.  We (my crew and I) drove down to Harrisonburg a night before.

    The race went well for the first night.  I was moving at relatively same pace as previous year, maybe 10-15 minutes slower at the earlier stations. 

    By midnight, I made it up to Reddish Knob, unfortunately the aid station there ran out of water. They did have plenty of food (pizza), the best food in all aid stations, so I took a slice of pizza, and drank a can of soda (only liquid they had).

    By 3:15, I made it down to North River Gap, in line with my goal pace. I enjoyed the cheese and deli table there.  They served coffee out of a giant container. I did not take any, but went for refilling my water.

    My water pack was leaking, so I was drench the whole night. My crew later patched the hole found.  This helped kept me relatively dry for rest of the race.  The leak was still there but was not as big as before.

    About gear, just the moment before my race, I realized I left my hydration pack at home.  I quickly repurposed a small backpack into a hydration pack (I found a spare hydration bag, but leaky). My crew found me a soft flask, since it was a cupless race.  I tossed in a few required gear into my bag (a jacket with hood, lights, batteries, food). One thing I missed of not having my traditional hydration pack was lacking pockets in the straps in the front.  I was unable to keep my phone, pace chart, or food in the front pocket. There was no easily accessible pockets with this pack. Also the backpack hangs low in my back and it just does not move as well as a usual traditional hydration pack, which goes high in the back.

    I was concerned that the straps would cut into me.  In the early of the race, the shoulder straps were annoying, cutting into my neck and shoulders, but I got use to it and it was not a source of irritation later on.  One thing I did right in this race was carrying medical tape on me, so I could patch myself at any time.  I used tape to tape my nipples which were rubbing against the shirt I was wearing. Usually, I don’t have chafing issues but today, the shirt I was wearing was a bit rough. I was planning to tape my neck too, but the issue went away.

    Morning on Saturday brought me  renew energy.  I met my crew at 7:15 am at Dowells Draft, mile 45/46. My crew refilled my water. It was the first station allowed pacing. My crew left with me to her car. I told her, I will see her again in 8 hours.

    We had a 26-27 mile loop at Crawford Mt and Elliot Knob. I was pushing my pace a bit to make sure I could arrive back at Dowells before 6 PM.  Last year, I was cut at Dry Branch (mile 52), and I determined not to do it this year. I had to get there before 11 AM. It took about 2.5 hours to climb Mt. Crawford.  Last year, a friend and I tried to do the same but we were a bit late. This year, I was able hit the pace on the dot.

    I arrived around at Dry Branch by 10 AM and got back at Dry Branch by 2 pm.  Climbing up to Elliot Knob and then descending to Cold Spring was time intensive.  We arrived By then, I knew, we had plenty of time to get back to Dowells before 6.  I was feeling good to be ahead of pace.

    We (Wayne, a fellow friend and runner and I) arrived back at Dowells by 4 pm, two hours ahead of the cutoff.  Looking back, things were going downhill for me — my energy was low, and sleepiness started setting in. However, I was high on adrenaline at the time and did not properly diagnose my actual condition.  I left the aid station thinking I was fine.

    My crew fixed my feet with taping, refilled my water, and got me couple cups of ramen.  I did not realize at the time, I was behind on my calories. I should have eaten more solid food here as well as taking a nap if necessary since we were ahead of pace. Wayne, a fellow runner and who crewed for me last year, spent maybe up to an hour at Dowells to sleep and eat real food.  As for me, I stayed about 15 minutes. He was a smarter runner.

    It had rain (a thunder storm moved in) as we descent from Crawford. I was drench from head to toes.  So I dried off myself with changing into a bit drier clothes from the morning.

    Rain started again after leaving Dowells.  I was surprised arriving at Magic Moss by 6:30 pm (early).  I did not stay long except grabbing some M&Ms and off I went.  It rained hard as I made my push to Camp Todd, arriving at 8 pm in line with my goal.

    Looking back, this was a turning point.  I stayed at Camp Todd, maybe for 5 minutes, fixing my feet and shoes.  My crew now turned pacer showed up. Originally, I planned to have my pacer meeting me at mile 92 to do the finally 13-14 miles with me.

    My pacer believed I needed help earlier on so plan changed (at 4pm) to meet up with me earlier.

    This was supposed to be the final hardest climb, and race would be easier after this.  We were at mile 82, with 10 hours left to finish the race. At the time, there were no doubts the race would get done. As long as we could walk, we would finish.

    The short version, the next 11 hours, from 8 pm to 7 am was the hardest part of the race for me.  I was extremely weak.  We had couple thousand feet of climb, and we did get up to the top.  It might had taken us two hours. 10 pm, we arrived at Little Bald.  There was no aid station there, though I wish there to be one.  I had expected the next 6.5 miles descent to take another 2 hours, which would still put me on pace for reaching mile 92, by midnight.

    Soon, it was apparent midnight goal was impossible to reach.  By midnight, I had moved only 3 miles, there were three miles left.  I was moving at a 40 minute mile pace. It was a rude awaken (for not wearing a Garmin watch). I had no idea of my location and how many miles were left, until I asked a fellow runner. I was heartbreaking to know still how far away was the aid station.  I was already in this trail section for 4 hours.  My water I carried on me was empty by now. 

    The conversation between me and my pacer were at the worst.  Language flew and feeling hurted we carried on.  We still had to get down the mountain even if we decided not to continue with the race.  There were still only 1 hour and 45 minutes left before the cutoff.  Every minutes count.  Many runners passed us by including many friends. We stumbled down with a few struggling runners in conditions like me.

    I had mentally checked out. My pacer refused to let me dwelled on the negatives but to me there were no way to finish, much less reaching the aid station in time.

    In my mind, I believed we had 2 miles left, but the aid station just happened to pop in front.  I saw a car, went past at the edge of the forest and I thought I was seeing things.  I could not believed it.  In dazed, I arrived at the aid station with 15 minutes left.

    Here, volunteers helped refilled my water. Another volunteer looked for my drop bag, so I could change into fresh socks and get a new head lamp. Another volunteer asked if I would like some broth and broght me a cup.

    We made it out mile 92 (North River Gap) before the cut along with couple other runners.

    Little did I know, the next 7 miles, had just as much climbing as the previous 10 miles.  It was a struggle bus from 2 am to morning.  We went up and up maybe with couple thousand feet climbing.  Then we descended just as many thousand feet to a valley onto a jeep road.  Time no longer was a concern for me.  I was still hoping to only get to the aid station by 5 am, hoping once I reach the road/asphalt portion, I would maybe still move at 15 min pace on the road and still finish.  5 am came and gone and then 6 am.  I was actually moving at 45 min pace, even slower than before as expected (runners only get slower not faster, in late stage of a race).

    The sweepers caught up to us.  They know my friend, having been to another event couple weeks ago.  Together, we climbed the 1.5 miles jeep trail.  By 6:55 we finally reached the last aid station at Lick Run. 

    It was probably two hours after the aid station closed when we arrived.  No one was there. Luckily the tent and all supplies were still there. I could take some refreshment (self-served) but soon I realized I could not eat much and food wanted to come back out. I was done.  All I wanted was to sleep. We still had 5 miles left to the finish.  We were still in the middle of nowhere. The group said, we had to run to the finish because the station here is closed, but I asked if I could sleep a bit. (to do a self-extradiction).

    In moment of despair, a volunteer drove up on the road. We were saved. He was there to take down the tent and take supplies back.  He agreed to give us a ride back to the finish with him.  My 11 hours ordeal was finally over.

    Looking back, I made several tactical mistakes.  1.  I was moving at 10 miles in 6 hours (35 min pace).  There was no way I could pull 4 hours in the final 14 miles (18 min pace). I should have dropped at mile 92, in order to avoid delaying the sweepers at their job, and everyone else, plus putting myself at risk of serious injury for being out longer than allotted.

    2.  I pulled my left calf before 8 pm.  I should have aware of it as early as 4 pm (Dowells) to take care of it or even fix it at Camp Todd, such as putting on an ice pack or applying Biofreeze (which I had in my drop bag at Dowells) at the aid station.  I should have carried oilment on me for issue like muscle ache.

    3.  I should have eaten more food, at Dowells and at Camp Todd.  What different between Wasatch and here at Grindatone was I filled up my hydration with electrolyes (calories), sometimes doing 50-50 mix, but at Grindstone I drank only water.  So I was behind on electrolytes and calories. Dowells Draft had good food. Camp Todd, does not have much food (we had watermellons). Their ramen soup was too thin to do me any good. Here, I should have brought my own food.

    4th. sleep, sleep as much as possible during the day, because the race has a night time start. I was kind of tired during the afternoon before the race start. I should have taken a nap.

    Final words, I would like to run it again and get it to the finish next time.  I had a good time over the weekend. My pacer arrived at the right time.  It could have been worst if I were by myself.  It was bitter sweet.  I came so close yet so far.

  • [637] Burning River 100

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The swag from the race was a nice big thermos to keep drinks cold or hot. I love it more than having a race shirt. Some chose a shirt or a bagpack. Also, the race sells stuff as well

  • [636] Vermont 100

    1. Vermont is one of the races in the grand slam series. I tried to find out more of this race before running it. There were very little that struck out to me

    Now having run it, I could understand.  There were no significant climbs, but we had pretty views of mountains, farms and field. We were either constantly climbing or going down.  The course is best described as rolling hills.

    I ran Old Dominion 100.  Vermont is best compared to Old Dominion.  We do a lot of roads.  There were aid stations closely spaced together.  Old Dominion seems to have more towns or at least near a major population (Woodstock).  Vermont course was entirely in the middle of nowhere. There are farms but we had no cell signal. Vermont too is near a town called Woodstock, though I did not get a chance to visit it.

    Vermont course is definitely more scenic of the two. Western States and Wasatch probably takes the crown.

    2. Motivation for running Vermont.  More people want to do Vermont than Old Dominion.  OD only takes about 100 runners. Vermont takes 450.  It was 4 times as much fun.  I constantly saw runners on the trail. In OD, I felt like I was the last runner, but at Vermont, it was more like midpack, people at Aid stations said, we should slow down.

    3. I could not remember much about my race due to the lack of sleep.  The day before the race, I planned to fly up.  It was supposed to be a 2 hours flight. However, the trip was canceled due to IT issues (CrowdStrike) at the airport. My friend’s quick action of switching to driving to our destination, saved my race. It was already early afternoon, at the beginning of Friday rush hour traffic, when we started our journey to Vermont.  We did not arrive until past midnight. By the time, I settled, showered, and arranged things for next day, it was near 1 in the morning. 

    As best as I could, to sleep, my mind was awake. I felt I slept maybe 15 minutes before my alarm went off.  We met a friend, who would led us to the race site.  We finally arrived at 3 am, an hour before the race.

    There were a lot of runners.  We started like any race. We went into a trail.  By 5 sky was lighted.  I settled into a nice pace.  Unlike at OD, there were way too many people around.  I did not have to use my headlamp. Soon, I started passing people. We know the cardinal rule of starting off slowly. Many really took that to heart.  I was not particularly chasing anyone, but if I felt the one ahead of me is being clumsy or slow, I’d pass them.  Most of the time, they would not pass me back.  Until maybe 20 miles in, I really found my own group who were going at my pace.

    I met Chris from Maine.  He ran two 100 before this one, Javelina Jundred and Oregon. We talked a bit.  I knew I was moving at a sub 24 pace and was wondering if he was aiming for that.  No, he told me.  He just wanted to finish.  He was not planning to be agressive with his pace.  Others asked me the same question, I said, hell ya, I am always going for time, for my PR. It would not be a walk for me today.

    Not long after, I caught up to Kim, one of our local club members.  Then Eric.  I ran with her group a bit.  Everyone was moving fast here. I did not push hard on my pace to stay with them, so there were time I fell very back back, however, usually my stronger uphill or quicker downhill would allow me to catch back up.

    4. Getting lost.  I was getting too comfortable with my pace, I started closing my eyes while running.  I know, trying to get some rest. It was at this point, I was following the runner ahead.  The runner and I were moving faster than other runners around us and soon we separated from the rest.  This should have been an indication we were off course, but it did not occur to me to stop to check my map (I downloaded the gpx file from a previous year runner; note, the race does not provide course maps or gpx files since the course goes through 30+ private land properties). We ran about half mile down a nicely paved road (after Stage Rd AS), until a car drove by and the driver told us, we should have turned back there. It was then I checked my map and indeed. We should have turned much earlier. This mistake caused me 15 minutes, but in the grand view, it did not affect my race much.  It was just a lesson to pay closer attention to the trail markings.  I did not get lost for the rest of the race.

    Noon came and gone.  I had some solid food at couple of the aid stations.  They offered popsicles.  Ice were out (melted) by now.  It was hot.  I was near Ten Bear and hoped to catch up to some 100k runners, especially my friend Caroline, but she was likely 8 miles ahead.  We had the longest climb at this point, but we were on a road. 

    4.  Ten Bear aid station was a party place as expected.  I arrived around 3:30 pm.  I went in and out, there was nothing I needed.  I did not run with a drop bag in this race because we arrived to the race and missed the check-in time for drop bags.  It ended up not being significant.  I relied totally on the aid stations for all my needs.  My feet were fine.  I did not need to switch shoes because there were no shoes for me to switch into.  I only brought one pair, the same pair I was running with. It was a big risk. We dealed with the hand we were dealt.

    Camp Bear was like at mile 40.  We saw the 100k people returning.  I tried to look for my friend or anyone I could recognized.  For their race, they have been out for 6.5 hours. I was estimating that it would too take me 6.5 or longer to get back to Ten Bear, which would mean around 10 pm. 

    5. I had a pace chart on me.  I was aiming for a 29 (or 28) hour finish.  My goal was to get back to Ten Bear before midnight. The trail at this time got hotter and hotter.  I was able to catch up to some who did not do well with heat.  We had our second longest climb to Margaritaville.  From there, I switched socks (I carried a fresh pair in my hydration pack). I was tired by this point.  My calves were cramping a bit. 

    Evening came.  Night started cool off.  I ran with a new group of people, and this was the group I mostly stayed with until the finish.  I was fine physically, but a lot of people around me were suffering from chafing. I was semi on pace for the sub 24 finish if I hustled a bit.  I knew, if I want the sub 24, I should get to mile 65 by 7:30.  7:30 went by, then 8:30.  So, I set a new goal, if I could get back to Ten Bear before dark, I could still have a chance for a sub 24.  It was then a race against time.

    I reached Ten Bear by 9:00 pm as last ray of light disappeared.  I knew it was not feasible for a sub 24. I was an hour behind that pace, but it did not matter, because I would finish my race.  Here I did take a bit of time at the aid station to eat and rest.  Night came. We only had 50k to go and 13 hours to do it. It was plenty of time.  If I was fresh, I could try running a 50k in 7 hours. In my mind realistically, I needed 8-9 hours. Pacewise, I  knew, I was ahead of my Old Dominion time by an hour. Old Dominion had harder remaining miles (Sherman and Veach). Here, at Vermont, I need we would not have such a long and hard climbs.

    I knew the night would not be easy.  The moment after sunset my pace dropped to a crawl.  Many people passed me.  I did not mind.  I knew, I was doing fine.  Many runners had their pacer with them. They were people I found weak and slow earlier now lit up with a stronger pace. I was thinking, if I have my pacer, would I be like them. How good to have a Susan (my pacer from Western States) with me at this time, we would conquer the night.  It was not so.  I plopped on.

    6. I chose then to stick with a group through the night. I don’t remember the runner’s name, but his pacer was Jason. Jason was tired.  I said, pacer should not be this tired.  His runner defended him saying Jason had been up since 4 AM crewing and now pulling a double duty to pace through the night.  Fair enough. I have crewed people before, I’d rather run than crew. I know how tiring crewing can be.

    3am.  We arrived at Bill’s.  Here I got a second wind.  I did not eat much. Bills is a warm and indoor aid station.  They had cots for us to sleep.  No sleeping for me. I found my friend Caroline sleeping and was going to wake her. But I felt bad to do so.

      At this point, I was running mostly with my eyes shut too.  Caroline can have her sleep. So I left the station alone. Sometimes, I would fall into a ditch or hit a tree and then I would wake up. They were out of coffee.  I searched for coffee since sunset and could not find any.  Sometimes, I forgot to ask. It was not until 5 AM, there was Dunkins at Keating’s.  Someone said they had doughnuts at a previous station and it would have been a treat, coffee and donuts!  Yes it would.  I think this was at Keatings. It certainly woke me up.  Jason said, I am making my move and my gait is strong.  I am no longer dragging my foot, but I am lifting my heels.

    I joined a new team,  Mike and company.  Morning dawned.  We reached our last and final aid station.  Mike wanted to run it in.  I said, I could run.  So literally, we ran the last 10k to the finish.  We caught up about 10 or so other people.  Many seemed to be in a bad shape. All were walking except for us two.  We were booking it.  I felt fresh.  I felt good. Morning usually brings me fresh energy.

    7. Gpx file ended maybe a mile out before the actual finish.  This was disheartening.  To us, the course seemed 1.5 miles longer, as we wind around farms and last few trails. I felt the finish was right there, but we never quite reached it. It was not a straight way in.

    I crossed the finish 26:31:17.  They had chairs for runners at the finish!  I sat on one.  There were no photographers.  This was not Western States, where media is buzzing about.  There were families and spectators cheering.  The RD (Amy) gave us our buckles.  I really ran in a Solo division, no crew, no pacer, no drop bag, but I did not want to change from “Crew” to “Solo” to get an extra award. I literally could fall asleep if I sit still for a moment.

    Mike and I knew, the first priority is to get clean up and be comfortable.  So we quickly left the finish area and headed for the car.  My friend was there to help me change out and dry my stuff.  I striped off old clothes. Empty the hydration pack.  I had my planned drop bag which I did not get to use during the race but still in the car, so everything was easy and within reach (and clean).  It might seem fast, but this changing out and into clean clothes took me probably an hour because my limps were frozen by now once I stopped running. 

    Then I tried to eat, but felt I wanted vomit. Note, they had breakfast still at the finish tent. I tried to sleep in one of the cots they had in the med tent.  I could not sleep.  It ended being better to just sit outside and enjoyed runners as they came back from the finish line. The weather was good and we had people milling around and other runners in similar condition like mine sitting about. 

    I saw all my friends finished.  Some had to rush immediately to the airport for the flight. Many did stay for lunch.  Vermont is the first 100 where we had a nice meal and the award ceremony.  (Old Dominion too had a breakfast; I missed out the nice food at Western States, but I was sick at the time).  I was between falling asleep and widely awake the next monent.  I had a good time with some best people in the world.  They teased me about my next 100 (Wasatch), something about trying the sauna there.

    The drive home was long.  We had an early dinner around 5 pm. I mostly slept on the way and did not remember much until we got home like 2-3 am in the morning.  Luckily, I did not have to drive much.  Traffic seemed better than when we headed to Vermont.  I drove maybe 30 minutes, but I could not control the car’s speed (I sped up and slowed down and unable to get a stead speed to stay with other cars, because my reaction time was way off), so my friend took over.  Whenever, we stopped at a rest stop, I would eat another meal.  Every 2-3 hours, I’d get very hungry.  By 11 pm, there was no more food, because restaurants were closed.

    Conclusion: There’s none.  The run was a day 100 mile.  We enjoyed the nature and friends.  Many people made this possible.  As in any race, I am grateful. Some of my friends will be back.  Tek is seeking for her 5th buckle.  Lynne might come too.  I might go back.  I felt Vermont was easy.  This was unexpected because I spent many weeks worrying about it, (since I first got in).  I do have a coach from QT2 to help me.  I was glad, my training was adaquate.  My coach’s last minute advice got me through the race.  He told me to keep my strides short on the downhills.  There were a lot of running at the end.  I glad I saved my legs until the very end. It is always better to run at the end than in the beginning.

    There probably more I want to say, the event is still too close for me to see objectively. Maybe some day I will do a follow up.

  • [629] MMT 2024

    Wow, what a weekend! In my last post, I said I some hard races are ahead, I did not expect this one would be one of them that would need my 100%-200% effort.

    I knew MMT would be hard but I felt, with three years of preparation, I got it down. I was going in with 70-75% effort and believed I could get it done, thinking it would be just a bit tougher than my C&O 100 and the GSER 100k I just did.

    [MMT1] [MMT2] Reports from my previous years, showed the race was tough. This year was no different.

    While last year I finished, I can’t remember if I could walk to my car or not, I remembered thinking the race was easier than I expected, because I had adaquate training and I managed to get through to the hard sections and it was mostly smooth sailing afterward.

    Maybe that gave me a false sense of confident for this year. I came in feeling prepared and I was.

    Like last year, I hit all early aid stations on pace and some even ahead of pace. It would be my fastest time finishing if the second half was the same and I was aiming for a faster finish.

    I was not even struggling. In my mind, I was going at a very relaxed pace, and I was gaining faster time.

    This year trail condition was worse than last year. Most trails were flooded and muddy and we started under a steady rain.

    I had no idea, why I was ahead of pace by halfway. I had better shoes. I kept my feet better. It was not until mile 90 when my race fell apart. 

    I did not have sleeppiness issues like last year. My energy level was strong for most of the race except the final few miles. And the race at that point on became like my first MMT, struggle bus.

    I had a theory why my energy unexpectedly crashed. I think I drank too many cups of coffee and Red Bulls. That’s my theory. My body was probably over stimulated and final crashed.  I still managed a finish, since I built up enough lead time.

    That’s pretty much a summary of MMT 100 this year. I did have a good time. It was one of my best time out of all 3 years. It was the people I got to be with. More will be said below.

    As for race preparation, I did like what I did in the past. I did the training runs (and wrote about those) and looking back, just like previous years, while it seems my training runs were horrible, but by race day time, I was fully ready. This change always surprises me.

    I prepared a pace chart (I used the same one as last year, except updated it with my actual last year splits).

    I prepared my drop bags. They were much simplier than previous years. They were smaller and I put everything in a gallon size ziplock bag, except for shoes. I packed mostly a change of clothes and socks.

    I only used four drop bag locations this year: Elizabeth Furnace (50k ish), Habron Gap (55 mi), Roosevelt (65 mi), and Gap Creek (70).

    I had a crew (Cheryl, who was Wayne’s friend and crew person, I first met and ran with Wayne at MMT2). I was lucky to have a crew. She fed me well. She met me from midnight to end of the race. She was a new friend I came to know since the start of this year training cycle.

    As for training runs, I ran TR1 and TR2 but missed TR3 and TR4 due to being away for my Taiwan trip (and also the TR’ courses were changed at the time because of a forest fire!) 

    People were talking about the firewall/fire breakers they came across during the race. I was like scratching my head because this was my most run on trail for last three years and I saw no firewalls.

      I had forgotten about the recent forest fire there!  I even peed on a burned tree and was thinking huh, why was the tree like that. I had forgotten about the fire until now after the race.  It was only a month ago.  It was my big curiosity to go up to the MMT mountain after coming back from Taiwan to check out what the fire did to it.  Then I totally forgotten it.  Understandably, I had so many races the past month.  But wow. Now it made sense. There was a vast stretch seemed to be empty than before. Some trails like the Stephen’s Trail was bulldozed, I think for the fire fighting effort.  I heard Kern’s was burned but we went through it at night, so did not get to see it first hand.  wow!

    We were blessed to be able to run on the MMT race course without any diversion. I am so grateful.

    So I knew the course well except only the last 50k section.   (a few times, I dropped, such as during Waterfall 50k, I didn’t go up to Bird Knob, my memory escaped me what other events caused me to miss the Bird Knob’s section).

    This year, since rerunning MMT 100 again, I made many friends.  Caroline, a new friend and one I ran many recent races with since the last MMT, was my cheerleader from start to finish.

    Iris, too, my earliest fan and friend (from even before MMT1) and supporter was there cheering and volunteering with her husband.

    Plus there were many old friends and new friends I made. I could not named them all. Mike Ed was there, whom I ran with last year. I guess that what makes MMT special. It was like a family reunion. 

    The connections we made, some mentioned were why we ran 100 mile races. Many people I don’t know their names.  Definitely many volunteers put their hearts into making it a successful weekend.  You can tell when people, runners (past runners too), families and friends are enthusiastic about this event and making it feels like this is one and only one. We were under rain and cold for like 2/3 of the time, but seeing them warmed our hearts.

    Yes, this was my third time running it, and it felt like it was my very first. The atmosphere was different in a good way (at least to me). I think almost at all aid stations, there was someone who knows me. I got hugs and fist bumps and encouragements even in the dead of night. I felt special.

    And even when I could not see their faces. Thry said hi and gave words of encouragement. Gap Creek was loud! Amanda, also a friend I made during MMT 1 and 2, gave some personal greeting at 4 am (3:45 exact), something about she and I ran through this section and I look strong today, before I took on the trek up Jawbone, which also known be pretty hard and an ankle killer (Kerns is, but I always lump the both together). I was able to went through it rather quickly this year.

    Trail Con: we touched on earlier, The ground was well saturated. The top soil was slick as it can be. MMT trail is covered with rocks and this rich top soil. So it was treacherous conditions to be out there when is wet.  I took a few falls but nothing as a race ending event. My right knee was hurting and was bruised after the race morning but I did not realized which fall that injured it.  My hands and legs were cut by thorns and bushes (note the trails were trimmed a couple weeks before the race, but they always grow back so quickly). I lost a couple toenails (they were blackened, which will eventually fall off).

    For the record, temperature was like the previous year, around 50  F.  I could see my breath throughout the first 50 miles. Night and early morning was a bit cooler. The second day was better. Started overcast then cleared up.

    Anyway any of those falls could have weeded me out early in the race. I think many runners dropped because of the cold, wet, and muddy course, including some runners I highly respected and thought they could grunt it through.

    —-

    The rest of the post is my play-by-play account.

    Start to Edingburg: I ran from the back of the pack. rain. had a good rain poncho on but water did get through. I wore long sleeves so it helped keeping me warm. I was wet too. Climbed on the Moreland Road and Short Mountain was not as bad as during the training run. I was with a new friend Arun (whom I met during the first training run) and then with Jeff P. 8:00 am rain stopped. And later with Scott. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see them again.

    Edingburg to Woodstock. Caroline met me at the AS. I felt pretty good. I did not have a drop bag so I did not stay too long.  I was with Scott, a strong runner, and there I also met Kiran and Sunny. I pretty much stay at Kiran’s pace through most of the run, and I knew she was a strong runner. At the time, she did not introduced herself, and from time to time I saw her again and again at an aid station, most of the time I thought she was ahead of me but I caught up to her. I ran at my pace. I did realize it until after 50 miles.

    Woodstock to Elizabeth Furnace, passing through Fort Powell.  I met Charleen. There was Alex, and Brian, I don’t remember exactly where I saw them, but they gave me much needed encouragements. Brian’s wife, Ashley was running in it. Brian kept giving me updates how far she was behind me.  Ashley passed me during training runs, and I had expected the same.  I was not competing with her but it was fun being chased.  Ashley at the finish came and said hi! She finally overtook me on the last stretch. A friendly competition.

    And of course, where there’s Charleen, there’s John also who encouraged me. It is like having a crew without having a crew. Similarily, there were other families waiting for their runners, so I see the same people at every AS. Alex was waiting for his.

    Elizabeth Furnace, was where my first drop bag located. I changed socks and fixed my feet. Popped a blister. My right heel was cut from the back of my shoe digging in. A volunteer offered me black tape (duct tape) and a paper towel and so I created my own sport tape / bandaid with those.  It helped. Saved my race. I knew I was a bit tired here already. My legs wanted to cramp up, so I got up to get moving (last year I cramped up here).

    Shaw, Veach and Indian Grave. The Climb up to Shaw was not too bad.  I was with #125. She was a strong runner earlier but she had what she said was a heat flash halfway up on Shaw. She was half bending over, two hands on a tree breathing hard. Me and another runner stopped to ask if she was having a medical emergency. She said she did not need help.  Later she appeared quite strong again after an aid station. She and a bunch of people sharted running after Midford Gap (someone, Larry and friends, carried like 50 gals of water up from Veech to here), so I stopped to refill.  They did not. It was not an official aid station, but it saved runners like me who ran out of water.  Why I ran out of water, was I did not refill my water bag while I was at Veech.

    Getting down to Indian Grave was brutal for me.  This is at mile 49-50. My left knee started acting up. It was not pain but it was like not willing to extend and it had a funny feeling, like my funny bone is being tapped.

    It felt weak, momentary and every time when I put weight on it, I felt it might collapse under me.  Back of my mind was, uh-oh, I might have to drop from the race at the next aid station or a later station if it started hurting. Lucky, it didn’t hurt until near to the end of the race. I got down the mountain with a few close calls but did not fall. Indian Grave always is scary to me even on a good day because of the steepness. 

    I was moving slowly due to my knees while many people passed me.

    About a mile-ish to the aid station, I saw #125 again and I thought she would be long gone. So I stopped and asked her condition. She was clearly struggling and in great deal of pain. #105 (Melissa) also came by, we talked since we passed each other a few times. She also tried to help #125. Her issue was beyond our ability because she was suffering from chafing. Melissa offered her tapes, but it was probably too severe now to use. #125 ended dropping. Also, Melissa stopped and rested at the station, while I pushed on through as fast as possible. I did not see Melissa again until at the end of the race when she came in just couple minutes after me. I am very happy for her.

    In this section, I was with Ben and Charles. Charles was someone I met during a  training run and at Boyers 50K. Ben is from Boone and Asheville, NC. Ben is this year the longest time a runner spent on the trail also known as DFL. It was heartfelt seeing him come in later at the finish. Note, Ben has done some harder races like the Hellbender. Charles and Ben were real chill. I met Ben early in the race and now he was back here. I would see him again from time to time. They chatted a lot. Together, we got to Habron.

    Charles plans to run Old Dominion in two weeks, so like me this run is supposed to be an easy (joking) training run. Charles is a stronger hiker even without effort, he was passing ahead of me on technical sections and so on the road, he was flying to Habron. But he also waited for me a few times. I was surprised that later he tapped out.

    Habron to Elizabeth Furnace. Night came and settled in. Originally I was secretly hoping to get to Elizabeth Furnace (mile 65) before nightfall. I know it was a wishful thinking. Then I bargained it down to Habron Gap by nightfall.

    I took a significant time at Habron AS to fix my feet since they had been wet throughout the day. I was now an expert at this unlike during my first MMT. We had similar wet conditions this year. Feet were good. No blisters, but couple hot spots were forming. I knew I had to keep those under control.

    The trek up Habron was not as bad as I thought. I caught up to Kiran again. She had her pacer. Somehow, I was able to lead them up. They were pretty much on my heels. A few people passed us. From here on out, I was with her.

    When we went down on Stephen’s, Kiran led because my left knee was weak but apparently I could still keep up with her pace. Note, Stephen’s Trail was unlike during training. The whole trail was bulldozed, probably for the fire fighting effort. We hiked on clay and mud. We passed a lot of people (4-5 runners, but in my mind were a lot, none of them I knew or seen before).

    At Camp Roosevelt (Camp Roo), Cheryl, my crew, and who was also an aid station’s volunteer, helped me.  I stayed for a long time. I was ahead of pace so the long stay evened it out. I might have changed socks. I had a good meal.

    Normally I’d carry food out to eat while on the trail, but here, Cheryl had me sat down, covered me, and I took a breather. I told myself won’t argue with my crew chief since I appointed her to that position. She did me much good to get enough caffeine into my system and also food for energy for the following day. Kiran had her feet fixed by her team.

    Camp Roo to Gap Creek 1.  Everyone knew this was the worse section on the course. Or so they thought. I knew ahead of time how wet it would be and tough. For me, I think, the last section from 211 to Crisman Hollow road, was the hardest.

    Gap Creek is never dry even on a good day. We sloshed through river of mud and puddles. It was not unlike any trail we have been doing much of the day except a bit more muddy here. The cold water actually helped with my feet (since there were hot spots, the cold served as a numbing effect). 

    Many though did not expect the steep climb up to Duncan Hollow and then the long descent on the other side.  Many passed me while we ran up, but got exhausted at the top. I was exhausted too. My left knee might had given me some issue. Going downhill was fine for me.

    Kevin M. (I believe this was his 8th MMT) showed up out of the blue. He passed me long ago early in the day, but he said he got lost and went on a white trail at Roosevelt, not sure which trail he went to. We arrived at Gap Creek together. Of course, he did not need much at the aid station. He wore flipflops on the trail and his feet were fine. Interesting guy. He has been to  Western States and told me about Truckee. about weeds and booze at one of the aid stations but he said young people like me probably prefer sugary candies over those adult beverages.

    Gap Creek to Visitor Center.  I had my drop bag at Gap Creek with dry shoes. I changed shoes and socks. I might have taken a long time to get out. I thought it was before 3 AM but when I checked the clock on my way out it was closer to 4 am (3:48 or something), I was shock. I was not sure if I could get to Visitor by 7 like last year. So I was almost an hour late on my pace at this point.

    We had to go up Jawbone. I did not think it was too bad. I was with Ben. I led Ben through. I thought the whole time, he was behind me. It was until morning came I turned around, it was a completely different runner and their pacer.

    They, by the look, they were super strong runners and I felt embarassed, I did not offer them a chance to pass me. I called out a few times but now was not sure I was speaking to the same person.

    At Q view, when I took a pee break, the whole train maybe 5-6 runners ran/fast hiked passed me. Why did not anyone say anything!  The faster pace did help me get to the Visitor Center early.  I think I arrived around 7:10 but I was exhausted. In theory, I went through Kerns an hour faster than last year. Cheryl was there and helped me. I don’t remember what she did for me, but I let her fix me as best as she could and off I went. I think, I aslo stayed there quite a while, maybe 30 minutes. Kiran caught up again.

    Visitor Center to Picnic Area via Bird Knob.  In my mind, I dreaded this loop, mostly the climb up to Bird Knob. I remember I passed out here in a previous year (MMT1). Bird Knob was not as bad as Habron or Jawbone. Sure, there were some climbing, but I was on top in no time.  Kiran and Sunny came by.  Sunny passed us looking very strong. This was her first 100. I spoke with her Friday at the bib pickup but during the race I didn’t see her much except once at Edingburg and now here.

    I wanted to stay with Sunny, but her pace was beyond my ability to keep up. So Kiran and her pacer again were again setting my pace. They gave me a good pace. I laughed and talked. Kiran took a pee break so I went on ahead and lo and behold I saw Sunny, either she slowed down her pace or my pace was really fast. I thought she would have left me, but it seemed many times she waited for me. Her climbing was super strong but she was slow enough on the downhills and I was able to stay with her. This section had longer stretches of down than uphills.

    I could not be able keep up with Sunny once we arrived at the Picnic Area. Cheryl again met me. She did what she did. I was definitely beyond tired at this stage. There were about 10-13 miles left.

    I fixed my feet again. There was no med kit, and Cheryl found a tube of something that to me like lubricant, maybe vasaline but in a tube form. I put that on my feet after cleaning them. Glad, Cheryl had baby wipes. I had them too but they were packed away in my hydration pack. I took a cup of coffee. Cheryl gave me another Red Bull,

    I think it was my fourth but can’t remember. I knew I had too much sugar and caffeine in me, but I felt I had to stay awake. And of course, the caffeine crash came next. I also stayed here a long time (there’s a video on Youtube of probably 12 hours timelapse collapsed into 3 min, and I could see myself in it, meaning I stayed a rather long time).

    Picnic Area to Gap Creek 2. I promised Cheryl I would be at Gap Creek by 1pm.  I figured, I could do 6 miles in two hours. I knew there would be a lot of climbing. The mile section from Picnic Area to 211 East Parking Lot was shorter than I thought.  It was also wetter than I expected. But feet were wet most of the time any way, so it did not matter much. I just waddled through.

    Kiran and her new pacer (she swapped out after the Picnic Area) passed me extremely fast.  I had no intention to keep up with them like before. The two hard boiled eggs (soy sauced favored) I had and was about to eat one of them, dropped onto the trail. Nooo, I screemed in my head. Note, Kiran did not bump into me, she was probably still 50-100 ft behind. She asked if I was okay. I felt fine but it seemed my pace was all but gone. This stretch was shorter than I thought and soon I arrived at RT 211 Parking.

    At 211 Parking, I met many good friends, and couldn’t remember all but Marty gave me a big hug and told me to go get it.

    This section was my waterloo during MMT 2022. It still gave me nightmares. My energy level tanked just like that time. I reassured myself that God sent Elaina and Christian just at the right moment to pace me through Gap Creek that time.  Christian was at the Visitor Center AS earlier in morning and I told him it wouldn’t happen like in 2022. The thoughts of them gave me new strength to climb up. A mile at a time. It was a very long climb, first on the white trail, and that was like 2-3 miles in my mind and but got through them.

    We turned onto the Orange trail. I haven’t been on this part since last year, and all I remember was it kept going up. Maybe for 5-6 miles at least felt like that in my mind. I know in training runs we ran up on these hills. Now, it seeemed almost like Mt Everest. We came to creek crossing after creek crossing. I did not mind. This was the last ordeal and soon I knew we would be on the final road section.

    I think we got up on Duncan Hollow a second time. This part always confuses me. The course was well marked so we don’t usually pay attention but I had a feeling we’ve been up here. Anyway, we got to the downhill. My legs could move better. Earlier it was the downhill that hurts.

    On the Crisman Road, a few runners passed me, notably was KC. At the time, I was doubting my chance of finishing. My leg, especially the left knee obviously was not able to hike fast. It was slightly swollen. Luckily, I could still put weight on it. So I started to lock my knee and I started  limping.

    The Aid Station was still a long way. In my mind was a mile but it seemed like two as I started limping. I saw friends who gave out words of encouragement along the way. Some people I knew, some I didn’t but they knew me and some were completely strangers. Everyone was driving carefully. I arrived at at Gap Creek at 3 pm exactly as KC told me. She was then took off.

    Gap Creek to Finish.  Cheryl waited for me at Gap Creek since noon.  I was two hours late and was very late. I felt really indebted to her. This time, I tried to leave the station as quickly as possible. I couldn’t find my drop bag, but anyway, there was nothing I needed from it other than put away things I didn’t need.

    Mike Ed said I carry half a kitchen sink on me. True. I had two shirts, a rain jacket, a full water bladder, my head lamp, trashes, a can of Red Bull and many stuff include the two hard boiled eggs that were dropped on the ground.  I carried everything to the finish.

    Happy to have a crew in this late stage. My mind was zombie by now. Cheryl put a gel in my hand and out I went.

    There was only 3.8 miles left. Likely the road was about 3 miles and there was a 0.8 of trail at Camp Caroline, our Finish. I moved even slower than before.

    I tried to get an app to tell me how was fast I was moving and how far I needed to go. But those apps required me to log in. I did not have internet. I gave up. I hoped I would be making 2.5 miles per hour needed for a finish. Nothing stressed out more of than not knowing my pace.

    Once I entered the campground of Caroline Furnace, I was pretty sure I would finish.  The time then was around 4:30 and I had half an hour left and there was not much more trail. Katie K (the former Bull Run Run 50 co-RD)  passed me, plus many others.  Caroline came out to meet me, and joked with her that I would have to crawl in and get it to a time of 35:58, the exact time when she finished her first MMT.

    She then tripped over at a bridge crossing. I hardened my heart and not stopped. Got to get to the finish. 

    I wouldn’t be running. But then I did, when Dan looked at me and said come on, Run it in, with his hand beckoning me. To hell with the knee, I gave one final push and I stepped across the finish and in my mind it was the fastest run I could manage.

    Everyone was there cheering. Many more runners also came in (10 after me, totally 119 finished that day). Melissa came just after me. Plus Ben and Donnelly.

    Donnelly was like a legend at the club, but I did not know her, but I think she had one of the most finishes (20 finishes, second to Keith). There were many club VIPs around. I don’t know the whos who. Wheeler was talking to Caroline the whole time and from time to time engaged me in their conversation. I didn’t know she was also a VIP! She broke the women’s age group record that day. She could run this race faster than I could dreamed. All these runners are giants to me.

      Cheryl had me sit down, got me food and said she would look for my drop bags. We stayed until 5 or 6-ish. I lost track of time. Once sat down, I could not get back up, until two last sweepers came in and they sat at my table or so one over and they offered me advils and also a hand to get me on my feet.

    They started closing down the place. Many people came by to congratulate me. There were a lot of laughters. I saw people in their various states — some and many had already taking off their shoes, but some like me preferred to keep them on because we knew it would be painful and ugly to fix. I turned and saw Katie K foot, omg, the blister.  Yes, it probably took me an hour to just taking my own shoes off. I was wishing that somone would dress my feet for me. Time slowed down. I tried to get to my car and tried to sleep before going home.  It was like doing everything all at once. I did sleep first.

    To me, this was just a training run but a very hard one. It did not hit me until much later, what it means after waking up that it was a very important race, probably the one most significant race this year.  I avoided a DNF.

    Taking a DNF (didn’t finish) is hard. Almost all runners have encountered a blockage or a DNF at some points. Some might never getting over a race and MMT is such a race that is an impossibility to overcome for some. I know people were proud of me when I crossed the finish line.

    Q said, I was someone who got a redemption. My redemption was last year. I don’t mind to relive it again. It is a special feeling. Many themselves had run this race. They knew how tough and some too had experienced disappointments like me. For me to cross it, they either experienced the joy when they ran it, or the joy of overcoming this trail with me even if they never ran it.  I felt blessed that I received a gift of a body of capable to do this hard 100 mile run. I did not know, I was so loved by many.

    It was a very good challenge while on the trail.  I really think the last 50k ish of the course was fun. Sunny asked me why I love this race and why I love trail running, the answer is complex, but ultimately, I found doing hard things like this fun.

    Unlike at the end of my last report, I wrote there were many serious races ahead, now after MMT, I am not sure if I had the ability to do the next one. There’s a possibility I need to deregister myself on some. My knee is certainly an issue with no solution I can think of. Yes, see a doc, but. Can I still run at my level and how soon? I know there are many unknowns.

    I wrote a lot already, the question of why I run comes up from time to time. There are several levels. I just attended a prep meeting for a later 100 mile I will be doing not long from now and people in it said, if you want to finish a 100 miler, you have to find your Why. A strong Why will keep you going. I did it because it was fun. I did it to see how far I can go. I did it for people, to fun with together on the course. Rarely have I done a 100 mile race where I didn’t know anyone. I think I run to build a little treasure of memories, to look back on in the future and to relive it.  Nothing like a 100 miler, you get the ups and the downs and everything.  My friend told me something about changing the world with my running, I think that is too deep for me. Whether my runs will have a lasting impression, likely not, and do I need to? It is something to explore in future runs.

  • [Day587] Rim to River Pacing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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