In awe

Tag: 2024

  • [665] a race jitter

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  I found an old unpublished post in the draft folder and since I have nothing to share this week, so I’ll post this for this week.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • [657] Boyers Furnace 40 Mile

    It was going to be a nasty winter run. Cold, wet and a lot of rocks.

    Initially 90+ people signed up but ended up about 50 runners started.  Still a lot of runners, but 50 was usually the size for this event.

    40 miler is no joke.  30 mile or 50k is what people could do.  10 miles more put it in a different category.  This one was like a 50 miler.

    It was my 2nd year doing it (last year, here, I had a better write up than this year).  I was looking foward to it.  There were several friends signed up and I was hoping to have a good time with them out on the trail. The MMT gang.

    Weather was a disrupter and a few of those I was hoping to see could not make it, which was fine.  They messaged me that they couldn’t make it.  A run was still a run and I went out to have a good time even if running by myself. I was hoping a good strong run, but I ended up walking most of the course like last year and ran maybe for 6 miles in the afternoon to avoid the cutoff.

    I went out the night before.  I was not the only one because by the time I arrived at Camp Roosevelt, there were a few other cars camping out too.  We carcamped and secured our parking spots for the morning since the lot was small.  There was no way to fit 90 cars in there but we usually do fit everyone, not sure how, but people are creative.

    I woke up while it was still dark.  I would not say the night was comfortable one but I was able to sleep on and off and was fresh when morning came.  It rained during the night so, I could not really sleep on the flatbed of my truck or set up a tent in the woods (well technically, I could, but did not want to do it in the rain). I arrived at camp near midnight and I did not want to spend too much time fidgeting with a tent setup and I wanted to fall asleep as soon as possible. I opted for the back of the car.  Sleeping in the back seat was passable. I was smart enough to bring my pillow and a blanket. Those two are my comfort items and would allow me to sleep anywhere.

    A few showed up very early the next morning. My friend Mordy came from Ohio and parked next to me. We had a kind of catch up on things during the early hours as we waited for all the rest to show up.  Eventually, more showed up. We started the run on time at 7:30.

    Rain stopped.  I saw Jeff P started early, he said he started at 6:45. He believed he was a slower runner and asked for an early start. I was hoping to catch him on my run.  I did not see him until the final 9 miles.

    I wanted to walk in the beginning, so I was in the back of the pack walking with Ram and Tracy.   I ran with Tracy couple times at the MMT 100.  Ram was my pacer (safety runner) for Old Dominion 100 this year, plus an unofficial pacer at MMT before, last year I think.  He saved my race at Camp Roosevelt that year. We chit chat by recalling prior years’ races we had together.

    First overlook a mile into the race with Wayne. I was planning to run with him but he was way too fast for me, just like last year. We made a quick stop for pictures before rain clouds and fog rolled in

    The first 17 miles we had no aid stations so we carried all that we needed.  Surprising it was not that hard in term of how much water we needed to carry.  This was somethingthat worried me last year. I drank maybe half of my 1.5 L pack.  I ate a few candy bars.  I arrived at Veach Gap, our first aid station, feeling great.

    I wanted to be there earlier but ended arriving around 12:30, probably half an hour later than last year.  We had a good aid station with hot food and all.  Close to a dozen people were there and two long tables full of food.  My friend Jeremy, who initially was going to run with me, but instead came out to the aid station to cheer.  I ate some food.  They had hot soup. Then we set out again. 

    A flashback, decending on Veach brought back my memories of the Old Dominion 100 Run.  Now, in the day time, I could see what the trail actually looks like.  It was not that bad.  It was gravelly and where you kind of be careful of where you are stepping but it was not too technical. During the Old Dominion, I felt this section was terrible besides Sherman Gap. I was waiting for Ram to rerun this section with him (also I was just up on Sherman Gap two days ago).

    The next section was 6 miles on the roads.  We had to climb up to Woodstock Tower.  The section is similar to the Old Dominion Run. I believe during OD 100, we came down the other way, but now we were climbing up. Ram was tired and he could no longer keep up with me.  I did not wait for him.  He said, during Old Dominion I was running while he was walking, now today we were in reverse position, he was running while I walked by him. The course again brought back memories of my Old Dominion Run.  It was good to see the course now in day time and to have a refresher.

    Kate, a seemingly fast runner who passed us earlier on Orange while we were still on the ridge before descending to Veach, told me she would drop out at Woodstock and asked me to let the people at the aid station know.

    I outran the people around me (just one guy, Bill?, he did the Devil Dog this year) so I got to the aid station first at Woodstock. I passed message from Kate to the aid station’s captain, who then told us that no one was allowed to drop at Woodstock since all the volunteer’s cars were full.  I am guessing then Kate took a ride back with a random stranger happened to be there or she made a call for someone to pick her up. 

    I expected the run from Woodstock to Edinburg to be long and tough.  The afternoon was not bad.  Timewise, I left Woodstock about the same time as the previous year, at 2:30.  I made to Edinburg in two and half hour by 5 pm, half hour before the cutoff.  This was the exact time as last year. We had one of the best meals of the day once arrived.   I might have stayed there for whole 15 minutes before heading off. It was not a race, so might as well enjoy some good food.

    We had 9 miles left, which I did not know at the time and I was guessing at most 6 miles were left. It was a long climb up to Moreland Gap and then a long descent on Moreland Road down.  I finally caught up with Larry and Jeff on this stretch.  We together with two other runners (Morali and another dude who did not talk), plus Larry’s dog, Max, finished the last stretch together.  There were only about six of us left in the race at the time. It was good we made it back to Roosevelt.  It took me 12 hours, about 20 mins slower than last year.

    I sat at the fire ring for an hour or so waiting for the last few runners to make it back.  I was surprised I passed Charles, who know when, and he and his friend came in with the sweeper, Erin.  Erin said he did this for the last five years.  We then helped break down the aid station and called it a night. 

    This year was unlike the previous year, there were only couple of us left at the end.  Many had finished many hours before and left. I helped put out the camp fire. Q gave me a whole lot of water, maybe 5 gal. I made sure all the ambers were put out.  It was kind of sad, because the fire was so strong earlier, but we had to leave, so putting it out was a must.

    The day was good.  I was relatively dry even though we were rained on briefly.  Feet had some blisters but that was on me of not clearly the grits from my shoes. I did not feel tired at the time, but the body took a beating.  The next day, it felt like I did some hard training, because I could hardly crawl out of bed. This was the kind of runs I love.

    Another lookout point.  Fog and clouds eventually enveloped us. I loved it. We hardly could see the aid stations ahead until we were on top of it. Wayfinding was hard because (though the trail was lightly marked) the fog made turns invisible to see.  I was glad I was with some experienced runners toward the end who know the area.

  • [655] Naked Nick 50k

    It was my third year going to Naked Nick, which is a low cost, usually cold weather 50k run in Leesport, PA (Blue Marsh).

    Per tradition of last year (2023, 2022-no report year), we departed on Saturday, visited Baltimore for Celtic Soltice 5 mile before heading to PA.  I did not run in the 5 mile because the race was sold out when I tried to sign up.  It was fine. I stayed at the finish line enjoying the fire bin while my friend ran.

    It was a different experience cheering someone than running in it myself.  I did not like the 5 mile race in the first place because it was expensive when I ran in the previous year and it was crowded (3000+ runners). Rumor was they lower the cap this year, so it did not feel as crowded. 

    Also I did not like to run hard before my big race the next day. My friend did a double header.  I did not mind  being a spectator this time. It was like a win-win situation for me. I did not really want to run but get to cheer others. We spent the rest of the day in Baltimore, just having a time off, which something I have not done in a while.

    As for Naked Nick, it was always foolish to sign up this race after my 100 miler. Still I did it, like the past three years. With a week coming off from Devil Dog 100, my legs were in no condition to run.  I went in with the wait and see attitude. I had in mind to possibly drop after the first loop (which gave my friend a scare, when she did not see me on the second loop, thinking I might be hurt out on the course, but I was alright, and running ahead).

    The race this year had 300+ runners, which is a big crowd of runners for a trail race. Anyway, it did not feel that crowded to me once the race got underway.

    Yes, why I was doing it is curious.  I think because it was hard, yet doable that got me to sign up year after year, for three years in a row now.

    The race was two loops, 15 miles each, out and back with a lolipop like loop at the top, i.e., a stick and a loop at the end. The course was well flagged, though I still saw a few went the wrong way, not sure how. There is always some one who get off course.  There were two aid stations, plus one at the start/finish where we could stop between the loop.  We ended up having an aid stop at every 3-4 miles, which is not bad for an ultra. We can also have a drop bag at the start/finish area.  I did not really use my drop bag except to stove my clothes between loops and to hold dry clothes to change into at the finish.

    We had decent weather. Dry, but cold in the 20s early in the morning but the temperature warmed up to 40s by mid afternoon.  No wind.  It was doable for some of us to run in short sleeves and shorts.  I think those are crazy.  I wore a few layers and started shredding mid run, and I changed out into shorts (and it was cold) by the second loop. Then layered everything back on as evening approached (the run was 9 hours). The race is “walkable” for some as long as you build enough cushion early on.  It billed as walker friendly for the 25k (the one loopers).

    My first loop was about 20 minutes slower than my past years.  I felt I hit the pace correctly with not many people passing me and I passed maybe less than 10 people, who later passed me back. I finished the first loop by 11:45 am (3:45 h:m). I was aiming for no less than 3 hours and no more than 4 for the first loop. Ended up more toward the 4 hours.  A fellow runner (David) told me the cut off for the first loop was 12:15 pm (4:15 h:m).  I had plenty of time.

    Unlike past years, I was not in a hurried and knew I had enough time to finish even if I had to walk.

    On my second loop, I went out with Christine and Marish. Marish said he could not run and I should run ahead of him.  We chatted a bit before I took off. 

    We had 5 hours and 20 minutes to do about 15 miles.  I reassured him he had enough time to do it.  We calculated that we had to maintain a 20 minutes pace, plus 5 mins at each aid station, and still would be able to finish. 

    Christine was aiming for 4 pm finish (8 hr), and so was I, meaning we had 4 hours and 15 mins to do it. She and I ran on. At times, Christine would pass me.  I later passed her back when I felt stronger.  We chatted a bit when we were together.  She usually not too far ahead or behind me.

    I invited her to do Boyers Furnace in a couple week. She said, she is looking to do the Twot, another famous race in my area that I haven’t done yet, but I do know a lot about it.  I found out I met Christine at the Catoctin 50k this year, when we both were waiting for her friend Tina.

    I did not remember my finish time from my previous years during the run, so there was little to aim for, I thought it was 3:30 pm (7.5 hrs).

     I was pacing according to how I feel.  It was a mix of run and walk.  My second loop took also about 3:45 (h:m), maybe 5 mins slower.  It was actually maybe 25 min, since I stopped for aid station for maybe 5 mins at end of the first loop. I finished by 3:30 pm, total time of 7:30 on the course. I felt I did great. Legs were tired.

    Later I checked my previous year time which was 6:45. And 2022 time was 6:40.  I was about 45-50 mins slower this year.

    I was feeling a little bum of not matching or nearing the last year’s time and I was significantly slower this year. 

    Anyway, I felt it was always good to have run.  The run was great  for my recovery from the 100 miler, and for that I am happy. Because, once I am recover, I could run more.

    For rest of the day, I watched some people I have met on my run finishing the race.  I cheered them.  They came in not long after me. David from Bethlehem, PA, finished his first 50k.  He was a cheerful young man. I was happy for his accomplishment. We took couple pictures together. His whole family was there to celebrate. He seemed to be able to run way faster than me, but he dialed back his pace according to his coach’s instructions.

    It was a long journey home.  We had some rain and snow during our drive.  We had couple pit stops. I did not have to drive.  I came better prepared this year with dry clean clothes to change out and food for post race. The race served hotdogs and potato soup, but I like eating my own snacks too.

    I was able to change into clean warm clothes at one of the stops  and was super comfortable for the rest of the way.  It was also good that because I did not run too hard, I was not overly tired for the trip home.

    Next up would be Boyers Furnace 40 after Christmas. 

  • [654] Devil Dog Ultras (100 Mile)

    Another year another ultra. I started running in the Devil Dog since 2020, with a baby 50k, they branded as the Devil Dog lite edition (2020).

    Then I came back intended to do a heavier one, the 100k the following year, but I dnf’ed at mile 41 (2021).

    That did not feel so good, until I finished a true 100 mile the following year (2022).

    My intention was always to go back to do a 100k that I DNF, but every time I signed up, a 100 mile seems to tuck at me.  It was the same last year (2023) and this year. I tell myself, some day, I need to do that 100k.

    Devil Dog, I learned since my first race is it is “sneaky hard”.  Many races and ultras I did were on the mountains. Devil Dog course is in the suburb, just outside of DC, in the Prince William Forest Park. There are no mountains here. However, the constant rolling hills easily sap one’s strength over the course of the race for those who are unprepared.

    Each year, I learned a bit of the lore. The race started in 2016.  This is its eighth year.  We have at least one person who ran it every single year. For me, it was my 4th time.

    The race always has taken place in December.  We do usually have a mild winter but the weather is unpredictable.  There are those who still can remember the ice year (was it 2017 or 2018).  Night time temperature could be down to teens or possible into single digits. This year was my coldest Devil Dog (at 19 F the night before the start). Luckily that was the coldest time, and through the race, the temperature rose until 60s by the time we finished.  I prefered warmer than cold, but the wild swings in temperature is an extra challenge of what to pack.

    Previous years, we had rain. Last year was worse for me.  This year, we had dry but cool running weather. I got by fine.

    I stayed in a bunk house the night before the race like the previous year.  I guess words got out that this is more ideal than camping in a parking lot.  The race had no parkings available for runners or crew at the start.  So runners were shuttled in couple hours before the race unless you are one of the few who stayed at a cabin.

    Two of my friends stayed with me.  They all slept well but me. I brought my earplugs too but it did not seem to help.  The room was warmer than I would have liked.  I ended up sleeping on the floor to be cooler until of course it got too cold and I went back on my bunk bed, by then it was almost morning. I did have an hour or two of closed eyes. It was sufficient.

    Logistics is always my challenge.  I overplanned things, which I like to do a lot. They say I carried a whole kitchen sink to my race. I did. I packed three bags, 3 drop bags for all contingencies, and a food bag.  I even had a tent too in case the cabin did not work out, I would be outside camping in the woods. I made a backup for my backup plan, which was to hike back to where the car was (I think no more than 2 miles) and slept inside it. My friend Caroline liked that idea. (Back up to a back up plan is a joke between me and another runner).

    So, I packed for night before the race, the night after the race (I knew based on experience, I wouldn’t make it home before bedtime and might as well plan for that), and I had to pack the stuff I would need during the race itself.

    Then there is the food aspect.  For prerace dinner, I planned for Thai drunken noodle.  I also reserved two dinning tickets for Chipotle, which the race would brought for us.  It was quite an embarrassment I forgot to pay ahead and I did not have cash on me. Randy, my friend, spotted me before I got Venmo to work (there were dead zones in the park and cellular was unreliable unless you have Verizon). I gave myself the option either eat the Chipotle or the drunken noodle.  I later chose the Chipotle since those kind of food are easily spoiled.  (By the way, I had some left over Chipotle rice, but I could not find them the next day. I think I misplaced and someone tossed them out for me). I packed couple cans of soup, some coffee, a gallon of water, and a can of coconut juice, some candy bars. 

    Plus, I had a crew.  Cheryl, a friend, agreed to come out to crew me. Because of the cold weather, I asked her only to come at 5 pm to prepare my evening meal and I should be able to pull it through for the rest of the race.  The food from the aid stations were quite sufficient in previous years.  I had ramen and rice in my dropbag for her to use, but of course, she brought her own. Her hot food was way better. She came out four of five loops and we (my pacer and I) had a full course meal when ever we passed by. It was a tremendous help. I would say, I probably would not have finished if not for her food.

    Lesson.  Ultra is so interesting.  Way back in the beginning, when I ran marathons, the key was to carb up and eat a lot before the race.  Nutrition is everything.  You have some people calculating how many calories to consume per hour, like at Wasatch, a guy I ran with said, we should eat a candy bar every 20 mins.  Then, I went through a period where I learned carbing up the night before is not that critical.  The key is to eat the same as usual.  Carbing up too much is bad for health, as I have experienced.  I dialed back on my carbing. The focus shifted to eating during the race.  There was a period I spent too much time eating at the race stations that costed me my race.  I learned then to pack and carry food on me on my run and reduced my time spent at the aid stations.  You can get by with a candy bar here and there too. I was known as the guy who carried a bunch of subway foot-longs on my hundred miles (one in each hand when I did the MMT 100, there’s probably a picture of me doing that) and I would bite off pieces of it from time to time. However, it was not really working out for me and I don’t do that any more after my first MMT. So the last couple years or so, I went kind of minimalist, especially during the last few hundreds until it did not work out at Grindstone 100. It was a turning point for me, I believed I DNF because, I was out of energy for the last 20 miles due to not eating enough.

    So for this race, I made sure, I loaded up with lot food the night before and the morning of. I had a full drunken noodle for breakfast and that took me over an hour to eat. I finished it just before the starting gun went off.

    Having a crew who brought me food was a luxury I did not have at my other races.  I did have a crew at Western States, though I did not rely on them for food. This year Massanutten, Cheryl too was my crew, when she met me couple times (she was voluntering at the race, and remote location made it hard for crew to get to).

    This Devil Dog was I actually had a dedicated crew throughout the whole race.  I lived or ran like a king, like in youtube videos of runners with a full group of people helping them.

    Cheryl was there at 10 am (4 hours after the start).  I munched some too from other aid stations I passed. Then at 5 pm, I had really good food. Then again at 10-11 pm. It was very cold for my crew and I appreciated her being there.  I was relieved that she did not come out at 4 am.  I munched something from the aid station. The next round was at 11 am the next day.  By then finishing the race was certain, so my pacer and I sat down at a picnic table and we all had a short picnic before doing the last six miles with 3 hours to spare.

    Summary or outtake for this race, I had my ups and downs, the nutritional aspect was not one of them.  I glad I had enough food and it provided me sufficient energy even until my very end.

    What I could do better is on time management.  I made way too long a stop at aid stations.  Every time, it was 10-15 mins. We had three aid stations per loop for 5 loops.  I must have spent at least 2 and half hours being at rest. 

    Even when we were behind on pace, I still made pretty long stops because I was betting I could run fast on my last loop.  I glad that panned out fine otherwise, it would have been a dnf.  I did have to run and hustle to catch back up on pace during my last 20 miles and was chasing cutoffs.

    Over all it was an enjoyable experience.  I had a full cast of supporting friends.  Charlie ran the whole race with me.  Randy was too, I ran first three loops with him.  Wayne paced me three final loops.  I had a crew.  Caroline was my support at the start and finish as well somewhere in the middle of the race after she finished her race.

    Pacing, my strategy was to walk the first four loops and run at the last loop, 20 miles.  The goal was to do 6 hours per loop (around 18 min pace). By second loop, Charlie was experiencing cramping issues, so we slowed down the pace a bit, but was still making about 6 hours per loop.  Third loop I was with Randy, we were moving faster, but it was night time, which our pace got bogged down.  Fourth loop, we were behind on pace by 30 mins compared to last year, because we started it a bit past midnight, we need to make it back for the fifth loop by 7 am (in 6.5 hours).  I arrived back at 6:45, which was great.  Changed clothes and went out thinking it would now be a cake walk to the finish.  However, I went out the wrong way.  That ate up a lot of time. By the time we made it back where we got off course it was 7:20, half hour later.  It meant, I was about 20 minutes behind on thr needed pace to finish and I was risking being cut at the next aid station, which my friend told me they would close by 8:30.  We ran and made it (station doesn’t close until 9 as I thought).  This was actually the same time I arrived there last year, but I did not know at the time. 

    There were almost no more runners on the trail by then unlike last year.  I passed like only two people. We then rushed to the next station.  My pacer charged me to make it there by 11. And we did.  I finally caught up with Charlie again, whom I haven’t seen since maybe 5 am, 6 hours ago. Charlie this time took off while I stayed and ate at the aid station.  My pacer and I knew, we had enough time to finish. Afterward, it was just a nice brisk run.  I was not rushing. I knew I could do the final section in about 2 hours and was aiming to arrive at 1:30.  Race closed at 2 pm.

    It was a surprised when we got to the bottom of the hill of the finish line at 1 pm.  We were ahead of my expect finish time. We ran it in and finished at 1:10:14 (cumulative, 31:10:15).

    We were all happy.  I beat my previous time of 31:45, about 35 minutes better. It was also relatively low effort too.  I believe I could have gotten 30 hours if I put more effort into my run. 

    I made a few new friends. This was my last 100 for the year.  9 in total. 8 successfully completed. What are the 9? (1. C&O, 2. Massanutten, 3. Old Dominion, 4. Western States, 5. Vermont, 6. Burning River, ,7. Wasatch Front, 8. Grindstone, and 9. Devil Dog). It has been an amazing year.

  • [652] Richmond Marathon

    I had a good experience at America’s Friendliest Marathon, in Richmond Virginia.

    This is my home state and I have wanted to run it since I started running marathons 7-8 years ago.  

    Richmond Marathon being in the fall, means the race date usually conflicts with my other races.  

    I aim to do all 50 states and Virginia was the first state I completed (Charlottesville Marathon in 2017).  So, it was never a do-or-die for me.  I just was bidding me time to find the right opportunity to do it.

    Richmond would have been my first marathon, but I was not ready in 2016.  By Spring 2017, I did the Charlottesville one because I could not wait till November.  Then I did the Marine Corps, so Richmond was put off.  2018, 2019, not sure why I did not sign up, but each year was busier than the year before.

    In 2020, I signed up, but it was canceled due to Ro’na and deferred for next three years since for various reasons.  In the end, I ran it as a virtual marathon in 2022, because it could not be deferred for another year. 

    I did not get to run on the actual course until now.

    2023, I did not sign up since it was conflict with Stone Mill 50, a race I have been doing for four years in a row since 2020. 

    2024, this year was my 5th time at Stone Mill.  I thought I would not be able to run in the Richmond Marathon again.  But the way calendar works, Stone Mill was a week ahead or the Richmond Marathon was a week later, so when I checked my schedule, I found I could run it. 

    It was just a week after Stone Mill 50. It was fine.  I ran plenty of back to back week of long runs. This is no different.  My pace at Stone Mill was not too fast, so I saved my legs.  My body and legs were ready.

    We had a lovely weekend.  By now I know plenty of people, so every I go, I would run into people I know.

    We went down the night before to save the early morning trip.  I still woke up at 4.  The race was set to start at 7.  It was not my first time in Richmond, so I know, how to battle against 30,000+ cars seeking a parking spot, by going in two hours before everyone.  By the way, if one is willing to afford staying at a hotel near the start, then theres no need to worry about parking. We stayed at Ashland, which was about 20-30 minutes away, so we did not pay a lot for our hotel.

    We arrived at 5:30.  My friend needed to pick up her bib.  They already closed some of the roads.  Lucky for us, we found a street parking on 7th and Cary.  This was near the finish. It was very convenience for us.  Note, the start and finish is not the same, but is maybe a mile apart. I think most parking places, were closer to the start.  They do have shuttles at the end of the race to bus people back to the start.

    So after we got our bibs, we went back to the car to wait.  I had to use the potty.  They had plenty at the start.  But I headed to the finish line, thinking there wouldn’t be a line there for the potty. Lucky for me, I found one from a construction place, but that probably not a good idea, because most potty were locked.

    Traffic filled Richmond roads as last minute runners arriving trying to find a parking garage.

    The sun rose. It was magnificent. Temperature warmed up.  I wore a long sleeve, plus a T-shirt inside. The temperature high was 65F (15C). Many people wore extra jackets, and you could ditch your outer layers at the start on the side of the road. They would donate them afterward.  I love all my shirts, so that never would be my way.  I just tied my shirt around my waist when it got warmer.

    A runner, spotted my friend, we took a picture together. By 6:45, we sang the anthem.

    Wheel chair division started first.  Soon they let the first wave out.  We stood in the middle on the sidewalk watching runners ran by.  Soon, we saw the 3:30 pacer, then 4:00 hr pacer.  We joined in somewhere before the 4:30 pacer passed. Note, we did not bib mule!  We just did not get into the coral until it was time to set off.  They did not block the sidewalk with fences.

    We set off at a brisk pace.  I normally could run a 4:30 marathon, but I knew early on this one was not it. 

    Many people passed us by. This marathon, they had a special design on the bib (a bib 1st, sticker)  to indicate a runner is a first time running a marathon. So, I and the crowd started cheering for all the 1st time runner passing us.

    The course boasted about being the friendliest marathon.  Indeed there were people cheering us, almost every where.  It was very lively. They had live bands. Even first mile, the adult beverages were laid out, and were labeled as “H20”. This was from private citizens.  However, virginia still has some older laws that prohibit serving alcohol in public. There was one stand that labeled as “Roullete”.  I think every drink is alcoholic. Maybe one is water to make it interesting.

    We had aid stations almost every couple miles.  Near the finish, it was an aid station at every mile.  I never felt crowded.  They spaced them on either side of the road.  Each station table was spaced out.  The sport drinks tables were placed farther down.  So, as least for me, the mid-to back of the pack, it was never where we would run into a wall of runners.  And most importantly, they were never out of water.

    Some aid stations, had towels, and some stations had gels for us.

    For me, I carried a hydration pack.  As an ultra runner, I feel naked without my water pack while out running.  I know I could probably run with just the aid station water.  I carried about 1 L on me.  I still stopped at the aid tables for gels and Nuun, their sport drinks of choice for the day.

    I got candies at many places from the crowd.  I had a shot of fireball.  Most of the good stuffs were on the left side of the road or in the median.  I ran usually toward the right side, so I missed out a lot of stops offerred by private citizens. Also, I did not run to the tangent in this race as I have done in many marathons. It might be half a mile different!

    It might be I made too many stops, my time was slower than my average. 

    By halfway, my pace degraded significantly.  I left my friend to fight for herself.  One had to manage his own race.

    Course.  Richmond is not a flat course.  I don’t think it was as hilly as Baltimore, but we had constant ups and downs.  All hills were runnable.  I rarely saw anyone walk on the hills.

    The course was scenic.  We ran along side the river somewhere.  We ran through Richmond, then to suburb then back to downtown.  My friend likes the older buildings and platation shutters.  It is a historic place.  We ran through VCU, Virginia Commowealth University. 

    Traffic was not an issue for us as it was at Baltimore.  They had police at every intersection and we had whole road to run on most of the time. There was milage sign for every mile.

    Marathon started before the half.  I did not have to merge back with the half, since they were (mostly) finished before I got to back to the merge point. I don’t know if the front runners would be running into a wall of half marathon runners.  I saw they do have direction signs to let the half marathon runners know to stay to left side of the road and I guess marathoners run on the right side.  I did  not get to see this in action since everyone around me were marathoners with maybe one or two half marathoners. Half marathon started a bit later but not too late, so it was almost instantaneous.  They also have an 8k event.

    The rest of the miles were not interesting.  Maybe at mile 14-15 I met a lady, Kelly.  I was trying to pick up a discarded gel pack, thinking someone had dropped it, then found it was opened.  So I threw it away.  Kelly saw me, and offered hers to me showing she has three or four she just picked up at the aid station.  I thanked her but did not take any since I did just use a gel at the aid station.  We talked.  She was a much faster runner than me so she was off.  Few miles later, I saw a sign held up by some family member, with the name Kellie, I shouted, go Kelly. Kelly replied back, go Antin. Wow, it was the same Kelly, because, who would know my name? I was laughing because by then I had forgotten her and then found her again.

    Mile 20 onward was hard.  We crossed a bridge to be back to the city.  The city does not seem to be near.  We directed to run north on Arthur Ashe.  I was wondering when will we every turned back south.  Then aid station came at every mile.  A lady who was pacing her friends (note pacing is not allowed), but here two women were pacing her friend on each side.  She turned to me, giving me some encouraging words, so I had the kick again. I knew them, from since mile 13.  I passed them earlier and now they were passing me back.

    I ran on to the finish.  It was downhill.  I turned to my left. It was another woman. She looked older than me but very happy.  She smiled back. We said something, none of us remember, but the crowd was cheering.  I said, lets race to the finish. All out.  We all ran full stides down hill and finished, side by side. 

    I was very happy to got in before 5 hour was up. 

    We had a lot of swags.  We were offerred our medals and water. My friends from the Happy Trails were serving at the towel and hat stations.  I love my towel. 

    Then my friend Caroline finished.  There were others too but we did not get to see them.  We went for the pizza tent and then the beer tent. It was a good day.  So good, I could not remember where I left my phone.  So we spent the next couple hours retracing our steps and stopping by the info and merchandise booths.  In the end, using where-my-phone website, we found it to be in the car.  Haha! It was there the whole time. The day ended well. It was then a long drive home (kind of, we went camping, but that’s another story).

  • [651][24.2#17] I goofed – Fall Review

    Day650 should have been a reserved for a review as I have done in the past, that every 50 posts is a “quarterly” review. I wrote less than before, so now every fifty posts is more an annual review. My last year review here Day 600 and also here last midterm, Day634.

    I accidentally published Day650 on  Stone Mill 50. I have not decided if I should resequence the post numbering after the fact.  I might just keep this as Day651. It doesn’t matter.

    I like to do reviews on myself to remind me I am aiming to accomplish something meaningful in life.  It is easy to say just do it. Yet, life is chaotic. And we are forgetful.  I can think of how many new year resolutions I have “accidentally” forgot.

    I love space and NASA at how each of their launch has a mission number.  I would like that very much for my life. Planning is a way of managing the unexpected so I could “boldly go where no man has gone before.”  Yes, I like my mission statement to be something that bold. I grew up watching Star Trek.

    I know what I want to write, but harder thing is how to write them. 

    The last 50 days (weeks actually), I wanted to train for running in the Western States 100. 

    I was not sure at the time if I would attempt to do the Grand Slam, which was 4 toughest/oldest ultra 100 mile marathon in the US. The  Western States was one of them.  Doing even one of them for me was like shooting the moon, but to do all four was beyond measure.

      Western States went well (report on WS100). My group of friends and supporters got me over the finish line in the nick of time.   I thought of quitting so many times, but lo and behold, I did it.  There indeed a lot going on than I can retell. I was beyond grateful. 

    Similarily, I finished the Grand Slam.

    I got Old Dominion 100 (report on OD100) already at the time. I still needed to do Vermont (report of VT100) in July and then Wasatch Front 100 (report of WF100) in September.  They were each amazing in their own adventure.  I still could not believe that it is true, that I got the slam.  It went more perfect than I would have hope.

    It has not been all ups.  After Wasatch I had the Grindstone 100. It was a race I thought I was ready for, but out from the left field, my body failed me.  I got to mile 99 but the time to finish already expired and I did not finish. There is always next year, which I signed up already.  (The full report of GS100 is here). It was a learning experience.  There were reasons that I could not get to the end. It was a good reflection for me to do better next time.

    I have been at a bit of a lost since my last big race.  Initially, I wanted to do two more 100 mile races to close the year with a perfect 10.  So, even though I got a spot in another highly coveted race at Rim to River 100, I turned it down. In the interim, a friend passed away. It helped me to do some soul reflection.

    At times, I gained clarity of what I wanted to do and why I would doing them.  But those moments were fleeting and hard to remember what I learned from them. 

    I had a some sort of race schedule hammered out.  I am pleased I will be committing to do some races next year. As for why I am doing them is still a bit vague. 

    Some asked how will I top what I did for this year.  Sure, I want to top it.  Every year should be better than the year before.  But doing it by the normal way is tough.

    Two years ago, I had run between two to three 100 milers in a giving year (Rocky Raccoon 2021, Rim to River 2021, Massanutten 2022 and Devil Dog 2022).

    Last year, I have done five (Blackbeard’s Revenge, Massanutten 2023, Burning River 2023, Grindstone 2023, and Devil Dog 2023). 

    This year the number increased exponentially. Besides the four races of the Grand Slam mentioned earlier, I ran C&O Canal 100, Massanutten 2024, Burning River 2024, and Grindstone 2024, totalling 9 big races for the year. Devil Dog 2024, my 9th race of the year, has been signed up, and the race will take place in several weeks.

    Doing quantitatively more than this year is not the way or that it is even possible. Also, I was thinking about quality over quantity, if I could do races on similar level or harder than this year.  Some asked if I will do the Bear or Big Horn or one of the Hard Rock qualifiers (such as Cruel Jewel). In the previous years, none of these races were even on my radar, because they are too hard.  I am still proccessing through if I have what it takes to finish them. The short answer is still no. There is no reason to top this year’s work.  I should be asking myself a different question. Truly, what do I want to do.

    It brings me back to focus on what is important for me.  I will close like last year report.  I like running marathons.  I should focus on finishing the 50 states.  I like running spontaneously.  I should do more of that.  I like to be on the mountain.  I should travel more.  This is very similar to what I wanted to do last year.  One of my deep goals is to travel to Nepal and do some crazy trekking.  I need to look at how to turn that into reality.  This is probably the easiest of all my big goals.  I would like to cross the AT, which is a very big goal in itself. Same as running across the continent.  I met some people who have done it.  There is also a Rim to Rim thing I like to do.

    Like last year, I won’t able to do all in one go or even accomplish one in the amount of time/resources/energy but putting it on the big board will get me to start thinking about them.

    Not race related, I visited Australia this year.  It was a goal long in the making, maybe the last 8-10 years.  As a bonus, I got to stop by Taiwan and ran a marathon there.  It was like a cherry on top. Of course, now Sydney Marathon is one of 7 marathon majors, I will have to go back to do it, some day. I found this trip to be better than all the big races I ran. Not to say, those races were insignificant, but there are other things worth doing and they come unexpectedly. Until next time, …

  • [650] Stone Mill 50

    Fifth year running. Every year is different. You never able to have same experience as the year before like they say, you can’t never step back in the same river. Each year is special though.  There are people you met that you will remember for a long time and even if you forget, they will remember you (maybe more on this later).  Here was last year report, [2023].

    I started running Stone Mill in 2020.  2019 was when I ran my first 50 mile at the JFK 50.  Stone Mill has a little to do with it in that it is taking place in November. I heard the race started because some people were bothered by how expensive some races have become (like the JFK), and there is not a good trail race around.  Stone Mill is challenging and even more so to be taking place right in the urban settings without runners having to travel far to get there (unless you live far away).

    My good friends David, Alex and I have ran this race together for the last three years in a row. We had quite a special thing going on.  This year is Alex last year with us because he is going back to his home country. 

    The first time we ran together was in 2022, I was like an expert to them and finished the fastest in 11 hours, while it was still light outside and I thought I was not that fast even though I PR’ed it. Last year, I was happy my two friends ran with me again.  I did in my opinion poorly.  Alex finished long before me. Both Alex and David were ahead of me most of the time. This year, I had a feeling I would be slower still in that I might need the extra time of the early start or that I might not be able to make some of the cutoffs.  So I started first at 5 AM.

    See my last year report on the pacing strategy. I usually have a pretty normal pacing. Start slow and run even slower still and hope for the best.  I have not run much since Grindstone 100, just like last year. I did not finish Grindstone, and my emotion and body was pretty beat up.  I need a good pick me up race.  I did do the Bimbler Bluff about two weeks back, though that race was a low commitment one and was not an intense all out fast time race. Stone Mill was not a pick me up race, but it could be if I can be fast again.

    I took the early start.  As mentioned in last year post, the pacing is easy of needed to maintain, because one has to run in about 15.5 min per mile pace to finish.  With the early 5 am start and a very late (8:20-8:30 pm) finish, You could lengthen the pace to 18 min per mile (almost a walking pace). In prior years, the early start was for a  special age group of people who think they needed the extra hour. This year, you still needed a preapproval for it.  However, I believed anyone who asked for it, got approved. 

    I was at Charm City Shoes store to pick up the bib the night before the race.  While picking up, I came across the race director, who overheard my conversation with another friend (Mike) about how I would like to have an early start.  My friend then turn and said to Ryan, the RD, and said why don’t you tell him.  I said, right now?  as in I still could do it now and there. Ryan said he just needed my bib number and took a picture of it to pass it along to the timer or the right people. I was happy to secure the early start. It was that easy.

    Having the early start remove the fear and the pressure of not making the cutoffs.  In past years, the first cutoff, I had a lot stress trying to get there (Pennyfield) by noon. Pennyfield is about halfway at mile 24. You would think I could run a marathon under 5 hours, I could make it to Pennyfield, but this cutoff always looms in my head. A 5 hour marathon on the trail is hard to do.

    Another critical cutoff was the 5 pm at Riffleford, mile 42.  We had to make it before sundown.  I remember usually the afternoon sun started fading as I got there and temperature dropping.  They say to leave a jacket and light at this station to pick up on our way back, so you could have them before the finish.  It gets dark by 5.

    With the early start, my mental image of when or where I should be at each cutoff changed.  It felt good to be feeling ahead of pace even though I was not.

    Back up a bit.  The race was about an hour from where I live (37 mins according to Google), but an hour and half for me to get there Friday night for bib pick up. So I compromised to plan for an hour of driving on race day.  I slept early at 10 pm.  Woke up before my alarm at 3 am.  I packed and had everything ready (even breakfast) and was out the door by 3:30.  I felt a bit rush but arrived by 4:15.  Finding a parking spot was not an issue. At 4:45, I was lining up at the start with 40 other early runners.  I felt good to be leading a group of runners. I was the first three to cross start line. An older guy led the way. My friend Eliot I met at the Catoctin last year started along side of me.  He and I was the last person to get lost (a fiasco to be lost for 2 hours) and did not finish the race in 2023 at the Catoctin 50k. But he ran Stone Mill 4 times previously and today, it was our fifth time doing it.  We told each other, don’t get lost. We all wanted to finish this one for a 5-year race jacket. Soon Eliot ran ahead of me and I would not see him until near the finish.

    Laudis and a few ladies caught up to me.  I stayed with them in the next 8 miles. Laudis had done Hard Rock 100 this year. She indeed is quite a strong runner and I could not stay on her pace.  In the short time together, she told me about The Bear and her experience at Western States 100.  We had a mutual friend in common, Mikala, whom I met at Western. Mikala is fast.  We expected her to pass by us at any time.  Indeed, she passed us and finished the race at 10 hour mark.  I did not have a goal time as a finish but was hoping for a 12 hour, mainly to finish before it was dark.

    It took me about 50 minutes to reach the first aid station at Rt355.  I sent David and Alex a message, wishing them a good race.  They were about to start at the normal time at 6 am.  I was hoping for them to catch up to me since I did not feel especially fast this year.  Alex definitely could catch me.

    The thing with the early start is, the people starting regularly would be constantly passing you.  Psychologically it makes you feel you were slower. Everyone seems to be stronger.  The front runners passed us around mile 6-7 as we were making our way around on the Seneca Shore trail. By mile 12, a decent number of runners have passed us.  I just told myself, it is to be expected because I was an hour ahead of my normal pace, I was running with the faster people. There was not anyone I could cling onto to keep my pace. I was pretty much on my own.

    Seneca Shore Trail, Clopper Lake, boat lauch, early hours

    There was no rush for me to go fast.  My legs felt heavy early on.  By Muddy Branch section, I was mostly walking.  A runner rolled his ankle. I was with him a bit to see if he was alright. He then took off.  He was a fast runner (Haider).

    I arrived at Pennyfield by 10:30 am, pretty much on pace compared to previous years.  Then we had the C&O Canal. My legs did not want to run on it.  We had a beautiful day. I remembered now why there were so many people walking at this section because those people were the early starters. So now it was me walking on the Canal while the normal people were passing me by.

    C&O Canal, just passed Pennyfield. What a beautiful day. I ran this race 5 years in a row and never have a more perfect day

    At Stone Mill Aid Station was a big celebration.  I stayed there longer but did not realize we had an ultra running celebrity among us. I was totally clueless.  Some later said they saw Courtney but I thought it was BS, only later a friend forwarded me a link to an instagram story.

    Stone Mill Aid Station. The ruins is a former Stone Mill, that make stones for many buildings in our area (DC).  The Iron Man dude and I traded place frequently in this race.  He did not know I was an early starter, so he was really an hour ahead of me

    There were two couples in turkey costumes.  I thought it was the headless horseman. One was a cooked turkey the other was the live turkey. I thought was funny.

    Apparently, Courtney (the famous Courtney) later stopped here to greet runners. I totally failed to recognize her

    The rest of the race was uneventful. I had chafing issue after Stone Mill aid station. I could not stop to fix it.  I carried lube but it felt awkward to stop and lube up my private areas in the middle of a race. Trees are bare at this time of the year and you can see miles into the woods. It was not too badly burned so I felt I could power through. The issue went away after another 10 miles or so, but was uncomfortable until truly dealt with.

    Apparently the lady in the very back who was checking in runners was Courtney! Some people gave her a hug as they came in. I was clueless of who she is.

    I started to keep on pace with a few runners and we leapfrogged couple times, though ultimately they won out.  Jill Diss and Christinana passed me on their way to Rt28 aid station.  This stretch always felt long to me. 

    At Rt 28, Guy (Twot 100 RD, a friend) came by to say hi.  He had cooked up some amazing hot food.  I stayed especially long here. My legs were toasted.  It was good to chat with the guy since he and I lost a mutual running friend (Tony) recently.  He is organizing a memorial run next weekend. There was Christine serving at the aid station and she said we ran together last year and I helped her by pacing her most of the way.  It was so good to see a familiar face.  Her name escaped me at the time, but I recalled I was with two women, who kept falling on the trail. She laughed and said that was her and pulled up a picture from her phone of us. Indeed, that was me.

    A fellow runner, stretching out after stumbling.  The dry trail covered with slick leaves over rocks and roots made it “fun” to run

    From RT28 to Riffleford, was a quiet stretch.  Ike, a fellow running friend whom I ran Old Dominion with this year passed me. This guy is an amazing athlete. Fast guy for his age.  He is Boston qualified. And he is like 10-15 years older than me but run like he is 10 years younger. We chatted and I said bye. A few more runners passed me, including Sophia.  I forgot her name too but she was the other woman I ran with last year.  She did not seemed to be in the race but just out for an afternoon run.  She told her running friend, I helped her. I said I remembered who she is, since her boyfriend is usually the one who came in first or near very top and the best story of all is he ran the wrong way one year and ended up with 60+ miles and still managed to finish.

    At Riffleford, my friend Ram greeted me. The Virginia Happy Trail people were there crewing the aid station.  It was a lot of fun.  It was a nice managed station (very organized, well staffed, and a lot of good food).

    I did not stay for too long. My goal was to still get it done before dark. My legs came back.  I felt I had the energy to run it.  There were only 8 miles left. I tried to close the gap by getting to mile 46 (RT355 aid station) by 4 pm. I arrived by 4:15, 15 minutes late, but still possible to finish while light out. I finally get to pass some people. There was a woman (didn’t took down her number) who kind of refused to let me pass.  It was all fine and good.  I was annoyed by her and some other runners with earbuds in, because they could not hear me coming up from behind. Even when I said I would like to pass, they were saying, what are you asking!  Boy! these ultra runners.  It was a common courtesy to let faster runner pass on trail.  It is not a road race.  Time is irrelevant.  So I passed when there was wide enough space on the trail and the runner was startled, like I did not give a heads up.  Dude (or lady) I have been followed from behind for a mile or so.  Not that she was not aware of me, but just would not yield. I was afraid, she might pass me back and we would have this dual till the finish, which I hate a lot, but then she faded away.  I passed more and more people and my legs came alive.

    At Rt355, we passed under an inflatable arch and some dinos.  I took some sodas (tailwind) and my last gel.  A dude did not stop, and I laughed at him trying to beat me.  In former years, there would be a time recorder here, but not this year.  The dude did finish ahead of me and he laughed saying I should not have stopped at the last aid station.  Indeed. I could have done as he did.

    I passed Eliot with a mile left to go, came in 5 minutes before him.  A woman was on my tail (a different one than before), and as a friendly gesture, I slowed down to let her finish ahead of me.  In my head, if she started at the normal time, she would be an hour ahead, so even if I came through the finish line a few minutes ahead, she still won by bib timing. I was happy with my time of 12:26 (89/133). About 300 registered.  200 finished. 100 or so Dnf or didn’t start. The race signup cost is inexpensive so many people rather not show up.  With 14-15 hours, this race is very doable.

    Some runners ariving at the finish

    My friends Alex and David came around 14 hour.  I stayed until the very end.  There was a couple, the husband was supporting his wife through the race.  It was her first 50 mile. So, as I was about to leave, he was standing at the finish shivering.  I said, where is his jacket.  He answered, he had given to his wife. I remembered him greeting me at each stop, so I said, I will stay and wait for her to come in too.  She made it. 

    As well as Alvin or Kevin (I must have misheard), a runner who turned 50 year old, by doing a 50 states and 50 mile.  Good for him.  It’s always my goal too to do that, to runy birthday miles in age. Then new friends I made, Dan and Joe as the last runners to cross the finish line along with two sweepers. It was a great evening. 

    We took photos at the end.  Joe, Dan and I went out for Pho.  No one ever knew, I meant me, that a Pho place would open until midnight when the surrounding restaurants closed at 9. I love eating Pho after a race, because the salty broth, noodle and beef, hits the spot.  It was very satisfying to replenish everything your body needs in one go.

  • [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.

  • [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.

  • [635] Cat 50k

    First year running the Cat [2021], I did the half Catoctin (we call it the Cat/half Cat).  It ended up being unsatisfied, because it was too short.  It was too easy and I was not challenged.  In the past, the  half cat (25k version) was for former full cat runners who had reached a certain age. It was created for (or inspired by) Tom Green, who missed running the full Cat and he said, if there is a half distance, he would do it. Tom is a respected, local famous runner, and in his younger days, he did many legendary runs (famously known as only one who finished the first grand slam in ’86). I was blessed to get to know him recently when I was connected to him for his advices on how run Western States successfully. Tom was its 10 times finisher.

    Cat is nothing like the Western States, but it is our local version of a badass race on a hot hot summer day. The first year I ran it, the age restriction and other requirements were lifted. Now half cat is always sold out. Many people prefer the shorter run.

    This race is hard. It seemed benign that is is only 50k (32-ish miles) for 16 miles for the half, but it runs almost like a 50 mile.  I was pushing it to finish under 9 hours. The course cut off was 9:15-9:30.  This year we had extra 15 minutes, so it was 9:30. The last couple years, the RD gave us a few minutes of early start!

    In 2022, I successfully finished Cat, the full version. I was blessed with a cooler temperature.

    Last year, 2023, I attempted a repeat, but ended in a fiasco. I did not emerged from the trail until 2.5 hrs after the final cutoff. My friends and volunteers were waiting at the finish for me. It was a hot year. It was quite embarrassing. I vowed to redeem it. I have to show I can run the Cat in a hot year too.

    So comes this year. We had a normal summer temperature on race day, about 85-90 degrees. It was Still hot but not sizzling hot like last year. Maybe because I had heat trained for this year so it did not feel as hot. We had high humidity in the morning but it did feel better later in the day. My shirt and shorts were drenched with sweat and ice water (from aid station) for the full duration. 

    Note, I heat trained because of Western States and Vermont 100, both are known to be hot races, so heat was not a big deal when I do the Cat.  It was hot but was not as hot as while out in California as the Western States hot.  I did not fainted nor had heat related issues.

    I ran smarter than last year. I came in with the full experience from former years.  I ran slower earlier on but would not give up on any freebies. I was not able to get a reverse split (4:22:00, the first half, and 4:40:00, second half, 7% slower). If it was downhill, I ran. If it was uphill, powerhiked. At Aid stations, be efficient, know what I want ahead of time and stay as short as possible, mostly to get water, get some fruits and sugar, say hi to a few friends who volunteered, and head out, were stuff I rehearsed in my head. I treated it as if it were my goal race. Bringing my A Game.

    Last year, I got into trouble with my pacing early on because, I was not watching the clock and had too much fun talking to people. This year, I was more agressive at checking my pace every mile. I kept my conversation to a minimum, as one should regardless. Someone said, we had to keep our pace at 18 min per mile and I did just that.  Padding extra minutes by running faster whenever I could like on the flats or downhills.

    The first half was unevenful.  I was in back of the pack. I tried to catch up to people whenever I was possible. I was surprised when I passed Addie maybe about 5 miles in. She usually was a stronger runner than me. She did pass me back in the second half and finished almost 10 mins before me.

    I reached first aid station mile 6/7 at 9:45 am, 1:45 into the race.  This was a little slower than my first attempt, but was an exceptable time.  I gained a bit of time by the second aid station (3 miles later), reaching at 10:35. We had to get to High Knob, mile 16, by 12:35 pm, while on paper is 6 miles away.  In actuality, it was about 8 miles away and had significant descent and big climbs. 2 hours were barely enough. I arrived at 12:22 pm.  In former years, I would have been pulled but this year, we had like extra 15 minutes.

    I knew, trying to get back to Hamburg Rd under 2 hours would be tough.  I did reached it by 2:15 pm.

    My split was like the former year (2022).  Once I reached Hamburg, I knew getting to Delauter Aid Station, 3 miles away, would not be an issue.

    I did not remember when I arrived.  Likely it was around 3:00 pm ish.  We had 7 miles to get to the finish by 5:30.  They said we could run at a fat man pace and still finish. I knew I should have enough time but I wanted to be back before 5 pm, as a matter of pride.  I wanted to be under the previous course cut off (5:15 pm).

    So it was an all out effort.  My legs were tired.  Addie and others passed me here. I also passed some other people.  This section was mostly downhill, so I could run a bit without much effort.

    We reached White Rock.  I passed Karen, a strong runner in the first half. Now I was passing her because she seemed to reach her limit.  The time was 4:26.  I knew there was 2 miles ish to the finish. I believe I could do it by 5 pm, running at 15 min a mile.

    Downhill now was hard on me.  So I slowed down.  The trail was rough. I reached the river at 4:58.  I knew, There was no way for me to get to the finish by 5.  So I took a bit of time in the last quarter of mile.  I crossed the finish at 5:03, the total time was 9:03.

    Afterward, it was a party. This race, we had plenty of food and drinks.  Tom Green was there. My other friends too. Ike Kim, I ran with him during Old Dominion finished an hour before me. We talked about Western States and such. Many were happy I finished that race. Sun Lu/Lu Sun too. We talked about our other friend Wayne doing the Iron Stone 100k on the same day. Lu ran it last year with Wayne and said, he would not do that race again since it was quite dangerous on the ankles. I was going to go to the finish for that race, but I took quite a beating at Cat.  The plan was scratched.

    Normally I don’t chafe at shorter distances, but the Cat had my private area all burned, inner thighs too. I was quite uncomfortable. I went and changed to fresh clothes.  Still, going home was a better option.  I was not sure I could survive a three hour drive to PA, but going back home was only an hour drive. I stopped at a rest area to get sodas and food to keep me awake for the drive.

    Also, by 6 pm, most people had left. Even the RD was ready to drive off. Addie and her friend Christine was waiting for another runner.  We found that the runner was last seen at 5:30pm at the last water station (7 miles away). Note, this was two hours after the station was supposed to close.  I and others decided to hike in looking for the person, after the expected arrival time had passed.  I hiked up about 2 miles to White Rock. From there, we walked with the runner down to the parking lot.  By 8:30, it seemed we were not getting any nearer, so we phoned down to have a car pick us up at one of the cross roads.  Addie and her friend drove up for us. They picked up the runner. I and everyone else (search party) finally reached the finishing lot by 8:45 pm. We hiked down because the finish was not too far away and there was no need for us to take the ride back.  It was extra 3 hours to do 2 miles (note, I did this section in 40 minutes earlier).  We were crawling! Luckily, no one was hurt. We got everyone back. The runner was not looking too good, but we got her down the mountain. She went about 10 miles beyond her ability, probably 5 hours longer than she expected.

    It was the same lesson learned at last year.  Obey the cutoff time.  Don’t push on once the cut passed. We could have got her back by 5 pm if she had remained at one of the aid stations before they closed. Once the station closed, it was too late. I wonder too what time the runner left High Knob (mile 16)!  Was it one of the oopsie, this one left after the cut?  I was barely made the cut myself. She had to hike out by herself. Plus, all the volunteers and friends were waiting for her at the finish, just like they did for me last year.

    The race advertised as no sweep, no ribbons, no sympathy, old school tough course on the hottest day in the summer. Still for runner’s safety and volunteer (sweepers), 9 hr sweeping duty was a bit over the top.   I have done long sweep myself for another race, but not like this. We noted, it would be better, if there a second sweep halfway (8 miles ish). Plus, also, runners should be pulled once time expired. I think though the runner was not pulled because there was not enough cars to drive runners back at some of the remote aid stations. It is an old school race.  I have been in such situation too to walk out when pickup was unavailable.

    The race is changing. This year, we had plenty ribbons at near the finish so that runners know to make the turn into the parking lot. Also we have sweeps in recent years. Plus, we had an extra 15 minutes! Many people were able to finish the 50k because of the extended time.