December – another year gone by.
I finished the year with my own tradition of running the last ultra at Devil Dog Ultras (100). I have gone to this race for the last five years. (2024 race report).
To me it is a low stress, fun, but also known as a sneaky hard race, which it still surprises me after so many times how hard it is.
I usually don’t train for it but just go in and wing it.
Some people got a natural talent. Mine is to squeak it out and that I did it again.
I think the downfall comes when people underestimated how hard the race is. Pointing finger at me!
Speaking from experience, I did not finish (DNF) this race on my first try at their 100k distance. Ever since, I got a bit better at it.
The finishing rate for this 100 miler is around 50 percent to a low 30%. This is surprisingly low since the trail is not that hard (just my opinion) and is in the suburb of Washington DC, meaning it is easily accessible for training and the terrain is nothing like on top of a mountain or something. It is in a Forest Park, meaning both easy and hard.
This year 61 runners finished out of 112 started, and 8 did not show up, which put it right over 50% and this is a good year with the most finishers ever. The race was sold out too this year. I remember a year when only 37 people finished, was that last year maybe? That speaks a lot. The race is definitely sneaky hard.
I think it is hard because there are slight elevation changes (rolling hills) and roots and a little bit of technical footwork where it feels very runnable, but as the miles pile up, with a slight unfavoritable condition like a drop in temperature (always since it is winter) would easily derail one’s race plan. Even obe slight fall would do it. I took two falls this time and twerked my ankle twice. Each could have been a race ending event, but I walked it off.
While I love running other 100 mile races, such as The Massanutten 100 or Vermont 100 and calling those my favorites, my action proves stronger than words, that Devil Dog 100 is the one race I have come back again and again. I might want to get a 1000 mile, joke one would receive a puppy.
I almost could not finish it this year or the last year or the year before that. I have always firted with cutoffs and this time around too.
I thought I had a plan coming into the race. I set a goal to run 17 min pace first 33 miles and 18 min pace for 2nd third and 19 min pace for the final third. And it is a slow progression, easing my way to the finish two a 31 hour finishing. It was a bit ambitious, I finished at 31:22 (hours).
My body and my feet had a different goal. It ended up being moving slower than I wanted to, 18:05 min (per mile) first third, and 19:30 second third and then 18:30 final third. Noting it down for future planning, if I happen to reread it before my next Devil Dog.
So what happened? The usual. I could not run fast maybe due to lack of training or feet just not ready for the trail.
On the very first loop, I rolled my ankle on a flat section about halfway in maybe at mile 10 or 12. And it hurt. Silly me. I went limping to walk it off.
Then with maybe 3 miles left in the first loop, I slipped and landed on my butt because I was trying to look cool like everyone else running down a steep hill. The cooler 50k people people were passing me at the time. In my mind, I still got that cool light steps of flying down a hill and I wanted to be like them. Nope. Not any more. The back of my shoe slipped and down I went. Luckily, I sat on my butt and all the cool kids from behind started asking if I was okay. Embarrassing. Me an old man trying to run and fall. A fellow runner, Bruce, who is a bit older than me was right behind but did not comment. Then he ran off and I did not see him again until the last loop. Apparently he gained an hour on me by the third loop. That is quite impressive.
So my pace was not going well. I started slow on my first loop and ended up even slower in subsequent 4 loops.
It is a typical ultra thing. I was wishfully thinking I could do a reverse split. I proud that I did pull it through for a finish. No reverse split but did save the race. It took me all effort.
I ended up pushing harder to make the late cutoffs. It was never fun to chase cutoffs.
Overall, the race was peaceful. I have done it so many times and each time is a little different. Some years I was very excited. Last year was cold. This year was still cold with light snow covering the ground. But we are thankful the worst such as freezing rain that was forecasted a week out did not occur.
The temperature was 37F (the car reading) in early morning and it got to maybe low 50s. Overnight dropped again to high 20s and low 30s. Wind was calm. It was foggy at times.
It was not as cold as last year (17F). Still, it felt pretty cold without proper clothing.
I did prepared by dressing well though. Two layers, shirt underneath, and a long sleeve on the outside. I had a winter coat on while waiting for the start and ditched it once we got moving. Gloves, hat, bluffs, arm sleeves, and a windbreaker or light jacket too is almost a must. Note, the park is big so there are some places that feel cooler than in another. So from time to time, we either put on or pull off what we were wearing. I think Camp Gunny is a bit nippier than the rest of the course.
At night, I added a third layer, it was a thin thermo material, maybe wool on the outside and that did the trick for me. I threw on a fourth layer, a light windbreaker after midnight. Since I was moving (running) fast to chase (soft) cutoffs, I did not feel the cold. In the past years, I would put a hoodie or even a winter coat in the middle of the night because my pace was too slow to generate enough heat. Night time was near 20s, subfreezing temperature and many people quitted because of the cold.
Coming into the race with prior years’ experience, I told myself not to worry too much about the race, but I did.
I made a pace chart on a spreadsheet, searching things for my drop bags, packing them and delivering them to the race a day before, and messing with my nutrition plan. It was hectic trying to pick up bibs two days out. Then I went to the race site again the day before. Plus, I did couple training runs there a few weeks out.
I was rushing to get the right stuff into drop bags even up to the last minutes. I started purchasing my food and supplies couple weeks out! The best purchased I did was headlamps from Costco for $25. They served me well, maybe more on it later. I need another pack because it was such a good deal.
The race consisted of 5 loops of 20 miles. Well, technically the first loop is 23 miles and the rest then are 19 miles. In my mind though, I treated them as equal distance for easy math/splits in my head. Generally, I was aiming for 6-6:15 ish hours per loop. With 5 loops meaning 30 hour ish finishing time. The race allows for 32 hours but really one should aim for 31 hours due to the earlier than expected cutoff on the last loop. You have to start the last loop with more than 6.5 hours or else it is very tough to finish. I personally, recommending minimum 7 hours for the last loop. Start the last looo at 7 AM and will be fine. For the 100K, start the last loop by 6/6:30 PM. Otherwise, tricky. Yes, the 100 milers could go at the 100k pace (almost, maybe at the first or 2nd loop).
There are three aid stations on the course with 3 additional water only locations. However this year, I did not use any water-only station to save time. I might reconsider that in future race as part of my race strategy. It worked out well this year for not stopping for water at any station but the first one.
I drank only about 1L of water sometimes even less on an entire loop 20 mile loop.
I did have an extra 12-16 oz of gaterade or various other liquid that I would sip for time to time. I actually did not use my extra bottle until the third loop. I had extra liquid like Red Bull in my drop bags, but because I was short on time, I did not get to use my drop bags often. Later in the race, I just skipped by aid stations or drop bags due to lack of time.
Oh, I wasn’t going to carry the extra Gatorade bottle but someone forgot it in the dinning area before the start of the race and a volunteer thought it was mine and rushed out with it saying I’ve forgotten it, so I took it. It was unopened. It might have been someone’s race plan to run with a bottle of Gatorade. Sorry, but thank you for whoever left me the bottle in the dinning hall. I would complain that it was a zero calorie version, but free is free.
I started off slow at the back of the pack and met other people around my pace. My friend Bruce was there and I wanted to run with him and so was Scott and his son Brandon. Then there was Kevin. Charlie, John, Jeremy, Caleb and Ben we met and chatted before race but they were way far ahead. I met my idol Phil for the first time, who I only know through his race reports for Eastern States. I finally met him in person. I think it was awesome. As the race got going we settled into our own pace. I was mostly with Scott and Bruce on the first loop though later they too either took off or fell behind my pace by the second loop. Scott’s wife was kind enough to crew me too at various aid stations before Scott and son dropped out. I was pressing for time then and it was good to have someone to help the resupplying when I came in. She was back at the finish to cheer.
The course has a portion of out and back and so I got to see some faster runners. Jeremy and friends were 3 miles ahead of me by end of the first loop. I anchored in the rear as the unofficial sweeper I called myself. I came across Sisou too twice, end of the first loop and then third loop. We chatted and were happily reunited again.
First two loops I maintained an average pace of 18 min. I wished I could have gone out faster. I thought I was doing great too on the third loop but I realized by the end of it, I was slipping behind with my pace. I wanted to finish the third loop around 12:30 am but I did not come in until 1:15 am. This makes finishing the fourth loop by 7:30 am tough. I realized I would have to run for it to make the cutoff.
Volunteers were great. I arrived middle of the night at Gunny 2:45 am, and I was going to be quick. They brought me hot cider. I was going to skip the aid station table. I drank it while I swapped out my headlamp for a fresh one. Note, pro tip, don’t change the batteries but swap to a new/fresh lamp to save time.
I was wearing the new headlamp I just brought from Costco. They could last 7 hours on low and 3-4 hours on medium brightness and 2 hours on high. I had it for 5-6 hours and I felt safer to swap it out before it dies. They were available at Costco, 3 for $25. Sorry don’t know the brand. They were well worth the money spent. They work like a $100 headlamp with all the features such as using rechargeable as well as can be used with AAA batteries. I trusted plain AAA battery headlamps over rechargeable ones in the past because I know with new batteries they will last me through the night but with rechargeable ones, you can’t ever be certain.
I got to say it works out well. The downside with AAA headlamps is they are dim. Costco ones are bright and the battery life is good enough. It just a bit heavier in my opinion but about just slightly more than my normal AAA headlamps. I had heavier lamps in the past. Of course, some of those $100 ones are super light.
So I started chasing my self imposed cutoffs on the fourth loop. I wanted to be at Gunny (mile 66/67) by 3:15 am and I arrived by 2:42 am. That was really good. I surprised myself of able to move that fast this late stage in the race. I knew I did it in previous years but this time was a bit harder without a pacer to draw motivation from.
I wanted to arrived next at Toofy by no later than 5:25 am and I did it by 5:12 am. If any later, I would not make the first morning cutoff. Then I wanted to reach Camp Remi (mile 81) by 7:25 (7:30 is the first official hard cutoff), I arrived there at 7:12 am. I added some cushion to my cutoffs. It was not right up to the cutoff, but generally 10-15 minutes to spare.
I had an extra motivation because about 6 miles out from Remi (middle of the fourth loop), I met Alex, who is a godsends fellow runner, as I was passing people one after another and I thought he was struggling on his 4th loop and did not realize he was on his fifth and last loop. He was in pain at the time was stopping for some ibuprofen (note, not recommended for ultra runners to take but that seems to what everyone I know does). He said he promised his wife to be finishing around 7 AM. So he and I partnered up, though none of us was going to wait for each other. We spurred each other on to run our heart out and chatted on hill climbs when slowed down. I had to make my morning cutoff, but he had a faster pace than me and is a really good strong runner. So we ran and we made it. He made it in like at 7:05. I arrived at 7:12, just a bit after he did.
I still had a final lap to go. There, Bruce asked if I am going out again or I asked him the same thing. I was suprised to see him still there. While I just got in so I needed fueling on water and stuff, he was ready to go. He waited for me a bit and that might be his undoing because he unfortunately missed a later cutoff by a few minutes. I believe he would have finished, if he got out the station ahead of me instead of waiting.
I knew the day time would warm up and I wanted to ditch my layers. I kept my gloves because my hands were freezing. That is another story of misplacing my gloves and head bluffs in my drop bags that I could not find them when I needed them. So my hands were cold to freezing the whole previous day until night fall when I realized I could use a spare set of socks as mitten and I wore my sock mittens. I finally found my gloves later on and had them on the whole final 6 hours of the race. Only regret was I did not took off my long pants in the morning. I could have ran with just shorts I had on underneath. The frictions and heat created chaeffing during the morning time.
Well, Bruce left first (not by much though) but I caught up in no time. We had to get to Gunny by 9:00. So I was running my heart out again and did not wait for Bruce, with the best hope of reaching it by 8:45. Running is a cruel sport. At any other time, I would have stopped to chat and walk with Bruce. I arrived at Gunny around 8:43. It gave me couple minutes of buffer for my next cutoff attempt.
The next cutoff at Toofy, which is mile 94 is at 11:30. I made some wrong mental math errors thinking I now have three hours to get there instead of 2 and half hours. So I wasted a bit of time with slow walking. I told myself, I pressed hard on the last loop and it took me 2.5 hours to get to Toofy, so if I realy want to make the cutoff, I should be running just as hard as the last loop regardless what the math says. So I started running all over again, pushing my pace at every opportunity. I got there by 11:20. The plan was to arrive before 11:25. I prayed hard as I ran, please don’t let me be cut with just a few minutes over. I was not sute how strict the aid station captain/timer was (the Bligans), though they are my friends. Rules are rules I told myself. I have to make a good effort to arrive on time.
From Toofy to Gunny, I knew I had enough time to finish. Another 2.5 hours but only 6 miles to go instead of 8.5 miles on my the last push. My pace slacked down a bit. I sat at every bench available whenever I saw one to rest my feet. The first two miles after Toofy was an eternity. Then I toughened up mentally because if I had continued at the current pace, I might not make it in by 2 pm. I must aim to reach the unmanned water station at midway (mile 97). I seriously believe I was the very last one on the course. So I again tried to go at a faster pace by brisk walking. I reached it around 12:30. I wanted to let Caroline know I had only 3 miles to go, but phone had no signal.
These last three miles are familiar to me. I tried to memorize every feature there is in my previous loops. I said there are two big hills to climb and three bridges to cross. And however many rock piles (1) to climb over. I was expecting every unusual tree and turn. I got to the final turn at 1:15. Caroline was waving at me near the top of the hill. Together, we climbed the rest of the way to the finish line.
Like every year, there was good finishing line food in the dinning hall. I got to wind down. Caught up on things. I avoided the DFL (known as dead last finishing) by finishing in 2nd from the last place. It was good enough. The whole time I thought I was the DFL.
Any lesson learned? The Goods: I finally have a good set of headlamps. When I have the chance, going to buy an extra pack for future races.
2nd: set short clear goals during the race. Reach for them. Thank you Jeremy for teaching me this at Grindstone when he paced me.
Bads: Have to train better next time, and not get caught behind the cutoffs. I had a pace chart written out but did not get to use it when I was rush for time. 3. Know where I put my stuff. I spent so much time packing my things (2 hours) but still could not find anything.
Nutrition/water was spot on. Clothing was almost perfect. I still packed too much in my drop bags, working on being more efficient, but it was better to overpack than underpack.
Thank you for friends, family, volunteers, race management team of making the race possible. Thank you Caroline, my love, for putting up with all my stresses and fusses in my preparation. Those who finished or did not finish, may God grant me another chance to come back and do it again and run with them.
In awe 