In awe

Tag: Hone Quarry

  • [670] Hone Quarry 40

    Dayton, Virginia. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    The view was amazing. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Then I knew I reached the top.

    Top of Heart Break hill

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • [656] Hone Quarry Trail Preview

    A friend suggested to go out to check on a race course, the Hone Quarry 40, which we will eventually do in March, God willing.

    I wanted to run the race this year but my trip to Sydney prevented it.

    Its trail was a mystery for me and I was curious about the level of difficulty. 

    I can read about it on other people’s race reports but to truly give a sense of how the trail is but being on it yourself.

    Going out in the winter required me to do some research and preparation.  Luckily a lot of the course information was readily available on the race’s website, including the gps track and the trail description.  Note, most races only provide one or the other and not both.  Descriptions were well written.

    Next off was to find some trail maps.  I used the site HikingUpward and found some small 5 mile-ish hikes.  They were part of my bigger loop.  I needed more and I stared at google topographic map to do my planning.  Luckily, I realized I do have a paper map at home of the area.  With that I was more confident in planning my route.

    We arrived at the trailhead I guess a typical time of 9:00 in the morning, maybe kind of late for ultra runners, but standard for normal hikers. 

    The day was forecasted to be cold with a high of 30s and low of 14F, without factoring in the windchill.  I expected teens and might be single digits temperature after dark.  It is no fun to play around in such weather. We had to get it down before nightfall.

    The previous day and night was windy but wind died off in the morning.  We had the whole day of calm condition, not a breeze.  The day warmed up a bit as expected as we started our ascend. Soon a mile in we shreded our outer layers.  Both of us we were double layering everything, headcaps, shirts, pants, jackets, and socks. So those layers had to come off.

    The full route was 40 miles but because time constraint and some of the course was just not too appealing, such as the out and back of first three miles on the Hone Quarry Road, to me is BS. 

    We wanted to hike on the trail not the forest roads to the trailhead.  I believe I trimmed our hike down to about 25 miles. The exact distance is unknown because I did not turn on my Strava to conserve my phone battery.  I normally don’t care about my tracking to be posted on social media afterward.

    We did the normal (race route) of counterclockwise (CCW) direction.  The hiked up to the first ridge was amazing.  I enjoyed the steady 3 mile climb.  Then we skipped the out and back to what would be the first aid station (forgot the name already) and decided to descend to Hone Quarry Road.  We had a chance to turn around here and end the day if needed but it was still early in the day. 

    We saw snow on the ground.  In fact most of our hike up was covered with snow until there was enough snow to get my shoes wet.  I think maybe half and inch to an inch.  I had considered wearing my boots but decided to be a true trail runner to go with my Altra trail. So there were a lot of sliding on the slippery snow as we descended down.  I love a sense of near falling. This was the best time to run with just a thin layer of snow where rocks roots and everything was invisible. Indeed, not lying.

    Note, the descending was not truly a one long downhill.  We had to climb up maybe couple more ridges before finally went down.  I was started to wonder where is this road we were supposed to meet.  It was around noon by now, 3 hours since we started.  We took a bathroom break and I looked around a bit and saw the road maybe few hubdred feet below and rejoiced, we did it. I did not know we were literally on top of the road.

    After the road, we made a right turn.  We probably only had to run maybe 50 ft or so to cross a bridge then the trail would be on the right.  However, it felt so good running on solid ground we continue down the road for quarter mile more before I realized that it did not seem right.  Minor mistake.  Gps track showed I missed the turn off and we back track back up.  Later in the hike, I did miss turn offs too and most critical one came in late afternoon, when we were pressed for time to finish.  I remembered the trail incorrectly during my trail planning, thinking I had to cross a road (but in fact not needed), so confidently went off trail – this kind of unforced error is the worst. I really hated it.

    The second time hiking back up to the ridgeline was hard.  It took maybe an hour and half.  The views were stunning.  People scrawled on posts writing this was the worst trail ever.  I disagreed.  I felt the trail was well maintained.  Rocky in part but that is typical.  The trail is a bit steep but not eroded. I feel it is in excellent condition.  It is a multi used trail, horse, bike, and people, so I do expect it wouldn’t be smooth at typical trail like the AT or in the Shennandoah NP.

    We entered back into snow country up top. The forest road was layered in hard packed snow.  I slipped on ice a few times usually while I was doing something like looking at my map or taking off my jacket while running that I fell. No major injury, just hurt my bum bum and such.

    We entered back on the trail late in the afternoon.  Sun was setting.  We had to make better effort to reach back our car before sunset.  Bring headlamps always a must on a hike even if you think you can get out before sundown. I brought them.  Temperature was cold up on the ridge but as we were descending, it warmed back up.  Though every time I stood still, I quickly needed to put back on my jacket.

    We took a shorter way down.  The trail was blazed yellow the whole way so it was not hard to follow.  We arrived back at the car the moment last light was gone, just a bit after 5:30, maybe at 5:45. It was a good day.  

    I liked it.  It is just next to the grindstone course (maybe 10-20 miles away).  I did not know of this trail before and now I do.  It can be worked into my training.  The twot, grindstone and now Hone Quarry.  Throughout the day, we did not encounter any other hikers or runners out there.  We saw fresh tracks and prints on the snow, likely the person and their pet should not be too far ahead but we never caught up to them. I think it was a peaceful hike.

    By the way, it is near Harrisonburg. 20-30 mins away.  We used Harrisonburg as our base, for food, our stay and the resupply. I recommend Quacker Barrel for meals. There are of course tons of choices at Harrisonburg.  Great food and good wind down or for pre run meal.  We did both for our adventure, going to Quacker Barrel twice (my friend humored me).