It was my fifth 100 Mile race this year. I did not plan to run this especially since it was the race’s inaugural year. I’d rather let others be the test bunnies but in the end I glad I did show up and put on a performance of a lifetime. A master class in running a 100 mile, Antin’s edition.
A friend and I joked about that we have to find a race we call it our own such that from its first year to the last, we would go back year after year until we couldn’t do it any more. To be the ground pounder for that race like 40 times. I think it is crazy to run the same 100 miler that many times over. Truly a groundhog day. But we ultra runners are a crazy bunch so that how I signed up. Maybe this will be a race I will do every year.
Every race has its story. I hope my race report will bring it out. On the surface, it seems a rather boring race. Flat. Mostly out and back. Plenty of time to do it. I asked myself what would be the challenge? Well there were plenty, and of course like any true 100, (bad) things happened unexpectedly and a good race is how as runners we make it right again. We call it grit. Rubber hitting the road. I don’t think I have the grit but those around surely did, especially my girlfriend. One who would not let me quit in many of my 100s. This time I saw it with my own eye, running along side her.
The race was supposed to take place last year but it was canceled due to Hurricane Helene hitting through southwest Virginia. The race was pushed to this year. I was flirting to run or not to run till I was on my way to my first race of the year, the Old Dominion, which was another Virginia 100, I signed up. Oh, an interjection. A few of us wanted to do all Virginia 100s in one year too. We now have 8-9 100s in our state. They (or we) called themselves the Joe 6-pack. Back then there were only 6 100s in Virginia, but now more and more pop up.
Another reason I signed up was many stella runners (friends) signed up and I wanted to be with them. Most important of all was my girlfriend signed up. I had to go regardless if I were running or not. Better to be there out on the course than sitting waiting at the finish line. In the end many of them did not run and only just me and my girlfriend ran. Everyone else bailed out, not sure their reasons. They had their reasons, maybe conflict of interest or they were unwell. I on the otherhand was just back from couple bad races, and hope that this one would make everything right.
Don’t let this imply that the race was not good. It was super good. We had best weather and many finishers. Plus, this race gave 32 hours where many only give 30 hours to do. Spoiler, your truly used all available time (31:08) almost earned the DFL award (also known as the last runner) to finish it. That what makes it a awesome race. A lot of tears and pain to get to the finish line.
Third reason, was I was there to pace my girlfriend. I did not really want to, since we usually fight and have our disagreements on how to run a race. Let just say my way might be unconventional or I am just inexperience. She would never follow my pace anyway. So it was really ended up she was pacing me. I think probably was too fast a pace for me.
Probably I could have paced her regardless if they allowed or not, but by signing up, there was no if-or-but. I was out there on the course as one of the runners.
This was a twist in that the race ended up way tougher than I thought. I think it was the lack of training for this particular kind of super flat course. The race hurt my feet due to the repetitive pounding! Unlike other trail races where there are hills to break up the same motion, there are none for a flat course. The RD warned us it is hard (or harder) to run on a flat course. It did get hard for me at the final third of the race. More will be told later.
Note, my girlfriend asked why she was not mentioned more in many of my previous races, she wants to make an appearance here, I don’t want to be mean, but she should write her own report. This will mostly be about me and my race. Yes, she was there. I hoped she enjoyed her time and the challenged she went through. Her being there was incidental (I would have run either way) but did have a major effect in the end for my race.
Let’s start from the beginning. So on our way to a 100 mile back in June, I went and signed up this race when my girlfriend brought told me about it. I guess she has been training for a whole year. For me, I checked that money just was available, I got paid, and my schedule was open.
Schedule being open meant I don’t have another race that weekend but I did not check that I have a 50 mile the weekend before and a 100 miler two/three weeks earlier. Maybe I did know and thought i could handle it. Hey, it is flat how bad can it be.
Note, I was eyeing this race since last year, as it was on my to-do list, but money was tight last year, so I had to take care of my A-list races first before jumping on the B-list. For those who don’t know, it is better to sign up the next race before running a race since usually after running a 100 mile (or a marathon), one would never want to do another one again. That was my secret of signing up so many marathons or 100s the last couple years.
I ran 16 x 100 mile races so far and the goal is to reach 100. Interestingly, I met a runner (Rosie), she is on her way to running 100 x 100 milers, and at this race it was her 98th. We were rooting for her hard to reach her goal. Not sure when she started her goal of 100 but it seems like she runs every weekend. So, reaching a 100 could be achieved within 2-3 years. I think 5 years is very reasonable.
This year, I have done one almost every month starting from June. 5 so far with one more left for the year. I have to keep up at this rate to reach my 100 x 100 by time when I retired.
The five 100s I ran this year:
June, Old Dominion
July: Vermont 100
August: Eastern States
September: Grindstone 100
October: Virginia 100
I have one more left for the year, Devil Dog in December, rounding to total six for the year. I did not finish Old Dominion or Eastern States, so possibly only have 4 finishes this year.
It was almost a pattern, one race I would not finish and then the next I would. If I did not finish Virginia 100, I would have to go back next year. 50-60% completion rate seems like a poor planning, but that was the idea if I reach 50% I know the challenge is hard enough and I am not underestimating or overestimating myself. If I have 100% completion rate, it maybe is too easy for me.
All five races I have done this year have been hard, and each finish (Vermont, Grindstone and Virginia 100) was a pyrrhic victory.
Remember in Old Dominion, I was doing on time well until mile 75. Then I blew away all my lead and ended up not finishing.
Vermont 100 was almost the same. I got to Camp 10-Bear (mile 70), then race got hard, after midnight and there were doubts if I could pull a finish. But I did and finished at near 29 hour (1 hour before the cut off).
Eastern States was a repeat of the same. I started just by walking early. The race gave 36 hours, so I should have enough time. Somewhere between 4-6 am, I lost a lot of time due to fatique and sleepiness. I was able to cling on until 10:30 mile 75-80. The race ended with a ride to the finish. I had a pacer too, where I did not have one at Old Dominion or Vermont! I did get lost, but if I have been a stronger runner, that would not been an issue. Getting lost is part of the fun of running a 100 or any trail races.
At Grinstone, mile 80 at Camp Todd, I got fresh strength. It was raining. I was wet and cold. The extra time at the aid station allowed me to change into dry shirt and put on rain jacket helped me stay in the race. The end was not pretty but got it done with 15 minutes left on the clock. That was what different between Eastern States and Grindstone, time to burn at the end.
There seems to be a pattern that mile 70-80 is pivot moment whether I will finish or not finish a race. It is similar to mile 20 in a marathon, called hitting the wall.
At Old Dominion, I blamed it on the weather. Rain came around 4 AM and it wrecked my running pace. I slipped and fell. Injured my toes and so forth. There were no cutoffs but finishing was not realistic and so I asked for a ride back. I was very tired.
At Eastern States, it was a battle of time. There was just not enough time to do it and zero chance for error. I slept three times during the night. Used up 15 minutes, I could have used at the end. Also I had some issues with technology. My phone was not showing me the way (the map was frozen). It was one of the portion of the course that I have skipped studying because I thought it should be easy. So got lost there. That sealed my fate. As a lesson from that race was to prepare better for the night run and for fatique by bringing Red Bull and caffeinated drinks. Also, study the course well!
At the Virginia 100, it was my leg acting up at 4 am in the morning. I got it done, barely, finished at 31:08:33, 8 minutes ahead of the last runner. It was a slow walk to the finish from mile 78.
All these flashbacks are a bit boring but hopefully they serve a purpose for my future races. It is a learning process. We learn from our mistakes.
So back at the beginning, I was a bit nervous as I headed down to Max Meadows, which is 6 miles from Fort Chiswell. We went there a day before to familarize the driving directions. It was not hard. There are plenty hotels and restaurants nearby.
We stayed in Whytheville, maybe another 10 miles away. I would recommend staying at Fort Chiswell. Prices are relatively inexpensive. Camping is an option, but hotels are way better for post race. Because Monday was a holiday, making staying the night after the race a better choice, without rushing to get home for work.
The drive down was long and food was bad. We had Subway – Cheese and Sub but I chose the wrong kind of cheese. Not that Subway was a bad choice, but I just customized it poorly. Anyway, let not complain about the food. Dinner was good. We had all you can eat buffet for 11 dollars. Where? I forgot the name, but it was near Days Inn. Yes, if stay there in Whytheville, stay at the Days Inn, where it is near all kind or restaursnts. They tempted us with senior discount! Sweet and what a steal. Though they forgot to put the discount in our final bill because I did not look old enough. Oh well. The food was good though and worth the buck.
I could eat anything before the race. So food was not an issue. I cared more about what to wear. The forecast was to be cold and rainy like my time in Utah. 42 F. I could handle 42 degree but just not the wetness. So having learned from my last weekend fiasco in Utah, I dressed as warm as I could and put plenty of shirts and jackets in my drop bags. I rather carry on me than not being able to get warm. Once you have been through like in Utah, I don’t ever want to be cold again.
About the drop bags, we were all required to use 2 Gal Zip-loc clear plastic bag. The size of a 2 gallon bag is about the size of a standard 8×11 paper. It is small for a typical drop bag we used in a race. The RD stated that any other bags would not be accepted. It was a last minute scramble the night before to find 2 Gal Zip-loc bags. My fellow runner and girlfriend told me she started not like about this race. Hey, it was for our good we were limit by what we could bring.
For me, it was a challenge to put in my drop bags all the things I think I needed, such as headlamps, coffees, granolas, socks, shoes! How on earth do you fit a pair of shoes into a zip loc? In the end shoes did not make the cut and neither did my trekking poles. Wait for it. More to the Trekking poles. They did not fit into the bag. I prioritize caffeinated drinks adn food over everything. I put in canned soups.
We went to bib pickup on Friday night. Drop bags were to be collected the next day before the race, which is a bit unusual. I was fine with it because it gave me more time to decide what to be placed in them. The start/finish location was easy to find. It was one straight road from Fort Criswell, then made a left turn and another left, we were there. There were signs. Follow them and should be good.
The race required us to purchase parking passes. It was more an honor system. We purchased a 2 day pass, but were handed only one day ticket during the commotion. Yes, should have double checked. In the end it was not an issue. I don’t think anyone checked, not on race day nor at the finish. Crew vehicle too needed a separate parking pass for various crew stations since some of the places are on private properties. Parking passes were $7-10 a day. We did not have a crew so that was not a thing for us. We did not have take care of their parking passes.
The next day, we arrived at the race bright and early (it was dark and foggy). Still I think 50 cars beat us to the start. We wanted to park at the very front and be close to the start and finish, thinking when we came by during middle of the run, we could use our car as an aid station. Nope, the course did not go through the parking lot. It did not matter at the end, but it was good after we finish, because it was just a short distance for me to limp back to the car. My girlfriend moved the car. Oh how did we get a closer spot even though we showed up late? My friend moved her car closer because I was near the last to finish (second to the last). Everyone already left by then so plenty of room to park. Also, everyone was parking on the first row, we followed the latecomers to start a second row so we were lucky to be parked closer to the starting line than other people. It did not matter though since the aid station was not in the parking lot but on the course itself.
We dropped off the 3 drop bags allowed, Gambetta (mile 28 and 35-ish), Hiawasie (mile 68 and 78), and Start/Finish (Mile 54 and 92). Each of those we would pass by twice. Those who run will need to strategize what to put in each of them.
The early station at Gambetta did not matter too much, maybe some food, drinks and socks.
The night time station such as Hiawasie is more important to have warmer clothes. Headlamps and spare batteries for all locations.
The course was a 3-way out and back, a sideway Y shape. The finish is right at the center. Two branches go to left (Fries) and the other branch to right (Draper). We were running on a rail to trail. The course was not marked though except at the turn arounds and at the couple turns we made. Almost everyone should know where to turn even if the signs were removed. But we appreciated the signs.
We started in the dark. No one mentioned that we did not bring our trekking poles along. I remembered earlier but then forgot while eating breakfast. There were too many things going on. There was a morning devotion for Christians and believers, so while attending, I forgot many things. It was not important at the time. It came back to bite me the next day toward the end of the race.
The first 20 miles out to Fries were peaceful. We went at a 16 ish min pace, sometimes as fast as 14 other time dropping to a fast walking pace of 18. In early stage there were fewer aid stations. I think there were only two. One was at Jubilee (mile 9) and the other was at Fries Junction (mile 15), which was a water only station (with sodas). It was a fancy water only station. The cutoff was around 11:30, we reached it an hour early.
The second major stop for us was at Gambetta, mile 28 ish. It was the second out and back from the Fries Junction. We went to the waterfall for a turn around. Miles started adding up. My legs were tired. By evening we reached halfway. From Gamretta we went back to Jubilee. My friend Scott was at the aid station, volunteering. He has been going from station to station.
I did not need much help, so I sent him over to help other people. I had packed evening I needed in my drop bag, including food, clothes, socks, drinks. Night was coming, so I needed to put on reflector vest, christmas light decoration (be-seen reflector), warmer clothes, gloves, and some rain protection. The whole process took me 20 minutes to put on. Yes, I spent way too much time, but I thought it was worth the troubles. Caroline, my friend, already left 10 minutes ago. So out the aid station I went chasing her. I wouldn’t see Scott again until past midnight at Hiawasee, mile 68.
Between Hiawasee was a water only aid station called The Depot. On our way there, we saw faster runners coming back. Most are fast and still moving. As the night deepened, runners were slowing down. We rarely passed anyone now since we too were slowing down ourselves. Right before we got to Hiawasee, the wheel came off for my girlfriend. She was in pain. It was the witching hours (midnight). We were basically limping from that point on. Caroline found some stick from side and used it as a trekking pole. Later, I did the same. Don’t belittle the stick. It got me to the end. It was only two miles from Hiawasee but it took us an hour to get there. I knew we were in serious trouble (meaning no way to get to the finish).
Not much could be said for the rest of the night. My friend found herself another pole and used both as her trekking poles. Our pace were no longer in sync. I knew I had to abandone her if I want to finish the race myself. I went on ahead to Draper where the turning around was and arrived there around 3 am. It felt a mile longer than on paper. We were told it was 5.1 mile but I believe it was like 6.1 or longer.
My pace continued to degrade on my way back from Draper. Here the rest of the field passed me except for a few. From Draper, we just had to backtrack to Hiawasee, and then to Depot, and back to Start and Finish. At the start and finish, we still have another short out-and-back to Austinville. There were only 28 miles left.
It seems short but actually it took me all night. Morning would come soon at 7 am. I was hoping to get to Depot by then. It was like waiting for water to boil, only it never would. My right leg now started to develop a slight cramp, in the back of my knee. I would massage it from time to time to ease the pain. At first, it was some discomfort and slight pulling, but as the miles piled on, it got to the point I had to stop and rest every so often. It was to the point, where I think reaching the Depot was no longer possible. When hope was about to fade, Depot showed up. The time was 7:30 am, which was still within the projected time for a finish. Two other runners were there filling up their bottles. I told them, I don’t think I could make it back to the finish. They said they would let the volunteers know so they could send someone back here to pick me up. I told them likely we were the last three runners on the course. They agreed.
So I filled up my pack and found a bench to sit on. I still wanted to slowly make my way back to the start but moving at the race required pace did not seem possible. It was about 8 miles to the Start/Finish aid station. I had to be back by 11 ish to be still in the race. I was doing calculations in my head. Yes, that likely be the time if I would get there. If I get there, then I could quit.
While sitting on the bench on the side, a runner and someone on a bike passed by. The runner turned and saw my bib and exclaimed, you are one of the 100 miler runners. I said yes. I planned to give up. She then said, they were the course sweepers. So got up from the bench and started walking with them, and also explained my leg hurt and I could not run any more. I have been going from bench to bench, to sit down and then walk some more. There generally a bench every mile or so.
The eight remaining mile to mile 92 went by eventually. The sweepers were commenting, I was moving at 17 mile pace and I could still make the cut off. Indeed, I got to the aid station at 10 am. We had 4 remaining hours to do last 8 miles. I decided not to drop at mile 92.
Though I wanted to stop there for good but thinking if my girlfriend were there she would not let me stop. She in more serious pain had walked the night before to Draper, I now could walk 4 miles to Austinville. It was in God’s hand whether I could make it back from Austinville or not. He raises up kings and deposes them as he pleases. Some race I could do it and some I can’t. I accepted my fate. I got a sense of relieve as I thought of a kid song about Peter and James went to pray and they healed a crippled man, who then went jumping and leaping, praising God. I wanted to jump and dance too. Amazingly strength returned and I went jumping and leaping figurative out to Austinville and passed a friend and 2nd to last runner, Josh. Thus I avoided the DFL, being the very last runner.
On the way out to the last out and back to Austinville, I saw all the previous runners who were still on the course. We cheered for each others. I was still maintaining a 17 min mile pace even though I knew a 25+ min pace would get me a buckle. So the buckle was certain. I came in at 1:08:33. I took me a little over 3 hours to do the last 8 miles.
Conclusion: Hard to come up with anything to say. I almost thought I could not finish and then I did. There were so many twists and turns, like first I was way confident that it would be an easy race and wasn’t. I am very glad in the end. A time on the trail was a spiritual renewal. This race also helps me to rethink everything about running. One was trekking poles helped a ton. 100 mile has a way to strip everything bare and to go back to the fundamentals.
As for future races, everything is on hold so far. I have to dig deep and decide what race I really want to do, otherwise, I likely get more dnfs and not finish what I set out to do.
My girlfriend drove me back home. It was always good to have transportation arranged beforehand. Food must have been good, but the memory of the trip is fading fast. I think we went to Tony’s for some connolies and fried squids. I woke up somehow at the restaurant back home. I am grateful to the RD and all the volunteers. I made new friends. It was a ton of fun. That’s ultra in a few words.
(I wrote this while on the way to another race, Bluff, hope to get that report out soon, if ever. MCM is coming too, so I want to focus on that).
In awe 