In awe

Tag: race report

  • Day449 Rim to River 100

    I was fortunate to take part in the Rim to River 100 at the New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia of their second year race.

    Monday quarterbacking – Of course I could still have done better, such as be more efficient at the aid stations. I noticed many people I was able pass on the trail, but they were able to beat me back when going through an aid station because they were able to get in and get out under 5 minutes, while it took me about 15 minutes to get through one. There were as many as 10 stations. Granted some people might have a pit crew helping them. I might able to cut an hour or two off the clock if I have been a bit more efficient.

    Second – toward the end of the race, I realized many people were much better at walking up hills than me. Their walking pace is my running pace. Their gait seemed to be effortless. It was not even a fast walk for them. I saw both male and female walking much faster than me. I don’t think height is an issue here. There were shorter females who out walked me.

    That said, I signed up after reading a blog post from trailrunning100 (go check out her blog, she is a race director and she runs 100 mile races everywhere), and also by word of mouth from a few West Virginia running friends. I did it mainly because of the challenge and also for the beauty of the course. I think many people also had the same idea.

    As for preparation, In hindsight, I would say running a 100 mile race was a good preparation – here I mean Rocky Raccoon I did in February. It gave me a good base. Jokingly, but so true!

    I orginally planned to go out to the course couple times to cover the entire portion (I had covered only 20 miles the first time I went, there were still another 35 ish miles not yet covered – the course being an out and back, and so it is not necessary to cover all 100 miles). My summer and then fall didn’t give me the chance.

    Trails. The trails at Rim to River are not hard to run. I mostly walked though and it was all walking by nightfall. I am the back of the pack runners. For those who can run, this race is a cinch. I met older people who finished it in 30 hours easy.

    There maybe a few sections that were iffy (meaning for pros only) – like the part climbing up from the Kaymoor mine, the Arbuckle trail, and the single trail out to Ansted. Some were just too steep to run. And I think the single trail section to Ansted also was not runable, due to the fact it being an out and back race, you are held up there for people to pass by because the trail being narrow.

    There were some harder climbs especially at the end, but they didn’t bother me much. I mean those who were able to get through halfway are not doing to give up just because of couple hills. Same with me. Most of the big climbs were on roads earlier in the race, such as one to Thurmond. Some say the race had between 11,000 to 16,000 ft. I take it at their words. Some runners said 13’000 ft, the race organization said 16,000. I felt it was much less.

    Expectation. For the Rim to River Race, I went in first expecting to finish around 28-29 hours (we had 32 hours total) like at my last 100 mile. However, as night progressed, I had to reset my expectation a few times.

    Pacing. Walk/run ratio. I think I walked as much as 75% of time. The first half, I could maintain about 15 min per mile including rest time at aid stations. The race cutoff pace was 19 min per mile. I believe during the night, I was moving around at 24 min per mile.

    Gears and equipment. I used standard stuff, hydration pack, some people didn’t. I didn’t use poles but they might have been helpful. Poles were a norm here – think 50% or more carried them. I think all did toward the end. I wore layers. I switched shoes but I don’t think others did. All boring stuff. Water is heavy that is a fact when you are tired and I carried a lot but I still ended up being dehydrated. I only peed twice during the whole race — maybe because it was cold and I did not want to drink. Peeing was painful (I know, I might damage my kidneys).

    Chafing and blister control: I was good till near the end. I lubed myself at mile 60 when it became uncomfortable, though I should have done it much earlier, but after lubing I felt great, and no more chafe. I could move painfree. I have gotten lazier of not lubing before the race. A surprised story (for those in the know) at the end of a race, I overheard a female runner saying it hurt down there and it did not matter what lube she puts she said! Ah, pain only runners know. And I thought only guys have that problem, and now female too. Solution is of course to lube and lube often, but I think she is new to the long distance running. I was laughing inside when I heard her talked. I didn’t offer my 2-cent. Yes, the first time I ran long distance (26 miles) it was very painful!

    I relied solely on aid stations for all my food and snacks. I drank only water and skipped the pop. I did carry a package of gel from home and I used it. I had no problem with my nutrition. No matter what, you would be under calories. I ate when available, mostly chicken broth and ramen. Nutrition was something I worry about before coming into the race – they said to test and work out what best for your stomach. I threw up before in a race. I felt nutrition was something I did not have the time to figure out. In the end it was a non-issue.

    Aid stations. They were adequate. People were always enthusiastic to serve us when we came to one. They were always full of people, not like some other races at night where everyone is asleep. I am from the back of the pack too meaning the buck of the crowd already went through and I shouldn’t expect VIP treatment! But I did receive good stuffs (food and water) at every single one.

    They had portable heaters at night and they were a godsend. They were so comfortable that we did not want to leave. We had three drop bag locations. I used only two.

    Most stations were between 6-10 miles apart. The farthest one apart was 11 miles. I heard some runners were saying a bit too far. This was from Cunard (mile 27) to Long Point (mile 38/39?). I ran out of water on that stretch (and I carried 2 liters) but it was not a dealbreaker – because I was not thirsty.

    Incident 1/Race Highlight: One main reason for a slower run in this race was — I tripped and fell and broke my glasses in the late afternoon, around 4-5pm and it became apparent running at night was out of the question. The fall did not hurt me, but my glasses was broken into several (“many” pieces in my mind at the time) pieces. It was impossible to glue it or tape it back at that point in time. Several others runners tried to help by offering tape or super glue, but deep down I knew I had to do the rest of the race without my glasses.

    The true solution is I should wear goggles when running. I am just lazy to get myself a pair. My balance was super good though and saved me from falling many times. You came to rely not on sight but to trust your feet.

    By nightfall, I could not see the trail any more when lighting was dim – I was blind to rocks, roots, stumps, branches, and puddles, because everything were invisible to me. I had my headlamp but they were not super bright and though the brightness could be adjusted – I had never tested how long the battery would last if I had it on the brightest setting. I am guessing, maybe 2 hours max. I didn’t bring enough battery for the 12 hour of darkness, so I did not want to set it on the brightest setting. A brighter light might have helped me in seeing better and so run better. The 12 hour night time was a huge setback for me.

    I fell or stumbled many times at night. Most of the time, I was not hurt. Couple times though my wrists and hands took the blunt of it. After falling enough time, I decided to “team up” with other runners. I asked if I could just stay with them, having them kind of pace me. They could help me avoid most of the branches and other obstacles. A lady “paced” me while pacing her runner. We got through maybe 10 miles together. This was around miles 65-75. It lessened the burden of me trying to find my way without able to see much.

    I know and think a few runners got annoyed with me tagging behind. I leave their names/bib unidentified/and I’ll leave out the details – not worth repeating. I somehow could not build rapport with runners in this race unlike other races, not sure if they were super competitive or super stressed out. In the past, runners, especially trail runners are like a family. When you meet up, it is like a long lost reunion. So it is easy to connect. Not so at this race. This is not indicative of all runners there, just a few who were around me throughout the race, for example, the few runners I were with in the first couple hours were kind (at least acknowledged your presence like you belong with them), but unfortunately, I don’t think any of them finish. You know if you spent 30+ hours side by side, they would at least tell you their name, at the very least after the first couple minutes! But no, not so here. Not a good bedfellow! Not even after we finished together! I was happy my friend and his group of friends were there and I had my own celebration. Enough said, I won’t bring race into the discussion. There were surprising a lot asians on the course. In the past, it is rare to see another asian running ultras. In this race, there was one with my name too! A first! He is quite amazing based on his ultrasignup page.

    I appreciated one pacer especially for her help (She later introduced herself again at the end of the race as Katlyn) though with me not wearing my glasses I couldn’t able to see what she looks like or to recognize her in the future. She said she only did 15 miles leading up to the event, but that night she paced her friend for over 45 miles! The audacity. What a friend. She stopped and pulled me up when I tripped and fell.

    Anyway, I strived out on my own later in the night when I believed the two ladies who I kept pace (and it was hard to find people willing to let you stay behind) with might not have a chance at finishing the race because their pace was much slower than I wanted (Spoiler: They did finish and only a few minutes behind me, right on my tail) and the chance of finishing was slipping away. I used myself as a measuring stick in many races, calling myself the course unofficial sweeper, basically those who are behind me are likely won’t able to finish. So I felt I was on a sinking boat when I was with them.

    I fell once more after I left all other people. But my confident was stronger than before because daybreak would be soon (still was maybe 2-3 hours away, but mentally it was the expectation that the night was more than half over). Also by now I was back on the same trail (Kaymoore Trail) we were on earlier in the daytime and I kind of recognized all the bends etc, so I didn’t have to find my way. As long as I could stay on the same trail and I would be good till the finish. I felt I could move faster on my own.

    Incident 2. Staying on the trail was an art when you are in a drunken state due to the lack of sleep. By 4 AM, sleep deprivation started to get to me. I started seeing stuff – and without glasses any shadow would become like real objects. I was avoiding fake trees and brushes and beautiful falling leaves and more so as the night wore on. I was by myself, no headlamp in front nor behind. The trail was pitblack, except my own headtorch.

    I saw electrical leaves in neon color – with fluorescene glow, a beautiful sight. To me they looked so real and natural (like in the movie Avatar).

    Once, I walked off the trail toward the cliff side. I slid off but luckily not too far, otherwise, I might have ended in the river down in the gorge (namesake of the race).

    As much as I told myself to keep awake, but the body won (The spirit is willing but the body is weak). Most of the time though the trail has wide enough shoulders, so it is impossible to fall off of the cliff. Why was I sleepwalking? I felt I could close my eyes a bit and walk and rely on my feet. It was a bad idea because I felt asleep for real. But I felt asleep too even with my eyes open (I caught myself with my mind blank out several times). I forgot to ask for coffee at the last aid station during the night. This lasted maybe an hour before I became fully awake again.

    Incident 3. Other than stepping off the trail, when the course turned away from the main trail, I had another near saved/end experience. The Erkins Aid Station on the map showed it was literally on the trail, but on race day, the station was like 500 ft off to the right and on top of a hill by a road, that it couldn’t be seen from the trail. And I missed it, and passed right by the turn off.

    By now it was day time and I was awake. It was probably around 8 ish (7 in post day light saving ended), and sun was up though we didn’t see it. In my mind, I thought the way should be straight ahead. I passed a running team just then and I was putting on speed. But my sixth sense got to me and turned my head around in time to see a flash of headlamp (from one of the people I passed) going uphill on my right. And so I had to backtrack. That was a lucky break, because if they had the headlamp off, I would not have seen them or if I did not turn around to check, I would have miss it too, because I was so sure the trail and the race course goes straight instead of turning (yes, I have been a few races, where runners behind don’t care if someone is off trail — I think this race is highly competitive).

    I followed the tapes/flags up the side of the hill and occassionally I had to get close to the ground because I can only see about a foot in front of my eyes. My nearsightedness is that bad. I kept kneeing and bending down till I reached the hill top. A slow process yes.

    Not too far away was a picnic area (in my mind someone’s backyard, remember I couldn’t see well), with a shelter. I could hear voices, music, laughter and celebration. In my mind they were having a picnic – never did it occurred to me to ask – who in their right mind would be having a picnic at 8 am on a Sunday in the cold, (actually was 7 AM with Day light saving just ended during the race at 2 AM that morning, but the race people decided to stick to old time to avoid confusion with adding an hour or substracting an hour) .

    A lady came out and asked – if I lost my running partner. I said no, I was not looking for my running partner, but I am searching for flags to know which way to turn. She then led me to the Aid Station. It then dawned on me, ah all those christmas lights – of course they were showing the way to the aid station, and who needs flags when the Aid Station is obviously in front. Note, when I read about Erkins Aid station, I thought it would be on Erkins trail, but it was not. It was before the Erkins Trail.

    The people there were not having a picnic but they were there for us. It was both funny and tragic of not having my glasses – I could have turned the wrong way or ignored the aid station completely, which would be ground for a DNF or DQ (Disqualified/did not finish) because everyone must check in and out at every aid stations. Mind plays funny tricks on you in the early hours even after I was fully awaken.

    Main outake from all three incidents, most tailend runners have a pacer! I didn’t, otherwise all those getting lost, etc, could be avoided. I did meet several runners who did not during the morning, with one at the Erkins aid station.

    I am happy I finished and did it within the cut-off without a pacer. My friend Aaron was there and so were many others. It was a warm welcome at the finish. Katlyn came over said her congratulations – she (her runner) finished just minutes after me but I didn’t realized at the time because I was just too happy. But again kudos to her for her kindness and being a good friend!

    Why run this race? For the beautiful course, there were plenty of aid stations (and fun ones), the race is hosted at a resort – which is easier for support crew, and not as remote as it seems – Cunard, Fayetteville, and Ansted, are convenient locations along the course for crew access. I would add it was an out-and-back course – some might not like rerunning on the same path, but I found it reassuring on the way back to have something recognizable when you are tired. Some said it is a good first 100 mile to run – I think it is a bit tough, but for the daring, sure doable for first 100. For me, I couldn’t imagine how I would do if it was my first.

    Why not to run? The time of year tends to be on the cold side with chance of snow or bad weather. We were lucky to have clear sky, but it is West Virginia. Still, it was not as remote or rugged as a true wilderness run as I first envisioned. 27 ish miles were on the Ace Adventure Resort site and many of their trails feel artificial. Artificial trails are trails you have in the city. They are made by machines and not by hands (or naturally occured paths). Not saying they were easy, but it felt as if the course were just looking miles to add up the 100 mile distance – and it can frustrating, knowing you are at the finish but not really there yet because you have to go around the same hill a few more times. We ran on mostly manicured paths, some roads, and gravel. By manicured, it feels flat (rail to trail). At this time of the year, leaves covered over rocks and trails and it is dangerous and risky and challenging. Lastly, it was an out and back, so the excitement kind of fizzled out after the turn-around, though it wasn’t exactly the same path back but majority was the same.

    Final Words. There you have it, the good, the bad and the ugly. 100 mile race is a beast to tackle unlike 50 mile or marathons. I glad I signed up and ran it. The race reached and exceeded my expectation. People and staff were friendly. I had fun. It boosted my confident that I did a 100 and can do plenty more.

    If I have a chance, I would run it again for sure, but then also there are plenty other races to do.

  • Day441 Eau Claire Marathon

    That was the Eighth marathon-state and 42 more states to go. If I count the Rocky Raccoon I ran in February in Texas, it would be the nineth. Rocky Raccoon was an ultra marathon, and it is not the same as a normal marathon.

    When I run a normal marathon I feel I am fast again, relatively fast when compares to my other races. I am able to push more until I hit a breaking point. I feel good doing that.

    Eau Claire was everything I like about running a marathon. Maybe my first marathon was like that. Beautiful, and I feel successful. I was doing my thing and in my own separate world. There was the hype and race atmosphere. Many people tried to do their first marathons etc.

    I started off slow. Maybe I blame the weather. It was a bit nippy. Leaves in Wiscousin already were turning yellow, but the day was going to be great. Our pacer encouraged us to finish the run early to avoid the heat (80 F). We started off around 45 F though. I tried to stay in my car with my hoodie until the time of the start. I already decided to run in shorts and tee. I was willing to stand the shivering of the first hour or so. Hey this might be my last race before winter.

    The fact I did not have my breakfast was kind of suck. I did not pack my meal the night before, thinking I could get something from a McDonalds or 7-eleven. I was feeling lazy. Making sandwiches is a lot of work to me. Google said Dunkins and McDonalds would be open by 5 am. I was in a small town though and on a Sunday – the general hour doesn’t apply. Nothing was open. I kind of woke up late too around 5:30 am. Plus a half hour drive to the race, I had very little time left. The race started at 7:00.

    Last time I ran an “official” fast marathon was almost two years ago in Carlsbad, California. The Moonlight Marathon in West Virginia I did a month ago doesn’t count because that was like training and also that was “hilly”. Also Gettysburg marathon I ran last October doesn’t count – that was not a new state for me. I finished Eau Claire almost an hour ahead of my Moonlight Marathon. This is what I mean by fast. I needed to feel I was near my max performance.

    Parking was going to a problem I thought since they would block the roads. I arrived before they put down the barricades. So I was lucky. They actually only put up the starting arch like 15 minutes before the start. It felt unreal that they were behind schedule. We were going to run in the middle of the road. Things looked like last minute flash in the pan operation to me.

    The race place felt empty. Later I found out less people ran it this year than in previous years. Maybe about 40% less people, likely due to the pandemic. Not that it bothered me whether there were 40 people or 3000 people, a race is a race. There were 200 of us but it seemed even less – like 75 or 50 people.

    We started off on time, just after a beautiful sunrise behind us. I warmed up in no time. We had wave starts – and I was in the last wave because I put 5 hours as my finish time. I think the race average finishing was 4:20 in the past. This year was 4:10. Yes, there were a lot faster runners than me. I met a few during package pick up such as a runner called Steve and another Braxton.

    I had no idea exactly of the course. I did my homework but still. It was a road marathon and I knew it would be a lot of turns. The course markings were more than sufficient and they had volunteers at every turn, so following the course was not a problem. It was more a thing for me not knowing what ahead, that I had to be more conservative with my pace.

    I followed a pacer ahead. Very early on, I stuck with the 4:30 group. In my mind, many times in the past the 4:30 group would pass me in the middle of the race because I normally run a 4:45 or 5:00 hour marathon. I had a bit of age discrimination that day because pacers for 4:45 / 5:00 and beyond were all led by older guys. They look like they were in their 60s. I know I am not that young (and my hair is graying like them) but I wanted to be with the younger crowd. I didn’t want a grandpa to pace me. I felt embarrassed.

    Initially the 4:30 pace group only had me and a lady. After a few miles, we picked up a few more runners. I had to pee at the time. I felt I could hold it but better if there was a place to let it out. We had aid stations every couple miles and I hoped at one of them should/would have a porta potty. I think at mile 4 they had one but it was still locked (zip-tied). So shoot. Then I saw someone ran into a local park and I followed. I thought the dude knew a place for bathroom. Then he ran around the corner of a building (probably was a public bathroom – but the door was locked) and I found him squatting with pants down around his ankles once I came around the building. He quickly got up but he already had a big pile of poops on the ground. I was disgusted both at myself for the discovery and at the dude. Any runner would have done their business before the race! And why not go into the treeline at least! Leave-no-trace man. Now it means someone would have to clean up after him. Why did we wait till after the start to look for bathrooms? I was fuming.

    Anyway, I could go into the woods and do my business but I held it in after finding the guy shamelessly making a mess in public. So I ran back out to the race course and tried to catch up with my pace group again. I believe, it was not until mile 6 or 8 before I found a potty from a construction site where I finally could pee – that was like an hour later.

    The rest of the race was uneventful. I left my pace group by then and ran by myself till halfway. I settled into a kind of new group of people but we were all kind of far apart. I could still see the guy who pooped still running ahead. I told myself – I am not visiting any aid station after the dude. I was sure he didn’t wipe. I kind of felt sorry at the same time. If I had any wipes I would give it to him. My goal was to pass him but he ran freaking fast, maybe so that he wouldn’t have to talk to me, but I was trying to chase him at the same time. Yup awkward.

    Later I did pass him – he and a bunch of people were finally ran out of steam. Or maybe I was really speeding up. I felt strong and I think I was actually steady with my pace. Then for a few miles I was with a lady – later on, she said she is Annie. I did not start a conversation and neither did she. I just tried to keep my pace steady. I could see she was fast and in my mind, I had no intention to over take her. There were times she was way ahead of me and times when she dropped behind. However, after a while, she was constantly at my side or I was by hers.

    The race course took us out onto a gravel road. I was hoping being a more experienced running on trail I might be able to lose some people. I think at this time, We ran into the 4:20 pace group. It was like running into a wall. I was surprised that Annie had no intention to pass the group. At the time, the trail was a bit crowded and so I did not pass either. I felt it was awfully slow.

    The pace leader Paul, introduced himself. He might have gone off to the bathroom too because he ran out of nowhere and started chatting first to Annie and then to me. He asked our names and where we from. He took back the pace stick from a fellow runner (Cooper). It was a social group. We had lot of people and there might be as many as 12-15 of us behind Paul.

    The race had couple hills. I think maybe 200- 300 ft or so. They said this was a new course. It made no different to me. Not a super big hill, but Paul had us do 30-30, a 30 seconds of walk and then 30 seconds of run. We would repeat until we crested it. He was right, we felt great coming out of the hill. He said, we would make up time on the down hill portion. We did.

    Miles flew by. 14, 15, 16. I started to feel the pace getting to me and I believed I would need to slow down. A few times, after slowing down at aid stations I could not keep up with Paul and the group any more. Also our group of 15 now shrunk to like a group of 5. Every mile we would lose someone. Cooper would call out, we lost so and so. Paul also had Cooper to call out our last mile time. We should run at a 10:05 pace, but usually we are a bit ahead, e.g. 9:55. Annie, Cooper, Paul, me, and another lady were only ones left. I told Paul mile 20 is likely the last mile I will be with them. For Annie, mile 18 would be the longest distance she ever ran. We passed mile 18, 19, 20. Miles were getting tougher. Soon even Cooper disappeared. Cooper had ran in 18 states. Paul had like 50 or so and lost count. Me, I had 7 states but lost count of my marathons either (around 33, now I checked).

    Annie and the other lady I think Kim, took off. I felt a burst of energy too and ran off with them leaving Paul behind. From experience, I know I couldn’t sustain the pace, but it felt good at the time. I don’t remember where but eventually, I was not able to keep up with Annie, probably at around mile 22. Paul caught back up, maybe at mile 24. I told him I couldn’t do it any more. He said, to run with him hip to hip. Ya sure. I really couldn’t. I dropped to a walk. That was really suck that I hit the wall. I will myself as much as I could but I couldn’t get going. Later someone said, you could actually hear the finish noise because we were literally just a block away. However, I was not as familar with the course as I should and I had no idea where I was. We still had two miles to run (an extra loop from the finish). It took us to the school – University of Wiscousin – Eau Claire campus. The students were all out cheering. They called it the Gold Blue or Blue Gold mile. I don’t think they helped but I got back to a jog. At least I was moving. Like with any marathons or races, the last mile was the hardest. I gradually picked up the pace again and arrived at the finish.

    Annie finished like at 4:16. Paul arrived on time at 4:19:55. His wife owns the pacing company and he said he could not finish a second late or his wife would kill him. We were ahead of pace by 30-50 seconds during the run. Paul must have slowed down to make the perfectly paced finish. I arrived at 4:21:27. And Cooper came in around around 4:30. I did not wait for any others. Steve whom I met during package pickup waited for me. He finished around 3:30 (hr/min). He said Braxton was around 3:00. Braxton wanted to qualify for Boston. We all revered Steve who ran in the Boston in the past.

    It was a fast finish for me too. It was not my fastest. My fastest was around 4:12. And my second fastest was 4:16. This should be my third fastest time. I did not intend to make a PR (personal best/record). You kind of know at the start of the race whether it would be your fastest. I felt I goofed a bit by not warming up before the start, or to use the bathroom, or to get up earlier. So I did not expect making any record. I knew I was running generally better than other marathons. I did want to run a fast one since my last one of 8:25 was awfully slow and kind of want to prove myself I can still do it. To be able to keep up with the 4:20 pace group for most of the race was an achievement. Also, Annie kind of pull me to an even faster pace near the end and this either helped or messed me up – I rather take a positive look that it helped me reached my third fastest time. Everyone runs their own race is the motto. It was a win in my book.

    Is Eau Claire worth going for others? I think it was well managed. They had a half marathon and 5K event too. The course is generally beautiful. It is in a small rural town but not so small like Damascus, VA. I think a decent size. There are many bridges. I think the place is calming and beautiful to run. It is not like big city marathon such as the Marine Corps with many thousands of people, but Eau Claire definitely put up a good race like any big races.

    It is one of those destination races for me. Once and done. If I live nearby I might run it again, but it is halfway across the country and the nearest airport is about 2 hours away. The drive from the airport was boring to me. I am the guy that hate driving. It was mostly woods on either side of the highway. Camping is one of the recommended activities and the second recommendation was to see the country fair/rodeo show. I love those stuffs but not when I am there for running.

    I did not visit museums or any historical buildings. Another recommended thing was to see their trails and parks. I ran out of time so I did not go on their trails. I would have if I had a bit more time or I had planned better.

    My remaining time was to eat. None of the places I would recommend on here. Not that they were bad bad, but I chose some places in a bad neighborhood. It also helped me see a city in a different light. Restaurants in the Mall of America were pretty bland – your usual standard chain restaurants. I visited Mall of America, supposingly America biggest shopping mall. There were some eating guides available, but again I didn’t have the time or energy to seek those places out – I kind of hate any crowded downtowns and the lack of parking and all so, I did not even go there.

    I flew into Minneapolis/St Paul of course. Other than that, I did not find much to do in the city. To me, Minnesota felt like Texas of the north – that everything is big. The airport MSP is one of the nicer ones – I explored the whole airport since I spent about 4 hours there. It needs a bit more arts is what I can say. An airport is airport – after a while, you kind of hate it no matter how nice it is. I flew Delta – the service is nice. I got my can of coke and cookies. I was happy. I slept on the way back. It was a direct flight. Happy to make it home.

    Epilogue – I am thinking of running Grandma’s Marathon in Deluth in the near future. It means I will be back in St.Paul/Minneapolis. I only learned of Deluth from the lady at the car rental counter, when I asked her what is there to do here in St. Paul. She said I should visit Deluth. De-lu what? The town near Canada. What!? I thought it was a restaurant or a park. Later, I was able to find the city on the map, oh, that is too far. Ya, I know, Deluth is not in St. Paul, it is like two hours away.

    Oh also I don’t know how to pronouce Eau Claire…I think the people there say it as Oh-claire. I have been saying it as oo-claire. I don’t think anyone there speak French. Maybe it was a historical leftover from a french origin. I think it was headwater of the Mississippee. No it was another river. I should have read up more on the place I visited.

  • Day438 Lake Ridge 12 hrs Run

    Call it a lack of discipline on my part when I signed up for a race I know I shouldn’t since it was so close to my marathon date. But I am an addict to running, I confess.

    I had a free weekend and it felt weird of not running in something officially sounding event. I want to go somewhere far since the pattern has been to drive couple hours way each week to run.

    The race Lake Ridge Endurance Run was held at Lake Claytor this year. It was their inaugural event. They had it last year but it was low key due to the pandemic (officially it was canceled/probably for insurance- liability issue) and was a fatass event for people who were willing to show up.

    This year was for real. I drove down to Lake Claytor in Dublin, Virginia. I had a camp site reserved but there was very to no sleeping to be had. In the end, I didn’t sleep.

    I could pick my start time at among the four choice 1 pm, 7 pm, 1 am the following day, or 7 am the following day. The race ended at 1 pm Sunday, so the 6 hours had more choices and no choice of start time for the 24 hour people. Almost all picked 1 pm since that was the most logical choice. No one wanted to run at night if they could help.

    I originally chose 1 pm for sanity’s sake. But I accidentally/incidentally woke up late that race day morning and arrived to the race just 5 minutes after it started. I blamed the hour long traffic I encountered while traveling to the race site or the side stops to get breakfast and lunch, or partially gotten lost when I didn’t check what I entered into the GPS and it took me to another part of the Lake Claytor that was 5 miles away from the actual race site. It was not a good morning. I packed on the morning of too hence a bit late getting started on the road. The trip was 5 hours drive away. I was lucky that I was only 5 minutes late! But late is still late and missed the start.

    There were not a lot of us, about 20 ish. Many were signed up for the 24 hour event. I signed up for the 6 hours but felt the distance might be too short, so I switched to 12 hours. This meant I would be running from sunset to sunrise. I always wanted to have a night time training (without sleep) for my upcoming 100 miler. This was a perfect opportunity to do it.

    By midnight, the wind picked up a bit, not strong but soothing. The temperature was supposed to drop to around 50 F, but I felt hot though. I picked up my long sleeves when I arrived back at the aid station but didn’t wear it.

    The adventure started. It was not much to be said. Time flew by. I did loop after loop. Sometimes I passed people during my loop, other times I was by myself. It was lonely when I didn’t see anyone. There were only 20 of us. Actually by night fall, half of them were already finished (The 12 hr people who started at 1 pm were done and so were the 6 hour). I was the only one who started at 7 pm. My chance of seeing anyone was slim. One was attempting a 100 mile, and I was hoping to get to see him on the course. I ran pretty much at his pace. In the end, didn’t get to see him – I think at one point he was at the station when I was there.

    I like night runs due to not able to see things clearly. I like the sensory deprivation. I sometimes tried to close my eyes and run, except that I would trip on rocks and roots. I called them branches because they were like branches laying across the path. I tripped on the same root on every lap! Luckily each time, I didn’t fall. Only in the morning after the sun came up did I see what I have been tripping on. They were wickedly big roots.

    One point at night around 3-4 am I got spooked. I don’t usually afraid of ghosts or creepy stuffs. But earlier in the night I was scared by some deers and some smaller critters, probably a raccoon. I saw their shining eyes staring at me. I jumped. I knew they were deers in my head but still the hairs on my back did not believe me. It was an auto response. At 3-4 am, there were no animal but the cool wind blew on my back. I felt like it was a spirit. It was a section of the course that the temperature noticibly dropped a few degrees and it was especially windy. I was genuine scared. I did not want to be out on the course any more.

    Then came 5 am and 6 am. I knew the night had passed. I was uplifted. I knew I was out of time to do one more left. My race would end at 7. I tried very hard to get back by 6 so I could do one more lap. I came in at 6:24 am. It was not enough for one more lap unless I run at a 7 min pace. (Sun rose around 7, probably like 6:45). I went back out for one more lap even though I know it wouldn’t make it. It was the best lap – mostly because I was happy.

    I finished strong. People congratulated me on finishing. I love the race a lot especially seeing the sky getting brighter and everything was alright on the last lap. I put in 52 miles (only 48 miles were counted, the other 4 miles were done beyond the 12 hours so they were not counted). It was my first time doing a 12 hour race so I was not very good at managing my time. Looking back, I could have squeezed in that last lap if I had spent a bit less time at the aid station.

    This post is not much a traditional race report. The course is 4 miles long. Mostly runnable trail. Some sections had a bit of root and rocks. I ran on all. Those who were not used to the distance or the trail complained about it being rocky. A few ate dirt. I almost did many times but my balace was good (I trained myself by running on a balance beam or road curbs). The elevation was not much but over 10 loops it started to get to me. I think I had done over 3000 ft change overall. Aid station was at the start. I was able to keep the pace of one loop every hour. People volunteering were nice as always. We had people serving us through out the night (I told them to sleep, we runners can help ourselves). We could set up our own station too. I did but did not use it. Their food was better than mine. I stopped at every lap and that might have been way too much. If I do it again, I might stop only every 3 laps.

    It was a small event so everyone would know everyone after the first loop.

    suggestion to self. Prepare a whiteboard/and (own) extra dry eraser makers to count loops. They had electronic tracking, but for sanity sake, I like something visible and tangible. RD gave us some markers but their markers dried up by middle of the night due to usage/exposure.

  • Day404 the big one / Rocky Raccoon 100

    I really don’t know how I pulled off this one to run and finish the Rocky Raccoon 100. But yay, I did finish.

    It was the coolest race I did. Long but top of the line race support and community. People of Texas put up an amazing race.

    1. The race is noobish friendly. I picked it for this reason since I had two previous failed attempts in running the 100 and I wanted to finish this time.

    a. what made it new comers friendly? The course is looped, 5 twenty mile loops, so it is a “relatively” short course, the course though has the ability to lengthen itself with each passing lap. There are three on course Aid Stations, and four if counting the start/finish. They allowed plenty places for a drop bag (each aid station is a drop bag point).

    b. plenty of Aid Stations. AS is what can make or break a run. We have one about every 4-5 miles. They were superb full service aid stations. Aid stations for an ultra usually mean full supply of everything you can ask. What saved my race was a cup of coffee during the early morning and as well a hot salty cup of I don’t even know what it is, but I think it was ramen extract package mix in a cup of hot water. I drank that down thinking it was hot coco, that got me running at 3 AM in the morning. And I ran when many others were walking.

    c. Drop bag. At rocky raccoon you can leave a drop bag at any aid station. So you can bring along your favorite food/drink or stuff you need at almost anywhere on the course. Or drop off stuff in the middle of a run was really helpful! My strategy was to run light! I saw some crazy people carry a huge hydration bag on their run and they could hardly move, but I decided to ditch my hydration pack and only carry a hand bottle. I ditched my bag and jacket at an aid station during the last lap, that made a difference in finishing or not finishing the race.

    Dropped off that extra five pounds. I don’t know why people were still lugging around theirs on their final lap. Maybe for toilet paper — gosh the lady in front of me just pulled off her pants and pee – I turned away pretending not to see, meh. Good thing though she wasn’t carry her pack. I didn’t ask if she needed some toilet paper. Afterward she let me pass on in front. I think it was her lady friend (a pacer) needed her turn. I think her friend was a bit squirmish to drop her pants. When you gotta go, you gotta go. (I had a similar experience at the wee hours when the girls kept following doggedly behind me and I couldn’t shake them off – I waited until they passed, of course.)

    d. crowd support. You never expect to have a crowd support at an ultra, at least not in a traditional sense like at a marathon since normally the course is so spread out. But this race course is small enough (like at most is 5 miles out from anywhere), there is campground in couple places. We have the huge park to ourselves – they reserved it for us this year. I tried to get a camping spot, but unfortunately unable to… due to my procastination – early bird gets the worm as they say. Anyway, you see people from time to time.

    The interesting thing about this race is they allow people to set up tents, not the camping tents but those picnic three side tents along the starting/finish line on either side. So at every lap you run through this village of people/tent city and they cheered you. Runners brought their kids and family along and they set in their chairs waving and cheering even when you are half dead. I love it. Things were a bit subdue at 3 AM but there were still people there. One or two had their camping tent there though they were not allowed according to the park rules.

    e. plenty of time to finish. We were giving 30 hours, plus an extra 2 for those who wanted an earlier start time. I started at 7 in the morning so I had 31 hours total. It was just about enough time for me. I finished at 28.5 hrs. I almost thought I wouldn’t make it to the finish line. Silly me – strange ideas flew through my head during a night of sleeplessness.

    f. terrain and elevation. I think it has a total around 2000 ft. That seemed to be a lot for a marathon, but with ultra, it was almost flat. All of the hills were runnable. The terrain was rough in couple places – this race is known for ‘rocky’ but it was mostly due to roots and not rocks. I tripped over them a few times, but none of them were a fatal race terminating event. My friend unfortunately had to end hers at mile 40 and this was her 3rd attempt.

    A 100 mile race is hard no matter how friendly and easy they made it to be. It was mostly on trail and few miles were on a dirt road (the gate portion). My experience from this race was sleep deprivation is terrible.

    I was walking with my eyes opened but I could hardly counted as being awake. A few times I almost walked into a bush. I saw weird stuffs – like a bush suddenly turned into a deer and I startled myself and then it turned back into a bush. A few times I thought someone was standing in a shadow watching me. Maybe it was hallucination or maybe it was real.

    I wish I had flew in a day earlier to able to sleep better before the race day. I arrived on Friday afternoon. Getting a rental, and race day supplies, and hotel, by the time I settled in it was pretty late. I was too excited to sleep until around past 2 am. I had set my alarm for 3, thinking I would head out at 4, since it is an hour drive to the race site, and I wanted to be there by 5. I had only a moment of eye close before the alarm went off. I snoozed it, then my second alarm went off. By golly it was 4 am now. I was lucky to get an extra hour in. I woke up and was fine. There was a bit of that hazy-head but I sat around a bit for the body to warm up, then I felt good enough for a shower. I ate some and was ready to head out. I arrived at 6 and the parking lot was full by then. But lucky someone pulled out and I got a spot. There were still many arriving after me. They would have to park at a remote lot that is like 3 miles away. I’m thankful I didn’t need to do so. I tell you, it still took me an hour to walk to my car after I finish the race because I was basically limping – one step and rest for five minutes and another step and rest before I made it to the car. I can’t imagine what I would do, if I had to go another 3 miles to my car.

    The morning went well. Personally I prefer to have started with the 6 o’ clock crowd, but things just worked out for a 7 o’ clock start. I didn’t have to use a head lamp. Less weight, and less stumbling in the dark. Sunrise was just around 7, so the trail was visible.

    My first lap was strong. I tried not to go out too fast but it was hard to control myself. I found couple great people to follow. I called the guy a bionic man because he ran like a robot at a steady mechanical pace. The three other guys behind me were just party people. They were loud and talked the whole way. Luckily I parted way with them a little after. I was with them for maybe 10 miles. The course was more gentle than I imagined (I did study the elevation profile). The terrible infamous rocky roots were not that bad. I ran on more challenging trail than this. The trails were wide and most of them were double trail. Yes it is a fast course as the organizer previously informed us.

    My original intention was to bypass all the aid stations since I had my dropbag at the starting line, which is my private aid station. I figured I would be looping every few hours to allow me to get water/food/and change of clothes.

    Not sure when that plan started to fall apart, whether it was the second or by the third lap, the official aid stations were pretty tempting not to bypass.

    LAP 1 – I finished the first lap around 11 am. A decent time. Each subsequent laps took much longer.

    LAP 2 – My goal for my second lap was to arrive back before sunset since I didn’t have the head lamp on me. I made it my goal of not carrying my hydration pack, which mean none of the basic stuffs were on me. Why carry one when everything you need is five or six miles away.

    The ideal pace would be 6 hrs per lap with 30 hours for the whole 100 mile. I hope to arrive back at the starting point before 6 when it gets dark. I arrived around 4-4:30. I was two hours ahead by then.

    LAP 3 – Going out for the third lap, now the sun has set. I hoped to finish it by 11. They warned us that it would be cold and we should carry a jacket. I don’t remember much after that but I did make it back before midnight. I think it was around 10 pm. Word about this is once the sun had set, the whole environment changed. You could no longer see where you are running even with a flashlight. The place was no longer recognizable. Weird isn’t it, but you get night blindness from the headlamp. The best ones for me were the dimly lit one, then you can see some shadow of trees and bushes to serve as a guide to the trail and can see a almost like in the morning. For me though, the night run became mostly stumbling in the dark. Oh you see all kinds of lighting devices people have. The most popular kind was a waist belt with a row of light. Very interesting. They lighted the whole path. I also saw a guy with christmas light wrapped on him.

    What I think people were carrying so much silly stuffs were because this race had the 100km crowded. They are noobies compare to us. Of course they walked. The pro already finished theirs in the afternoon, so you only had the weird crowd at between 10 – 2 am at night trying to finish their 100km.

    Lap 4. When did I start lap 4? This was probably the longest lap. I think I went out around 10 pm and hoping for 4am/5am start for my final lap. I took some food before starting. Was it a can of chicken noodle? I started feeling nausate at the time, which is normal, since the body started to shut down the digestive system on a long run — at least from what I read.

    I don’t remember much of my fourth lap except yes it was cold. The whole night is cold. 40F. I knew it beforehand but I had no idea where I packed my gloves. Couldn’t find them. Luckily I had those runner jackets that have the extra long sleeves, where you can poke your thumb through on the side.

    This was also the most lonely lap because by then the 100km people had left. Also the pros for the 100 miler are finishing or would be finishing. They were on their last lap and you still had two more to go. It was just depressing.

    The last two laps were mostly just stumbling through. My body mostly refused to run. Did I say it was cold! I like put on everything I had on and still I was cold. I came in for my final lap an hour before sunrise. Was it at 4:30 am? It didn’t get warmer with the sun rising, I can tell you that.

    Aid station was great though. They worked energetically through the night. A fellow runner I was with during the deep of the night stopped at the dam (they nicknamed the place damnation) and she told me to turn off my lamp. I was WTF, who you telling me what to do. I was like at the point of exhaustion. F* the sky. Then she kept on insisting, pointing to the sky. I was moved to tears, because it was the most spectacular night sky I saw. She remained just maybe a mile or two before running off. The moon was there too. It did give me a burst of energy to run for the next 10 miles and she also told me to ask for coffee at the Aid Station. I also didn’t know ramen and mash potato was a thing. She said it easier to slurp that way and it packs plenty of calories. This sweet angel probably saved my race because it was very tempting to quit during these late hours of the night. I didn’t bring along a pacer, but her suddenly appear and stay till I got my groove back somehow served as my needed pacer.

    Lap 5. I finished the 100 miler around 11:35 the next day. It was 28.5 hours since I started. Even though when I started the last lap, it was guaranteed I would finish, like hell I had 8.5 hours to do it, no way I wouldn’t. Still there were doubts near hysteria – I was repeating in my head I can’t make it in time. Not sure why, but that was my mentality… I felt like I needed 10 hours. I was walking and unable to run. I was jealous of those who still could run. Majority though was walking and walking very slowly. Every bench I saw I wanted to sit and close my eyes, even if it was just for a few minutes would be heavenly, except it was too cold to be sitting. I know if I did, there is no way for me to get back up.

    It was quite a scene there when you see a bunch of us as slow as we can get and still competing for a slight advantage because you would think everyone walks at the same pace, and I scratched my head why some could walk so fast effortlessly while at my pace I was unable to catch them. I did see a guy, he did finish, maybe an hour after me, but he was bending side way the whole time while leaning on his trekking pole. I was thinking how he could continue. He did it one step at a time. We were in various state of misery.

    Any joy from the whole ordeal? Yes nothing happier than when we coming through the finishing chute. Cowbells clanking, music blasting, I attempted to run the last few steps awfully, but that was most satisfied moment. A silly fellow runner attempted to challenge me to sprint to the finish. I had nothing left in the tank. She won. It might be the same lady who asked me to look at the stars a few hours before.

    I picked my buckle and did a few remaining things like locating my dropbag. I could hardly walk but I did limp to my car. Rolled down the window, wolfed down a few things I still had — F* the squirrels or raccoons for stealling all my remaining croissants that I forgot to put away. At first I was mad, thinking my fellow runners ate my food but then I saw the tell tell bite mark on the container lid. Humans don’t eat plastic. I was so straving but I was unable to keep awake much longer and soon felt into a deep sleep.

    I did not know how I made it back to the hotel. When I woke up after everyone was gone. I slept maybe 3 hours in the parking lot. Somehow later, I managed that hour long drive back to Houston. I was in the dreamlike state during the whole ride, but that will be another story for another time. I should have stayed at the park for few more hours of sleep. However, I wanted that nice shower the hotel offers. I was going to go out and eat, but couldn’t will myself. Also the fear from my ride back to Houston hadn’t left me. I went to bed early and slept until the morning. I cooked myself a big meal at an god early hour at the hotel, then ate my own body weight, but still I was hungry afterward.

    There is probably some feel good lesson to close this. The whole run has been pretty peaceful. I can probably point to the earlier experiences preparing me for this. I was not a complete noob to say the least. The last four years have prepared me. I know how hard it was to stay on my feet for 24+ hours. I had been through the tougher runs in Atlanta where the sun was burning hot – even at night and we had to climb a mountain at the end of the 60 mile. I had endured thirst and hungry and blisters on my foot and various runner related problems. This race in comparison is easy. You can say, if one set ones mind on it, you can accomplish anything. Hmm. Or good preparation is 90% of the work. Or if you don’t succeed, try again. For me, indeed third time the charm. Nope, those are good lessons, but I think what make this trip worth it, is just to be able to run and have the same shared experience with other runners. I feel happy about it. A runner gave me a pat on the shoulder and said nice work! That was enough, and I felt accepted into this rank — I’m now an ultra runner.

  • day254 – virtual run#2

    Day 254 race report “Centreville Marathon”

    I used my first virtual run I ran on March 21 for the Maine Coast Marathon.

    I didn’t post about it but I think on Tuesday, I got an email from the race organizer about the race being canceled. Not a surprise at all after getting so many of this kind of emails for the last two/three weeks. Boy we are in the third week already of staying in place. Anyway, the race offered a virtual run, no swag. It was a cry fest on its facebook page. I guess all the big races were already canceled the first week CDC released its guideline about social distancing. This one was a bit far out in early may (May 9), so there was no word until this week. I have been checking its facebook page daily. Other people have been asking the same. A little can be said about the communication process here – share early and be direct. Yup, it erupted on its social media page. The community was not too pleased. You can read the anger people had. I can’t believe so other races, runners took it in stride, but this we just pour our anger at the race management – not really their fault, but we want them to hear us – “Enough with this Covid virus thing: we are angry and we won’t take it any more”. I just shrugged it off and moved on. I elected the virtual race option.

    So I went out again this Saturday and did my virtual marathon run. People think, virtual mean we run it on the computer or internet. No. Distance-Running (like distance learning) is a better term. We literally run 26.2 miles. Some do it on the treadmill, some on their balcony, some in their yard. Luckily, I could do mine in my neighborhood.

    I woke up late. Actually just poor planning. As you have read if from my other race reports, I usually take my race with upmost seriousness. Going to bed early. Layout all my clothes and gear the night before. Surprise for you non-runners, there are a lot of stuff to bring for a run like this: hat, clothes (layers) – undies, jacket, belt, watch, flashlight (for night run), reflector, socks, spares, towel, etc. Lot of lot of stuff. Usually I pack the night before. Not only that, you have to think food and drink. Since this is a virtual run, you would really have to consider what for each aid stop.

    I didn’t prepare none of those until I woke up and said I will do a marathon today. My morning was actually interrupted by my boss, who had an IT issue and couldn’t wait until Monday. He called me and then my immediate manager. It had to be solved right now. So my blood pressure shot sky high. Not having eaten breakfast yet really put me in a foul mood. But the work got to be done. I logged into my work from my machine and fixed the issue. Everyone was happy but me. It was near noon by then.

    I made lunch while also planning for dinner – with a virtual race still at the back of my head. Hey, you are going to run 5-6 hours and by the time you get back it would be dinner time. Then there is laundry too. Another surprising thing is when you work from home, shouldn’t clothes needed to be washed be less? I just did laundry like two/three days ago and now the hamper basket is full again. What give? I guess I have been running more while working from home!

    Yup, another hiccup, there was no more food in the fridge. Wait before that, my most important piece of equipment for a virtual run, my gps garmin watch was low on battery. No watch meant no proof that the run actually happened. I forgot to charge it after my last run. It wouldn’t last for 5-6 hours out there. While that was being charged up, I made a quick drive to the market. Surprise, surprise. I brought everything but stuff for preparing my dinner. I only later realized this while running, what am I to eat after finishing the run.

    During that time, I was filling up my water bottles. Prepared my one and only aid station (my house). I planned to do two loops around my neighborhood. On my second loop I would stop by my house to fill up and eat – have it set up like a real aid station. Really, by the time I left my house for my run, it was 3 pm. It was a late start. If the race would take 5 hours, I wouldn’t finish until 8 pm. Knowing it would take that long was demoralizing.

    We were blessed with ‘nice’ calm weather. Sky was overcast. Orignally the forecast called for rain the whole day, even as late Friday forecast indicated. But rain had stopped by time I woke up. So the whole time I was out, was a cool 55F (12C), perfect running temperature. There were some mist, but I remained dry. I just hate running when it is wet and cold. I had one short sleeves and shorts. I didn’t lube up, and surprising did not get burn too badly. I had worn a normal underwear and it was rubbing the wrong way during the run, but I survived. Talk about lack of planning there.

    Unlike the first virtual run, the whole run was slow and just draggingly slow. I went in the opposite direction this time to spice thing up. The loop I chose is really only 12 miles and so I would need to add two more miles to make it a 26.2. On the last virtual run, I did the two extra miles at the beginning. This time, I decided to add them in halfway. So it is more like a out and back. You add just enough so each loop would be 13.1. That what I did. I ran an extra half mile (out and back made it one mile to the Chantilly Library) in the middle of my loop.

    One thing I did not notice on my first virtual run is how beautiful the neighborhood is. The cherry trees are blooming. The soft petals flow down as the wind blows. The ground is covered with white and pink petals. There is a lake. The lake reflects the trees and flowers. I could just stay there. No I got to continue on my run.

    There were more runners out and about this weekend. Actually every day I woke up and I went outside and looked, everyone was staying put. But on Friday, half the people were gone (their cars were gone). On Saturday people cars were in their driveways but I saw a lot people being outside.

    I generally love my run. I use the time to reflect on things. This virtual race was anything but peaceful reflection. It was more like when will this run going to end.

    I saw the time elapsed. As usual, I tried to ignore and avoid looking at my watch too much. Half hour gone by quickly, then an hour and two. I got to ‘half way’ of my first loop around after 4 pm. I stopped for a break and my mom came out (she lives in the neighborhood) and took my picture. She didn’t get to see me on my first virtual run. I said she should be social distancing. She is considered to be in the at risk group – due to her underlining health issue and age.

    Any way after the break, I added in the ‘bonus’ mile so I would end my first loop with 13.1 mile. It was way after six when I finished the first loop. I really did not want to run another loop. But I want that 26 miles. I told myself it is still not too late to turn around. I could have my dinner and we could attempt it on another day. How tempting that was. I arrived at my house. I was out of water in my bottle so I needed to top off. I grabbed an orange previously prepared to make it easier to peel while on the go. Off I went for the second loop.

    I was not doing great with my time. I already calculated that it would be impossible to finish by 8 pm. With three hours on the first loop, I wouldn’t finish until 9 pm. I kept on praying, Dear Supreme Being, I don’t want to be out here till 9 pm. Have mercy. I was hoping maybe just 10 mins slower than my normal run. Passing my mom’s place the second time, but this time I did not stop. I continued to the Library for the extra mile. The sun started to set. It was a cloudy evening, so no pretty sunset. The cloud was so thick it was just a haze when you looked up. There was no golden glow. Just gray. I had my flashlight on me but I hoped it wouldn’t too quickly get dark that I would need to use it. 7:30, then 8 pm. I was counting down miles. 5 miles left. Five miles is five miles too far. On a normal day it means 40 more minutes. But tonight, who knows, it might be another hour.

    I know the route well, completely had it in my head. I know if I get to that traffic light, I would only have about 2.5 miles left. I turned on my flash light by then. I did not check my watch but it got to be after 8 pm. I told myself, only way forward is to finish. To finish means I have to keep on running. Pushing on is the only way to finish. Surely my legs were hurting. Old wound too. Put that out of your mind. Got to keep running. I got to the traffic light. There was only a straight-a-way part now (rt 29 Lee Highway). Passed the sign that said 29th Infantry Memorial Highway. wohoo a piece of history. Never saw it there before. Now where is the sign of welcome to Centreville? The neighborhood became more familar because this is my hood! I ran passed all the stores. My house is outside the business district. Only a mile to go. There was still a hill to climb. It felt like downhill to me.

    I imagined some of my last miles of previous marathons. Morgantown came to mind. I told myself, did you remember that crazy last mile? Or the JFK? It was dark and we (me and a lady) ran through the neighborhood just like this one. It was a joy reliving the moments of my previous races. But there was no actual finish line to cross for this virtual race. No one would greet me when I finish. No medal or celebration. It was just a virtual run. But I had to press on. Last mile.

    I was so close. There the 26th mile marker I told myself. In reality there was none like that. Come on, only point two mile to go, I said. I got to get to the firehouse where I started. Can’t stop now. Yes the finish line was arbitrary decided to be the firestation. The last mile is always the hardest. There was no cheering as I reached it. I calmly stopped my watch. Good Lawd it was 8:40 something (actual time, not bib time). I did not look at the elapsed time. I was completely drained. No matter how tired I was, make sure that watch data was saved. I’m not gonna run this all over again. Now that felt like a real marathon. I haven’t experienced this for a long time (at least since January).

    Imagine though running another marathon or even the third time with no rest in between, how would the body handle it. Yet I plan to do just that in couple weeks, I would do a 52 mile run (a double marathon for my Roanoke virtual race) and in June, if the race is still on, I would be doing a 70 mile run (8 miles shy of doing a marathon three times).

    For naming – I haven’t decided which race I will apply this virtual marathon toward. For now it will be called the Centreville Marathon. Hey, we might make it an annual event. FYI, Centreville has no running club, and we don’t have our own marathon ever. Yup, this is the first.

    map of my run. Time 5:41:09. Distance 27.19. 3218 Calories burned

    Epilogue: my mom was at my house since 8 pm because she heard me saying I would finish by 8. The last virtual marathon (same route) only taken me only 4:45, so a 5-hour marathon finish is very reasonable estimate. She had prepared dinner and brought a lot of other stuffs, soy milk, pears for me too. I was dead tired though but did eat after a long relaxing shower. Then I couldn’t keep my eyelids open. That concluded the day.

  • POT OF GOLD 10K

    Day 234 / Race Report

    Not sure when is Shamrock Day but Happy Leprechaun!

    I am grateful to finally run it – the Pot of Gold 10K. It was a great day. Cold. I think it was 26/28 F (not sure about temp in Celcius, mayby -1 or -2) when we started. It got warmer once we were about a mile in the run. There were also some wind.

    Hey usually I don’t do a race report on smaller races, since I do so many of these kind of races all the time. But since I drummed it up so much leading up to it, I should let everyone know how it went.

    It was a new course to me. My first time running it. I have done severy races in the area of One Loudoun (shopping center), so it was not totally new to me. Still, the 10K course was the first time I was running it.

    I have ran enough 10K to get a feel of the timing and pacing. I forgot to wear my Garmin watch so, I used my phone to track the run. I normally don’t like running with the phone. I ran with it this time, thinking I would take some pictures during the race (I didn’t).

    A bonus was I got the reverse split. crazy right? The longer I ran, the faster I got during the race. That’s scary.

    I was far from getting on the podium this time. I was ranked 12th in my age group.

  • JFK race report

    Day 198 / First 50 Miler / Long Post

    It has been two years in the making. The race was within my expectation. I was (well) prepared and finished the race within my expected time. It was long but was not too hard. I was feeling great throughout the race. We had near perfect fall running temperature. I was well pleased with everything.

    I heard about this race from my friend Jenn, who ran it in 2017. At that time, I had ran three marathons and really no desire to punish myself to do an ultra. 26.2 miles was my thing and no longer distances than that. I thought people who ran ultra were crazy.

    But Jenn was something else. She is always so cool, and speaks with a Hawaiian ascent. She left me with a deep impression after she said she did the JFK. When she said she did the JFK, I had to asked her a few times what it was. Apparently it was America’s oldest ultra. It is quite famous in the running community especially in our area. This can be considered a local race, with an hour from the nation’s capital. I was the only one of budding runners who was clueless about it. She set a dream in my heart there and then that I wanted to run the JFK too.

    My goal was, to do the JFK, so that if Jenn was going to run a longer ultra like a 100 miler, I would be ready to pace her or be part of her handlers.

    I know at the time even with three marathons under my belt, I was in no shape mentally or physically to do a 50 miler. In fact I couldn’t comprehend how far 50 miles is. Some might feel they could train up in a year, but I was a little wimpy. I felt I would need at least 2 years to get there.

    I decided to only take a baby step and planned to do a 50k ultra by the following year. I chose what now looking back was one of the easiest ultras. I glad I did it. You can read my report all about the First Landing 50k seashore marathon (report of my first 50k). I thought at the time, that was the hardest thing I have done. That was the end of 2018.

    Now brought us to this year, with a new confident of having done the 50k ultra. I was itching to sign up for the JFK. I don’t remember when I signed up, probably sometimes in March/April after a careful consideration. The rest then was history.

    I ran a few other 50k this year before doing the JFK. Three of them: Eastern Divide 50k, Marine Corps 50K, and Old Glory 50k. They were helpful. Eastern Divide was one that was planned as a training run for JFK, while the other two were incidental. However, they were great, looking back, in getting me ready. The Eastern Divide and the Old Glory were much tougher than the first 50k. Having done the Old Glory, JFK’s mountainous trail portion was truly a joke.

    I also signed up two other ultras that in the end I didn’t do: High Bridge and Iron Mnt. I’m not sure if I have done those, would I have been overtrained? Praise God for how things turned out.

    My JFK race was pretty much in line with my expectation. My goal was to finish within 12 hours. The course cut off time was 13 hours. I set a stretch goal (A-goal) to finish at 75% percentile, which is 11 and half hours. I did it (close enough to call a success, by finishing at 11:30:30).

    What I did not anticipate was how long and tiring the middle section was. I had planned to treat the race in three phases, the first trail section, the middle canal section, and the final rolling hills on the road. I expected the first segment would not be exhausting because I would walk with everyone else due to most people were not good at running on rocky trail. I placed my hope that I would still be fresh by the second part. The second and the third part was supposed to be like a 50k ultra, with couple miles extra.

    The trail section was 13 miles, and the canal section was 26 miles, and the final road section was 8 miles.

    At the start, there were a lot of people. They said the race was sold out. There were supposed to be 1500 1200 entries. However, I don’t think everyone came. I was at the bib handling out table the morning of the race and saw many bibs were uncollected by runners. I felt maybe only a thousand of us crossed the start line.

    We staged at the Boonsboro High School and from there walked about 800 yards to the starting line because there were not enough parking spaces in the downtown area of Boonsboro. The town is really small!

    I started at the end of the pack, but only 1 and half minute had elapsed as I crossed the starting line. I figured, I was not a strong runner. This was my first 50 miler and I already expected to finish around 75 percentile (meaning 75/100 will be finishing ahead of me). I didn’t mind starting at the back. Besides, if I am fast, I could pass people.

    The first two miles were on the road to Old Mountain Inn, where we would enter the Appalachian Trail. These first two miles out of the town were 1000 feet climb (maybe 1800 over 5 miles). Most people walked. I ran and passed a lot of people because I did not want to get stuck behind those who I believe couldn’t run on the trail. If they refused to run on smooth pavement, they likely would not run on rocky trail as my logic goes. I arrived at the Old Mountain Inn in 30 minutes (doing a 15 minutes pace). The pace was not fast but, compare to people who were walking, it was a fast pace.

    I entered the trail with great enthusiasm. I was surprised that people in front of me did not slow down (meaning I had caught up with my pace group). The first part of the trail was downhill. Then it got a bit technical as the trail narrows. People started stopping. The people behind me impatiently murmured that you supposed to run down hill. People were walking downhills and it was on a single trail and was difficult to pass. I kind of expecting this. I told those people behind me that the trail would widen up ahead, since I ran this section before during the preview event, I knew.

    Personally, I don’t think the trail was hard to run. There are some technical parts, but the trail, since 56 previous JFK events had been stomped ‘flat’ by thousands of feet. When the trail widen out, people in the rear passed me. I then followed along and passed the slower crowd up front. It did not take me long to pass most of those who were more cautious at handling the trail.

    It was outside of my plan to run fast on this portion. However, I think this was the best part of the race. I ran hard compared to the rest of the race. Some might view this being stupid because I used up my strength when there were still 35 more miles to do. A few times during the trail portion my calf seized up as I leaped across some rocks, but luckily, it passed without further incident.

    I entered the second segment, the canal, one and half hours ahead of schedule. Originally, my plan was to enter at near the cutoff time. However, I finished the trail in 3 hours, this included the half hour on the road section. The trail only took me two and half hours to do. This time was even faster than my preview run. At this point, I was with the 30 percentile people – there were only 300+ people ahead of me.

    The canal segment was not that exciting. However, my friend David was first to greet me and cheered for me. He was my support team. My other friend Brian was supporting me remotely! It was my first race with a crew. He had everything with him. I did not depend on him beforehand, so did not tell him what I need. He came up with some of my favorite snacks and candies. I had hot spots on my left foot. Unfortunately, my friend did not bring with him any cream or powder; he had band-aids. He was right, I did not ask him to bring those. Luckily, I had an extra pair of socks and I swapped the sock of the left foot. My foot was fine for the remainder of the race.

    The canal section was a whole marathon length. We had plenty of aid stations. Many people I passed earlier on the trail passed me back. It was expected because most people were road runners. I was doing around 14-15 min mile and I think people were running at around 10-11 min mile. I felt each mile was very long.

    I knew I could do it. At the same there was the uncertainty of how many miles longer I could keep going. The whole canal section could be a hump. My goal was to get to the next aid station. Usually, they were about 2-3 miles apart. The longest distance apart was closer to 5 miles.

    Also I had couple goals, and one was to get to Antietam Aqueduct or Taylor’s Landing, where my crew would be. It was very emotional each time I saw David. Taylor’s Landing was the hardest for me, because that was the last time I would see him. He said I only have 11 miles to go. It seemed short but at that time, it was beyond my expectation to say I can do it. There were only two miles to get off the canal from Taylor’s Landing and we would enter the final road section. It was a long two miles. Rain started falling. I was feeling cold.

    In fact, I was cold the whole day. I dressed in two layers a short sleeves and a long sleeves technical shirt. I had a pair of shorts on. I thought in the morning when the temperature reached 50 degrees, I would get rid of my long sleeves, I was never warm enough to do that. As the rain fell, I regretted not carrying along my rain jacket. Originally, I thought I wouldn’t mind the rain, however, as you were getting cold and I was not running fast enough to generate enough heat, an extra layer, would be a welcome. The rain did not last. I was saved. If it had come down hard, I might have quitted with only 8 miles left to go.

    The last 8 miles boistered my spirit again. I think the time was around 4:30. I had been running for 10 hours. It was longest and fartest I had ever run. I found the rolling roads were much easier to run on. In truth though my pace did not change that much. We passed people who were walking or were doing walk-run. With three hours left to do 8 miles, we were more certain even if we were to walk, we would make to the finish by cut off. My goal then was to get within the final 3 miles. We had three aid stations spread out for the final stretch.

    The reason I used ‘we’ here is, someone caught up to me and was following from behind. I felt she had the power to overtake me, but she did not do so. I did not turn around but kept on going until we got to the first of the last three stations. At first I found it was annoying of her tailing me. She seemed to be just a step behind me – not really drafting, but I felt she was very near, the feeling she was on top of me. However, I did not say anything. Readers, if you remember, I like to follow other people too, so I tried not to mind, if she decided to follow me.

    After the aid station, implicitly, she was running by my side. We exchanged info and such. She said, don’t mind her if she is running slow and I shouldn’t mind to leave her. I don’t mind pacing next to her. I believe she was a stronger runner than I, now after reviewing her pace from the whole race, the segment she was with me was much slower and she was running much faster earlier. Regardless, she paced with me and me with her to the very end. It was very good to have a companion at this final stretch. (Fair to say, another runner, Kim, paced me through a hump for 5 miles to Taylor’s Landing).

    As we got to the 2nd of the 3 aid stations, the sun had set. We put on headlamps. Some/many did not have them. Just the two of us were prepared and I was glad we had them. People on the forum said we did not need it. True, we probably could do without because the terrain was easy, but it was good to have. There were many places without street lights and it was total darkness.

    The last aid station was far compared to the first two, it was 3 miles instead of two and it was just within a mile from the finish. My companion, Marnie kept at my side. Couple times, I felt I wanted to tell her to leave me, but she stayed. We finished. I hit my goal. I felt I had superhuman strength to run the last eight miles. With Marnie, I did not walk at all. Many people we passed at the last segment, were walking. I would be walking too if not for her.

    The race itself compared with my previous ultras was pretty much kind of a cakewalk. I felt the Old Glory was much more enjoyable and challenging. JFK was just long and (can be a bit boring). What I got out was friendship and experience, which is invaluable.

    ETC: total number registered was 1200 not 1500. At least 959 people started, and 867 finished within the 13 hours limit.

    2022/11/20 – some minor editing

  • epilogue

    Day 192 Old Glory Ultra

    pet peeve. I just found out I mis-numbered my blog posts and so I went back to the last 20+ entries and corrected them. I screwed that up big time. It is my pet peeve if the number is not in sequence after discovery.

    I just did the old glory (OGU) trail run (on Saturday) and it was just a long long weekend. I won’t able tell all about it. It was a 50K ish run. The actual miles were about 29. Still, I won’t complain about the missing two miles. It was intentional. The race director said it is a trail run and give or take couple miles is a norm. It was a tough course with 7,000 ft elevation change. However I enjoyed it tremendously.

    It was almost a race I had to skip out. About twenty people did not show up. Only three of them wrote to the race director about it and requested deferral. The rest were no shows. About 30 of us finished. We and at least I was, had a lot of fun. It was my best racing experience I had. Trail running is a total different beast than road running.

    My best friend who also my normal camping buddy, had a slight misunderstanding days leading up to the trip. I was going to go camping and then it was canceled and then I found it was still on. Luckily it was resolved peacefully early Thursday morning. My friend thought I dumped her for the race (well I kind of did), but she was mad at me for not telling her about the race. Whereas I was on the otherhand, thought she dumped me for going camping solo and that the stars had aligned perfectly for my race weekend. A chance in a million! We now found out it was one big misunderstanding. Still I have to make a peace offering once I get back.

    Now about the race itself, I camped the night before and night after at the race site. The race took place at Kairos Resort in Glen Lyn, Virginia. It is about 6 hours south and west of DC. It was not any type of resorts that usually comes to to mind. There is no skiing. I don’t think it is a hunting ground. Sure there are bears and wild turkey. They do not have and probably won’t be building lodges. It is just a campground with many miles of dirt trails for bikes and ATVs. It is a remote place and normally runners don’t go there for running, but it was perfect for us for our race. The closest ‘real city’ is an hour away. I have heard some people got Airbnb from Princeton, WV, which is much closer. But I camped on site.

    Why it is called a resort is we have a camp store (Ed’s place) and a Bathhouse. Those were two places that were heated, but because the temperature was so cold Friday night, the water pipe froze and there was no water to flush the toilet on the race morning or water to shower at the end of the race. It was kind of to be expected. They had couple of pottajohns. For guys going to the bathroom was not a problem, since we can just go behind a tree. I think the ladies too.

    The temperature was below freezing. I went to bed early. My water jug was partially turned to ice. However the temperature went up on Saturday on the race day midway. We had a perfect running temperature. Oh, I had to make a real fire to cook because my gas canister for the jetboil was too cold to work.

    This was the second year of the race. The race director think it will gain popularity. I like the aspect of camping out the night before the race. However, it was too cold for most friends and families and even runners. Most runners are not campers like me.

    The trail was challenging. It was my first real technical trail race. There are rocks, stream crossings and mud. The race director warned us not to zone out. I did couple times and the first time, I rolled my ankle and the second time, I missed a turn. We were miles away from any easily accessible roads. They would to use ATV and 4×4 off road vehicle to even get to our aid stations. Man, I thought the race was done for me at the half way point and I was about to walk out to the nearest aid station. Pain went down and I continued to run the course.

    I finished in 8 hours but the first guy finished in 4 and half. The last person finished at about 9 hours. We all finished before dark. The race director said the course is tough but it is not the toughest out there. I think it was very enjoyable. I viewed it as 30 miles of hiking (and I ran in hiking boots). I wish to do again either next year or the year after if schedule allows.

    Oh, why I love ultras, all you get for the race was a bowl of chili and a trucker cap. I love my trucker hat. I ran with mine on. The finisher patch did not arrive on time and the Race Director apologized for that, we said, that was not why we run. We got a high five from the RD at the finish line.

    Love the trucker cap. Me coming in strong for my chili bowl. I was the probably the only one wearing hiking boots because I don’t like muddy running shoes and wet feet. I know, got to work on that if I like running ultras.

  • MCM no. 44

    Day 186 race report

    I woke up the morning of the race at around 3 AM, having slept maybe 5 hours. Originally I set my alarm for 5 AM, but I felt I needed more time to prepare. The night before, I was too tired to pack my things after coming back from a hiking trip. It was the first time I woke up this early for a race. I know, with Ultras, there might be a day I will be at the course by 1 or 2AM in the morning.

    I had my early breakfast. Cold breakfast because I was too lazy to cook. I had to have some food in me. Packed. We had to pack a second breakfast because by the time the race starts, I would be hungry again. I was out of the house by 5. I took the metro (light rail) to the starting line. Metro opens at 6 just for this event. I drove to a far away station in Springfield instead of taking a closer one, Vienna. The reason being, is to avoid making a transfer. I did this race back in 2017, and by the time waiting for transfer, I could barely made it to the race start, given that time, I missed the first train and had to wait for a second one that was like 15 minutes later. That 15 minutes was a big different. This time, no transferring and I made sure I was at the station 15 minutes prior the first train in order not to miss it. I barely made it on time for that due to not familiar with the station and the parking. The train moved out the station exactly on the dot. I got on my train. There were lot of runners like me. My race started at 7:30. I got to the race around 6:30. But there were a lot of people when I arrived, 30,000+ of them. It took us some time to leave the station and to get to the starting line. This time I came a little bit earlier and avoid the crowd like I did back in 2017. But there were still a lot of people. From the metro, we had to walk about a mile to the runners village. By the time I got to the village, and gone through security check, the starting time was near (only 30 minutes left). I walked up to the starting line and that was a long walk too (maybe quarter mile long). 50K has only 1700 runners and we felt many has dropped out due to the rain.

    We had a tropical storm blowing from Texas. It hit us around 7-10 am. I have been watching this storm system since the beginning of the week. We were hoping it would skip us. There were a lot of water coming down from the sky. Bucketful of water. The race started on time. Luckily the storm did not last too long (maybe for couple hours). It came down early and then went out of the area, fast moving storm. We had sunshine for the rest of the race.

    Having run the course before, this time I was well prepared. I did not go out too strong. Last time I tired myself out by mile 13. This time I am doing the Ultra 50k, which added about 4.8 miles more. The course still remained much the same. We did the extra 4.8 miles at mile 4.5, when we left the normal marathon race course and run a 2.4 miles out and back before rejoining the marathon course.

    By mile 4, the elite runners already caught up with us. We ran about half a mile with them. Note we had a 25 minutes head start. We left the regular course at mile 4.5, and came back in. By the time we came back in the course many runners already ran passed. It was raining heavily at the time. Many runners were already walking. I assumed they were doing 16-18 mins per mile. We the 6:00 finishers were still going at 11:33 mins per mile. This was one of the greatest concern for the ultra runners. We would come in from behind and it would be a challenge to move pass the slower runners. While there were a lot of people, I was able to still pass them. Based on simulation, we would be passing 6000 people the first few miles. We passed a lot of people, but it was very hard to keep count. I was running between 10:30 a mile and 12:30 min a mile pace depending on the crowd. Experience definitely helped at this point. In the previous Marine Corps Marathon, I was expending too much energy weaving in and out of the crowds that by mile 13, I was completely exhausted. This time I was basically going with the flow and passing when I could. I know I would pass them, but I did not get frustrated if the person in front was a bit slow. I know they would a bit slow until the very end. Since they closed both sides of the street, I could run on the opposite side. Not many people did (they fear of being DQ I think for going off the course). I ran mostly on the opposite side (or on the median) to pass people. And it was great. I did not have to weave in and out the crowd too much.

    Most people were respectful, they used hand signal to let people know they are stopping. There were not too many people running in big group this time. I could get by most of the time. There were just a lot of people. The course did not really spread out until their mile 13 as expected, our mile 18.

    The rest of the race was mostly uneventful. Being an ultra runner, I brought my own water and food. I had more experience than the rest of the crowd. I did not slow down at many of the aid stations unless I ran out water. I got some oranges and gels from the aid stations later in the race, when I did not see that many people crowding there. I felt I was one of the few around me who could keep the energy up. I ate early in the race, before even the first official food station. I had real food (peanut butter sandwiches). I did not “hit-the-wall” until final two miles. Even then, the last minute gel got me through. One word about those gels, it almost turned my stomach inside out. I thought I was about to double over and throw up. Maybe I was drinking too much water by that time.

    About pacing, I was with the 6:00 hour group. I was mostly in front of them. They were going maybe 30 seconds faster than the supposed pace in the beginning. We were running at 11 min pace until mile 5. Then the pacer decided to make a time correction by walking couple minutes. I had my 5:00 (hour) marathon pace band (I felt as long as I get to the 26.2 mile, I could finish the rest of the way). I arrived at the 26.2 mark exactly at 5:00 on the race clock. The last 4.8 miles took me an hour to get through.

    I walked much more in the final few miles. I stopped for beer (from the crowd) and a picture. Bummer too the rain ruined my camera phone. A fellow marathon maniac ran up to me and we took a picture together with her phone at the final few miles. The final hill was hard. Having ran it before, I knew the hill was not long, so I pushed on. It was hard. Many other people flew by me. I crossed the finish line at 5:58:something on race clock time. I did not run a perfect even pace, but it was the first time, I arrived exactly at the time I wanted to arrive.

    I think picking a 6:00 arrival time was arbitrary. I felt it was a bit too fast for me. I could have picked 6:15 or 6:20, then I would not have felt so rush. I did not want to push too hard, since I have one more race (a 50 miler) in three weeks, and that one I have been training on/off for over a year. I hope this race did not ruin my body for that one. I was not supposed to go all out on this race. I felt I was nearly there.

  • Baltimore Marathon

    Day 183 / race report

    First off, this is a good race to run. It was beyond my initial impression. Baltimore surprisingly is beautiful. I signed up for this race last year immediately the day after they held it. It was my plan/goal to do the king crab challenging, which was to run three races: the Frederick Half in May, the Baltimore 10 Miler in June, and the Baltimore Marathon (or Half Marathon) in October. It seemed an extremely difficult thing to do at the time and I have been worrying about for two years. But Ha, it was just like any race, the moment I stepped on the course and ran, before I knew it, I was at the finish line.

    I have heard about the Baltimore Marathon the moment I started running and that was about two/three years ago. Baltimore is near where I live relatively speaking. I live in near the nation capital in Virginia, where two states meets. We informally call this area the DMV – DC, Maryland and Virginia. We are blessed with so many races here. The Baltimore Marathon is one of them.

    Even though Baltimore is considered my neighborhood (by the census data) but it is on the other side of the river (on the Maryland side). For all my life, I have felt Maryland is in another country. I am sure the Maryland people felt the same about us Virginians. Baltimore is about an hour away from DC and this made it feels even farther from us. But I live about an hour from DC too in another direction. The race allowed me to be a bit more familiar with Maryland and Baltimore.

    If any are doing destination marathon, Baltimore is not a bad choice. The race took place in downtown Baltimore at the Oreole Baseball Stadium (Camden Yard) and finished at the Harbor. I parked my car at M&T Bank Stadium (Ravens), which is just next to Camden Yard–they had free event parking for us. Surprised! I had to pay for parking if I run in DC or in Richmond. Hotels in the city are a bit pricy but there are plenty. I booked an hotel about 15 mins drive away, that is, outside of the city. It was not bad. Know that I was in Baltimore back in June to do 10 Miler and unfortunately at that time, I made a poor choice in staying a place that was kind of sketchy, just leaving it at that. Do your research of where you plan to stay. Any hotel that needs to have a bullet proof glass in front of the reception counter to protect the staff like in a bank, I would think it might not be a good location to stay at. My hotel was like that.

    I read many things about Baltimore that is not very flatering, such as a city that can’t afford to pave its roads. It is known for potholes! We don’t even have to go into drug or crime or murder rate. Good thing is every block I ran, there are two or three police officers, so I felt completely safe the whole time. There was an incident where a car did not obey the police direction and almost ran me over, but that probably can happen any where. Of course, cars hate us runners. We blocked the downtown roads for 4-5 hours. We heard a lot of honking. I don’t think it was hey, congratulations but more like what is wrong with you guys running on the roads. There were angry long and loud honking errupting everywhere, because they closed the roads for us, and people were upset.

    What I surprised about is how beautiful the city is. On a normal day, I wouldn’t walk around in Baltimore after hearing that people being beating to death is a normal thing in this city during the day, but on the race day as I ran through various neighborhoods, there are really nice people out there and who actually live there. People came out and cheered us. I was offered gummys, oranges, and water and beers. This was in addition to the official aid stations. The Baltimore Harbor, which was the half way point and the finish line is absolutely awesome.

    How did I do? I was not running for a record (no PR). I signed up with the 5:15 pace group, which is kind of slow for me since my average is around 4:30-4:45 finish but in the last two marathons I ran kind of slow and finished at 5:30, and that was about a month ago. So, 5:15 expected time was reasonable for me. I stayed with the 5:15 group for half the race until pasting mile 13. Then I ran at my own pace and it felt great finally freed. At mile 20 I caught sight of the 5 hour pace group. I was hoping to pass them in the next three miles. I passed them. I was kind of hoping to pass the 4:45 group too. I crossed the finish line at 4:53, still it was a very good time.

    It felt good to have strength for the last couple miles. I did not hit the wall at all. This was the first time running a marathon without being exhausted at the end.

    The tireness came only after crossing the finish line and I went to bed early. Other than that, the race was very good!

    Pics:

    Camden Yard. I just love this stadium, because it is beautiful!

    Starting line. The green shirt people are my pacers. They were awesome. You can see the 5 hour pace team in front of us.

    Our pace strategy was to run slower the first few miles, but would pick up pace after we get going. We walked through all 15 aid stations.

    Our pacers set goals for us! Our first goal is to get to the zoo next to Johns Hopkins Uni.

    Johns Hopkins. Also a beautiful campus. A beautiful morning.

    Next up. We headed into the city. Beautiful neighborhood.

    The famous Penn Station. Hear a lot about this station. Seeing this means we are in the city.

    We are near the half way point. This race, they had the half marathoners start at our half way. We got here after the half already started. They said they had the half marathoners run in their own lane so they wouldn’t block us who were passing by. I arrived at mile 15 in 3 hours, which was slow for me, since normally by 3 hours, I would have done 20 miles already.

    I did not take pictures on the second half. I was too focus on running. People say there were a lot of hills. True but I ran in more hilly places (e.g. Morgantown). Hills here were too easy for me. Also there were a lot of people walking after the half. It felt good to able to catch up to the people who were running the half.

    Another thing interesting about the race was the relay team event. There were three exchange points (6, 13, and 20 mile). We marathoners were slow and tired but the relay runners, they just blasted out their exchange chutes at full speed, was something I love seeing.

    Finish line at the harbor. I had my lunch and enjoyed the view.

    More sightseeing. An Old ship. Constellation.

    The finish place was very festive! In most marathons I have done, usually, no one is around by the time I come in. This is because, the half marathoners usually finish before the full, and are long gone by the time those running the full finish.