Why I have not written much? Time. Not much time to write. There are other priorities in life. Also I have not been running much. Another reason is writing requires thinking. I have not had much time to sit and think. Every day is rush rush to do this and that and at the end of the day it is bed time and then another sunrise and another month flew by and before you know it , it will be Easter. Lastly, the app I used to post has changed. I like the WordPress app but finally gave up on it because some settings I made, and it was no longer work with my blog. I switched a “new” app called Jetpack. It is not bad, but I am not used to it. I like the old WordPress app. I was one of the few holdovers who refused to migrate to the newer app. So, very little blogging done.
Since the last post, I ran in two races. Holiday Lake and the Reverse Ring and last weekend, the Massanutten Training Run #2.
Holiday Lake 50k: I was looking toward running the race with friends. Like every year, I wanted to run it fast. This year was not a fast year. Jeremy, my buddy paced with me on the first loop. We got through just shy of the cutoff. After that, the second loop did not have a cutoff, but I did not know. I was trying to finish before 3 pm. I came in a bit over that. Don’t remember my time. 8:03:43. Three minutes over. One of the last three runners to finish. I could blame on the snowy icy condition that made me a tad slower. Snow and ice was all melted by the second loop though. In theory, I could pick up my pace and run faster. I was out of shape.
Holiday Lake was on the same weekend of the make up day for Angela Ivory 24-hour run. The race I originally signed up to run, but could not because to snow. The date then moved to the same weekend as the Holiday Lake. I will wait till next year to attempt a 100 mile in Delaware. As far as I know, it is the only 100 mile run available in Delaware. Caroline went to it and had a great time.
Also due to snow, I could not run the Mid Maryland 50k that was scheduled for end of January 31 and was then rescheduled for this coming weekend (in March), which conflicts with the Naked Bavarian 40 race I will be doing. Note, we all be running fully clothed. Nothing scandalous here. Naked I think is a ket word for no frills and not getting a shirtsl. More will be written if I do finish.
The next run I did was the Reverse Ring 70 Mile. This is a counterpart to the Ring I did in the fall (post).
Because it was in the winter, there was risk that it wouldn’t happen due to snow and the weather. Last few weeks, we had two or three ice/snow storms that made the trail inaccessible. Suddenly, right before the event, weather warmed up a lot, and most of the snow melted. We are talking high 40 – 50s F and it felt like summer to us, having been in the 10s on most days. I could not ask for a better weekend to run it.
To us, here local runners, running the Ring and the Reverse Ring is like a badge of honor. It is the most crazy thing we runners can do and brag about. “I run the Ring in the winter.” Of course, there are harder stuffs out there like doing the Barkley or The Wild Oak. Those truly are ones people can brag about. There are many other races too nowaday. Some did the Swammie, which is another run I have my eyes on. The Ring though is our local version of the big boy run.
So, I have not been out on the course since mid January when I ran MMT training run #1. I wanted to go out the week before right after Holiday Lake race to check on the part of the Orange trail that I was not so sure of, especially the turns at Duncan Knob. Scotthorn and Duncan and Gap Creek intersect with one another always confuse me in the past and even now. Because of snow and ice that weekend and I was also pretty tired after the race, I did not go out to the trail. The time I got to finally see the trail was on the race day itself. I have to just trust the motto to stay on Orange (the blaze color) for the course. The motto of Staying on Orange sounds easy but there are yellow, blue, white, purple, green (is there green?) They all look the same at night under moonlight/headlamp light.
By Wednesday night, pretty much at the last minute, our beloved Race Leader Daisy gave the Go Ahead Signal. So I packed up running things that I needed and made several calls to my friends and crew get them into place. Everything sounds simple and well planned, but what the heck, I just like let things fall and hoped that they all landed feet up. Guess what? It ended up better than expected. My pacer at the last minute Friday night was still calling around for a ride! I told him to reach out to my friend Jeremy, whom I did not know if he would come or not. Just hoping that he would. He did. They coordinated and got each other to where they needed to be.
Caroline drove me to the start during the bright early 0400 Saturday. The race started at 6. The sun was just about to rise. There I turned in my one and only drop bag. It had a dry pair of clean shoes. Plus a shirt, some snacks, two cans of Red Bull, some socks, pair of headlamps, and misc stuff like toothbrush, which I did not get to use at all (I was chasing the cutoff). They said keep the bag small and light. Mine was average.
We would see our drop bags at various aid stations minus couple remote ones like Crisman Hollow and Milford.
There were many familiar faces at the start. The Daren brothers. They are local farmers and they joined us in past events. John C and Charlie are my friends. Charlie said I could stay with him. Amanda, someone I ran with at my first Massanutten and quite an amazing runner when she first told me she did the Ring that year. Back then I had no clue what the Ring was.
Then there was Robert P, who I am forever thankful for introduced me to his friend in Utah who was my pacer for my Wasatch 100 when I attempted my 100 mile Grand Slam in 2024.
They are my dearest friends. I ran with many of them before. They were running at about my pace. Charlie said he would stay with John and I could too join up with them. I said we will see. John as I know is a fast bunny. I like to go at my own pace rather than trying to keep up with faster people. If it happens we would be going the same pace later in the race, then we be staying together.
I had my friend Wayne to pace me at halfway after mile 46 during the night. It was something I was looking forward to. He paced me several times in the past at other events such as the Devil Dog and Grindstone and we always have a good time. He is a seasoned runner and highly respected runner. He also went out with me to Wasatch and the whole idea of me running the Grand Slam and my motivation originated from him. Though if asked, he humbly said he has very little part in it.
So up we went up the Signal Knob after starting and caught the morning sunrise. It is interesting to note how much easier it was to go up at the Reverse Ring and to descend this mountain during the Regular Ring.
Pretty soon I was joined by Andy and Robert. Robert stayed with me most of the time. Andy was always lurking behind. I felt like I was being chased. We chatted and talked on various things. Time slipped by quickly as we lollygaged. He stayed near the start the night before and met some people at the bar. He shared how a random stranger happened to be the father of one of our runners. I thought that was so cool. In no time, we reached our first aid station — Woodstock Tower. The goal was to get there within 3 hours, but it took us 4:10. Slightly behind schedule, but no big deal since it was not a strict cutoff aid station. I could still be in the game as long as I move a bit faster at the next section.
Caroline was there. Later I found out she drove back home to get something and rushed back to the race to meet me at Woodstock. If I had held my planned pace, we would have missed each other.
She got me the things I needed. Refilled my water and out I went. I did not wait for Robert. Maybe in my haste, I tripped over some roots. I landed on my thumb…not sure how, maybe I was trying to brace the fall. My thumb took the hit and started bleed on the edge where the nail and skin meet. Nothing can be done but to suck on it. Up I got up and continued. Soon Robert caught up to me. We pushed on to the next station at Edinburg Gap. Originally I planned to arrive there by noon, but now I was an hour behind, I thought I would not be there until 2 pm. There will be a cut off at 4 pm at the 3rd aid station. I wanted to get to Edinburg with three hours to spare to tackle The Short Mountain. So I was rushing and made up the lost time and arriving at Edinburg at 1 pm. Robert came in a little after me. John and his two friends were in front ahead of me. I got some food. Caroline gave me the coffee that I saved in the morning. That was great and best thing in the world. We filled up a bottle of coffee for carrying out. Then I bookied out leaving John and everyone behind.
Again in my rush, I missed a turn while hiking up on the fire road. Luckily John and his two friends were right behind and called out to me. I was saved and turned around. John and team were faster runners and soon I lost sight of them on the Short Mountain. We had a cutoff right after this, so everyone was hustling. We had exactly three hours to get through this. I was trying to make it before the cutoff.
I told myself to slow down with the first real technical trail, and eventually I would make it out. Indeed by 3:45 pm I arrived at Moreland Gap. In time before the cutoff.
John and his friends too were still there. Caroline was there again with a lot people I know. Bruce. Simon. I had my lunch from a can of chicken soup, my favorite trail food and off trail food. She got me the Red Bull I asked for. She said, she looked around the car and found it. I swallowed that. I packed some food out with me to attack the next and possibly the hardest section, Kerns Mountain.
Up we climb Kerns. The goal was to get through it before sunset. Kerns is always a troublesome place because it is so rocky that it was impossible to run fast. Having been through Kerns so many times now, I have memorized all the turns. So again, a bit slower than the last section, I got through in about 3 hours, arriving at Crisman Hollow just before 7 pm. It was still light.
It was normally a no crew station. This year, the gate was open for us (our event) so Caroline could drop off my stuff like a pole, a jacket, and some drinks. I did not ask for them but they were all helpful. Without a pole, I would have a hard time getting down the Waterfall Mountain and through Big Run and Duncan Hollow. Also because evening was approaching, temperature was dropping rapidly to 30s. The jacket was came in handy. My friend Jeremy and Wayne were volunteering there and they got me out as quickly as they could. Also John H and Charlene were there. People who are kind and helpful.
John and his gang were no where in sight. I did not know Erin dropped. And Amanda just left a bit earlier. My friend Robert came in not long after me. We kind of left the aid station together. I was like a few minutes ahead of him, but his headlamp was visible to me.
This was another hard part, to descend down the Waterfall Trail. Luckily there was no snow or ice today. The descent was uneventful. I caught up to Amanda at the bottom. There we climbed Big Run together. It only took maybe 40-50 minutes to get to the top. It might have felt a long time. Now it was completely dark.
From there we headed to Duncan Knob. The place was always confusing to me in the past. Scothorn, Gap Creek, and Duncan, they all look the same. Anyway, just follow Orange they say. I paused at every turn to check my map. I heard story how someone I knew stuck there for 12 hours during the night in a previous Ring event. I was praying, let it not be me. I got to get to Camp Roosevelt before 10 pm.
8 pm went by. Then 9 pm. It was about 9 miles. So in theory should take about 3 hours since we were moving at 3 miles an hour. However, I think it was a bit longer, 9.5 miles. So accounting the extra half mile, I would have to run on every down hill. Glad there were a lot of that.
Then 9:30. Robert who was behind me, too got nervous decided to break into a run. He passed me at Duncan Hollow when I was struggling with mud and swamp. I tried my best to chase. He was soon out of sight. I knew, I should have about a mile left. And then out I came arrived at Camp Roosevelt with everyone there.
It was a happy reunion with all my friends. John, Phil, Charlie, and Robert too were sitting around. Dan and company were getting burgers for us. Caroline helped me changed into night gear. We heard it would going to snow that night. I wanted to bundle up. The next segment is not hard, it was just long. 25 miles with only one limited aid station at halfway.
Wayne was ready to pace me. Jeremy reminded me to change out my headlamp. It was a great advice since one I was using died. So I picked up a fresh one. He gave me caffeine tablets for the night. I forgot mine. I tried my 2nd can of Red Bull, but it did not taste right, so I could not drink it. Caroline helped refill my water and changed my socks and shoes. I was now ready.
Robert left 5 mins ahead. Wayne was ready. So we chased and passed Robert on our way up to Kennedy Peak. Through out the night, I felt John and his team were on my tail and occasionally I would see their headlamps. But in truth, they were an hour behind. It might have been my halucination.
I now the fastest one in our group except that we were moving really slow. On ocassion it was like 1 mile an hour. I was struggling with every hill. Milford seemed forever far away. The wind picked up and it started raining at 2 am. Wayne said, we should move faster to try to reach Milford before it changes to snow. I agreed. Yet I was battling sleep deprivation. The caffeine pills Jeremy gave me, I misplaced them and could not found them. I must have dropped them when I tripped over a root. Wayne gave me his gels. Oh well, we fought through the night. Soon we saw a headlamp coming toward us. It was Jeff Pence, another my good upbeat trail friend. He was wondering why we were so long in arriving, so he back sweep from milford. He is a local farmer so had the permission to be out at night. Boy did that lifted me up, so now the three of us rushed toward Milford.
Milford though a limited aid station was sufficiently provided me with everything I wanted. I had my water refilled. They had oven baked pizzas. I had some broth, some cake or something. This was a limited aid station because volunteers had to hike in over couple miles carrying all the supplies. It was staffed by the local people. Larry and Jamie, also good trail friends, were there taking care of me. One of the Darren brothers was there. Was I glad they were there in the dead of night. I stayed till 2:50 before moving out.
Now, there were only 12-13 miles left. It should be easy. We had to get to Veach, descend it. Then climb up the other side. Some Ridge running and soon we would be at Elizabeth Furnace. I was estimating, that I could arrive between 6-7 am. In four hours max.
Weather was getting bad. Snow started falling. We got to Veach when it was still dark. Climbing out out of Veach was not too bad. It was a gentle climb. Up we went for like 3-4 miles. Once we got to Ridge, I thought then it (the end) would be near. However, I think we hiked another 7 miles. It seemed forever. Soon it was light. Snow now came down heavier. The trail was almost covered by snow. The hard part once the trail is covered, it would be hard finding the way. My feet started feeling the cold. It got numb and then my toes started hurting because of the cold. Our pace was slower because we did not want to slip. Trail got a bit more technical. I was thinking how much longer before we start descending.
Wayne thought the cutoff was at 9 am and urged me to leave him to run ahead. I said I would not even if that was true. Because of the weather condition, we should stay together. I could not and would not leave my pacer out on the trail. Two are better than one. Slowly we made our way down. Once we descended sufficiently, the trail got easier. There was no snow near the bottom. I think we were back on 3 miles an hour pace. Eventually, we started running. Wayne then said, this part he knows well familiar with. Me too. We saw Elizabeth Furnace Campground. Then , just a mile left. I arrived back at the Signal Knob parking lot at 8:40. So my finishing time was 26:40. Not bad. It was a faster time than my Ring time diring the summer, by 20 mins.
Jeff B (another Jeff) prepared a wonderful breakfast. Toast with Grit. Good grit. I was too sleepy by then. After the meal, I went to Wayne’s car and we both dozed off while waiting for rest of runners to finish.
It was good seeing Amanda came in. She was paced by my good friend Ram. Phil came in next. Then Charlie and John came in. It was a high finishing rate. They had their story of not staying on the Orange. Robert came in last. Robert also had his story of following John and Charlie off to a wrong trail and added like extra five miles. The younger guys took off leaving Robert behind. He perservered and finished. Everyone got off the mountain safely and earned our badge as the Master of the Ring.
What a weekend. I could not remember much. Snow was beautiful. It was a good time. I would have made it if I was by myself. However, it was infinite 100 times better to have good friend Wayne being with me during one of the loneliest stretch. My friend Jeremy waited for me to finish before heading home.
It is one of the races/events only way to experience it is to do it. I am just grateful I got to try it and got it done.
The following weekend, I ran the MMT training Run #2. The highlight was having good food from Jeff. It was another beautiful day. There were many friends on the trail. We did it. I finished the day running with Dave and Jesse. But most of the time, I was by myself.
I like to capture all my memories and such. The run is like life. We moved through from place to place. Unless I write it down, I would forget. Many things happened in between. And that is it. A long hard race. That a small window of the joy I had in the last month.
In awe 