1. Vermont is one of the races in the grand slam series. I tried to find out more of this race before running it. There were very little that struck out to me
Now having run it, I could understand. There were no significant climbs, but we had pretty views of mountains, farms and field. We were either constantly climbing or going down. The course is best described as rolling hills.
I ran Old Dominion 100. Vermont is best compared to Old Dominion. We do a lot of roads. There were aid stations closely spaced together. Old Dominion seems to have more towns or at least near a major population (Woodstock). Vermont course was entirely in the middle of nowhere. There are farms but we had no cell signal. Vermont too is near a town called Woodstock, though I did not get a chance to visit it.
Vermont course is definitely more scenic of the two. Western States and Wasatch probably takes the crown.
2. Motivation for running Vermont. More people want to do Vermont than Old Dominion. OD only takes about 100 runners. Vermont takes 450. It was 4 times as much fun. I constantly saw runners on the trail. In OD, I felt like I was the last runner, but at Vermont, it was more like midpack, people at Aid stations said, we should slow down.
3. I could not remember much about my race due to the lack of sleep. The day before the race, I planned to fly up. It was supposed to be a 2 hours flight. However, the trip was canceled due to IT issues (CrowdStrike) at the airport. My friend’s quick action of switching to driving to our destination, saved my race. It was already early afternoon, at the beginning of Friday rush hour traffic, when we started our journey to Vermont. We did not arrive until past midnight. By the time, I settled, showered, and arranged things for next day, it was near 1 in the morning.
As best as I could, to sleep, my mind was awake. I felt I slept maybe 15 minutes before my alarm went off. We met a friend, who would led us to the race site. We finally arrived at 3 am, an hour before the race.
There were a lot of runners. We started like any race. We went into a trail. By 5 sky was lighted. I settled into a nice pace. Unlike at OD, there were way too many people around. I did not have to use my headlamp. Soon, I started passing people. We know the cardinal rule of starting off slowly. Many really took that to heart. I was not particularly chasing anyone, but if I felt the one ahead of me is being clumsy or slow, I’d pass them. Most of the time, they would not pass me back. Until maybe 20 miles in, I really found my own group who were going at my pace.
I met Chris from Maine. He ran two 100 before this one, Javelina Jundred and Oregon. We talked a bit. I knew I was moving at a sub 24 pace and was wondering if he was aiming for that. No, he told me. He just wanted to finish. He was not planning to be agressive with his pace. Others asked me the same question, I said, hell ya, I am always going for time, for my PR. It would not be a walk for me today.
Not long after, I caught up to Kim, one of our local club members. Then Eric. I ran with her group a bit. Everyone was moving fast here. I did not push hard on my pace to stay with them, so there were time I fell very back back, however, usually my stronger uphill or quicker downhill would allow me to catch back up.
4. Getting lost. I was getting too comfortable with my pace, I started closing my eyes while running. I know, trying to get some rest. It was at this point, I was following the runner ahead. The runner and I were moving faster than other runners around us and soon we separated from the rest. This should have been an indication we were off course, but it did not occur to me to stop to check my map (I downloaded the gpx file from a previous year runner; note, the race does not provide course maps or gpx files since the course goes through 30+ private land properties). We ran about half mile down a nicely paved road (after Stage Rd AS), until a car drove by and the driver told us, we should have turned back there. It was then I checked my map and indeed. We should have turned much earlier. This mistake caused me 15 minutes, but in the grand view, it did not affect my race much. It was just a lesson to pay closer attention to the trail markings. I did not get lost for the rest of the race.
Noon came and gone. I had some solid food at couple of the aid stations. They offered popsicles. Ice were out (melted) by now. It was hot. I was near Ten Bear and hoped to catch up to some 100k runners, especially my friend Caroline, but she was likely 8 miles ahead. We had the longest climb at this point, but we were on a road.
4. Ten Bear aid station was a party place as expected. I arrived around 3:30 pm. I went in and out, there was nothing I needed. I did not run with a drop bag in this race because we arrived to the race and missed the check-in time for drop bags. It ended up not being significant. I relied totally on the aid stations for all my needs. My feet were fine. I did not need to switch shoes because there were no shoes for me to switch into. I only brought one pair, the same pair I was running with. It was a big risk. We dealed with the hand we were dealt.
Camp Bear was like at mile 40. We saw the 100k people returning. I tried to look for my friend or anyone I could recognized. For their race, they have been out for 6.5 hours. I was estimating that it would too take me 6.5 or longer to get back to Ten Bear, which would mean around 10 pm.
5. I had a pace chart on me. I was aiming for a 29 (or 28) hour finish. My goal was to get back to Ten Bear before midnight. The trail at this time got hotter and hotter. I was able to catch up to some who did not do well with heat. We had our second longest climb to Margaritaville. From there, I switched socks (I carried a fresh pair in my hydration pack). I was tired by this point. My calves were cramping a bit.
Evening came. Night started cool off. I ran with a new group of people, and this was the group I mostly stayed with until the finish. I was fine physically, but a lot of people around me were suffering from chafing. I was semi on pace for the sub 24 finish if I hustled a bit. I knew, if I want the sub 24, I should get to mile 65 by 7:30. 7:30 went by, then 8:30. So, I set a new goal, if I could get back to Ten Bear before dark, I could still have a chance for a sub 24. It was then a race against time.
I reached Ten Bear by 9:00 pm as last ray of light disappeared. I knew it was not feasible for a sub 24. I was an hour behind that pace, but it did not matter, because I would finish my race. Here I did take a bit of time at the aid station to eat and rest. Night came. We only had 50k to go and 13 hours to do it. It was plenty of time. If I was fresh, I could try running a 50k in 7 hours. In my mind realistically, I needed 8-9 hours. Pacewise, I knew, I was ahead of my Old Dominion time by an hour. Old Dominion had harder remaining miles (Sherman and Veach). Here, at Vermont, I need we would not have such a long and hard climbs.
I knew the night would not be easy. The moment after sunset my pace dropped to a crawl. Many people passed me. I did not mind. I knew, I was doing fine. Many runners had their pacer with them. They were people I found weak and slow earlier now lit up with a stronger pace. I was thinking, if I have my pacer, would I be like them. How good to have a Susan (my pacer from Western States) with me at this time, we would conquer the night. It was not so. I plopped on.
6. I chose then to stick with a group through the night. I don’t remember the runner’s name, but his pacer was Jason. Jason was tired. I said, pacer should not be this tired. His runner defended him saying Jason had been up since 4 AM crewing and now pulling a double duty to pace through the night. Fair enough. I have crewed people before, I’d rather run than crew. I know how tiring crewing can be.
3am. We arrived at Bill’s. Here I got a second wind. I did not eat much. Bills is a warm and indoor aid station. They had cots for us to sleep. No sleeping for me. I found my friend Caroline sleeping and was going to wake her. But I felt bad to do so.
At this point, I was running mostly with my eyes shut too. Caroline can have her sleep. So I left the station alone. Sometimes, I would fall into a ditch or hit a tree and then I would wake up. They were out of coffee. I searched for coffee since sunset and could not find any. Sometimes, I forgot to ask. It was not until 5 AM, there was Dunkins at Keating’s. Someone said they had doughnuts at a previous station and it would have been a treat, coffee and donuts! Yes it would. I think this was at Keatings. It certainly woke me up. Jason said, I am making my move and my gait is strong. I am no longer dragging my foot, but I am lifting my heels.
I joined a new team, Mike and company. Morning dawned. We reached our last and final aid station. Mike wanted to run it in. I said, I could run. So literally, we ran the last 10k to the finish. We caught up about 10 or so other people. Many seemed to be in a bad shape. All were walking except for us two. We were booking it. I felt fresh. I felt good. Morning usually brings me fresh energy.
7. Gpx file ended maybe a mile out before the actual finish. This was disheartening. To us, the course seemed 1.5 miles longer, as we wind around farms and last few trails. I felt the finish was right there, but we never quite reached it. It was not a straight way in.
I crossed the finish 26:31:17. They had chairs for runners at the finish! I sat on one. There were no photographers. This was not Western States, where media is buzzing about. There were families and spectators cheering. The RD (Amy) gave us our buckles. I really ran in a Solo division, no crew, no pacer, no drop bag, but I did not want to change from “Crew” to “Solo” to get an extra award. I literally could fall asleep if I sit still for a moment.
Mike and I knew, the first priority is to get clean up and be comfortable. So we quickly left the finish area and headed for the car. My friend was there to help me change out and dry my stuff. I striped off old clothes. Empty the hydration pack. I had my planned drop bag which I did not get to use during the race but still in the car, so everything was easy and within reach (and clean). It might seem fast, but this changing out and into clean clothes took me probably an hour because my limps were frozen by now once I stopped running.
Then I tried to eat, but felt I wanted vomit. Note, they had breakfast still at the finish tent. I tried to sleep in one of the cots they had in the med tent. I could not sleep. It ended being better to just sit outside and enjoyed runners as they came back from the finish line. The weather was good and we had people milling around and other runners in similar condition like mine sitting about.
I saw all my friends finished. Some had to rush immediately to the airport for the flight. Many did stay for lunch. Vermont is the first 100 where we had a nice meal and the award ceremony. (Old Dominion too had a breakfast; I missed out the nice food at Western States, but I was sick at the time). I was between falling asleep and widely awake the next monent. I had a good time with some best people in the world. They teased me about my next 100 (Wasatch), something about trying the sauna there.
The drive home was long. We had an early dinner around 5 pm. I mostly slept on the way and did not remember much until we got home like 2-3 am in the morning. Luckily, I did not have to drive much. Traffic seemed better than when we headed to Vermont. I drove maybe 30 minutes, but I could not control the car’s speed (I sped up and slowed down and unable to get a stead speed to stay with other cars, because my reaction time was way off), so my friend took over. Whenever, we stopped at a rest stop, I would eat another meal. Every 2-3 hours, I’d get very hungry. By 11 pm, there was no more food, because restaurants were closed.
Conclusion: There’s none. The run was a day 100 mile. We enjoyed the nature and friends. Many people made this possible. As in any race, I am grateful. Some of my friends will be back. Tek is seeking for her 5th buckle. Lynne might come too. I might go back. I felt Vermont was easy. This was unexpected because I spent many weeks worrying about it, (since I first got in). I do have a coach from QT2 to help me. I was glad, my training was adaquate. My coach’s last minute advice got me through the race. He told me to keep my strides short on the downhills. There were a lot of running at the end. I glad I saved my legs until the very end. It is always better to run at the end than in the beginning.
There probably more I want to say, the event is still too close for me to see objectively. Maybe some day I will do a follow up.
In awe 