This is a tough report for me to write. It looks like my attempt to run 30 100's this year may be over. Liz is still going strong though getting her 8th 100 mile finish this weekend with a 3rd place finish in 23:17. I mentioned in my Graveyard 100 report that I woke up the Monday following with some achilles tendonitis. I rested, iced, and did anti-inflammatories and felt fine going into NJ. But by mile 20 I could start to feel something not quite right in that left achilles area and by 50 miles I was ready to stop. I decided to change shoes from some Solomon's to my Saucony Grid Roadster's and I immediately felt better. When I ran in these shoes I didn't have the feeling that I was irritating the injured area.
During my 7th lap, though, I again could feel that same area getting irritated. Shuffling easy on the pavement was okay but in the areas where the tread was more uneven each step caused just a bit of discomfort. All during that 7th lap I debated with myself on whether to drop or not. I never had any debilitating pain. I'm sure that I could have finished the race unless the discomfort increased a lot. I was taking Celebrex which does a great job for me for pain relief and what I was worried about was doing more damage to the tendon and putting myself in a position of 8+ weeks of recovery rather than a shorter timeframe. I debated and debated as I did that 10 mile loop and even came to the start/finish and told co-RD Rick McNulty that I was probably going to drop but that I wanted to sit and think about it first. I finally decided to drop after about 15 minutes.
As I told Rick, I was absolutely fine mentally, and my legs felt fine to finish the run. I wasn't even limping or changing my stride that much due to the achilles. My real worry was that I was doing greater damage that would cost me down the road. I had had two weeks to recover from what seemed minor irritation and it obviously was not fully healed. I've dealt with overuse injuries to my right achilles, my plantar fascii, my shin, my IT band, and my knees which has all made me pretty cautious. I knew that I could not just run through all this with my schedule and that I was going to need to take more time off. So my decision to quit this race was really damage control.
Right now my thought is to stop running and to rehab this thing the best I can and give it a try again at Salt Flats on 28 April. That gives me almost 5 weeks off. When I start back I'll also probably run with heel lifts which might well have saved me this weekend. I wish now that I had worn some but it's too late now. This means I'll miss 5 races in our schedule and these 5 are some of the easiest. I'm really interested in the Salt Flats course and the Zion run the following week so if I can get healthy and stay healthy through these I'll be happy and may be able to save much of the rest of the year. It seems a long shot right now but you never know what's going to happen.
So for me for the next month it is going to be supporting Liz, gentle massage and very gentle stretching, icing, and wearing my nifty new Strassburg sock to bed each night. It's not ideal to start back running with a 100 miler but I'm hoping with my experience it will be okay. I'll start slow, make sure my heel is lifted with inserts and/or shoes with a big toe drop, and keep my fingers crossed. Also on my radar is Hardrock which I definitely do not want to miss or to start injured. It's the highlight of my running year and it would kill me to miss it. Enough of the injury report and on to the race report.
As expected Jennifer and Rick McNulty, along with their entire family, put on a great race. They do this as their livelihood and they have it dialed. The Ultra Festival is an event featuring distances of 100, 62, 50, 31 and 26 miles. There were a lot of people on the trail in the early hours but the course was able to accommodate the numbers with relative ease. The 100 milers started at 7am, 15 minutes behind the 100k folks and we started around the familiar loop of the 3 Days at the Fair course. After 3/4 of a mile though we kept straight rather than turning toward the start/finish area and headed out to a 1 mile out and back, followed by a 2.5 mile out and back and then returned to the start on the back side of the fairgrounds on a combination of grass and asphalt.
The trail portion was more or less grassy and beat out but by midday it was in much better shape after the repeated travel of so many runners. There were a few muddy spots and even one stepping stone water crossing but it was easy to keep the feet dry. One other obstacle on the course were the old rail-to-trail trestles which had been reinforced with strips of particle board. In spots these boards started to break and several runners, including myself and Liz, stepped on a board and had the end flip up catching the front of the other ankle. The male leader even sprained his ankle on some of these boards on his 9th lap ending his race. Jennifer did go back out around sunset though and reinforced it all making it much more secure. Next year I'm sure they'll have a better platform built over these trestles.
One peculiarity of the festival format was seeing so many runners having finished their marathon or 50k while we still had 70 miles to go. Those beers sure did look good! It was nice to have so many runners out there though. It kept things interesting with so many people to watch and talk with. By even the 70 mile mark it had thinned out a lot though with the two out and backs you did still get a chance to see other runners pretty frequently. This was the first year at the fairgrounds venue for the Ultra Festival and I think it will work well for the races. The fairgrounds has a large concession stand that they use for the main aid station which really works great as it has a huge walk in freezer and fridge as well as great cooking facilities which they use to make burgers, pizza, hot dogs, taquitos and more! And it is, after all, all about the food.
The volunteer staff is not huge but Rick and Jennifer design things so that they don't need a lot of volunteers so it never feels like there isn't enough help. In fact, it's just the opposite. And Rick's sister Marie is a human dynamo worth 4 volunteers all herself! It was also a special treat to see Marcy Beard working at the aid station at the end of the 2.5 mile out and back. Thanks Marcy! While this is the family's business you still get great value with all the swag and aid station food. It never feels at all like any corners have been cut. I highly recommend any race they might put on. It's sure to be well run.
I won't have any race reports of my own to write for a while but I will still post with reports of any of Liz's races. Right now we're looking at possible schedule changes and Liz might end up dropping a race from this long stretch but no definite decisions have been made yet. This coming weekend we will be driving the Winnebago up to NC for the Umstead 100. I lived in this area from 1998 to 2006 so I'll get to see lots of old friends and work at my old post at Tom's Ptomaine Tavern during the run. Umstead was my first 100 back in 2002 and while I haven't run it since I did help out each year until I moved away. I'll post a report when we get back.
Race count: Liz (8) Scott (5)
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Graveyard 100
Sorry for the slow report but Liz and I didn't get back from NC until after midnight on Monday morning and I've been working every night since. 12.5 hour shifts, commuting and sleeping, not to mention unpacking and all of life's other little time consumers doesn't leave much writing time. But I got called off tonight so here we go!
The Graveyard 100, another inaugural event, went fantastically well. This unique event follows state highway 12 along the Outer Banks in NC for all but about 4 of it's 100.7 miles. We were running forever within a stone's throw of the Atlantic Ocean. As this race goes forward look for some crazy stories to come out of it. The name comes from this section of the coast being called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" due to the number of shipwrecks that have occurred just offshore here. March is also know for its nasty weather and I believe that is why RD Brandon Wilson and his wife Heather decided to have the race this month. They didn't want the runner's to get bored! Ha! I think that's also why the website poses the question "Will the graveyard sink you.....?" While the course is almost dead flat and paved, it is also exposed to the elements like few parts of the country are. How easy or difficult the race is will be entirely dependent on the weather conditions on race day.
That being said, we were watching the weather closely as the weekend approached and it looked dicey. There was a major frontal system that was set to hit the coast from the west right around Friday and Saturday. The chance for rain and wind on Saturday steadily decreased as the week wore on and by Thursday it was pretty clear that if there was any rain during the race it would only be briefly on Saturday morning. It turned out that the rain ended on Friday but the wind did not. It blew and blew and blew on Saturday. More on that below.
For this race we had the pleasure of Liz's brother (Robert) and sister-in-law (Jane) as crew. They drove up from Charleston, SC and picked us up at the Raleigh airport late Thursday afternoon. As we drove toward the coast we caught up with the storm and ended up driving through some light rain. We found a cheap room in Rocky Mount and settled in for the night. It was nice to have the extra night and extra time to sleep in and not have such a hectic Friday. Getting away Friday morning it was still overcast and a bit drizzly but the big weather issue was the wind, and as the day progressed it got colder and colder. Pulling up to the race briefing building, which was part of a pier jutting out into the ocean, the wind was blowing a gale and it was definitely down jacket weather. The thought of being out in this cold and wind at 5am was daunting to say the least.
The briefing started right on time and Brandon did a great job of outlining what we could expect the next day. He had one of the unmanned water station contraptions in the hall so we'd know what to look for and he was careful to describe the few place where one could take a wrong turn. Given the course he had the pleasure of not needing to do hardly any course marking though there were a couple of aid station where you had to go slightly off hwy 12 but in those spots he had people on the road to direct you in and out of the station. There were some logistical details having to do with transporting people to the start and back from the finish but with Liz and I having crew we didn't have to worry about all that. Soon we were off the hotel to try to get some rest before the early wake up.
Waking up in the morning it didn't feel nearly as cold as Liz and I thought it would so we settled on slightly less clothes than we thought the night before. The start is truly at the end of the road. We were standing in sand as we started the race. Very cool. I love point to point races and the thought of following this same highway the entire race along this narrow ribbon of land, past historic lighthouses, and through Cape Hatteras National Seashore was exciting. So while it didn't seem as cold as we expected that isn't to say it wasn't cold. It was! The wind was blowing probably 15mph and the temp was probably around 40. The good thing (and a very good thing indeed!) was that the wind was from the north and we were running south. Have you ever run 100 miles straight with a tailwind the entire time? I hazard to guess not many have, but the finishers of the 2012 Graveyard 100 have!
It was awesome! It was chilly and windy but with the wind at our backs it was very comfortable. The sun was out the entire day (enough to give me a nasty sunburn on my lower lip) and the wind never really let up. I'd say it blew from 10-20 mph the entire day. It was just pushing us along. You'll never hear me say that running 100 miles is easy but this one was about as easy as it gets. It was like a gentle downhill the whole way. The first 30-35 miles are all through pretty heavily developed areas but then you hit the National Seashore which has no development at all. After that it was off and on developed and desolate with more development towards the end. The highway was busier than I had expected and that got to be kind of a drag but most drivers courteously gave us room. And there was a generous shoulder the entire way with sidewalks also available in many of the developed areas. I never felt that the course was at all dangerous.
The course is designed with only 4 full service aid station but water stops inbetween at about 6-7 mile intervals. Some of the highlights of the race were the lighthouses at two of the aid stations. With gps they're no longer used for navigation but they had been maintained as sort of museum pieces and were quite striking and large. Another stand out from the race was the 2.5 mile long Bonner bridge. Liz and I ended up running the bridge together in the late afternoon. This was the one big hill on the course rising almost 50 feet above the water. About halfway it turned to east a bit and we had the wind off our shoulder rather than directly behind us and that made a huge difference in how cold it felt. We didn't freeze but we weren't hanging out enjoying the view either.
After the bridge there was a long stretch where the road had sand blowing across it and there were even some small sand dunes forming across the road. Here's a couple of pictures from that stretch:
I can't emphasize enough how nice it was to have the wind at our backs. It would have been an entirely different race if we had been running into that relentless wind. Not only would it have been physically harder to run into the wind but it would have been freezing despite the sunshine and in some of these sections the blowing sand would have been nasty. And if the race had been one day earlier we would have been out in that wind AND rain. One year runners will have different conditions than we did and there will be some stories to tell.....
After the bridge there was a long lonely stretch going into the next aid with 3 water only stations inbetween. Having a crew at this race really makes it a lot easier logistically. Uncrewed you would have to wear a pack with food and extra clothing while the crewed runner can see their crew not only at the water stations but at many other spots along the way as well. My hat is off to Claude Hicks and Mike Smith who were uncrewed and finished ahead of me. (There are probably others but they're the only one's I know of.)
As usual the final 15 miles seemed the longest. Having only worked one day in the week before the race I didn't struggle so bad with sleepiness though I did curl up behind a trash barrel for about 10 minutes around mile 90 or so. Another cool thing about this course is that the finish is at the end of the road where one needs to get on a ferry to cross a channel to continue on hwy 12. This is also the exact spot where the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum is located. The whole point to point aspect on the barrier islands has a wonderful aesthetic appeal. This race is sure to stand out in my mind as one of the most unique and enjoyable races I've ever done. I haven't worn a watch for any of these races yet this year and I was really surprised to find out that I had finished the race in 21:12 for 8th place over all. I really thought that I had slowed in the last 15 miles and I also thought that there were a lot more runners ahead of me. Liz finished shortly after me in 21:39 for 3rd place among the women. Congrats to winners Brenda Carawan in 16:33 and Andrei Nana in 19:27. Results are here.
I can't say enough about how great of a job Brandon and Heather did organizing and executing this race. There was obviously a tremendous amount of thought and planning that went into the weekend. And I can only imagine all the permitting and legal stuff they went through to be able to run through so many towns, parks, and a National Seashore. Brandon did relate to me some of this related to the National Park Service but I'm sure that was only the tip of the iceberg. Many thanks to you two for all your hard work. One unexpected and very pleasant surprise that really shows how these two took care of all us runners is the rooms at a nearby hotel that they rented and provided for the runners to rest in and get cleaned up in after the finish. This was unadvertised and as I understand it, a last minute (and expensive!) decision. I don't know if that will be a regular feature of the race but it sure was nice to be able to shower and nap in a bed before starting the drive back to Raleigh.
Once again the volunteers were exemplary. We didn't see race volunteers all that often in this race but they were there when they were needed and very very helpful as well as knowledgeable about what a runner wants and needs to get in and out of an aid station with all that they need in as little time as possible. The burgers and hot pizza were awesome!
A special thanks are also due to Robert and Jane for giving up their weekend to help Liz and I. Robert had brought some LED christmas lights that he was able to plug into the car and drape all across the top of the car so that we could pick out their car from all the other crew cars after dark. What a nice and thoughtful touch, Robert! He and Jane met us at innumerable spots along the way in addition to the aid and water stops. They got no more sleep than we did once the race was underway. Thank you!
Our next race is the NJ Ultra Festival this coming weekend. We've participated in the McNulty's 3 Days at the Fair and are looking forward to a great weekend.
The one fly in the ointment for me after Graveyard is some achilles tendonitis. When I woke up late on Monday morning my left achilles was sore and having experienced achilles tendonitis before after my first 100 miler I reached down and pinched the tendon as I flexed and extended my foot. Sure enough, I felt that familiar creaky, grinding feeling indicating inflammation. So soon after the race I couldn't really assess it fully due to the edema and general soreness but now I'm hoping that it is a relatively minor case that I can get it resolved before NJ. I've been taking 600mg of ibuprofen 3x a day since Monday and icing the tendon when I can. The creakiness is gone but there is still some soreness. After my first 100 I had it in the right tendon and it was much worse but I was out for about 6 weeks then. I'm hoping I'll be able to stay healthy though these next busy months but only time will tell. Any advice on managing this would be much appreciated as long as the advice isn't "Stop running so much you idiot!" : ) I'm planning to stop the ibuprofen in the next day or two and know I need to stretch my calves but I don't know if that is wise at this point or not. Any stretching I do will have to be VERY gentle. Wish me luck!
Race count now stands at: Liz (7) Scott (5)
The Graveyard 100, another inaugural event, went fantastically well. This unique event follows state highway 12 along the Outer Banks in NC for all but about 4 of it's 100.7 miles. We were running forever within a stone's throw of the Atlantic Ocean. As this race goes forward look for some crazy stories to come out of it. The name comes from this section of the coast being called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" due to the number of shipwrecks that have occurred just offshore here. March is also know for its nasty weather and I believe that is why RD Brandon Wilson and his wife Heather decided to have the race this month. They didn't want the runner's to get bored! Ha! I think that's also why the website poses the question "Will the graveyard sink you.....?" While the course is almost dead flat and paved, it is also exposed to the elements like few parts of the country are. How easy or difficult the race is will be entirely dependent on the weather conditions on race day.
That being said, we were watching the weather closely as the weekend approached and it looked dicey. There was a major frontal system that was set to hit the coast from the west right around Friday and Saturday. The chance for rain and wind on Saturday steadily decreased as the week wore on and by Thursday it was pretty clear that if there was any rain during the race it would only be briefly on Saturday morning. It turned out that the rain ended on Friday but the wind did not. It blew and blew and blew on Saturday. More on that below.
For this race we had the pleasure of Liz's brother (Robert) and sister-in-law (Jane) as crew. They drove up from Charleston, SC and picked us up at the Raleigh airport late Thursday afternoon. As we drove toward the coast we caught up with the storm and ended up driving through some light rain. We found a cheap room in Rocky Mount and settled in for the night. It was nice to have the extra night and extra time to sleep in and not have such a hectic Friday. Getting away Friday morning it was still overcast and a bit drizzly but the big weather issue was the wind, and as the day progressed it got colder and colder. Pulling up to the race briefing building, which was part of a pier jutting out into the ocean, the wind was blowing a gale and it was definitely down jacket weather. The thought of being out in this cold and wind at 5am was daunting to say the least.
The briefing started right on time and Brandon did a great job of outlining what we could expect the next day. He had one of the unmanned water station contraptions in the hall so we'd know what to look for and he was careful to describe the few place where one could take a wrong turn. Given the course he had the pleasure of not needing to do hardly any course marking though there were a couple of aid station where you had to go slightly off hwy 12 but in those spots he had people on the road to direct you in and out of the station. There were some logistical details having to do with transporting people to the start and back from the finish but with Liz and I having crew we didn't have to worry about all that. Soon we were off the hotel to try to get some rest before the early wake up.
 |
| Unmanned water station contraption. |
Waking up in the morning it didn't feel nearly as cold as Liz and I thought it would so we settled on slightly less clothes than we thought the night before. The start is truly at the end of the road. We were standing in sand as we started the race. Very cool. I love point to point races and the thought of following this same highway the entire race along this narrow ribbon of land, past historic lighthouses, and through Cape Hatteras National Seashore was exciting. So while it didn't seem as cold as we expected that isn't to say it wasn't cold. It was! The wind was blowing probably 15mph and the temp was probably around 40. The good thing (and a very good thing indeed!) was that the wind was from the north and we were running south. Have you ever run 100 miles straight with a tailwind the entire time? I hazard to guess not many have, but the finishers of the 2012 Graveyard 100 have!
It was awesome! It was chilly and windy but with the wind at our backs it was very comfortable. The sun was out the entire day (enough to give me a nasty sunburn on my lower lip) and the wind never really let up. I'd say it blew from 10-20 mph the entire day. It was just pushing us along. You'll never hear me say that running 100 miles is easy but this one was about as easy as it gets. It was like a gentle downhill the whole way. The first 30-35 miles are all through pretty heavily developed areas but then you hit the National Seashore which has no development at all. After that it was off and on developed and desolate with more development towards the end. The highway was busier than I had expected and that got to be kind of a drag but most drivers courteously gave us room. And there was a generous shoulder the entire way with sidewalks also available in many of the developed areas. I never felt that the course was at all dangerous.
 |
| Lighthouse at aid station 2 |
 |
| 2.5 mile long Bonner bridge |
After the bridge there was a long stretch where the road had sand blowing across it and there were even some small sand dunes forming across the road. Here's a couple of pictures from that stretch:
I can't emphasize enough how nice it was to have the wind at our backs. It would have been an entirely different race if we had been running into that relentless wind. Not only would it have been physically harder to run into the wind but it would have been freezing despite the sunshine and in some of these sections the blowing sand would have been nasty. And if the race had been one day earlier we would have been out in that wind AND rain. One year runners will have different conditions than we did and there will be some stories to tell.....
After the bridge there was a long lonely stretch going into the next aid with 3 water only stations inbetween. Having a crew at this race really makes it a lot easier logistically. Uncrewed you would have to wear a pack with food and extra clothing while the crewed runner can see their crew not only at the water stations but at many other spots along the way as well. My hat is off to Claude Hicks and Mike Smith who were uncrewed and finished ahead of me. (There are probably others but they're the only one's I know of.)
As usual the final 15 miles seemed the longest. Having only worked one day in the week before the race I didn't struggle so bad with sleepiness though I did curl up behind a trash barrel for about 10 minutes around mile 90 or so. Another cool thing about this course is that the finish is at the end of the road where one needs to get on a ferry to cross a channel to continue on hwy 12. This is also the exact spot where the Graveyard of the Atlantic museum is located. The whole point to point aspect on the barrier islands has a wonderful aesthetic appeal. This race is sure to stand out in my mind as one of the most unique and enjoyable races I've ever done. I haven't worn a watch for any of these races yet this year and I was really surprised to find out that I had finished the race in 21:12 for 8th place over all. I really thought that I had slowed in the last 15 miles and I also thought that there were a lot more runners ahead of me. Liz finished shortly after me in 21:39 for 3rd place among the women. Congrats to winners Brenda Carawan in 16:33 and Andrei Nana in 19:27. Results are here.
I can't say enough about how great of a job Brandon and Heather did organizing and executing this race. There was obviously a tremendous amount of thought and planning that went into the weekend. And I can only imagine all the permitting and legal stuff they went through to be able to run through so many towns, parks, and a National Seashore. Brandon did relate to me some of this related to the National Park Service but I'm sure that was only the tip of the iceberg. Many thanks to you two for all your hard work. One unexpected and very pleasant surprise that really shows how these two took care of all us runners is the rooms at a nearby hotel that they rented and provided for the runners to rest in and get cleaned up in after the finish. This was unadvertised and as I understand it, a last minute (and expensive!) decision. I don't know if that will be a regular feature of the race but it sure was nice to be able to shower and nap in a bed before starting the drive back to Raleigh.
Once again the volunteers were exemplary. We didn't see race volunteers all that often in this race but they were there when they were needed and very very helpful as well as knowledgeable about what a runner wants and needs to get in and out of an aid station with all that they need in as little time as possible. The burgers and hot pizza were awesome!
A special thanks are also due to Robert and Jane for giving up their weekend to help Liz and I. Robert had brought some LED christmas lights that he was able to plug into the car and drape all across the top of the car so that we could pick out their car from all the other crew cars after dark. What a nice and thoughtful touch, Robert! He and Jane met us at innumerable spots along the way in addition to the aid and water stops. They got no more sleep than we did once the race was underway. Thank you!
Our next race is the NJ Ultra Festival this coming weekend. We've participated in the McNulty's 3 Days at the Fair and are looking forward to a great weekend.
The one fly in the ointment for me after Graveyard is some achilles tendonitis. When I woke up late on Monday morning my left achilles was sore and having experienced achilles tendonitis before after my first 100 miler I reached down and pinched the tendon as I flexed and extended my foot. Sure enough, I felt that familiar creaky, grinding feeling indicating inflammation. So soon after the race I couldn't really assess it fully due to the edema and general soreness but now I'm hoping that it is a relatively minor case that I can get it resolved before NJ. I've been taking 600mg of ibuprofen 3x a day since Monday and icing the tendon when I can. The creakiness is gone but there is still some soreness. After my first 100 I had it in the right tendon and it was much worse but I was out for about 6 weeks then. I'm hoping I'll be able to stay healthy though these next busy months but only time will tell. Any advice on managing this would be much appreciated as long as the advice isn't "Stop running so much you idiot!" : ) I'm planning to stop the ibuprofen in the next day or two and know I need to stretch my calves but I don't know if that is wise at this point or not. Any stretching I do will have to be VERY gentle. Wish me luck!
Race count now stands at: Liz (7) Scott (5)
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Double Top 100
The nice thing about this past weekend's run the Double Top 100 just outside of Dalton, GA, is that it was less than an hour away driving, saving us the expense and hassle of a plane trip, rental car, and motel room. We drove up late Friday afternoon for the packet pickup and race briefing. We ended up parking the RV near the start getting to bed quite early. The forecast had been for a 100% chance of severe thunderstorms through the night with 1-2 inches of rain. It rained a lot but had mostly stopped by around 3am or so. We certainly heard a lot of thunder but it wasn't too crazy and certainly less severe than we were expecting. During the day we heard about how bad things had been to the north with tornados and loss of life. Here in GA we got lucky and avoided rain completely during the run though it was quite foggy early in the run.
I had another tough stretch of work going in to this run with almost 90 hours of work in the 8 days leading up to Thursday morning. It sounds crazy and I would never have thought I'd say this but, I'm looking forward to the stretch where we have a run every weekend because it seems like it will be easier just running rather than working a bunch and running every other weekend. I'm sure after 5 weeks straight I might change my tune but that's how it feels now. Liz was also a bit beat down going into this one after her last minute decision to run the LOST 118 the previous weekend. Liz says she's going to write something up for her runs but hasn't come up with the goods yet. If she does I'll post it here. The short story is that she had a great run and won the women's race handily without much damage. She says she ran very slow and very steady throughout the race enjoying the trip immensely. On now to Double Top.
When I first heard about this run it was described as starting at Fort Mt State Park then to the Pinhoti Trail which goes north and ends at the Benton Mackaye Trail where we would turn right and follow the BMT to the turnaround. I thought "How cool!" I know both of these trails well and they contain some primo singletrack trail running. I hadn't run from Fort Mt to the Pinhoti but I knew all the rest so I had this picture in my mind of where the run went. I carried this picture in my mind right through Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the race route had been changed and nothing had been said about this at the race briefing. The original race website and the facebook page both still have a description of the race passing by the Gennett Poplar which is where myself and 4 others (including Liz) realized we were off course. 4.7 miles off course to be exact. With about a 1200 foot climb included in those miles.
John Dove saved our race and the beer is on me next time, John! John was out on the trails riding his mountain bike and was coming back down the Pinhoti Trail meeting us at the Poplar. He told us we were off course and I said "But this is the Pinhoti!" He said yeah but you're still off course. A close examination of the race map, which had been given us at packet pickup, showed the truth - we were WAY off course. So back it was. Crap. Here's how it happened.... We had been running on the Pinhoti Trail since about mile 5 or so of the race and had just passed the Double Top aid station at just over 21 miles where we headed up a forest service road for about one tenth of a mile. At this point the Pinhoti turns to the right off the FS road and heads up into the woods. There was some flagging on the road past this turn but that was the extent of the marking. I (and many others) never even looked up the road, thinking that we continued on the Pinhoti. A simple piece of paper or sign on the gate warning us off would have saved us this detour but there was nothing.
I appreciate the work of the RD's Perry Sebastian and Vikena Yutz giving us the opportunity to do this run but would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in the quality of both the course marking and apparent amount of thought that went into the race briefing. According to a couple of aid station workers almost every runner got off course at some point and did extra miles. This was the first year for this race and certain hiccups are to be expected but more care should have been taken. Liz and I ended up running the entire course plus our 9.4 mile detour and extra climbing. Two of our fellow detourees I know dropped and one runner, Jenn from WV, who was ahead of us going back, may or may not have dropped (I don't know because the results have not been posted yet.) Another two runners that I talked to continued on the Pinhoti past the Poplar all the way up until they were back on course at the "top of the Pinhoti" aid station. They never did go back so effectively did not complete the course. I'm sure there are many other stories of bonus miles.
I'll stop griping now and go on with the report of the run. After getting back on course we had a long steep climb up a gravel road in perfect weather. The sky had mostly cleared and the temps were very pleasant. Liz and I ran together back to the gravel road and Liz decided to continue straight up without any aid despite the detour and the fact that it was only .1 miles backtracking. There was a man from the aid station there with his truck who offered to fill my bottle for me. I asked if he had any food but he said he didn't but offered a ride back to the aid station. I took the ride to the aid station where I chowed down and filled my bottle with water and my pocket with gels. He gave me a ride back to the junction and I started up the hill. I caught Liz at the next aid station and we proceeded for the most part together all the way to mile 80 or so.
As the day waned, there remained a thin cover of clouds and the wind was relatively calm. This was welcome as the forecast called for clearing skies and strong winds through the night which meant cold conditions. We thought maybe the weather system had stalled for a bit and we would get a break tonight. We were running south on a ridge of the BMT as the sun set and what a sunset it was!! There was a layer of clouds to the west which stopped just before the horizon so there was just a sun-sized gap. As the sun hit this gap it was a giant orange ball of fire which turned all the trees a deep orange. It was one of those magical times in the woods which don't come all that often but remained burned into your memory. At this point it was still pleasant and fairly calm. As the night wore on though, the skies would clear and the temps drop while the wind picked up.
We hit the turnaround which was mile 51.8 or so just about 10 minutes before the cutoff. There had been mention of extending the cutoffs due to the detour but it looked like we would be okay. A quick fuel up and we were on our way back. A good feeling for sure. At the turnaround the weather was still pretty pleasant so I decided not to bring a thermal shirt but just continued on with what I had been carrying all day which was shorts, a thin tech shirt, moeben sleeves, gloves, and a rain jacket. From the turn there was a 3 or so mile section to the next aid station and then a long 10 mile section with only two water drops while traversing a remote section of the BMT. At the end of this section was the next drop bag. We loaded up on food including a yummy grilled cheese sandwich and headed into the wilderness. And I more than Liz proceeded to freeze my a** off. The skies had cleared and the wind come up. It was soon at or below freezing and it seemed like there was no escape from the wind. This section includes lots of ups and downs on single track that was rocky in places. I was way cold and despite running well I could not generate enough heat to warm up even on the uphills. I was miserable and would have been quickly incapacitated by the cold if I had been unable to keep moving.
We did finally reach the next aid station where I had a thermal shirt, warmer gloves and a stocking cap rather than running cap. We continued on running a long gravel road high on a ridge exposed to the wind and cold. Despite the extra clothing I was still cold as was Liz. All we could do was persevere, continuing on, knowing that it would end ... eventually. Of course the aid station folks could have given us a ride out but if you know Liz and I you know the likelihood of that happening! We had been running to the west with the cold north wind hitting us from the right and even after we had turned south away from the wind it was still hammering us! We could not get away from the wind. Finally we reached the Double Top aid station again as the sky was brightening with the coming day. We sat here and I changed shoes from my now favorite MT101's into some road shoes for a break. I did about 90 miles in the 101's and they performed great, even on the rocky gravel roads. While we were sitting the aid station guy (the same one that gave me a ride Sat afternoon!) fired up a giant kerosene heater/blower. It felt so good to have that hot air blasting us rather than the cold wind. Unfortunately we had to leave it and probably felt even colder after all the heat. But the sun was rising and the air did get warmer.
I soon pulled ahead of Liz and and ended up finishing about an hour ahead of her. My race time was about 32:16 and hers about 33:13. We steadily gained time on the cutoffs as we came back to finish. We both feel very beat up after this one. We're both still walking like Fred Sanford today on Tuesday afternoon. We have the Graveyard 100 coming this weekend which should be a fun time as long as our bodies can recover some. This race starts at the beginning of hwy 12 on the outer banks of NC and continues to the end so staying on course shouldn't be a problem. Not to mention that the outer banks islands are very narrow. If we get off course we'll get wet!
One thing that stands out from this past weekend's run is the volunteers. A huge shout out to the volunteers!!!! There were folks there who opened and closed their aid stations with no relief and did it all with a smile and a great attitude. We runners are so lucky to have these folks out there giving up their weekend to stand out in the cold and wind filling bottles and making pb&j sandwiches for grumpy runners. Thank you specifically all the volunteers from Double Top but thanks also to anyone who reads this who helps out at these runs. You really are special. After this year is over I'm going to spend less money on race entries and more time helping at aid stations.
Thanks also to Perry and Vikena. My report was critical I know but I do appreciate all that you did and hope that what happened this year works to make future runnings of the race all that much better. Maybe next year I'll personally make and hang the 'Do Not Enter' sign where we went wrong and help out with the course marking rather than criticizing it. We musn't forget that this is all for fun. It really is just a game. And it's all good.
Race count: Liz (6) Scott (4)
I had another tough stretch of work going in to this run with almost 90 hours of work in the 8 days leading up to Thursday morning. It sounds crazy and I would never have thought I'd say this but, I'm looking forward to the stretch where we have a run every weekend because it seems like it will be easier just running rather than working a bunch and running every other weekend. I'm sure after 5 weeks straight I might change my tune but that's how it feels now. Liz was also a bit beat down going into this one after her last minute decision to run the LOST 118 the previous weekend. Liz says she's going to write something up for her runs but hasn't come up with the goods yet. If she does I'll post it here. The short story is that she had a great run and won the women's race handily without much damage. She says she ran very slow and very steady throughout the race enjoying the trip immensely. On now to Double Top.
When I first heard about this run it was described as starting at Fort Mt State Park then to the Pinhoti Trail which goes north and ends at the Benton Mackaye Trail where we would turn right and follow the BMT to the turnaround. I thought "How cool!" I know both of these trails well and they contain some primo singletrack trail running. I hadn't run from Fort Mt to the Pinhoti but I knew all the rest so I had this picture in my mind of where the run went. I carried this picture in my mind right through Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the race route had been changed and nothing had been said about this at the race briefing. The original race website and the facebook page both still have a description of the race passing by the Gennett Poplar which is where myself and 4 others (including Liz) realized we were off course. 4.7 miles off course to be exact. With about a 1200 foot climb included in those miles.
John Dove saved our race and the beer is on me next time, John! John was out on the trails riding his mountain bike and was coming back down the Pinhoti Trail meeting us at the Poplar. He told us we were off course and I said "But this is the Pinhoti!" He said yeah but you're still off course. A close examination of the race map, which had been given us at packet pickup, showed the truth - we were WAY off course. So back it was. Crap. Here's how it happened.... We had been running on the Pinhoti Trail since about mile 5 or so of the race and had just passed the Double Top aid station at just over 21 miles where we headed up a forest service road for about one tenth of a mile. At this point the Pinhoti turns to the right off the FS road and heads up into the woods. There was some flagging on the road past this turn but that was the extent of the marking. I (and many others) never even looked up the road, thinking that we continued on the Pinhoti. A simple piece of paper or sign on the gate warning us off would have saved us this detour but there was nothing.
I appreciate the work of the RD's Perry Sebastian and Vikena Yutz giving us the opportunity to do this run but would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed in the quality of both the course marking and apparent amount of thought that went into the race briefing. According to a couple of aid station workers almost every runner got off course at some point and did extra miles. This was the first year for this race and certain hiccups are to be expected but more care should have been taken. Liz and I ended up running the entire course plus our 9.4 mile detour and extra climbing. Two of our fellow detourees I know dropped and one runner, Jenn from WV, who was ahead of us going back, may or may not have dropped (I don't know because the results have not been posted yet.) Another two runners that I talked to continued on the Pinhoti past the Poplar all the way up until they were back on course at the "top of the Pinhoti" aid station. They never did go back so effectively did not complete the course. I'm sure there are many other stories of bonus miles.
I'll stop griping now and go on with the report of the run. After getting back on course we had a long steep climb up a gravel road in perfect weather. The sky had mostly cleared and the temps were very pleasant. Liz and I ran together back to the gravel road and Liz decided to continue straight up without any aid despite the detour and the fact that it was only .1 miles backtracking. There was a man from the aid station there with his truck who offered to fill my bottle for me. I asked if he had any food but he said he didn't but offered a ride back to the aid station. I took the ride to the aid station where I chowed down and filled my bottle with water and my pocket with gels. He gave me a ride back to the junction and I started up the hill. I caught Liz at the next aid station and we proceeded for the most part together all the way to mile 80 or so.
As the day waned, there remained a thin cover of clouds and the wind was relatively calm. This was welcome as the forecast called for clearing skies and strong winds through the night which meant cold conditions. We thought maybe the weather system had stalled for a bit and we would get a break tonight. We were running south on a ridge of the BMT as the sun set and what a sunset it was!! There was a layer of clouds to the west which stopped just before the horizon so there was just a sun-sized gap. As the sun hit this gap it was a giant orange ball of fire which turned all the trees a deep orange. It was one of those magical times in the woods which don't come all that often but remained burned into your memory. At this point it was still pleasant and fairly calm. As the night wore on though, the skies would clear and the temps drop while the wind picked up.
We hit the turnaround which was mile 51.8 or so just about 10 minutes before the cutoff. There had been mention of extending the cutoffs due to the detour but it looked like we would be okay. A quick fuel up and we were on our way back. A good feeling for sure. At the turnaround the weather was still pretty pleasant so I decided not to bring a thermal shirt but just continued on with what I had been carrying all day which was shorts, a thin tech shirt, moeben sleeves, gloves, and a rain jacket. From the turn there was a 3 or so mile section to the next aid station and then a long 10 mile section with only two water drops while traversing a remote section of the BMT. At the end of this section was the next drop bag. We loaded up on food including a yummy grilled cheese sandwich and headed into the wilderness. And I more than Liz proceeded to freeze my a** off. The skies had cleared and the wind come up. It was soon at or below freezing and it seemed like there was no escape from the wind. This section includes lots of ups and downs on single track that was rocky in places. I was way cold and despite running well I could not generate enough heat to warm up even on the uphills. I was miserable and would have been quickly incapacitated by the cold if I had been unable to keep moving.
We did finally reach the next aid station where I had a thermal shirt, warmer gloves and a stocking cap rather than running cap. We continued on running a long gravel road high on a ridge exposed to the wind and cold. Despite the extra clothing I was still cold as was Liz. All we could do was persevere, continuing on, knowing that it would end ... eventually. Of course the aid station folks could have given us a ride out but if you know Liz and I you know the likelihood of that happening! We had been running to the west with the cold north wind hitting us from the right and even after we had turned south away from the wind it was still hammering us! We could not get away from the wind. Finally we reached the Double Top aid station again as the sky was brightening with the coming day. We sat here and I changed shoes from my now favorite MT101's into some road shoes for a break. I did about 90 miles in the 101's and they performed great, even on the rocky gravel roads. While we were sitting the aid station guy (the same one that gave me a ride Sat afternoon!) fired up a giant kerosene heater/blower. It felt so good to have that hot air blasting us rather than the cold wind. Unfortunately we had to leave it and probably felt even colder after all the heat. But the sun was rising and the air did get warmer.
I soon pulled ahead of Liz and and ended up finishing about an hour ahead of her. My race time was about 32:16 and hers about 33:13. We steadily gained time on the cutoffs as we came back to finish. We both feel very beat up after this one. We're both still walking like Fred Sanford today on Tuesday afternoon. We have the Graveyard 100 coming this weekend which should be a fun time as long as our bodies can recover some. This race starts at the beginning of hwy 12 on the outer banks of NC and continues to the end so staying on course shouldn't be a problem. Not to mention that the outer banks islands are very narrow. If we get off course we'll get wet!
One thing that stands out from this past weekend's run is the volunteers. A huge shout out to the volunteers!!!! There were folks there who opened and closed their aid stations with no relief and did it all with a smile and a great attitude. We runners are so lucky to have these folks out there giving up their weekend to stand out in the cold and wind filling bottles and making pb&j sandwiches for grumpy runners. Thank you specifically all the volunteers from Double Top but thanks also to anyone who reads this who helps out at these runs. You really are special. After this year is over I'm going to spend less money on race entries and more time helping at aid stations.
Thanks also to Perry and Vikena. My report was critical I know but I do appreciate all that you did and hope that what happened this year works to make future runnings of the race all that much better. Maybe next year I'll personally make and hang the 'Do Not Enter' sign where we went wrong and help out with the course marking rather than criticizing it. We musn't forget that this is all for fun. It really is just a game. And it's all good.
Race count: Liz (6) Scott (4)
Schedule update
There have been a couple of changes to the schedule including Liz squeezing in a run of the LOST 118 run in between Iron Horse and Double Top. She had a great run at LOST, winning the women's race in 25:43 for the 118 mile run.
The other change is a substitution for the Potawatamie run in IL. Instead of that one we will be doing the Wild Sebastian 100 in FL on the same weekend. Wild Sebastian is a new run that just showed up on the list of 100 mile runs maintained by Stan Jensen. This is in the middle of our busiest stretch and swaps a tough race for a flat, sandy FL run with a 32 hour cutoff. It's a amazing how these new 100 mile runs keep popping up every few weeks!
So here's the revised schedule with completed or registered for runs highlighted in yellow:
The other change is a substitution for the Potawatamie run in IL. Instead of that one we will be doing the Wild Sebastian 100 in FL on the same weekend. Wild Sebastian is a new run that just showed up on the list of 100 mile runs maintained by Stan Jensen. This is in the middle of our busiest stretch and swaps a tough race for a flat, sandy FL run with a 32 hour cutoff. It's a amazing how these new 100 mile runs keep popping up every few weeks!
So here's the revised schedule with completed or registered for runs highlighted in yellow:
| Jan 7 | |
| Jan 14 | Hurt - HI (Liz only) |
| Jan 21 | Long Haul - FL |
| Jan 28 | |
| Feb 4 | Rocky Raccoon - TX |
| Feb 11 | |
| Feb 18 | Iron Horse - FL |
| Feb 25 | LOST 118 - FL (Liz only) |
| Mar 3 | Doubletop - GA |
| Mar 10 | Graveyard - NC |
| Mar 17 | |
| Mar 24 | NJ Ultra Festival - NJ |
| Mar 31 | Umstead - NC |
| Apr 7 | Philly - PA |
| Apr 14 | Wild Sebastian - FL **sched. change** |
| Apr 21 | Labor of Love - NV |
| Apr 28 | Salt Flats - UT |
| May 5 | |
| May 12 | Zion - UT |
| May 19 | Keys - FL |
| May 26 | Nanny Goat - CA |
| Jun 2 | Old Dominion - VA |
| Jun 9 | |
| Jun 16 | Big Horn - WY |
| Jun 23 | Black Hills - SD |
| Jun 30 | |
| Jul 7 | |
| Jul 14 | Hardrock - CO |
| Jul 21 | Vermont - VT |
| Jul 28 | Burning River - OH |
| Aug 4 | |
| Aug 11 | |
| Aug 18 | Leadville - CO |
| Aug 25 | Lean Horse - SD |
| Sep 1 | |
| Sep 8 | Pine Creek - PA |
| Sep 15 | Mark Twain - MO |
| Sep 22 | |
| Sep 29 | GA Jewel - GA |
| Oct 6 | Arkansas Traveler – AR |
| Oct 13 | Heartland – KS |
| Oct 20 | |
| Oct 27 | Javalina – AZ |
| Nov 3 | Ozark – MO |
| Nov 10 | |
| Nov 17 | |
| Nov 24 | |
| Dec 1 | Cajun Coyote |
| Dec 8 | Bartram? |
| Dec 15 | |
| Dec 22 | |
| Dec 29 | |
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