Summary
Race day went about as well as I could have asked for. Chilly temps in the high 20s started and
ended the race, but in between it was optimal weather with sunny skies and
temps in the high 40s. It was about 5
degrees cooler on the river. The course
was leaf covered so I had a swishing sound accompany every step, but luckily
there weren’t constant rocks and roots underfoot like the typical PA terrain
I’m accustomed to and only one stream crossing.
The trails were mostly dry, so it was a great setup for my feet! Overall, I would describe the course as
runnable with rolling hills and a couple bigger climbs. I fell only once snagging my toe on a rock
and doing a superman to the ground. No
lasting injuries.
We had scoped out the aid stations on Friday, so it was good
to have familiarity of them on race day.
At the race preview the RD showed us handcrafted mugs for the top 10
women and nice prizes for the top 3 men and women. That mug was strangely motivating for me! I had prepped my crew to get me in
and out as fast as possible and planned for 5-10 minutes at each stop,
anticipating that there would be a couple longer stops later in the race. My daughter Mary is strict so I knew she
would keep them on point!
1st Quarter - I ran under an 11-minute
average pace through mile 27 and was feeling great energy levels and my normal
right leg pain in my hip/glute that I feel when running fast (for me). I was with my friend Matt that I had ran with
at Worlds End and we chatted and kept each other company most of the way. We both admitted afterwards that we ran
faster than planned but were happy to have some time in the bank from easy flat
miles. The scenery was incredible,
including a sunrise from the ridge overlooking the mist on the river.
2nd Quarter - Through miles 50 the course
started climbing a bit more and there was a 10 and 11 mile stretch without aid
stations, which felt long. I slowed to
about a 13:30 min pace and felt some fatigue, but at this point was still well
ahead of my A goal of finishing in 22 hours.
The one mile out to the overlook of Fayette bridge was crowded with
tourists, but worth it for the view. I
took a wrong turn before the Fayette aid station into a parking lot, but
luckily it was less than a mile detour. Caleb,
the race leader was coming out of Fayette AS and he told me he did the same
thing last year. After a quick
turnaround at Fayette aid station on the way to the mid-point at Ansted AS I
saw the 1st place woman Holly run by looking very smooth and the 2nd
place woman Whitney was less than an hour ahead at this point, and also looking
strong. I powered through doing allot of
baby steps on the uphill miles 49 and 50 and felt proud of myself for it!
3rd Quarter – The course is a lollipop so
after mile 50 we were backtracking. Adam
and I ran 7 miles back to Fayette aid station where we saw crew again. During that run he was pushing me and at one
point I waited for him when he took a photo and he yelled at me to never wait
for a pacer! It was still warm and light
out at Fayette which was mile 57. I
wasn’t thinking far enough ahead to remember that I wouldn’t see crew again for
another 22 miles. I got my headlamp and
Houdini jacket, but in hindsight shouldn’t taken another layer, gloves, and
poles. Adam and I took off for the most
extended climb of the race, which was about 1k in 2 miles, but about half of
that on the road. We baby stepped uphill
a good bit, turned on headlamps, and were efficient at the Long Point AS. I had
a semi frozen rice crispy treat and was surprising because I didn’t feel
cold. I’m not sure exactly when, but somewhere
after Long Point I ended up dropping Adam.
The course was rolling at this point, and I was still
cruising come into the very fun Christmas themed Arrowhead AS at mile 71 where
I had a delightful warm cookie. I spent
a little too much time here and it was tough to get going again because I was
feeling stiff and stopping made me notice the cold – especially my
hands. At mile 73 or 74 my right knee
became very painful. There wasn’t a pop
or anything like that, so I knew it wasn’t an acute injury, but it was clear to
me that it was significant. I tried to
run/walk but saw that my hike was as efficient as my run with less pain. I kept trying to run occasionally in hopes
the pain would pass because it was primarily downhill the next 6 miles to
Cunard and I still felt great otherwise.
I hiked the majority to Cunard and went directly to the
bathroom instead of checking in with my crew.
The bathroom had a heavy metal door and I ended up getting locked in for at least 10 minutes! This was the low of the race
because I was yelling for help and kept thinking – I can’t believe I’m going to
lose this race because I’m stuck in the bathroom. In frustration I kicked the door and it swing
open – thank you sweet lord. I met my crew,
and it was a cluster because they saw Adam who had hitched a ride from Arrowhead and
appeared without me so they were worried about me. The kids were looking tired. I changed into warm clothes (which took a
long time), got some pain meds, applied Voltaren, and warned Tara that I was
hiking.
Last Quarter – The course was familiar from here and
I knew there would be a long flat section.
We really power hiked. Tara was
primarily doing a jog while I was hiking, and we averaged under a 15 min pace. We were back on the river, so it was pretty
cold, but we were bundled up and ok. I
had the 4th pace woman and finishing under 24 hours on my mind. The next section was a good bit of climbing
and this was my slowest section of the race.
Tara was keeping me moving and motivated though – especially when she
told me the last section was 7.5 miles instead of the 9 I had thought, and did the math to help me
feel confident that under 24 hours was going to happen. We got to Mike at the last aid station and
did a quick turnaround to get back out.
The last 7.5 miles with Mike were long and I think being
with him allowed me to have more raw emotion than I might’ve with someone else
or alone. Every little climb started to
feel like Mt. Everest which I made very clear how I felt about. I had a mini meltdown over my headlamp and
made Mike fix my hair at one point which we’re still laughing about (it was
worth it – my hair was a disaster). It
was special to have him with me after so many years of building up to this
moment. I think we were both in
disbelief the finish was so close. As we
neared the finish line, we could hear Tara and Mary cheering and Mike told me
no matter how much pain I was in I had to run across the finish line, which I
did. I ran into Mary’s arms and finished
at 5:14 AM, 23 hours and 14 minutes after we had started. My B goal was to finish under 24 hours, which
I was very happy with. Finishing this
race was one of the most satisfying feelings I’ve ever experienced.
Results
 |
| Was on pace for a finish in the 22nd hr until rt knee went bad @mi 74. Last 25 mi were ~7.1 hrs. |
 |
Placed 3rd female & got an under 24 hour buckle.
Congrats to all the finishers - especially the ladies! |
Went well
1. Nutrition - 17 spring Gels, 1 bobo bar (these
weren’t working for me), aid station food was mostly mashed potatoes, pbj,
broth and a couple chips and one delightful warm cookie. Tailwind throughout the race. Stomach felt GREAT all race and only grumbled
in the last mile.
2. Good pace - especially first 27mi. I felt faster and stronger than I
expected.
3. Mentally strong and I really enjoyed the
experience. It was really motivating to
have my family (Mike, Michael, and Mary), Tara and Adam there at aid stations
and pacing. I also had about 40 people
that were being updated via text and I really felt their support when Tara and
Mike were telling me how excited they all were for me.
4. Allot of baby steps uphill - went great and
felt like I was efficient with energy. The
baby steps were a game changer for me.
5. Hiking went well when I needed to and I’m
glad I am a strong hiker. I wish I could’ve
kept running but was very grateful I could hike.
Went
not as well
1. Forgot important items at Fayette – mi 57 aid
station which was 22 miles form the next time I would have crew and access to
my stuff.
·
Gloves - Got cold when I had to start hiking at
75 and temps dipped into 30s.
·
Poles – This was a big climbing section. Think I was ok without poles from a speed
perspective, but I wonder if I had them if I would’ve saved my right knee.
2.
Right leg
· Started with Right hip/glute in first quarter when
pace was fast. Voltaren and slowing pace
helped with that pain. Right ankle turned a few times, but never one bad
one. Became a bit sore. At mi ~73-74
Right knee (the “good one”) had sudden high levels of pain while running. This came on very fast. My right leg was
fatigued, but no pain. This was
unfortunate bc this section of course until ~mi 85 was largely downhill or
flat.
o
Tried running for short periods to see if it
would “loosen up”. Did 30-90 secs of
running. Downhill was worse. Concluded that hiking was as efficient as my
pathetic running and largely stopped trying to run.
o
Mentally this was frustrating, but I did not
allow myself to ruminate on the negative.
I told myself I had to problem solve and this is what can happen in a
long race. I made the best of it and was
VERY grateful I could still hike well.
My focus became hiking efficiently.
3.
Cunard Aid station at mile 79 was a bit messy
·
Got locked in bathroom for at least 10
minutes. I had gone there 1st
without checking in with crew so they didn’t know I was there. I eventually kicked the door in frustration,
and it opened. Many others got stuck for
longer, so I see myself as fortunate. This
was maybe the lowest point in the race at the time. I was no longer able to run and now I was
stuck. I didn’t know how far the 4th
woman was behind me and I was starting to worry about making the 24-hour time
that I really wanted to get the nice buckle.
·
I had dropped my pacer Adam around mile 64 and
he got a ride from AS 8 to Cunard. He
saw Mike and the kids before I got there, and they got super worried and were a
bit frazzled by the time I got to them. They were also getting tired. I think we wasted time debriefing on what
happened.
·
Once I got to the crew after escaping from the
bathroom, I wanted a whole new set of clothing, and this took a while for them
to get what I wanted and for me to change.
Mary mistakenly filled my water bottles w plain water instead of tailwind
and I wanted an Aleve which mike had a hard time finding. I was getting my poles which are a PIA to
open and lock and I’m really the only one who can do it consistently, but I was
tired and cold. I was stiff starting
back up again.
·
Lesson learned – I need to have my things more
organized so it’s easier for the crew.
They also were learning.
Conclusion
I’m really pleased with how my 1st 100-mile race
went. I loved the course, felt prepared,
and managed challenges as best as I could.
I learned lessons that I know will make my next race where I need a crew
more efficient. I wonder what I
could’ve done had I not had to hike so much of the last Q of the race, but I
don’t have any regrets about the decisions I made out there.
If you've run some ultra distance and want to see what you've got this just might be the race to give it a shot.
