Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Wades Big Adventure
This is always a fun race. We had a blast last year. It's always fun to do a local race on trails that you run on a regular basis. I like this race because they always give out long sleeved shirts and have great food at the finish line. I have developed somewhat of a race plan. I am going to take it easy for the most part. One of my friends just started running recently. He is going to run the 8-mile portion of the race. It will be his first official race!!!! I will be running with Clint, Patrick, Vinnie, John "Snake" Dodd, and Ultra Mike. I don't plan on running very fast. I just want to have fun and get some miles in. I will see everyone there.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Arkansas Traveler 100 Mile
October 4 & 5, 2008
Get Some!!!!!
Me, Anne Marie, Patrick, Holly and Claire crammed the car full of junk and headed out for Arkansas Friday morning. We arrived that afternoon for the weigh in/check in, mandatory meeting and the pasta dinner. After dinner we retired to the camp to sit around for a little while. That’s when Vinnie arrived and joined us at the camp. Everyone sat around the fire and talked for a while. I tried to go to sleep around 8:30 but found it hard to go to sleep. I just kept thinking holy crap what have I got myself into. Finally I was able to sleep for a little bit but my alarm for 4:30 went off pretty fast. I got up and proceeded to get dressed and make sure I had everything I would need. I ended up bringing way too much stuff with me but I didn’t have any prior experience with a race this long. Soon we were all at the starting area where I got my number and pinned it on. The next thing you know, we were on the starting line and they shouted go.
Start O Miles (6:00 am)
We took off in the dark. It was pretty cool looking back down the road and seeing the long string of lights. As we were running I saw a couple of flashes in the sky. I thought, “Was that lightning or one of those blinking towers?” Sure enough, it was lightning. I didn’t hear any thunder so I wasn’t that worried. It was just getting light when we reached the first aid station.
Brown's Creek 5.2 Miles (6:57am)
This was one of the best aid stations. They had a full breakfast complete with pancakes, and BACON!!!! I love bacon!!!! I grabbed 4 pancakes, dipped them in syrup and a handful of bacon. I need one of these aid stations on every one of my runs. Upon leaving this aid station, we continued to run. Everyone was still pretty close together. It was cool because everyone was still fresh and no one was trying to push it. These early mile went by unnoticeably fast. Next thing you know, we were approaching the next aid station.
Flatside Pinnacle 8.6 Miles (7:40 am)
I refilled my bottles, grabbed some nutter butters and started to head out when it began to sprinkle. This was a cool section of the course. It was on the Ouachita Trail. A beautiful single track trail heavily forested with rocks everywhere. Then it started to rain a little bit harder. We were under the trees so it wasn’t too bad. I continued on staying in a line of about ten people. Then we arrived back at my favorite aid station.
Brown's Creek 11.9 Miles (8:24 am)
I grabbed another handful of bacon and 3 pancakes. At this point, the rain just kept getting a little bit worse. As I was running, I started to think, “What if it rains all day? That would be terrible for my feet. I wonder if my crew can scrounge up some kind of rain coat?” We finally arrived at the first crew point.
Lake Sylvia 16.4 Miles (9:25 am)
I could hear my crew scream as I came down the hill. They were all there despite the fact that the rain was still spitting. They filled my bottle with Gatorade, asked me all kind of questions and gave out the high fives. I didn’t need anything at this point because I was feeling pretty good. Upon leaving the aid station, my crew all screamed and cheered. I started walking up a hill and eating when a guy came up beside me and asked if I heard all of that at the aid station. I said yeah that was my crew. He said no not them, the leader is already and hour ahead of us (he is a machine). The first hill was pretty long and I started to get cold because of the rain. I warmed up a good bit when I finally got to run. The rain began to slack up and I began to dry out a little as we reached the next aid station.
Pumpkin Patch 22.1 Miles (10:41 am)
I filled my bottles and ate some aid station food and continued on. In the next few sections, I was running by myself. I cranked up the IPod and got in the zone. I really don’t remember much about this except that it wasn’t raining and I was moving pretty fast. The next aid station just appeared out of nowhere.
Electronic Tower 24.4 Miles (11:10 am)
This was another uneventful section. I remember my feet were pretty wet from puddles, a stream crossing and brushing against tall grass. I was still by myself when I came to a crossroads. The trails had been marked with pink flagging tape but I couldn’t see any in either direction. I took a chance and went one way. About a quarter of a mile down, I started to see little pieces of pink tape scattered on the trail. Someone had taken down a flag and ripped it up into little pieces. Who does that?
Rocky Gap 28.6 Miles (11:59 am)
Although this section was only a little over three miles, it was slow going because of rocks and erosion. The rain from earlier in the day, made me a little cautious. I didn’t want to end my day early because of a fall. I was still a little ahead of my schedule. I wanted to finish in less than 24 hours. At this point, I was still somewhere near 22 hour pace. Next thing you know, I had arrived at the next aid station, which happened to be a crew point as well.
Lake Winona 31.9 Miles (12:42 pm)
Once again I came in to cheers from the crew. With the combination of race day magic and my training I was still feeling great. At this point, I changed my socks to keep my feet in good shape. My crew filled up my bottles; made sure I ate and asked me a slew of questions. Vinnie asked me how I felt and I told him, “Like I just ran a 50K.” Ha-ha. I was good at thinking of stuff I needed from the crew while I was on the trail. But when I got to the crew points I didn’t remember anything because of all the excitement. After a quick stop, I was back on the trail. I ran on to the next aid station without much fanfare.
Pigtrail 36.5 Miles (1:42 pm)
This section of trail was by far the roughest section. It was literally a pig trail. It was only a little over three miles but it took a good bit of time to complete. At this point I was still feeling pretty good. I cruised into the next aid station.
Club Flamingo 39.4 Miles (2:23 pm)
The Warthog’s ran this aid station. They are a Memphis running group. It was by far the most festive of the aid stations. There were hula girls and tikki torches. Although the tikki torches were not lit yet, I knew they would be a welcome site when I returned in the middle of the night. I saw all of the Memphians hanging out and supporting the runners. After chatting, eating and refilling my bottles, I started running again. This section was mostly downhill and was fast. I made it to the Smith mountain aid station in no time.
Smith Mountain 42.6 Miles (2:57 pm)
I started to get bad indigestion from all of the Gatorade I had been drinking and started mixing in some water. I also started eating a Tums every hour when I took my electrolyte pills. The miles started running together at this point. I was starting to glaze over a little, which is fairly normal. I was beginning to get slightly sore.
B.M. Road 46.1 Miles (3:52 pm)
I have no idea what happened anywhere in this area. I have no recollection. I guess I just rang like normal. As I approached the next aid station, there was a car stuck across the road. It was on a hill and couldn’t get enough traction to go. I ran around it and was looking forward to seeing the crew again.
Powerline 48.2 Miles (4:17 pm)
The first order of business was to weigh in. This was the first weigh in of the race. I started at 133lbs. I stepped on the scale and I was a little bit worried but I had gained 2lbs. I was up to 135lbs. My next order of business was to find the crew because I wanted to change my shoes. They were wet and my feet were beginning to feel sore every time I stepped. I could feel all of the rocks under my feet. To my dismay, my crew was nowhere to be found. I grabbed some food and drink and continued on to the next stop. I couldn’t help but wonder where the crew was. I figured that maybe they had a flat tire or something. Anyway, somewhere in the middle of this section I crossed over into uncharted territory. I had previously only run 50 miles. On another note, this is where the leader passed me going back the other direction. I think he was about 20 miles ahead of me. Soon I was at the next checkpoint.
Copperhead Road 52.1 Miles (5:14 pm)
When I arrived at Copperhead Road, I met up with Vinnie. Although he did not have my shoes, he was ready to run. He explained to me that the 20-mile trip from the campsite had taken over an hour to get too. Apparently, they missed me by 10 minutes at Powerline and then rushed to Copperhead to catch me. Holly, Claire & Anne Marie had booked it back to the campsite to pick up Patrick who was resting up for the run through the night. Vinnie told me all about Holly’s Nascar skills on the gravel roads. He said everyone was white knuckled the whole way there. Sounds like an adventure to me. Vinnie and I covered the miles pretty quickly or it seemed like it anyway. It was nice to run with someone that I knew. It started to get dark and all I could think about was the shoes that would be waiting on me at Copperhead Road. We chatted until we reached the Turnaround aid station.
Turnaround 57.9 Miles (?)
We ran with several different people throughout this section. I was telling Vinnie about all of them as we passed going the other direction. Its amazing what you learn about people when you run with them. I know more about some runners that I know about some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. After swapping stories with the people all day, I couldn’t remember who I had told what story to. My brain was not as sharp as it should have been. I tend to start getting quiet when I get tired but Vinnie kept me talking and alive all the way back to the crew at Copperhead Road.
Copperhead Road 63.7 Miles (?)
When we ran into Copperhead the crew was sitting on the ground eating off of the camp stove. At this point, I was glad to see my Brooks Axiom road shoes sitting there. For the first time since 5:45 that morning I sat down in a chair. I changed out my shoes and socks, loaded up both of my bottles and ate some food. Vinnie and I headed out to the Powerline aid station. It felt like I had new feet with my fresh shoes on. We continued on in the dark. I had forgotten to do the split times on my watch for the last several aid stations. I think it was all the excitement of Vinnie running with me. It was fun to see the lights of the upcoming aid stations through the dark woods.
Powerline 67.7 Miles (?)
As Vinnie and came up to Powerline, I could hear Holly say there they are. They could tell it was me by the obnoxious flash light. I bought it off of Zombie Runner. It has changed the world of night running for me. Anyway, I had fun running with Vinnie. We killed about 16 miles or so before I even realized it. At this aid station I think I might have been a little out of it. I didn’t really have much to say and my legs, shoulders and feet hurt pretty badly. I think Anne Marie was the most worried. Anyway, this is where I picked up Patrick for the rest of the run. We were off into the darkness in no time. All of these miles just kinda went by without notice. It was like I was in a hazy dream. Once again, I had forgotten to reset my watch. We ran on with a guy from Arizona. He didn’t have a pacer and was looking for people to talk to since the night was in full effect. We reached the next aid station I what seemed like a long time.
B.M. Road 69.7 Miles (9:04 pm)
I have no idea what I did here, but I did remember to do the split on my watch. This section was over Smith Mountain. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. However, it did take a long time to make it over. Once the night fell, it took a lot longer to make it from point to point.
Smith Mountain 73.2 Miles (10:44 pm)
It was always exciting to see the aid station lights in the darkness. It was like an oasis in the desert. We all stocked up here and went on down the road. Somewhere in this section, we got passed by a girl from Canada and the guy from Arizona took off with her. That left Patrick and me all by ourselves. We continued on down the trail until we came up on the tikki torches that would lead us to Club Flamingo.
Club Flamingo 76.4 Miles (11:27 pm)
We cruised in and saw the Memphians who were still awake or not pacing someone. Leigh Tanner greeted us and made sure we had everything we needed. When we left the next few aid stations, we were concentrating on the distance to the next stop. It seemed like it was taking us forever to make it just a few miles. I just kept saying to Patrick, this is retarded. My shoulders were hurting from running all day. A few times we stopped and Patrick would give me a massage on the trail. He also carried my water bottle for a little while. Thanks!!! This was the pig trail section of the course. I think this was the hardest part of the race. There were rocks all over that were about football size and erosion ruts all through the trail. It seemed like all of the up hills were never ending. As you can see from the time, it took almost an hour to go about three miles.
Pigtrail 79.3 Miles (12:17 am)
Once we reached this aid station, we knew we would get to see the crew pretty soon. The only thing I remember of note here is that I started to get really tired. Every time we would start up running again, I would let out a grunt or moan for about 15 yards. I just wanted to finish.
Lake Winona 83.9 Miles (1:29 am)
Lake Winona was great. We showed up and the crew was there to cheer us on. They weighed me for the last time of the race and I was up 4lbs. I was in a trance at this point and probably scared the non-runners in my crew. The look on Anne Marie was like, “Holy crap are you ok?” I was okay but still in a haze. They people working the aid station told me that I was know the youngest person left in the race. That was exciting. It gave me a little boost as we left. This section was pretty crazy. We were running side by side when Patrick jumped over something in the trail. It was a Copperhead. He was just hanging out in the middle of the trail. My foot must have passed his head by inches and I never saw him until Patrick jumped and we turned around to check it out. That probably would have ended the race for me.
Rocky Gap 87.2 Miles (2:28 am)
This section of course was pretty crazy too. It last forever. I started to see things here. It thought I saw a huge metal tower in front of us, which turned out to be a bunch of pine trees. I kept seeing a road running across the trail in front of us and at one point I saw a person who was not there. Hallucinate much? I started to fall asleep while we were running. I could not hold my eyes open anymore. I knew I was close to finishing but it seemed so far away. We found a runner from Memphis on this section of the trail. His light was not working properly so we all ran together for the rest of the race. He probably thinks I am crazy because I was in rare form when we met. I was literally half asleep. I tried several times to put one hand on Patrick’s shoulder and catch a nap while we were running. It didn’t work very well. David said something about getting some coffee and I could not wait until the next aid station.
Electronic Tower 91.4 Miles (3:47 am)
When we were coming up to the aid station, Patrick was screaming our order for coffee before we even reached the workers. I sat down in a chair and was slipping in and out of dreamland when a lady handed me the coffee. It was hot. I drank about half of it before we left. We were now in single digits. I got an amazing rush from the coffee and started to run faster. I actually left Patrick and David behind and had to wait on them to catch up. Next thing you know, we made it to the Pumpkin Patch.
Pumpkin Patch 93.7 Miles (4:27 am)
I drank Coke. Score!!! Just a little over a 10K to go. The last section of the race was on a well-maintained road and we just kept waiting on it to appear. Finally, lights appeared in the distance. It was the road. We asked the how far we were and Patrick did some math. 22 minute left before 24 hours is up and 2.5 miles to go. I looked at him and said lets go for it. We started to run at a ridiculous pace. I should have done a split time on my watch to calculate the pace. We left David on the road. I don’t think he minded. I told Patrick I wouldn’t be sad if we tried to make it in under 24 hours and didn’t but if we just walked it in and didn’t make I would regret it. The only talk was “This is crazy!!!” and “I can’t believe I running this fast!!!” We were moving. We knew there was a big hill about a quarter mile from the finish. We got to it and continued to run. We stopped for about 5 seconds and walked then ran then stopped for another couple seconds then Patrick said, “There it is, I see the finish!!!” Adrenaline anyone?!!!! I turned on the turbo and started leaving Patrick. He said, ”I’m coming, I’m coming” and caught up. We ran down the hill at a full sprint and crossed the line with 1 minute and 45 seconds to spare and the crew going nuts. It was amazing. I was so happy to be finished and could not believe that I actually did it. I still don’t believe it.
FINISH 100 Miles (5:58 am)
I ended up finishing 27th overall the youngest finisher and won my age group. Overall, it was a great experience. I have to thank my crew, Claire, Holly, Anne Marie, Vinnie & Patrick, for all of their help throughout the longest day of my life. I could not have done it without them. I look forward to doing this again.
October 4 & 5, 2008
Get Some!!!!!
Me, Anne Marie, Patrick, Holly and Claire crammed the car full of junk and headed out for Arkansas Friday morning. We arrived that afternoon for the weigh in/check in, mandatory meeting and the pasta dinner. After dinner we retired to the camp to sit around for a little while. That’s when Vinnie arrived and joined us at the camp. Everyone sat around the fire and talked for a while. I tried to go to sleep around 8:30 but found it hard to go to sleep. I just kept thinking holy crap what have I got myself into. Finally I was able to sleep for a little bit but my alarm for 4:30 went off pretty fast. I got up and proceeded to get dressed and make sure I had everything I would need. I ended up bringing way too much stuff with me but I didn’t have any prior experience with a race this long. Soon we were all at the starting area where I got my number and pinned it on. The next thing you know, we were on the starting line and they shouted go.
Start O Miles (6:00 am)
We took off in the dark. It was pretty cool looking back down the road and seeing the long string of lights. As we were running I saw a couple of flashes in the sky. I thought, “Was that lightning or one of those blinking towers?” Sure enough, it was lightning. I didn’t hear any thunder so I wasn’t that worried. It was just getting light when we reached the first aid station.
Brown's Creek 5.2 Miles (6:57am)
This was one of the best aid stations. They had a full breakfast complete with pancakes, and BACON!!!! I love bacon!!!! I grabbed 4 pancakes, dipped them in syrup and a handful of bacon. I need one of these aid stations on every one of my runs. Upon leaving this aid station, we continued to run. Everyone was still pretty close together. It was cool because everyone was still fresh and no one was trying to push it. These early mile went by unnoticeably fast. Next thing you know, we were approaching the next aid station.
Flatside Pinnacle 8.6 Miles (7:40 am)
I refilled my bottles, grabbed some nutter butters and started to head out when it began to sprinkle. This was a cool section of the course. It was on the Ouachita Trail. A beautiful single track trail heavily forested with rocks everywhere. Then it started to rain a little bit harder. We were under the trees so it wasn’t too bad. I continued on staying in a line of about ten people. Then we arrived back at my favorite aid station.
Brown's Creek 11.9 Miles (8:24 am)
I grabbed another handful of bacon and 3 pancakes. At this point, the rain just kept getting a little bit worse. As I was running, I started to think, “What if it rains all day? That would be terrible for my feet. I wonder if my crew can scrounge up some kind of rain coat?” We finally arrived at the first crew point.
Lake Sylvia 16.4 Miles (9:25 am)
I could hear my crew scream as I came down the hill. They were all there despite the fact that the rain was still spitting. They filled my bottle with Gatorade, asked me all kind of questions and gave out the high fives. I didn’t need anything at this point because I was feeling pretty good. Upon leaving the aid station, my crew all screamed and cheered. I started walking up a hill and eating when a guy came up beside me and asked if I heard all of that at the aid station. I said yeah that was my crew. He said no not them, the leader is already and hour ahead of us (he is a machine). The first hill was pretty long and I started to get cold because of the rain. I warmed up a good bit when I finally got to run. The rain began to slack up and I began to dry out a little as we reached the next aid station.
Pumpkin Patch 22.1 Miles (10:41 am)
I filled my bottles and ate some aid station food and continued on. In the next few sections, I was running by myself. I cranked up the IPod and got in the zone. I really don’t remember much about this except that it wasn’t raining and I was moving pretty fast. The next aid station just appeared out of nowhere.
Electronic Tower 24.4 Miles (11:10 am)
This was another uneventful section. I remember my feet were pretty wet from puddles, a stream crossing and brushing against tall grass. I was still by myself when I came to a crossroads. The trails had been marked with pink flagging tape but I couldn’t see any in either direction. I took a chance and went one way. About a quarter of a mile down, I started to see little pieces of pink tape scattered on the trail. Someone had taken down a flag and ripped it up into little pieces. Who does that?
Rocky Gap 28.6 Miles (11:59 am)
Although this section was only a little over three miles, it was slow going because of rocks and erosion. The rain from earlier in the day, made me a little cautious. I didn’t want to end my day early because of a fall. I was still a little ahead of my schedule. I wanted to finish in less than 24 hours. At this point, I was still somewhere near 22 hour pace. Next thing you know, I had arrived at the next aid station, which happened to be a crew point as well.
Lake Winona 31.9 Miles (12:42 pm)
Once again I came in to cheers from the crew. With the combination of race day magic and my training I was still feeling great. At this point, I changed my socks to keep my feet in good shape. My crew filled up my bottles; made sure I ate and asked me a slew of questions. Vinnie asked me how I felt and I told him, “Like I just ran a 50K.” Ha-ha. I was good at thinking of stuff I needed from the crew while I was on the trail. But when I got to the crew points I didn’t remember anything because of all the excitement. After a quick stop, I was back on the trail. I ran on to the next aid station without much fanfare.
Pigtrail 36.5 Miles (1:42 pm)
This section of trail was by far the roughest section. It was literally a pig trail. It was only a little over three miles but it took a good bit of time to complete. At this point I was still feeling pretty good. I cruised into the next aid station.
Club Flamingo 39.4 Miles (2:23 pm)
The Warthog’s ran this aid station. They are a Memphis running group. It was by far the most festive of the aid stations. There were hula girls and tikki torches. Although the tikki torches were not lit yet, I knew they would be a welcome site when I returned in the middle of the night. I saw all of the Memphians hanging out and supporting the runners. After chatting, eating and refilling my bottles, I started running again. This section was mostly downhill and was fast. I made it to the Smith mountain aid station in no time.
Smith Mountain 42.6 Miles (2:57 pm)
I started to get bad indigestion from all of the Gatorade I had been drinking and started mixing in some water. I also started eating a Tums every hour when I took my electrolyte pills. The miles started running together at this point. I was starting to glaze over a little, which is fairly normal. I was beginning to get slightly sore.
B.M. Road 46.1 Miles (3:52 pm)
I have no idea what happened anywhere in this area. I have no recollection. I guess I just rang like normal. As I approached the next aid station, there was a car stuck across the road. It was on a hill and couldn’t get enough traction to go. I ran around it and was looking forward to seeing the crew again.
Powerline 48.2 Miles (4:17 pm)
The first order of business was to weigh in. This was the first weigh in of the race. I started at 133lbs. I stepped on the scale and I was a little bit worried but I had gained 2lbs. I was up to 135lbs. My next order of business was to find the crew because I wanted to change my shoes. They were wet and my feet were beginning to feel sore every time I stepped. I could feel all of the rocks under my feet. To my dismay, my crew was nowhere to be found. I grabbed some food and drink and continued on to the next stop. I couldn’t help but wonder where the crew was. I figured that maybe they had a flat tire or something. Anyway, somewhere in the middle of this section I crossed over into uncharted territory. I had previously only run 50 miles. On another note, this is where the leader passed me going back the other direction. I think he was about 20 miles ahead of me. Soon I was at the next checkpoint.
Copperhead Road 52.1 Miles (5:14 pm)
When I arrived at Copperhead Road, I met up with Vinnie. Although he did not have my shoes, he was ready to run. He explained to me that the 20-mile trip from the campsite had taken over an hour to get too. Apparently, they missed me by 10 minutes at Powerline and then rushed to Copperhead to catch me. Holly, Claire & Anne Marie had booked it back to the campsite to pick up Patrick who was resting up for the run through the night. Vinnie told me all about Holly’s Nascar skills on the gravel roads. He said everyone was white knuckled the whole way there. Sounds like an adventure to me. Vinnie and I covered the miles pretty quickly or it seemed like it anyway. It was nice to run with someone that I knew. It started to get dark and all I could think about was the shoes that would be waiting on me at Copperhead Road. We chatted until we reached the Turnaround aid station.
Turnaround 57.9 Miles (?)
We ran with several different people throughout this section. I was telling Vinnie about all of them as we passed going the other direction. Its amazing what you learn about people when you run with them. I know more about some runners that I know about some of my cousins, aunts, and uncles. After swapping stories with the people all day, I couldn’t remember who I had told what story to. My brain was not as sharp as it should have been. I tend to start getting quiet when I get tired but Vinnie kept me talking and alive all the way back to the crew at Copperhead Road.
Copperhead Road 63.7 Miles (?)
When we ran into Copperhead the crew was sitting on the ground eating off of the camp stove. At this point, I was glad to see my Brooks Axiom road shoes sitting there. For the first time since 5:45 that morning I sat down in a chair. I changed out my shoes and socks, loaded up both of my bottles and ate some food. Vinnie and I headed out to the Powerline aid station. It felt like I had new feet with my fresh shoes on. We continued on in the dark. I had forgotten to do the split times on my watch for the last several aid stations. I think it was all the excitement of Vinnie running with me. It was fun to see the lights of the upcoming aid stations through the dark woods.
Powerline 67.7 Miles (?)
As Vinnie and came up to Powerline, I could hear Holly say there they are. They could tell it was me by the obnoxious flash light. I bought it off of Zombie Runner. It has changed the world of night running for me. Anyway, I had fun running with Vinnie. We killed about 16 miles or so before I even realized it. At this aid station I think I might have been a little out of it. I didn’t really have much to say and my legs, shoulders and feet hurt pretty badly. I think Anne Marie was the most worried. Anyway, this is where I picked up Patrick for the rest of the run. We were off into the darkness in no time. All of these miles just kinda went by without notice. It was like I was in a hazy dream. Once again, I had forgotten to reset my watch. We ran on with a guy from Arizona. He didn’t have a pacer and was looking for people to talk to since the night was in full effect. We reached the next aid station I what seemed like a long time.
B.M. Road 69.7 Miles (9:04 pm)
I have no idea what I did here, but I did remember to do the split on my watch. This section was over Smith Mountain. It wasn’t as bad as it sounds. However, it did take a long time to make it over. Once the night fell, it took a lot longer to make it from point to point.
Smith Mountain 73.2 Miles (10:44 pm)
It was always exciting to see the aid station lights in the darkness. It was like an oasis in the desert. We all stocked up here and went on down the road. Somewhere in this section, we got passed by a girl from Canada and the guy from Arizona took off with her. That left Patrick and me all by ourselves. We continued on down the trail until we came up on the tikki torches that would lead us to Club Flamingo.
Club Flamingo 76.4 Miles (11:27 pm)
We cruised in and saw the Memphians who were still awake or not pacing someone. Leigh Tanner greeted us and made sure we had everything we needed. When we left the next few aid stations, we were concentrating on the distance to the next stop. It seemed like it was taking us forever to make it just a few miles. I just kept saying to Patrick, this is retarded. My shoulders were hurting from running all day. A few times we stopped and Patrick would give me a massage on the trail. He also carried my water bottle for a little while. Thanks!!! This was the pig trail section of the course. I think this was the hardest part of the race. There were rocks all over that were about football size and erosion ruts all through the trail. It seemed like all of the up hills were never ending. As you can see from the time, it took almost an hour to go about three miles.
Pigtrail 79.3 Miles (12:17 am)
Once we reached this aid station, we knew we would get to see the crew pretty soon. The only thing I remember of note here is that I started to get really tired. Every time we would start up running again, I would let out a grunt or moan for about 15 yards. I just wanted to finish.
Lake Winona 83.9 Miles (1:29 am)
Lake Winona was great. We showed up and the crew was there to cheer us on. They weighed me for the last time of the race and I was up 4lbs. I was in a trance at this point and probably scared the non-runners in my crew. The look on Anne Marie was like, “Holy crap are you ok?” I was okay but still in a haze. They people working the aid station told me that I was know the youngest person left in the race. That was exciting. It gave me a little boost as we left. This section was pretty crazy. We were running side by side when Patrick jumped over something in the trail. It was a Copperhead. He was just hanging out in the middle of the trail. My foot must have passed his head by inches and I never saw him until Patrick jumped and we turned around to check it out. That probably would have ended the race for me.
Rocky Gap 87.2 Miles (2:28 am)
This section of course was pretty crazy too. It last forever. I started to see things here. It thought I saw a huge metal tower in front of us, which turned out to be a bunch of pine trees. I kept seeing a road running across the trail in front of us and at one point I saw a person who was not there. Hallucinate much? I started to fall asleep while we were running. I could not hold my eyes open anymore. I knew I was close to finishing but it seemed so far away. We found a runner from Memphis on this section of the trail. His light was not working properly so we all ran together for the rest of the race. He probably thinks I am crazy because I was in rare form when we met. I was literally half asleep. I tried several times to put one hand on Patrick’s shoulder and catch a nap while we were running. It didn’t work very well. David said something about getting some coffee and I could not wait until the next aid station.
Electronic Tower 91.4 Miles (3:47 am)
When we were coming up to the aid station, Patrick was screaming our order for coffee before we even reached the workers. I sat down in a chair and was slipping in and out of dreamland when a lady handed me the coffee. It was hot. I drank about half of it before we left. We were now in single digits. I got an amazing rush from the coffee and started to run faster. I actually left Patrick and David behind and had to wait on them to catch up. Next thing you know, we made it to the Pumpkin Patch.
Pumpkin Patch 93.7 Miles (4:27 am)
I drank Coke. Score!!! Just a little over a 10K to go. The last section of the race was on a well-maintained road and we just kept waiting on it to appear. Finally, lights appeared in the distance. It was the road. We asked the how far we were and Patrick did some math. 22 minute left before 24 hours is up and 2.5 miles to go. I looked at him and said lets go for it. We started to run at a ridiculous pace. I should have done a split time on my watch to calculate the pace. We left David on the road. I don’t think he minded. I told Patrick I wouldn’t be sad if we tried to make it in under 24 hours and didn’t but if we just walked it in and didn’t make I would regret it. The only talk was “This is crazy!!!” and “I can’t believe I running this fast!!!” We were moving. We knew there was a big hill about a quarter mile from the finish. We got to it and continued to run. We stopped for about 5 seconds and walked then ran then stopped for another couple seconds then Patrick said, “There it is, I see the finish!!!” Adrenaline anyone?!!!! I turned on the turbo and started leaving Patrick. He said, ”I’m coming, I’m coming” and caught up. We ran down the hill at a full sprint and crossed the line with 1 minute and 45 seconds to spare and the crew going nuts. It was amazing. I was so happy to be finished and could not believe that I actually did it. I still don’t believe it.
FINISH 100 Miles (5:58 am)
I ended up finishing 27th overall the youngest finisher and won my age group. Overall, it was a great experience. I have to thank my crew, Claire, Holly, Anne Marie, Vinnie & Patrick, for all of their help throughout the longest day of my life. I could not have done it without them. I look forward to doing this again.
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