Here is a page with alot of extras like Winter/Summer Descriptions from the website, Statistics of the previous races gathered by me and some links to great Race Reports...
I guess the beginning of the why is the what. This is a 100 mile race that is NOT for beginners. Sure it's flat. Sure it's straight forward and by that I mean that there are no turns at all. You go out for 12.5 and come back for 12.5. Do that 4 times and you got a 100. Easy right? Nope...The race is in the winter, right by the water. You have no protection at all from the elements. It gets cold. Real cold. Last few years they were "blessed" with storms during the race. People running on a few inches of snow and potentially in the snow. I read a race report of a woman trying and ultimatly succeeding. There's a picture of her in a swirl of snow. She picked up a stick and used it to try to fight the elements. Crazy.
Small tangent: Why is each way 12.5 miles? Because a Beast of Burden towing something on the canal could only go 12.5 miles in a day. We will do 8 of those segments.
So...Again, it gets real cold and real bad. Comprende? So, why in HELL would I do this? I'm not a Masochist tho you could say all Ultrarunners are... Well, you see, the Beast of Burden race or BOB as it is effectionaly known, has a summer race too. That one is easy, right? No snow and all that...Nope. Both races start at 10am and both don't have protection from the elements and summer BOB is notorious for being real hot.
So, winter BOB will have temps potentially in the 30's and summer BOB will have temps in the 90's. Either you freeze or you boil.
So, again... Why would I do either one? There's a real simple reason. The hardware... Anyone, all idiots I say, who does Winter BOB and Summer BOB in the same calendar year get besides the 2 buckles a 3rd buckle. The 200 mile buckle. It's calling out to me. Can you hear it? I got no choice in the matter really.
So, I already mentioned this in other Race Reports but I have unconfirmed Raynauld's Syndrome. We are in the middle of switching health insurance so I am waiting to confirm this but it won't really make a difference. The bottom line is that I suffer from the cold.I suffer real bad. Were my running buddies start cold and warm up and perhaps even take some layers off, I start cold and remain cold. I never(!) take layers off and perhaps I even wish I would have brought more and here I am doing this.
To make things cooler, anyone who signed up for both races during early registration also gets a jacket. Needless to say, I'm in...
I read about someone whose corneas started freezing until he noiced why other people weren't affected. They had snow goggles. I now have them as well.
I plan on buying more stuff and will put down here what "flat Elik" will look like but that's for later. I did that with someone and I just don't feel like re-typing it.
As I said, I don't think we will have "nice" conditions over there for the race....
This is nuts right? Assuming, you read some of the RR's and what I wrote, do you start to understand what this is? I'm not sure I understand it. I keep vacillating between "I got this (to an extent)" and "what the HELL?!?".
Hammad signed up for the 50 miler. He ran well last weekend both Saturday and Sunday and that was that.
Spoke to Julia and she mentioned that she might have a pacer for the 4th lap. Oh well. Here I was thinking or was it hoping that we would locomote/trudge together. Spoke to her (FB messenger) and she meant that we will run together and her friend Violet will pace us both. Ok... Cool.
Jeff mentioned that he is definitly coming too. Unfortunatly with NYC out of control with the Eric Garner protests, he is pulling a lot of OT so who the hell knows. At this point tho I am seriously re-thinking about the car rental. Initially, I thought rent a car for us. Now that it's not just Julia and me, we need a bigger car. Maybe it will be better to rent a car for Lee and the kids and take the minivan. Definitly makes more sense tho it's not the most fuel efficient car. Still time to think about it.
Hammad thinks we shouldn't leave before 9am Friday. Problem is that we would have to drive into Manhattan to pick up the ladies and then head West. It's a 7 hour drive. We would need to drive straight. I can't do that... I thought maybe leave the night before. Seems like the ladies would prefer Friday. We might just have to leave 5 or 6 am even tho Hammad is against it. I don't know. Not happiest about driving but on the other hand, flights could get grounded if Buffalo again has a crap load of snow dumped on it. All these crazy things and it's not even race day.
Finally took the trail shoes out of the box lastnight and changed the insoles. Also tried out the spikes. Oh boy...
Still need to think about an insulated camelback or somesuch as well as wool socks. I think those are the last 2 things I need. Actually, I also want to buy a bag for the spikes but that's not mandatory. I really do need to go through all the gear I amassed. Probably when Elizabeth and the kids are in Florida.
Not sure I am in total shape... Hopefully more running during the Christmas vacation time...
Disclaimer: Usually, I keep these reports clean. If there is a TMI situation, then I usually present a button to click to show it. I fear that this report will be full of such buttons so ... be forewarned. There's gonna be TMI here tho I will "try" to keep it clean as best I can.
During the Christmas vacation I ran. With Elizabeth and the kids in Florida, there really wasn't that much for me to do. Christmas day, Hammad and I drove to Oyster Bay and ran the 18 miler there. Friday was a rest day. Saturday did MD row for 16 and Sunday did the water route for 11. I felt good. No injuries. All systems go. Hammad also felt good about the 50 miler.
I got peer-pressured, more like convinced, more like was told about it, to both streak at least a mile a day in 2,015 and to also do 2,015 miles in 2015. Wonderful. The way I see it, they kinda complement each other. So, January 1st, I went out for a run. I wasn't sure how this would play out with BOB but figured I have done stupid things before... Why stop now?
Five days before race start was Martin Luther Day day and I took the opportunity to take stock of what I have. Opened the box with the mittens that I bought in February of 2014 and looked at all the clothes. Two days before, I went with Jessie to REI and bought another goggles and an insulated camelback, insulated bladder and an insulated hose. You would think they would all come together. As is, the camelback doesn't include straps and I thought that was stupid. Suddenly I had a lot of gear to pack. Didn't pack yet tho. I did make a list.
The decision was for Hammad to meet me at the Bellerose train station and go to Hertz to pickup the car. I needed him there because I wanted to put him on the rental. I then went home to pack. We would leave approximatly 5am on Friday, january 23rd. There were 3 of us going. I would pick up Hammad and we would together go and pick up Julia. From there make the drive to Lockport. I opted for a slightly bigger car and we got a Nissan Altima.
Everything was all good. We drove and talked and Julia shared with us that she has her period and will need frequent stops. That's ok. Stretching is good. We stopped frequently and had a great ride. Julia also explained to us what happened in her previous 2 times at Summer Beast. The first time, she got food poisioning. She was able to go a few paces and then to the side to either vomit or to have diarrhea. She made it to mile 75 before she DNFed. The second time she went way too fast. Her first 50 miles were at 8 hours. Wow! She managed to get to 82 or 83 and fainted. They stuck an IV into her and her friend Michelle was able to stop them from transporting her to the ER. This was her last hurrah. She only has 2 DNF's and she needs to do this. Instead of attacking Summer Bob, she decided to go for Winter Bob.
Now, I made her a promise a long time ago that if she is with me and hurting, I will carry her on my back if I need to. She will FINISH. She just has to be with me. I then asked her (in the car, in front of Hammad) if she would prefer the carrot or the stick and she said stick and I mentally prepared myself for that. It's not really my style but I would do it assuming we were together.
All was going well and then I got pulled over for speeding. Sucks. I pulled over, turned the car off, opened the window and put the keys on the roof of the car. The worst part is the trooper came to the passenger window. My PBA card is with my registration and I never got to give it to him. I explained to him that I was speeding because Julia was having her period and it's my fault. He was nice enough to reduce the speeding to 10 over the limit. Oh well. If only if he would have came to the drivers window...
Everything was still ok tho. At one point, Hammad drove and I took a 20 minute nap only to wake up to us not moving at all. Huge traffic jam. Sucks.
Meanwhile in all this, Julia is overcoming the last bit of a cold or flu and was coughing up yellow/green stuff into her napkin. I wasn't worried about myself at all as I was sick about 2 weeks prior.
Finally, we broke through and got to Lockport. Beautiful place. We drove to Michelle and Jeff's house. Julia would be staying there. They offered us a room but I didn't want to impose. I also knew that I would be going to the bathroom crazy amount of time in the morning and didn't want to disrupt. Really nice people and really nice dogs. Jake used to be the neighbors dog but when the wife died, the husband kinda gave up on him. Ginny Lu, the other dog, kept opening the door for him to come in and he eventually just stayed. He had a bowtie on cause he and Jeff were working. Jeff, at one point said that he has to get back to work and went upstairs. Jake immediatly went with him. That was their thing. Ginny Lu was a bit shy at first but then laid down on my foot. She was a big labrador and that pretty much meant I wasn't going anywhere and that I was supposed to continue to pet her.
Julia, Michelle, Hammad and I then talked a little about the race. Hammad was going to do his own thing. He had plenty of time and I wasn't worried. His previous time was 17+ hours and he had 24 to work with. I was still confused about Julia. Michelle, the awesome person that she is, didn't sign up for the 50 when she heard that Violet didn't come with us. Instead she would pace Julia. Words like that confused me. Julia kept saying "we" have pacers and that the pacers would pace "her". We were down to 1 pacer, but was Michelle for her or for us? Still, I told them my intent. My plan was to run the first 50 miles in 12 hours or so. Nice and Easy. After that things would get slow.
Hammad said our good byes and went to check in at the host hotel. Checked in and Hammad got in contact with David. Hammad was at Eastern Mountain Sports shopping a few days before the race. While he was there, he met David who lives in Long Island and was also coming down for the 100 with his girlfriend.
They were running late. We got settled in and I ate my dinner. Brought my own. Nothing new on Race day. Hammad decided to go and have dinner with them. Crazy in my opinion. I went to bed by 9:40 after a nice hot bath to relax those cramped stuck in car muscles. He went to bed by 10:30.
I did have one worrisome thing (besides the Beast...). Jeremy was supposed to take his SATs that day and they were supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow. Elizabeth was very worried about icy roads so I was worried. Made sure they were awake. At 7am, Jeremy let me know that they were on their way. At 7:30, he called me that they got there ok and were heading back home. Test was postponed due to weather. Argh... Still, they got home ok and shoveled.
Our plan was to start loading the car at 8am and leave at 8:15. Initially, we thought of checking in at race site and coming back to use indoor plumbing but last minute decided to just check out. We did and off to race site. Glad we did as parking was a little tight. We checked in and got our stuff. Hammad finds Dwight and Tiger Ellen. Awesome.
Last year at TGNY100, I met Tiger Ellen. She has done BOB the previous year and got her 200 Mile Buckle. She was pulling/pacing her boyfriend Dwight. He's a big guy and tgny was his first race ever. Never did a 5K even. Hammad couldn't believe it and was kinda freaked out about it. Did they come to run? OOPSIE...Dwight was supposed to do Winter Bob but missed registration by a day. Still, they decided to come out and volunteer. They drove 7+ hours to help out pre-race, make grilled cheese and serve soup and give massages and help to anyone who needs it for the next 30+ hours. WOW!!!
Right before we left the hotel, I got some diarrhea. Immediatly took an immodium. They actually had indoor plumbing here at the start/finish (Lockport) and I used that. Not happy about stomach. It's a long day and this could be a problem.
Heard the pre-race speech, took some pictures and again ran to the bathroom. Nothing coming out at this point except for some loud noises but that's ok. Took pressure off my stomach.
As I was leaving the Men's room, I saw that someone dropped a handwarmer on the floor and I really felt bad for the poor schlub who did it. I then checked and realized I'm the poor schlub. Not a great start.
After a lot of thinking and going back and forth, I decided to take the insulated bladder of the camelback with the insulated hose and put it in my Ultimate Direction 2.0 carrying vest. The vest would be underneath my windbreaker. This way the proximity to my body and being covered and protected by the windbreaker and because it's insulated, would help keep it ice free. Good decision but had complications that I did NOT expect. More on that later.
At check in, we also catch up to David and his Girlfriend again. I like them. I really am convinced that I have seen them before. In any case, they gave out bumper stickers that said 50 mile or 100 miler. He took a 50 miler since he didn't get one last year and also took a 100 but then told me that the 50 is going on the car right now. The 100 can't until he finishes. Good guy!
I mention all these things so that anyone who is ever interested in doing this race or any cold race could learn something but they also really do matter to the story so forgive me and have patience.
Your first aid station is Gasport. The general terrain is generally flat but there are a few rises here. You can see them. Total elevation is meaningless but still, you are going up a little. As you make your way to Gasport, the road is a little curvy but generally straight. Eventually, you bear around a curve and you will see a white house on the other side of the canal. After that, Gasport should be in your vision. Gasport is a tent right before a major street crossing and a Police Officer will be there all day and night making sure you can cross. Nice! The tent itself is tiny but packs a whallop. Crammed in there are 2 or 3 volunteers, generator, heater, heat blower (looks like a jet engine) liquids (Coke/water/gatorade) and food. Food is Pizza (cheese/peporoni), grilled cheese, boiled potatoes with salt, bars, pretzels, M&Ms, pop tarts, mini reeses pieces cups and probably other stuff too.
You check in, get what you need (rest/food/hydration/massage/pep talk/warmth), say your goodbyes and head right out. That area, by the way, right before and after the tent was extremly icy and bad. SLOW DOWN!!! You continue to the road. At this point, the cop already saw you. If he's outside, he will wish you luck and stop traffic for you. If it's the middle of the night, he probably will be in his car but he will turn his lights on and the motorists know to just stop. People there are pretty cool. Cross the road and continue on. There will be a marina on the other side and a little later you will see a pirate boad with a slide on your left. Many people take pictures here. In any case, you have 5.5 miles to "Middleport" which is the turn around.
Onward you go. Eventually you will see a bridge with a red light and a green light. It's the next bridge you care about. Before that bridge though, you will see that the slope to the canal is different. I guess I should point out that there is NO barrier or fence between you and the canal. None... Pacers should make sure that they are between their charges and the canal as the sleep deprived don't always travel in a straight line. Scary but true. An example of that later. Right before the bridge you care about, that slope down to the water is smooth. You can easily slide down and you don't want to do that. Still, it's a signal to those who care that the turn around is near. The area right near that bridge was icy. People were all freaked out about that but I realized that it's very doable. No need for spikes. Get on the bridge and cross it to the other side. Travel less than a 1/4 of the block. There will be a chair outside with a BIG arrow to a door. It's right after a laundromat. Later in the race, I actually saw some pacers or volunteers or family washing their runners clothes here. Anyway, through that door. On your right are indoor plumbing facilities and a litle further is check in. Check in and either grab food or find your drop bag. Congratulations you have done 12.5 miles or basically an 1/8 of the race.
Middleport is much bigger than Gasport. There is actually a kitchen here so there is more of a selction. Later on in the race, I actually saw they have pancakes too. People will stretch here or even take naps. Family for some of the runners are congregating here. Don't stay too long!
Once you head on out, it's basically the same course in reverse so I'll go faster here. You got 5.5 miles to Gasport. Right before that, you will see the Locks (Bridge that comes down to control the flow of water), the Marina on the left and the pirate boat on the right. Say thanks to the police officer again who will turn his lights on for you to stop traffic, cross the road and check in at Gasport. Head right out for the next 7 miles. They will be broken down to 5 miles. At that point you will be directly across from Lockport. This part is a mind game. There is a better word here for it (Mind F...) but we will keep it clean. I say it's a mind game because there's Lockport right across from you and you still have 2 miles to go. Time to count bridges. The first you go under, the next you go around and the one following is the one you need. Cross it, be careful for the metal grates and the ice on both sides. Now another curvy slippery mile and you are at Lockport. You have just finished 25 miles or 1/4 of the race.
Lockport has again pizza/grilled cheese/pretzels/M&Ms,Reeces etc but also Chicken Broth and Veggie Broth. Later they also cooked Bacon and eggs. Some people swear by bacon. Not for me but worth mentioning. Oh forgot to mention "carbs". You thought I already mentioned carbs right? Like when I said pizza and potatoes etc. No, I mean Beer. They have some. Again not for me but some people love "carbing" up. Whatever.
We cross over the bridge. David from GLIRC is around too. Cool. I was initially very worried. I wasn't cold but my feet were. We barely started and my feet are cold and hurting. Not good. At around 3 miles, my feet are feeling great. I'm joking around with people around me. All is good. Julia suddenly announces that she has to eat. I'm not stopping. I told her OK and for her to catch up to us. Hammad and I continue. There is a whole substory here concerning Julia and I guess I will just deal with it later. I don't want to confuse a long story with too many things here.
Hammad and I are running. It's another weekend day at Alley Pond. Just 2 guys training and joking around. No pressure. All is good. At least until I realized I screwed up. Not a small screw up but a HUGE screw up. Remember I wrote down how I was dressed and what I carried on me? Did I mention the food I took? Nope. Why? Because I forgot the food at the hotel. Damnit... I wasn't going to eat the food here. I was going to eat my own food because I know how my stomach will deal with it. I told Hammad who realized he screwed up too. Awesome. Two morons, not one!
But I had a good idea. Dwight said he would help with whatever we need... So, Hammad calls him and Dwight storms out of Lockport to our hotel. He brings the stuff and our food is at Lockport. Thanks Dwight...
We are heading East toward Gasport when I start seeing runners with bibs on going the other way. Can't be the leaders. Not going that fast and it just can't be. I asked them and it's a local running group who is doing a no pressure race. Cool.
OK - so food issue solved but now have another problem. The insulated bladder. It's not sitting right in my vest and now because of it, the left shoulder strap keeps falling off. Imagine a woman that keeps fixing her bra strap. This causes 2 things:
We get to Gasport and it takes him all of 2 seconds to fix it. Awesome. Damage was done tho. I already feel a knot in my left shoulder. Don't matter tho. Can't worry about it now. Stuff like that is for later.
I drink and take some mini reeces and we are off.
At one point, I start talking to a runner. I don't remember his name anymore. nice guy. Wish him luck.
At another point, Hammad and I see a guy peeing off to the side. Of course I just cannot help myself. It's who I am really. I immediatly scream out "It's ok. No one saw anything". To give the guy credit, he immediatly comes back with "It's ok. I'm Irish. Not a whole lot to see". I almost fell down laughing. I reply with "sheesh...Dude..." and he continues on with "I'm short and fat... I know exactly what I am capable of". Let me just say that I love this guy. We start talking. He's got 3 guys with him. He is doing the 50 miler with 2 of them. The other one is doing 25. The 25 mile guy is a first timer. I think one or maybe both of the 50 milers are new as well. We start talking as I love wiseguys and he asks my name and I introduce myself and Hammad. He immediatly says "Queens NYC, right?"... What?!? How the hell? I asked him for his name and he tells me Jim Pease. I have heard of this guy. Many runners stay at his house for this race. I think he may have been the original RD. Last Summer BOB he actually wore a Buffalo costume as it was the 10th running. He managed to last a mile or 2 in the 90+ temperature. Still, how does he know where we are from?!? Dwight and Tiger Ellen are staying at his house and they talked about me. Ha...OK.
Hammad and I see a guy running topless. What?!? Of course (again), I can't help it and I yell out "how come there are no girls running like that?"... I answer my own question with an inappropriate answer. Something about getting hit in the eye. If you figure it out, congrats...
We let them go and I stay with Hammad. At about mile 10, Hammad tells me that he is NOT feeling it and that I need to go. He doesn't want to slow me down. OK. I leave and bridge up to Jim and his crew. I pass and continue into Middleport.
Side note: I really like our bib numbers. Julia was 123 (as easy as that...). I was 120 (may you live to 120...). Hammad was 88 (double the infinity sign which is verical instead of horizontal...).
I drink and not sure what I should do. I decide that I need to eat a little. I grab some potatoes and a grill cheese. I know this has worked in the past. There is indoor plumbing here and at Lockport and plenty of bushes in between if I get into trouble. I leave.
Over the bridge and onto the icy path. Onwards and I leave the area with the real smooth decline to the water. I catch up to a new friend, Katie Solina. She is doing the 25 mile option as she is going into basic training the next day or thereabout. I can't remember which. I think she said Coast Guard but the point is, basic training and getting deployed. Cool. On a side note, she is a Marathon Maniac too. Cool.
We run together a little chatting our way down the miles until Rob Scott joins us. We stay together a little until he leaves us. I bridge to him and run with him a little. Eventually he does leave me remarking that "he's sure we will see each other again.".
After a little while, I join up with Mark Norfleet. Really nice guy from Michigan. He is wearing the hat they gave last year. I really wanted one of those and I tell him that I am jealous of him. What was so special? Last year, again since it was the 10th running they gave out a brown wool hat with horns and matching mittens. Not this year ;(
This guy said that if I want it, I can have the hat later and he will mail the gloves to me. What?!? Nice guy. We tun and talk and all is well. We get to the area that is right across from Lockport. We are 2 miles short of completing the first loop. We hear Metallica being played. Love it. Mark shows me the sign for some company that is right there. Another useful sign that we are almost finished with the loop. I count bridges. Under the first, around the 2nd and over the 3rd. Last mile to go in the first loop. This is doable. We are almost at the tent. Curvy, slippery tight road. Mark says "here's the hat now..." and rips it of his head. COOL!!! Still can't believe it. We go into the tent and there's a whole lot of screaming as we come in. The volunteers are awesome.
Dwight comes over to congratulate me. I go to my bag. I got buisiness there. There is no reason for me to carry my spikes with me. They are heavy enough. Problem is is that the vest is under the wind breaker. I take the windbreaker off with someones help. I take out the spikes and shove them in my bag. I look for the food that Dwight brought back for me and it's not there. Shoot. Will figure something out...One of the volunteers takes by vest and fills it with water. I drink coke and grab a slice of pizza and some reesees and some MMs. Vest back on and the windbreaker too. I look for my goggles and can't find them. It's not the most crucial thing as I have goggles in both locations but a) they suggested to take them now and b) these are the better pair. These are the ones that Avi/Christie bought for me. I'm annoyed. I almost leave but decide to look again. I know that they are here... I thought this out. I find them. I also take my headlamp and spare batteries. All these things I put in the pocket of the windbreaker. As of now, I have a baggie with wipes, goggles, headlamp and batteries in there. I also put on my new light up vest. It looks like an "X" from the front and it has flashing lights front and back. It's also a bright color that reflects. I leave.
I catch up to a Canadian female runner. We work together a little until we catch up to Jim Lampman. Jim is a pro at this. Didn't want to tell us how many 100's he did but he did mention he did all of the BOB's so far both Winter and Summer. While we run, he uses his 6'2" frame tall legs to keep up with us with a fast brisk walk. Hm... I'm ashamed to say that I didn't catch what he said but my new female friend (I think Maureen was her name) did. He has done other 100's. I think finally later he tells me that he has done about 30. OK - this guys definitly knows something here.
New plan: Pretend I'm glue and stick to his ass for as long as I possibly can. He doesn't mind. Maureen leaves and I am with him. We join up again with Rob Scott. Actually, constantly on/off with him. Cool.
In any case, I decide that Jim is "that nice guy". This guy has a water bottle in his hand and he is constantly nursing from it. It has a pocket on it and he is constantly stopping to pick up trash from the course. On his first loop, he picked up 3 ensure bottles and 2 caps. Wow! Whenever we get to an aid station, he empties that pocket out. Unbelievable. We have a lot in common and it's awesome to have someone with me. I'm worried as to how far or how long I will be able to stick to him but I'm going to do my damndest. I have read that people suggest NOT to go into the aid stations or rather make them quick. The issue is that as soon as you go in there, you start sweating. You get completly wet and then you go outside and get cold. He seems to be the only one following that advice. Comes in for the quickest of times and then eats right near the door. Cool.
We make a brief stop at Gasport. Again, I drink 2 or 3 cups of coke, pizza and Chocolate. We go. That was a fast 7 miles. It's all about having company...
We talk a lot. A lot. He explains the course to me. The course, all 4 loops, is constantly in flux. Things are the same but you see it differently as it gets darker and also colder. The going out is easy. Wind in your back. The coming back is harder. There's wind in our face.
We get to Middleport and again we check in. I keep my eyes on Jim. I don't want to lose him. I'm feeling a little chafing going on down south and ask for some Vaseline. A female volunteer rushes to help me, putting a glove on. I tell her "thanks but that my wife might not approve". She looks at me and I say "It's the only acceptable time for a guy to stick his hand down his pants in mixed company...". She doesn't even bat an eyelash. She gets it. She's done this before and tells me to "do what I gotta do". Love the volunteers. I'm ready to go. Jim isn't. He's taking a little time. That's ok. I ask someone there to help me turn my blinkers on. The reflective vest has lights in front and back. Gotta be seen...
We take off. We are officialy 1.5 loops in. Not even 1/2 way through, I know. Very sad but I'm feeling good, I have company and this is getting done. It's gotten dark by now. Apparently in previous years, Winter BOB was during a full moon but they changed the date this year and it's dark. During the full moon, headlamps were completly unneccessary. Now they are neccessary. Also, the wind picked up and it's snowing. Snowing right into our faces. Goggles on, headlamp on.
I LOVE THE GOGGLES!!! I wasn't sure how they would work out but they are awesome. First of all, no corneal freezing. Second of all, even with my muffler on, they are NOT getting fogged up. Lastly, it is so cool to see the snow, because of the headlamp, fly right at your eyes to try to blind you and having no effect. It's so surreal and yet beautiful. We go. On and Off with Rob.
I find it Ironic that my training partner and race partner in many races is Jim and here I meet another Jim.
On and off on the course, I see Julia. Trying to encourage her. I'm still thinking about her comment.
Real quick to Gasport. It's only a straight 5.5 miles. Jim hangs out a little talking to his friend. I'm itching to go but I'd rather have the company. Do I go or do I wait...? Hm... I wait and we are off.
Every so often, Jim who is constantly nursing on his bottles, stops to pee. I realize that even tho I am drinking about 3 cups at every aid station, I have not peed since the start. I'm getting a little concerned but I don't say anything.
Jim noticed tho and I tell him that I am a little concerned. Now, he starts making sure I nurse on my camelback every so often. Cool.
We get to Lockport. We are half done! Whew. My initial goal was to do the first 50 miles in about 12 hours. I did it in 12:30. That's fine.
I meet Jim's Girlfriend. She's cool and right now her name escapes me. We start again. As we were leaving, Julia makes it in. She doesn't look that great but I try to encourage her anyway. She's isn't to far away from us. She can bridge up to us quite easily. I keep an eye out for her.
Speaking of things to worry about besides the course, the race, potentially losing Jim and Julia: Hammad. Happy to report that I did see him during the course and I was able to constantly assess him. He looked ok. Cool.
On the third loop, outbound, that something to note happened. We had just left Gasport. We were between 1/2 mile to a mile away when we saw a runner ahead of us coming back. We were talking when we saw her and she did NOT look right. I told Jim we need to stop and I stopped right in front of her. I grabbed her and in a raised voice, trying to draw her attention (or to wake her up), asked if she's ok. She wasn't is the truth. What alarmed me was the way she was walking. She was drunk walking, all alone in the dark near a frozen or freezing body of water. No good. Her eyes opened fully and she told us that she needs caffeine and some sleep badly. I looked at her bib and realized that she is supposed to do the 100. I asked her if that was the case and she told me that she was but right before the start when the RD asked if anyone wants to downgrade their distance, she said Yes. She's doing the 50 and this was it for her. She just needed to get to Gasport and from there to Lockport. She didn't look good. Jim I think gave her some Chocolate and I tried to get her to wake up. The fact that she only had a small distance to Gasport helped and we sent her on her way.
Jim's girlfriend at this point was driving back and forth between Lockport and Middleport. She would park there and sleep/rest in the car. When we got to Middleport, she was in her red Prius. Awesome.
Back to the chafe: The area down south was doing ok. I did grab some more vaseline and make my joke I think at Lockport as well but right now that situation was ok. On the other hand, somewhere else was in trouble. The temps got cold and as they did, my balaclava froze. It then chafed me on the back of my neck. I knew it was bad but I didn't know how bad it was. This time, when I asked for vaseline, I sat down so the volunteer could help me out. Her reaction told me everything I needed to know. She gasped out loud. She started putting vaseline on and as she touched me I gasped. This caused her to gasp and not want to continue because "she was hurting me". I told her that "She was NOT hurting me, that she was HELPING me and that I absolutly LOVE her right now for helping me and to please just do it". She did and Jim and I got ready and left.
We continued to talk and Jim told me some really cool stories about races. The one that really stuck in my mind was a brutal race he did that consisted of 10 mile loops. I think it was a trail race and each 10 mile loop had a signifcant amount of elevation climbed. Well, he had just completed a loop and was grabbing nutrition when one of the racers came in with a very serious look in his eye. He told them all (including the RD) that he needs to talk to them about something serious. The look in his eye had them all stop. This guy was serious. He was not joking. He told them that he was being stalked the whole last loop. At this point, I figured out what it was and asked Jim if it was a mountain lion or something similar. Jim told me how wrong I was. Well, the racers immediatly all took a breath, swallowed and looked at each other. What was it they asked? He told them that the whole loop he was stalked by 3, not 1 nor 2, 3 Velociraptors. They always hunt in groups so there was one in front and 2 in the back. What saved him during this ordeal? It was his friend the Tyrannosaurus. He kept them at bay.
All the runners and RD looked at each other and didn't know what to say or do. The guy looks completly sane and yet he's talking crazy. The RD was the first to regain his faculties and immediatly asked him what's his favorite Beer. Once he found out, he made sure the guy ate 4 slices and drank 2 beers. After that, the runner went back out to run. I think the RD was nuts to do that. Who knows what damage the runner was doing to himself and of course in this day and age that's a potential lawsuit. Well, he didn't win and if I remember correctly the winner ended up with an IV and a trip to the ER. Crazy stories like that were told and shared. Ultra-runners are crazy...
Anyway, back to it. It's night. It's dark. It's cold. We are on our way back to Lockport via Gasport when we see Julia. She doesn't look great but she's with someone (COOL!!!). He doesn't appear to be a runner but she found someone so that was good. I saw David from Glirc. He wasn't smiling either. We ran into Gary and Lisa and they are cool people. We are all looking to get back to Lockport. We need to get back there by 7am. That's the magic time. That's when the sun will come up and make things better. It (hopefully) will be warmer and clearer. Also that will give us 9 hours for the last loop. That's a lot of time cushion. We are on track. We see Lockport but still have those 2 damn mind screwing miles to go.
I'm not sure what my stomach is doing at this point. It's sending signals and I wasn't sure what's up. The last slice I ate, I just could NOT finish. Turns out my stomach isn't the only one. Jim is also feeling the love of his stomach. We both need indoor plumbing and even tho there are 2 thrones, I was afraid one would be in use creating a problem so I told Jim that I am going ahead to make sure there is no issue. I get to Lockport and straight to indoor plumbing. Lots of layers and legs not happy to sit but relief is instanteous. I hear Jim lumbering in. Initially the other throne was busy but it's free for him. I make sure to get rid of all unwanted weight and tell him that I will wake up his girlfriend who we saw sleeping in her car. She was in a sleeping bag.
I wake her up and I get food. Jim comes out but he doesn't feel so great and needs more time. Tiger is gesturing for me to get the hell out. She wasn't being too subtle. Love Tiger. Love the volunteers.
The sun comes out and it's a glorious day. I haven't seen David either. There's a point when I just know. When we get to Gasport I ask and hear that Julia DNFed. I'm despondent about it. I left her messages in all the aid stations to tell her that I will go out with her on a 5th loop to get her to finish. I would have too. But it's done. Sucks.
Gary and I leave Gasport on the way to Lockport. We get there and I see Jim's girlfriend. I tell her that I saw him behind us and he's about 10 minutes away. I grab some potatoes and chocolate and what the hell is this??? Pancakes! Yummy... Down the hatch they go too.
Gary and I go. Lisa again is in the lead. Gary and I are good. We follow.
I tell him about my master plan. My grandiose plan is to finish the race, eat, shower, maybe a 20 minute nap and then to head out. Hammad and I split the drive and we get home safely and fast. If all goes great then here are the options:
We talk and again and again I tell him about Julia and how that sucks. We also talk about his races and his kids. His youngest daughter is doing a swim meet soon in Long Island. She and his youngest son also just did a small running race and listened to the old man for advice and won. Cool stuff like that.
I was really glad he was there especially when I realized something bad. Remember my grandiose plan? That was centered around Hammad and I being able to drive. Usually I have no problem driving but as I looked at the frozen canal, I had a BIG problem. The canal was frozen solid but as I looked at it, I could see the ice swirl around like a whirl pool. I closed and opened my eyes and it's still swirling. I rubbed my eyes and still swirling. I told Gary about it and that it sucks because how will I be able to drive?!? He, thank God he was there, told me that it was an optical illusion and that he sees it too. I said to him "yeah but you are also sleep deprived so that doesn't mean anything" but he told me he sees it all the time. He runs there all the time and always sees it. It's just an optical illusion. Cool.
Little after that, he told me he can't keep up the pace and that I should go and bridge to Lisa. OK - I try. I go after her but I gain a little and she goes. Sucks. I call out to her but she can not hear me. I then see that she caught up to another female. I can't tell if it's a racer or not but I think it is. That runner is acting weird tho. At one point, Lisa left her and the other runner grabbed some sticks and tried to use them as walking sticks. I call out to her but she cannot hear me either.
Jeremy calls and I talk to him a little. After that Michelle calls and I talk her for a while as well. I tell her where I am and that I found out about Julia and why didn't she call Michelle to pace her and I tell her about my chafe. She is such a nice person. I told her that I hope Lockport will have gauze pads to put on the chafe so I can shower and she tells me that she's going to the pharmacy right now to get gauze pads and some ointment to put on. Did I mention that I just met this person on Friday?!?
On I go. I catch up to that runner who I later find out is named Un Ruschell. She is NOT doing well. She tells me that she has asthma and is having trouble breathing. I ask her why she is not using her inhaler and she tells me that this is the first time ever. I guess it's exercise induced asthma and I note that she does NOT have a face mask and I'm sure that cold air is hurting her lungs. She asks me how much longer to go and I tell her 2 miles and she looks at me with uncomprehending eyes and asks again. I tell her 2 miles and she asks me again. This happened a few times and the same process repeats with her wanting to know the time. She needs help and a friend but I cannot be that friend now. Normally I would be but my feet are hurting and I just want to be done. I gotta finish but I can't leave her either. I call Hammad. I know he's at the finish. He answers and comes out and we wave to each other from across the canal. I tell him what's going on with Un and that she needs a friend but I cannot be that person. I am full of grief that I can't stay with her but I need to finish.
Hammad said he will take care of it and hangs up. I stay with her and we walk. Remember I said once you are across from Lockport that there are 3 bridges? The first you go under, the second around and the third you cross over. Well, we get to the first bridge and suddenly a guy runs over the bridge with cars around him and scrambles down the embankment. What?!? I think it's the RD and he says "Who needs the inhaler?"... Wow! I explain the situation and that I just cannot stay with her but she needs a friend and he tells "no problem. I'm with her. Go!". Wow!
I go and catch up to Lisa at the last bridge. We go together but she sends me packing and I go. Hammad is there and he escorts me the last mile to the finish. The road is curvy and icy and I don't sprint. I finish. They saw me and people came out to cheer. Awesome. I go inside the tent and Dwight rushes over to hug me. He asks if I need anything and I tell him about my big knot in my left shoulder/back due to the hydration pack. He immediatly offers his services but I tell him about the chafe too. He helps me to take some layers off and then the shakes come. I'm shaking badly. They sit me down in front of the heaters and he puts vaseline on me. He does it so gently I don't wince or jump. He also massages the knot. A volunteer comes over and asks me if I changed shoes at all and I tell her I didn't change anything. Hammad goes and gets my Crocs from the car and she takes my gaitors off and then my sneakers. During the race, I refused to change shoes because I didn't want to see my feet and what shape they are in. I now see them for the first time...
I take all the top layers off and put on a new dry top. I know this is going to sound stupid but I was very self conscious about it. I felt all bloated up and was embarassed about it.
I am shaking like crazy. Dwight is massaging me and things are settling down. More runners come in. Jim shows up and Un and so do Gary and Lisa.
Before we left, a woman came up to me and said she "turned me on". Hm...Caught my attention. I said "OH?" and she laughed and said, I was the one who turned your blinkers on. Cool. Had a good laugh and a hug.
Tiger is been cooking Bacon for a long time now and she comes over with an Egg and Bacon sandwich. I feel bad but I don't eat bacon... She throws out the bacon and gives me the sandwich. Normally I would still never eat it but the thing tasted so damn good. I didn't taste the bacon actually. I wolfed the whole thing down. Hammad helped pack all my crap and carried it to the car. We left toward Michelle's house. Unfortunatly like the idiot that I am, well I am sleep deprived at this point, I put in to the GPS the address of Middle Port. Crap. Another 30 minutes to get to Michelle. I take a small nap.
Before we left, I went to talk to Un and tell her she looks much better. She hugs me and we say our goodbyes.
We get in and the dogs are happy to see us. Michelle escorts me to their basement and straight into their Sauna. Her husband built it himself. I was shaking that much that this is the only way. Apparently whenever they come in from runs, that's exactly what they do... She helps me take my shirt off so she can see the damage. She's shocked. She really is such a nice person. There I am shaking, topless. She is there full clothed in the hot hot sauna probably boiling and getting cooked and she is puting ointment on my chafe and trying to tape gauze to me. Unfortunatly it didn't stick. I stay there until I warm up and then go up to take a shower. I am resigned to the fact that it will hurt. I start by dealing with the blisters. I take the safety pin from the bib and get squirted in the eye. Who cares tho... Instant gratification. The shower feels amazing. I am tired but feeling good. I go downstairs.
Michelle's husband made pizza and it tastes great. I chase it with some Coke and some Dark Chocolate. We get stuff ready to go and I lie by the fire on the floor for 2 minutes. I could easily take a nap there but we hear at least 6 inches of snow on Monday for NYC followed by upto 2-3 feet on Tuesday. My family plain out ask if I am coming home early. Oh well to my suprise. We pack up. Michelle packs us a bag with snacks and drinks. Does this woman really exist or is she a figment of my imagination?
I talk a nap and wake up to Hammad getting pulled over in Delaware. This time the police officer came to the drivers side door and Hammad showed him his PBA card. What sealed the deal was my buckle. The officer wished us a safe drive home. Nice.
Initially the plan was to drop Julia off and then for me to drop Hammad of and go home. Later I would drive and return the car and either walk/run home, ask for a ride, take a cab or perhaps Hammad would drop me at home. As we heard more and more about the snow, we decided on a different course of action. We dropped Julia off, then went to Hammad. Unloaded his stuff to his house. I unloaded my garbage to his car. We then went caravan style to return the car. Then he dropped me off at home. All in all, I was in bed by 4:20ish. Laundary would wait. Lee woke up and we spoke for a few minutes. Nice to hug too. She got up at 5am as usual and went downstairs to do her thing. She was supposed to be back by 5:40 to wake the kids up but was running late. Jeremy woke up by himself at 5:40 and came to see what's up. Nice to see him. I said hi to him and Jessie and went back to sleep. They went to school. I finally got out of bed around 9ish. Went downstairs and ate a little and went to the bathroom. Eventually took the dog for a walk, boy was he happy, and also ran my mile. That wasn't pleasent. At that point, my feet really were swollen. I could not fit into sneakers anymore. Only my crocs or boots. The next day we did get 15 inches or so and Jessie went with me to run a mile. We both ran in boots. She ran in boots because of the snow. I ran because of the snow but also because I could not fit into sneakers. School was closed that day, Tuesday. My neighbor Chris dug us out with his snow blower. Cool. It was nice to hang out at home with the family. We did walk to Vacarro's tho and ate Pesto Pizza. I also had a huge soup and salad. Yum.
Apparently we had an "easy" year. We, I've been told, had a heat wave. You see we only had single digit negative wind chills while the whole week they had double digit negative wind chills. Think about that for a while. As is, we had a 35% DNF rate...
We started together and all went well. Still, he started feeling not well at 1 point and told me to go at around mile 10. He eventually finished the first loop. Once he got to Lockport, he cramped up badly. He stayed at Lockport for 50 minutes! Yup - not a typo. Dwight massaged him while Tiger forced him to eat salt and boiled potatoes with salt. He then felt better. He went out again, made a new friend and managed to finish with a PR of 14:32:37. Nice! He told me that this time he really felt ready and it was evidenced by his recovery. Last time he did a 50 miler, he needed to sleep for a week. He felt weak and tired. Not this time. The only thing that really annoyed me was that after finishing he should have gone to Michelle's house. He could have showered and slept. Instead he slept in the car (cold/cramped). Then he hung out at the finish tent. I was hoping he would be completly fresh when I finished. Still, congratulations.
In the beginning, Julia messed with my head about putting Vodka in her camelback. Later told me she was planning on taking a shot at 75. Eventually she told me she was joking about the camelback but I think she meant the shot at 75 and she never did it.
Her plan was to take it easy for the first 50 miles with her phone off. Since her friend Violet bailed on her, Michelle did not sign up for the 50 and was at standby. Julia was going to call her at that point to meet up. This did NOT happen.
Also she brought 8 pairs of shoes and clothes and at Lockport and Middle Port she changed clothes. Everything... She changed tops, sport bras, pants(?), shoes and socks. She did NOT want to be wet and uncomfortable. It is a long time out there. She did the math and knew exactly how long she has. Unfortunatly not everything worked out.
I feel that perhaps I am not doing a good job of telling her story. I guess I better start from the beginning. It is worthwhile to mention the big picture plan tho so perhaps that will help in this endevour.
At about mile 3 or so, we were still together. Hammad, David, Julia and me were in a good cluster. Julia said she needs to eat and Hammad and I continued yelling back that she will catch up. She said we took off. We didn't. We thought she stopped to eat. Apparently she slowed down to eat. At aid stations, she did change clothes. I heard from someone that she was there for a long time and at one she said she wants to go to sleep. She did tell me that she spent at least 20 minutes at every aid stations (maybe not Gasport, I just don't know) to change and basically to get human again. This is where I disagree with her approach and again it does NOT mean that I am right and she is wrong.
Who's right here? I don't know. All I know is that both David and Julia changed clothes. In talking to Andre, we realized that it's possible that they actually lost a lot of heat by doing that. You would think that the cold clothes would also make you cold but I do remember seeing steam coming off David's body as he changed clothes. Later they both complained about the cold and not being able to warmup.
Also, you could argue that their way is better because they didn't get chafed nor did they get blisters. I accept that tho I always chafe.
In any case, night came and they seperated. I don't know why or when. They could not or did not find partners and I think that was probably the most critical element here. I think Julia should have called Michelle but for whatever reason she didn't. Michelle would have gotten her through. As a testiment to how tired Julia was, she left an aid station without a headlamp. Luckily a volunteer chased after her and stuck with her. He told her he was prepared to do those last 2 loops or 50 miles with her. He was the one I saw. I think the damage was at that point already done and so was she. She had him take her to Michelle's. If she would have called Michelle...If she would have continuued I would have stayed with her.i.. If she would have stayed with that volunteer
I truly respect the hell out of Julia and I truly like her. I wish I could have gotten her through it. Alas it seems like it wasn't made to be...
Still, I enjoyed it immensly. The volunteers were amazing. Really going above and beyond. The aid stations were really well stocked. Police present at Gasport which is the only road crossing for the entire 30 hours. People, like Jim Pease, who after they finished their race and showered came back to help and volunteer. Granted he also carbed up (Beer) but still he was T-H-E-R-E!