| New Map | Old Map | First Small Loop | Aid Stations | Aid Stations Distances |
The story, unfortunatly, begins at the end so that's where I will start...
Mike was thinking about doing a hundred miler. Someone told him that he can't and that he should do a 50 Miler instead. I don't think the person meant anything bad by that comment but since it "was" that person, Mike felt slighted. He immediatly started researching hundreds. He found the Ghost Train 100 in New Hampshire. He asked me to do it, but I as a compromise, told Elizabeth that I would take 2 years off from hundos. So no go for me. He pushed. He cajoled. He tried but no go. Meanwhile, I was chomping at the bit. Told him to wait a year but the thought was implanted and he had to "run" with it. Not sure who convinced whom but Kate Stoker was going as well.
There are pros and cons in every race and I will try to summarize them here as best as I can.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Flat (for the most part anyway) | It's in October and the night time portion will be 13 hours |
| It's in October and maybe cold (yay?) | It's in October and maybe cold (sucks!) |
| It's a 7.5 mile out and back for a 15 mile loop - Will see plenty of runners | It's a 7.5 mile out and back for a 15 mile loop - Mind numbing boring loops |
| 15 mile loops with no DNF's - You can do less without a DNF but without a buckle | 15 mile loops with no DNF's - You can do less without a DNF but without a buckle |
As you can see, a lot of these can be both pros AND cons but the last one is very important. If you are a beginner, who has never done such a distance, you can stop before you finish a hundred and not DNF. You won't get a buckle but you can always come back another year, right? On the other hand, if alot of runners decide that 15 miles is enough for them (or any multiple of 15's) and you really want that buckle, then you may just end up by yourself without any friends. I think that's mentally very hard.
I'm not sure Mike and Kate realized this. Add to that, Mike and Maria left NY late after Mike worked all day, and only got there around midnight. Not enough sleep!!! As you can see, Mike cooked himself a whole lot of trouble. He really set himself with hurdles every step of the way.
So... They had a very long night (13 hours) and cold temps and at one point severe rain. Maria opted out at 30 miles. Mike, after not sleeping enough and driving too much, found himself without his teammate. He continuued but at mile 60, he got tired. Very tired. He then decided to take a 2 hour nap. Got into his car and fell asleep. He woke up about 5 or 7 hours later (I forget now) and realized that he still has 40 miles to go with 5 or 7 hours (I forget) and upset with himself stopped. He didn't DNF! He wasn't a failure. This race was very happy to report that he successfuly did 60 miles but he did not get a buckle and he was VERY upset about that. Turns out that Kate had also stopped at 60 miles. She decided that that was it and stopped.
I talked to Mike afterwards. I tried to explain to him over and over that the cards were stacked against him. Everytime, I made a little headway, he talked to Kate and both concluded (3 steps back) that they both failed miserably.
I spoke to Kate also and did my best to (again) explain to them what they had against them but when those 2 talked together, backwards they went.
Finally, Mike asked me if I would consider doing Ghost with him. I told him that I am going to do it and that I tried to tell him that so many times. Not sure if he heard me that time but he was very happy that I am going to do it... Actually, both he and Kate were very happy to hear that. Here's a screen shot:
No pressure right? Oh, and while this Mike has never finished a hundred, Kate did Ghost the year before in 22:20 or in Plain English, MUCH MUCH FASTER THAN ME! What do these guys think? I say this often and I'll say this again: I'm nobody...
Meanwhile, Jamey has been itching for a buckle too, especially upon hearing the whole Ghost train stories, and well, he has finally convinced his boss to let him do one. He's got permission to do no more than 1 a year and well, he picked C&O which I'm planning on anyway and so is Mike.
Lastly, (notice I'm going backwards here?), I have Pistol. Later in the more specific to this race area, I will give more details about Bill, but I will give a little info here. Bill, who I'm doing Pistol with, just donated something medical to his brother and just let me know that he will need my help to finish. Let me just say that Bill is part of the "Connecticut Kids" as Mike like to call it and is good friends with Kate as well as Mike. My guess is that they got talking too.
So, just to recap: Pistol I'm pulling Bill (potentially carrying on my shoulders but more on that later), C&O I have Jamey as well as Mike assuming I can rein him in and at Ghost I will have Mike and Kate tho realistically, both are faster than me.
I'm not complaining or kvetching. I'm just reporting. I really don't mind helping. I have pulled many people before. I pulled friends on their first Marathons and I have pulled strangers on their first as well. Hundreds are just more stressful. By the way, I don't agree with something Kate or Mike said which is "for us, Marathons are like 10Ks. Very doable...". I understand what they are saying tho I still stress about a 5K...
In any case, I'm up to the job as long as a) they follow my lead and b) listen to me. I plan on finishing. Anyone who decides to go off script, good luck to them. Hopefully, I get them across the finish line (in time).
This was the generic stuff. All other specific to this or the other races will follow now...
So from the generic stuff up top, you know this story started quite a while back. Even what I am about to write now, starts way before the race. It's gonna be a long one. Suffer through it or enjoy it, whatever it is you'll do.
I won't bother putting down on paper how many times Kate and Mike talked about the weather, months then weeks then days before the race. It's nerves. They're cool and I get it. I was nervous too.
BIG NOTE: Things now, post race, are cool and there are certain things that I won't bother mentioning here (AKA I'm officially editing them out even tho I almost never do that) since it's water under the bridge but there are certain things that must be mentioned to explain the mood of certain things. I do want to stress again that things are now cool between people.
I guess the important part of this story begins with the Caumsett 50K weekend. It was in March and I didn't do it. Already did it once. No need for a repeat. It was a Sunday and the weather sucked. Mike did the Naked Bavarian 40 Mile trail on Saturday and got beat up. He hadn't been training and well it's not an easy race. Last year, while Jamey and I did the 40 mile, he did the 26.2. This year, he came in for the whole thing. He figured doing a back2back was great training for the hundo. I agree tho this race being a trail race also brings the potential for injuries but whatever.
So, he did the Bavarian on Saturday and then after getting home late and barely sleeping, toed the line with Maria the next day at Caumsett. Mike's time sucked, which he expected, but that wasn't the point. The point was for him to be on his feet. Getting used to the effort he would need to do at C&O. You need to be able to be on your feet both physically and mentally. You need to be able to just continue no matter how tired you are, or how beat up you are or how blah you feel. So he perservered. Maria, not a speed demon in any way, ran her own race beating Mike. Richie unwittingly started the whole damn avalance with a very innocuous comment. He later said to Mike something like "If Maria would have signed up for the pro race, then she would have won her age group". OK. It was a true statement. No matter as she didn't sign up for the pro and therefore she didn't win her age group. Proud Mike posted on FB based on that comment "that she unofficially won her age group". Now, let's face it. She didn't unofficially win it. He was just being a proud hubby and regretful that he didn't sign her up for the pro race. Now, people can and do say whatever they want on FB and therefore it was his right to do so.
Unfortunatly someone decided to call him on it. David Drebsky tried to "correct" Mike and things went sour. Mike tried to explain his comment. The lawyer continuued as well and other people jumped in. Now, David was NOT wrong in his assessment. Actually he was right but his comment was just not needed. His job is NOT to moderate FB. I got a very upset text from Mike about it. Now, at that point, I hadn't been on FB for something like 5 weeks but went to see it. I posted a response telling david that it was not his obligation. I should admit at this point that I was already not too happy with all the craziness he put me with during the Hyannis Marathon. Billy Richards went as far as to say something like "you don't always have to behave like a lawyer". Bottom line, everyone said he was correct in his comment but it was just not needed. David felt like people were ganging up on him when he was completly right and justified and well, he continuued. He finally ended it by saying he probably should not have posted what he wrote even tho he's right. Whatever. All anyone wanted was for him to stop and he did. Damage done. Richie privatly apologized to Mike for starting this crap storm. It kinda sucks that everyone was correct and yet everything was wrong.
Our crew was upset with David. I think he was oblivious about it. Going to be tough deciding what to edit out...
Our crew now consisted of: Mike and Maria Fred, Kathryn "Kate" Stocker, Jamey and me. A mottley crew of Marathon Maniacs. In terms of hundos tho, here are the stats:
| Name | Buckles | DNF's at hundred mile |
|---|---|---|
| Mike | 0 | 1 |
| Maria | 0 | 1 |
| Kate | 1 (sub 24!!!) | 1 |
| Jamey | 0 | 0 |
| Me | 5 | 0 |
As usual, I am NOT trying to make myself more than I am. I am nobody. These are merely stats. Truth is that Kate not only has a sub 24 hour buckle but is also a Titanium Maniac (10 stars). The Freds have more stars and states than me. Jamey has come up so quickly. This is just to paint a picture of who we are and also important for later.
We were trying to decide on departure. I suggested we leave Friday before the race at 10am. I'll get the van from Elizabeth and drive everyone down. Plenty of space and comfort and it will be 1 big party. Also, plenty of drivers.
Best laid hopeful plans... Kate immediatly was happy with this. She wanted to make the pasta dinner. Mike was going to sign up for the pasta dinner but missed deadline. He was ok to leave early (he took off from work) but Maria couldn't leave until after 11. Jamey couldn't leave until 1 pm. This was geting crazy. We were going to have 3 cars and one of them would only have 1 driver! Ridiculous.
Kate and I implored, begged and cajoled. Maria was able to take the day off. Down to 2 cars and the other car would only have 1 driver. Still crazy. I finally couldn't take it anymore. I told Mike/Maria to leave early with Kate and that I would leave with Jamey. The guy who wanted to leave earliest would be leaving last. Cool.
Three days before the race, David made contact. He just got a new lease car and couldn't afford the miles. Seriously!?! Meanwhile, Jamey who was going to drive was already past his miles. Seriously?!? There's more to this section here and all I can say is that our editor edited this part out but the bottom line is that I said I would still take the minivan and drive both Jamey and David.
So Kate drove from Connecticut to the Fred's and they left around 10. I was at Jamey's place at 11:30 to pick David and Jamey up. We finally left after some delays around noon and immediatly hit traffic. Yay... What should have taken no more than 4 hours(ish) took more like 6. That's between traffic, pee stops and lunch. I was just glad to get there.
As I parked at the Knoxville Inn, Kate ran from across the street where they were having dinner to say hello. Big hug and intros later, Jamey and I went to check in. David didn't want to end up eating alone so he left his luggage in the car and went with Kate. I will NOT edit this part out: Dude! Next time ask the idiot whose car you are in if he minds you leaving luggage in his car. As a NYer, I don't leave luggage in a car especially a minivan where it's visible. Jamey and I unloaded his stuff. Hmph!
Mike/Maria had their own room. Kate accidently booked 2 rooms. Jamey was kind enough to let David room with him as David, did I mention he was a lawyer?, couldn't afford the $ 70.0 room by himself. Hm...
I should mention tho that the drive besides traffic went well. I wasn't sure how it was going to be with David. I was still really annoyed at him from Hyannis and the whole Maria thing, but it went well. This luggage thing didn't exactly sit well with me...
That being said, Jamey got his stuff ready and joined them as well. I finally did too even though I wasn't going to. I got my stuff ready so fast and ate my stuff so fast, that I was bored.
Maria was allegedly upset with me too about everything but I hugged her and we both agreed that everything was Mikeys fault and all was good.
Now, Jamey and I are both doing a minimum of 1 mile streak daily and already took "care of it" in the morning. David apparently runs longer and at 8pm went out to do 6 miles. I think he did 4.5 or 5 but does it really matter? What's the point? Should have done it in the morning... Why do it night before an early wake up for a tough race. Really silly if you ask me...
I stayed to talk to Mike and Maria and Kate and the mosquitoes were terrible. Jamey went to see if the gas station had something we can buy and I remembered that I also had some spray in the car. Yay me... Especially later...
Before going to sleep, I saw Jamey was talking to Brit or Bret who was doing the race (his first). He brought with him 4 friends as pacers. Wow...I don't remember their names but one I immediatly coined as "stranger danger"...
I went to sleep around 9pm with a 2am wakeup. Originally we thought we would leave at 4:30 but everyone convinced us not to leave before 5am. Apparently we were 10 minutes away from race site and they really didn't want us there before 5:15. Better for me...
Went to sleep and while trying to relax, the AC suddenly quit and my phone lit up. All that came out of my mouth was "SERIOUSLY!?!" but then the power came back. It was like someone just reset the fuses. Oi... Luckily, my phone was mostly charged and I had set up 2 alarms on it.
Now as I mentioned before, Mike and Kate were driving me crazy with the weather reports. We had some disaggreements as I didn't want it to be cold especially at night and didn't mind if it was hot during the day. They wanted it cool during the day and ok if it was cold at night. They also didn't mind rain during the day to keep it cool. As you know, rain is my kryptonite so I definitly didn't want that. Mike was posting everyday the weather once we got to the 2 week period before the race. Seriously dude...The night before the race, the weather reports suggested we were going to get a little wet during the race. Sucks...
I woke up at 2am and had breakfast. At 3am, the cannons went off and there was a horrible thunderstorm. Sucks. Well, hopefully it comes and goes. Luckily the latest latest report was rain at 3am for an hour and then again later. Maria heard the storm. No one else did.
I was showered, relaxed as well as can be and packed. Around 4:50am I went to the bathroom again. I knew I would go again at race site but it's always good to "take a load off" if you know what I mean... That's when things went wrong. Forest Gump actually said "Things happen". That was NOT the expression that was going on in my mind and well I am trying to keep it clean so perhaps you can figure out what I actually said. In any case, diarrhea. Full onset.
I did what I needed to do including praying that I can get everything out now and not suffer later. I also took a pill. These pills are God sends for people with weak stomachs. Let's hope and pray for the best.
My room was a little away from the room that Jamey/David had and I guess since they didn't see me outside, they brought everything over. Cool. We loaded the van and drove to the section of rooms that the Freds and Kate were in. Britt, just looked up his name, and his friends were there too. I followed Britt and friends while the Freds/Kate followed me.
It was still dark and some of the streets we were driving on were completly dark. They were also very windy so at times the cars disappeared from view. I didn't drive as fast as those guys. Couldn't really see the road without my high beams on. There was no radio so I put on some Man-O-War to relax with. Nothing like screaming Heavy Metal to relax with. We eventually did get to the camp. It was a religious retreat so we were welcomed by 3 huge crosses in the ground. This ain't Kansas anymore Toto. We parked and I went to the port-o-pottie to see what my future would hold. Another donation, prayer and pill later and I was ready. I know... TMI. I'm just trying to paint a clean and somewhat TMI-free picture of what was going on.
Time to check-in. Done. I guess I gotta talk about the race course now and also about dropbags.
The race is broken into 2 loops. The first is a 60 mile loop and the second is a 40 mile loop. The race starts at Camp Manidokan. Once the gun goes off, we did a lap around the field. This is only done once. This serves 2 purposes. The first is to add mileage. The second if to weed out the field. This is really important. Once the loop is done, you went down a steep downhill to a technical, single track, full of switchbacks trail section with 2 water crossings. You cross the water by either going through the water or by jumping onto rocks. Switchbacks are basically constant turns used to slow you down while going downhill or to help you up if you're going uphill. Imagine you were (snow) skiing and it was a very steep down. You do those go left, then right, then left etc things to slow down. Same thing here. Going down you want to slow down. Going up it helps so get up there. Once you finally get down, you cross a road, go down a short steep hill, 10 yards of grass and up a short steep uphill and then you are on the path. Once you are on the path, you head North for 10 miles to the turnaround and then head back. You pass the turn going up, instead continuing south for 20 miles. Turn around and head back 20 miles northbound. Up the horrible and nasty trail to Camp Manidokan. That was the first loop. You just did 60 miles. Go back down the nasty trail to the path and this time head South for 20 miles. Turn around, come back 20 miles. Up the nasty trail and you are D-O-N-E.
Now, you are allowed 3 drop bags. Camp Manidokan has no size restriction. The other 2 aid stations do have a size restriction(6"x8"x16"). I chose to do the following:
| Aid station | Seen at Miles | Supplies |
|---|---|---|
| Camp Manidokan | 0, 59.6, 100 | Backup Headlamp, Long sleeve shirt, Post race stuff for showers |
| Brunswick | 28.8, 50.0, 69.2, 90.4 | Primary Headlamp, Long sleeve shirt |
| Noland's Ferry | 39.4, 79.8 | Backup Headlamp, |
Everyone has to figure out for themselves their speed and requirements. I was happy with this.
Meanwhile people that I know started arriving. I saw Erin and eventually Jim Lampan. I introduced everyone and then left him to get ready. I could tell he was trying to get in the zone of getting stuff ready. I ran into Un Ruschell from Beast. I went over asking if it was her and her reaction started with "yes" with a puzzled look on her face to recognition to "OH MY GOD! IT'S YOU! FROM BEAST!"... She remembered me and introduced me to her male friend (husband, boyfriend, whatever).
Back to the car and to chill and to put bug spray on. This was imperative. We were getting eaten alive. Everyone has their routine. For example Mike drinking his coffee from his coffee pitcher. David asked for some and Mike shared. Dave, if you only knew what a privilege that was... Anti-chafing stuff etc.
Chafing: David actually recommended a new product to Jamey for Anti-Chafing and Jamey told me. I decided to try it. It's called Chafe-X and it's touted to teach your skin to avoid chafes. What a crock. A very expensive crock but what the hell. I put it on.
I went to pee one last time as Lance, the RD, started his pre race talk. Actually he started with a prayer to protect the runners first. I thought it was a little strange as I wasn't used to that but whatever.
In any case, finally we got to the path AKA the canal and a much wider area. Everyone has a different race strategy. Mine has always been to try to do the first 50 miles in 12 hours plus/minus 30 minutes. After that, see how things roll. Jamey stuck to me. Makes sense. We run together all the time and pacing is my department. David decided to stick to us as well. Mike/Maria were behind us but not too far. Kate was waaay in the front.
For Jamey and me, it was just another weekend at Alley Pond Park. Running easy pace and basically talking the whole time.
One of those people I think was named Matt. I don't remember his name anymore or the nickname I gave him. He did this race the previous year and this time would perhaps be his 2nd buckle. His time last year was "just south of 28 hours" which I didn't really understand what it meant. Actually I don't remember what it means but in any case, he stuck with us. We got to where the first aid station would have been. We knew it would not be up and up as we were heading North. That's ok tho. We continuued. We met other people who were nice and I don't know whether they succeeded or not. We eventually passed Jim Lampman. What the hell was he doing that far ahead?!? We got to the turn around and headed back.
We saw Kate heading back and she gave me a big running into me hug. Well, actually I think I bounced 3 feet backwards when we collided. Wow.
We hit the first aid station and feasted. They had eggs! I LOVE eggs. Also had some potatoes and some fruit and other stuff. There was indoor plumbing there and port-a-potties but I chose to pee behind the indoor plumbing. It was way too hot to go inside. Some of the other people in our group chose to go in while others chose to go behind. Whatever... While we were there, Mike and Maria showed up and Maria promptly left before any of us. Wow...
From this point on the routine was the same. We would catch up to the Freds and pass them. At aid stations they would arrive and Maria would leave before us. Mike every so often would text me since he was bored. Mike was being Mike and explained outloud that we should not refer to Maria as Maria as her name is Matet. He even gave us a mnemonic on how to remember her name. The name sounds like "My-tit". Apparently she came up with this one. Boy those 2 were made for each other.
Later, a female runner was holding up a sign that said "free hugs" and of course I had to talk to her and tell her that I would love a hug but I was filthy and wouldn't do that. She responded with lifting up her long sleeve shirt to reveal the tank top underneath. It read "I LIKE IT LONG, HARD & DIRTY.......TRAIL RUNNING." Of course we hugged. I don't know her name but I will come back to her later. In any case, Mike and Maria of course saw this and while I would have expected this from Mike, Maria ran to me and said, "I only get hard and dirty... Not long". Did I mention those 2 are meant for each other? I really love those 2 clowns. I of course mentioned it to Mike who laughed and agreed.
On we went going South.
There were 2 concerns going on the whole time. For me, I was worried that eventually we would miss the turn into the nasty trail up to Camp Manidokan. This was further exacerbated as we completly didn't see it as we were heading South. OK - we didn't need it at that point but still. Here it was light out and we didn't see it. Would we see it or miss it at night when exhaustion would set in? The other concern which I didn't care so much about was the nasty trail itself. Last year it was pouring and the trail was so muddy and bad. They set up ropes to help you climb up. I was not worried about that. I'm good with trail running and wasn't worried.
As I said, we completly missed the eventual turn to the camp. I was trying to convince myself that we would be ok later when we needed it but who knows.
We also met at this point Dan Bengro. He referred to himself as Ben. I called him "not Nathan Ben" due to the fact that he wore a Nathan backpack. Had to be there I guess... It would potentially be his first buckle.
At this point, the group was Jamey, David, Matt, Ben and me with the Fred's leap frogging us constantly tho at 1 point they would arrive at the aid stations as we were leaving. They were losing steam. We ran into Dipak Bhattacharyya and Meghan Curley. Meghan works for Fema and was going for her first buckle. She and Jamey hit it off right away. He is dealing with roofing issues and structural engineers at the job so that worked well conversation wise. It was also nice that this was their first.
Dipak looked familiar as hell to me and I knew I recognized him even tho I could not place him. I asked him if he did any other hundos and he said Pistol Ultra and of course I immediatly asked when. We figured it out. We saw each other at Pistol. He initially was ahead of me there but I did somewhere/somehow pass him and at the end when he was going for his last out and back, I was coming back from it to finish. Cool.
Our extended group stayed together as we soldiered on. Eventually, and I truly don't know when, Dipak and Meghan dropped us. That's ok...
Jamey who is a big sweater was advised to put ice in his hat. He referred to it as his Jew-Fro. David started struggling with blisters but of all the people in our group, I really only had 1 concern. Get Jamey to the finish line. If the Fred's and/or Kate would have been with us, they they would have received the same attention. We continuued.
We hit Nolands Ferry (mile 39.4) which is the South turn around. We fed and hydrated and took off. Matt at this point said bye and left us on ahead moving faster. Cool.
It was Jamey, Ben and me. I can't remember if David was with us at this point.
I must mention that there are 2 really bad sections on the course besides the nasty trail. From Lander Road to Nolands Ferry was a long 6.4 miles lonely stretch. That's the turn around so you have 6.4 miles right back. It sucked. The other section that sucked was from Keep Tryst Road to Camp Manidokan which was 6.5 miles.
Now during the day we saw lots of turtles sunning themselves in the canal and that was pretty cool. The section between Keep Tryst Road and Camp Manidokan also had cliffs on our right and we saw 2 people who were climbing it with ropes and gear. We thought they were stuck. I don't know. Wasn't my problem.
Some sections I completly remembered from the JFK 50 Mile and I had mixed feelings about them.
There was a time cutoff of 17 hours for the first 60 Miles (Camp Manidokan) even though for some stupid reason I was sure was 15 hours. We were there in 14:30 and I was happy. The nasty trail was nasty but we got there relatively unscathed. As we were climbing up, Kate in all her splendor was coming down with a new friend: Caitlin Rossi.
One suggestion I made to the RD immediatly was to leave a jug of water on the bottom of the nasty trail. That climb left my throat completly dry and my bottle was already empty from the 6.5 mile stretch. Imagine me suggesting water. I was really hoping he would listen. He "seemed" receptive...
My throat was so dry and I just didn't know what to eat or drink. Nothing looked good. They had nothing basic if I remembered correctly. I felt a weird stomach thing and decided to try to have a sit down. Very smart thing I did right there. Lot of stuff came out. Why carry it around with you, you know?
Before I continue here, a small tangent: While we were driving to the race, we talked about David never being able to complete Winter Beast and since we were already talking about it, I gave him my not worth even a penny opinion on the matter. You see, during winter beast, people think they should change into dry clothes. I think that's a mistake as all the trapped heat disappears from you. I distinctly remember seeing David change clothes and steam emanating from him. Well, once that happened he could never warm up again. Makes sense as your pace at one point slows down. The previous week we saw the same thing happen to Adam Orlow as we left Bodie's mom's house. He froze.
Well, I was in the port-a-pottie and it was like a sauna in there. As soon as I came out, I started shivering badly. OK - I wasn't shivering as much as violently shaking. The aid station Captain ran to me and asked if I had a clothes to put on. Unfortunatly, I had them in a different drop bag. I asked for a garbage bag but she decided differently. She yelled to Lance, the RD, to get a long sleeve cotton volunteer shirt for me from the car and as soon as I put that on, the shaking stopped. Phew...
By the way, as soon as we hit the path, Ben left us. It's cool. Let him see what he can do.
We left them. At this point, I knew that Mike and Maria were out. I was also looking at my watch and doing some calculations and as we didn't see David further and further away, it was obvious he was NOT going to make the cutoff.
One small thing I forgot to mention earlier. This segment to and from Camp Manidokan had tons of frogs on it. Small and big. It was actually kinda cool to see. I kept on joking about "protein... Naked and Afraid style".
Anyway, we finally saw David. He was in a very bad place. He was having major blisters and his feet were battered. He told us that he will be dropping at mile 60. I told him that he cannot afford to talk to us but he was adamant that he would make the cutoff and then drop. I said ok and we sent him on his way. I told Jamey that there would be no way he makes it with that pace.
From the group of 6, there would be 3 DNFs that day. Kate was way ahead of us and there was no reason to expect issues.
At this point, we were looking forward to seeing Sam who was volunteering at Lander Road starting at 8pm. Short term goals if you know what I mean...
We finally saw Lander Road from a distance and we called our bibs out. We heard a huge scream with our names and we knew Sam was there. Cool. He gave me a huge bear hug. It was overwhelming.
I guess I should mention the terrain we were on. For the most part, except for the nasty trail, it was mostly flat. It was also small little rocks and I had a collection in my shoes for over 70 miles. I don't remember when I finally decided to take them out but I did. More on that later ;(
One of the aid stations had those cool new lights which people use around Christmas time which paints everything with red and green dots. It was pretty cool to see. Jamey sat down and I did too to clear my shoes again. The main guy there was great. He helped out and then told Jamey that "it was time to get the hell out and he is kicking him out". Awesome.
We had 6.4 miles to the South turn around point at Nolands Ferry (mile 79.8). We hadn't seen Kate and I was suprised at that. I started asking all the runners who were heading back, if they saw a woman with a pink/purple shirt. At this point, something went wrong with my math skills (exhaustion, no food, dehydration etc... Pick a reason) and I was not sure we would make the time cutoff. I was worried. Poor Jamey had to deal with his own issues and listen to me. We were catching up to people and passing them but I really wanted to connect with Kate. I figured between us, we would be ok. I pushed Jamey. I was relentless.
I kept asking about Kate and finally I started hearing that she was about 10 minutes from us. Everyone kept telling us 10 minutes. We went faster trying to make ground but it was always 10 minutes. I tried to call her phone. I texted her. We are right behind you... Nothing. I figured maybe her phone died as she always takes pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.
Then we got a report that she was injured. I pushed the pace. Lot of nothing and 10 minutes in front news and I didn't know what was going on. Then we heard that she was freaking out and injured. What the hell?!? Increased pace again. Poor Jamey.
We saw the Nolands Ferry (79.8) aid station up ahead and I dropped Jamey. I came in there screaming Kate. The volunteers were cheering for everyone who came in and here's me screaming Kate. I went over there and asked about her. I finally heard that she just got picked up by the SAG wagon. She was not injured but she was hysterical. She was ok yet she dropped because she just could not continue. I tried to call her again and I got nothing. Frustrating. They did assure me that she was ok. Guess that was the best I could hope for.
Ben was sitting there. He was there for a while. He wasn't in a great place either. I asked him if he was coming with us and he said yes. I rallied the troops and we got out of there.
Now even before when we had the bigger group, we played "as the poet once said...". If you remember Remote Control back when MTV was actually a music television channel, you'd know this. Basically, you say a famous lyric from a well known song but say it slowly and without the correct tempo or intentaion. Everyone else had to try to recognize the song and/or artist. Ben was actually quite good at this. We fell to the same rhythm.
At one point, a tree fell in the trail to our left. Scared the crap out of us. This was like what happened to me at Tesla. The difference: At Tesla it was during the day. I saw it. Here it was at night and we couldn't see a thing. All we could do was to verify that our underwear was still dry.
I don't remember the circumstances but we picked up a guy named Dana. We also picked up, I think, Angela.
I don't remember when we lost those 2, but when we got to Lander Road (86.2), it was just Jamey, Ben and me. Sam was there again which was awesome. Suddenly, I heard a familiar name and what do I see? Mike sitting there in a chair wearing a blanket or in a sleeping bag, looking exhausted. I was shocked.
Mike's story: I'm still not clear about it but here's the best I got. He and Maria got to the nasty trail and someone was there who was willing to help her. I thought they brought a car around but they basically walked with her up, holding her hand. Mike went up and got ready and came back down. I did NOT know any of this. He could have called or texted. I would have waited. He chased us down but eventually, all by himself, gave up. He wore trail shoes because of the nasty trail which really was only 1/2 mile long. That was silly. The shoes were worn down. He slipped and got his feet wet. He had blisters. He had issues. Worst of all my bruddah was all by himself. The whole race, he constantly texted me silly things. The one time he should have called or texted, he didn't.
We left him and Dana was back with us. That was cool. When we finally got to Brunswick, the woman with the shirt (I LIKE IT LONG, HARD & DIRTY.......TRAIL RUNNING), was there and she helped Dana out. I didn't get the connection. I thought she was just volunteering. When we got there, they had eggs!!! Yay.. I ate some and the dude made more for me.
I should also talk a little about the bug situation. I sprayed myself and was ok. Jamey had a ton of mosquitoes on his shoulders and face and everytime I told him to spray himself, he would just grunt. I couldn't take it anymore and asked one of the guys to just spray him. They did and finally he was bug free.
When we got there, there was a Maniac there who I saw later at 3 days at the fair. She was in a very bad bad bad place. she was hunched over onto her left side. Her pacer got her a stick and she trudged that way. She later referred to herself as Gandalf. She looked the part. She looked awful. She left as we got there and we eventually did pass her.
Dana stayed behind and it was just Jamey, Ben and me. Only 10 more miles but they were hard 10 miles. We had a small section of 3.1 miles and then a 6.5 mile section. The sun was in full force.
The last 6.5 mile section absolutly sucked. No shade. I ran out of water. I ran out of steam. I was still "on" trying to make it better for everyone because that's what stupid me does.
Miles went by slowly. I was still freaked out about Kate dropping and why she didn't reach out. The same goes for Mikey.
No matter. We trudged on. Everytime I could, even in the middle of the night, I asked anyonymous people to text Elizabeth. The message usually included the word "Vertical" and then also included the status of everyone and mileage. At this late point, the message read "Vertical. Jamey and me. Mile 93.5". She would understand.
This last section was terrible. The sun was beating on us. I ran out of water. I was parched. Suprisingly enough, we actually did pass more people.
I don't remember when but at 1 point, Jamey was seriously behind us, Ben didn't look great and I also felt blah. I called for a stop. We just stood there and I told them all to take a deep breath. We needed this. It felt good.
On we went. I was parched and also needed to pee. Suddenly everyone was out there and I couldn't find a damn place. Finally, I found a place and we all basically just peed to the side. Felt so good. I saw a biker and flagged him down asking if he had extra water. He looked at us. I could see the answer was initially going to be no but as he looked at us, saw our bibs and our faces, he changed his mind. He gave me his water. It was still closed and it was heavenly. I shared some with Jamey too.
Small Pet Peeve: I hate it when people tell you during a race that you're almost there when in fact, you're not. We met this woman, all bubbly, who told us we were almost there. Only about a 1/2 mile left. I argued with her. I was exhausted but still had my faculties and there was no way she was right. About 1/2 mile later, it was just another 1/2. Then another 1/4 and another 1/2. Listen to me: STOP THE BS!
I didn't tell her that but I did argue with her that she was wrong. I was right. It didn't prevent her from continuuing ths silliness tho.
Soon we saw Dipak and caught him. He was having knee issues. He stayed with us but when we saw Meghan up ahead, we dropped him to catch her. The woman was still lying to us. Eventually (FINALLY!!!) we made it to the nasty trail. Meghan finally let me pass her and I took the lead. I wasn't happy to see that Lance didn't listen to me tho. He could have put a jug of water down there. He didn't. Oh well. We climbed. Lying woman stayed with Jamey so I went ahead. At the end of the nasty trail, Ben and I waited for Jamey so we can finish together. We were fine. He didn't look great. Meghan went ahead. We finished. Finally.
Ben, Meghan and Jamey all had PRs. Dipak and I did not. This was not a PW nor it was a PR for me. It was just a finish and that's ok.
I caught up with Mike and Maria and Kate. Jamey sank into a chair in the shade, drank a little and was in and out for a while. I sat in the sun. Mike and Maria came over and it was good to see them. Kate did too and was kind enough to put vaseline on my chafe(s). The really bad one was on my back.
The chafe: So chafeX for the most part was good. I didn't do a good job down south so between my legs I had issues and apparently between my butt cheeks. Yay for me. Once that happened, I would stop at aid stations and ask for vaseline and tried to fix a bad situation. My back was another story. I am not sure what happened on my back but perhaps my bag was sitting weird. Now, I love all the volunteers and what they do but something you tradionally do not want to hear a volunteer say when looking at a blister or a chafe is "OH MY GOD!". This of course is just my opinion. Well, one of the volys after exclaiming Oh My God told me that it looks like I have a 2nd degree burn. Awesome sauce. Hot shower will really hurt...
While I took care of the area down South, Kate administered aid for me all over my back. It was bad. I should mention that everyone, not just me, was walking around with a chafe. The 90+ degree heat just got everyone. Jamey also had a huge amount of mosquitoe stings all over his shoulders, neck, arms and face. He would hurt...
The aid captain asked me if I want some food and I pointed out that Lance said that the post race food only goes to those who paid for the pre-race meal and we can only get leftovers if there are any. This really pissed me off by the way but I was too tired to care. She was shocked. She said he was wrong. She ordered the food and she doesn't care what he said. I went over there and they had gourmet type food which didn't interest me at all. I took water. Sucks. Pizza would have been cheaper and better. Oh well.
I felt better and asked if a kind volunteer can get my bag so I can shower. I asked where the showers were and they pointed at the nasty downhill before the nasty trail and said down there. I looked at them like they were nuts. I said, "you're joking...". They asked if I want a ride and I of course said yes. I walked to Lance's car and he drove me down. He told me that after I finish to just wave my arms until someone sees me and then they will send a car. Seriously? Whatever. I walked into the building and a guy said I was in the wrong place and I needed to walk further away. I begged. He obliged and I got to use their showers. I made a crucial mistake tho. I should have sat down first so I can take my calf sleeves, shoes and socks off. There was no chair in the shower area and it was not easy. I did it. The shower hurt but it wasn't too too bad. All the vaseline Kate put on helped. I asked the dude to call Lance and I went outside to wait. Well, the shower took all the bug spray off of me and I was now a rare treat to those damn bugs. I quickly went inside. Luckily I had bug spray so I sprayed. I called Kate asking her to ask Lance to get me but apparently Mike was in a mood and they left. They didn't even say bye ;(
I called Jamey and within 2 minutes, my chariot arrived. One interesting thing about this race is that it celebrates achievements of all. Not just the fast runners. They have a buckle ceremony at the end of the race. It's cool but I would have preferred to just get it and leave. I took a small nap in the car while Jamey changed. We then went to the ceremony and thank God they did it from the back so we had our buckle.
Jim Lampman finished his 5th buckle here and got a special buckle or award. Cool. I was glad to see that Dana finished too. Turns out that that woman was his pacer. She got him to the finish. She did thank me tho and took a picture together. Un ran well and got 2nd female overall. Britt was with first female for a while before getting dropped. He did well tho finishing 4th overall or 3rd male. The overall winner was a female who actually set a new course record. Cool.
We eventually left and stopped along the way to eat at Wendy's. David took naps as Jamey and I took turns driving.
Quick David story... Remember I did edit a lot here but this one I will share. Remember that there was an aid station early on that had eggs? Well, he asked for eggs at the next aid station and they told him "sorry, we do not have". He complained and said that the other aid station had it. I guess it's all in the delivery. I'm not sure if he was trying to be cute or was just complaining but I remember asking him "what's wrong with him?". The woman there handled it well. All she said was, "DQ?". I fist bumped her. He didn't need to be nasty about it.
Anyway, after all the dropoffs, I finally got home between 9:30 pm and ten. I stunk. The car stank. I showered again and still stank. I showered yet again. Finally I went to sleep.
Lots of emotions at this one. As a victory, both Mike and Maria PRed for distance. She did 60 miles and he did 73.4 miles. Still, it was a DNF. Kate was upset too.
I had private chats with each and group chats. They had morning after regrets. The what-if regrets... I told them that I also had what-if regrets... If only I would have been able to reach Kate... If only Mikey would have called me. I would have dragged those 2. Oh well.
Kate, by the way, believes that she was hysterical because she didn't eat. She forgot to eat and perhaps hydrate at some aid stations. With her fast pace and the heat, it took it's toll.
Something else that was said on FB freaked me out. David, of all people, gave me a shout out putting me in the same sentence as Jim Lampman which while an honor does not make sense. I will have a picture of that post up but Kate replied that it seems like there's a 50/50 chance of DNF. Lot of people did DNF here but does that mean that I have cheated the odds and am due for a major crash? It freaked me out for a few weeks processing that.
Lastly, the physical after effects. The chafe down south stopped troubling me after a day. I still have scars there but at least it doesn't hurt. The back was pretty bad. The scar is still there and it looked bloody and messy for 2 weeks. The rocks in my shoes that I ran with for 70 or so miles? They either gave me a booboo under my heel or a blister that was under a bunch of hardened skin. I couldn't pop it. Walking hurt. Running was fine. I really was fine. No big bad issues. Ran the next day and the next etc.
Kate and the Fred's had huge blisters. See the pics.
I was chatting with Raina the next day. She was concerned and sent me pics of his feet. He had some bad blisters but they all ripped open by themselves. She was concerned. She took those pictures to work to show the doctors there. I told her that his recovery would be exponential and it would be fine. I offered to take his daughter to school so he can rest but he was determined to go to work suffering. Jamey also suffered from the bug bites tho they only started hurting after the blister issues went away.
Rabbi Klein at his work place did tease him a few times asking if he wanted to race. Also an elderly woman asked Jamey if he wants to borrow her cane. Haha... He told me that it took about 3 days before tourists pulling their luggage stopped walking faster than him running his streak mile. Good stuff...