fter a 2 year hiatus, as promised, I'm going back to Hundos. I'm excited. Still, beyond the usual nervousness, there's more going on. I actually have 3 100's planned and well, there's a whole lot to talk about them. I don't feel like typing it everytime, so this part will be the same in all 3. The three that I am planning on are the Pistol Ultra (Tennessee), the C & O Canal 100 (Maryland) and Ghost Train (New Hampshire).
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, god 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...
12/09/2016:
W
ell, I guess it's time to put some specific race thoughts to paper as they say. Registration for this race doesn't start till January 1st. At least if you believe the web site. Tuesday night, December 6th, Mike discovered that not only was registration going on but that the 100 was full. He was freaking out. I told him to reach out to the RD. Kate meanwhile started freaking. They added Emmy to the group and the messages were going back and forth like crazy. They signed up for the 75. Apparently, since you can't DNF, you can sign up for the 75 and do 100. Still, if the web site doesn't say that you are doing the hundred then it can't be true. Now, I love Mike like a brother but that FB group (Mike, Kate, now Emmy and me) was going nuts. As it happens, Wednesday I need to get up real early and as I promised Elizabeth to try to get more sleep, I went to sleep early. From 9:30 pm, when I tried to go to sleep, to about 10:30, the messages and stickers were going back and forth. I didn't sleep that much night. I was also very irritated at the RD for doing this. I signed up for the 75 miles at 3am and sent am email to the RD. Meanwhile, during the night, the rest of the group was put into the hundred mile race. I guess the RD was getting flooded with these, as well as he should for what he did. He did answer rather quickly that it's all good since I can run as much as I want and this is only for trying to understand how many people would be out there. He later sent another email that he switched me to the hundred. Oi... People, we are almost 11 months away... Let's not get suicidal quite yet...
Meanwhile, it turns out that a ton of ultra friends we know have signed up. The rest of the group is giddy. I'm not sure where I am. I am happy about it. Yes - lots of friendly faces around. On the other hand, I have a feeling that I will end up all alone and that doesn't make me happy. I mean Kate, Emmy and Mike are all faster anyway so why should I have assumed I will have company is beyond me but still, I did. Whatever. I will make new friends as I usually do. Still, it would have been nice.
01/12/2018:
W
ow! So much time has passed. I should have written something already. I could have written something already. I didn't. Why? Because things didn't go as planned. Oh, I finished... But certain things happened that did not make this into such an enjoyable experience. I guess they were my fault tho.
Mea Culpa is probably the best thing to say here. I've gone over things so many times in my head and well, I guess it all starts with it being my fault (I'll own up) but perhaps I'm not the only one who has some blame. I think I procrastinated here (severly) because I was worried/afraid about putting my thoughts on paper due to repercussions. I didn't want any of my cohorts to potentially see this and get hurt. Alas, I'm starting to forget some details and it seems like I can't move on to other race reports unless I do this so I better start.
Let me be clear here in case one of those cohorts reads this. I am NOT trying to bring up old crap. We have all moved on from it. I am merely documenting this. I own a lot of it and I admit to it.
I was going through a stressful time. I had the pine creak 100 miler followed by the double ironman 3.5 weeks later followed by this 100 miler, 2 weeks later. The stress of it all was overwhelming. Could I finish the double ironman? Logistics of it? Logistics of all the races? Bottom line is I was stressed. I needed help. I hoped that someone would step up and deal with lodging. No one did. Did I ask anyone? No I didn't so I own that but when asked where I am staying at, I replied "I can't handle that now". I hoped. I was wrong. Add to that, the scabies that Donald got at the Double Ironman motel, a silly comment made by Kate at Pinecreek and then comments about this race as well and well everything added up. I was overly sensitive.
We chatted about this race and it really annoyed me that this race is going "green". Stupid term as is. I felt like they were just trying to save money as opposed to the environment. They were going completly cupless which means they would have liquids but no cups. Pistol went "mostly cupless" which meant they asked you to bring your own cup or bottle but they still had cups. These guys had no cups whatsoever. Also, they required you to bring a food item and specifically told you what to bring. I guess it's not such a bad thing but again due to issues, I really got annoyed at it. Kate at a chat then in different words told me to shut up about it. She didn't mean it like that. I took it at that. Bottom line is I got offended by her after all these things and offended that I felt like no one came to my help when I needed it most. I always try to help people out and I never expect any thing back but I really could have used something here. Oh well. Bottom line is I was pissed. Everyone else also got collapsible cups. No one asked the group if we all had something. We should have taken care of each other. We didn't.
I know I mentioned it up above but I want to quickly talk about the race format and course again now that I have a better understanding of it.
The race is a 15 mile loop. When you sign up, you declare your intended distance. Is it written in stone? No. It's merely advisory. You do what you feel race day. As long as you do even 1 loop, you did not DNF. That is a great idea for someone who is attempting a higher distance for the first time. If you've never done more than 30 miles, then you can attempt 45, 60, 75, 90 or 100. As long as you did 15 miles, you're good. If you feel like garbage, stop at 15 miles and no DNF. You felt great and went to 90? Awesome. By the way, if you are going for the 100, you can either be a purist and since it's a 15 mile loop, do 105 miles or do the shortened loop as your last loop which will give you 100 miles for the day.
Now that is a great deal, right? Well, it's a double edged sword really. It's too easy to stop short of what you wanted to do. In other 100 milers, if you feel like garbage at mile 90 you can either DNF or Suck It Up Buttercup and crawl your way to the finish. Here at mile 90, you can stop and you will be listed as a 90 mile finisher without any repercussions. Get it?
Let me say it a different way: Typically there is a 50% chance of DNF at a 100 miler or for the optimists, you have a 50% chance of success. Because of this "stop without DNF" attitude, I think more people stop. Why should they continue when they are clearly not feeling it?!? Well, usually at a 100 miler, you go through a roller coaster of emotions. You don't always feel like you are at the top of your game. But you continue. You don't DNF. You slog on. You have to continue. "There's no crying in Baseball!!!", if you get the reference.
The course itself is quite scenic. Actually beautiful. You start on the black top and almost immediatly go into the woods. It's still black top but you are in the thick of it. I should mention that unlike Pine Creek with all the wildlife present, here we didn't see anything. There are some street crossings but no biggies. Eventually, you are running on dirt. Up until last year, there were railroad ties here which really sucked. I think Mike or Kate fell here last year. Yuck. That area has over 150 Jack-o-Lanterns set up. They are each carved differently and at night are quite beautiful. That path also has lakes surrounding you and if you look at some of the images I put up, you may get the sense of the beauty here. Small aid station with very limited food choices but nice people. Eventually, you do go into the trails. Not technical but going out they are mostly uphill. Another street crossing and then you have newly installed wooden stairs. Up until last year, you had to clambor up/down this dirt hill but now there are stairs. The stairs do NOT have railings as of now, so they do get slippery. There are some trail steps too and a dangerous street (it's a blind curve here) to cross. Eventually you do get to the tunnel which at night can be freaky. Again, refer to the pictures posted. From there, a short trek to a very narrow rock crossing and to the turn around aid station. Now simply go back the way you came. For those people who are not familiar with the route (me), you try to get a feel for the course. After the last street crossing, I started noticing trail numbers. I think from 35 - 31 was the last mile. After that, you should be able to see the cottages that make up the start/finish area. I should mention that you have to pass that aid station all the way to the end, through a small wooden bridge to a cone that you U-turn around and then to the finish line where you can either stop (NO!!!!) or continue.
OK - done with that... A few days before the race, David started asking about a ride. Things came up. Mike told him flatly no. He was going with Maria after work and will get there late. He didn't want any distractions. He couldn't afford one. I opted to drive to Kate and go with her. Turns out she invited Eliot Lee and he said yes. Elliot is a great guy but seems a little stiff at times. I think that's mostly when he doesn't know you. Still, things were so crazy. I was mostly at peace with myself but the issues were still there inside me. In terms of lodgings, after the scabies situation at the double Ironman, I just took a room at the same place Kate and Elliot were staying at and screw everything else.
I drove down to Kate's place and turns out that we were going to take Elliot's car instead. More room and he wanted to drive. Fine by me. I was worried how the drive was going to go. Clearly, Elliot was prepared about certain things and was told that "I have a sensitive tummy" and that "I don't like to share rooms". Oi. Truth is that all those things are true and normally I would have no issues about that. Well, my worries about the ride were misplaced. I had to figure Elliot out but things got better. We got along and the ride turned out nice. The three of us joked around and all went well.
We stopped to have lunch and in general talked about plans. Elliot wasn't sure what he was going to do. He was injured and had health issues and was just unclear about his plans.
We got to the hotel and it turns out that a whole league of female field hockey players were staying there so that was entertaining. I talked to people. Elliot and Kate went to have dinner while I stayed behind.
I was stressing. It's a race. It's a hundred miler. Things were tense. Oi.
The next morning, we loaded up and drove to race site. It was cold. I initially had shorts on since it was going to warm up but I was getting colder and colder. Mike got there and I was a bit curt with him. He knew it. Michael Bialik (superstar) was there and I talked to him and a few other people. Jim Lampman, another superstar, showed up and I talked to him and his now wife, Erin. Ed Peters showed up. Bunch of people I knew. Michael Ortiz in typical Michael Ortiz fashion showed up stupid late (yes stupid late - not a typo). Met other people too. I eventually went to talk to Maria who was huddled in their car freezing. I brought my winter clothes and put them on. I should have had them on from the beginning. I didn't. I was stupid. That was just another stresser. I did give an extra hat to Maria who was freezing. Eventually it was time to toe the line and I went to the back. All I wanted to do was stay anonymous. I didn't want any pictures. I didn't want any attention. And then I was getting my picture taken by David who was with (at this point still a secret) girlfriend, Shannon and Michael Ortiz. Everything was going just right...Pictures, freezing and everything else.
01/26/2018:
W
e started. I'm always nervous at this point. Nothing new here. I'm trying to understand the course while sunlight and completly awake. Trying to also gauge people around me. Unless a straight 100 or a race with a 100K/100M options, here you had people doing all kinda of different distances and will change their minds 3 million times. We started on black asphalt passing through everyone's tents and crews and almost immediatly went off road. Trail running. Easy trail running. Little bit of a hill but ok. Trying to understand the course, trying to remember it, trying to see landmarks to focus on all while making sure not to trip. Wasn't too far before I found myself near Kate. This should have been a happy thing but I remembered her comment at pine creek and her plan that I pace her in the beginning. I now know that what she meant was that hopefully I can run with her in the beginning before I probably run away and leave her since she's got issues with her legs. I took it to mean that she will leave me. I ran. Not sure when but it wasn't too far after that I met Shanna Moyer and we hit it off. Shanna was (unfortunatly) doing the 30 miler but still. We enjoyed talking and stayed together dropping Kate. Oh well. Shanna and I were a perfect fit and we just ran and talked. We crossed the roads together, Found the road crossing which you wanted to cross diagonally to the next part, ran the pumpkin patch together and she took some pictures. We went down the wooden stairs slowly. Wasn't looking forward to climb that. We continueed past the witch which signified the "real" trail section and some of the hills that go with it. We got to the bird sanctuary and continuued on. People were coming back so we knew we were close to the turn around.
That last section ending with the turn around was nice. Can't explain it. Just was. We got to the end, turned and crossed the water on the rocks and into the aid station. I had a half donut (Bavarian Cream) and it was awesome.
We turned back. The loop went so fast. At least it seemed that way. Back onto the black asphalt, past the tents, toward the end where we had to make a 90 degree hard right turn into a small covered bridge. Crossed that bridge, U-turned at the cone and headed back to the finish line. Had to cross the timing mat. Loop 1 was done. I met Shanna's husband and kids and they were awesome. Shanna decided she would do 45 miles today and told hubby she would need a headlamp. Cool!!!
I saw friends and it was nice and I was nicer to Mike and Kate. I think so anyway. Kate seemed to chase us and I told her to catch up.
It was either at the end of loop 1 or loop 2, I don't remember anymore, that I got hot. OK... Maybe not hot but I did warm up and I shed some clothes. As you'll see in my pictures, I am wearing different clothes during the course of the race. I did make a major booboo in that I didn't expect to do that. I should have brought more clothes. Oh well. More on that later.
Shanna at the end of loop 2 decided that 30 miles is enough. Oh well. I continueed on.
I'm not sure if it was during the 3rd loop or the 4th loop, I really should have written this a long time ago, that I made a new friend. At this point, I don't remember her name anymore and it really doesn't matter. We ran together. We clicked. All was good again in the world. Turns out that while I was with Shanna, she ran with Kate. What a small world... And that Kate was suffering and almost dropped out. I didn't know that. I felt bad. Real bad about that. But I was happy to see that Kate was still with us though. I figured, I could still help out.
My new friend and I really did click and worked well together. At least I thought so... I actually still think so but she wasn't the nicest person in the world I realized later. Or maybe she, like many people only thinks about herself. I don't know. More on that later.
01/27/2018:
T
hings are a little fuzzy unfortunatly at this point as to when things happened, my fault for not writing it down already, but her pacer was ready for her. I, being very stupid, thought that since we were working together, we could continue working together. I realize that the pacer was hers and only hers but we were working together as a team so I thought she would still like to work together. I was wrong. It was clear that I was sort of a third wheel but I didn't care. Company in the middle of the night is company and I stayed. I just assumed that I misread the situation.
I think we met on the 3rd lap and the pacer showed up on the 4th. No matter. At the end of this lap (4th), I saw Michael Ortiz and he looked bad. I tried to encourage him. I took the opportunity to change batteries in my headlamp as well. I tried to push him but he wasn't having any of that. He was exhausted. He told me to go. I did. My new friend and her partner? Didn't wait the minute it took me to change batteries. What?!? Nice... Oh well. Well, actually, I still wanted company so I chased. I left the blacktop and started on the "trail" or offroad section. As soon as I did that, something horrible happened. I had just left the lights of the buildings. I was in pitch black conditions but I had my headlamp so who cares, right?
My headlamp went off. Completly off. Brand new batteries. Off. I yelled out "YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!". Didn't matter. What to do??? Luckily a runner was just coming back and I stopped them. They shined the light and I saw my issue. I didn't put the batteries in tight. Click/clack and we got light. I thanked the runner profusly and went chasing. I eventually found them and rejoined them. While we were going out, Kate passed us remarking that she was chasing us the whole way and something about how slow we are now. It was annoying. Again, maybe it would not have bothered me that much except for this huge comedy of screwups. It stung.
We got to the turn around and while I was in the porta potty, they left me again! Seriously? Bastards! I chased again and caught them. I was fuming. Still, they don't owe me anything. I don't owe them anything. I stayed a little and then broke away. Screw them. Slowly, I left them. Slowly getting more and more distance. Eventually, I didn't see them anymore. Good riddance. Good luck and good bye.
I don't remember when but Mike passed me. I was annoyed at the whole world. I wanted to catch up to mike and kate and perhaps even pass them.
Again, the exact order is screwy here but I rejoined Michael Ortiz at one point. I think I lapped him. We came back together for around 8 or 9 miles. He really is a nice guy. Due to his success at Beast this summer (sub 24 hours), he assumed the same here not accounting for the fact that he got to New Hampshire late and didn't sleep enough. He had a job commitment that he had to do. His assumption was another sub 24. Not with his exhaustion and him taking a nap. He had to bow out at mile 75. I'm alone again.
I made other friends but ultimatly they ended up doing less than 100 miles so they were gone too.
Toward the end of the loop signifying 90 miles, I saw Mike and Kate. They were working together. They were at the finish line aid station and were cheering me on as I had to go to the bridge. If they would have waited for me... They didn't. At that point, I was determined to catch them and pass them hard, teaching them a lesson. Not very much me but with all the crap...
I chased. There was another race that started on Sunday morning and they actually started from the other end. I don't remember the distance. Point is, fresh runners came running hard at me from the opposite direction. I asked if they saw them but they didn't. I think Mike and Kate knew I was chasing because as "slow" as they were, they seemed to have picked up the pace. I was fueled by the chase. Eventually, I caught sight and plotted my revenge.
I stalked them. Gotta pass at the right moment. They didn't see me. On the hills, I power walked fast. I knew I was faster than them in power walking and I made up distance. I think Mike saw me at one point. I thought he said something to Kate because limping as she was, she suddenly took off. Oi. Not happy. I got to Mike and he told me that she needed to pee and that's why she took off. It didn't make sense to me at the time. She could have peed anywhere she wanted. She finally did duck behind a bush and pee and then took off again. Later, I found out that it was the first time she ever peed outside like that and was embarassed as hell about it and it had nothing to do with me. At the time tho it seemed like something else.
I caught up to her at the mini aid station. They really had slim pickings for a while now and in case, the 10 mile turn around was close so I wasn't gonna stop. I kept going. She tried to stick with me. I had none of that and pushed. I dropped her. I got to the turn around and headed back full of piss and vinegar.
01/31/2018:
I
wasn't gonna let them bridge to me. In retrospect, they probably finished faster than they would have because I set a fast pace. I feel guilty about it now with hindsight but at the time... I felt like I was in the clear.
I made distance. I made time. I eventually spied 2 runners and the desire to bridge up to them, pushed me even further. I caught up to Chris Casey. He has done this race every single time I think. But this was his first 100. His pacer, AKA wife, was with him. She has done the "Death Race". Wow... She seemed a little curt but he was cool. We went together. Step by step we got closer to the finish. Finally, we made it to the cottages and then the tents and then past the finish line to the bridge and to the cone so we can turn around and then... And then it was that little bit to the finish. His whole family and friends were there and we both, without speaking about it, started going faster. It was the unspoken to desire to beat the other guy. We pushed. We sprinted. We went hard at it while his friends took pictures and video. At the last second, I dropped back. I didn't want to ruin his "thang". His first 100 finish should not be marred if you will by me. Who the hell am I anyway?
As cruel cruel luck would have it, my good intention was taken away. What does that mean? My official time was 26:19:04. His official time was 26:19:05. Yes... Even though on the video it appears that he "won", in reality the winnner is the guy who crosses the mat first or more accuratly, the person the mat picks up first. I won. Such is life. We hugged and spoke. His wife became much nicer after that.
Mike, after catching up to Kate and dropping her, soon came up too. Kate was upset but finished. I didn't know that she was in pain for most of the race. I didn't know she almost DNFed and only because of meds she continued. I didn't know a lot of things. There were a lot of silliness here and perhaps miscommunications. Oh well.
I went to pick up the buckle that I had to pay seperately for. I don't like that. It is a beautiful buckle in any case. Kate and I went to change at the car. Elliot Lee soon finished. His initial (injured) plan was to see what he can do. He completed the entire 100!!!
Jim Lampman beat the team of David and Shannon by 55 seconds. He refused to be beat by them. He chased. He caught up. He dropped.
The, at the time, not so secret secret boyfriend/girlfriend team of David and Shannon did finish together with a hugh PR. Good for them. Shannon did collapse at the finish and David caught her. They looked very cute together sitting there with David supporting them. Why the pretending they are not together is beyond me.
I should give an honorable mention to Patrick Caron, the overall winner. He defended his win from the previous year by setting a brand new course record. He did it in 13:50:43. The twenty year old beat the second place by an hour and 35 minutes. He looked terrible the entire time he ran and sure looked horrible at the finish but hey... Look at his time...
Overall, I'm not sure how I feel about the race. There were a lot of negative things:
Started registration early without warning
The whole cupless thing
The whole must bring food thing
The mental screw of no DNF
Unfortunatly there were all the negative emotions and misunderstandings we exhibited. Still, the course was beautiful, not boring in that you had road and trail and hills and stairs etc and well organized. If you can do this race without all that drama then I recommend the race to you.
