Cloudsplitter 100 10/01/2016 - 10/02/2016
Race Day
I started the morning around 5 am after getting a
pretty good night’s sleep. It consisted
of getting a nice warm shower, the last I would have for a while and a final
check of my pack. The clothes for the
day would consist of running shorts, my batman compression shirt, arm warmers
and a visor. Once I was already to go, I
headed down to have some breakfast. The
Hampton Inn in Pikeville had a great breakfast featuring eggs, fruit, waffles
(I resisted), Danishes, coffee, juice and sausages (also resisted). Upon checking out the clerk handed me a
little gift bag and a bottle of water since I was doing the race. A nice bonus as I was about to begin an
adventure like nothing I had attempted yet.
From there, I had about a 30-minute drive to the
start. Since I had arrived the day
before, I had already familiarized myself with the drive and was just able to
relax and mentally prepare for what lay ahead.
Upon arriving at the starting area, aka the local ball field, I unloaded
the car, took a last drink of coffee and proceeded over to the starting area to
drop off my drop bags. I made sure to
put a car key in one drop bag and also my running vest. I really didn’t want to finish this race and
not have a key, so I was covering all my bases.
From then on, all I had to do was wait about 45
minutes before the start. The pre-race
jitters were working extra hard and I walked around and ended up by the huge grill
where the pig was being cooked. It was
warm and inspired me to finish before all the food would be gone. They made a call to the start and the fun was
about to begin.
After a prayer and some final words by the race director,
the gun goes off - really, someone shot a rifle into the air. This was the slowest start that I had ever
experienced, which was fine by me. It
helped to keep me in control. The pace
was very comfortable - maybe 11 min / mile and within a quarter mile we hit a
"hill" and the whole group walked.
Again, this is what I expected but I could have easily seen myself
running the hill if others were. This
helped to set the tone and confirmed to me that it is not a race against the
others around me but a race against the course.
I am here to finish in under 40 hours and don’t really care how I
place. Of course, a good place would be
a bonus.
We made our way out of town on the roads which then
turned to gravel roads, which then turned to rocky roads and the start of the
climbing. The trail started shortly
after that and the climbing continued and continued and continued. It was mostly double track trail - rocky with
some mud puddles (some were rather large).
In my attempt to avoid one such puddle, I ducked under a tree and my trekking
poles which I had attached to my running vest hit the branches. I finally worked my way around and shortly
realized that one of my poles was still stuck in the tree. Luckily, someone that was coming through that
section saw it and brought it to me.
At this point, I feel like there is very little
running but there were some fun short sections. Part of me wished I was doing a
shorter distance so I didn’t have to hold back but I knew I had to in order to
make the distance. Most of the trail was
sandy, sandstone, rocks, or combination - thankfully no Cincinnati mud. After about 5 miles, the group had thinned
out pretty much. I did see some people
in front me pointing off trail at something.
By the time I got there, I didn't see anything (later heard it was a
couple black bear cubs).
As we progressed, got into more single track and
continued to have some fun running. The
climbs were steep but not too long. That
being said, I felt like we were going up more than we were going down. Which is great if it was true, but I figured
we it would feel the same on the way back.
The running up to this point was typically for short distances but was
fun and there would be times when you would catch someone or be caught and
spend some time chatting for a bit but once the trail would open up a little,
everyone would spread back out.
As I entered Birch Knob (the first major aid station)
at mile 15, I felt really good. I
checked in, grabbed some food and topped off my water bottles. I then checked out and started down the
road. I then realized I forgot to send
my “I am still alive” update to Allison.
So, as I walked down the trail (which was a gravel road) I sent her a
message and then continued on. I jogged
for about a quarter mile and was worried that I had not seen any trail markers
and thought the trail might have exited the road already. I ended up waving a truck down and he
informed me that I had a couple miles down the road, so I just embraced it and
went down until the road went back up and then back down. At the time, I missed being on the trail and
was not looking forward to the length of the climb I would experience on the
way back but it also gave me a chance to not focus on the trail and think more
just about the race. With that thinking,
I realized I forgot to check my drop bag. First major mistake of the race and it was
early. I wanted to apply body glide at
all the major aid stations to ensure I would not have any chaffing issues but I
was too far past and so I just kept going.
I had been good on food and my feet felt good, so I don’t think I really
needed anything else from the bag but I was worried that I had 15 more miles
before my next drop bag and if I did need something, it could be a long time.
With 15 miles to go until the next aid station I just
relaxed and let myself enjoy the trails.
The trails were moving back to more of the double track with a lot of
rocks on the trail. The downhills were
tough with the rocks but since I enjoy going down, I ran what I could. I was thinking that some of the downhills
were like a game of chess – I was planning 4 or 5 steps in advance, so I could
keep a good flow. Then came my first
fall which happened around mile 25. The
funny thing it was not a technical downhill but a flat section of trail. My left foot kicked something really hard and
I went down. I got up and did a review
and saw no blood, everything seemed to move good, but my big toe really
hurt. I figured I would check it out at
the next aid station.
The trail into Pound Gap aid stations was a nice
gradual downhill on a gravel road. They
actually had two stations here - one for the 100K and one for the 100
miler. The Mountain Life Church was o
for the 100K runners and was at the top of a very large hill, which we had to
go down. At the bottom of the hill, we
crossed a major road to get to the Marathon Station and checked in for the 100
miler. I would end up checking in here 3 different times because we had to do
this section twice. I had my drop bag
here and took a little longer to get ready to go out since night would fall
before I got back and the distance between aid stations was longer - I had to
make sure I was ready.
To prepare for the night, I put on my headlamp and long
sleeve shirt. I got some coffee, food, and
filled the bladder of my pack with water.
I figured with 8 – 9 miles between aid stations, I wanted to have extra
fluids. In addition, I changed my socks
because they started to feel wet, but my feet were looking really good (thanks
Balega socks!) Off I went – without
checking my toe. It wasn’t hurting, so I
guess it wasn’t a big deal.
The next stop was just a short trip away down the Red Fox
Trail. This was needed to get us the
distance and was the only section off the Pine Mountain Trail and consisted of
us running down, checking in, and then returning back up the hill. It was a fun little downhill with a
combination of runnable single track and some gravel roads. I shortly realized that I didn’t need my long
sleeve shirt or headlamp yet and packed them up when I was walking up the
hill.
Then we transitioned back onto the main trail and continued
up the hill – which seemed to be a recurring theme. The trail on this side was definitely less
rocky but still had its own challenges.
The climbs seemed to be longer and of course night was quickly
approaching and the shadows hid some of the subtle undulations which caused the
pace to slow a little. So, I set a goal
for myself to try to reach the Adena Springs aid station before I needed to use
my headlamp. Not sure if it was
realistic, but it helped to keep me pushing it hard because I knew my pace
would slow even more when night would encompass the forest. I was also just hoping to see the trail in
daylight because I was going to do this section twice, so the more familiar I
was with it the better. I was about 2
miles away from the aid station when I finally broke down and put on the
headlamp. I started having trouble
seeing but the trail was pretty easy to follow. It was the fact that I startled someone on their
return from the aid station that I realized it would be smart to have a
light. Shortly after that there was a
sandstone section that was slick and off camber. That combination did not agree with my feet and
I went down for a second time. At least
this fall was not nearly as dramatic. I
was just walking and the feet slid out.
After knocking off the dirt, I got up and kept on moving. I then finally made it to the aid station.
At the aid station, they had potato soup, which was awesome,
and I had some coffee and Mountain Dew – yes, caffeine was going to be my
friend the rest of the race. After a
short break and grabbing a few other snacks, I was back on the trail. An interesting part of the out and back
course, is you get to see other people, even just for a short bit. The negative is you don’t want to blind them
with your light, so you are typically not looking at anyone’s face. On the trip back, it was pretty uneventful. I did end up seeing a salamander and a little
snake, which I later learned was a Northern Ring-neck. It was only about 1-foot-long and they only
get to about 2 feet but it was cool seeing some wildlife. I did hear that someone had spotted a
rattlesnake back by that aid station as well.
The next 10 hours were spent going back and forth on this
trail and decided to listen to some Christian music to drown out the little
woodsy sounds and provide some uplifting music.
It was reminder that there are some songs that really relate to ultra-running
as well. One in particular was talking
about keep putting one foot in front of the other, and that is what I did. Being that it was pitch black made it seem
like a little more of an adventure because I was looking for landmarks that I
spotted on the first time around and some I didn’t see the second time, which
had me doubting at times if I was still on the trail. Then I would see another trail marker that
shined brightly at night and confirmed my direction was right. I did end up having a pretty good scare on
the second time out as well. I was going
up a hill and heard a big rustling sound and spotted something big moving about
20 feet off the trail. My first thought
was bear (paranoia had set in) but
it ended up just being a couple of deer.
Then around 6 am I pulled into the Marathon Station for the
last time. I decided to try to take a
quick nap and used my drop bag as a pillow and found a spot in the corner of
the shelter to lay down. The concrete
was a little cold but it felt so good to lay down. I ended up not falling asleep but definitely
felt refreshed and ready to get moving.
I got myself cleaned up a little, restocked my water bottles with
Tailwind and emptied out all non-essential items from my pack. I figured I had 30 miles to go and if there
was something I hadn’t used yet; I wasn’t going to use it later. By the time I left, the sky was getting
bright and my goal was to now finish before the sun set for the second time. In theory, I would have no problem doing it
since I had 12 hours to go 30 miles, but my pace was already slow and who knew
how much more I would slow down.
On my way back to the trail, I had to go back up to the
Mountain Life Church, which had a hill that hurt on the way down and wasn’t any
better on the way back up. I heard that
they had pancakes though, so it helped keep the motivation up. When I got there, there were no pancakes out
but quickly they arrived and I loaded them up with some syrup and enjoyed
breakfast. Being fueled up, I headed
back to the trail. It was turning out to
be a slightly cloudy morning but the daylight still lifted my spirits. I was able to make pretty good time and the
views were awesome, there was heavy fog down low in the valley and all you
could see was tips of green coming through a blanket of white. I wanted to take a picture but I knew it
would not do it justice.
The trails were getting back to the short steep climbs and
the rocky sections. I was hoping I could
run more of the downhill and flats, but my legs just didn’t want to do it. They didn’t hurt, it was just not there. As I reflect, I think it was my brain telling
my body to “not push too hard and you will get there”. I power hiked on keeping between a 20 – 24
minute per mile pace. As a side note, it
is hard to comprehend that 7 miles will take almost 3 hours. Being my first 100 miler, I was not used to
going that slow and I had to keep convincing myself that the pace was
good. As I neared the Birch Knob aid
station, I remembered the long road section that we took upon leaving
there. I figured I would not be able to
run it but I also knew that since it was not technical at all, I could maintain
a good walking pace. I also looked
forward to topping off my fluids and getting a bite to eat.
At Birch Knob, I hit the jackpot. They had Mountain Dew and Krispy Kreme donuts. I also had part of a sandwich and felt
great. The competitive side of my got
worried though when a couple guys rolled in shortly after me. They were at one point at least an hour or
two behind me and now here they were. I
kept telling myself that I am not racing the other people and just the course
but I still wanted to push it. So, when
I left, I felt an extra spring in my step and was able to run for short stretches. This was awesome and I hoped it might
continue until the finish. Guess what –
it didn’t. It maybe lasted about 3 miles
at most and I was back to power hiking.
So, now with about 6 miles to go, the rain came. An interesting thing happened when the rain
started to fall, I started to hear music.
It was not loud or clear, but a definite melody was playing. I soon figured out that it was just in my
head. I could tell it to stop and it
would but it would also start back up. I
figured if that is the worst of the hallucinations I was going to have; I was
doing OK. Back to the weather issue, the
temperature was comfortable but with the rain, I definitely was getting a
chill. I just kept moving and knew there
was an aid station that was coming up and I was hoping they would have a tent
to provide some shelter. I made it there
and thankfully they did have a tent. At
that point I stopped to try to get some food but they were mostly out of
stuff. I chatted with the guy for a bit
put my long sleeve shirt on and put my bandanna on my head to help keep the
heat in. It felt good to get a little more covered up and I just hoped it would
keep me warm to the end.
I now only had 5 miles to go and it was mostly downhill. I ended up doing part of that with a lady who
was a much more experienced ultra-runner.
Since 2010, she had done 71 ultras with 24 being 100 miles. It was hard to chat too much because of the
rain and focusing on the best path to go without falling, but it was still nice
not to be alone on the trail for a little while. With a couple miles to go, she took a break
and I continued on. I was bummed that I
couldn’t convince my legs to run, because the trail was definitely runnable but
I still made good time. As I came down
the final section of gravel road and turned onto the pavement, I knew that I
had about a mile to go. From then I
pushed as hard as I could and think it might have been around an 18 min/mile. As you enter the ball field, the finish line
is on the other side and as I walked across, people began to cheer and I
muscled up enough energy to trot the last few yards to cross the finish line in
34 hours and 28 minutes. It was an
incredible feeling and then I had a medal placed around my neck and a buckle
placed in my hand. The journey to get
here was hard but the sense of accomplishment made it all worth it. The runs in 90-degree weather with 90% humidity
and clearing spider webs with my face had paid off.
Now that the race was over, I got to enjoy some good food and
great company. I also got to chat with the other runners that had finished and
being able to cheer others on as they crossed the ball field to the finish line. There was also a feel-good story
unfolding. There was a guy I met on
Friday that had attempted 2 other 100 mile races but didn’t complete them. So, as he was going for one more attempt, I
heard he was struggling but had ended up joining with 2 other people and they
were working together to finish. Every
now and then we would get an update of their progress but there was some
concern if they would make it before the 40-hour cutoff. Around 11:30, we heard that they were close
and 10 minutes later, they crossed the finish line together with 20 minutes to
spare. They had given it their all and
succeeded as a group. They had formed a
bond out there that I am sure will last a long time.
For me, I have no strong desire to do another ultra anytime
soon. It was great but the time commitment
and recovery time is going to take some.
So, what will be my next adventure??
All suggestions are welcome.
