Well it wasn't pretty, but last weekend I finished my first 100 mile ultra marathon trail race! I was one of the 63% (216 of 344) starters that actually finished the 2010 Rocky Raccoon 100 mile ultra. This was something that I wanted to do for some time, and something I've been training for over the last year or so. My training included running a few 50 mile trail races and one 100k race. I've also read several race reports and recommendations on how to finish a 100 mile race, but in the end I realized that there's only so much you can train for. The rest has to come from somewhere deep within each one of us. The following is my maybe lengthy summary of my first 100 mile race completion, with a few related quotes sprinkled throughout.
"The reason we are 'ultra' runners is not to win awards, which we rarely do, and not see what place or time we run, but to test our limits and to do things that few would dream to do. This is what makes us stronger when we do race, and this is what makes training so wonderful!" - Meredith Terranova
As my desire to complete a 100 Mile trail race built over the years, I began looking for races to attempt. The Rocky Raccoon 100 Miler seemed like the best choice by far since it was one of the flatter 100 Mile courses, and it was less than a 2hr drive from our house in League City, TX. Additionally, this race is run by Joe Prusaitis and Tejas Trails, who put on some great races. I've run some of Joe's other races and knew this one would be well marked and well supported.
The actual race experience starts the night before during the pre-race briefing and pre-race dinner. Runners were here to pick-up information related to trail conditions, race updates or anything that might make the next day's run easier. Most like me also enjoy the camaraderie of sharing stories with so many other ultrarunners. Sarah and I enjoyed chatting with several other runners and were lucky enough to spend some time talking to a runner from Sweden who had completed 6 other 100 Milers. There were approximately 700 people from 7 different countries signed up for either the 50 miler or 100 miler, and a large number of those were at this briefing. The average age of the entrants was 44 years old and there were people as young as 18 and as old as 78. Five entrants had already completed this 100 miler at least 10 times. When the race director tried to recognize these people and realized they weren't there, and added that they're probably already asleep in bed resting and getting ready for tomorrow. With that, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the next day's run.
The alarm at 4am came way too soon the next morning as it was time to get dressed and make our way to the 6am start. Before I knew it, I was at the start where I heard someone say, "God must love crazy people. Why else would he make so many of us?" I guess most people would think you have to be crazy to attempt a 100 miler, but I think you just have to have desire and dedication. Besides that, it was a pretty low-key start with a record setting 344 people lined up to attempt this 100 miler.
The first hour was run in the dark on a single track trail, and it was a pretty interesting sight seeing a line a headlights winding in front and behind me for a 100 yards or so. I didn't realize until after I finished that more than a third of the people I saw at the start would not make it to the finish. I just hoped that I'd be one of the lucky runners to finish.
Loop 1: Miles 0-20
The race consisted of five 20 mile loops that twisted and turned through a state park. It took several miles for the heard to thin and when it did, I found myself running with two guys that were Army nurses stationed in San Antonio. They were talking about the physiology of ultrarunning and the mechanics of the sodium-potassium pump. They introduced themselves and we spent the next 15 miles chatting about everything from ultras to what we did at work. The time seemed to fly by and I didn't realize how fast I was going. The only other notable events that loop included the sight of the first sunrise of the race followed by my decision to drop off my sweatshirt at the mile 12 aid station. I wanted to make sure it was somewhere where I could grab it later in the day before nightfall.
At 15 miles we arrived at the Park Road Aid Station where Sarah and our friend Dino were volunteering. All of the race volunteers were incredible, but it was great to see friendly faces. Dino was a bit surprised to see me reach this aid station so soon, and it wasn't until I was at mile 20 that I realized just how fast I was going. At the pace I was running, I would have finished in 17.5 hrs. This would have been about 8 hours faster than what I had planned and I knew I couldn't maintain this pace. I felt good, but knew I needed to slow down or I'd burn out. Coincidentally I was separated from the two nurses and I began to slow my pace. This helped, but I would later find out that it was too little, too late.
Loop 2: Miles 20-40
The next 20 miles went remarkable well as I enjoyed an incredible spring day jogging through the woods. Some of the 50 milers that started an hour after we did started to pass me and it was hard not to pace off of them. I chuckled to myself as I referred to the 50 milers as sprinters. I just hoped that I could keep a good pace and stay injury-free for the remainder of the race. At the end of my second loop I decided to quickly change my wet socks and shirts in hopes of feeling refreshed as I started mile 40. It felt good, but with the mud and water on the course, my socks were quickly filled again with water and sand.
Loop 3: Miles 40-60
At the start of the third loop I was getting a little tired, but still felt pretty good overall. Being out on the trail on such a nice day rocked, but on this loop I started noticing more of the water and mud that covered a few parts of the course. Probably as a result of the sand and water, I felt a blister form and then pop on my right little toe around mile 45. It hurt for a while, but I was reminded of one of Dave Horton's saying related to ultras, 'pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.' I decided to suck it up and within a few miles the pain and suffering seemed to melt away.
"A big difference between 50s and100s is the night: because of this I find 50s are very much runs of the body while 100s are runs of the mind." Bob Rayburn
Somewhere in the middle of the third loop I noticed that it was starting to get dark and luckily I was near the aid station where I had dropped off my sweat shirt earlier that morning. I knew that the temperature would be going back down into the high 30s during the night, and with a slower pace I'd be pretty cold without additional clothes. Not only did it start to get colder, but with nightfall approaching I started slowing down even more. I even began mixing walking and running as I hit the 'runner's wall' somewhere between miles 50 and 55. I'm not sure if it was the distance, the dark or maybe some combination, but I definitely felt a loss of energy with the loss of sunlight.
Luckily my crew gave me another burst of energy as I entered the Park Road aid station around mile 55. Sarah, Chauncey and Dino were all doing an awesome job volunteering and motivating runners at that aid station and gave me an emotional boost. Tom had also arrived and was at the Park Road Aid station where he was getting ready to pace me for miles 60-75. Tom's first joking words to me were, 'you look pretty bad.' It was his attempt at cheering me up, and it helped generate a bit of energy, but I was starting to really feel the miles. This aid station had a Mardi Gras theme was pretty impressive from the food to the decorations to the scented candles in the port-a-johns. I had never seen that before, but at 55 miles it smelled much better than I expected a bathroom to smell. Thankfully the gang, the food and the decorations at Park Road aide station gave me enough of a boost to make it by myself to the end of loop 3 (60 miles) where I knew I'd be picking up Tom as my first pacer.
Loop 4: Miles 60-80 (also known as the loop of the walking dead)
The Rocky Raccoon allows one pacer at a time after 60 miles unless you're over 60 years old. If you're over 60 years of age, you can have a pacer the entire 100 miles, and believe it or not there were 30 runners 60 years or older attempting the 100 Miler. I wasn't 60 years old, but at 60 miles I felt at least that old and pretty wore down. I was glad that I'd be picking up a pacer. So I welcomed Tom, grabbed something to eat and away we went.
Tom's energy was a welcome sight and having someone lead the way helped more than you would think. At night when you're cold and tired, just following the trail can be a challenge. I had Tom pace about 5 -10 feet in front of me to keep me on the path and I followed as best I could. It was great to have someone to talk to, and keep me alert as my body was trying to tell me to just sit down and fall asleep for awhile. I was tempted several times, but didn't give in to sleep until after I finished. Tom and I chatted about topics from religion to head lights. He was especially impressed with some of the bright headlights other runners had and planned on upgrading to a brighter light after the race. One racer in particular had a very bright light and Tom asked him where he got it. The other runner smiled and simply said it was the best one he could find in the various drop bags back at the last aide station. It's good to have a sense of humor on the trail and it's amazing how much energy you can get from a good laugh.
I also let Tom know my thoughts on breaking the course into small chunks. From the start I broke the race first into laps, then into aid stations per lap, and finally into sections between aid stations. At this point in the race thinking of 40 more miles to go seemed daunting, while focusing on making it another 1.5 miles to the halfway point to the next aid station seemed so much more doable. Later in this loop I think Tom thought I was a little crazy when I remarked that it was about 2 miles before we made it back to the lake, and that there were eight more foot bridges in this 2 mile section. Each bridge seemed like a minor victory, but I'm sure it sounded a little crazy.
As we made it into the aid station at mile 66 I remarked that this was the farthest I had ever gone in a race and how much I appreciated Tom's help. Tom reminded me that every step I took from here on out would be something to be proud of and is an accomplishment in itself. That felt great, but within the next few miles, I would hit the wall again. This even I hit the wall even harder than before!
Before we made it to the aid station at mile 72, I had stopped on the trail at least twice to sit down to take a break and by now my body was shouting at me to simply 'stop!' Tom was great at getting me to continue, but at mile 72 I seriously considered dropping out, until they told me I couldn't drop at this aid station. This aid station was at least 2 miles from the closest road, so if I dropped out of the race, I'd have to stay here for another 8-10 hours until the race was over. The other option was to keep going and somehow make it to at least the next aid station before stopping. The aid station volunteers also told me to eat more soup and sandwiches to get warmer and to gain some energy, so I did. Reluctantly I continued on with Tom as my motivational pacer for another 3.4 miles to the Park Road aid station where Sarah was waiting to start pacing me. At this point I was pretty beat.
Mile 75: I hit the wall!
"Fatigue makes cowards of us all" - Vince Lombardi
As we came into Park Road Aid Station at mile 75, I was ready to drop out of the race. I was mentally and physically drained, and I just wanted to sit down and stop what had now seemed like madness. I thought that I had reached my limit. Sarah asked Tom how I was doing and his first response was, 'Adam is toast!' He went onto say I was about 140% better since I had some food at the last aid station. I still felt pretty bad and when I told Sarah I was done she asked me if this was really what I wanted. She and some other runners and volunteers continued to remind me that miles 65-80 are by far the worse, and that 'it doesn't always get worse.' I knew this, but I hadn't expected it to be this tough. Several runners also related stories of how they had dropped out at this distance, only to have major regrets the following day. And I think what broke the camel's back was when Sarah pointed to a runner sitting next to me wrapped in a blanket, who looked dead. She said, "He's not quitting!" I thought about that for a moment and at first I didn't care. But when he started to move and get up, I figured I should at least make it to the next aid station to complete a full 4 laps (80 miles). I'm positive that without Sarah's help and encouragement I wouldn't have made it past this point. She's an incredible woman and I'm glad she's my wife!
So I said farewell to Tom as he prepared to head home and as Sarah started to be my new pacer I filled her in on details of the course and all of the minor landmarks that helped me make it through a loop.
Loop 4: Miles 80-100
"Nobody should ever run a race where they are lapped by the sun." - friend of Alex Swenson, referring to 100 mile races
We made it into the mile 80 aide station somehow and I regained some strength, but I was still pretty weak. I sat down to take a break and Sarah got me some hot soup and coke-a-cola. The race director was also there and commented that I looked like I was doing pretty good - I was still speaking. Surprisingly enough that boosted my spirits and Sarah and I decided to make it to the next aid station three miles away. As we left Sarah also mentioned that we had just passed the point of no return and that we might as well finish the whole last 20 mile loop. I still focused on one aid station at a time, but knew she was right. I actually felt that finishing this 100 mile race was within our reach. To make matters even better, the sun would rise in the next few miles and with it, my spirits and energy surged once again. My energy surges were now about the same energy as my low points during loops 3 and 4, but I was still moving.
Some days you just have to run in place and wait for the finish line to come to you - Marvin Skagerberg
When we came into the aid station at mile 92, we were surprised to see the Swedish guy we talked to during the pre-race briefing curled up under a blanket. Apparently he had dropped out somewhere on the 4th loop and was waiting for the end of the race to be brought back to the start. That could have easily been me, so I thanked the aid station volunteers for not letting me drop out at the same aid station 20 miles ago. Sarah and I also knew that the clock was still ticking and that if I wanted to finish I needed to spend a little less time at the aid stations and have a solid pace from here until the end. It was tough at times, but we were able to keep a steady pace until mile 98 when I hit the wall once again. It seemed like we were so close, yet so far away. Again I was thankful to have Sarah help me dig down deep to find the strength to somehow make it to the end. When we made it to the finish line in a little over 29hours I had an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. I had hoped to finish several hours earlier, but at this point I was just happy to finish something most people don't even dream of doing.
The race director's wife, Joyce handed me a finisher's belt buckle as we crossed the finish line and I couldn't help but think that it also belongs to Tom, Sarah, Chauncey and Dino as much as it does to me. I could not have done this without the help of so many volunteers, friends and especially the support, strength and love of my wife. She helped me find the strength and courage to continue when I thought I couldn't continue.
"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
- Calvin Coolidge
"Any idiot can run a marathon, but it takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultra" - unknown