Dale Perry

Hard to believe I would be writing about my THIRD Rocky Raccoon 100 mile run, in light of the fact I HATE loop runs. But this run is such a hoot and every time I go there I see old friends, meet new friends, and learn something about myself in the process.

I opted to fly down this time (versus the two previous drives down) due to cheap airline tickets that were cheaper than the expense of driving for two days entails. Flew down with a running buddy from Denver, Scott Olmer, (who paced me at Leadville a few years ago) to share lodging and car expenses with. We did a lot of training runs together these past 3 months, so it was fun to share the race with a friend.

I had a lofty goal this year, and wanted to see if! I could muster it: sub-20 hours. My plan was to average 3:30/loop the first 3 loops, then 4:30's the last two. That would put me in at 19:30, a little of a cushion to deal with what may arise. Having done this run several times before, I knew what to do and where to run, where to walk, and not spend a lot of time at the aid stations. My other plan was to eat more solid food at the aid station instead of relying solely on my energy drink. PB&J sandwiches, soup, and maybe a hotdog/hamburger. This worked out pretty well, and I didn't get tired of eating solid food during the whole run. I ran with two bottles, one filled with energy drink, the other just water. I would alternate energy drink and water as I went along. Supplementing with solid food seemed to work out okay. Occasionally I would take a cup of coke during the hot afternoon.

I got a little anxious in the days preceding the run: the weather was looking warm and sunny. Those who know me know I don't do heat well, and although having some warm days here at home in Colorado helped, they didn't happen enough to make it easier for me. Yes, dehyration was a concern, and it did rear it's ugly head during the middle of the race. Temps during the run were in the mid-70's during Saturday, and the low at the start was in the low-40's. It got down to 51 degrees Sunday morning, but it was extremely damp: looking out along the lake at night I could see a light fog/mist hanging in the air.

This was Mickey's last stint at RD'ing the run, as Joe Prusaitis will be taking over next year. Nothing was said during the pre-race gabfest/munchdown about where the race will be held next year, but I recently heard it will remain at Huntsville at least for next year.

There was a large Colorado contingent there this year: 14. Nice to have a lot of friends and neighbors out there to share the fun, pain, what have you.

After a lack-luster sleepless night at the hotel (dealing with screaming, running teenyboppers and a loud cell-phone conversation right outside our door), we arrived bright and early (4:45 AM) to garner a close-in spot by the trail near the turnaround area. Another Colorado runner, Rich Neslund, was there next to us. Soon, Jim Butera arrived in his SUV, and Theresa and Katy soon after. We checked in with Mickey's smiling face, then hung around for the start. I didn't even hear Mickey say "go!" and we were off into the darkness.

I settled into a pretty easy, mellow pace. I was wearing my HRM to keep myself in the 75% range of effort. I was at about 71%. I found myself running most of the first loop. I walked only a few sections (the big hill out of aid 2, and some of the 2/3 out and back hills). Due to some of the mud, aid 2 was moved closer to the big turn, but only 0.1 mile at most. No biggee. Got to the turnaround pie plates and made it back to aid 3 in good form, feeling great. Another Colorado runner, Kevin "Flappy" Cooper, caught up with me and we ran it in to the turnaround. Kevin was asking questions about how far to the end, where's the next aid, etc. As I was coming up to the turnaround, I ran over to the car to drop off my used bottles and grab some new ones. I got to the turnaround in 3:16! Got weighed, hadn't lost a pound. Got my new bottles filled, grabbed some food and headed out.

For the second loop, I decided I would slow it down a bit, as 3:16 was a little fast. I wanted to get back on a 3:30 pace. This involved more hill walking. As I was heading to the 1st aid station, Pat Gorman was moving briskly towards me. He was on a good pace. I saw a lot of runners here along the road to and from aid 1, and those faces would be familiar during the course of the run. I saw Kevin coming to 1 as I was about 1/2 mile out of 1. Molly Gibb at this point asked me if I had heard about the Columbia disaster. I hadn't and it really shook me up a bit. There were signs on the course that asked everyone to dedicate their run to Columbia. This was the only damper on the run during the day. Sad, sad, sad. Kevin caught up with me around the same section as loop 1. We ran it in together. I again ditched my used bottles at the car, changed shirts, and headed out to the turnaround area. As I approached the turnaround, Tom Crull came out of the Texas Trail Runners Tent (huge, white thing) and offered to fill my bottles with good water and not that crap they were using at the aid stations. Only later did I realize the water was orange color. I used Tom again on the next loop as well. Finished the second loop in 3:31. I lost 4 pounds though. I was getting dehydrated as it was getting warm.

Kevin and I ran a bit together, but I didn't want to go out so fast here as it was really getting toasty. I decided to take it easy on this loop and vowed to drink more. I ended up drinking a bottle every half hour. This worked out great though as each time I hit the aid stations, I was just out and got refills. I again saw Pat Gorman before aid 1, and I commented he was really cooking. He said, "Yeah Dale. That's what I'm afraid of." Pat later slowed down quite a bit but still managed a sub 24 run. I started feeling the heat more and walked even more. I did manage a 50 mile PR though: 8:43! Finished the loop in 4:15. Ouch! Still a good time, and I was hoping for 4:30 to 5 hour loops for the last 2 laps. My weight was the same, 4 pounds under my baseline. I was happy with this, as I was able to prevent further loss and just stay with it during the loop.

It was still light on my 4th loop, and I set a goal of getting to aid 2 without the use of a flashlight. I pulled it out about 2 minutes after I left aid 2. With the sun setting, the temps starting cooling off, and I started feeling better. I ran a lot of this loop, but the hills were walked. Finally put on my jacket before the dam spillway. Ambled my way along the roots and ruts before the big boardwalks. It wasn't until here that I noticed a change in the trails. The trails right before the boardwalks did this series of s-curves for about 1/4 mile or so. This wasn't here before. After the race someone told me Mickey had said there was a change here at the pre-race. I guess it was to control the massive erosion going on through here. Pretty weird. Soon I got through the now annoying Chinquadin trail that connects the last aid station and the Interp Center. Got to the turnaround in 5:02. My weight was back up 3 pounds. I spent a few minutes here to eat some beans and rice before heading back out for the last loop.

Loop 5 was mostly a walk. Walked 2/3's of it. Walked pretty much all of it til aid 2, ran/walked the 2/3 out and back, ran thru the roots to aid 174, but walked the rest of it in. I knew my goal of sub-20 wasn't going to happen, so I settled on a sub-21, then a sub-22. I had to break up this loop into sections to just get through it: get to aid 1; get to 2/3 out and back; get to the rooty section; get to the Interp Center. Funny how things seem when you are tired and I just thought to myself, "Screw it! I'll finish it close to 22 hours and take that as a victory in itself." Got the last loop done in 6 hours. 22:04:52.

I begged one of the aid volunteers for the combo to the lodge so I can stretch out a bit where it was warm. After 30 minutes of that fun, I went to check on Scott's progress. He checked out for his fifth loop at 19:31, so I had time to take the car to the showers. Got back, slept for 2 hours. Got up and walked around a bit waiting for friends to come in. Sat down with Molly Gibb in the TTR tent and gabbed with the kind folks in there for awhile. Soon, I saw Scott coming up the trail. I ran it in with him to the end. He finished around 26:45 or so. As Scott and I were walking around waiting for the pancake breakfast, I was feeling fine. No aches in the legs. My feet were sore (but only had two tiny blisters). I wasn't limping or lingering too much. This was a good sign.

In hindsight, I am very pleased with my run here. Every time I come here I get faster and faster. I was disappointed I didn't get my goal, but still a PR. Can't complain. Actually two PRs: 100 mile and 50 mile.

What really worked for me was eating my solid food, and relying less on the energy drink. Every time I went by an aid station, I grabbed at least one section of sandwich. Most of the time it was two. Sometimes 3. I think one time I jammed a section down my mouth, put another between my lips, and held onto 2 more. I didn't find my stomach and guts in such a distress with the alternating energy drink/water usage. I also never spent more than a minute a any aid station (except for the last loop at the turnaround to eat some beans). One aid station volunteer at 174 commented, "Aren't you going to stay awhile and eat more?"

For the 3-4 months preceeding this run, I've done more speed work than ever before. I really noticed the difference this made out there. I was smoking the first loop (or so it seemed to me anyway) and the amount of effort being recorded was easy moderate level. I was amazed at the time, considering the level of effort I was putting into the run. Not sure if this was a factor for later slowing in the run, but hey! It felt great nonetheless.

And for those who remember my last year's run, I didn't fertilize one blade of grass or saw brier the whole time!!

I'm hoping to come out again next year and try again for the sub-20 time. I hope the new RD keeps a lot of the race the same. I hope he improves the water though.