Jeez, hard to believe this was my fourth time to Texas for Rocky Raccoon. It was my first time with Joe Prusaitis as the RD (after taking last year off from Texas trips). Not slighting Mickey at all, but Joe did a fantastic job as RD and made lots of improvements: better aid stations, better water (I didn't realize Texas water CAN be clear, not orange-colored), added an aid station along the out and back death stretch called the Farside section, and better trinkets. Also, the pre- and post-race feeds were phenomenomal! More than anyone could eat.

Drove down to Huntsville with the usual Colorado Gang of Degenerates: Bob Rayburn and Nattu Natraj (his first 100 miler), Ron Wright and Vince Gerber. We took two vehicles: Ron and Vince rode down in Ron's new diesel behemoth and I went down with Bob and Nattu in Nattu's 4Runner. It was probably a good thing we drove separate vehicles, as I kept getting phone calls from Vince asking for deliverance from Ron's noxious odors. With each call I would hear Ron cackling in the background.

Nattu was fighting a cold (which would prevent him from finishing Rocky after 2 loops) so Bob and I let him sleep most of the way down while Bob and I tried out Nattu's 4Runner off road capabilities in the nice Texas mud. We probably would have made much better time had we not taken some of those dirt roads off the main highway, but we wanted to see how this baby could handle the nice Texas mud. Nattu was none the wiser as he was snoring contently in the back seat getting bounced around like a pinball on the flippers.

Ron and Vince started an hour earlier than we did, departing around 4:30 AM. We caught up with them around Wichita Falls. It's a good thing Ron has to stop every 15 minutes for a "P" break cause it let us catch up to them. We then followed Ron and Vince to Fort Worth in search of nighttime digs. We then realized why we were able to catch up to them: they drive like a couple of old ladies. Just because Vince was turning 50 over the weekend didn't mean he had to act like he had an AARP drivers license. This was by far the longest 100 miles of the whole trip.

As Bob, Nattu and I were loading the car the next morning we were forced to witness the "Full Moon" over Fort Worth: "Hey guys! Look out!" as Vince thought this was Javelina and doing his full moon act for all to see. I didn't have the camera ready so I asked him to do it again since I didn't see it. Yep, another Kodak moment.

We finally made it to Huntsville early afternoon, too early to check in so we headed on out to the park to pick up race packets. While waiting for the packets to get arranged, we ran in to some other Colorado runners: Matt and Anne Watts, Ed Green (doing his first 50 miler), Terri Spencer and her companion Mike Ehredt from Boulder trying to finish their first 100 miler.

Got our packets, checked in to the hotel and heard a cry from one of the windows. It was SLUGs Jan "Trail Turtle" Ryerse and Tom Reich! They were just heading out to see a movie, "Coach Carter". Oh yeah, another improvement to the race was no weigh in.

I finalized what I wanted in my drop bag at the middle aid station, "Dam Road", and hung out awhile until it was time to head back out to the park for the briefing and pre-race dinner. Got there and another Coloradan joined us, Scott Olmer. Also met up with fellow SLUG Ben Holmes and his wife. We sat down to wait for the briefing, and Ed Green said it wasn't going to happen until 7 PM. It was now 5:00. They finally served dinner at 5:30. While waiting for chow, Beth Simpson came up and congratulated me for the "Best Ass" at JJ last year. Turned out I ran a loop or so with Beth and Pat Gorman a few years back. We decided not to stick around for the brief, so we left. Food was great, but I was going to get fat eating the whole time.

Did some last minute shopping (beer, breakfast, munchies) and settled in for the night.

Got up early enough to get a good spot near the start/finish area with easy access to the vehicle with each out and back.

Checked in, hung around and mingled waiting for the start. Soon Joe was herding all the little turtles over to the start location, and after a loud "GO!" we were off. Temperatures at the start were balmy: low-40's. I settled into my little groove, got passed by some and passed others. My goal here for the race was to try and go at a reasonable pace, not too fast, but not too slow. I wanted to get the first loop done around 3:25 time. I figured I could do this by incorporating a regular interval of run/walks. I started out running much of the first mile or so, then had to force myself into an 8/2 run/walk ratio.

The trails were pretty decent, but there were sections of copious mud holes. People were sidestepping around them and going thru brush, I just decided to walk thru it and press on. We got 5 loops of this muck, it isn't going to get any better so why fight it? As I turned off the trail onto the road leading up to the first aid station several miles ahead, the lead pack (around a dozen) were heading down setting a brisk pace. The road was mostly dry, soft and easy to run on. There were a few puddles to get around though. I got up to the point of the old course where the first aid station used to be, but we had to go a little further and turn left down a road. There the aid station was, about 1/4 mile down all lit up nice. I must admit I was a bit concerned about how the change of this aid station would be in the race, but I think it was a logical and good choice. I only hoped it would make the farside out and back go quicker.

I got here quicker than my projected time split of 46 minutes (43:22) so things were good at this point. I didn't bother with a refill or food at this point and headed back out and up the road. As I turned to head down the long straightaway there was Jan moving great. This section of the course is always cool as you get to see everyone (well mostly everyone) on the out and backs. Lots of "looking goods" and "awesome jobs" to all as I moved on towards the Dam aid station nearly 3 miles distant. Soon I reached the bottom of the road and the inter- section where the 100 milers go left and the 50 milers go right. Soon it was time to head back up the trail, again mostly in decent shape although there were a couple of very muddy sections to get through.

Got to the dam road and made a left turn towards the aid station 100 yards up the road. It took me 29 minutes to do this split, just 1 minute off my projected split. I gave the nice person there my flashlight to put in my drop bag, refilled my bottle, grabbed a quarter PB&J sandwich (first of many) and walked out eating. My previous years here have told me to go easy on the energy drinks, so I did my usual 1 bottle of energy drink, 1 bottle of water. I've had issues with bowel problems and so I wanted to keep the liquid protein down as much as possible. It worked, as I didn't require a single pit stop throughout the race (unlike the time SLUG Jim Stroup and I ran it several years ago and I did the Texas fertilizer course record). As long as I supplemented with solid food at each aid station, I find I usually do well in that regard.

I wanted to get the next two splits done in 28 minutes. I was wondering how it would work out now with the change in the turnaround being closer and an aid station there. I did my regimented 8/2 all the way to the aid station. Got there in 30 minutes. Grabbed two PB&J quarters and walked out (after saying hello to Amanda McIntosh). I was running with a guy with a coonskin cap. I asked him what the hat was all about, and he said his name was Davy Crocket and he's in Texas. Throughout the rest of the race, I would always yell out to him "Hey, it's Daniel Boone...err...Davy Crocket!" I saw another guy wearing race number "69". I told him I wanted his bid number.

Made it back to the Dam aid station in 28 minutes, so I was happy with the pace. I also was feeling pretty good as well, so I knew I wasn't going too fast. My next goal was to get to aid station 6 (formally aid 174) in 46 minutes. This was through my least favorite part of the course, what I call "The Enchanted Forest". Lots of roots, rolly hills, and ruts to trip over. I took it easy through here and just ambled along, doing the 8/2 thing. I got to the long boardwalks in 35 minutes. So far, so good. Before I knew it (after dodging many muddy sections) I was at the aid station, and got here in 46 minutes! Refilled my bottle with energy drink, grabbed yet another sandwich and walked up the hill out of the station.

I met up with a guy from Tulsa, Brian Franklin, who was talking on a two-way radio to his crew at the transition area. I heard "You're on 17:31 pace". I told him it was more like a 21 hour pace. He asked how I came to that conclusion, and told him that was based on a certain degree of slowing and fading with each passing loop, and nighttime. Turns out this was his first 100 miler (first ultra period) and that he had a $500 bet with a friend that he could finish it. I offered up some free advice to him: you may think this is a 17:30 pace, but most 100 milers can't keep up that kind of pace the whole time. I suggested to him to go conservatively the first 3 laps and save it for the last two laps, cause he'll need it. Besides, if I had $500 resting on a first time 100 miler, I'd just concentrate on finishing within the 30 hour time, not setting a sub-20 goal. But I didn't know the guy's abilities. He ended up finishing around 29:36, so I guess he got his race entry back and then some. I guess he took my advice to heart. I ended up losing him not long after I talked with him, somewhere close to the last mile in.

I finished the first loop in 3:27, a bit slower than my projected time of 3:24....pretty damn good. I arrived at the aid station and was greeted by Tom Crull, a local all around good guy. He held up the finishers buckle and told me I had to touch it every time I came in here. So I kissed it. He said "Good. By the way, the previous guy had it up his ass." I said "No wonder it tasted like shit!" He then helped me refill my bottle, grab some food and got me outta there in less than a minute.

Got to the car, ditched my jacket, changed out of my long-sleeve shirt and into a sleeveless shirt, grabbed a bottle of unmixed energy drink, refilled my pack with energy drink powder bags, and headed out for loop 2.

Headed out for loop 2 feeling pretty good, hoping for a 3:44 lap time. As I headed out on the hardpacked bike trail leading to the Interpretive Center, I found myself just cruising along effortlessly and got a little scared that I was going too slow here. No need to worry, as I got to the first aid station in 45 minutes, 4 minutes ahead of schedule. I stopped to cram a couple PB&J's in my gob, grabbed another, and walked out up the hill.

As I was heading down toward the 50/100 mile intersection, I met up with Scott Olmer who asked me what the weather forecast was for the day. I said, "How the hell do I know? I'm only a weather guy." Turned out the rain that was forecast held off all day and into the rest of the run. Thank God!

Got to the Dam aid station in 32 minutes, a few minutes slower than planned, but still on schedule. Again, I got my bottle filled, grabbed a couple of PB&J's and walked out. For some reason, this farside section didn't seem so bad. Perhaps the shorter turnaround or just having an aid station at the end helped. Anyway, I just cruised along doing the run/walk thing and got to the Farside station in 31 minutes. From this point on I just put it in cruise control and got from aid station to aid station pretty close to projected splits. As I came to the Interpretive Center area marking 1 mile to the start/finish area, I realized my race was going like clockwork.

I got to the lodge tent with a 3:48 loop time. Once again, Mr Congeniality, Mr Warmth Tom Crull was there to help me with my every need and whim. He asked me what I wanted, and I said a refill of water would be great. He turned around and bellowed out "Is there any water left for this asshole?" I walked up to the table to grab some food and one of the nice volunteers said "Sorry, out of water." What a guy, Tom. Ya gotta love him, or hate him. They took mercy on me and scrounged up some water and so I left full and sated for yet another return in 4 hours time. I only hoped Tom would be otherwise busy on my return, like taking a dump or hotwiring a truck somewhere.

Stopped again at the car to reload the pack and dump my used energy drink bottle for an unmixed empty bottle. I also decided a little music was in order so I grabbed my mp3 player as well and tuned out.

Man, I cruised loop 3: planned on a 4:05 split, but hammered it out in 3:59. I think the music helped, but also the regimented run/walk mix worked wonders as well. I hit the 50 mile mark (estimated a few 100 yards past the Farside aid station) in 9:13. By this time I was smiling, knowing things were going well. I only hoped I could keep it up and get through the next loop from hell, lap 4. I always have issues with the 4th loop. Two years ago I was sitting at the Dam aid station contemplating a DNF when an angel, Paul Pomeroy, came by and forced me to get up, grab some food and walked out with me and soon running was the norm. I didn't have such foolish thoughts this year. I got back to turnaround tent (no Tom...Yeah!) and headed back to the car. I saw Nattu sitting in a chair. I asked what was going on, and he promptly leaned over and puked. Oh, I guess he was done. He said he was done and was having a hard time keeping stuff down. He surmised the cold he had was taking it's toll on him.

I changed into a short-sleeved shirt, grabbed a jacket and a small flashlight to get me to my regular flashlight at the Dam station. Refilled the pack again, and headed out. My goal for this loop was 4:37. Again, I was right on target for the first aid station. It got dark about halfway down to the 50/100 intersection and pulled out my light. I had forgotten to change the batteries in it, as it was fairly dim. Shit! I just hoped it would last until I got to the Dam aid station. It was difficult however to make out the mud puddles and water, so I ended up getting wetter than normal as I splashed my way through some of the muckier parts as I was running. Lesson to heed here: always check your batteries no matter if you think they are good!

It took me 5 minutes longer than planned to get to the Dam station, but thankfully the light stayed on and I went to my drop bag and retrieved the regular light I had used in the morning. Voila! I can see! I began to pick it up a bit, and for this being the dreaded 4th loop from hell, I was feeling wonderful. I made up some time to the Farside turnaround, shaving several minutes off my projected goal. Thank God for the mp3 player, as this really made the night section much more bearable. I picked my way thru the roots of The Enchanted Forest, and soon the boardwalks were in front of me. During this section, I was playing cat and mouse with another Coloradan from Gunnison, Jeff Heasley. We were dealing with a Texas Terror named Gretchen who was constantly at our heels. I finally lost sight of Gretchen and Jeff on the way up to the Interpretive Center, so again I was on my own. Got to the turnaround tent in 4:47, a bit slower but still okay and on pace.

I decided to keep the short-sleeved shirt on and jacket to save some time. I was feeling comfortable so why waste time changing. I refilled and headed out for the last time. I wanted to get this loop done in 5:26 to beat 22 hours and get a PR.

Something new to me this year happened at this race: I was lapping people on my last lap. Nothing like the feeling of making good progress and catching up to people ahead (not knowing if they are a loop behind or on the same loop as you) to keep one moving. I did sit down for several minutes at the Dam station inbound to deal with loose shoe laces. Frank Probst was sitting across from me dealing with his issues, but still finished strong ahead of me. I got to the Interpretive Center area and looked at my watch: I had 15 minutes to break 21:45! So I turned it on and just hammered that last mile. I guess I did better than I wanted as I crossed the finish line in 21:41:36! This gave me a 5:07 5th loop time, almost 20 minutes faster than planned!

As I was coming in Bob Rayburn and Paul Pomeroy were sitting next to the kerosene power heater cheering. Paul had finished nearly an hour prior, and Bob just came in 30 minutes prior on his 4th loop. It was great to sit down next to some heat and just talk a bit.

All in all, I'm very happy with my race here.

I had some serious issues with cramping calves the last 2 loops. Taking some salt and aspirin seemed to help take the edge off, but boy were they sore for a few days afterward! Also my quads were pretty sore as well.

Once again, taping the feet and wearing the Injinji socks (NFI) kept the blisters away....nary a one on my feet.

Dale Perry