Possum’s Revenge 69 miler

Possum Kingdom, TX     May 25, 2019

Somehow Devan got one look at the finisher’s buckle for this one and said “DAD, we have to do Possum’s Revenge!!!”  I said, it’s too close to our other race this summer we shouldn’t do it.  She said Oh-kay. . . . . .  but. . . . . .  that buckle.  I looked at the buckle, shook my head, then caved.  Ok, we’ll do it - as a training run.

After taking a quick look at the setup, four 17.25 mi loops, easy spacing of the aid stations, trails in the woods…  we signed up.  Afterwards I figured I should take a closer, check out the trail conditions, figure out the temps (it is the end of May in Texas afterall), etc. Reports were not very detailed, but some did indicate a tough little trail with hills.  And it was likely going to be hot. Oh boy.

As mentioned, Devan and I are really training for another run at the end of July, but unfortunately my training has had a few distractions over the spring, a really bad cold, work travel, etc, etc. and I have skipped a few planned long runs and back-to-back weekends.  This might make Possum a tough one, but that’s the way it is sometimes.

Anyway, Friday after work I bopped over to a local pizza shop and picked up a pie, picked up Devan from her job and we were off at 4:30pm for the 5 hour dive up I-45 to the Possum Kingdom (located about an hour’s drive west of Fort Worth, TX).  Pizza dinner underway so we’d save time.  The drive was uneventful, and we found the race location without any problems.

We even spotted our friends right away as we pulled into the camp area.  Our friends (Mom and Daughter) had decided that day to jump into the 17.25 miler!!!  Spur of the moment, how cool and badass is that?  We pulled up next to them and quickly set up our sleeping gear.  A check of the weather, a quick look at the sky and noting that it was still about 80 deg at 9:30pm, we laid out a tarp, blew up the air mattresses and laid out under the stars. The breeze was nice and kept any bugs at the “Bug Beach Campground” away.  Slept pretty well, although some of our other neighbors were a bit noisy and kept me awake from time-to-time.

All too soon we were up again, getting ready, picking up our numbers, and setting up the cooler, gear tubs and chairs at the S/F that would serve as our re-supply for the loops.  Snapped a pre-race photo with our friends and we were off.

At least at the 6am start the temps had grudgingly lowered to the low-70’s, so it felt a bit cooler, but of course that means the humidity was at its max.  We were all sweating in an instant.

The trail was what I would call tricky, a mix of wide single track and narrow single track for the whole loop.  From the start you’d do about a 4 mi loop to the west that had some deep sand in spots some little hills and rocks.  There were also some really nice overviews of the surrounding hills, lakes, rivers, lake houses, and of course lots of boats out in the water.  The breeze felt good, but in among the trees and once in the lee of the hills where the wind was blocked the air got quite stagnant and it got hot.

Devan and I were running together talking and keeping up with the folks around us.  Just taking it really slow and easy since we know it’d be a long way in the heat.  To continue with the trail description, you’d then skip the S/F area and head toward the 13 mi central and eastern part of the trail.  There were parts that formed loops where all runners would be going in the same direction, and parts where you’d be doing common parts so runners would be coming and going in both directions.  But the trail was very well marked and all you had to remember was when you came to a race trail intersection – go left.  So overall it was a clockwise loop.  My GPS track is as shown with the marks showing every ten miles, so using the distance marks for reference the loop would be S/F (red blob), 2, 5, 4, 6, 1, 6, 3, 4, 5, Finish.  Repeat that loop four times for a total of 69 miles.

The longer eastern part didn’t have much sand at all, but it had even more rocks.  There were some hills with more great overviews and some smooth parts of the trail, but it seemed that every time you could find a running groove, there’d be something (rocks, tricky bit, up, down, etc.) that would interrupt your flow.  One of those ‘death of a thousand cuts’ types of things.  The hills weren’t bad a all, the first loop you could run all of them, but as usual later in the day they seemed to grow somehow.

On the first loop we also saw dhuff and her friend at an aid station and chatted a little bit.  It was short-lived though since we were going in opposite directions.  Devan and I got back from the first loop in great shape and pretty much exactly the time that we should have.  Well done.  After re-supply we were off on loop 2.  After doing the 4 mi western loop, Devan convinced me that she wanted me to go ahead.  She just wanted to do this thing herself, enjoy some alone time on the trail, and let me go do my own thing too.  We had discussed this beforehand so yes, it was time to make the split.  I was already getting beat down a bit but I was able to creep up ahead a little.

For me the biggest challenge was the heat.  By halfway through the second loop it was already hot, and it only got worse from there.  I was looking for Devan on the common parts of the trail on the way back but figured that we passed while on one of the loop parts so I didn’t get to see her on trail.  But I did get to see our friends on trail and I told them that they’d see Devan a little bit behind me.

I got back to the S/F and headed out on loop 3, I got through the 4 mi western part and luckily met up with Devan at the tee intersection of the little part to/from the S/F.  She was not a happy camper and was hurting.  She indicated that the knee injury that she got from horse riding the week before was hurting bad and keeping her from running the downhills.  She was worried that she’d eventually not be able to keep up her pace. I was really sad but she urged me to keep going and that she’d regroup at the S/F.  I said that that sounded like a good idea and after the S/F re-supply she could do the 4 mi western loop and reassess.  She said that sounded good.  The whole rest of my third loop while I was on the return common parts I was just hoping I’d see Devan.  But I’ll add that my whole third loop was a suffer-fest due to the heat.  I was drinking lots, taking s-caps and gels, but I was doing the balancing act of taking in fluids and calories versus keeping the stomach under control. But after a while I lost my balance and over the course of loops late two, three and early on in four I barfed 4 times (it might have been 5, I lost count), we’re talking gut wrenching heaves that actually cramped my lower abs.  But as soon after barfing as I was able I restarted the hydration and fueling knowing that things would really go downhill quickly if I didn’t.  I was applying every wily old veteran trick I knew, just tried to keep moving as well as I could.

During the last few miles of loop 3 it got dark, I had brought my light so all was good, by the way it was at this time that I saw a huge fat 6 or 7 inch orange centipede crossing in front of me it was really cool. Later at night I would also see toads, a grey fox, some deer, and a tarantula (que the Toadies – Possum Kingdom.) When I got back from loop 3 Devan was there, she had pulled. I was hoping she wouldn’t be there, but she’s a very smart girl, didn’t want to risk further injury for the next race on the horizon, the A goal.  But trooper that she is, she told me to go out and get that fourth and last loop done!!  And she said that she’d drive out to the far eastern end and see me out there. What great kids we have, maybe we didn’t screw them up too badly afterall.  Turns out Devan went to both aid stations on the eastern loop and since one is on the common part I saw her three times.  That was a really big boost for me.

I should add that one of my veteran tricks finally paid off, after my 4th (or maybe 5th) time at the barf-a-thon and at the first manned aid station of the forth loop I asked for mashed potatoes.  You have to know that at that time those soupy instant slightly warm and salty mash potatoes tasted pretty good.  I only hoped that they would stay down, but I’d only know for sure in a few minutes after heading down the trail.  Good news, they did the trick.  Calories in and settled the stomach.  I also did mashed potatoes at the remaining two stops as well.  In fact I was now moving much better and actually able to run again.  It also helped that temps had finally dropped into the mid- to low- 80s by that time, of course humidity back up.

I always have to add that the aid stations were really great, one was unmanned with ice and water only, but the others were fully manned and stocked with ice, food and drinks.  The aid station workers were simply fantastic.

In the end I managed to get the finish about 2 hours under the cutoff time.  That was all we wanted for this training run. . . . except. . . .

that buckle.

Here are my loop times:

Loop 1:   4:24:41

Loop 2:   4:50:01

Loop 3:   5:50:53

Loop 4:   6:02:10

Total:    21:07:45

I came in 40th place out of 62 finishers, there were 103 that started.

By the way the race tee shirt is quite the looker as well, I got some fun looks at the north Texas Starbucks the next morning.

Devan says we’ll be heading back that way to get her one of the buckles next year. I’m all in!!!

Thanks for reading.

Unicorns rock and rule, but not even that buckle would temp me.  Heat is a killer. I'm amazed you were able to continue and finish after the stomach problems.

Sandy, really enjoyed the RR!  Sucks about Devan's knee.  Hope it heals for the next race.  Glad you were able to gut it out (no pun intended) with the heat and cramping.  Never saw mashed potatoes at a race (guess perogies are close), but it sounds like easy calories manage.  And the race is definitely worth that buckle!!!  Hope you rest and recover well.

Job well done Sandy....Good that Devon pulled to protect her knee...big race on the horizon...I still want a picture of you wearing that belt in work clothes.

Also be careful where you wear that shirt in Texas...don’t want to get your ass kicked.

I PM’d you about Tahoe.

Well done. I can tell you that mashed potatoes (or potato soup) can sometimes make you better at the end than you were at the start. My first (only) 100K found me in the deepest depths of Hell about 38 miles into it. I got some potato soup and the final loop was faster than the first loop.

I am sure Devan will get that buckle next time. But that Tahoe Rim will be a great run. Stay focused!!

Thanks Everyone!!!

AT: Yeah, no port-a-potty writing of race reports for me.  But I will say that the course had a million places where one could cut if one wanted to.  I don’t know if there were any cameras out there at the ends of the loops but I do know that the same RD has used them in other races.  Yes, my DW indicated that the live tracking seemed to be messed up and it had Devan way out ahead of me. . . . I told her that that is going to actually happen soon enough so don’t rush it.

wc:  Yes, possums riding unicorns was the main draw for this one. There were quite a few folks who admitted that that’s why they were running it!!  Agree, I suck in the heat and that’s why I know what to do when things go south.

dhuff: It was really nice seeing you, too short though, I was so glad that I remembered your number.  It was funny when I mentioned your name and seeing your blank stare until I told you who I was.  Too bad no one had a camera.  Aaaah yes, those little stone stairs, they were one of those things that came up to bite you and kill your grove. You really had to be careful going down them or you’d end up on your ass.

Bert-o:  Gut-it-out, ha I like that!!!  Mashed potatoes, potato chunks with salt, or potato soup is the best late in these things. Not all races have them, but you should try it sometime.  Devan said the knee is feeling better today and she getting it checked on Monday (earliest appt she could get).

Dr J: When it gets hot I have to be careful or I’ll barf, in this case there was no getting around it.  I think the temps went up to about 90 deg.  The thing is, if you don’t continue to take in calories, you’ll bonk big time and that’s even worse than barfing as bonking can end your day.  Anyway, I have a lot of experience with the situation and just plow through it.  Thanks for the kind words.

QoN:  I brought the buckle in to show a few people at work today and one asked my why I wasn’t wearing it.  Ha Ha.  I’m saving that for a special occasion.  Yeah, maybe I shouldn’t wear that shirt when I go to the local biker Ice House. As you can probably guess, I’m not a very good fighter.

moonlight: Yeah, the heat and humidity are killers.  I think it was getting to a lot of people and there were quite a few drops.  I’m also glad that Devan stopped to limit issues later on.

LB2: I have also been saved by potato soup a few times.  Wily veteran trick.  Yup the A-goal, but she and her friends are already determined to get the Possum Buckle next year.

Mandy: Yeah, my Croatian running buddy wants me to wear it next week in London at our international safety meeting (it’s a branch of the UN).  Maybe I will, it’ll go nicely with a suit.  On the FE photo, I did remember, but no one had a camera or a phone, oh well.

XT: yeah, those mashed potatoes did the trick, plus the ever so slight down-click in the temps.  The trail was pretty shady, but there were some open spots.  I ran the 2nd and 3rd loops w/o a shirt, but had a lot of spray-on sunscreen, I still got slightly red.

Funny about your dog stealing the frisbee, one of those great things that's really funny....  and even funnier because you struggle to keep from laughing, 'cause you really shouldn't.  To this day the guy is probably saying "I hate Possum Lake, because I remember a dog stealing my frisbee... ".

Please tell me you've worn your new belt buckle to work!  And plan to wear your new shirt on your next trip.

Ok, Ok...  Next week in London I'll wear it.