Pacing the Umstead 100 mile Endurance Run in Raleigh NC 4-05-08 (Read 524 times)

Pacing the Umstead 100 mile Endurance Run in Raleigh NC 4-05-08 So the day was finally here! This past Saturday was my biggest running day of the year. I was scheduled to run in a 5K race in the morning, cheer my wife and teammates on in a half marathon in the afternoon, and then pace the women’s record holder(Jamie) for 1 lap(12.4 miles) of the Umstead 100 mile Endurance Race. That is quite a full day of running! The day started off well but I was not able to meet my goal for the 5K. I only managed a 19:12 with my son in the stroller. I just didn’t have it in me to push it to my limits. Plus I knew I still had 12.4 hilly miles ahead of me later that day. Then I watched my wife set her PR(by 5 minutes) for the half with a 2:03:26 and one of my teammates won the masters division with a 1:24:58. The day was going great and I was really excited. I made it to the check-in point for the Umstead 100. Then I got in touch with Jamie’s husband and found out that I was actually 40 minutes too late to pace her 6th lap. I was bummed that she had to go out there without a pacer for that lap but I was still set to run with her for lap 7 of 8. Jamie finished lap 6 at about 5:52 PM. That was only about 40 minutes behind the outright leader of the race and it was 8 minutes ahead of her 16 hour goal! We set out and tried to keep as close to her 2 hour pace as possible. We were fairly close to that pace but it was clear that 75 miles of running can take its toll on even the best of the elite athletes. However, Jamie kept pushing on. She would stop every other mile to stretch a bit but it would never last longer than 1 minute. Then she would hop right back on the trail at her 2 hour per lap pace. We got to the bottom of the North Turkey creek trail and she was going strong. We were flying past all of the other participants like it was lap 1 instead of lap 7! Then we started into the hilliest section of the course. If you are not familiar with the North Turkey creek trail in Umstead then you may not understand how hilly it really is(See the link below for the profile of the course). There are two VERY steep climbs that will reduce anyone to walking even after only a few miles of running. Jamie decided to walk these two hills. However, that was her 7 go at them that day so we can cut her some slack. As we crested the 1st hill Jamie said that for the first time that day she was feeling a little low on energy. I quickly handed her a Hammer Gel because Turkey creek is not the place to be if your tank is on empty. That Gel seemed to do the trick. I looked at my GPS and I saw that we were actually accelerating on the hilly terrain. Then as we rounded a corner we saw what I believe was the second place female. Jamie was about to put her 1 lap down. I asked her how she was feeling and she said “I am ready to go”. With that she put the hammer down! We immediately started picking up the pace. I couldn’t believe the intensity she was running with. I glanced at my watch and I saw the unthinkable! 7:10, 7:00, 6:45, and then 6:30! That is right at mile 84 she dropped down to a 6:30 mile! We held a 7:00 minute per mile pace for what seemed like a half a mile. It was unreal! Our team runs the Turkey Creek Trail every Saturday and every once in a while someone will take off through that section to “Put a hurt’n on the rest of the pack”. That is at mile 6 of our run! Jamie was equaling that effort at mile 84! That is just totally inconceivable. As we approached the last hill on the Turkey Creek Trail Jamie asked me “Is anyone back there”. I said Jamie, “No one is behind us. I am not sure there is anyone in the race today that could do what you just did”. She just smiled and said “That felt good”. We made our way back up to the camp site which was the end of the lap. Jamie, was running strong and I could see she was totally focused on finishing now. As we crested the last hill right before the lap check in point another runner shouted, “I know I probably shouldn’t tell you this but the leader of the race is only 7 minutes ahead of you”! That is right Jamie had made up something like 30 minutes on the outright leader of the race! She had almost caught one of the best ultra marathon runners I have ever seen. I turned to look at her and I saw that look in her eyes. I knew she was going to go for it but I told her to still take it easy. She had a whole lap to go and a lot can happen in that lap. She said she was going to run her own pace and keep her mind on her own goal of 16 hours. She knew that going after the leader with 13 miles still to go would be near suicide! I lead her to the lap check-in and handed her off to the next pacer who is an outstanding runner and an excellent pacer. I knew that he was going to keep her going and help her try to meet her goal. They asked me if I wanted to pace another lap for someone else. I said that I just couldn’t miss Jamie’s finish so I was going to sit it out for a while. I stuck around and waited anxiously at the line to see whether Jamie could do the impossible and catch the leader. 10:00 PM was nearing and we knew that one of them was going to come around that corner any minute. We were all pulling for Jamie but we knew that she would have to run a 2:00 or less to catch the leader. On lap 8 that just seemed impossible. In the end Serge came around the corner at about 9:50 PM and he was looking strong. I think he heard how close Jamie was to him and he really gave it everything he had on that last lap. He is truly an outstanding runner also and he showed why on that last lap. At about 10:23 Jamie came bounding up the hill! She hadn’t beaten Serge and she hadn’t broken the 16:00 hour mark but she had taken almost 30 minutes off of her previous course record time and she had totally amazed everyone there including me! I definitely have a new found respect for the ultra runners. After running only 1 lap of that race I can’t imagine doing it 7 more times in a row. Both Serge and Jamie are definitely world class athletes and I was glad to have had the opportunity to run with them. Overall the Umstead 100 was one of the best events I have ever been to. It is well run and everyone does there best to help all of the runners reach their goals. I will definitely go back to Umstead next year. I don’t think I will be ready to be an official participant by then but one of these days I hope to do more than 1 lap of the race. If only I could ever run it as fast as Jamie! Congrats Jamie and Serge! You guys are definitely champions! Garmin report from lap 7 http://tinyurl.com/5nmy94 Speed profile for lap 7 http://tinyurl.com/6b7e7j Elevation Profile for lap 7 http://tinyurl.com/5w259b

thanks for the insight JDF - it sounds like you (and Jamie) both had amazing days. congrats to your wife on her new half PR.

great job pacing her jdf! it's even greater that you and your family raced in the morning and then came over to umstead to pace! my friend was paced for the last loop by a volunteer who had run the half marathon in Raleigh that morning! thanks!

Now that is dedication! My wife ran that half and she did really well. However, she is totally wrecked now. The doctor thinks she broke her femur! She goes in for a bone scan today.