After reading what several people here posted about the joys of running timed events I decided to try one.  I considered the Sole Challenge as it is close to me, sits on a nice course and would have been an opportunity to meet AT.  That didn't work the best with my schedule so I decided to go with a fairly new race that was even closer to home, The Montour 24 hour.

This is located in Danville, Pa so it's only about 34.9  miles from my door step. I also liked the fact that this would be on unpaved trails, almost all of which were in the woods with little elevation gain.

They have five different versions of the race:  a 6 hour, a 12 hour day, 12 hour night, 24 hour and a four person relay event.  I picked the 12 hour day because I felt that would fit my fitness level for this time of the year and give me an opportunity to break into the 50 mile club.  I thought about doing the 12 hour night but decided I'd be slower running in the dark so the day shift would give me more chance of hitting the 50 mile mark.  In a way this was a goal race, but it was mostly training for Tussey Mountainback in the fall.  Either way I was really looking forward to it.

In the days leading up to the race it became quite apparent that the weather was going to play a role with the temperature being near a record high if not breaking a record.  Humidity was to be moderate.  No rain forecast with light breezes.  For this day the average temp is 84 with a record of 97. Predictions were for the mid 90s.

The course is a 1.5 mile loop run clockwise.  Jamie has a excellent description in his report.

As normal my training was not what it should have been. My mileage for the year is up compared to other years, but I really didn't have many long runs. Only one was over 20 miles. I did have several back to back runs that went well and I was running in the heat of the day most times.

My plan was to run the first hour, maybe two, depending on the heat with a target of 10-11 minute miles. As it would warm up I would slow down and start walking more, maybe at a 5:1 ratio of running to walking at first. I was hoping that I would never need to walk entire laps. The breakdown on paper had me easily completing 45 miles with 51 being doable and if things went well 60 as a long shot.

We got to the course and having no idea where to go or what to do I just drove onto the field and parked next to another vehicle right next to the course.  Worked out fairly well as I could stop at the vehicle on each lap if I wanted to without having to go out of my way.  The only problem was that it was in the open with no shade and we didn't have a canopy.

This year there was over 200 registered runners. Deducting the 12 hour night runners and the relay runners there was going to be about 184 runners on the trail if everyone showed up. One runner for every 43 feet.  Sounded like it was going to be packed at first.

We lined up a few minutes before 7, got a few directions and were off. As normal I started at the back. I had found Keystone earlier and  knew he was more towards the front. At first it was the normal Pa trail race conga line. I passed a few people before we got to the woods then fell in line. After the climb I did quite a bit of passing. The first loop took almost 19 minutes to complete which I wasn't the happiest about. The next several loops I fell in behind a younger guy that was wearing a Javilina Jundred shirt. He had a nice steady pace that was right where I wanted to be. He also had a interesting gait. One thing I've learned about trail runners vs. road runners is that roadies seem to be more obsessed with a perfect gait, whereas on the trail people have all kinds of gaits and some of the less perfect ones can really get the job done.

Looking strong coming in from the first lap.

Third lap water bottle switch. That's all sweat as I wasn't dousing myself yet.

I was planning on starting with Tailwind, maybe a gel or two, supplemented with a granola bar for the first hour or two then check out the aid station. Not knowing what the quality of water was going to be I took three gallons of my own along.

After the third lap I had already gone through my first bottle and DW met me at the course with a fresh one.  From here on out the timetable gets a little fuzzy. At some point I decided that the Javalina Jundred guy was going faster then was prudent for me so I started walking some.  After this I fell into a rhythm: stop by the vehicle, take a swig or two of Perpetuem, refill Tailwind as necessary, take 2-3 Endurolytes per hour, fill second water bottle with water from aid station and head out on course. The temp was rising and the second bottle was for dowsing myself. I was using a bottle per loop and feeling good.  I was running the field and first part of the trail in the woods, walking a short distance, running across the bridge because it bounced really nicely, stroll up the hill, run down the logging road because it was almost all downhill, walk the rail trail portion, then jog the technical section and field back to the vehicle. That was working really well until about mile 18.

Looks like a Sasquatch sighting .  Keystone trying to hide  in his bright yellow shirt and shades.

The Climb. Probably on my 2nd or 3rd loop.  Do those shoes make my feet look big ???

The first thing I noticed was that my shorts were getting tighter and my stomach was distended. I had visited the restroom but had not urinated. I was soon feeling the effects of the bloating and it took me two laps to realize that I certainly wasn't dehydrated but had probably taken in too much electrolytes. I cut out the Tailwind and Endurolytes and instead ate a granola bar in  between laps. Unfortunately the bloating got worse and soon I was walking more than running.  Looking at my splits laps 13 and 14 I had spent quite a bit of time at the vehicle. While that helped somewhat it wasn't enough to get me feeling as good as I should have been. While I could run some the bloating was giving way to nonstop attempts at  belching and the urge to vomit.

It was sometime around this time that I met the smartest man on the course!!! Keystone. As I rolled into the vehicle he came walking up in clean clothes with a beer in hand. He had decided that it was time to relax and not fight the heat.  Smart guy.

On lap 16 I noticed that my shoes were so wet that it was like I had just walked through the creek.   That is how much I was sweating although some could have been from the water I was dousing myself with.  When I got to the vehicle I peeled off my socks and found my feet looking like white, wrinkly prunes.  While drying them off I simply crawled into the vehicle, started it, turned the A/C up and went to sleep. Probably had a good 40 minute nap.

This helped and I got clean socks and shoes on and headed over to the port-a-potties. Now I was starting to flush out all that excess fluid.  By now they had grilled cheese and they were quite tasty. I had a 1/2 and headed back out. Looking back I should have eaten about two. This was the beginning of another routine. Coming back in and going right to the port-a- potties.  Couldn't believe how much fluid I had been retaining.

Random Picture of what I called the logging road. This was the long downgrade after the climb. Nice running.

Unfortunately my stomach never really recovered and I simply couldn't run enough to make up lost time, in fact the second to last lap was pretty miserable. If I could have vomited it would have been better. They had also started making Perogies and they were great.  The problem was they were going faster than they could make them so I didn't get enough.  By the time I got to mile 30 I had given up and told DW she needed to go along. She went with me for lap 22 and I wasn't much slower with her than by myself.  Now she's talking about signing up to the 6 hour next year!!!!!!!!!!!!

While I fell 14 miles short of my goal I think I did come a little closer to figuring out what causes my stomach problems.  I'm not eating enough, soon enough. Last year at Call of the Wilds I had no or little problems.  By mile 17 or about 5 hours into it I was starting on my third bottle of Perpetuem (700 cal each) and had been drinking a lot of Tailwind. On top of that I had a gel or two as well as at least one granola bar.  Looking back I can easily see that every race I've done well in my calorie intake is quite high.  Far higher than Hammer Nutrition would approve of.

Also, while the dousing helped keep me cool, it also allowed me to push a little harder than I should have and not sweat as much. Not sweating as much possibly led to the fluid retention, which exacerbated the bloating.

I did finish with enough time before the 12 hour night people went off that I got to talk to Jamie. He told me that when he pulled into the lot his car was reading a temp of 97 or 98.  It looks like he had a decent run during the night.

As I told him and Keystone. While I was running in circles I kept hearing one of the voices telling me that doing a relay would be fun!!!!  It looked like those guys and girls were having a blast. Run one hour as hard as you can then take three hours off.

When I was reading this, I was thinking that the Tailwind and Endurolytes would create some problems for me, specifically bloating. Since I started using Tailwind, I have had no need for any extra electrolytes. I mix it at 200 calories per 20 ounce bottle and supplement with solid foods as needed. I have run a 50 mile race in similar conditions as you had on just Tailwind and a few orange slices. I was the only one using Tailwind that day, and I was the only one who finished the 50 miles. I really like that stuff.

 

Oh by the way, it was perfect temps at night.  I actually got a little cold when I was resting/walking too much.  By 11pm it was easily down in the low 70's/high 60's and eventually got down to 62 degrees.  While the darkness does slow you down, the temps were great!

 

 

I would do terrible things if it would guarantee me some 62* temperatures at night right now. This HEAT!!!

I meant to mention a couple of other things before I was rudely interrupted by work. These people... Jeez. Don't they realize it is Monday!?! Anyway, congratulations on the run. I think you will most likely find that even though things may have seemed a little less than what you wanted this past weekend you probably gained a great deal from the heat and getting out there gutting it out. When I look back at 2012 and that 50 miler I mentioned, it was not a great performance by any means. I ran quite well the first 35 miles, but then my back just started giving me fits. It was run 50 yards, walk 100 yards for the last 15 miles, or so it seemed. It had to be close to that because it took about 4.5 hours to go the last 15 (18 minute mile average for the last 15 miles). I was averaging 12:51 per mile the first 35, which was what I was figuring when I set out that morning. Anyway, it was a training run and my last really long run before a 100 mile run that was two months later. I had absolutely no problem with the 100. I just wanted to have fun and enjoy 100 miles of mountains, and that is exactly what I did. So, this should pay off at Tussey Mountainback.

I was doing some more pondering today especially after reading the comments.  Last year I had two good races that were in warm to hot weather.  In both of them I used both Tailwind and Perpeteum. The biggest difference was that I didn't use as many Endurolytes and started with solid food a little sooner.  Lesson learned for next year and for my next two races.

I was looking over the finishing times and found some interesting things. For the 24 hour race there were 89 runners and the guy that finished 43rd  with 52.5 miles was 81 years old . It looks like he took a 5 hour break, but he was going at the end.

The fastest loop run by a relay runner was 6:34. I could be wrong but I think that was by a 54 year old.

And finally there was a runner that signed up for and ran in the 6 hour, the 12 hour and the 24 hour.  Does anyone have any ideas why she might have done that?

Looks like a nice little trail..thanks for sharing.  You got some good miles in. 

Congrats! Nice miles.  Great pics.