A Tale of Three Races

The Ultra runners go round and round, round and round, round and round, the ultra runners go round and round all through the woods.

That about perfectly describes the race. Well, not perfectly, because that would leave out things such as the lovely setting, the nice vibe, great RDs and the individual experience.

Sunset the night before

Location: Hess park in Danville, Pa. Until I heard about this race I did not know the park existed even though I’ve driven by it hundreds of times. I’ve found out that’s not uncommon. It’s right along the road but nicely hidden by the trees. Total trail mileage is about 3 miles with most of it unpaved. The race uses a 1.5 mile loop that they achieve by placing a temporary bridge over the creek.  It starts in a ball field, enters the woods along the creek (I call this the lower trail), crosses the creek, climbs a short hill with about 50-60 feet elevation gain to the upper trail, then there’s a long slight downgrade for about 6/10ths of a mile. The rest of the trail is almost totally flat with some minor rooty areas.  Very, very, non-technical.

Reveille

I did the 12 hour version last year and melted in the heat only getting 36 miles in. Last year’s goal had been 51 miles and that’s what I wanted again this year.  Of course that went out the window when my training ended up really sucking with few long runs and overall low mileage.  Secondary goal, 40+ miles. Anything less than last year would be totally unacceptable.

We got there around 5 am when it was just getting light enough to find a place to park and set up. Lot of campers still sleeping so I kept things quite until about 6 then set up the canopy. Runners need their rest and I had only gotten about 3 hours myself. I had brought my own water because last year theirs sucked and also had a bunch of my own food.   6:30 came and there was no timing guy or equipment, then came the announcement that he would be late and the race would start 30 minutes late.  We had picked up our bibs and kept a eye out for George.  We had a little time to chat before the race started.

First Part

The veteran leading out the  young pup

When you do 26 loops things blend together. I can break things into three segments. The first was from the start until about noon time. I started off slower than last year partly because I was holding back and partly because my left leg was hurting. From the knee down it was sharp, shooting pain. Residual stuff from my pinched nerves. Just enough to be irritating but not  stop me. Temps and humidity were nice for running and the first three loops went fast. I settled into a rhythm of running the flat and downhill and walking the uphill and most of the short technical section. Soon the heat climbed and I donned my Kafka Kool Tie.  I was eating and drinking well and feeling decent but not really good.  Somewhere towards noon I started to get really tired, probably from a combination of the heat and lack of sleep the night before.  Also had two bear attacks which is one reason why I like timed races. Always easy to find a place to go.

The lower trail in the morning.

I had fueled on Tailwind, Perpetuem, Pringles and cookies but I found myself taking too much time at the aid station and canopy.  Suddenly it felt really hot and I got really tired. Pulled into our canopy, laid back in the lawn recliner and went to sleep. Right before falling asleep I saw George trot on by. When the going gets tough the tough keep going and the rest of us sleep.  When I awoke about 30 minutes later I was sick to the stomach. Both from being hungry and having such a full bladder. Took care of the bladder issue and confiscated a toasted cheese from DW. Her day was done as she did the 6 hour portion. With the nap it was about 7 hours into the race at this point.

The bridge at low tide!!!!

George Looking strong!!!!

Second part

This part I don’t remember too much about. I was behind where I wanted to be and while I wasn’t feeling too bad I wasn’t feeling great so I was doing a lot of walking. The good thing was that I was really able to walk quite fast. There were many times I was turning in <15 minute miles. The biggest problem was that I was spending too much time at the aid station. I was stopping every loop for several minutes to try to fuel and use the porta pottys. I obviously was hydrating well because things were running fast, clear and often.  For some reason there was nothing that appealed to my appetite. I had missed the Pierogies that I didn’t know they were going to have . They finally got some fresh bananas and I asked for a whole one and ate that on the walk.  At this time things were getting really hot and I was hoping for some rain and the coolness it would bring. It was around this time that I had a conversation with God.

Me: God, if you get me through this 12 hours next year I’ll…………………………….

God Interrupting: Yea, yea, yea. You’ll do what? Drop to the 6 hours??????

Me very meekly:  Uh, no……..I was going to do the 24 hour then.

God: Atta boy, that’s the spirit, now get moving, I made these trails to run on so get your butt in gear. I gotta go rustle up some rain .

At the beginning of this segment I had changed from my technical shirt that I had on in part because it was rubbing my neck to a white button down that had a lot of cotton in it. I was dumping water on my head and the shirt was doing its job of holding the water and overheating was not too much of  a problem at this time.  The chafing issue on the neck was solved as well.

The climb on the right and the start of the downhill.

Fast guy, slow guy.  Turning some 6 minute miles on a relay team and he's 57.

Third Part

About this time DW told me that she heard they had the  Potato Soup up at the aid station. I went and got some and that was good. Came back in and got another bowl. This time the guy asked me how much and I said I wanted a lot. Must have looked hungry. It was kind of hard getting all that down but it was what I needed. The next round I had to walk because of bloating but it was a very fast walk.  Somewhere around this time it started to rain, sporadically and gently at first then a little harder and the temp dropped as well.

The Technical part of the trail .

The shirt looks a little funky  but it cools better then the tech ones

A little Bandit????  Good thing this isn't Slowtwitch. That crew would crucify him .

Sometime around this time I saw George at the aid station and he said that he was done for the day as he was satisfied with his mileage.  By this time the bottom trail was starting to get fairly wet and very slippery. Well actually in the shoes that I had on it was treacherous. I was wearing my Bondi’s with about 450 miles on them so they are pretty much bald. The creek mud was slippier then snot. I was trying to pick my way through a few of the shallow puddles when my feet shot out from under me and down I went. Saved my water bottle from the mud and that white shirt??? Covered in mud .  It was on this lap that I noticed that the water in the creek  was rising and I thought that the bridge could end up under the water.  I finished this lap and decided on a change of shirt and shoes.  I got back to the canopy to find DW hunkered in the vehicle. I opened the door and told her that I was going to have to change shoes. My new Bondis jumped and said “I’m ready I got new tread” only to get pushed aside by the Speedgoats saying, “stand aside kid, this is a job for real trail shoes.”

I changed and DW told me that she had heard they had Chicken Noodle soup so off I went for a bowl. From this point on I think I only had time for about 3-4 laps but now I was able to run a lot more so I picked up the pace. The lower trail was now a watery, muddy mess, but with the Speedgoats it was no problem.  After the 3^rd lap I had a little over 20 minutes left. Enough for another lap if I pushed it. Since my watch had died and needed to be recharged it was not synced to the time clock so once I got out on the trail I had no idea how much time I had left.  I pushed the pace and was able to run most of this lap.  At one point I came up on a group of 6-7 people in a bunch. I apologized for rushing past them and the one woman said I had plenty of time but they were doing the 24 so they didn’t have to worry about a cut off.  Just before coming back out of the woods onto the field one of the faster relay runners caught up to me and passed as we entered the field.  Still afraid of missing the cut off I poured on the speed and was able to stick with him. The legs were feeling good, but not the stomach. As we rounded the last corner I could see that I had beaten the clock by a good bit so I slowed to a walk.  I figured it would look pretty stupid to sprint across the line then vomit  when I had 4 minutes left to go.

I ended up soaked and tired but feeling like I had a lot left in the legs.  If I had been doing the 24 hour I would have taken another 30 minute break at about the 10-11 hour mark and I think the stomach would have recovered and then been good, especially with the heat dropping. In the end I only got 39 miles which I’m not really happy with but it was better than last year. At this point I’ll probably do the 24 hour next year, after all I’m kind of committed unless God forgets my end of the bargain .

I’m not real sure but I think that within 30-45 minutes after I finished was when the bridge went downstream.

Overall the biggest things that I’ll change for next year will be to try to take off the entire 24 hour shift the Thursday before the run. Maybe that way I’ll be able to regulate my sleep better the night before.  I hadn’t planned on taking the Speedgoats and only grabbed them as I was walking out of the house in the morning. Without them the last two laps probably wouldn’t have happened. With them those last three laps were a real blast, there’s just something about slopping through the mud and water that makes you feel alive.  On one of the last laps I ran by a tent where some kid was bawling his eyes out. Apparently dad had promised he could go with for a lap and it was getting so muddy that dad had renege on that promise.  Poor kid, so much mud and not allowed to play in it with dad . That’s cruelty to a kid .

Overall this race has a pretty nice vibe with a lot of cheering and people with a mix of abilities. There was one person that stated that she won’t be back next year because the vibe was so bad this year. I agree with the guy that replied that that would just leave an opening for someone else to do it. Can’t satisfy everyone. There was a lot of people that left early most likely due to the rain.  With the split timing it’s too time consuming to try to figure out how many were running at the end of the 24 hours but It looks like only 15-20 of 75 were still going.

Passed this guy a few times. Was trying to figure out if that was a picture of his son who was KIA. Never was sure.

A video of the bridge for those of you that may have missed seeing it when George posted it the other day.  I was hoping someone would have posted pictures of the mud on the lower trail. It was lovely.

https://www.facebook.com/beckinabox/videos/833947211750/

Those are great pics of the race. I hadn't seen any yet. It was great finally meeting you and your family. Having you and my friends there with your words of encouragement really helped get me back on the course for those last few laps I need to pass 50K.

Dude!  Never make deals with God 

curious on your opinion of the Kool Tie?  Anything that would help with the heat I'm interested.

Thanks for the report and the photos. Seems like you were never on track with training for this one so 39 is pretty good really. Not sure I'd like the short loop for the 12 hour. It gives you plenty of time I guess to tack on laps but the constant passing of the aid station would seem to eat up time if you are not careful. Anyway, you got your rain and your finish so enjoy the 24 hours next year!

A Picture I was going to post but somehow forgot to.

So, Would you wear one??

Congrats DD (and WC, too!). Looks like a fun race and a nice park.