When I decided last year that I wanted to work hard and try to qualify for Boston, I knew I would need help. I would have loved to hire a coach, but that was a little out of my budget so I had to use what I had available to me.
I work for 1-800 Contacts and our company has a great health and wellness program. We have access to a beautiful gym with personal trainers at our disposal for help at no charge. So over the winter I decided to add some strength training to my running and for the first time, I worked with a personal trainer.
My trainer Suzy was AWESOME and she kicked my butt! Not only did I see results in my strength and weight loss, I also felt a huge difference in my running. The cross training not only made me stronger, it made me faster and I accomplished my goal of qualifying for Boston.
Just before my BQ attempt in Ogden, Suzy took another job and left the company. I had my BQ and with Spring in full bloom, I just wanted to spend more time outside and less in time in the gym. Well this was probably not the best idea with my 100 mile training taking over. If I could use some extra strength for anything, it would be for running 100 miles! So with a little over a month before Arkansas Traveller 100, I am back in the gym to try and get back on track. My new trainer Joe is great! He kicked my butt (and my arms and abs)!
Meet my new trainer, Joe!
I know a lot of people that have a coach to help them reach their goals. If you can swing it financially, I highly recommend it. Like a Personal Trainer, not only are they there to create a training plan to help you reach your goals, they offer the extra push needed to reach your full potential.
I could work out alone and be fine, but it's easy to do less when I am tired. I need someone to kick my butt when I get lazy!
Coach or Personal Trainer, sometimes a little help and commitment (on your part to work hard) can help move your running to a new level.
OK, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am not talking about stripping all my clothes off running around town like Will Ferrell in "Old School". When I say streaking, I am referring to a running streak.
I had big goals for 2015, so big some people suggested that I split them into two years as the training for a Boston Qualifier and a 50 and 100 mile ultra marathon are very different. I was motivated at the time, but I was going to need and incredible amount of motivation to train (basically alone), for such lofty goals.
One day I was on the phone with Houston Wolf (a fellow Maniac and Streaker). I told him my goals, and being as crazy as I am when it comes to running, he encouraged me to start a running streak. He said it had really helped him get out the door everyday. He said for the streak to count you have to run at least one mile everyday. I wasn't sure how I could do it. Then he said, "How long does it take to run a mile?" I said, "Well, even at a slow pace it would take less than 10 minutes." He came back with, "Come on! You can do anything for less than 10 minutes!" He was right and the streak started 8/24/14.
It wasn't always easy. I was traveling a lot and sometimes had to do my streak run in jeans and boots around airports to get it in. The day after the Big Cottonwood Marathon in mid September, I ran with a 102 degree temperature. I only ran a very slow and easy mile, but I got it in. In late October, I injured my SI joint during the Marine Corps Marathon and for the next month, my runs looked more like hobbling than running, but I got that one mile in.
So here I am one year after starting my streak and what has streaking done for me? Well, a lot. It made getting out that door a habit. Even when I didn't want to get up early or run late after work, the streak kept me going. This led to better training for my goals. I wanted to run a 50 miler this year, CHECK! I wanted to get fast enough to qualify for Boston (something that I NEVER thought I would do), CHECK! I wanted to run every day for at least one year and be included in the United States Running Streak Association's list of streakers- CHECK!
I still have 2 goals on my list (running a 100 miler and completing my 100th marathon/ultra), which I hope to achieve on Oct 3rd-4th at the Arkansas Traveller 100. None of this would be possible if I had not started my streak.
Thanks to everyone that has encouraged (or put up with) me during this past year. I promise there will fewer selfies now! Thanks Houston for inspiring me to get on this crazy streak. I will always be grateful to you for that.
If you are like me, then you too have this blind trust that all runners are really good people. Whether it be by the obligatory wave as you pass each other on the road or trail or the offer of an extra gel when you forget yours during a race, I have always thought of runners as friendly, honest and trustworthy. Basically morally above all other people.
I remember doing the Mississippi Blues Marathon in 2013, when a man I had met on the plane told me he was also a Marathon Maniac and he offered me a ride to the expo. I would never get into a car with a strange man I had never met before, but I immediately got into the car with him without a fear in the world. Why? Because he was a runner. I just thank goodness he was only a Marathon Maniac and not just a maniac!
I did the the same thing when I went to dinner. A Marathon Maniac invited me to dinner and off I went on a 45 minute trek in a car through Jackson with someone I had only met once, but he was a runner, so he was a good guy right? Turns out both guys are now good friends, but in any other instance, I would be more safe.
In my mind runners worked hard, were committed to doing their best and followed the race rules regardless of convenience, but over the last year or two it seems I have been a little naive. I have had the rude awakening that runners are people too! Yes folks, I know it's hard to believe, but there are liars, cheaters and unscrupulous runners out there! Just don't tell me there is no Santa, my heart couldn't take it!
Rosie Ruizwas the first female finisher of the 1980Boston Marathon, but her result was immediately questionable.In the wake of suspicion about Ruiz, her results in the 1979New York City Marathonwere invalidatedand then her Boston result was stripped.
Rosie Ruiz
During the 2005 Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC, a group of about eight Canadian runners called Jean's Marines cut four miles from the marathon in order to avoid a time cut-off on the course. The team was barred from running the 2006 edition of the marathon.
Roberto Madrazo, a Mexican presidential candidate in 2006, had his results invalidated in the 2007 Berlin Marathon. According to his timing chip, Madrazo skipped two checkpoints on the course and covered one nine-mile segment in 21 minutes (faster than world-record speed for such a distance).
Kip Litton, a dentist in Davison, Michigan, has been linked to suspicious results in many races; his alleged cheating is the subject of a 2012 New Yorker feature article, Marathon Man: A Michigan dentist’s improbable transformation. Litton has been disqualified from races including the 2009 City of Trees Marathon, 2010 Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon, the 2010 Missoula Marathon and the 2010 Delaware Marathon.
At least 30 of the top 100 finishers in the 2010 Xiamen International Marathon either rode public transport during the race or hired other runners to carry their electronic timing chips. Competitive finishes in the marathon earned runners points toward entries into China's highly competitive universities.
After finishing 3rd in the 2011 Kielder Marathon, Rob Sloan eventually admitted to cutting the course by taking a bus between the start and finish.
Rob Sloan
Kevin Goodman, a prominent Cleveland businessman, claimed to have helped victims of the Boston Marathon bombings after having run the 2013 Boston Marathon, but marathon officials stated they had no record of Goodman starting or finishing that race. Goodman’s results in the 2012 and 2013 Towpath Marathon were retroactively invalidated.
Jason Scotland-Williams made news among the London media who questioned his result in the 2014 London Marathon. Scotland-Williams’s results show that he ran the first half of the marathon in 2:07:05 and the second half in 1:01:42, world-class pace for the last 13.1 miles. News sources report that he may have jumped a barrier or skipped nine miles of the course. He denied any wrongdoing.
Tabatha Hamilton was disqualified after finishing as the first female of the 2014 Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon; race officials determined it was impossible for her to have run the last half of the marathon in 49 minutes without cutting the course. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Hamilton said "that she completed the full marathon and the disqualification was a mistake."
Kendall Schler finished first among women at the 2015 St. Louis Marathon but officials determined she had not completed the entire course and Schler was disqualified. She was also retroactively disqualified from the 2014 St. Louis Marathon.
Kendall Schler
Most of these folks were caught (or accused of) cutting the course, but there is one way of cheating that is becoming more prevalent and here in Utah, it seems like people just turn a blind eye to it.
Most of us remember the stories from the 2014 Boston Marathon when many runners forged bibs to get into the race. It caused quite the uproar on social media, but what I am talking about is running a race with a bib that doesn't belong to you.
Runners forged bibs to run in the 2014 Boston Marathon!
People do it for many reasons. A friend gets hurt and can't run the race, why let the bib go to waste? Want to qualify for Boston or NYC but are not fast enough? Ask a fast friend to do it!
This practice may seem harmless to some, but make no mistake, if you run under another person's bib you're cheating. I have seen age group awards won and prizes taken by people NOT running with their own bib and in most cases they are in a different age group and/or gender!
As runners and racers, we should always respect the rules of the race we are running. When we sign up we all sign waivers and agreements saying we understand the rules and will follow them. That means if the race has a no transfer/no refund policy, we have to use our judgment on whether we are willing to risk losing money when we sign up. Yes, it sucks, but if you are not willing to take the risk, it's best to sit it out. Running is free, racing is not. I have lost quite a few clams on races I could not or decided not to run.
Some runners may have different goals than getting an award. I know a girl that just wanted to make the top 10 in her age group. How would she or others feel if she was edged out by a man running under a woman's bib he bought off a Facebook page? In order to keep the sport fair, we ALL must follow the rules, not just the elites or faster runners, not just when the rules benefit us, we should always play fair. I won't even get into the safety issues involved, it's just good sportsmanship to follow the rules of the race.
The good news is, a lot of races are starting to offer more liberal transfer policies so those who register early and find out later that they can't run, are able to legally transfer their bib to another person.
Here in Utah, there is a Facebook page in Utah called Utah Bib Exchange that allows people to post bibs they want or want to get rid of. The owner of the page indicates that the page should be used for legal transfers only, but I don't think it's enforced by what I have seen on the page. In fact, I saw a post yesterday asking for a 1/2 marathon bib in return for a 1:30 PR and people were actually supporting this behavior until someone called him out.
Saw this on Utah Bib Exchange yesterday. I wish I could say I was shocked.
This is the kind of stuff that gives runners a bad name. Come on people! Let's play fair and live up to my fantasy that runners are the greatest and coolest people in the world!
We all want to run all the races and races are expensive, but you risk not only cheating others (by skewing results), you end up cheating yourself by posting a time you didn't earn.
So, if you read my race report on the Full mOOn 50k, you may remember the awful time I had with my Ultimate Direction SJ vest. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE that vest, but I have the 1st edition which does not have the adjustable sides. I dropped some weight (and women tend to drop it up top before anywhere else), so my vest does not fit right anymore. With both bottles filled, it weighed a ton and it bounced all over, leaving some really bad chaffing. I knew I could not wear this vest for Arkansas Traveller 100, so the search was on.
With aid stations at AT100 from 4-6 miles apart, I knew I would be OK with one bottle, but holding a hand held for 100 miles will not work. I got tired holding my little flashlight for 20 miles at Full mOOn!
I have also grown to loathe anything around my waist, so I really did not want to wear a belt either. I don't like bladders because I can't see how much water is in them until I am out of water! Thea also are a pain to refill. If only there was a one bottle pack or vest out there! Oh wait! There is!
In my online search for what I thought was impossible, I came across the Orange Mud HydraQuiver. This was exactly what I was looking for, but at $85, I wanted some feedback from those that had used it.
The feedback was good for the double and single barrel options.
Then the nicest thing happened. I got a message from the good folks at Ultra Adventures, a race company here in Utah that puts on the most beautiful and rugged ultras around (see my Capitol Reef race report). Orange Mud happens to be a sponsor and they offered to send me a HydraQuiver.
I loved Ultra Adventures before, but I really love them now. It warms my heart how the ultra running community looks out for one another! THANK YOU ULTRA ADVENTURES and ORANGE MUD! I can't wait to rock this at AT100!!!
I would like to start this post with my absolute admiration to any and all runners out there that train/race in the South over the summer. I just do not see how you do it! I came to the Full mOOn 50k in hopes of getting a taste for what will be in store when I attempt the Arkansas Traveler 100 in October.
The AT100 starts and finishes at the same place and part of the Full mOOn runs on the AT100 course. I thought this would be a good chance to get an idea of the trails, test my gear and have some fun, but in the name of fun, I made some rookie mistakes and I underestimated everything. If there was something that could go wrong for me, it did and most things were my own fault.
I flew into Memphis then drove to Little Rock. Living and training in Utah (where the heat is warm and dry), I was not ready for the heat and humidity that awaited me. Friday night I decided to take get a little shake out run in. I thought if I waited until 9:30pm I would beat the heat. Well, when it comes to summer in the South, there is no such thing!
10:00pm, 85 degrees, high humidity and a closed Baskin Robbins is NOT cool Memphis!
About 10 miles from Little Rock, I hit the worst traffic that added over an hour to my drive so I finally got to my super speedy friend Marc Gill's apartment (who was nice enough to offer me a place to stay) about 1:00pm. We went to get some lunch and went back to his apartment so I could prepare for the race.
Me holding Marc's 1st place Rooster!
I got all my gear together, including a duffel bag that included a change of clothes, some Tailwind (that Marc gave me), my spare Garmin and some spare batteries for my headlamp and flashlight (which I was going to put in my pack when I got to the race).
Packet pick-up and the race start and finish was held at the Camp Ouachita Girl Scout Camp in the Ouachita National Forest. The race started at 7:00pm so I made sure to be there by a little after 6:00pm so I could pick up my number and relax a little before the start. I got a 20 minute cat-nap before driving to the race, but that was it.
The Start/Finish! (Photo courtesy of the Full mOOn 50k)
The first thing I noticed when I got there was how hot and humid it was. I was actually a little worried about how I would hold up. Heat is my downfall when it comes to racing and I was already soaked with sweat and I had not yet run a step.
A friend told me to make sure that I take in extra electrolytes to compensate for all the salt I would be losing in sweat, so while in Memphis I stopped at Breakaway Running and picked up a new (to me) electrolyte powder called Scratch, which I added to my water just to make sure I had enough.
After I picked up my bib, I was going to drop my t-shirt back off to my car when I saw my friends Annette and Arland Blanton. Annette graciously let me put my shirt in her bag which saved me a long walk back to the car to drop it off before the race started.
It is always great to see the Blantons!! (Photo by Annette Blanton)
Getting ready to run! (Photo courtesy of the Full mOOn 50k)
Being the only person from Utah on the course, People started calling me Utah! "How's it going Utah?" "Great job Utah!" was fun to hear! (Photo courtesy of the Full mOOn 50k)
At 6:45pm, Race Director, Susy Chandler gave us the trail briefing. I turned on my Garmin just before the start and saw what every runner hates to see: Battery Low! MISTAKE #1- DOUBLE CHECK THAT YOUR GARMIN IS FULLY CHARGED! (It can get turned on in your luggage and drain the battery.)
No worries! I had a back up Garmin for such an emergency, but I forgot it was in the duffel bag in the trunk of my car (which I didn't return to when I got my shirt). MISTAKE #2- MAKE SURE THE EMERGENCY GARMIN IS WITH YOU! (It does no good in the trunk of the car.)
Race Director Susy Chandler giving us the trail brief before the race. (Photo courtesy of the Full mOOn 50k)
We got started on time and I felt pretty good. Despite the heat and the fact that my hydration vest was not only super heavy, but since dropping some weight it is a little too big and it was bouncing all over, annoying the heck out of me, I settled into a comfortable pace and felt pretty good for the first five miles. I was drinking my electrolyte drink when all of a sudden I felt really nauseated. I was super hot and thought I was just overheating. I stopped to walk for a minute and made sure to keep drinking, but the more I drank, the more nauseated I felt.
I was feeling good the first five miles. (Photo courtesy of the Full mOOn 50k)
I started walking the hills and running the flat and downhill sections until running downhill made my stomach worse and I threw up for the first time. I have NEVER had stomach issues in a race and really didn't know what to do. I was only about 8 miles in (with no Garmin, that's a guess) and every step I ran made me want to throw up. Eating anything was the last thing I wanted to do and the heat was making me want to pass out.
I drank some more electrolyte drink and about 2 miles later, I thew up again. By this time it was dark. Marc had told me what a great running community Little Rock had and he was right. Every time I had to stop, someone stopped to check and see if I was all right. A few folks even offered to stay with me until they knew I was OK.
This race also had a 25k. Those 50k people who couldn't continue were given the option of dropping at the 25k. Once I got to the 25k, I sat in a chair and had one of the fabulous volunteers fill my water bottles. One volunteer handed me some salted watermelon and I broke out the salt tablets that Marc had given me. The watermelon tasted so good and it seemed like it was going to stay down. One runner saw me sitting in the chair and said "Be careful, that's a black hole your sitting in", but without that chair, I may have not continued, I felt that bad!
After about 5 minutes, I put some ice in my buff and put it on the back of my neck and I felt much better. I started the second half feeling pretty strong. I was passing people that stopped to help me and they seemed happy that I recovered. Then I took a swig from the bottle that had a small amount of electrolyte drink left in it and I immediately felt sick and threw up again. It was at that moment that I knew it was the new electrolyte drink that was making me sick! MISTAKE #3- NEVER TRY ANYTHING NEW ON RACE DAY!!
I got to the next aid station, sat in the chair ate some watermelon and drank some plain water, and again, I felt much better.
By this time I was not only feeling tired physically, I was feeling really sleepy! I almost felt like I wanted to lay down on the ground and take a nap. My headlamp was going dim, so I broke out my new flashlight, which was really bright, but in the last few miles, it too was losing the brightness I needed for running downhill. I would turn it off when hiking up hills (the dim light was OK for hiking), then turn it on when running. I decided to put my spare batteries in my headlamp, but realized all my spare batteries were also still in the duffel bag in the trunk of the car! MISTAKE #4- WHEN THERE IS NO DROP BAGS, MAKE SURE YOU CARRY YOUR SPARE BATTERIES WITH YOU!
I hit the last aid station about 4 miles from the aid station. I again sat in the chair while the volunteer filled my bottles with plain water. I still didn't want to risk eating anything too sweet so I just stuck with oranges and while tired, I was actually able to run at a pretty good pace to finish feeling strong.
Christmas in July? Where the heck was the snow?!
After I finished I went to see if I could eat some real food. They had a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, bacon and sausage, so I grabbed some eggs and a pancake, sat down, took my phone out of my pack and turned it on to get my Google maps directions back to Marc's house. Unfortunately, my phone started some kind of wacky update and it cleared everything in my phone! Pictures, contacts, texts, apps, all gone! I no longer had the Google map history or the text Marc sent me with his address and it being 1:00am, I didn't want to call him and wake him up. After two hours of trying to get my phone back to normal (which was hard in the woods where there was no cell service), I headed back down the mountain to where I could get service. On the way back down, I remembered the cross street near Marc's house and I was able to make my way back, walking in the door at close to 5:00am. MISTAKE #5- ALWAYS WRITE DOWN IMPORTANT ADDRESSES AND PHONE NUMBERS IN CASE SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOUR PHONE!
I got into the shower and promptly found out how bad my vest had chafed me with all the bouncing. MISTAKE #6- NEVER WEAR A VEST THAT WEIGHS OVER 5 LBS AND NO LONGER FITS CORRECTLY!
Oh the chafing!! OUCH!!
Sleep felt so good, but I was up by 10:00am. Marc and I chatted then went and got some Mexican food. Salted tortilla chips and cheese hit the spot! We then walked over to "The Old Mill" which was less than a mile from his apartment. It was used in the opening credits of one of my favorite movies "Gone With The Wind"!
Old Mill Selfie!
There were cute turtles in the lake!
By the time we walked back to Marc's apartment, I was sweating my butt off! We watched the Western States 100 movie "Unbreakable", but I was so sleepy, I dozed off in the middle of it. When it was over, I went into take a nap while Marc went for a run.
About 12:00am, I packed up and headed back to Memphis (stopping for a 30 minute nap in a gas station parking lot), making it in plenty of time to drop off my rental car at 4:00am.
This is what I LOVE about the Marathon Maniacs! I get to meet the greatest people! I can't thank Marc enough for opening his home to me and being such a good host. He is also doing AT100 for the first time! See you in October my friend!
I made it to the Memphis airport in plenty of time to get a selfie with mosaic Elvis!
My review of the Full mOOn 50k? Great race at a great price with great people! The heat (and not feeling well) was the only part of this race that was not enjoyable. The race website says this is a good race for a PR, but in my personal opinion, unless you are a mountain goat or someone that runs A LOT of hilly trails all the time, it did not seem like a PR course to me. It would be tough on a good day!
I am good about beating myself up when I have a less than stellar performance these days, but this time I will give myself a break. My only objective in this race was to investigate and get in a long run. I may have felt terrible and ran slower than I wanted, but what I learned in mistakes will be what helps me at AT100.
I gained a whole new fear and respect for what I will attempt in October. Lord help me!!
In preparation for the Arkansas Traveller 100, one of the races I was going to run was the El Scorcho 50k in Fort Worth, Texas. Unfortunately, my credit card could not handle two airline tickets a week apart and I REALLY wanted to get some overnight time on the AT100 course before the big show in October. The Full Moon 50k would give me that opportunity, so given the choice between the two, I had to go with Full Moon.
This left a race that needed to be replaced. AT100 is scheduled to be my 100th marathon/ultra and dropping El Scorcho without putting another race in it's place would leave me at 99 and that would not do!
My pal Galen graciously invited me to come and run the Capitol Reef 50 miler with him. He was driving down and told me that I was welcome to ride with him and take the spare bed in his room. The entry fee was not cheap, but it was less expensive than the airline ticket, so I took him up on his offer. This would also be great training as I wanted to get at least another 50 in before AT100.
I knew that this would be a tough run. Even living in Salt Lake City cannot prepare you for running over 20 miles at 11,000 feet and nowhere in the course description did it mention how technical the course was. Wait! Did I say technical? That would be an understatement! This was the hardest course my feet have ever touched!
Galen and I got to the packet pick up in the tiny town of Torrey, UT at 6:30pm on Friday, just in time for the course brief. I am soooo glad we didn't skip it as we would have been lost not knowing that there were 3 different markings on the trail!
The finish area was in a beautiful place!
The finish line.
I just picked up my number and my swag.
The awards. I was really hoping to walk out of there with that 50 mile finisher's bracelet!
People gathering for the trail brief.
The RD, Matt Gunn gives us the low down!
The swag!
During the trial brief, Matt Gunn, the Race Director tells us that the report from the 100 milers is that the course is extremely technical. Because of that the aid station cutoffs would be lenient and that they added a sweeper.
All aid stations were given instructions to stay put until the sweeper passed through. If you stayed in front of the sweeper, you were OK. The aid station cut offs did not seem unreasonable at all, so having some extra time was a plus!
This was a "no waste" event using compost toilets. Not only are they good for the environment, they didn't stink like port-a-potties!
After the trail brief, Galen and I left our drop bags for delivery to the aid stations and headed back to the Capitol Reef Inn and Cafe where we were staying and got ready for the race. We had a 4:00am wake up call and wanted to get as much sleep as possible.
At 5:00am the bus to the start left The Lodge at Red River Ranch where the finish was and headed to the turn around point of the 100 miler. It took us about 45 minutes to get there.
Once we got off the bus a line formed at the only bathroom there was, but in literally 5 minutes, they started the race! People started scrambling to any bush they could find and took off. My thought was I go now or I go later, I would rather sit than squat! Galen, another guy and myself were the last people to leave the start.
Me at the start feeling very optimistic!
Judging from the elevation chart (as shown earlier in this post), we had most of our elevation gain in the first 10 miles (approximately 2,000 feet of elevation gain). Galen told me he was bringing his trekking poles and asked me if I was taking any. I have never run with trekking poles, so it had never crossed my mind, but thought with all that climbing the first 10 miles, it would not be a bad idea. They fit perfectly on the back of my vest and I thought I could just leave them in my drop bag at the first aid station. I was so glad I took them! They saved me many times.
According to the elevation chart, I thought the first few miles were the toughest and that we would just have a few rolling hills until about mile 37, where we would just cruise downhill. As difficult as those first miles were, they were actually the easiest to run.
Beautiful single track trails at the beginning of the race.
Going uphill, but fairly runnable trail.
Galen coming up the trail!
The scenery was beautiful!
Many times I would be surrounded by trees and all of the sudden I would find myself in the middle of a beautiful meadow.
The trail started getting a little more rocky.
Long Lake! Home of the first aid station around mile 8.5.
A few miles in, I found myself running all alone. We were seriously in the deep woods and as you all know I am afraid of being eaten by some trail critter, but I sucked it up and made it to the first aid station feeling good.
Being so high up can bring on some unpredictable weather. It would be hot and sunny one minute and a minute later it would be cloudy and raining. It was raining when I got to the first aid station, at Long Lake. I was layered up pretty good so I left my arm warmers in my drop bag and continued on.Thank goodness I decided to hang on to my trekking poles for what was to come.
As I left the aid station I headed towards what looked like a pretty rocky climb. I had run into the aid station with a guy named John. He left the aid station while I was dropping my stuff. When I saw him heading up the rocks, I thought 2 things: 1) I am glad I have these trekking poles; and 2) This sucks, but at least it's not that long (or so I thought).
John heading up the first of what would be my interpretation of Hell on Earth!
This section of the trail was not only steep, it was nothing but rocks. I on my best day could not figure out how to actually run this kind of trail. It hurt just to hike this never-ending hill! It felt like miles of switchbacks. Every time I thought I was getting closer to the top, I would turn the corner and see another rocky hill to climb!
I think this was the remains of another runner who just couldn't make it!
Half way up I stopped to enjoy the view for a second.
I was so happy to get off that stock trail! Once I hit the Great Western Trail. The course was marked 3 ways: Flags/ribbons, cairns, and tree blazes. While I was finally getting some nice running in on this part of the trail, the course was so twisty, I had to stop at every marker to make sure I saw the next marker. Very few people have been where we were running and I can get lost in a box. The last thing I wanted to do was get lost up there! I did pretty well and kind of made a game of find the marker to pass the time.
The Great Western Trail!
The views were breathtaking! OK, maybe it was the lack of oxygen!
I was in the clouds!
Had to get a selfie at the top!
One of the flags marking the trail.
Do you see the flag marking the trail? For that matter, do you see a trail?
It was not long before the trail either got really rocky or you were climbing a mountain. I felt like I was only running about 100 feet at a time, then hiking over rocks or up hills.
I think this course could use a few more rocks! Ha Ha!
Here is just a little taste of the what was going on. This was the runnable part of the course!
The second aid station was Pleasant Lake around mile 16.5. I got there, grabbed my drop bag, changed my socks and taped my feet. The rocks were already creating hot spots and I did not want any issues. There was another man at the aid station and when I asked how he was, he said he was not going to continue and he dropped. I grabbed some food and booked out of the aid station with another girl I had passed earlier named Jodi. As we headed up the hill we saw Galen coming into the aid station.
Jodi and I started running together, but somehow we lost the markings, got turned around and started following the flags that led us back to the aid station. Another runner named Beiyi ran into us and told us we were going the wrong way and we finally found our way back on the right path.
At this point Galen (who went the right way) was ahead of us. We caught him and we all stuck together. It helped to have 3 sets of eyes to look for the markers (Beiyi had fallen back behind us).
Beautiful wild flowers all over the course!
Again, I think this course is a little tough!
Galen, Jodi and I made it to the Chokecherry aid station at around mile 21.5. We just grabbed some food and water and was out of there quick.
Jodi, Galen and I stop for a quick selfie!
There was a little waterfall here.
The original spreadsheet that I had had the Fish Creek aid station at mile 27. When we got to mile 30, I started getting a little worried that we had taken a wrong turn and missed it. We had been following all the markers and with 3 sets of eyes, we knew that was impossible.
When we got to mile 31, we saw a truck pulling slowly down the road loaded up. I asked the driver where the aid station was and he said "in the truck"! We were all flabbergasted! "What do you mean in the truck?" I asked the man. "You are not supposed to leave until the sweeper gets to you! How are we supposed to get food and water and how is anyone supposed to know where we are if you pick up and leave before we get to the aid station?"
The volunteers were very sweet and apologetic, but they had no idea they were supposed to wait for the sweeper. It was their first time running an aid station and I guess they just didn't understand the huge safety issue involved with leaving runners unaccounted for out on the course. We told them we were fine to continue (we had until 11:00pm to finish, which was plenty of time), if they could just give us some water. They said they dumped all the water and they didn't have radios or cell service to let the next aid station know we were there.
At that point Galen said he was done as he had no water left. I had very little, but thought if we could make it to the next aid station we would be OK, so Jodi and I carried on for another mile.
It wasn't long before we saw Beiyi and then the sweeper behind us due to the fact that we spent a good 20 minutes talking to the guy in the truck. The fear was that the last manned aid station at Donkey Reservoir would not have understood the instructions and closed up shop too. That aid station was so remote it would be harder for them to help us if we were in trouble (it would take 3 hours by ATV to get to us).
By this time, the head of the aid stations drove up on his ATV and we explained the situation. He was furious that the aid station people left, but they determined that without water he had no choice but to pull us for safety reasons. Jodi, Beiyi and I were in shock. Jodi and I have never had a DNF and could not fathom getting one now! We were strong runners! We had plenty of time to finish! How could this happen?
All I could think of was now I was going to have to find another marathon to replace this with so AT100 will still be my 100th. We did the hardest part of the course, had plenty of time and energy to finish, but were forced to drop. We were devastated.
I was desperate. Since the race had a 50k and we had already run over 50k, I asked if they could at least find it in their hearts to give us a 50k result?
After we took the drive of shame back to the finish, they took our bibs and we felt defeated and pissed off! The head of the aid stations went over and talked to Matt, the RD and because of the mix up, they agreed to drop us to the 50k and give us a result, which I am grateful for.
After we got a BBQ pizza at the finish, we hung out a bit licking our wounded egos and headed back to the hotel with no bracelet, no 50k mug and no bib to show for our efforts.
With that said, this is a great race. It is the most challenging race I have ever done. If you are not a very seasoned back country trail runner, the 50k or the half might be the race for you.
I would love to comeback next year to try and tackle it again, but only if they fix and extend the aid station cutoffs and try to get more experienced volunteers. I greatly appreciate every volunteer that gave their time for us, but leaving the aid station before every runner is accounted for is extremely dangerous.
The vibe is great at this race, the people are friendly and the scenery is awesome. I will give this race another shot even if it is just the 50k. Who am I kidding? I gotta tackle that 50 miler again!
