The day before the event the skies had opened up with a
deluge, high winds and tornado warnings. When I arrived at the race venue for the pre-race pasta
dinner Friday night, it was still raining. The pastures and pathways surrounding the Leatherwood Resort
were a mess. Obviously just a
little advance warning on what the trails were going to be like.
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| A muddy start/finish line the day before. (Photo courtesy of Allison T) |
I soon found some familiar faces and made new acquaintances. The
highlight of the evening for me was the guest speaker – Jennifer Pharr
Davis. This incredible young woman
had set the Appalachian Trail speed record in 2011 having traversed the entire
length of the AT in just 46 days.
That’s an average of 47 miles a day! I got to visit with her and her 6 month old daughter,
Charly, prior to the dinner and had a lovely, easy going conversation with her
about hiking and running, motherhood and life. What a personable young woman she is. Her talk during dinner was hugely
entertaining, humorous and inspiring.
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| That's Jennifer in the background looking on as Daddy and Charly share a special moment. |
Most of the dinner conversation seemed to have everybody
speculating on their finish times, what the trails would be like, how this
course would compare to previous runs, etc, etc. I was content to just sit back and listen. I didn’t see much point in expending
energy on the unknown. The morning
would bring what it would. No
amount of pre-race strategizing was going to change the trail. All I wanted to get out of this was to
run within my means, pace myself to endure the full 50 miles and have a good
time while doing it. I had no
specific time goals other than making it through the first 40 miles in under 12
hours, as that was the single cutoff that the RD’s had put in place. The one item my ears did perk up about
as the RD’s reviewed the course briefly was the mention of several creek crossings
that were sure to soak our feet. I
guess I’d put a couple of extra pair of socks and a spare pair of shoes in my
drop bags.
As all good ultrarunners do, we all went our separate ways
soon after the race briefing to try and get a good night’s sleep. I slept pretty darn well and drifted
off to the sounds of the nearby creek and a light rain hitting the top of the RV.
There were 77 starters for the 50 miler. We milled about by the stables trying
to stay warm and wishing each other well.
We observed a moment of silence for Boston, there was a playing of the
national anthem (which always makes me tear up) and then the sound of the
starting gun sounded as “Highway to Hell” blared in the background and we set
off! We had a nice easy 1 mile
road warmup that allowed everybody to spread out.
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| View from my campsite. |
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| Our first mile looked like this. |
I'm a Georgia
Tech numbers kinda gal at heart. For all the rest of you geeks out there, take
a look at these numbers for the 50 mile course:
1 mile had 800' of gain+descent (remember mile 5?)
2 course miles had greater than 700' of gain+descent
A total of 8 course miles had greater than 600' of gain+descent
A whopping 21 course miles had at least 500' of gain+descent!!
And 30 course miles gifted us with 400' or more of gain+descent
1 mile had 800' of gain+descent (remember mile 5?)
2 course miles had greater than 700' of gain+descent
A total of 8 course miles had greater than 600' of gain+descent
A whopping 21 course miles had at least 500' of gain+descent!!
And 30 course miles gifted us with 400' or more of gain+descent
Total elevation
gain for the course 10,680’; Total descent 10,680’.
The previous day’s rains left some of the descents as eroded, mud-lined gullies covered in inches of snot slick mud. At points, I was literally laughing out loud at myself as my arms windmilled frantically and my body twisted and turned this way and that as I tried desperately to keep my balance. I still don’t know how I came through this entire race without a single spill. Many runners had lovely mud covered butt patterns adorning the backs of their shorts before the day was too far gone. Periodically interspersed throughout the 50 mile course were a few easier road sections thrown in here and there just so we wouldn’t completely give up.
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| One of the lovely, but all too infrequent, valley sections. |
Some of my most enjoyable miles were in the company of 68 year old ultra runner, Bill Keane. He doggedly took the lead for our little posse. At times I felt like there was an invisible rope between the two of us and Bill was hauling my tired butt up those steep climbs. At one point we turned a corner to see a section of trail ahead that seemed to literally climb to the sky at a ridiculous grade. I literally stopped in my tracks, started giggling a bit hysterically and exclaimed “Oh My God!” Bill matter of factly instructed me “Don’t look up” and we forged ahead step by step, one foot in front of the other until the climb was complete. Thanks, Bill.
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| One of the many lovely views to inspire. |
This course had so many breathtaking vistas. Many of the hardest climbs afforded us
spectacular views of the valleys below.
We’d be deep in the woods climbing up the single track only to break out
onto a road beside a picture perfect mountain top meadow populated with
gorgeous, curious, and friendly horses happy to come over and say hello if
you’d just pause for a moment.
Many of the runners had taken advantage of the cabin rentals Leatherwood
Resort offered. We ran by many of
these picturesque mountain top cabins and each one looked more beautiful than
the last. Next time around, we
might have to give one of them a try!
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| Beautiful course shot turns into.... |
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| ...a friendly hello! |
.jpg) |
| Photo by awesome Amy Connolly of Pink Crow Photo |
Pacing, fueling, hydrating, etc, etc. I think I played it all quite well, but there was no way around it that by mile 34 my spirits and my legs were flagging. The aid stations had been awesome but by then I’d been on my feet for some 9 hours and I was just flat out STARVING. There were plenty of snacks available and PB and Js galore, but I really wanted something more substantial.
While stopping in at the Rawhide Aid Station (we visited
this particular aid station 5 times throughout the race) I took out my phone
(which I’d been using to take pics) and checked to see if I had a signal. YES! I immediately thought to text Allison, who had run the 10
miler earlier that day, and see if I could implore her to have mercy on
me. My message went something
along the lines of “I’ll pay you a $1M and love you forever if you can have a
cheeseburger waiting for me at the 40 mile checkpoint.” She immediately texted me back
requesting details on condiments. HURRAY!!! Gotta love having a friend come through
for you in a pinch. With spirits
revived and the thought of a lovely, warm, pickle and ketchup-laden
cheeseburger waiting for me below, I hopped back out on the trails and felt
like I was figuratively flying those 5.5 miles.
I pulled in to the stables right at 6 pm. 40 miles down in 11 hours and a big fat
burger and a hug from Allison.
Life was good once again. I gave myself a half hour break at this aid station. I needed it. I had one final 10 mile loop ahead of me to complete the course and I was whooped. Some real food, a change of socks, refill my water and snacks and I was off once again with headlamp and flashlight in my pack. It was right at 6:30 pm as I left the stables.
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| Upon my return, these beautiful luminaries would be my beacons in the darkness. |
My final loop, while definitely my slowest and the one where
I felt most fatigued and beaten, was also my favorite. I was mostly alone for
this loop. There were several
points where I saw oncoming runners heading down the mountain to either
complete their race or check in and head back out for the final loop. All of them looked tired, some relieved
to be close to finishing, some in obvious discomfort, some preparing to call it
quits and take the DNF. I was
moving slowly, but steadily and I knew that was all I needed to ask of
myself. As the sun set behind the
encircling mountains and dusk began to fall, the woodlands came alive with the
sounds of birds and the rustlings of various creatures. Whipporwill males called out
emphatically from trailside limbs.
How many years had it been since I’d heard that call? Pure magic.
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| Aerial view of the course |
Darkness settled in full by around 8 pm. I donned my headlamp, warmer clothing
and continuously reminded myself to pay attention for markers. The RD’s had a brilliant idea when they
decided to tag each runner with a color coded bracelet indicating which loop
they were on and which trail ribbons they should be following. After being out there for 12+ hours, it
was easy for me to forget that I was supposed to be following the orange ribbons
this loop, but all I had to do was look down at my color-coded bracelet to
remind myself. I did so no less
than 5 times on this final loop. I
was tired, I was yawning, my body was aching and my brain was a bit fuzzy. That little attention to detail
probably saved my butt from wandering on to one of the yellow or pink trails
that crisscrossed my path so frequently.
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| Rawhide aid station |
The course brought you through the Rawhide Aid Station twice
on this final 10 mile loop. Gosh
how I loved the sight of that lovely blue and white striped tent. The volunteers were down to a skeleton
crew by this point, but they were still incredibly friendly and eager to
help. On my final pass through, I
was treated to a cup of warm chicken broth and it was absolutely perfect!
As I headed out from Rawhide one last time with just a
little over two miles to go, my overwhelming emotion was one of gratitude for
so many things. I stopped a few
times on trail here to turn off my headlamp and just stand in the darkness for
a few moments. A half moon had been visible since late afternoon and now it was
high up above shining brightly through the tree limbs on a cloudless night and
the sky was filled with stars. It
was spectacular and I felt recharged.
My final mile was the quickest I’d covered in many an
hour. I had the good fortune to
catch up with a small pack of other runners and between the 5 or 6 of us, we
were able to scout out the trail ahead at a confusing intersection and help one
another to find the right path, our calls echoing back and forth through the
woods. Our relief at finally
breaking out onto the gravel road that would lead us to the finish was
palpable. In the last half
mile or so, you could hear the strains of the band that was playing near the
stables. As lights came into view
and we transitioned onto pavement, I gave it one final push just for the fun of
it to try and come in under 15 hours.
There were hardly any spectators left, but the few hardy souls scattered
about here and there offered cheers and applause as we came down the home
stretch. The finish line had been
taken down hours ago and our finish consisted of basically stumbling into the
stable area and calling out our race number to the two volunteers left at the
nearby picnic table. It’s all good
;-)
Here it is some 3 days later and I’m still not able to walk
quite right and stairs are a nightmare.
If my legs were willing though, I’d run this course again tomorrow.
Boring stats:
77 starters, 63 finishers (22% dropout rate)
My place – 54th finisher, 8th female
