Leatherwood Mountain 50 Mile Ultra

Awesomeness!  Along with some insanity, agility, humility, intensity and a good bit of  profanity thrown in for good measure.  This was the inaugural running of the Leatherwood Mountain Ultra in Ferguson, NC.  The RD’s promised us a challenging course and they more than delivered.  The event offered a 10 mile, 50K and 50 mile option.  I opted for the 50 miler, just so I could get a full dose of mountain magic.

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.

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.

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.

View from my campsite.

 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.   

Our first mile looked like this.

This was quickly followed by a challenging climb on gravel roads that netted us 500’+ of gain in mile 2.  That was just the beginning of all the fun.  Over the next several miles as we transitioned to single track we began the roller coaster ride that would seem to last forever. We’d been forewarned that the first 7.5 miles would be the hardest of the course.  I’m so glad we got them over with early on.

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

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.

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.

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!

Beautiful course shot turns into....

...a friendly hello!

I fared well through the majority of the race.  I gave up counting all of the foot soaking stream crossings when I reached #8.  I’m so glad I put all those extra pairs of socks in my drop bags.  Changing into a dry pair of shoes 24 miles in put new life in my feet (at least for a little while).

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.

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.

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.

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 – 54^th finisher, 8^th female

Finish time: 15:00:22
Garmin data can be found here:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/301683408

Umstead Trail Marathon

9^th Umstead Marathon

March 3, 2012

I’m startled from sleep at 2:30 in the morning by loud claps of thunder and flashes of light.  A huge thunderstorm rolls by overhead, rattling the windows and making the whole house vibrate.  The 9^th running of the Umstead Marathon is less than 7 hours away.

The Umstead Marathon has been on my race dream list since I first started running a little over a year ago.  When I first heard of a marathon run completely within the borders of this park and that included some of its more challenging single track trails, I was hugely drawn to the thought of participating, but also very respectful of the challenge (and a bit intimidated). The added challenge of Umstead is that it has a 6 hour cutoff.  That isn’t much of a consideration for the speedier runners out there, but for me it was a real concern. I had only completed my first marathon 4 months ago.  At the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon, I ran at an easy going pace, stopping to greet friends and family along the way, snap pictures, enjoy treats and calf massages from my crew...  My finish time was 5:52.  Did I really expect to complete the Umstead Marathon, on single track no less, in under 6 hours?

Course map

 

That’s been the focus of my training for the last 4 months.  Before I even considered registering for Umstead, I ran a few 20 mile training runs along the course just to see if I could come anywhere near the required pace.  It was close, but I did it, and I could feel myself getting stronger each time.  So when registration opened, I signed up within the first hour.  The race is limited to just 200 entrants and sells out within a matter of a day or two.  I didn’t want to take a slot from another more capable runner if I didn’t think I could complete the course, but my training runs really gave me the confidence I needed to try.  My last test was running the National Breast Cancer Marathon in February and really giving it a good try.  New marathon finish time: 5:13.  I think Umstead was within my reach.

The worst of the storms passed during the early morning hours.  Posts on the race’s Facebook page said that barring tornados or hugely dangerous lightening storms, the race would be a go.  I awoke again at 5:30 to the sound of a steady downpour and temps of about 60F.  I could deal with that.

The race was set to begin at 9 am.  Umstead is only a 15 minute drive from my home.  Pretty convenient.  Entering the park was a steady stream of vehicles with various running related decals, bumper stickers and magnets.  Volunteers directed us to our respective parking areas from under their huge umbrellas and rain slickers.  It was gonna be a wet one.

Race Swag

Before the race

Entering the lodge of Camp Lapihio, you’re greeted by the smell of a wood fire and the busy hum of runners as they greet old friends and become acquainted with new ones.  I had plenty of time to stash my gear, visit with friends and hit the portajohns one last time.  It’s always interesting to me at the start of the race how different everybody’s preparations are.  Some runners withdraw into themselves with serious looks on their faces.  Obviously their minds are filled with race related thoughts, last minute concerns. Perhaps self doubt and nervousness are at play? Other runners are hugely gregarious and work the crowd cheerfully hugging and hand shaking and greeting one and all with loud hellos, jokes, catching up on their latest training news and chatting about upcoming events.  Then there’s another contingent who find a bubble of peace, whether it’s right within the crowd or off to the side.  One of this genre was lying on a bench, eyes closed, breath steady and deep.  Everybody prepares for the upcoming experience in their own way.

Camp Lapihio

Runners are called to line up.  The rain has tapered off to just the faintest mist.  There are less than 200 of us, so the pack is a small one.  Final race directions are announced over the PA and we’re off!

I knew that if I wanted to complete this race within the time limit, I needed to run within myself from the very beginning.  I was surprised at how many people went out fast.  The pack was pretty tight through the first half mile or so.  I never looked back over my shoulder to confirm it, but I think I was one of the last five runners within the first quarter mile.  That’s ok.  That’s how I like to start.  I knew I’d be using a run/walk strategy throughout the day, but I didn’t feel like I needed to stick with a hard ratio.  The trail’s ups and downs would dictate plenty of walk breaks in addition to my scheduled ones.

The race starts out with a short out and back on the airport overlook spur of the Reedy Creek bridle trails for the first mile or so.  This is so the runners can spread out a bit to more easily navigate the upcoming single track portions.  After that mile or so warm up, we dive under the forest canopy for several miles of narrow single track along the Company Mill and Sycamore Trails.  Here the runners must go single file and all attention is directed downward to our feet and the path ahead.  Rocks, mud, roots, it’s all there in force.  

Mud and rocks and roots, oh my!  (photo courtesy of Jim Wei)

I don’t have a pair of dedicated trail running shoes, so I was running this race in my much loved Asics 3020s.  They’re great for the roads, greenways and more perfectly groomed bridle trails, but they’re not so great for traction on mud covered single track, so I was especially cautious over these miles.  I did have on a pair of “Dirty Girl” gaiters and was grateful for their added protection.

Runners climbing the switch backs on single track

  

I soon joined the tail end of a long line of runners happily making their way through the wooded tracks.  We laughed and joked and hallo’d  and called to one another as we climbed and descended the various ridges and creek valleys.

Typical single track trail (photo courtesy of Jim Wei)

At the back of the pack, we were all just worried about staying upright.  There were plenty of indications along the trail that some who had been ahead of us had taken some monstrous wipeouts.  Long smears of smoothed mud where obviously some had lost their footing.  Coming back up the final sections of Sycamore loop, I heard the unmistakable “oof” and felt more than heard the “whomp” as the poor guy in back of me did a complete face plant on the trail just 20 feet behind me.  I immediately turned round and ran back to his position, but he was already picking himself up and swiping at some of the mud and leaf debris that covered his legs and hands.  A little shaken up, but he was fine and we turned back up the trail and proceeded on.

"BE CAREFUL ON THE DEVIL'S SPINE" (photo courtesy of Shannon Johnstone)

Rain-slicked bridge crossings, swollen streams, the pitter patter of gently falling rain on the few brown leaves left clinging to the branches overhead.  The final climb up to Reedy Creek to rejoin the bridle trails was filled with the sounds of squelching mud as a half dozen of us gingerly traversed a long expanse of trail that was literally buried in mud.  It's all good!

(photo courtesy of Jim Wei)

Breaking out onto the bridle trails from the last of the single track at around mile 8 was a welcome relief.  No more painstaking progress with eyes directed downward.  The single track was loads of fun, kinda like an adult mud pit playground, but it was also very tiring.  I had challenged myself to do better than a 14 min/mile pace over the single track and my average at this point was roughly 13:30.  All good.

"WATCH OUT...THE TREE OF DEATH!" (Photo courtesy of Shannon Johnstone)

The bike and bridle trails of Umstead are crushed gravel/cinder, wide and expansive, well groomed trails that are a delight to run through the woods on.  Not to be mistaken for an easy path though, the bike and bridle trails are definitely not flat.  Some of the more impressive stretches have names like “Corkscrew Hill” and “Cemetery Hill”.  I don’t think the Boston Marathon’s famed "Heartbreak Hill" has anything on Umstead.

Hitting my stride on the bridle trails

Once I hit the bridle trails, I fell into an easy running pace and saved my walk breaks for the climbs.  There were plenty of well stocked aid stations along the way and roving aid bikers with panniers stuffed with gels and water bottles who would miraculously appear along the trail just when you needed them.  

Coming into an aid station

My next goal was to make the 14.8 mile cutoff by 12:15.  I’d be cutting it close, but if I stuck to business and didn’t dawdle too long at the aid stations, I should make it.  I started passing some of the back of the pack runners about this point.  I’m not a fast runner, but I’m a steady one, and every event I’ve ever been in, I’ve managed to maintain a fairly steady speed from beginning to end, which allows me to reel in a lot of the folks who get carried away at the beginning and go out too fast.

"TOENAILS are for SISSIES" (photo courtesy of Shannon Johnstone)

As we turned onto S. Turkey Creek at mile 10, I was greeted by the melody of Rocky’s theme song being played by a young boy on his trumpet – AWESOME.  Heading on out from the mile 10 aid station, the course has a sweet mile or two long section of gradual downhill.  That felt great.  It was here that I started to see the leaders of the race making their way back.  They were hitting mile 19, I was hitting mile 11 ;-)  They looked like they were flying!!  Lots of hellos, some hi-fives and calls of encouragement were shared among us all.

South Turkey Creek Trail

 

The Turkey Creek Trail is a well respected section of the bike and bridle trails at Umstead.  A seemingly endless string of ups and downs, some rather steep for both runners and bikers.  The fact that the Umstead Marathon has you traverse this section of trail TWICE can be a bit demoralizing, especially on the return trip when you’re hitting the high teen miles.  I just kept my head down and focused on the ground immediately ahead of me on some of the tougher sections and took the steep hills one step at a time.  I had to make that cutoff and I didn’t have much time to spare.  As I finally finished up the first pass through Turkey Creek, I had perhaps a half mile to go to the cutoff point.   I was going to make it, but I wondered about the runners behind me. 

I hit the aid station at the turnaround, refilled my water bottles and headed back out for the return trip on Turkey Creek.  I passed several runners who were still making their way to the cutoff and just a few tenths of a mile beyond, I came upon “The Grim Sweeper”.  He was riding his bike just behind two inbound runners and they were gamely taunting him and making jokes about getting pulled, but they were also continuing to make their way towards the turnaround as quickly as they could.  A few other runners further behind them were not so lucky and did in fact get pulled.

Turkey Creek once again.  Around mile 17, I noticed that the inside of my left arm was starting to bother me.  I guess the rainfall had dampened my shirt sufficiently to cause it to chafe the skin on the inside of my upper arm.  Now that skin was starting to smart quite a bit with each swish of my arm back and forth and the sting of sweat.  I tried running with my arm held out to the side a bit, but it was seriously annoying and I didn’t want to have to run like that for the next 9 miles.  I focused on the trail ahead and tried to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding woods now that so many of the runners had spaced themselves out and stretches of the trails were almost deserted. 

By mile 19, I knew I was going to have to do something about my arm.  Luckily, there was some medical support at the mile 20 aid station.  Two likely volunteers jumped to it when I asked for some medical attention.  One of these gentlemen was wearing a red spaghetti strap evening gown over his shorts, t-shirt and hiking boots and made quite the picture ;-)  They wrapped some lengths of gauze around my arm to cover the abraded skin while I chowed down on some of the best tasting Oreos I’ve ever had the pleasure of enjoying and a couple of sections of banana to round out my snack.  Bandaged and fed, I headed back on my way for the final 6.2 miles.

Now that my arm was protected, I felt immense relief and was better able to focus.  The return up Reedy Creek is wide and open and very well groomed.  It has some respectable hills, but they’re long and gradual compared to Turkey Creek.  I was pushing myself a bit just to see how close I could come to a 5:30 finish.  My stop at the first aid tent had cost me a few minutes, but I really did need that help and don’t regret having spent the time getting patched up. 

One last 2 mile long spur down and back on the Cedar Creek Trail between miles 22 ad 24.  As you make the turn onto Cedar Creek, there was another aid station with a varied assortment of offerings.  I scored a cup of flat coke, refilled a water bottle and headed down the trail.  Cedar Creek is a rocky bridle trail with plenty of washout ruts that can easily twist an ankle if you’re not careful.  I was seeing some mighty tired runners coming back up out of Cedar Creek, but I was actually feeling pretty strong at this point and charged on ahead.  Finally, the last turnaround at the bottom of Cedar Creek and the mile long climb back out and I’d be in the home stretch. 

Turning back onto Reedy Creek felt like turning onto a highway by comparison to Cedar Creek's rutted pathway.  Last big push and Cemetery Hill straight ahead.  It’s a nasty one to throw at a tired runner so close to the end of a marathon, but I did the best I could alternating walking and running to finally crest the top at Mile 25.  One more mile to go! 

I was so pleased that I still felt some strength in my legs once Cemetery Hill was behind me.  I really wanted to run in that last mile as best I could.  Head down, legs turning over as quickly as I could.  Push!

As I made the final turn down the drive to Camp Lapihio, a car that was leaving the parking area pulled to an abrupt halt, the doors flew open and the Walters-Clift family jumped out to yell and clap and cheer me on!  Thanks for the final rally Charles, Nancy, Flora and Oliver.  What a great surprise!

I knew I wasn’t going to hit that 5:30 mark, but I was going to come darn close.  The finish line was just up ahead with the lodge directly beyond.  Woohoo!  A small crowd was cheering in the remaining runners and I sailed across the finish line with a huge smile on my face!  5:32:44!  And my last mile had been my fastest of the entire marathon by over a minute!

After the finish!

I paced around a bit to slow my thumping heart and let my legs loosen up.  I grabbed my beautiful bat adorned finisher’s pint glass that I had worked so hard to earn.  After a few minutes of visiting with some of the other folks milling around at the finish, I made a dash into the lodge to grab a monstruously huge Moe’s burrito to munch on.  It was perfect!  I spent the next half hour hanging at the finish line to cheer on the remaining runners.  The last finishers were greeted with huge cheers and another Umstead Marathon came to a close.

My Finisher's Trophy

Each of the 3 marathon’s I’ve run now has had its own unique character and feel.  The Raleigh City Of Oaks (my first), is filled with images of the friends and family who came out to support me over the entire length of the course.  The National Breast Cancer Marathon in Jacksonville, FL had huge crowd support and that lovely 3 mile stretch along the beach at sunrise.  Definitely memorable.  I think the Umstead is my favorite though.  I just love, love, love Umstead State Park and feel so lucky to have this treasure in my own backyard.  I never feel so alive and joyful running as I do on trails.  It was the most challenging course of the three by far, but perhaps the most satisfying (even though it wasn’t my fastest).  The Godiva Track Club did an exceptional job hosting this event.  I will definitely be back!

Postscript: Next time I go to peel gauze from a wound, wet it first.  There had been no barrier or ointment between my raw abraded skin and the gauze.  When Paul went to unwind it so I could take my shower, he managed to pull off a layer of skin that had dried and stuck to the gauze. OUCH!!!  All the guys who complain about the pain of bloody nipples when they enter a shower had nothing on me when I stepped under the shower head.  Both arms ended up having 2-3” long strips of what looked like road rash where they had rubbed against the sleeve of my wet running tee for 20 miles.

Umstead Marathon Elevation (from my Garmin)

Race mile splits

Gear:

running shorts

Injinji toe socks

Asics 3020 gel shoes

Dirty Girl Gaiters

Visor (which I soon ditched)

Nathan fuel belt (with 10 oz water and 20 oz of my Perpetuem/Hammer Gel slurry)

Enduralyte caps (I consumed perhaps 5 or 6)

Garmin 310XT worn over an Under Armour fabric wrist band

Rawthreads bamboo fiber t-shirt

Asics arm warmers

Moving Comfort Fiona bra