Friday
February 5th, 2016: I finished work at noon in order to get home,
pack, and drive the 3+ hours to Florahome, FL; the race briefing was at 1730 at
the start line. I say I had to pack but I was already well prepared, having had
everything set aside for the last week. It seemed like I was bringing enough
food to feed an army. I was not going to go without exactly what I wanted to
eat before or after the race but especially after the race; my plan was to
drive home immediately after I finished and eat the whole way home; my wife was
racing her third half marathon in as many weeks the next morning.
Like
every runner leading up to a goal race, I had been religiously checking the
weather every ten minutes or so for the past week. Earlier in the week the forecast
had indicated it would be raining all day but by the night before, there was
only a 15% chance of rain beginning around 1700. Perfect, I thought; if the
rain held off for a bit longer I may avoid it altogether. No such luck.
Chris
Rodatz, the race director, conducted the race briefing and told us of a few
changes. Mainly, aid station 2 (AS2) had been moved due to heavy rain in the
days leading up to the race and the aid station volunteers were unable to get
to the originally planned location. This turned out for the best; AS2 turned
out to be in the perfect location that we (in the 100K) would pass 8 times,
making it a great way to break up the race into manageable sections. Chris also
mentioned there was water on the course and it was likely we’d be getting our
feet wet. Ugh!
Below is a selfie at the race briefing. What you can't see is an abundance of beards and trucker hats. It was great!
Course
description (100K): The course amounted 25 miles. The 100K would run it 2 ½
times. We began running west on the paved Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail for
1.75 miles before turning around and coming back to the start line. We
continued east on the paved trail for about two miles before joining a sandy
access road along a power line easement, entering the Etoniah Creek State
Forest. On the map below, AS2 was at the 7.5 mile mark. Once at AS2, runners
headed in a northeast direction for a loop along East-V road before returning
to AS2 and heading north for a loop along West-V road. After returning to AS2
again, we ran back to the Start/Finish to complete the course. After doing that
twice, we then ran to a turnaround point a little past AS2 before returning to
finish.
Saturday
February 6th, 2016: A great part of this race was the parking.
Runners were able to park their cars next to the start/finish area, parallel to
the course. This allowed us to use our cars as an aid station and not waste any
time, as may happen if you had to park further than 5 feet from the course! It
was a cold start to the day and I wore 2 long-sleeve t-shirts, a fleece jacket,
hat and gloves for the first 3.5 miles.
After we ran back through the start area, I was able to pop the trunk as I ran up
to the car and throw my excess clothing in. I probably lost 10-15 seconds with
my costume change. 10 seconds means everything when you plan on running for
10-12 hours, right?! Ha ha! Ok, that is more of a 5k mentality but after only
3.5 miles, I was full of energy and wanted to go!
So,
the race began and I took off. I knew I had to run easy and also knew I never
run easy enough. My first mile was way too fast (8:05) but I soon settled in to
a somewhat easy and controlled pace. I knew I would be slowing down as the race
progressed and the hours ticked by but my heart rate was low and I felt I could
maintain the pace for ages. At about mile 4 I began running with Shawn
Greenhill. He was also running the 100K and, after talking to him, realized we
had the same goal of <10 hours. Well, that was my ‘A’ goal. I had been
having pre-race doubts and was thinking I’d be more like 11 hours. Oh well, if
I had company, I may as well go for it. You never know, right!
With company,
the miles began to melt by easily. I was stopping at every aid station and
eating potatoes (dipped in salt) and bananas. I was carrying a hand held bottle
and Powerbar Double Latte gels. Before I knew it, we were running through the
start/finish and completing the first lap. Shawn and I were talking quite a bit
for the first 35 miles or so but as fatigue set in, the conversation became
limited.
The photo below shows my 50K split: 4:35:08.
The course was great for seeing other runners; it was basically three
out and backs from AS2 repeated again and again. There were a lot of “good jobs”
and “looking goods” going around and it was fun seeing the same people
throughout the day. The aid stations were well stocked with water, Heed,
bananas, oranges, M&Ms, cakes, muffins, and other miscellaneous ultra-type
food. I heard there was going to be shrimp gumbo at some point but I didn’t see
it. During the second lap, on the East-V road loop, I forgot to fill my water
bottle at AS2 and, with a couple miles until I’d be back there, I was getting
pretty thirsty. When I finally arrived I drank several cups of Coke and when I
say nothing has ever tasted so good, I mean the Coke was soul-nourishingly
good, no, more like trade your first born for a cup good. Ordinarily I don’t
like Coke but today it was the nectar of the gods!
There were a few
gradual inclines on West-V road and, during the first lap, we talked about how
much steeper they would be when we saw them again. During the second lap (mile
40ish), Shawn and I decided to walk up two of them. Although we walked for
about 5 minutes total, it was a well-needed break and stopped my heart rate
from spiking. After completing the second lap (50 miles) we talked about how we
only had 12 miles to go and broke up the 12 miles into sections: by the time we
went out and back to the start line, there would only be 9 miles to go. Then it
was another +/-2 miles before we met the trail, +/-2 miles before AS2, another
short section and a then we would be heading home! During this final 9 miles,
the weather turned. It had been overcast in the mid 50s for most of the day (perfect
weather) but slowly it began to rain. It rained hard for the final 5 miles.
Although there are a lot of negatives to running in the rain when it’s cold out,
the rain today enhanced my sense of achievement. It also made me think about
all the people still out on the course, especially those running the 100 mile
race; some of them would be out all night! I was in awe of them but not
envious!
About a mile
from the finish, Shawn and I talked about running across the line together,
effectively tying for second place. Oh, I haven’t mentioned we were in second
place! We were! I was ecstatic about that!
This was a
fan-bloody-tastic event. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to try their
first ultra distance race. It was a runnable course with, seemingly, constant access
to aid stations!
So, what did I
learn running my first 100K. Well, when I ran my first 50 miler last year
(Everglades), I went out way too fast. I paid dearly for that mistake during
the last 10 miles. For this race I started easier and maintained a somewhat
consistent pace. Also, my nutrition was dialed in. I ate all the time (which is
half the fun)! I was constantly drinking too, which I know helped immensely!
Thank you to
race director, Chris Rodatz, and all who helped organize the day. Huge thanks to the
many aid station volunteers who were always offering to fill bottles and get
food for us as we approached them. Thank you to Shawn Greenhill for almost 10
hours of company and motivation to keep running at a good clip. I owe my sub 10
time to you, my friend!
Here is a very short video I made about the race. It's basically a very limited race report!
