West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners
A Mountain State of Running
Highlands 2013 Race Report – Martha Nelson
Canaan Valley, WV
June 15, 2013
Aaron was right: the 50k distance wasn’t too long for me, it was too short. Although I had been reluctant to try running a longer distance until I had mastered eating and holding my stomach in the 50k, Aaron had a theory that the 50k distance was my sweet spot (or rather my not-so-sweet spot), because the race was long enough to require me to eat a lot, but fast enough that I never had good opportunities to relax enough to chow down. He had a notion that if I lengthened the distance and could lower the intensity, I’d be able to walk and eat and take my merry time and not experience my stomach eruptions.
Despite my catastrophically bad 2011 DNF at Highland Sky two years ago, the only DNF in my trail and road racing career, we decided to put Aaron’s notion to the test back at Highland Sky this year. Aaron has a vacation house in Canaan Valley and I have come to love running in the area, wiping away all the bad memories from the 2011 race, where my stomach went south and stumbling across that damned Road Across the Sky was one of my most miserable experiences of my running career.
I had never run as far as 40 miles before, but this year I was prepared. Aaron and I have been running together in the Sodds for two years now and I have come to adore the area and know the trails and terrain. I had a breakthrough a month ago when I finally discovered trail shoes that aren’t so high-cut and don’t irritate my ankle bone (Vasques), and here they made their racing debut and wonderfully spared my feet against the jagged rocks (although it was a bit terrifying how much more slippery they were than my Pegasus on wet rocks and wood). I also made the racing debut of my relatively light 1.5 liter bladder, complete with a drink mix I’ve found that agrees with me: U-CAN blueberry pomegranate.
Still, my ultra newbie was quickly made apparent by the fact that I put my bladder in upside down and Aaron had to fix it at mile 2 when I started complaining about the hose smacking me in the face. The guy running behind us who witnessed the blunder quickly identified me to the woman he was running with as someone who would surely come back to them later in the race. He told me this story at the finish line after the race, when it was particularly amusing as I had just set a new CR. My running green exhibited itself again when I asked Aaron at mile 10 to adjust my bladder straps, as it was entirely too loose and had been bouncing painfully on my poor innards.
But overall I couldn’t have asked for a smoother sail. Everything fell into place. Even though I felt bad for Doug that he had a work crisis and ended up having to crew instead of run, Let Me Tell You How Much I Love Crewing. Not that there was a lot of crewing to be done here, just one crewing spot at the half-way point. But having Doug drive Kerry, Aaron, and me to the race, Getting to Leave on My Warm Hoodie until the gun went off (yes, it was actually quite chilly at 6am). Divinity! And the highlight of the race was seeing Doug and Joe running up the road, keys and wallets jangling, to get drop bags for me and Aaron at mile 20.
Although the first half of Highland Sky is quite technical, the second half rewards those who can spare enough juice in their legs to clip right along in the faster road and Dolly Sods plains sections. This year the first half of the race was particularly arduous, as Hurricane Andrea had dumped buckets on Canaan Valley over the last week, obscuring the rocks beneath long black puddle ponds and deep shoe-sucking black mud. One unfortunate runner this year actually lost her shoe in the mud and had it swept away by the water and had to run 7 miles with only one shoe to the next aid station. Due to the mud, the course had to be altered slightly at Timberline, going down the long and winding Salamander ski slope instead of the infamously steep ‘butt slide.’
Aaron ran with me for the first half, splashing through the puddles and doing our darndest to keep upright. During the first half we also ran with Regan for a bit, and three of us enjoyed a good 3-WUS pee at the top of the first climb. At mile 20 is the major aid station, where Doug and Joe provided excellent crewing (and an excellent opportunity for Kerry to drop when her tendinitis flared up). Aaron’s heel bursitis was also flaring, so at the aid station he told me to ‘Fly away, little bird’ for the next 7 miles of the dreaded ‘Road from the Sky’.
Running the long, straight road is dull enough, so I was particularly lonely running it without Aaron. But after that brutally slow mudfest, it was a somewhat welcome relief to be able to tick off some easier miles and look at something besides your feet for a bit. And there was something awfully nice about getting to that aid station at the end at mile 27 and being about to look back and see a mile of empty road with no one coming.
I was happy to catch up to two guys in the Sodds, including Matt Bugin, whose wife Holly I know from previous races. Given my complete ignorance of how to pace a 40-mile run, particularly those long gradual climbs in the Sodds, I was glad to have some guys to key off of, and I ran behind Matt to the end of the Sodds, where I took off down the long Salamander Ski slope. I spent much of the second half just trying to stay calm, cool, and collected. Whenever I felt my pace creeping up on me, I chided myself to ‘keep it in the pants’. Somehow this catchphrase always got me to slow down, maybe because it made me laugh so hard.
Although, as Brian G will attest to from last year, the last 5 miles of straight road are somewhat boring and onerous, it is awfully nice at the end of a race to be able to look back a half mile behind you and see nothing but empty road. By the time I rolled into the last aid station, I couldn’t see any runners behind me. I wasn’t wearing a watch, so I had no inkling that I was potentially set to break a CR. Apparently RD Dan Lehman had been tracking me and I went through the last aid station at 6:30-something and with 4.1 miles to go the CR was 7:03:51. But the end was mainly road (except for one abominable stretch of high grass that had turned to swamp in sections — by far Brian’s least favorite part of the finish when I paced him last year).
With no one behind me, I walked wherever it suited me. But fortunately after running for 7 hours there was an overwhelming drive to just get to the finish and I did sneak below the previous CR by a mere 30 seconds. More importantly, I felt strong and good and held my stomach, as my goal had not been to win, but to run a strong, comfortable race where I felt good. The last two aid stations I wasn’t having a whole lot of appetite, but I took a whole cup of ginger ale and made myself walk out of the aid station sipping it until I finished it. Honestly, if I had won the race, but barfed and felt terrible in the process, it would have been more disappointing than finishing 2nd or 3rd.
It was nice to be able to celebrate my good race with other WUSsies at the finish. Ragan finished second behind me, completing the WUSsie 1-2 domination reminiscent of the Women’s Half Marathon. She’s coming off a challenging spring of training while on sabbatical in NYC, which has a dearth of parks you can pee in. And Michele represented by winning the Masters division. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and Doug and Kerry continued to be angels of divinity by fetching a couple Siriani’s pizzas. There is a very friendly vibe at the finish area of Highland Sky, probably because all of us are so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience such a beautiful course — and so relieved to have survived its punishing design.
When we were driving home from the race, I remarked to Aaron that even though part of what we love about coming to our vacation house here in Canaan is getting away from everything and being entirely unfettered and unstructured with time and commitments, that the area has such a friendly and vibrant local community (including RD Dan Lehman, Adam Cassidy, Luke Fleishmen), that we should try to be more involved, even if it means having to set an alarm and plan a day from time to time.
2013 Sasquatchy Report
Frozen Sasquatch Trail race report 1-5-2013.
The 4th running of the Frozen Sasquatch Trail 25k/50k was a good one, but we had our share of work keeping the trails clear this year. In Late June we had a massive storm called a derecho pass through the mountains of Kanawha State Forest (and West Virginia and much of the northeastern US). Then in late October, Hurricane Sandy came through dumping several inches of wet,heavy snow on the trees, forcing them to snap into the trails. With the help of volunteers, runners, mountain bikers and the park staff the race course was ready to go.
Matt Young and I marked the first half of the course on new years day. Before we started he said “Dolin, I’m 99% sure I’m not going to run this race because of my foot”. An hour later I mention to him that next year will be the 5th year of the Sasquatch and I’m gonna give 5 time finishers a GOLDEN SASQUATCH. At Friday’s packet pickup his wife picked up his packet and said he was “healed by the golden sasquatch”.
One of the things I was most excited about this year was the fact that we had Albert Dulac fly from France to meet up with his daughter Stephanie. Then come down to good ol’ West Virginia to run the race together. I’ve had a few runners from states as far as Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana, but this was pretty cool. They both finished the 50k together with huge smiles.
I spoke with Robert Smith at the Ritter Park Offroad Challenge 5k and he said “I wish I was in shape to enough to run the 50k”. Well, I’d like to see what kind of time he could’ve put up, because he broke the old course record in the 25k by about 14 minutes. He smoked the course in 1:49:51. 2nd place overall male was 16 year old Abe Merinar. I spoke with Garrett Burnett the night before the race and showed him the course records, and told him he needs to break the 25k course record. He did break the old record and came in 3rd overall in 2:03:21. On the Female side, Kelly Harris (2nd place finisher in the 50k last year) ran a strong time of 2:33:11, The battle for 2nd and 3rd was a close one, Sarah Fletcher edged Megan Hevener with a time of 2:39:14, While Megan ran 2:39:28. (Megan won the 50k in 2010 in 5:48 with 15 degree temps and a few inches of snow).
The 50k race record holder Michael Owen told me in an email he had been pretty sick with the flu, but would try to defend his title. But after the first lap he pulled out of the race. It was great to see his newly wed wife Bobbi Jo finish her first trail race ever and the longest race she ever ran. The first runner to come through the finish line for the 50k was Alexander Wepsala. This was the 3rd time he ran this race. In 2011 and he pretty much did a canonball in a stream crossing when the weather was less than 20 degrees and had to spend extra time at each aid station to warm up. This year he not only crossed that stream successfully, he won in a time of 4:32:33. Clay Warner came through in 4:47:41 and close behind was Matt Paxton in 4:51:11. Jill Goodwin came in with a very good time of 5:35:02. 2011 winner Mary Jane Baniak came in 2nd in 6:00:57. 3rd o/a female was Sheryl Leonard-schneck breaking the 7 hour mark with a time of 6:54:54.
This was my funnest year yet, Thanks to all the volunteers and sponsors, and Roberts Running/Walking Store for the Pre-race packet pickup. Thanks to Matt Young, Michael Black and David Hendren for course marking, and Gregg Yarborough and Charles Belcher for pulling down the plethora of flagging we hung up. The quote of the day goes to Pat Villella from Punxy, PA. “I love this course, I love these trails. The trails here are a work of art, they belong in a museum.” Well said.
Cheat Mountain – The End of an Era
The 2012 edition was the final year of Cheat Mountain. I have enjoyed the five years directing the race and I appreciate all the support from the club, volunteers, sponsors, and runners — none if it would have been possible without you. Retiring the race is bittersweet, but I plan on refocusing my energy toward the Trilogy and further responsibilities at Highlands Sky.
I will miss seeing all of the “regulars” each August at the 4-H camp. There are many great memories that we all take with us from over the years, but there are many more to be made. We at WVMTR look forward to continuing to producing top-notch events for years to come!
Mark Thorne 2012 Trilogy Race Report
Enough can not be said to laud Adam, Dan and Kat for their time and hard work invested in the Triolgy. The venue, the volunteers, the Mt Institute staff, the fraternity of ultra runners and the families and friends who come to support them all contribute to the aura of the event. I arrived rather early on Thur as I get a bit too excited for upcoming events. But being there early allowed me to see familiar faces as they arrived and to greet new faces as well. I strongly feel that those “new” faces will be familiar faces next year. Three days of running are plenty, however, returning to work on Monday was difficult as my thoughts returned to the courses I had just run and the conversations I had just had over the Trilogy daze ( I mean days ). There are way too many memories to recount in this space. I do not wish to exclude any particulars. Let it simply be known that everyone of you is remembered in these post race days. The 50K went very well for me this year! Gavin pulled me to the end in a very respectable time. I only wish that I hadn’t tripped and fallen on my face 20 meters from the finish banner. The 50M was a bit anxiety filled. I had failed to make the 14 hr cut by 4 minutes last year. My feet had become terribly blistered on day one and I had difficulty getting food down pre-race. I was committed, however, no matter how I felt as I had dozens of supporters who pledged $ for me to finish that goes to operate the Bike Club I sponsor at South Middle School. It isn’t easy thinking of letting down donors and middle school kids. During the run, I thought “Next year I’ll have to find an easier way to raise $”. But as I drove home on Sunday afternoon I thought of how I can improve my performance for the 2013 Trilogy. I don’t want to miss out on the fun and friendship. After the first stop at Judy Springs Aid I felt so much better. Seeing Pete, Dennis and Nathan spurred me on. The climb up the east face of Horton was rather quick and before I knew it I was cruising down White’s Run trail listening to the squirrels chatter and enjoying the views as I bounded along the knife edges. The crew at the turn around were great. They found first aid so I could bandage my feet. Then up the trail. Again I just cranked and enjoyed the views. Heading down the west slope of Horton was grueling. Blistered, bandaged feet are no fun. But I had my finance supports to think about. Just keep moving I thought. As I arrived at Horton Aid, I received cheers from Megan , Michelle and another who I don’t know the name. Michelle offered me a sip of her legal adult beverage. It tasted SO good! My spirited buoyed when they told my that Rhonda had pasted through 1hr ahead. I was rooting for her and she ended up kicking the 14 limit in the teeth. The long trudge up Spring Ridge was as daunting as ever. I did see a snowshoe hare for the very first time at the top of the climb. Nearly 40 years visting these mountains and it was my first sighting of a live snowshoe. Bear scat was also abundant on the ridge. Amie caught me on the descent to Judy Springs Aid and as I was filling my H2O and belly, she simply disappeared flashing up the trail. The last 10 miles I figured I would run without walking. No, I was wrong. But I never stopped moving. At the base of Cardiac my watch read 13hr 30mins. Man, I was cutting it close. I gave myself 15 mins to get up Cardiac, I made it in 11. I was in good shape. Running past the observatory, I could not see any lights from the yurts. What?! Had there been a zombie invasion, were the RD’s playing a trick on me? As I turned off of the road I see the finish clock and heard cheerring after I answered to the question from the dark, ” Are you a runner?”. “Absolutely!”, was my answer. Folks were willing to leave the warmth of the yurt to see me the “half Fast Runner” finish under 14 hrs. It was fabulous! The final day was not so great. I could barely get my feet into my shoes, I could barely jog without painful footfalls. But I had to finish! AND I HAD FUN!
Author: Mark Wm Thorne
