West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners
A Mountain State of Running
Musings from an Ultra Marathon Rookie – John Stout
Musings from an Ultra Marathon rookie – My thoughts on the Highland Sky 40 Mile Trail Run
I’m an Ultra. He’s an Ultra. Wouldn’t you like to be an Ultra Nut too? This past weekend I competed in and completed my first ever Ultra Marathon. I conquered the Highlands Sky 40 Mile Trail Run, a very tough Ultra that runs through the mountains and plains near the Canaan Valley Resort in West Virginia. How did I end up running in an Ultra? Good question. I have been running for 30+ years but had never run more than 13.1 miles. Before my training for this event began, I had completed (3) ½ marathons, (4) 10-milers and a series of 10K’s and 5K’s. All on mostly flat courses.
Early this year, co-workers of mine tried to convince me to join them in a Tough Mudder competition. I had heard of these events but had never really thought about running in one. I checked my calendar and found that I had a conflict for that date in September for the race. You see, I am financially and emotionally invested in UVa Football as a season ticket holder. You could say that is more painful than any Tough Mudder. Anyway, a home game against Penn State the same weekend of the race made it pretty easy for me to have to decline.
In the meantime I began to look around for something else that I could undertake. For some reason I decided to sign up for an Ultra Marathon. I had read about the Highlands Sky 40 and was intrigued. My father was from West Virginia and my brother lives in Elkins. So I knew the area fairly well. As I was trying to decide whether I should sign up, I contacted the race director and asked him about Ultras. Dan Lehmann answered all my questions and sent me lots of links to read. I got info from great Q&A sessions like: “Q: If I see blood in my urine, is that bad? A: Not necessarily (there was actually a longer medical discussion here) Q: What if I throw up during the race? A: Just don’t step in it and keep going.” With solid advice like that I had to move forward, so I signed up for the race.
I was only running 5-10 miles a week when is started my training. So I had to amp that up considerably and only had about 3 months to do it. I slowly worked my way up to 50 miles a week. I live in Williamsburg, Virginia, pretty close to sea level, so there are not a lot of hills in my area. I knew of some single track trails with rolling hills around a lake near the College of William & Mary. I also started running the hills around the Masonic Temple in Old Towne, Alexandria when I was there on business trips. And I trained mostly on my own. So training was tough. I told very few people about my upcoming race in case the training fell apart and I didn’t make it. I wanted to be able to complete the race and tell my coworkers and friends after the fact. That was part of my motivation.
The weekend of May 12th I slipped off to West Virginia for a training run. The start of the race is only 45-minutes from my brother’s house, which made it very convenient. My brother dropped me off at 7:30am and I met with about 2 dozen other Ultra Nuts. Some were vets but I also met a few rookies like me. At 8am we were off and we proceeded to cover the first 19 miles of the course. The really hilly part. At the end we ran 3 miles down a fire road to the start. So I did 22 miles that day in about 5 ½ hours. It went OK. Now I had 5 weeks to finish my training and be ready to run 41. The course was not completely what I expected. The hills weren’t as steep as I thought they might be in places BUT the climbs were long and steady in stretches. The course itself was much rockier than I expected. Many sections were really not run-able (to me) as you couldn’t get a firm and solid landing spot for your feet. You just had to walk up the steep sections and also walk the rocky stretches. OK. I can handle that. I had 12 hours to finish the 40 miles.
Finally race weekend was here. My wife and I arrived at the Canaan Valley Resort at 5:30pm on Friday. Just in time to register and get my free swag, including a cool new pair of trail socks. At last I got to meet Dan Lehman, the guru of the HS 40. Once I introduced myself he immediately knew who I was. We had traded numerous emails while I was contemplating signing up for the race. I could tell he was genuinely happy to see me there. Here was an Ultra Virgin who decided to run his first race at the HS 40. The pre-race meal was great and I met a lot of new folks, many of whom were hard core Ultra runners. Everyone was as nice as could be. I caught up with Jeff from Ohio whom I first met at the Trainer Run. We agreed to run together as we were both Ultra rookies. After dinner and the pre-race presentation I was off to my brother’s house to try and get some sleep. I had been nervous wreck all week and didn’t get much sleep Friday night either.
I got up at 3am to start getting ready and to get some food in my stomach. I was worried about how well I was going to do eating during the run. My wife and I left for the starting line at 4:30am and we pulled in around 5:20am. It was a cool 50 degrees in the pre-dawn light down by Red Creek. I found Jeff and his daughter, Jessica, and we got ready to go. Jessica had run several marathons, so Jeff wasn’t sure how long we would see her during the race before she pulled away from us. We were chatting at the start and heard a little roar go up from the crowd. We were off! We didn’t even hear a “Go” call.
The first 2+ miles are on hard surface road. Jeff and I clocked the first 2 miles in just over 17-minutes. Faster than we planned but OK. I think we let Jessica set that pace. We turned off the road, into a field, past Aid Station #1 and headed into the woods. Over the next 3.5 miles we started our first climb and gained about 1200 feet in elevation. This part was relatively gradual, not too taxing. Then over the next 2 miles, things got steeper and we gained about 1500 feet in elevation. We had to walk most of this stretch, as it was too steep to run. Plus, we had many miles to go. Also, by this time, Jessica had pulled away and we didn’t see her again until the end.
The next 2 miles were relatively level with some rocky sections. We finally popped out on the fire road and made it to Aid Station #2 at Mile 10. I think we pulled in around 2 ½ hours. Well ahead of the cut-off time of 3:15:00. So Jeff and I were feeling pretty good as we reached the ¼ point. The first thing I noticed at the Aid Station was that someone was there with a race roster, checked off your bib number and called you by name as you approached the station. That was nice. Other volunteers immediately came up to take your bottles or CamelBak and fill them up for you. The table was full of food and beverage for you to refuel. Water, Heed and soda to drink. Bananas, oranges, pretzels, cookies, candy, PBJ’s and lots more to eat. My problem was that each time we stopped, I couldn’t eat much.
After a brief break, we were back at it. Down the road a bit and a turn back into the woods. The next 2 miles were fairly level with some sections that Jeff and I could run comfortably. Around mile 12 we started a steep downhill stretch. We dropped about 1200 feet over the next 2 miles. Jeff and I both commented that this stretch seemed steeper than it did during the Training Run. I had run parts of this downhill stretch during the Training Run but we walked a lot of this downhill today to save our energy. The downhills were definitely harder than the uphill climbs. At about Mile 14 we started another climb. Yeah! We gained another 800 feet or so over the next 2 miles. Some stretches were flat enough to jog which felt good. After another short steep climb we popped out on a fire road and were greeted at Aid Station #3. I was very happy that I had come in town for the Training Run. It was nice to have a frame of reference for the first 20 miles of the course. That prepared me quite a bit mentally.
We were still ahead of the cut off time at Aid Station #3, so Jeff and I were happy. To make it even better, we had met a new friend! Around Mile 15, a runner caught up behind us and Jeff offered to let him pass. He said he was fine where he was and chugged along behind us. We started chatting and Jerry told us this was his first ever Ultra. We said us too. He had been talked into the race by a buddy. I asked him when the last time he saw his buddy was and he said at the start. So the three of us formed a pack and made a pact to finish together.
After a short food and beverage stop, we were off again. The next stretch had some flatter sections and 10 short bridges to traverse. We made some good time here, hit the fire road and turned uphill for the mile or so to Aid Station #4, the half way point. We pulled in at just over 5 hours. About an hour ahead of the cutoff time. My wife and oldest son were there to greet me and Jeff’s wife was there as well. It was a nice boost to see family. We toweled off and got some suntan lotion for the next stretch. They call this next part “The Road Across the Sky.” We dubbed it “The Highway to Hell.” It was another 7 miles along a dirt and gravel road that was pretty heavily trafficked by cars and trucks. Every passing car sent up a cloud of dust. And you could see way ahead of you for literally over a mile a time. You had to just keep your head down and run. We ran the flat and downhill parts but walked the uphill stretches. After a quick stop at Aid Station #5, just 3 miles down the road, we continued on and made it to Aid Station #6 which had the last cutoff time. We got there in about 7 hours. 40 minutes ahead of time. As with every stop, we were greeted by name and treated very well. I tried to force down some food but about all I could stomach was orange slices and chocolate. I was also eating gels along the course. I just couldn’t eat much and was afraid I would bonk.
Jeff’s ankle was pretty sore at this point. He had injured it weeks before playing volleyball. I had turned an ankle two weeks before the race and Jerry was having some ankle issues as well. So we made a good team. We headed out on Bear Rocks Trail knowing that we had 5 hours to cover the final 14 miles. We felt good knowing that we had some time to spare. With sore feet, ankles, knees, hips, etc we ended up walking most of the next 10 miles. This stretch was harder than I thought it would be. For some reason I thought the second half would be easier than the first. But the dusty road had taken a bit out of us. Now we still had lots of rocky terrain and a few more climbs to go. Jeff said he needed to power walk and said we could just pull ahead if we wanted. I checked my watch and told him we were walking at about a 16-minute a mile pace on the flat stretches and we were doing great. The “exciting boulder-hopping section from Mile 30-31” turned out to be very taxing for us. At that stage of the race and exhaustion, the “hopping” was tough. We pushed our way through that and along the trail until we finally got to Aid Station #7. That was a long 6 mile stretch. Maybe the longest on the course for me. The Aid Station was at a beautiful vista up high over the Dolly Sods. We were happy to rest a bit, drink and eat.
We knew that the next challenge was a climb up a ski slope followed by the big downhill “butt slide” that we had been hearing about. We pushed on and hit that uphill section. Man we were tired of climbing. We trudged up that hill knowing it was our last real climb. We turned into the woods. After a bit we came to the big downhill. This stretch was steep and tough. I had my only bad “injury” moment here. I got a golf ball sized knot in my left calf during the descent. The pain dropped me flat on my back and I lay there on the hillside. I told the guys to keep going and I would catch up. I massaged the cramp for a few minutes, got up and continued down the hill. We all met up at the last Aid Station. Only 4.1 miles to go and mostly flat terrain. We had just under 2 hours to complete these 4 miles. Man, we are going make this no problem!
We decided to push it in the best we could. I put my head down and started a slow run. It felt good to stretch out the kinks. I didn’t notice that I had pulled ahead of Jeff and Jerry. I was happy to cross Route 32 and head into the main Canaan Valley Resort area. Those last 2 miles were tough. I ran the flat sections but still had to walk the uphill parts. The course turned off the road and into the woods for one last stretch. I knew I was getting close. One more climb up a hill and then I popped out above the finish line. I broke into a nice pace and was greeted by my two sons. My youngest ran with me down the hill to finish. Dan took my picture, shook my hand and had a big smile on his face. He seemed as happy as I that I had finished. Another new HS 40 Ultra survivor!
I will say the next 30 minutes or so was a bit of a blur. I was overwhelmed by exhaustion, emotion and probably a lack of fuel. But I finished in 11:05:15. With 55 minutes to spare. And I made all of my goals. 1) Finish the race in under 12 hours – check. 2) Don’t get hurt – check. After the race I was in some pain and awfully sore, but I did not necessarily get “hurt.” 3) Don’t throw up in public – sort of check. I made it through the race and the post race gathering. But I didn’t feel good on the drive home through the mountains. My wife pulled over so I could “give back” the food from the last Aid Station.
What an amazing experience. I really didn’t know what to expect, since I had not run more than 22 miles at any one time leading up to this. I shattered lots of personal records for distance. During the race, I experienced the whole gamut of emotions and physical feelings. I was told by other runners that during an Ultra if you ever feel bad, don’t worry, it will pass. And at any time if you feel good, don’t worry, it will pass. I had moments of euphoria followed by times of doubt and remorse. Great rushes of adrenaline followed by waves of nausea. It was quite the Ultra experience. But I was happy that I had Jeff as a Wingman to run with me. Now, why did I do this? Because it was there. Mid-life crisis. To show my coworkers that I wasn’t just wimping out on them and their Tough Mudder. I really don’t know. Now, will I do it again? In the words spoken by 99.99% of mothers after the birth of their first child: “I NEVER WANT TO GO THROUGH THAT AGAIN.” But in the words of Ian Fleming; “Never Say Never Again.” Wounds heal. Pain fades away. Good memories outlast the bad. Right now, I don’t plan to run in another Ultra anytime soon. In fact, I’m taking a little time off from running to recuperate. But you never know. It’s now three days after the race and I’m feeling pretty good. Almost ready for a jog.
My HS 40 Ultra was definitely an Ultra Experience! Thanks Dan!
Author: John Stout
Kathy Wolf Race Report – Trilogy ’11
Redemption on Spruce Knob-West Virginia Trilogy 2011 by Kathy Wolf
For the past year my running friends have all heard the story of the missing 3.8 miles on the fifty mile day at the Trilogy in 2010. In fact, I would venture to say they are tired of the “3.8 mile story”. So going into this year’s Trilogy race I felt I had to redeem myself and complete all three days of the stage race or not come home.
For those not familiar with the West Virginia Trilogy, it is the creation of co-race directors Adam Casseday and Dan Lehmann and takes place within the Spruce Knob Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area over three days. Due to the remoteness of the race course, runners camp at The Mountain Institute where they learn the meaning of communal living by the TMI staff and volunteers. It truly is a unique way to spend three days!
Having had a taste of the camping/running experience in 2010 by volunteering for the 50k and running the 50 mile race last year, my traveling running buddy Darcy Lallathin was in it for the full three days this year; 50k Friday, 50M Saturday and half marathon Sunday. Having scoped out the entrants list, we both expressed only interest in finishing (surviving) all three days and nothing more.
The 50k Day
The 50k day seems to be a “get a feel for the course day” for folks new to the West Virginia hills. Since we knew what we were in for Darcy and I seemed a bit more relaxed than the previous year. With Kristen Krempasky returning from the Trilogy win in 2010 we saw no need to stress over the 50k portion and we just wanted to make it through without hurting ourselves. She would no doubt take the race this year as well. We met a new ultra runner during the pre-race dinner, Angie Smith, who was making WVT her debut ultra. Wow! What a way to jump into the ultra scene on one of the hilliest, rockiest courses Darcy and I have ever seen. She is brave in our book. I don’t think I would have had the guts to go into this one without some experience at the distance. Angie had run trails but nothing longer than 26.2 before.
At the start Darcy took off ahead while I hung back and leap frogged with Angie until we somehow caught up with Darcy. The three of us went through the well attended Big Run aid station (#1) with nothing exceptional to note. We continued on together with the three of us within talking distance and each taking a turn leading the way. When we arrived at the Bee Run aid station (#2) around mile 11, Angie was in front and the volunteer shouted to the others that 2nd and 3rd female was coming through. Darcy and I were puzzled for a moment and asked if they meant us. And that’s when we heard that Kristen was off course and had not arrived at aid station 2 yet. I believe that is when the race changed in our minds and we knew we could make this an interesting day. The three of us left the aid station refilled and fueled. We chatted briefly trying to figure out where Kristen had missed a turn but we didn’t want to waste any time in case she was back on course and coming for us with a vengeance.
Somewhere after leaving Bee Run aid station and getting to Judy Springs (#3) I took control of climbing the hills and navigating the rocks. I had spent all of June and July working on building leg strength with squats, deadlifts, (Thank you Justin Collins for the Strong Lifts routine!) and working up to an hour straight on the stair climber. The steep hills are where I was able to put distance between me and Darcy & Angie. I was not expecting to be out in front but when I arrived at Judy Springs, volunteers Paula and Dennis informed me I was indeed first woman through their aid station. It was at this point that I felt the pressure of being chased in a race for the first time ever! They got me refilled and hurried me along.
During the 5.7 loop that returns to Judy Springs, I fully expected Kristen to come zooming past in an effort to catch up and take her place in the front. I also knew Darcy was aware of the opportunity we had been given and would be pushing to challenge the lead. I ran when I would have normally walked. I hustled up the steep hills like I had to be somewhere yesterday. I ran on the rocks like they were an agility test. I scrambled through the downed trees as fast as I could. One really fast guy passed me who was trying to re-coup an extra mile and a half he had just ran when he got slightly off course. I watched him bound over the trees like a kangaroo. That was awesome to see! I kept the pressure on thinking Kristen was within sight right behind me. It was getting harder to keep up the pace but somehow I returned to Judy Springs (AS #4) still first female. I asked about Kristen and Dennis told me she dropped. So now it’s just Darcy still after me. Paula shoos me out of the aid station and just as I cross the bridge to find the trail she yells “Run Kathy run! Here she comes!” This prompted a taunt from Darcy and I hear Darcy call out, “Run Kathy run!”. Oh geez, now it IS a duel!
How much longer can I hold her off? She is so much faster than me. Why am I up here in front? I have NEVER been in front! I’m running this like this is the only race I have to think about. But what about tomorrow when I have to face my long awaited 50 mile test I’ve trained all year for? Am I setting myself up to fail again? These are all thoughts that went through my head till I made it to Seneca aid station (#5). Again the volunteers ushered me through like a Nascar pit stop and I felt like a star. Only 3.3 till the finish but I knew Darcy had to be closing in.
I started the last section running. I fast hiked all hills and ran in places I thought Darcy would surely run. No time to be caught walking. I never looked over my shoulder so many times in a race. I usually don’t worry about where others are on the course. But today I had been given a chance to be first. What? Kathy Wolf is NEVER first!! I’ve been second. I’ve been third. I’ve been 99th. I’ve even been last. Never first. I kept looking over my shoulder. I thought I heard something. No, nothing there. Oh what was that? Nothing. Checked again. Nothing. One more time. Oh shoot, there she is! Ugggg, this straight away is surely in Darcy’s advantage. I need a steep hill, up or down, doesn’t matter. She’ll pick me off like a hunter with a deer in her sights on this flat straight section.
“Hello back there Darcy!” I call to acknowledge her presence but still pushing my speed as best I can. Oh well I thought, I almost had it. But if I had to concede to someone I’m glad it was Darcy. So I start to relax but Darcy reminds me that Cardiac is just ahead and the way I’ve been tackling hills today…this race was not over. Cardiac is the super steep hill we zipped down at the start and now we would have to make our way up that bear before being granted the satisfaction of the rolling terrain leading to the finish line. Alright, just keep plugging away on this hill. Heart rate is peaked, breathing is heavy and my feet and legs are working frantically. Just put some distance between us before we get to the top or else she’ll snatch victory away…after all the struggle the last few miles it comes down to the last hill. Oh “watch out for the snake.” OK, I swear there was a little tiny snake making its way across the trail but Darcy thinks I said that to scare her and slow her down. Not really but hey, whatever works!
I take the last few giant strides to make it to the top and I know I can’t look back. Just go! She’ll be right on your tail! Move it! I make it to the entrance driveway and finally see the grassy downhill stretch to the finish chute. I run straight to hug Dan who just announced that I was first woman! Wow, I did it! Everyone cheers and I look back to see Darcy making her way down the grassy downhill just a few seconds behind. What an awesome unexpected feeling that was! What started out as just a typical training run pace, ended in flat out racing. What a thrill! My 50k finish was 7:01:55
The 50 mile day
Darcy and I both worried a bit that the fun we had on the 50k would come back to bite us in the 50 mile race. We took precautions to soak our feet in the cold pond near camp to reduce any swelling after the 50k. On Saturday morning we woke in plenty of time for breakfast and getting dressed & ready for a long day on the trails. We had one last bathroom break to make so we hiked up to the flushable bathrooms instead of using the port-a-potties at the start line. A few minutes later, as we made our way back to the start, we heard everyone cheering and we wondered what was going on. We got to the start in time to see the headlamps dance off down the road. Yeap, it was 6:01am. We camped 50 feet from the start line and we missed the start! And since my GPS had not acquired satellites yet I had to stand there and watch everyone get smaller and smaller. Finally the watch was ready at 6:03am and I ran to catch up. I did not run easy until I was not last any more. I might have run too hard in the first couple miles but I wanted to regain the feeling that I was not behind.
The first leg of the 50 mile day remains my favorite in terms of scenery. We started before sunrise, and we were on the long uphill road to Spruce Knob when we were able to turn off our head lamps and witness the sun creeping up on our right. When we got higher and higher it was hard to not just stop and stare at the picture that was being painted before us. I chose to not carry a camera in an effort to not lose time on the day I could not afford to lose any, but boy was I missing a great photo op!! I think next time I will bring it and drop it off with Adam and Dan at the top. Next time? More about that later!
At the top we were greeted by Adam and Dan with water and gels before we headed down the Huckleberry Trail (or the” path of rocks” as I like to call it). This was where I made a bad move and twisted my knee last year. I feared a repeat. I diverted all my attention and focus on maneuvering the obstacles. I moved more quickly and took care in selecting my foot placement, much better than last year. I felt I was moving very well in this section even though I was leap frogging another runner (Bruce Tweedie). This was a long section and we were making our way to the familiar aid station at Judy Springs. I was using a camel back and a hand held because the aid stations were spaced further apart than on the 50k and I feared a repeat of running out of water like last year.
As we got closer to Judy Springs we enter what I call the “wall of color”. After climbing and navigating the rocks, we exit the forest and enter an open grassy hill side. We follow a trail that hugs the mountain side. I risk glances up from the trail to look at the colorful mountains with trees turning every color for as far as I can see. Wow, it is such a stunning sight. I could spend a whole day taking it all in. I take my first fall in this section when I sneak too long a look and just about slip down the mountain side. Ok re-focus and keep on track here. I cannot afford to mess up and hurt something this early.
I make it to the Judy Springs aid station (mile 16) and immediately Paula fetches my Monster Energy Drink I sent with her. (She is awesome!) I drink half of it and she tells me she will place it in the stream to keep it cold for my return to Judy Springs. (Wow, she is awesome!) I have some of her tasty quesadillas and grab a couple gels and head out for another long stretch of trail.
In this section we cover part of the trail we saw in on the 50k day only in reverse. I was still negotiating the hills pretty well and as I passed Bruce for the last time on a steep grade he asked if I was from West Virginia. “No, I’m from Columbus, Ohio” I said. I climbed hills like a West Virginian; that had to be the best compliment I have ever gotten! But my smile faded soon after when Adele Fenwick from Colorado passed me like I was standing still on the steepest part of the hill. She was moving so fast up the hill it was no use trying to stay with her. After a mile or so we divert to the dreaded out and back section which leads to the half way point aid station at Whites Run. It seemed to me this section is rolling hills but with all the downed trees I can never seem to get any momentum at all. This is the only part of the course I questioned if I was on the trail because in some places fallen trees were covering the beaten path. I cursed a lot in these miles. I got frustrated with scrambling through tree branches and not having a good sense I was still going the right way. It was also on this trail that Darcy, Mark and Mike all caught up with me. I made an attempt to keep up as they passed but I also was feeling some uneasiness in my stomach. Darcy gave me any electrolyte capsule to help my stomach. I finally let them fade out of sight when I turned my ankle on a hidden rock while trying to navigate a downhill.
I was keeping an eye on the time and this is where I started comparing my arrival time to aid stations to last year’s race. I arrived at the 25 mile aid station (#3) at 12:33pm last year and this year it was 12:18pm. I was ahead by a little but I knew the return trip was where I lost the most time last year due to running out of water. I wasted no time questioning whether to fill the camel back this time. No matter what, everything was getting topped off! This was also the aid station that some people chose to use a drop bag but I saw no need in changing shoes since we still had wet spots to navigate.
As I made my way back up the steep downhill we just came down to get to the aid station I did a body assessment. Nothing was really nagging me. My turned ankle had worked itself out. But I was still experiencing an uneasy stomach. I believe it was easing up and the feeling I had was an urge to pee. This was a good thing in a way because it meant I was drinking plenty. I did not want to waste time stopping if I was going to have to wait for the “flow” to start after finding a suitable place and getting into position. So I held it. Besides after about a mile Mark Thorne appeared behind me. I thought it was weird since he entered the aid station before me. Perhaps he stopped for a shoe change. (?) I decided to stick with him since this section can suck the life out of you if you are alone and left to think of inward thoughts. I needed to focus on something else besides having to pee. Mark and I managed to get through the “out and back” by 2:39pm. This lifted my sprits since my goal had been to be back to the intersection by 2:45pm. I figured it was just a couple miles to the Horton aid station (#4) which had a cut off of 3:30pm. It turned out my estimate was off and it is slightly longer. In any case, Mark was following closely until one point I lost track and apparently left him. He was running really well when we were together I had fully expected we would run into the finish line together.
I arrived at the Horton aid station (33.6 mile) at 3:15 pm; Only 8 minutes ahead of last year but 15 ahead of the cut off. I got a refill and grabbed a few snacks. I did not want to stay long but was feeling depleted. I made sure to intake some calories before leaving and thanked the wonderful volunteers. I recalled from last year that I could not run the road portion leaving the aid station even though it looked easy enough to do. I remembered the wasted feeling I felt back then. But here I was. Running. Slowly, but still running. I knew exactly what awaited me just around the corner. The “three mile hill” that has haunted me for the past 12 months. I broke down and laid on this hill for four minutes last year. I had pictured this hill while climbing stairs at the gym. THIS is the hill I came to climb!! As I fast hiked up the hill I recalled the moment I stopped and screamed in frustration “Where is the freaking top of this thing?!” This time I smiled at my weakness from before. This hill was nothing. I have just come across so much more intimidating hills, this hardly qualified as a hard hill. I made my way up the “three mile hill”. I got to the top with nothing exceptional to note about the trek. It was done. The worse hill I had pictured on this course was over and it left me wondering what I was even worried about.
I coasted the remaining couple miles into the Judy Springs aid station (#5- mile 40.5) and was greeted by Paula, Dennis and I think the other fella’s name was Nate but I’m not sure. Paula was glad to see me and said “You are doing great but you cannot stay here long.” I tell her I know and the guy who I think is Nate said, “Ha, she knows!” I down the rest of my Monster Energy Drink. (Thank you my lovely volunteers for trekking my secret energy juice two miles to this aid station!) I ask for any gels with caffeine (it is caffeine that is going to get me through this race) and Paula pulled out a secret stash of caffeinated Gu. Mint Chocolate! God, I love her!! I dash off and if for no other reason I HAVE to finish this race so my friends at the Judy Springs aid station are proud of me!
I blaze, and I mean blaze an amazing 12-13 minute mile the first 2 miles till I get to the upward incline out of Judy Springs. I loved the boost my Monster gave me even if for just a few miles. I still had the urge to pee but I had an even bigger urge to make the 7:10pm cut off to Allegany Mt Trail aid station cut off.
While pushing through the uphill and fallen trees I kept monitoring my watch since I knew the battery would soon die. After 12 hours and 33 minutes the watch turned itself off. Now all I knew was I had to make it to the 46.2 mile as fast as I could.
I remember thinking that the good thing was I still did not need my headlamp. I was in the dark by this time last year. After run/walking for a while I saw someone running toward me. It was Adam! He was so glad to see me, as I was him. I asked how much farther to the aid station. He estimated it was an eight minute run for him so that was about another 15 minutes of walk running for me. I wished it was closer but wasted no time debating it. He was motivated to seek others who were behind me and continued in the outbound direction telling me to keep going.
Finally, I hear the volunteers at the Allegany Mt Trail aid station. Yes! They named off items they had to offer and when I heard peanut butter I said “Yes, that!” I wanted to make it a fast stop but I could not afford to ease up on the basics; fuel and hydration. Shawna reminds me there is 3.8 miles to go. Wow, where have I heard that before!?!! I decided to leave my water bottle since I had a full camelback and I would need my hands free to get over the fences in the pasture crossing. As I ran down the gravel road I yelled back for a time check. 6:47pm was the reply. Seventy-three minutes to do 3.8 miles, now I KNOW I can do that!
By the time I got off the road and back into the woods I had to fish out my lights. I had a headlamp and a handheld. I had attached a lanyard to the handheld so I would not be impeded getting over the four fences. With only a couple of exceptions this last section is incredibly easy. The only thing that made it slow was being in the dark. I did not run much through this part. I concentrated on not falling and moving as quickly as possible. With the sun gone, it was cooling off and there was a misty feeling of condensation in the air. Crossing the pasture I wondered if I would run into any cows. Just as I thought this I heard something on my right. I turned my head in time to catch a deer dashing off. My headlamp made the white tail seem reflective. I continued and finally crossed the last fence. Though I dreaded reaching Cardiac (the last hill to the finish) I was anxiously awaiting its arrival. That would mean I knew exactly where I was in relation to the finish. I reached the mega hill and started my climb. It was steeper than I recalled from the 50k day but I manage to reach the top. I was unsure of the time so for all I knew I only had seconds to finish before 8pm. I reached the gravel driveway and the Allegany Mt Trail aid station volunteers were driving back to camp. They pull off the road and jumped out to cheer me on. They told me I’m going to make it but I was not going to let up. I ran down the road and turned left down the grassy downhill and finally saw the clock. I still had 12 minutes! Dan announces my finish to everyone as I make it through. I believe that is the best I have ever felt at a finish line. The Trilogy was not over but at that point it did not matter what the half marathon day would bring. I’d walk the whole 13.1 miles if I had to just to finish. I had finally did it! 50 mile finished in 13:48:34.
The Half Marathon Day
If folks would have judged how I was walking around the morning of the half marathon they would have probably guessed I would have been barely able to navigate 13.1 more miles. The soreness was setting in. The Trilogy is such a unique race. After the 50k and 50 mile races are completed the half marathon poses no threat and with a 9am start time everyone is in high spirits at the start line. We are joined by folks who chose to only run the half marathon or 5k. I’m positive they think the rest of us are crazy lunatics by the conversations we were having about our previous two day adventure.
There was chatter about who was in what place amongst the female Trilogy runners but I was secure with the fact that I had done what I came to do this year and then some. There was no need for me to worry about my finish time on this day. Again I started with a relaxed trot and tried to work out my stiff legs before getting to the climbs. For the first 5 or 6 miles I stayed with a small group of ladies; Angie Smith, Rhonda Stricklett, and Nancy Johnston, and chatted about the weekend’s events and how sore we felt. Well, except for Nancy. Nancy was there to run the half marathon and marveled on us for doing the three races. She had decided to run the half sort of last minute and I don’t believe she quite understood what kind of half marathon this would be. But she was doing great on the hilly course considering having only experience on road races.
When we reached the road out and back section (about mile 7) we were seeing the return leaders making their way down. Our little group was starting to break up and I was finally getting into a groove making my way up to the turn around. I saw Darcy and not far behind was Adele. When I reached the top I turned around and braced myself for the foot slapping steep descend that my hard uphill climb would be repaid with. My only thought was to keep my feet moving and not fall. Just go with the momentum of gravity. I began to pass people on the downhill. I was moving fast and did not want to apply the brakes. It was like a roller coaster ride as I floated down the hill. I passed Mark Thorne and he said I was flying like a rocket! The hill finally leveled out and I refilled my water bottle at the aid station then kept moving down the road. We began the trek which is shared with the last 3 miles of the 50 mile course. We just ran this section last night so it is very familiar. I make my way through the woods, over the fences, across the pasture, and back to Cardiac. This time I measured the hill and it takes me 10 minutes to climb the 0.3 mile hill called Cardiac. Such a short distance but a mean climb! I coasted into the finish as Dan announces me as a Trilogy runner. And just like that it is done. Half marathon finished in 2:43:06.
What a difference a year makes. Not only did I finish all three races but I placed third female in the Trilogy. My travel buddy Darcy took first female for the Trilogy and now has a better sense of what she is capable of! I only hope I can serve her well as her pacer this spring at her first one hundred mile race in North Carolina.
As for returning for the third annual WV Trilogy…I had plans to tackle Grindstone 100 next year but it is likely Darcy and I will once again pitch the huge “circus tent” at the start line at The Mountain Institute. The West Virginia Trail Runners have become our family and we look forward to the reunion!
West Virginia Trilogy – Michael Dacar
West Virginia Trilogy
The West Virginia Trilogy is a 3-day trail race with distances of 50K, 50 miles, and a half marathon for the respective days. The individual races start and end at The Mountain Institute (TMI), an outdoor education place situated at half way up to Spruce Knob (the highest point in WV). You can sign up for just one or two of the races but I can’t imagine why anyone would want to only half destroy themselves when they have a perfect opportunity to finish the job. I signed up for all three of course: not only do you get a nicer t-shirt but you also get some extra blisters at no extra charge! It really is a terrific weekend though. TMI is a beautiful place, the trails provide amazing scenery, all the people involved are incredibly friendly (especially the staff at TMI who were all cheerful despite the mess of zombie-like runners picking over the place like locusts) and there’s free beer! For my part I drank a lot less beer this year which could explain why I didn’t finish last year but did this year, despite the more challenging course. Last year I also had no idea what I was in for. I had done multi-day races but I’d never tried to run trails like this. This race is hard, like getting Lindsay Lohan into rehab kind of hard. The distances alone would make it a stiff challenge but the technical terrain, complete with plenty of stream crossings, and the merciless hills make this a uniquely difficult race.
Despite the difficulty I would be facing I packed up the camping gear and with my trusty crew ( my girlfriend Shauna) I set off to erase the shame of my DNF from last year. Things were not off to a promising start when we arrived at TMI both very carsick. Nonetheless, the tent was set up, dinner was eaten and registration was completed. Shauna, who would not actually be crewing for me this year since there are so few crew stops it makes a crew pretty much useless, got to sit in on a long volunteer meeting while I got the rest of the camping gear set up. After a small sample of the free beer it was off to bed to get ready for the 7AM start the next morning.
Day 1 – 50K
One thing to note about the weather was that it was going to be very warm during the day (highs in the upper 70’s) and very cold at night (lows in the low 40’s) so any of my readers who are familiar with the workings of tents and humidity know that makes for a very moist tent. I was up like a shot though, and off for breakfast and a quick shower before the start. All three races start with a loop around the meadow in which TMI is located and with the tall grass and dewy morning that meant wet feet from the word go. Nothing too terrible yet though. There were lots of downhills and uphills and even some confused looking cows. I think confused is just the currently fashionable look among cows and not any sort of reaction to a bunch of ultra marathoners jogging through their field. Everything was going smoothly when I arrived at the first aid station which was manned by Adam and Dan, the race organizers. Adam warned me that the fields of Goldenrod I was about to run through was sort of bent down over the trail due to recent snows so I could expect lots of scratches on my calves. Thankfully I had on calf sleeves so I wasn’t too worried. And the bent-over Goldenrod wasn’t really much of an issue, not nearly as much as the constant shoe-sucking mud. But I made it through and arrived at the 11 mile aid station with just some muddy wet feet but otherwise in good spirits.
Let me just take a moment here to say that while I honestly believe having run the race last year helped me quite a bit, there were times when it was not such a blessing. One of those times was after that 11 mile aid station because I knew the longest, nastiest hill was right around the corner. It took 30 minutes to get what probably amounts to a single mile up that hill. It’s relentlessly steep and long. I had to stop several times to stretch my hamstrings and lower back because the constant uphill was more than they could take. My lower back would be a source of discomfort for pretty much the rest of the race when I was going up hills. But I made it to the top and then back down in a river valley again where we made our first stop at the Judy Springs (16.9 miles) aid station. The wonderful people who man that aid station had to pack in all the food and drinks (except water) on horses so a big thanks to them for going well above and beyond the normal race volunteer level of effort. From that aid station it was a big loop going uphill (very steep of course), along a ridge, back down a very steep hill (I’m just going to stop mentioning that the hills are steep, there’s only one kind of hill in this race and it’s the steep kind, if it’s not steep it no longer qualifies as a hill), and back along the river with the obligatory crossings to help with the free blisters I noted above. Leaving the Judy Springs aid station for the second time (22.6 miles) we crossed over the river one last time and heading up the mountain on the other side of the valley. This mountain had a meadow which, when you stopped – and you had to stop because you had run a long way and it was really steep and warm and without the trees the sun was beating down on you – you could look across the valley and get the most spectacular view of the valley and mountains on the other side. It reminds me why I actually enjoyed this race. At the top of the meadow there’s a nice long, relatively flat section of trail that would been easy if not for all the mud and downed trees caused by the previous weekend’s snowstorms. Some of the downed trees were kind enough to fall with their trunks across the path so it was easy to step over them. The less considerate trees fell with the crowns across the path which left you with the choice of bushwhacking on a very steep slope or just fighting your way through those branches. In many cases you didn’t have a choice so you just marched on through. By the end everyone looked as though they had spent the weekend with evil, Westboro Baptist chuch kind of ferrets in their sleeping bags. But after a few miles of that it was out onto the road to the last aid station (27.7 miles) and then a relatively easy bit of running, with only one steep hill, to get to the finish.
Last year I finished the first day in about 7 hours and 15 minutes and I felt reasonably good. This year I finished in 7 hours and 52 minutes and I felt like I had been run over by a train. Things were not looking good for the next day when I would have to run 50 miles over a lot of the same course. Perhaps because I felt so horrible I was very diligent about my recovery drink and re-hydrating before I had my one and only beer for the night. But it was only 3PM when I finished so I had lots of time to recover and get ready. I’d like to say I spent that time stretching and preparing myself mentally for the day ahead but that would be a lie. Instead I sat in a chair and moaned about how hard the race was while downing about two thirds of a bag of Doritos. The Doritos weren’t really my fault though since I was starving and dinner wasn’t until sometime after 6. What was I supposed to do, moan about how hard the race was and about how hungry I was? But eventually dinner did come around and afterwards there was a brief meeting about the next day’s race then off to bed for a very early night.
Day 2 – 50 miles
The alarm went off at 4:30AM and my stalwart crew member Shauna smacked me to wake me up since I had ear plugs in and couldn’t have heard a jet land next to the tent. Instead of shooting out of bed like I had the day before I laid there and whined about wanting to quit. To her credit Shauna did her best to be encouraging when I’m sure all she really wanted to do was go back to sleep. Eventually I dragged myself out of bed to get some breakfast and tea in the hope that a little caffeine would get me moving. No such luck there. But, despite genuinely not wanting to start the day, I managed to get myself ready to race again. I was cold, stiff, tired, and sore all over so I honestly wanted to quit. That sort of thought is always there in the back of my mind during events like these so I know if I just keep going I’ll feel better about things. It wasn’t until about 5 miles into the race that I finally stopped wanting to drop out. But that’s getting ahead of myself.
The race started at 6AM under an amazing array of stars. You really can forget just how many stars are in the sky when you live in an urban area. I didn’t get much time to admire it though since I managed to get out to the start about 30 seconds before we actually left. That was a lot better than many of the runners who were late. But off we all went through most of the same loop we started with the day before except this time we turned off and headed up to the top of Spruce Knob. There were several miles of wet grass before we got to the road that led to the top. I really enjoyed the road section since there was about a quarter of a mile that was downhill and I was able to really let my legs go and run. It was a fantastic feeling and really woke me up and made me stop wanting to drop out. I was still cold and tired and sore but at least I was now slightly less stiff. It was chilly up there at the top though, being at the highest point means lots of wind and and all my clothes were slightly damp from the condensation in the tent. But the views up there were stunning. All misty valleys and mountains covered with red and gold trees. I won’t even try to describe the sunrise because I can’t do it justice. All good things must come to an end though, and this was no exception. We arrived at the top to find Adam and Dan once again manning the first aid station (6.9 miles).
Off went the headlamps and down went the runners. It was a long, slow, rocky downhill from there. Last year I accidentally kicked one of those rocks hard enough that my big toenail eventually came off. I was a little more careful this year and managed to get through this section with no injuries. I even joined onto a little caravan of Mark, Darcy, and Angie, which was nice because that was the only part of the day when I had company. We made really good time along the ridge from the top of Spruce Knob until we dropped down from the ridge to a lower trail. In fact, I’m fairly certain it was the same muddy, downed-tree covered trail from yesterday, just a different and, if possible, muddier and more tree covered section. The going got slow here. Slow and muddy. Eventually, after climbing through lots of downed trees and sliding through lots of mud we got back to the same meadow we had run up the day before; this time though, we were going down so there was a lot less time to appreciate the scenery. At the bottom we were once again at the Judy Springs (16.1 miles) aid station. The next section was back along the river with the same crossings to wash all the mud off our feet. We were once again making good time until we got to another hill. Uphill was more of the same since we had already been down this hill the day before…and although Darcy did hear something growling at her from beneath a downed tree, nothing attacked.
At the top of the hill was a section that was 5 miles of almost constant downed trees. 5 miles of bushwhacking. 5 miles of quad-pounding downhills…at the end of which we get to stop at an aid station and then do it all over again in the other direction. It was described as soul-sucking by last year’s winner but I would say that doesn’t really do it justice. If you can imagine what it would be like to have someone spend an hour taking a belt sander to your feet and all the while having Celine Dion blasted into your ears you would have some idea of what this section was like. The trail though much of it is faint on the best of days. With all the downed trees it was non-existent. You’d be moving along and come upon a downed tree so naturally you’d try and go around. And then you’d try and go around the one immediately behind it, and then the one behind that. Eventually you’d run out of downed trees but you’d have bushwhacked so far off the trail that you couldn’t find it anymore. It did end though and Darcy, Mark, and I made it to the halfway(ish) aid station (24.9). That would be the last time I would see either of them until we were all finished because Darcy, knowing she was now in a good position to win the Trilogy, took off and Mark slowed down. I would actually spend the rest of the race from this point by myself. I passed one person and was passed again by that same person much later but he was the only other runner I saw on the course for the rest of the day.
There really isn’t much to say about the horror of going back over that same section of trail (which was mostly downhill the first time so you can figure out which direction it was the second time) that I haven’t already said so I will leave it at the only real observation I actually made while I was there. Despite the pain, it seemed a lot shorter going up than it did going down. Once I finished that section there were a couple of very runnable miles to get to the Horton aid station (33.6). The Horton aid station was the first cut-off for the day but I was a little over half an hour ahead of the cut-off when I arrived — a significant step up from last year when I was half an hour late. But I really wondered to myself, while I was charging downhill to get there, “why am I hurrying?” If I had taken my time they would have made me stop and I could have gone back to camp to start drinking. I wouldn’t even have had to get up the next morning to run since I would have been a DNF anyway. But hurry I did and once there I filled up on soup and other goodies before setting out for the first section of the course that would be new to me.
The novelty wore off quickly once I started on what felt like 3 straight miles uphill. It wasn’t particularly steep and the trail was mercifully clear, but it was long. I had made it past the first cut-off but there was a second one at 46.2 miles and I was worried because I knew I wasn’t going to get any faster. So on my way up this hill I put my exhausted mind to the task of figuring out what sort of pace I needed to keep in order to make that second cut-off. In normal life my math skills are rarely tested by anything more extreme than figuring out the tip after a few drinks. I get lots of practice at that sort of thing though, so the old melon has figured out a simple system for that. Not so with figuring out pace. And after 2 days and more than 60 miles my brain was just not up to the task. So I figured. And I figured again. Then I figured some more and still got nowhere. Having gotten nowhere I started worrying. I was going to be damned if I would fail after having come this far. So I hurried. I had been told the previous year that the course got easier after our second trip through the Judy Springs aid station (40.5 miles) and I hoped that was true — I was pushing myself hard to get up the mountain and then back down, and if the course didn’t ease up on me it was going to break me. I arrived at Judy Springs for the second time in sort of a daze. My brain had pretty much given up on me and for some reason it had gotten the idea stuck in it that there was going to be more than 7 miles to go to the next aid station. But when Dennis said it was only 5.7 miles to the next aid station, the clouds parted, a heavenly light shone down upon me, and a choir of angels sang out. I was dumbfounded. This was possibly the best piece of news I had ever heard in my life. It may not sound like much to those of you who don’t do this sort of thing but to me it was like I was instantly transported a mile and a half down the course and given a drink of ambrosia. I was going to make it. Barring some serious injury I was home free. Sure I still had to drag my tired ass another 10 miles. And sure, I had to run a half marathon the next morning. But that was just details; the hard part was behind me. You could throw in the 12 labors of Hercules too if you wanted — I could handle anything you could throw at me.
I’d like to say that this feeling of invincibility carried me for the next few hours to the finish but that would be lying. In truth it got me about 100 feet down the trail before I fell back to earth. But it didn’t matter anymore because I could handle the lows now. I would even repeat the cycle of exultation at the next aid station when I found out it was only 3.8 miles to the end. Wow, I thought it was 6, cue the angels please. In my experience that’s really the hard part of running ultras. The euphoric highs are easy to deal with but I’ve never been so low in my life as I get at some points during these races. And climbing out of those lows is like climbing out of the deepest blackest pits of hell. It’s always hard to see that out even exists when you’re down like that but I’ve always made it out so far.
There isn’t much to say about the rest of the 50 miler except that it did in fact get easier after Judy Springs. At the final aid station (46.2 miles) I finally saw Shauna who stuffed some food in me and then kicked me out without even letting me sit down. One of the race organizers (Adam) was also there and he told it me was just 3.8 easy miles to the finish. But while Adam and I both speak English, we speak an entirely different language. He says the the hills on the course aren’t that steep and that the trails aren’t that technical which means something very different in his version of English than it does in mine. So when he says 3.8 easy miles I assume he means 3.8 miles that would make a Mossad agent cry like a little girl who lost her My Little Pony. But it was actually pretty easy other than having to climb over some barbed wire.
So I had finished the 50 miler which meant I had pretty much finished the race. For those of us in the back of the pack the half marathon the next day was going to be more of a long victory lap than any kind of race. But before I got to that I needed to get a shower and some food. Dinner that night was lasagna, which I can’t stand, but I had 2 helpings anyway while the last of the runners came in. I would have liked to have hobbled down to the finish to cheer them on but the hypothermia that often accompanies these sorts of things was setting in and I decided to stay inside. I was shaking pretty bad and could barely drink which I’m sure was worrying Shauna quite a bit. But I wasn’t worried because it has happened before and I knew I just needed to keep going with my recovery and I would be fine. We had a brief post-50 miler/pre-half marathon race meeting and then it was off to bed for what was likely to be a very uncomfortable night. At least I would get to sleep in.
Day 3 – 13.1 miles
The half marathon didn’t start until 9am and, despite the pain in my hips, I took full advantage of the extra sleep. I felt bad for Shauna because I had woken up twice during the night to pee and having me towering unsteadily over her as I tried to exit the tent must have scared her half to death. But I managed to not topple over onto her and we made it through the night with no mishaps. And after much grunting and groaning (not that kind of grunting and groaning, get your mind out of the gutter) we were up, breakfasted, and eventually standing at the starting line for the race. Shauna was participating in the half marathon with me and, despite my repeated attempts to get her to run on ahead so I could take it easy, she stayed with me the entire way.
The course for the half marathon started out the same as the previous 2 days, with a big loop around the TMI grounds before heading down the mountain for 2 out and backs and then back up the mountain to the finish. The out and backs were nice because we got to see most of the race as they passed us coming the other way. We were very near the back so if it hadn’t been for the out and back we wouldn’t have seen much of anyone. The first out and back was pretty short and I, thinking that the two sections were pretty equal for some inexplicable reason, thought that we were going to be through this race in no time, but the second out and back was much longer and included a lot of uphill. It was fairly easy, though, since a good portion was on the road. When we got to the turnaround for the second out and back we were at the end of a very long uphill on the road. So when we turned around and started running down the hill I just flew. Maybe flew isn’t really the right term since it implies some sort of grace. Really I just fell down the hill but without ending up in a heap.
When I got to the bottom of that section of hill I stopped to let Shauna catch up…or, actually, I stopped in order to start heaving. I wasn’t actually throwing up, but my stomach, which had not been happy since day 1, was in a full on revolt at this point, which would really hit me on the way up the final hill to the end. But I managed to keep everything down and make it up the final climb and then on to the finish. I even took off running at the end to get in at about 2 hours and 45 minutes which was a much more respectable time than I had any right to expect.
So I had actually finished the West Virginia Trilogy and avenged my DNF from the year before. But I didn’t feel nearly as triumphant as I thought I would. Honestly I just felt really tired and sore. I wanted to go home and take a good shower and sleep in my warm bed that didn’t have condensation dripping onto it. But the folks at TMI had been roasting a pig and we weren’t about to leave before we got to tuck into that. So we put off packing up the tent for a little while and ate. There was also an awards ceremony where they got all 15 Trilogy finishers up there for our finisher awards (nice pottery mugs, definitely the best finisher award I’ve ever gotten). I really appreciated that acknowledgement because I definitely feel that just finishing this race is an achievement worth noting. I always say that finishing is winning for me but in this case it really felt like I had won. Thank you Adam and Dan for that, it’s not a feeling I’ll ever forget.
