2013 Burning River 100 Mile Men’s Preview—    USATF National Championship

Not to be overshadowed by the Speedgoat 50K this weekend, the USATF 100 Mile National Championships will take place on Saturday in Ohio at the Burning River 100Mile (http://burningriver100.org/).  The competition will heat up as the humidity reaches 90-100% with relatively low temperatures in the 80’s.  With over $10,000 in prize money and $1250 going to the winner, we can expect some fast times from some fast people.  A quick review of the entrant list yielded my list of top contenders.  If there is anyone that I missed, please let me know.  Good luck to you all!

Todd Braje:  My coach and 3-time USATF National Champion has experience on this course and can definitely run in the heat and humidity.  He is my pick to take this championship back!

Zach Bitter:  This youngster is quick.  He ran a fast 50M at Tussey last year for the win in 5:35, 2 minutes off of Wardians course record.  He had the fastest 50M time of anybody in 2011 with a 5:25 and a pretty decent 100M debut with a respectable 2012 Western States in 16:53.

Michael Wardian:  Mike needs no introduction.  He is fast.  There is no doubt about that.  The question is whether he is in shape following his injury last year.  His times have been improving.  He can definitely be dangerous at the 50k and 50M distances.  Will this be his breakthrough at the 100M distance?  I heard from a bird that Mike is running Speedgoat on Saturday.

Chris Kollar:  Chris is a force to be reckoned with.  After jumping onto the ultrarunning scene in 2011, he has run some amazing times, including a win and a course record at The Bear 100, a blazing-fast win a the Gorge Waterfalls 50km in 3:22, and a runner-up finish to Mike Wolfe at Pocatello 50M.  But, this is a flat and fast 100M with east coast heat and humidity.

Shaun Pope:  Shaun has been doing pretty well at the shorter distances and broke through last year at Oil Creek 100M with a strong 17:26.

Jim Sweeney:  Jim is relatively unknown to the ultrarunning community west of the Mississippi, but let me tell ya, he’s got some speed.  Although his Umstead 100M winning time wasn’t all that blazing in 15:21, he did run 14:14 in the previous year and did run a decent JFK 50M in 6:15.

Michael Owen:  Michael finished 3^rd back in 2011 with 16:26, which was a really humid year.  It may be a tough podium to make.

Howard Nippert:  Howard has been silent in the results over the past couple years.  He did record a pretty fast 50M at Tussey Mountainback 50M to win the 2010 Masters National Championship in 6:07, but hasn’t done much since then.

Mark Godale:  Mark’s last race, according to Ultrasignup, was from the 2011 Tussey Mountainback with a 6:21 (he beat me that year).  He is as tough as they come.  Look for Mark and Howard to duke it out for the Master’s win.

A SIDE NOTE:

Dave James would have made the race even more interesting, considering he is the 2011 and 2012 Defending 100M National Champion, however, he tells me that his racing on August 3rd for Team USA at the WMRA Long Distance Mountain Running World Challenge.  GO GET 'EM!!

Charging toward top 10 at Western States, or something like that

The Western States 100 Endurance Run has been a dream of mine ever since moving up to ultra distances in 2009.  Little did I know that an injury from that year would wake me up from my slumber.  When my name was drawn TWICE in the Western States lottery in early December, I started planning the next 6 months of training with my coach and pacer, Todd Braje, whom happens to have 3 National Championships to his name.  Training went extremely well with three 50+ mile training races, where I finished 1^st (Febapple), 2^nd (Bel Monte; got lost), and 10^th (TNFEC-Bear Mountain; 2 weeks after Bel Monte).  In addition, I ran a smart race at the HAT trail run in March, finishing 3^rd behind Caleb Wilkinson and Mike Dixon.  To top it off, I had a very successful Memorial Day training weekend with Matt Wilson and Jason Wiley, two very dedicated training partners. 

Training partners Matt and Jason getting ready for a run.

Matt would also be running Western States this year.

To further prepare for race day, I made sure to fly out well in advance and would make sure to completely rest and adjust to the altitude.  My crew and family would meet me out there on the 26^th and the remaining days were spent getting ready for the big day.



Crew arriving at SFO!  Boy they look excited!!!

 My pre-race goal was to find my way into the top 10 and earn an automatic qualifier for the 2014 race.  As race day drew nearer, it became apparent that the temperatures would reach the triple digits.  This made my goal more attainable, being that I handle heat very well, although this would still be a tough feat considering the talent starting this year’s race.

This is dinner!  Ribeye, kale, and sweet potato!

On Saturday morning, I awoke at 3:30am and did the usual:  bathroom, coffee, breakfast.  We were staying at the Village at Squaw Valley, so I had a very short walk to the start. 

View from my room in Squaw.  If you look closely, you can see the Western States rock!

I left the condo at about 4:40am, picked up my bib, and headed to the start line.  Race organization for this race, was the best that I have ever experienced, with one exception:  NO SAFETY PINS FOR BIBS!!!  I saw Matt at the start line and he gave me 2 of his 4 pins and within minutes we were on our way towards Auburn.  I settled into a slow jog/powerwalk up Squaw Peak to the escarpment with Mike Morton, a pre-race favorite and a good friend.  Our families had dinner on Thursday night at FiftyFifty Brewery and we discussed all things Western States, 24hr ultras, and the military (well, I just listened to the military part).  Joining us at dinner was the hard-charging, Mike McMonagle, a recent Naval Academy graduate.

As we progressed up the mountain, I “let” Mike go as his hip warmed up and I crested the mountain in 51 minutes in decent position, but far, far out of the top ten.  My plan was to move consistently through the mountains and use my leg speed starting at Foresthill, mile 62.  After this initial 4 miles of ascent to 8750ft, the course heads out to Lyon Ridge for 6.5 miles.  I picked the pace up gradually over this section coming in at 1:52 in 46^th place.  I quickly topped off my water bottles, one of which carried my primary energy source, Vitargo S2 by GENr8 (http://genr8speed.com/).  If you have never tried Vitargo, then you don’t know what you are missing.

“GENr8 Vitargo S2 is the first and only super soluble form of the fastest recovery and re/fuel carbohydrate ever proven in university research studies.  Vitargo S2’s patented IVg technology delivers faster gut transit, glycemic and insulin responses, glycogen re/fueling, and performance. Vitargo is 100% sugar-free.”  This translates into more available energy, faster gut transit time, less stomach distress, a boost in performance and recovery, and less muscle protein breakdown.

Fuel of choice.

After the aid station, I had to duck into the bushes for a moment, a normal occurrence for me.  At which point, I exited and would run into Adrian Lazar Adler.  He held my water bottle for a second, so that I could remove my shirt as the day was starting to warm-up at 7AM!  We discussed our current position in the race and I told him that this pace would surely get us in the top 20, seeing as I expected a lot of carnage to take place in this heat.  I was right by the way, as ALA finished in 13^th place (GREAT JOB!).  I progressed along at my own pace, paying no attention to anyone around me.  Running at 7000ft felt easy, making me trust in my decision to head to Squaw a week early. 

I would climb a couple more positions at Red Star Ridge (44^th; mile 16 (2:54).  My pace was really slow, but I wasn’t worried as I wanted to take it fairly easy during the first half of the race.  I was excited to continue moving along and get to Duncan Canyon, where I would see my crew for the first time.  I arrived at mile 23.8 in 4:09, climbing another 4 positions to 40^th place and entering the aid station with Pam Smith, Aliza Lapierre, and Amy Sproston.  At the aid station, I switched bottles for some more Vitargo, drank some salt water, and ate a few solid foods.  I was quickly off a few seconds behind the ladies, passing each of them over the next 6 miles to Robinson flat and climbing another 11 positions to 29^th.  I reached Robinson in 5:21 which included a couple miles of slogging and powerhiking up the climbs.  Entering into Robinson Flat made me feel like a rock star.  All the crews were there to greet you.  I scanned around looking for Matt’s crew, as they were supposed to help me if I needed anything at this point, but they were nowhere to be found.  Probably due to the fact that Matt arrived 12 minutes earlier in 24^th place.  A quick weigh-in, good on weight, and refuel and I was off for the little climb up Little Bald Mountain and a quick descent to Millers Defeat and Dusty Corners. 

Over those next few miles, I would leap frog with Pam Smith and some other ladies, as I tried to conserve my downhill legs for later in the race.  I entered Dusty Corners in 6:49, a 10:45 overall pace, in 31^st place.  Again, my crew would get me refueled properly and cooled down with some cold towels and ice water, seeing as the temperature was already starting to climb into the 90-100 range.  This would be the last time I would see them until after the Deadwood Canyon and El Dorado Canyon, the most difficult and hottest part of the race.

As I headed toward Last Chance and into Deadwood Canyon, I would lose a couple more positions, but I wasn’t worried at all.  I was running my own race and I didn’t want to pound down the hills and do irreparable damage to my legs.  Unfortunately, I think holding back on each downhill caused more damage and I started to feel soreness in my thighs, but I was still able to move along at a decent pace and make up any lost ground on the uphill climbs with a little help from Rob Zombie and “Never Gonna Stop”.  This song had me moving effortlessly up Devils Thumb.  I caught up to Nikki Kimball at this point, who had passed me going down into Deadwood.  We talked for awhile and found that we both had run for Jenkintown Running Company back in the day.  We entered Devils Thumb aid station together.  My vitargo was all gone, so I had to refuel with more solid foods than I would have liked, and also throw in some Gu-Brew for some extra electrolytes in the canyons. 

Heading down the long descent to El Dorado, I made a mistake!  I missed a left hand turn and continued straight down the jeep road for about 4 minutes.  After not seeing flagging for awhile, I turned around and started moving back up the hill.  I think I saw that Nikki Kimball had followed me a bit and she realized her mistake sooner than me and was running back up the hill.  As I headed up the hill, about 4 guys on motorcycles and quads came by.  I waved them down and asked if they saw runners down the hill.  They did, so I turned back downhill for another couple minutes, until I realized this has to be wrong.  So, again I turned around and headed back up hill and found my mistake.  After about a 15 minute detour, I was back on course and headed into El Dorado along some nice, hot, single-track.  I started questioning my choice of direction, even though I didn’t see a turn-off, so I stopped at a little stone waterbath cut into the side of the mountain and doused my head with some water, waiting to see another runner arrive.  They did, so I surmised I was going in the right direction.  In all, my little detour lost me about 17 minutes, but only 1 position.  Again, I entered into the next climb out of El Dorado Canyon with my buddy Mr. Zombie and quick-timed it up to Michigan Bluff to meet my crew.  They were somewhat worried in that it took me a bit longer than it should have over this section, but I seemed to be raring to go and looking forward to Foresthill.  After a fairly “quick” stop, downing salt water, getting more vitargo, cold drench and lots of solids, I was off into Volcano Canyon and up to Bath Road.  A quick 1 bottle refill at Bath Road, and I was off to meet my crew at Foresthill and my pacer, Todd Braje.  I ran the entire way up Bath Road!  My uphill legs felt awesome, my flat running legs were there, my downhill legs were a little shot, at least for the steeper downhills.  I hoofed it quickly into Foresthill, looking in fine form, running 7 min pace or so after reaching Foresthill Road.  I entered the weigh station and was dead-on my starting weight.  Soon enough, Todd and I were off in 33^rd place.

Todd had set some goals for me to achieve over the next 38 miles.  Firstly, pass at least 5 people down to the river.  Todd informed me that the carnage was starting to happen.  Mackey, dropped.  Clayton, dropped.  Uhan, dropped.  Many others, looking like death.  Matt (my training) partner, only up by 20 minutes, almost as I had expected, except I thought he would have 30 minutes on me.  Secondly, pass at least another 10 from the river to the finish.  This was extremely do-able.

As we headed down Cal Street, I was somewhat hesitant on the downhills, but soon was running like a bandit.  We reached Cal 1 aid station in about 43 minutes (8:30 pace) and closed to within 10 minutes of Matt, passing about 4 people.  I made up 10 minutes in 5 miles!  A quick refuel, salt, cold sponge, and we were off.  This next section had some uphills.  I ran.  It had downhills, I was tentative.  It had flats, I charged ahead.  Todd kept shouting encouraging words.  “You’re running these hills, the other are walking these!”  In another 5 miles, we were into Cal 2.  Matt was at the aid station.  We made up another 10 minutes.  This kinda freaked Matt out a bit and he commented, “He was afraid this was going to happen”.  I don’t think I acknowledged him much, as I wanted to stay focused, and he was quick to leave the aid station ahead of me.  I again refueled, took salt, cold sponge and was off about 2 minutes later.  The next couple miles into Fords Bar included a long winding switchback descent, which didn’t play into my favor, but soon enough we made it out of the woods, literally, and onto the fire/jeep road.  Up ahead was Matt, hiking up the hill along with another couple runners.  I quickly got on their heels by the top of the hill and headed down to the aid station.  Another quick refuel and I left.  Matt tried to leave with Todd and I, but very quickly was off the back.  As we hit the sand, something strange happened.  A pain crept into my left ankle.  WTF?  Okay, move on.  This is probably just the sand.  Keep chugging.  My gait started to change starting at mile 76.  My pace slowed to a quick shuffle.  We kept chugging along and caught and passed Hal Koerner, who would later drop at the river.  After a few well wishes, we continued on toward the river.  I wasn’t sure what this ankle was going to do, but all I could do is press forward.  We arrived down to the river at 14:52, 4 minutes ahead of Matt and in 25^th place.  I achieved goal #1, at least 5, actually 8, positions gained from Foresthill to the River. 

We hit the aid station and everything fell apart.  My iPod had died about 15 miles ago.  I asked my crew for my replacement iPod.  Not there!  That threw me off.  I had extreme bloating, likely from all the watermelon.  I guarantee it wasn’t the Vitargo, as I had never experienced this before.  That threw me off.  I had to hit the porta-john.  That threw me off.  My ankle was bothering me.  That threw me off.  And to top it off, I had to cross the river on foot, while others before me were lucky enough to take the boat!  Anywho, after a long aid station break, I slowly made my way down to the river.  By this time, about 5 other runners, whom I passed previously, made their way in and out of the aid station.  I entered the river, knowing that my race had quickly unfolded and was over!  I went from being a predator to a carcass on the side of the trail.  My left foot wasn’t working anymore.  After retrieving my headlamp, we made the long hike up to Green Gate, very slowly.  Right foot, normal gait.  Left foot, 45 degree angle; no push-off!  DAMN!  We made it up to Green Gate.  Removed my shoe.  Iced my ankle for what seemed like 10 minutes, laced back up my shoes, took about 4 ibuprofen and set out toward Auburn Lake Trails.  About 100 yards down the trail, I realized, this wasn’t going to happen.  Turned around walked up the trailed and proceeded to withdraw from the race.  This was one of the hardest decisions of my running career.  I knew I had it in me the way that I had been moving to give the top 10 a shot, but a bum ankle took me down.  The posterior tibial tendionitis was back at exactly the most inopportune time.

YIKES!!

So, I dropped, we hitched a ride with Larry (aid station volunteer) to Lance’s Place and my wife picked us up.

THE END

On a bright-note, Matt went on to finish 25^th overall in 20:19 and win the 50-59 age group, despite dropping his pacer (stomach/dehydration issues) at Auburn Lake Trails.  Mike Morton went on to demolish the masters record in a blazing 15:45.  Mike McMonagle persevered for 29:24 to complete WS in a much, much slower time than he is capable.  Kudos to all these guys and every other competitor who even attempted this run during this very-hot, almost record-setting weekend!!!

I do have to give a major shout out to my family, who lets me compete in something that the rest of the world finds a “little” crazy.  My wife, Eleftheria, my son, Evan, and my daughter, Emma, are the best supporters that you can have.  Thanks to Todd Braje, a terrific coach, a great crew-chief, a motivating pacer, and a great friend for taking time to help prepare me for this and every other event.  Thanks to Matt and Jason for training with in the early morning hours each day.  Yes, we start running at 4:30-5:00am every single weekday morning!  And last, but not least, thanks to GENr8 for supplying such a bonafide product like Vitargo S2 for all my fueling and recovery needs!

2nd Annual Horse-Shoe Trail Ultra Results

Name	Distance (Miles)	Time	Pace	Projected 50K Time
Jason Wiley!	29	4:10:10	0:08:38	4:28:01
Nick Tornambe	29	4:11:20	0:08:40	4:29:16
Gary Long	29	4:33:10	0:09:25	4:52:40
JD Freese	29	4:37:33	0:09:34	4:57:22
Steve Miles	29	4:38:30	0:09:36	4:58:23
Jason Lantz	29	4:39:45	0:09:39	4:59:43
Jesse Johnson	29	4:44:50	0:09:49	5:05:10
Garry Rarer	29	4:48:45	0:09:57	5:09:22
Rik Keener	29	5:06:40	0:10:34	5:28:33
Jeff Merritt	29	5:09:23	0:10:40	5:31:28
Anna Piskorska!	29	5:09:23	0:10:40	5:31:28
Mike Reddy	29	5:09:24	0:10:40	5:31:29
Monica Johnson	29	5:09:25	0:10:40	5:31:30
John Dunham	29	5:21:00	0:11:04	5:43:55
Wayne Sigler	29	5:32:50	0:11:29	5:56:35
Tim Nash	29	5:51:45	0:12:08	6:16:51
Kevin McCormack	29	5:51:46	0:12:08	6:16:53
Lori Johnson	29	6:02:45	0:12:31	6:28:39
Marsha Latimer	29	6:06:35	0:12:38	6:32:45
Bob Bobkin	29	6:24:21	0:13:15	6:51:47
Laurie Reinhart	29	6:24:21	0:13:15	6:51:47
Zach Geiple*	32.6	6:25:30	0:11:50	6:07:24
Capri D'Amario	29	6:25:30	0:13:18	6:53:01
Paul Davey	29	6:25:45	0:13:18	6:53:17
Gary Bowman	29	6:46:25	0:14:01	7:15:26
Cee Heard	29	6:57:32	0:14:24	7:27:20
Debi Golbreski	29	6:59:35	0:14:28	7:29:32
Patti Beauchesne	29	7:15:52	0:15:02	7:46:59
Patti BeauChesne's Dog	29	7:15:52	0:15:02	7:46:59
Gerard Prilutski	29	7:18:30	0:15:07	7:49:48
Pete McLaughlin	29	7:33:50	0:15:39	8:06:14
Stacey Keener	29	7:41:40	0:15:55	8:14:37
Vanessa Chamberlain	29	7:41:40	0:15:55	8:14:37
Amanda Flurry	29	7:41:40	0:15:55	8:14:37
Carli Moua	29	7:41:40	0:15:55	8:14:37
Carrie Wolfe	24
Todd Turbett	22
Terry Kelly	22
Tim O'Donnell	22
Dean Johnson	20
Chrissy Downey	20
Linda Starr	20
Brigitte Sheehan	20
Steve Bunville	17
Ron Kappus	17
Anne Simmons	15
Alan Needle	14
Jack Wharton	14
Eric Delahaye	12
Jo Kappus	8

Return from the Dead

Heading back to San Diego was serving two purposes:  (1) Visiting some old friends in San Diego and (2) running a mountainous single track at altitude against some pretty talented “mountain goats”.  When we had lived in the area 7 years ago, I never took advantage of all the terrain that Southern California had to offer.  Only once had I run up a true mountain with 5000’ vertical gain over 10 miles with my then training partner (Marty Ellison).  I still remember that day, starting at the base of Nate Harrison Grade, Marty and I climbed Palomar Mountain in 85 minutes and descended in 60 minutes.  Living in Southeastern Pennsylvania, this terrain is non-existent.  The best the area has is 750ft of cumulative gain over a 3.9 mile loop within Valley Forge National Park.  So…that mountainous single track at altitude was going to present a significant challenge.

We arrived in San Diego on Thursday, 2 days prior to race day and set up “camp” at the Orchard Hill Country Inn in Julian.  Two days wasn’t going to be enough to adjust to the altitude difference between Phoenixville, PA (200ft above sea level) and the Laguna Mountains (4000-6000ft above sea level) however, I would have to make the best of it.  Luckily, I assembled the best crew for this event.

The San Diego 100 Miler covers ~20,000 ft of elevation gain on rugged single track through the Cleveland National Forest.  If you should know anything about the San Diego 100 course, you should know that you will be exposed to the strong San Diego sun for more than 12 hours and staying hydrated will be a key factor to success.

On the starting line, I lined up behind Jeff Browning, Luke Nelson, and Adam Hewey with Tim Long on my right.  It would be a challenge keeping pace with these talented runners, especially on their type of course.

Start time!!!  Me in the blue shirt and blue bandana behind Jeff Browning.

  The race started at 7am sharp with Jeff, Adam, Tim and a slew of others taking off at 7 min pace.  I stayed back around 8 min pace to try and settle into the elements.  The first 7.4 miles of the race was pretty uneventful.  I was running behind Shawna Tompkins for most of this section.  There wasn’t much conversation, owing to the simple fact that the altitude seemed to be causing me a bit of unrest in the early going.  An 8 min pace felt like 7.  My breathing never really felt comfortable, which was a sure first sign that the day was going to be a long one.  I reached the first aid station at “The Meadows” in 64 minutes averaging ~8:30/mile and in about 13^th place.  I noticed that one of the pre-race favorites, Dan Olmstead, was trailing behind a little bit, which weighed on my mind for the first few aid stations.  I would later hear that he dropped very early on with a stomach virus or something.  Anyway, as would be the norm for the day, I would spend too much time in aid stations refueling with my Ensure, restocking gels, and preparing for the next stage.

The next couple sections went by pretty painlessly, presenting little challenge.  I stayed with Shawna most of these sections and was happy trying to keep the pace easy.  But, again, the feel was all but easy, despite the pace being such.  We would again enter Todd’s Cabin at about the same positioning with 2hr55min into the race and 18.6 miles clicked off.  With a quick refill of my water bottles, which I was not close to emptying at any aid stations, we were off again.  I left the aid station first and headed up the steepish climb back onto the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).  It would be on the PCT where I would hit my first snag.  As I headed down one of the numerous switchbacks, I didn’t quite clear a rock and went flying, body first with a nice shoulder slide into the dirt.  I would lay there for what seemed to be minutes, but was more like 15 seconds with cramps in both my lower legs.  This, as many know, is a sure sign of dehydration.   Which #147 was sure to point out as he hopped over my cramping carcass and my two water bottles, without offering any help.  Runners out west are slightly less friendly than those out on the east coast.  On the east coast, runners seem to offer some help to the fallen ones.  On the west coast, they kick dirt in your face, hide your water bottles, and make nah-nah-nah-nah noises as they run on by.  Of course, I am exaggerating a bit, but only a little.

Heading into Penny Pines 1, I would see Teri taking some pictures and offering some verbal support.  She asked how I was doing and I think I responded, “Eh…okay…I fell about 2 miles back, but not too bad”.  This aid station was no crew access, so I refueled from my drop bag and prepared for the long descent into Noble Canyon, where temperatures would start to rise.  Suddenly, at mile 27, I started to fell nauseous.  I stepped off the side of the trail and began a nice session of dry-heaving/puking.  This actually felt pretty good (Not really).  At this time, Shawna passed me back and commented, “Feel sorry for ya man!”  Again, the love and support of my fellow ultrarunners was mindblowing.  These people really know how to help a brother out with some words of support!   Anyway, after my little throw-up session, I continued down the canyon, somewhat refreshed.  I soon came upon Shawna and passed her again and would catch David Brown for the first time.  I sat next to David and his family at the pre-race briefing and we exchanged pleasantries.  I think he was feeling me out, but didn’t want to ask the question about past running history or anything to look too obvious.  Anyway, I said, “Hello” as I passed.  He seemed to be having similar dehydration issues as many others, but would appear to have them under better control than myself.  After reaching the mile 31 aid station at Pine Creek 1 in 4:56, I quickly refilled and headed out onto the 5 mile lollipop loop.  Did you hear me….I QUICKLY headed out of the aid station!  After cramping at mile 22 and puking at mile 27, I still failed to recognize sure signs of dehydration.  I think if I was going to win anything this day, it would be the “Stupid-Idiot” award.  As I headed about half a mile down the lollipop stick portion of the loop, Jeff Browning was heading back up.

I started to fade after another mile or so and would be passed by a few more runners, including Keith Knipling from Virginia and some others.  I got back into the aid station at mile 36 (6:03) and rested for a short time, refilling my water bottles with ice water, not chugging down water, which I needed to do, but just refilling them.  In fact, they probably didn’t need much in the way of refilling, since I wasn’t drinking nearly enough to stay hydrated.  After a few minor morsels of food, I headed out for the long climb up to Pioneer Mail over 8 miles and 2400 ft of elevation gain.  Again, I was being an idiot and not giving my body the proper needs, such as WATER!  I walked every single step of the next 8 miles to Pioneer Mail, some of it with Andrew Heard, who would eventually drop at mile 44, but most on my own, with exception of the handful of seconds when another runner would pass me on my slow hike up the mountain.  It was also over this section where the flys/bees were unrelenting.  Someone has got to inform these suckers that when you spray 100% DEET on yourself, they should go bother someone else.  One of the buggers stung me right on the top of my head and the F$%ker hurt like a beotch.  I MacGyvered my bandana to protect my head from any future drive-bys by the fly-boys and that did the trick.  As I arrived closer to the mile 44 aid station, I started to think about how wonderful it would be to stop running, head back to my bed after a nice cold shower and chalk this one up to a good ol’ failure.  This was my plan, after all, I wasn’t going to make the cut-off if I kept moving like this.  It was bad!!  My stomach started to cramp.  I had stopped eating and was trying to conserve any fluids that I had, just to survive.  I arrived at the aid station only to be met by Todd Braje (my coach and the second half of my crew).  I informed him that I was done and could not continue.  Live to race another day.

Todd wasn’t having it.  He sat me down in my chair, ask me a few questions and surmised that I was definitely lacking fluids.  So, knowing this, Teri and Todd started to feed me loads of liquid.  I must have drank 2-3 bottles of water, 1 bottle of powerade, 1 bottle of Ensure, ate a few fig newtons, PBJ and whatever else I could stomach.  This rest took at least 30 minutes, if not more.  After a long rehydration and body temperature cooling using ice bandanas, Todd and Teri decided to send me off on the next leg.  Todd said, “walk the inclines, run the flats and declines.  Take your time and recover.  Let’s see how you do”.  So off I went after a little porta-john stop and headed out toward Sunrise 1 in 26^th position.  After about 5 steps of walking, I gave running a try.  Wow…do I feel good.  I continued moving along the PCT along the imposing cliffs to the desert floor.  Soon I was passing 1 runner, 2 runners…..6 runners.  I glanced at my garmin.  Hmmmm…8:30/mile.  I approached Sunrise 1 and covered the 7.2 miles section in 75 minutes, with what would be the 3^nd fastest split of the day, only to be bested by Jeff Browning and Adam Hewey.  I arrived into the aid station and looked around for Todd, Teri, and Marty (my first pacer and ex-training partner).  They were not expecting me to arrive that quickly and were chatting by the cars.  Todd had predicted at least 2 hours.  Boy…did I surprise them.  I WAS BACK!

A quick refuel and refill, and Marty and I were off over the next 7.6 mile section to Stonewall Mine.  I continued to blaze the trail, passing 4 runners in the process, including #147.  I again arrived at the next aid station in 75 minutes with the 2^nd fastest time of the day.  At the Stonewall Mine aid station, I quickly refueled and prepared for some of the tougher climbs of the day.

The “speedy” legs had to take a break as we started to climb Stonewall Peak, a 800+ ft climb in about 1.5 miles.  After cresting the peak, the descent didn’t happen to quickly owing to the rocks and steep decline of some sections.  Soon enough, we arrived at Paso Picacho at mile 64 in about 17^th place.  The sunlight had descended quickly and it was here where we picked up our headlamps.  This was a bit earlier than I had planned, since I wasted about 3 hours with stupid dehydration problems.  Originally I had thought I would be getting my headlamp around mile 80 as in my 2 other 100’s.

At Paso Picacho, they had the best grilled ham and cheese, of which I quickly demolished 4 quarters.  I could have stayed there all night, but had some unfinished business to attend to.  So, Marty and I headed out toward Sweetwater.  The trail and it’s markings got harder and harder to see, which is probably why Marty took the header about 4 miles into the section.  It was a pretty good dance move, which probably would have gotten him a ticket to Vegas (you won’t get this if you don’t watch “So You Think You Can Dance”), however, no rewards in this sport, unless you consider a huge bruise a few days later.  As we approached Sweetwater, I ended up passing another couple runners and moved into 15^th by the water crossing.  Unfortunately, there were no dry ways to cross, so the quickest route was straight through.  At the Sweetwater aid station, I was surprised to see 3 other runners sitting in the aid station resting up for the climb to Sunrise 2.  A quick refuel and change of shoes and socks and we were off on the climb now in 12^th.

Despite the sustained climb on loose sandy soil, we were able to run the majority of the hill where we passed another couple runners, including Keith Knipling of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club.  Keith seemed to be suffering with the chilly temperatures that started declining after sundown.  Sunrise 2 came quickly and was a welcome sight.  Marty had done his job, getting me through the last 30 miles.  Now, I was to be joined by Todd for the final 20 miles.

We quickly headed out onto the dark and cold PCT overlooking a long way down to the Anza Borrego Desert.  The wind was pretty vicious blowing out of the west and made for an even more treacherous trail to Pioneer Mail.  A couple miles in, I was able to climb into 9^th place which is where I would stay for a few miles.  We would run the majority of the trail, when the trail conditions would allow, but many sections required a slightly slower walking pace.  Arriving at Pioneer for another rest stop was nice.  With only 12.5 miles remaining, I had no doubt I would finish this one.  Over the next 12.5 miles, we made our way along the trail as best we could, up over some hills and down other ones.  Quick glances in the rears would keep my pace honest, seeing as several other groups of headlamps seemed to be closing in the distance.  We arrived at the final aid station of the day and quickly rolled through the aid station.  This final 3.6 miles seemed like an eternity!  Over these miles, I couldn’t tell if I was hearing voices of real runners approaching from behind or if they were just hallucinations.  Fortunately, we made it back to Al Bahr Campground in 1 piece and in 10^th place.  I crossed the finish line in 21hr40min.  Much slower than I had expected, but with the problems I sustained early on in the race, I was lucky to finish at all.