Alan Geraldi's Staging Area

I came across this one and saw the entry fee was $5….yes, $5. I couldn’t pass that up (and a few times it dropped down to free!). Plus, I have never been to Kansas before (or Oklahoma which I would have to drive through to get there) so that made it even better.

I found an inexpensive hotel only a few miles from the race start/finish so I was off. Race check-in/bib pick-up was easy and fast. I was set to start….but I slept pretty poorly. A headache kept interfering with me sleep and I finally woke up an hour early than I wanted almost throwing up. Luckily, I had packed my migraine meds and took those.

The race start was again pretty convenient – plenty of free parking. I waited inside near race day check-in and just leaned against the wall rubbing my head. This wasn’t going to be a lot of fun with my head but I was determined to try.

I lined up next to the 4:30 pacer but by the start had moved up to the 4:20 pacer. My only goal at this stage was to finish. But I ended up doing pretty well and was on 4:10 pace through mile 17. Then the wheels came off. I decided to walk/jog.

I really like how the course is a blend of asphalt and trail (most asphalt). Went through some nice parks. It was certainly flat – yes some ups & downs and one “hill” (you hit that twice) but certainly could be a p.r. course.

I came to the finish area, missed the turn for the finish chute which cost me/added a few more city blocks, but corrected myself and crossed the line a bit over 5 hours. I was happy with the finish, a new marathon or longer state for me (#12), and the medal.

Volunteers were great and a LOT of crowd support. I recommend this.

This was stage two in the Bear Lake Trifecta. I chose to stay in Kemmerer which was about 15/20 minutes away from the start. If you are into fossils, you will like Kemmerer – dinosaur themed and fossil shops. Anyway, stayed at a motel (I think it was called something like The Antler). Clean but like all my hotel stays in the trifecta – it was no Ritz 🙂 I found a good seafood pasta at a restaurant called The Kettle (good enough I had it the next night too).

Race morning I drove to the start of the race in Cokeville. Check-in was again easy and soon we were off running. My legs were a bit tired from the day before Idaho marathon (coupled with the lingering remnants of the 41 mile Strolling Jim 2 or 3 weeks before.) The run was nice – but despite the name, I never saw Bear Lake (too far away). Was out in the country-side and it was a nice run.

After running on the rolling pavement we turned onto a dirt road. As I ran I began to hear an interesting noise. I kept looking around thinking it might be a car. Then I decided it was sprinklers as we were running past farms and fields. Finally, it seemed very close to me. I looked down and realized my soles on my shoes were starting to peel away. Yes, I had some training miles on the shoes but assumed they would last…..I was incorrect. I had no choice but to keep running.

Soon, I was getting to around 20 miles and I stopped to stretch my calves and get some water. I was wearing one of my Badwater 135 finishers shirt and the volunteers were asking me about it. It was a nice rest – but off I went.

Soon, I approached the finish line. I crossed it in 5:26:22 and 26th out of 50 runners (5th in my AG). Second leg down…..but you can checkout the soles of my shoes in the attached photo 🙂

Again, I will stress that the race organization, volunteers, and race directors were fantastic.

I was coming off of health issues and almost cancelled this. But I tried it anyway and was glad that I did. RD Laz (of Barkley and Vol State fame) put on yet another great event.

I decided to try the first marathon part of the run around a 5 to 6 hour marathon pace. That worked out well. Then I slowed to walk/jog and eventually made it “home” to cross the finish line.

Temps did get warm for the second half, but it was never miserable. I certainly felt the hills even when it was written in chalk “This is not a hill.” on the hills. Wartburg humor.

Photo is of me and RD Laz.

I ran a 50k trail race in Mineral Wells, TX. I wasn’t sure how I would do as I simply haven’t been doing a lot of trail training, my runs have been mostly flat, and my base distance not as high as I normally like – but I paid the entry fee about 8 weeks ago, so I did it.
The whole race thing didn’t go as planned. I wanted to take a 1/2 day and hit the road around noon (it is a 4+ hour drive to Mineral Wells). But because of work demands, I didn’t even get out of work until 3:00. Then on my drive there, the low air signal came on – my right front tire had a leak. I tried to deal with it when I got to Mineral Wells but because of the time, best I could do was free air from a Chevron station and a bottle of green sealant goo from an auto store. When I went to bed it appeared OK. The hotel on the other hand did not…what a dump! But I went cheap for a one night stay and I got what I paid for. (Disclaimer: it was not the race’s hotel where they checked in runners….I got there too late for that and this cheap hotel was about 3 miles away).
The next morning I went to load up my car and the tire was flat. Great…put the rest of the sealant in it and refilled the tire. It appeared to hold when I parked it at Mineral Well Lake. Then I jumped on the shuttle to take me and other runners to the starting line.
I met some really nice runners there and we chatted a bit. As we lined up I thought of Eliza Fletcher and how she will be missing so many running opportunities.
Soon, we were off. The race was 4 loops of about 8 miles each. I kind of held back a little at first but soon found myself in third place following a couple other runners. Around mile 5 I felt another runner gaining on me and he soon passed me. But only a short time later, all three stopped at an aid station so I moved into first place. That was nice, fun, and very short-lived. By mile 7 I had been overtaken and as we approached the end of loop one I was #5. OK…let’s see how this goes and how long I can hang on.
Temps started rising a bit and my shirt was drenched in sweat, but overall I kept a decent pace. By the end of loop 2 I was still in the top 10 but my legs were feeling the trails. The trail was actually overall flat with some sections of many rocks, a lot of sand (think of running on the beach), and a few muddy troughs but definitely a possible PR course for some.
Then I started loop 3. I wanted to see what kind of marathon time I could post with not maximum training on a trail and did a 5:15 one. Not even close to my best but I was satisfied. I kept running but ended up mixing a lot of jogging and walking in.
At the start of the last loop, I knew this would not be a PR race for me but I kept moving on. But decided to do more walking and jogging.
I ended up crossing the finish line with a 6 something hour finish (almost 7 hours) and second in my age group (first in my age took 4th overall and smashed my time…but he was at the young end of the AG while I am cresting it.) Turns out he was one of the two runners I “paired up with” on the first loop and ended up passing….he got me back.
Got back to my car…..and the tire was so completely flat pancakes laughed at it. So, a ranger was so kind to fill up the tire enough for me to make it to Walmart. A few dollars later, I now have a new front passenger tire.
Now, after a 4+ hour back home, I am tired! A shower helped as I was covered in dust but the warm water mixing with my red shoulders from today’s sun wasn’t the most comfortable. It was nice though to drive home with a huge full moon (at least I think it was full) in a bright orange color.
The race director Ultra Expeditions did a fantastic job putting on this race. The park’s rangers were genuinely thankful for the runners coming out, and my favorite sparkling mineral water Crazy Water’s 1877 supplied all aid stations with their water (flat) so that was really great.

I have run 50km races, 50 miles races, 100 miles races, and even a 135 one. But I have never run a 100km one. So I tried running the Brazos Bend 100km today. Of course I slept like crap and was working this morning at 3:30 so that burnt time, and then headed out 30 minutes late. But got to Brazos Bend State Park for the race. The car in front of me entered the gates first and must have been a tad bit late too as the rangers lights went on and pulled him over (I thought it was going to be me as I was following him).
Anyway, my legs just never felt great. Tired, heavy, (manly though), and not as responsive as I would have hoped. Then, after the first 25km/15.5 mile loop the sun came out. Wasn’t blistering but definitely warm.
Saw at least a dozen gators during the run (pretty cool I think) and stopped for this photo of one….she had two babies on her back but they jumped off before the shot. She is behind me keeping an eye on the people watching her and her babies.
Finished my marathon split almost identical to my Dallas Marathon split (4:45-ish) and my 50 mile time almost the same as my Rocky 50 miler last month. But then I realized I had no chance of finishing the 100km before the 15 hour 30 minute cut-off so I called it day at only 50 miles. So I have yet to finish a 100km (although this was my first attempt at that specific distance.)
The RD was cool…gave me the 50 mile finisher medal on his own initiative (nice wooden one with a gator) because he said I did 50 (and within the time limit). But I still DNF’ed the 100km. Will have to try that distance again one day.

I had run the Dallas Marathon the month before this race. At Dallas, I was hoping to get as close to 4 hours or under as I could. But it didn’t work out that way for me (finished….but a bit closer to 5 hours). So, I decided to do Houston Marathon as Houston was our new home. Again, I was hoping for 4 hours-ish.

My wife, daughter, and I went to the expo. It was nice with plenty of exhibitors. I got my number and purchased a couple pairs of Injinji socks. Our 12 year old daughter liked getting a few of the free give-way promo items. I grabbed a Houston poster for my office and home (my garage is wallpapered with running/triathlon memorabilia). We grabbed a bite of lunch in a restaurant in the exhibition center lobby. Then we headed home.

The next morning I drove the 25 minutes from our home to the starting area. I exited the highway and found a parking lot pretty quickly. I paid and looked at the street sign and buildings to remember where I had parked. Then I wandered to the start.

I found my starting corral and lined up with others. As the clock wound down, I removed my old shirt I had brought to stay warm and I tossed it into a pile of clothes other runners had also helped create (I understand the clothing was collected and distributed to those in need – so that was nice).

The, after listening to the corrals ahead of us starting, we were given the signal and off we went. The roads were basically downtown area and some had descents or inclines. Not true hills, but one could feel them a bit. We ran past areas that I had visited before – sometimes for a shopping excursion or to catch a concert downtown. After a bit, we were out of downtown and more in the neighboring communities (although still Houston…..like Los Angeles, the city is huge).

My minute per mile wasn’t sub-4:00 but I still felt OK so I kept at that pace. Soon, we were in an area that kind of reminded me of a city park. It could have been Memorial. There were speakers lined up along the route and they actually played some decent music.

My legs started tiring around mile 20 so I slowed a bit. The next part, as we were passing some very nice homes, my pace was a mix of jogging and fast walking. Soon, I knew we were getting closer to the finish line – both the downtown buildings showed that….as did the mile markers 🙂

Crowds were getting larger and their noise was getting louder. Finally, we turned a corner and down the finishing “chute” I went. Got my finishers medal (just like the prior month’s Dallas marathon, it was the 50th anniversary of the race).

Then I went to the expo area and got my finisher shirt and a glass finisher mug. I decided to head back to my car….only to realize I had forgotten the street name and the location. I borrowed someone’s phone and called my wife. She was good-natured but can’t say “overjoyed” to drive downtown to find me. But, as she exited the highway, right in front of her she saw my car. So she picked me up and drove me back to get it. That was a nice resolution to that issue.

I knew I would run this one again in 2023. I did – but my strategy was different due to a unique race I would be training for (although ended up not doing). That 2023 Houston Marathon report is here in Race Raves too.

Race Director supreme Rajeev Patel puts on fantastic races. Run-de-Vous is no exception to that rule. The race offers 50k, 50 miler, 100k, and 100 mile options. It is very flat and goes around a loop of about 2 miles in Harvey Bear Ranch Park in San Martin, California. I ran one of Raj’s prior races there and decided I wanted to try the 100 miler. But this time, my wife Cori and our sons Brandon and Connor were going to join us. The boys decided to use it as a fund-raiser for the high school they just started: Archbishop Riordan HS in San Francisco. The four of us decided to don Riordan track singlets and off to the race we went.

Race day morning though wasn’t perfect. Connor woke up feeling ill and never really got better. The first few loops were constant stops for him at the port-a-johns. Finally, he had to retire back to our tent we had set up (runners are allowed to set up their own “camps” at the race course).

Cori, Connor, and I kept going. Race support is amazing as every two miles runners come across the timing mat, main aid station (FULL of food and drinks), and first-aid. I have worked that aid station a couple times and made my special wild mushroom risotto.

As the race continued into darkness, Brandon and Cori decided to take a nap in the tent. I kept going. In the very early morning hours, Brandon, Cori, and even Connor got back into the race.

We all re-grouped and finally, the four of us crossed the finish line together. Connor survived to finish a 50km, Brandon clipped the 50 mile mark, Cori completed her first 100km, and i logged my 100 mile finish.

Great memories and a great race.

I returned to Florida to attempt my third straight Keys 100. I had managed to buckle the race in 2008 and 2009 and was hoping to earn my third buckle in the third year of the race.

After touching down Thursday in Fort Lauderdale, I drove to Miami and checked in my hotel – trying to work while reading race updates from the 24 Hour World Running Championships till 2:00 am. Then on Friday morning I went into my company’s Miami office for a while to get some work down. I like to get there a couple times a year at a minimum, but other travel had kept me away for well over a year so this was a good chance to reconnect with colleagues.

Afterwards I started to drive north (yup, not south to the Keys) to West Palm airport to pick up Bob Cicalese. Bob was a friend that I had met on an ultrarunning e-mail exchange called the UltraListServ. About 6 weeks ago or so he and his family were in California on holiday and I took him on a couple training runs. During one such run I suggested he consider Keys 50 as a good warm-up for Vermont 100 which we are both entered to run. Later, I upped the suggestion and said he should consider doing the Keys 100 instead as it is plenty of time to recover for Vermont (July) and any mileage he gets will be a great base for Vermont. I also promised him that if he did, we would toe the line together and I would help pace him to his first ever 100 finish and buckle. I could see this thought taking root in his mind ……similar to the way visions of a sweet young White House intern takes root in Bill Clinton’s mind. Soon he embraced the concept, was hooked and in. So I had someone to run the Keys 100 with from start to finish….so I thought.

Anyway, after sitting in traffic for an hour, finally got Bob at West Palm and we began a comical drive to the Keys. There are toll roads (a bit foreign concept for a California driver) but I had driven them before so thought I knew where to go. But once we went through the Sunpass/pre-paid lane by mistake (without any such pass we thought until a call to the rental car company confirmed the license plate did the same thing) and once a slight wrong turn ended us up in a neighborhood of Miami that was not on any tourist destination maps. We locked our car doors and got the heck out of that part of town before were became extras in CSI Miami.

We finally made it to Highway 1 and drove past Florida City through the Everglades. I kept seeing signs announcing Croc Crossings yet never saw any gators. Bob and I were running a tad bit late so we drove straight to race check-in and the pre-race meeting. This year it was in a community center.

The check-in was very organized and we got our bags and numbers rather quickly. I managed to meet some fellow ultra friends and runners such as Christian Griffith from Atlanta, Bill Andrews (he and I did Badwater together and based upon advice we received from DC at ZombieRunner, walked the first two miles of BW together – he was also at AR 50 with me as well as Barkley) and Molly Sheridan. Bill was the guest speaker at the race meeting speaking on the very interesting topic of life extension through telomere extension (being a science major in undergrad and overall a geek – I truly enjoyed his topic that has led to 3 Nobel prizes….for more info go here: Sierra Sciences ). Bill’s speech had as a central point that exercise helped slow the aging process and that extreme exercise had the best effect at slowing aging…..for some coincidental reason he had a receptive audience to hear this message.

Race director and friend Bob Becker did a great job opening the meeting and describing the event and answering questions.

It was during this meeting that a thought hatched in my head….it was one of those “OMG you are such a dumbshi!!” thoughts. This year, the Keys 100 allowed non-crewed runners. This means runners who opted for this more challenging race format would not have a car driven along them with a crew handing them supplies…instead drop-bags would be placed for them about 10 miles apart. Bob and I were non-crewed. Also meaning (dumshi!!) that the car would not be at the finish line 100 miles later! We scrambled trying to see how we could get our car down there when these super nice distributors of this new vitamin and antioxidant drink called (click here to go to their site) Yoli offered to drive the car and have it waiting for us in Key West. That was a relief. By the way, the Yoli drink is quite good and tasty – I joked I would mix the citrus flavor with vodka. You should give it a try.

So Bob and I headed back to the hotel and checked in. A quick bite to eat (where Bob watched his Flyers win game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs) and then back to the hotel. We spent about an hour or so organizing drop bags and contents. We decided that for the first 50 miles we would drop one at Mile 20, one at 40 and one at 50. Then after that every 10 miles. 50 miles drop was our biggest drop with the later ones having nighttime gear and supplies. Then it was off to bed.

The alarm went off a bit too early it seemed (thanks to some partying kids) but we were up and soon out the door to the starting line. We parked the car grabbed our bags and headed to check-in. Our friends from Yoli were checking us in so we gave them the keys. Then I proceeded to put our drop bags in the right boxes: 20 mile drop bag in the box reading MM 20; 70 mile drop bag in box reading “MM 70” and so on. This little instance would revisit us later.

Bob and I started walking to the starting line and as soon as we got there heard “One minute to go”. Wow! Time flies when you are running late! We barely had time to wish each other luck when we were off. The 2010 Keys 100 had begun.

I had told Bob that we should follow advice I received from DC for Badwater. We walk the first two miles. After that we would develop a run/walk strategy and suggest 10 minutes running & 2 minutes walking through mile 25. Then we would see how we were doing and continue at that pace or adjust the run time down and walk time up. He agreed. But after 12 minutes of walking we said…OK let’s start the 10 and 2.

During the early part of the race we came across some runners we knew such as Bill Andrews, Molly Sheridan, Christian Griffith and Bry Gardner. We chatted a bit with them but soon various race strategies spread us out and Bob and I were just two guys running our race.

The 10 and 2 was working quite well and pretty soon we came to the first ice and water stop for non-crewed runners (each spaced 10 miles apart…or so).I had already developed a hot spot on the bottom of my right foot. Bob was also developing a blister. So we took some time and tended to those. After refueling and re-hydrating, we were off.

By Mile 20, the sun was definitely up and I had put on my Moebens, OR sun hat and my Kool scarf (hollow so it can be filled with ice). Bob had a tank top on and a visor type cap. Pretty soon I could tell the sun beating on his head was getting to him. Somewhere around mile 22 he spotted a small white hand towel on the ground. He grabbed it, shook it off and plopped it on his head under the visor – presto: a sun hat! Bob swears that lucky towel saved his race for him.

Soon we were slowing a bit. The 10 minute runs were decreasing and the 2 minute walks stretching a bit longer but I told Bob we didn’t care – we would take a little more time during the heat and recoup it as the day cooled down later. At the marathon check-in we found out we weren’t exactly in last place (barely) so that made us happy. We grabbed more ice and water were soon out on the hot road again.

The Keys 100 follows Highway 1 down the Overseas Highway to Key West. That means bridges…a lot of bridges. I enjoy the bridges. My first year at Keys I saw porpoise, turtles, a barracuda, and a lot of other fish. Last year I saw turtles. This year I saw one turtle, a bunch of sting ray, and one barracuda.

As Bob and I continued to run we approached mile 30 and I noticed my lower back was tightening up a bit and my piriformis was flaring up. My piriformis was what knocked me out of Rocky Raccoon 100 at mile 80. Damn – this is not good. I massaged it as we ran and walked. We would stop and stretch also. About this time the temps were definitely hotter and Bob, who had spent his last 6 weeks of heat training in the highs of 45 degrees F in Philly was not a happy camper. I could tell he was wondering why he ever listened to me when I suggested the Keys 100…that sweet young White House intern was beginning to look a bit more like Hillary on a real rough day.

I happened to glance at my watch that has a thermometer – a cool 100 degrees F! After the race I have heard reports that temps hit the 90’s in the shade and 108 on the asphalt. Not quite Badwater but neither was it the Antarctic marathon. On the bridges it was cooler….but some of these bridges seemed to never end:

As we neared mile 30 my back and piriformis were really tight. At home I use a Physical Therapy ball (or a kid’s T-ball ball) to massage the piriformis in my glute. But here no such items were lying along the Overseas Highway. There were however coconuts. So I grabbed a small baby one (already hollowed out by crabs) and brought it with me to the drop bag station. There I sat down and used the coconut to knead and massage the tight piriformis muscle to relieve the pressure on my sciatica.

Bob and I got our drop bag and Bob noticed that they were mile 70 bags. Damn! How did I screw that up? Then we realized that the boxes I put the bags in were marked for Mile Markers. The Overseas Highway has a mile marker in descending order down to MM zero in Key west. So we were 30 miles into our race….but at Mile Marker 70. I had put in our 70 miles bags into MM70 box meaning all our drop bags for later in the race were actually spread out earlier in the race!!!!

The two volunteers told us we weren’t the only idiots (well I wasn’t since it was my mistake). The volunteer Marshall would take our bags and would drop them off as he made it down to Mile 70 at MM30. That was a relief. So we refueled (I opened a packet of tuna fish and shared it with Bob).

Soon we were shuffling down the road in some of the hottest parts of the day. When there was cloud cover I didn’t think it was too bad…and when there was cloud cover and the cross or tail winds it was actually nice in my opinion. Bob thought it was simply brutal. I am not sure, but I would think at times it was hotter than 2009 (not sure about 2008 as that was HOT) but at other times the weather was actually pretty conducive to a fast time (for someone else).

Well, we hit that stretch between mile 30 and 40 that included bridges. I really enjoyed this and kept trying to push the pace as much as possible. After stopping to get more ice and water at mile marker 60 (mile 40) we pressed on. This stretch had a lot of telephone poles. I made a deal with Bob. We run one length then we walk one length. Then repeat. We kept this up for some time and I could see us recovering some time.

At one point we were side-by-side and heard a honking. Through-out the day cars had honked either cheered at us or shouted stuff like “Get running!”. This time it was a motorcycle driven by a cool biker dude while his girlfriend/wife/sister/mom flashing us her boobs as they sped by. We both chuckled at this and yelled a quick “thank you” as we moved on down the road.

But then tragedy hit…..the BIKE PATH!!!!!! The bike path has been for me one of the worst parts of the race. It is down off the side of the road pretty sheltered. There is no wind, no water, no nice view, nothing. And it goes on and on and on. Time stands still. Tree sloths have been known to commit suicide from boredom there. Jewelery melts and drips to the ground from the heat. Satan needs a iced tea when he visits it. The path is made of the melted soles of prior runners. Etc.

Anyway, we entered the depths of Hades….I mean the bike path and continued our march and that is what we did. Except for a few short bursts of slow jogs, we were in power marching time. Simply going forward with deliberate strong and fast steps.

After what seemed like an eternity we exited the path to Marathon. Marathon was the location of the mid-way point. Bob and I caught another runner and the three of us moved toward the 50 mile check-in at the Marathon airport. The other runner told us he was done and dropping for the day. Bob and I grabbed our gear and took a good 20 minutes resting, stretching, refueling, and hydrating. I also took that opportunity to apply a crap-load of Hydropel to chafing that was developing in places no human should ever be chafed.

Then we were off again. We headed to the next little challenge – the Seven Mile Bridge. The sun was starting to set so Bob and I put on our reflector vests and donned headlights and flashlights. Bob had loaned me a blinkie light but that popped off my vest and shattered on the ground so we went on without (sorry RD Bob Becker….we improvised with swinging the flashlight back and forth).

As we continued over the bridge the temps definitely cooled and Philly Bob was getting back into his element. I mentioned to him that once we hit the top we should run down the other side. So we did. Maybe we shouldn’t have. By the bottom of the bridges “hill” my legs were tired, bottom of feet sore and my back was killing me. But we kept going, taking a couple rest stops to stretch on the side of the bridge.

Once we were on the other side we began looking for Mile Marker 60 and our next drop bag. There we found it and settled down into a couple of chairs as we chatted with the two volunteers who were crewing it. They were nice and one, a reporter, started interviewing us on the spot. After a bit we were off again and moving down toward Big Pine key – home of the endangered Key Deer. Last year I had seen one Key Deer, the previous year none. This year I clearly saw two Key Deer eating and near the end saw a herd of them consisting of about 10 deer in the brush on the side of the road….only their eyes visible reflecting our head lamps. Both Bob and I were actually feeling pretty good at this point and were picking up our pace (not actually running mind you but power marching at a good clip).

The miles seemed to pass and now it was my turn to get a second wind. Bob was attempting to sleep walk – that is he kept right on moving but would shut his eyes for a couple seconds at a time. Usually I do the same thing and this year I really thought sleep deprivation would be bad for me (especially after staying up till about 2 in the morning Friday watching the 24 hour running championship updates). But this time I never really had a strong urge to fall asleep. So I kept pushing reminding Bob we had to keep going.

About this time I started doing math. I would tell Bob – OK we are at this distance at this time. If we average 15 minute miles, we still have a 27 hour. If we average 20 minute miles around 30 hours, etc. He kept saying OK. Our goal was never to allow our cushion between a finish time and the 32 hour cut-off fall beneath one hour.

Soon we reached mile 70 at mile marker 30. To my surprise it was being crewed by Will, one of my crew members from my 2009 Keys 100. He commented that I looked a lot better than I did in 2009…..wow I must have looked like a corpse in 2009!!!!

Bob and I kept moving. All the time I kept telling Bob that if we do X pace we should finish at Y time. After awhile Bob seemed to move ahead of me. Either I was slowing, he was speeding up or he just got tired of hearing my mental calculations. By mile 75 my back was killing me. Bob got there a minute before me, but as we agreed, we were just going to blitz this stop to make up time so he just barely stopped.

But when I got there I had to stop and stretch. I tried to take some aspirin for my back. But it dissolved instantly on my tongue and when I went to swallow it got stuck and started burning. Next thing I knew I was throwing up. Tim a volunteer tried to help me. I must admit I felt so disgruntled with my aching back and slowing pace I probably was not the most appreciative. But I tried to thank him and move on.

Bob had, per our plan, kept going. I didn’t think I could catch back up with my lower back cramping up but I kept trying. After two miles I stopped on the steps of a store and stretched some more – using a round rock as a massage ball. I kept the rock and ended up using it probably 8 of the next 12 miles. I was now on my own as there was no chance of me catching Bob – and I was thankful he did what I had told him to do “Keep going and get your buckle if I can’t keep up.”

Soon with the sun lighting up the morning sky, I hit Mile 80. Mile 80 is a major mile for me in 100’s. It gives me a mental boost knowing I only have to take a step and then I have less than 20 miles to go. So that is what I did. I took one more step so I had less than 20 miles to the finish……and then dropped to the ground and stretched out. Tim from mile 75 was there dropping off some drop bags and he asked if he could do anything. I told him my piriformis was killing me but that there wasn’t anything he could do. So I got up and put my power walk into high gear so that I was averaging around 17 minute miles. I kept power marching, dropping to the side of the road and stretching my back and massaging my piriformis. The miles came and went….slowly. But I was moving closer to the finish line.

Around mile 86 or 87 the skies opened up. I was along a bike path and the rain was coming down so heavy. The wind was blowing the rain so hard it actually plugged up my ear like I had just been swimming. But it felt GOOD! I actually started running again. The cool water made my legs feel better and actually seemed to help my back. But the heavy shoes were not helping my feet.

As the rains cleared the humidity from the evaporating water increased. I kept moving but was being passed by runners every so often. All were very friendly and supportive. I began to think that I might get the DFL award! This award, for being the Dead F____ing Last runner to officially cross would be a new one for me….but so well earned.

As we approached the Naval Air Station we began to climb what appeared to be Mount Everest (funny…..as tough as this “mountain” seemed at the time, as we later drove out of Key West I couldn’t even find an incline there). The heat was very high and all my heat gear was on again. But finally, around Mile 94 of the race, I stepped on the Bridge leading to Key West.

I had about 3 hours and 20 minutes to go 6 miles. At 20 minute miles that would be just right – but way to close for comfort so I tried to push the pace. Soon I was off the bridge and onto Key West…..but that stretch along the road to town seemed to go on and on and my back was really killing me. The bottom of my feet were sore too….I think from the rain water.

Anyway, soon the golf course appeared and finally a Mile Marker 4 sign. I turned the corner and saw the sea wall ahead. I had plans and intentions to run the last 3 miles, but instead I immediately sat on the side walk and stretched. I stayed there for about 5 minutes stretching my back and piriformis.

Finally I stood up and started a slow jog along the beach wall. I jogged and power walked until Mile Marker 2. Then I just sat on the wall to catch my breath. A truck stopped and two runners who had finished the relay the previous day jumped out and asked me if I wanted some company for the final stretch. I accepted and we joked and talked as I did a very slow walk towards what seemed like a very distant finish line.

Finally, 31 hours and 10 minutes later I crossed the finish line to claim my third straight Keys 100 buckle – the only person with all 3! Bob was there full of praise. He had finished his first 100 miler more than an hour earlier cracking the 30 hour barrier!

So we cheered on a few more finishers (there went my DFL award) and then headed back to the hotel in our rental car that was so kindly driven 100 miles for us by the cool Yoli crew! We missed the awards ceremony but showered and caught about 2 hours of sleep. I treated my blisters (not too bad this year).

Then we went to Duvall street for some food. Neither of us were feeling great but I managed to down some conch fritters and have an alcoholic slurpie.

The next day we raced back to Fort Lauderdale to catch our mutual flights home. All in all it was awesome ….painful…hot….humid….painful…..but awesome! Now that my hat trick is complete….my goal is to Four-peat in 2011!!!

I made the last minute decision to run a 50k race today. I wasn’t going to blast it as I have the Barkley coming up in 2 weeks, but wanted to put a bit more stress on the legs. I looked at last year’s times and figured I’d shoot for somewhere between a 5:30 and 6 hour finish.

Pirate’s Cove is put on by Sarah and Wendell (who is also doing Barkley) of Pacific Coast Trail Runs (AWESOME events – my first ultra was a PCTR event).

Runners gathered and waited for the start of the race. Almost immediately I had to stop and pee…..timing is everything 🙂

The start is basically up and up and up.

The run in the Marin headlands was beautiful – with views of hills, the coast line and the Pacific Ocean.

The run also goes through groves of Redwoods and Eucalyptus trees:

Along the eastern side of the headlands there were wonderful views of the SF Bay and the city itself:

After finishing the 30k loop, we went back out on a shorter version, past some coves dotting the coastline.

I crossed the finishing line with a time right at 5 hours 29 minutes, so can’t complain I didn’t stick to my plan. It is a great race and offers beautiful views.

After landing in Zurich, I met Cori and we took a train to Basel and picked up our rental car. The weather was beautiful and we started heading out to Chamonix.

Because I slept very little on the flight over, I was pretty tired. I usually sleep very well on planes, but this time had troubles. So, I hoped that I could get to bed early and sleep late so I go into the race well rested.

Along the way, we stopped at the city of Bern. Bern is a beautiful city, old architecture and wonderful mountain countryside. Bern means bear and they maintain a couple of bears as their “team mascots”. After an ale at their in town brewery, it was on the road again.

We headed towards Geneva. But once we hit the city of Lausanne, switched toward the east and passed through the city of Montreux, made famous by the Deep Purple song Smoke on the Water. Looking at Lake Geneva, it was really neat because the sun was setting and there was a haze over the water – kind of smoke on the water and fire in the sky.

The song was playing in my head as we drove by.

Leaving Montreux, the road turned sharply up. The drive was beautiful as we continued going higher and higher overlooking the Rhone Valley.

Then it on to. to Martigny. Once there, it was a turn to the west. Soon we crossed the French border.

Then it was a drive down towards Chamonix.

Chaminox is very beautiful. It is nestled at the base of Mont Blanc, with the mountain peak visible. There were banners for the race all around and many runners.

After that we had a quick dinner of pasta at a local restaurant. There were hundreds of runners everywhere. The atmosphere was very exciting. I decided to turn in early to catch up on my lack of sleep. By 10:00 o’clock I was out. Unfortunately, I woke again at 1:00am and could not fall asleep again. This was bad – I was going into a race where I would be running through two nights and I already had less than 4 hours of sleep combined for the previous two nights.

I ended up getting to the race expo pretty early. As I waited in line, I was amazed at the number of runners. I think the largest ultra I have done before this was American River 50. This was huge. At check in, after showing ID, I had to have my pack inspected to confirm that I had all mandatory equipment (jacket, tights/pants, hat, whistle, rain parka/blanket, two flash lights plus spare batteries, food and water supplies). Then I received my race shirt, number and chip.

The expo was very large, but made up mostly of other race organizers trying to entice runners into their events.

I popped outside and the official race gear tent was there. While having a wide selection, the prices were quite high (even before taking into account the dollar-Euro exchange). I opted to pass on any additional merchandise and headed back to start on my drop bags.

Along the way, I came across the start/finish area. It was in the center of town right next to a beautiful old church. The inside of the church was likewise old and beautiful.

As I wondered along the cobblestone streets of Chamonix, Mont Blanc loomed ahead. It was a clear day and appeared to be set for a nice race. Everywhere were runners wondering along the town streets.

I bought some water and great local bread and headed back. Once at the room I busied myself setting up my drop bags. There are only two drop bags – one at the 50 mile point in the city of Courmayeur and the other at around the 75 mile mark in Champex-Lac. In addition to my back pack, I had my waist belt that held one water bottle and my S! Caps.

Because there were just the two drop bags and I was not familiar with the course, I was kind of guessing as to what I would need at each spot. But I figured I would be hitting the 50 mile point in the day light and the 75 mile point around night time and stuffed them accordingly.

The rest of the day was filled with easy sight-seeing and relaxing. We headed over to the gym at 4:00 to drop off the drop bags and then I grabbed a quick pasta dinner at the athlete carbo feed before getting back to the hotel.

Finally, it was time to start getting into my race clothes. I was pretty nervous and still quite a bit tired. But soon we headed off to the start line. It was amazing – it was as if the town quadrupled in size during the prior few hours. The streets were packed with spectators and runners. There was music and announcements blaring from loud speakers. Helicopters buzzed around the sky and banners were flying everywhere.

The start line itself was even more amazing.2300 runners packed into the small Chaminox street in front of the church. The race was playing music that reminded me of Vaughner – it was exciting and really was working the crowd into a frenzy. The announcers kept shouting to the runners and crowds who roared back. At one point he said something in French and everyone that owned trekking/hiking poles thrust them into the air at once. I looked around – it appeared as if I was the only guy there without such poles.

Then suddenly the countdown started and we were off.

Initially it was little more than a shuffle due to the number of runners crammed into the space. Soon however it opened up and we started running through the streets. Crowds along side cheered everyone on. I was keeping a moderate pace, not quite sure how I would do just 2 weeks after Leadville 100. I stayed a steady pace and soon the roads changed to a trail along a river. The path modulated up and down and soon crossed through a camping grounds. After a short bit, we started climbing. The trail went up through a small village where crowds were clapping and cheering. Since each runners’ bid number has a flag of their nationality, quite often the crowd would cheer or say something reflective of the country. The American flag on my number seemed to surprise many spectators as the vast majority of numbers had French flags with some German, Italian, Spanish and Swiss tossed in. Every now and then I’d see an Austrian flag, Dutch flag or UK flag too.

The first climb went up La Charme which was a fairly short 800 meter climb up the hill. As we were climbing, to our left was the Mont Blanc mastiff and surrounding areas. The glacier coming down the hill was huge and there were small streams of ice melt coming off the peaks. The skies were clear but it was humid – I was sweating a lot so I kept a regular routine of popping my S!Caps.

After climbing for a bit we approached our first check point where our numbers were read. Since it was getting dark I stopped and put on my tights, Moeben arm warmers and headlamp. I also grabbed my flashlight.

Soon the climb ended and we started descending down the hill. I like downhills and have always considered that my stronger part of ultras. But my legs were still feeling a bit sore from Leadville and these downhills were quite a challenge. After some long downhills, we entered the half marathon point in Saint-Gervais.

This was a large aid station. I was amazed – not only was there the standard fruit, energy bars, drinks but tons of cheeses and cold cuts. I opted to pass on the cheese and continued on the run. The climb out of Saint-Gervais continued but my legs felt empty. So I slowed my pace and tried to climb the hill slowly, switching to a power hike. After a long time and entered Les Contamines at the 31km mark. I sat down – just not feeling too well.

After resting a bit I started on again – moving along the Notre Dame Gorge. After awhile I started to feel a little better. This climb went up and up and up and up. It made Hope Pass at Leadville seem short. But along the climb, my legs were feeling much better and I was jogging and power hiking on up.

Behind me, I could see an endless trail of lights as runners were coming up from the valley. Before the peak of Croix du Brnhomme, there was another aid station. I grabbed more cheese, some French bread, a couple pieces of dark chocolate and refilled my water bottles. Then it was off again to continue climbing into the night sky.

After an eternity of climbing, we finalized reached the top. Then it was a flat while and then dropped down. The problem here was it was very wet from snow melt and the granite and slate were slippery. I heard many runners slip and twice I went down, once knocking my flashlight out of my hand where it tumbled for at least 10 feet before another runner grabbed it. This made the descent slow, although at times it was too steep to run anyway.

The trail finally left the rocks and entered grasslands as we approached the village of Les Chapieux. There I entered the aid station and had my now standard bread, cheese, chocolate and water meal.

After leaving the aid station, I started to become quite tired. The path from this stop was a paved road that slowly climbed out of the valley towards Col de la Seigne. After climbing and climbing, we dropped down a bit on a dirt path that instantly starting climbing again. It was getting into the early morning hours but was still dark. I kept climbing, not believing how long the ascents and descents seemed to go on in this race. Finally, at one point after barely keeping my eyes open, I stopped and sat on a boulder and nodded off for about 5 minutes. Then it was climbing again.

The climb started to get cold. We were approaching 2500 meters and there were snow packs around. Plus the wind was picking up and my clothes were still damp from the sweat of the earlier climb. Thank God for my tights, Moeben arm sleeves, and my ZombieRunner Head Sweats cap. The sun was just starting to light the horizon.Finally, I got to the top of the Col. There was a check-in station. The volunteers had a fire going and I went to warm myself by it. I started chatting with the volunteers who told me there was a mountain “house” about 10 minutes down where I could pop inside to warm up.

I started down the hill and soon passed the building. The valley was wide open below me. I was going to leave without stopping but a runner came out and mentioned that it was warm. So I popped in to warm up. There was a table and a bench. One other runner was just starting to stretch out on the table for a nap. I decided that I needed one too – I set my watch timer for 30 minutes and instantly dozed off. When the alarm went off, I snoozed for 15 more minutes and then got up.

I felt great! My legs were totally re energized. I was not sleepy at all. I exited the building and started down the trail. I had lost 45 minutes, but I had saved my race. I was feeling so good I was passing people left and right. Soon the sun broke out and I had to peel off all my cold weather clothes and stuff them into my bag.

The bottom of the descent entered a small aid station at the 65km point. I grabbed my food and headed out, running along a rare flat section. The mountains rose on each side of me as I jogged past a mountain stream that became a river.

Soon the path turned sharply left and straight up. As I entered I heard another American voice – the first I had heard in the race. His name was Bogie. We chatted a bit – this was his first 100 miler ever. He mentioned that his knee wasn’t feeling good and soon we became separated. Then a few minutes later I saw my friend Nattu. We too chatted for awhile, but he also wasn’t feeling great and we got separated going up the climb. I then came upon yet another American and we climbed together for awhile comparing Leadville notes (he had paced a runner there 2 weeks earlier). At the top of this climb, called Arete du Mont Favre, I let the volunteers record my numbers and then took off flying down the hills.

My legs were still feeling good and I took advantage of this. I was passing through a valley with the Glaciers in full view to my left. The rock formations were awesome and the mountains beautiful.

Soon, the trail started to drop and we entered a ski area called Col Checrouit at 73 km. It was kind of surreal grabbing my cheese and bread in the shadow of the glaciers and Mont Blanc while two volunteers dressed as belly dancers performed next to the runners.

The next 5km were unbelievable. It was almost straight down. The city of Courmayeur (our first drop bag site) came into site. But it looked like a parachute jump to get down to it. The trail became a wide gravel road. The gravel was so loose and the decline so steep, I felt that I was going to go down any minute. The “road” turned out to be a ski run heading down towards the village. I love descents – but this was a freakin free fall.

Finally, after what seemed to be forever, the paths stopped and I entered the outskirts of Courmayeur. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this was now my first visit to my paternal ancestors’ homeland – I had entered Italy. I passed by a small fountain and ran down cobbled stone streets until I came to the sports gymnasium. This was the 78 km point, nearly 1/3 the race was over.

I grabbed my drop bag and entered the gym. I laid down and rested for about 20 minutes and then changed out supplies in my bag, taking more day time items, leaving some wet items and replenishing my S!Caps, Gu and other fuels. Then I downed a plate of pasta that was cooked right in front of me.

I gathered my stuff, handed my bag back to a volunteer and headed out the door onto the streets of Italy.

After leaving the Courmayeur sports gymnasium, I started jogging up the city streets. They soon turned up a small country road. Now it was starting to get quite warm – I am guessing it was well into the high ’80’s. It was nice as often I would pass an old fountain with flowing water from the Italian Alps. I would soak my bandanna and head sweats rag into it to stay cool.

After a short while, the road ended at a path that looped around a waterfall before starting to climb up.

On the way up, I met the same runner from Denver that I ran with going up Arete du Mont Favre. We chatted for a bit and commented how hot and tough it had become. Then he asked me if I knew what the next cut off time was.

@#$^*! This whole race I had forgotten about the cut-off times. Now I was worried. I started trying to climb faster (I did not know the cut off times) and soon passed some runners. The view of Courmeur from the high trail was beautiful. But it still went up and it seemed to be getting hotter.

I was really sweating with it pouring off my face and back. Thankfully the S!Caps were working great as I had no nausea. Near the top of the climb I looked down at the valley below – wow, we sure had climbed a lot of the Italian mountain. At the top was a small aid station. I re-filled my bottles and took off. The trail was a rolling trail for sometime. Many Italians and French hikers/trekkers passed by in the opposite direction. Occasionally I would run past a group of locals out having a picnic or sunbathing on the mountain side. I could only imagine what it would be like to have this part of nature as my backyard.

I entered two small aid stations between the 82 and 90km marks. They were merely small mountain cottages with fountains fed from the Alps. The ice cold mountain water felt and tasted great. I left the second one (called Refuge Bonatti) and started a long decline towards the 94km mark. The decline wasn’t terribly steep but it was hard on my legs as I was running out of steam and it was still getting hotter. I would stop and soak my headwrap and bandanna in each ice cold mountain stream I crossed.

Finally, after what seemed to be a non-ending descent I arrived at Arnuva the 94km point. This was a decent sized aid station in Italy. It was quite warm and in fact a runner collapsed there from the heat causing Italian paramedics to rush in and help him. I again had my standard bread and cheese, chocolate and water. I also downed a bit of flat coke here. As I sat there looking at the map with my legs feeling quite dead, I thought for about the 100th time that doing MontBlanc 2 weeks after Leadville was probably not my wisest decision.

Finally, I stood up and headed out. On the horizon was Grand Col Ferret at 2537 meters high the highest point of the race. I really doubted if my legs could get me up the climb. The trail seemed to just keep going with runners becoming smaller and smaller until mere dots in the high distance.

But the fear of cut-offs kicked in and up I went. I tried doing a power hike, just moving forward one step at a time. After awhile it seemed that my breathing calmed a bit and I was actually making steady progress. Soon, I was actually passing people. Bit by bit I progressed towards the summit, the valley fading far below me.

Finally, I reached the top of the climb after a series of switchbacks. At the top I was checked in and asked if I was OK. I actually was. There was a O2 tent set up for runners who needed it. I snapped a few photos of the mountain and valleys of Italy from the Col at about the 100km point and then headed down the trail.

The trail down from the Grand Col Ferret was long and usually gentle. I ended up running with a runner from Germany and we chatted quite a bit. It was nice as we kept going forward. The weather cooled a bit and this part of the run was really nice as we kept a nice pace down along the valleys, and descended to La Poule at 102 km (merely a small table with volunteers).

As we rounded a corner I heard a lot of cowbells. Throughout most of the race, crowds and volunteers would ring cowbells to cheer on the runners. I figured it must be an aid station or town getting close as there were a lot of bells. I turned the corner and looked at the source – a large heard of cows heading to the dairy. Their bells were loud and encouraging, even though I don’t think they cared a lot about these crazy runners passing by.

I continued the run along what became a single track trail. Often the path became wet and muddy and required some careful stepping. The trail went down steeper and entered the town of La Fouly. Here I went to the aid station which had a bit of a small town carnival atmosphere as families were out and there was a side area selling food (including raclette!) and beer and wine. I refilled my water bottles and once again had my famous meal of bread, cheese, chocolate and water.

The weather was starting to get a little dark so I opted to put on my tights, Moeben sleeves, headsweat and headlamp.

I left the station and dropped down to the trail. Here the trail started out as quite rocky but I picked my way through actually maintaining a nice pace. After awhile I needed to turn on my head lamp and continue the run. Soon it became dark. Here, my body just started to shut down. I could not keep my eyes open and literally would fall asleep on my feet for a split seconds at the time, each time waking up as I staggered a step to the side.

Finally, I hit a point where a young couple were volunteering at the start of a dirt trail. They had a bonfire going and I asked if I could sit. I closed my eyes and instantly slept for about 10 minutes. When I woke up – I felt completely refreshed. I started running again and soon caught up with a group of about 9 people who must have passed me while I rested. I fell into their pace and we formed almost a pace line as we picked our way through the trail. No one spoke English, but we were for the most part quiet as we made steady progress.

Finally, the trail ended and we came upon a street. Arrows on the street pointed the way to a small town ahead. We went into the town and came to Praz de Fort, a small village. As I entered one section, there was a house with 3 older ladies sitting outside. They had set up their own table with cups of water and bottles of beer and wine for the runners. I started to pass but glanced at their lawn.

Cori and I have been working on our garden and we found a couple of old garden gnomes that we stuck in for fun. Since then, the gnome family has increased to about half a dozen. When I saw this gnome covered lawn – I just had to snap a photo.

I continued to run and the road left the town and soon connected to a trail that went up. And up. And up. I was feeling pretty good and passed about a dozen people on the way up. Finally, we entered the town of Champex-Luc on the Italy-Switzerland border. This was the 123 km point and the second (and last) of the drop bag stops.

I entered the large tent. There I found my drop bag and switched into some drier and warmer clothing, replaced my batteries with fresh ones and downed my standard meal. I also pulled out a miso soup mix packet from my bag and downed it – the hot broth tasted great.

I then decided to head on out. The town, as the name implies, lies along the shore of a small lake. Soon the path left the lake and dropped down a wide rocky road. The road dropped into a valley but then started to climb out. This began the climb up Bovine. Right where it started to climb I met an older French runner. He and I started talking as we climbed up. The trail seemed to cross through some dairy land and then enter a very very rocky section.

It was quite steep and at times there appeared to be no trail at all. As we struggled up, the man mentioned that later “This trail gets hard.”! I almost laughed – here we were, in the dark, on a steep mountain climb, picking our way up towards this river crossing among large boulders….and later it will get hard.

At the river crossing, it did in fact get tougher. The rocks made progress slow and it was very steep. Eventually though, we reached the top (by this time we had caught two other runners). Then we continued along the Bovine Ridge, lights from the villages in the valley far below were visible.

At one point we entered an aid station. I put on my gloves and another layer as I was quite cold. I was happy to learn that this station had vegetarian broth so I downed a couple cups. Then we were off again. We went through a cattle gate and then the trail started to drop – steeply and fast. It was at times very hard to run or even walk. This descent seemed to go on and on. While it was only 6km from the peak to the aid station at Trient, it seemed to last forever. My legs were feeling very sore and tired from the constant downhill with frequent breaking to stop from falling or going too fast.

Finally, we entered the town of Trient. It was this nice little Swiss village. We were directed along the old streets to the rest stop. There I grabbed my standard fare and sat down. I happened to sit next to two British runners. She was still going on, but he had decided to call it a day there.

After resting, I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door. The next climb was to the summit of Catogne. Once again, I started my power hiking and was soon passing people. This climb (like every other climb in this perversely difficult race) seemed to go on forever, through constant switch backs and inclines. Near the top at the 143km point, I finally was able to stop for a breather. What followed was a 6km descent that lost nearly 850 meters down to the village of Vallorcine.

Along the way, the sun starting rising. I had finished my second night of running (if you could call it that). My legs were really tired and I dreaded the downhill. But I was really worried about the cut-off so I pressed on. Once again, the constant and relentless downhill switchbacks continued but eventually I entered a large tent in Vallorcine.

There I paused just long enough to refill my bottles, grab some bread, cheese and chocolate and then head on out. I was on my way to final climb (technically a series of climbs with one heck of one).

I started towards the Col des Montets, a short incline. This was the 152 km point. There was a small crowd there and the trail crossed a road to the base of what looked like a pure vertical climb. This was the final challenging ascent – about 3 miles straight up to the peak of Tete aux Vents. I started climbing, dreading this. But as I went up I began talking with a French runner. He had lived in the states about 3 years ago and we talked about various races such as Leadville and Badwater. This made the ascent easier and I was doing a nice pace. After making it up about a third of the way, I decided to slow my pace a bit.

The view from this climb was amazing as the valley floor faded away below. Once I got about 2/3 of the way up though it became more difficult. My breathing was uneven and I was not having a good time. Other runners were passing me (it seemed as if there would be no runners left behind me) but I didn’t really care. I just was pushing myself forward.

Finally, I reached the top and there waiting was a French goat – staring at the runners. He probably thought we were all nuts (I had to agree with him at that moment).

I was glad to have reached the top and started running a path along the crest of the mountain. Far down below, somewhere, was Chamonix. As I rounded a corner I saw, yet another climb. It was short but it was still a climb. This was La Flegere at the 160km point. I checked in there and headed back out.

Now the descent started. It was only 6km from this point to the finish line, but it appeared to go on forever. After passing through this final point, the trail became a long series of steep switch backs. My legs and ankles were crying out in exhaustion and pain. I tried to power hike it down (running was out of the question).

Soon I met up with an older French runner named Jean Marc. We tried to speak but his English was as good as my French so that went nowhere. But we stayed together. As we approached the town limits, we came across another French runner who spoke a bit of English. The 3 of us decided to run in together.

As we rounded the final corner, 166km (103 miles) behind us, we joined hands and raised them in the air. We crossed the line together. I was glad – because at that moment I really wasn’t sure I had any desire to try that course again….maybe after I rested a bit, but not then.

Overall, with 31,000 feet of climbing, this course was very hard (especially on the heels of Leadville). At times I found the isolation caused by not being able to communicate or even share a joke with fellow runners made it even harder. It did appear that those trekking poles really helped and if I were to do this again, I might consider training on them. While the mountains were never at high altitudes, the constant, relentless and at times perversely steep inclines and declines made this very challenging. But, the scenery was beautiful.

On May 17 and 18, I competed in the Keys Ultra 100 mile run. This run started in Key Largo and ended in Key West. My main, and in fact almost my only, goal was to finish and get the belt buckle to redeem myself from my Did Not Finish at Rocky Raccoon 100 in February.

My FANTASTIC, AWESOME, SUPPORTIVE, ATTENTIVE, UPLIFTING AND #1 crew of Mandy, Michele and Teri met me in the lobby of the host hotel and we went down to the Race-Mobile (mini-van). There we drove to the start at Mile Marker 101 (meaning we were starting 101 miles from the finish line in Key Largo).

Then it was off to the start line.

The 100 mile and 100 mile relay started together while the 50 miler started, not surprisingly, 50 miles further into the course. Combined there were around 160 or so racers.

Although it was 6:00am it was already warm (80 degrees) and humidity was around 75%.

I started running and was feeling good. The course ran along the Overseas Highway (Highway 1) so the choice was basically asphalt, concrete or the shoulder (consisting of some grass, crushed rock and coral rock). While running on the shoulder sometimes saved some pounding from the asphalt, I found out later the constant rolling on the rocks along with the slants (most roads had a definite slant in the shoulders) caused problems with the bottom of the feet.

I was running smoothly averaging around 9 minute miles and feeling very comfortable. I was chatting with runners next to trying to find out if people were in the relay or the full 100. I soon was able to learn that if a runner had a low bib number (under 25) they were a solo runner. I met some real nice people and the miles seemed to quickly past.

I left Key Largo and entered Tavernier (around 10 miles) and soon came upon Plantation Key. I was still right under 9 minute miles and feeling good, but my early morning cup of coffee had kicked in and I realized that I needed to find a restroom. As I passed some houses, I was hoping to see a homeowner to ask if I could borrow their restroom. Then, I came upon a public park with large clean public restrooms. I ran in and was very grateful for the timing.

Afterwards, I continued on my way. Every now and then my support crew would drive by yelling words of encouragement.

We had worked on a plan where I would meet them every 3 or 4 miles. As the day wore on and the heat grew, this changed to every 2 miles (actually, this change was very early – probably no later than mile 8). I would reach the van and they either be waiting or would jump out. They were awesome! My hat and bandanna were chilled with ice and water. My two water bottles were filled with ice/h20 and ice/Gu2O. They gave me anything I asked for and got me on my way.

They also decorated the van nicely with cool signs.

Early on in the race I had been wearing a light short sleeve top and a Zombie Runner headwrap. Those lasted less than 10 miles before I changed into a sleeveless running top, sunglasses and my soon-to-be Badwater Desert running cap (which triggered lots of smart ass comments…including from my great crew).

I continued running. The views became very beautiful. We were constantly running between the keys, over bridges. The ocean was so blue. And I would glance down and see all sorts of sea life. Once I saw what appeared to be 2 porpoise swimming and breaking the water. Later I confirmed they were porpoise and saw at least a dozen more throughout the run. In addition, I saw rays, a barracuda and a HUGE sea turtle gliding through the waters.

Soon, the road entered the village of Islamorada, made up of various keys. Around Indian Key or Craig Key, I approached the 25 mile point. This was the first check-in point. As I neared, my crew was screaming my name and as I got there I was informed by all that I was in first place overall in the 100 miler. My time was 4 hours 10 minutes. I felt great – but never dreamed of being in 1st. I laughed and told everyone that wouldn’t last I would rightfully be around 3rd or 4th by mile 50.

My crew mentioned that compared to my estimated splits I had been going fast. I agreed so for the next 25 miles I employed a 5 minute run, 3 minute walk pace (although the walk was very very brisk).

I took off again and continued the same 5/3 pace while my crew would leap–frog ahead every 2 or so miles. About every 2 or so miles I would down a 1/2 bottle on ensure and sometimes some pretzels. Conch Key passed, Long Key passed, Walker’s Island and Duck Key all passed as I kept my pace, feeling very strong but noticing that fatigue was setting in.

After awhile, the road seemed to leave the ocean view as we left Long Key and approached Grassy Key in Marathon. There it dipped down onto a bike path. It was nice to be away from the constant buzzing of cars flying past just a few feet away, but the bike path was sheltered with no shade. It felt as if the temps had risen 10 degrees (Mandy’s husband had called her during Day 1 and reported that the temps there had hit record highs. Since the last record high I saw was 92, that meant at least 93…although I never saw the car thermometer go above 91 myself).

Finally I left the bike path and entered the section of the keys near Marathon airport.

I kept running looking for the 50 mile marker. Soon, to my left I saw my crew jumping up and down. Everyone in the aid station was shouting my name too. I entered and sat down. I was still in 1st place incredibly. More incredible – my 50 hour time was 9 hours 9 minutes! That was my 3rd best 50 mile time ever!

I decided to take a bit of a rest in the shade of the 50 mile check point. My crew had filled an extra ice chest with ice and water. I stepped into it. YIKES!!!!!!!!!! That was cold. Michelle had gone next door to a coffee house and through some unknown manner(but humorous inside jokes were made as to how she got the ice) had come back with a free bag of ice for the chests. After soaking my feet. I took a look at them. I counted 6 blisters total over the feet. I pulled out my handy-dandy blister kits from Zombie Runners (these are must-haves!) and proceeded to clean and dress the 4 largest blisters. It was funny, each foot had exact mirror image blisters of each other.

Up through this point, I had seen a few support vans for other runners but they were all relay teams. All but two – one belonged to the Badwater legend Lisa Smith-Batchen and the other to Alisa Springman, a very experienced and accomplished ultra runner from Pennsylvania. So I knew they were close. Honestly, I never had any dreams of winning the race, but at that 50 mile point, still in first, I now kind of wanted to keep it.

So, after the blister care, off again I went. The run went through marathon and soon approached mile 53, the start of the 7 mile bridge. As I approached the bridge, my legs were feeling pretty tired. I met my crew in a parking lot on the north end. There I saw a man grabbing a woman and pulling her up the embankment. She was only wearing a bra, her jeans falling down and she was holding her belt. It was clear she was intoxicated and I feared the worse. As I neared them though, it became evident that the two were a “couple” as she swore at him to get her another drink and he tried to keep her on her feet. Ah puppy love is so sweet.

I approached the van and the 4 of us watched as the people basically crumpled in the driveway of the parking lot. She tried to stand but fell backwards and on the guardrail, with the ocean under her. The man only held her left hand and she teetered as Teri rushed over to help. She basically pulled the woman back while the guy made some comment like “she does this all the time” and hardly did anything to prevent her from flopping over the rail. The woman then laid on the road and screamed obscenities at the guy telling him to get her a drink. I commented that if she was like that all the time, I wouldn’t be in a hurry to stop her from going over the guard rail either.

I then headed up the 7 mile bridge after a couple of relay runners. My crew called the police who showed up to meet the guy and his lady friend as my crew raced back to Marathon for supplies.

The 7 mile bridge starts flat, then climbs up the largest “hill” of the day. This actually felt great – it was the first time my leg muscles really had to be worked in a new manner for 53+ miles. I flew up the bridge and then down. However, the last few miles were flat and I walked a lot of it as it was actually, despite the view, getting a bit boring. During the length of the 7 mile bridge I counted nearly 2 dollars in loose change, a baby car seat, lots of tire treads, a pair of sunglasses, one glove, some fishing tackle and about a dozen empty bottles and cans along the bridge path.

As I exited the bridge, I saw Alisa’s van drive by. At times I wasn’t sure if they were waiting for her or checking out my lead. Either way, I knew she was closing the gap. Soon I saw my crew off to the right. I jogged over and Lisa’s crew came over shouting to me that I was doing great. One of her crew (I believe he was her husband) offered me some water melon and told me that Lisa had been forced to drop out. I munched on a piece of melon and Lisa appeared. She shouted “You are the man! You are kicking ass!” I laughed and said that I wasn’t feeling that great at the moment. She told me that she had dropped – and that it wasn’t her day. I told her that was unfortunate. I meant it too – knowing how much that sucks.

I then met my crew and got more supplies (since the last 7 miles were without crews as vehicles couldn’t stop on the bridge). They told me Alisa was looking good and was about 3 miles back. Just a matter of time I thought – oh well, I’d hold her off as long as I could. I joked with my crew that if I could at least hold onto second place, I’d have the men’s course record 🙂

So off I went. 60 miles down, “only” 40 to go. These miles seemed to drag along but I managed to hold my 5/3 plan pretty good. I even hit one bridge around Sunshine Key and felt really good. I ran the whole way, joking with the fishermen below and watching more porpoise playing beneath me.

Soon, I entered the Key Deer reserve area of Big Pine key. This area is fenced and protects an endangered species of deer called the Key Deer. While I saw some droppings, I never saw the deer. I approached my crew at around mile 70 and told them that the last couple of miles I had been feeling like throwing up.

I changed into my night gear (light, reflective vest) and left my sunglasses and hat and took off. I was accompanied by a beautiful Keys sunset.

All this time, I kept expecting to see Alisa come up behind me. I was pretty sure that unless she was fading like me, that she would get me soon. So I made my next goal to see if I could at least hold the lead into the mile 75 check-in. Plus, a sub-24 hour time was still a possibility (although shrinking).

Sometime between mile 70 and 75, Mandy offered to pace me. I agreed and that helped a lot. We chatted a bit, but for the most part just kept moving forward. Mandy is a 7 time Ironman finisher, including Kona. Despite getting in a serious bike crash a few weeks ago and having her hand in a soft cast with pins sticking in it, she was there in the dark night keeping me going.

Soon, we approach Michelle and Teri in the van and they tell us thet the 75 mile aid station is just on the other side of a short bridge. Mandy and I jog the bridge and we come to yet another wonderful group of screaming volunteers. I plopped into a chair and held me head in my hands. I was feeling like absolute crap. It had been more than 5 miles since I was able to eat anything. My “fuel” had consisted of sips of water and an occasional sip of flat mountain dew or red bull. I had the dry heaves a few times.

Finally, I asked where our van was as I needed to lie down. I walked across the parking lot to the van and felt a wave of nausea hit me. I was down on my knees wrenching in the intersection. I was later told my crew and a few volunteers gathered round me to stop a semi truck from driving over me.

I then went to the van. Michelle went to get some tums from a market. I lied down a bit but felt that I better get going. I stepped out of the van and saw Alisa’s crew right next to me. I said hello and asked how Alisa was doing. They informed us she was doing great, but for some chafing and he asked me how I was doing and offered me a chair. I collapsed in it and told him I had better days. I think my crew thought I was Benedict Arnold and was fraternizing with the enemy. But as much as I would have liked to have held on to that 1st place, I knew it was gone – I was more concerned with my sub-24 hour which I felt had almost slipped away. The night had gotten a bit cooler – dropping to 80, but the humidity had risen sharply.

Mandy and I took off and kept trying to run. Soon however my jogging became less and less. After awhile I had to walk the full stretch between stops and finally announced that I needed to take a nap. I went into the van and put my feet up. As I was semi asleep, RD Bob Becker came by and asked how I was doing.

After about 10 minutes, I got up and Teri and I started off. I tried some jogging but my legs were thrashed as I was approaching mile 80 which meant 10 plus miles without being able to keep anything down and the joys of dry heaving. Plus, the bottom of my feet were killing me from more and more blisters. I had learned that the constant unequal footing had caused some bad blistering.

At mile 83 I turned and saw Alisa and her pacer approaching. The soon passed me as if I was standing still (mostly because I kind of was at that point). We exchanged greetings and off they went. Oh well, now to try and hold onto second place. By this time all of us had realized that unless something drastic changed, my sub-24 was not going to happen either.

The night dragged on with me taking more and more rest breaks. The Tums was helping a bit, but every 2 miles or so, another bout of dry heaving would hit me. I could tell that Mandy, Teri and Michelle were getting just as tired. I know it had to be miserable to be without sleep, go a mile, nap for 10 minutes, be woken up by me, get out of the van, attacked by misquitos, and then watch me stumble off at an ever slower pace. Once I took some extra time to dress some blisters and I realized that it was a mistake – I should had waited until the next stop. But my crew never uttered a negative word.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we entered in the single digit zone….less than 10 miles to the finish. Mandy took a couple of miles, and then Teri. Finally Michelle and I crossed the causeway and entered Key West. We got to 1 and 1/2 mile from the finish and all three of my crew got in the van and wanted me to cross the line on my own. This was not an easy task as now I was around 10 hours and 30 miles without any fuel of any kind in my system and very painful blisters.

I tried to jog along the ocean front toward the finish line. I kept looking behind me, expecting to see 3rd place fast approaching. Every now and then I’d see a jogger and fearing the worse, tried to jog.

Finally – the finish line was in sight. I crossed it. My time was 25 hours 37 minutes! This was more than 2 hours better than my previous best. I had taken 2nd overall and set both my age group and men’s course record (both should be easily shattered next year).

After crossing the finish line I gathered with my AWESOME crew for hugs and photos and Michelle put my finishers medal on my neck and I was handed my BUCKLE!.

Then, these great EMT volunteers who had been on the course for as long as the runners came over to help me with my feet (I had 23 blisters spread over both feet!).

Afterwards, I slept in the van and napped and cheered on the other finishers. Out of around 20 starters in the 100 miler, only 7 finished. Two of these finishers basically collapsed and needed IV’s and I needed the blister care. It is without a doubt a very difficult course – the heat, humidity and pavement all combine to present a true ultra challenge.

THE AWARDS

After a real nice shower, and a 2 hour nap we all headed to Hurricane Joe’s for the awards. I decided to celebrate with the appropriate Key Ultramarathon drink – I had a Rum Runner.
The crowds were in a great mood.

Co-Race directors Jared and Bob started handing out awards.

I was called up and got my 1st place male 40-49 and my overall awards!!!

Then it was a raffle where almost everyone walked away with something (I got socks).

Afterwards, Mandy, Teri, Michelle and I watched the sunset at Mallory Square and had a wonderful dinner.

Two full days after the race, my stomach still wasn’t 100%. Despite some conch fritters, mahi-mahi and some seafood paella post-race, I am still down more than 4 pounds since the race start and my digestion is not perfect. But my legs are recovering and the blisters receding. Also, I got two great awards, my buckle and finishers medal and met the best crew possible. We are already discussing about possibly defending our titles next year at the Keys Ultra, plus Mandy is considering joining my Badwater crew! Finally, having met Bob and Jared, I would consider running almost any race they put on. Not only do they take great care of their runners, they put on a fantastic race, and they are just wonderful people.

This was, without a doubt, my most challenging ultra (and that includes Mont Blanc, Badwater and each of my three Keys 100 finishes). I drove up to Leadville from Denver. It was a beautiful drive and the city was beautiful I was staying at the Leadville Hostel.

I woke up at 2:30 am with the other 3 guys in my Hostel bedroom (after buying a pair of ear plugs, slept like a rock through the snoring of Mr. Leadville – the 24 time finisher Bill Finkbeiner). We all started the day with the same act – looking outside at the weather. The sky was mostly cloudy with the occasional lightning bolt flashing across the horizon. Based upon that, we all dressed in our cold weather gear, packed extra gear in our bags (this was my first ultra where I actually wore a pack) and grabbed a hot breakfast (mine was coffee with a Powerbar).

The time seemed to drag for a bit, but soon it was time to walk down to the start. About 5 minutes into my walk, the rain started falling. It continued pretty heavily then started to decrease closer to the actual start.

The line was full – nearly 500 runners ready for the 4:00am start.
Many were huddled under doorways and awnings to stay dry until the last minute. With the final minute being countdown, I said a quick prayer and joined the crowd. Then we were off. I again based my early race strategy upon the wisdom of my “coach’ Don of ZombieRunners. I walked the first 5 minutes – by the time those 5 minutes were up, I was one of the last 3 people.

Then I started running. The course goes down the Leadville city streets at 10,200 feet. Many residents were out cheering on the bunch of crazy lunatics running past their house. As the run progressed, we turned onto a dirt road with scattered rocks. I was actually feeling pretty good at this point – my breathing was relaxed despite the elevation and I was slowly working my way through the crowd. We then turned up a dirt hill and climbed for a short bit before crossing a street and into some woods.

The path continued past some campgrounds on the right with a lake appearing on the left. Occasionally the morning air would be filled with the sound of creeks running under our running feet as they emptied the rainwater into the lake. I continued my forward progression, slowly passing people when possible along this often single track path. Soon I came up on one of my roommates – Elwyn. We ran together for a bit but then I went ahead.

Before I knew it, we entered the first crew access point called Boat Ramp. Strangely enough, it was on a boat ramp. Because I had no crew or pacers for this race, there seemed little reason for me to stop so I continued on. In the dawn this was a wonderful run – the trail winding through trees, over boulders and through the occasional puddle/stream. Soon, there was enough light that allowed me to turn my headlamp and flashlight off.

At the half marathon point, we entered the first official aid station called May Queen. I had a drop bag there, but since this was so early in the race, I merely filled my water bottles, stashed my lights in my backpack, and continued on. A runner came up on me about 3 minutes out of the station. He had missed his crew and suspecting that he would meet them later never filled his bottles. So he was already running on empty. I offered him about ¾ of one of my 3 bottles (I had 1 hand-bottle of Succeed Clip2 and 1 hand-bottle of water and another bottle of water behind my back). We then ran together for a bit before I left him on a nice downhill.

The downhill soon turned to a climb going up through a wooded area.

I was now starting to get quite warm from the run plus the wet weather in the woods was increasing the humidity. So as soon as the climb ended on a wide unpaved road, I stopped to take off my jacket and stash it in my bag. I started running and 15 seconds later the sky opened up with heavy rain and hail. “Great timing!” I said to a runner next to me and we shared a laugh.

I continued the run up the road without the jacket. This climb went up Sugarloaf and the views were fantastic.

I was feeling really good as I shifted from a run to power-walk. At the summit I paused for a second to put my jacket back on and then continued running.
I passed a huge tower with power lines that were crackling in the rain/sleet. This was the summit called, appropriately enough, Powerline. One could see the valley below where May Queen was located.

Powerline continued along the summit ridge for a bit before descending down some wonderful downhill trails. Some were quite steep consisting of gullies strewn with rocks making the fast descent a bit tricky, but I was enjoying it.

Near the end of the descent the trail turned right and ended on a road. The road climbed to the next aid station at mile 23 called Fish Hatchery. I entered the FH aid station and the wonderful volunteers got me my drop bag. (Note: not only does Leadville have more volunteers than any other ultra I have run, they were all fantastic – supportive, knowledgeable and quick to go out of their way to get runners anything they needed). Here I decided to try something I learned from my Badwater run – tuna. I had stopped at the store prior to the race and found some single serving bags of tuna fish so I bought some and stashed some in my drop bags. I gulped down the tuna and headed back out. The paved road was wet as the rain started falling heavy.

The run stayed on a road that turned onto another road. After the junction the skies really opened up again pouring cold rain down. I stopped and quickly pulled a plastic rain poncho out of my bag and continued the run. The road started climbing towards a line of trees on the horizon called coincidently Tree Line. Tree Line, like Boat Ramp, was a crew access point, not a true aid station so I went straight through and continued the now dirt road upwards.

A small stream was to my left and it was flowing pretty fast. This road seemed to go on for a bit, passing campgrounds and some wonderful forested areas. Soon we entered the Half Moon Campground. It was here that the next aid station, weirdly named Half Moon, was located at around the 50km mark.

I stopped here and decided to change jackets for a dryer one. I also changed shirts and grabbed my iPod. One runner who was changing gear informed me that the next section was one of his favorites with great downhills. I left the tent and entered the food tent where I was thrilled to learn they were serving vegetarian broth and vegetarian ramen. In all the races I have run (OK – not as many as lots of runners, but I’m not a novice either), Leadville was the first that I have run that offered vegetarian options at every single aid station. In the cold of this run, the hot broth and noodles were a blessing.

I left the tent and continued running looking forward to the promised downhills. Soon the path turned right….right up. The climb was pretty steep and, while the rain had stopped, the humidity from the rain was strong. A runner next to me asked me if I knew how long and high this climb was to be. I said “Nope – but it sure is a bitch.”. He agreed. We continued climbing and I learned that we were both flatlanders – me from SF area and he from Wisconsin. He invited me to join him in one of his hard “500 feet altitude work-outs”.

Finally, we reached the top and the trail turned to the right. My legs were burning a bit by now but the trail soon started a descent. I turned on my iPod to some great Faith No More and took off.

I love downhills – I may not be the fastest, but certainly I attack them hard. I think I have pretty good instinct with my footing, strong ankles and a certain stupidity that allows me to take many downhills pretty fast. Here, it was like I just started the race. I went flying down the trails, passing other runners, leaping over rocks and small streams. I was having a blast. The trails seemed to go on and despite a big smile I knew that I was not going to love this portion as much on the return trip.

Soon, the trails changed from wonderful single-track forested trails to steep rocky roads. This ended at Twin Lakes (yes, it was next to 2 lakes). I entered the 40 mile aid station. Here I contemplated changing my shoes into my lighter Asics, but a wonderful aid station worker convinced me to stick with my original plan and save those shoes for the return trip. As I sipped down some more vegetarian broth and noodles she also massaged my legs for me. (NOTE: all RD’s out there – with so many runners being so health conscious, please follow Leadville’s lead and have options available to those who can’t have the standard chicken broth).

After resting and re-energizing about 10 minutes in the station, I started out. As I left the tent my eyes darted around for two things that I knew were coming up fast. First was the river crossing – a place where we had been informed we would have to wade across thigh high waters. The second was Hope Pass – the 12,600 foot barrier between Twin Lakes and the 50 mile turn-around. The first was behind some trees and tall grass. The second was hidden behind storm clouds (Oh goody!).

I ran on through the mountain pastures around Twin Lakes and soon the river crossing became visible. I waited my turn and entered the river. The water was cold and fast but manageable. One of the volunteers advised me to stay to my left as there was a deep hole to the right. As the snow melt waters were inching closer to certain body parts, I opted to listen to him.

Then I exited the river and continued on – following the path that disappeared into the trees. My legs actually were feeling really good – I think the icy waters actually helped. I started climbing and began to get pretty warm so I stopped and shed my jacket.

As I restarted my climb, the skies opened up and the hail began to pour down. I have decided that I have a second job – I will go to areas that have a water shortage and simply take off my rain gear and within minutes the skies will open.

Anyway, I continued up (and up and up and up) as the hail came down (and down and…well, you get the point).

I know for a lot of people hail stones the size of peas and marbles are nothing new, but to me I was pretty amazed to see hail that far surpassed the rice sized hail that I am used to seeing, Oh, by the way, larger hail hurts when it hits a bald head – just thought you’d want to know. It was also soaking my clothes, so finally I paused and put my jacket back on again.

After awhile the hail stopped but the climb didn’t. I kept going up. Now I have raced at elevations between 8,000 and 10,000 feet and, while feeling it, certainly was never really impacted by the elevation. But here, once I broke through 11,000 feet I was gasping. I am sure all the Colorado natives had a good laugh at my expense, but shi! This was hard.

Finally, I passed through some trees and could see the top of Hope Pass….WAY UP THERE. I continued moving forward and now the sun was breaking through and I was getting hot. So, I stopped and once again took off my jacket (be warned, this is a reoccurring theme in this report).

As I approached the 12,200 foot elevation, I noticed a heard of lamas around me. No, it wasn’t the lack of oxygen that caused me to see this. This was the Hope Pass aid station (yes, to those enquiring minds that want to know, they had more vegetarian broth).

I left the HP station and started up the trail. About 100 feet before the summit, the first returning runner came running towards me. He was followed by another runner and then another. Wow – this was going to be a tight race for first.

I crested the top of the pass and looked behind me. Twin Lakes was far below and the view was amazing.

I looked ahead and the view was amazing – almost making the climb worthwhile.

Then I started downhill. Finally, back into my environment. I picked up speed as I passed those who had passed me on the way up. The trail down was pretty steep – sometimes too steep to really run. I almost lost control twice around sharp and rocky turns.

Finally, as I neared the bottom, I again met Darren (the runner from Wisconsin that I met earlier on the climb out of Half Moon). This time we exchanged names. Darren and I decided to move into Winfield (the 50 mile station) together. It was a 2 mile distance from the base of Hope to Winfield – but it only seemed like 10 miles. FINALLY we reached the aid station and got separated.

I tried to minimize my time at the station. I got there at almost exactly 12 hours. This should have left me 18 hours to do a simple 50 miles. Problem was, it wasn’t a simple 50 (with a climb of 12,600 and two others with one exceeding 11,000) coupled with pretty challenging cut-off times at each station. I popped a couple S!Caps and stretched my thighs and calves. Soon I headed back out knowing that I had a hell of a climb ahead of me.

I jogged the road from Winfield and soon reached the Hope Pass trail head. I started climbing…well, tried to. My thighs were already pretty thrashed, but I kept pushing forward. People were coming down the trail and I happily stepped aside to let them pass (and to let me rest). If I had thought going up Hope Pass on the outbound was bad, the steeper return trip made me wish for it again.

Soon Darren and his pacer caught me. We kept going up together – taking turns resting. After awhile we noted that the runners coming down were out of the race as there was no way for them to make the 50 mile cut-off time.

Near the top of the pass, Darren and I got separated when he needed to take a nature break. I crested the Hope Pass summit and started flying down the hill towards the aid station. Once there I sat down and downed some broth. I also had a peanut butter sandwich and some crackers. Soon Darren and his pacer joined me. After a bit, they took off as Darren’s knees were bothering him a bit. I soon followed and passed them going down the hill.

I was again loving this race as I flew down the muddy path, along the flowing creek and over rocks and roots. Soon I passed Marshall Ulrich. I slowed and spoke with him a bit. I introduced myself, told him about my Badwater experience and how his wife had posted on my blog earlier. Soon though we were separated as I continued my downhill run.

Near the end of the downhill I stopped on some rocks to strip off my tights. With the river crossing coming up, I wanted to have them stay dry for the upcoming night. Marshall caught me there and we basically ran towards the crossing together.

Once again, we grabbed the rope and crossed through the icy waters. Once on the other side I continued my jog/walk until finally hitting the 60 mile point aid station at Twin Lakes. The aid station workers were again fantastic. One lady helped me change shoes and socks, get my rain coat on and repacked everything in my drop bag. After a bit more noodles, I headed out.

Just as I feared, the climb out of Twin Lakes was a real pain. I ended up tagging along with a two other runners. Soon it became dark and I needed to switch on my flashlight and headlamp. The climb seemed to last forever. Near the end of the climb the skies lit up with lightening and the rain and hail started falling fast and hard again. Finally, the downhill towards Half Moon started and I cruised down and ended on the road leading to the campgrounds. The rain was soaking through my clothes and I wasn’t moving fast enough to stay warm.

I got to the tent and sat down in front of a heater. I downed some broth and tried to change into drier clothes. But I started shivering so much, I ended up going to the medical tent where it was even warmer and wrapping a blanket around me for 5 minutes until I stopped shaking. I then gathered my stuff, downed some hot cocoa (at the direction of the med provider – great advice) and started a power walk down the road. Two aid stations to go.

I was only a minute or two into my walk when runner comes up behind me and asks if he could hang with me a bit. “Sure” I said. His name was Matt and his ankle was giving him a real hard time (he injured it 6 years ago or so and it still bothered him). Not only was this his first 100 miler, it was his first ultra. He hadn’t even run a marathon before!

He told me how he and his brother started the race together but his brother was forced to stop at Wynfield. His crew was his mom and girlfriend. I said he was more than welcome to hang with me as my only goal was sub-30 and if he and I could power walk through the finish line under that time, we could do it together. He set forth his timing strategy that would let us see the finish line around 9:00am (29 hours). It was agreed and we commenced.

We chatted a bit and tried to keep ourselves entertained. Soon we came along Tree Line where his girlfriend was waiting. Matt changed jackets and grabbed another water bottle and off we went. The road from Tree Line to Fish Hatchery seemed to have increased in length during the day, but we kept moving. We finally entered Fish Hatchery and I grabbed some broth and some food. The workers filled my bottles. Matt was getting his ankle wrapped so I laid down on a bench next to a heater. But almost before I even closed my eyes, Matt was ready to go – so we left.

The asphalt road leading out of FH eventually reached a point where the flags led us onto the dirt path that marked the beginning of the Powerline march up to Sugarloaf. Matt was actually stronger on the uphills than I so he led the way. Soon a young woman from Toronto joined us for a bit using trekking poles as she ascended the trail.

As the night wore on, we continued up. My thighs were pretty tired but I noticed that I was keeping up with Matt. Soon though, I ended up passing him. He stated that he was really hurting. I tried to talk him into moving forward and he did. But after about 20 minutes he said he just couldn’t and wanted me to go ahead. I tried to tell him that we had plenty of time and he just had to keep moving forward. He said he would move at his own pace and actually asked me to “Please just get going.” So I compromised and told him that we had to be close to the summit and I would go ahead and if I got to it soon, I would wait for him so we could do the downhill together. If I didn’t get there soon, I would go on down to the aid station and tell his crew about him. He agreed and off I went. Man – it was at least 20 minutes before I finally got to the summit so, per our agreement and with time slipping away, I kept moving down the road.

Now I noticed that my headlight and flashlight beams were growing dim. I stopped and changed headlamps with the spare in my bag – but it was dim too. But I continued on and finally dropped down the trail leading towards May Queen the final aid station. The trail was dark and very very muddy. Sometimes I would step down and most of my shoe would disappear in black muck. My lights were so dim, I made one wrong turn but realized it less than a minute later when the path, luckily, ended. I turned around and went back and found the right way.

I entered the May Queen aid station and sat down. To my right was one of my roommates Jonathan being crewed by UltraRunning mag’s Tia Bodington. As we exchanged hellos, I was slapped on the back by another of my roomates Elwyn. I was just thinking how cool it was that 3 of the 4 people staying in the same room were at the last aid station at the exact same time when Elwyn commented that Bill (the fourth roommate) was there also. Wow! What a coincidence! After 87 miles, the four of us were on the exact same pace – must be that Leadville Hostel coffee.

I asked Jonathan if he thought we still has sub-30 hours and he was confident that a nice power walk would bring us in around 29 hours. So, He took off first while a great aid station volunteer found me some replacement batteries for my flashlight. Then Elwyn and I headed out. We started a nice little jog/power walk and soon caught Jonathan. The three of us hung together a bit but soon Elwyn and I went ahead, Elwyn intent on catching Bill who we assumed was ahead of us chasing his 25th straight Leadville finish.

The trail soon became single track as we reversed our way back towards Leadville. We were making a decent pace, jogging the downhills and power walking the inclines and flats. Soon we came upon two other runners. Elwyn passed them by trying to catch Bill. I hung back for a bit content with my pace. Soon though I too passed them by and continued heading towards Leadville.

After a while, it was light enough to switch off the flashlight and headlamp. The trail was winding alongside the lake and soon entered the Boat Ramp crew access. Only about 8 or so miles to go!

The wind was coming off of the lake and my hands were frozen. I was really tired, cold and damp. I mentioned to a runner next to me that I just wanted to get this “F’n thing over with”. He laughed and agreed. After what seemed like an eternity, I exited a path and came upon a road which I crossed and entered the last trail to Leadville. This trail was a mini-Powerline run – straight down with many gullies and rocks.

Once at the bottom of the decent, we turned onto the final dirt climb. This was a wide dirt road that seemed to go on and on. After every rise, there was yet another rise. I passed a few runners here and there, but I wasn’t really going that fast. Between my dead legs and being really cold, my pace had dropped quite a bit. Soon though, the dirt trail ended. I reached the peak at the same time as Gary Wang, a fellow Bay Area ultrarunner. I checked my watch and figured that I might still just barely get under 29 hours.

So I started a slow jog across the street and turned on the final stretch. After cresting a small rise, the finish line was in sight – about 4 blocks away. I kept jogging as fast as I could, having to take the occasional walk break. Finally, I reached the final intersection and shouted my race number to a volunteer. A minute later I stepped on the red carpet and heard my name announced as I crossed the finish line.

My final time: 28 hours 57 minutes 35 seconds. By far this was my slowest 100 miler – but I was so happy and proud. To me, that was one hard race. Between the cold, the elevation, the wind, and the never-ending fear of the cut-offs I felt as if I had overcome the most challenges to reach the finish line. It was my 3rd buckle this year (Keys 100 and Badwater included). It has already been added to my shadow box buckle display.

A few valuable things I learned. 1) I never once was nauseous – I had switched my electrolyte pills over to S!Caps and they worked wonderfully. I think my hydration and electrolyte balance was the best of any race I have run. 2) Injinji socks coupled with hydropel on the feet protected me 100% from blisters. Not even a single hot spot. 3) This was the first race in which I used a pack. It worked, but because it strapped across my chest, every time I needed something or needed to change tops, it took a bit of time and effort – so next time will be a below the back/lumbar bag that I can just spin around.

Back at the hostel, I took a quick shower. Elwyn and I noticed that our hands had really puffed up probably from altitude edema. Soon, all roommates were back and taking a quick nap before the awards. We each were still coughing constantly making our hostel dorm room sound like a typhoid ward.

Then it was off to the awards. Co-race directors Ken and Merilee put on a great show handing out buckles, awards and bottles of Colorado whiskey. Despite the conditions, some people posted incredible times with the top 3 finishers breaking 19 hours. The first place male 50-59 years broke the top 10 overall with a sub 22 hour time!

Bill got a standing ovation when it was announced that he had finished his 25th straight Leadville 100!

As we helped pack up the room from the awards, I met a young man distributing samples of beer from a New Mexico brewery. He had run the first 50 miles with his brother but was forced to drop. We chatted some more and I realized that he was Matt’s brother. Matt ended up dropping at mile 87. Personally, I was amazed that he pushed through so long with a painful ankle never ever even run a marathon before. I know he will be back.

This is certainly one heck of a race – one which every ultrarunner needs to experience.

PART 1: SATURDAY DECEMBER 8, 2007 – THE SUNMART 50 MILE ENDURANCE RUN (see my Rave for the next day’s Dallas Marathon for Pat 2)

I had to be in Texas for work this past week and it coincided with the Sunmart Endurance Runs – 50km and 50 miler. I decided to run the 50 mile race and see if I could get a new p.r. for that distance (needed to break 8 hours 31 minutes). The course was out in Huntsville State Park in Texas, site of the Rocky Raccoon 100 which I will run in February.

At SFO while waiting for my plane, a guy looks at me and asked if I ran the Ruth Anderson races. I mentioned I did and it turned out that he and I ran some of the race together. His name was Thomas Reiss and he won the Ruth Anderson 50 miler (sub 6 hours). He also won the Tahoe Rim Trail 50 miler (8:10:13) and the Quicksilver 50k (4:04:37) and was a past winner of the Tahoe Triple where he ran a sub 3 hour marathon each day for 3 straight days. He is a German national living in California and was selected to represent Germany at the Sunmart 50’s international ultramarathon 50 mile trail championship. Needless to say, I wasn’t exactly going to threaten him for the win at Sunmart 🙂 Here is an advertisement in UltraRunning magazine profiling him:

It just so happened that the race headquarters was at the exact same hotel where I stay on all my Houston business trips. So Tom and I went there. The next morning I ran a nice 4 mile run on a nearby trail. Then I checked in. The amount of schwag that Sunmart 50 gives is amazing. You get a gym bag and then proceed down two tables to fill it with shirts, hats, pens, water bottles, stuffed bears, etc.

That night we met back at the hotel (I had to work that day) and there had a fantastic dinner put on by the race. I sat with Tom and his German team mate and coach.

Then the pre-race meeting started with guest speaker Peter Snell, the Olympic gold medal mile runner from Australia speaking to the runners (look closely, he’s in this dark photo).We were informed that the next day was expected to be hot, very humid and generally miserable.

The next morning when I went out to get my car it was hot, very humid and threatened to be miserable. The first 3 seconds outside the hotel, my glasses fogged up and my shirt started sticking to my skin. At 6:00 am it was already 75 degrees with 90% humidity. Fun times ahead!

It was about an hour drive to the race. I had my rental car, but there were shuttle buses too. The international teams were in their own shuttle.

Once at the Huntsville state park, I started to get ready. In addition to hidden roots, loose rocks, heat and humidity….certain signs warned of a possible new risk to the ultramarathoner who ventured off the path:

As I approached the start line I saw Vinod Viswanath who had paced Raj and Anil at Tahoe Rim trail and who had just completed the Cactus Rose 100 miler. He was helping pace a friend through his first 50km. With him was a group of Asha runners.

Then all the 50 mile runners got ready and lined up at the start line (the 50km runners were to start 30 minutes later).

Then we were off. 50 miles of trails, heat and humidity ahead.

The run started with some fun paths that would vary from nearly single track to wide open, often they were covered in leaves which hid roots quite well. In the first mile I saw 3 runners go down from the roots.

My goal at Sunmart was to break my previous 50 mile best time (8 hours 31 minutes) which was also coincidentally my first ever Ultra. I also wanted to go below 8 hours. However, as I approached the end of lap 1 the effects if the heat and humidity were telling me that my goals might be tough ones. According to weather sites, temps broke 84 degrees and humidity broke 95%. I was constantly pouring water on my head trying to stay cool (there was no ice at the aid stations as they did not expect the weather). Unfortunately, the water was soak my clothes and shoes. By the end of the race, I had 5 blisters on my left foot and 6 on my right. Chafing was horrible too…especially under my arms/sides of my torso and along my groin due to the wet liner of my shorts. Ouch.

I expected this race to be flat….after all it was in Texas. Well, it certainly wasn’t the Tahoe Rim Trail, but I wouldn’t call it flat. In fact, it was constant rolling hills. The trail went around the lake and was very pretty in most parts.

The trail also had these “bridges” that were fun to run on, often on the lake’s edge.

At one point, the 50 mile runners converged with the 50km runners. It was here that I saw Vinod and a bunch of his friends.

By the third lap, I knew my goals were shot. But, I was still on pace to finish around 8:45 or so. But during the 4th lap my piriformis started acting up again. This has bothered me off and on during certain races. But this was the first time in a while. It was hobbling me and slowed my pace considerably. Oh well, during my last lap and a half, I met this runner named Larry from Texas. Like me, he will be back at Huntsville in February for the Rocky Raccoon 100 miler.

Soon, I finished the final climb and headed back down to the finish line. I saw Vinod and his friends (and Larry who finished ahead of me) cheering me on. I crossed in 9:06 and promptly fell to the ground. Ouch – that really hurt. My splits are below:

46 Alan Geraldi #82 M/43 AG finish 4 Time: 9:06:04.90 10:55
Lap 1 1:47:44.00 8:37/M 12.500
Lap 2 1:56:59.35 9:22/M 25.000
Lap 3 2:26:42.20 11:44/M 37.500
Lap 4 2:54:39.35 13:58/M 50.000 miles

After the race, I joined Vinod and his family and friends. They shared some awesome Indian food including the best lentil soup I have ever had. We cheered on his friends as they finished their 50km.

At first, I was entered in the 50 mile option, but due to a training injury I decided to do the 50km option instead. I met a bunch of the UltraHolics gang at the start. After warming up a bit, we all went to the starting line. This race takes place around Lake Merced in San Francisco. Mostly a paved bike path around the lake, but some “trail” option (unpaved jog path next to the asphalt for parts of the run). The gun went off and we started running. I was in a very comfortable pace and found myself with the lead pack (two faster runners were up front). As I was running past Mile 1, I passed someone who looked familiar. It was John Mintz – the runner who took first place in the San Francisco One Day 12 Hour run (my first Ultra). I chatted with him a bit – he was doing the 50 mile option. After a bit I picked up my pace and ended up catching the top 2 runners.

I ran with both of these guys for a bit. They were going for the 100km option. They were both from Europe. One was training for the Basel 24 Hour run (which I was also eyeing at that time – it is a one day race around a track in Basel, Switzerland which is a frequent business travel destination for me. I ended up doing Quicksilver 50 Mile instead (race report below)). After a bit, one of the runners took off at a pace I decided not to match.

We finished the second loop averaging to the second 7 minute miles. The loops were 4.5 miles long. I was in second place at that time, but then the other lead runner took off to catch the first runner. This left me in 3rd place – a position I maintained almost all the race.

The laps went by and I felt really strong. I came up on Rajeev who was grabbing a drink at an aid station. I shouted “No loitering.” and we started running a bit. He was nursing an injury though.

As I came around the 6th lap, I was beginning to get a bit tired. I passed the race organizers table and told them that I was only doing one more lap (runners can decide their distance 50km, 50 mile, 100km, during the race – but one foot into the next distance and the runner is bound). As I went into my last lap, I was pretty tired. I had pushed a sub-3:20 marathon and needed just one more lap. I had to stop a couple of times to stretch out my legs. I then popped into a port-a-john for a quick stop. When I came out, I saw another runner ahead of me. I caught up to him and we talked a bit. He was going to do the 50 miler, but decided to do the 50km instead. We ran together for a bit but then he picked up the pace. I couldn’t hold on. He came through the 50km in first place – around 3:51. I came to the finish about 3 minutes later with a 3:54 and a second place finish. I was very happy as this was only my second Ultra ever and I achieved a second place overall finish and I went sub-4 in the 50km

I ran my first 100 mile race. It was the Tahoe Rim Trail 100 miler. Wow!!!! That is one tough race. The course is in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Nevada. It has 20,000 feet of climbing (and because it is loops, that means 20,000 feet of quad-crushing descents too). Held at altitudes averaging around 7500 feet (with the high point nearly 10,000 feet) and temperatures ranging from highs in the ’90s (degrees F) to night time colds in the sub-40’s it was certainly a challenge.

Pre-Race: I went for a morning jog on Friday and happened to come by the pre-race booths. I stopped by and they actually checked me in about 15 minutes early – the first official participant! Then, after the run, I met Rajeev Patel and Anil Rao at the race hotel. These two guys basically grab my empty drop bags, start affixing names, numbers and aid-station names. Then, they start filling them for me. Wow! What service! Without their help (or the help of our fantastic crew members), I would have reached certain aid stations completely under-prepared.

We then all went down to the pre-race meeting spot. There we weighed in and I came in at 169.7 pounds. We all dropped off our drop bags. I purchased a small belt case for my camera and then we took off to go pick up Chihping who was just arriving at South Shore.
After that, we all met at the pre-race mandatory meeting. There I saw Eric Clifton and his wife Noni (see my notes about Eric mentioned in my review of San Francisco One Day). The directors gave a lot of information and suggestions. Overall, it was a perfect race organization – there was literally no question left unanswered when they finished. Afterwards, we b.s.’ed with Eric for awhile and then – off to dinner. There was a simple but good pasta feed across the street at a restaurant called B’Sghetti’s.

That night, I put on Running On The Sun to get motivated and fell asleep by 10:00pm.The race started at 5:00 am. We all met in the parking lot and Anil’s wife drove us to the start. There we picked up our race numbers and walked down the hill to the start line. I had my headlamp on as it was quite dark still. I was dressed in my sleeveless race top, with another top over that and arm warmers. I had a head cover on too as it was still a bit chilly. The race starts at Spooner Lake (Elevation: 7000 feet).

The minutes seemed to drag on but finally we were all ready to go. There was a few last minute race instruction reminders and then “Go!”.

THE RACE: The first segment is a 6 mile run (mostly uphill) to Hobart Aid Station. I decided to heed the words of advice that Don (ZombieRunner) had given to Rajeev. That was to walk the first climb. I walked all inclines for that climb, and jogged the flats and downhill sections. For the most part I was with Chihping, but near the top we got separated. The dust was very thick – with all the runners it was like running in a fog. After the top (Elevation 8500 feet), we descended to the shore of Lake Marlette. There we ran around the shore and then up towards Hobart Station. The climb up challenging but offered the first impressive views. By the time I was approaching the aid station it had gotten light enough for me to turn off my head lamp. I actually put it around one of my water bottles but when I got to Hobart A.S. (Elev. 8200), I noticed that it had fallen off somewhere. Damn! I would need that later in the evening.
I checked in and out of Hobart, peeled off my cold weather gear and outer shirt, and headed towards the next aid station. As we climbed out of Hobart we reached a crest that offered a fantastic view of Marlette and Lake Tahoe. There I met this guy from Vancouver who was a member of the Fat Ass Club by the name of Glenn. We chatted a bit and ran down (and I mean DOWN) the peak to the next aid station at Tunnel. Glenn was super nice and we had a great time talking (that is him in the photo climbing out of Hobart).
At Tunnel, we did a quick check and then headed down to Red House A.S. The downhill to Red House was almost as steep as the wall in your house (at least it felt that way). On the way down we met another runner named Keith who had finished Western States 100 a month earlier in sub-24 hours. The three of us ran together b.s.’ing for awhile. Then we got to the Red House station (after a bit a climb back up from 6800 feet). Then it was a tough climb to Tunnel Station. There we got weighed for the first time and I was at 170.5.

We then exited and took off towards Mt. Rose. Here, I got separated from Glenn and Keith. The trail was a steep climb averaging around 8200 feet elevation. About halfway on this 9 mile route there was an aid station at Diamond Peak. The views were, again, fantastic. I started to get a second wind and picked up my pace. I ended up catching a female runner (who I would later learn was named Sharon and she was from Norway). She was running a strong race and we were trading back and forth spots. I stopped momentarily to stretch out my legs and she disappeared. I rounded a corner and was momentarily lost, but found the path again. There it was a downhill and I started down it when this guy comes blazing towards me. It was Jasper in first place (I was still about 2 miles from the turn-around, meaning that he had an easy 4 mile lead over me!). A few minutes later, I saw a flash of bright colors as Eric Clifton turned a granite boulder-covered corner and headed towards me in second place. I shouted words of encouragement and he did the same.

This part of the course took me around a few bends, and then downhill through the tress. As we exited the forest, to my right I saw yet another climb (Yippeeee!!!!) uphill to the Mt. Rose aid station at mile 25 (elevation: 8500 feet). Once I got to the station, I took my time a bit and this was one of my longer rest stops (12 minutes). I had to weigh-in again: 169.5. There I grabbed some more boiled potato (dipped in salt), some gu and some Ensure (this was recommended to me by Rajeev and Anil. I had never tried it before, but it did seem to help). Eric Clifton’s wife Noni was there and she filled my water bottles. As I was putting some balm on my feet she jokingly said “Get out of here.” 🙂 So off I went.

I went down the hill feeling pretty good. I then re-entered the woods and started running up the path. There, about a mile later I ran across Chihping. He was looking good but complained that his legs were tired. I echoed the statement. I then started running again. Soon, I got another burst of energy and I was really flying – probably one of my fastest times of the day that took me all the way back to Tunnel Aid Station after passing at least 10 people. Along the way, I came across Rajeev and Anil who were running together. We snapped photos of each other and exchanged high-5’s.

Anil running towards me:

Rajeev taking a photo of some ugly guy.

Once at Tunnel I was re-weighed again. This time was 170 on the nose. I grabbed another Ensure and headed off to Hobart. Here, I wasn’t flying. I remember that coming down that peak was a bunch of fun switch-backs, but going back up that climb seemed to go on and on and on and on and on. It was also fairly hot and I was feeling pretty low. Yet, I still passed a few people on the way up. Once I got to the crest, I snapped a few photos of the view and proceeded to run down to Hobart station.

At Hobart I weighed in (170.1) and grabbed some more fuel. Hobart was offering free smoothies for the runners, but as I never tried a smoothie before during a race I decided not to risk it. I left Hobart and headed on a different route than the morning route that initially brought runners to Hobart A.S. This route went 2.7 miles (2 miles straight up) to Snow Valley Peak (a tad below 9214 feet elevation). On the way up, I passed a few more runners and it was here that I (finally) re-caught up with Sharon from Norway. We ran to the top (wow!!!! What unbelievable views) and then to the Snow Valley A.S. at mile 43.3 Weigh-in: 169.5. I only stayed a few minutes and then headed off.

The descent from Snow Valley was fun. At first it was a bit gradual but a lot of granite rocks and boulders to run through. Then it turned down and entered the woods. Here, Sharon and I decided to run to the 50 mile point together. We really started taking off and was keeping a nice clip through the trees. At one point I stopped and stretched but caught back up with Sharon a few minutes later. Then we rounded a corner and a guy standing there yelled: “One mile to the next aid station and then only 1.7 after that to the start/finish.” We really started running then and passed a few people en route to the Spooner Lake Trailhead a.s.

We checked in grabbed some water and took off. We went through some woods (where my right foot caught a stump and I almost went flying on my face but managed to stay up) and then we saw the start/finish line. We crossed a small bridge on Spooner and jogged together to the 50 mile checkpoint. Time: 10 hours 44 minutes. I weighed in (169.4) and sat down for a breather. Next to me was Eric and Noni – Eric had decided to call it a day at 50 miles. He told me I could “easily jog in a 13 hour second half to break 24 hours.” I stared at him like a dazed-zombie and said: “YOU can jog that 13 hour half, not me.” 🙂

I decided then and there that while I was mathmatically still in a sub-24 hour range, physically it was not possible. So I opted to take on the sub-30 hour mark, meaning I had created a nice time cushion for my second half. I told Eric that I was interested in finishing and would “enjoy” the second half with more jogging and walking. I would concentrate on a time goal in some future 100 mile race.

Then – it was off again to do this a second time. Uggghhhh!

As I left the start/finish aid station I headed back to the initial climb. About 10 minutes into the climb I remembered something: I had forgotten to eat anything at the start/finish. Hmmm….would that matter? 5 minutes later I received my answer. I lost almost all energy. I needed to stop and stretch at least 10 times during that 5 miles and 2 people passed me. I saw Sharon disappear in the distance and settled in for a loooong night.

Soon I dropped back down to the lake shore. I wasn’t feeling that much better but I caught one of the two guys who had passed me – his name was Ray. He and I started up the incline to Hobart. Holy shi!!!! I think the Corps of Engineers sneaked out there between loops and added 1500 feet to that climb! It sure hadn’t felt that long, steep or hot during the first climb. Ray and I couldn’t believe that no one was catching us as we felt like we were moving backwards. Finally, we crested that climb and jogged toward the Hobart a.s. at Mile 56. There I looked into my drop bag and low and behold – my headlamp that I had dropped earlier in the day. Turns out a very friendly and honest ultrarunner by the very name of Chihping had picked it up and turned it in! The a.s. knew I had dropped it so they put it back into my bag! That was a good sign. I grabbed it and slipped it into my back pocket.

In the a.s. I was weighed (I thought I probably dropped a few pounds) but I was at 170.8. They offered me some chicken soup, but being the vegetarian I declined. Instead I grabbed a cup of water and poured in a bag of miso soup mix. That tasted good! I also downed some pretzels, potatoes and some Hammergel. Then I was off to see if I could catch Ray who had left 2 minutes earlier.

I came out of the aid station and this guy comes running towards me. He was the other runner who had passed me on the incline to Hobart but he took a wrong turn. So we joined together and ran on. His name was Paul and he was from Virginia. We spoke a bit but then he had to stop and told me to go on and try to run the downhills. So off I went.

All the sudden the food was kicking in and I got another burst of energy. I passed a few runners and booked down the hill. As I was running down the switchbacks, despite the screaming from my quads, I was smiling. Soon I caught Ray and passed him. About another mile further he caught me and passed me. Eventually we strolled into Tunnel almost together (I was a few seconds behind him). At Tunnel we were again weighed – I had no weight change. I decided that I had just enough time to run down to Red House and return before dark so I didn’t grab any night gear.

I exited the a.s. just in time to see Ray disappear down the hill – he was really moving. I started to go after him but my quads said: “Wait just a minute! What the hell do you think you’re doing? Not on my watch lady.” So instead, I slowly walked down the hill, occasionally even going backwards to rest my quads. The downhill plunge was littered with hundreds of pinecones and there were two “stream crossings” that could be crossed with a short leap to avoid getting wet.

I was almost at the bottom when Paul caught me again. We ran together and got to Red House. There we came to the table All volunteers had left but there was a pen that we had been told we were to use to mark our bib numbers. There was another runner nursing his knees there. We chatted a bit and he joined us. But as Paul and I started jogging again, he told us to go ahead. (The next day I met him outside the hotel and he indicated that he had to drop. He was fresh off another 100 miler and had just not recovered).

Paul and I jogged back to the steep incline. There we marched up the hill with Paul pulling away a bit near the top. We entered the aid station and Paul was real fast and ready to leave – I wished him luck as I started to gather my night time gear. I pulled on some tights, my arm warmers, long sleeve t-shirt, my head cover (with Marco Pantani’s image on it) and my headlamp. I also gathered the Torch flashlight that Rajeev had loaned me….but it wasn’t working. I switched batteries with fresh Lithium ones….still no go. Oh well, I had a spare at Mt. Rose. I then saw that Chihping had entered the tent. He was putting on his night gear for the descent to Red House. He still had sub-30 hours in his sites. We wished each other luck and went on. So off I went leaving mile 64 behind.

At this stage it all the sudden struck me – I had run further than I ever had before. Up until this point, my longest run had been 55 miles. I hadn’t even completed a 100km race. Cool!

So I took off in the night. The race management had marked the course with this awesome reflective tape – so bright it almost looked like flashlight beams. As I ran I heard the occasional noise and assumed it was a hungry bear, cougar or the kiler bunny from Monty Python’s Holy Grail. Unfortunately I was not consumed so I was forced to suffer the rest of the run.

After awhile I came to the next aid station (actually an abandoned table with some water dispensers on it). I passed through as I had enough water and continued up the hill. After awhile, I crested it. Wow!! The view was unbelievable. Lake Tahoe at night was gorgeous. The moon, although only half-full, was bright as a search light. As I continued running, each time the moon peaked through the trees I thought it was a runner’s headlamp coming at me. Then, one time it actually was. The lead runner passed me – he was flying.

I continued running & walking and finally started down the hill through the forest back towards Mt. Rose. As I was passing these people on the side of the trail one said “Hi Alan.” I looked and it was Peter Lubbers of our Ultraholics group. He and I had pretty similar splits and we both had very tired legs. A couple of his friends had met him there. Peter decided to join me and we walked/jogged towards Mt. Rose.

Again, I swear some cruel gremlins added about 1000 feet to the climb leading up to the aid station. But eventually we made it. Mile 75. Weight: 169.8.

Peter decided to have some chicken soup. I grabbed my spare flashlight and stuffed some food in my mouth. I also switched my long sleeve t-shirt for my jacket. Awesome support!

Then Peter and I took off again. we went down the hill and back into the woods. The climb out of the woods took some time but finally we made it out. After a while we met up with Chihping who was now heading towards Mt. Rose. We were at around Mile 78 for us (meaning he was around mile 72). We wished each other luck and headed off. At this point, the brand new batteries in my flashlight gave out.

I had led the climb and march out of Mt. Rose. but my legs were getting pretty tired and Peter had the stronger headlamp, so he took over the lead. I was basically just following his footsteps trying to stay awake. Finally, we reached the Diamond Peak “aid station”. We stopped just for a minute and then headed off again.

Now we were descending the peak down towards Tunnel a.s. Despite it being a downhill, neither of us felt like running. We just kept plodding on. Then, we exited the trail and came to the aid station. Mile 84. Weight: 170. I grabbed a small cup of coffee and some Ensure. I also stuffed some potatoes and pretzels in my mouth. Then Peter and I took off, both of us dreading the climb back up to Hobart.

As we climbed the switchbacks, they did seem to go on forever. But maybe because the fear was worse than the reality, or maybe because the cool night air had replaced the afternoon sun, it wasn’t as bad as I remembered. Finally we crested the peak and was overlooking a beautiful view of Lake Tahoe and Lake Marlette. The sun was just beginning to rise casting an orange hue along the horizon. Wow – despite the pain and exhaustion, it sure beats the hell out of my office desk.

Then we began our descent down to Hobart. For a while, it seemed to me like we must have passed the a.s. as I thought it was closer to the base of the peak, but finally we came upon it. Mile 90! Weight: 170.1

Wow! Only 10 more miles to go. At that stage the a.s. workers told us we were in 18 and 19 place overall! Peter and I knew that we only had one climb (granted a real bitch of a climb, but just one). We stayed at Hobart no longer than 5 minutes and took off up the hill. Again, those damn mountain gremlins were really busy. The higher we went, we kept saying that the peak was right around the corner – but it never was. He and I both had our cold weather gear on as we expected snow peak to be windy and freezing (we heard reports of mid-30’s temps). But instead the morning air was surprisingly still and warm and we kept having to stop to peel off layers.

Finally, we reached that peak. To reward us was one of the greatest views around…..if only we could stay awake to enjoy it. We then ran to Snow Peak a.s. The workers there (as with every other aid station) were cheerful, helpful and simply the best! Final a.s. weigh-in: 169.8.

We grabbed some fuel and then started off down the hill. We walked almost all of this. The fatigue combined with the granite boulders/rocks made any faster attempt a bit risky. Plus, we were still pretty sure we had a sub-28 hour finish.

As the path dipped into the woods I began to experience my first Ultra hallucinations. The trees and rocks at first appeared to be animals or people or houses. On second glance they’d disappeared and become trees and rocks. Wow – was there blended shrooms in that energy gel? 🙂

We kept plodding down the hill, mindful of our sub-28 hour goal but neither us willing to run. After awhile runners here and there would pass us. I saw some of the guys I had run with earlier. But we didn’t care. We had one goal: finish under 28 hours. We had stopped caring about our final standings.

The distance between Snow Valley and Sponner Lake Trailhead a.s. is suppossed to be around 6 miles. However, due to some cruel trick of nature, physics, and exhaustion (OK mostly exhaustion) it seemed like 60 miles. However, finally we rounded a bend and saw a white tent ahead. The a.s. workers started whooping and yelling and we strolled into the station shouting our numbers. When I said mine, a worker said: “Hey!” I turned and it was Lon Monroe (see my post below about Quicksilver). I ran over to him and we shook hands and then hugged. He congratulated me and asked how I felt. “Tired” I believe was my response. It was really great to see him – he helped me finish Quicksilver which I know helped me finish TRT 100. I will swear that some of the nicest people I have ever met are ultramarathoners. I will go to my grave believing that.

While I was having my reunion, Peter was off again – mindful of our sub-28 hour goal. So I started…yes, drum roll please, I started RUNNING to catch him. When I did we both continued running down the hill. Then we entered the forest area. Here, Peter had more juice left in his engine and was willing to run – I tried and would go 30 seconds to 3 minutes but would have to stop every now and then.

We heard voices of other runners behind us and we picked up the pace – this time I was mindful of hidden stumps. Finally we came to the bridge. We crossed it and headed towards the finish line now in plain view. As we approached we tossed aside our jackets and night gear. Then we came towards the line and counted “One Two Three” and in unison put a foot over the line.

We did it!!!! 100 f’n miles (technically, 100.4) behind us. 27 hours 50 minutes 45 second. Peter and I finished tied (as planned) in 26th place. There were 99 starters, 69 finishers. My friend Chris Mason from Texas had promised to get me a great Ranger belt for my finishers’ buckle – now I had the buckle!

What an experience! Views that one would pay for – pain that one would pay to avoid. Memories that could never be bought.

We were handed our finishers bottle opener and bottle of special TRT100 label lager. Then we left. I really needed a shower and a nap. While I was doing both, Chihping finished his 100 miler in 29 plus hours – smashing his sub-30 hour goal!

Later that day we returned and we were lucky enough to see Anil and Rajeev (and their pacer Vinod) cross the finish line hand in hand.

It was almost as great as when I finished….almost 🙂

Later that day we all reunited at the awards dinner (great burritos). There we picked up our belt buckles.

I did this race about a month ago. I didn’t get in the training I really wanted, but was coming off some nice races. But, of course, 4 days before the race I was on business travel and was hit with the worst head cold. I ended up spending the Wednesday before the race in bed for 20 hours. I tried a 5k jog Friday, but felt horrible. So against better judgement, I started the race Saturday. I never felt good the entire race. It was hot, hilly and hard. I went out a bit fast, probably staying with the 50km runners. I had dressed too warm and was pealing off layers before the 10km mark. The head cold was still with me – I felt tired and was not getting the O2 I wanted. After awhile my friend Chihping came up behind me and we ran together for awhile. But after awhile he left me and I ran by myself.

Before mile 20 I started throwing up. I began to wonder if starting a hot hilly 50 mile trail run while sick and pushing through the heat and hills while throwing up was really all that smart:)

I struggled on and by the time I came to the 50km point, I asked the finish line crew if I stopped would that be a 50km finish, or a DNF for the 50 mile. I was told it would be a DNF…so off I went (knock on wood I have never DNF’d a run). After awhile, this runner comes behind me and cracks a joke. We start joking back and forth – his name was Mario. I started running with him and we had a good conversation that was taking my mind off my pain/illness. About 2 miles later some guy comes behind us yelling “Move aside you youngsters and let this old man through.” Both Mario and I laughed and started talking to the runner. His name was Lon Monroe (he was a runner in the movie “Run For The Soul” stating, as he was cooling off in the river during the Western States, that it was “better than sex…well at this moment anyway”. The three of us ran together. While we each helped each other, there was no doubt I benefited the most from these two super nice runners.

I had wanted to go sub-9 hours, but finished in 10:07. Middle of the pack, but considering I almost switched to the 50km option 1/2 way through the race, I was happy to have completed the whole 50 miles. That also qualified me for the lottery for the 2008 Western States 100.

I had to travel to Switzerland again on business. Because of the timing I was able to enter the Inferno Half-Marathon. (my 2006 race report is below). This year was their 10 year anniversary, so in addition to the grueling morning half-marathon up the Alp, there was an additional 8km evening run up the final climbs of the Alp.

The Inferno starts in Lauterbrunnen, a “valley” in the Swiss Alps in the Canton of Bern at around 1900 feet, runs up the Alps past the city of Murren and finishes at nearly 10,000 feet on top of the Schilthorn (anyone who has seen the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” has seen all these sights including Piz Gloria, the “lab” on top of the mountain that is the actual finish line). The race begins at the base of a famous waterfall (which has a path leading up to the mid-point so people can actually look out through the falls, which we did the night before the race….in hindsight should have saved my legs and forgone that climb).

Leading up to the race, I was still recovering from my TRT 100 mile run. Then, that week in Switzerland, work became very busy and stressful with many early morning and late evening days (see….I am already lining up my excuses).

Basel:

The day before the race, I met my friend Mathis who was my “coach” for the Inferno 2006 (he was from Switzerland and actually suggested the race for me last year. He helped me with training and literally would drive to the top of training hills climbs to meet me with water). On the way from Basel, we decided to stop at Bern to take a look at the city – it was beautiful! Bern means “bear” and they have these two wonderful bears at the enterance to the city (here is one):

More of Bern:

Then we stopped at Interlaken for dinner (a WONDERFUL part of Switzerland):

Then it was off to Lauterbrunnen for the race. The morning of the race, Mathis helped sign me in and get me ready. I was pretty nervous – I knew my legs were still not 100% due to the TRT 100 miles (161km) race. But I thought perhaps I might do OK as last year I didn’t have that 100 mile base. Then again, last year I didn’t have that 100 mile fatigue either. I told friends that I did not expect to do as well as last year due to doing 100 miles less than 3 weeks earlier, but deep down I hoped to improve on my 2006 time.

The crowd lined up at the start at 10:00am. It was a larger field of around 450 runners. Here is my coach and friend Mathis.

At the start, we started running along the streets of Lauterbrunnen and within 2km, entered a tree covered path that snaked back and forth up hill. I decided to try and start faster hoping that my recent trail running would help me hold off challengers on the steep inclines. Mistake! By 5km, I my legs were heavy, I was breathing hard and people were passing me. This was not as fun as 2006.

Soon we entered a forested area and the trail became just barely single track. As we went up that, I knew that today was not to be my best Inferno day. Finally we exited the forested and headed to the 10km mark at the entrance of the village of Murren.

In Murren, I was hurting and thoughts of continuing to run were competing against other options:

But I kept going. Soon, we left Murren and begin climbing the first face of the Schilthorn. Let me tell you – this hurt, it was hard but it was BEAUTIFUL:

Climbing the faces, I was fighting to keep going forward. Last year, it was difficult, but this year seemed so f’n hard. Finally, I just had to stop and breath. My legs had nothing in them. I couldn’t believe it – I had less than 3 miles to run, but it seemed like a marathon.

I kept going up over the faces. Then, approached the base of the Schilthorn peak – a rocky, Mars-looking cap that climbed 1800 feet in about 1 mile. It was not fun.

I pushed on, letting anyone pass me who felt better than me. At this stage, that was probably the whole field….old men and women, children, a three-toed sloth and a couple of granite boulders being pushed uphill by the wind flew past me as if I were standing still…which I was at times. Finally, I approached Piz Gloria, the finish line.

I crossed the finish line and collapsed. I was 25 minutes slower than last year and my finishing place was more than double. After a conference call with my boss at the top of the Schilthorn (yes, even at a James Bond villian’s lab, I can not escape work), I took pictures in front of the Eiger and other peaks and then headed back to Murren for lunch.

After a nice lunch meal of Raclette (kind of hash browns with melted Alpine cheese and apples) and a couple strong beers I relaxed. It was over….or was it? Oops – it was the anniversary year and I had entered the night run too! It started at 8:07 (20:07) and went from Murren to the peak again. I was afraid it was to be chilly at the peak so I layered about 3 running tops, a head cover and arm warmers. BIG MISTAKE!.

Evening run starting gun:

I was surprised, after suffering the 1/2 marathon in the morning, my legs pretty good. I was actually in the top 25 or so by the first face, but my layering was catching up. Rather than being chilly, it was very warm. I started peeling off layers as I gulped water at aid stations. By the time I got 4km into it, I was down to my sweat-drenched bottom layer and losing places like crazy as people passed me. Then, I got a bit of second wind and raced past about a dozen people until the base of the Schilthorn. Up the base went, but that was it for me. My legs had no more. It was a slow jog/walk/crawl as people passed me (even a young kid that was racing). Oh well, after 1 hour 45 minutes (that was over 15 minutes faster than I did the same section that morning) I finished the evening run. All in all a good, if not humbling day of 30km’s of running at high Swiss Alps altitude..

I ran this 50km race in the Santa Cruz mountains. I didn’t know what to expect as I wasn’t feeling 100% and only touched down at SFO from NYC the evening before.

I arrived at the start and paid my entry fee….a $25 donation to the Audubon Society. The race limit was 70 people, but there were some withdrawals prior to the start and I believe around 60 people started the race.

I put together my water and fuel bottles. It looked like it could get warm, so I decided to carry two bottles and slipped a third into my behind-the-back carrier. I also slipped into the pack some Gu’s and a small baggie of electrolyte tablets. In my carrier belt’s case, I slipped my camera. I went to put on my sunglasses but realized I had left my strap at home. The glasses seemed to stay put while I jogged, so I decided to wear them without the strap.

Steve, the race director, gave a good info meeting and we were handed maps. I was looking around for familar faces. Anil was running the race too (he confirmed it the night before at the party). But, I didn’t see him. Soon the runners crossed the road to the official start line. At the last minute, I saw Vinod (who had paced Raj and Anil at TRT100). Eventually I did see Anil out on the course – he had missed the start by about a minute.

The race started with a decline into the valley. I started conservatively but was passing a few people here and there. At the base, we crossed the stream (it was almost dry) and then started up a short climb. By now I was sweating and my glasses were sliding down. Finally I took them off and shoved them into my pocket – next time I won’t forget the strap (I ended up giving them to the race photographer who delivered them to me at the finish line. Thanks Jim).

As we continued to climb, I continued to pass a few runners. Soon, it was a downhill section and I caught up with the lead woman. We started chatting and I found out her name was Beth. Pretty soon, the two of us came up on another runner named Adam. The three of us ran together for a while chatting and enjoying the race.

Soon though we began to climb….and climb…and climb. It was here I decided to back off the pace a bit. I was worried that I was pushing my pace a bit too hard as I still had the RDL 100 mile race to run in 2 weeks. So I slowed down and let Beth and Adam disappear. Soon, 2 other runners passed me – one was the eventual race winner Jun.

After awhile I finally reached the top of the climb and then started running down some switchbacks. It was really pretty in the forest. I was picking up my pace some more. Eventually, I exited the trail and crossed over to a new trail. Here, I started passing the early start runners (runners who predicted a slower time were allowed to start one hour earlier). I came across Padma and asked her if the aid station was ahead. She confirmed that it was and I continued on. Here I started passing a couple other runners too. Finally, I entered the aid station.

The volunteers were great – they grabbed all 3 bottles and filled them. It was starting to warm up so I filled my bandana with ice. Then I was off running again.

I started after this runner Mike. He and I were changing places back and forth. As he moved ahead of me, he saw some friends approaching and went to wave at them. Then his toe hit a rock and down he went – I tried to reach for him but no good. We all stopped and helped him up – he was fine and took off again. I decided to let him go and soon a runner in a bright green top Jim caught me. He and I were also changing places – me passing him on the downhills, he passing me on the uphills.

Eventually I exited the trail a little ahead of Jim – but there were two trail options. I started down the wrong one, but Jim corrected me. So off again on the correct trail. He and I went off up the new trail and exited the forest area into the hills. The trail widened quite a bit and the views opened up.
The view from the hills.

After climbing the open hills awhile, a new trail emerged and down it plunged into another forested area. As I ran down I passed a runner who told me that I was in 7th place! Wow! That surprised me as I had assumed I was somewhere in the top 20 (closer to 20). I took the downhill at a real fast pace and as I got to the bottom, I saw two runners in the distance. One was Mike (who had fallen in front of me) and ahead of him was Adam.

I started off after them and within a mile caught them both on a downhill. I flew past them as we neared a lake and kept going. They shouted at me…I had missed the turn! So, I went back and soon caught up with them again. The three of us entered the aid station together. Again, the great volunteers grabbed my bottles and filled them up. I stuffed down some Gu and some boiled potatoes with salt. I also re-filled my bandana with ice. I didn’t realize it at the time, but this aid station was actually the same check-in table from that morning (top photo). I was just approaching it from the opposite side.

Then Mike took off and then Adam. I grabbed one more drink and followed them. Soon, I passed Adam. I caught Mike and he commented that I looked fresh as a daisy…I replied that he was correct, except the daisy was 10 days old, dried and pressed inside the covers of a book 🙂

We ended up running together for awhile. Once again, he was faster on the uphills, I was faster on the downhills. I thought the aid station had been around mile 17 – but he told me that it was actually 19.5 miles. As we ran higher, the views became more fantastic and the trail crossed this fenced overlook. I stopped to snap a quick photo.

As we descended to a small lake, I left Mike about 30 seconds behind me. Then it was through a parking lot and up this wide, soft, dusty, open trail that went up. I continued to climb and could see the valley to my right:

At the top of the climb, the scenery changed. It was black due to a recent grass fire. In the distance I saw a runner. I started picking up my pace to see if I could catch him. Soon I did – his name was Michael and I recalled him as the early race leader. He mentioned that he had bonked – I commented that I was probably only a few minutes away from doing the same. Then I passed him and saw 2 more runners in the distance. I started off to see if I could catch them.

The trail went down into a short forested area and emerged at a cross road. I could see no race markings and had no idea where to run. I called out but there was no one around. I had no choice, I turned around and began running back to see if I had missed a turn. Soon Mike approached. He had run this race before and told me where to go – so I followed him.

The trail started dropping down as we headed towards the 25 mile aid station. Two other runners were heading back – not sure if they were on the right trail. Mike corrected them and they all headed off. Soon, Jun came running towards us. Then Beth in second place overall. Since we were about 1 mile from the turn-around, the 2 of them had put up a 2 mile lead on us.

We all entered the aid station together. Again, the great volunteers filled my bottles. I was really getting hot and my legs were beginning to tire. Mike took off running. Michael then entered the aid station – he had bounced back. He left before me. I headed after him.

The trail then started back up the long climb. Wow! It was getting very hot and my legs were getting very tired. Soon Michael faded ahead into the distance as I entered the grass fire area (it was a slightly different path on the way back).

I kept running but I was really hot. I was pouring water over my head to stay cool. I passed the marathon point around 4 hours 30 minutes. Soon, I could see the aid station in the distance. I ran down past a small lake. I was certain that I was going to be passed at this point but could only see one runner behind me quite a distance off.

I started running up the path to the aid station. I don’t know why, but I thought this was around mile 29 or 30. But I got to the aid station and Jun and Michael congratulated me. “Is this the end?” I asked. They laughed and told me it was. Thank God!

My finish time was 5 hours 40 minutes 1 second. I was 5th overall, 4th male …of course, awards only went 3 deep 🙂

I decided to hang around and watch Anil finish. He came across with a nice smile:

In 2006, I had to travel to the city of Basel in Switzerland on business so decided to find a run. I asked my friend Mathis to look on-line for me as he was from Switzerland. He responded with the Inferno Half Marathon. It is actually a few hours outside of Basel, near Interlaken, Switzerland. Mathis became a huge help – actually driving me to local hills during lunch for training runs, pacing me, setting up the arrangements in Switzerland and driving us to and from the race. Basically he did everything. He became my “Coach”.

This is from the race website comments:Lauterbrunnen (795 metres above sea level) – Mürren (1640) – Schilthorn (2970).Distance 21.097 km, climb 2175 m).The starting line is at the Jungfrau camping site, directly below the Staubbach falls, the famous landmark in the Lauterbrunnen valley. The first 11 kilometres are quite “harmless” with approx. 800 altitude difference, a mere warm-up. Just after the Sportzentrum in Mürren the competitors meet their first challenge at the Höhenlücke After passing the more difficult, steeper Kanonenrohr, a two kilometre long, flat stony terrain awaits the athletes before they attempt the approx. 1,5kilometre finishing climb up to the Schilthorn-peak, overcoming another fiendish 400 metres altitude difference” The finish is at the “lab” of the villian in James Bond “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”.

My comments: There is no doubt this was a tough race. You already start at a higher elevation (granted not Everest, but about 2400 feet higher than I normally train). The scenery was beautiful. But, it was very intimidating. During meetings the week pre-date almost everyone with whom I spoke in Switzerland about the race couldn’t believe it – two outright told me that I would not be able to do it.

If you get a chance, rent James Bond: On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The mountain and lab at the top of the mountain was the race finish. That will give you some idea.

The first 10K were tough and it was actually warmer in the valley then I expected. The start took place near a waterfall and then wound up town streets. It then climbed into a forested area with tough grades – about King’s Mountain grade (a local cycling training hill).

After exiting the forest, we ran rocky paths until entering the town of Murren half way up the Alp. There I saw Mathis and Cori and Erika, my support team. They were great – cheering me on. Then, I had to leave them behind as I turned off the streets and up what appeared to be a straight wall up the mountain.

The two walls leading to the peak were very hard. Long, steep, and very rugged with loose rock, cold wind but still direct sun. I was sucking in air/oxygen. Then near the 10 mile part aid stations started having cola – that helped. I actually ended up passing people on the final 1 mile (that gained about 1300 feet). That mile was unbelievable – one actually used hand and feet to climb and, at one point, it was a sheer drop 6000 feet below on either side as runners crossed a rocky “bridge” to the peak. In plain view (although with peaks still a bit high above us) were many famous Swiss Alps as the Eiger.

When I finished, I had assumed that maybe I took around #200 out of I believe over 300. But I was actually 85th (out of nearly 370). That shocked and pleased me.

I had been told that a very good finishing time is about the same as one’s marathon p.r. I was about 60 seconds away from mine so, again, pleased.

Only 2 weeks after Ironman Austria. My legs were still tired. I did this as a fundraiser to raise funds for my the fight against breast cancer. A disease that my mom was then fighting (she since lost that fight). The course is beautiful but hard. It rained – and I mean rained – the whole race. My slowest Ironman finish – but was a good experience.
The swim took place in a mountain lake – two loops. There was the normal kicking, but overall my swim was not eventful except that my googles seemed to almost gouge into my eyes – I had to keep re-adjusting them. By the end of the first loop, I almost had a headache. I was very thankful when I finished the swim.

I exited the lake dripping wet and ran down to the tent – getting even more wet in the downpour rain. The bike course is hilly and has some decent climbs. I felt good the first loop, but the second loop I had almost no energy left in my legs. I think the recent IM in Austria combined with the cool rain had sapped me of my energy. I went into the transition tent at the end of the bike looking forward to some dry feet.
I changed socks and stepped outside the tent (through a waterfall of rain water pouring down the tent) and right into a huge puddle. So much for dry feet.
The run is two loops also. It passes by the old Lake Placid ski jump. I jogged and walked most of it finally finishing in a bit over 12 hours. I downed some pizza at the end and headed back to my hotel. That was Ironman #4 for me.

Ironman Austria:

I went to Austria on business and decided to do this race. I was training hard and had a sub-10 hour goal in mind. However, the week before I was traveling through Germany, Netherlands and Austria…and two days before the race I came down with a horrible cold from airlines and hotels.
Despite that I did my best bike split ever in an Ironman race. The course is beautiful with a ride through the Austrian Alps. At the pre-race meeting, I got to meet IM legend Mark Allen (had him autograph my race program).

The swim is in a lake with a finish in a canal! As you swim up the canal it was full some algae (a little murky). I ended up with a sinus infection from hell after this event – blood and “gunk” flowed out of my sinuses and nose while on a flight to the Philippines about a week after this event. But – I still loved the Race.

The run is mostly flat and is a double loop course. It runs along a beach (topless in true European fashion which converts runners into spectators) and also along a narrow canal in the shade. Then, it takes the runners through the new and old parts of the town of Klagenfurt with cobblestones and a large dragon fountain (the town’s mascot).

I love this race – just wish I had been feeling well for it 🙂

Almost immediately after crossing the finish line at Ironman Florida last year, I could hardly wait until my next Ironman. Thanks to a lucky draw in a lottery (over 3000 entries for 200 spots), Ironman Canada 2002 became my next race. As with all races, I set out my goals. First, I wanted to better my 11:26:00 finish time at Ironman Florida. Second, I wanted to try to break 11 hours. I discussed the race with a friend Patrick who had completed the 2001 IM Canada with a time of 10:16:38 – which gave him 4th in his age group and a coveted Kona slot. I pestered him for comments and help and even ended up borrowing his bike case for the trip. Based upon our conversations, I felt that the sub-11 time was a good goal. Then, as my training progressed and I did a few races, I managed to do my first sub-5 hour half Ironman so I added a new goal of trying to get as close to a 10:30:00 as possible. I admitted that this was kind of a dream, but I always like to add a best-case goal also.

With those goals in mind, I arrived in Penticton, Canada three days before the race. We decided to fly into Seattle and pick up a rental car and drive the rest of the way. Although it is still a long drive, I recommend it as it is very beautiful scenery. We traveled through some deep forests and then entered the Canadian mountains alongside fast flowing rivers. Penticton itself is a rather large vacation community lying along side two main lakes: Lake Sasha and the larger Lake Okanagan. The swim start (site of the largest Ironman mass start) is on the shore of Lake Okanagan. We checked into our hotel – the Mediterranian Inn, which is about 1/2 mile from the swim start and lies on teh final out-and-back of the run course. This inn is relatively cheap, clean and convenient – but like all hotels, it is booked nearly a year in advance (again, I had a bit of luck in that I called to check on a room 10 minutes after they received a cancellation).

The next day (Friday) I woke up early and grabbed my wetsuit to try out the lake. I wanted to test my shoulder as my left rotator cuss was pretty sore. Two days earlier I was sitting on my kitchen floor transferring contents from one gym bag to another and as I reached for a pair of socks, I felt a sharp pain in the shoulder. It had been sore ever since. There were already 50 to 100 people swimming and I just jumped in. The water was cool, but not bad and my shoulder, although stiff, didn’t hurt too much. It was clear and clean and I had a nice short swim. After that, I went for some breakfast and coffee. Of course, this was at Hog’s Breath. Hog’s Breath is the mecca for triathletes around Ironman Canada. The line goes out the door, but the food is good and prices aren’t bad. As we drank our coffee, I watched the city streets – they were overflowing with zero-body fat bodies and hundreds of thousands of dollars in bike equipment. After breakfast, we strolled over to the athlete expo. Here, there were plenty of vendor tents set up in the local park. We went into the Official Merchandise tent and came across fellow member Sandra Liaw who was also chosen in the IM Canada lottery and was about to tackle her first Ironman. After leaving much of our hard earned American money at the expo, my family and I headed over to the race headquarters (at the local hotel/casino) to check in.

At Florida, I was literally in and out of registration in under 10 minutes. Here, it took about 45 minutes. But eventually, I had my swim cap, timing chip, race numbers, bags, instructions, etc. Afterwards, we went back over to the expo where I received a complimentary ART treatment on my shoulder. I never had ART before, but it really helped. With that, we left the race site and headed back to the hotel. There is a playground right next door to the hotel, so we took Brandon there to play around on the swings and slides. After that, while Brandon was taking a nap, I decided to bike the course a bit. I went out the first 5 miles of the bike and then turned around. Weather was warm – about 90 degrees, and a bit breezy. I was a bit worried about the weather. Hot weather doesn’t really affect my rides (in fact I like it a bit warm), but it can really slow down my run times.

The next day, Saturday, I again did a short swim. My shoulder was better, but still a bit stiff. I decided to get one more ART treatment that day. Those volunteers were great. After another breakfast at the Hog’s Breath, we went to the mandatory pre-race meeting. This was held in the park. The Man – Dave Scott – gave a short talk and then did a q&a session. After that they showed a video of the race course. By the end, my adrenalin was coursing. In addition, the temperatures seemed ever hotter than the previous day and I was even more worried. I knew that sleep would be difficult that night.

Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel room where I filled my transition bags and did a final check on my bike. My swim-to-bike bag had the following: helmet, gloves, arm warmers in case it was cold after the swim; shoes and socks (I dusted the inside of the socks with baby powder to ease entry with wet feet); glasses; and my race number on a race belt. In my bike-to-run bag I had the following: 2 small Gu packages; a doo-rag; my shoes and a second pair of socks in case my other ones were wet from the ride. On my bike I had a Gu flask filled with Gu, a small bottle with salt tablets, two Power Bars cut up and lined up on the top bar, one water bottle filled with water and one bottle filled with Gu2O (I had experimented on training rides with this and really liked it); and two spare sew-ups and Co2 cartridges. Also, I had photocopied the topographical map of the bike course and reduced it to about the size of a credit card. I taped this to the top of my aerobars so I could always know what would be coming up. I then went down to the bike check-in, got the Ironman bike check sticker on my bike, and racked my bike. I placed my transition bags on their appropriate hooks on the racks and tried to memorize their locations. I even did a few practice jogs from the water to my bike bag and from my bike to my run bag.

That evening I went out to a place called Villa Rosa for dinner. They had an all-you-can eat diner for CAD$21 (about $14 US). It was very good and I ate a lot of pasta (they had about 8 different types). That night I did a final check on my special needs bags. Their contents were as follows: Bike – 1 flask-sized Gu packet; 1 extra CO2 canister taped to an extra Power Bar; and a huge glob of Goober & Grape peanut butter and jelly in two baggies (I use this in training rides as my fun fuel source). In the run bag: 1 flask-sized Gu packet and a old t-shirt in case things weren’t going well and sunset was approaching/passed at the half-marathon point.

That was it. I played with Brandon a bit and finally settled down for sleep. In my head, I thought about a message of support that I received from fellow member Steve. He told me that half the battle was all in my mind – and to try to enjoy the energy. The battle in my head was going something like this: Weak Part of my Mind: “Have I trained enough? Can I handle the heat? Are the hills as tough as I hear? etc.” The Stronger Part of my Mind: “Good questions. Let’s forget about this thing and grab a brew.” Weak Part: “OK”. With that, both parts of my mind slipped out for a cold one and I fell asleep.

When the alarm went off the next morning, I jumped out of bed and started the coffee maker. I always have a pre-race cup of coffee. By this time, both parts of my mind had returned and, still a bit giddy from their night on the town, they watched with amusement as I started to get ready for the race. This included a hot shower, final shave of the legs and scalp and application of the SF Tri Club tattoos and some red Timex Ironman “M-dot” tattoos. I slipped into my SF Tri Club tri-suit, grabbed my swim gear and headed out the door. I walked outside to the parking lot. I noticed another triathlete staring up at the sky. I looked up and noticed that the early morning sky was filled with dark rain clouds. The other triathlete commented that it had rained during the night and I noticed that the ground was wet. Well this eased my concerns regarding the heat a bit – but I wasn’t looking forward to 112 cold, wet and windy miles of cycling or 26.2 miles of cold and wet running. With those thoughts, both parts of my mind made a quick exit back to a warm bed to leave me to do my second Ironman mindlessly.

Final preparation went fairly quick. I made a last minute check on my bike, inflated the tires a bit more, and chatted with some other triathletes. Then, with about 30 minutes to start, I decided to slip into my wetsuit. After using generous amounts of Bodyglide and Pam, I got into my wetsuit and pulled on my swim caps. I decided that I didn’t need the cold water cap, but used two latex ones. I had my old IM Florida cap on first, then my goggles and then the IM Canada cap on top. I always like to have a cap on last in case my goggles get hit or kicked as this tends to keep them on my head.

Like a lemming, I began to follow the crowd to water’s edge. There I donned my goggles and started a practice swim. I stopped when they started broadcasting Canada’s national anthem “O Canada” – sung by a former Miss Penticton. Then we began to lineup. I noticed that a lot of people lined up towards the left of the buoy line. I decided to try a direct path and lined up a bit more to the right. I positioned myself in the upper 25%. I would normally place myself a bit more towards mid-pack, but a lot of people seemed to be hanging out on shore. We waited – a quick prayer – a canyon “BOOM” and Ironman Canada 2003 officially started.
I find that in the first 5 to 10 minutes of a swim, my breathing is a bit rushed and it takes a while for me to fall into a relaxed breathing pattern. For what ever reason, I never had any breathing problems during this swim. From the initial stroke to the very end, my breathing remained relaxed and steady. This also allowed me to concentrate on technique. I mentally forced myself to extend my arm strokes, rotate my body, maintain head position, etc. (Thanks Cristin!) All the while I made sure that my finger tips were within an inch of someone’s toes. The swim is 2.4 miles and I drafted people for at least 2.35 miles.

The swim route is a long triangle. as we swam along I noticed two things. First my position seemed about perfect – I was following right along the buoy line, but was never really crowded. Second, there was minimal kicks or hits. Actually, for such a large swim start (2040 swimmers) I was surprised with the low amount of body contact. However, as we began to approach the first turn (a house boat) I began to notice that the body contact was increasing a bit. Then, all the sudden, I caught a foot across my left eye – it felt like Bruce Lee was swimming in front of me. It stunned me for a second and I expected the goggle to come off or at least fill with water. But the goggle was actually kicked into my face more, so very little water entered and I kept swimming. About 2 minutes later, BAM! – Bruce Lee returned for a second kick….same eye! Wow, I know its inadvertent, but this was getting annoying. Luckily, once we made the first turn, the field spread out a bit more and I avoided the kicks.

The next triangle “side” went fairly quick and before I knew it, we were turning back towards shore. I was feeling really comfortable and thought maybe I should try to pick up the pace a bit. I tried to pass some people while maintaining good form. After a while, I could see the lights of the start area. As we approached shore, I was thinking that I had a slow swim. I was never out of breath and never felt like I was really pushing it that hard. In Florida I did a 1:13 and some change and actually predicted that I’d be a bit slower here ..maybe a 1:15. (I had worked on my technique more, but I had put in less miles in the water and thought the lack of salt water bouyancy would hurt my time). I felt the sand and stood up and glanced at my watch – 1:07:30! WOW!!!! What a way to start an Ironman – I already had nearly an 8 minute cushion!

I exited the water and crossed the timing chip pad (official time was 1:07:57). I had my wetsuit unzipped and pulled down to may waist by the time I reached the “strippers”. I fell on my butt and they grabbed the suit and pulled it off of my legs. I grabbed it and headed for my swim bag. (Here – I want to mention just how fast and easy it is to get out of the new QR Superfull. If you are looking for a high quality race wetsuit, I recommend this one.

I knew exactly where it was thanks to my practice runs and headed straight down the aisle…and ran past my bag. I looked around and said “S$%*!” Then I saw it and grabbed it. I jogged over to a planter near the changing tent. I pulled out my shoes and socks and slipped into these. I pulled on my gloves and snapped on my race belt. Slipped on my sun glasses and snapped my helmet. I stashed my wetsuit into my bag and tossed it in a pile and headed over to the bikes. I was really happy at my bike racking position. I exited the gate from the swim into the bike area and my bike was dead center in front of me at the end so it was easy to find – no other bikes on one side so plenty of room to get to the bike. I pulled the bike out of the rack and jumped on…and then jumped off, remembering that we had to push our bikes out of the rack area until after crossing the timing pad. T1 – 3:55.

I ran with my bike and crossed the pad. Then I again got on my bike and started pedaling. My legs felt good and I was soon pushing a nice 22-23mph down main street. We followed the bike route lined with screaming spectators. Penticton is awesome…almost every citizen comes out to cheer on the athletes. After a few miles, we were out of the town area and passing along the shore of Sasha Lake. It was cool, but not too cold. Every now and then I felt some cross wind gusts against my wheels, but not too bad. About 10 miles into the ride, we hit the first “climb”. It was McClaren Hill which was short, but woke up the thighs. After cresting this hill, it was some rolling terrain and then some nice downhills that let me break the 40mph mark. The bikes were pretty thick, but I was passing people here and there. I had really concentrated on my bike training and felt that it was paying off.

As we approached an aid station at around mile 15 a cyclist in front of me to the right took a water bottle and shot right in towards my front wheel. I shouted and veered left, just avoiding her. This caused me to cross the yellow line for a second before I could swerve back over – I looked around hoping that no official saw this..or if they did that they saw the reason why I crossed over. Anyway, I wasn’t penalized and I kept on going. I had just started drinking and took my first bit of Gu and a PowerBar wedge. Pretty soon, the roads changed from rolling and curves to some flat straight sections. I was in my drops and pushing a nice 22 mph pace. All the sudden I heard a “Bang” behind me. Luckily it wasn’t a flat. One of CO2 cartridges had worked its way loose and dropped off of my X-Lab seat rack and fell right onto my rear tire where it bounced right back up and smacked the X-Lab before bouncing off to the side of the road.

The ride continued along the way for awhile. At around 30 miles, I had finished my first water bottle and tossed it at an aid station. I grabbed a replacement. The water bottles weren’t true bike water bottles, but spring water in plastic bottles with sports caps. They worked fine and fit pretty well (a little loose) in the racks. After about 40 or so miles, we turned right and started up a grade. I knew that this was the infamous Richter Pass. This is the pass that makes IM Canada famous. I have heard horror stories about it and had done a lot of hill work in training to prepare for it. Fellow PEP Willy Nevin and I had put in a lot of miles in the Peninsula doing King’s Mtn; Old La Honda, Alpine, etc. Plus we did the 5 passes of the Death Ride, so I figured that I had a pretty good hill base. The map showed Richter to about 7 miles long with an elevation gain of about 1500 feet. This was similar to King’s Mtn down south, so I figured that it would be a workout, but do-able. Let me tell anyone who is considering doing IM Canada – do King’s Mtn a few times and Richter will seem like a incline up a driveway. I could not believe how overrated this climb turned out to be. It is not even a straight climb. Its a series of small climbs, broken up with flats and even a downhill. We crested Richter before I realized that we had finished it.

However, something interesting did happen going up Richter. the week before I left for Canada, I was on a training ride and noticed a clicking sound. I had heard it before and knew that it was my chain. I had looked over my chain, but never noticed anything. Well, after my last training ride, I finally turned my bike over and examined the chain link by link and finally discovered that one plate on one link was peeling away from the pin. I could just imagine going up Richter and having the chain pop at that part. I would crash down, probably falling over and have to wait for a support van. Needless to say, I got this repaired right away. Now, fast forward back to the second Richter climb. Two people in front of me a guy all the sudden jerked to a stop and just barely maintained his bike. He stepped off and I saw his face fall into complete disappointment as he lifted one end of his broken chain. But for the grace of God….

On the back side of Richter, I was able to crack the 50 mph mark going down the hill. Winds were out and occasionally the clouds would open up and douse some heavy rain. This made some the curves on the descents a bit tricky (especially if the wind was gusting at the same time). But overall, the weather was fine. After Richter we continued out along the country roads. People were even out here cheering us on. The road was between these beautiful mountain peaks, The scenery was awesome. One thing that wasn’t great was that the roads weren’t closed to traffic – so fast trucks and cars would pass within inches of the riders.

As we continued, I hit the first hill of a series of 7 that lie between the 50 and 65 mile mark. I had read that these are lovingly referred to as “The Seven Bitc%^&”. But, again, they were not bad at all. Next, I came to the out and back section which takes riders to their special needs bags. I had heard that this section can way on riders’ minds as they keep seeing riders coming back but never seem to get to the turnaround. I prepared myself for this and started cranking. It was here that the men leaders started coming back. Boy they looked fast. I picked up the pace a bit and made another turn which brought us to the Special Needs bags. I shouted my number and was handed my bag (the volunteers are AWESOME!). I grabbed my bag and road about 20 feet before stopping. I pulled out my Gu packet, my peanut butter and my Powerbar and stashed these in my rear pocket. I tossed the bag back to a volunteer and headed off again.

The road did continue for awhile before reaching the turn around. Once I finally hit this, I told myself “Just hammer a bit until Yellow Lake”. Yellow Lake was the next climb and I figured that if I could maintain fast pace, I would push the climb. After that, there was a lot of downhill to help me back to town. I couldn’t believe my time. I knew that based upon the last few years I was right smack in Kona qualifying range. “Just don’t blow it Alan. Keep focused.” I told myself out loud. I started to take the road back out towards Yellow Lake.

I had been watching the calves of riders as I passed them or as I was passed. I was looking for any number in the 35-39 range as these were my competitors for the Kona slots. Throughout the ride, I was surprised as I keep seeing very few in my range. Now, at about mile 80 I saw a “P” on a calf. Wow! A female pro rider – I never race with the pro’s and here I was passing one. 5 miles later – another “P”! Two pro’s – wow!. I continued on towards Yellow Lake. The climb started and I began spinning. Once again, the climb was a lot easier than I expected. I did find this harder than Richter – but I attribute that the the 90 miles behind me. Anyway – Yellow Lake climb is awesome because it is packed with spectators. They are on both sides of the road and thick. Almost everyone is ringing cowbells and clapping and shouting and are within 12 inches of the riders. It has got to be the most Tour de France-like experience ever.

I pushed the climb a bit and managed to pass quite a few riders going up. I crested the hill and expected to be able to coast downhill to rest a bit…but it was flat section for quite awhile. Now I was getting a bit tired. At around mile 100 I was really hoping for a downhill. My pace had fallen off to where I was having trouble maintaining a 15mph pace on the flats. At mile 105 I grabbed a banana from a volunteer. Within a minute or two, I felt better and picked back up. I tried to maintain a 20 mph pace. Before the race, David Aleya promised me dinner if I broke a 5:30 on the bike – and I wanted that dinner. So I pushed more. Finally downhill! I cranked it down hill and the next thing I knew I saw a large sign welcoming people to Penticton. I knew that I still had about 10 miles to the finish line. It would be close, but I thought that the bad moments between miles 100 and 105 cost me my dinner. We entered the town and started the final ride on main street. I could see the expo park ahead when my timer crossed over the 5:30 mark. Oh well. I kept pushing it and people were yelling all along the route. I entered the transition area. Total bike time was 5:33:41 with a bike average of slightly over 20 mph.

We were allowed to ride the bikes all the way through the transition area, so I rode straight back. I jumped off my bike and two people grabbed it immediately. I ran to my run bag and found it immediately. I had my helmet, shoes and gloves off by the time I opened the bag. I emptied my tri-seat back pocket into the bag. I grabbed my running shoes and slipped them on. I decided to leave my glasses with the bike gear. I stashed my doo-rag in my bike pocket. I slipped my race number around so the number was facing forward and started running. As I passed the transition tent I felt my first urge to pee since exiting the water. So I took a quick run into the tent where they had a long trough set up for the men. Then I ran back out and crossed the timing chip. T2: 3:00.

I started to run and was a bit disheartened at how heavy my legs felt and I had 26 miles in front of me before I could see them again.

I had a goal of going between 3:30 and 3:45 on the run and knew that this would probably require me doing the full marathon without stopping. But my legs didn’t feel like that would be possible. So I made myself a deal. “Just make it to the 10 mile mark before walking.” So I kept running. I was shocked to see my second mile split to be just under 14 minutes. I had this stupid habit of going out too fast in runs, but my legs felt so heavy I had no idea I was running sub-7:00’s – I would have guessed a pace closer to 9 minute miles. This actually made me feel a bit better. I could slow down to an 8:00 to 9:00 minute mile pace and still make my goal.

The course started flat, but soon we were on rolling hills. One thing about the run course – it may have some nice scenery, but it is not the fastest course. Pretty soon we came to McClaren Hill (the first climb of the bike). Thankfully we passed it, but ended up going up another climb. I just kept running. Soon the road leveled off and we were running along the shore of Sasha Lake. he weather had actually grown a bit warm and I figured that it was now over 80 degrees. I was at about the 5 mile point when the first leaders came running back. The leader had a huge lead on everyone else – probably at least a minute. Soon 4, then 5 runners, then the first woman. I didn’t know who it was – but I was shocked to see that it wasn’t Lori Bowden. I later discovered that it was Lisa Bentley. About two minutes later Lori Bowden came running up – she looked smooth and relaxed. Both women were in the top 15 or so overall.

I kept running and actually begain to feel a bit better. I was able to pick up the pace a little more and was running between 7:45 and 7:50 miles. Soon we were heading down to the special needs bags. I shouted my number. I grabbed my flask-sized Gu bag and tossed the rest back. About 30 seconds later we came to the turn around. I was feeling pretty good at this point and once I made the turn around, I realized why. As I turned around the cone, a strong headwind greeted me. I didn’t realize it, but I had the help of a nice tailwind those first 13 miles. Oh well. My 1/2 marathon time was a 1:35:29. Wow! If I could do that again, I would just break 10 hours! I couldn’t believe it – that was beyond my wildest dreams. Then another gust of the headwind woke me up. “Don’t give up now. Just go. You are in Kona range – don’t f#$&ing let up.” I was almost yelling at myself.

I kept running. But heading back, the wind and the previous miles were slowing me down. I had yet to walk a step, but my legs were tired. “Just make it to mile 16” I said. Once there, I said “Mile 18”. I continued this way. I came up on another calf with a “P” on it. This was about the third or fourth, but the first male pro. I continued to run, but could tell that I was not going to get anywhere close to the sub-10 barrier. Oh well, if I could just continue I definitely had my sub-10:30:00 goal and anything better was that much closer to Kona.

Once I passed the mile 21 mark, I just knew that I could finish without stopping. My legs hurt like hell and I was tired, but I calculated just under a 10:20:00 finish time. I recalled that in 2002 that would have been good enough for the last spot in my age bracket. WOW! I picked up the pace a bit and tried to push it harder. Pretty soon I was back on Main Street. Ironman Canada has a bit of cruelty – mile 25 is right around the finish line. That means you literally pass the finish line on a short out and back before coming back to actually cross the line.

I kept running and managed to pass about 5 more people heading out. Then we made the turn around and it was a straight path to the finish line. I could hear the announcer and catch a time and/or name. I clearly heard when local pro Michelle Deasy finished. I heard her time and I couldn’t believe it – I was going to break a 10:18:00. This was so much faster than I had ever hoped. I looked ahead and saw a “38” on a calf. I picked up the pace and passed him. Then it was onto the blue carpet. I heard my name and started pumping my fist in the air. I threw my arms up as I crossed the tape. Final marathon time: 3:27:58 (7:57 pace).

Ironman Canada 2003: 10:16:30

As I stopped running, I put my hands on my knees. I was just trying to breath. Someone asked me if I could walk. I couldn’t answer as I was trying to catch my breath. Next thing I knew, my butt was in a wheel chair. It was almost amusing, but I didn’t complain. I didn’t feel like walking anyway – two volunteers draped a finisher’s medal over my neck and handed me my t-shirt and hat. Then the volunteers wheeled me about 20 feet away where I told the volunteers that I thought I could walk. They helped me out of the chair and I made a bee-line towards the massage tent. After a nice massage I went out looking for some early results posted. I held my breath as I read the first 100 names and divisions. Damn! The last time posted for my age was a 10:05:30 and he was 24th (there were 13 slots in my division)! Well, there went any chance of a Kona slot. I never really had anything but a dream of qualifying. But after doing 141 miles thinking that I was in the running, it was a bit disappointing to learn that I wasn’t even close to a roll down slot. I collected my stuff and went to watch other triathletes cross the finish line.

The next day, the last Kona slot in my age went to the 23rd place person with a time of 10:05. Nine people and a bit more than 10 minutes between me and Kona. Not only did I miss my 5:30 meal from David – there was no Kona in my future – that really sucked. But in hindsight – who cares. I did a p.r. by more than an hour and ten minutes. I passed all my goals. Now, I can hardly wait for my next Ironman. There is a chance that I will be doing Ironman Malaysia in February 2003. I am definitely doing Ironman USA at Lake Placid in July 2003. This course is supposed to be a bit harder than IM Canada, but now my goals? Sub-10 hours and Kona…but, as with any Ironman, I will be happy with the Finisher’s t-shirt and medal and anything better than 16:59:59.

One final note – if you read way back up at my first paragraph – you will see that I discussed Ironman Canada with my friend Patrick who did it is 2002. The similarities between our times is amazing: (Patrick / Me): Swim: 1:07:56 / 1:07:57 Bike: 5:33:09 / 5:33:41 Run: 3:29:33 / 3:27:57 Overall: 10:16:35 / 10:16:30.