Umstead 100 MIle Endurance Event

After months of training for the 2008 Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run it was finally here. The weather reports were dreadful predicting severe weather all day and night during the race. Experience has taught me that the weather reports are often incorrect here so I didn't let it get to me. We awoke in the morning to a light rain and then it stopped. It was warm and muggy but we seemed to have dodged the bullet. We got to the start around 5:00 and saw lots of our MTC friends getting ready to run the 100 and we knew that we'd have a great day. Jean was there to crew and pace me so all was going well..

The gun went off at 6:00 and our journey began. Frank stayed with me for the first couple of miles. It was dark and important not to start out too fast. I had my heartrate monitor on as well as my GPS however, it was dark and I had no idea how fast I was going or how high my heartrate was. I felt good however so I was pretty sure that I was not going out too fast. I ran the first loop in 2:45 which was exactly the same as we ran it last year. I was really surprised and had thought I might have gone out a little too fast yet I wanted a slight cushion for the second half. The next 2 laps were each 2:52 (not including time in the lodge getting food) and the 4th loop was 3:13. I had not been keeping track of my total time as I'd been starting each lap at 0:00 so I as surprised that I ended up running the first 50 miles under 11:30. I was a little concerned but felt good and thought, oh well, I've got over 18 hours to complete the next 50 so that was reassuring. I could crawl if I needed to although as it turned out, I wouldn't need to crawl.

My friend Jean was here from NJ to pace me for the 2nd half and I was really looking forward to that. We ran the second half in a little over 15 hours although I'm waiting for the final results to figure out my splits. I thought I would get really tired but amazingly I didn't. The toughest loop was lap 6 and it was a struggle to think about doing 2 more laps. I was having trouble eating and getting enough calories. All that candy and sweets that I love and I just just couldn't get anything down. Everything I ate was contributing to my having diarhea. I got some chicken soup down and felt renewed. I guess I got that second wind that everyone talks about. Running at night was a challenge and it got old after a while and I was looking forward to daylight. You couldn't really think about what time it was and time just sort of stood still. It didn't matter what time it was, you just had to keep moving forward until the journey was done. Daylight came along with some colder winds and rain but it wasnt' too bad. I picked up my rain jacket at the aid station and was comfortable for my last loop.
My only issue during the whole run was a bout of diarhea. I have no idea how many pit stops I had to take but it was more than I care to remember. I'll have to figure out what to eat or more importantly what not to eat during future ultra attempts.
We ran into Frank as we were coming out of the bathroom at the lodge around 1:30 in the morning. He was just finishing his 7th loop and I was finishing my 6th. He was on track to come in under 24 hours. Amazing! He was thrilled but very tired. We got him a pacer and he finished in 23:23! Incredible. When I came in after my 7th lap, he was done!!!!! Literally! He was starting to feel sick and we got nurses over to attend to him. We couldn't stay long however, as I still had to finish my last lap and there was a chance that I'd be able to break 28 hours. I couldn't do much running in that last lap as everytime I tried to run, I'd get diarhea so I pretty much just walked really fast. I was able to pass quite a few stragglers and it felt great to still feel so good. I never had any real downtime out there. I didn't know what to expect but I never expected to have such energy for the entire 100 mile trek.
I still don't think that I'll do another 100 mile event but never say never. I do want to keep doing ultras and hopefully 50 milers and 24 hour events will be enough to challenge me. I certainly learned that I am capable of more than I thought I was so who knows what I'll attempt in the future. Stay turned!