It’s been awhile since I’ve written a post. Since my last post about the Sprouts Mesa Marathon, the Covid19 Pandemic has spread throughout the world and races worldwide have canceled. I was thrilled to hear that a race somewhat local to me was given the go ahead back in May to go on in July. With the understanding that things could change at any moment, I signed up when I saw how nice their pandemic contingency plan was going to work, should the race have to cancel last minute. I was going to get a chance to race this summer, at the Canal Corridor 100.

I hadn’t specifically started training for the 100 mile race until about 2 months prior, but my spring mileage was decent enough that adding the miles wasn’t much of an issue. After signing up, I had my highest mileage months ever in both May and June. I was feeling good.

Since the pandemic has changed the way many things operate, this race also had to make a handful of (minor) changes to allow to continue. One of the changes made was that the race mailed both my bib and my chip (and swag) to me, which arrived the Monday before the race. Only thing I had to do now was remember to pack them both. On the Friday of race weekend, Sara (my fiancee) and I picked up the other crew member coming, my buddy Alex. We drive the 3.5 hours to Akron, OH and made a quick stop to the start line to get a feel of things to come. We decided to eat dinner right there at the start line where there were 2 breweries to enjoy. Afterwards, it was a short drive to the hotel to prepare the race gear for the morning and to get to sleep.

Race morning also offered a slight change to the usual, a social distancing start line. Three runners were allowed to start at a time with times assigned by estimated finish times, the fastest runners started first (to help ensure there would be no bunching). My start time was 5:36am and I was off.

The race start had no usual fanfare. Sure there were some people around to cheer, but not anywhere near a usual race, but no issue. I started off with a nice run down to the towpath where the rest of the miles would be run. The morning was a bit misty, but the temps were very much to my liking. The first few miles just sort of flew by. I would pass a few people and was passed by a handful of folks, but it was a bit of a weird feeling not being in a huge pack so early.

The aid stations also had a small change, the volunteers were all masked and instead of the usual “buffet” of options, each aid station had several prepackaged items that the masked (and gloved) aid station was to hand to each runner. There were still plenty of options.

Somewhere around mile 25 maybe, we hit a wide open levee section. Thankfully this section was still shady and a bit windy on the first time through as it was very exposed, with the river on one side, and a highway on the other. There was nowhere to hide from the sun. This section also shared a little surprise as we suddenly had to climb onto a highway overpass to continue on the towpath. This was an unexpected climb.

The course is 2 out and backs, with the first out being about 35 miles, in the area of Navarre. Once at the turnaround, I was still feeling pretty good. The rain had stopped, so it was starting to warm up, but still not bad. When I hit the levee section, that’s when the sun really hit hard. I knew I’d slow down here, so I planned to walk when the sun was out and run when the sun was behind some clouds. Unfortunately, that didn’t quite work to plan and I was starting to feel the miles.

The rest of the first out and back had me slowing down and my legs got stiff. I stopped for a brief bit at mile 50, Canal Fulton, and stretched in the shade. This helped me feel a bit better. I picked up my pacer, Alex, for a segment here.

I got back to the start finish area at mile 70 ish just after dark. I still had plenty of time to finish the race, but I was falling off my goal of a 24 hour 100. I did a change of pretty much all of my gear at mile 70, shoes, shirt, socks as the temperature was falling. It wouldn’t get cold, but it was cooler, so I didn’t want to get to cold wearing a sweaty shirt After the change, it was time to head north.

The north section was a 15 mile out, 15 mile back. The first mile or two are straight through the downtown area of Akron, but then you’re suddenly running down a long hill. I know the tow path isn’t totally flat, but this downhill was more than I realized. It felt like I kept running down and down and down. When I finally hit the bottom, I was rewarded with a nice, steep incline. The towpath in this particular area was currently closed, so they set up a temporary detour up the very steep hill nearby. Once to the top, you go straight back down the other side to rejoin the towpath. It was not the most fun when tired.

When I entered the last aid station before the turnaround, I had some confusion as to where to go. I do not know if there was a sign I missed, or what, but I assumed I kept going past the aid station. I walked up to a street, but didn’t see the towpath. I backtrack and see what I think is the towpath down the other parking area. No luck. I ask the aid station workers where I am going and she seems to say I go back where I came in from. I think I was tired because I recall saying that I was not headed to the finish, but trying to get to the turnaround. She reassured me I needed to go about a 100 yards and I’d see the sign pointing me in the right direction.

Out of the aid station and into the turnaround was about the only time I ran with anyone for any extended period of time. I talked with a younger runner about many different types of running. I was not much of a conversationalist, but it was a nice chat. We did think we had somehow missed the turnaround because this section just seemed to go on and on in the night. Eventually we made it. Another runner had caught us at this point, so the two of them took off while I still hobbled along. Once I got to the 2nd to last aid station, Sara joined me as my pacer. She helped me walk the last few miles at a steady pace. We had one last (literal) mountain to climb. Somehow that detour from earlier was even steeper on the way back. I was practically crawling to make it to the top. When we finally get to the top of both climbs, it’s just short of 2 miles to the finish. I made the final turn into the brewery parking lot and crossed the finish.

After crossing the line, I talked briefly with the race directors and thanked them for a fun event. I was done. Alex had decided a reward of a beer from the brewery we finished at seemed appropriate, so I had a small beer and relaxed. I had completed the Canal Corridor 100.