Cleveland Marathon

This past weekend I had the opportunity to pace the Cleveland marathon. This would be the first time I’d run the full marathon (I did the half last year) and I was looking forward to helping out folks on the course. The course itself is relatively flat, but with a few hills thrown in throughout.

Got to the race start early, about 6am, as pacers are usually required to check in early to get ready. Met up with my fellow pacer, took the pacer team pics, and prepared for the day. It was already fairly warm (relative to the rest of the spring weather) and was humid. Temps would only climb from here. I talked strategy with my fellow pacer (it was his first time pacing) and talked with runners planning to stick with us, and we were off. The first few miles are all about dialing in our pace and enjoying the run. We communicated strategy to our group, run to the water stops and walk a few moments once there so folks could hydrate.

Miles 1-4 are run with the 10k and the half, with a few small hills throughout, but mostly uneventful. Right before the 10k splits off, there is a short bridge that is grated that can cause issues, if not careful. Right after, the 10k goes up a large hill, but the half and full only go up a short ways, before splitting off. The reprieve from the hill is short lived, however, as by about 6.5, the half and full go up the steepest hill on the course. While not exceptionally long, the steepest will wear folks out, so the plan was to ease up the hill by running slightly ahead of pace up to it. We got the group up the hill and everyone was looking strong.

By about mile 8, the sun and heat were in full force. My fellow pacer and I maintained our strategy by walking through the water stops. We had several runners come and go with the pace as the heat rose. It would be a tough day for many racers (and several pacers, too).

After mile 11, the half had split off to finish their race, and the full did an out and back section for the next few miles. The sun had come out from behind the clouds, and the heat continued to rise. We did our best to remind runners to hydrate as we hit the water stops, taking slightly longer walks to allow ample time to hydrate. The out and back was a good opportunity to motivate runners both in front of and behind us. The heat had started to wear me out, but I was still hydrating and pushing through.

The out and back last until about mile 20, and after that it’s back into the city to finish the race. The course is mostly flat, with a few steep hills I mentioned earlier. At mile 23 though, there was a small hill and my quads simply stopped wanting to climb hills. I had to tell my co pacer my legs were done. Nothing worse (in my opinion) when you’re a pacer and have to drop back. My legs simply couldn’t find the strength to climb. I have been working on my climbing this year, so I think it may have just been the heat that played a role, but couldn’t say for sure. Either way, I was walking up the hill. I was hopeful that hitting the top would allow me to run again and catch up, but the legs had had enough.

At mile 24, I had turned my pacer shirt around (that’s a common practice if a pacer falls off their pace) because I knew I wasn’t catching up. I was able to keep walking and running periodically, while still encouraging other runners. Miles 24 and 25 are flat again, but the sun was right over head. At mile 26 you hit the final bridge, which brings the last bit of elevation gain, which isn’t much, but a lot of folks were feeling it. I crossed the line about 5 minutes past my pace time. I did see my fellow pacer at the finish and he told me he came in on time and thanked me for helping him out for most of the race (it was his first time pacing and he was a bit nervous). I received my medal, grabbed a post race beer (side note: when dehydrated, as I was, post race beer may sound good, but it’s probably not the best idea), had about a quarter of it, and decided it was time to head out, as I was spent.

Overall, the race is very nice. The weather can’t be controlled, so one has to do what they can to prepare. Some say they feel there aren’t enough aid stations, but we passed one every 1.5 or so miles. Due to the heat, maybe more would have been better, but I am not sure where they’d put them. The crowd support isn’t as large as some races, but there is still a decent crowd out there. I’d give the race a solid B.

Sara and I took a walk to the Rock n Roll hall of fame after the race with our medals

Umstead 100

This past weekend was the Umstead 100 mile run, in William B Umstead State Park, just outside Raleigh, NC. 2019 was the 25th anniversary of this event and I had heard good things about. Since it was also close to family, it seemed like a good opportunity to run another 100 and earn a Western States qualifier for this year.

The race itself is run is run on a beautifully well maintained multiuse trail within the park. It is a 12.5 mile loop, repeated 8 times. This course may be the least technical trail I’ve ever run as the trail reminded me a lot of a dirt road. It is used by Runners, hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians alike.

The race started at 6am with fantastic temps. It was about 50 at the start, though a little on the humid side. Since my training was not where I had wanted it, I wasn’t quite sure how the day would go, so I took off at what felt like a comfortable pace and just enjoyed the run. Since the course is so well maintained, I didn’t have to worry about tripping. I maintained a steady pace, walked the up hills (note, there is 1000 feet of elevation gain per loop), chatted with other runners, and just enjoyed my time in the park. Although there are only 2 actual aid stations on course, the race also puts out several water stops in between aid stations, so runners have access to water about every 2-2.5 miles. This would prove helpful a bit later. Loop 1 was done in about 1:30.

Loop 2 was still nice, with temps staying cool and the wind blowing just enough that the humidity wasn’t really an issue. I tried to stay relaxed and easy. Another 1:30. Loop 3 got a bit warmer as the sun finally peaked through the clouds. Since it had not yet been warm and humid in Ohio yet, I could feel myself slowing in the heat. While it wasn’t oppressive, it was zapping my energy. I would stay hydrated at aid stations as best I could and made sure to eat at every one as well. I was still feeling really strong at the end of lap 3, 1:50.

Loop 4 brought about a change in my mood. About halfway through the loop, I developed some hip pain that brought me to a very slow walk. I am not quite sure why it started bothering me, perhaps my low mileage training, or maybe just a bad day? Either way, I felt it was going to cause me to be unable to finish, but I knew if I made it to mile 50, I would at least be credited with a 50 mile finish. I limped into the aid station, 2:55.

After lap 4, I went into the HQ building for the race. I was hurting so I sat down and tried to stretch for a bit. After about 10 minutes, my crew, who is also my brother, Larry (side note, he had never crewed an ultra before, but helped me out a lot) got the medical crew to check me out. They had a massage therapist to work out my hip. She also noted that she believed me to be dehydrated (though I wasn’t showing any visible signs of it that I noticed), so the doctor on site said I needed to hang around for a bit and hydrate. I “hung out” in medical for about 1.5 hours before I was able to leave. I told the doctor I would go out to the first turnaround, about 1.5 miles of the 12.5 mile loop and come back in if my hip wasn’t better. He also got me a volunteer pacer, just in case.

I set out on loop 5 with some trepidation as I was uncertain as to how my hip would hold out, but, to my surprise, it felt great. After a bit of a walk to test things out, I started running again, and at a decent clip too. My pacer, Al, kept me moving and suggested walk breaks regularly. Loop 5 ended up being a really strong loop. In total, the loop took 5 hours, but 1.5 of those would have been time spent in medical, so only about 3.5 hours total.

Loops 6 and 7 I picked up another volunteer pacer. When I had come into the main aid station, I didn’t see any readily available pacers, but someone yelled over to me as I was about to set off on my own. A runner I had met a few weeks before at Tobacco Road marathon had signed up to be a volunteer pacer and had just arrived for his “shift”. Brad and I took off for these loops and we had a good run/ walk split going. I was staying hydrated and working hard. Lap 6 was around 3:15 and lap 7 about 3:30.

Lap 8 I was back on my own as no pacers were available. I had plenty of time to finish and started the lap feeling good. About 2 miles into the lap, however, my energy was drained. I started walking and ended up walking much of the loop, but I just needed to move forward. A thick fog moved in through the night and made the course almost eerie, but having run it 7 times before, I knew where I was going. About mile 95, my foot started to hurt quite a bit. I knew I was developing a blister, but not much could be done with 5 miles to go except to finish. It’s really the only foot issue I had the whole race. I came limping into the finish on the loop in 3:46, with a total time of 27 hours, 14 minutes. I had finished!

I do want to make a special note, something that was a bit of a unique feature at Umstead. While every 100 was in a public area and we were always advised we may be sharing space with folks out for walks or runs, Umstead had the most people out just running than any other race I had done. This may not sound like a selling point, but I think it was. I say this because I had a chance to talk to some of these folks. In one instance I was running the same pace as a woman who wanted to know more about ultras. We talked for about 2 miles before I had to walk a hill. In our talk, she told me she runs 11 miles in the park both Saturday and Sunday. Come Sunday, I saw this same woman, doing her 11 miles, coming down the same hill we parted ways the day before. She came over to me, high fived me, and told me she was so proud of me. Remember, this was a complete stranger to me just hours ago. In another instance, a group of runners out for their morning run on Sunday, saw me limping with about a mile to go. They immediately stopped their run and walked the last mile with me, chatting with me and encouraging me the whole time. It was quite the experience.

In all, I really enjoyed Umstead. After 25 years, it seems they have things mostly dialed in. The aid stations had plenty of vegetarian options and all the volunteers were fantastic. The weather was almost perfect and except for a few issues, my race went way better than I anticipated it would have. It was a great weekend.

Ohio’s Backyard Ultra

This past weekend I had the opportunity to run in the inaugural Ohio’s Backyard Ultra. If you’re not familiar with the Backyard style race, it’s relatively simple in concept, but very difficult in execution. The race is set up on a 4.1667 mile loop that must be completed in 1 hour. Sounds fairly easy, but here’s the catch, every hour the race starts again with the same 4.1667 mile loop. If you can’t continue, you DNF (Did Not Finish). If you don’t make it back in the hour, you DNF. The race goes until only one remains (and the final person standing must complete a final lap solo. Should they not make it, they, too, DNF).

The Ohio’s Backyard was held at McChesney Ridge Athletic Club, a beautiful space, appropriately, in someone’s backyard. The race would climb about 544 feet in the 4.1667 mile loop. Weather was just about perfect for race morning and 75 racers towed the line.

We would run around this lake and into the hills behind it as well as hills not pictured.

The race started at 7:30AM Saturday, right after sunset. The temps were a bit chilly, but I like cooler temps. The way the race was set up, runners would actually run a 2.08 mile loop twice, for 4.16 miles. The first loop was all about getting into a rhythm and to learn the course. The loop was a mix of running and walking to save energy for later. After passing the start/finish at mile 2.08, I continued on expecting an uneventful second half. Unfortunately for me, disaster struck. At mile 3.75 or so, I took a misstep trying to come off a bridge/ gazebo platform we had to cross. I tripped and fell very hard into the ground below, bruising my knee and really hurting my left shoulder. I told my buddy who was running with me to go ahead as I wasn’t sure if I could even run initially. After a few moments, I knew my leg was fine, but I could tell the shoulder wasn’t good. I was able to get back to the finish line in about 45 minutes for the whole loop and took a short break to prepare for the next start.

The next race started exactly an hour after the first loop ended, 8:30AM. My shoulder was aching, but, since my legs seemed to be fine, I figured I could keep running. I continued to do a run/ walk through the miles and just hoped my arm would stop hurting. At this point, it was aching quite a bit. I had told my buddy, Nicholas, I wanted to fashion a makeshift sling prior to the next loop with my long sleeve shirt (it had started warming up enough that short sleeves were looking good). We continued to run and talk so I could try to forget the pain. We finished the 2nd hour in about 45 minutes again, so another short rest was in order. In that time, I was able to fashion a sort of makeshift sling to try and keep the shoulder from moving to much (which would hopefully ease the pain).

My make shift sling. I do not know who took this pic as it was sent to me.

The next 2 hours were mostly the same, walk the ups, run everything else. The heat was starting to rise and though it wasn’t going to get overly warm, we haven’t experienced much in the 60 degree range yet this spring, so it felt warmer than it was. During the interloopals (the break between hours) I would refill my water bottle with my nutrition of choice, Sword, tighten my sling, and try to keep the legs lose. Hour 5, or approximately 20 miles in, was when the arm became to sore. I couldn’t stop thinking about the pain, so my mental game waned. I decided that 20 miles was a good enough long run prior to my next race to call it a day. I wanted 32, but given the situation with the shoulder, 20 would be fine.

I decided to stick around after my finish to watch some more of the race. Many runners came in and went out, hour after hour. Some would strive to come in about 45 minutes, allowing 15 to rest and refresh, while some had the strategy of only finishing with about 5 minutes to spare, to limit the time they could get “cold”. It was interesting to watch the strategies unfold, hour after hour. After hour 5 (the hour I dropped out), folks would seemingly begin to drop rather steadily for a few hours. Eventually though, I had to head home as my arm was aching to much and another night without a proper bed would not be ideal with the shoulder, so I had to take off. It wasn’t until the next day that a winner was named at approximately 130 miles. All in all, it was a great experience and a ton of fun. Highly recommend folks give this unique event a try.

Ohio’s Backyard Ultra

Rock n Roll DC half marathon

This past weekend I ran the Rock n Roll DC half marathon. This was the second time I had run a Rock n Roll type event, so I was curious how it would be. Having run around DC previously, during the Marine Corps Marathon, I had at least some idea of the sites we might see.

I would be remised if I did not mention that I had the opportunity to meet some running friends from the Runner’s World Run streak group I am a part of. Sadly, I did not get any pics with them, but they’re a great group of individuals. They were running the various races on race weekend, the5k, half, or full. We all had a chance to meet up the night before the race for a nice dinner in the DC area and talk.

The race morning, Sara and I were up early so we could walk a short distance to the DC metro. When we got to the station, they hadn’t even opened the gates, but we wanted to be sure to be one of the first on the train, so as to make sure we were at the start in plenty of time. Once the gates opened, the train arrived, and we were off. A few stops later, we hopped off the subway, with about 1000 others who had also hopped on the train, and headed towards the start.

The start area was laid out nicely. Lots of porta potties near the metro station, and many more near the actual start line, about a block away, made finding a pre race restroom pretty easily. Since Sara and I had arrived early, we took a warm up run around the National Mall and out to the Washington Monument. After our brief warmup, we headed to the start corrals.

The corrals aren’t anything fancy, about the same as any race. The start is right off the National Mall, near some of the Smithsonian Museums, so it was a pretty neat starting area. As the race takes off, you run a mile or so near the National Mall, so you can see a few of the sites, though it isn’t exactly easy to see all the Monuments as you never really get close enough. After that first mile, you end up on what I will describe as the highway, but I am not sure that’s exactly what it was. The race winds under road ways with no real views for a few miles until it gets into some of the DC neighborhoods. The houses in the DC area are quite nice, once you get to them, and many people came out to watch. We also ran through a very nice park nearby. I will warn anyone doing this race, the roads aren’t in the best shape and we were always watching for potholes, but overall, the course was nice and support was good.

The race ends at the RFK stadium, near the DC armory. The stadium isn’t much to lookout and appears to have fallen in disrepair, though it is still in use. The post race party, which is usually one of the things Rock n Roll touts as a main reason to do their races, was just ok. They did have plenty of post race food, but the setup didn’t really make me feel like I had actually finished a race. I feel it could have been done better.

Overall, the experience was a positive one. DC is a fun area to run in, seeing the monuments, even if only briefly. I wouldn’t say the race itself was my favorite ever, but I wouldn’t say it was bad either. If I were to grade it, I’d say C+. That said, meeting some running friends and running the race with Sara was definitely worth it.

Rocks and Roots – the sequel

In January, I ran the Rocks and Roots 50k at Alum Creek in Lewis Center, OH. (If you’d like to read that report, click here: https://crazyultrarunner.home.blog/2019/01/11/rocks-and-roots-50k-1/) This past weekend, I did the same race, but the course was very different.

For a quick recap, the course is run as loops, 3 North loops (laps 1,3,5) and 2 South loops (loops 2 and 4). In January, it was extremely muddy. (Be sure to read the post linked above for more insight). The February race course was frozen solid.

The first loop went well and the extremely frozen ground had me feeling like this was going to be more of a road race. I was a bit overdressed, but I knew the temps would stay cold and I wasn’t sure how the wind off the lake would be. I felt really good and got through the first loop in about 1:15.

The second loop was where things went a bit crazy. The South loop was also frozen, but it was full of ruts. This made any footing precarious and I often found my ankles were taking a beating trying to keep me up right. By the end of loop 2, my legs were hurting, especially my left leg. I thought about dropping but decided that since loop 1 was pretty easy running, I’d run loop 3 and see how I felt.

Loop 3 was mostly like the 1st, but the tiredness in my legs was evident. I was able to run most of it, but did take a bad step at one point that further taxed the already sore legs. That said, I was able to finish the loop without much issue.

Loop 4 was much the same as loop 2, but I had plenty of time so I took it easy. I did not want to risk hurting myself as trying to get through some of the ruts earlier proved to hurt the legs quite a bit, I knew the risk of injury would be higher if I took a bad step. I walked a good portion of the loop. A couple of the frozen spots required a bit of ice skating to safely cross and walking certainly made the creek crossing quite cold, but another loop was down.

Loop 5 is the final loop and I had about 2 hours to finish. At this point, I had to just keep moving forward. While the legs were hurting, I pushed through and kept up a run/ walk as best I could. Since this was the same loop as laps 1 and 3, it was a relatively easy loop, other than the aches and pains I had been experiencing due to the issues on loops 2 and 4. I finished in just under 8 hours, in 7:45.

For completing both 50ks (January and February), the race gives you a nice belt buckle, along with the 2 medals you earn. The races are deceptively tough, especially if the weather wreaks havoc on the course.

Training At Frozen Head

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to train at Frozen Head State park down in Tennessee. If you don’t know what that means, hopefully this picture will help you out.

Still not sure? Frozen Head is the site of the (in)famous Barkley marathons. The race itself has been around for a bit more than 30 years, but only 15 people have ever finished the race. To say it’s tough is an understatement.

Back to training. I traveled down to Frozen Head to get a taste of the area. It is beautiful. The terrain is tough, up and down, up and down. Even the jeep roads in the park aren’t easy to run, but they’re about as runnable an area in the park as you will find. The trail is littered with switchbacks, but some are so steep you may need your hands to climb. While some of the trails were maintained, others had blowdowns from recent storms that hadn’t been cleared. If you think you’ve reached the top of the hill, you’re likely wrong.

The day I went down, it rained, the whole day. Because the area is so mountainous, there never seemed to be much mud, but it was slick. Leaves were still scattered on the trails from the fall and they were slick from the rain. The hills drained the heaviest rain down towards the creeks, but on some trails, the creeks and the trail themselves were one and the same. The mountains also brought some high winds, which made the air cold. As we turned some corners, winds would be right in our faces, while at other times the wind couldn’t be felt at all. This rain/ wind combo also came with fog, but the fog would come and go so fast. One minute you couldn’t see more than 5 feet in front of you, the next you could see for miles.

It is very important to note here: stay on the trails! This may seem obvious, but the park rangers told me they have issues with folks wondering off trail in attempt to find parts of the Barkley course. The route I ran was all park trails. The park itself has miles of trails you could run/ hike. No need to wonder around in other areas (that would also be dangerous).

2019 Goals

Before January comes to an end, I wanted to take some time to share with everyone my goals for 2019. As a general rule of thumb, I tend to do more and more every year because, well, why not. That said, 2019 was to be a down year, but, as you will see, that really isn’t the case. Here is a list of races I am doing this year:

January – Rocks and Roots 50k
February – Rocks and Roots 50k
March – Rock and Roll DC half marathon
- Tobacco Road marathon
- Ohio’s Backyard Ultra
- Hot Chocolate (Indianapolis) 15k – 11 min/ mile pacer
April – Umstead 100
May – Bob’s Big Timber Backyard ultra
- Ozone 48 hour race
September – Barkley Fall Classic
November – Tunnel Hill 100

Ok, so March gets pretty busy and then it levels off a bit in the summer, but that will likely change as the year progresses. I really have 3 big races this year, Ozone 48 hour, Barkley Fall Classic, and Tunnel Hill. In the 48 hour race, I want to hit at least 150 miles, with a super stretch goal of 200. I want to survive the Barley Fall Classic. I want to go under 20 hours at Tunnel Hill.

There you have it, my races for the year.

Rocks and Roots 50k #1

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to run the Rocks and Roots 50k just outside Columbus, OH. I have run this race previously, but it hadn’t fit the schedule the past few years, but this year it fit in perfectly with all my other races, so it was time to head back.

The race is held at Alum Creek, in Lewis Center, OH, just north of the state capital of Ohio. The race website indicates the particular trail used is the only one in Ohio, “by runners, for runners”. Since the race was only about 2 hours north, I decided to head up race morning. After a 4:30am wake up call, a quick breakfast, I left the house about 4:45. I wanted to be sure I arrived early as I had to get my packet at the race site. My previous time at this race also made me aware that, while there is plenty of parking just a short walk from the start, there are only a few spots at the start, so I knew arriving early would be good so I can could one of those spots.

I arrived on site at about 6:45. Even though the weather for the day was supposed to be nice and in the mid 40’s, it was cold when I arrived. I was able to get my packet and returned to my car to relax a bit, attach my bib, and just prepare for the day ahead. At about 7:40, I decided it was time to head to the start line, about 100 yards from where I had parked, to stretch and talk to some of the other runners. There was a nice fire going and next to it I saw a couple of my running friends and I began to chat with them a bit and loosen up. At about 7:55, the Race Director gave a bit of instruction and explained the race is basically 10k loops, 1 north loop, 1 south loop, repeat as necessary (the race also has a 10k, 20k, 30, and 40k option). After the brief announcement, the race was off.

The 30, 40, and 50k races are the first to start at 7am. I lined up in the middle as I knew the first couple of miles would be congested, but I also didn’t want to go out to fast. I hadn’t realized it initially, but I had lined up near my friends Alex, Kenzie, and Randy, purely by coincidence. I spent the first few miles running and chatting with them. The course is nice and wide open in the first few miles, but not too many people sped past me and I didn’t pass many as we all settled into a groove. The course was wet, but it was still early in the race, so, while there was mud on the course, it wasn’t too bad. The first loops is some hills, with some nice flat, runnable sections mixed in. In fact, most of the course is runnable, if conditions are right, but those would soon change.

After the first 10k, I hit the aid station for a quick refill of my water bottles and grabbed my nutrition from my drop bag (Sword Endurance) and took back off. The 2^nd loop is the south loop. It, too, has its ups and downs, with some climbs where the race has added some ropes to help runners get to the top, though none of the hills are very long, just steep. I was still feeling strong and had found a good groove. I kept it easy up the hills, and ran a nice pace during the flat parts (the south loop seemed to have longer flat stretches between hills). Just a bit before the south loop rejoins the north loop, there was a large creek crossing. I had remembered a crossing, but it seemed especially deep this year, coming up past my ankles. Thankfully my shoes drain very well and this was a non-issue, though the water was quite cold. I got back to the start/ finish and 20 km were done.

The remaining loops follow the same pattern, North, then South, then North again. However, by the time I made it back to the start/finish at the 20k mark, the 20k and 10k had both started and the leaders of the 50, 40, and 30ks (as well as many other runners) had already started back on loop 3. I make note of this because all this foot traffic combined with the rain they had experienced just days before would lead to a sloppy race. The north loop had become a mud pit. There was no escaping it. The mud was so slick, I think ice skates may have been more effective than running shoes. I began to struggle quite a bit. I ran as much as I could, but the mud in parts were ankle deep, or greater. I just needed to keep moving forward, but there was little reprieve from the mud on the north loop. The south loop was better, but it was still very muddy. Thankfully the ropes the race had up for the hills proved useful in getting up the hills in these muddy conditions. By the middle of the 4^th loop, my legs were feeling quite tired and I was having trouble staying up right (I never did fall). It had become a slow go.

By loop 4, I was done with mud, but I knew I had 1 more lap to go. I had completed the 4^th loop about 10 minutes prior to cut off (2pm), but knew that if I kept moving, I would make it. So, I did just that. On the final loop, I was passed by a couple of my friends and saw a few more just behind me, all of which I thought had been cut for missing cut off (since I had come in so close to cut off myself). I am not sure if I would say loop 5 was “better”, but it wasn’t worse than loop 3 (remember, both loops 3 and 5 are the north loop). Instead of being overly slippery, the mud had started to harden a bit and became a bit more shoe sucking. I walked quite a bit of the last loop, running here and there just to try to keep pushing forward. I remember seeing my friends Helen, Alex, Abbi, and Glenn all passing me that last loop and suddenly realizing I may be the final runner. That didn’t matter, however, and I kept plowing ahead. Despite all the mud, I finished the race with about 15 minutes before final cut off. My shoes were covered in mud, barely recognizable. I grabbed a few snacks and sat next to the fire to try to dry some of the mud off and actually watched 2 more runners come through (one was another friend, Randy) and then that was it. All runners had finished or dropped down.

Overall, the race is a fun race. Despite it not having a lot of elevation, it can be a very challenging course, especially after a rain. The 8 hour cut off does make it difficult for a lot of runners and it’s my understanding that about 50% of those who sign up from the 50k drop down in distance. Despite the mud, I am looking forward to going back for the February edition of the race.