December
13
For the past 11 years, I have made my annual pilgrimage to Camp Bethel
is southwest Virginia. This year, I am
making my 12th straight, attempting to be one of five men to finish
all 12 editions of this special race.
One difference this year is that I made the trip from Huntsville,
Alabama as opposed to Glen Allen, Virginia.
The weather was good for flying, so I flew to Roanoke, rented a car, and
drove to Camp Bethel with my son, Nathan, who is serving as my crew.
We arrived around 5:30pm, checked in, and then ate the pre-race
meal. It is quite an experience to meet
up with old friends and be in the cozy confines of this camp. The pre-race briefing is all David
Horton. He is in his element,
embarrassing most, joking with many, and giving a little bit of important
information. The weather this year has
been classified as “sissy” weather since it is only forecasted to drop to
around 30 degrees tonight and is supposed to climb into the low 50s during the
day.
The start is pleasant with very little wind and temperatures around
40. I am going with shorts, and two thin
shirts—one long and one short sleeve. I
also start with a watch cap and gloves as my hands get cold much more easily
than they used to.
Mile
3.5 45:39 (13:03 avg./mile) FSR 35
Cruising
the first section is fun, but this race with 150 starters is crowded for the
first couple of miles. The creek
crossing at mile 3 is uneventful for me, but some lady close to me nearly goes
for a complete swim. Fortunately for
her, I am close by to grab onto. The
water is a little chilly, but not bad. I
grab a cup of water at the aid station, and begin the climb.
Mile
7.5 57:36 (14:24 avg./mile) Petites
Gap
I
run about half of this section trying to strike the proper balance between
making good time, but not expending too much this early in the race. As the altitude increases on the climb, the
wind picks up, and the temperature drops some.
By the time I reach the aid station, I estimate the wind is blowing
20-30 miles per hour with some gusts more than that. The moon is about half full and doesn’t quite
provide enough light to turn my headlamp off.
I change shoes when I meet Nathan, drink some chocolate milk, and take a
bagel with me for the trail.
Mile
13.1 1:35:46 (17:06 avg./mile) Camping
Gap
The
rocks going downhill in the first mile are treacherous as always, but I do well
with them. After the rocks comes a
rolling section of single track trail that I truly enjoy. Running it in the dark is challenging, but I
pass a few people and feel like I am moving quickly. The climb up to the aid station is as hard as
usual, but I like my time. I know where
I am by feel and time on a section. The
wind is still gusty. At the aid station,
I grab a couple of sandwich quarters, a cup of soup, and a stack of Pringles
for the trail.
Mile
21.9 2:32:26 (17:19 avg./mile)
Headforemost Mountain
I run the majority of this section with a lady named
Stephanie. However, when it comes time
to turn off of the grassy road, I put a little surge in and never see her again. I think she dropped out as she is not listed
as a finisher. The running is going
well, but the rocky, technical downhill towards Overstreet Falls really slows
me down. I twisted my right ankle five
weeks ago, and it is still really tender.
I taped it for this race. The
tape is helping, but it can only help so much.
My time is okay, but slightly slower than I would have liked. At the aid station, I grab a couple of more
sandwich quarters and a cup of cold soup.
It isn’t the aid station’s fault as it is pretty cold out here,
especially with the wind. Did I mention
that the wind is blowing about 30 miles per hour? My hands go numb for the last 45 minutes of
this section.
Mile
27.6 1:51:10 (19:30 avg./mile) Jennings
Creek
With
numb hands, but warm enough otherwise, I head down the hill towards Jennings
Creek and breakfast. Initially, I feel
like I am moving well enough, but when the trail turns very rocky, my pace
slows on the downhill portions. I used
to really like this section, but now it is a pain in the rear slowing me down
getting to breakfast. My ankle is very
tender, but I am doing okay. I think 7-8
people pass me on this section as daylight finally dawns. This time is terribly slow, but I am still
okay as I was 40 minutes ahead of the cut-off at Headforemost. When I finally arrive at the aid station,
Nathan has an English muffin with egg, bacon, and cheese all ready for me. He also informs me that many people are dropping
at this aid station. Zsuzanna Carlson,
who passed me coming down the hill, calls it quits, citing multiple nagging
injuries. Before leaving the aid
station, I grab a paper towel for later.
Mile
34.5 1:59:03 (17:15 avg./mile) Little
Cove Mountain
Later
is only a couple of minutes away from the aid station. I find the proper tree off of the trail to
unload behind. It was a wonderful and
very quick (all in one smooth push) evacuation of my large intestine. I think it only cost me five minutes total off
of the trail. With that bit of business
taken care of, I can again focus on making good time. Climbing is going well, and I make good time
on the downhill section. A lady passes
me running up the hill towards the aid station.
At the aid station, the food is outstanding! I eat half of a grilled ham and cheese, and
drink a small cup of Coke. It is a bit
early to start the caffeine, but I don’t want to push close to the cut-off.
Mile
42.5 2:14:05 (16:46 avg./mile)
Bearwallow Gap
Leaving
Little Cove Mountain, I link up with Kelly Golden. He has run this race four times and is going
for his fifth finish and the coveted Eagle trophy. We push the pace a little, and I guarantee to
him that we will run this in less than 2:20.
It takes us almost an hour to catch the lady who passed us on the last
section. Her name is Tammy Godin,
although I only know this from the finisher list. She hangs with us for a little while. Turning onto the wonderfully rocky devil
trail, I let Kelly know that we have 45 minutes to the aid station. These intermediate checkpoints are a great
help to my mental outlook. This part is
especially useful as I know I can endure this ankle buster for 45 minutes. We end up taking 46 minutes, but we are still
thrilled to see the aid station. Joining
Nathan is David Snipes, who dropped out at Camping Gap. It is good to see them both, but I am
disappointed that David won’t be getting his 10th finish this
year. I drink a chocolate milk, change
to just a short sleeve shirt, and trade in the hat for a buff. I take a grilled ham and cheese sandwich for
the trail, leaving slightly ahead of Kelly.
Mile
49.5 2:00:13 (17:10 avg./mile) Bobblets
Gap
Ten
minutes out of the Bearwallow Gap, Kelly catches back up to me. We talk a lot, which might be slowing us down
slightly, but it is making the course pass easily. In hindsight, I probably could have pushed
this a little faster, but I am still making decent time. When we dump out onto a dirt road that is the
last mile into the aid station, Kelly’s wife and friend meet us and walk with
us up to Bobblets Gap. His friend will
now pace him, and they are out of the aid station very quickly. I sit down and eat some soup while taking my
time. I leave with a bagel in my hand to
ensure I have enough food to power me through the next section.
Mile
56.1 2:15:36 (20:33 avg./mile) Day
Creek
Losing
contact with Kelly seems to hurt my pace a little. He must be feeling great because he will go
on to finish 28 minutes ahead of me. So,
I spend my time trying to stay in front of Tammy. She is behind me by about 100 yards on most
of this section. No matter how many
times I do this section, it still takes forever. This section has the most “Horton miles” in
it of any section in this race. About a
half mile from the aid station, Tammy finally passes me again. At the aid station, Snipes tells me he will
pace me for the last section. I drink
some Coke and take half of a bagel to eat on the climb.
Mile
62.4 1:21:25 (12:55 avg./mile) FINISH
I
begin the climb by making it my goal to catch Tammy as quickly as
possible. Just before halfway up the
climb, I pass her and then spot three more runners to pass. I quickly pass them before the final stretch
of the climb. Then Al Eder is up in
front of me, so I pass him as well just before the gate and crossing the Blue
Ridge Parkway for the last time. Snipes
keeps telling me to pace myself. He will
complain later that I tried to kill him by pushing the pace too fast on this
climb. Across the BRP, and it is time to
run 3.5 miles downhill to the finish. I
run the whole way, but it is not fast.
The 2.8 mile climb took 38 minutes, and the downhill 3.5 miles takes me
43 minutes this year. Tammy almost
catches me before the last gate and a mile and a half to go, but after the
gate, we are on a smooth gravel road, and I pick up the pace enough to stay
ahead of her.
Official
Finishing Time 17:32:59
114th
out of 148 starters (122 finishers under 18 hours)
The finish at
Camp Bethel is always nice, and I am glad that I have survived another
year. How many more will I finish? I don’t know, but I plan to be back next
year. The other four streakers—Aaron,
Jerry, Jeff, and Ryan—all finish long before me, but I am still grouped
together with them.
Nothing
starts the Christmas season like running and finishing Hellgate! I wanted a sub 17-hour finish this year, but
it isn’t to be. However, I have a
renewed motivation to train hard and try again next year. Who knows, I might even run another 100 miler
in 2015. But first my next scheduled
race is the Mountain Mist 50k in Huntsville in January. Until then,
Never stop
running,
Darin
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