Another year has passed, and I am another year older. Seasons change. Our lives change. Many things change. However, for the past 12 years I have always been
at Camp Bethel the day before the second Saturday in December. Since December 13, 2003, the Hellgate 100k
has been as consistent as the sun coming up in the east. And, five guys have managed to be here
running this race every year. For some
reason, we all have managed to finish every one of these 12 years. This year is the 13th year. Aaron Schwartzbard, Jerry Turk, Jeff
Garstecki, Ryan Henry, and I are streakers.
We don’t know how to live our lives in December without a finish at
Hellgate.
I left my house this morning, drove to the airport, and flew my plane
to Atlanta to pick-up my son, Nathan, who just finished the fall semester of
his junior year at Georgia Tech. He will
be my faithful crew for another year. We
eat lunch at the 57th Aero Squadron and then fly onto Roanoke. We load all of our gear into a little Kia
Forte and drive the familiar route to Camp Bethel, arriving around 4:30pm.
It is a nice homecoming every year.
The race director, David Horton, greets every runner warmly and can even
remember most veterans’ names. He still
makes us put on name tags and indicate how many finishes we have at
Hellgate. I talk with several other
runners including Aaron, Jeff, and Justin who I don’t think I have seen since
Leadville in 2011. Nathan and I eat
dinner with Bob Anderson and his wife as well as Bob and Janice. Mr. Anderson is 68 years old and attempting
to be the oldest finisher at Hellgate.
Janice will be one of the sweepers—people who come along after the last
runner picking up streamers marking the course and making sure that no one gets
left out in the woods.
 |
| Waiting for the start |
The big story this year is how warm it will get tomorrow. I have already decided that I am going to
start the race in a short sleeve shirt.
The only question is when I will take it off? The temperature is in the mid-50s at the
start, and I am cool, but not cold. We
sing the national anthem and then we are off for our grand adventure at one
minute past midnight!
Mile
3.5 44:23 (12:41 avg./mile) FSR 35
This
past week, my left knee flared up and was somewhat painful and stiff this
week. It has slowly gotten better
through the week, but is still bothering me now. I am running rather cautiously when around
two miles into the race I roll my right ankle.
This is not too much of a concern as I do this often, and there is an
added benefit that my right ankle will hurt worse than my left knee for the
rest of the day. It always feels like I
am getting left behind as the faster runners pull away, and I become a back of
the packer at Hellgate. There are no
slow runners that get into Hellgate anymore, and this year is no
exception. Three miles into the race, I
attempt to rock hop across the creek, but slip and get my feet wet anyway. At the aid station, I drink a cup of water and
turn to start up the hill.
Mile
7.5 1:01:21 (15:20 avg./mile) Petites
Gap
The
run/walk goes well up to Petites Gap.
There are more than a dozen runners behind me, but I need to stop and
change my shoes. This takes a couple of
minutes, and a few more runners slip by me while I am doing this. My left knee has warmed up nicely, but I am
still concerned about it. I drink about
half of a pint of chocolate milk, and then take a bagel with me to eat on the
way.
Mile
13.1 1:40:53 (18:01 avg./mile) Camping
Gap
I
take the initial downhill from Petites Gap slowly with caution. My right ankle is a concern, and I am not
sure about my left knee yet. I manage,
though, to make it through the initial rock garden. There are a couple of runners near me at this
point who are trying to finish the Beast series. This is their last race, but also their first
time at Hellgate. They might have
finished Grindstone, but Hellgate offers its own unique challenges. One of these challenges is keeping my feet
dry on two more creek crossings on this section after changing into dry shoes
and socks at Petites Gap. The last three
miles of this section contain one of the toughest climbs in the race. We follow a dirt road all the way to the
gap. When the aid station finally appears,
I am relieved and take a peek at my watch.
This is not my fastest time on this section, but I guess it will have to
do. There is no time to waste; however,
getting some food at this point is essential.
Crews cannot get to this remote aid station, so I feast on pb&j
sandwich quarters and some potato chips.
Mile
21.9 2:32:26 (17:19 avg./mile)
Headforemost Mountain
Leaving Camping Gap, I am in the company of a couple
of other guys. After a mile or so, they
leave me behind, and I am left to stay focused on making steady forward
progress by myself. The first half of
this section is an old grassy road. It
is rolling and mostly nice, but there are potholes where the possibility exists
to turn an ankle. I am also trying not
to get passed by any more runners! There
is one runner behind me that I can see every time I glance back. Fortunately, they don’t catch me before we
turn off of the grassy road and onto a challenging single track trail. I get a little boost from the change in
scenery and manage to slip past two other runners who missed a turn. They quickly catch back up, but it gives me a
chance to talk with someone a little bit.
I am also telling them where we are and how much further we have before
we drop down to Overstreet Falls to start another climb up a dirt road to the
aid station. I eat more sandwich quarters,
refill my Camelbak, and drink a small cup of Coke. It is about 6:05am when I leave this aid
station. I am 35 minutes ahead of the
cut-off at this point.
Mile
27.6 1:42:41 (18:01 avg./mile) Jennings
Creek
Early
in this section, I get into a really nice rhythm. I pass a couple of runners and have another
close behind me. I am making really good
time, I think. At some point, there is
an old guy hiking back towards us. It is
still before dawn when I see him, and it seems very odd that someone would be
out here just for a hike at this hour.
When the trail becomes more technical, a few runners slip past me. I just cannot bomb down technical downhills
like I used to several years ago.
Regardless, I am still feeling good when I roll into the aid
station. Nathan is here with an egg,
bacon, and cheese grilled sandwich. It
tastes absolutely wonderful! While I am
sitting there, a race official mentions that there are only six more runners
yet to come into this aid station. I am
sitting in 136th place at this point. Only three runners have dropped out so
far. Nathan says the temperature is
already 60 degrees. I decide to leave
the shirt on for now.
Mile
34.5 1:48:27 (15:43 avg./mile) Little
Cove Mountain
Running
an ultra is running until you are exhausted and then continuing. The body makes some weak attempts at trying
to tell you it is tired, but ultra-veterans have learned how to ignore the less
serious signs. I leave Jennings Creek
and start looking for the proper tree to duck behind in the woods in order to
relieve the pressure building in my lower backside. About 10 minutes out, I find a place that
will work. My effort is not as rewarding
as last year, but it is still effective.
After taking care of business, I power on up the hill, and then start
bombing down the other side. I pass
several runners while on a dirt road, and then entering a single track trail
again, I pass one guy and then two ladies.
I am moving well and making good time.
After passing the ladies, I catch a toe and take a slide, but bounce
back up quickly without skipping a beat.
When the course dumps back out onto a road, I see a guy in front of me
that looks like he might be slowing down.
It is big Mike. He says he is
having a rough day, sweating profusely, and unable to keep food down. It is definitely warming up, but I am feeling
good, so I push on ahead towards the aid station. At the aid station, I eat three grilled
cheese sandwich quarters and drink more water.
I refill my Camelbak again as I have been sucking down the water.
Mile
42.5 2:22:16 (17:47 avg./mile)
Bearwallow Gap
In
addition to drinking copious amounts of water I have been taking an S-Cap every
hour or so. It is now blazing hot
climbing well into the 70s. I pass a few
more runners before deciding that I need to back off of the pace since it is so
warm. I was running so well and was hitting
the pace that I wanted. However, I know
that the most important thing now is not to blow up. I have a comfortable margin on the cut-off
times, so I will throttle back a little.
I watch as several runners that I had previously passed, come back by me. I hope that my wise pace will pay dividends
and I will see them again. When I get to
the aid station, the air is still and heavy and hot. I sit down and eat a grilled ham and cheese
that Nathan has perfectly cooked. I wash
it down with an ample amount of Conquest.
I leave the shirt behind as I leave to start the final third of the
race. I have almost a 45-minute cushion
on the cut-off.
Mile
49.5 2:04:45 (17:49 avg./mile) Bobblets
Gap
As
I leave Bearwallow Gap, my stomach is full—mostly of Conquest. I am also very warm, even shirtless. I hope that there will be a breeze as I climb
higher. My climb is very warm. I am suffering and in need of some cooling of
some type. When I near the top of the
climb, I decide to lie down beside the trail on a patch of moss. I lay there for a couple of minutes and when
I hear another runner approaching, I get up and start moving again. The two minutes was just long enough to let
my stomach get ahead and my body to cool off slightly. I am also newly motivated to stay ahead of
the runner behind me. She stays close,
but then we pass another runner, and my pace begins to quicken. I definitely don’t make great time on this
section, but I am moving forward fast enough.
When I finally get down to the dirt road, I walk the mile uphill into
the aid station. Nathan is ready with a
nice cup of Ramen. He finds some ice,
and I am able to gobble most of it down.
I drink a little chocolate milk and a little Conquest before heading
out. It is almost 2pm so I have over
four hours to make it to the finish.
Mile
56.1 2:12:42 (20:06 avg./mile) Day
Creek
I
run well down the dirt road from Bobblets Gap.
The dirt road section is 2.5 miles, and I cover it in 31 minutes—my
fastest in a number of years. When the
course transitions back to a single-track trail, I catch up to a runner and his
pacer who are taking a break. They
decide to tag along with me, and it is nice to break things up with a little
conversation. An interesting question
the pacer asks me is what year of Hellgate was my favorite? That is a very good question and a tough
choice. I have fond memories of every
year because each was different with its own challenges. They stay with me for most of this section,
and I am in good shape entering the aid station. This is another section that I didn’t cover
as quickly as I would have liked, but it will have to do. My stomach is slightly queasy from the heat
and all of the drinking I have had to do.
I drink a little Coke and stuff some potato chips in my ever so dry
mouth. Nathan offers me a bagel, but I
decline.
Mile
62.4 1:24:09 (13:21 avg./mile) FINISH
The
other runner and his pacer are with me for most of the climb. Again I don’t set any land speed records, but
I make it to the top in about 45 minutes.
Now, I have over an hour to get to Camp Bethel. I am ready to run, but it soon becomes
obvious that the other runner who has been with me for the past two sections is
ready to run faster than me. He and his
pacer quickly leave me behind, but all of us are passing several other runners
as we make our way downhill into the quickly approaching darkness. I pass a couple of people and then the group
of four runners who have been together all day—I think they are related somehow. My pace is quick enough, and as I make the
turn into Camp Bethel for the 13th time, I am glad to be here!
Official
Finishing Time 17:34:03
119th
out of 145 starters (131 finishers under 18 hours)
I had a nice
second half in this race. My stomach
queasiness will continue past midnight—nothing terribly wrong, I just don’t
feel like eating at all. Nathan and I order
a pizza in our hotel room, and I don’t even touch it until after midnight when
I eat one cold slice. The next morning,
I feel much better and eat some eggs, a biscuit, and gravy.
The most
interesting part of this year’s race is that my left knee was a great concern
for me before the race. I couldn’t use
full range of motion, and it was tender to walk up or down steps. After the race, it doesn’t bother me at all,
and I again have full range of motion.
This is directly in line with my 20 mile rule. If something bothers you that you think you
might want to see a doctor about, run 20 miles and then and only then if that
same issue is the thing that hurts the most then maybe you should see a doctor. However, in all of my experiences something
else hurts worse or the original issue has gone away entirely.
My next race
is going to be the Mountain Mist 50k on January 23. Until then,
Never stop
running,
Darin
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