May
31
My
son-in-law, Ben, and I are flying up to northern Michigan so that I can run a
100-mile race. He will be crewing for
me, stopping at every aid station to ensure I have what I need. The weather is near perfect for flying except
we have a little bit of a headwind. The
flight takes 4 hours and 40 minutes, but we manage it non-stop from
Huntsville. When we land in Gaylord,
Michigan, our rental car is driven right out to our plane. I reserved a standard mid-size with Hertz,
but we got lucky and will be driving a red Cadillac sedan for the weekend! We eat lunch in Gaylord at Spicy Bob’s
Italian Express. I have an Italian
grinder, and Ben has a calzone. We are
well stuffed as we go over to Walmart to buy a few groceries and then drive
over to Traverse City. We check into our
Comfort Inn accommodations and then head to the pre-race briefing at a nearby
park. At the briefing, I meet up with
Eric and Noni Clifton, who I haven’t seen since 2000 at the JFK 50. Eric is a little older now, but he used to
win all of these ultra-races.
June
1
 |
| The starting line lighthouse |
On
race morning, we drive the 25 minutes north on the peninsula to the start. The sun is just starting to show its early
light as we arrive at the lighthouse parking lot. It is cool in the high 40s, but the weather
is near perfect. I ate my usual bowl of
granola and cream in the hotel room before driving to the start, and I feel as
ready to run 100 miles as I ever have.
There is no pressure except for needing another 100 mile finish. To date, I have finished 10 and dropped out
of 9. This race will be unique for my
100 mile races as it is all on paved surfaces.
No mud or other elements, just plenty of hard pavement. I start the race with shorts, short-sleeve
shirt, and a buff on my head. To guard
against the cool temperatures, I pull on a light long-sleeve shirt for the
first few miles. There are 41 of us that
toe the line on this late spring morning.
The race start is exactly on the 45th parallel, which means
we are halfway between the equator and the North Pole.
Mile
5.0 57:53 (11:35 avg./mile) Smokey
Hollow Road
 |
| Sorting out the pack of runners early in the race |
Race
director Dave says go, and we all begin shuffling forward. Eric Clifton gets to the front and as we get
out on the main road, a deer darts in front of him. Most of us are all bunched together. I meet several people who are attempting
their first 100, including Ray and Cat.
Karl and Leslie are maintaining a nice, even pace, and for this first
section I run near them. My primary goal
is to finish, but my reach goal is to get a PR, (My current PR is 25:51 at
Mohican in 2007) and my far stretch goal is to finish under 24 hours. This is the gold standard for 100-milers. I like to think of it the same as qualifying
for the Boston Marathon. To run 100
miles in 24-hours, a 14:12/mile average is needed. So, this first split is good as I have
settled into a good pace. I want to run
about 12-minute miles early on, and this is spot on. I wave at Ben as I roll through this initial
aid station.
Mile
9.0 41:14 (10:18 avg./mile) Peninsula
Fire Station
After
the first aid station, Karl and I start talking about other races. He has a 100-mile PR of 18 hours or something
and has run Vol State at least once. His
goal today is just to get Leslie home for her first 100-mile finish. They are both planning on running the Vol
State later this summer and are using this race as a training run. What is Vol State you ask? Why it is a 300-mile, multi-day race around
Tennessee created by Lazarus Lake, who also is the race director for the
Barkleys. So, we are chatting away and
don’t realize until we get to the aid station that we have left Leslie and Cat
a little behind us. Karl stops at the
aid station to wait on them—they are only a minute or two back, and I press
forward. Now, I have a little time in
the bank, but I need to ensure I don’t go out too quickly. I remove the long-sleeve shirt at this point
and drink some CR01 (my own mixture that mimics Conquest).
Mile
14.8 1:12:51 (12:34 avg./mile) Bluff
Road and Center Road
 |
| Darin and Mike |
This
section is alongside of the East Arm of Grand Traverse Bay. It is nearly completely flat, but the flat
sections seem like they might be uphill.
It is tempting to let yourself walk these flat (maybe slightly uphill)
sections, but I know I need to keep running if I am going to achieve my
goals. It isn’t that I don’t feel like
running, it is just that I want to conserve as much as possible for late in the
race. About halfway through this
section, Mike comes up from behind me. We run together for a couple miles to the aid
station. Ben is here ready with my
chocolate milk and a bagel. It is still
cool, and it has drizzled a little, so the chocolate milk is awesome.
Mile
20.5 1:13:18 (12:52 avg./mile) East Bay
Park
I
stroll into East Bay Park mostly by myself, although there is another runner
who is leapfrogging me as our run/walk rhythms are offset. This section was almost entirely flat, and my
pace seems to be working well. I am
running about 13 minutes and then walking 2 minutes. One of the aid station workers asks me if I
also bike as my thighs are larger than most for runners. I reply that no I don’t bike, but I do play
ice hockey, and used to play football. I
peruse the selection of food at this manned aid station and settle on a healthy
handful of potato chips. The aid station
volunteers were willing to make me a peanut butter sandwich, but I didn’t
really want to wait for it.
Mile
27.5 1:16:23 (10:55 avg./mile) GJ’s
Pizza and Market
We
are now in Traverse City having made our way down the peninsula. I run right by the Comfort Inn that Ben and I
stayed in last night, and then I pick my way across traffic and head south
before turning left on the TART trail.
This is a nice paved fitness trail that goes through the city for
several miles. I pass a runner with his
crew just before getting on the TART trail.
This is a good confidence boost as it confirms I am on the correct
route. The TART is almost perfectly
flat, and I settle back into my 13 and 2 rhythm. I turn off of the TART trail to conquer the
hill of Holiday Hills. It is a good mile
plus all uphill before turning around and running back down the hill to this
market. It is really nice to see all of
the runners ahead of me and behind me. I
am not sure the mileage on this section is entirely accurate, but I did run
down the hill rather quickly. I drink a
fair amount of CR01 when I see Ben at the market. Interestingly, Ben was sitting here when I
was heading up the hill, but he didn’t notice me pass on the opposite side of
the street.
Mile
33.3 1:13:42 (12:42 avg./mile) TART
trail and Bates Road
After
the market, we get back on the TART trail, and I continue my nice comfortable
pace. I catch up with Jenna, who is the
race director for the Cry Me a River 100-miler in Peoria, Illinois. She is only running 50 miles today. I roll into this aid station at the one-third
mark in great shape. My time is 6:35 so
I am well ahead of a 24-hour pace. I am
actually currently slightly ahead of 20-hour pace. Ben has cooked a nice grilled ham and cheese
sandwich for me, and I take my time to eat the whole, piping-hot thing.
Mile
40.0 1:32:33 (13:49 avg./mile) Monro
Road
 |
| Darin at Mile 40 drinking chocolate milk |
After
my sandwich, I take a little off of my pace.
I am moving with Mike and Jenna for a good piece of this section. I feel good so far, but the key is to remain
patient. I could probably rip off 10
miles in an hour and a half at this point, but I would severely pay for it
later. I down some more chocolate milk
at this aid station before grazing on more potato chips from the aid
station. It is the same bag of potato
chips that was at the 20.5 mile aid station.
My time as I leave is 8 hours and 7 minutes. So, I am no longer under 20-hour pace, but am
in a very good position to finish under 24 hours.
Mile
45.0 51:35 (10:19 avg./mile) Riverwalk
Grill
I
am still moving with Jenna as the two of us and one other runner enter Elk
Rapids. When the course turns right on
US 31, I open up a little gap (not intentionally) on Jenna and the other guy. Through the heart of the town, the course
turns right to the unmanned aid station at the Riverwalk Grill parking lot
where Ben is waiting for me. I drink
some chocolate milk and take half of a bagel with me for the road. I was a little surprised by my pace on this
section, but move on quickly as I am approaching the halfway point. It turns out that I won’t see Jenna again.
Mile
47.8 46:35 (16:38 avg./mile) Caria
Highway and Cherry Avenue
I
spend the majority of this section running out of Elk Rapids wondering if I am
going the right way. There are no
intermediate confidence markings, just signs when a turn is necessary. I keep looking back for Jenna and the other
runner, but they are too far back and I can’t see them. Finally with about a half mile to go to the
aid station, two crew vehicles that I recognize pass me. Thank goodness I am on the right route! I roll into the aid station a little slower
than before, but I had slowed down when I was uncertain. I drink some more CR01, and get another
handful of potato chips from the aid station.
Mile
53.0 1:21:28 (15:40 avg./mile) Torch
Lake Road
 |
| Changing shoes at mile 53 |
The
course is well off of Lake Michigan at this point and on the west bank of Torch
Lake. I am leap frogging a couple of
guys that looked well dialed in and focused.
On the down hills, I am getting by them, and then they pass me later on
the flats or uphill sections. When I get
to the aid station, Ben has the Ramen and hash browns ready. I decide to change my shoes at this point as
I am eating my dinner. My pace was a
little quicker than this 15:40 shows as it includes the time I am sitting here
in the aid station. My elapsed time is
11:07. Some use a rule of thumb to
double the time from mile 55 to predict one’s final time. By any measure, I am well on pace to finish
under 24 hours.
Mile
57.5 1:09:14 (15:23 avg./mile) Sugar
Maple Lane
My
extended stop at mile 53, let the two guys I was leap frogging get ahead of me
far enough that the leap frogging has ceased for now. The road we are on has some elevation
changes. It is actually nice not to have
it be completely flat. There are
actually a couple of climbs. At the aid
station, I quickly duck into the porta-john.
After the pit stop, I graze by the food table and grab some mini candy
bars.
Mile
64.0 1:40:02 (15:23 avg./mile) Eastport
Market
 |
| Darin at mile 64 eating his sandwich |
All
but about a couple hundred yards of this section are on US 31. It is nearly all flat with visibility for a
mile or more down the road. I can see
the two guys ahead of me the whole way as they stay about a half mile ahead of
me. I have slowed my rhythm down to 10
minutes of running with 5 minutes of walking.
I am figuring that I can maintain this nice 15 minutes per mile pace
with this rhythm. At this point, I only
need to average 16:37 miles to get in at 24 hours. When I get to the aid station, Ben has a
grilled ham and cheese ready for me, and I take my time to eat the whole
thing. Keeping the calories coming in at
a high rate is one of the critical factors.
My shoe change was not ideal as I have a blister on the inside of each
of my heels. They aren’t causing me much
concern and at this point so I am going to leave them alone.
Mile
71.4 2:07:06 (17:11 avg./mile) Norwood
Church
As
the evening begins to turn into night, I run alone this whole section. The section is on a lonely country road. A vehicle passes by occasionally, but mostly
the traffic is other crew vehicles. At
one point, I ask a couple of teenagers I see if the road is going uphill or
flat. They say it is very so slightly
uphill, but I am looking good and they are confident I can keep running. Less than a half mile from the aid station, I
run by another crew and ask them how far the aid station is. They say it isn’t far now, which was less
than informative. I arrive at the aid
station right as the last elements of daylight are fading. I turned on my required red blinking lights
about 20 minutes ago. I have one on both
my front and back as this race requires.
As it is cooling off, I add a long-sleeve shirt, hat, and gloves. Any rain chances ended several hours ago, and
it looks like it is going to be a beautiful cool night. I grab another handful of potato chips from
the aid station before heading off into the night.
Mile
76.9 1:25:47 (15:36 avg./mile) Barnard
Road and Klooster Road
I
added the iPod at the last aid station to let the music try to keep me rolling
in the darkness. I have a small
headlight, which is all I need with the smooth, paved surface. Halfway into this section, I am fading. So, I decide to go to the whip—a No Doze
tablet. I am nearly caffeine free in my
daily life, so adding caffeine at this point has a very good effect. I roll into this unmanned aid station feeling
like I am on a good pace. Ben offers me
a bagel, but I decline and instead opt for an Access Bar. I drink some chocolate milk before heading on
into the dark night by myself. Can I
keep averaging 16-minute miles and finish under 24 hours?
Mile
82.4 1:26:20 (15:42 avg./mile) Holiday
Gas Station
 |
| Darin eating the "free" bag of chips |
I
get a little boost as I come into Charlevoix.
This is the last town before Petoskey where the finish is. I pass through about half of the town before
the Holiday Gas station aid station finally appears. Ben is here waiting as always. This is a “manned” aid station that is
essentially the convenience store. All
runners can just go in and grab anything we want and it will be charged to the
race. I look for a hot dog, but they
aren’t ready as it is about 1am in the middle of the night. So, I decide to get an ice cream bar and a
bag of potato chips. I have a rough
calculation in my head that tells me I can average almost 17 minutes a mile and
still make my 24-hour stretch goal. My
spreadsheet analysis now says that 16:59 is the magic number for a pace from
this point.
Mile
85.8 1:03:40 (18:44 avg./mile) Little
Traverse Wheelway Path
I
make my way through the heart of downtown, and there is a group of partyers
fooling around on the opposite side of the street from me. When one of them spots me, they start
cheering wildly. It is fun and a slight
motivation. Leaving town, the darkness
envelops me once again and soon I come upon Ben at this unmanned aid
station. In my spreadsheet with the
mileage at each aid station, it says this aid station is at mile 87.5, which I
am pretty sure is not correct when I get here in about an hour. I have now used Google maps to estimate new
mileage for these last couple of aid stations.
In the moment, I now wonder whether I have 4 or 6 miles to the next aid
station. At the time, I didn’t know that
my pace has fallen off. My post analysis
says I need to average 16:34 per mile. I
sit down and eat most of the beef Ramen that Ben has prepared. I pass on any hash browns, deciding to get
moving before I get chilled.
Mile
91.7 1:54:22 (19:23 avg./mile) Cabin on
Nine Mile Point Drive
This
aid station takes me forever to get to.
Ben had heard and passed onto me that there was an issue with the cabin
where this aid station is supposed to be.
I am hoping that the reason it is taking me longer than expected to get
here that maybe the aid station has been moved, and I will be closer to the
finish when I get there. Unfortunately,
when I finally get to the aid station, Ben asks me how I am doing and my reply
is that it depends on what mile we are at.
He confirms with the aid station worker that this is mile 91. The aid station isn’t actually at the cabin,
but it is in the same place on the wheelway.
My rough calculations now say that I need to run faster than 15-minute
miles as I have a little over two hours until 6am. Can I do that? I don’t know, but we are about to find
out. My post analysis says 14:39 per
mile is necessary.
 |
| Sunrise near the finish |
Mile
100.3 2:44:03 (19:05 avg./mile) FINISH!
Starting
the last 8+ miles, I decide that another No Doze is in order if I have a chance
of rallying. I also decide to abandon my
10 and 5 rhythm of running and walking.
Instead, I run 20 and 25 minutes before walking for 5 minutes each
time. As can be seen by my final time,
all of my attempts come up short. My
pace is only slightly faster than the previous section in the end. I am about 2 miles away from Petoskey when
the sun rises. With only 10 minutes
until 6am, reality sets in. I walk most
of the last two miles. I am freezing
cold as the temperature has now dropped to 40 degrees. I meet the wife of a runner behind me, and
she warns me not to miss the final turn.
As I enter into Petoskey, I resume my shuffle. I make the final turn and Ben tells me I can
stop running as I have crossed the finish line, which is a hand drawn chalk
line on the ground.
Official
Finishing Time 24:38:06
17th
out of 41 starters (32 finishers under 30 hours)
It always
feels good to finally stop running, and I am happy with my finish and
effort. I will think about only a couple
things that I would have done differently, but overall, this was a very good
race. I would have had Ben meet me every
two miles, gone down to the cabin and used the restroom (I had to duck into the
woods on this last section), and added another layer to stay warmer. But, I have now established my 100-mile PR at
a new mark at the age of 50.
I have no
other race plans for the rest of the summer.
My fall racing will begin with Stump Jump in Chattanooga in
October. Until then…
Never stop
running,
Darin
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