December
12
Due to the environment we are in, I have only run two races so far this
year. The first was the Mountain Mist
50k in January, and the second was the Stump Jump 50k in October. I was scheduled to run a 50 miler in
November, but life intervened, and I went to my aunt’s funeral instead. I started the year slightly damaged from last
year’s Hellgate. There was nothing
acutely wrong, just a few lingering, nagging issues. With the race cancellations in the spring and
summer, I took a few back-to-back easy weeks that brought me into May back to
full running health.
My training this year (after April) went well, but several times, work
curtailed some of my long runs. Many
times, I shortened my long run to only 20 miles so that I could get on a
morning conference call. I have
perfected being on a conference call while playing golf, but I have yet to do
this while running.
So, here I am at Hellgate for the 18th time! My daughter, Amy, is crewing for me. We get to Camp Bethel and check in, but it is
definitely going to be a different year.
For starters, the check-in and pre-race briefing are going to be in the gym
instead of the Heritage Lodge. And, of
course, we are all wearing masks and keeping our distance from each other. I fist bump a few other runners, but that is
the extent of physical greetings. I chat
with Lanier Greenhaw, who is from Athens, Alabama. He is rather reserved in his prediction for
this year and doesn’t think there is any chance he will see me as he is
starting in the last wave, and I am in the first. I suggested to David Horton that the fearsome
five should start in the first wave with the top 10 men and top 10 women. Each wave has 25 runners, and the waves are spaced
every five minutes so that we can abide by the Virginia governor’s order.
A pre-race nap
Dinner is not bad as I eat a large piece of lasagna along with green
beans, salad, rolls, and one cookie. At
the pre-race briefing, I am the only one from the fearsome five in attendance. I don’t know what the rest of the guys were
doing, but they were all at the starting line a few minutes before
midnight. David says a prayer, and we
sing the national anthem before he sends us off at 12:01am.
Before the start
Mile
3.5 45:44 (13:04 avg./mile) FSR 35
The weather this year is downright sissy-gate this year. The temperature at the start is in the low 40s and if anything it is supposed to rise slightly during the rest of the night. I start with shorts and short-sleeve and long-sleeve shirts—no hat or gloves—just a buff on my head. The top 10 men are gone within the first quarter mile, and then there are us fearsome five and the top 10 women running in the same vicinity. I settle into my usual pace and before the first aid station everyone else from the first wave as left me behind. Then the faster runners from wave two catch me before the stream crossing. A few of them pass me before the aid station. The creek crossing was typical depth with no way of keeping my feet dry. My pace on this section is spot on my goal pace, which I have planned to get me in just less than 17 hours. Okay, so maybe my pace is a minute slow as I wanted to be at or below 45 minutes for this first section. Regardless, section one is now complete. I grab a cup of water and start the climb up to Petites Gap.
Mile
7.5 56:44 (14:11 avg./mile) Petites
Gap
I
run a fair bit of this section when the road is not too steep. The men from the second wave passed me just
before or soon after the first aid station, but the women from the second wave
do not catch up to me until about three-quarters of the way up the
mountain. Sophie Speidel comes by me,
and we chat about running her 11th Hellgate. It was only a couple of years ago that she
said she was content with 10. Her excuse
is COVID as this is the first race she has run in over a year. My goal on this section was less than an
hour, and I am thrilled that I am back on pace.
Actually, I am now 2.5 minutes under my goal pace at this point. My crew is not allowed to come to this aid
station due to the staggered start, so I will get no dry shoes, no chocolate
milk, and no bagel from Amy. Instead, I
grab two PB&J sandwich quarters and a small bag of potato chips. The wonderful aid station workers have these
all pre-packaged in small Ziploc bags.
Mile
13.1 1:32:36 (16:32 avg./mile) Camping
Gap
The warm-up is now over, and it is time for some night-time technical trail! I make good progress down the rocky trail and then continue to run well until the course comes out onto Hunting Camp Road, which is a dirt jeep trail that takes us back up, up, up to the next aid station. During the climb, I talk with Janet Hausken, who is from Minnesota. I only run a couple of times going up the hill, and I am pleasantly surprised to find myself at the aid station so quickly. I guess good conversation does make the effort easier. Rosie is working this aid station, so I know there will be some good food. He does not disappoint as he has little cheese and sausage poppers each wrapped in tin foil. I grab one of those along with a bag of Fritos and head down the trail. My goal on this section was 1:35, so I am now five minutes ahead of my pace.
Mile
21.9 2:28:08 (16:50 avg./mile)
Headforemost Mountain
I run conservatively on this section as I want to ensure I don’t press the pace too quickly. Janet and I play leap frog a couple of times, but then she gets ahead of me for good when I take a squat in the woods. Now, ordinarily this is not a critical event, and I have only had to do this at most one time during a Hellgate race, but this year I have been afflicted with hemorrhoids—there it is out there for everyone to know. Therefore, I have to be careful not to over exert myself and cause bleeding. That’s right: my hemorrhoids like to bleed often. For this dump, I complete it successfully with no bleeding. I have not bled since November 13th. For most of this year my hemorrhoids have bled every week or two. So, not bleeding for a month (insert jokes here) has been a true accomplishment leading up to this race. I finish this section in great shape. My run down to Overstreet Falls goes quickly as I led a bunch of runners through this tricky, rocky, downhill scramble. My time at the spot of the original aid station is two minutes faster than my goal pace. So far, this race is going as planned. I grab some more PB&J sandwich quarters at this aid station, which is now a half mile further than the original location.
Mile
27.6 1:47:43 (18:54 avg./mile) Jennings
Creek
Leaving
the top of Headforemost Mountain, I get attacked by a huge sleep monster. It is all I can do to keep from laying down
and taking a nap. Eventually, I take
another squat in the woods (blood-free) and then link up with a couple of
runners in order to get into some semblance of a flow. As dawn emerges from the night darkness, my
sleepiness subsides, and I roll into this aid station ready to really attack
this race. I finally get to see my crew,
which means I get to eat a scrumptious, grilled bacon, egg, and cheese
sandwich. I wash it down with chocolate
milk and in between bites and gulps I change into dry socks and shoes. Life is grand! My pace is seven minutes slower than my goal
for this section, but this just puts me right back on my number overall.
Eating breakfast
Mile
34.5 1:54:47 (16:38 avg./mile) Little
Cove Mountain
As
I begin the climb out of the Jennings Creek valley, I catch up to Anne Pike,
who lives in Crozet, but clearly started out her life in England. We chat some as we move up and over the first
climb on this section. When we get to
the downhill single track, I push it out a little, but Anne eventually catches
up to me on the climb up to the aid station.
I am feeling pretty good at this point, but my time is not as quick as I
would like. My goal pace for this
section was 1:50, so I am now a few minutes behind schedule. At the aid station where Rosie is again working, I grab two of his sausage and cheese poppers and decide to give the
Tailwind beverage (raspberry flavor) a try.
The raspberry flavor has caffeine in it, and that is the only caffeine
choice other than Mountain Dew, Code Red.
Mile
42.5 2:17:47 (17:13 avg./mile)
Bearwallow Gap
Coming into Bearwallow Gap
Leaving
Little Cove Mountain, I find myself running next to Justin Peake. He is also trying to get in less than 17
hours, but he started 20 minutes after me.
So, he has a healthy 15+ minute cushion, whereas I am a few minutes
behind. Such is the reality of the wave start. I am going to lose to every runner that I
finish close to because almost all of them started after me. The caffeine kicks in nicely, and I start
rolling. I am careful once again not to
push the pace too hard. Caffeine is
awesome and has a definite effect on me since I rarely consume any. The drawback is that I can only use it so
much before the effects start to diminish.
I make my way through the devil trail unscathed and roll into the aid
station having gained back a couple of minutes on my goal pace. At the aid station, my wonderful crew has a
grilled ham and cheese sandwich ready for me.
I wash it down with some more chocolate milk along with some CR01 (my
own recipe from Infinit). Then I make my
way over to the aid station food table trying to find some more of the
caffeinated Tailwind. The aid station
workers find a mostly empty pitcher that they pour into a small cup. I hope this continues to work as well on the
next section as it did on this one.
Mile
49.5 2:05:43 (17:58 avg./mile) Bobblets
Gap
Justin
and Anne are just ahead of me as we leave Bearwallow Gap, but quickly they pull
away from me. I figure I just need to
let me stomach digest a bit and allow some time for the caffeine to kick back
in. Unfortunately, it is a slow process
for both the food and the drink. I get
to the top of the climb, and I feel like I need to squat in the woods
again. As it is now daylight with no
foliage on the trees, I have to go farther from the trail. My effort this time is fruitless, and that is
not good at all. Oh well, it is time to
slug this section out and see where I am when I get to Bobblets Gap. While I try to keep moving at a respectable
pace, I catch my toe and hit the ground pretty hard. I don’t think I have drawn any blood despite smacking
the side of my face on the dirt. I had
caught my toe several times today, but was always able to save it. Several minutes later, I roll my right ankle
for the first time in this race, and I find myself on the ground again. It hurts a fair bit since I haven’t rolled it
in several weeks. Picking myself up, I
manage to finish the rest of this section without hurting myself anymore. This section was not good, and I lost 10
minutes to my goal pace. At the aid
station as I eat the Ramen Amy has cooked for me, I lament that 17 hours is no
longer in reach. Amy tries to convince
me not to give up hope, saying it is still possible even if it isn’t likely.
Soup at Bobblets Gap
Mile
56.1 2:11:08 (19:52 avg./mile) Day
Creek
I
run all of the way down the 2.5 miles leaving Bobblets Gap. I make this section in 31:12, which isn’t a
bad time, but isn’t blazing either. As I
leave the nice dirt road and get back on a single track trail, I realize that I
am leaking—blood of course and not from anything other than my rear end! The back of my shorts are completely soaked
in blood at this point. Hemorrhoids are
a literal pain in the rear, but that is not my main problem. My main problem would be getting to the
finish line before I lose too much blood.
Fortunately, as I hike and run through the forever section, the bleeding
seems to not be getting worse as none of it is running down my legs and my
shorts are not getting any wetter. Also,
it is nice to be wearing black shorts. I
struggle into the Day Creek aid station in not too bad of shape. I actually ran this section only six minutes
slower than my goal pace. I sit down and
let my rear end calm down a little while I drink some Coke and empty a rock out
of my left shoe. Now, I have exactly two
hours before the 18 hour cut-off. It is
time to practice mind over matter—if I don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. That is a great mantra, but everything still
does matter!
Mile
62.4 1:39:33 (15:48 avg./mile) FINISH
Congratulations from Dr. Horton
I
make the climb for the last crossing of the Blue Ridge Parkway in a decent time
of 47:25—not bad for 2.8 miles up a steep climb. As I cross the parkway, I start to trot down
the hill, but my body and legs are not going to let me run freely at a good
clip. Instead, I am in a survival
shuffle that is barely faster than a brisk walk. It takes me 52:08 to “run” the last 3.5
miles! However, that is good enough to
get me across the line, under the cut-off for the 18th time in 18
tries in the 18th edition of this classically epic race.
Official
Finishing Time 17:39:53
115th
out of 134 starters (118 finishers under 18 hours)
This year was
almost ideal weather, although I like it a little cooler. Despite the weather, my race this year
provided a few other challenges. First,
I was not in as good of shape as I would have liked, and second, the
hemorrhoids. When I finish, I am in
absolute pain. Even after showering and
changing into clean clothes, the pain is still rather intense as Amy and I drive
to our hotel for the night. I make it
through the night without losing too much more blood. I will ooze blood for two more days. Yes, I did see a doctor on Tuesday so I have
finally sought medical attention for the malady.
Given that health
issue, I am not sure when I will race next.
The Mountain Mist 50k is in January, and the Mt. Cheaha 50k is in
February—both in Alabama. After that, I
hope that Kettle Moraine is going to happen in 2021. I have rolled over my 2020 entry to 2021. So, maybe I will run a 50k or two or even a 50
miler this winter and spring. Until
then…
Never stop
running,
Darin
