Hellgate 100k 2020 - The Year of COVID

 

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.

A pre-race nap

So, here I am at Hellgate for the 18^th 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.

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 11^th 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 13^th.  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

Eating breakfast

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.

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

Soup at 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.

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 18^th time in 18 tries in the 18^th edition of this classically epic race.

Official Finishing Time          17:39:53

115^th 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