Flying up to New York
This is a new race for me, but one that has been running since
2015. James, Peter, and I fly up to Penn
Yan, New York on Friday morning at the aid stations. We made it a non-stop flight as we had a nice
10-knot tailwind. When we arrive at Penn
Yan airport, they have our Hertz rental car waiting for us, but the nice lady
wants to confirm my license. After
looking at my license, she says, “sir, your license expires tomorrow, and I
can’t rent you this car.” So, James
pulls out his license, but he looks at it, laughs a little, and says that his
license expired four days ago. So, now I
cross my fingers as Peter pulls out his license. It is still valid and unexpired, so we are
able to get our rental car! We grab
lunch at a local grill, and then check in to our VRBO before heading to the
start area to pick up our numbers.
Dinner is at one of only two pizza joints in Naples.
August
20
I fall asleep around 8:30pm and sleep soundly until 1:05am when I have to
get up to use the
Before the start
bathroom. I then lay
in bed, mostly awake until 1:50am when my alarm goes off. My first bathroom visit is successful, and
then I eat a bowl of granola and heavy cream.
James is not successful on his first bathroom attempt and begins to pace
around the house. After eating
breakfast, I finish my race preparation, and then use the bathroom one last
time before we head to the start. At the
start, James is still trying to get his internal body moving and is
unsuccessful. The temperature at the
start is 64 degrees, which is a few degrees warmer than forecasted. I have a thin short-sleeve shirt on along
with my buff, shorts, shoes, and Camelbak.
There are 169 official starters in the race. The race starts promptly at 4am.
Mile
6.0 1:26:36 (14:26 avg./mile) Cutler,
116th place
James
and I start the race together and actually run together for about a quarter of
a mile. At that point, some eager runner
paces me and gets in between us. I am
trying to start conservatively so I let a few other runners pass me as James
pulls ahead. The trail is a single-track
trail for most of this first section. It
is not warm yet, but it isn’t as cool as I would have hoped. There are brief pockets of cool air, but they
are few. I settle into a good rhythm and
make it to this first aid station with only one trip and fall. Crew is not allowed at this first aid station
so I pass right on through without taking any food.
Here comes the sun!
Mile
12.5 1:27:41 (13:29 avg./mile) Naples
Creek, 121st place
This
section starts with a bit of road. I try
to set a good pace on while I am on the road since the trail section is a
little slow in the dark. The horizon is
starting to glow, but it will be most of this section before I turn my headlamp
off. The wooded sections are still quite
dim in the twilight. Two issues occur on
this section. First, I trip and fall again. And then I miss a turn. Before my missed turn, I was chatting with a
couple of runners that were right behind me.
When I missed the turn, I realize that there are about 20 runners
stacked up behind me. I get shuffled
back to the middle of this pack where I stay until we emerge from the woods and
run through the town of Naples to a nice park on the other side of town. Peter is eagerly waiting for me when I
arrive. I drink about a cup of chocolate
milk and trade out my Camelbak for a full one.
Then I take half of a bagel with me for the trail. Peter tells me that James is about 40 minutes
ahead of me, so it seems like he is feeling good and off to a great start.
Taking off the headlamp
Mile
18.2 1:17:1 (13:33 avg./mile) The
Sneaker, 119th place
Leaving
the nice park, we are greeted by one of the toughest climbs of the race. It starts out with a few switchbacks, but
then it just ascends directly up the side of the hill for about a mile. The grade is so steep that taking a full
stride is out of the question. In fact,
I think my “stride” is about a foot at best during the steepest portions of the
climb. After surviving the climb, there
is then a steep little downhill section followed by a short, steep uphill section,
which is then followed by a steep downhill section for about a mile. Needless to say, I can now feel my quads
complaining! Somewhere in here, I take
my first salt tablet of the day. I have
been totally soaked in sweat almost from the beginning of the race, so I need
to keep the electrolytes in check. Finally,
the section comes to an end with a “gradual” (read normal) uphill climb to the
aid station. During the climb, I meet
John Rynders and Marie Davis. They are
both in their 50s and are native to NY.
While they have not finished this race before, they are well familiar
with the course. At the aid station, I
eat a handful of potato chips.
Mile
22.6 1:02:31 (14:12 avg./mile) Italy
Valley, 123rd place
After the Sneaker aid station, there is a fairly long stretch of dirt road to start this section. John, Marie, and I chat while we jog and hike the road. After a while, Marie drops back, and John and I press forward. Both John and Marie state that their goal is just to finish. I, conservatively, say that I am hoping to finish in less than 19 hours. However, my original goal, which I quickly am revising was to finish in 17 hours. After the first three sections, I realized this is not realistic for me on this day, but I am still thinking that I might be able to hit 18 hours. This aid station has an Italy theme, but I don’t find any pasta. Instead, I eat more potato chips as it is another aid station where crews are not allowed.
 |
| Fed and ready for more |
This
section doesn’t have any long, steep portions, but it is mostly in the woods
with many small up and downs. Some are
rather steep, but overall, it is kind of nice in the woods. However, since it is past mid-morning, the
temperature is definitely climbing. The
relative coolness of the early morning is long gone, and now the only time I
feel cool is when we get the occasional nice breeze through the trees. I take my second salt tablet of the day and
am trying to drink as much water as I possibly can. This section ends with a downhill road section
followed by a short wooded, trail section to the aid station. Peter is ready for me and has a grilled
bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich that he says is about 30 minutes old. He is busy making a fresh one, but I opt for
the nicely lukewarm sandwich. I eat
about three-quarters of the sandwich while drinking over a cup of water. I then decide that I will drink a little Long
Haul beverage to see what effect that has on my stomach. One of my objectives today is to determine
the best stuff for my belly, so here we go.
After eating my “breakfast,” I visit the port-a-john where there is no
toilet paper. Fortunately, I have some
in my Camelbak pack, so all is well.
While I was doing all of this John left me behind. I leave the aid station feeling good, but
wondering how warm it is going to get today.
Mile
35.6 1:51:43 (17:44 avg./mile) Patch,
119th place
It
takes about 10 minutes after drinking the Long Haul to determine that it was
not for me. The drink feels like a slug
in my stomach—hopefully, it will pass through within the hour and won’t cause
any long-term issues for me on this day.
This section is mostly all wooded, single-track trail. Initially, I was
hoping to catch up to John, but I don’t see him at all on this section. That being said, I don’t see much of anyone
on this section. Obviously, I passed a
couple of runners, but otherwise, I am just making my way at my own pace. I consume my third salt tablet on this
section in my attempt to keep my stomach from getting any worse. This aid station at Patch is another
non-crewed aid station. I grab a handful
of potato chips and a pickle, and then wash it down with a couple swallows of
Coke. I am hoping that the little bit of
Coke will turn my stomach around.
Mile
39.8 1:31:10 (21:42 avg./mile) Bud
Valley, 117th place
Initially,
the Coke gives me a little pep in my step, and somehow I manage to pass a few
runners on this section according to the website. However, my stomach continues to go in the
wrong direction. At some point on this
section Marie catches back up to me. I
tell her that I haven’t seen John since mile 29, and she says he is a very
strong runner that under estimates his ability.
Marie leaves me behind before too long.
I walk most of the half mile road section leading into this aid station,
even though I should have been running the majority of it. About 30 minutes before the aid station, I
consume my fourth salt tablet. In my
younger running career I would consume these things every hour in hot weather,
but now I only take one every couple of hours as more often than that will give
me heartburn. My pace has definitely
slowed down, but I guess I am slowing down with everyone else. At the aid station, Peter is ready for me
with a chair, bagel, and bottle of water.
I sit down and choke down half of the bagel while drinking over a pint
of water. Meanwhile, a guy about 10
yards to my right is puking his guts out into the weeds. He has several full-throated heaves with all
of the sound effects while I sit here with a queasy stomach trying to consume a
few calories. I trade out my Camelbak
and decide to continue down the course, hoping my stomach will get better at
some point.
Mile
46.2 2:13:24 (20:51 avg./mile) Glenbrook,
117th place
I
keep pressing forward while trying not to push my pace much at all because of
my upset stomach. I haven’t thrown up
myself, but I know the edge is just in front of me if I push the pace at this
point. Somehow, Marie ends up behind me
again. I think she took longer at the last
aid station than I did. This section has
a decent early climb that several people catch up to me. There are about half a dozen of us struggling
along, but then here comes Bill Sergison from Virginia. He has a VHTRC hat on so I strike up a
conversation. He knows some of the older
runners in the club that I know very well.
Of course, he leaves me behind as we finish the climb. When I make it into the aid station, John is
sitting there with his shoes off. I ask
him how he is doing, and he says he is struggling. Well, I guess I am struggling too, but I
might be better off than John? I am
still surprised to see him as I didn’t expect to again. Peter is all prepared with a nice grilled ham
and cheese sandwich. I choke about half
of it down while drinking more water. I
yell over at John that it is about time to go.
He doesn’t look like he is getting ready, but his pacer (his daughter)
is tending to his feet. I trade out my
Camelbak and tell Peter to stuff my good headlamp into the main pocket. It will be a couple more hours until I need
it, and I will dig it out at that time.
When I leave the aid station, John is still sitting there with his shoes
off.
Mile 50.6 1:57:00 (26:35 avg./mile) Lake David, 118th place
I passed six runners while I was in the Glenbrook aid station as I was 111th place when I left. I make my way through a half mile of a wooded section, and as the course emerges from the woods onto a dirt road, John and his daughter catch up to me. It is good to see him, but I am trying to figure out how he got his shoes on so quickly and then caught up to me. I stay with John and his daughter Lindsey for the road section, and even some of the next wooded trail section. Eventually, I can no longer stay with them as they walk away from me. As they are pulling away from me, I take my fifth salt tablet of the race. I feel like I am still doing okay, and when two other runners come by me, I ask if they think we are close to the next aid station. Their response is yes, we just have to continue down this current downhill and then up a hill. All goes well until I reach the hill. It is steep and long enough to just about kill me. I stop about two-thirds the way up to sit down on a log and try not to die. Then when I get to the top of the hill it is still another quarter of a mile around Lake David to the aid station. Somewhere up the climb, I make the decision that it is best that I DNF (i.e., do nothing fatal or a.k.a., do not finish).
119 out of the 169 starters finish under the 20-hour cut-off.
Basically,
only two runners that arrived at Lake David after me end up finishing. I sit at the aid station sipping some ginger
ale for about 20 minutes before I decide to make it official. The aid station worker has to send a message
to the next aid station so they can tell Peter to come get me. I enjoy the evening sitting in the chair and
chatting with other runners coming and going.
There is another runner dropping at the same time I am. His name is JT, and he says he has no balance
left. He fell and broke one of his
hiking poles on the last
James finishes in 12th place!
section.
When Peter
arrives at the aid station, I am thrilled to see that he has James with
him. After I left mile 46, Peter drove
to the finish line and was able to see James finish and get his picture. We drive back to the house, and I manage to
take a shower before lying down for the night.
I sleep decently and in the morning, I am able to eat some. My next race (which is also James’ next race)
is The Stump Jump 50k in Chattanooga on October 1. Until then…
Never stop
running,
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