It has been almost a week since I returned home from Virgil Crest 100 and I am still trying to wrap my head around what happened this past weekend. Right off the top, I have to say that Virgil Crest is a top-notch race put on by an amazing organization of people with one of the most dedicated RD’s ever; Ian Golden is one of the best (he is also a sadistic SOB). I also have to thank my crew, again, for the superb job they did crewing and pacing me. Dad, Andy, Lindsay and Katie….you guys are awesome!!
In order to pull any sort of order out of my thoughts, I am going to go through the events as they unfolded, chronologically and attempt to tell the story from there.
I arrived in Virgil, NY around 1330 and proceeded to set up camp. I was the first racer to arrive, which was odd, since I figured many of us would be camping, people would want to be here early. My dad showed up less than an hour after I had finished setting up camp, as I was just starting to sort through my gear and get the crew and drop bags set up.
The camp was right next to Hope Lake, A small reservoir that was heavily inhabited by ducks and geese. It was rather picturesque and made for a comfortable place to relax prior to the torment. Looking directly south from the campsite, I had a birds eye view of Greek Peak Ski Resort and Virgil Mountain, which I would have to traverse a total of four times over the hundred mile race. It was intimidating, to say the least, but I just told myself that I will deal with the mountain when I get to it, and tried not to dwell.
The rest of my crew was going to arrive in the morning, and once everything was settled and dinner was eaten, my dad and I decided to call it a night. And we slept. well……
At least he did, I lay there, unable to sleep…unable to think about sleeping, I tried listening to music..hoping String Cheese Incident and Widespread Panic would help lull me to sleep….nothing doing. I ended up listening to four hours worth of music before I had to get up and go find the restroom.
As I was walking out of the rest room, another runner was walking around. We started talking, and for an hour just kind of conversed away our nervous energy. Finally at 1:30 am, I felt tired enough to sleep….I finally fell asleep around 2, and was up 15 minutes before my 0415 alarm. Screw it, lets get going.
My brother arrived 5 minutes before the start, just long enough for a hug and a good luck, and before I knew it we were off. I put myself towards the back on purpose so I wouldn’t be tempted at all to run too fast. That has been my undoing in previous races, so I wanted to stay in control for as long as I could.
I found myself running next to the previous two years Lantern Rouge (last place finishers), and figured I was in really good company…if anyone was going to get me through to the end it was going to be these guys. Jim and Lou made excellent conversation and had sage advice for how to run the course, letting it come to me instead of attacking, being smart, even when running on the flats….etc. They told great stories and the first three hours went by very quickly.
Before I knew it I was at aid station 2, right on time, in 3 hours exactly. My dad and brother met me there with a smile and more importantly, a fried egg and bacon sandwich!! Holy cow, that was heaven….I didnt realize how hungry I was until I ate that. My fueling plan was 100 calories every 30 minutes, no matter what, and I was staying on it, but man three hours of running mountains creates an empty stomach quickly.
Next up was the most difficult section of the day, (which gets to be run in reverse and then repeated after 50). I had picked up hiking poles at the aid station, and was immediately glad that I did! Coming out of the aid station we cross a creek and right away start climbing. We climb up for a few hundred feet, then make a left and head straight back down, cross through a wooded section and then start up an “easy” level ski slope….easy if you are going down….one hell of a hill if you are climbing up! Once to the top of this hill, we crossed over through some trails to a lift house, where we descended to the ski resort itself. Once there it was a trek straight up a black diamond run.
A peculiar thing happened during these climbs, I started to feel nauseous. It was like all the lactic acid was pooling in my stomach, making it difficult to drink, eat or put out any real hard effort. Eventually I made it to the top, but Jim and Lou had long since dropped me. The view from the top was breathtaking, but I still had 2 miles of rugged trails through the back side of the mountain until AS 3, where I could drop my poles eat something and start to take stock of my situation. This section started giving me doubts that I could finish. I put them to the back of my head, and pressed forward on, focused on the next task only.
The next 2 sections (out and back to mile 25) were much more runnable, and I eased into running, making sure to eat consistantly and remember to enjoy being out in the woods. The weather was perfect, the first massive climb was behind me, and I just worked on getting to the turn around. I hit AS 4 (mile 25) in 6 hours exactly, feeling strong and in really good spirits. It was here that my brother told me that people were already dropping out of the race. I took my time, ate, drank some coke, popped a few salt tabs and re-applied body glide, along with changing socks and shoes. Oh, what a difference it makes to the mood when you have fresh socks and shoes on!
With everything good to go, I headed out of AS 4 back to mile 30. Less than a mile out of the aid station it began to lightly rain. This was expected, and felt great, however my nice dry socks and shoes were quickly soaked and covered with mud. This section I did my best to run smartly, staying within myself and on my 15 m/m desired pace. My stomach was starting to reject the idea of food, and was turning over quite heavily now. I sucked on a GinGin (ginger candy) for the remainder of this section, drinking water and Heed, hoping my stomach would even out so I could re-fuel at the next stop.
Once I got into AS 5, my brother told me how far behind on calories I was for the day (expecting 300 calories an hour x 7 hours = 2100 calories). I had expected to have taken in 2100 or more calories, but had only managed about 1300. He offered me food, but the only thing I could put in my mouth without wanting to throw it up was watermelon. I did force a gel down before leaving the AS, and took 2 with me for the reverse section of the ski slopes. I grabbed my hiking poles and headed out.
The trip back down the ski slope was worse than going up….especially the black diamond section. It seemed to take me forever to get down, and once I was down, I really didn’t want to go back up. It was through here that I encountered the worst mental low point I have ever had in a race. I was cussing and swearing everyone from the guy in front of me to the RD to my crew (all under my breath of course). I was certain I was going to drop at the next aid station, I just didn’t want to do it anymore.
About a half mile from the AS, I could start to hear people chattering and laughing, and almost instantly my sour mood started to lift. I got down to the creek bed and my brother was on the other side urging me across. Instead I stopped in the middle and splashed my legs with cold water, already forgetting about the effort that the last section just required from me.
I got into the aid station and immediately took to the task of eating. My stomach was finally ok, I was really hungry and everything looked good! I had 2 or 3 slices of bacon, a couple nuttela sandwich bites, 3 salt potatoes, 2 cups of coke, a cup of pickle juice and a sugar cookie. I joked with my crew that the only thing was missing was icecream! In fact, we should make this an ice cream! Ben n Jerry’s Ultrarunner Icecream (TM)….so niche that only ultra marathoners and pregnant women would want it. Once I had everyone laughing, and felt rejuvenated I took off for the final two sections to the 50 mile turn around.
The next two sections were relatively un-eventful, nice flowing single track through rolling hills. A bit of climbing and descending, but all in all, pretty runable. So I ran and power hiked both these sections. Darkness rolled in right after I left mile 43 AS and on came the headlamp, I was still able to run, just a bit slower.
It is funny that when the sun goes down, it seems for everything to take longer, and the 6 miles to the Start/ Finish and turn around seemed to take forever! Finally, after 14 hours and 57 minutes, I was at the aid station, passing my buddy Charlie (who I met outside the night before) going back out for the last half a mile earlier.
I sat down and was told that Lindsay was up at mile 56 aid station sleeping with the main bag and that Katie (his wife) was going to pace me to him. I was fine with that, until I realized that Lindsay had my body glide, some food I wanted and all my night weather gear (to include a poncho) with him and not where I expected it to be. I decided not to dwell or throw a temper tantrum and to get back at it. Ian, the RD, met me at mile 50 with a smile and was offering anything I needed as far as food, batteries for my head lamp, etc. After only 7 minutes in the AS, Katie and I headed out.
Less than 10 minutes later we felt the first drops of what would turn out to be a 2.5 hour deluge…..making this section a miserable slog through mud. It got so muddy, so fast, there was no hope of running, which also meant there was little hope of me staying warm as the temperatures dropped quickly. Through it all, though, Katie kept her spirits high, talking about anything and everything for the next 2 hours. Keeping me distracted from my misery as I could feel my feet starting to blister and my body starting to freeze up from the cold. My teeth were chattering so loud, it must have sounded like a beaver walking next to her.
I had left out of the 50 mile AS with an hour and a half cushion against the cutoff time for the next section, and as we came out of the woods, my Garmin dying at least an hour before that, I figured I had lost most of my buffer. I was surprised to learn that even though it took much longer than expected, I had added another 15 minutes to my cushion! I was actually pissed!! I had no excuse to drop…yes, I was cold, yes I was hungry, yes I was wet….but, I was still moving well, Lindsay had all new dry clothes for me, it had stopped raining, and they made some brand new chicken noodle soup for me. After 18 minutes in the Aid Station, thanking them all profusely for their efforts in making me comfortable and caring for all us lost souls, I headed out with Lindsay.
The first mile or two seemed to be going well, however at some point, my body decided that I simply could not go anymore. Try as I might to encourage my legs to move, nothing was working. Soon we were barely covering 1 mile an hour and there was nothing I could do about it. Lindsay tried distracting me from the pain, tried motivating me to move faster, but I simply couldn’t. My mind was willing, I wasn’t complaining and in fact was talking about getting to the next check point and getting some food, hoping I would feel better. My legs were just done. We trudged on, hoping that with every turn of the trail we would come out to the road that led to the aid station. Finally at 3:15 am (3 hours and 15 minutes after we left the last aid station, we found the road). My brain started to shut down here, as I found myself walking this mile section with my eyes closed, almost fully asleep. We got in to the checkpoint at 3:55, 10 minutes after the cutoff.
My whole crew was there, they knew before I got there that my race was over. Katie was supposed to meet us at this AS, then go and wake up my dad and brother so they could leap frog ahead. When she didn’t come get them and they woke on their own shortly after 3 am, they knew I was in trouble.
I sat down, and started eating and drinking, and was hoping that even though I missed a cutoff, I could recover physically and mentally and be allowed to push on. Ian was there, too, because I was the current Lantern Rouge (last racer), and tried encouraging me to continue, but when it took my whole crew to get me back on my feet, and even then I could hardly stand, he had to drop me. I was willing to go for it, to try, but ultimately my body refused.
Andy told me that runners were dropping like flies, and that even though I had been at the back of the pack all day, by the time I missed the cutoff, I was running in 17th or 18th. Only one person dropped from the race after me, at mile 86. I shed a couple tears as I watched my dream fade, and I thanked my crew over and over again. Lindsay ran to the car and grabbed some beers, and we all sat and drank a beer together at 4 am Sunday morning.
I learned a lot about myself last weekend. I learned that I am still tougher than I think I am. I learned that pain can be overcome with a positive attitude. I learned that doing hard things sometimes means I will fail in the attempt, and that is okay. I will go for it again, if not at Virgil Crest, then somewhere else. This challenge, which was worth attempting once, is still worth attempting, even after failure. Maybe especially after failure.
I learned that monumental tasks take support from trusted people, friends and family. Without my crew, I may have thrown in the towel at mile 25 or 30. I would not have made it as far as I did. With their help I set a distance personal best by 13.4 miles! I also ran for more hours than ever before: 21 hours and 57 minutes!
I also learned that my wife was just as heartbroken for my failure as I was, and with her encouragement, I will attempt it again. I learned that nothing we do in this life affects only ourselves, that through perseverance and endurance, goodwill and charity, we share our strengths with each other and encourage each other to greatness.
“Dura Fucere”
Hebrews 12:1
The Fastest Disciple 