The Stats….
Race: BURCS Summer Fatass 24 hour
Lap distance: 1.9 miles, or as everyone’s Garmin or
Strava would suggest, 2 miles.
Elevation: Roughly 200ft per lap… according to someone I
asked, I really have no idea.
Laps completed: 33
Total distance covered: 62.7 miles, or with aid of
suggested data, 66 miles.
Time: 15 hours and 35 minutes
California rolls consumed: 5
Bacon: Half package
Watermelon: not enough
Fake moon sightings: 1
Popular artist on the iPod: Grateful Dead, The War on
Drugs, Future Islands, Steely Dan
Finsh: 7 out of 21
To give this race report some background, I need to go
back to October 23rd of last year. It was 5am on a cold, windy
morning and I, 20 hours deep at the Ghost Train Trail Race, couldn't quite pull
myself out of the dark hole that I couldn’t even recognize I was in. I was out
there to complete 100 miles, yet here I was standing in a daze, completely sure
that if I blinked too long I would just fall asleep. I tried talking some
sense into myself. It was less than a marathon, I told myself. Less than two
full laps, I said. This is what I showed up for, I thought. But in the end, I
cashed in my chips at 75 miles and went home defeated.
In the following days I came to a few conclusions. First,
I achieved a new distance PR. Second, how much training did I have with being
that exhausted at 5am? Third, how much fuel had I really taken in, as the
options at the aid station tables were just completely unappealing to me? And
fourth, if someone had given me a cold brew coffee and some music and pointed
me back out on the trail and told me to just start walking till the sun comes
up, I probably wouldn’t be writing this right now. Taking that all in, I was
able to consider that race a victory in the learning department. Now to put
those lessons into action.
This brings me to yesterday’s BURCS Summer Fatass, a
24/12/6 hour event out in the scenic Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts. I
had the goals this year of adding night running into my training and finding
foods I wanted to eat. This race provided an opportunity to practice both. With
a start time of 7pm on Saturday and a stock pile of bacon, California rolls,
watermelon, ice coffee and Tailwind, I was ready to get down to business.
I had already been
awake for 11 hours and done a bunch of regular Saturday things, when we started
the first lap. We began with a nice climb up one of the many trails of the
Notchview Nordic Ski Center to then wind our way down through double track
cross country ski trails, open fields with beautiful views, and tall pine
forests. The first few laps went by rather quickly. I had struck up conversation
with fellow racer, Patrick, for those laps and we talked about lots of random
running stuff till he decided to take a fueling break and walk a lap, or most
likely, was sick of my babbling.
By lap 7 headlamps were a must. I was pushing the limit
of where I had it turned on, as I knew I would soon be sick of the sight of
following a light through the woods. And the beautiful sun set made for having
the headlamp off in the open sections worthwhile. I ran into the night in
silence, with only a melodic guitar solo stuck in my head to assist me through
each loop. By midnight I had completed the marathon distance and the race was
well underway.
Something new to me for this race was that with each lap
being only 1.9 miles in distance, I didn’t need to run with anything. No
hydration pack, no hand held. That certainly helps the body in being taxed
less. With each lap, I was sure to swing by the basecamp aid station and have
some tailwind and eat what seemed appealing. I’d also take a sushi roll for a
walk up the trail. Personally appealing foods are a must!
As I got into the thick of the night, things became
rather routine. Walk the first hill, wind down through the muddy section with
the Klu Klux Fern (iridescent dew illuminated what appeared to be the hood of a
Klansman and was accompanied by a white tiger jumping out at the trail. Seeing
things that aren’t really there is fun!) Enjoy the moon in the tall pines
section (moon was full and beaming down all night!), hit the rolling up hills
to the firefly shed, then cruise out into the fields to finish it up.
Occasionally I would walk a lap with my lady friend or a new to me friend. Most
of the time, I would get it done on my own accompanied by my iPod which I
brought out some time around 1am.
As the wee hours of the morning progressed I could feel
the length of my day settling in. I was getting the yawns pretty hard while
walking the uphill and I knew this was where the lessons I had learned would
pay off. Just keep moving. By 4am, the first hints of daylight were appearing
against the opposing warmth of the moon. Each lap provided a little more light
until the headlamp was useless. Lesson one accomplished, I had made it to the
daylight… game changer! The trail became all new again as the first rays of sun
cut through the forest. Running without staring at an illuminated spot on the
ground was amazing.
By 6am or so, I had hit the 50 mile mark and I was
feeling the fact that I had been up for 22 hours. I was dragging. Let’s
implement some more of those lessons I learned. I sat for a bit, changed my
shorts, changed my socks (pink injinji socks courtesy of my lady friend, that
paired with my green Hoka’s, made my feet look like watermelons), changed my
shoes, ate another California roll and pounded a bunch of French roast ice
coffee. By 8am I was back to kicking ass and taking names! I felt like it was a
regular morning run where I had just woken up from plenty of sleep. Strange. I
love you, coffee!!! Oh, and that donut.
That delicious, made in Portland donut. I love you, too.
Coming into this event, I wanted to have a goal. As much
as I wanted to test out my new strategies to see how they helped in the long
run, I felt going the full 24 hours wasn’t a necessary thing for me. I’ve had
two 50k training runs so far this season, so a 100k finish would be a perfectly
acceptable goal. I ran the last few laps with renewed vigor. For my final lap,
I decided a walk was going to be the thing to do. Take in the sights one last
time… bring some beers for the walk, and finish it up in style!
Half way through that final course lap, Patrick came up
behind me. We walked for a while, talking about how the race had gone and such.
He said he was done after that lap; his 32nd so I gave him the last
of my beer. I mentioned that one more lap would get him to that 100k mark, 62.7
miles to be exact. For someone who has a 50k distance PR, how badass would it
be to double that? And it’s just one lap away!
I decided to run it in from the firefly shed and yelled
out “TEN!!!” …or the newly branded, “SEXY PANTS!”, as I had each and every time
for the fine race folks to record my lap number. And with that I was completely
happy to be done and walk away from this a success.
Patrick comes in a few minutes after me and decides after
a beer that not only is he going one more lap; he’s going 5 more… 70.3 miles.
Well done, my friend. Well done!
Finishers award for both the lady friend and myself
