Byrom Park

The Scoop: The Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve Park

After a quick Blackrock Gap jaunt Saturday morning, I headed to Byrom Park to do some trail work and get the scoop on what is sure to be a great addition to the county park system and a climbing park for trail runners.

Climbing park?

Byrom park is 612 acres cut right into the base of the Blue Ridge, and the trails start with an aggressive gravel road climb out of the parking lot. We rode a gator up the “draft” trails on Saturday and my quads were twitching with excitement. At present, the plan is to have one of the loop trails totaling 5-6 miles completed by August 19th, which is when the park will open officially. The next phase will be to finish clearing and then open a larger concentric loop and connect a trail that currently goes to nowhere (Shel Silverstein part II) back to the entrance (old logging roads have been converted to trails to deer stands as the property was leased to a hunting club).

Bears? You bet, with the plentiful berries around and the clear evidence that one had been using a wood trail intersection marker as a scratching post.

Blaze? The current “blazing” is letters on foam, which are temporary markings from the county-sponsored “Bioblitz” (a summary is available here). The recommendation relevant to trail building that came from this exercise was to “[p]lan trails and recreation areas so that there is minimal disturbance to the few identified unusual species (ex. American chestnut, American elm, Big-toothed aspen), groups (ex. ferns, orchids), geology, and habitats (ex. seeps, wetlands, and streams especially where streams and old logging roads intersect or adjoin (along trails A and E)).”  I'm sure the first trail will be blazed at opening, and its would be a true joy to get the first runs on it with the CAT group.  

So what is in store for the future of Byrom Park? Why should I be so excited?

1. SNP Connection: The property has a thin corridor that makes it contiguous with Shenandoah National Park. It is a mere 8 miles by road away from the turn that goes to Sugar Hollow on 810 (just keep going right at the store). The county is going to apply for a trail connection, which is complicated as it will require (1) the approval to build a trail leading out of Byrom, (2) a trail built from the SNP side, and (3) the federal government paperwork mill.   By my cursory map-gazing, this puts a possible connector trail to Loft Mountain/Big Flat Mountain? I could be wrong here, any insight from the more map-able is welcome.

2. Mountain Running:  This will be a mountain running playground, and its unlikely to receive the same pummeling as Preddy Creek as the grades are quite steep.  Your calves and quads will thank you when you knock out >3-4k elevation in a 5-6 mile run. 

3. The work continues!: Tucker Rollins who has been organizing the volunteer trail work, and has a passion for the park and its potential, will be hosting monthly workdays again September throughout the winter.  In addition, he would be more than happy to schedule a workday for us sometime.  Anyone game for August 6th?

-Mike

More SNP fun July 16, Grindstone July 17

We had so much fun running back-to-back mountain runs over July 4 weekend that we decided to do it again! This time we will run the gorgeous 24-mile lollipop from Sugar Hollow to Blackrock, Jones Falls, Doyles River and back to Blackrock via the AT on Saturday, July 16 ay 7:00am. Bring enough fluids for 4-5 hours. There is a spring along the course, and incredible waterfalls, but better be safer than sorry and death marching it.

Sunday, July 17 we are going to run on the Grindstone 100 course, starting from Dowells Draft ( mile 20/80) and going to the top of Elliotts Knob (mile 10/90) and back. We will have aid at mile 7ish and 13ish. This run is 20 miles and has big climbs and lovely descents.

No need to RSVP but if you need directions or have questions, email me at sophiespeidel@yahoo.com. hope to see you out there!

Here is my story about 2011 Western States

Report filed by Sniper

The flight from Richmond to Dallas went went until we landed and I got a phone call as soon as I turned on my phone. It was the Reno police, spcifically the drug unit calling me. I could barely understand since I was still on the plane but the package that I had sent federal express to my hotel with my dropbags in it has raised some suspicions. I explained to him that the contents were the following: juice boxes of yoohoo since northern California doesnt have any there, cups of applesauce and baggies of white and brown powder which everyone on the east coast knows is my tea and sugar mix. All of the bags were labeled with the aid station names and my bib number and also a note inside explaining what everything was for. After telling the officer all of this he agreed that I was in fact telling the truth, could anyone in their right mind make this up? haha. He told me that the package was already on its way to be delivered, and I work for the company too.

So, after that situation was averted I met up with Mark Rodriquez, who paced me at MMT, at the Dallas airport and took him some VHTRC shirts. Even when I am on my time I am still making deliveries, haha. We hung out for a bit until it was time to get on the flight to Reno, NV. The flight went well until we got there and it was a rough landing, lots and lots of wind. Got the rental car, called Mike Bailey and headed to Squaw Valley. My pacer would arrive later tonight. I got to the start line of the race and met up with Mike and Ed and we walked around a bit. I did get to meet some of the other people who are trying to run the Grand Slam this year. The GS consists of Western States, Vermont, Leadville, Wasatch. I am trying to run the Last Great Race which includes those 4 plus Old Dominion and Angeles Crest. I recently ran Old Dominion along with Dan Brendan who is going for the LGR again this year. He's got fire in his belly this year since he just turned 60, this guy is tough. We have run about 16 races together, putting in at least a few miles together during each. After the meet and greet, I checked into the hotel and went back to Reno to get John may pacer. We arrived back at the hotel and met up with Mike who was staying with us and settled in for Friday's check in.

Friday Check-in:

We got there about 9:30am and there were a lot of people already there. Check in is more like marathon packet pickup than most ultras. You get in line, get your schwag, weigh in, get your blood pressure taken and get your medical wristband. It was pretty cool all in all, I met new people and saw old friends and had a good time. Western States is a point to point race and I enlisted the help of Mike Ryan, brother Dennis, and Dad Lou to help get the cars to the finish line. I don't think Mike ever grasped the idea of how his car was gonna get to the finish line but I told him to trust me and he did. Mike seemed in a daze on Thursday and Friday, not sure why but we all have our own way of getting into the mindset we need to run a race. We had lunch with the Ryan boys and James from the UK, James is also trying to run the GS this year. We met at Old Dominion in 2008, this year he has had a stress fracture and not sure how WS would go. We listened to the pre race briefing and saw all of the frontrunners, they didn't call my name but I know they didn't want to cause a big disruption, haha. We all separated for the evening and would see each other in the morning. John, Mike, and I just bummed around town for the afternoon.

Race Check-in:

We left the room and got to the start a bit later than I would have liked but it was ok, just a simple 10 minute drive. We checked in and got our bib numbers and before you know it, it was time to start. I left the car issue up to John to find Ryan;s dad and brother and work it out. Mike almost lost his pack and jacket because he separated from us and left it inside the building, John got it for him.

Start:

We started out and Ryan and I did not start out together as we planned since it was so many runners. No worries. I started up the climb and eased into a powerwalk, it is afterall a ski slope. The first aid station at the Escarpment was about a half mile sooner due to snow. I filled my other handbottle and then hit the snow. We had a beautiful sunrise and the temps were perfect, the snow wasn't too bad but I knew it would get deeper. Ed C and I went up together and then headed down the other side and then we got into the snow. I took my time somewhat and did not have that much issue with it until a couple of miles into it when I jumped down about 3 feet and I didn't stick the landing. My feet went through the snow and my right knee hit a rock or stump or something. OUCH!!!

I got up and limped down the trail and took a look at my knee and it was bleeding and cut up. I started running again and made it to the aid station, fueled up, and headed on down the trail. I got to the Poppy aid station and met up with Ed again and we left together and ran around French Lake Reservoir. The trees are HUGE and the pine cones are HUGE also. Further down the trail getting to Mosquito Ridge it was like going up the Bald Mountain jeep road. It was hot which wasn't bad but there was no breeze at all. James and I ran the loop together and then I left him and headed to the dreaded Devils Thumb climb around mile 47. I went up the climb with a couple of guys who had run the race many times before. It was one of the few times that I was with someone and we were talking. The best way to describe the climb is to give you the numbers. Elevation gain 1500 feet, distance 1.6 miles, switchbacks 36. There were places where you would see someone who is ahead of you and you look straight up to see them. Upon reaching the top I promptly gave Devils Thumb a good look at my middle finger, haha.

The next couple of sections went by pretty good and I got to Forest Hill mile 62 a couple of minutes slower than last year but considering the course change I say the same time. I changed shoes picked up my pacer John and kind of knew at this point that breaking 24 hours was not going to happen so I decided to have some fun. Leaving the aid station I acted as if I were on tour and yelled "Hi, I 'm David Snipes from the east coast. I'm big time over there and I'll be in town all weekend." Everyone was laughing and it gave me some much needed energy. The next game to be played was to see how long I could go before turning on my headlamp. John turned his on behind me around 9pm. I was a few feet ahead of him and could still see and his light didn't bother my nightvision. Finally at 9:26pm I decided to turn mine on only because we were in a hollow and under tree cover.

I got to the Rucky Chucky river crossing and weighed in, by this time I had weighed in about 7 times during the race and I think the first scale at mile 31 was off because it said I was down 4 pounds from my starting weight of 169. Mile 43 I was up 6 pounds to 171 and from there all the way to mile 93 aid station the weight stayed the same, no problems there. On the climb up to Green Gate at mile 80 I told John that considering what we had left it would be too much of a push to try and break 24 hours for sure and I was ok with just finishing and feeling good. He too was ok with that. Leaving Green Gate the next section is a worn down section of trail that runs long and at night it kind of sucks, it seemed to take forever to get to the next aid station. I was also starting to fall asleep on the trail, caffeine wasn't really working anymore either.

Dawn came as we were on our way to highway 49 aid station at mile 93 and I started to wake up and finally was able to take off the headlamp. After awhile you just get tired of looking through LED lights. We left there after I was interviewed by this guy doing a documentary of Western States, of course I had been telling everyone the same thing as I did at mile 62, which got tired crews and aid station workers laughing. When we got to mile 96 at No Hands Bridge there was a volunteer eating a breakfast burrito. We asked for one and he said "you don't want one of these this late in the race" I said I had run 96 miles and could eat anything. Two of them were quickly made and OMG that was so freaking good. Eggs, bacon, potatoes, and cheese all together. AWESOMENESS wrapped up in one tortilla just for me.

John and I set out for Robie Point, the last aid station, and then I was in need of a bathroom. No worries, I told John that after the finish while he was getting stuff to cleanup with, I would be in the medical tent for the weigh-in and blood pressure check and stuff I would meet him at the showers. My stomach had other plans. At the last aid station there was a port-a-john, I stopped there and then asked John how many runners had passed me. He said 2 along with their pacers, no problem. I ran the last mile and caught up to each one and gave them a hard time about passing a runner when they were taking a bathroom break, haha we laughed and then we hit the track. I sprinted as fast as I could and I got the to the finished line in 26:35:22, a bit slower than last year but it's all good.

James finished in 28:28:00 and Mike Ryan in 29:05, Mike Bailey in 25:29, and Ed C in 27:08. These are close to correct without looking at the results.

Western States is a good race and it is very well organized, but if you are like me and like to be sociable while you are running it will be hard to find it here as everyone is in the mindset of not talking much. I think the weigh-ins are a bit much, between pre race and post race I weighed in a total of 12 times. The aid stations are great and the fans are awesome but you have to remember to run this race like you run any other and not get caught up in the hoopla of it all.

Below is a link to my pics that were taken during the race. The guy in the white shirt with black stripes is John my pacer. The pics of us with life jackets on are of us crossing the Rucky Chucky river. The pics of me with the lake in the background I think are the best and that is French Meadow Reservoir that we are going around. The last pics are of me running around the track finishing up.

http://www.backprint.com/go.asp?102934890

Happy reading,

Sniper

Sophie's Summer Death March (SSDM)

This past Saturday Sophie Speidel hosted a group run at White Oak Canyon in the Shenandoah National Park.  The course was a slightly changed version of the popular VHTRC event  Vicki's Death March that takes places in the winter. Of course, if VHTRCs' ambassador calls, many cool trail peeps come together because they know that this will be a guarantee for a fun and good organized run.

Shortly after Drew, Nick and I arrived at the lower parking lot of the White Oak Canyon trail many others followed so that we soon filled up the parking lot and had about 45 (!) people gathered. People came from a multitude of places: Lynchburg, Harrisonburg, D.C., Richmond, Charlottesville, Morgantown WV....

Quickly we came together for the obligatory "before" picture:

45+ Runners of at least three clubs (VHTRC, CAT, WVMTR)

Sophie gave out maps and turn sheets that looked very straightforward and manageable. We took a quick look at the info and off we were....

Lots of climbing shortly after we started...

oh yeah, did I mention climbing?

 Little pace groups formed pretty quickly, the fastest being lead by Sabrina Moran and Neal Gorman. The weather was moderately warm in the beginning and trails were mostly shaded. Later in the day it got hotter and more humid, carrying a 70 oz plus a 21oz hand bottle was a good choice. The trail offered stunning views and varying terrain..

Who would want to run roads if you can have this?

...off course towards Fishers Gap

Marc Griffin, Jack Broaddus and Jared "from Lynchburg" and I were cruisin' down the mountain enjoying the technical trail, stopped briefly to verify our direction and kept going.... until we ended up on a Fishers Gap parking lot - not where we should have been (5mi north on Hawksbill Gap). Oh well. After looking for trail markers, consulting a hiker and the map we took the AT north towards Hawksbill. About 3/4 of the way at another intersection we ran into Matt Bugin and Holly Baker who also got lost.
We had hoped to make it to Skyland Lodge in time to meet at least some slower runners of our group but didn't. Upon asking an older lady at a cash register if they had seen runners she just replied "Runners?.... oh yeah, I've seen runners.. lots of them! But that was about 30mins ago." Anyways, after re-fueling we decided to take a short cut on White Oak canyon fire road to be back at base in time for the party. ...and we made it! We actually ended up with the same mileage as the planned route:
Distance: 25.53 mi | Elevation Gain: 5,572 ft | Moving time: 5:08hrs

Tailgate with lots of good foods and tales from the trail

It was a fantastic day with many old and new friends and good times on and off trail. Thanks again Sophie for hosting this great event, I am sure many of us will make it a regular event to attend to.



Q's pictures of the VHTRC trifecta:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qhubbard/sets/72157627137419294/

Sabrina Moran's blogpost:
http://notallergictoadventure.blogspot.com/2011/07/sophies-death-march.html 

Phil Turk's blogpost:
http://philipturk.blogspot.com/2011/07/death-marches-loops-and-appalachian.html

North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler - Washington DC Race Report

The CATs were well represented at the North Face Endurance Challenge in Washington DC this weekend. Mike Stadnisky ran a fast 4:25:26 in the Marathon. and netted 13th place overall (7th in his age group). I crossed paths with Nick Hamblet around mile 19 of his 50k (mile 19 of the 50 miler) and he was running strong on his way out to the rocks on the River Trail. His 6:05:57 finish time is a great time for a deceptively tough course. As for my race in the 50 Miler, I started out strong, hitting my planned splits through the first 28 or so miles then fell behind, finishing in 10:32:17.  Looking at the splits, it seems that most people in the longer events had a tough time on that trip back from Great Falls Park.

Race Overview

With three simultaneous races, big name sponsors, prize money and a finish line festival I was expecting more of a typical road marathon atmosphere than a trail ultra vibe at The North Face Endurance Challenge in Washington DC this weekend. But The North Face surprised me and put on a great trail event.

Packet Pickup was at the North Face store in Georgetown on Thursday and Friday afternoons and evenings. If you live in DC and can take the Metro there, that's great. For everyone else, consider either doing your pickup and being out of Georgetown before 3pm or picking up up your race number the morning of the event. Parking was a breeze with plenty or available garages and once in the store, there were no lines and no waiting. Leaving packet pickup at 4:15pm on Friday was not the best of ideas as every road in the area had turned into a parking lot.

Race Morning

The 50 Milers got started just before dawn at 5am, with the 50k starting at 7am and the Marathon at 9am. I arrived at the race start (Algonkian Regional Park) a little before 4am and got a great parking spot in field next to the race start and had no lines at the drop bag drop off. Being so early and only having the 50 Miler participants milling around, the starting line atmosphere was very low key. Notes for future participants, a jacket would have been nice for standing around as it had gotten down to 50F at 4 in the morning and label your drop bags well as the provided labels were a wrist band with your race number written on them. The restrooms are hidden about 50 yards behind the finish line 'village' - bring a flashlight.

The first 6 or 7 miles of the race are flat and fast. You start out running around some playing fields (covered in just enough dew to get your feet wet), turn onto a golf cart path, then onto the Potomac Heritage Trail which is a wide fireroad at that point. Things got sorted out quickly and small groups formed early on. The side loop around Sugarland Run was nothing exciting (so the 50k runners that got to skip this loop didn't miss out on anything special). Then it was back on the PHT as it turned to single track and passed though a golf course. It was peaceful. The group I was running with stayed silent as the sun rose and got to see a deer bounce through the woods. Around mile 6 we encountered the first series of hills. None of the climbs were much longer than 100 yards and climbed no more than 100 feet, but they were steep. The first set of hills had 3 or 4 climbs like this back to back with similar descents in between.

It was flat singletrack through the Potomac flood plain. It twisted and turned quite a bit with plenty of downed trees to hop over and only a single unbridged stream crossing. Fraser Aid station appeared out of no where in the middle of the woods at mile 8. Stock up here as the next section can take a while. The trail is flat for a while, the you get to another series of three or four hills, then it's flat until you get to Riverbend Park. Riverbend Park takes you up a gravel road away from the river. According to the course profile this should have been the toughest climb on the course, but I found it to be much easier than the earlier hills that didn't even show up on the course profile. Scenery changes quickly in Riverbend Park as one minute you're in the woods, then out in an open field, alongside a road then back in the woods for a nice downhill into Great Falls National Park. 

It was party central at the Great Falls Aid Station - biggest aid station on the course and as the day went on, it reminded me of the Long Mtn. Wayside Aid Station at Mountain Masochist - lots of people hanging out in a large field in folding chairs cheering people on. Three 7 mile loops, this shouldn't be too bad - right? The loops were rather distorted with each loop consisting of two over-lapping loops and an out and back section. And each loop provided quite a variety of terrain: flat, uphill, roller coaster, downhill, uphill, roller coaster, downhill, rocks, flat, rocks, stairs and more rocks (the loops had the technical sections that the marathon runners missed on).

The race leaders lapped me on my first loop and I ran into the leader 50k runners on my second loop.  By the third loop I was never running alone (with the 50k runners on their loop and the 50 milers on their second and third loops), but rarely was it crowded and passing and being passed was quite easy.

After 35 miles I passed through the Great Falls Aid station for the fourth an final time. I was far enough off of my goal time by this point, that I decided to take a little side trip to the observation deck to actually see the Great Falls of the Potomac. There were lots of great views on the course of the Potomac above the falls and in Mather Gorge (if you could take your eyes away from the rocks long enough to catch a glimpse and not tumble down the steep cliffs), but only at one point could you actually catch a small glimpse of the falls. Next aid station in 6.7 miles. Talk about the longest 6.7 miles ever. I think the hills were steeper on the way back. And the flat twisty section on the flood plain seemed like it would never end. The aid station at the Fraser Preserve was never just around the next corner. From there it was mentally easier (though not physically so) - two more aid stations and the finish. The unbridged stream crossing was nice for soaking sore feet. Then came the last set of hills, the singletrack through the golf course, a trip around Sugarland Run and the home stretch.

Overall this was a great event. I'm not sure I'd go back to run the 50 miler again, but the 50k or marathon would be fun.

Flipped Truck Fat Ass 50k++

A few months ago I decided I wanted to do a long 30-40 mile run on June 5^th. I would be going on vacation a few days after that date to an extremely secluded area where the surface area of water far exceeds that of land. Given the lack of continuous land mass, the possibility of running would be out of the picture during this vacation. Since I wouldn’t be running during the majority of this time, I figured I should probably get in a nice long run before my vacation started so I could utilize the downtime as true recovery time. I knew the North Face 50k/50 miler was going on in DC during this time, but that race didn’t appeal to me. I really wanted to get up into the mountains during my long run.

After looking over my options, I decided two loops in Sherando would be my best bet. The first loop would be around 16 miles and the second loop around 15 miles. I could start the first loop really early and hopefully begin the second loop around the same time as the usual CAT Sunday run. I thought by starting the second loop at the usual time I could get some folks to join me for the second loop and provide a bit of a mental boost. After putting out some feelers, however, it appeared there was no interest in joining up for the second loop, but there was quite a bit of interest from folks in joining me on the FIRST loop at 5:15 a.m.!

Come Sunday morning, I was on the road shortly after 4:00 a.m. Ground to lightening strikes were illuminating the sky north of Hwy 64, and I was questioning if the weather would permit running along the mountain ridges of Sherando. Shortly after 5 a.m. Bob, David, Christian, Joey and I were all standing in the dark parking lot off Coal Rd. contemplating which direction to run the first loop. The plan was to set out in the Mill Creek direction. However, I seemed to overlook the need for a headlamp at this early hour, and Bob had the good sense to recommend we start off running on Coal Rd. first where the running would be much smoother and safer without a light. The only concern we had with this option was that none of us had run the Mill Creek-Kennedy Ridge-Coal Rd. loop counterclockwise and there was some question to how easily we would pick up the Kennedy Ridge trail off Coal Rd.

We were correct to question our ability to locate the Kennedy Ridge trail from Coal Rd., as we ran ¾ mile past the trail before we decided to consult the map and better determine where the trail was. We eventually found the Kennedy Ridge Trail, but not before running an extra 1 ½ miles and losing a bit of time fumbling around. Unfortunately, David was in a bit of a time crunch and decided he wouldn’t be able to run the full loop with us, given the lost time trying to find the trail. While David got some extra miles in on Coal Rd., Bob, Joey, Christian and I started the climb up the Kennedy Ridge trail.

The Kennedy Ridge trail is both steep and quite technical in the miles closest to Coal Rd. When descending this trail, one is pushed into a feverish pace where you feel like you’re barely ‘holding on.’ Ascending the trail, however, offered the opportunity to take in what one hurriedly passes during these descents. With the mountain laurel still in full bloom and some exceedingly steep pitches, you’re literally forced to stop and smell the flowers now and again.

After regrouping at the top of the climb, we continued along the jeep road towards Bald Mountain. After rounding a corner a few miles into this section, Joey and I were stopped in our tracks. These trails are heavily populated with black bears, so being halted by a bear on the trail is not uncommon. However, instead of staring down a predatory mammal, Joey and I were staring, jaw-dropped, at a lifted Dodge pickup truck flipped on its side, consuming the entire trail. After getting over our initial shock, we had the good sense to run down and check to make sure the occupants of the truck were not in need of medical attention. Luckily, we found no people or signs of injury to the occupants (we did, however, find several empty beer cans that were shaken out in the tumble). We had some fun taking pictures and trying to piece together how the truck ended up where it was before continuing our run, a bit dismayed, at what we had just come across.

I think all of us were pondering all sorts of questions as to how that truck ended up where it was after we returned to running. About a half mile down the trail, some of these questions started to get answered. Joey and I were again forced to a halt as we saw two bodies lying motionless across the road. We gave pause and waited for ‘back-up’ from Bob and Christian before we approached any closer. As we stood waiting, the trail sleepers woke up, and they quickly identified themselves as the drivers of the truck. Aside from appearing a bit hung-over, they didn’t look any worse for wear (from the truck flipping, at least). Some terse conversation yielded a request for us to help them push their truck right-side up, which we declined, and we again continued towards Bald Mountain. Peeling off the trail to take the switchbacks down towards Mill Creek trail, we ran into a group of what appeared to be Boy Scouts. We informed the group of the two guys on the trailside and the overturned truck, and the adult leaders of the group put things into perspective further by recalling the caravan of pickup trucks, beds full of coolers and people boozing it up, that had been parading across the jeep road the previous night.

The rest of the run was much less eventful! We saw a bear, we finished the first loop. Restocked at the cars, and headed out for a second loop running from Coal Rd.-Mill Creek Connector-Torrey Ridge-Bald Mountain-Mill Creek back to the cars. Joey, Christian and I ended up running 35 miles. I’m still amazed that Christian (on his PT recovery path) busted out an impressive 35 miles. I was struggling during the second loop and here Christian is, still not 100%, running 35 mountain miles like it was nothing!

After finishing the second loop, we sat at the cars, ate some melted ice cream sandwiches, and relived the exciting moments of what came to be known as the Flipped Truck Fat Ass 50k++. Mark your calendars now for the first Sunday in June next year!

(Photo Credits to Bob C.)

Christian adds:

To be a-tune with my return-to-run program I was only planning on doing the first loop or at most 1,5 loops but couldn't say no to the opportunity and would have felt bad 'quitting' early. I suppose I ignored the 10-15%-weekly increase rule and replaced it by 10-15mi... I know it was probably not the smartest thing to do but what can I say, I am young and naive :) The run was great and I am glad I did it. I had to keep it slow and walk plenty of times but that was OK. woot woot mountains!

North Face Endurance Challenge Marathon

This Saturday, I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge Marathon. I went into it as a training run, another nice long run with some speed work following the Harry Landers.

Four miles into the race, I came around a blind corner and tried to duck under a overhanging branch…unsuccessfully. I hit my head on it pretty hard running at near full clip through the hit. It shook me up a little bit, and I was worried about my history of skull fractures (3 of them forced me out of rugby in college).

No cerebrospinal fluid came out of my nose, thankfully, but about a minute later I put my hand up to the left side of my head and my hat was soaked in blood (and now my hand as well). I figured I had taken off a bit of scalp, which if I hadn't been wearing a hat would have definitely happened. I ran the next two miles with blood dripping down onto my neck (as head wounds do) to the aid station, where the medics took me aside and sat me down for some wound cleaning, eye checking, and a discussion about continuing the race. The EMTs rightfully detained me for 10 minutes or so, which seemed like an hour but I was glad for their attentiveness and assessment (“You can keep going if you’d like.”).

I got some water, the put some paper towels under my hat to soak up the blood, and kept running. The hit to head woke me up, and I threw caution to the wind and ran like heck for the rest of the race (which was ~28 miles) finishing 13th overall with 04:25:18.

The reactions to my blood stained hat, neck and ear were varied "Holy $#^! man, did you get shot!?" to "Are you okay?"

The race photos are copyrighted so I can’t reproduce them here, but you are welcome to check out my blood soaked hat at the finish: http://www.ultraracephotos.com/tnfec/

Overall, the course is flat and not very technical, ripe for a very fast 50K (props to Cville triathlete Skylar Lyon for 04:50:01 – 14th overall in the 50K). Charlottesville was well represented in both the marathon with 5 runners and 3 in the 50K. If I’ve missed you in the results, I’m sorry!

The North Face races are expensive but good value if you are into road-race style finish line carnivals with ice baths, unlimited chocolate milk, beer garden, massages, and a catered lunch. Felt very pampered, though nothing beats a soak in the North Moorman’s.

-Mike