The inaugural TrailRunner Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100K will be held this Saturday, September 24th, at Wintergreen Resort. The race, directed by Charlottesville Running Company owners Gill and Francesca, has as its goal the creation of "the championship event for the sport of ultra distance running." To this end, the inaugural race features an impressive collection of elite ultra runners including Geoff Roes, Anita Ortiz, Devon Crosby-Jones, Ian Sharman, Michael Wardian, Anne Riddle Lundblad, and David Mackey. These top-names will compete against other elite and citizen racers, including local fast talents like Ragan Petrie and Eric Grossman, for prizes totaling $10,000.
Race-day promises to be an exciting one for spectators, as over half of the course will be held on roads in and around Wintergreen and on the neighboring Blue Ridge Parkway, and the race will be covered live by iRunFar.com's Bryon Powell, with commentary help from local ultra running great, Andy Jones-Wilkins. Friday evening features a "Meet the Elites" panel from 7-8 pm at Wintergreen's Discovery Ridge, preceded by an Expo and TrailRunner interviews with some of the top racers. To top things off, Wintergreen is also hosting its annual Oktoberfest which features food, oompah bands, and a beer tent!
Most importantly, CAT runners Bob Clouston, Nick Hamblet, and Chris Engle will be running the UROC sister event, the Uber Rock 50K! So come out to Wintergreen Friday and Saturday to see and greet the elites, drink some beer, and cheer on our CAT runners!
I’ve opted not to provide a blow-by-blow race report, but I’ll share a couple of thoughts and some photos that you may find of interest.
Me and Wes (who paced miles 47-68 and 96-finish) on race morning (Saturday, August 27). Wes ran/walked with me from about midnight to about 6 am. My second pacer Geoff (miles 68-finish) is shown on following pictures.
My training may have been somewhat unconventional for a 100-mile race. Basically, I alternated easy and hard weeks, and the easy weeks were really easy (often 10-20 miles, sometimes less depending on what was going on with life otherwise). I primarily needed the easy weeks to allow for reasonable time for family and work. But I think the frequent easy weeks were helpful for several other reasons. They allowed adequate physical recovery: I certainly did not overtrain, and I did not have significant injury issues during the buildup. Also, I was psychologically ready to tackle the hard/long week when it rolled around. This kept things from getting old and helped preserve general enthusiasm. I basically started training for the race in October/November, increased the hard week mileage no more than about 5% every 2 weeks, and slowly built up to a peak of 75 miles in one week. In the 8 weeks leading up to my peak mileage, my weekly mileages were 24, 62, 6, 64, 12, 70, 3, 75 (then started a taper: 51, 30, 23, 5). This training plan is probably not good for optimal performance, but it was certainly enough to get me to the finish uninjured and feeling well.
The scenery at Cascade Crest was unbelievable. The above two photos are at Thorp Mountain, approximately mile 84. (Note Mount Rainier in background.) My friend Geoff was my pacer from mile 68 to finish. He got me through two tough sections, the “Trail from Hell” (~68-73) and the “Cardiac Needles” (~80-88). The two photos above were taken by Glenn Tachiyama, the official race photographer (photos purchased from him).
I took the advice of Sophie et al to heart by making completion my only specific goal. So a really conservative pace was the name of the game from the start. I had no idea what to expect after mile 50 or 60, so I wanted to preserve my legs as much as I could over the first 50 miles. I started the race toward the back and stayed there. I attached myself to a grizzled veteran (attempting his 6th Cascade Crest) for 20+ miles; this was really helpful as it kept me from unwittingly pushing the pace early on. I did lots of walking from the beginning. If it looked remotely like an uphill that took more than 5 seconds to crest, I walked it. I only ran if it was flat or downhill, but I sometimes walked some during these sections as well. I slowed myself down a number of times. I only pushed a bit a couple of times in the last 40 miles when I thought I might possibly be putting myself close to cutoffs. Overall, I finished tired but feeing pretty well—better than I felt at the end of my two 50 milers and my hard-effort marathons.
Photo taken by my brother at about mile 47 (left).
Beautiful, but I found running/walking throughout
the night (about 9.5 hours total) to be mentally challenging.
I had two notable bad patches, although they were relatively mild as far as bad patches go. One started at about mile 37—shortly after dusk—when I turned my right ankle pretty bad (something’s not right with my right ankle). I then decided that, as long as it was dark, I would walk the single track to avoid another turn of the right ankle (which I worried could jeopardize a finish). So I was walking much of the next 3-4 hours alone in the dark, and this was tough for morale. I also started to develop stomach cramps at about mile 45, and this persisted until about mile 60. Not sure what this was about, because I wasn’t pushing the pace at all. My second tough patch was through the “Cardiac Needles,” an 8-mile segment (miles 80-88) marked by 5 relatively short but significant climbs/descents. This was the most physically demanding section for me.
The crew at the finish: Geoff, me, Wes, and my brother Steve. Final time was 31:20 (40 minutes under cutoff).
Gary Knipling and Wes joking around at finish. Many thanks to Gary for being so encouraging.
Overall, the trip was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life. Completing a 100 mile race in a beautiful area was a big part of it. But perhaps the best thing about the trip overall was being with the guys (Steve, Wes, Geoff). We made the race an occasion for a “boys night out” of sorts.
Me and brother/crew member Steve on the Pacific Crest Trail (Thurs, August 25)
Me and buddy/pacer/crew member Wes on Pacific Crest Trail (Thurs, August 25)
VHTRC had a big showing at Cascade Crest 2011 (2 additional VHTRC runners were present but aren’t shown in this picture).
At some point (it will take some time), I’m hoping to put together a lot more of the photos (and videos) we got while out there.
Sophie Speidel has just published a great and thorough report on her blog of her 3-day trek last weekend of the entire length of the Shenandoah National Park (SNP). It is a must read, particularly for those thinking of trying this themselves!
The October issue of TrailRunner magazine just hit newsstands and features an article on Charlottesville, which the magazine describes as "a diverse mix of talented trail runners and endless miles of singletrack."
CAT (and VHTRC) member Sophie Speidel is featured in the article, with a great picture of her motoring on the Rivanna Trail. The article includes a reference to Sophie's Winter Solstice run, along with a plug for our blog page. Way to go Sophie!
Gill and Francesca, owners of Charlottesville Running Company, also appear in the article and discuss the upcoming Trailrunner-sponsored UROC race at Wintergreen on September 24th.
The article was written by VHTRC and WUS runner Neal Gorman. Right now, the issue is available in hard-copy form only and can be picked up at Blue Ridge Mountain Sports, Charlottesville Running Company, Barnes and Noble, or by subscription. A digital version will appear on Trailrunner's website next month.
My wife and I just returned from vacation/adventures in Leadville, Colorado (10152 ft) and surrounds – what a blast! Leadville is the ...ahem, highest incorporated city in the US and site of the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race and Trail Run. (Huge congrats to David Snipes for his completion of the run!) Leadville is also a great base camp for trail running, hiking, road/mountain biking adventures in the area with quick access to a great number of the fourteeners.
While we biked the start of the Leadville course around Turquoise Lake, and had several biking adventures, I’ll cut to the chase and get to the trail running races.
Saturday, August 27th Bergen Peak Trail Run
I woke up on Saturday morning to the sound of my quads and calves arguing…
Quads: Wake up! We’ve got to get to the Bergen Peak Trail Run!
Calves: ZZZZzzz….oh man, are you serious? We just did Mt Elbert (14,440 feet) yesterday, are you nuts?
Quads: I’ll go make coffee, you sit here and get psyched.
Calves: Yeesh, I’m hurting. Alright, feet let’s find my Inov-8 Roclite 285’s, woah I forgot how red they are…that’ll wake you up.
Quads: I’m back, let’s go!
Calves: I’ll sleep in the car on the way.
I eventually convinced my legs to get in the car and we drove to the appropriately named Evergreen, CO for the Bergen Peak Trail Run (10.4 mi). It was a low-key mountain running race that drew people from Boulder, Denver, and a couple from a place I just read about in Trail Runner Mag.
The fine gravel trail followed a meadow up to the base of the mountain and we ran the switchbacks up from 7220’ to 9708’, on what an east-coaster would describe as not very technical trail. Luckily, this terrain continued on the backside of the mountain, which I bombed. Having just read about Killian Jornet’s musical performance at Western States 100, I gave it a shot while downhilling. I can happily report that smiling and singing “Street where you live” from the 1956 Broadway musical My Fair Lady is a great way to approach gravity shredding. If you sing something from Andrew Lloyd Weber, however, expect to fall flat on your face.
The race was a blast, and I ended up finishing 8th overall 1:26:37/1st age group.
To check out a video of the start, get an idea of the terrain, and watch an interview where I describe the trail, check out http://www.applecorecafe.com/ and click on Evergreen, and check out the video in the top left.
Sunday, August 28th XTERRA Snow Mountain 20K
5:00a alarm sounds
Calves: You’ve got to be kidding me.
Quads: I promise we’ll take it easy today.
My quads are lying. We headed over to the Winter Park area to Snow Mountain Ranch/YMCA of the Rockies for the inaugural XTERRA Snow Mountain Ranch 20k. At 8800 ft, the Ranch is the largest Nordic center in CO, with 5200 acres to play on. The race was on the rolling hill trails and tractor roads, and in contrast to Evergreen, the course was essentially desert meadow with sweeping mountain vistas.
Every time I start a race, I hear Mark Lorenzoni’s voice in my head - “START VERY EASY, STAY DISCIPLINED.” Thanks to his three years of committed coaching before I started ultrarunning, I hear him shouting this for the first few tempting steps.
The first 1.5 miles I took it very easy, loosened up and kept the leaders in sight as I thought the course could end up being pretty quick and the field was pretty small. The leaders were not pulling away considerably, so I made a move and went for it. I took the lead after the 1.5 mi mark and just tried to stay on course and keep it steady for the first half of the race. I heard footsteps behind me at several points, but followed a lesson from my 3000m racing days (link) – never, ever look back. I threw the hammer down on the second half and fed my pace with some downhills, just relaxing and enjoying the terrain. I finished 1st overall at 1:33, and ended putting on a 3 min lead on second place who upon finishing exclaimed “You are from sea level!?”
Which sounds astonishingly like…“You are from Cville!?”
Luckily the affirmative answer covered my confusion. Thanks to it being an inaugural race, my time is the current the course record. Not too bad for a boy from sea level/Cville.
Past Sunday a couple of us made it out to the newly constructed, and on Friday officially opened, Patricia Ann Byrom Forest Preserve Park (Byrom Park). If you follow our blog and local news you probably already heard of it. This 612 acre park lies on the foothills of Browns Gap near Shenandoah National Park.
A recent comment on OUR blog by one of Patricia Ann Byrom's grandchild sounds exciting:
It is awesome! I grew up there with the bear, mountain lion, deer, good trout fishing back then too, brookies! ENJOY it ALL!!! Patsy Park is Heaven on earth!
Christian:
The park features a couple of mostly shaded double-track trails with some significant elevation gain, my GPS showed 2615ft on our 7.5mi. We didn't see much wildlife, besides some deer ticks or chiggers I took home and discovered later. Parking lot and restroom facilities are nice. There weren't many overlooks but who needs that when doing hill repeats ;). Trails itself are fairly soft and have some rocks/roots here and there but nothing too technical really. So far I like the park for hill workouts. Due to short trails you can't really cover much distance but the park is still in development, close the the SNP which gives hope for a connector trail.
Sophie:
This park is what I call a "climbing park." If you want to get in some good vertical without having to drive south to the Priest, this is the place! As the trails get used and linked up into circuits, I can envision multi-loops that will provide perfect training for any mountain 100, Mountain Masochist, or Hellgate. It is a beautiful area and a lovely memorial, and I enjoyed knowing that generations of a family had grown up there and were happy to share it with the rest of us.
Mike:
From the very start, Byrom Park lets you know that it is not kidding around. With a climb out of the parking lot on the red trail to warm up the hamstrings, we started with an out-and-back the white trail, which will eventually form a longer loop. I counted myself lucky to be joined by my "unusual friends" Sophie, Christian, Bob, and Chris on this inaugural run, as trail runners are the only people who would readily (and happily!) cover 7.5 miles with ~2500 ft climb in more than 2 hours.
Climbing Park indeed.
We headed over to the western park of the park, where the county has painted over the bear scratching post (read: trail marker at intersection of blue and red trails), for a double loop of the blue trail. Parts of the Blue Trail loop make the climbs of the dreaded "purple trail" on the Catherine's Fatass Course look downright flat. I had to laugh as we faced what appeared to be a wall of jeep road on the trail, only to have to climb it to the "summit," which was blocked off by a enormous fallen tree and brush. It was a thrill to run on the soft side-hill down the blue trail which I had the opportunity to work on several weeks ago, which dumps into a serious downhill (that runs like the backside of Terrapin).
Overall, the trails are still raw, soft, and cover an unbelievable amount of vertical over a short distance. It is the hardest I've worked for 7 miles in a long time, and what a place to get strong at climbing, and to top it off it is only a 30-35min drive from town.
Byrom is a fantastic park and I can't wait to get back out there. Tough, beautiful, and rugged.
Bob:
Good place to get some climbing in with >10% overall grade and much steeper sections. Hopefully it will connect to some SNP trails someday. Paved parking for maybe 20 cars plus there is horse trailer parking that I guess we could use if the lot fills. The trails will only get better with use.
This past weekend, I joined my friends Mark and Marty in Vermont for the 100 on 100 relay. Both are Captains in the US Army and are currently stationed at West Point (USMA) teaching combatives and PT, and are both fantastic runners having run for the West Point Marathon Team and South Dakota CC and T+F teams, respectively. Hence our team name...Running Commando.
Just an upfront warning, only part of this race is in trails/gravel roads. But it is an ultra (divided up into sections), and as a team we crushed it, so hopefully it will make interesting reading…
The 100 on 100 relay starts on ~3 miles of trail in Stowe, Vermont and follows the drop-dead gorgeous highway 100 for 100 miles south up and over Killington and down to Ludlow, VT. So it was a great chance to see Vermont and get some fast gravel and road miles in. angles The course really runs through all Vermont has to offer from small towns and farms, to mountains and lakes, skirting the Green Mountain National Forest.
107 teams, made up of either 6 or 3 people had a handicapped start from 5:45a-10:15a and were all slated to finish in the 8:30-11p window. We were the only ultra (3 person) team at the starting line at the 10:15a final start window, and our first runner Mark toed the line with some very fast 6-man teams (all these teams ended up going sub-7 minute pace for the 100 miles as a team, and the 6-man team winners took it with 6:22 min/mi pace).
What we didn’t realize is the challenge we would be undertaking for the first ~40 some miles of the race, as our goal pace maintaining of 7:00 min/mile pace would leave us running alone, with no one in site on our legs until we caught up to the earlier starters.
The race legs (18 of them) are divided into 5-8 mile sections, with a transition area at the end of each leg with a handoff window (we had a reflective wristband as our baton). So, upon finishing your leg you have ~15 min to recover, hydrate, fuel, and then get in the car and navigate with the other team member to the next transition area for the hand off.
Luckily, having 2 soldiers and 1 A-type nerd meant our logistics were keyed in. We had calculated times beforehand for our leg completion, kept track of our pacing by start and finish time, and had mapped out the route and driving directions on an old-fashioned road atlas. In addition, I’ll mention some other keys to success that we lucked into, as I know there are others in CAT doing relays in these next months and (hopefully) some the advice applies to ultrarunning which we frequently approach as a “team” on our group runs and races. Top 10:
Personal:
1. Think about your needs and what you need to re-cover/hydrate/fuel during the current leg. You only have a certain amount of time when you will be the center of your teammate’s attention and then its off to the next transition area so use it wisely.
2. Only focus on the current leg, and do not calculate your overall completion.
3. Metering out your effort means keeping an extremely consistent pace for your legs, so that your body "knows" only how to run at a certain pace. The pace of my legs only varied between 6:40-7:10, and my 36th mile was run at 6:30 pace. As a team, our variation was almost nil and we kept it dialed in.
4. Visualize and prepare for your legs before the race and take quick notes on the leg and your strategy so you will know what you want to do e.g. “Slow uphill 2.5 miles, then hammer the downhill.” =7:40 first two miles followed by sub-7 downhill miles to bring your average to 7.
5. Ease into each leg, you will make up the time as you loosen up again and as you near the transition area.
Team:
6. You cannot plan enough and talk about your plan for pacing, when to meet up, if a runner wants aid, where you will do this on the course, etc. Constant communication is critical.
7. Be honest and open about your current state – both mental and physical. We honestly appraised both of these frequently and it allowed us to stay on target and keyed into each other’s current state, especially as the day wore on.
8. Stay positive. All the time. If someone gets lost or has a bad leg, don’t dwell and don’t allow them to focus on it – start getting focused on the next leg.
9. Distract yourself with caring – you get one leg to recover, and then you are caring for your teammate’s needs. If you commit yourself to this, you will distract yourself and ensure your team’s success while distracting you from your cramps/pains/tightness.
10. Get excited. Energy is contagious.
We hit a really rough patch for all of us, with a very serious climbing leg (Mark), exposed lonely bit (Marty), and two bookended runs of 8 and 7 with very little rest between (me) but we rallied through the lows and "loneliness" on course, and then began passing teams that had started earlier. Our energy started rising exponentially as we passed more and more teams on our legs beginning after 3-4p and we started crushing the legs. It flew by, interrupted only by Marty and I getting leeches on our feet after a welcome soak in a lake and changing into my Dorothy costume for the Killington climb leg (photos pending).
We finished in Ludlow, Vermont at the Okemo Resort 11 hours and 50 minutes after we began, thus averaged 7:10 pace for the distance. We won the ultra division, and had a blast.
