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| Pre-race contemplation! |
Although I felt undertrained and over-soft from my recent lack of discipline in my nutrition, workouts and Skoal chewing, I was really, really looking forward to this race. The only timed ultra I had done up to this point was the Howl at The Moon 8-Hour in Danville, IL. While the Howl is a great race put on by an even greater bunch of people, I had done it so many times it sort of became a training run for me. Doug and I used it last year as a lead in to the Ozark Trail 100 and I think I can speak for both of us when I say the Howl really served us well. Anyway, I was really looking forward to this race because it was a proper trail run and is put on by the CRUD guys, Mike Klopfenstein and Adam Zimmerman who are also the RD's of the Farmdale Trail runs (10, 30 & 50). They are super-supportive of their runners and included in their list of racing instruction and course rules is to talk to them first before dropping so they can have a chance to talk you out of it! CRUD 8 hour had its inaugural running in 2010 and this year they added the 24 hour. There was a solo and relay option for both races.
We showed up at the venue, Jubilee College State Park, about 10 miles northwest of Peoria at 2pm on Friday. The 24-hour race starts at 4pm on Friday afternoon and the 8-hour was set to begin at 8am the following morning so both races finished at 4pm Saturday. The course was a 3.5 mile trail through the park. It was 49% single track, 49% Jeep roads, and 2% grass/plowed corn field. The last 45 minutes of the race are run on a 1-mile loop of similar terrain. Chia and I set up our personal command shelter, courtesy of our local Weber Grill rep Sean Noonan (our neighbor!), sorted through the foodstuffs and clothes/shoes then waited patiently for the start. The race goodies included a nice duffel bag, a technical logo shirt and a visor.
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| National Anthem |
The other solo runners and the lone open-division relay team showed up and checked in and then the chips were handed out. Scoring was via the chip system, no manual scoring, though you were required to check-in every lap and I think one of the RD or their minions kept a close eye on the computer throughout the race. Their were 15 runners entered in the 24-hour solo competition and we took off precisely at 4pm after a playing of the National Anthem.
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| The start! |
It didn't take long for everyone to spread out and 99% of my race was run alone. The first few laps were uneventful and I settled into a decent (for me) pace, completing the loop in 45-50 minutes each time. There were 2 water crossings, one really
muddy corner and a half-dozen downed trees across the trail, but otherwise the trail was in great shape with a minimum number of rocks or roots to contend with. As twilight came I grabbed the Surefire headlamp and handheld light that Doug had loaned me and settled in for a long night of running. I drank mostly plain water, supplemented with "Mexican Coke" which used real cane sugar for sweetener instead of corn syrup. I was taking an S-cap every other lap and a Tums at about the same interval. The weather was really kind to us with only a moderate amount of humidity to contend with, but no rain, heat or cold really.
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| Middle of the night. |
I slowed down considerably as it became fully dark. Even with the great lights it was tougher to negotiate the trails in the dark. Also the wood were full of critters scurrying around and I was constantly flashlighting eyes in the darkness. There was a farmer plowing the adjacent corn field until about 1:30 am which made sections of the back side of the trail a little tougher with dust blowing in my eyes and obscurring the headlamp. After he finished plowing the coyotes started up and continued until right before dawn with their eery child-like howling.
All in all I ran well overnight. The one thing I really struggled with was GI issues. I commonly have a problem with nausea later in the longer runs and that and time spent addressing other GI problems added several minutes to a lot of my later lap times! Chia did a fantastic job motivating me, providing me with food and meds and tracking my progress. It is no understatement to say I could not have done it without her. She did have her own problems to contend with overnight, most notably the raccoons. There was a big mama raccoon that took and interest in the main aid station and had to be shooed away repeatedly, while the juveniles took a liking to our aid station and once when Chia sat down for a quick cat nap, the boldly came into our shelter and got into the trash only about 3 feet from where she was sitting!
About 4am, 12hours and 49 miles into the race, I was really struggling with nausea and having a hard time even taking in enough water. I carried a handheld bottle and tried to finish 1 every lap, but at this point was only getting down about 1/2 of one. I decided to quit. I told myself I had run a good race, but I was out of prime shape and had been eating and living crappy the last couple of months and I just didn't have it in me. I would use the nausea and my intolerance of liquids as my excuse to quit and I began trying to figure out how I could cut the course and get back to the start/finish from the backside of the trail. But I kept running a little further and an full-fledged argument ensued in my head between my weaker side and my little inspiration Kylie. We talked about being brave and tolerating pain, fatigue and nausea. She would never quit and I knew I couldn't either and I ran on, renewed, reinvigorated and motivated.
I was never so glad to see the sun come up as I was Saturday morning. I was able to get down a hot cup of ramen noodles the lap before sunrise and dumping the lights really boosted my spirits. After the sun came fully up I grabbed my iPod and put on an audio book to keep my brain busy. "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy was suitably somber for the six hour period I spent running and listeing to it. I started eating and drinking more including some cold Monical's sausage pizza and another cup of ramen. I supplemented with the Mexican Coke, a few gummy bears and Jelly Belly's.
I had started walking more of each loop and taking longer breaks both at our aid station and the pit toiled and was now probably averaging closer to 1 hour per loop. The field dwindled as people either "finished" or "dropped" but the addition of the 8-hour solo and relay runner kept the trail full and me busy stepping aside to let the really fast, really young guys go past. I heard someone say one of the relay members was turning 26 minute laps!
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| One more lap! |
After I had completed 19 laps,21 hours and 66.5 miles, I was again thinking of stopping. BJ, one of the assistant RD's (for lack of a better term) came over to check my progress and told me the last 2 guys closet to my mileage had decided to stop and with one guys still "taking a break" there would be a 3-way tie for second place, including me if I went out and did another loop and neither of the other 2 decided to try to get one more loop in. The leader had logged 91 miles (26 laps) and, being obviously untouchable and tired of the Illinois humidity, had decided to stop. So I went back out for another loop, walking WAY more than running after Chia helped me re-dress my feet and I added some more lube in all the right places!
When I came back from loop #20 I was faced with the choice of trying to get in another loop or wait 40 minutes for the 1-mile loops to start at 3:15 pm. If I went back out and didn't finish the loop in time, none of those miles would count and there would remain a 3 way tie for 2nd, but if I waited for the 1-mile loops and did just one loop, I would be alone in 2nd place as the only other runner who could still catch me needed another full loop AND at least one 1-mile loop just to tie. So I decided to wait for the 1-mile loops to start and stood, (NEVER SITTING!) around eating and drinking what I could tolerate until then.
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Mike, the RD, and I debating the merits
of the 1-mile loops! |
At 3:15pm we set out on our 1-mile loops and again I walked way more than ran one loop and stopped at about 3:40pm and finally sat down, opened a beer and started taking off my shoes and moleskins.
Postrace chow was pulled pork with all the fixins and I ate my fill. We had the award ceremony where the overall male 24-hour solo winner (suspiciously Mike's brother from Colorado) was awarded the plaque for his 91 mile victory. I got my finisher's plaque and thanked the RD's and all the aid workers before jumping back in the Wagoneer for the 1 1/2 hour ride home.
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| Mike, Adam & me. |
All in all CRUD 24 is a great run, put on by a fanstastic group of people. We were blessed with unbelievable weather and trail conditions. I was doubly-blessed to have Chia taking care of me and motivating be throughout the day and night and despite not being in top shape I was happy with my performance, though more so mentally than physically!
