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| Pre-race contemplation! |
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 |
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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.
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! |
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! |
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. |
