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I knew going into this weekend that it was going to be a gut check, and then some. I had some doubts on how I would handle running a challenging 50 miler and then a marathon the next day, but I got through them both. The 50+ miler, which I would guess was more like 53-55 miles was by far the most difficult, challenging, and miserable race I have ever run.
It started out with a 4 a.m. wake up on Saturday so that I could meet a few other maniacs for the ride up to the Capital Forest in Olympia. The weather was marginal from the beginning, but at the start it was dry. I was testing out a new waist pack and immediately had problems getting it tight enough so that it would not pull down my shorts while I was running. I ended up pulling over a few times and getting everything in order before I settled into a good pace. The first aid station was at about 7 miles and I did not reach that point until almost 1hour 30 minutes, that should tell you how the day is going to go.
After pushing hard for awhile I caught up to Olga and ran with her before I sped up to catch Annie and Tony C. At this point the run was nice, although some of the trails were a bit overgrown and I am sure it had rained, and the trails were starting to get muddy. At some point we started running through sections that were overgrown with sticker bushes, ferns, and whatever other kind of plants that grow up in the mountains. I basically had to put my hands in front of my face, try to pay attention to the ground so I did not bite it, and my reward was being whipped with the thorns on the sticker bushes that were slowly scraping up my legs.
The rest of the race pretty much continued in the same manner. There was some nice trail sections, mixed in with overgrown stcikers and ferns, throw in some nice downpours and ankle deep mud bogs and this was my day. At aid station 4 I had been running for 5 hours and 10 minutes and so I asked the volunteer what mile mark I was at, and he said 25 miles. My mood quickly dampened from an already low state realizing that I had not even hit the hard section and a 10 hour finish was looking out of the picture.
The next 6 mile section was about the same, miserable, but I did not know what miserable was at this point. After Tony, Annie and I left the aid station we settled into a nice pace on very runnable trails. Soon it began to rain and we entered the zone from hell that was overgrown, wet, and was tearing at our legs with every step. After about 40 minutes of misery I realized that it could not possibly get any worse. I had to scream out, "This is f***ing awesome," being completely sarcastic of course. It was pouring down rain, the whole trail was overgrown and seemed like the mud was about 6 inches deep, and at this point I made a conscious effort to slam my feet into the ground to see how far I could make the mud splatter. What a GREAT experience this was!
At about the 35 mile mark Annie was running too fast and I was tired of trying to keep up. All I wanted to do was walk, and drop out of the race, but I forced myself to just keep moving forward. I walked for the next hour until I reached the 38-39 mile point where the 2000 foot climb to Capital Peak began. Obviously I saw no point in running when I was just going to begin climbing so I just continued to walk for the next hour. Finally at about mile 40-41 a runner finally passed me and I got motivated to start running again, which I was not convinced was ever going to happen.
The trail continued to climb until mile 43 when we reached the next aid station. Only 7.6 (so they say) miles to go. I knew at this point there was no way I was going to quit and I started to feel a little better, but my spirits were still pretty low. There was another climb to the top of larch mountain, which was an out and back, and I began to see other runners that were closing in on me. Olga was only about 1/2 mile back so I figured once she caught me we could run to the finish together. At about mile 46 (so they say) she caught up and we finally got a chance to bitch and moan and tell our war stories. She ended up getting lost for about 2 miles and went through just about everything else that I experienced.
We finished the last section that they said was 3.6 miles, which was really 4.6 miles, and crossed the line together in 11 hours 22 minutes and 19 seconds. I was glad it was over and at this point there was no way I was going to run a marathon the next day. After cleaning myself up and getting some food Annie began to talk about how jealous she was that I was going to run a marathon tomorrow (What a sick mind she has). I told her there was no way I was going. Olga tried to talk some sense into me and then on the ride home it was a mixed bag with Tony C telling me to bag it and Van Phan telling me I shoud just wait and see how I feel in the morning.
Well with a guilty conscious because my sister had an extra room for us that she had already paid for and my kids all excited to go stay in a hotel, I caved. We arrived in Port Angeles at midnight and I got to bed around 1 a.m. and managed to sleep for 5 hours before I had to start the next adventure.
The race was a point to point so they had buses to take runners to the start, or bring them back after the finish. I opted for the bus to the start and arrived at the starting line about 75 minutes before the 9 a.m. start time. I had some nice conversation with Diana "Slug" Robinson who just completed 15 marathons in 13 weeks after finishing this race today and waited for the start to arrive. My legs were sore, but I felt like I could run for awhile. Before the start I ran into Kim Boyle, but did not get a chance to talk for very long since the race was about to start (Sorry Kim).
I started off at about an 8 minute pace and felt alright until about mile 8 or so when I had to slow down just a little. I had 5 gu's with me and drank at every aid station. I quickly discovered that on the downhills I had to run all out because I had no brakes. My quads were shot. I think I managed to get through the half-way point in around 1 hour and 47 minutes, which was just fine with me. I still felt pretty good so just kept motoring along. The course was very nice with a variety of road sections and nice paved trail sections. There were lots of little ups and downs and winding turns that kept you on your toes. This was the best organized race I have run, with a quality medal, shirt, well stocked aid stations and great volunteers, and lots of them too. Before the race I thought it was a bit pricy, but after running it I found out that it was worth every penny. And no they did not pay me to say any of that.
A few people were passing me from about mile 13 to 18 although I was still running about a 8:15-8:20 pace. At mile 18 my legs started to feel pretty good and I started to pick it up a bit. I began to pass people and then was caught by Gunhild Swanson who took 1st in her 60-65 age group at the Boston Marathon. We ran pretty close together all the way to the finish passing a lot of people along the way, which felt quite good considering I am usually the one being passed. I followed in her footsteps, well about 100 yards behind her, for the last 4 mile section and crossed the line strong in around 3 hours and 37 minutes.
My legs surprisingly felt alright, but sore, and I was very glad to be done. My wife and kids met me after the finish and we had a late check out so I was able to take a quick dip in the pool and the hot tub before I showered and headed home. When I arrived home I quickly discovered how shot my legs are. I had to pull myself up the stairs using the hand rail and descending the stairs to write this report was not the easiest thing either. I may be crippled for the next few days, but I think it was worth it, although the verdict is still out on that.
Thanks for listening,
Rob
Maniac #97