I had decided to just take a handheld up to route 80 and then grab my pack, which I had stashed in the bushes. The first part of the run was dandy and I made it to route 80 in 25 minutes. I grabbed my pack and headed off toward the Bluff. Almost immediately I realized how much more difficult it is to run with a camel pack. Every step seemed so much more challenging. I decided rather quickly that I would dump some water when I got to the end of the Monastary road. The day was overcast and cool and I thought I would be fine making it to the Bluff with about a third of a bladder.

As we all know the slug from Northern Timberlands to the end of the stick is boring (sorry Jerry) I was feeling good so I just got along, eating and drinking, and feeling pretty good about my run. I have been having lots of stomach issues lately so I actually cut back on eating and drinking and this proved to be a good strategy. I arrived at the kiosk and began one of my favorite parts of the course. I am terrible with names but I believe this is the Broomstick Ledges and it is awesome single track.

I got to the Bluff at 1 hour and 54 minutes and began the long pull up Bluff Head. At the top I gave 4 loud “Gawps”. One for Shelly, one for Iggy, one for Suds and one for me. I loved hearing my voice echo across to the trail that I would be running in a couple of hours. The rest of the run to Braemore was pretty uneventful. I was still feeling really good and just had the usual bit of bother going through the rock garden leading to James Valley Preserve. Going through the Preserve I once again marveled at the great work Lost C and Bimble did clearing the Irene mess and made my way over to Braemore. I got to Braemore right at 3 hours. I was really happy with this time and, after resupplying, headed off toward Renee’s Way.

The section to Renee’s Way was a bit of a grind and my legs were really starting to bother me. It is interesting that pain is the least of my worries when running ultras. I get much more worried when my mind gets fuzzy or my stomach is upset. Pain seems to be just a normal part of the process! In this case the issue was cramping in my quads and it was not a big deal , except that I began losing a lot of my ability to run at any speed. All in all the miles to Renee’s Way kind of flew along and I got to the end of this section in 4 hours and 10 minutes. I grabbed some food and water, cranked some tunes on the ipod and got ready to take on the nightmare that is the next 8 miles back to Northern Timberlands.

I had a strategy of breaking up this section into chunks. The first chunk was getting back to the stick. My running was starting to become severely hampered by my tight muscles but my mind and spirit was still strong and I just kept going. Did I have a choice? Chunk 2 was the stick to orange trail. No real problems in here and I arrived at my absolute least favorite part of the course (sorry Jerry) ready to grind. I actually felt pretty good and was making good time until I got to the right hand turn that leads back to Northern Timberlands and the Monastery. Here I just fell apart. My legs just seized up and I was reduced to a lot of walking. It was kind of frustrating because I really was feeling good and wanted to run. It seemed like about 2 hours on this section but I eventually got back to the entrance to Northern Timberlands at 5 hours and 25 minutes. My 6 hour goal was lost but I was more concerned about my legs, I really did not want to walk the last 4 miles.

The first little bit was pretty pathetic but then I managed to figure out a stride that would allow me to hobble along. The worst part of this section was I took a couple of falls and we all know you do not want to fall when your legs are cramping. It was kind of funny. I really could not get up and laid on the trail trying to figure out a way to stand up! Once I made it back to two feet I hobbled on and got back to Route 80 at 5 hours and 55 minutes. I dropped my pack and headed home.

For some reason I began having an easier time running this last section. The sun also came out and this just made the last section magical. I had the ipod cranking, I was running, the weather was great and I was going to finish the Bluff for the 4th time (two official and now two unofficial) I was quite pleased! I broke out of the trail, crossed the road and imagined Shelly Girl and all of you cheering me to the finish line. I crossed the imaginary line in 6 hours and 23 minutes and collapsed on the field to soak it all in.

In all honesty, I am not sure which version I like more. Running the race with everyone and being a part of that special day or taking on the challenge alone. One thing is certain whether alone or in the company of good friends the Bluff is home to us Bimblers and I am grateful that I have been blessed to be a part of the experience.

See you on the trail

Lefty

Anyway, this will be a thank you letter (with some apologies) and not a blow-by-blow account.

My thanks go to Jerry for organizing the race and making me feel special at the finish line.  I would have helped you dismantle the finish line station if I wasn’t already dismantled myself.

Thanks to the videographers and photographers (Iggy!) who will have a permanent record of me sucking air.

Thanks to all the volunteers at all the aid stations who patrolled the traffic, filled my bottles, and filled baggies with food to carry, for cheering me on, and for words of encouragement.  Oh my god, my apologies to Aid Station 5- the traffic controllers were holding up the traffic for me; I had a cup of drink in my hand; I was dazed, confused, unthinking- I TOSSED the cup on the ground, so I could dash across Route 80.   I’m so, so, so sorry!

My thanks to the small group of runners who were with me during the race- Doug Story (the woohoo king!), Tom Malcolm (I think we have run ~100 miles together across 5 different races, spanning 3 years and have exchanged the same one word with each other at each race –‘hey’!), Heather Wiatrowski, Hillary Johnson, Dan Bennett, and Susan Dewitt -thanks for pulling me through at various stages of the race – even if you didn’t realize it, and even if  it wasn’t your intent. 

My apologies to anyone I left out.

Booman

My first official ultra is complete and all the training and preparation paid off. The day before the race I did everything to keep my mind off the race so as to not psych myself out: worked on the car for a few hrs, mass amounts of laundry, etc…). Thankfully it worked and I went on to prepare my list of medical supplies, food and gear for the race. I wanted to be over prepared since I didn’t quite know what to expect my body to do. Once that was done I felt much better about toeing the line the next day (I realized once there, the “line” was more like “stand over here”). I also woke up with a pinched nerve in my neck and I couldn’t look left which put me in the dumps a bit about my condition for the race.

5am arrived and I popped out of bed like a kid on caffeine. Coffee brewing, eggs boiling, got showered, packed the car and was off! After about an hour drive up to Guilford in the dark, we got to the school where the start/finish area was. I checked in and began with my pre-race preparations which included gobs of vaseline, stuffing my packs with Gu’s and fighting with my bib number to put it on my shorts straight.

An hour later, everyone was corralled into the start area where we all join in on singing the national anthem together with Shellygirl, and then with a very nonchalantly :”on your mark, get set, go” we were off. One guy was singing away some classic rock song (I think) while we looped the field.

I was pretty familiar with the 1st part of the race (the stick) as I had run it a few times in sections with other Bimblers at the bites. As the field spreads out a bit and we pass by the first aid station 2.5 miles in, I try to tell myself to slow down so as to not kill myself in the first parts of the race. My ego was fighting me as I let runners pass me but I swallowed my pride and knew I could pass them later on. It was going to be a long day.

The single track turned into a dirt road for about 5-7 miles until we reached the 2nd aid station at Bluff head. I had my girlfriend and my sis as my crew/cheering section with my bags of stuff and I saw them at the first station cheering me on but didn’t see them at #2. I shrugged it off, filled up my bottle and continued on. I made the turn back onto the course and all I saw was a 45 degree climb up the side of the mountain. I got halfway up and to my surprise was the crew girls waiting for me! I gave them a quick hello and continued on (as I did a few more times during the race) and continued the climb up Bluff head.

This part of the race was much more technical that the rest of the course as many of us know. Walking was a necessity in many parts just so I didn’t take a dive onto a bed of sharp rocks. At this point I met up with a guy from Rhode Island, Kenny, who was doing his 2nd 50k. From that point on we ran together until the last aid station. The 3rd aid station (1/2way point) showed up after a short bit that passed through some horse farms and a quick road section. A small bichon dog actually followed us at this point for about a quarter mile. I saw Lefty here who proceeded to heckle me for not living up to my name so I did a quick roll around on the ground to prove him wrong.  About 2 minutes after I left the 3rd aid station I realized I had lost my iPod which was tracking my mileage. I didn’t have the energy to turn around and thankfully it was returned to me by a fellow runner!!!

After some more rocky sections and winding through more thick woods aid station 4 appeared out of nowhere and my crew had literally just gotten there with my gear. I took another Gu and advil from them as my left knee had begun to bother me. At this point my legs were beginning to cramp intermittently and I needed to keep moving. My friend Kenny took almost no time here and gained about 100 yards on me. I kept him within view until we reached the stick again and I caught back up. From aid station 4 to 5 was 8 miles(as we were reminded several times) and it seemed like an eternity. The company of another runner really helped and as we approached the last station, I had a bit of adrenaline kick in and was able created a cushion between Kenny and me by the end.

I arrived at aid 5 with the crowd cheering, cowbells ringing (can never have enough cowbell), and signs telling us that there were only 2.5 miles left. LONGEST 2.5miles of my life. I powered through the parking lot, crossed the street and back into the single track. By this point my right leg was stiffening up and I was praying I wouldn’t trip in this last section. I did have a slight trip but didn’t quite fall, thanks to a very sturdy tree that caught me halfway to the dirt. Thank you Mr. Pine tree.

As I neared the finish line, I could hear cars passing by on the nearby road and I saw several hikers on their way out. As I came into the finish I took a last look at my watch and realized that I had accomplished my goal of racing under 6 hours with a time of 5hrs 42min. I felt beat up but accomplished. I got 19th place overall and 2nd in my age division!! I was being fed pretzels, candy corn, apple cider and an assortment of other great foods; however, my stomach was not up for a feast at that moment. Not until later that day was I able to put down some solids without upsetting my stomach.

My first ultra was a great adventure and I hope to do more in the future. My appreciation for those who do 50mi and even 100mi races has increased 10 fold and I aspire to be at that level one day.

A BIG thank you to the the race director, Mr Bimble, and my Mudder crew gals for supporting me and cheering me on the whole race. It really meant a lot that they came to keep my spirits up. Fingers crossed I’ll be back for round 2 next year!!

And he did………………..

The following is an account of his experience, as shared with a fellow bimbler.

I had a bad run yesterday, mostly because of stomach issues. I started the race at 4:42am due to a family celebration I needed to attend at 1pm, so after driving over to Braemore to drop some water, heed, and a Gu bottle, I met Jerry at the start as he was unloading his truck to set up for the events of the day. I asked him if he wanted any help and he kindly directed me to think about my run, and to get going, reminding me that I had much more work ahead of me than the unloading of his truck. I asked him if he wanted me to take some trail marking tape just in case there was such a need, and so I carried that and did some augmentation here and there, using up the entire roll to be sure runners did not get lost. My apologies to the sweepers if this increased their work unduly.

It’s really hard to run fast in the dark, and the first section in Timberlands is kind of technical in some spots, and it was 4:42 in the morning for Pete’s sake, so I felt I did not really get going until after route 80. There is plenty of wildlife at night, and I saw some bats, and some deer through this section. They apparently LIKE being awake at that time of day.

Then, a little later I began to have problems with my stomach. Vomiting would have been my reluctant choice, but unfortunately that was not how my body decide to rebel. Not sure why. It usually takes me about an hour and 1/2 to the top of “the stick”, where the junction is for the “lollypop”. It took me 2 hours just to get to the top of the stick!! I knew I was in for a long day. The daylight started to light the trail just before I got to route 77, so that made things a little easier.

I got to the top of the Bluff after 2 3/4 hours and stopped to admire the view, and text Jerry about the good state of the trail markings so far. I ran a bit but got bogged down after a couple more ugly “side trails”, and got over to Braemore at hour 4 ! Ugh!! I was pissed, and not feeling it. Bounce and the misses, and the rest of the aid station crew were setting up and heartily welcomed me. I got my Gu, some aid station pretzels, refilled my hydration pack and hit the trail, worrying now that I might have to content with the leaders passing me….which I did NOT want to happen.

I spent a lot of time marking with the tape through this section, and got to Rene’ s Way at hour 5, knowing that Brian Rusiecki was probably about 30 to 40 minutes behind me. I stopped doing the augmentation marking just after Rene’s Way and tried to focus on real running. I got to the top of the stick just before hour 6 and tried to push through a bit harder.

After doing a reasonable job on the road section and turning back onto the trails near the nunnery, the wheels came all the way off and I spent more time dealing with my stomach. Also, my knee had progressively begun to bother me, especially on the downhills, just before Rene’s Way, and now it was getting difficult just to walk! FFFFFFFFFFF*%K!!!!!!!!

I hobbled to the aid station on route 80 but put on my best face (cameras were rolling don’t you know!!), surprised that I had not gotten passed by Mr. Rusiecki yet, and had the fantasy that I may finish ahead of him still (with better than a 3 hour head start). On this past Friday’s Westwood morning training run Jerry had joked that he was going to announce at the beginning of the Bluff that they had released a “rabbit” (me) to try and have the leaders “catch”. I don’t know if he made that announcement, but I was trying to avoid my own embarrassment and maintain some semblance of dignity by NOT getting passed.

I received great attention at that aid station by all the wonderful Bimblers, and I almost got Allstate to drive me to the finish! They had a wonderfully decorated station with equally festive food choices. Most of the other stations were not set up yet when I wandered through, but I am sure they offered great snacks as well. I headed into Timberlands to push to the end. I did run OK for a bit, on adrenaline and coca-cola I guess, but then just slow-ran and walked some. At the last wooden foot bridge, about an half mile from the end of the race, Brian Rusiecki past me, powering quickly and without slowing one bit, heading straight up the last steep climb. I cheered him on, amazed at how fresh he looked. I didn’t feel embarrassed, just a bit disappointed in myself. I then pressed on to finish “second”, about 5 minutes after Brian. My elapsed time was around 7hours and 41 minutes.

I thanked people at the finish, and tried to thank Jerry (but he was taking a phone call), ran to my car, and drove home. I quickly showered and drove to my family celebration, a 50th birthday party for my sister-in-law. A whirlwind turnaround!

Today I’m fine. It’s funny that sometimes in training runs I feel great, I can run for several hours, and even on the rare occasion, I even feel like I can run forever. Then, like yesterday, I feel like running is the activity I least wish to do. Nevertheless, I would do it again, and will. Hopefully without the “issues”.

Thanks to Poron Performance Cushioning, Hammer Nutrition, KC’s Pub, photographer Chris Renda and all the volunteers for their support.

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