A lucky place

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My Hellgate race this year was full of more personal ups and downs than the course itself, and considering the elevation changes on the course, that’s saying something (the race could just as easily be called Up and Over because it feels like Dave Horton simply drives you out into the middle of the Blue Ridge Mountains and then weaves a trail roughly 65miles long, up and over every mountain between you and the finish line).  Talking to Jerry a while back, I had mentioned to him that I was hoping to improve on our 8^th place finish from last year and hopefully crack the top 5 this year and as the caravan of cars rolled along towards the starting line, this proclamation was weighing heavily on my mind. I felt well trained but as we all toed the line at the trail head, headlamps illuminating a trail that slowly faded into the dark, I felt more than a little out of my league. Horton gave us a quick countdown and at 12:01, we were off. My strategy for the race was to let the lead pack charge off and settle myself into a quick steady pace and attacking the hills with a moderate jog and as the race progressed, try to work my way up the ranks. This method worked well last year so my thought was that if I could just pick up the pace a bit, I would be ok.

Sure enough, from the outset a group of about a dozen runners took off and set a pretty hard pace. Meanwhile, I watched them race off and settled into my own pace and was very pleased that I felt comfortable over the first few miles of the race. I was running the uphills, attacking the downhills (of course) and generally running a strong race. In the process, I managed to pass a few people and as I reached AS2, I was able to see Jay (my crew for the race; he was fantastic, having anything and everything I could need on hand the minute I showed up at an aid station). From my progress so far, I guessed that I had safely made it into the top 10 where I hoped I could stay for a while.

Following AS 2, the trail winds up and down and for several long stretches is covered with a thick blanket of leaves, making the going tough. I kept chugging along and before long, I found myself with another runner who was bombing along the downs and I excitedly thought I’d found the perfect partner. For the next few miles, we charged along, tearing up the trail and leap frogging each other until we left the single track and emerged at the base of a long, loooong uphill dirt road that led to AS 3 at the top of the mountain. As we began the slow climb to the top, I felt much more tired than I should. I had been so hyped on adrenaline that I had gone out far too fast and really beaten my legs up. Reaching the peak, I was greeted by the strings of lights and warm glow of the fire at AS 3 and as I grabbed some cold potatos and swallow a mouthful of Gatorade, Horton offered words of encouragement and pushed me to catch Sean (the runner in front of me). Thanks, I though, but not on these legs right now; I felt really tired and sore and worried that my exuberance in the early stage of the race was going to cost me in the later stages.

The next section of trail was a wide grassy road/trail that traced the perimeter of the mountains and was high enough that there was still an inch or two of old snow up there and as I ran, I began to look at the footprints in the snow. I was shocked to see only 2 or 3 sets of footprints ahead of me (and at least one set was made by someone marking the trail) and at this time I really started to worry because I knew I couldn’t keep up with the front runners and if I was in the top 2 or 3, that was concrete evidence of my over exertion.  Again, AS 4 was located at the top of another mountain and as I jogged into the AS, I was joined by another runner. Jay pounced on me as soon as I arrived and as I was being refueled, I asked him what position I was in and he confirmed that after being passed at the entrance of this AS, I was now in third.

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The next 40-ish miles were a real struggle for me. My legs reached a point where the pain could no longer get worse and it was easier to run than walk so I used this to try to keep myself going. I set myself small, manageable goals, like making AS 6 before sun up, so I could focus on them rather than dwell on how far I still had to go before the finish. I made sure to eat plenty at the aid stations and I’ve found that a steady diet of chicken noodle soup, boiled potatos (that were often frozen) and bananas worked well for me and I loaded up on all three when I could. The only problem came when I reached AS 6 just before sun-up only to find that they were out of chicken noodle and had only tomato soup left. Tomato soup? Really? I couldn’t think of anything I wanted less than tomato soup. But once again, Jay lept into action and was handing me a cup of steaming ramen noodles as I jogged back out. I got passed by a runner named Jordan in a notoriously rocky and leafy section a few miles from AS 7, dropping me into 4th. The going gets very hard in here as the trail is littered with boxy, sharp stones which are covered in knee deep leaves, making for a frustrating journey.

My arrival at AS 7 brought with it a surprise when I saw Carrie at Jay’s side as he approached to sort me out. Apparently, Carrie had barely, narrowly, missed the cutoff at AS 4, and as bummed as I was for her, I was happy to have her along to help out (she never stops laughing and smiling; great when you’re struggling to get from AS to AS). I made it to AS 8 but I was really having to work hard to keep my legs moving. Coming out of AS 8, I had only the thought of AS 9 (the final aid station) in my head, but first I had to pound out a few more miles of downhill running (which as most of you know is harder on your legs than uphill running) along some dirt and paved roads before heading back into the woods where the trail ran non-stop (at least it felt like that) over some short but steep hills. By the time I reached AS 9, I was done. Spent. Exhausted. I could feel the finish line within my reach, but to get there I had to go up and over one final hill. 3 miles up, 2 miles down to a dirt road and just over a mile to the finish. As I marched up the hill, Keith Knipling passed me, putting me in 5^th but that motivated me enough to get me running again and we reached the top of the hill and began down the other side. I ignored my screaming legs at this point and focused on holding my top 5 spot as we bombed downhill. My effort paid off when we came across Jordan standing to the side of the trail is some distress. Keith dropped what food he had with him at Jordan’s feet and I wished him luck as we rushed past and with that, I’d made it back into 4^th. With an energy that you only get with the finish line in sight, I churned up those final 3 miles, accompanied by Jay for the final mile and finished in a time of 12:53:50 in 4^th place, achieving both my goals of a top 5, sub 13 hr finish. [singlepic=5353,280,200,,right]

Looking back I was very happy with my result, despite going about it the hard way. The weather was fantastic and the night running was enhanced with crystal clear skies allowing glimpses of shooting stars and a fantastic crescent moon. It was cold on the course (a low of around 19) but not as cold as years past and as long as you kept moving you could stay relatively warm. The aid stations were excellently staffed and stocked (with the single exception of the lack of chicken noodle soup) and once again, I had a fantastic time at an extremely well organized race. Jay did a great job crewing for me and was a huge motivating factor, helping me to push myself harder and harder. But, in the end, I was put to shame as Jerry finished his 7^th hellgate, despite battling a nasty cold, and Dan grabbed his 3^rd finish.  Well done and thanks to everyone for making the trip a very enjoyable one.