Crazy from the Heat?

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No, not at all. Despite the assumptions on the part of Bimblers “back home” in CT, the temperature had nothing to do with the remarkably slooooooow times at Virgil Crest

My plans came and went and evolved over the last several weeks. I considered doing no races this past weekend, the 100 at Virgil Crest, the 50 at Virgil Crest, the 50 at Vermont, and, in a weak moment, decided to do BOTH 50s. Fortunately, the Gods (or maybe the RD at VT) smiled down upon me and conspired to not let me register for VT, unless I was willing to skip Virgil Crest to register in person on Saturday. I strongly suspected (with uncanny accuracy) that I was not ready for 100 at the new, improved(?) Virgil Crest Ultras. So, I opted for the “sensible” plan, the VC50. Hah!

The good news was that Spuds would be there, running the 100, and would be crewed by Chipper. Also, it has become obvious to me, as I encounter more 100 mile races, that it is good for the crew to be crewed. Dorothy volunteered to crew Chipper, and due to scheduling complexities, and my good fortune, Dorothy made the trip to Virgil Crest with me. Oh, and PB crewed Eva. I had been travelling all week and was, as a result, quite weak. The “signature” day of my weak week had to be Wednesday, which included a final training run at 108 degrees, and a severely delayed flight that resulted in my finally arriving home at 11PM Thursday.

At any rate, after dropping Dorothy off at the hotel, I proceeded to the starting line, sneaking, sort of, into the gated, locked park. I was snoozing, or attempting to, in my vehicle by 11:30PM. It was still quite warm, despite open windows and hatch. The “front” came through, with high winds, around 2AM, yielding much cooler temperatures. A good omen. I awoke to the sounds of runners preparing for a race. In short order, I found Spuds in the darkness, and we both chatted in the cool, but quite comfortable temperatures.

Spuds had been taxi’d by Chipper, who then returned to the hotel for a few extra ZZZZZs. She and Dorothy would return a few hours later. [singlepic=6802,280,200,,right]

The new race course was almost nothing like the old course, and yet had a strong sense of deja-vu. The old course was a loop, a lollipop, and an out-and-back. Repeat for 100. The new course was an out-and-back, with a short (distance, NOT time) loop in the middle. Also, virtually all of the roads had been eliminated. As a result, almost all of the trail looked familiar, except it didn’t seem familiar time-wise, as the order in which you encountered it was changed. Also, there was no comforting “return to base”, except at the 50 mile mark, which, by the way, was about 51.5 miles from the start!

Early on, I realized this would be my slowest 50 ever. Only slightly later, I also realized that although I was running slowly, I was running well. Spuds and I parted ways around sunrise, as we were both aware that we were running different races with different paces. Soon thereafter, I found myself alone in the woods. Much of the day would be spent that way. A few hours after sunrise between the Lift Station and Rockpile aid stations, I found two lost and weary travelers, along with a gentleman who thought himself a volunteer fireman. I knew him to be a budding amateur photographer, so I pulled my phone from my hydration pack, and set him off on his new avocation.

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I have been accused, more than once, of failing to “relax” and/or “have fun” during ultras. I submit the photo at left as proof positive that I have been unjustly accused. Admittedly, there are no similar photos from my foray at the Vermont 100. I am learning… Spuds would be along shortly to tend to his wayward crew, but I had a train to catch.

At the Rockpile, an “inaccessible” aid station, I chatted with the stationmaster, Bill, with whom I had run at the Finger Lakes 50s. He ran an excellent aid station. In all fairness, all of the aid stations were top notch. This came as no surprise, as the RD, Ian Golden, is an excellent RD. He can be seen everywhere, all the time. Locals may know better, but I think Ian may actually be identical triplets. I can’t say enough about what a good, but also incredibly difficult, race this is. Everyone was helpful, friendly, and genuinely concerned about every runner. [singlepic=6806,280,200,,right]

Shortly after Rockpile, I caught up with Kelly Wilson, the returning winner from 2009. In addition to Virgil Crest in 2009, I had seen Kelly at Pineland Farms, where I ran with her for a while, Vermont 100, where I ran her pace for WAY too long, and Burning River, where she was crewing, just like me. I got to the turnaround point at Daisy Hollow a few minutes ahead, and found Dorothy and Chipper waiting there. Kelly’s crew-person was anxiously awaiting her arrival, and I was able to advise her that she would be along in “just a minute”. I enjoyed Daisy Hollow, sort of like I have been know to enjoy Braemore! People, really, can’t you SEE I am having fun out there?

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Kelly came along, like the efficient champion she is, and blew through the station in no time at all. She did pause, on the way out, to ask “Jay, are you coming?”, to which I relied “in a second”. I didn’t. She stopped again to ask, loud enough for all at the station to hear, “Jay, are you going to let a WOMAN in the 100 beat you to the 50 mile mark?”. Many “oooohhhs” and snickers could be heard, and I, foolishly and perhaps a bit pridefully, stooped to pick up the gauntlet that had been thrown down before me. As a result, I had company all the way back to Rockpile. Then, she entered true “race pace”, and I was humbled once more. After Rockpile was the return to the “short” (3.7 mile) loop up and over Greek Peak. I think it took me about an hour and a half! [singlepic=6803,280,200,,right]

After that, there was a relatively easy 11 miles to the finish. Much of it I ran with a very nice gentleman from Quebec, Louis Arcand, who was, even as we ran, talking himself into dropping from the 100 to the 50. The more he told me about it, the better he felt about it. I could not blame him one bit, as I thought there was no force on earth that could make me repeat this course again that day! It turned out that he finished only 3 places ahead of me at the Vermont 100 although I never saw him there! We discussed that, and the dearth of good ultras in Quebec, as the miles rolled on. At the last aid station, I also met Kristina Folcik, a “close to home” Shenipsit Strider, who ultimately won the Women’s 50. Finally, I gained a little strength on the last big uphill and found myself alone. I met Kelly headed back out from my finish, and wished her luck. She was in 2nd place among the women, 4th overall, at that point.

I crossed the finish line in 11:16, three and one half hours slower than I managed at Pineland Farms, but an equally good effort. The race is just that tough. Really. I thanked the volunteers at the finish line, chatted a while with the photographer, and started to chill, both literally and figuratively. I skipped the finish line feast, and headed to the vehicle to turn on the heat and put on dry clothes. At that point, I decided to just get on the road. I had an hour or so of daylight left, and I knew I would be getting tired. I checked in with Dorothy and Chipper, and asked them to keep me advised. On the way home, I did not want to waste time stopping for a meal, but I could not pass up a  by-now-traditional stop in Roscoe, NY aka “Trout Town USA”. The stop is at Buffalo Zach’s. a very bohemian eatery in a remote village, right off the highway. I think of it as Trout Town’s answer to Common Grounds. I had no time to eat, but 20 ozs. of Dark Roast were perfect to go.

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By the way, because I keep score… The total drive time was almost identical to the run time (slightly over 11 hours) and the price was barely over $1/mile ($55). An “ultra” value!

RESULTS HERE