Under cover crew feels the heat at Hellgate

Ten years ago a race captivated my interest. It offered the prospective of running through the night at the mercy of winter weather and for the first running of the event the conditions were spectacular. I can’t recall the exact temperatures at the time, but packed snow covered the ground and a crystal clear sky ensured they stayed low. Overhead a full moon and sparkling stars shone brightly. The hilly course is tough enough, but the unpredictable aspect of the elements provides a dimension that gives  participants who normally finish further down the pack, a competitive edge if they are able to adapt to the dark and temperature extremes. Many of the young bucks who sprint off into the dark at the start look a lot less confident later in the day!

Over the course of the past decade I’ve returned each year. The course is always the same, the organization by David Horton is first class, an intimate friendly small race feel always exists at the start /finish location of Camp Bethel, but the weather often has a twist. On the 10th running of the race for this year, instead of extreme lows, we had extreme (in the context of the norm for Virginia) highs in the upper 60s.

Prior to the race, the weekend followed a regular plan. Thursday evening departure from Connecticut, overnight at Hamburg, Pennsylvania, breakfast, shopping at Cabela’s and then a long ride to Virginia. Race road trips always provide memories aside to the actual run, that grow to be conversation stoppers for weeks to come. No sooner had Spuds and I met up with Loopy and Forrest, the first gem slipped into the public domain. Traveling to a race like Hellgate requires you to pack for the unexpected, shorts, tights, long sleeved and short sleeved shirts, fleece hats, running caps, gloves and the list goes on. But it isn’t just about running, the normalities of life also need to be taken care of. This means that regular clothes and in particular underwear have to be considered. As she dressed on Saturday morning, Loopy discovered she was devoid of clean under pants. It is rumored that being the gentleman that he is, Forrest offered her a pair of his. She declined, may the polka dot patterned boxers just weren’t her style, maybe they were too small (I might be treading on delicate ground here), we may never know. But before dawn Forrest headed out to find a 24 hour ladies underwear vendor. Miraculously, he found such an establishment, staffed by a male cashier in the process of cashing out another (male) customer. Maybe it’s a Sunday morning tradition in this state! So, thanks to Forrest’s ingenuity Loopy’s day, neigh weekend, was saved. The exact style of the garment was never revealed but judging by the smile on her face, they didn’t appear to be made from rough course haired wool!

But we digress, back to the purpose of the trip. We arrived at Camp Bethel around 5, ate dinner at 6, attended the race brief at 8, tacked on to the high speed convoy to the start at 10:50 and started at 12:01. Some traditions don’t change. The going was good, the creeks were so low, feet stayed dry. Aid stations came and went, the miles rolled by. Sadly Spuds hadn’t been able to make the start as earlier on Saturday he developed stomach issues that put him out of action and the prospect of a 6th Hellgate finish. Instead he joined Forrest and followed Loopy’s progress. I saw them once during the race at Headformost Mountain, but neither realized it was me passing through. My day went well, it was an uneventful steady paced run, until the miles merged into a memory and I crossed the ‘1 mile to go’ marker across the road. My 10th Hellgate was finished in 13:18, it was my bast time at the event beating a previous PB from 2005. Loopy crossed the line in 17:10, she was still smiling, it is amazing what good quality underwear can do to lift your spirits!