Saturday, October 18, 2014

Grindstone Post Script (I did figure out out how to edit the original but this was a stop gap measure before that)

     I have been informed that when I finished and was dizzy and falling over the guys that helped me into the dining hall were Sam Price and Frankie Viar.  Thanks guys, I was not functioning well and was very cold!  Sam also told me as well as Kevin that it was not Kevin who gave me a slice of Pizza (although he did buy it) it was Sam.  Like I said...I was out of it as far as cognitive skills were concerned.  My comments about the way the course was marked the first and last few miles, and the first two and last two aid stations were not intended to bash anyone, especially not the race director, Clark Zealand.  The volunteers thought they were doing what was expected, maybe they need a little coaching?  The fact that an aid station 15 miles in at the beginning of a hundred mile race ran out of water needs to be thought about, and measures taken to try to not have that happen again.  I want to make observations that will contribute to improvements and enhance other participants experience.

     We all have room for improvement and adjustment.  Inbound, those aid station workers were probably nearly as tired as I was, and I don't fault them for being tired, I wish there was some hot soup or broth and hot chocolate at those last two stations and that the people there would have acted more helpful to the mid and back of the pack runners. It seemed to me that these were mostly college students who just came to have their own little party and since they were tired they just wanted to go home.

     I hope that if there was someone who was moving or taking down markers, that person will be found out and will come to their senses.  I don't know how more security or patrolling of that section might be accomplished but given the delirious state of runners and the sparse markings on the last few miles I am surprised that I haven't heard more stories than I have of people getting lost there.  Jeremy Ramsey told me he went back through the last five miles to add markers but I would swear on a stack of Bibles to tell the truth, the markers were very sparse.  For an extremely tired runner at night any marker that is not reflective is difficult to see.  My opinion is that more reflective markers would be a great idea...about three times as many.  At turns the markers should be on the same side as the direction of the turn to attract your attention that way, not the opposite side of the direction of the turn.  There should be three markers before the turn and three after within 20 or 30 feet of each other.
I know the course is marked during the day by people who know where they are going, but it needs to be marked with this thought in mind...there are people who don't know where they are going, and they will be extremely tired, and it will be dark, maybe raining, maybe foggy.  I don't want to think of a worst case scenario here but let your imagination go and you might come to some of the same conclusions as have I.

     As a race participant we have spent good money for registration, shoes, hydration gear and clothing, to say nothing of the hundreds of hours and miles of training that we took away from spending that time with our families or other less painful pursuits.  We expect a good race experience.  Overall I had an ok experience, but I would like for others to have an excellent experience.  Getting off course because of too few markers or markers on the opposite side of a turn in the dark, as I experienced is not good.  Coming to an aid station that is out of water is not good.  My purpose in bringing that to light is hopeful improvement so that others may have a better experience.  Not intending to step on anyone's toes...just making observations.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Grindstone 100 race report

     Well, I have waited a week, but I said I would post a race report so here it is.  The week leading up to Grindstone, I was real busy with work and some other volunteer things I am in, plus I was nervous and excited about the upcoming race...and tapering my training so not as physically tired as I am used to.  All that said to explain a general lack of adequate sleep the whole week.  Added to that I am habitually a last minute packer when it comes time to go places, so I was up till 1:00 am the Thursday night before the race started Friday, Oct. 3.   Todd and Alexis had told all of us that were planning to caravan and carpool to Camp Shennandoah together, to meet at their house at 8:30 to load up cars and then plan to leave by 9:00 am Friday, which would get us there and a little time to set up our tents and eat lunch before the 1:00 pm pre-race briefing.  After the briefing I tried to rest and hopefully take a nap but only managed about a 20 minute nap.

     Soon, it was time to get ready to check in and line up for the start.  My first 100 mile race, 38 hours to get it done, and still have a chance at completing the whole Beast 6 race series for the year with the three 50 k races done in the spring, then the 100 miler now, plus Mountain Masochist 50 miler Nov. 1, then Hellgate 100k ++ Dec. 13.  Six o'clock pm and the start had us going around the Scout Camp past the lake, off the back of the dam and onto a single track trail that jammed the procession up for a couple minutes till we got sorted out.  We came back to the shower house location at the camp where some of the folks had gathered to watch and cheer us on, that was motivational.  A light rain had begun right before the start and was now getting to be a steady rain and foggy as we climbed away from the camp.  I joined up with Chelsie Viar and Sheryl Mawn on this section along with about 10 or 12 others as we started to cruise downhill on a gravel road.  Soon we were expecting to come up on aid station #1.  We were in pretty thick fog, rain, and it was getting dark so visibility was a problem.  We were looking for the reflective markers and hadn't seen any for a few minutes.  When we got to the mileage on our watches that we should have been at the aid station we concluded we missed a turn and had to head back up the hill to the last place we saw a marker and figure out where we were supposed to go.  Finally I see a reflective marker...on the opposite side of where we were to turn!  The turn was marked with pink streamers but I saw no reflective marker where the turn was other than one on the opposite side from the turn!  The pink streamers were not very visible in the dark rain and fog!  Two extra miles I didn't need and way behind now, started me in a bit of a foul mood but soon I was past the Falls Hollow aid station and catching others on the climbs with my fast hiking, while running the flats and downhills, and settling into completing the event.

     The first big climb was up a long steep gravel road on Elliot's Knob.  Near the top I could hear a fan or some sort of machinery running and I saw a light on a building.  Assuming that was the top of the mountain where there would be antennas and generators and a building with computers, I headed that direction, only to find I was off course AGAIN!  I was not seeing where I should go, and finally heard others yelling, and spotted their headlamps in the darkness and went back the way I came, to find there was more uphill trail to another antenna site and that was where the punch was we had to use to punch our bib numbers.

   Thankful to be heading down hill I settled in to a decent pace along the ridge line looking forward to about 5 miles of downhill into Dry Branch Gap, the next aid station, which would be close to 15 miles total so far.  Once the ridge line gave way to a descent, however, I found a very rocky trail with lots of loose rocks that made that ominous "clunk" sound as you stepped on them, and a sheer drop off to my left going thousands of feet to the valley below.  Progress was not as expected to say the least, but soon I could hear and see the aid station ahead.  I took stock of myself and what I needed, thinking I might need to top off my hydration bladder in my pack.  Just about the time I get my pack unsaddled from my shoulders and get the hydration top open, I hear an aid station worker say they are out of water!  WHAT?! You have got to be kidding me!  This was not good!  This is the 6th year this race has been held and I have already been off course twice, and now an aid station 15 miles in that is out of water!  They had two years to plan for this as the event was cancelled last year on account of the government shutdown and no forest rangers were available.  My mind is spinning now.  I grabbed a two liter of the cheap version of Mountain Dew from the table and dumped about half of it in my hydro pack and set about moving on as this aid station, nor the first were able to offer much aid.  I was hoping things would not get worse, might as well just keep moving.  Hot chocolate, coffee and maybe some hot broth or vegetable soup would have worked wonders there...but there was none.

     Soon I was greeted by the climb up Crawford Mountain and another ridge line and yet another rocky downhill before coming to aid station #3 at Dowell's Draft.  This is where I saw some familiar faces,  Brenton Swyers running the station, Blake Edmondson who was crewing Todd and myself, and Bethany Williams who was crewing Clifton.  There was some actual food there and I ate some, Blake and Bethany helped me to a chair and got my drop bag.  I switched out my pack with one I had prepared ahead of time and changed shoes and socks, then back on the trail climbing Hankey Mountain and Lookout Mountain.  I don't remember much about this section.  I remember stopping at the Lookout Mtn. aid station, but not much else.  I do remember coming in to the next aid station at North River Gap and crossing the swaying wood and cable bridge then the short road section where cars and crews were waiting for runners.  Apparently some folks found some sleep here would be good!  Sam Price was running the North River Gap aid station and it rocked!  All kinds of food to eat and a real party atmosphere!  Blake and Bethany were doing their best to help me but I was beginning to not really know what I wanted.  I did change clothes and shoes completely there and ate some, but realizing I was only 30 minutes from the hard cut off there, I needed to keep moving so move I did!

     This next section was a steady 7.8 mile climb in the wee hours of the morning when I was dead tired sleepy and I was not with anyone this whole section.  I found myself falling asleep while hiking uphill.  My pace slowed to a crawl.  Finally I could see a headlight up in front of me...and it was getting closer, fast!  Here comes the leader I told myself.  Wow, he already has gone about 60 miles and I have only gone about 40!  Soon others followed, that helped keep me awake as I told them "way to go" and "good job".  Finally daylight.  The rain had stopped and the sky was clearing up and I managed to get to Little Bald aid station.  Another excellent bunch operating here!  Hot Breakfast! Nice Fire!  A few items out of my drop bag here and I was headed for Reddish Knob and the turn around!

     Reddish Knob is a very beautiful mountaintop with 360 degree views.  West Virginia to the west slope and Virginia to the east slope.  You can actually drive right to the top as there is a paved road and paved parking area on the top.  It was stunning with fall colors beginning to show and the scattered clouds casting contrasting shadows against the sunlit trees covering the surrounding mountainsides.  It was near here I saw Todd and Alexis with their pacers.  That made me happy to see them looking like they were having fun and moving well.  On to the turn around I saw Sheryl and a few minutes later Chelsie and they both looked like they were moving well.  Finally the actual turn around!  Halfway home!

     Back at the Reddish Knob aid station, Charlie Hesse had made some coffee so I stopped for a minute and got a little, mmm, that was good!  I was feeling pretty decent and ran well from here back through North River Gap.  When I got back there and Blake and Sam told me I could basically hike the rest of it and still make the cut off, that was good news.  Of course I wanted better than that, kind of close to 30 hours but that looked out of reach, maybe 32 was possible, or so I thought.

    Rolling on through the late afternoon back through Lookout Mountain aid station and on down to Dowell's Draft I still thought maybe I had a chance at the 32 hour range, but then I came to this never ending climb called Crawford Mountain.  The wind started blowing, the sun had set, the temperature was falling down around 35 degrees and 30 m.p.h. winds were making wind chills around 20 degrees.  I didn't have quite enough clothing to keep warm.  I started the climb up Crawford ahead of four other guys I had kind of been close to since Lookout Mtn. aid station.  Halfway up I could not maintain pace and had to let them go.  Somewhere here Helen MacDermott came up on me along with another guy that was slightly hobbled with some sort of injury.  As we got going along the ridge I pulled ahead and then they caught me again pulling up the back of Elliot's Knob.  I pulled ahead some on the descent off the ridge but by the time we got to the last aid station (which appeared that the folks there were attempting to close) they had caught me again.  Those last two climbs and descents in that cold furious wind took nearly all my strength.  I would look at the red, white, and blue paracord on my wrist that David Snipes had given us as a memorial to Major Mike Donahue, and I would glance down at my bib and see the sticker with Mike's name and the race number he always requested, #82, for the 82nd Airborne, and tell myself "all the way" you are not quitting!

     Getting past the last aid station I knew there was only 5.18 miles left, I knew I was so close.  But I had no strength left to muster up running.  I was hallucinating, seeing huge bugs crawling all over the trail, trees looking like people, rocks looking like wrecked cars in a junkyard.  When I would stop to look for a trail marker, everything seemed to keep moving, I was dizzy and just not really "with it".  The last bit of trail coming into the scout camp seemed like a maze and did not seem to be marked to where I was positive I was on course all the time.  If Craig Miller hadn't been standing on the dam at the lake I might still be there looking for where to go.  When I finally got in the driveway and was looking at the finish area I could not even make sense of what I sort of recognized as the dining hall, and the finish chute really had me baffled for a few seconds as to what I was seeing.  When I finally stepped over the finish line at 34hrs, 46min. my mind just released responsibility for my legs and I nearly fell over. It took me 2hrs. 36 min. I think for the last 5 miles!  If Clark Zealand hadn't caught me I would have crashed to the ground right there.  Clark got Sam Price and Frankie Viar there to take me into the dining hall where I sat on a chair and Sheryl Mawn got a sleeping bag for me to get warm in.  I was hypothermic, shivering uncontrolably.  Alexis came over and Sam got me a slice of pizza that Kevin Corell had brought to eat.  I wanted hot chocolate so bad, but there was none.  We all talked for a little then I decided I was warm enough to get my stuff and get a hot shower.  A shower never felt so good!  One of the scouts with the kitchen crew found a mattress for me and I got in my sleeping bag and slept about three hours I think before the sounds of breakfast woke me.

    Take aways from this 100 mile adventure:
1.  Time on and familiarity with a course are extremely valuable.  Take advantage of opportunities if you can, to get both.  (I was not able this time, and it affected my performance).
2.  Sleep and proper rest the week and days right before a 100 miler are crucial.  You might be able to do OK in a 50k or even a 50 miler with a sleep deficit but not a 100 miler!
3.  Training and preparation for weather is not to be taken lightly...I did alot of running and hiking in the Blue Ridge and alot of it in rain and fog this summer.  Just like the way the race started.
     Will I do Grindstone again?  Or another 100 miler?  At this time I want to say yes.  I have some problems with my right knee and that might prevent me.  I hope my knee will take me through Mountain Masochist 50 miler and Hellgate 100k++ this year so I can complete the Beast Series.  I think I could finish Grindstone in 30 hours knowing the course better now.