Where do I begin? This was my first Hellgate race and only the second time I have run a continuous race longer than the 50 mile distance. The first was the Grindstone 100 miler just a little over two months ago. I was still feeling some of the after effects of that race and added to it was the wear and tear of the Mountain Masochist 50 miler only six weeks ago, although I did not feel nearly as beat up going in to Hellgate compared to how rough I felt going in to Masochist. At age 58 and having had some issues with my right knee the past few years, I had to make a decision earlier in 2014, that if I ever wanted to try to complete all 6 races of the Beast Series in one year it might be now or never. That knee might not last much longer, and if the attempt to do this finished my knee off as far as running was concerned I would have to be OK with that. So early in 2014 I decided to go ahead and run the three 50 k spring races, Holiday Lake in February, Terrapin Mountain in March, and Promise Land in April, and register for the Lynchburg Ultra Series. My thinking was that if I could put together a good spring season, I would extend my L.U.S. entry into an entry for the Beast Series which would entail running not just the Mountain Masochist 50 miler in November that concludes the L.U.S., which I had run before, but also run the Grindstone 100 miler in October and Hellgate 100 k ++ in December. Neither of which I had run before, and both distances were over any previous distance I had gone.
For the first race of the two series that share four races, Holiday Lake 50k in February had about 6 to 8 inches of snow on the ground that with the increase of air temperature, I knew would turn in to muddy slush for the second half (I had run it in 2010 when there was similar conditions) so I was not concerned about finish time, just complete it and move on. Something more important than just finishing happened as Grattan Garbee (who I had attached myself to in order to keep a good pace) and myself got to the big creek crossing. We could see someone had fallen on the ice and Dr. Mike Dunlop was there (fortunately, an ER doc) assessing what was wrong with the runner. We saw that it was Amy Albu who was down, and her ankle did not look good. She had broken both the tibia and fibula and definitely needed help getting to transportation so she could get to a hospital. Soon a crowd had gathered and we all took turns carrying Amy toward the next aid station. As we got closer to the aid station a girl in a Jeep came down the double track and we loaded Amy in and she got safely to the Charlottesville hospital where she works as a trauma nurse. It was good to see her out on the Masochist course and finish it in November. What a recovery! Tough gal!
Next was the Terrapin 50k in March. I had a good day and ran faster than I had run that course before by a few minutes. During the weekends, David Horton was rallying some of the local Lynchburg trail runners to help do some trail building, rebuilding, and maintenance on Liberty University's trail system on Candler's Mountain. Dave and I got into a conversation about various adventures on one of those workdays and I mentioned I would like to try Hellgate. Of course, his reverse psychology kicked in right away and he said "Nah, I don't think you are tough enough." Well, I raise my eyebrows, but didn't say much of anything, while at the same time thinking to myself "You wait, I'll show you I am tough enough!"
Then came Promise Land 50 K in April and again I had a good run and set a PR by 17 minutes. I'd have to check dates to make sure, but somewhere around this time was the big train wreck next to the James River in Downtown Lynchburg. I am a mechanic for the Lynchburg Fire Department and sometimes have to respond to large events like that to support the overall operation in various ways. Bring fuel for the trucks, bring food and set up portable tent shelters, set up generators and lights, move equipment and sometimes move hoses, address any equipment malfunctions, etcetera. The evening of that train wreck, I was not sure how long I might have to stay around and assist, so I was drinking coffee (coffee does exactly what it should for me...alert and awake... maybe talk too much about silly stuff). Somewhere about 9:00 pm I was released from duty for the day, so I went home and got on the computer to see what news I could get about the wreck, and see any video about it...pretty impressive. So now I am well caffienated and surfing away on the internet and get the idea to read up on Grindstone. In the middle of the night (not much good happens after 11:00 pm) I decide that if I can get in Grindstone, and my entry to the L.U.S. will extend in to an entry for the Beast Ultra Series, then Horton would pretty much have to allow me to enter the Hellgate race!
You Only Live Once, and since it might be Beast now or never...here we go! Do, or do not, there is no try! You can't score a run with one foot safely on first base! He who wants fruit must first climb the tree. My favorite..."Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." ~~~ T.S. Eliot.
One of the requirements for entry to Grindstone was sending in an online searchable race result for a race of 50 miles or more in the last two years. Hmmm, it was 2009 the last (and only) time I finished a 50 miler, which was Mountain Masochist in 11:02. I decided on The North Face D.C. 50 mile Endurance Challenge in June. I had another good day, finishing 2nd in the men's 55-59 age group in 10:15. What a confidence booster. I went on a trip to the Florida Keys with some of the older Scouts in my Troop the last few days of June and the first few days of July, then came back to Lynchburg for a couple days , then went to near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, to a reunion of the church youth group I was involved with in the early 70's. A great spring season, and now into the second week of July, having not run hardly at all for a couple weeks during vacations, I started ramping mileage up quickly. My right knee had been on good behavior, but...one Wednesday evening on a Blue Ridge Trail Runners Wild Wednesday run in July, coming down off Lone Jack Mountain's long gravel downhill pretty hard, trying to keep up with people younger and faster, (Frank Gonzalez and Clifton Williams), I knew I had pounded it too hard. It started to feel stiff and not real painful, just uncomfortable enough to not be able to train as hard physically as I wanted to mentally. I pride myself on downhill speed and if I feel real good and that knee is doing great I love to hammer a good downhill. Now that was taken away. Even though I managed to train pretty well the rest of the summer, it was always there, nagging me and slowing me down. I tried to boost my uphill speed and fast hiking...only so much available there before I run out of cardio-vascular capability with this old body.
Weekend runs in the mountains with friends, Todd and Alexis Thomas, Grattan Garbee, Clifton and Bethany Williams, Blake Edmondson, Chelsie Viar, Joe Alderson, Kevin Corell, and other folks who came out when they could were a highlight of every week. We raced the Iron Mountan 50 miler at the end of August. I did not do as well as I thought I might. I was starting to feel the toll of the high mileage. Going into September I had several items on my plate that involved quite a bit of effort as far as volunteer time with things I think should be a fair priority for me. There were lots of responsibilities at work to take care of. The week before Grindstone was not planned out well and it got away from me. I was going in to a 100 mile race that was critical for me to finish if I wanted to finish the Beast, without the real rest and good sleep one needs to have for such an event.
I had not slept well for a week or two. It seemed like everyone wanted a piece of my time. I was on a merry-go-round that wouldn't stop. It hit me like a ton of bricks in that event, finishing way slower than I think I have the potential to finish. Got it done though. Twice as hard as I thought it would be.
I turned in my registration for Hellgate the very next day after Grindstone. Horton said to me "Are you sure?" I said I was, and handed him the check for the entry fee. I was already in for Masochist and it was only 4 weeks away. I knew I should recover more but the very next weekend I went for a 17 mile run on part of the Masochist course. Not smart. My knee pain flared up on that run and stayed at a fairly high level for the next month. Dummy! Now this was going to be real interesting. 50 mile race with pretty tight time cut offs on a bum knee. I was right up against the time cut off coming out of the loop at 38 miles, but managed to finish 8 minutes ahead of the time cutoff. So glad to get that in the bag.
At least there would be a little more time to recover, reset some training and taper before Hellgate, with a six week time span between these two races. Rest and recover totally for a week. Lots of time in the whirlpool / hot tub at the YMCA. A little ab and core cross training. A few good long runs in the mountains and a little on the actual course helped a whole lot! Taper week found me doing more cross training and shorter but faster runs. Two days of rest, then time to go to Camp Bethel for the pre race dinner and race briefing.
Blake picked me up and gave me a ride to Camp Bethel. As we got there, we saw Sheryl Mawn, Helen MacDermott, then others gathering. It put me in mind of a tribe gathering to face a common enemy. I renewed acquaintance with Chris Miller at dinner, who I had met around Reddish Knob on the Grindstone course. Horton got us all to put our names on cards for door prize drawing. Of course he had fun with that...being King of the D.Ho Kingdom and all, he gets to make the (ahhhemm) impartial rules for drawing names. Lots of fun! Dave got people all paired up with rides to the start...absolutely amazing. Biggest car pool caravan I have ever seen. This sort of co-operation is what makes runners, and trail ultra runners in particular, such amazing people. Yes we are competing against each other, but in a larger sense we are battling a common enemy...the gnarly trail, and we are all as interested in each other getting to the finish in as good of a time as possible, as we are our own selves.
Nearly midnight and we are at the start. Horton is calling names on his bull horn and one of them is mine. Better go check in and get in the crowd for the start. We sing the Star Spangled Banner, have a prayer and at 12:01 am we are off. The first 3.5 miles is fairly flat on wide trail. I look for someone I can latch on to to give me a sense of pace. Mike Dunlop is right ahead and easy to see since he is 6' 8" tall and so I fall in behind him. Soon we are at the big creek crossing getting wet feet...at least the water is not super cold and the air temp isn't too cold yet...but that will change soon enough. We get thru the first aid station and start up Petites Gap Rd. I feel pretty good and eat a gel so I can keep my energy level up. The lower portion of this gradual uphill is pretty runnable and I keep a steady pace going. After we take the hard right the hill gets steeper so I power hike then jog alternately. I spot Chelsie and we stay within sight of each other to aid station 2 where Blake will meet me with dry shoes and socks and my hydration pack. It is getting real windy and the temperature is falling. Glad to have warm dry socks and shoes. Blake and Todd pour me some veggie soup and a cup of coffee and I head on. I have been moving well and get across the Parkway and start down the rocky trail toward the part of the course that runs on the Terrapin 50 k course. The bottom mile of that is nice grassy down hill that I run with ease. I continue to move well on the single track over to Hunting Creek Rd. I eat some crackers and another Gu gel. My knee is doing good so far. I continue to climb well up to Camping Gap where I expect to see the L. U. student volunteers. As I get to Camping Gap I am looking to my left where the aid station is usually set up for the Terrapin race but it isn't there! Oh no, I think, something happened, they aren't here...ooohh this will be a long stretch with no aid...good thing I have my pack pretty full. Then as I round the turn I see them in the grassy area off to the right...all is well. Brenton Swyers is there keeping order. I get some food and drink there to save what is in my pack for the long haul to Floyd's Field.
The trail here is gravel double track for about a mile and goes slightly up then slightly down before becoming grassy road with more ups and downs. Mostly runnable at a good pace. I run quite a bit here within sight of Mike Dunlop and Rick Gray. I know there are some holes and dips in the ground on this stretch so I am trying to be careful about looking where my feet are stepping in the dark. It is really windy and getting colder. I'm going downhill and the wind is really cooling me off. I have a light windbreaker with a hoodie on, so I pull my hood over my head and readjust my headlight. As I am doing this I step in a hole and go down hard. My calves cramp up immediately and I have a real hard time just getting up. Wasn't expecting cramps this early. Takes me a few seconds but I recover and get moving again still maintaining a good pace. Whew! Now the single track that goes down to Overstreet Creek Falls that is part of the Promise Land course, still moving good. Up Overstreet Creek Road looking forward to meeting Blake and getting hot soup and coffee at the aid station before crossing the Parkway. In this section my glasses were fogging a little. I was concerned I was getting "Hellgate eyes". Every year several people get a condition that makes their vision cloudy around this area. It is the coldest and windiest part of the race. You have been facing west into the prevailing wind for a long time with your eyes kind of "bug eyed" to see in the dark to keep from falling. That drys out your eyes and the cornea can actually freeze a little. Apparently having Lasik surgery makes one more susceptible to this. It goes away by itself in a few hours usually, with no ill after effects. Anyway, just fogged glasses for me.
Aid station 4 at Floyd's Field (Headforemost Mountain) and Blake is there with my goody bags and thermos of coffee and thermos of veggie soup. I was a good hour ahead of the cutoff there so I was thankful for that. , I had been eating pretty good but I think the coffee and hot soup was really helping me. Grattan Garbee was there also to crew Bethany and Clifton Williams. He had brought Blake's wife, Kristen, up so she could drive Blake's car to the finish from Bearwallow Gap, where Blake would start pacing me the last 20 miles to the finish. They double teamed crewing me with one filling my pack and the other pouring hot liquids for me. I am so thankful to have friends who would give their time to do this. I owe them big time. Several folks helped me in one way or another. Kevin Corell gave me a box of Salted Caramel Gu gels that I really like and used, Frank Gonzalez gave me a pair of shoes I wore for part of this race. Grattan helped out in multiple ways with training, crew help and transportation, Todd helped with training, crewing, encouraging pep talks, and paced Clifton the last 17 or so miles after running backward on the course from Bobblet's Gap to get him. And not the least, Blake ran with me for the last 20 miles. Anyway, after some good nutrition as I hiked across the Parkway from Floyd's Field I was able to run very well
down to Jennings Creek with the exception of another hard fall and calf cramping episode that I recovered pretty quick from.
Aid station 5 at Jennings Creek was a welcome respite after the fast downhill. It was daylight so I shucked off my headlamp and flashlight. Gave my glasses to Kristen as it was getting warmer and less windy and I would not be concerned about my corneas freezing now. Blake filled my hydration pack, I had some eats off the aid table, as well as more soup and coffee, and set off on the next climb to Little Cove Mountain. I was still moving ok but not quite with the speed I had been operating at on the previous climbs. I took time to keep eating as I power hiked this section. Up higher the gravel road flattened out then had a few short rolling up and downs that were mostly runnable. The sun was a welcome sight. It was still chilly in the shadows though, and a little breezy, so not time to unlayer just yet. Up to this point I had not paid any attention to mileage discrepancies from what it says on the information sheet and what the aid station posters had on them compared to what my GPS watch actually had. Now it was getting noticeable...and slightly irritating. I should be at the Little Cove station by now...grrr. This is taking too long. Not only that but nature calls for a used food waste removal...more time just choppin away. Finally I make it to Little Cove aid station. There I saw one of the funnier things I have seen in awhile. Us runners have come to display decals on the back of our vehicles that show mileage of races we have run. One of the ham radio guys was there with a pickup truck that had stickers like those that had 7.62 and 5.56 (those are ammunition sizes for those reading this that don't know. Namely metric NATO military rifle rounds). I had to smile even though the mileage was starting to wear on me.
On to Bearwallow Gap. As I recall, the beginning of this section is nice downhill on gravel road, then becomes single track that is not bad for a little while. Then all of a sudden you are on this nasty rocky switch backing section that just twists back and forth and you don't get any secure footing on and you know you are now on the "Devil Trail". Every time I thought I was getting close to crossing Route 43 it seems the trail took another turn that I just knew was going the wrong direction. Doggone these rocks...three and a half extra miles shown on my watch on the course at Bearwallow Gap, aid station 7, compared to the aid station time table. No wonder I am not holding pace...look at the extra miles! I was on Horton time through Jennings Creek, now I am way behind that, but at least well ahead of the cut off by around an hour and 15 minutes I think at Bearwallow.
Aid station 7 at Bearwallow Gap is where you are allowed to have a pacer. It is the second place on the course that has a time cutoff. This is where Blake met me to run with me to the finish, and I was finally here! Major milestone reached! There were lots of people there. Pacers and crews meeting their runners. My last change of shoes and socks, my last time to hit my coffee and my veggie soup. I took my jacket off and my Grindstone beanie hat, as well as my mittens. Got my hydration pack filled and stuffed some Roctane and some more salted caramel Gu gels in my pack along with a pack of crackers and an Orchard bar. I'm pretty sure Blake was telling me as we left there that I was ahead of the cut off by an hour and 15 minutes, which meant I had lost 45 minutes on Horton time since coming through Jennings Creek. That section took me way longer than it should have. Can't worry about that now. Got 20 miles left and if I can get moving good again, I should finish well before dark. After a half mile of climbing away from Bearwallow, the trail levels out pretty decent for a good bit and Blake and I got into a pretty steady rythym for the next couple miles. I was catching and passing people and was able to feed motivation to keep moving well from that. Todd had been at Bobblets Gap and when Alexis came through with a chance at a top 5 women's finish, he could not pace her to the finish. Top 5 women and top 10 men can not have a pacer. So here comes Todd backward on the course to help pace someone. Turns out that I was doing ok, and Blake was good company. Bethany was a minute or two behind me with Grattan pacing her. Clifton had fallen back a bit further and it seems Todd was just the right man for the job of getting Clifton back in the groove.
Bobblet's Gap, aid station 8, and Sam Price was rockin it with hot Pierogies and all kinds of cuisine. I ate up and drank up and was a little on the bloated side of comfortable leaving there going down the long gravel road, oh well, just throttle back a little and enjoy the gravity ride while staying out of the big washed out ditches in the road here. I am so glad I had the experience of running this section going into Day Creek aid station a few weeks before. After about 2.5 miles of downhill the course takes a right onto some rougher single track that has three good ups and downs and has several switchbacks and small creek crossings. It seems to go... on... for...ever...hence the nickname, "the forever section" for this part of the course. It is only 5 or maybe 6 miles from the gravel road to Day Creek but it just goes on and on crossing several small creeks that I really did not remember from a few weeks ago. I kept telling Blake "I think this is the last little creek", only to come upon another. One of the little muddy spots was way deeper than I thought it would be and it got a load of extremely abrasive mud in my sock down on the ball of my right foot. After about a mile of trying to wash it out at each little creek without taking time to remove my shoe, I finally had enough with the irritation and had to stop and get my shoe and double socks off and shake out the sand. I was on the verge of bad leg muscle cramps while bending and twisting to get the apparel off then back on my foot. Why does a simple thing like taking your shoe off and putting it back on require so much drama and pain and time late in an ultra?? One would have thought I was wrestling an alligator! Soon though we were on the flat and could see cars at the Day Creek aid station.
Aid station 9, Day Creek. I knew this climb out on course pretty well. This is one of Grattan's favorite places to stage a trail run and I have been on several runs here over the last few years. One more 2.5 mile climb and one more descent of about 3 miles or so and I'll be done. A few items off the aid table and I'm hiking the hill. I have run this whole climb on fresh legs, but that was not happening today! Just a steady hike. We get to the top where we cross the Parkway for the last time, four crossings in all counting going under it at Bobblet's Gap. We start to cruise down the other side toward the finish. The sun is low in the western sky but not yet setting. Blake comments about what a good place for a nice photo op this area would be for getting a nice sunset picture. I agree. I drink the last bit of liquid from my hydration pack, knowing that is ok, I'm only a couple miles from the finish. We gradually pick up speed as my legs lose the tightness from the climb up. We hear some whooping and hollering and Blake looks around behind us and says it is Clifton, Bethany, Grattan and Todd, and they are gaining on us. I speed up more, not wanting to let them pass me. I don't have much left and I'm holding my speed as fast as I dare go right now. It might not be enough. I have run with them enough to know they can all beat me in a dead sprint. I'm going to do my best to hold them off. We pass the One Mile to go sign. I don't think I can go any faster and they are closing on me. They shouldn't run an old man down like this. If they catch me, oh well. I am giving it all I've got. We make the left into the camp as Blake, Grattan, and Todd pull off course a little to the right so as to not go in the finish chute, since they are not racers entered in the event and are just pacing us runners the last 20 miles. Clifton and Bethany pull up beside me just as we get to the finish chute and Clifton says to me " Let's all hold hands together as we finish". I say " Yeah, cool!" So we finish together, the three of us in 16:29. So happy for a good day. Bethany, Clifton and myself all finishing together with our pacers and Clifton and myself completing the Beast Ultra Series, finishing an hour and 32 minutes ahead of the cut off. Horton is razzing us about taking a short cut and where did we catch a ride in a car. "No short cuts here" I say. " I even ran all the extra miles!" For sure I could have lived without those "Horton miles" on the Devil trail!
Alexis is there to greet us and we pose for pictures, along with Chelsie Viar, Clifton, and me, the four of us all finishing the Beast Series. We learn Alexis is the women's Beast Series winner and has set a new record by 4 hours total time over the 6 races. We learn Ryan Paavola set a new men's course record today with a 10:45 run. Our friend, Mike Donahue, who gave his all in service to our country's effort to bring freedom and peace to Afghanistan liked to say "Every day is a good day." Indeed that was true for this day.
