When: November 4th, 2017 8:00 a.m. - November 5th, 2017 7:00 a.m.
Weather: Perfect for racing!
Miles, Time, Place: Completion of 100.57 Miles in 23:37.39, 7th Overall, 4th Male (First Official Ultra Marathon Attempt)
Weather: Perfect for racing!
Miles, Time, Place: Completion of 100.57 Miles in 23:37.39, 7th Overall, 4th Male (First Official Ultra Marathon Attempt)
THE TRAINING AND PREP:
The race began not on November 4th, but sometime
back in July and August as I prepped for the 2017 Blue Ridge Relay 6 Man Ultra.
I was strictly training for the BRR with no intention of doing any type of race
of this capacity afterward until I had the privilege of running with a few
runners, that I consider way above my level, who began talking to me about
entering the Tideland 24. I wanted to see how I would do in the BRR before I
fully committed, but I kept the idea in the back of my mind. A long story
short, our 6 man ultra-team had a tremendous showing, and one week after the
finish I began loosely training for the Tideland 24.
I gave myself a total of 5 weeks of training in order to
prep for the Tideland 24 (September 18th – October 22nd).
After the first week of working back into training, I was surprised that I was
able to jump back up to 60 miles for the first full training week. For the
second week I was able to maintain that level and increase to just over 71
miles, and for the third week I increased to 81 miles for the week. This is
where my training became interesting as I wanted to push for 90 on the fourth
week, but had never done anything over 80. On the fourth week I went for the 90
miles, and was extremely worried about the time I had to try and get the miles
in and if my body would accept the beating. My legs felt surprisingly fresh and
loose on this extremely hot and humid week for October so I adjusted for 100
miles, and then readjusted again for 110 miles not really sure if I would reach
that goal, but gave it a shot anyway. I was shocked in my body’s willingness to
be able to run 110 miles in a week at varying degrees of difficulty, and at
varying times of the day in order to mimic what I might face during Tideland 24.
For the fifth week I dropped my training back to 83 miles so my body would
accept the mileage from the week before, while still maintaining a good high
mileage week.
My taper began after October 22nd which gave me roughly two weeks for my body to absorb all of the training and mileage I had put it. I kept running those two weeks at very high intensity, but much lower mileage just to keep up my cardiovascular and my overall strength. I set up 4 specific runs that had Strava KOM’s within them that I thought I could beat. This gave me good competition goals to reach while not actually having to physically race someone. I went 4 for 4 on my KOM’s those two weeks, and finished with over 350 miles ran for the month of October. So I was surprised at my speed to say the least. I started my taper way out in order to prevent injury or some freak accident and keep risks down. To quote my running buddy and friend Tim Garriss, "two weeks before a race there is nothing to gain but an injury". And I believe he quoted this from Charlie Choo Justice. I’ve heard it from various sources, but it really stuck with me when Tim told me during a training run this past year.
THE RACE ITSELF:
So on to the race! I was fortunate enough to have a friend,
Austin McIntyre, put me up in his family beach house for the weekend and let me
have some peaceful downtime on the water fishing before race day. The day
before the race we scouted the trail and I picked up my packet. I was able to
meet Jason LeDoyen at the registration table who was the race director for
Tideland 24 and is also a 2017 Badwater 135 finisher. I was in shock and awe to
be able to shake his hand and talk to him a little bit about his experience in
Death Valley. What stuck out to me most
about him was that he was just as interested in talking to me; an individual
who had never ran a solo ultramarathon, as I was in talking with him. He is a
very humble and down to earth human being, and talking with him made me want to
prove myself on the course that much more.
The morning of the race comes, and I’m a nervous and
emotional wreck. More so than usual for any other race I’ve ever ran or any
athletic event I’ve ever played in. Maybe it was because once I was dropped off
I was going to be racing alone until my wife, Olivia, made her way down later
that night over 14 hours after I started. I wouldn’t say I was 100% alone since
I knew other runners, but I also knew we were all running with different strategies
and goals so I would see them, but not really see them. I get all of my drop
bags and gear in place, and I get a couple of pictures made before the race.
The National Anthem is played and we are all at full attention. The race
director goes over the race brief and then gives the time left before the race
begins. There are a couple of minutes left before the race and we all begin to
funnel to the front and I work my way up. As the seconds count down, I managed to get closer to the front with what I would consider the lead pack, and we
are off. On the first lap a member of
the military runs out in front with the American flag with all the runners
following. Being able to run directly behind the American flag with the leaders
and the one lone serviceman holding it was inspirational beyond belief.
Lap one goes extremely smooth to the point I lose focus of my initial running strategy. I was so jacked up from the emotions of the start, adrenaline due to it being a race, and the overwhelming fear in my mind of the fact I have a high probability rate of failing my debut attempt at my first ultra marathon, even though I’ve put in the hours and miles for it. I was going fast enough at the beginning that I put down the two fastest lap times of all runners for the entire race of 10:18.92 and 10:22.83. These were almost a full minute better than the second fastest lap time. This is not meant to brag, but to illustrate just how far away from my initial strategy I went. The lead group, that I was in, began lapping runners somewhere around lap 3 or 4. I kept telling myself that I needed to get back on target because I had nearly 23.5 hours left to run, but I felt so good that I just wanted to keep running. By lap 5 I finally settled into what I felt was a comfortable pace and began to put down consistently smooth 12-15 minute laps up to lap 18 which would be about mile 24.5. I was still going fast, but this is the pace that I am used to and have trained at week in and week out.
I hold a pretty good pace to lap 37 which is right around
the 51st mile. At one point during the first 50 miles, Jenny Poage
Wilson, who also finished 100 miles and about 5 minutes ahead of me, yelled out
to me that I was on pace for 150 miles. Daniel Holmes exclaimed to me that I
was on pace for a 18.5 or 19 hour finish of 100 miles. I loved the positive vibes,
but all I could think was, "I feel really good running, but guys and girls, I’m
not going to be able to stay consistent enough for that to happen and I hope I
don’t crash". The encouragement through the first 40 miles was
nothing like I had ever been a part of, and probably why I just kept going at a
breakneck speed. Between laps 18-37 I had a few stops that I could have done
without, but the gels and quick snacks were not quite agreeing with my stomach I could feel a sugar crash on the way. I took a longer
break at lap 38 for a sock and shoe change, to rest my feet, and
just try to get myself cooled down and heart rate back to normal.
This was my slowest lap of 43:24, and in hindsight, I should not have stopped
but for maybe 10 minutes, putting the lap time somewhere in the high 20 minute
range. One of the hardest things to do was to take this break because the clock
is ticking and continues to tick valuable minutes and seconds off your total
time.
Lap one goes extremely smooth to the point I lose focus of my initial running strategy. I was so jacked up from the emotions of the start, adrenaline due to it being a race, and the overwhelming fear in my mind of the fact I have a high probability rate of failing my debut attempt at my first ultra marathon, even though I’ve put in the hours and miles for it. I was going fast enough at the beginning that I put down the two fastest lap times of all runners for the entire race of 10:18.92 and 10:22.83. These were almost a full minute better than the second fastest lap time. This is not meant to brag, but to illustrate just how far away from my initial strategy I went. The lead group, that I was in, began lapping runners somewhere around lap 3 or 4. I kept telling myself that I needed to get back on target because I had nearly 23.5 hours left to run, but I felt so good that I just wanted to keep running. By lap 5 I finally settled into what I felt was a comfortable pace and began to put down consistently smooth 12-15 minute laps up to lap 18 which would be about mile 24.5. I was still going fast, but this is the pace that I am used to and have trained at week in and week out.
As I entered into the ¾ phase of the race (mile 51-75) all I
could remember was what Daniel Holmes had told me during a training run about
keeping my head together between miles 50-75 and I would be able to grind out
the rest. Well, this bit of information was far more beneficial for me than I
think he could ever imagine and I kept going back to it being said to me over
and over again. He also told me that he who keeps down food and fluids usually
finishes at the top, but I’ll get to that a little later. As the miles and laps
went by, I began to draw inspiration from other runners who continued to chase
down their goals. It’s not that I did not do this from the beginning of the
race, since there was so much encouragement from the start, but my mind seemed
to drastically change after I approached the 60th mile and my
emotional state of mind seemed to become more and more enhanced with every
passing lap.
Once I approached the 70th mile, which was around lap 49 and just over 14 hours into the race, I began to feel I would not finish in time for whatever reason. My mind seemed to slip a bit more, and rational thoughts became irrational. At this point, I began to have the GORUN crew conduct calculations on my average lap time needed in order to finish the 100 miles. Being in the state of mind I was in, I could not conduct basic math and even based on their calculations I told them they were wrong and that I could not finish in time. This occurred around 10:00 p.m., and fortunately this was the time that Olivia showed up at the crew tent. I had a brief discussion with the crew and her about the time and that I did not feel I could finish the final 30 miles in the allowed time left. It was at this moment that I told everyone I should just quit since there was no way I would make it for the 100 miles. If I couldn’t reach my 100 mile goal, then I figured it was best to crash and burn in dramatic fashion and just quit and get some rest. Fortunately for me Olivia stated that she was leaving without me in the car with her, she would see me in the morning, and that I was going to finish the race. Stephanie Slayton then stepped up and essentially told me to get back out on the course, and stated that I had plenty of time.So on I trudged into the night to around mile 78 when the hallucinations began. The higher the miles became, the more dramatic the hallucinations seemed to become. The first was a boat on the water which is not too far fetched considering I was racing at Cedar Point and was surrounded by water, but there was no boat and there was definitely not a moving boat. I then began to dodge snakes slithering under my shoes that were actually just sticks, pine straw, or a line of leaves. Rather large fish began to appear at the surface of the water in the pitch black of night as I ran over the bridges, but when I would look closer it would just be a shadow or the glow from the moon. Trees then began to look more and more like people or shadows of people, and in one instance a tree moved an orange glow stick hanging from it to point me in the direction I needed to run.
The hardest miles by far were between 1:30 a.m. – 5:00 a.m., or the ‘hours of doom’ as I began to call them in my head. This put me around mile 85 with 15 left, and also the most challenging point of the race in my mind looking back. If I were running under any other circumstances the 15 miles is not that difficult, but this was at the end of a 100 mile run this time. Uncharted territory for me. Really anything over a 50K was uncharted waters on this day. This became the period where my mind would drift into deep dark periods of thought, and I would have to constantly bring myself out of it with the thought of something positive that someone told me recently, or that I saw on Facebook from a friend. I thought about things that close family and friends told me before the race. I also thought out loud, verbally talking to myself, about finishing for my wife and kids so it wouldn’t seem like a waste to have trained all that time and failed, and strangely enough I even thought about the times I had working in my dad’s tobacco fields as a kid even though they were some of the toughest days and summers of my life. I then began to think of how crazy it seemed to draw inspiration from some of the toughest work I’ve ever done in my life in order to drive myself through another even tougher challenge.
It was at lap 65 where I began to feel I was skirting up to the edge of the proverbial ‘wall’ again, and Stephanie Slayton explained to me that they needed me to put down a 24:16 every lap from then on in order to finish 100 miles in less the 24 hours. I call Lap 66 the miracle lap now, but I was just trying to bank time at the moment. For lap 66 I was able to lay down a 14:18 lap which I ran in its entirety. I had not ran a lap this fast since Lap 30,and this was mile 90-91 mind you. Lap 67 was a 20:08, and Lap 68 was a 18:25 which I was able to run/walk both. Sucking up all the pain, agony, anxiety, stress, fear, emotion, and mental weakness, and being able to direct all the energy to my legs and feet banked me enough time to finish 100 miles under the 24 hour cutoff time. Halfway through lap 68 I felt I was cruising and in a good rhythm, but it was at this moment my foot caught a stump and threw me forward and off the trail, causing me to use every ounce of energy I had not to fall to the ground. That would have been a major game changer had I fell and been injured at this point of the race. After these three laps I never ran again until I was about 300 yards from crossing the finish for the 100th mile.
It was at lap 65 where I began to feel I was skirting up to the edge of the proverbial ‘wall’ again, and Stephanie Slayton explained to me that they needed me to put down a 24:16 every lap from then on in order to finish 100 miles in less the 24 hours. I call Lap 66 the miracle lap now, but I was just trying to bank time at the moment. For lap 66 I was able to lay down a 14:18 lap which I ran in its entirety. I had not ran a lap this fast since Lap 30,and this was mile 90-91 mind you. Lap 67 was a 20:08, and Lap 68 was a 18:25 which I was able to run/walk both. Sucking up all the pain, agony, anxiety, stress, fear, emotion, and mental weakness, and being able to direct all the energy to my legs and feet banked me enough time to finish 100 miles under the 24 hour cutoff time. Halfway through lap 68 I felt I was cruising and in a good rhythm, but it was at this moment my foot caught a stump and threw me forward and off the trail, causing me to use every ounce of energy I had not to fall to the ground. That would have been a major game changer had I fell and been injured at this point of the race. After these three laps I never ran again until I was about 300 yards from crossing the finish for the 100th mile.
On my last few laps when it was clear I would make it, I
received probably the most encouraging words of the day from the race director,
Jason LaDoyen. As I went back out for a lap, he told me how it had been a
pleasure to watch me work and compete throughout the day. This gave me a huge
boost and encouraged me beyond a shadow of a doubt not to BONK in the final
laps. Later after the race he would go on to say that I did great at maintaining
focus and mitigating risk, and that I seemed happy the entire race. I’m not
exactly sure I did that all by myself, everyone around helped me avoid risk,
kept me from imploding and becoming my own worst enemy, and helped me avoid
potential catastrophes. Either way, he gave me some great words of
encouragement during and after the race, and I am truly grateful for that.
On the last lap I had the privilege of walking with one of the volunteers who was picking up glow sticks, and who trained people on how to fly C130’s. I lit up like a Christmas tree when he said this, and he and I began to talk for the next 20 or so minutes. I honestly think he wanted to walk with me to make sure I finished; I wanted him to walk with me so I could keep my mind off the pain. Once I rounded the corner I said, "well, I guess this is where I gotta look like I was running for 100 miles", and he said "yes sir, you gotta look good for the cameras and videos" and we parted ways. He is the gentleman who took my picture in front of the ’72 Lap’ sign. Once I crossed for the 100th mile I was completely overwhelmed with the toll of the emotional highs and lows that I completely broke down sobbing in front of Olivia.
For this to have been my first solo ultramarathon, I think I did extremely well, but can also learn quite a bit from the knowledge and experience gained. I should be able to take this with me into the future and start to fine tune how I would like to run the next race and try to hold to my strategy more early on. I told Jenny Poage Wilson that if I had to do it all over again that I wouldn’t take off like a ‘spaceship’. Later, Jennifer Price, another runner from our GORUN group, stated that she thought it was pretty ‘ballsy’ to take off at such a fast pace at the beginning of a 24 hour race like that. I say I wouldn’t start out that fast ever again, but I have a feeling that it is part of my style and something that is ingrained in me. If I’m going to race, I’m going to go for it with all I have. Having a few days to think back to if I had to do it all over again, I would probably run the exact same race that I did. Minutes seemed like seconds, hours seemed like minutes, and in the end strategic decisions throughout the race became the difference in completing 100 miles or completely failing at the attempt.
CLOSING IT OUT:
No Pain, No Gain: Some of the symptoms of the race included my first crash where I skirted up against the wall, but didn’t hit the wall and was able to keep myself in check. My heart rate at one point was so high, I thought it was going to beat out of my chest, and I had to start dumping cold water on my head and neck for about 6 straight laps. The pain did not begin until later. It started with my feet and would come and go, but in the end, it became almost unbearable because I had pounded the hell out of my feet for the first 50 miles. Due to it being a clockwise course, 100 miles took its toll on the outside of my right leg, and I began to have some swelling and major soreness around mile 80. By mile 95 I felt as if I was dragging my right leg along, and each little rise in the trail felt like a mountain. I ended up having only one little blister, on my smallest left toe of all places, and it forced me into a sock and shoe change with 2 laps left. At this point shoes didn’t even matter, they all felt like I had a layer of concrete under both feet no matter which pair I tried. The day after the race I had some major swelling around my right knee and down the side of my right leg, as well as quite a bit of bruising on top of and underneath both feet. Overall I would say my body help up pretty well for my first attempt at anything over a 50k training run that I’ve done.
HUMANS OF THE RACE (In No Particular Order):
Mark Markham: One individual who I never met in my life, but I was able to talk with on one loop later into the race and that I drew a ton of inspiration from was Mark Markham. He was running 100k for his late mother and a fallen soldier (SSgt. Kerry M. Kemp). Mark runs races for Flags4fallen, and to hear his story and what he has done and continues to do is beyond impressive. It was probably lap 5 or 6 when I first saw him with his pack on, but as the laps wore on I began to think about the soldier on his pack more and more. At one point I was completely overcome with emotion when I saw his pack that I had to check myself so I wouldn’t become too overwhelmed and become an emotional mess. Like I said earlier, my senses for this race were extremely heightened, and I was in an emotional state of mind that I have never been in before. This gentleman provided me more than enough inspiration, and he completed his 100k.
Daniel Holmes: Another individual was Daniel Holmes, who I
have personally ran with. He gave me quick tips throughout the race, as he could, to help me keep going and keep pushing. Whenever he saw me or had a chance to
talk to me, he didn’t hesitate with words of encouragement, conduct a status
check, and give tips for me to mitigate a catastrophe. As I began to get up
into the higher miles and was still vying for a top 3 spot as well as a 100
mile finish, he brought it to my attention to focus solely on the 100 mile
finish instead of trying to get a top 3 spot. Being that it is a race, this was
extremely difficult for me to talk myself into doing. Especially since I went
between 3rd and 4th into the early hours of Sunday
morning. I truly missed this guy during the final laps and early morning hours.
This guy was unknowingly my Sherpa during this race, and I will be forever
grateful for all of his insight he shared to get me across the line for that
buckle.On the last lap I had the privilege of walking with one of the volunteers who was picking up glow sticks, and who trained people on how to fly C130’s. I lit up like a Christmas tree when he said this, and he and I began to talk for the next 20 or so minutes. I honestly think he wanted to walk with me to make sure I finished; I wanted him to walk with me so I could keep my mind off the pain. Once I rounded the corner I said, "well, I guess this is where I gotta look like I was running for 100 miles", and he said "yes sir, you gotta look good for the cameras and videos" and we parted ways. He is the gentleman who took my picture in front of the ’72 Lap’ sign. Once I crossed for the 100th mile I was completely overwhelmed with the toll of the emotional highs and lows that I completely broke down sobbing in front of Olivia.
For this to have been my first solo ultramarathon, I think I did extremely well, but can also learn quite a bit from the knowledge and experience gained. I should be able to take this with me into the future and start to fine tune how I would like to run the next race and try to hold to my strategy more early on. I told Jenny Poage Wilson that if I had to do it all over again that I wouldn’t take off like a ‘spaceship’. Later, Jennifer Price, another runner from our GORUN group, stated that she thought it was pretty ‘ballsy’ to take off at such a fast pace at the beginning of a 24 hour race like that. I say I wouldn’t start out that fast ever again, but I have a feeling that it is part of my style and something that is ingrained in me. If I’m going to race, I’m going to go for it with all I have. Having a few days to think back to if I had to do it all over again, I would probably run the exact same race that I did. Minutes seemed like seconds, hours seemed like minutes, and in the end strategic decisions throughout the race became the difference in completing 100 miles or completely failing at the attempt.
CLOSING IT OUT:
No Pain, No Gain: Some of the symptoms of the race included my first crash where I skirted up against the wall, but didn’t hit the wall and was able to keep myself in check. My heart rate at one point was so high, I thought it was going to beat out of my chest, and I had to start dumping cold water on my head and neck for about 6 straight laps. The pain did not begin until later. It started with my feet and would come and go, but in the end, it became almost unbearable because I had pounded the hell out of my feet for the first 50 miles. Due to it being a clockwise course, 100 miles took its toll on the outside of my right leg, and I began to have some swelling and major soreness around mile 80. By mile 95 I felt as if I was dragging my right leg along, and each little rise in the trail felt like a mountain. I ended up having only one little blister, on my smallest left toe of all places, and it forced me into a sock and shoe change with 2 laps left. At this point shoes didn’t even matter, they all felt like I had a layer of concrete under both feet no matter which pair I tried. The day after the race I had some major swelling around my right knee and down the side of my right leg, as well as quite a bit of bruising on top of and underneath both feet. Overall I would say my body help up pretty well for my first attempt at anything over a 50k training run that I’ve done.
HUMANS OF THE RACE (In No Particular Order):
Mark Markham: One individual who I never met in my life, but I was able to talk with on one loop later into the race and that I drew a ton of inspiration from was Mark Markham. He was running 100k for his late mother and a fallen soldier (SSgt. Kerry M. Kemp). Mark runs races for Flags4fallen, and to hear his story and what he has done and continues to do is beyond impressive. It was probably lap 5 or 6 when I first saw him with his pack on, but as the laps wore on I began to think about the soldier on his pack more and more. At one point I was completely overcome with emotion when I saw his pack that I had to check myself so I wouldn’t become too overwhelmed and become an emotional mess. Like I said earlier, my senses for this race were extremely heightened, and I was in an emotional state of mind that I have never been in before. This gentleman provided me more than enough inspiration, and he completed his 100k.
Stephanie Slayton, and the GORUN Crew: My personal perception was that Stephanie was the main fixture and the rock of the GORUN crew that kept myself and other runners alive and running mile after mile. I began to become ‘argumentative’ into the later laps, but she was able to keep me with it and keep me moving forward. When my initial food strategy went south, they offered up items of ginger ale, avocado, and bacon. I drank and ate these three items for over 12 hours. I bet I drank a 2 liter of ginger ale, ate 4 avocados, and had over a pound of bacon. For some strange reason these foods sat well on my stomach and seemed to mix well with my hydration choices. The crew also lit a fire under me when I needed it the most to give me the extra push to get out on the course and chomp away at some time. Me finishing the race can be attributed to the supplies provided by the crew, their encouragement, and the push provided by them lap after lap and keeping me believing I would get there. Like I told them all, "I held it together until I didn’t and then until I thought I couldn’t or wouldn’t get the 100 miles". I may have ran it, but they encouraged me all the way. A huge thanks also goes to Scott Barker for cooking bacon all night, and to Terry Wayne Self Jr. who swapped the batteries in my headlamp while I was out on course in another headlamp in order to save time. I owe these men and women tons of volunteer time for when they do their own races.
Sherry Vick: Sherry played an integral part of my race from the impromptu hose down of sunscreen in the mid afternoon, to constantly checking my status, and even down to giving me food on the spot, offering up all kinds of other services that I may have needed but usually refused because I couldn’t hardly think, and in the end, she was filling my hydration bottles to help me cut down on time at the crew tent. Especially on the last few laps.
Amy Richmond Campbell: I didn’t know her before this race. I just knew she was involved with the GORUN group I am in. It wasn’t until I was into my later laps and was able to walk with her along the course that I was able to find out about her running goal, get some laughs in, and just pass the time away and keep my mind off of the immense amount of pain my legs were starting to be in. Plus she had really cool lights on her shoes that became almost psychedelic with the state of mind I was in. So I would get really excited when I would see the lights from a far in the early Sunday morning hours.
Dawn Cash-Salau: I saw her in a fleeting moment and she made mention of my hydration bottle. This is no ordinary hydration bottle you see, it is a Reindeer Dash for Cash CamelBak. I won this bottle in the 10 miler race last year for 1st in age group. I have used this bottle ever since in my training runs, during the Blue Ridge Relay, and hold it near and dear to my heart. The RD4C is run in remembrance of her late husband, Captain Christopher Cash that benefits the Captain Christopher Cash Memorial Foundation of NC, Inc. Her noticing that bottle during the Tideland 24 sent a chill over me, and had such a huge impact on me that when I took back off on the course that I was overcome with emotion and yet again had to find a way to direct the emotions elsewhere. It truly inspired me to keep going and not give up when she noticed the bottle in my hand.
Olivia Sutton: This would be my wife, if you didn’t already know. She showed up at my darkest hour like a ‘knightess’ in shining armor to see me through and to ensure me that I would finish. She also left me in my darkest hour knowing it would be best to not give me a potential outlet to find a way to stop and leave early. Around 5:30 a.m. I just happened to cut my phone on, and again like clockwork, there is a text saying I am at mile 95 and that I am going to do it and that she was on the way! These were the most calming words I think I’ve ever heard in my entire life, and I nearly broke down right then and there, but I saved that part for after I crossed the finish for the 73rd and final lap for 100 miles. I am forever grateful to her and our kids, Danica and Maverick, for allowing me to put in the time to train this entire past year, and to continue to train to see just how far I can take my running.
Jenny Poage Wilson: Jenny provided encouragement for me to run the Tideland 24 before I even knew what the Tideland 24 was. Once I was at the race, the encouragement continued, and I discovered we were both on the Fleet Feet Racing Team for Greenville, NC. She provided encouragement in a more direct manner during the entire 100 miles I ran, even though she herself was vying for 100 miles. She would give updates, status checks, and seemed to be more methodical about the race. We both had different strategies, but had the same outcomes in being able to finish the 100 miles within 24 hours. We were minutes apart with her finishing about 5 minutes ahead of me. She finished 3rd overall female, and 6th overall. She was able to smoke the course at the end as I was not due to taking off like a ‘spaceship’ at the beginning. I wanted to be able to feed off of her strong energy in the final laps and take off and run it out with her, but I just had no more run left in my legs and I told her to go. She was a true grinder at the end of this race, and I aspire to be able to finish my next race in the manner in which she did.
Other Runners, Family and Friends: I am grateful to the other runners who encouraged me lap after lap. Especially John Caracoglia. I would say he is one of the few who helped me to see I might could do this ultra-running thing, and he encouraged me every single lap he saw me during the race. I also have to give credit to my BRR running crew: Ryan Perkins, Brad Bagley, Josh Hefner, Troy Wilkie, and JAG (I still don’t know that guys real name). Without training for the long run with these guys this past year, I wouldn’t have even made it 1/3 the way to my goal of 100 miles in this race. We trained to the max, pushed each other to the max, and fed off of each other during the BRR like no other team I’ve ever been on. To these guys I owe a ton of credit for what I have recently accomplish and hopefully continue to accomplish. Tim Garriss is another runner I also owe a ton of credit for being able to do what I have done over the past year. He provided me great insight in how to try and train for running when we would go on longs runs, and how to mitigate injuries and issues closer to race day.
Ryan Perkins: This guy, crazy guy, great competitor, great to train with, and one cool friend who is probably a better friend to me than I am to him. He was tracking me the whole time, sending out updates via Twitter, sending encouraging words through Olivia as my race progressed, and the first to congratulate me on my 100 mile finish outside of those who were at the race. I am forever grateful to this guy for caring so much about my running ability, and what I can potentially achieve. Anytime I have had self-doubt or start complaining he essentially tells me to suck it up, get with the program, and finish what I set out to do. Everyone needs a friend like this!!
Travis Sutton: This would be my younger brother. He has believed in me since the beginning. Maybe because he is my little brother, or maybe because he was trying to make me succeed. Either way, I cannot thank him enough for encouraging me even when I didn’t think it was going to be possible to reach the goals I had set. He himself is the one that has truly inspired me by having the guts to move across the country and risk his entire livelihood on taking that chance. If there is one thing he has taught me it is to take the chance, it may pay off big or it may not, but if you don’t try it, you will never know.
Marjorie Sutton and Richard Sutton: My parents! And I owe them a ton of praise and thanks for raising me to be the person I am today. I honestly believe growing up on my dad’s tobacco farms and being forced to work in them since I was 11 has given me the mindset, pain tolerance, and endurance to attempt these ultra marathons I have become interested in. Like I said earlier, it is kind of funny how memories of one extremely difficult task can be drawn from in order to accomplish another possibly more difficult task. My dad was and is still super tough on me, but I believe I am better for it. My mother has also allowed me the time to run by watching my children when training came down to crunch time and I had to run 2 or even sometimes 3 times a day for training. She has truly been a blessing in allowing me to reach my running goals.
Friends…ALL OF YOU! I thank you all for the outpouring amount of support, well wishes, watching the live updates, and the personal messages that were sent before, during and after the race. I also thank those of you who are super positive individuals, post things that are positive, and try to remain that way day in and day out even though some days I know it is probably tough for you. I drew upon these things during the entire race, especially knowing people were watching the live feed, and how disappointed in myself I would be if I let everyone down tracking my progress. Just remember, people out there need some sort of positive influence, quote, comment, or remark to make them feel like they can get through the day sometimes, myself included. I forced my mind to draw on so many positive things rather than negative during the race, that I believe my mind was in complete overload and shock by the end of the race. The race took more of a toll on my mind than my body I believe, but without all the positive thoughts, my mind might have been in even worse shape after the race. To put it in perspective, it took me 6 days to feel somewhat normal again, and to be able to sit down and write this race perspective.
Quote of the Race: To quote Olivia about my race after it was all said and done, "You suffered a traumatic experience, a positive one, but nonetheless, a traumatic experience". I replied back, "Traumatic experience sums it up well. Who knew one of the greatest personal achievements would also be one of the most traumatic". Funny enough "Meet Me in the Woods" by Lord Huron, one of my favorite songs, sums this race up pretty well until the sun began to rise on Sunday morning. If you've never heard it, give it a listen, and you will more than likely see why.
