Me vs Leadville

As Big John McCarthy would say, LET'S GET IT ON!

In three days, I board a plane for Denver, on my way to Leadville, CO, the highest incorporated city in North America sitting at 10,152' -- site of the Leadville Trail 100. There, I will join 580 others (largest in history) at the starting line on the corner of 6th and Harrison, make my way down to the ghost town of Winfield 50 miles away, turn around and head back to the finish. Along the way, there will be two significant climbs (which we'll do twice) -- Sugarloaf Mountain (el 11,311') and the infamous Hope Pass (el 12,620').

This is the race that usually takes people out of the Series -- less than half will finish, falling victim to the various difficulties this course brings, such as the high altitude, harsh weather conditions, or the strict cutoffs. In 2005, I barely made it to the finish -- squeaked in with less than 8 minutes to spare, in 29:52:43. Interestingly enough, that year had the highest number of finishers (213) and finishing rate (54%).

Look for Anton Krupicka to challenge Matt Carpenter's record again. Bill Finkbeiner will be going for his 24th buckle, having the most number of finishes. Also, Garry Curry and Steve Siguaw will be going for their 19th.

I'm very excited to take on this course again -- it will be challenging no doubt, but like the HURT motto says, 'AOLE MAKOU E HO'OHIKIWALE KELA (translates to: WE WOULDN'T WANT IT TO BE EASY!). Best of luck to all my fellow Slam-mates!

Final score: Me-2 and Leadville-0


I'll leave you with a video I made of my 2005 race.

Biggest 100 miler

Ok...I count 580 entrants for this year's Leadville, which happens to be celebrating its 25th Anniversary.  That's a lot of people.  I can't imagine any other race past/present that can top that.  I wonder how many will finish.

Western States televised

Jeep World of Adventure Sports
Saturday July 28th, 12 Noon Pacific
KNBC

Witness the jaw dropping, adrenalin pumping, sweat flying adventure of the Western States Endurance Run presented by Montrail®. This event is one of the oldest ultra trail events in the world and certainly one of the most challenging: one day-100 miles.  Extreme mental and physical preparation are of utmost importance to each runner, for the mountains, although beautiful, are relentless in their challenge and unforgiving to the ill-prepared.

This was originally scheduled to air on Aug 11th.  I hope someone can record this, since I'll be doing trail maintenance, and will miss the broadcast.

Andy finishes Vermont in 1st

That would be Jones-Wilkins of course.

This is just a quick update while my body is rebooting from single-user to multi-user mode.  The time difference, odd sleep patterns, and a few hours of running I did over the weekend has me displaying a 404 Mind and Body not found error message at the moment.

Anyway, I'm glad to report that all my Slam-mates finished successfully.  Ronda and Hiroki, who if I'm not mistaken, lead the series, had an incredible run after doing equally well at WS.  Hiroki took the lead after Glen Redpath's DQ, and it's too bad A J-W isn't Slamming, since he seems to have recovered quite nicely from his stellar WS performance as well.

Vermont results are already posted here.  Same for the Grand Slam.  The Last Great Racers all finished as well -- that's Phil Rosenstein, Dan Brendan, and Dirty Girl Xy.

Where the heck are Tahoe's results?  Other than Jasper and Molly winning, I've not heard much else.  What happened to all the OCTRs?

Badwater had an interesting turn I see...hope Jorge's ok.  Congratulations to Valmir Nunes, who I've not heard of until today.  Nice to see the SoCal runners doing well again -- great performance by Akos and David.  Read their story here, btw.

Ok...I'm off to bed now, or was I supposed to eat lunch.

I'll have a full report on Vermont soon.  I think my OD one is finally done, so will post that after I wake up or finish eating.

Weekend forecast...and races

Weather doesn't look too bad for my race in Vermont this weekend -- mid-70's to 80 with 65% humidity, and showers/t-storms.  Tahoe will have similar temps, but lower humidity of course.  Death Valley, on the other hand, will  be a toasty 117 on Monday -- that's just wrong.

The Tahoe 100 mile women's race should be fun to watch -- Sue Johnston will undoubtedly be challenged by Kim Gimenez, Amy Grafius, and Kathy D'Onofrio.  Also, Molly Zurn, who won last year's 50M race will be attempting the 100 this year, and should be keeping them company as well.  In the men's field, Jasper Halekas returns to defend his title, but Eric Clifton, Jeff Riley, and Sean Meissner will make sure that that doesn't happen.

I'm unfortunately going to miss parts of Badwater, since I'll still be out in Vermont, but should definitely catch the latter part of the race.  I'm very much looking forward to seeing how Jorge Pacheco does, along with the usuals up front -- Charlie Engle, David Goggins, Akos Konya, Marshall Ulrich, and Dean Karnazes.  Best of luck to Lisa Smith-Batchen with the double, and also  to a few local ultrarunners -- Gabor Kozinc, Gary Hilliard, and John Radich.

Finally, good luck to ME this weekend!  :-)  Looking forward to seeing my Slam-mates, and hoping to come back with a 100 mile PR.

Off to the airport I go.

Tapered out...

I really wanted to do a decent run this weekend, but had to force myself to take it easy -- there would've been absolutely no benefit from doing so.  There's less than a week now until Vermont, so I probably should go through my dropbags from WS that have been sitting unopened in my room since the race.  I just finished my checklist, and split chart.  I'll have 5 drop bags -- Stage Rd, Camp 10 Bear (twice), Tracer Brook, West Winds, and Bill's.  I can probably get by with just one at Camp 10 Bear, but I'm going to have the others anyway.  I'm planning on packing tomorrow, which should go fairly smoothly if my list is accurate -- it's getting to the point where there's less and less thinking involved.  Well, I guess it's a lot easier to prepare for races I'm familiar with -- in my case, that'll be Vermont, Leadville, and AC.  Here's my split chart for a 22 hour pace -- the plan is to be ahead of it so that I can beat my time from 2005, which was 22:08.

On Friday, I went out to the Scout Adventure Race in OC -- a local event held at the Flying B every year.  Ed Shapiro, who I met several years ago is the RD, and he manages to always bring out a decent number of participants (70 teams this year I believe) -- many who are actually boy scouts and novice racers just getting into the sport, and a handful of pros.  I ended up helping setup the ropes sections -- one was a 50 yard tyrolean traverse (see photo below), and the other involved about a 150 ft of slack-lining.  I had help from Calvin (who was just up volunteering at WS the other week), and King Rich, who is a fixture in the AR scene who I met 2 years ago at the Coastal Challenge.  It was also nice to see some old faces I haven't seen in a while -- Bernice "Princesa" Pierson, Devlin Rambo, Alberto Flores, Barry Adsett, and Kristine Gillis.  Missing were Paul and Karen of Team SOLE -- they were out in Russia with Paul's son Jordan climbing Elbrus, which would be his 3rd summit in his quest to become the youngest to do all seven summits.

The race started at 3:30am, and was a Score-O format, which basically meant that racers had a choice as to which checkpoints they wanted to visit -- the idea is that the harder to find and farther checkpoints were worth more points.  I was going to stick around to help Calvin and Colin who were stationed up at Beek's Place, but didn't bring my bike gear, so went home after the meeting.  It was probably a good thing, since the last time I rode that section, I crashed pretty hard, and was unable to run properly for a while.

Post WS training

Friday night (yes, night) was my first significant run after finishing Western States -- 6 of us started at Chantry around 11pm, attempting to cover the last 25 miles of the AC100.  Most people who have done the race will agree that this is the crux of the course -- 2 long steep climbs (Wintercreek and Idlehour), and the rest consisting of some quad-thrashing downhills, specifically 5300' of ups along with 6500' of downs.

I was a little reluctant to attempt this, but think I needed it psychologically before going into Vermont.  Based on how I felt and did, I think I achieved my goal.  I didn't have the bounce I would've liked, but expected it considering it was only the second week after running WS.  More importantly, my quads were back, and my tendonitis didn't bother me.  Now if only I feel as good during the race as I did during the training -- that would be awesome.

So the training run went without incident...until we ran out of water.

Earlier, I was warned by Carmella that Millard didn't have water available, so decided to drop some off along Sunset at the end of Chaney Trail.  When I got there, the bottom gate was closed, so ended up lugging 2 x 2 Gallon jugs of water up the steep hill, which took me almost an hour.  I told Larry's group who was going out earlier in the evening, plus Carmella's group doing the run Sat night that I'd have water there if they needed it.  So during our training, when I ran out at the bottom of Idlehour, I was looking forward to the stash, and felt glad that I made an effort earlier, since there would've been no way I could've made it back to my car without refilling there.  The others in the group were out too -- Jeff was letting them take drags out of his bladder, since he was the only one who brought enough.  Once I got to the Sam Merrill aid station, I decided to take the Mt Lowe road down instead of staying on course, since I just wanted to get to the water as quickly as possible, and thought that it would be faster.  It still took an hour though -- the whole time thinking how great it would taste once I got there.  When I arrived, I saw that both bottles were gone, and thought that I may have mistakenly been looking in the wrong spot, but soon realized I wasn't.  I couldn't believe it -- someone had taken the water!  I looked everywhere, thinking someone may have moved it, but knew that I wouldn't find it.  After searching for a while, I just sat down in the middle of the trail -- I felt horrible, like someone had kicked me in the stomach.  The rest of the group eventually arrived about 30 mins later, and I broke the bad news to them.  Eventually, Jason ended up hopping the fence around the water tank, and got it out of the spigot -- didn't taste too bad, especially when you're completely dehydrated.  Since we were still under the impression Millard was out, we had no choice but to drink that water anyway, but once we made it to the campground, it was flowing as it always was.  It still tasted like crap, but that was normal.

So here's the interesting thing.  When I asked Larry the following day whether they saw my stash, he said they came across it around 2am and took about a gallon or so.  I got there about 4am, so the water disappeared between that time.  Pretty strange...

Remember what comes around goes around.

It's almost time...

I have been waiting to do Western States for three years, and it's finally only three days away!  I finished a lot of my preparation yesterday -- labeling, gathering my gear, unpacking stuff from OD that I haven't gotten around to, etc.  I'd like to say that I've become more efficient since I started using my checklist that I created for OD, but I don't think I'm quite there yet -- the items are more or less the same, but the quantity and location is different  obviously.  I think though, that once I get it fine tuned for a specific race, then I'll be able to refer to it if I do the same one again in the future, and prepare without even having to think about it.  That of course, assumes that I go back afterwards and confirm that I had what I needed and in the right locations, and my checklist reflects that.

So I did my last run yesterday -- a short 30 minutes in PV.  I felt good -- no pain or significant deadness in my legs.  3 weeks is the least amount of time I've had to recover between 2 100's for me.  Vermont, Leadville, and Wasatch all have 4 weeks separating each other, so that'll be helpful, but unfortunately AC is the weekend after Wasatch.

For my first WS, I am very fortunate to have a crew/pacer -- my buddy Jeff who also happened to be my pacer for my first 100 (San Diego) back in 2004.  We haven't really run together since then, so I'm looking forward to spending some time on the trails with him.  We're also sharing a crew with a friend of mine I met at the Tahoe Triple 2 years ago -- Al Harman, who is from Canada, and will be attempting the Grand Slam.

On Friday night, there'll be a bunch of us heading over to Moody's Bistro in Truckee -- looking forward to that as much as the race.  I've invited a few of my friends who I haven't seen in a while, so that should be a lot of fun.

Ok, so my prediction for the overall male/female winners -- Sim Jae Duk and Nikki Kimball.  Who is that guy you ask?  Check out his profile at Montrail, who picked him up as a sponsor this year.  Also, don't forget to put your own predictions in here.

If you want to follow my progress this weekend, real-time updates can be found here.  If that little red blip stops moving, hopefully it's because of a technical glitch and not because I'm sprawled out along the side of the trail somewhere.

Anyone seen my wheels?

One of them you'll find around mile 30, and the others are spread out between 50 and 80 somewhere. My original goal of 22 hours was out the window before noon, my second goal of sub-24 was still possible until I was part way up Sherman Gap (mile 75), but ultimately it became a long walk from that point on -- just finishing became perfectly acceptable.

Background and Pre-race

There was little info on this race, even though it's one of the oldest in the country (est 1979) -- I basically read old race reports, and Bob Boeder's first chapter in his Grand Slam book. I also had Stan Jensen's splits from the 2 times he'd done the race before, so used that as my guideline until I threw it out around mile 40.

The race is held in a small town (pop 4000) of Woodstock, VA about 90 miles west of DC in Shenandoah County. The town was formed in 1772, and has the oldest courthouse still in use west of the Blue Ridge Mtns. The start/finish is at Shenandoah Co Fairgrounds, located just east of I-81, and 1 block from the host hotel, the Comfort Inn.

Friday morning, I packed all my drop bags -- 6 total (2 we'd be visiting twice). They were 770/758 (miles 19.6/91), 4 Points (miles 32.6/47.7), Edinburg Gap (mile 56.6), Little Fort (mile 64.3), Elizabeth Furnace (75), and Veach West (86.6). I didn't have much in them -- mainly food (Bloks), E-caps, extra/warm clothes, and lights.

Once I was satisfied, I went out for lunch at Paisano's, a small Italian restaurant next to Wal-Mart, then headed back to the hotel to check in. I saw Xy in the parking lot, so we drove the 1 block together. There I met Jamshid Khajavi, who was not only doing the Last Great Race, but also attempting to break Monica Schulz's record of 23 100 mile races in one calendar year. We spoke to Pat Botts (who originally founded OD in 1979) briefly about the race, then saw that Gary Knipling was there to greet us. His son Keith, was attempting to complete the Massanutten Triple -- 3 100 mile races in three weeks. David Snipes, who I also met that day, was making that attempt as well. Needless to say, I was surrounded by many very talented and experienced individuals, in addition to those who would be running the distance for their first time.

After the weigh in (134.5#), and the mug shot, we waited for the pre-race briefing, which consisted of the usual stuff -- course description, aid station locations, etc. conducted by Ray Waldron, who with his wife Wynn are the co-RDs. While waiting, I met Jay and Anita Finkle, Liz Walker, Vince Swendsen, Scott Brockmeier, and Dmitry Rozinsky -- all very accomplished runners.

Once the meeting was over, I got a group of people to head out to dinner -- it was Phil Rosenstein, Dan "Ironman" Goodman (Phil's one-man crew), the Kniplings, and David Snipes. We headed over to Spring House Tavern on Main St, just across from the Court House. It was a good choice, and I would highly recommend it.

When we were done with our meal, David suggested we drive the final road section of the course, since there were some runners from the previous year who managed to get lost and another time, a few were DQ'd because they didn't take the right streets back. We started at the intersection of Water St and Mill Rd, then back-tracked to the finish. I'm glad we did that, since the ribbons were hard to see, and we could've easily taken the wrong street if we weren't paying attention.

Me, Phil Rosenstein, Xy Weiss, Jamshid Kajavi, and Ray Waldron

Race Day

Back at the hotel, I watched a little TV, then tried desperately to go to bed but since I am a night owl, plus the timezone difference, I didn't fall asleep until close to 11. After tossing and turning most of the night, I got out of bed almost 30 minutes ahead of my alarm clock, which I had set for 2:30AM. After getting dressed, and eating some yogurt, I headed over to the fairgrounds.

Hardly anyone was there, then around 3:30, people started to arrive. I checked in, then chatted briefly with Barb Isom who was a first timer at OD, but had run the MMT before. It was a small intimate group -- 24 runners in all. Made me feel less nervous and stressful as compared to bigger races, and seemed like it was just a group going out for a weekend training run. It was a few minutes before 4am, so we all went outside to the start line, where Pat gave a little prayer, then at the top of the hour, we were off.

We started with a big counter-clockwise loop around the track, which should not be mistaken for a 1/4 mile human version, since it was meant for dogs/horses. It was dark, but I didn't use my flashlight. Once around, we were out on Ox Rd, heading north away from Woodstock. I followed Keith, who was led by a police escort -- it was kinda funny, since the whole town was asleep and the roads were empty. The temperature was comfortable, but a little bit too warm for 4am -- I knew it wouldn't be long before the heat/humidity would kick in.

A steep downhill, over the tracks, across to Court, through Main then left on to Water St, nearing our first aid at mile 3 -- I ran through it as the volunteers were still setting up. The air smelled of honeysuckle, and fireflies were hovering around everywhere -- I enjoyed the moment, as I saw the flashing of the lead vehicle far ahead, which also indicated Keith's position.

Then after crossing the bridge, with Burnshire Dam to our right, I began the ascent up the many wide dirt switchbacks to Woodstock Gap. I reached the top in about 3 miles, where I filled my bottles and began the long steep downhill. The aid folks reminded me to stay left -- I thanked them and hammered it. It was still dark, but didn't need any lights. I had to remind myself to take it easy, but it was hard not to take advantage of the gravity and smooth road.

At the Boyer intersection, Ray was there with his truck -- 100 yards up, we turned left onto the first trail section along the purple blazes, then looped back around to the same spot. Immediately, I recognized the Massanutten Rocks, but it wasn't too bad -- one of the less rockier sections. That was when I felt like I could've used a little bit of lighting, so took my handheld out and used it since I had it. If I didn't have it, I would've probably been ok -- just would've moved a little slower. After coming off the trail, we closed the loop by running on the fireroad back to the Boyer aid -- 14.6 miles, and 2 hours 25 minutes into the race.

From there, it's 5 miles to the 770/758 intersection, where you can have crew and a drop bag. I was still in second place at that point, waiting to get passed, but occasional glances behind me revealed there wasn't anyone within a few minutes at least. If you've done Vermont before, you would have gotten a sense of deja vu, as the roads/scenery is very similar -- rolling gravel/dirt roads adjacent to all the farms. I got to the aid (~20 miles) around 3:15 into the race -- a little faster than my goal split. I think Keith went through in about 3 hours, but had no idea how far back the rest of the runners were behind me.

The temperature was warming up, but still very comfortable, although the humidity was starting to take effect. Between 770/758 and the next several miles was when things began to unravel -- barely 25 miles into the race. Not good. I slowed down, walking some of the sections I'd normally be flying through at that point. One runner (Dane?) finally passed me after St David's Church, which wasn't really a church. More rolling roads along farms/fields, then a wide left hand change of direction, a short straight away, then up to Creekside -- mile 28.5, and just under 5 hours into the race. The man at the aid joked that the runner in front wanted him to tell me that he was an hour ahead, but I knew that he wasn't. So I told him to do the same for the person behind me -- we both chuckled, and I continued on.

Soon I popped out onto a very busy street -- I didn't like that stretch much after almost getting hit a couple times. The road seemed to go on forever, but just about a mile after the Lutheran Camp, I reached 4 Points -- mile 32.6. As I was entering the aid station, Dane was just leaving, saying that he took a little rest and changed shoes. So we were still 2nd/3rd in the race interestingly enough. Where was everyone else? Then again, there weren't too many people in the race to begin with I suppose.

I felt a little better than I did earlier, but still knew that I should've been in much better shape than I was at that point in the race. I wasn't struggling, but at the same time, I was having more difficulty than I should've, considering it was still very early on in the race, not to mention the most difficult and hottest part of the day was coming up.

After leaving the aid, I made a quick right uphill, still on the paved road until I got to a volunteer who guided me the right way. Initially, I would be heading up a trail to the left, and he explained that later when I'd see him again, I'd take a different one to the right. It was a rather short trail section when I reached the Luray Overlook, where there was a volunteer offering water, and Shanna the photographer. I turned right there, heading downhill on paved road again, back to where we turned off. When I saw the volunteer, he pointed me in the right direction, and mentioned that there would be a lot of flat sections, followed by a big climb -- that was Duncan Hollow.

The initial trail section was great -- very smooth and runnable, then it got extremely technical. As I had Massanutten flashbacks, the bugs, heat, and humidity seemed to come out of nowhere also. As I continued on, two motorcyclists came towards me -- they were the father/daughter aid station team I recalled Ray mentioning at the pre-race meeting. I couldn't believe they were riding over that rocky terrain. Soon after, I saw another bike, but it was parked, then realized I had reached the Peach Orchard aid station -- mile 38.7, 6 hours and 15 minutes into the race. I couldn't believe they were able to get everything they had there, since it was so remote and rocky, but they did. I was very thankful he was there, since I would've run out of water before the next aid for sure. I took just enough so the others behind me would have some, then thanked the gentleman for being there, and continued on after a couple squirts of DEET he had available.

I was still over 4.5 miles away from Crisman Hollow. The rocks continued, alternating with spots of mud, which this year was not an issue, but could've been during a wet or rainy year. Soon, I heard runners behind me -- it was a trio, consisting of LIz Walker, Scott Brockmeier, and Dan Brendan. They were flying over the rocks, so I let them get by. Once we got out of the worst section, it was still a long downhill to the bottom, at which point we crossed a stream to the Crisman Hollow aid station (mile 43.1).

That was our first medical checkpoint, so I got weighed in -- 133.5, so I lost a pound. After leaving the aid, I made a right onto a wide road, which I stayed on until we reached 4 Points again from the other direction -- this time, it would be mile 47.7. I managed to catch up to Dan there, so I knew that he slowed down a bit from before, since I definitely didn't speed up. At that point, I was still in 5th place, although I didn't really care. What I was more concerned about was seeing what my 50 mile time would be, which would give me an idea on my finish ETA.

Out of 4 Points, we made a left down the road, then a slight left to start the climb up Moreland Gap to the next aid at the top (Mountain Top Mile 50.9). Not long after, the skies opened up, and began pouring. Dan was right behind me, and we were quickly drenched. Initially, it felt good because it cooled me down, but I soon got cold. I thought it would let up, but continued to pour, and was so distracted by the rain that almost didn't see the halfway point, which we crossed around 9:50. For my 22 hour goal, I was supposed to be through there in 9:30, so knew that I still had a good shot at sub-24. Based on how I was moving at that point though, I knew that it would be tough.

The gentleman at Mountain Top was desperately trying to cover his aid station, and wished I could've stayed and helped, but I knew I had to keep going, because I got cold whenever I stopped or slowed down. From that point on, it was mostly downhill into Edinburg Gap, which I was very familiar with, since the aid station at MMT with the same name was a very welcome site after coming off Short Mountain in the middle of the night -- this time though, we took the roads there instead. As I continued looking for something that looked familiar, I suddenly came across the OD version of the Edinburg station, which was setup along the side of the road. A little different than MMT, but I didn't care -- was just glad to see it. I made it there in just over 11 hours.

There I changed into a dry shirt, grabbed some Bloks, then headed up the next section -- Powell's Mountain Trail, an ATV road, which took us up and over to Little Fort, about 8 miles away. I wondered if it rained there at all, since the trail seemed pretty dry, especially when the off-roaders came barreling through kicking up dust. Somewhere after cresting the top, I found a set of keys, which I left next to Peter's Mill Pond -- an unmanned aid station, with minimal supplies. There was a jug full of sports drink (no water), and some minimal food. I didn't take anything, and kept going. We continued on the ATV road, all the way into Little Fort (mile 64.3), and where I'd see my drop bag.

I picked up my headlamp there in case I couldn't make it to Elizabeth Furnace before dark, and Ialso grabbed a burger, since I was getting tired of eating Bloks all day, then started the long climb up the road. At the top, there was an intersection with a sign where we'd go right -- I'd be passing through there again later on, but going left at that point. It was rolling jeep roads all the way into the Mudhole Gap aid station -- mile 69.5 and 15 hours into the race.

From there, I criss-crossed the stream for the first section, then it's a long very runnable downhill that took us towards Elizabeth Furnace. I was passed there by Bob Oberkher, who I hadn't seen since the first time through 4 Points -- apparently, he had some issues earlier, but was now looking strong. I told him that I wanted to start the climb up Sherman's Gap in as much daylight as possible, but looked like it wasn't going to happen, since it was already around starting to get dark at that point.

The last singletrack down to the road was the same as MMT, which took you just across the street from the parking lot and the picnic area where the aid station is setup. I got weighed in, and was happy to say that I was still the same as I was back at Crisman Hollow, over 30 miles ago. I picked up my handheld, and switched to my primary headlamp, but didn't take any extra clothing for the night.

From Elizabeth Furnace, we took Botts Trail, named after Ray Botts, Pat's late husband, which skirted around the stream at first, before heading up the mountain -- the MMT course is farther to the left, and for that race, is mile 90, but this time, I was still only 3/4 done. I was passed there by Jay Finkle whose presence I felt, turning around almost mistaking him for a large tree -- he's about 7', or at least that's how tall he seems compared to me. I knew we were still on the 24 hour bubble, but knew that I would have to press hard if I wanted it. I also knew that we had to reach Veach West by midnight or 12:30 at the latest, but I was well off pace at that point, so I basically resorted to my third option -- just finish.

The infamous Sherman's Gap that we were warned about was almost exactly what I had envisioned -- a very rocky climb up to the top (1.5-2 hours), which is indicated by a wind chime hanging from a tree next to a memorial, then an equally rocky and long downhill to the road. The frustrating part about that section is not just the steep and rocky trail, but the fact the climb doesn't start right away -- we go up and down through the canyon before making the final push to the top.

Somewhere during the descent, I was caught by Tyler Peeks, who I ran together with all the way down to 613T. We both came to the realization that our shot at 24 was not going to happen this year, so took our pace down a couple notches. When we saw lights along the road, we knew we were close, and finally got to the unmanned aid station. From the trailhead, we turned right onto a paved road, then made a long climb up to Veach East. Tyler pulled ahead, but I caught up to him at the aid station. Around that point, I was noticing that my feet were developing some hot spots, but of course I ignored it -- not good.

Two very helpful and friendly guys were manning the 82.8 mile station, which we got to just after midnight, 20 hours into the race. They explained the next section, and how runnable it was down into Veach West, so I looked forward to it. The trail started with a climb to the top, where Tyler passed me, then the usual downhill into the aid. I saw Ironman Dan there again, waiting for Phil -- I asked him how he got in front of me without knowing, mistakenly thinking that he was going to pace Phil from Elizabeth Furnace. He looked at me strangely, and as he tried to explain, I remembered that he was only there to crew. I wasn't delirious...really.

I knew from that point on, it was all roads (both dirt and asphalt) to the finish. I contemplated walking the whole way in, since my feet were killing me at that point. But I did the math, and realized that if I did, it would probably take about 4 hours -- I definitely didn't want to stay out on the course for that long, so tried to run as much as possible.

I was surprised that no one had caught me at that point, since I slowed down significantly due to my feet, and also dropping down my pace after coming off Sherman's Gap. The roads were familiar, having gone through there earlier in the day, but seemed much longer then -- of course I was just running slower. I eventually got to the 770/758 (mile 90.1) aid station again, and finally started to smell the barn.

From there, I headed back to the same intersection we passed coming out of Little Fort, but instead, turned left up to Woodstock Gap, the first aid station I went through almost 24 hours before at the top of the hill. Just before the intersection, I passed Tyler -- he was also having foot problems, but think he was in much worse shape than I was. I hoped that he would stay with me, but I pulled ahead as he fell farther and farther behind until I couldn't see his lights anymore.

The Woodstock aid station was setup on the other side of the road this time, and was manned by a bunch of teenagers who were smoking (and probably drinking too). It was a bit odd, but they were very vocal -- shouting the usual, "you're almost there." Well, considering it was only 7 miles left out of the 100, I guess I was.

What I wasn't looking forward to though, because of my feet, was the long downhill all the way to the bridge, but I ran as much as I could. When I finally got there, I knew I still had to go through town, which included a couple uphills. Before the short descent to Water St, I saw Pat Botts headed up the road to check on other runners. I eventually made the left turn at the unmanned aid station, and knew that it was a long 2.6 miles back to the fairgrounds, and ultimately the finish. That was where we drove the course the previous night after the dinner, so I had a perfect image in my mind as to what I had left to run -- a long straight section on Water, a right turn on Court, pass Main St and the courthouse, a left on Commerce, turning into Massanutten Heights, across the railroad tracks, a slight uphill, followed by a down and up, and onto Ox Rd for the last gradual climb to the finish.

The difference was that I was now having to do it on foot -- sure seemed much shorter when we drove it. Also, what I hadn't noticed the other night was how bad it smelled there -- I looked to the left, and saw a bunch of cows. It was not something that you really wanted to experience at that stage in the race, but the good thing was it made me run a little faster to get through that area.

The sun was starting to rise, since it was almost 6am, and also realized that I managed to stay awake all night -- something I've had trouble doing in some past 100's. Perhaps it was because of the difference in timezone, plus getting to the tough sections still early on. The roosters were starting to crow, and the sky got lighter as I approached the last climb onto Ox Road. I instinctively looked behind my shoulder, since I always tend to get passed just before the finish, but this time, there was no one remotely close. I switched between running and walking, trying to keep the pain in my feet from getting too unbearable.

I finally turned right into the fairground, and saw the track. I noticed the race clock, but looking around, there was not a soul in the area -- the entire place was deserted. I kept thinking that someone would emerge as I rounded the track heading to the finish, but there was no one. It was one of the oddest finishes for me -- I didn't expect a huge crowd, but figured I'd see someone. In fact, the person who was doing the timing and recording runners as they came through was also absent. I came through at 26:14:40 according to my watch. I saw a video camera setup at the finish line, so figured I was being recorded, since no one took down my time. I wandered around not knowing what to do for a few minutes, and when I realized that nothing was going to happen, I left for my room, since I was longing for a shower and to lie down and rest. As I started to leave, I saw Tyler begin circling the track -- I waved over to him as I drove off.

After getting back to my room and taking off my shoes, I was afraid to see the damage to my feet -- basically, turned out to be two medium-sized blisters on the balls of each foot. Because my feet never got a chance to dry, they were completely macerated, which resulted in the blisters (I think). I've been in similar conditions where my feet were continuously wet, but didn't have problems, so I'm not entirely certain that the wetness was the only factor.

Once after I cleaned up, I crashed out, only to be woken up shortly after by a phone call -- it was Phil and Xy. They wanted to know if it was ok if they used my shower, so my nap didn't last as long as I would've liked. Soon it was time for the buffet breakfast catered by a local restaurant, and awards afterwards. Keith Knipling of course won the race -- his 2nd win in two weeks, followed by an incredible 3rd place at MMT. He and David Snipes were able to complete the Massanutten Triple -- 3 100s in 3 weeks, all located and held in and around the Massanutten Mountains. There were 5 additional runners who came in under 24, with Jay Finkle, squeaking in with less than 7 minutes to spare. Unfortunately, of the 5 Last Great Racers to start, Jamshid was forced to DNF due to unfortunate circumstances. He will still be competing for the Grand Slam though, so I'll see him at the next 4 races. Xy was the last official runner, finishing with less than 15 mins to spare before the 28 hour cutoff. A couple others came in after, including a first-time 100 miler, and Vince -- way to gut it out. The sub-24 hour runners were awarded buckles, and everyone else got finishers' hats. After I said my goodbyes, I had to do the 2 hour drive back to DC to catch my flight back home.

Final Thoughts

Old Dominion is a very well organized event put on by people who really care about the race and its runners, and it's a shame that more people are not willing to experience it. I will definitely return at some point -- need to trade in my hat for a buckle next time.

Next up...Western States!

OD results

Keith Knipling won overall in just over 19 hours, and also successfully completed the VA Slam (which includes the Massanutten Triple -- MMT, OD Memorial, OD One Day).  Liz Walker defended the women's title by breaking her previous time by over an hour, finishing around 22 hours.

Me...well, I survived (barely).  If you want details, I'll have a report as soon as I unwhack my body.

Killing time...

If you've ever driven from Dulles, it can get a little confusing with the various numbered exits and interchanges, plus the split highway and toll roads.  As a reult, I ended up missing the offramp in Reston where I was originally supposed to meet my friend Rayna for dinner.  It was a good thing she couldn't make it though, because I never would've found it after I overshot the exit, and couldn't get off for several miles because of the divided highway.  Also, I don't think I'll ever complain about LA traffic again after driving around DC at rush hour...well, maybe I'll just complain a little every now and then.  The good thing is that I managed to get off at the 123, which is where Tyson's Corner is, and found a nice restaurant there.  I also stopped by the LL Bean and picked up a map, and some bug spray before I headed out to Woodstock -- 2 hours away.

I didn't do much last night other than watch a little TV.  I tried going to bed early, but didn't fall asleep until about midnight local time.  Woke up about 7, then prepared my 6 drop bags -- 4 Points, 770/758, Edinburg Gap, Little Fort, Elizabeth Furnace, and Veach Gap.  My checklist definitely helped a lot, although I realized that I omitted a couple important things on there, but luckily I brought those with me.  What I'll do eventually is transfer everything to a spreadsheet instead (used OmniOutliner initially) so that I can sort/group them by aid station/drop bag to make it a little easier next time.

Just a little while ago, I met Gary, a runner from KS -- we spoke for a bit this morning in the lobby.  We talked about the race this weekend, and some others we've run before, or were planning on doing in the future.  He'd done Heartland in 25-ish hours, and was shooting for sub-24 here -- I think he'll be able to.  I mentioned that if he got to Veach Gap by midnight, that he could walk the remaining 13 miles (mostly road) to finish in time -- he agreed, having a similar goal ETA of 11:30 on his split chart.

Oh...I saw that Keith Knipling won the OD Memorial (17:46) last weekend after an incredible performance (3rd overall) at MMT (21:18) the weekend before -- I wonder how he'll do at OD.  3 100's back-to-back.  Nuts.

Ok, I'm going to drive around town to find a lunch spot, then I'll head over to the checkin to see if anyone's there (it's only about a quarter mile from the hotel).  Pre-race meeting is at 5pm, so I'll be killing more time again later this afternoon.

Forecast for tomorrow is 89 with a 40% chance of t-storms...lovely.

At the airport...

If you've never flown out of Long Beach on JetBlue, I would highly recommend it -- it took a total of 10 minutes from the time I parked at the offsite lot to when I sat down at the gate.  Also, the flights are pretty comfortable -- more legroom (although I don't really need it), and 36 channels of DirecTV.

I keep feeling like I forgot something important (like my shoes), but am trying not to think about it since it's too late at this point.  I did (finally!) make a travel/race checklist though, that I hope will come in handy during the rest of my season, but then again, I may have forgotten to put everything on there that I'm going to need.  Well...I'll find out soon enough I suppose.

So I have 3 goals, depending on how things go during the race.  My ideal "things can't get any better" goal will be 22 hours.  If my splits start slipping (say that fast 3 times), then my second goal is sub-24.  Then finally, if I end up doing a death march, then it's going to be the obvious 28 hour cutoff to finish.

Ok...plane's boarding soon.

Starting to get the pre-race jitters now...

OD weather

Looks like the forecast calls for isolated thunderstorms, and 86 for the high, and 61 for the low -- average for the year is 80 and 54 respectively.  Humidity will be a very dry 50% -- thank goodness.

WS pre-race dinner

We're going to be at Moody's if anyone wants to join us on Friday night.

Leadville course conditions

5/24/07:

Halfmoon Road is completely clear to Colorado Trail. The Colorado
Trail (LT100 course) is almost completely clear of snow all the way
to Twin Lakes (just some minor patches across the trail here and
there). No significant timber down on trail. Unfortunately there are
a number of unfinished major reroutings of the trail as works in
progress. (Last fall's early snows must have ended those projects
very prematurely.) If you are familiar with the old trail, frankly
recommend sticking to it in where you can. Otherwise you will have to
pick your way along the marker flags as best you can.


5/23/07:

The last several years I have regularly posted course conditions as
they developed. I do not have time to do that this year. Sorry. What
I will do follows:

1) I will be quite willing to pass along my extant understanding of
course conditions to anyone taking the time to call me.

2) I will give a one-time assessment of present course conditions and
offer a very conditional prognosis.

The LT100 course is clear from Leadville to May Queen with the minor
exception of a little drifted snow on the south shore of Turquoise
(if unfamiliar with course just stay to shore side).

The Colorado Trail section between May Queen and Hagarman Pass Road
will still be in deep drifts of snow. Hagarman Pass Road has been
plowed and the Sugarloaf cutoff is clear to the first switch back
(about a half mile). Beyond that the crust is presently unreliable,
but might work for very late night running if the weather clears up.
Otherwise, it may be well into June before Sugarloaf Pass is runnable.

The Powerline is south facing and I am guessing should now be
runnable up close to Sugarloaf (second steepest section of course,
thus great training).

Of course, the road section from powerline to treeline on Halfmoon
road is clear and runnable.

I haven't been up Half Moon Road in almost a month, but last time I
was there the road was unpassable (deep snow) at exactly tree line. I
will go up there tomorrow and if I can get to the Mt Elbert Trailhead
try to run into Twin Lakes. I will post on my results and that will
be my last post on course conditions.

From my window I can see that Hope Pass is in very deep snow and
that snow persists a thousand feet or more below timberline. With
good weather (which we have yet to see much of this spring) it will
be at least 2- 3 weeks before the trail up Hope Pass will be clear to
timberline and at least a month before the Pass is clear.

From past experience I doubt that the road to Winfield is clear of
snow yet, but probably will be in a week or two at most.

John Rainey
Leadville

Leadville Entry Deadline

This event will close to new entries after May 31.
$ 200 before Jan. 31
    ($210 on-line, includes credit card fee)
$ 225 after Jan. 31
    ($235 on-line, includes credit card fee)

Entries will be limited.
Entries must include signed waiver and full payment.
Must be 21 years of age or older on race day to enter.

Absolutely no refunds or transfers once entry is accepted.

OD comment

Here's an excerpt from the runner's booklet.  It eventually goes on to list several tips.

The Old Dominion is traditionally held on the first truly hot and stinkingly humid day of the year in Virginia. For those who have trained in such heat and humidity~ the race is challenge enough. For those who have not, the American College of Sports Physicians recommends against participating in such an event. But assuming that you are crazy enough to be reading this and are planning on running the race, the following are some important tips from your friendly medical director.

WS General Info Form

Here's what I sent in:

OD confirmation

Well, I'm now officially entered into Old Dominion.

Ray Waldron wrote:
> Andy,
> check recieved today! We'll have your confirmation and rule book is in
> the mail to you tomorrow! Take care and see you soon!
> 
> Wynne Waldron
> Co-race Director. 

LGR/GS Website

I decided to put together something. It's definitely a work-in-progress...but you can see what I have so far.

http://lgr6.com
http://6x100.com
http://400miles.com
http://sixhundredmiles.com

Whatever is easiest for you to remember/type -- they all go to the same site.