middleagedultrarunner

I used to be a bit of a fatty.  Like most folks there was no rhyme or reason to the weight gain and unhealthy lifestyle.  High school led to college which led to the “real world”.  I was traveling for work all of the time and I was advancing my career by being on the road all of the time.  I was successful in my job and that was my primary focus for years.  But I had a per diem that I used to eat out nearly every night.  My first son was born and I vowed to myself that now was the time to get back in shape.  His first year passed and little was done to my waistline except expansion.  And then before I knew it we had a second on the way.  I blame Courtney for being so damn hot I couldn’t leave my hands off of her.  But nothing in principle had changed.  I was getting bigger every day.  Before I knew it I was what doctors would call obese. I was completely out of shape having not worked out for years.  I had constantly promised myself “next week” I will go to the gym. Next week never came.  But food did.

Enter my love affair with the SHT and the Fall trail race.  It only goes back only a couple of years, but it is already pretty deep.  We have spent 3 successive falls and 2 consecutive springs racing coupled with with numerous training runs enjoying this rugged and remote wilderness I had passed by so many times over the past 30 years on our way up to the Gunflint Trail.  I had spent some time hiking trails on our way to/from “up north”, but had never really spent much time exploring the SHT specifically until the Fall race in 2013.

In 2013 Courtney and I had a newborn on our hands in the spring so I had no plans on training/racing until that Fall.  So come summer I had not yet signed up for a race but there was a lot of buzz around the Moose Mountain Marathon in our MDRA group and Reid and I had talked about doing the Wild Duluth 50k.  We thought why not try both as they are about 6 weeks apart.  Signing up with a whole bunch of other MDRA’ers I got up there not knowing any of the history of the race or even the fact that there were other distances being run concurrently.

Being on the course that day and passing 100 milers on the course on my way from Cramer Road to Temperance I remember thinking that these guys were in bad shape.  I had no frame of reference for how quickly these guys were moving considering the crazy heat and humidity they had been dealing with to that point.  They had made it well past marathon start before 8AM and I thought they were screwed not knowing these guys/gals were just killing it.  After finishing the marathon, and lamenting the climb up/down Moose, we set up a little bit of an impromptu party near the finish line as all of the MDRA’ers started making their way in.  This was the first time I got to see 100 milers come across a finish line.  I remember seeing Bill Gengler and Joseph Hegman finish.  I would in later years run into them and pick their brains about that experience specifically but also what it takes to do 100 milers in general.  Little did I know how accomplished those two guys were but as per usual in this ultra community they were more than happy to impart what wisdom they could onto a new guy.

Over the winter the 50 miler was in our sights.  That Fall both Reid and I were able to go up there and tackle that distance, this time with a little more knowledge of the race and respect for the 100M runners on the course.  I made sure I spent extra time giving them encouraging words when I passed by them on the way to the finish.  As I was hiking up Mystery under the stars watching a train of headlamps going back and forth up the switchbacks I asked myself if I could keep on going and convinced myself that I could after I had gotten through some lows earlier in the race.  I planned on signing up for the 100M right then and there on that climb.  Reid took some convincing over the winter.  There were some discussions about maybe trying an “easier” race to lead up to this one, but after some discussions with some other 100M’ers, and my convincing that Superior had to be “the one”, he got on board.  With a goal set, and my training partner in crime on board, it was time to put in some miles.

I like to think that my training has gotten better over the years as I have gotten a bit wiser on the courses I am running and what is required of my body during race day.  Last year we had spent some time out at Hyland doing hill repeats and started mixing in a bit of Afton here and there for long runs.  This year we upped that ante significantly with the vast majority of long runs out at Afton and really cranking up the hill repeats at Hyland.  I also pretty much eliminated “short” mileage runs out of the week and focused on making sure if I went out it was for at least 8-10 miles at a time.  We got to a point where we were doing 25 hill repeats at Hyland over about 2.5 hours getting about 3800 ft of climbing in.  We even got the kids into it with Courtney and the boys showing up to do some repeats as well as Kelly and Courtney carrying kiddos up with them.  We would follow it with a nice picnic afterwards.  Just another awesome way to get outside with everyone.

My overall mileage wasn’t super high maxing out in the 50-60 miles per week at the most, but averaging about 40-45 miles per week total.  However, the total time I was spending running vs. past years was probably about the same even though the mileage was “less”.  Focusing more on trails, hills, and longer mid week runs just seems to make more sense.  I’m sure as time goes on I’ll reconsider this as I have all of my previous training revelations.  But 2.5 hours and “only” 10 miles at Hyland beats any 15 mile road run spent in the same amount of time as far as the SHT is concerned.

One hiccup in the training was our long run up at Voyageurs 50M race in late July.  It ended up being a super hot/humid day which was not surprising given the late July start.  What was surprising was the fact I was cramping up about 11 miles into the race.  This isn’t the first time that has happened, but this was the worst cramping I had ever had.  I could hardly hike and running was impossible without my quads or calves cramping up.  It got to the point at the turn-around that when I went to eat a cookie, my jaw cramped up.  At this point I decided to drop as I was only about 10 minutes ahead of the cutoffs.  I went and rested and eventually came back to watch Reid finish.  This was disappointing as up until that point I had really tried to get out in the heat and acclimate.  I had no cramping in any training runs as per usual.  So heat in the fall race was looming over my head for weeks to come.

As we were just hanging out at the finish line I ran into Aaron Hanson who had completed Superior in 2014 in his first attempt.  He was super positive and confident that I had made the right decision to drop and to focus on the fall race.  His confidence really helped me get through the next few weeks of training and is another example of this awesome positive community supporting each other towards common goals.

I stayed home from work on Thursday morning to send the kids on the bus for their first day of school and Grady’s first day of kindergarten.  Man are they growing up fast.  I chilled out doing a bit of work from home and Brandon and I left to go up and meet up with Reid around noon.  An uneventful trip up north and some spaghetti dinner and we were off to the pre-race meeting.  It was really neat to be a part of this event and seeing everyone milling about with their sweatshirts on was just awesome if not a little bit intimidating.  Storkamp took the podium to go through the rules of the race and before you knew it we were on our way back to the hotel in Two Harbors to get some sleep.

Reid, Sherri and I in the foreground nervously listening to John.

I am not always the best sleeper, and usually before a race I have a hard time falling asleep without sitting tossing and turning thinking about the race ahead.  This race turned that behavior up by at least ten times.  For two weeks leading up to the race I was restless.  Work helped take my mind off of it for a few hours, but any idle time at home, and especially as I was trying to fall asleep at night I would be thinking of various aid stations, climbs, trail sections, and how I wanted to try to feel at different points in the race.  I was getting maybe 4-5 hours of restless sleep a night for the week leading up to the race and the night before would be no different.  I considered myself a bit lucky as the only time I have ever slept well before a race is when I have come down with a cold.  With no symptoms I got my 3-4 hours of sleep and just waited for the other guys to get up so I could go take a shower and get going.

We made our way to Gooseberry a little after 7AM with Kelly, Peter, and Kim along to see us off at the start.  We ran into a few folks before the race started and it was fun just feeling the energy and excitement of everyone around.  Just a great vibe.  Before you know it we were lining up and getting ready to take off down the trail.  Storkamp went over a few more notes and counted down from two to get us going down the paved trail.  Having been thinking about this moment for an entire year, it was a bit surreal to finally get going.  It was almost like a weight was lifted off as we started running.  I was just happy to be running.  It didn’t hurt that the weather and forecast looked amazing either.  High spirits all around.  No more thinking.  Time to turn the brain off.  It was time to go and see what the days would bring.

Gooseberry to Beaver Bay (Miles 0 to 20.1)

The race started on the re-routed section of the course new for this year that took us down the Gitchi-Gami trail for the first 4.5 miles before we got on the SHT.  Knowing this and how amped up everyone was we really tried to take this section slowly and not break 10 minute miles on the pavement.  We mostly did that and just enjoyed the run and views looking over a pristine Lake Superior.  We finally made our way under the highway and on the Split Rock loop.  I have driven by this wayside probably a hundred times, but have never actually made the hike.  I didn’t even know until about a week before the race that there is literally a split rock on this section of the course for which it is named.

The first 25 miles of the course is the only section we had not seen up to that point.  We had debated trying to get up for a day trip in the summer but we simply couldn’t find a good time to fit it in.  Turns out the section in general is fairly easy and I’m glad we didn’t kill ourselves to get up and see it before the race.  The single track section was fairly technical but with fresh legs it was easy to traverse.  I got in behind a really nice guy (Andrew Grosvneor) who was using trekking poles.  We talked about the poles which I had decided not to use and the brutal conditions where he finished in 2013.  It turns out Andrew is the race director for the Marquette Trail races in the Upper Pennisula of Michigan.  We talked for a while about how he got into directing and some of the issues he has had getting volunteers in the remote section of Marquette, MI.  This section just flew by and we were in and out of the Split Rock aid station during a quick out and back section seeing all sorts of folks coming up and down the hill leading to/from the aid station.

Early in the race – Feeling Good.

The run to Silver Bay I don’t remember much about other than I had a bit of pain in my left foot.  This seemed pretty weird as it was like nothing I had ever felt before.  I was still really excited about the weather, and Reid and I were sticking together making decent time and staying right on our pace.  We came into Silver Bay right on schedule and got to see the crew for the first time that day.  Some quick refills of Perpetuum and water and we were quickly moving down the road.  I left a bit before Reid knowing he would catch up shortly.  I was hoping the foot pain would somehow go away.

Reid caught up to me shortly after the aid station, but I was starting to have a hard time running due to the left foot pain.  Reid passed me by as I was spending more time hiking than running, especially on any section that was tilted toward the lake as many are.  This is when demon thoughts started creeping into my head.  How is it possible that my foot was hurting this badly this early in the race?  I haven’t had any issues with foot pain in years.  The last couple miles coming into Silver Bay I was feeling like just crap mentally.  My legs felt just awesome.  My fueling had been pretty good.  I had been drinking plenty of water.  But I couldn’t run.  And hiking now was starting to hurt.  I made my way down to the aid station and right before I got there my Mom saw me and I took my eyes off the ground for a bit and tripped which caused my calves to cramp up.

As I got in and was re-fueling I didn’t know what to do.  My parents were offering me up some Advil for my foot but having never taken it during a race I didn’t really want to take any worrying I might get an upset stomach or that I might hurt something else and not know it.  Our good friend Kim Pease was there and she just got in my face and demanded that I take the Ibuprofen.  It wasn’t a choice.  I took the Ibuprofen. I changed out my shirt to help refresh.  Kim just started “yelling” at me that I was the best hiker she had ever known and that I didn’t need to run.  “Just get out of here and hike.”  She was so confident and emphatic it gave me a bit of confidence.

After the pep talk and before I left I tightened up the front parts of my shoes.  I didn’t want to mess with them up until that point as I had gaitors on and I was worried that bending over to mess with my shoes might bring on some cramps based on previous history.  I was also worried about getting my shoes too tight which happened at Voyageurs earlier in the year and caused some major ankle pain during and after that race.  But I had to change something as the current norm was not working.  I took a couple minutes, re-tied my shoes making sure that I didn’t tie my ankle too tight but that the fronts of my feet were as snug as they could be.  Before leaving the aid station I gave Kim a big hug and made my way across the road back onto the trail determined to hike all the way to Tettegouche if I had to.  It was still early.  I was hours ahead of the cutoff.  There was still time to fix this.  Just keep moving forward.

I hiked over the road and started up the hill on my way up the trail.  Just a strong hike while waiting for the meds to kick in and see what they were going to do. When I came upon a couple of flat spots I started giving some short runs a try.  To my surprise my foot essentially had stopped hurting.  The pain in my left foot was gone.  My legs felt great, my nutrition was working alternating Perpetuum and some Cliff Shots.  It was time to start moving.  I was running all of the flat sections and power hiking all of the hills.  I was cramping here and there on some of the uphills, but the cramps were manageable.  I would make sure to take a few seconds to stretch out the legs and they would subside allowing me to run again.  At Voyageur, this was not the case.  Once the cramps set in they stayed for the long haul and even hiking without cramping was difficult.  This was manageable pain.  It was a bit concerning considering that there was a lot or race to go and it wasn’t that hot, but I was just determined to fight through it and get to the night where it was going to be straight up cold.

I was running with several groups of folks in this section.  We got to make our way to the top of Bean and Bear lakes and see that really gorgeous view.  It was awesome to see with the foot pain gone replaced by some cramping and some foot pain (blisters??).  We will have to look into that at the next aid station I guess.

Before I knew it we made our way down the drainpipe and I ran strong into the Tettegouche aid station.  As soon as folks saw me they lost their minds.  I had a huge smile on my face and Kim was just screaming.  I’m sure their expectations were set that it was going to take a bit longer for me to get in.  Instead I was only minutes behind Reid who was still at the aid station.  It was pretty cramped here with lots of crew and lots of folks getting ready to go back out.  I changed out my shirt as I had soaked through another one in the last section and refilled my Perpetuum and grabbed some more Cliff Shots.  I grabbed some more ibuprofen to carry along but didn’t take any as I had felt fine for a while and didn’t want to take it for the next 24 hours if I didn’t need to.  Hopefully between tying the crap out of my shoes had more to do with it than the meds.  Reid was kind enough to wait for me to leave the aid station so we could run for a bit together and we were off with cheers getting us out.

It was awesome to run for a bit with Reid here.  While we had been close together up to this point, we really hadn’t run together and talked for over 20 miles.  I was just super pumped at this point.  I told him about my foot, Kim’s pep talk, and the now miraculous recovery and how there was no pain at this point.  He was having a super strong race up to this point with no issues to complain about.  I just said “we are going to do this man”.  He agreed.  I didn’t want to get ahead of myself, but it was at this point that my head was back in the game.  The weather was still “warm” but it was going to cool off.  We both felt strong, and were making strong forward progress.

I’m sure I was running way to fast through this section trying to keep up with Reid.  We fell in behind Susan Donnelly who we knew was going for her 15th finish.  Meeting people like this on the trail who you can so easily just chat up is what makes events like this so fun.  Just down to earth people all out for a nice day in the woods.  Just awesome.  I was lagging a bit on the hills as I was still cramping here and there.  Reid was keeping up and during one section Susan took a spill and went down.  She was shaken a bit but in general fine.  She let us pass mentioning that the older you get the more the falls hurt.  It was good to see her get up and going again and pretty shortly after she was passing me by again.  I had already lost Reid and wouldn’t see him for a long time.

I know this section from having run it earlier in the summer.  It is one of the sneakier hard sections on the entire course and I think ranks right behind the Crosby section as the hardest on the course.  Just really long climbs in here that are deceiving.  I knew they were going to be there so I just dealt with them and the cramps all over my legs.

After I got to the top of one of the hills I had a nice view of Superior so I just spend 30-60 seconds stretching out my legs enjoying the view.  As I was waiting I heard a voice I thought I recognized.  A woman came up the trail and I asked if she was Katerina Claiborne, it turns out she was and we took off down the trail together.  For years I have been listening to podcasts during my runs.  One I got turned onto a few months ago was a trail running podcast called Ten Junk Miles.  It is hosted by a group of friends in Chicago who run with a group called the Flatlanders.  They do a lot of the races I am familiar with and I knew that Katerina (Kat) was going to be running Sawtooth and I wondered if we would run into each other.

Within a minute of meeting her and semi stalking her about the podcast, she asked if I ever had gotten cramps on the inside of my thighs.  I couldn’t believe it.  I have gotten these for years but only on the SHT.  Here was finally another person complaining of the same malady that has been plaguing me on these trails for years.  She asked if they go away.  I didn’t lie.  I said sometimes they are better than others, but sometimes they persist for hours as mine had up to that point in the race.  We ran together talking for about 30 minutes but she was too fast for me at this point with the cramping and I wished her well as she took off by me.

You get to see the Country Road 6 aid station a few miles before you get there and I knew that so I just motored on and got in behind another woman who had spoken about the last time she attempted the race two years ago.  It was hot as hell in 2013 and people were dropping like flies at County Road 6 where she eventually dropped only about 10-20 minutes ahead of the cutoff.  This year we were rolling in before we even needed headlamps a good 2.5 hours ahead of the cutoff.  Just awesome.

I knew Courtney was going to try to see us at Tettagouche but that aid station was a bit of a pain with the kids to get to so they passed.  I figured there was no way I would see them at this aid given it was almost 8PM and they still had to get up to Lutsen.  As we came down the hill and across the road for the short run into the aid station I saw some kids in the woods, and sure as shit it was the boys running through the woods to come see me.  What a huge boost.  Just awesome to see them for the first time and get a kiss from the wife with Cam hanging out in the carrier screaming “Daddy!!”.  Just awesome and I am so thankful for Courtney dealing with tired/crabby kids just to see me for a few minutes.  Totally rejuvenating before my long night in the woods.

I sat down for the first time all day to take a look at the feet.  I can’t remember what we did here other than maybe put a band-aid on my heel and change out to some fresh socks.  I got a bit of chicken noodle soup drinking the broth and loaded up on Gus.  I was done with Perpetuum at this point and was going to try Gu for a few hours here.  I gave some hugs to all of the kids, gave the wife a kiss, got my headlamp on, and moved off into the woods on my own to start the long night section feeling strong.

I was determined to walk the majority of the night section.  I had been trying to move too fast over the last 15 miles and I couldn’t keep that running pace up.  But I could hike pretty quickly.  I wanted to get my climbing legs back and hopefully lose the cramps now that it was getting cooler.  I had a dry long sleeve shirt I had just put on. I had a jacket that I tied to the back of my pack and was hesitant to put on until I knew I wasn’t sweating anymore.  I didn’t want my jacket to get wet and cool me down as the temps continued to drop.  There were groups of two’s and three’s of people ahead and behind me.  I could tell a low was coming after being high for hours since leaving Silver Bay.  I decided to “fix it” right away.  Reid had given me that advice at Beaver Bay and I should have listened and tried to fix my foot at mile 20 instead of waiting to see if it would go away.  I didn’t want this low to come on strong and struggle into Finland.

I stopped, took a piss for the first time since the first few miles of the race (10 hours ago?) which was crazy considering how much I had had to drink since that point.  I’m sure that was contributing to the cramping and I mentally made a note to just keep drinking all night and get back to pissing on a regular basis.  I put on my jacket and fished my headphones out of my pack along with my phone.  I tied one of my bottles to the back of my pack and stuffed on the outside where my jacket was.  I put on the tunes and started back down the trail newly warm and with music pumping.  The Scott Jurek Ultimate Direction pack is just unbelievable.  So much storage room and even when it is heavy as hell and weighted down with 110oz of water it rides super comfortably.  I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Stopping and “changing up” was one of the smartest decisions I made all race.  I was now moving with purpose and the music was distracting.  I only had a couple of hours until I would get to Finland and meet up with Marcus.  I remembered this section from training and knew it was relatively easy, especially the last couple of miles.  I just kept power hiking at a quick pace and enjoyed the “peace” of the music pulling me along.  Before I knew it I was rolling through the out and back that leads to/from Finland.  I made my way to the aid, saw my dad outside with Marcus staying warm inside with my mom.

They haven’t made much of an appearance up to this point in the report, but my parents were a huge support through this race.  My dad was at nearly every aid station from the start through the finish of the race.  My mom was at most aid stations doing her best to fix my feet and keep me fueled.  This is a team sport and without their help this would not have been possible.

I think we did some stuff with my feet here, but I honestly can’t remember.  They had a nice fire but I stayed as far away from that thing as possible not wanting to get sucked into its warm vortex.  I filled up on GU’s, thanked Marcus for coming along, and we were soon ready to go.  I knew I was feeling good and really happy to be feeling like I was at 50 miles into the race.  I was also way ahead of where I thought I might be.  I had initially expected to be into Finland around midnight.  It was barely 10PM, 4 hours before the cutoff, the stars were out, I had pacers lined up from here on in, and I was ready to go.  But given all of that there is no way that we should be anywhere near as happy as this picture makes us look to go off into the woods at 10PM at night.  I mean, seriously.  This is just ridiculous.  But awesome.

Man was it nice to start running with someone again.  For most of the afternoon and pretty much all night I had found myself pretty alone.  I had some nice conversations with folks but in general I was moving much faster than they were or they were moving much faster than me.  I have found through the years that trying to keep a pace with someone who is moving faster is a recipe for disaster.  And I typically don’t like to slow down to hang with someone who is moving slower if I do feel good.  So having a dedicated runner who essentially had to stick with me for the next bunch of hours was a nice change.  Marcus was super helpful doing exactly what I had asked of him, making sure I was eating, making sure I was drinking, and trying to figure out if he should be in front or just sit behind me.  I was pretty lucid at this point and in high spirits so we just moved on down the trail with me in the front.

Finland to Sonju just flew by.  We were just talking about a bunch of stuff and conversation was easy to be had and before you knew it we were into the aid station.  This was a remote aid station with tons of people huddled around a fire.  I found a spot in a chair away from the fire, again not wanting to get comfortable in the vortex.  I’m can’t remember exactly why I was sitting down here but we got some more food/GU’s and moved to make our way to Crosby.  Having run this section several times in the past, I knew how treacherous it can be, even on fresh legs.  Being 60 some miles in at this point, and it being nice and dark, I decided to slow down my robust hiking pace and just take it easy.  While this is a rough section, during the day it has some nice views of a river.  At night you could hear it, but you get none of the niceness.  We just motored on.  We were passing groups of people, and getting passed by groups of people here and there.  I remember thinking we would be done a bit quicker than we were and listening for the road.  We finally popped out of the woods and got another glorious view of the sky.  Man, it was just a perfect night out with no moon and the stars were just awesome.  I am so lucky to be able to do this and vow to never take it for granted.

Ready to Leave Sonju.

We hiked up the road on the way to the aid station looking for dad sleeping in his car.  We surprised him out of nowhere and half woke him up as he was looking for us in his rear view mirror.  I asked him to meet us at the aid station with some supplies for my feet and we came into the rockingest aid station I have ever seen.  Reid and I had the pleasure of running with the aid station captain Maria and her good friend Kathy at Afton a little over a month before the race.  They were nice enough to come out and run with us and give us all sorts of advice on how to run Sawtooth.  Their best advice was to toughen the fk up (TTFU) which was their running club of which they had bumper stickers on their cars in the lot.  I have a long way to go to hang with these super strong ladies but it was awesome to see them in their element.

My dad and I sat down to take a look at my foot.  I got my shoes and socks off.  Honestly, for how badly my feet had been hurting, they didn’t look that bad.  I had put a band aid on my right heel and that helped a bunch.  However, the bottom of my right foot hurt something fierce.  My dad and I performed an ad-hoc wrapping job on my foot as Marcus disappeared here.  I got my shoes and socks back on and grabbed a whole bunch of GUs.  This was one of my longest stops of the race, but it was time well spent to help fix my hamburger feet with Crosby looming ahead.  Time to get moving forward.  Long section ahead.

Dad and I filling up supplies at crosby.

Crosby to Sugarloaf (Miles 62.9 to 72.3)

I had broken this race up into essentially three big sections patterned after Jason Husveth’s great race report from 2013.  This report is one of the best I have ever read and has some great insight for this course specifically, running these distances in general, and life in total.  For the first third of the race I was trying to “do no harm”.  I had mostly done that though I could have dealt with my foot a bit sooner.  But in general I had stuck to that plan and took it easy.  For the next third of the race the mantra was to “thread the needle”.  Getting through Sonju without injury and through Crosby without being completely toast was my “threading the needle”.  So here goes nothing.

We made the long descent down to the gorge.  Downhills at this point were more painful than anything else I was doing, so I wasn’t looking forward to the climb down.  We made an uneventful trip to the bottom and before you knew it we were making the ascent up the other side.  Man, was I glad I had done this section before so I knew that it just doesn’t stop.  I was attacking these climbs all through the day.  I had not had cramps since I started hiking through the night, and had just hoped that would continue during this test.  I started passing multiple groups of folks on the way up especially on many of the false summits.  It was nice to get to these plateaus, get a nice view of the sky, and then, get onto the next hill.  It was building my confidence that I could make my way along these sections with little issue.  Having never run this far, this was a good test for how I would feel the rest of the race and a testament to the hundreds of Hyland hill repeats done throughout the year.

After a dozen or so fairly descent hills we finally started making some good progress on some flats.  Marcus kept up the whole time and was a rock star.  I was moving quickly, though hiking, but he never faltered, always on my heels pushing me up those hills.  Marcus made his way into the woods for the fastest poop in history, and I saw a large shadow looming ahead.  It turns out it was Brandon which wasn’t a great sign as the last I had heard was that he was about an hour ahead of us and moving well but having some problems with his vision after recently having Lasik surgery.  I asked him how he was and he said he was done.  It turns out his vision problem which had started fairly early on in the race had essentially blinded him during this last section.  Not being able to see, at night, with the hundreds of roots and rocks had just trashed his legs.  How he was even moving forward at all was a mystery to me.  He asked us to keep going but there was no way I was going to leave him in the woods.  Marcus and I finally decided that he would stay with him while I moved on ahead.  There was still probably about 4-5 miles to go though the worst of the section was behind him.  Brandon made it out fine and his vision returned over the next day.  No real cause to the issue, but he might be back next year.  A shame as he was so strong for the whole race to that point.

After I left them, I decided it was time for some more tunes.  I fished my phone and headphones out and started moving down the trail.  I was feeling great.  I had made it through what I knew was the hardest sections.  My legs still felt strong.  Other than my feet I was in nearly tip top shape.  The sun was slowly starting to creep up.  And my beautiful wife was waiting for me at the next aid.  Everything was good.  Just need to keep moving forward.

When I got into the Sawbill aid station I saw Courtney right away, but she couldn’t find my dad.  I was hoping he was going to be there so I could do some foot maintenance.  After a few minutes, and standing around cooling down and seeing the walking dead exit the woods, sadly some with their races obviously coming to an end, I knew I had to get moving again and get out of that atmosphere.  Courtney sent out some texts letting folks know I was leaving and to meet me at Cramer Road with foot supplies.  Time to move on.

Sugarloaf to Temperance (Miles 72.3 to 85)

It was awesome to see Courtney and get to spend some time with her on the trail.  It isn’t often we get to run together as we normally share duties with the kids and running, so this was a nice change.  It helped that I was feeling really strong and the daybreak had given me some new life.  I had debated starting to run more in this section but decided to take it easy, power hiking for a bit to see how it would go.  I had been hammering out GU’s every 30-45 minutes which had been working well so I decided to stick with it unless my body started demanding something different.  The caffeine didn’t hurt either.  I drink a fair amount of coffee, so the “little” caffeine I was getting was a nice boost here and throughout the day.

This section during the 50M last year was supposed to be a nice easy, runnable section to get to Cramer Road.  Instead it was a mud filled slop fest where I had my biggest low of last years race, wanting to quit at Cramer.  I was hopeful this year would be different.  It turned out to be pretty dry which was a really nice change.  Courtney and I just talked about her day with the kids/crew and I went over our race so far and the issues Brandon was having.  Before we knew it we were coming into Cramer Road a little before 9AM.  I just remember thinking to myself that I had 13 hours to do a marathon.  There was nothing that was going to stop that as I was moving about 3 miles per hour pretty consistently.  I knew I wasn’t supposed to be doing math but I couldn’t help myself.  I knew if I stuck to power hiking most sections I could keep a decent pace up so I just focused on that.

Tanya and my parents were at Cramer, and it had been many hours since we had taken a peek at my feet so I sat down in a chair offered by a nice volunteer and we went to work.  The pain was pretty bad in spots, especially on the bottoms of my feet.  But we were simply in damage control at this point and wanted to get them to a point where I could just finish.

As my mom and sister worked on my feet I saw John Storkamp who was about to leave after seeing the marathoners on their way.  I thanked him for the great race and told him I would be seeing him in a few hours.  He wished me well and snapped a pic of my team trying to help me out.  I mean, how am I smiling here.  Unreal.

Working on the feet.

That is one of the biggest lessons learned on this race.  I have never had major blister problems in a race and had “planned” on dealing with issues during the race.  I packed some bandages, gauze, tape, a lighter, a needle, and some other things in a quick kit.  However I never actually looked at what people do to help feet during a 100M foot race as I’m sure there are all sorts of tips and tricks that could have been implemented.  I will be doing some reading before my next race so I at least have the right tools and some general knowledge as to what to do if these same issues pop up.

Tanya Courtney and I ready to leave Cramer.

Tanya joined up with Courtney and I on our way to Temperance.  I knew this section really well and knew while most of it was run-able I was going to stick to my hiking plan as I knew there were some annoying climbs here and there.  I was still passing people and we weren’t getting passed by tons of folks so I figured my hiking pace at this point was probably on par with people who were actually running.

I had heard that Brandon and Marcus had made it to the aid station which was good to hear and that Reid was ahead of me doing well.  I was seriously pumped at this point and was hiking way too fast through some of these sections.  I knew there was still a fair amount of race left, but I just couldn’t hold it back.  Somewhere in here the two leading 50 milers passed us looking super fresh and strong.  It would be a good 60 minutes until John Horns passed us on the way up to Carlton in 3rd place.  Those leaders were moving.

Sometime during this section I believe we passed a kid that was out walking in the woods.  He was about 10 years old.  About a minute after passing him I thought I saw a woman sitting on a log in the middle of the woods typing on a laptop who I assumed was his mom.  It was at that point that I asked if I actually saw the boy who we passed or if I just hallucinated it.  Turns out the boy was real, but mom wasn’t.  Having heard about hallucinations on the trail, this was my first.  I had a few others, a snake that was a twig, a fox that was a leaf, but the weirdest was a tree that was seemingly falling towards me when I stopped for some reason or another.  The tree had vertical bark on it in lines, and that coupled with my constant movement created an optical illusion that the tree was “moving” towards me as I stood still.  I actually moved out of the way and mentioned it to Tanya who told me it was normal and it happens sometimes when you stopped.  Made sense to me at the time and we continued on down the trail.

We rolled into Temperance where I saw Kim and Marcus for the first time in a while.  Kim had ended up pacing Reid all the way to Temperance after a mixup with Noelle, Reid’s second pacer, at Cramer.  Kim deserves a special shout-out for her crewing duties.  She saved my race at Silver Bay and kept up with Reid for a nice little 50k.  She hung out at nearly every aid station.  Just an awesome friend and we couldn’t have done this without her.

Getting into Temperance I was just jacked up.  It was awesome to run with Courtney and still be feeling good.  Everyone was shocked to keep seeing us keep up this pace.  Kim mentioned Reid had a little dehydration issue and had to sit down for a bit but they think he would be ok.  I just wanted to get moving again and left the aid station yelling something about “I got you Carlton” running down the trail.  I’m sure I sounded like a crazy person but could have cared less.  I mean, look at this picture before we left with my crew.  I am never that happy.  During races I am typically the guy questioning why the hell it is I do this.  I look high as shit.  What an awesomely weird day.

Marcus, Tanya, crazy person, Courtney, and Kim at Temperance.

Temperance to Oberg (Miles 85 to 96.2)

I was running out of that aid station.  I had been moving too fast from Cramer to Temperance and decided to pare it back on the way up Carlton.  I hadn’t cramped since yesterday afternoon, but I knew that things can change quickly, and running here and taking it too fast on the way up to Carlton could make for a painful last bunch of hours.  I have cramped on the climb up Carlton many times.  Need to take it easy and just get to the other side.

Tanya had never been to Carlton only running the Spring 25k race.  So it was neat to run with her on this section which was completely new to her.  I remember being with different groups of folks in this section and getting passed by John Horns who has won both the marathon and 100M here.  I knew there were a bunch of false climbs before we got to the steep climb so I just plodded away.  My legs still felt really strong on this section.  Where many people climbing this section start getting tired you get a look from through the trees at Carlton’s granite face that still seems impossibly high above you.  I knew I had it, but am glad to have been through here many times before so I wasn’t shocked at the sight.

We began bouldering up Carlton and with little fanfare, and no cramping, we were up and over.  I had yet to change shirts during the day and had not sweat through one and felt dry.  It was like a switch had been flipped in my body at some point overnight.  I was peeing pretty regularly now and I was still taking in tons of water so I knew I was plenty hydrated.  It seems like there might be something to learn from this.  I need to re-visit this in the future as it seems that after some point during exercise my body adapts and slows the rate at which it sweats.

After getting up and over Carlton, the climb down was ok.  This descent isn’t nearly as bad as some of the others on the course so I knew I would be in good shape getting into Sawbill.  I got there and got to see the crew again with screams greeting us coming out of the woods.  I just asked for some GU’s and filled up my water and before you knew it we were on our way to Oberg.

The section from Sawbill to Oberg is probably my least favorite on the course.  It has some nondescript pain in the ass climbs throughout, and is typically super muddy.  This year, the mud was fine and it was easy enough to go around most of the really bad sections which typically isn’t the case.  I wasn’t in a “low” in this section, but just wanted to get through it in one piece.  Tanya and I were chit-chatting here and there, but mostly I think I was just complaining about how much I hate this section.  It always takes much longer than you think it should as it is only 5.5 miles long.  But at our current pace that was still nearly 2 hours.  Oh well, just put my head down, watch my feet, and keep moving.

With how badly my feet had been hurting me to that point, especially the tops of my feet and my left ankle bone where my shoes had been digging in, my legs had been strong enough that I was able to keep them up and above the roots/rocks and had thankfully only tripped a handful of times all day and had never taken a spill.  So often on this trail, one second of lost focus equals disaster followed by hours of cramping for me.  You can see in the series of pictures I found after the race how easy it is to do.  I love this sequence.  I found the picture of the guy saving his fall and went back a pic or two to see if you can see what caused it.  You can barely see his toe catching a small rock on this relatively moderate terrain.  That small mistake is the difference between success and disaster out there.

I had not slept well for the weeks leading up to the race.  One thing I had dreams about and had spent countless hours lying awake at night thinking about was the Oberg aid station.  Just getting there is an accomplishment.  I hoped I could get there in one piece and have a few hours so that I wouldn’t have to spend too much time in the dark as I did last year in the 50M.  Going down Moose last year with a headlamp on was pretty difficult. I knew I could do it if I had to.  Looking at my watch now, I realized if I could keep moving I could easily finish in the daylight and wouldn’t need a headlamp at Oberg.  Again, math shouldn’t be done on the trail, but realizing this was another boost.

We came out of the woods to huge cheers at Oberg, again ahead of where folks thought we would be.  Kim said Reid and Kelly had just left and that we were certain to catch up to them.  I just grabbed a couple of GU’s and wanted to get going again.  Folks were asking about my feet and if I needed a headlamp.  I just wanted water and some GU’s and to get to one of my favorite sections of the course.  I knew it was still a couple of hard hours of effort from here on in, but this was going to be a victory lap.  I left the aid station screaming something about “Moooooose!!!!”.  Crazy person.  Time to get going to the finish.

Hearing that Reid was just ahead of us was a little bittersweet.  I was happy I was moving well enough to be near him, but based on our previous race history and how well he was doing early he should have been hours ahead.  I wanted him to have a good race and experience.  Tanya and I hiked out of the parking lot and started heading up Oberb mountain.  There is a long descent after Oberg before you make the long slow climb up Moose and eventually get to the proper climb.  It was somewhere in here where we caught up to Reid and Kelly.

It was nice to get to talk with him.  He has having problems with his right leg which he had been dealing with for much of the race.  And it turns out his little dehydration issue at Temperance was actually him stopping, not feeling great, and fainting.  That was followed by him sitting in a chair for 45 minutes.  Not exactly the story I had heard and it was awesome to see him moving so well at this section.  I just got in behind him and we both started the climb up Moose.

In years past, this climb was simply daunting.  But my legs are strong now.  Both Reid and I and our pacers made quick work, hiking up the entire thing without stopping.  Seeing Reid tackle that I knew he had a strong finish in him.  On the ridge-line I was moving a bit faster and just power hiked my way past Reid and Kelly wishing them a good finish and we were moving on our way down Moose. It was much easier to get down the back side of the hill in the light not having to deal with a headlamp.  A bit of hiking through the basin between the mountains and we started our ascent up Mystery.  We got passed by one 50M woman who was moving really well, but other than that we were passing most folks and still making good time.

Once we got to the top of Mystery I knew it was literally all downhill from here.  I started to run a bit here and there knowing the end was in sight.  This section is always a bit longer than you think after the big adrenaline pushes up Moose and Mystery.  But within 20-30 minutes we heard one of the best sounds in the world coming through the trees.   Crossing over the Poplar River the past few years has been pretty emotional for me.  I’m not a super emotional person in general, but that sound just signals the achievement of so much hard work for so many people.  All of the times I went out and did solo runs, the endless hill repeats, the failures at other races, and sacrifices by friends and family to support the time spent training and preparing for these races all comes together in that one instant and it can be overwhelming.  Just a huge rush of emotions and so awesome.

We made our way across the bridge and up to the road.  Tanya and I ran this last section in with me just trying to process everything.  I remember talking to Tanya about how surreal this all was just being here after so much time spent thinking about it.  I had dreamed about this run for a year, and here I was finishing.  The fact I was doing it in the daylight was crazy.  My original time goal of 36-38 hours was going to be shattered.

Before you knew it I was veering off the road to make my way around the pool to the finish.  I saw my boys getting ready to run in with me.  They were shy at first but then sprinted past me.  I almost took them out coming around the corner but we made it safely to the finish.  How far these two boys and I have come.

This journey started 5 years ago.  Not so long ago I was the hungover dad waiting for mom to finish her awesome 10k honestly feeling like shit at my ineptitude and laziness.  Today I was a proud dad finishing a 100M race with his boys by his side showing what was possible in the world. We have come a long way.

Getting around the pool I just screamed out “Storkamp” when I saw him ready to hand me my wooden medal and first buckle for finishing.  I had something more profound planned to say having seen John at the finish line for the last few years but his smile and handshake were all I needed to complete this journey.  So awesome.

Before I knew it I was being mobbed by a huge group of folks at the finish line. I knew tons of people who were doing the marathon in tribute to our friend Greg Riebe, and they were all there to congratulate us on the finish.  Unlike last years 50M, I wasn’t “ready to be done”.  I had felt essentially great for 70 miles.  My legs still felt really strong and I didn’t feel the need to sit down.  I was just going around person to person giving thanks for their support and taking pictures.  What a special feeling and a special race.  My first “hundred”.  It will be hard to top this one.

The finish line was just a party.  It was awesome.  So many people I have trained with over the years along with all of the family and friends that had come up to support us.  After thanking bunches of folks I finally made my way to sit down.   That was shortly followed by a pretty big hunger so Anne helped me walk over to the lodge to get some of the crazy good chili I have enjoyed in years past.  This was my first real food in over a day and it was delicious.  Reid and Kelly came in about 30 minutes after I did.  Cheering him in was just awesome.

I hung around the finish for a bit, but started to get pretty chilly and wanted to get check on my feet.  Courtney was able to get some pizza ordered from Moguls and I made my way down to our place to get my shoes and socks off.  There were blisters all over my feet, but in general, nothing too awful.  I managed to hobble upstairs and get a shower.  Besides my feet, I had not had to do much maintenance with chafing like I had expected.  Having switched out shirts a bunch the day before I was careful to apply body glide on my chest.  But I had the same pair of running tights and shorts on I had the day before and I never re-applied glide below my waist in the two days I had been running.  There was no damage to be found in the shower like years past so that was a nice relief.

As it was relatively early, we ended up having everyone over to our place to decompress after the race.  Courtney’s parents were nice enough to get an ice bath for my feet going to help with the swelling.  There were a huge help with the kids throughout the weekend.  Just awesome to have them up there supporting.  I used the ice bath the following few days after the race and will do so again in upcoming events.  Reid and I were both falling asleep on the couches and I put myself to bed around 9:30pm.  I actually managed to get some sleep and felt pretty good all things considered in the morning.

My legs were really sore, especially my quads.  I knew Monday would be no picnic. We called ahead and got into the Duluth Grill for a nice brunch on the way home.  I ended up driving my car back home and was feeling pretty good.  I rested a bit at home but we went for a walk around the park with the kids that night.  I was moving slowly, but could move and it felt good.  It is now a week later and besides some numbness in my toes which is getting better every day, everything is back to normal.  My leg pain has been gone and everything feels as strong as it has in years.

A huge thanks to my wife who has allowed me to train for this for years.  So supportive.  A big thanks to both my and Courney’s parents who have also been a huge help in allowing me to train and help with the kids countless times, let alone their huge support on the trail during the actual race.  A huge thank you to Marcus and Tanya, who paced me and kept me eating and talking for the second half of the race.  They both completed personal long “runs” during the race and neither faltered one step during the steep climbs and descents.  Just awesome to share this with them during the race.  And a huge thanks again to Kim for her help at the aid stations.  Getting me out of silver bay was an unbelievable help and having her cheer me on in the late stages was just awesome.  And thanks to John Storkamp, his wife, and all of the volunteers and other supporters out there.  Just a first class event that should not be missed.

So, Reid and I both have a lottery ticket for Western States.  I figured my odds will be about 3% this year but I have to put in.  And barring that, another go at the Superior race seems in the cards.  It is just such a special race in such a special place with so many awesome people.  It would be hard not to come back.  This year might never be topped.  It was my first 100 miler and in general everything went much better than I expected.  The weather was perfect and the support was awesome.  I now know I can finish these suckers, and feel good doing so,  It is a high bar to set the first time out, but it is nice to know going forward for other races and other challenges in life.

• Prepare for bad feet.  Beyond straight up prevention (good shoes, socks, glide, tight laces, etc…) plan on having bad feet at some point during the race.  Have an action plan and supplies to deal with them early and often.  This could have easily derailed my race and has made recovery much longer than it probably needed to be.
• Use the knowledge of the course/aid stations to help the crew plan better.  It was awesome to have folks out on the course to help out, but I could have easily gone longer in between seeing folks by utilizing drop bags with a handful of more supplies in them.  Hopefully that would ease their burden a bit, especially overnight.
• Really try to prioritize Courtney’s time out on the trail.  We only got to spend about 5 miles alone together on the course.  Next year I want to make sure that we can spend a longer stretch together.  It is just really fun to be out there together without kids.  So rare to spend that time together and needs to be done more.
• Planning really helps.  Besides feet, I had everything I needed.  I packed tons of extra stuff I didn’t end up needing, but some last minute things I threw in “just in case” ended up coming in really handy.  Extra GU’s, T-Shirts, Socks were all last minute additions that worked out really well.  So in general, it is better to bring it and not need it than be looking for it.
• Pacers are the best thing ever.  Having never run with one, and not running with my pacers really at all before this race I didn’t know how I would like them.  Turns out they are simply awesome.  I really respect folks out there on their own, especially during the night segments.  I’m sure if I was alone this would have been a completely different experience.  Being able to just pass the time on the trail, but also get in and out of aid stations without having to worry about cleaning up after myself or forgetting something was super awesome.
• I need to eat more “real food” during training.  I used to always eat cliff bars during runs/races.  I need to get back to that.  I survived on GU’s for over 20 hours, but I’m not sure that is something I want to do going forward, especially on training runs.  I didn’t want to switch it during this race as my stomach was in good spirits, but it would nice to be more confident in it for future races.