Subject: Arkansas Traveller 100 Miles From: "BRITT STARNES" Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 15:35:04 -0500 Arkansas Traveller 100 Miles A Run Under Pressure The plan for 2001 was for me to leave a hot Tejas and speed several weeks in the middle of August in Colorado in preparation for the Leadville Trail 100. However, a case of Plantar Fascititis (PF) in May caused me to miss almost two months of training and most importantly, caused me to miss my first look at this beast during their training camp for neophytes. Of which I am. As August rolled around the PF got to feeling a lot better and a little "tester" run of 40 "unaided" miles at Laurel Valley, SC convinced me I could still get a buckle "somewhere." Remember, I run for fashion and fashion knows no pain! I liked the AT buckle. I wanted one. That "somewhere" would turn out to be the Arkansas Traveller near Little Rock, if all fell into place travel wise. Tammi and I had long ago booked a cruise and we had to be in Orlando, on the boat, no later than 4pm on Sunday October 7th, the day of the AT 100 finish! All things seemed to fit so long as I did my part, which was to run 100 miles in 21-22 hours in order to give us time to catch the only flight option there was. There would be no "Plan B"! Just the way I like it. All or nothing! Pressure! I booked the the only workable flights from DFW to LIT/LIT to DFW, then DFW to MCO (Orlando) and then MCO back to DFW. Signed up for AT and began to finalize my training. It was set I was going to get another buckle! Tammi and I flew to Little Rock, rented a car and took off to Coffee Creek Resort. (Fish Camp) We drove around the area to familiarize Tammi with the various aid stations she would be seeing me at and so she could figure how to get to and fro. I would have no drop bags. The finish was going to be tight enough as to not leave time to gather them up. I was totally dependent on Tammi and my one bag I always "work out of." Perfect. I knew I could count on both. At 6am the "Arkies" "called the hogs" with an ugly rendition of "GO Hogs GO." Me, being a "dyed in the wool" Texan, countered with a rousing rendition of "The Eyes of Texas"! A theme I would continue throughout the next 23 hours. With some cheers and jeers we were off. Saw Paul Schmidt from San Diego in the first few minutes. He told me he and Monica Scholz (AT would be her 18th hundred this year!) had decided to run a 22 hour pace. Perfect I thought. Maybe I can learn something from these two, so I settled in behind them. They both talked non stop. Seems they had done 6 or 7 of these hundreds together this year and had lots to talk about. I chimed in occassionally ( I am a NIGHT person and 6am is too WAY early for conversational thoughts) as the miles began to click by. When we got to 25 miles I ran the mental math. Not an easy task sitting at my desk, but there was no mistaking 25 miles in 4:50! This was 20 hour pace! Using the wisdom of all my 100 mile finishes (1), I backed off and watched as they sailed down Rocky Gap. Me, walking, stumbling, kicking rocks, and sliding down the slope from hell, giving back some of the time I had stolen. Running and feeling great I finally got to Smith Mountain. Not much here. I reflected back to the beginning of my ultra carreer and remembered how, not too long ago, I might have thought how hard this would be. But today, there was no fear. Many miles on many different terrains had me ready. Mentally, I was "stronger than granny's goat" and I knew it! I had to be I was running under pressure. At the top of Smith Mountain I knew the sub 24 hour buckle was mine. Arrived at Powerline (~48 miles) and was told I was down on my weight more than the allowable 5% of body weight. I disagreed of course. But agreed to eat a turkey sandwich and drink some fluids to appease the guy. (It was something I was going to do anyway!) I had lost the waist string in my shorts a few miles before Powerline so I had to take them off and stuff the Clip2, Succeed, chap stick, gloves, and light into the compression tights I had on underneath. It looked funny. I didn't care. Precious time was a wastin'. I really felt great. I was clear in my speech, asking about others, and running strong. I knew my running would have suffered if I was down the amount he said I was. I put on my fanny pack with a full bottle of water, which I did not have on the first weight check, and stepped back on the scales. Presto, gained 20 pounds in 10 minutes! Go figure. Grabbed another snack from Tammi and was off running toward Turnaround. Powerline to Turnaround (~58miles) was downhill. Saw Scott Eppelman along the way in second place. Told him he was trailing Joe Hildabrand by 3:36 minutes. I knew he was going to win. He was running in his favorite position, pursuing the victory. Ran the 10 miles to Turnaround in 2 hours. Sang "The Eyes of Texas", turned around and headed for the house! Doing good. It felt so close in hand even at 58 miles. Have you ever had that feeling when you know that you know that you know? That was how I was feeling! I was more than half way and now I could see how much farther I had gone than those behind me, rather than how much farther ahead people were. Fuel to the fire! Back to Chili Pepper Aid Station which is several miles from Powerline. I inquired about the Texas/OU football score. 14-3 Oklahoma. Some Ya Hoo sang Boomer Sooner. (OU fight song) And I, eating a most delicious bean burrito and walking out of the aid station, sang my finest rendition yet of "The Eyes of Texas" ! Having come here and helped (read not running) other members of the North Texas Trailrunners Club last year, I noticed how friendly the aid stations were. And running it was all the more obvious. Helpful, organized and experienced. You could not ask for a better group of volunteers and I know Chrissy and Stan consider each and every one of them, no matter how small a contribution may have been made, assets. Assets they truly were because without them I could not sit here wearing my buckle. Thank you. Took me 2 1/2 hours to got the 10 miles back uphill to Powerline. Got a headlight, in and out and headed back to Smith Mountain. I had memorized this section going out and had planned to run up the smoother side and "ultra shuffle" down the rougher side. Smith Mountain is really just a collection of a thousand loose rocks all laying around at various angles with a swath mowed through it. Did I mention rocks? Different sizes, shapes and colors all making it harder to run than the grade of hill. "The Defining Moment" for me at the 2001 Arkansas Travevller came at Rocky Gap. An uphill, knarly, rocky, rutted, 4x4 route that had branches hanging down all over to narrow the way and distract you. Forcing you to constantly change sides of the "gap" to avoid them. 4.2 miles of hell. Looking at the amount of time it would take to walk this section, I had already made the decision long before that I would run Rocky Gap! As I got here and looked at my watch and saw the time slipping away I knew I HAD to run it! So let it be said so let it be done! This is the section that kept my buckle "in the house" and it insured I would make the flight at 7am and therefore the cruise. I would not/could not miss the cruise! DNF would happen first and I would have to wait another day for the buckle. A "defining moment" indeed! Although I would not know how much of one until several hours later. I passed many souls on this section. 8-10 at least. All walking, shuffling through the road from hell. It was all coming together for me. As I passed each person, offering encouragement, the energy level rose. I had run a smart first 50 miles and now I was collecting the dividends! Plus I was headed home, almost done. Knew what was left and it was mostly "downhillish." Checked the watch, time was fading, must keep the pace. Pressure. Ya see, I had given Tammi a "bailout" time of 5:30am. Told her that if I was not "in the house" at 5:15 (A 23:15 run time) to start up the road towards me in the car, (She could drive the three miles "upcourse" to a trailhead where I would be coming out of the woods) to be ready to pick me up, to DNF me, so we could get to the airport on time. Imagine a DNF 3 miles from glory, with plenty of time to finish under 24 hours but not enough time to get to the plane! Pressure! Anyway, I grabbed some pumpkin pie (thanks for telling me Tom) at the 93 mile aid station and pressed towards the mark, constantly working the numbers in my head, knowing I was under 24 hours but barely and could not slow even the slightest. I was running strong. Figured I had run 46 of the last 50 miles. Then the wheels began to come off. I made a tactical error. I had seen a finish line that was not there! More work was to be done. Plus I had started to undress, to get ready for the finish. The section after the Puppy Puddle Patch Aid Station (93 miles) is frought with, well puddles. Big puddles, little puddles, MANY puddles! I had to start walking around them. Many of them. I was losing my momentum. Had remembered to "stay left" on the going out part so I stayed left and weaved my way through some 30 odd puddles. Slowing had chilled me. Where are my sleeves? They had fallen out of my tights! This is not good. There I was five miles from glory, losing it! Getting cold and stiffining I kept moving. The Photon headlamp was not distinguishing mud from dirt. I was stumbling, sloshing, sliding forward, losing time. This was getting tight! Pressure. Finally after what seemed like forever, I started going UP and out of the "puddle patch", back to the road where I had arranged for Tammi to come for the "bailout". No Tammi. I had three miles downhill to the buckle. It was mine! There would be no "last miles" DNF! As I started the last 3 miles on the road, I thought about how blessed I was. Not only to be able to run at all but to all but guarantee a specific finish time in a 100 mile event. A 10k maybe. But, there is the darkness running along I realized God had a hand in the journey, wanting my success. I know he did because I could not have even begun without him. Well needless to say finishing at 5:05 Sunday morn did not leave a lot of time. (I had predicted 21.5! Cocky) Crossed the finish line walked 20 feet and Tammi turned me around and back to the highway and car I went. Changed on the way to the airport. No shower! Things looked good. (THINGS, not me) Got to the airport at 6:35 and found 75 people in line for security check! The National Guard had started their gig Saturday! Anyway, we were creeping toward the ONE person checking the bags (lots of "lookers on" but ONE checker, typical) and watching the clock, the tempers in line were flaring as EVERYONE in line was about to miss some type of flight. Since I was the slow moving one, at 6:55, and Tammi still several people away from the security checkpoint I abandoned her with the bags (Scott and Kelly Eppelman had my smelly stuff/carryon was for the cruise) and went through the "no bag" check and commenced on a mission to shuffle down to our gate and throw myself in front of a wheel somewhere. The gate attendant, who was in no mood for me, began to tell me she was NOT holding the plane and neither was I! With her closing the plane door, telling me,"She will have to catch the NEXT flight," (which was NOT an option) I stepped out into the hallway and shouted for Tammi, who is now running, carrying ALL our bags towards the plane. "Here she is!" "Here she is!" I say, as Tammi, still a few gates away, is closing fast! I self-shoved our tickets through the gate/ticket reader and as we both headed to our seats, I turned and reminded her that with the current state of affairs at American Airlines you would think they would wait on ANYONE who was willing to fly. And with a toothless, shit eating grin, she slammed the door and our cruise began! The pressure was gone. See you on the trails! Britt Starnes President, North Texas Trailrunners Club