Old Dominion Memorial 100 Race Report - 2006
by George Nelsen

I finished the ODM 100-miler on 28 May in a time of 27:40.  It was one 
of my best ultras.  I improved by 45 minutes over my first 100-miler at 
Umstead in 2004, and it was on a course with more elevation gain/loss 
and on a much warmer day

I arrived in Woodstock, VA around 4:00 pm on 26 May and checked into 
the Comfort Inn, directly across the street from the race hotel (Budget 
Inn).   I picked up my race number and T-shirt around 4:45 and was told 
the mandatory race briefing would be at 6:00 pm.  So I had my pre-race 
meal at a nearby Wendy’s and went back to my hotel to relax for a 
while.  At the race briefing the race route change was clarified (three 
33-mile out-and-backs over the mountain instead of the two 50-mile out-
and-backs they had done the year before).  This surprised some but not 
me, since I had spoken to the race director about two weeks before.  I 
actually liked it better, because I could come back to my car twice 
before the finish and didn’t need a drop bag.  It also allowed me to 
better plan my pace.  My goal was to do around 29 hours, so I decided 
to go for 8 hours on the first third, 8-9 hours on the second third, 
allowing me to “hang on” with a 11-12 hour final third.  A few others I 
spoke with were also planning it the same way.  After the briefing I 
drove the initial 7-8 miles of the route until it started going up the 
mountain on switchbacks.  I then went back to the hotel and rested.

I woke up about 3:30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep.  After getting 
ready and ensuring I had all my gear prepared I headed over to the 
start by the race hotel around 4:45.  I drove over and positioned my 
car as close to the start as possible so I could get to it quickly 
after each 33-miler.  I wore a light singlet, race ready shorts, a 
white visor, and carried one water bottle on a belt and a small “butt 
pack.”  In the butt pack I had an extra pair of socks, an ankle wrap 
(in case I sprained one of my weak ankles), some SUCCEED! capsules, and 
some ibuprofen.  I put “Body Glide” and “Desenex” foot powder on my 
feet , and wore the “Injinj” toe socks to help prevent blisters. (At 
2004 Umstead blisters were my biggest problem).  I also wore a heart 
rate monitor to ensure I kept my HR below about 135, and applied a 
heavy layer of sunscreen.  I debated about whether or not to carry two 
water bottles since it was supposed to be in the mid-80s, but since I 
should be back from the first third by 1:00 pm, I decided to go with 
one.

At 5:00 am we started out.  I stayed at the back and ran with a small 
group for most of the first 3-4 miles, as we wove our way through the 
side streets of Wood stock.  After the first aid station (around mile 
6) I continued on with two others ---- Clarence, who was running his 5th 
ODM100, all in around 29 hours, and Tom, a race walker.  I figured if I 
stayed with or ahead of them I would be guaranteed to finish in under 
30 hours.  I strictly walked every hill and ran every downhill.  As we 
reached the top of the mountain the first time I was feeling very good, 
so I picked up the pace and left Clarence and Tom behind.  At about the 
12-mile point I reached the second aid station.  I made sure I took a 
SUCCEED! capsule every hour, and drank steadily.  Since I hate 
GatorAde, I only drank water.  At the aid stations I ate mostly PBJs, 
chips, and salted baked potatoes.  Later on I had some hot dogs and 
soup.  I continued on to the 16 2/3 mile aid station/turn-around point 
at Peterson’s Farm in the Valley, still feeling fine.  At about 3 miles 
into the return leg I came upon Jennifer and Phil.  I knew them before 
since they had both run 50 miles at my Cancer Relay 24-hour run in 
April.  We decided to continue on together.  I also started to notice 
an irritation on the top of my right foot just under the top of my 
shoe.  I checked it out and discovered I picked up a very small stone 
from the gravel roads.   Since Jennifer and Phil were both wearing 
gaiters, I realized that I needed to put mine on when I got back to my 
car.  We continued on together and finished the first third in about 
7:40, a little ahead of my 8 hour pace. 

Until then there had been a lot of cloud cover so it had stayed 
somewhat comfortable (in the low-mid 70s).  After checking in, I went 
to my car and spent 15-20 minutes on thorough foot maintenance, 
including putting on my gaiters.  I thought about taking a second water 
bottle but decided against it because I didn’t want to carry a hand-
held.  I had intended to head out with Jennifer and Phil, but since 
they were still not ready, I took off alone.  This was the third I 
worried about the most because it would be through the worst of the 
mid-day heat.  I increased the frequency of my SUCCEED! caps and tried 
to drink steadily.  I was surprised that I was still able to keep up my 
running ability on all the downhills.  Walking the uphills got harder 
(my HR was right at the 130-135 point most of the time), but I still 
kept up a good pace. When I reached Peterson’s farm the second time (50 
mile point), I weighed in only 2 pounds down from the night before.  I 
figured my water and salt consumption must be working well.  I finished 
the second third entirely alone and came in at about the 16:15 point, 
still comfortably on my pacing plan.  I breathed a little sigh of 
relief, since I could now take over 13 hours if I needed to on the last 
third.  Since the sun had gone down and the temperature was dropping 
quickly I changed to a regular short sleeve shirt and got rid of my 
visor.  I spent another 15-20 minutes on foot maintenance, added a 
small bottle of FLEXAL lotion (for muscle pain) to my butt pack, 
grabbed my head lamp, and headed out on the final third.  Overall I 
felt pretty good, except that I had the start of a blister on my right 
foot and a couple “hot spots.”

At this point I gave up running altogether and power walked it all the 
way.  I didn’t want to take a chance of an injury while running, and it 
wasn’t necessary to achieve my goal time.  In spite of my somewhat 
tender feet, I enjoyed most of this third since it was now nice and 
cool and the “pressure” was off.  I just kept steadily moving forward 
at a brisk pace.  By 3:00 am (22 hours into the race) I reached 
Peterson’s Farm for the final time.  Now I could go as slow as a 30-
minute mile pace and still finish!  At this point the temperature had 
cooled a lot and my hands were actually quite cold.  Since I hadn’t 
brought gloves, I wore my extra pair of socks on my hands.  They worked 
fine.  There were also patches of fog and, with no moonlight, staring 
at my headlamp beam of light became challenging at times.  Just as I 
noticed the beginning of morning twilight (just before 5:00 am), I 
noticed a headlamp moving slowly behind me, slowly gaining on me.  As I 
reached the top of the mountain for the 6th and final time, the runner 
caught me.  It was Faye.  I had met her and her husband briefly at the 
hotel, and had spoken to them a couple times since.  Faye and I had 
been going back and forth for the whole race.  She started ahead of me, 
and I had caught and passed her going up the mountain during the second 
third.  From them until now I had kept only a small lead on her.  At 
this point we were both having trouble with blisters and hot spots and 
not running, so we decided to try to finish together.  With Faye’s 
“extra push,” we kept up a good brisk pace all the way to the finish.  
Our discussion helped make the time pass faster and took our minds off 
our sore feet.  We finished at about 8:40 am.  I was very happy I had 
finished the last 16 2/3 miles in 5:40.  Without the help from Faye, I 
know I would have slowed down a lot, and taken over 28 hours.

There are many reasons why this was one of my best ultras:
1.  Slow running with a heart rate monitor.  Since January I have done 
almost all of my runs at or below my aerobic threshold of 135.  This 
allowed me to train to burn only fat and not carbs, which was most 
critical in a 100-miler, especially in taking the uphills.
2.  I ran 75 miles at my Cancer Relay 24-hour run in mid-April and did 
one 75 mile training week the 3rd week before ODM100.  These were the 
long training runs I needed to build endurance for a 100-miler.  I only 
did one 50K before Umstead.
3.  I gave special attention to foot care after having blister problems 
at Umstead.  The Injinji toe socks, Body glide, Desenex foot powder, 
and gaiters were all critical in reducing my blister problems.
4.  The numerous SUCCEED! capsules I took were very critical in keeping 
my sodium and potassium at proper levels.
5.  The 8-9-11 hour pacing strategy by race thirds allowed me to break 
the race down into comfortable pieces that I could focus on one at a 
time and stay confident.
6.  Finishing the last 10 miles with Faye was a huge improvement over 
finishing alone as I had done at Umstead.  It prevented me from losing 
motivation and slowing way down.
7.  Measured doses of ibuprofen (a total of 2200 mg) and the liberal 
application of FLEXALL lotion kept my quads from becoming too sore in 
the later miles.
8.  Knowledge from my first 100-miler greatly helped in planning and 
getting through the second one.  I was able to eliminate all of my 
earlier mistakes.

Now it’s time for me start thinking about what’s next ---- another 100-
miler or something longer like a 48-hour run.

George Nelsen
Newport News, VA