Subject: MT100 report (long)
Date: Thu, 24 Jun 1999 10:24:24 +0000
From: Jan Ryerse <ryersejs@SLU.EDU>
Organization: Saint Louis University

Here's my Mohican Trail 100 report. Warning - it's fairly long - reading
time 6-8 minutes.

Short version is I had a great time and loved the scenic course.
However, the hills were relentless. I finished in 27:44, 49th of 97
starters, slower than I had hoped for but any finish in a 100 is a
success as far as I'm concerned.

Mohican Trail 100 Report June 19-20, 1999

My daughter Amy Moser and I drove to Loudonville Ohio, about 60 miles north
of Columbus, for the Mohican Trail 100. We arrived on the Wednesday before
the race. Amy was going to crew for me and pace me for a 10 mile out-and-back
stretch near the end. It was an easy 500-mile trip from St. Louis except for
highway construction along I70 just west of Columbus and for the 270/71
interchange north of Columbus being closed (with no advance warning). After a
detour that took about an hour we got back on I71 and headed north. About a
half hour later we turned off 71 and drove the 30 or so miles into
Loudonville along Highway 97 which is a scenic drive and gives one an idea of
how beautiful this area is.

We got a campsite along the Mohican River at the Mohican Wilderness
Campground where the race head-quarters and race start and finish is located.
It was less than a 5-minute walk to the packet pick-up and S/F line from our
campsite. The campground was great - I'd recommend that anyone planning on
doing the MT get a campsite in the park. We were in the "Deep Woods" section
with more tree cover than some other sections of the campground. Many runners
camped in a section closer to the S/F but you couldn't see the river from
there. There were no mosquitoes at all and only a few flies so you could
enjoy the outdoors during both the days and the evenings. There were hundreds
of fireflies out over the river in the evening and each time they flashed you
would see both the flash and the reflection in the water - it was quite a
sight. We were fortunate with the weather for the 5 days we were there -
sunny and low 70's during the days and clear and cool (down to about 50)
during the nights - great sleeping weather!

On Thursday Amy and I drove as much of the north section of the course as we
could. We checked out the Covered Bridge, the dam and the Mohican Gorge
overlook and we climbed the fire tower. We had a camcorder and taped parts of
the course to show my running buddies in the St. Louis Ultrarunners Group
(the SLUGs), some of whom are talking about doing this race next year.
Respect was growing for the hills as we were constantly driving up or down
some serious hills, but as I would find out on Saturday, the really big hills
were mainly out of sight back on the trails.

I did a short run in the campground on Thursday afternoon to see how my right
foot was feeling. I had pulled a tendon in the arch 10 days before and it had
been bothering me. It still hurt so I tried wrapping the foot and ankle with
an ace bandage and that seemed to help. I decided I'd wrap it on race day.

Friday, Amy and I drove the southern part of the course and then in the
afternoon I got checked in, weighed (160) and went back to the campsite to
prepare my drop bags. Later, we went to the Pavilion for the pasta dinner
(which was excellent) and RD Joe Jurczyk's instructions and runner
introductions (a nice touch). There were 97 entrants. Friday night I was in
bed by 10:30 and slept on and off until midnight, but then slept soundly
until 4 am. I had all my gear laid out so it only took a few minutes to get
ready in the morning - it was cold - below 50 F. Amy and I walked over to the
Pavilion and I checked in. All the runners were standing around in the warmth
and brightness  of the Pavilion waiting for the start. I said good luck to a
couple of friends and then we went out to the start. At 5 am sharp we were
off into the early morning darkness.

The first 11 miles of the course are on gravel roads and it's only dark for
about 20 or 30 minutes - I used a small Mag light and then stuck it in my
torso pack. I had a single water bottle pack and also had a hand-held water
bottle filled with my succeed/gatorade mix. The hills started almost
immediately and were to be a constant and relentless challenge throughout the
day and night ahead. We had been warned to walk the early hills which most of
us did. One could tell that the down-hills were going to cause quad problems
later. The early miles went by quickly and I passed the time talking with a
fellow Canadian from Ottawa (Tom Restoule) whose training had been focused
specifically on this race. I was coming off of Rocky Racoon in February and
was treating this run as a tune-up for Leadville in August.

At Rock Point aid station (about 11 miles) we left the roads and turned onto
the "Green Trail" which took us past the fire tower and on to the Covered
Bridge (about 22 miles into the run). It felt really good to get off the
roads and onto the trail. The day was still cool and there were no bugs. The
woods were beautiful and it just felt wonderful to be flying down the trails
and then to recover on the uphill walks. I had told
Amy to expect me at the Covered Bridge (22 miles) between 9 and 10 am and I
came in at 9:10, well in my target window. Then it was across the bridge,
down past the picnic and camping areas and off onto the "Orange Loop" which
followed the Mohican River for a couple of miles. The scenery was great along
the river but the trail was rocky and twisty and it was hard to get any
rhythm going. Soon we were back on smoother trails in the woods and the
hills. This loop was 10 miles long and included a variety of terrain; from
grassy corridors, to narrow woodland trails, to soft trails through pine
forests, to gravel roads, to asphalt roads, to a steep grassy slope down the
face of the dam and finally to a wide flat soft dirt trail along the river
back to the bridge. At the end of this loop we had to ford the river but it
was only knee deep and the cool water felt good on the feet. A group of Amish
men had come to the bridge to watch the runners ford the river. I weighed in
at 160, the same as my Friday weight. My foot pain had been with me for the
first 22 miles or so but by 32 miles after the orange loop the foot
discomfort got lost in the general fatigue that one feels after 30 miles or
so and I never noticed it again (or since for that matter). However, the
hills were taking their toll and the quads were starting to hurt.

The next loop was the 5 mile "Blue Loop" which we only did once. I changed
from my Shimantos into my Vitesse's for this loop. It went up the Mohican
Gorge along a little stream with lots of mud, rocks and trees trunks to climb
over. It seemed like we were running through a jungle with a leafy canopy
overhead. At the end of the gorge was a blind rock wall about 30 feet high
with a waterfall splashing down to the sandy base of the wall. Here we had to
ascend part way up one side of the gorge by a vertical hand-over-hand climb
using exposed roots as a ladder and then we ascended further up along a
narrow twisty trail to the top of the rock wall. Then we headed back into the
woods, up past the dam onto asphalt roads and finally back down into the
gorge and back out to the covered bridge. Not a loop I would want to run in
the dark! It was a beautiful sunny day with low humidity and with the temp
reaching maybe 70F. I was told this was the first year of the last eight when
the temperature wasn't up into the 80's or 90's. However, the deer flies were
out in force and I'm glad I had my hat with a neck cape - I had no trouble
with the flies but I saw lots of other runners with a cloud of deer flies and
many runners complained of their constant annoyance.

I changed back into my Shimantos and we were off on the "Red Loop". This was
mainly in the woods and took us back to Rock Point where we repeated the
green loop, past the fire tower and back to the Covered Bridge (about 57
miles). It was now almost 6:15 pm and I was almost out of my 4:30 to 6:15
"window" I was hoping to be in at thiss distance. This told me I wa slowing
down. A 24 or 25 hour race was out of the question. I had gone through 50
miles in about 11:30 and my quads were trashed from all the steep downhills,
so I knew I'd be slowing down even more as the race progressed. We repeated
the Orange Loop and by the time I got back to the bridge it was 9:30 and
getting dark. I got out my lights and headed out up what I was now calling
the "hill from hell" to begin the red loop. For me, this was the longest,
steepest and toughest hill on the course. After a 3 mile section into a horse
camp on the red "loop" we headed out onto the longest stretch between aid
stations - about 7 miles. They had a container of cold water at the 5 mile
point of this stretch which was a welcome landmark as to your progress and a
needed refill of the bottles.

Night had set in and I was very tired in this stretch from 66 to 76 miles. I
walked a good deal of it. After passing through the Rock Point aid station
for the third and final time we were back out on the roads and heading for
home. Then came ten miles of mainly walking on asphalt and gravel roads.

During this time I enjoyed the night sounds and the star-filled sky and had
conversations with various runners along the way. This brought me into the
Turkey Ridge aid station at mile 86. My daughter Amy met me here and she did
the Turkey Ridge 5 mile out-and-back with me which got me to 96 miles. It
went from night to dawn to daylight during this stretch. Then I trekked
through the little hamlet of Greer to "Big Hill" at 98 miles. Earlier
everyone had been talking about how bad BH was but I didn't think it was that
bad at all - it has many false summits but the inclines aren't any worse than
many of the hills we'd climbed on the trails in the woods. I ran down the
steep quarter mile backside of BH which was very painful on the quads but
once I got going I couldn't stop until I got to the bottom of the hill. From
here it was a half-mile to the finish and I ran it all.  My lower back had
been tight for hours and I was listing as I crossed the finish line. I came
in at 158 lbs, down 2 from my starting weight. My feet were sore but I didn't
have any blisters. I finished in 27:44, 49th of 97 starters (27 DNF'd). I was
hoping to finish an hour or two faster but considering the hilly course I was
pleased with my time. Any finish is a success in a 100 as far as I'm
concerned. It was another great adventure and I came away with many good
memories. However, it was good to be done and get showered and to sit down
and rest.

They had a great pancake breakfast at the S/F Pavilion and after I ate I lay
in the shade of a tree and watched the remaining finishers come in. The
awards ceremony was at 11 and the pewter buckle was gorgeous - lots of
intricate details of scenes along the course. I talked with  friends and then
Amy and I rested at the campsite for a couple of hours before going out for
pizza. For me, the MT 100 was a very challenging course, but when I return to
do it again I'll benefit greatly from having run the course once and knowing
what to expect.  Thanks to Joe and all his volunteers for putting on a great
race!

Jan Ryerse - the "Trail Turtle"
St. Louis, MO