Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 11:21:16 -0400 From: Karen_Claire@gillette.com My account of Umstead '00... I flew into Raleigh fairly early Friday morning, the day before the race. There was only one non-stop flight from Boston available on my airline of choice (free ticket) so I opted to take a 7:30 flight and not risk having my gear end up somewhere else. Besides, I needed to stay used to getting up early, anyway! Arriving in Raleigh fairly early gave me an opportunity to visit the REI store in Cary prior to checking into my hotel and attending the race registration. I went to the store and broke one of the biggest rules in running - never never never try new things at events, and certainly not shoes! Well, I threw caution to the wind and bought a pair of Montrail Vitesse shoes. I had read reports of how all the gravel/stones on the Umstead course worked over your feet, and had had the Vitesse's recommended to me specifically by Jeff Washburn, a finisher of Umstead '99 (and 9 other 100's last year!) Plus, Stan Jensen wears them too, they've gotta be good! :) I tried them on, gave 'em a run around the store a bit, and decided they felt pretty good. I also purchased a Columbia hat with a back flap to protect my neck from the sun. Saturday promised to *start out* warm, anyway! I checked into my hotel for Friday night, a Best Western very close to the park. I was looking forward to seeing a friend of mine from college, Stacie. She now lives in the Raleigh area and agreed to hang out and pick up the pieces whenever I finished running. Stacie needed to work until around 3pm on Friday, so I decided to go ahead and go to the park to register and find out where I was assigned to park my (rental) car the morning of the race (very important!). I had plenty of time to do that, return to the hotel to meet Stacie, and go back to the park for the pre-race talk and dinner. I figured the more familiar I was with the drive in the morning, the better! I drove into the park, and was greeted by a volunteer (who I saw out on the course the next day, I don't know his name though), who told me I was assigned to the Hills parking area. I followed his directions to get there...and had NO idea how to get to race headquarters from there! I was kind of turned around and started off in the wrong direction. This didn't seem like a good start to my adventure! I saw another runner who pointed me in the correct direction, and headed in to register. I picked up my race goodies - a t-shirt and a hat. Officially you got one or the other with registration, and I had gone all out and added money to buy both as pre-registration. I'm glad I did, as hats bought as pre-registration were embroidered with runner's names. I thought this was a nice touch (and reminiscent of a trip to Disneyland as a child!) I headed out of the park to meet my friend, and brought her back to the park. This time it seemed obvious where the HQ was from the Hills lot, and I felt kind of silly for my wrong turn earlier. The pre-race talk was the first I saw of the RD, Blake Norwood. He gave us plenty of entertaining information, and introduced the Umstead park ranger who be up bright and early with us the next morning. Blake asked how many of us were attempting our first 100 miler - so many people raised their hands! And it seemed like most of us were in the front rows of the talk. Dinner was served up by great volunteers. Spaghetti, salad, and ice cream and cake for dessert. At our table was a gentleman wearing race garb from the same races I had race garb from. Way Too Cool and American River - actually, he had a Cool Canyon Crawl shirt on from a few years back. His name was Dave Olney (I know now from the results). I would see him often during the run, but didn't know his name, and called him "Cool" when I cheered him on since he was wearing a '99 WTC hat. Stacie and I headed out fairly early, and I returned to the hotel to organize my things further. My car would be parked along the race course, so I planned to turn it into a big clothes locker, to be able to grab whatever changes in attire I might need as the day (& night?) went on. Weather was calling for a warm day early on Saturday, with a cold front moving in that afternoon, expected to drop temperatures dramatically (from 70's to 30's, I'm not sure what temperature drop actually occurred). I probably hadn't packed enough with me! I had brought plenty of warm things that I thought there was *no* way I would need (the past few weeks inspecting weather conditions in Raleigh seemed to have told me it wouldn't be *too* cold) but I wished I had brought more. Race morning...up at 3:30, a half hour before my alarm set for 4. I set about getting ready. I decided not to wear my tights for the morning, it was fairly warm out, and I figured it'd be best to save those tights of later (I was right!) I got packed up after my shower and PB&J bagel. I got to the park gate at 4:45, 15 minutes before the ranger would open it up for us, and joined the line of cars waiting to get in. I took advantage of this waiting time to set up my backseat locker room, including my good luck stuffed bear, Ludwig. Gates opened up and in we went. I was early enough to get a very good parking spot (I would run right by my car many times) - I wasn't sure if running by my car twice on every loop would be a good thing or not! I headed to the HQ building, geared up and ready to go! I wore my fairly new Ultimate Direction Endorfun vest. I seemed to be one of only a few with a vest on - at Umstead you don't really need to carry very much, but I thought the easy accessibility to my salt tablets with the front pockets invaluable. I had two Photon microlights, recommended to me by Steve Pero, and was wearing my new Montrail shoes. I also wore socks on my hands as gloves, a habit I picked up from my pacer from Run on the Sly, Jon Easterbrook. I hung out at HQ until it was time to go down to the water for the start. Standing in the dark with a bunch of other crazies...listening to bagpipes...waiting for the start of what might be my first 100 - it was awesome! Fireworks began the run and we were off! It was still dark when we started - I think this was a good thing, as it meant a slow start to the first loop. It was hard work to stay composed and go slow, but of course necessary for the long haul. I just realized that I haven't said to this point what my goals were for the day. Umstead is primarily run as a 100 mile run (I think I am directly quoting the race info here), but they do provide you (& report to Ultrarunning) a 50 mile split if you make it that far and don't go the full 100. I had run two 50 milers last year (AR50 and Run on the Sly) and was hoping to stretch myself further this time. I was hoping to give Vermont 100 a try this year, and thought (through the advice of my internet and sometimes in person coach, Stan Jensen) that trying for at least 70 miles would be good training for me. That was so far beyond what I had done so far...I wasn't sure what I could do...and 100 miles seemed like a long way! So...anyway. Loop after loop came and went...I ran fairly steady for the first 30 miles. 10 mile split times of I believe 2:08, 2:10, and 2:12 - at least I believe that is what Stacie reported to me when I saw her at mile 30 - she had dropped by to see how I was doing. Our plan was that she would return around 5pm, to see me (hopefully) finish 50 miles, at which point I would decide if I wanted to go on, and if so, she'd join me for the 50-60mile loop. I finished 25 miles in 5:30. Had I run even splits from then on (yeah right!) I would have finished 50 miles in 11 hours. I slowed down in the last 2 loops though, and came in around 11:30 hours - unfortunately I don't recall exactly what my 50 split was. One of life's little pleasures presented itself as the laps melted by...each 10 mile loop finished at race headquarters at Camp Lapihio. After finishing the loop, runners had to do a short out and back down to Lake Sycamore to begin the next loop, passing by the start/finish aid on the way out. I enjoyed waiting to stop for aid until after completing the out and back spur. This made the first mile a short one, and coming upon the first mile marker so early was a treat. (It's the little things that make such a big difference!) The wisteria along the course was beautiful - it smelled so good, particularly running down to the bridge just before mile 4 - there was quite a bit along the trail. I also enjoyed using my car locker room after 2 loops - changing my shirt and donning my protective hat made gave me a (somewhat) fresh feel. It was really warming up at that point, and I particularly felt it on the power line stretch between miles 6-7. An extra tidbit...I removed my gloves/socks from my hands during loop 2. The socks later fell out of the pockets of my vest...thanks to the guy who chased me down to give me one back, and thanks to whoever picked the other one up and put it on the trail marker for me to find later! Finding that second sock gave me something to think about heading into loop 3! So, the loops are going by and by...eventually it starts getting pretty windy, and the storm what was predicated was blowing in. I was advised after my third loop to bring some extra clothes along as the rain was expected to hit. I was glad to have my water vest on, I could store my Stevens Creek Striders long sleeve top (which I had worn for the first loop) on the back, in anticipation of wearing it soon. I actually didn't need it that loop - it had stayed warm, so after 40 miles I swapped my Striders shirt for a running jacket (it looked like rain soon!) I made the mistake of wearing the jacket to start out, it was too warm for that! I eventually stopped, took it off, and strapped it onto my vest. I had been chatting with a runner named Mike from Virginia off and on up to this point. He and a friend of his were running Umstead as training for Massanutten in 5 weeks! I was familiar with Massanutten from hearing my new Massachusetts ultrabuddies talk about it - a bunch of them are heading down to run that in a few weeks, too. I was running with/near Mike somewhere around miles 6-7 of the loop I believe when the storm hit. I remember it started out a little slowly...I enjoyed the cooling effects of the water, and contemplated keeping my jacket off for a while. Then it *really* started to rain!! I got my jacket on, and wondered how well it would protect me from the rain. I ceased to wonder as the pools of water gathered in the cuffs of the jacket sleeves - I was drenched! And it was COLD!! I basically just slogged it out until the end - if anything, I think the rain sped me up to finish the 50, as I was trying to stay warm. I met Stacie at the finish of the 50, and spent quite a while trying to figure out what to do. I was COLD! We went inside HQ, where it was warmer. They had a fire blazing, and somebody on a stretcher they were trying to warm up in front of the fire. So many people were having trouble from the cold! I spoke with a woman named Rebekah who had lapped me at my mile 44 (she was on 54) - she said that she was hypothermic and couldn't go on. I warmed myself up in front of the fire (still in wet clothes) for a while, had some hot coffee, and headed back to the car to change into dry things. I spilled some warm coffee on myself walking up to the car - the warm liquid felt so good on my cold legs! (I can confess that, right??) I started to get really chilled on the way, and asked Stacie to run up to the car to get it started. I dried off and put on TONS of clothes - my running tights, fleece pants, short and long sleeve polypros, fleece jacket(!) and big rain jacket! (New England runners who I ran the 7 Sisters trail with a few weeks ago, and who think I am a big cold wimp, should appreciate the high level of fleece I wore for the remainder of the run). I started using some handwarmers, and wore my biking gloves. I also changed from my Vitesse shoes - they had been awesome! No blister problems...but now they were soaked, so I changed to my standards, ASICS 2050's, and fresh socks. I sat there, warming up, trying to figure out if I should keep going. I was thrilled to have finished 50 miles (only my third!) I wasn't obsessed with the idea of running 100 - I figured I had my whole life to try and do that! I think ultimately this may have been a big help in my finishing - because I wasn't super stressed about it. I decided to go for at least one more loop - push myself to ~100K, further than I'd gone before. I had been resting/warming up for an hour now - it was around 6:30pm. Stacie joined me for that loop, and we had a goofy great time. We finished around 9:30, and I asked Stacie to call my boyfriend to tell him I was still going. After this I met my first volunteer pacer angel. (Stacie was a pacer angel, too, but she didn't have a choice!) :) It amazes me that people came in the middle of the night to volunteer to pace people! I am so grateful to all of them! And of course, the aid station and race volunteers who were there around the clock, too. Even the guy who made me smile every time I came in from a lap (don't know his name, either). I will return the favor in future events. My first pacer, named Heather, will be running in the Boston marathon this weekend. Unfortunately, I will be out of town, and unable to cheer her on. We finished our lap (60-70) around 12:30am...and she was planning to go to meet friends! (Oh, to be 23 again!) :) I met my 2nd pacer, an adventure racer named Craig. Unfortunately my blister free period had come to an end...Craig joined me as I went inside HQ to ask to have my blisters taped up. I had the privilege of having my feet taped up by Blake, the RD. I propped my feet up, he looked at them, and pulled out his knife. I sort of panicked - it looked like he was going for my feet! We laughed when it became apparent that he was going for the duct tape, to cut off a piece, not my blisters/feet. I was relieved when Craig later told me he thought it looked like Blake was going for my feet too - I may have been paranoid, but I was glad somebody else made the same mistake! Blake taped up my feet - and it felt soooo good when he rubbed them to secure the tape! Craig and I headed out for our 10 miles...I think it was around 1am when we left. My pace seemed to be slowing, but we made it thorough 70-80 by around 4am or so think. I had my left foot re-taped by a Red Cross volunteer (the duct tape had migrated). I then met my 3rd volunteer pacer (have I said how amazed I was that these people were there?!?) I think his name was Bill?? I have to confess I may not have been running at 100% mental capacity at this point, and don't remember his name! I do remember that he has a 15 year old daughter with blue hair though! Unfortunately the batteries in his flashlight had died, so we ran without the benefit of additional light. We did have the benefit of the sunrise, however. Yes indeed, I was lapped by the sun! :) I had been told that I would feel rejuvenated when the sun rose...can't say that I necessarily did! But I certainly appreciated being able to see the trail again. My blisters were really bothering me, so I tried to avoid all rocks whenever possible. We came in to mile 90 around 7am or so. It was weird to see people who had run the 50 mile (or maybe more) leaving their tents/cabins to head to breakfast - they had been sleeping! And to them, this was a new day, while it seemed like the same one to me! I met my final pacer, Ben, who runs the Umstead web site. I wasn't sure I'd need a pacer in the daylight (I was wrong!) but I knew I'd appreciate the company. We headed out, and I once again enjoyed the early arrival of the 1st mile marker. I recall when we got to mile 4 I said "4 down, 6 to go". Ben corrected me "*94* down, 6 to go!" - that helped a lot. I was definitely fading on this last loop - as Ben later told me, even my voice was fading, he had trouble hearing me near the end. But he kept me going with his loud proclamations of "98 miles!!", etc. He even told me I would run the last hill up to the finish...I though he was nuts! It was somewhere between 98 and 99 that Dave Olney passed, to finish a few minutes ahead of me. I was so happy for him, to see him go by, he looked so strong! His wife had worked the aid at HQ the entire time, and was a great help. Well, I guess this story has to end! We finally reached 99...I swore there was no way I'd run up that last hill, until I got to it, and I did run! I finished in tears of joy - it was awesome! Stacie was there with her friend Jon to take care of me, and help me pack up, return my rental car, etc. I definitely needed the help. I wish I knew more names of people to thank, all of the volunteers who helped to make this possible. Everybody at the two aid stations did such a great job! The Umstead folks made for a fantastic weekend!! I hope to return, either as a runner, or to help out with the event. Well, I guess this story has to end! We finally reached 99...I swore there was no way I'd run up that last hill, until I got to it, and I did run! I finished in 28:42:09, in tears of joy - it was awesome! Stacie was there with her friend Jon to take care of me, and help me pack up, return my rental car, etc. I definitely needed the help. I wish I knew more names of people to thank, all of the volunteers who helped to make this possible. Everybody at the two aid stations did such a great job! The Umstead folks made for a fantastic weekend!! I hope to return, either as a runner, or to help out with the event.