Subject: White River - Life at the Front From: Phil Vaughn Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2002 16:52:56 -0800 Delete this and you miss a great account of what it's like up front with the fast boys. It's our custom in Oregon to share reports of adventures and outstanding runs, so it was natural for Clem LaCava (aka LaClem, Oregon's trail running godfather) to ask Nate McDowell to write a report on his win last week at the White River 50 Mile National Championship. Nate gave me permission to forward it to the list; it's lengthy, but worth your time ...... enjoy. Hey there everyone, I forgot that I had promised Clem a report on White River. Here it is. Last year, I trained REALLY hard to get ready for Western. I did lots and lots of back-to-back 30 milers; for example, here is a three week training pattern: McDonald 50k Saturday, 30 miles in the forest Sunday, then next weekend, 42 miles on Mary's peak followed by 25 miles in the forest, then next weekend, 50 miler (Ice Age) followed by 15 miles. Each week near 100 miles total. I figured that I had speed, but not enough strength to compete at 100 miles. By the time I ran Western States I was depleted, sore, fatigued, and destroyed. I was probably also very strong, but way too tired. Too much. I finished Western, barely. I did not recover after Western, and ended up dropping out of White River. That day I decided that White River was to be my focus for 2002. This year, I started training later in the year in order to peak in July/August. I trained through all of my races except San Juan Solstice. I had a series of second place finishes (McDonald, Squaw Peak 50m, San Juan Solstice 50m). In two of those I was below the course record, but lost. I made tactical mistakes in Squaw Peak (although at that time Karl Meltzer was in better shape than I, so he would have won even if I ran perfectly). At San Juan I was at a disadvantage with the high altitudes. However, in that race, a remarkable thing happened: my quads did not get sore or tired despite 12,800 of vertical. This was a big step forward. Later that week I ran 60 miles of the Wasatch course (in two days), and paced Ian at Western states. That added up to 148 miles in 8 days, with four days of rest. For me that is a lot. I rested a lot after that (4 weeks 'til White River), and felt awesome. I think racing hard, high mileage (in pulses), and big rest weeks (30 mile weeks once every 4-5 weeks) resulted in the best training regime I've ever done. The week before the race I slept hardly at all ... I was really busy. So, I was a bit concerned that I would be able to race well, particularly in the late miles of the race. The start line was jovial. I have made a lot of friends in the running crowd, and we were all glad to see each other. In case you wondered, the guys that duke it out up front are all pretty much friends ... we love these competitive races because we have someone to run with all day. I figured that Karl Meltzer was the likely winner, as he was running White River because Hardrock had been cancelled a few weeks earlier. He was fresh. After the initial first few miles of moving rather quickly, we settled into a relaxed pace up the first climb. In the words of the Tour de France, there was an escape group of about 5 guys and then the peleton of the rest of us, about 20 or 30 runners running single file. Scott Jurek led the peleton, and I sat behind him, with Karl and Hal Koerner behind me, among others. The first 12 miles were slow. We caught the escape group near mile 10, they were led by Dusty Olsen at that point. At the second aid station, which is water only, our massive group of runners swarmed the lone aid station person. William Emerson made a small move here, but didn't escape from us. As the race progressed, there was lots of trash talk and jokes going on between Dusty, Scott, myself, Karl and Hal. No one was taking this too seriously, and I think also, we were all watching to see what everyone else was doing. As we crested the ridge near mile 14, Scott Jurek took off. I went with him, hoping that we could break open the race. I was antsy, the pace had been creepingly slow. Scott backed off a mile later, but I kept cruising. This turned out to be the first important break in the race. I hit the aid station, grabbed my stuff from my Dad, and hammered back along the trail (this section is out and back from the second aid to the third then back to the second). By the way, there was a "no name road runner" that had 2 minutes on me, but I correctly assessed that he was not a threat and disregarded him. I kept cruising, and a few miles later, I encountered the women's race. Krissy Moehl, Ann Heaslett, another woman whose name I forget, and Petra Pirc were running single file in that order. Turns out that Petra would soon make her break, only to be passed in the last 3 miles of the race by Ann. At that point I looked back, and saw a chase group after me, about 100 meters back. I decided at that time to let them catch me. We were about to hit a huge downhill, and I saw no reason to trash my quads on it. I backed off a bit, and eventually, Karl and Hal caught me. They were content to stay behind me as we cruised through the water only aid station (mile 22) and flew down the hill towards buck creek aid station (mile 27). As we flew down the hill, I mentioned to my running partners that "We are now committed", and we were. This was a breakaway, and breakaways are no good if you get caught. The trail was full of downed logs in these sections, and it was great fun to navigate them by jumping over or crawling under them. Near the bottom of the hill, William and Scott J. caught us. We came into Buck Creek moving fast, 5 guys who were no longer feeling talkative. Everyone was focused. I moved fastest through the aid station because my Dad was there with exactly what I needed ... all I had to do was drop my bottles and fanny pack, and grab replacements from him. I caught the leader a few hundred yards later, but he proceeded to chat my ear off about himself, so not wanting to listen to that crap I began walking so I could pee. Karl passed me, but by the bottom of the second big climb I had caught him. I was thinking that this is when Karl would hammer, so I was mentally preparing myself to stick with him. Hal joined us, and I could see William and Scott a hundred yards behind us. Things were getting intense. I looked over my shoulder and said to Hal: "this is a F(*&!)(@N Ultramarathon!!!". He laughed and agreed. We passed the talkative roadrunner. Then, suddenly, Karl stepped aside and told me to take the lead. I was surprised, but started running hard. A mile later, only Hal was with me, and he was 50 meters back. I realized I was making an important break, so I leaned into the hill and kept pushing. At Fawn Ridge (mile 32, I think) I quickly filled bottles, wetted myself down with water, ate a banana and took off. I was leaving the aid station as Hal came in. He was not giving up. I kept hammering all the way to Sun Top, running a lot of the climbs, but interspersing fast walks occasionally. I ate a lot of gel and caps on the way up. It was hot when we were out of the trees in the sun. I summitted Sun Top (mile 38), again filled up bottles and consumed a few cups of Coke, then took off down the hill. At this point, as I cruised back around past the aid station (you do a semi-loop at the top), I saw Hal in the station. I yelled up "Hal, will you leave me alone!!!" and I saw a big grin cross his face. I also heard laughter from the aid station personnel. Scott McCoubrey then said as I ran by him "alright Nate, the road is yours". I leaned into the downhill and opened up the fastest stride I could. Down the hill I hammered, probably well under 6 minutes per mile pace, and methodically consumed S-caps and gels. It was a rather uneventful 6 mile stretch to the bottom. There is a long straightaway (800 meters or so) at the bottom of the road, and when I looked back on the straightaway I saw no one. Good. I took my last gel, knowing it would have to carry me to the finish. As I approached the Skookum Flat aid station(mile 44) I knew it was time to really run. Once I saw my Dad, I started dropping all of my stuff: two bottles, fanny pack and a hat. Time to streamline. I grabbed a bottle of HydraFuel from him without breaking stride, slammed some of it as I kept running fast, turning the corner into the aid station and onto the trail. I dropped the bottle, thanked the aid station people and said I needed nothing, and then turned on the afterburners to get out of there. It was a perfectly smooth aid station transition. The last 6 miles are a rocky, rooty, undulating, twisty, technical single track trail, with lots of short but steep climbs and descents. I knew that William had done it in 50 minutes last year, so since I went through the aid station at 6:03, I figured I might be able to run a 6:53-6:55. His CR was 6:58. After I left the aid station, I was focused on what I had heard Leah Jurek yelling at me as I flew by the aid station, "turnover!!!". She was right, it was time for turnover. I was flying. Things became substantially hard at about 6:30, as my calves began to cramp, ever so slightly, and my stride was tightening up. If I had any S-cap and water and a gel, I would have taken them. That is the trade-off of dropping your gear ... you are committing yourself to run without any of these things. So, I backed off the pace just slightly and concentrated on running smoothly. I began feeling better a few minutes later, and so picked up the pace again. I figured someone must be just a minute back. I had visions of William or Karl or Hal flying after me. Eventually I saw the road that meant I had 400 meters to go. I saw that 6:50 was close, so I tried to sprint to get a 6:49. Moments after starting to sprint, I felt everything tying up, so I backed off to a relaxed pace. The time does not matter. I finished with a 6:50:39, about 11 minutes ahead of Hal, and 8 minutes under the CR. I finished to a relatively big crowd (for an ultra). It was great to have it over. There, waiting for me, was Leah Jurek with a bottle of champagne for me, and a lot of reporters. Hal finished in 7:01, William in 7:07, Karl in 7:12, and Scott Jurek in 7:16 I think. We should all take our hats off to the guys that ran Western States only four weeks earlier. To do that, and then finish in the top Five at White River is amazing. I think the race would have been much closer had they all been fresh. OK, on to the Wasatch 100 (6 weeks)!!! Nate