The Shippey 100 2024--Complete Edition with Video

 

My main comparison is the Shawnee Hill as being similar to my experience with this one. There were environmental conditions that I simply was not prepared for. I am trying to blame myself for the outcome, but part of the blame goes to my inability to practice in similar conditions. It was the coldest run I have ever done, ever. It was in the negative teens but even colder on the ridge where the wind was just cutting through everything I was wearing.

        For most of the run, it was teens then single digits before it dropped to below freezing after nightfall, but I went from feeling good after I hit mile 55 and then being at a place where I could no longer get warm after mile 60. It was so hard to go from 60 to 64. My watch had me at more miles but I don’t know what it was. According to the race officially, it would have been 63.92. And then 4 miles just destroyed me. I spent a good 20 minutes recovering before I went out after 60 and part of me wanted to take a nap for 30 minutes and then try the next section and go from there but I was forgetting things and I wasn’t able to eat anymore.

        I spent the whole day drinking soap and enjoying the warmth but my stomach just started hurting around mile 55, and it was just annoying. I started dry heaving, and I thought was going to be sick but I had some Sprite and calmed down some.

        I was so jealous of the running the ski goggles who was crushing it. That is one thing I thought about during the run. I need ski goggles! But they’re kind of expensive to maybe use just in case the next time I do this race there is another winter storm.

6 a.m. The First Loop and a Half

My dad recorded some video of me and a few of the other runners standing around a moment before the race started. There were only a few of us there; some people dropped to 100 K, and some didn’t make it. I didn’t know what to expect but I knew I had to at least try, and I was mostly feeling like parts of it were going to be hard at night, but ultimately the weather could still change, and at least at the time it wasn’t supposed to snow.

During the first 20-mile lap, I ran with two other guys close. Brian, who was making his first attempt at a 100-mile distance had done an ultra over the summer and ran many marathons. He was worried about going out too fast. I was too but I was feeling good at the time. We finished the first 20 miles in a little under 4 hours.

I took off my jacket because it was frozen, as was my water bladder. It kept freezing, and when I finally figured out how to put it under my shirt, it was just uncomfortable. I was drinking so much coconut water. Twice, my water bladder hose froze even when I changed from water to hydration powder. The aid workers were amazing and super helpful. I was also drinking so much potato soup that my wife made.

It was incredible, and I don't think I would ever get tired of it. When Brian and I started the next lap, I wasn’t hungry; I was just always a little cold. I was surprised I had to change my clothes so soon, but I figured I was still holding up okay, and my feet still didn’t feel that cold. I was frustrated with the jacket I brought and not having anything on my face that was working. I was using my running buffs and trading them out, but they still kept freezing. I decided to wrap a hand warmer in the running buff and put it around my next. That worked really well and kept me feeling mostly comfortable even though I didn’t have anything covering my face.

        It was great to talk to Brian, and we were pacing well together. I just liked that the time was going by so much faster compared to how it is when I am running on my own for hours at a time. I was doing what I planned to do. I wasn’t killing myself, and the next lap I slowed down. Partly to keep pace with Brian, but mostly because I didn’t want to go out too fast and expend too much energy during the day, knowing how difficult the night was going to be.

It was still daytime, and after hitting that 50k distance, I was feeling amazing and that my training was really paying off. I was walking the hills, and I hadn’t fallen once.

We Were Catching Our Second Wind

        After around the 50K distance, Brian and I were still running together, and although we were slowing down, we were doing well. Brian was about to hit his longest run ever, and I was generally impressed with how he was holding up. He had a good crew with him, and my dad was talking to them at the aid station.

        After the second lap, it was good to finally hit the official 40-mile mark. I knew we still had a lot more to do but now I was feeling like I had really done some running. It took about 5 hours to complete the second lap, and I wasn’t in the lead anymore, but that was okay. I was planning to have to hold back a lot if I was going to finish.

The third lap started, and I realized it was going to get dark soon, so I made sure to put my headlamp back on after the first leg of the second loop. It seemed crazy that it was already getting dark. The really crazy thing about doing these ultras is how I feel like I am living outside of time. I can see how time is affecting everyone else, but I am focused on the trail and talking to Brian, and not really on anything else.

When it started snowing, we were both surprised by the change in the weather. It was tough to stay in good spirits, but I kept thinking about how much I liked how everything looked in the snow, and I just wanted to take a picture.

Eventually, I shot a short video of me running out of the aid station. It was the only video I took during the race, but I am glad I did. I can safely report that I have enough video recordings to make a movie about the race. I’ve been working on it today, although it doesn’t have many shots of me running. My dad recorded four or five videos, including the start of the run during the second loop.

        Brian’s buddy was suddenly pacing with us, and it was nice to have somebody else around who was experiencing this with us. I encouraged him to record some videos, and he did! I kind of would like those videos now but I did nothing to procure them at the time. I could have just given him my number.

        When Brian’s buddy finished pacing us that leg, Brian needed to sit down for a minute. I knew this would be where we parted ways. I was just getting so cold that I couldn’t slow down. I was moving fast. When I started on the last leg of the second loop: it was the beginning of the end.

the Final Leg or No Feeling is Final 

         I felt great starting out on that leg. I was moving so much faster than I was earlier just because I was able to go out at my own pace. The leg starts out in the woods with low elevation, so no trouble there, but when the trail started taking me to the ridge, the cold wind and snow was punishing in its resolve.

         I started shaking, and my entire face was beginning to hurt. Even though I had Vaseline caked on, my nose and eyebrows especially felt like they were throbbing in pain. My jacket was freezing again, and I couldn’t remember if I had brought another one. It was only a little under five miles, but it felt like my whole world had changed once I finally hit the start/finish aid station.

         I saw Karolina, who did the medical study over ultra racing last year, and Jeremiah, who finished in 3^rd place last year. They both went out of their way to help me. Karolina let me borrow her gloves because mine were wet. They both commented on how much I could have used another pair of shoes (mine were soaking) but we all laughed when Jeremiah asked me my shoe size (12.5). A guy who has helped me in three race, I’ll call “the friar” because he dressed up as a Friar one year at the Shawnee Hill, had me sit down and take my shoes and socks off. He put my dry ones on and gave me some Sprite, which was helping my stomach. I was so miffed they didn’t have ginger ale, but sprite was doing the trick.

         Jeremiah had disappeared for a moment, and then I was ready to go, hoping he would still be willing to pace me, but I forgot his name. I described him to Karolina, and she found him for me, and he was ready to go. Later I realized this had more to do with my brain fog than my actual forgetfulness. 

         I remember last year talking with him briefly. He seemed so positive. We talked about how “no feeling is final” and how even though I might feel bad now, that is not evidence I will in the future.

         I nodded a long, liking how the phrase sounded, “no feeling is final.” I told him that one of my counseling teachers had told my class that the average emotion lasts a minute and a half. Now, I wonder if I have that statistic right, but the point was that we reengage our feelings at regular intervals to continue feeling “stuck.”

         The leg we were doing was the last leg last year, and it is probably my least favorite of the legs. There are just so many turns and so much elevation for only 3.6 miles. I am always looking down at my watch in disbelief.

         I struggled to make it back to the aid station, and I knew then I was going to need a minute to recover. Part of me now just wished I had gone at least one more leg to the next aid station. I was dry heaving and getting the cold shakes, where I can just start shaking uncontrollably and struggle to breathe. The cold shakes are nothing new for me, and I often wonder If it is because I got hypothermia when I was 11. Now, if I accidentally stay in the cold for too long, I can just start shaking uncontrollably, and it takes a while until I start breathing normally again. I ultimately felt like as much as I wanted to quit, I was still pushing that thought out of my head. 

         I called my dad to tell him I was going to be at this aid station for a while. I laid down on my back with a small blanket to keep me warm. When my dad got there, he looked at me and encouraged me to stop. He probably thought I had already wanted to stop because I had called him, but I wasn’t thinking clearly then.

         It took me until the next day to notice how mentally foggy I had been that night. Eric said he was going to take a nap and finish when it was light. I honestly wish I had done that, but I also just wanted to go home, and that’s what my dad was offering to do.

         Once on the highway, I realized my watch was still on. I immediately edited my run when it uploaded, but just one more thing happened. I also had my watch on “navigation mode” vs “running” mode, which was okay but not helpful for the navigation and none of my usual data screens were present. It also didn’t do a mile average.

         Now at home, I feel overwhelmed with the event and all that happened, but I record my video faithfully. I felt bad I hadn’t been able to take really any pictures, and I knew no matter what I would still need to report on this run. I cannot just make videos about the runs that go right, that would make this whole sport seem a lot easier.

         Only 6 people finished. Congratulations to all the finishers! Conner killed with a little under 28 hours and Eric was second over 30 hours.

         I kept thinking when I woke up at 6 the next morning. There was still time to finish! But now I am home with my wife, daughter, and son. My wife was encouraging but ignored my comments about going back out there. To be honest, I never really have embraced the notion of the mid-run nap, although in this run it would have been the right call.

         I kept thinking how I was letting my perfectionism get in the way of a finishing. What, just because I couldn’t have beat last years’ time, there was no reason to finish? Just because I wasn’t going to be able to run the entire race, that’s a reason to quit?

This week, I got sick on Tuesday and haven’t felt better since. I wonder would I be sicker now if I had finished?

I called in on Wednesday, knowing I was not going to be able to function well enough to make it to my car and drive to work. I spent the morning playing Baldur’s Gate 3, which was a good distraction while it lasted, but then I started working on the video.

I was surprised to see how happy I was for most of the race and how normal I looked. I started out with over 20 minutes of footage and spent the day getting it to a tight 8:30. I hope you like it, and I hope that my struggle through this race and reporting on it might help someone else. 

And my apologies to Joel, who was planning to pace me starting at midnight.