Day 3,783 —Reflections on the Shawnee 100 Part III: 20-7-2—

 

My class last night was canceled, so it was nice that I could focus more on editing the video for the race. There is a lot of footage and I still haven’t finished a complete pass. But I like a lot of the footage and as long as I keep working on it, I should be done in the next couple of days. My right foot has a blister in the center, but really not that big of a deal when I was running this morning. I was thinking that I forgot a couple of things that happened in the second lap that I am going to start with today.

 Day 3,779-3,780—the Shawnee 100 Part III: 20-7-2—

 

20 individuals started the 100-mile race.

7 runners finished.

2 I finished in second place.

 

         I fell fewer than ten times but more than four. After most of those falls, I went forward and caught myself with my hands. I was wearing gloves, so I didn’t break my skin and while I scratched my legs on tree limbs occasionally, I never hit the ground with any body part except my hands.

         The worst fall I had was when I went backward on a steep rock, dirt, and sand section. I was moving downhill and had to lean back to stay upright, and I was to step from stone to stone, but many stones were loose, and I stepped on the wrong one and I went backward.

         I am not sure how, but my left hand went back and caught my entire body. I felt my full weight go into my shoulder, but I didn’t fall backward: I didn’t hit my head on a rock.

Lap:   3

Miles: 66-98

Time: 9 hours and 28 minutes

Average Pace: 17 minutes and 43 seconds

Time of Day: Midnight — 9:27 a.m.

         I heard a bear or some type of wild boar at the start of the 3rd lap. It sounded like thrashing and heavy stopping. I was scared and for a moment I was unsure of what to do because as I continued on the trail I was moving towards the sound. I couldn’t see any eyes, which concerned me because I had no idea the location of this animal. Normally, the green eyes of deer comfort me, or the yellow eyes of cats, but not seeing any eyes just made me more uncertain about where this animal was. I continued to hear the heavy stomping and thrashing. I was imagining they were angry about something and maybe trying to remove something from their body.

         I wished I had turned off my music, and now I was determined that I would turn it back on shortly after I got away from whatever this animal was. I froze for half a moment to decide if I should stop or keep moving.

         I decided to move as quietly and quickly as I could. Whatever it was it sounded distracted, so I didn’t want to make a lot of sound now and scare it, so I ran fast and hoped I made the right decision.

Once, I got to the gravel road to Trigg Tower I felt better, and I decided I wanted to run as fast as I could for one mile on this road. I am never sure when I will  complete a mile the next day when I run a 24-hour run, so I wanted to be intentional this time and really run at this moment as fast as I could.

         When I made it to Trigg Tower I was at mile 72, now I was finally near the end of this race. I kept doing the math, trying to figure out if this was only going to be a 98-mile race. My dad had retrieved my socks and made it back with all my stuff from the start/finish.

         I changed shoes finally. I had forgotten completely that I had another pair of shoes ready. My dad had to point it out, but my shoes were muddy and had stuff in them. I was getting stung by more bugs, so I was putting on more bug spray.  

         The next section was the part that had caused me problems for the past two years. The first year I went the wrong way because someone got me confused with a 100 K runner. The next year, it was raining so hard that I got turned around multiple times and then ended up having to turn around once, encountering a section that was impossible to cross with the flooding.

         This year, I didn’t take a step for granted. I was awake and paying attention, just focused on making it the 18 miles back to Trigg Tower. The 8 miles from Trigg going towards the finish aren’t so bad, and there is an aid station after only 4 miles. However, the 18 miles from Trigg are the worst on the course. This is where the ground hornets are and all the rocks and stones. This is the section where you must use your hands to climb.

         This is the part where there are 2 aid stations and one water station but only after close to 6 miles for two sections. It never seems that bad looking at it from this perspective. After all, I will go for 20 miles without stopping sometimes, and I go for 13 + miles all the time at Lone Elk Park. It is different when you have been alone for such a long time, and you have been running all day. I couldn’t wait for the sun to come up, but I knew I still had at least 4 more hours of running until it was going to get light again. I hoped that I had mashed potatoes waiting for me at the second aid station.

         When I got there, everyone looked asleep, but I looked over and saw the woman who had helped me before, and she went and got me the mashed potatoes. It felt so good to eat some real food that didn’t feel like it was going to upset my stomach. She told me her brother-in-law was vegan, so she knew what to look for in the mashed potatoes. When I got up to leave, she was surprised that I didn’t stay longer, but I had finished changing my socks, and I was determined to be back on the trail.

         I headed back out, feeling revitalized as I headed towards the water-only aid station that marked the end for me these past two years. It was still dark, but I was starting to think how much the dark was helping by keeping me cool. I even started thinking I should go faster, just so I make it through this 8-mile section before it gets hot.

         I was listening to music and laughing at myself a little for how long everything seemed to be taking. Time was slowing down. I was somehow almost done, and it was still many hours away when I did the math.

         When I made it to the water station, it was starting to get light. I saw the guy who had helped me last year again, so I recorded a short video of him and thanked him again. I didn’t stay long.

         He told me I was in 2nd place. I asked him how far the guy was behind me, but he wasn’t sure. I knew the guy in front of me was a good couple of hours, so he would be finishing soon.

        

         It was just starting to get light, so it was after 6 a.m. I climbed up to one of the prettiest sections of the race. There is a lake below you as you walk on what feels like a ridge at the highest point in the area. I got to see the sunrise there and take a picture.

 

         I made it back to Trigg Tower in what seemed like an eternity, but still, I was happy, and once I hit mile 90, I decided to do a count-down, so every mile I recorded where I was at during that mile.

         A lot of the trail back to Trigg is fine, but near the end, you just have to do a lot of climbing and there is a lot of mud. I walked the hills and tried to stay patient. I was almost to the last 8 miles, and then I could run the rest of the course.

 

         I didn’t stay long at Trigg Tower, but the whole aid station and my dad were cheering me on loudly as I headed back out. I was finally going to do it! Here I was nearing the end. Still, probably close to 2 hours left.

         It wasn’t long until I was at the last aid station, and I asked for bug spray and some Vaseline. I was getting so chafed, and the bugs were driving me insane!

         They kept circling my legs, just going around in circles while I was running. I didn’t want to stop long, but I sprayed myself, got the ointment, and kept moving.  

When I saw the course end and the gravel rail of the campground start, I wanted to cry. I was still moving fast. I wanted this to end, so I was going as fast as I could.

         I saw someone walking on the bridge and wondered how long they had been just ahead of me. They couldn’t have been the person in first because it seemed like someone would have told me if they were slowing down.

         In the last half of a mile, I caught the runner I had seen and passed them, but they were a 100 K runner. I looked down at my watch and realized I was definitely only going to get 98 miles, which I didn’t love, but what are you going to do? I thought I could do a little more, and maybe I will next year, but for now, I decided to stop at the end.

         I kept thinking something might happen, and I would fall, or a tree branch would hit me in the head, but nothing happened. I made it to the finish.

I finished in 27 hours and 28 minutes and 9 seconds.

         The race director was there, and my dad was close and started recording me when I went to go sit down. She gave me the option of taking two 2nd places plaques or one, so I took 2. Why not. I did run it last year as well, and maybe I would have finished 2nd, but I don’t really know.

         My dad let me sit for a little bit, and then we packed up the car and headed out. I told my dad I would need to go to Burger King and get an Impossible Whopper before we went home.

         I is always a little anticlimactic for me when it ends, and part of me wanted to stay and watch the other runners come in, but my dad wants to go, and I need to get back to my family.