Day 4,069 —Today and Hooray the Huron 100 Part II: the Trail Underwater and to the First Drop-bag!—

 

Today,

Yesterday, I was still a little out of it, napping during different parts of the day but staying up until midnight last night. I am feeling more like myself now. I worked on the write-up all morning. I also started making the video by putting all the footage on my computer and editing some pictures. Sometimes it is so difficult to record any footage during a run or take any pictures. This run I got better footage than I imagined, but several times during the race I thought about recording, but I didn’t. Still, I think this is going to be a great video!

         I thought I would get some good pictures during sunrise, but unfortunately, I was in the woods and didn’t see the sunrise. It slowly got lighter, but I missed any of the usual openings during the sunrise. The end of the race was almost all downhill, and at that point, I was moving fast, so I didn’t want to stop for any reason.

I went out today with my shoes from the race. They were still dirty, but I had knocked them many times to remove all the rocks from inside the shoes. I immediately felt good as I started running and felt like I was moving a lot faster than I was, but my mind was still racing thinking about the race and what was next. I should get a map of the country, so I can start marking all the states where I have completed a 100-mile run. I don’t think I have that many states so far: Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, and Tennessee. I think that’s it. There are still many states close to me that I should prioritize.

         I just went through my 100-mile races to confirm, and I have officially completed 9 100-mile races and 1 200-mile race. Also, 2 additional 100-mile distance runs that didn’t count as races. My fastest time is 19:25:07, and I have placed 2nd twice and 3rd twice. So far, 2025 is my most productive year ever, with already 4 major races completed! I still have a long way to go.

I started working on the videos and writing. I want to buy a map where I can mark which states I have done a race in to make it easier. Right now, I have so many options because of all the states close that I haven’t done a run-in yet. I am thinking Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas as obvious

options to start!

Huron 100 Part II: The Trail Underwater and to the First Drop-bag!

Time of Day: 9-1:07 p.m.

Total Time: 4:07

Miles: 0-24.4

Average Pace: 10:08

         The course started with a 1-mile loop around the park area. The idea was to let everyone spread out before starting to run on the single-track trail. I wanted to run between a 10 and 11-minute pace, but ideally, go at a pace fast enough to get me away from the majority of the other runners. 90 runners started!

         I was standing near the front and went at a quick but comfortable pace and saw at least 5 other runners in front of me. There was one guy pretty close and two other runners not too far away after that. The two guys weren’t carrying a lot of water. One guy just had a 20-ounce handheld. I had 32 ounces to start in my vest, but I had my 20-ounce bottle in the back of my running vest. Also before the start, I drank 20 ounces of water mixed with the Right Stuff electrolyte additive. It was only in the 60s in the morning, but I knew how quickly I could get dehydrated, so I was taking any chances.

I was glad I was wearing my trail shoes because there was so much mud at the start! There weren’t a lot of rocks, but rolling hills through some sections of mud, but overall the hills that I needed to walk felt few and far in between. I was able to keep my momentum through the uphill because there were enough downhills that led to them.

         When I got to the other side, I was glad to be done with it, and it was reassuring to know that was the only one on the course! I wasn’t planning on changing my socks until the first drop-bag aid station at mile 24.4, so I had a while still go to in my wet shoes and socks, but I figured with the sun shining bright it wouldn’t be long until I was dry again. Once I made it to mile 18 at the next aid station, I had some watermelon and filled up all of my hydration. They had a station dedicated to letting runners dry off and change their socks, but the next aid station was the drop bag station, and I was determined to get there and finish roughly the first quarter of this race! One of the aid workers said I was in 5th place overall!

         There was some running by lakes and rivers. There were these long bridges that took you through what seemed like swamp land. At this point, I was running with John, and he encouraged me to switch to my road shoes. He said he wasn’t having any issues with his and they would be faster. He also confirmed his watch was a little off too. We made it to the first drop-bag aid station at the same time. The aid workers took my bottles to fill up, and I quickly dumped out all my running stuff. I thought I might need my headlamp now, but I decided I was pacing fast enough to leave it. I changed shoes and socks and put on my Vaseline on my feet. The Vaseline was almost melted, sitting out in the sun for hours. They had veggie burgers, so I ate one quickly, as well as pounding lots of watermelon. They even offered lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes, but I said no before I even knew what I was saying! I love lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes!

         I was determined not to waste time at the aid station, so once I saw that I was getting close to 10 minutes! I grabbed my burger and ate it as I started to walk down the next section.       

Tomorrow Part III: Slowing Down and just Halfway