Day 4,536— It Feels Like Saturday— (update for Sunday's Run)

 

        I didn’t go to bed on Saturday because I spent the day nervously waiting for my drop bag to be returned to Olympian Hall. The workers seemed skeptical that it would happen today in the first place. I made it back to my tent sometime around 4 a.m.

        I made it to Olympian Hall at 3:28 a.m., which means it took me 14 hours and 28 minutes to run 51.2 miles. The cut-off had to be 15 hours because the race cut-off time was 30 hours. I made it to 50 miles a little past 14 hours, so I knew I was currently running close to a 28-hour pace. I would have likely finished the race in 28 hours. Not many people can run a 100-mile in even splits, but I had before, and the way this one was going, the first 20 miles worked against my weakness, while what I saw later in the race worked to my strengths. I was already passing people, and I passed a huge group of runners going the opposite way on the way to Olympian Hall; they were struggling, so I knew it wouldn’t be long before I was passing groups of them. I had just run a 12-minute mile and was finally finding my groove. I rushed to get everything ready at Olympian Hall before I was told I missed the cutoff time. I took about 15 minutes to change my socks and gloves and get something to drink, but I was moving as fast as I could, and when I told the lady my number, she just said I missed the cutoff. I asked her by how much, and she told me the cutoff was 2:30 a.m. I asked her what time it was because I was trying to process it. She didn’t say anything at first. I asked again if I was close, and someone said it was 3:40 a.m. I was stunned, and I didn’t know what to do. I walked back into the aid station, found my drop bag, went into the hallway, found a chair, and sat down.

        It took me a moment to think through the situation practically. I first looked up the manual to confirm the cutoff was 2:30 a.m., but the next cutoff was 61 miles at 7:30 a.m., and I could run 10 miles in 4 hours. If they let me leave now, I could make the next cutoff time!!