About 8 months ago my uncle Dale Humphrey asked me to pace him at the Superior Sawtooth 100 in Minnesota. From what he told me, and what I had heard, it was a tough one. He was planning on moving from Illinois to Ely, MN in the months prior to the race, and would get plenty of time to train on the actual racecourse. I was looking forward to paying him back for being my pacer at the Kettle Moraine 100 mi in June. He was the best pacer anyone could have asked for there.
A month or so prior to the race, I started to get antsy and suggested to Dale that I just sign up for the whole thing, and just run with him the entire way. I had not been training for that race in particular, but have been training for the Arkansas Traveller in October. The terrain that I currently train on is suitable training ground for the Traveller, but would not necessarily prepare me for Superior Sawtooth’s Teeth. I live in the heart of Illinois, where hills are very hard to come by. Luckily I live near a state park where there are a few miles of hilly single track. Nothing comparable to the Superior Hiking Trail. Yet I still wanted to join in the madness. Uncle Dale talked some sense back into me and reminded me that he would need me to be fresh for him for the home stretch, and be able to guide him into the finish line. I came down off the ledge and agreed again to be his pacer.
After accepting my fate, I began to get excited to be able to crew along with my Aunt Peggy and Tom. I kept in mind that I would also be able get out on the course after a while too. The plan was to have his running buddy Tom, who has run 95 marathons and maybe 15 Ultras, pace him from mile 40 to mile 70, then I would finish up pacing him for the last 30 miles to the finish. Tom is admittedly a roadrunner, and has trouble running on technical trails, and in the dark. But Tom is also running the Traveller with Dale and I, so he wanted some time on these trails as well. If not for the training, just for the experience. Same as me.
The race kicked off and we did some sight seeing and coffee drinking prior to making it over to the first aid station (Beaver Bay). I was already jacked up, and the coffee just added to that. I couldn’t sit still, or even sit down. But we sat patiently and waited at the first crewed aid station for him to come in. He eventually did, looking great, and we saw him off and made our way to the next aid station (Silver Bay).
He looked great at Silver Bay as well, and we then made our way to CR6. We would end up waiting here for what seemed like years, but I think it was only about 4-5 hours.
He came in after 6:00 PM, so Tom would be able to start pacing here. Dale looked great as he came in. Tom was just as excited to run as I had been all day, so I was happy to see him finally get out and stretch those legs. Dale and Tom took off back onto the trail and my Aunt Peggy and I drove to the next aid station (Finland) to meet up with them. It had become pitch dark out (Overcast with no moon or stars, and in the forest). Eventually Dale came flying into the aid station without Tom. I panicked and asked what happened, thinking that maybe he was injured. Dale said that the terrain was just so tough and technical that Tom just couldn’t keep up, so he had to leave him behind. I immediately said Ok – I’ll go get my running stuff on. He said No – I can’t have 2 pacers on the course at the same time, so pick me up at the next aid station (Crosby Manitou).
Tom eventually came strolling in and said that he had “Fired himself”. But he tried his best and it was just slow going for him. Like I said, he’s a roadrunner, not a trail runner, and certainly not on that rough of a trail. Tom said that there were so many roots, rocks, and plank crossings (Treated 2 x 6 or 4 x 4 laid out over dips or marshy spots in the forest. These were all very slick from the rain.) that he could never get a good running stride going at all. He was frustrated. I felt bad for him because he just wanted to run and help Dale out. I suppose we’ll both get our fix at the Arkansas Traveller.
So Tom and I drove on to meet up with Dale at the next aid station (Crosby Manitou), where I’d start running. This meant that I was going to get to run 40 miles, instead of 30 as planned. I was excited. I asked one of the aid station workers who has run the course before about what was coming up on this leg. She let me know it would be one of the hardest sections, and that this was usually the section where many people bow out. I began to get nervous and hoped that I could keep a good pace for Dale.
He made his way in at about 1:10 AM and we hit it at 1:15 AM. I was surprised at how technical it was. I would characterize it as rock and root hopping-arama, mixed with the up and down of Super Mario Bros. Let me tell you, through the remainder of the 40 miles that we ran I only took my eyes off the trail once and guess what happened – I slammed my toe into a rock and fell on my face. Luckily it was on a relatively flat section. If that had happened on the section just after Crosby Manitou I would have a compound fracture, or something really nasty like that. I twisted my ankle at least 5 times, and once so hard that I fell down. It seriously hurt, but I had to laugh. The trail was humbling me. All I could do is try to keep running. The pain eventually went away and hasn’t bothered me since.
We passed up quite a few folks over that final 40 miles, maybe 10-13. He and I have this thing where if we see someone ahead of us, we have to catch up and eventually pass them. This keeps us going, and keeps us hungry (As if running for 29 hours doesn’t make one hungry - hahaha). Always looking for the next one to pass. It certainly worked for me at Kettle Moraine where I passed maybe 7 people with about 15 miles to go. I thought we should employ the same tactics here. We did and it worked. We kept pushing for the next runner. Slowly making progress on the field.
Through one section at night we had bats or something comparable (Maybe extremely large moths) dive-bombing and eventually slamming into our faces. We heard wolves in the distance and I was wondering if we were getting closer to them, or if they were way off in the distance. Dale reassured me that they were way off in the distance and that their howl carries easily through the wilderness. He said if they were closer, we’d know it because the hair on our arms and neck would be standing up. HELLO!!
Again, the terrain was tough. The night sky was overcast, so we had no help from the starts or moon, just our headlights and handheld lights. Trying to run through that terrain in the forest at night required all of the concentration I could muster. Always keeping one eye on the ground under foot, and one eye on the next step. We could have run past 100 Bears for all I know. The night sky eventually gave way to the morning sun and we were revived (As much as we could be). What a beautiful day it was for running.
We methodically made our way through the final few sections. No section was “easy”. Each one had it’s own difficult element. Tom kept our spirits up by meeting us at each aid station, along with the wonderful volunteers at each location. They were all awesome. Can’t thank them enough for all of their hard work.
He finished 7th overall and 3rd in his age group in 29 hrs 15 min. Very awesome! What an accomplishment. I would have to say that his results are a clear indication of how hard he trained and prepared for this race. Many people exclaim “WOW – you ran 100 miles!?” and my first thought is always – “Well… yes I did. But I also got up at 4 AM every day to train for the last 6 months and logged 80 miles/week preparing for this race too.” As amazing as the feat of finishing a 100 is, I think the required preparation is just as awe-inspiring, if not more. That’s some major, major dedication.
As far as my pacer skills go (Not to be confused with my Nunchuck skills), I think I need some work. I didn’t talk much, mostly because I was concentrating on the terrain and trying to make sure we didn’t get lost. Dale had to correct me a few times to keep us on the correct trail. I wasn’t doing my job!! Crap…. All I could do is keep running and try to keep up a good pace for him and hope to help him that way. I had hoped to return the favor of his help at Kettle Moraine, where he was a huge help to me for the final 38 miles. I don’t think I quite hit the mark. I didn’t crack jokes and sing songs, or make them up in my head and sing them as we ran like he did, but I hope I helped in some way.
Well, I am certainly glad that Dale asked me to pace him anyways, and that I was able to experience the whole thing. I am also very thankful to Larry, his wife, all of the volunteers, and all of the runners. Without them it would have never happened. Great job everyone!!!
So…. I hope to join in the fun next year, but plan to run the full 102.6. Holy crap, my report might be twice as long!! Haha… I look forward to seeing you all again next year, if not before!
Arkansas Traveller, here I come!
http://www.runarkansas.com/AT100.htmI would also encourage you to read
Christian's Race Report. It's awesome.
