For those of you who want the quick version of how the race went, here it is – I finished in 23 hrs. 23 min, good for 11th place overall out of 123 starters and 5th in my division. Out of the 123 that started, only 37 made it to the finish.
Factors leading to the low finish rate were extreme heat and humidity, and major storms including 4 in. of rain in an hour at one point, and reports of tornados near the Scuppernong Aid Station. You can see some pictures over on the right hand side of this page. Here's a link to the results - http://www.runrace.net/findarace.php?id=08159WI&tab=a4&results=1265
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Here’s the long version
The night before the race I couldn’t relax. I checked into the race around 5 PM Friday night, then went back to Whitewater and had dinner with my parents and oldest daughter Liv, who is 9 years old going on 16. As we sat relatively quietly and ate, Liv broke open the nervous silence with what I thought was the best joke ever “Grandma – Knock Knock!” Grandma replies with the usual “Who’s there?” Liv replies “I Eat Mop” Grandma replies immediately and a little bit loud given the quiet crowd gathered there to eat that night “I Eat Mop Who!?” Liv looks at me, I look at her, and we both start laughing harder than we ever have laughed together. It was priceless. If you didn’t catch that – It comes out as “I Eat My Poo” with a touch of southern accent…. I would have to say that that joke really broke the tension that had built up in me for the last few weeks leading up to this race and set the tone for me to just relax and let it come to me. We all enjoyed a hearty laugh, a hearty meal, and went back to the hotel to do some swimming and get ready to run 100 miles.
Although we broke the tension at dinner, I still had a hard time getting to sleep. I kept remembering this or that and emailing my wife Cortney to see if she could bring it when she came up the next day with our other 2 daughters. I tossed and turned and ended up getting a total of about 4-5 hours of sleep. However, I knew it didn’t matter too much. What mattered was that I was mentally prepared to take a beating for 22-30 hours straight. I felt ready. I felt like I had prepared my crew as well as I could. My crew consisted of my parents Janie and Lee Ming, my brother Nathan Ming and sister in-law Korena Ming and their son, my wife Cortney Ming and 3 daughters, and my Aunt and Uncle Peggy and Dale Humphrey. My Uncle Dale was to be my pacer starting at mile 62. He introduced me to this sport, and has completed many ultras including 2 100 milers himself. He has basically been my coach and mentor over the last year. So I felt comfortable and prepared and felt like I could just forget about all of the small but extremely important ancillary things, and focus on running, because we were prepared.
We arrived at the start just prior to the race briefing at 5:40 AM. I said hello to people I knew including one of my running pals Tom Gladfelter, who was doing volunteer work at this race in preparation for the Vermont 100. Said goodbye my parents, gave Liv a hug and kiss and said see you next time! That would be at the next aid station of course.
Off we went at 6:00 AM, on our way to 100 miles of trail running fun! It was warm and humid even from the outset. I immediately started sweating profusely. I knew early on that this was going to be a tough day. I quickly made my way through the first two aid stations (Tamarack and Bluff) without slowing down much. Making my way through the rocky, tree rooty, twisting, turning single-track hills, I twisted my left ankle hard 4 times on the way out. It never hurt enough to stop running, so I never did and it never bothered me again after the last twist. I kept thinking in my head “What stretch of the trail was it that my friend Carey Smith had said was brutally hot?” I soon found out. After leaving Horseriders Aid Station I eventually entered “The Prarie”. This stretched from roughly Emma Carlin to Highway 67 rest stops (Maybe 7 miles). It was wide-open prairie with the sun beating down, and the heat radiating back up, and not much breeze to help out. I raced through the sunny parts, and walked through the shade. I came upon a few runners that were tossing their cookies. I too felt nauseous, but was able to keep my Perpetuem and Heed down (Throughout the race I took Hammer Anti-Fatigue on the hour, Endurolytes at each Aid Station, new fresh bottle of Perpetuem at almost every Crewed Aid Station, Heed, and water). It must have been 90 degrees and it was only roughly 10:00 AM. I made it into the Highway 67 Aid Station hurting a bit from the sun in the prairie, and the ankle twists. I decided to change shoes here. I changed out of my new 2008 Brooks Cascadias into my old 2007 Cascadias. The old version just seems to fit snugger and therefore less ankle turns hopefully. I also threw my Nathan 2 Liter backpack on with plenty of ice water and filled my bandana with ice. I tied it around my neck and let hang on my back so the melting ice would drip down my back. This would also help in the heat.
I finally made it up to Scuppernong (31 miles and the turn-around for the first leg) around noon. I was on pace for a sub 22 hour finish. I had certainly not planned on going this fast, so I spent some time talking with my crew and relaxing. I think this was a mistake, because as I left, my quads started screaming at me. Little known fact here – My quads are actually Spanish! They were yelling “No Mas! No Mas!” Here I was only at mile 35 or so and as I make my way back through the undulating hills between Scuppernong and Highway 67, and my quads were hurting bad enough that I had to walk the down hills. I had to do something if I was going to finish, and avoid an Ozzie Guillen style rant from my quads.
As I made my way back into Highway 67 Aid Station, I explained to my crew that I was going to need to do something about my quads soon, but had forgotten to pack the Ibuprofen! Ok, I’ll just keep going and deal with it. But, I knew I was heading back into that oven-like Prairie from the Aid Station, so I refilled my backpack with fresh ice and water, filled my bandana with fresh ice, and threw my desert shirt on. My desert shirt is a long-sleeved vented white shirt made for running in extreme heat. My uncle had bought it for me prior to a race last year, but we never had to use it. It sure helped this time. I headed back across this very difficult section of the course more prepared than I had been coming through the first time. The Winston Churchill quote, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” kept going through my head. Even though I had all of these tools to help me get through this section, it was still very difficult. I came upon at least 3 runners who were on all fours puking. Having a real tough time. I asked if I could help each of them and they declined, so I kept hammering through hell. I began to notice dark clouds building off in the distance, and then eventually lightning, and then the sun went away. I was very thankful for this, but was a bit concerned that a major storm was on the way. I shared my concerns with a fellow runner that I came upon and chatted with briefly. She also seemed concerned, but what could we do? Just keep going! So we did….
I made my way into the Highway 67 Aid Station and was happy to see that my full crew was there, including my wife and aunt and uncle who had just arrived. They informed me that there was some nasty weather heading in and there were actually tornado warnings for our area. For some reason this didn’t scare me or even faze me one bit. I took my desert shirt and bandana off since the sun had now been obscured by the storm clouds. I was ready to roll and actually looked forward to a little rain after such a hot leg of the race. As I entered the woods leaving the Aid Station, I started to hear rumbles of thunder and the wind started picking up. I could feel that something was coming. Soon it started to rain lightly, and then slowly increased to a good hard rain. The thunder had now become more frequent and sounded as if it were creeping closer every minute. It had become dark enough to where I thought I might need a flashlight, and it was 4:00 PM! Before I knew it was a full monsoon like I had never been stuck outside in before. I looked back to see a familiar face from the prairie. It was Karen Williams, who I later found out had run in and finished a 350 mile race in Alaska. She said that it was such a bad experience that she hadn't run any races for a few years until this one. The lightning now seemed to be everywhere around us. One time striking within no more than 50 yards away as we nearly hit the deck. We comforted each other and kept moving at a brisk pace through the single track, which had now turned into a full system of little rivers that we ran through. The wind was fierce, the deluge of rain had become freezing cold (I was waiting for the hail to start but it never did), and the footing was treacherous to say the least. The rain had covered up the trail to the point where we couldn’t tell if we were stepping on roots or rocks anymore. The trails were now small streams. We just had to wing it and keep moving. Any sane person would have been frightened and wondered if they are going to live. I, on the other hand, was enjoying every moment of it. I had no worries in the world except not getting hit by lightning, sucked up by a tornado, or crushed by a falling tree. All of which I had no control over because I was stuck in the middle of a forest. So I just ran through it and enjoyed it like a little kid playing in the rain for the first time. Karen and I talked quite a bit and got to know each other’s stories throughout this whole portion of the race. It was a great way to break the monotony of the extremely hot day up, refocus, cool off, and get muddy! What fun! Karen stopped for a break and I made my way into Bluff, where I got to see my crew again. They looked concerned and immediately asked if I was ok. My response was “THAT WAS AWESOME!” We all had a good laugh.
At Bluff Uncle Dale promised that I could have some Ibuprofen at Nordic (62 miles and the point where he joined me as my pacer). In the meantime we sprayed some biofreeze on my quads and I was on my way. One condition from my uncle was that I HAD to start drinking more perpetuem and HAD to start drinking more HEED. I had slowed down my intake in the heat and the storm, and was feeling a bit out of it due to lack of nutrition. I chugged another Ensure Plus and headed for Nordic. The 7.5 miles from Bluff to Nordic was tough. It was getting dark, my quads hurt badly, and it was a mentally difficult part of the race. We were heading back over the same 7.5 miles towards the starting line. At the starting line I would get my pacer and we would head back out over those same 7.5 miles for a 3rd time to get out to the lower half of the course. The hills on this section of the course were like a roller coaster. There were even signs along the trail warning of impending quad killing, undulating hills. I slowly made my way in and saw the leaders passing me going the other way heading back out for the last 38 miles.
It was at this point that a sense of anxiety slipped into my head. Do I really want to keep going if I feel like this now at 60 miles?? Crazy thoughts of sneaking into our van and heading home to sit on the couch and watch the Cubs game, or what the heck, I’d even watch HGTV if it meant I didn’t have to continue this torture. As I came into the Nordic Aid Station, there stood Uncle Dale ready to run, and my friend from the Naperville Running Company, Scott McTurner. Along with the rest of my crew of course. They suggested that I change shoes again and have a look at my feet since I had been running in water for the last 5-6 hours. I sat down and they peeled my shoes and socks off to discover ----- NO BLISTERS except a tiny one on my pinky toe that we would just leave alone. I credit this to applying Desitin (Baby diaper ointment) to my feet prior to the race. A trick my friend Carey Smith informed me of prior to the race. Uncle Dale was astonished that my feet were in such good condition. He proclaimed himself a believer as he and Scott greased my feet back up and put a new dry pair of socks and the now warm and dry 2008 Cascadias back on. My brother had thankfully dried my shoes out with the heater in the truck. I strapped my headlight on and Dale attached my hand flashlight to one of my hand bottles. I took some Ibuprofen and ate some Ramen noodles, fruit, gummy bears, and drank a Coke. Dale and I then hit the trail for the last 38 miles. All of my doubts left my head as I came into Nordic and saw all of the people there to help get me refocused and back on the trail ASAP.
As Dale and I moved down the trail out of Nordic, he asked me how I felt and what time I wanted to do this in. I said, “I feel great now, like a new man! I’m ready to roll again! (Hopefully not my ankle again). I don’t even know where I was at as far as my pace and how I can finish at this point.” Dale said, “Well, do you want to finish in under 22 hrs? If so we need to go this fast. If you want a sub-24 hr finish we need to go this fast” I said, “I came out here with the goal to just finish it. If I can do it in under 22, great! If I can do it in under 24, great! Ultimately, I really want just a sub-24 hour finish. If I can do that, I’d be very happy…” With that he simply said “Let go!” and we picked up the pace heading back to Bluff Aid Station. I felt like a new man. It was getting very dark now and all I could see was the immediate 10 feet around me as we cut our way back through those killer hills on our way back to Bluff. Dale was fresh and ready to rock and roll so we were running pretty hard up and down those killer hills now. I think he was trying to get a feel for how I was feeling, and what I was willing to do. I stayed with him and this set the tone for a great finish for me. Dale knew that I would stick with him like stink on sh**, no matter how fast he ran, or exhausted I was. This fact became apparent at Syllamo, where he tried numerous times to shake me, only to look back and see me still there right behind him.
We made it into Bluff very quickly, grabbed a few items to eat and said a quick “Hey” to my lone crew member (Brother Nathan), who saw us streak by out of the Aid Station. We were on a mission and Dale was leading the way. We made our way to the part of the trail where we split off and headed south towards Highway 12 and Rice Lake. A new section and a new found energy to hit it hard. Through this section we ran hard through the flat spots, ran slow through the tough spots that were very thin trails covered with tall vegetation so you couldn’t see the killer boulders stuck randomly throughout the trail beneath. It was also pitch dark now and felt like we were in a bubble that consisted of only the 10 feet that we could see with our headlights and flashlights. We didn’t stop for long at the Duffin Road Aid Station. It was slow going at times from Duffin Road to Highway 12. It was lots of very tight single track with roots and rocks and twists and turns. Again, it was pitch dark except for my 10 ft bubble of light so this made it even more difficult. The lightning bugs were now pulsating at full power and created a beautiful show throughout the open prairie sections.
Once again, the thunder started to roll in the distance. The Doors song “Riders on the Storm” started playing ion my head. Eventually the wind started to pick up, and as we made our way along the trail we came into one particular area where it was as if we had walked into a sauna. It was as if someone flipped a switch and the temperature increased immediately 10-15 degrees. We both mentioned how odd it was, but kept moving along the nasty single track. We eventually made it out of the woods and into open prairie, where we could see and feel the storm moving ever closer. The night sky was lit up by the pulses of lightning, and it finally let loose again. Heavy rain soaked us to the bone once again. I didn’t mind. I was having fun. I was enjoying the storm. We came across a large snapping turtle on the trail. Must have been 18-24” diameter. We said hello and moved along on our way to Highway 12.
By midnight we had arrived at the Highway 12 Aid Station. We were reunited with our crew again at the aid station. I stuffed all the food that I could into my mouth including some fig newtons, fruit, Endurolytes, Coke, and some more ramen noodles. The next section of the course was billed as the most difficult because it’s extremely rocky, rooty, hilly, twisting, and it will be dark. Now add to that pouring rain. Needless to say, this section was slow going as we fought to stay on our feet and not slip on the large wet rocks and roots that peppered the trail, or the mud that was now becoming more and more mushy and slippery. I took small quick steps as I fought to keep my balance through this difficult section. I was feeling a bit low at this point, but kept thinking of how great I’d feel the next day after having finished. I thought about how other people in this world involuntarily suffer so much more than I was at the time and throughout this race, and if I couldn’t handle it then I was copping out and shouldn’t have even started running in the first place. I thought about the numerous times Dale told me that the human body is capable of so much more than we give it credit for and that it’s really more mental than it is physical. I thought about how this had become a spiritual journey for me because I had to dig deep when I was feeling like I was running through hell, and find a higher power to believe in that would pull me through. I thought all day about the quote from Dean Karnazes “Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must, just don’t give up”. I thought of the smiles on my family's faces as I made it to each aid station, and imagined even bigger smiles and a HUGE celebration at the end as I crossed the finish line. This was the first race of mine that my parents had attended, and first 100 that my wife had been to. So that provided extra motivation for me as well.
Now Dale had to do whatever he could to keep me focused and alert. He started talking back to the bullfrogs that we could hear. There must have been millions of them… He hooted back to the owls, which we decided we should name Pete Townsend (Played guitar for “The Who”). He sang Bobby McGee, “Like a rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan, and a new song he wrote in his head on a whim, and sung to the people we passed along the way called 100 miler. It was set to an Army cadence and went something like this “I don’t know but I’ve been told…. 100 milers got no toes… etc. etc…” I used Liv’s “I Eat Mop” joke on Dale… I was laughing along as he did his best to keep me alert and my spirits up. We made it to the turn around – Rice Lake Aid Station on the far southern end of the course. Grabbed a few things to eat and headed back the way we came, we were now on the home stretch, heading back into the finish.
As we left Rice Lake the rain finally let up, leaving the trails a muddy, mucky, slippery mess. Once again, this didn’t faze me much. Mentally I was feeling ok but was very tired. I caught drool running down my face m ore than once. I started popping the Caffienated Sport Beans like M&Ms. Looking for anything to get me back. Dale was encouraging me, telling me to stay with him (Mentally and physically). Coming back into Highway 12 I apparently looked bad according to my crew. But didn’t waste much time once again, popped any food I could get in my mouth in, and headed on our way. Only 15.5 miles left to go! After we made our way down the trail out of Highway 12 I started to feel better and more alert, and felt like I was going to finish with a good time. But I had to push a little bit. Dale kept his eye on the time and told me to just follow his lead, stay with him, and we’d be just fine. That’s what I did for the next 8 miles as we hit it hard going back to Duffin Road. Although the footing was very bad, and we almost bit it multiple times, we never did as we passed at least 4 people on this return leg back to the finish. I felt like I was on the Dale train and nothing could stop me. I started to feel as if all of my training and time put in getting prepared for this was about to pay off with a sub-24 hr finish. I had a renewed energy and focus and nothing could stop me now. My spirit was sky high, although if you looked at me you might have thought otherwise.
We made it back into the Bluff Road Aid Station for the final time, I downed some more ramen, Ensure, and forget what else, and hit the trail for the final 7.5 miles. I was on top of the world at this point. We did our best to hammer hard to next and final aid station. I was on track for a sub-24 hr finish and would have to crawl slowly to not make it now. All of the very early morning hours spent training, all of the time spent planning, all of the time spent wondering if I had done this right, or that wrong, all rushed back into my head. I had run a pretty good race. I had felt relatively good throughout the entire race. When I did start to wander off into lala land, Dale always reeled me back in. I couldn’t have done so well without him. He was everything and more that one could ask from a pacer.
I ran for most of the final 5 miles through the extremely hilly/rocky trail. As I moved within 1-2 miles I started walking a little and took Dale’s advice to just slow down, take deep breaths, and take it all in. I was just about done. I was pretty overwhelmed just thinking about the whole day and didn’t say too much. With about a half mile left it felt as if someone lit my right toes on fire. Dale suspected that my toenail(s) were coming lose. Whatever… I was done! I made it! I picked up the pace and ran briskly through the finish line. As I crossed the finish line, Scott McTurner was there to greet me again, as well as my wife and the rest of my crew. My daughter Liv was there physically, but not mentally. She had been up all night and was a walking zombie! Also there to greet me was Paul Schoenlaub, who I met and ran with a bit at 3 Days of Syllamo this year. According to eyewitness accounts, I wandered around the finish area afterwards saying, “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do” repeatedly. It was a blur, that’s for sure. Eventually I was presented with my Kettle trophy and we wasted no time getting back to the hotel to get cleaned up and head home.
After a close inspection of the feet it was noted that I had one tiny blister on my pinky toe, and the toenail next to my big toe was black. Nothing more. No chaffing, no toenails came loose. My ankle stopped hurting a long time ago and surprisingly was never really a factor. I have to thank everyone on my crew who spent the entire 23 hrs waiting for me, getting me stuff, and staying up very late. Aunt Peggy, thank you so much for agreeing to help at the last minute by watching the kids as needed, and driving us home! I hope you all enjoyed the experience as much as I did.
Next for me is possibly Leadville 100 mile, Burning River 100 mile, or Arkansas Traveller 100 mile. I’m not sure how the timing will work with the kid’s school and whatnot, so I’m playing it by ear for now. One thing I’m sure of is that I will be pacing for Uncle Dale for the Superior Sawtooth 100 mile in September. I look forward to helping him out as much as he helped me on this one.
So I was sore for 2-3 days afterwards and biked and ran 20 miles yesterday (My first run since the race). Now there’s another story for another day… I’m off to New York for three days for work today. I hope to find some good running there. Happy trails!
