I'm of the opinion that life is meant to be lived passionately. So find your passion, whatever it is, and go after it. Unless you've been under a rock you know one of my passions is running. I'm constantly finding ways to push myself. When it comes to running I've failed more times than I can count... that's what I love about it... the next day I put on my shoes and go after it again. To date I've run over 100 races, mostly distances ranging from a 5K to a marathon. But on December 20th I decided to take on a new challenge, a 50 mile trail race. Yes, 5 - 0, 50! What was I thinking?! Before this race the longest distance I've ever run has been a marathon and the longest time has been 4 hours. This was an event that would surely challenge me both physically and mentally. Can my 1 mile at a time mantra hold up to 50 miles and 10+ hours of mountainous trails and terrain? Walk or run with me as I give you a recap of the days event from an aid station to aid station point of view.
The StartRace time was 7:30AM on the top of Lookout Mountain at Covenant College. I met up with my running buddies to pick up my race packet and drop my support bags. As the fog lifted the realization that I'm about to go on a day's journey through a mountain started to set in. I calmed my nerves by just focusing on the fact that the number one priority was to enjoy it, finish, and not die... not necessarily in that order. We gathered in the start shoot, took some pre-race photos, and then BOOM... we were off.
Craven's House
Craven house was the first aid station, 6.3 miles out. The run was both exhilarating and scary at the same time as the trail was mostly a single track along the side of the mountain. One misstep and I would've made the news. Even though my life was literally hinging on whether I was a klutz or not the views were AMAZING. I truly understand the appeal of trail running as you have the opportunity to get back to nature and enjoy views that are lost on todays world. After about 2 hours into the race I reached Craven house where I refilled my water bottle, chatted with the volunteers, and pressed forward to the nature center aid station.
Nature Center
The Nature Center aid station is about 14.8-15 miles out from the start. So far the first two aid stations where awesome. The volunteers really took care of us. PBJ, trail mix, coke, and other assortment of snacks. If I didn't have another 35 miles to run I would've pulled up a chair. As I was getting my snacks another runner came in and said he nearly fell off the mountain and that the only thing that saved him was a bunch of branches and bushes. Holy &^%*$!!! [INNER conversation with self] Shake it off Big Rome focus on you and get the heck out of here alive and in one piece.
After talking with one of the volunteers about the distance I realized my Garmin was useless. My watch had me at 13 miles, but this was mile 15. This is when I remembered my veteran ultra friends telling me GPS readings are off on the trails. For the rest of the way I just went by feel, using my watch to manage my nutrition and hydration.
Covenant College
Back to the start/finish line. At this point in the race I've run a total of 22.5 miles and still holding strong, I'm about 4 hours into the race. I see Molly and ask her to take my photo. She snaps it and then tells me "No more pictures, you've got a race, keep moving!". I smile and say ok and go get my first drop bag. Take my tomato juice, 5 hour energy, and a Cliff Bar.... remembering Brooke's
Lulu Lake
29.9 miles out... this last 7+ miles was something. It marked the point where I began to run the farthest I had ever run. I tried to put it out of my head because I didn't want to dwell on the fact that I was near 30 miles in with 20 more miles to go. I knew that would've been too much to process. I kept pressing forward until I came to a blue rope. What the heck... guess I'm a mountain man now. Grabbed the rope and skirted down the mountain and headed to the Lulu Lake aid station. Coke, coke, coke... I need some coke. Oh you've got noodles? I'll take that and a PBJ too. Thanks! I stopped by the falls for a quick picture then headed to the next mountain man challenge... more ropes to pull myself up the mountain towards Eagle Cliff. This area overlooked Chattanooga and was truly a beautiful site. Took another picture... sorry Molly. :-)
Long Branch Loop 1
On the way to this aid station we went through parts of the trail where a tornado hit a few years back. It was pretty torn up with trees all over the place. I remembered thinking to myself, 'It feels like I'm running through middle earth (Lord of the Rings reference)'. During this part is where I started to see the leaders starting to make their way back. They looked pretty fresh. I started wondering how the others were doing. As I got closer to the aid station I saw Kevin, then Brooke, and further down John. They all looked great heading back. At this point I was on the road and was able to open my stride a bit. I saw Molly and Annie. Was good to see them for a bit. This aid station was a 2 for 1 as it was both mile 34 and 38. I stopped for a quick drink of coke, refilled my water bottle and headed out for the 4 mile loop.
Long Branch Loop 2
One hour later I returned to the aid station. What the heck?!?! You sure that was 4 miles?!!! No time to waste... it was getting late in the day and I remembered Brooke telling me to get back to Lulu Lake before it got dark. I grabbed my drop bag, replenished, and put on my head lamp. Headed back towards Eagle Cliff.
At this point I had been running for 8+ hours. Wasn't tired, but I knew I couldn't stand still for long. So, I focused on moving forward, breathing, and getting back to the falls. Eagle Cliff seemed to be a long meandering hike back. The trail was long and the rocks and roots weren't very kind as they began to take a toll on me. Keep running!
Made it back to the rope to climb back down the mountain. It was very steep and at this point I really took my time. I could hear people behind me, but they were just going to have to wait. It seemed like it took hours to make my way down. Finally made it back down. Ran past the falls to the last aid station. Quickly downed some soup and headed back toward the trail. I asked the volunteer how much further... 7 miles. Yes! I can do 7... easy!
Ahhh... but that's when someone turned the lights out... it got
dark fast!!! I'm in the woods with a headlamp and its pitch dark. Ummm, mom, dad??? At this point these 7 miles was all about just trying to survive. Met up with a few other runners. One had a safety runner with them. I made sure to stay with them for the rest of the way. When they ran, I ran, when they walked, I walked. Every twist and turn we were our own rag tag bunch trying desperately to make the cut off. Even though we all had headlamps it was still pretty hard to see. We veered off course a bit but one guy quickly realized we needed to adjust. We ended up having to cross a mud patch and a creek but it didn't slow us down. We all had the same goal... finish before the cut off.Once we got to the power lines we knew we were in the home stretch. We passed one runner that was adjusting his lamp... he told us we were about 20 minutes from the finish, go down a make a right. Pop quiz: What happens when you've been running for 11+ hours and ready to be done? You miss a turn! Yep... we missed the turn and came to a fork. We all stop and look at each other... You've got to be kidding. No time to spare we're scrambling trying to make it to the finish. We retrace our steps and find the flags we missed and start humping it. It was a pretty ugly hump, but we're moving.
Covenant CollegeAt this point I could hear the sound from the race announcer as he's calling off people's name. We're close! Whew! We're going to make it! I see the lights and begin to get a bit of a bounce in my step. We start trotting (no racing after 12 hours) toward the finish line. Hear the race announcer call my name as I finish. A kid puts the medal around my neck and gives me something, which I couldn't process at the time, as I was grabbing him. I see my running buddies at the finish. We high five, hug, laugh a bit. They ask me if I'm hungry... heck yeah!
Post Mortem
As I'm in the tent getting warm, eating, and recapping the days event... I reflect on what just happened. Running is truly an adventure. I participated in an event where I couldn't rely on speed to get me through it... it was nothing but pure endurance, mental focus, and the will of God that carried me through. I enjoyed the experience. Whatever you do, do it with passion. Never be afraid to fail. Keep Running!!
Bonus Coverage - Videos
Aid Station 1 - http://youtu.be/HvBXfAaPVlc
Aid Station 2 - http://youtu.be/CSlQZuXnatQ?list=UU9APCu6zx_MABTD6sDTuTvw
