Ramapo Mountain Madness 50k -1st Ultra

I ran the Ramapo Mountain Madness 50k today. My first Ultra Marathon. 2007 has deffinitely been my year for running, cause in the last 6 months ive run a 5k, 10k, 15k, Half Marathon, 3 Marathons, and today a 50k. I'm feeling like an Adams.The race temp was 42 degrees at start and raised to about 55 max. It was perfect.It was a very small race, held by YTD lifestyle sneaker company.It was an extremely hard course of very rough terrain and some serious hills. I actually ripped the mesh on my Arnuvos from the rocks.Race was going really well for the first 10 miles, I stayed with the top 5 runners for the first few miles then I dropped a bit back on some of the hills. At about mile 10 I passed one guy and then another at mile 12. It was around that point that 2 runners that were in the front of the pack came running in my direction,they were lost.I showed them the marker on the tree that I just passed to assure them that they were going in the right direction, but they said they ran a half a mile down the trail and all the markers were gone. So I ran back down there with them to see if they missed something, but they were right, The trail was really well marked and all of a sudden there was nothing. Now there was 5 of us all running together back tracking when a friend of mine also in the race came running towards us. I was so glad it was him cause he knows these trails pretty well. So we ran in the direction that he thought the trail should go and within a couple of miles we started to see the trail marking again, alot of them on the floor. Apparently some Hunters or maybe some kids decided to take the markers off the trees. It must of been a disaster for all of the racers after us also. For me it only put me about a mile out of the way. We started off again and I was able to maintain 4th place for the remainder of the race.I finished 4th overall out of 48 people with a time of 4:34, I felt so good today! After mile 20 or so I walked most of the steep hills, and ran everywhere else.After I finished I waited an hour and only 2 other people came across the finish line.Even though the course was so hard, the race seemed to fly by. I think when you run in the mountains you are so focused on watching your footing and the trail markers that it occupies your time so much better then just pounding the pavement for hours. The longest race ive run in the trails prior to this was a 10k. I could see why most Ultras are on trails.I'm probably going to run the Philly Marathon next month.

The Adirondack Marathon 9/07

Hey all, I ran the Adirondack Marathon this morning. I'm pretty happy cause I set PR for myself 3:54 on a pretty hard course. the results arent posted yet, but I think I placed 61st overall and 8th in my age group out of almost 300 racers.(Bib # 247) The whole first half is pretty nice sized hills, but you get rewarded with some down hills also. The second half felt alot tougher for me, cause it seemed like about 10 of the 13 miles was just one never ending up hill stretch. Every time you thought you made it over the top of a hill, there lies another huge stretch of hill, not really too steep, but just really long.Part of me felt like the different elevations helps a bit cause you use different muscles and you are not always pounding at the same flat pace. When the race started, the announcer said it was 36 degrees, it felt a little warmer though. It probably warmed up to high 50's by the half way point, I ate around 4 gel packs and carried my water bottle till around mile 21. When I was at mile 26 I was right behind a guy that looked like he might of been in my age group, so out of nowhere I got this sudden burst and started sprinting to the finish and passed him. As I was sitting on a bench having my chip taken off the guy I passed sat down next to me and said where did that come from? I said I have no idea but I must say Vickie Adams was in my head a bit with the whole age group thing and my wife and kids were there cheering me on.I think I'm ready for a 50k now.

The Self Transcendence Marathon 8/07

Hello all, a little unexpected, but I ran a Marathon today. It was called The Self Transcendence Marathon. It was in Rockland County NY, where I grew up. It was held at Rockland Lake wich is a 3 mile loop around, so you had to circle it almost 9 times.lol.I used to jog around this lake when I was younger, never more than one loop though. I only found out about it a week ago, so I sent a check out and got in just in time. I originally signed on just as a training run for the 50k in Hartford next month, but that has been since cancelled. (So I will be looking for a new event). Anyway, I had no idea what I signed up for, it is a very low key race. It is held by SRI Chinmoy Races. At the beginning of the race everyone ( probably around 800 people) pushed all the way up to the starting line as an old man who could barely walk made his way to a stage. I have no idea who he was, but everyone seemed to be in awe by him. It was so silent that all you could hear was the crickets, and I noticed that some people had there hands together as if they were praying. I immediately wondered what I had gotten involved in, some type of religious cult or something. The old guy started speaking and everybody seemed to understand him but me, Im still not sure if he was speaking a different language or some kind of secret code. Anyway he ended his speach by saying Now Start, and everyone started. I finished in 4:28. I carried my bottle the whole way until the last lap, I dropped it cause it was empty. I took it nice and easy for the first half and actually felt pretty good all the way to around mile 18 or so and then my legs and feet started really feeling all the pounding. I tried to make a conscious effort to shuffle along and not pound so much, but....you know....it still hurts. Around mile 23 the old guy that gave the speach in the begining drove by on a motorized cart surrounded by an entourage of about 8 people. ( I never found out who he was). He was either some religious head, or maybe some type of Yoga Zen Master of some kind.The last lap couple of laps was absolutely all heart pushing me along. I'll tell ya what.....its really hard to run for 4 and a half hours!!My last marathon was just under 4 hours, that extra half hour hurt a lot.

NJ Marathon 4/07 1st Marathon

My First Marathon Race report:Wow...... that was really hard! :o)As usual I set a high goal for myself and started off running with a pacer to finish at 3:30. I stayed with him for most of the first half of the race and clocked 1:44 It was at that point that it suddenly became really hard! I slowly started dropping back for the entire second half of the race. Once the 3:45 pacer passed me I thought it was a good time to change my goal, and decide that ld be happy to just finish at this point. :o). I finished the second half in 2:12 for a total race chip time of.....3:57.29.From mile 17 to mile 26 there was several times when I thought i wasnt going to make it, but I just kept on going as Dean mentions and finally made it to a very glorious finish.
In between mile 12 and 13 I started to feel a little sluggish for the first time in the race. I took a vanilla bean GU out of my shorts pocket as I was coming up to a water station. I never could stomach them, but I knew I would have to get some energy into my body somehow. I squeezed it into my mouth, but nearly gagged on it. I held it in my mouth as I ran up to the guy holding a water cup for me cause I figured I would wash it down with the water. The poor guy handing me the water cup ......to him it must of looked like I was foamimg at the mouth , cause my mouth was opened with this white GU in there and he had a look of terror on his face like he thought I was having a siezure or something.I tried to drink it down but ended up just spitting it all on the floor. This was a good learning experience for me. From now on for me it will only be solid food, maybe Sports beans or Shot blocks or something.Later at mile 18 I grabbed a handful of Gummy Bears and started chewing on them, but at the end of this station there were orange slices that looked amazing so I swollowed about 3 or 4 of the gummy bears whole and grabbed 3 orange slices and wolfed them down!! They were the greatest thing on earth at the time.At about mile 22 when everyone else was turning left......I was in LALA land and kept going straight even though there were cones set up to stear me to the left. If it werent for the guy behind me calling out to me ....hey you're going the wrong way. I was about to run straight through the cones and start my own course.I really had no specific problems at all the entire race other then losing overall energy , legs felt good ( no specific pain) and breathing was good.

Philadelphia Marathon 11/07

The race started at the staircase of The Museum Of Art. Made famous by Rocky's triumphant training run to the top of the stairs. Maybe they were famous before the movie, but I'm sure that is what they are recongnized most for now as you see hundreds of people run up to the top and raise their hands in the air when they make it up. My wife told me that during the race the announcer for the race held a run to the top and they blasted the theme music to Rocky and hundreds of people all ran up the stairs.The starting line for the race was a sea of people as far as you can see. They start the half and the full marathons together so I think there was about 12 to 15 thousand people total. The largest race I've run in yet.My plan was to run w/ the 3:40 pacers. The roads were so crowded with runners that it wasn't easy staying with the pace group so I found myself fading back a bit and continuosly dodging slower runners just to keep the same pace. My first mile was 9 minutes and I still had the pacer in my sights but I knew I had to start making up some ground. I learned quick that if you wanted to move faster you needed to stay to the sides of the streets as opposed to running down the middle where it was always jammed up. It was around mile 7 or 8 when I finally caught up with the pacer but the roads were still packed with runners. I was starting to wonder if it was going to ever thin out. At around mile 10 I unintentionaly started pulling away from the pace group and pulled a little further ahead of them for the next few miles. At one point I turned back to see where the pacer was (they carried balloons) and I couldn't see them at all, and I was about 2 minutes ahead of where I should of been. At about mile 17 the people were thinning out and I was starting to feel a little fatigued. I think I was keeping my original pace, but I deffinitely wasn't gaining any ground on the 3:40 group at this point. At mile 18 I took my 2.99 knit gloves off and ditched them to the side of the road. It was like 40 degrees and a little windy I think. At around mile 19 I was starting to question my ability to keep pace and mile 20 I was deffinitely feeling like it would be almost impossible. I had eaten around 3 gels since the start and did not have the stomach for anymore. I forced another one down just cause I could feel the energy leaving my body, but it didn't seem to really help much. At mile 21 my pace group that I had a lead on earlier was coming up behind me. I could hear the pacer yelling behind me "cmon 3:40's, keep it up you're doing great". I said ok, I will try to run with them for the rest of the way, but it was wierd, my legs just could move that fast anymore! I stayed with them for a few moments and the watched them slowly pull away in to the distance. Mile 23 was my slowest mile yet, I wouldn't be suprised if it was a 10 minute pace. Mile 24 to 25 felt like an eternity!! I was convinced that they did not measure this mile correctly at all, until I reached the mile 25 marker. Mile 25 to the end of the race was the most trying thing I have done since I've been running so far. So many questions were running through my head like, How bad do I want this? How important is this to me? Should I just stop and walk? Will I ever run another Marathon again? Can I possibly pull the last 1.2 miles out in under 10 minutes wich is what I needed to do to come in under 3:45. I put my head down, staired at the ground and pushed as hard as I could until I had the finish line in my sights! I knew now that they probably had mile 24 marked just fine cause the last mile felt even longer.The theme to Rocky playing when I crossed the finish line, my wife waiting there with a big smile on her face, and all I could think of was "Thank God its over".I wrapped a thermal blanket around me as fast as I could, cause within a minute of my finish my body temerature must of been dangerously low, my teeth were literally chattering together and my body was shaking like crazy.I went in the tent real fast and drank some orange juice, but didn't have the stomach to eat anything yet. I hooked up w/ my wife and we had about a mile walk to the parking garage with no time to waste cause I had to be at my youngest sons last soccer game of the year back in NJ. ( 2 hour drive). It was the coldest walk that I have ever had to do and you know I wasn't moving very fast at all.On the way home I was suddenly STARVING! We made one stop at what might of been the best Italian Deli I've ever been in. I ordered a Ham and Swiss hero w/ lettuce tomato and mayo and I think it might go down as the greatest thing I've ever eaten in my life!At one point in the car, I had my seat pushed all the way back and my wife was driving ofcourse, I stretched my legs out and my calf locked up and some wierd lump popped up out of it like there was an Alien trying to brake free from inside. My yell scared the heck out of my wife and she nearly drove off the road. I immediatly grabbed it, put pressure on it, and started rubbing it until the lump went back down. I'm still not really sure what that was all about but I'm fine today. It was an amazing race.

Pocono Marathon 5/08

I was able to start running pretty strong this week for the first time since my 50 miler 3 weeks ago. So I made a last minute decision on saturday night to run the Pocono Marathon in PA this morning. I felt the need to answer that question again.....Whats wrong? Boredom and my addiction were calling me.
It was a point to point marathon , a first for me. Touted as a downhill race,....part of the reason I convinced myself to try it. I was a bit nervous about how I would do since I've only been back running for a week now, 3 times, and 8 miles the longest.I'll try to make this a quick report.I felt really good for the first 16 miles or so and then I started to feel the pain come back into my legs from 2 weeks ago. There was a lot more up hills then the website made it seem and thank goodness because the downhills were killing my knees. With every step I had shooting pain through both my knees and my pulled right quad that I thought was healed was now back. My pace slowed from 8min, to 9 min, to 10 min, and I was able to suffer through the pain keeping the 10 min pace through the last 6 miles or so. I finished in 3:49. I havent seen the results, so I'm not sure of my placement yet. This was one of the harder races for me. I did jump in an ice bath as soon as I got home, and I am actually feeling pretty good right now as long as I dont get up.

Philadelphia Marathon 11/08

Philly 2008This was my 9th Marathon(including 2 Ultras) since starting in May 2007.It was 27 degrees with some wind at race start. I decided to wear shorts, a long sleeve NF baselayer shirt, one short sleeve shirt over it, gloves and a hat. I wore a ratty old sweatshirt at the starting line that I ditched right before the start. I followed one of Hal Higdons training plans for this race and it worked out great. I really recommend it. If you work full time it's a great plan because the workouts during the week are really hard, but not time consuming, and then most of your miles come on the weekend.They broke the race up into different time starts this year because last year it got way to clustered at the first few drink stations. I was in the first group that started at 7:04am.I wore my Nathan fuel belt that holds 2, 10oz bottles and I stuffed 5 gels in the pouch, plus 1 in my shorts pocket. (Mostly GU Vanilla Bean and a couple of GU Octanes).One bottle had gatorade and one water. I ran the first half of the race exactly like I wanted to. I keep my Garmin on a mile lap, so I can see how fast I'm clocking each mile. I maintained just under an 8 min pace easily for 13 miles. The race splits at this point, the Half Marathoners cross the finish line and the full obviously keep going in the opposite direction. A large portion of the second half is run on a highway along a river, so it was windier and colder. The drink stations on this open road all had ice on the ground from all of the dropped water. The volunteers were all great about warning everyone, but you had to go slow or you could of easily wiped out. Next year some salt at each station might be a good idea. (Only one station had salt on sunday).I continued to feel great all the way to mile 20 before I started feeling a little tired. My mile 20 came in at 8:15, which I wasnt happy about. I knew that if I was gonna hit my goal I couldnt start dying so soon. I regrouped, had a talk with myself and pushed out an 8:05 mile 21 and another 8:05 mile 22. Then my mental struggles really began on mile 23, I was happy though because I still felt good enough to push pretty hard, but I just didnt have enough in the tank to maintain that earlier pace and get that negative split. my slowest mile was 25 at 8:38 and my last mile was 8:23 and I finished pretty strong with my hands in the air knowing that I beat my PR by more than 10 minutes. I guess I let to many miles go just over that 8 min mark cause I ended with a 8:09 pace average for the race.After the race I was wondering how bad I really wanted to Qualify for Boston. Training for this race was really hard, not to mention all of the pain and struggle in those last 4 miles. Knowing that I need another 14 minutes off my time was very disouraging to me.Proving that the pain was only temporary, I was looking for a good Boston Qualifier the very next day to run in the spring.It might be the NJ Marathon on May 3rd 2009. It would be fitting, since that was my first ever Marathon in 2007. My wife finished her first Half Marathon also on Sunday. 2:06.She loved it and had a great time, but said she might not do it again until we go back to Philly. For her, I think the mental build up you go through leading up to a big race messes with her head too much and causes her some anxiety.
I can't go without mentioning how great the spectators are in this race!! It was below freezing and the streets were filled with cheering crowds. It's such a great race to run. Thanks to everyone on the blog for your positive support and thoughts, and all of the motivation you provide.

The Self Transcendence Marathon 8/08

The Self-Transcendence Marathon report;a.k.a- The seaweed marathon, cause they serve little dixie cups of seaweed on the course. (Funny that you remembered that John).This was my second year running this Marathon, Its in Rockland County NY where I grew up. A 3 mile loop around a beautiful lake that you have to run 9 times. A 7am friday morning start. The temp started very nice, probably 70 degrees. I met David from the blog near the starting line, a real nice guy from Brooklyn NY, we spoke briefly and I introduced him to a friend that was running the race w/ me and Marybeth who was there for support and to man the cooler. She ended up not being a great person to be in charge of the cooler because she just wanted to run herself. She ended up doing 3 loops (9 miles) and I ended up stopping and flling my bottles my self at an unmanned cooler. lol, I actually thought it was great, I would rather her be running than handing me off drinks. She wasnt even at the finish line at the end cause she was still running. lolWhen I ran this Marathon last year and I really struggled finishing in 4:29, my slowest time from all the Marathons I've run. This makes 6, not including 2 Ultras dating back to last April.I've been in a bad habit of going out too strong ( Just like Spurgeon mentions) so this Marathon I wanted to be very calculated because I really wanted redemption from last years time. I started at an 8:30 pace and really felt like I would be able to maintain this for the whole race. It would be a PR for me if I did. I was knocking off the miles like clockwork, checking my Garmin every few minutes to make sure I was staying on pace. For the first 19 miles I was right on it, every mile was right on the money. At mile 20, I was starting to feel the heat from the Sun beaming down on me, the temp had jumped up and it was much hotter then at the start. I clocked this mile at about 8:50 and here is how the last 6 miles looked;21- 9:1322- 9:3023- 9:3824- 10:1625- 9:5026- 9:54I keep my Garmin on a one mile lap count so I can see each miles pace.I ended up finishing in 3:55..... so much for pacing myself. lolI fueled myself pretty good in this race, I ate 4 GU packs the last one being the new Roctane GU which seemed like it helped if you look at the difference from mile 24 to the last 2 miles. I have to say, I feel really good about this race. I improved over a half hour from last years time and as Dean mentions in his book, When you give it your all in a race, I mean 100% pusing through agony, no matter what the time at the end, You feel great knowing that you left it all on the course. I cheered my wife running back from her 9 mile run, and we walked over to the finish line and cheered my buddy and David come in also. The heat was deffinitely getting alot of people, August in NY is always tough.The results just came up this morning, I place 87th out of 398 people.Great race, great day.

Bear Mountain 50 miler 4/08

The Northface Endurance Challenge Bear Mountain NY.. 50 mile report:My wife and I arrived at Bear Mountain at 4am. She was volunteering and was assigned to the 1st Aid station from 4:30am to 11:30am. She had a scary 4 wheel ride up the mountain in a park utility vehicle in the dark. ( Some of you might of seen her, she was the only female at that 1st station).After she headed up the Mountain, I drove to the local 24 hour gas station for a cup of coffee. I got back to the park at 4:45 and I'm all set. I looked around for Dean but couldnt find him. I hit the porta potty for the last time and was ready to start my first 50 mile Ultra. As I'm standing at the starting line I hear the announcer say " If you don't have your timing chip yet, you have one minute before we start". Well.... Guess what? I realized for the first time that I don't have my timing chip!! In a panic I run over to the booth and grab one and as I am hooking it to my laces the race starts. I make It across the starting line just as the last person is crossing the mat.I've never ran a race that they didnt give you the timing chip at the same time that you pick up your packet. I picked up my packet for this race the night prior and didnt even realize that you had to get your timing chip the next morning, so I forgot all about it.Anyway, off I went. The temp was probably in the 40's and it was a slight drizzle.Sports bottle in hand and fanny belt around my waste filled with 4 packs worth of cliff blocks that I took out of the packages earlier and moved them into a snacksize ziploc so I didnt have to worry about the empty wrappers.The first 2 miles of the race was slightly up hill and rocky terrain but since I had run this part of the course before I knew this was the easy portion of this killer first section. So I pick up my pace for the first 2 miles and pass a large portion of the runners.Right before we hit the serious climb it started downpouring. I mean just about as hard as it could rain, followed by lightening that lit up the whole mountain. When the lightening struck it was really the only time that you could see where you were going, because the headlamps were barely able to shine through the pouring rain and fog.By the time I made it to the first aid station where my wife was the rain broke and the daylight was starting to shine through the trees. I had slipped a half a dozen times and completely went down about 3 times.I took off my soaked long sleeve shirt and gave it to my wife along with my headlamp and put back on a t-shirt and visor. She filled my bottle with blue accelerade, I kissed her and headed out.I learned in this race that it is extremely important in an Ultra marathon that each aid station signs you in or you could be disqualified.I reach into my pack as I leave this station and chew down my first few pcs of cliff blocks (strawberry).About a mile after leaving the first station there in the middle of the woods is a fully dressed fireman standing all by himself. Helmet, jacket and the works. If it was later in the race I would of thought for sure it was a mirage.He said, " This is where the dangerous descent starts, so be careful". I welcomed any descent, even the dangerous ones cause the climb ups were so hard and often. So now I run for another mile or 2 further uphill before we get to the dangerous descent he mentioned.He was a little off, but I appreciated the warning and the random fireman sighting. My wife told me later that he was a rescue ems worker not a fireman.Before hitting the second Aid station you have to cross a major parkway with cars moving around 65 mph in the fog. There was a policeman to guide the runners across the street safely.I hit the second aid station feeling pretty good and out of accelerade.I filled my bottle with Accelerade again and I must say, every aid station throughout the race had ice cold Accelerade and water. They offered me food, but I was still good with my cliff blocks and accelerade.Took off to the next Aid station wich represented the first hard cutoff of the day. Meaning if you were not at this 3rd aid station within 4 hours and 10 minutes of the start you would be pulled from the race. I knew I was in pretty good shape so I didnt sweat it to much. Although this section had some serious climbs, cause I kept thinking "Wow it's just non stop climbing for the first 3 sections". Seemed like there was no letting up.I arrived to the 3rd checkpoint in 3 hours and 50 minutes, 20 minutes under the cutoff. Thats when I started to realize that some people were going to be in trouble, cause there was still racers behind me and I only made it by 20 minutes. My accelerade was finished when I arrived at this station and I was starting to notice that the one bottle of accelerade wasnt really doing it. So I decided to spend a few minutes at this station and just drink some cold water and accelerade. I tried eating a bit but wasnt really in the mood for anything, so I sucked down a few oranges and threw a few skittles in my mouth but the skittles were hard so I spit them back out. The volunteers filled me up again with accelerade and I was off.This section is where the 50k and the 50 milers split. So now instead of following blue and white ribbons, it was just white and much harder to see. So ofcourse I was a couple of miles in and all of a sudden didnt see any more flags. I turned back to see if I missed any and a runner was heading in my direction so I assumed I was ok. I let him pass me and he suddenly turned around and asked me if we were going the right way. I said oh crap, I guess not. So we turned around and found our missed turn around 200 yards back. We start running together and he says to me, " I think we are close to the next aid station". I didnt think we were, but I really hoped he was right. I slowly pulled away from him and of course it was another 40 minutes before the next aid station came, I was starting to wonder if I missed it because his innocent comment totally phsyched me out. I never saw that runner again.I'm now at the fourth aid station (mile 21) and have already been going for over 5 hours. Some negative thoughts started creeping into my head at this point cause I was really hurting and I wasnt even half way. I started thinking about the people on the blog and the advise that Heather gave to me a while back about how you will go through really hard points but then you just start over and keep going.The amazing volunteers filled my bottle and I once again tried to drink as much as I could while I was there cause I didnt feel like the one bottle was enough. I drank a little chicken soup, and took a few bites of a pb&j. I probably wasnt fueling myself as much as I should of been at this point but I was sucking down tons of accelerade and it seemed to keep me going. I was also on my 4th serving of cliff shots. This next section was a tough one because I knew the next station was the half way point (mile 26) and I had my only drop bag of the race waiting for me there.I stopped to pee along the way and got a bit nervous of how dark my pee was. I guess you can't expect it to be clear at this point, but I was starting to worry that I was dehydrating. 30 min later I had to pee again, but this time when I stopped to pee... nothing came out. So now, I'm like...."Great, I've run out of pee.".At this point my mind is starting to mess with me and I am trying to stay focused on continuing forward. I remember Dean saying to just focus from one Aid station to the next and when thats too far, pick a spot at the end of the trail a run to it, and then pick another spot, and so on. ( I heard it somewhere, I think it was Dean)So I did that all the way to the 5th aid station and it got me there.I was 6:45 in now and made it half way and am dangerously flirting with the cutoffs at this point.This was the station that I really came to realize the amazing appreciation that an ultra runner has for the volunteers at these stations. These guys were amazing, totally making me feel great and catering to everything that I needed. The thing they told me that made me feel really good was that I had alot more people behind me then in front of me.I was like wow! Cause I was flirting with the cutoffs already, so unless they all pick up there pace none of the runners behind me will make it.I went through my bag and grabbed a new shirt, my I-pod, some Margarita flavored (extra salt) Cliff shots and my second sports bottle, so now I would carry 2 bottles for the remainder of the race. These guys were asking me how my feet were and totally pushing me to eat and drink. My feet were feeling pretty good, Smart Wool socks and my Rucky Chucky sneaks held up amazingly.I ate some chicken soup, pb&j, and drank some mountain dew. They asked if I wanted some advil but I had no pain serious enough to start taking Advil. They even cleaned up my gear for me cause I basically dumped my bag out on the floor. They even put my sweaty shirt back in the bag cause I just left it wherever I took it off. Those guys from the Grove rd Station were awesome. ( They were all runners they told me).Now I feel like a new man! I have 2 bottles now, my music, a full stomach, and I'm more than half way! I start back up a very steep incline and about a half a mile from the station I pass 3 runners who are not to far behind me heading down to the Aid station that I just left. I wave to them and start running.The next section went by smoothly, a rather large black snake did slither right across my trail but wasnt interested in me at all. This was the longest stretch of the race between aid stations. I think it was 6.7 miles.This is when things got a little interesting for me, I pulled into the 6th aid station, wich is one station away from the second hard cutoff.You have to make it to the 7th aid in 10.5 hours and when I pulled into this 6th station I knew I was pushing it close but still on track.The Volunteers at this station told me that I need not worry about the cutoffs anymore because they extended them! I was running in 19th place right now and if they didnt extend it more then half the racers wouldnt make the cutoff.So my exact words were, "well I guess I can spend some more time here and eat some food and drink some more". I was dipping apple slices and cut up pb&j sandwiches into a bowl of salt and forcing them down, talking to the volunteers, and answering questions. I head out to what was once the next hard cutoff at a very relaxed pace. At about 10 hours and 20 minutes a guy comes walking towards me on the trail, carrying signs and says " Do you realize that you only have 10 minutes to make it to the next aid station or they are taking you off the course. I said, "No they just told me at the last Aid station that the cutoffs were extended.". He in turn says, "nope, that was wrong info, you will be cutoff!". So now I freak out in what was my only moment in the entire race that I wasnt having fun, and I start sprinting to the next station even though I have no idea how far I am from it and I have already run atleast 38 miles at this point. I've never pushed myself so hard as I did right at this moment, I'm looking at my watch and the time is ticking away and all I see is never ending trails! No sign of an Aid station at all! I look up ahead and I finally see a woman with dreadlocks standing all by herself at the bottom of a hill that I would now have to climb with only 4 minutes left on my watch. She says to me, " I'ts right over the Hill." I start running as hard as I could up the hill and the volunteers were all clapping and cheering and informed me that I was the last person to make the cutoff and to be allowed to continue in the race cause they are now closing the Aid station.Holy Crap! I probably spent too much time at this station, but I was so shocked at the series of events that just took place.I tried to drink and eat a bit but now I know I have only 2:20 to finish the last 10 miles of the race. I know that doesnt seem so tough, but on this course you never know when you are going to hit a hill that slows your pace to a 25 min per mile pace cause you are nearly climbing using your arms and legs.I make it to the last Aid station with 55 minutes to finish the race.It's a short portion, but I've run it before and I knew there was some hills that would slow me down.I ran as hard as I could whenever I could, and tried to walk as fast a I can on any steep hills. Sometimes the hill ends but you catch yourself still walking and you have to force yourself to get your ass moving again.I kept telling myself that I didnt come this far to miss the cutoff by 5 minutes so I pushed, and pushed. About a half of a mile from the finish line I actually passed a runner, it took me a minute to realize that he was part of my race, but I just kept going and never looked back.I ran across the finish line in 12 hours and 51 minutes, 9 minutes under the cutoff.According to the results online, 65 people started the race and only 19 people made the cutoffs. I placed 18th.There were points in the race that I had to clip my Nathan water bottles around my fanny belt cause I needed my hands to climb up or down some serious inclines.I drank approximately over 200 ounces of Accelerade. Northface did a great job, and gave a generous bag of goodies and a nice finishers medal.
2 days later, I can barely move my legs but I'm still basking in my Glory and feeling as proud of my self as I've ever felt.