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.