I met Matt in 2002 which was my sophomore and his freshman year of high school
I met Kristen, Devon and Carrie in 2005, my first year of college at VT
I met Steve in 2007 through competing with, and losing to him in many triathlons
I met Brett in the fall of 2013, when he joined the VT ultra team
I met Trevor in March of 2014 at Terrapin Mtn 50k after he found out he was moving to Blacksburg to teach
I met Kate in May of 2014, while spectating a triathlon that Steve was racing
...and somehow at a little after 2pm on Saturday, October 4th, I found myself surrounded by these 8 people who, by seemingly random events, I met and became friends with over the years. For that I am grateful.
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| These guys (and gals). What more could you ask for? |
The word ‘blessed’ seems overused in our society. People say that they are blessed because their favorite TV show came back on, or the pair of jeans they wanted to buy just went on sale, or their cell phone didn’t die when they dropped it in the toilet. Yeah. Anyways, the folks mentioned above continue to show me that the relationships you build, friendships you develop and adventures you go on together are really much more important than a lot of things we worry ourselves about on a day to day basis.
When Clark and Horton announced that they would be putting on Grindstone 100 back in 2008, I literally took one look at the elevation profile, laughed and immediately went back to worrying about how I was going to make my triathlon bike more aero. I had run a bunch of 50k’s, 50 milers and even Hellgate a couple times but I had zero desire to touch Grindstone. It was too crazy, too long and too hard I told myself. And that was that.
2011 was an exciting year. I was in grad school working towards my doctorate, getting ready to get married and was running stronger than ever. I had set PR’s at every distance from 1 mile to 50 miles in a seven month span and was feeling great about my running. Then Steve convinced me to do Grindstone, meaning, he bought my entry into the race as a wedding present. To put it nicely, that was the worst idea I have ever had: I was not prepared, made many stupid mistakes and barely made it to the finish. When I crossed the line in 2011, Clark told me to my face that he had thought I was not going to finish base on how slowly I was moving in the last 20-30 miles. I never wrote a race report for Grindstone 2011....and quickly moved on.
In 2013, after moving back to Blacksburg and catching the ultra-bug again from all the young guns on the VT ultra team, I decided to give Grindstone another go. I trained hard all summer and we all know how that ended: with a government shutdown that forced the race to be cancelled.
Fast forward to fall 2014. I had another great summer of training under my belt thanks to my guys (and gals) on the VT Ultra team. I had snagged my first ‘W’ at Iron Mountain 50 which was a solid affirmation on how my training was going.
Going into Grindstone this year, I really wanted to get some redemption from my last go-round in Swoope. Unlike most people racing, I did not really taper at all. I kept up my normal running routine going up until race day but shortened up my weekend runs in the last few weeks to just a couple hours. I didn’t want to disrupt my routine and I really wanted to keep my mind off of all the distractions that come with tapering.
On race day, we headed north towards Swoope, with a pit-stop in Natural Bridge to drop Kristen off with her bike to ride the rest of the way to Camp Shenandoah (she had a 3hr ride to complete towards her ironman training). I arrived and set up my hammock, did the whole check-in/meet-and-greet thing/pre-race meeting and then settled down for the ‘hurry up and wait’ part of the day. Laying in my hammock by Lake Hope, I had the chance to reflect a little about the journey that myself and 260+ others were about to embark upon. We all knew the night was going to be difficult, with a cold front coming through bringing rain, wind and general nasty weather which would be compounded on the ridgelines and balds. We all knew that Saturday was going to be a beautiful day, with sunny skies and moderate temps. We also all knew that Saturday night would be another windy and cold one. Hopefully, I would be done by then. That was the goal but definitely not set in stone. Last time out I had aspirations of finishing during the day on Saturday as well.
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| Not getting rest before the start... |
“I have no idea what splits I am going to shoot for so your best bet would be to check out these links which follow the splits for people who have run the times I am shooting for : 20:35, 21:30, 22:30, 23:40, 23:55"
There you have it. I was shooting for sub 24 with a best case scenario goal of 20:30.
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| Nervous energy |
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| Early on with my buddy John Robinson |
After the first aid station, we began our climb through Falls Hollow and up towards Elliots Knob. Here I met Andrew Wilcox and we spent some time talking about running, hiking and general adventuring. When we got to the gravel road for the final push up to Elliot’s Knob we split, but we would definitely be seeing each other again.
The fog up near the top of Elliot's was CRAZY. We could not see anything, even holding our headlamps low near our knees! I could literally see 3-5 ft in front of me and that was it. It was a group effort of 4 of us runners to:
#1 find the left turn towards the firetower at the top
#2 find the fence and bib punch.
Here, I saw Horton for the first time and got the best advice I have ever gotten from him….and believe me, he has given me a lot of good (and questionable) advice through the years. He said, “CHANG! RUN SMART!” to which I replied with “And what does that mean?” Horton replied, “Stay comfortable. That’s the only thing you should do. STAY COMFORTABLE.”
Ok, well that sounded easy enough right? Off I went, back into the dark, rainy mountains following the lights of Brian and Michael. The next section of trail was a mostly runnable series of climbs and descents that for the most part were blanketed in dense fog. Rain and condensing fog was steadily falling on us as we ran this section. I would periodically catch up to 3rd and 4th place throughout this section but at this point placing didn’t matter. I had to focus on running my own race. No one cares what place you were in at mile 20 of a 100 miler.
Rolling into Dowell’s Draft I had the chance to see my amazing crew for the first time that evening. Steve, Kristen, Matt and Kate dutifully took care of my pack, filled up bottle and efficiently got me back onto the trail in no time. From here you have a climb then some beautiful ridge running for awhile. I really enjoyed this section because it just felt quiet, remote and still. The rain had ceased for the most part by now and I was comfortably running through the fog, not being able to see more than 5 feet in front of myself but having a blast trying to figure out what was going to come upon me next. After running up Lookout Mountain, I started my descent towards North River Gap. This section seemed to go by fast, probably because it was mostly flat and downhill. Once again, I was battling the fog and could barely see my feet, which gave it a pretty exciting feel. I caught up to Michael Owen at the bottom right near the North River Gap aid station and we talked for a little bit as we rolled in to NRG. Here I met up with my crew again, got weighed and prepared for the long haul up Little Bald.
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| night time at North River Gap |
The climb up Little Bald is over 6 miles and to the next aid station is 7.8, almost all straight uphill. I knew the climb would be one of the most mental challenging aspects of the course, especially since I would be doing it by myself. I headed up with a steady walk, with Michael still in sight….for about 5 minutes. After that I was all by myself and just kept walking…..up and up and up and up. There were a couple runnable sections but for the most part it was all steep climbing. The moon started to peek out during this section, which gave me false hope of seeing the lights from the aid station up ahead on top of the ridge. About an hour in, I started to really feel the climb and I toned down the walking speed to stay comfortable. This worked well and I fell into a nice groove the rest of the way up. When I crested the top of little bald, I felt good enough to start running right off the bat and headed off towards the Little Bald Aid Station.
About 5 minutes after that, my headlamp blinked, indicating it was low on batteries. I had hoped that the batteries would last until Little Bald but I knew I had a while to go before I got there and the last thing I wanted was to have my headlamp go completely out before I got there. So I knelt down (no small feat after a 2 hour climb) pulled out my spare batteries and proceeded to change batteries purely on feel, without any other light source. That was both exciting and nerve wracking because I knew if I dropped the batteries, I would have to wait until the next runner caught me to do anything. So after getting my light back and running I continued on my way to Little Bald aid station where I chowed down on my new favorite aid station food....PEROGIES! The aid station crew sent me on my way back into the dark and I headed off towards Reddish Knob and my crew.
I enjoyed the section between Little Bald and Reddish Knob because I had hiked this section with my friends earlier this summer and felt very comfortable with the terrain. These miles went by quick and once again, I caught up with Michael with about 1 mile to go before the Reddish Knob aid. We started walking the last climb to the AS and then saw a little headlamp bobbing up towards us. It ended up being Brian Rusiecki and when he ran past us, Michael went along with him, leaving me in their wake. This would be the last time I saw anyone in front of me until mile 80.
The climb to Reddish Knob was uneventful except that when I got to the top, the fog was so dense I could not find the bib punch and spent a good 5 minutes walking around the edge of the parking lot until I found it. Then I had a hard time finding my way back to the road that led off the summit! Finally back on my way, I cruised down to Briery Branch where I met up with my crew again and picked up Matt, my first pacer. After a nice shoe/sock change we headed backup towards Reddish Knob and got to start scouting out the competition on the way back. I felt great at this point and we kept running the uphills and bombing the downhills on the paved sections and fire-road leading back to Little Bald Knob. We got the chance to see lots of good running buddies on the way back during this section including Joe Dudak, John Robinson and Keith Knipling. After eating more perogies at the Little Bald AS we continued our trek down off the mountain. This long descent was pretty tough on my legs and I remembered from the last time I did Grindstone that this part can really leave you beat up. Matt and I took it pretty easy coming down and said hi to everyone we saw, trying to give out encouragement to those still climbing. After 1:45 of tough, rocky descending we finally popped out at North River Gap, right as the sun was starting to peek out a little.
Here I got to see my full crew again and picked up Brett to pace me the next section. Now Brett is a super happy, enthusiastic character and I knew this would be helpful as we climbed all the way back up to Lookout Mountain then Dowells Draft. Once again, I was sticking to my plan of being comfortable but this was becoming harder and with each giant mountain climb. Luckily, I had Brett there to help my focus on the task at hand while keeping me entertained with his dancing skills. Brett had recently moved from Blacksburg to Richmond and it was great to get to run with him again. The sunrise was BEAUTIFUL over the mountains and during this section we got to experience one of the best aspects of trail running which is sunrise ridge line running. The air was crisp, cool and breezy, but had none of the harshness of the night wind and rain. Somewhere along this section I was passed by a strong looking Adam Wilcox, and after exchanging pleasantries, he ran off, out of sight.
Soon enough, we dropped down off the side of the mountain and came upon the Dowells Draft AS. This was mile 80 and where the race supposedly begins. The surprise for me here was not just that I had caught Michael again (the first time I had seen him since the turnaround) but that Horton was there as well. While my crew was getting me all set to go, I spent some time chatting with Horton, who told me that now was the time to “get uncomfortable!” Devon, my next pacer and I eased our way away from the warm atmosphere of the aid station and trudged back out into the mountains. Devon is one of my best friends and because we now live 5 hours away from each other, we had a lot to talk about, ranging from memories of our crazy undergraduate years, to how our lives have changed as working ‘adults.’ This helped the time go by as we climbed Crawford Mountain, the hidden beast of this course. As we crested up onto the ridge, the wind REALLY picked up. The trees were a beautiful yellow color and the wind was howling. We kept up a strong walking pace up the mountains and gentle run on the downhills.
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| Running with the one and only Brett |
The race started to feel long in the section. I thought it was funny that the last time I did this race, I was cooked by the time I reached Dowells Draft but this time, I really only started to feel the effort once we passed it. I remembered the long, steep descent to Dry Branch AS and really started looking out for it. After 1:47 had elapsed we finally popped out at the Dry Branch aid station. I was freezing by that point from all the exposed ridge line running so I switched out into my long sleeve shirt from the Baltimore Marathon. On the sleeve of the shirt it simply says “I Will.” This was a powerful reminder to me and I took that simple phase to heart for the rest of the race.
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| Running with my boy Devon |
Devon stayed with me as we climbed up and away from the Dry Branch AS, slowly making out way back towards Elliots Knob. About 15 minutes into this section I reached into my pack, pulled out a gel and quickly gulped it down. Little did I know that that was going to be the last gel I consumed during the race. As soon as the gel hit my throat my body went into full rejection mode and I projectile vomited the gel and everything I had eaten at the Dry Branch AS all over everything. My pacer was not spared from the carnage. So that was that...no more gels for this guy!
Moving on from this pleasant experience, we just put our heads down and kept climbing up, up and more up. I knew that we would have to crest the mountain, run a ridge line for awhile and then drop off to the left of the ridge before we would pop out on the gravel road at Elliot’s Knob however, it just seemed to go on forever. This section WOULD NOT END!! This was definitely my lowest point of the race because of the dense, loose rocks, cold wind and generally fatigue that was setting in. I was trying to push the pace but it seemed like I was just slowing down. I nearly face planted several times and I somewhere along the way during the section I actually fell asleep WHILE WALKING and fell forward, catching myself before hitting ground. I am pretty sure I yelled ‘WHEN IS THIS GOING TO END!!!!” a couple times during this climb. After about 30 minutes I knew I had to start eating again because I was riding such a thin line between being ok and bonking hard. I pulled out a Honey Stinger waffle and started literally nibbling it hoping not to puke. It took be about 10 minutes to eat the whole thing but after getting it down I started feeling a little calmer about my nutritional intake.
When I felt like we were closing in on the road at Elliot's knob I started running again just hoping to get this part over with and sure enough we quickly came out of the woods and found ourselves on the steep, steep gravel road that I had climbed up some 18 hours before. To my surprise, when we stepped out of the woods the first thing we saw was the 4th place runner, Adam Wilcox, less then 100 feet in front of us! Obviously motivated, we bounded (ok you can’t really bound down a 15% grade downhill after 90 miles of running but you get the picture) down the mountain, passing Adam and hoping to put as much time on him as we could. Unfortunately we found out later than Adam had a family emergency and had to pull out at the next aid station.
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| We try to be as photogenic as possible...not matter how many miles we have under our belt (95 at this point) |
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| chugging some mountain dew....fuels the soul |
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| Amazing crew doing what they do best |
After chugging a little mountain dew for good measure, my last pacer Trevor and I ran off to start the last section of this race. I have a bad history with this section. In 2011, my feet were so trashed, and my body in general was so tired, that I was relegated to a near crawl by the time I left this aid station. The final 5.2 miles took me about 2.5 hours the last go round and this time, I was determined to get some revenge on this part.
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| 5.2 miles left....Trevor getting ready to help me do some digging in the pain cave |
Little did I know that Trevor had the same plans. Within a few minutes of leaving the final aid station he turned to me and said,
“I am only going to mention this once. It won’t be easy but you NEED to try and break 20 hours. YOU CAN DO THIS!”
With a heavy sigh, I ceded to myself that I would have to give it my best shot. Oh, how I wanted this last section to just be a glorious, enjoyable prologue to a well run 95 mile race! Nope. Trevor would not have any of it. Trevor, one of the world’s greatest motivators out there, was there to make sure I got to the finish line as fast as I could, no excuses. When out for normal training runs he has a nice, happy and funny demeanor, but when you need to put your head down and just make big things happen during a race, he’s the guy you want by your side because he’ll run himself in the ground before he lets you quit. Needless to say, this part of the race was a lot harder that it could have been and I have Trevor to thank for my discomfort.
We ran way more than I wanted to and kept pushing on the uphills that seemed to materialize out of nowhere. I kept thinking to myself how crazy that 19+ hours into a race I was still chasing a time goals with less than 5 miles to go. I didn’t look at my watch as we churned out these last few miles. I had no idea what pace we were going and I really didn’t care. I just wanted to see that darn lake, so aptly named Hope lake which would tell me I’m just about finished. I promised Trevor I would lay it all out once I saw the lake so on one hand I was actually dreading seeing the lake. When we rounded by the back of the Boy Scout camp with more than a mile to go, Kristen, my beautiful wife came running out to meet us. True to form (she is not the most sympathetic pacer) she immediately jumped on Trevor’s bandwagon of “RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN IN THESE LAST 2 MILES AND BREAK 20 HOURS!” I was pushing as hard as I could as this point, no more room for fun conversations, jokes or stories. Just running. I was closing in on a goal that I had to wait 2 years to achieve. It started dawning on me once we saw Hope lake that I was about to run around 20 hours for my second 100 miler and PR by over 6 hours from my previous 100 mile finish!
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| not in a happy place |
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| pain face climbing up to the dam at Hope Lake |
As I struggled to stay upright while running down the road into Camp Shenandoah, I reveled in the fact that I had such amazing people to support me in the crazy endeavor and was looking forward to spending some more time with them….after I finished!
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| Nearly falling over while shaking Clark's hand |
Down the yellow finishing chute I ran, hearing my name being called out by Clark. Once I crossed the finish line I shook hands with Clark, thanked him for a great, tough race and immediately found my way over to the infamous totem pole, which I proceeded to hold on to for dear life. I did not want to let go of the thing and I think the pictures sum it up perfectly. I just wanted to hold that totem pole, close my eyes and enjoy not moving for a few minutes. I let my emotions catch up to my while holding onto that pole with my eyes finally resting shut for the first time since before 6pm the prior day. It was a wonderful, fulfilling feeling, having some of my best friends standing there with me, just letting me be quiet and still for what seemed like several minutes but what I am sure was only a minute or two.
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| in a happy place....never going to let go of this Totem Pole |
After prying myself away from the totem poll, I sat down in a chair next to the finish line and started debriefing with my crew.
So there’s the story of this year’s Grindstone 100 (ok 101.85) Just a few final thoughts… I just cannot describe how amazing it is to have such a dedicated, fun and supportive group of friends to do these events with. I am privileged to have friends who are willing to spend a whole weekend following me through the woods to see me for mere minutes at a time, carry my dirty, wet and smelly clothes and shoes around, and even get puked on….while getting little to no sleep.
Kristen, Matt, crew chief Steve, Kate, Carrie Devon and Brett, you guys are the best crew I could have asked to have with me on this journey and I am always thankful for you friendship!
Thanks to Clark and his crew for once again putting on a tremendously successful and professional event. Even with all the things you guys had to go through with last year’s government debacle, you guys made this year’s event as great as ever.
Doctor Horton, thanks for your encouragement out on the course.
And to all you crazy, crazy aid station crews, thank you. You guys make this race special and we as runners have nothing but gratitude for all your hard work in taking care of our needs so selflessly. YOU ROCK!
By the numbers: 101.85 miles in 20 hours, 5 minutes and 37 seconds, 4th place out of 242 starters, PR by over 6 hours from my previous finish in 2011.
2 shirts + 2 pairs of shoes + 2 pairs of socks + 1-1.5 liter Nathan Firecatcher pack + 1-18 oz Nathan hand bottle + far TOO many Gels to count + 1 lucky VT hat (thanks Jenny) = 1 awesome race in the mountains with some amazing, inspiring people.
Keep doing awesome things!
