The Gates of Hell 2015

Hellgate 100k 2015

Letting go of the past

"My stubbornness has been transformed into perseverance. I can let go but I don't give up. I don't beat myself up about negative things."

So let’s just start by stating the obvious. Hellgate 100k is a special race. It has always been, and will continue to be, one of those races that annually draws an incredible group of people out into the dark, blue ridge mountains on the 2^nd weekend of December.   

This year was my 9^th Hellgate. Its crazy for me to think about where I was in my life back in 2006, the first year I ran Hellgate.  I was a 19 year old sophomore at Virginia Tech, just beginning to think about what I wanted to do with my life. My roommate Devon and I had hatched the crazy idea of running Hellgate over the summer of 2006 and through luck, perseverance and with the help of many people, I finished that first Hellgate in 16:48. I still count that as the hardest race of my life.

Fast forward to 2014. After an exhausting 2-year journey to complete the Beast series through 2013 and 2014, I found myself at the finish line of my 8^th Hellgate, physically and emotionally spent and broken. Why, after 5 years straight of PRs and great executions of my race plan, had the last 3 (’12, ’13, 14’) gone so poorly? Through some soul searching I realized that I had been racing too hard and too much since re-entering the ultra-running world in 2011.  I knew that if I wanted to do well at Hellgate again, I needed to actually rest and prepare for this race, not as an end-of-season hurrah, but as an “A” goal race. So that is what I dedicated myself to in 2015. I meticulously planned out the 4 ultras I would run during the year and accompanying shorter races to be ready and prepared for Hellgate 2015.

2015 has been quite the year.  The plan I made at the end of 2014 came to fruition better than I could have imagined. Starting with a PR at the Boston marathon, I was able to keep the momentum going with a 4^th place finish and PR at Promise Land 50k,  an 11^th place finish at the San Diego 100 and a win a the Iron Mountain 50 miler. After Iron Mountain in late September I had a few months of consistent, steady training leading up to my last race of the year and the most important one to me: Hellgate.

Pre Race:

I decided to take off from work early this year to minimize the travel stress of getting up to Camp Bethel so Kristen, my friend Josh and I rolled into camp with plenty of time to eat, relax and prepare. Once again I was blessed with an all-star crew of veteran Hellgate crew members and first timers to help me get to the finish line. Led by my beautiful wife, this group would prove to be invaluable in my race execution.

Before the pre-race meeting started, Darin Dunham, one of the folks who had run Hellgate every year since its inception called me over to tell me something. He said, “Jordan, you are my inspiration for doing this race.” This took me back because it was coming from a tough as nails guy who was going for his 13^th Hellgate finish. He didn’t need me to inspire him. So I asked him, “why?” Darin told me that he remembered back to 2006 when he and David Snipes were running with me, guiding me and making sure that my 19 year old self made it to the finish line despite being injured, scared and utterly in over my head.  He said that he remembered me limping up each of the long climbs, determined to finish despite the pain I was in.  This conversation really sunk in with me. Thanks Darin for your kind words. They came back to me big time during the race this year.

During the middle of Horton’s pre-race speech, I suddenly realized that Kristen and I had a mix up back at the house and that we forgot to place the hydration bladder in my pack. After a few minutes of panic and Kristen running around trying to get service on the phone, we were able to get a hold of Robbie, another crew member who was on his way up and thankfully was able to swing by our house to grab the bladder. Phew! Crisis averted.

When we finally got up to the start line, I got about 30 minutes of glorious sleep in the back of Josh’s truck.  Soon enough though, the caravan of cars rolled in and you could hear Horton over the loudspeaker telling people to check in.

Race Time: 

At the start line, I found Darren Thomas and Danny Luciani, my fellow Hokies and then at 12:01 am, we were off and running into the night. My goal for the first part of the race was to stay with the leaders. This happened to be Darren, Nicolas Dubuget, Brad Hinton and a couple other folks early on. We all ran together through the warm, muggy night and kept up a solid pace up the first climb. Going into aid station 2, Nicolas and Darren had separated themselves from me by a couple minutes and I was by myself in 3^rd. 

After aid station 2 you get into the nitty gritty of Hellgate, but it’s also the most peaceful and quiet section of the course. Big sweeping climbs, open grassy roads and the deep dark forest all blend together over the next several sections of the course. It’s a great place to just turn your brain off and enjoy the journey. When I arrived at Camping Gap (aid station 3) Horton was there and informed me that the top 2 were 3 minutes ahead of me (only?) and I was 1 minute under course record pace. Uh oh. At least I was feeling relaxed at this point and I was very familiar with what was coming up next. As I set out from there towards the highest point on the course, took some time to remember the goals I had set for myself a year ago after the 2014 Hellgate: Sub 11:50 and a top 5 finish. I was well on my way there but with a ton of racing left to go. Kristen had given me firm instructions to push fluids and electrolytes and I heeded that advice throughout the night. As I headed out onto the promise land section of the course, it was with a renewed sense of urgency but also a controlled excitement for what lay ahead.

Dropping down to the road that lead up to Floyd’s field, I started to feel my feet getting a little blistered from how humid and warm the conditions were.  On the climb up to Aid station 4 I was excited to see my crew for the first time in several hours and to get some fresh batteries. When I got there at 3:57am my crew of Josh, Robbie, Kristen and Matt as well as a horde of AMAZING Hokies were there to meet me and got me in and out of the aid station like clockwork. I continued to run alone down the mountain to aid station 5 at Jennings Creek, pulling in at 4:55am which was the first time I had ever arrived there before 5am. This was a good sign!  As I was climbing away from aid station 5 I turned to see a headlamp coming into the aid station and folks cheering another runner on. Time to get moving.  Up the mountain and down the mountain I went.  A couple miles later I ran onto a gravel road and I immediately saw the person trailing me again. This really got me moving and I basically sprinted the rest of the way down to the base of Little Cove Mountain.  

When I got to Aid station 6 Little Cove Mountain, Horton was there and I asked him, “is that Brad [Hinton] behind me?” He replied in his usually abrasive manner, “NO THAT’S GOGGINS BEHIND YOU…..AND HE WOULD DEFINITELY DESTROY YOU IN A FIGHT!” Thanks Horty for the life advice… I wasn’t exactly planning on getting into a fist-fight with the world record holder for pull ups in a day.  On I went, trying to get as far as I could with darkness still surrounding me. I managed to hit 40 or so miles still needing to use my headlamp which was also a big victory for me.  I felt great during this section and rolled into Aid station 7 Bearwallow Gap at 7:50 am. 

Normally this is where my race starts to fall apart, but I was determined to not give up here. I was hanging solidly onto third place with 4^th nowhere in sight. “It’s go time” I told myself. Up and over the mountain I went, still completely alone.  Through 8 other Hellgate finishes, I had never left Bearwallow Gap without a pacer. Needless to say the next section was tough. I had difficulty getting my forward momentum and just felt slow. Here is where I remembered what Darin Dunham had said to me earlier that evening and I thought about how much harder it was back in 2006 when I had basically no experience with running more than 1 hour at a time. I thought about how much stronger I knew I was right now compared to back then and this kept me moving at a steady pace, even if I was hurting quite a bit. Thanks Darin.  Eventually I was relieved to see Josh 3/4 of the way up to Bobblet's Gap, knowing I was about to start the last couple legs of this race.

While trying to be as efficient as possible, handing off my pack to my crew and gathering food from the aid station, I did and take minute to breath and pause before taking the plunge into the ‘forever’ section. Robbie calmly told me to “Stay focused” which was exactly what I needed to hear. Kristen reminded me once again to continue to push fluids and electrolytes and "be tough" and down the rutted fire road I went. Once on the single track of the section I started counting the creek crossing… “one, two, three…” all the way until I hit lucky creek number 13. There I knew I was only minutes from the last aid station. I was clinging to 3^rd place, knowing that I had slowed considerably in this section but not to the point that anyone had caught me yet! Kristen was waiting for me a couple hundred yards from the aid station and ran into Aid station 9 Day Creek with me. The effort I had put forth through the night had caught up to me at this point and as I walked slowly through the aid station, I was conflicted. My body wanted so badly to just stop here but my mind was saying, “FINISH THIS THING.”  After downing 4 cup of glorious Mountain Lightning, I was off up the last climb.  

Leaving I heard Kristen yell, “You have to hurry, 4^th place is not far behind you!!” Darn it. I need to rush up this mountain. I just wanted to take a leisurely walk 3 miles up and jog easy down the other side. “I guess I have to run this thing” I told myself. Fail. I really tried to get my running legs going but this was not happening.  I compromised and found myself able to run every other switchback.  Once at the top, I allowed myself a couple seconds to allow the last 11+ hours of racing to sink in. Everything was a painful blur as I ran down towards Camp Bethel.  For me, there is no feeling quite like seeing Kristen waiting for me with a ½ mile to go. She has been there with me through nearly every ultra I have run and it never gets old to see her excitement.

Turning into Camp Bethel is always a very special moment for me. It’s usually desolate right when you get into the camp so you have a precious minute or two to reflect on the journey you are about to finish. This year was no different. Here I was, about to complete my 9^th Hellgate 100k in my fastest time and highest place. That’s special.  The silence was soon broken by the sound of Horton yelling at me to hurry up… in French. That was motivation enough to finish as quickly as possible. 

My year came to a close with a 3^rd place finish in 11:41:58. My previous best finish was 5^th place in 2009 and my previous best time was 12:51:38 from 2010.

Mad props to my incredible UltraVT teammates Darren on his second stellar race at Hellgate and Danny Luciani on an amazing first Hellgate and first 100k! Keeping up with these UltraVT kids is TOUGH.  Thanks for being freaking amazing you guys. Y’all inspire me to stay fit, train hard and have fun doing it! Go HOKIES!

It would also be a crime to not recognize my crew; the folks who stay up all night driving the windy back roads to see me for MAYBE 3 minutes at a time over a span of 12 hours. You guys are one of the big reasons I keep doing this race. It’s incredible to be blessed with friends who willingly put themselves through sleep deprivation and time away from their families to make sure I have the best race possible. Selflessness is a major trait of ultrarunners….and I love it. So to you Robbie, Josh, Matt, Butch and of course my lovely wife Kristen, I say thanks for another successful go at Hellgate 100k. 

Thank you Horton for putting on such a painful, challenging race for us. Thanks to all the aid station volunteers. You have the toughest job out there and as usual, you guys were AMAZING. Thank you for being so generous with your time and energy.

Hellgate remains my all time favorite race to love and hate. Will next year be not only my 10^th but also final time racing Hellgate? I guess we’ll just have to see.

Gear Check: Thanks to our UltraVT sponsors including Salomon and Patagonia for providing us with the best gear around to train and compete with.

Shoes: Salomon Sense Pro (Special shout out to Cooper our local Salomon rep and all around cool dude)

Socks: Swiftwick quarter socks

Apparel: Patagonia Air flow shirt and Strider shorts

Nutrition: Nathan Firecatcher with 2 liter bladder, BASE Performance Salts, Powergels, Strong & KIND Bars.