WWC Timed Laps 24 Hour Event

 This past Friday night and all day Saturday, I was making my way along the trails at the WWC in their 24 hour Timed Laps event. 

I went in to this race with a goal of running 100 miles during the event. I have spent a lot time on the trails at the WWC so I know them well. I know that they are relentless. I am either going up or going down. I am not going far in either direction but I am doing a lot of them. The trails can really wear a runner down. 

The race started at 7 PM on Friday, and I opted for leaving my gear and food in the car. I was nor planning on sleeping or resting until I reached 24 hours or 100 miles. Whichever came first.

Darkness had already fallen so I needed a headlamp from the start. I opted for my CamelBak so I had a place to store my spare head lamp at all times. 

I headed out on Lake Loop first. It was easy, and I needed a gentle warm up. I punched my bib with the hole punch to confirm that I had completed the trail. Side, some trails they had one hole punch while some trails had up to 4 different hole punches. It was very important to not miss one. 

I bounced over to South Main and back to Lake Loop. Then, off to Parkway and Tributary where I fell for the first time. Then, back to Lake Loop. 

Because of where I parked, Lake Loop became the recovery and reload loop for me. 

After this, I headed off to Academy where I took my 2nd fall and last fall of the night, Lake Loop, North Main - Figure 8 - Tortuga - Thread. 

The Parkway loop, I had to do descend main stairs at the WWC. For Academy Loop, I went and down the stairs. 

By this time, I'd say that it was about 5:50 AM in the morning. So despite falling on Tributary and Academy, I felt good and had rolled up 50 miles in about ten and half hours. 

Then, I made my most fateful decision. I felt that it was important to do every trail listed for the event. This meant running East Main.  I started in on East Main and within 2 miles, I started to feel pretty tired. I think that it took me about an hour and twenty minutes to complete it. When I finished, I felt wiped out. I tried restocking with food but nothing seem to be working. I bounced between Lake Loop and South Main until I got 84 miles. 

At this point, I realized that even as easy as Lake Loop feels, I was stumbling over ever root and rock on the course. 

To keep going, I started running channel loops. However, the channel loop presented a different issue. Where as the trails, under the leaves, felt cool, the channel was out in the full force of the sun. Suddenly on top of being tired, I was also hot. 

About this time, I started making some lap buddies. People would come out to do a lap with me. They would to talk to me. Tell me stories. Ask me questions. Everything was to keep me moving and not thinking about how bad that I felt.  When I started my last lap, I had a posse with me. Everyone came along to do my 100 mile. This was incredible. 

As I think about now, the East Main trail took its tool on me but I was rewarded with an awesome experience in the end. I was running on empty after it. Those final miles were hard. 

But it was the other runners that got me through it. Their energy pushed me to keep going when all I wanted to do was quit. No words can express how appreciate that I was and am of their sharing of their time. 

This is a race that no matter how many years pass, I will always look back upon fondly. 

Cool Down Runner Adventures.