Unico 100 Miler

 If you had asked me just before the start if a 17 year old runner would have out run all of us for a 100 miles, I might have rolled my eyes. Yet, this is exactly what happened. 

He went out quick from the start, got a about 2ish miles lead on the rest of us, and it pretty much stayed that way all day and night. Big congrats to him. Running 100 miles never crossed my mind when I was 17. All I can say is that he clearly has the running genes and in bulk. 

So how was my race? 

I think that I over extended myself. In the last 10 weeks including this 100 miler, I ran 3 x100 milers, a 1/2 marathon, a 10k, and 56 miles in a 12 hour two weeks so yes, my legs probably carried me far further than I would otherwise expected them. 

I pushed my eyes open at 2:30 AM. I was in Wingate, NC by 4:05 to setup my station for the day. At 4:45, the VagaBond guys held their prerace meeting. 5 AM, we all pushed away from the starting and in to the darkness. 

4 guys pushed our a head of me once we hit the trail. I settled in for what I knew would be a long day of running. The trail loops back along itself so it was interesting to see the headlamps bobbing up and down. By 7 AM, I would drop my head lamp. The air was still chilly so I kept on my long sleeve shirt. 

As the morning pushed toward midday. I drop the long sleeve shirt for a sleeveless shirt, and finally for the singlet.  

I tried to stay on top of my fluids. The temperature was to be in the mid 70s. While it is not super hot, still, this is warm for December. Honestly, I never really noticed it. In the woods, the trees knocked down the sun. In the field sections, a gentle breeze blew across my shoulders. 

I passed through 50 miles in just under 9 hours. From past experience, I knew that my next 50 miles were going to be anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes slower. That is kind of my fall off over the second 50. So now, my target time was to shoot for a sub 20 hour race. 

I kept myself occupied by looking for Owen. The distance never really varied more than a couple of 100 yards either way between us crisscrossed between sections. I suspect it was all in how much time that we were spending at the aid station between laps. 

Around 4 pm, the temperature started dropping. I hoped that I would feel better and maybe a little stronger.

This just never seemed to happen. The trail section while not super tough or super technical grinds one down with each lap. Then, there is the one creek crossing. The creek bed was dry but the rocks got tougher to step on with each lap. They would move in awkward directions which my ankles and legs didn't like. 

At 75 miles, I was back running by head lamp. My world shrunk to world poked out by my light. Fatigue was starting to build up in my legs. I step on one rock, and my hamstring cramped from it. 

But after 75 miles, I went from counting up to counting down. 

At 90 miles, I stopped eating solid food. I just could not tolerate another bite. To compensate, I kept pushing in the liquids so I had at least some calories going in to my system. My stomach never bothered me. 

Before pushing off in to the darkness for the final lap, I glanced at the finish line clock. I had about an hour and 20 minutes to run this last 5 miles if I wanted the sub 20. 

I trudged along slowly. I was tired. I forced my eyes to focus on every rock and root along the course. I so happy to hit the field section for the final time. I had 2 and 1/2 miles go. I willed myself to pick up the pace. I withdrew the last of the energy in my legs. 

I looped the soccer fields and crossed back to the fields headed toward the finish line. The light from finish drew me like a moth to a flame. 

I squeezed out a sub 20 hour time but just barely. I ran 19:57:26 to finish 2nd overall. Best of all, I add another super nice belt buckle to my collection. 

Funny story. I was seating there with people all talking around me. As I leaned back in to the chair, my Camelbak pushed up to cradle my head. I was so tired. I just leaned back in to it and closed my eyes. I just wanted to drift off and rest. It felt so good. I was just beginning to enjoy it when in the far reach of fatigue slowly swallowing me up, I could hear my daughter saying "is he all right, is he all right". I think me closing my eyes scared her. I pushed through the weariness and opened my eyes. "yes", I responded. I just needed a micro-nap. 

Big shoutout to the VagaBond guys. They put on an awesome event at a great location. Kudos to them for a job well down. 

Also, I wanted to give Chad a big shoutout for his effort. He accomplished one of his big goals and went home with a super nice belt buckle for his efforts. 

As far as I know, they plan on being back next year so go check them out. 

Cool Down Runner on a 100 mile adventure