By
Jim Morrison
My
100 mile race went very well all things considered. I was very strong to 85 miles. The race is held in the Haliburton
Forest, just south of Algonquin
Park. The Haliburton Forest is a 55,000 hecta acre privately owned forest I camped near the start which is
ideal for the 6:00 a.m. start. I got
up at 4:00 a.m. in order to eat my 180 grams of carbs. This consisted of two servings of yogurt, banana,
powerbar, and 1 litre of Gatorade.
When running a marathon or an ultra I always eat this prior to the start. The 100 miles is made up of a 25
mile out and back course. So, at 50
miles you are back at the start line and must turn around and repeat the last 50 miles.
I
started slow, actually walking away from the start line to let the 50k and 50 miles runners go. I didn't want to get caught up in
their pace. Ran easy, walking the
hills from the beginning. Ran the first 5 miles in 55 minutes and I stayed on that pace most of the day. I
ate 200 calories per hour which
helped me stay strong and clear headed. I was also taking an S cap per hour, which is about 330mg of
sodium and 750ml of succeed clip, an
endurance sports drink. In a 100 mile race it is critical to manage the body's fuel, sodium and hydration. Running downhill on the Krista Trail I managed to trip mid
stride sending me head first
down the hill. Landed on my chest and arm. Stopped,
wiggled everything and I said to myself, " I think I'm okay!" I started to chuckle
feeling very good now that I was fine. Got a nice sponge down from an aid station worker at the next station.
They are located every 5 miles.
Toes were getting pretty beat up from hitting rocks on the trails so at 40 miles I switched from my road
shoes to my Montrail Hurricane
Ridge. It was like my feet were in heaven. Solid sole gave me better motion control on the trail and
substantial toe protection allowed me
to hit rocks and not feel any pain. For a rough trail these were great shoes. Also they let in less dust
than the road shoes.
I met
my family at the 45 and 50 mile aid stations. It was a great motivater the last 20 miles. I stopped just long enough for
some hugs and pictures. I came
into the 50 mile turn around at 9 hours, 45 minutes,
in fourth place. This was about 30 minutes faster than last year. Paula, the lead women passed me just after 55 miles.
Monica caught me at the 60
mile aid station while I was splitting a Guinness with Gary Black. She was in and out fast and looked serious
about catching Paula. I was
running well until I hit the technical trails in the dark about 7:30. My battery for my headlamp was week so
it did not put out a strong beam
as it usually does. I decided to walk the Osprey trail as I was stumbling over rocks, likely to hurt myself
if I continued. At the 70
mile aid station I popped a couple of blisters with a needle I carry. Put some NuSkin on it, Vaseline and
shook out my shoes. I reached the
75 mile mark around 10:00 pm, 16 hours in sixth
place. My stomach was starting to act up a bit and I didn't eat enough food there.
Going
into the 80 mile aid station I felt okay but not great. . Didn't eat enough again. I met another fine gentleman, Kevin
Sayers at the 80 mile aid station. He
was fretting as his drop bag was missing. I offered
him some warm clothes from my bag, but what he wanted was some of his food he packed. Monica was in front of us so I
suggested we look in her bag. That gave
Kevin an idea that he would raid his friends drop bag, Ed Schultze. As we left the 80 mile aid station, Kevin
apologized for not running with me
but I was moving slower and he really wanted to break 23 hours. How is that for a gentleman. Apologizing
for passing me during a race. I
assured him it was quite all right as I had already resigned to walk the technical trail sections. Walked most
of the next 5 miles as I was
starting to feel bad, no energy. Jogged into the 85 mile aid station at about 2:00 am. Tried to eat some food
but the stomach was starting to
feel upset now. I started to walk up the hills in the next trail a came to a grinding halt. Even my baby
steps couldn't get me up the
trail. I stopped and had a short rest on a fallen
tree. I contemplated having a sleep right on the trail. I decided I wasn't that bad yet and I would continue to drink
often and see what happens. So, I
continued my baby steps up the hills. After about
an hour or so when I hit the road section I noticed I wasn't feeling too bad anymore so I started to run again. I was
tired but felt okay for running the
flats and downhills. Came into the 90 mile aid station feeling good. Vaselined my toes, topped up my
Camelbak and I was off running to the
next aid station. The first 2.5 miles were runable.
The next 2.5 miles of the Krista Trail are steep rocky and never seemed to end. I caught up to Paula, 2nd women,
because I was walking faster than
she. I gave her some Vaseline for her chafing. She told me she crashed bad and had a 1hour nap on the trail
with her pacer helplessly watching
her. I told her we were almost at the next aid station and I would see her there. Coming out of the 95
mile aid station I had 54
minutes to run the last 5 miles if I wanted to break 24 hours. I told Paula I was going to give it a try. She
urged me on as she and her pacer
were going to walk it in. I took off, started to run the hills, flats and downhills. I was moving well but I
didn't have enough energy to keep
up the pace. I had to start walking the hills. I realized I wasn't going to make it in time for my personal
goal of under 24 hours so I started
to walk. I ran the last mile into the finish. My time was 24hours and 9 minutes, 6th place, 5th male out of
35 starters. The heat was unkind to
many of the runners and we appeared to have a high attrition of runners, DNF.
It was
a great motivater for me to see people who were struggling earlier, remain tough and rebound later in the race, like
John Turner and Henry Van Germet. I'm sure all of the finishers had tough times
to go through, but those are
two I remember seeing at their lows.
Why do
we run 100's when it hurts so bad. I said again to myself during the 100, "Never again". It's been only two days
and already that feeling is leaving and
I'm getting scared again that I will sign up for another 100. Why can't I remember the pain. It's not fair.
This year I had fun until 85
miles. There is some sick pleasure about sharing the pain with others. We a very much like one family out their
while we run. Most runners stop
running to check on how each other is doing. We will share anything we have with each other as we want each
of us to finish. We all have our
personal goals we are trying to reach but are always willing to help each other. I was talking to a
runner this year named Vincent Swendsen
from New Jersey. Two years ago his light failed on the way up the trail to the 75 mile turnaround. He was
stranded in the dark. All he could
do was to lie down on the trail and have a nap until another runner came by. I was pacing a lead runner
down the trail from the 75 mile mark
and we ran right by him without seeing him. I heard later that some people behind us spotted him and
helped him out. I told him this year
that I felt bad that we had ran right by him without
seeing him. He informed me that he saw us but did not want to interrupt the lead runners run, so he purposely said
nothing and remained hidden. Wow I
said what an unselfish thought. That is a good example of the kind of runners participating in Ultra
Marathons. Very unselfish, nice people.
I guess that has a lot to due with me running Ultras.