Rocky Raccoon was an experience!
It was 29 degrees at the start and dark which meant
pretty slow go until we made it to the jeep trail and
headed for the first aid station. The course started
to string everyone out and it was pretty easy running
the rest of the first lap. I caught up to Ben Holmes
just past the Dam aid station and we ran together for
the remaining 7 miles. We finished around 3:35 (I'm
not sure of my exact splits).
Nikki was my crew and did a great job. She had my
drop bag ready and quickly helped me change socks,
fill my water bottle, restock my GUs, find my IPOD and
head out. She was a real trooper through the entire
day and night and there is no way I could have done it
without her. On a side note, besides the state park,
we found no redeeming qualities in Huntsville. I felt
strong on the second lap and came through 40 miles
around 7:05-7:10; I was working hard to hold back my
pace trying to stay comfortable and cover about 5
miles an hour. I just kept telling myself you have
got to slow down or you are going to crash. I was
doing a GU every 30 minutes and drinking 20 ounces of
Hammer Gel HEED between every aid station. At the aid
stations I would usually grab a half of a PB&J and
walk until I had finished it. I was in a pretty good
rhythm and having no issues other than a slight groin
rash. I changed shorts, medicated the rash, and head
out for lap 3. It was 1:30pm so I opted to head out
without a light or cold weather gear. I knew I had to
make it back by 5:30-5:45 or risk being caught in the
dark and getting cold. The third lap was probably the
most mentally challanging but I pushed into 50 miles
at the Far Side aid station in 9:07 (my 50 mile PR,
HA!) and seem to rebound once I made it back to the
Dam.
I finished 60 miles in 11:10 and still felt
great. Nikki was ready to send me out and had a
Rockin K pull over, stocking cap, gloves, GUs and
headlamp ready to go. I made it to the first aid
station and almost to the trail head before it got
dark. I went to switch on my headlamp and the light
was extremely dim. I had changed batteries prior to
starting that morning and the light worked fine for
the hour I needed it. So it took me awhile to adjust
to the low light level and I basically stumbled my way
through the rest of the fourth lap. I still felt good
and was pretty much alternating running a song and
walking a song to the Site 179 aid station. I left
the aid station at mile 77.25 and my I must have
twisted my left foot at some point. My heal to my
forefoot was extremely stiff and tender and I ended
walking most of the 2.75 to complete lap 4. I finished
80 miles in 16:05 and was ready to get some warmer
clothes on and limp my way back on course.
Nikki
again had everything ready to go and even made change
all my clothes and dress a little warmer than I had
planned. A good call as it dropped to around 32
degrees during the final lap. I spent about 15
minutes in the aid station had a cup of hot soup and
headed out. Nikki walked with me for about a quarter
mile and as started to head out I realized I didn't
have my headlamp and flashlight! She ran back and got
them and I was off. I swithed to my back-up $9
Christmas gift head-lamp that put out a huch beam and
had a flash light hung around my neck for additional
lighting. That system seem to work as I had little
trouble on the final lap. It took about 20 minutes
for my foot to loosen up and I powered walked my way
to the first aid station in 1:10; I discovered that I
was able to walk faster than I could run and decided
to go into the ruke-march mode at that point.
I
maintained a pretty good clip, remained focused and
approached each portion of the trail individually
rather than thinking holy crap, I've got to walk
another 15.9 miles! I made it to far-side in 2:30,
spent about 5 minutes explaining my Brew to Brew vest
and describing brew to brew to the crew and headed
back. I hit the Dam aid station in around 3:25--
didn't quite make the airborne standard for a 12 mile
ruke march in 3 hours but felt pretty good knowing I
only had 7.3 miles to the finish. I managed a slight
jog down the jeep road and down the trail to the
stream before walking up to the dam. They have cut
all the trees off the dam so you can see right across
the lake to the Lodge and the finish line! Slightly
depressing but oddly motivating at the same time. I
power-walked through the next trail section and came
into the Site 179 Aid Station at 2:30am. Had another
cup of soup and headed off for the last 2.75. The
last 55 minutes passed pretty quickly and I strolled
into the finish line at 21:27:12! I basically walked
the last 20 miles in a tad over 5 hours. I was pretty
pumped.
Damage assessment at that point was a
slightly bleeding groin rash, a chapped butt crack,
some type of minor foot sprain, and two blackened big
toe nails! Not too bad, I thought. I started to
stiffen up and was getting pretty cold, Nikki and I
headed back to the hotel, I tossed and turned for
about 4 hours and finally just got up. We went and
had pancakes and headed back out for the Awards
ceremony. One of last runners to finish in just under
30 hours had the comment of the day--- Where do I get
my belt buckle!
Mark
