UTMB 2018 Race Report as told from a mid-pack runner: Sleep deprivation, massive climbs and incredible views

I was tripping and slipping on a network of tree roots that snaked across a 30-40% uphill climb that had started from Trient, Switzerland. After running 140 km for 34 hours, I had reached my limit at 4am on Sunday morning. Other runners were with me in a conga line heading up the steepest slope I had seen. Each trip and slip brought images of me falling back and taking down with me scores of trail runners behind me. It reminded me of rock climbers who slip and take with them other runners attached to the same rope. When I tripped I would lean back only to catch myself. At times I would step aside the trail to let 5-10 runners pass. Sleep deprivation had taken hold of me, and twisted my muscles into chains of uncoordinated spaghetti. I regretted not sleeping at the last aid station. I had a choice--to return to the aid station and sleep, or to forge ahead and push through the sleepiness. My sketchy memory at this point reminded me of the "Why". "Why was I doing this anyway?"

UTMB hadn't been on my radar until I already had the 15 necessary points needed to qualify for the race. From 2014 when I dipped my toes in the ultra scene with a back-of-the-pack Beacon Rock 50k finish to my Kodiak 100 finish in 2017, I had amassed eight 100 miler finishes and four 50k finishes. I decided that in 2018, I would focus on marathon performance at the Boston marathon and Tunnel marathon, but that I would also complete the most difficult 100 miler of my life. The most difficult 100 milers thus far have been Bighorn 100 and Kodiak 100. Well--UTMB would be almost twice as much elevation gain as Bighorn and Kodiak. 

Being the first time I applied for UTMB, I knew I had less than a 40% chance of being selected, and maybe more like 20% on the first try. In January, 2018 however, I got that special email saying I was accepted into UTMB! Being excited I quickly told my family of the adventure ahead, and they jumped on board to go with me for our first Europe trip ever.

The logistics of getting ready for UTMB were quite cumbersome, but were nonetheless necessary. For the required equipment, I used a UD AK Mountain vest, iPhone 7, sea to summit cup (for a cup-less race), standard survival blanket, Ace elastic bandage from the Fred Meyer, UD Ultrajacket V1, Adidas running pants, buff, fleece cap, baseball hat, Nike running long sleeve shirt, Seirus waterproof gloves from Amazon, UD Deluge pants, two Black Diamond Spot headlights with spare batteries, thick Columbia fleece jacket, Black Diamond trekking poles, and Altra Olympus 2.5 running shoes. These supplies and much more including a passport were stuffed into my pack which was to weigh 10-15 lbs. 

I flew from the US to Geneva, Switzerland 10 days before the race to get over jet lag, have a little altitude acclimation, and to vacation a little before the UTMB race.

On the Monday before the race, I arrived in Chamonix, France and stayed in a vacation rental house, which would be home base for the next week before I would return to the US. On Tuesday, I ran up from Le Bois to Montenvers and back down. I was surprised to see no other runners on this interesting trail in the early morning when I saw several chamois. Later that day, my family and I took the cable car to Plan de L'Aguille du Midi. The second cable car was closed (due to a failed recent inspection) so we didn't make it all of the way to Aiguille du Midi.

On Wednesday afternoon,  I took my pack in to get a gear check completed and to pick up my race bib. The line was very long and this took about 2 hours to complete, with most of it waiting in line. Next time I would take an extra large plastic back to put all of my supplies in, because I had to unpack my pack and then try to stuff it back in while picking up my bib and shirt and everything.

On Thursday, I ran along the river from Le Bois to Chamonix and back and saw many, many runners. The only elite runner I recognized along the river trail that week was Timothy Olson. Chamonix felt like a trail runner's Mecca with somebody running at all times during the day. There were more runners out than non runners, it seemed. What a great place to encourage physical fitness!

My plan on race week was to try to gradually sleep in more and more so that by race day I would be able to sleep in till almost noon, an thus limit my sleepiness during the race. Unfortunately though, I kept waking up between 6 and 7 am each morning, and eventually I decided that I would wake up normally on Friday if it happened, but then try to catnap on Friday afternoon before the race.

On Friday, race day, I woke up at 7 am as expected, ate a breakfast of corn flakes with soy milk, a banana, and maybe a croissant. For lunch I boiled potatoes and ate it with gravy. I tried to sleep that afternoon, but only managed to pretend sleep for 1 hour with my eyes closed. I was too well rested and too excited to start the UTMB adventure.

At 2:00 pm I got a text from UTMB HQ saying that the cold weather kit was activated, so I would have to add a fleece jacket and extra long sleeve to my already full pack! So much for special kits being activated before bib pickup on Wednesday! Oh well, I was just glad they were looking out for us.

At 4:30 pm I went to the gymnasium to drop off my one and only drop bag for Courmayeur. It had been raining all afternoon, and there were many puddles on the ground. I was wearing my rain jacket already and walked over to the start area around 5:00 pm. By 5:30 pm, approximately 2600 runners were lined up in the rain. I was between the middle and back of the pack since I expected to be in this general place (being bib 1683/3000) during the race. I had also read from other's race reports that the front is a made rush with pace way too fast, not unlike a bull stampede. Every 5 minutes or so there would be announcements in French and English. 

At the start there was inspiring loud music, people clapping and waving. We were crammed together so tight that we moved like sardines in a can, or Worthington linkets in a can (if you are vegetarian like me). It took almost 2 minutes to cross the start line and even then, I was hardly even walking. I was trying not to trip on other people around me. I took several more minutes before I could start running. Even at that point, it was a shuffle and eventually a jog. This first 8 km is a relatively flat rolling stroll along a river and through town towards Les Houches, France. One interesting thing of note here was that the runners would see a muddy area on the trail and go way around it, even waiting in a long line to go around the mud. I was amazed. At Bighorn 100 in Wyoming, all of us would just go right through the mud, without a second thought. But here, its like people were afraid to get muddy or something. Nevertheless, I went straight through the mud here and passed many people up.

Before I reached Les Houches, I had to take off my warm jacket and gloves due to warming up too much. This dropped me back in the pack a little, but it was early in the race and I didn't worry too much about it. The rain thad stopped by the time we left Chamonix, and the trail gradually started to dry out. 

The first major climb goes up over 820m to Le Delevret, which slowed me down to a power hike with poles. I started to notice all of the different countries represented at this race (80-90): UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, China, Japan, US, Spain, etc. When I spotted a US or UK runner I would try to say something in English. When I spotted someone from another country I would try to stick to French since it was our common language now. 

At Le Delevret, I was in 2010th place. Sunset was coming, so I took out my headlight and floated down to hill towards Saint Gervais. The downhill was quite steep in sections and technical. The trail was very crowded which made passing others difficult. I just sat back and enjoyed the time in easy effort mode. At Saint Gervais (21km) at 9:15 pm, I grabbed some food at the aid station and headed off in 1843rd place, 45 minutes ahead of the cutoff.

From Saint Gervais to Les Contamines, it is a gradual uphill in a rolling fashion. I made nice progress  and was in 1673rd place by Les Contamines (31 km) at 11 pm at night, 1 hour ahead of the cutoff. I refueled and was on my way. I was starting to get into a nice rhythm with the aid stations. I would fill up my bottles with one having water and the other overtime, an electrolyte drink. Then I would start with three squares of dark chocolate (amazing energy boost), eat crackers and bananas, and also eat baguettes, and soup broth with rice added in. The cool cloudy night was enjoyable and I was neither too hot or too cold, neither too wet or too dry. 

From Les Contamines to La Balme, the trail heads uphill first gradually then more steeply. I didn't pass many people on this section and was in 1681st place at La Balme (39km) at 1 am. From La Balme, the trail heads steeply up through rocky trails with trail-side snow patches until Col Du Bonhomme is reached which is at 2329m. At Croix du Bonhomme, I was in 1662nd place at 2:48am. During this climb I looked back down the trail and saw a conga line of headlights snaking upon the trail for miles at 1-2 in the morning. "Crazy" I thought. "What a silly thing for all of these people to be doing at 1-2am!" I was one of them which made me chuckle even more. From Croix du Bonhomme to Les Chapieux, the trail descends sharply in the dark to the 50km point. I reached Les Chapieux at 4:08 am in 1634 place. Apparently I was happy sitting back in the conga line all of the way down the hill. 

At Les Chapieux, again I refueled and got ready for a big climb. Although it was still cloudy, the night air was chilly. I felt really good going up to Col de la Seigne and passed many people up power hiking with poles. I even ran uphill a little. At the top, frost was everywhere along side the trail. By Col de la Seigne, I was in 1522th place, and it was 6:32am. Sunrise was here, and Oh was it a nice one! Welcome to Italy! The Italian Alps were amazing and the views of the glaciers and canyons were incredible. The descent into Lac Combal was fun and I was able to run quite a bit and the runners started to thin out some. The air was chilly with a cold north wind. I reached Lac Combal at 7:12 am in 1456th place. I had advanced 178 places since Les Chapieux in only 17 km! This must have been my first wind. I drank some soup broth with rice, and some crackers before heading on my way. 

The climb to Arete du Mont Favre was difficult so I stopped a few times to admire the views. The cool temps helped keep me going and I reached the top at 8:35am in 1447th place at 71 km. From here it was all downhill, and I ran very quickly down to Col Checkout Maison Vieille. Here they had fresh penne pasta with marinara sauce! I had two cups of it before continuing on the descent into Courmayeur. 

As I descended into Courmayeur, I ran rather quickly and nearly sprinted at times until I reached the aid station. This was the half way point. After refueling a little and barely using my drop bag, I pressed on in 1249th place at mile 80 at 11 am. It had taken me 17 hours for the first half. 

From Courmayeur, the trail heads steeply up to Refuge Bertone, but the elevation is still low at this point, so it's not as hard as other climbs on the course. For some reason the rolling hills from Refuge Bertone to Refuge Bonatti were harder and longer than I had imagined, and I got somewhat discouraged here. I refueled here and proceeded on towards Arnouvaz at 95 km. I reached this point around 2:55 pm in 1155th place. For some reason, this aid station was very small and very crowded. I imagined it was crowded because I was in the middle of the pack now. Yet when I refilled by bottles, I was informed that all runners leaving Arnouvaz had to wear running pants. I asked if the waterproof or warm pants were required, and the volunteer said "either one." Therefore I put on my warm pants, thinking about the cold cloudy windy weather. I ate a little food here but when I tried to exit the aid station, the volunteers said I had to have waterproof paints on, "not warm pants." So I had to go back and change my pants again. This whole changing my pants twice and repacking my gear must have taken 30 extra minutes.  

Apparently at Grand Col Ferret, the wind chill was -10 C with rain. Therefore I donned my waterproof jacket, pants and gloves. I didn't know what I was heading into, but it didn't sound enjoyable. I headed up the 4.6 km to Grand Col Ferret. The high altitude and fatigue of prior climbs were wearing on me. Some runners were sleeping alongside the trail in the icy weather. Others were trudging up the hill. I trudged along too but had to stop time and again to catch my breath. As I got higher and higher, I had to stop more frequently. It was getting chilly. Many runners were passing me now. Even with poles and a power-hike I felt like I was barely moving. "Should I head back down and call it quits? I thought. Or should I press on, like I had in all but one of my previous 9 100 miler races." That one Bighorn DNF in 2015 was because I was fatigued and energy depleted and was getting too close to the cutoffs to be able to finish.

I was carrying two watches and both weren't working. I had no idea what time is was or how close to the cutoffs I was. One watch got water in it and stopped. The other was my GPS watch which stopped at Courmayeur because the battery ran out. I decided to press on even though I was bonking and not feeling well. By the top of Grand Col Ferret above 2400m, it was 5:13 pm, and I was now in Switzerland. It had taken me over 2 hours to climb those 4.6 km! The wind chill was incredibly cold and I knew I had to trudge on down the hill, as waiting to catch my breath would have been disastrous. Just 1/2 mile down the hill, my stomach rebelled and I stopped alongside the trail to dry heave 10 times. Nothing was left in my stomach, so nothing came out other than secretions. Runners continued passing me in droves. One asked me if I was ok. I replied saying, "I'm just have some nausea." I knew that slowing down and descending were what I needed, so I did just that. I would head down into Switzerland at La Fouly and reassess how I was doing and if I had gotten too close to the cutoffs. 

La Fouly (109km) came, and to my surprise I was about 2:50 ahead of the cutoff. I hadn't lost much time because the cutoffs get more generous as the race goes on. I still had a chance at finishing! Not only this but I was in 1220th place, having lost only 65 places since Arnouvaz. 

The trail meanders down from La Fouly towards Champex Lac with some road miles thrown in. By Champex Lac (123 km) it was 11:16 pm, and I was in 1184th place. I refueled well here knowing that I still had 3 more climbs to go. I put my head down for 2 minutes on a table and closed my eyes but didn't sleep. I left here and started up towards La Giete.

I found myself power hiking up a steep, steep slope in a conga line. I stayed behind several people all of the way up. The person at the head of the line was going very slow, but at a perfect speed for me such that I didn't have to stop to rest at all. I met a couple of runners from the UK in this line, one of which had run this race before. At La Giete, there was a small aid station, which had a few potatoes wedges and potato chips. It seemed though that most of the supplies here were gone and eaten up. At La Giete I was very tired at 2:11am and was in 1076th place. I had gained 108 places in 11 km, probably partially because I had a quick aid station stop!

From La Giete, I trudged down the trail in the dark steeply to Trient. I didn't run very much but just followed people ahead of me. At 4:01 am, I came into Trient. Darkness still settled upon the wilderness. I was very tired. I didn't try to sleep at all, as I was getting really close to the finish. I was at 140 km in 1061st place. I only had 31 km to go to the finish. From Trient to Les Tseppes, its 5 km but it climbs up 826m! This was going to be one of the steepest or the steepest climbs of the course.

Now, after being awake for nearly 45 hours, I was at my lowest point in the race. Maybe I wasn't cut out to run for two days straight. Maybe I would have to be helicoptered out of here because I couldn't stay awake. UTMB does require us to have international evacuation insurance for a good reason. Maybe everyone else could use Coca-Cola to their advantage, while I never drink sodas or coffee. Maybe I would be known as the runner who fell asleep going up the steepest climb on the course and took out 10 runners with him when he fell. Would I be THAT guy? I decided I must go on. I took many breaks going up that hill. Eventually I reached the top at Les Steppes and sauntered down a mile or so into France. I was so tired though that I stopped right beside the trail, sat on a rock and put my head between my knees and closed my eyes for 5 minutes. I sensed many other runners looking and wondering at me as I tried to rest. I didn't sleep, but somehow I started to wake up at the sunrise warmed up the alpine meadows. 

I rose to my feet and took a few steps. I then hopped a couple of times and started to trot down that trail that winds down towards Vallorcine, which is the next to the last aid station on the course. As the trail headed down I started to run first slowly, but then faster, and faster. I was seemingly leaping through the air eating up large chunks of trail, passing up all of the runners who had passed me up on this section, and passing up runners I hadn't seen before. I was running on the downhills and flats and power hiking on the uphills. I ran into Vallorcine aid station as a revived person. 

I was finally awake in the early morning. I refueled really well. I was for the first time in the top 1000 runners--in 999th place at 7:16 am. I then headed up towards the last of two climbs. Descending from the top of the first climb, I ran crazily fast downhill hopping over rocks and roots, passing up all runners in my path. When the final climb to La Flegere came, I slowed down quite a bit, allowing those I had passed to pass me up. I didn't worry at all about this though because this I was running my own race, my own adventure. I knew the last downhill was coming, and I was saving everything I had for this. I stopped for 10 minutes at one point to take off my warm clothes as the sun was making the climb very hot. At La Flegere, I was now in 916th place. I habitually refilled my bottles even though I knew I likely would need all that much fluid for the descent. 

From Le Flegere, I leaped onto the trail with all of my energy. I only had 8 km to go. I ran down the steep technical trails as fast as I could, with the energy and bounce of an elite runner. I was going two or three times as fast as most of the other runners, passing many, many runners along the way, all of which I hadn't seen before. I was going so fast in fact that I missed a turn and had to back track up a steep hill which lost me 5 minutes or so. I felt as though I had fresh legs and could run for miles that way. Once I entered Chamonix, I had to run some tough flat stretches including two long flights of stairs. 

Only one person caught up with me briefly on this section, before I dashed ahead. Just before the finish line, I glanced over to see my wife eagerly dash out of the crowd to run the last few paces with me, which was really fun for her and me! 

After 40 hours 59 minutes and 35 seconds, I had gotten to run the UTMB race. I finished in 856th place out of 1778 finishers, with a seeded bib# of 1683! Out of 2600 starters, I was in the top 1/3 of runners. My place steadily improved throughout the race. 

UTMB was my 10th 100 miler race, my 9th finish, and my 8th finish in a row. 

UTMB gave me many firsts:

--First time no chafing at all in a 100 miler 

--First time ran over 30,000 ft elevation gain in a race

--First time running for 40+ hours straight, happened at age 40

--First time being awake for almost 55 hours straight

--First time I haven't fallen down in a 100 miler race

--First time I haven't tried to pass up many other runners early on in a 100 miler

--First time no significant GI issues

--First time I felt fresh in the last 14 miles of a 100 miler

My favorite aid station foods were: dark chocolate, broth with rice, baguette, crackers, bananas

My darkest points: Grand Col Ferret mile 60, and Les Steppes mile 86

My second, third and fourth winds: Running downhill into Courmayeur, Vallorcine and Chamonix

What I didn't use in my pack: gels, extra batteries, extra long sleeve

What is the finisher's prize: A Gilet (sleeveless jacket), no buckle or medal

So what went well for my UTMB race?

--fueling strategy, eating mostly at aid stations

--consistent slow minimum pace

--clothing choices, change when necessary to avoid overheating or overcooling

--sleep plan to limit time wasted

--cool cloudy weather was optimal for running, with exception of rain at start and at Grand Col Ferret

--semi-autonomy logistics worked well for me, so that I didn't need a crew

--helpful volunteers at aid stations, with many speaking broken english

--beautiful landscape helped with motivation

--prior experience 

--excellent long training runs with Elk-Kings traverses South Sister Double and Triple, Timberline Trail circumnavigation, Munson peak climbs, and Ultramook 50K for speedwork

Some ways I could have performed even better:

--more calorie intake between aid stations

--standing at aid stations rather than sitting to save time

--more fake naps at key points

--starting more towards front of pack

--more uphill running 

--using dual light source at night to help with speed at night

After the race, I felt probably the best I have felt after a 100 mile race. My leg muscles were not sore at all, and there was no chafing. My shoulders were sore from the heavy pack and I had two sore toenails, but no significant blisters. My left foot sole was sore probably from minimal proximal plantar fasciitis/spur inflammation, but that didn't last long.

Looking back on the data from the first half of the race, my avg heart rate was 134 ppm which is nice and slow (fat burning), and explains why I was able to progressively improve as the race went on. Most of the race was in zone 3, followed by zone 2, zone 4 and finally zone 1.

An interesting side note is that this year's course was shortened by about 4 km as two peaks were not included in the course. Col Des Pyramides Calcaires was not included due to the -10C wind chill and cold weather. La Tete aux vents was not included because a rock fall had recently killed a hiker on that trail!

The world's best ultrarunners were here for the world' most famous ultramarathon. UTMB is like the Boston marathon, Tour-De-France and Olympics of ultra running. UTMB attracts many of the world's top elite ultrarunners and many more qualifying amateur ultrarunners who aspire to run one of the most scenic ultra marathons in the World. 

Many elites and amateurs did not finish for various reasons (approximately 29%). While top-10 finishers have accomplished something amazing with sub-30 hr finish times, I think all finishers, including those who took the full 46.5 hrs have accomplished something incredibly difficult. They have endured extreme sleep deprivation, two full nights, and many long slow miles. Each runners' journey can be seen as a showdown on a person's fitness, planning, strategy, and ultimately determination. At the same time, each runner is highly dependent upon other people helping along the way--volunteers, other runners, friends, family, spectators, race organizers, communities, and search and rescue personnel.

Course Map

UTMB Elevation Profile

Boston Marathon 2018 Race Report: The Marathon to Remember

For days, the weather forecast had been calling for heavy rain, strong winds, and cold temperatures for Boston Marathon Monday, April 16, 2018. Although I have run in heavy rain, strong winds and cold temperatures in training, I had never ran a marathon in such conditions. With this knowledge, I packed all kinds of options of clothing to wear for the race including singlets, long sleeve shirts and jackets. That way, I could decide the day before or morning of the race in case the weather forecast changed.

The race Expo at the Boston World Trade Center was fun to go through. After picking up my bib and shirt, I stopped by various booths. I bought a special edition pair of Altra Escalante Boston racing shoes, an Adidas celebration jacket, and a few other mementos. In addition, I got to meet Scott Jurek who was doing book signing at the Clif booth for his new book, "North" which detailed his record-breaking Appalachian trail journey in 2015.

The Expo also had a seminar series, and I attended a few of those seminars. At the seminars, one of the talks focused on strategy and the course itself. Even these experts were saying they would run in a singlet even if there was rain, but would use arm sleeves. Few of the people even mentioned running in a jacket, and they didn't emphasize waterproof gloves either.

Sunday, the day before the race, I went to Fenway park for the Redsox-Orioles baseball game. The temperature there was 33-34 Fahrenheit with a northeast wind and ice pellets. I sat in a seat for 3 hours, quite cold, but was at least covered in the grandstand section.

On Sunday night, I set out my race outfit, planning on a singlet with arm sleeves, shorts, a buff around the neck, gloves, and a baseball cap.
On Monday morning, I changed my mind to a long-sleeve shirt rather than the singlet with arm sleeves. I went back and forth between also wearing a breathable rain jacket but eventually decided against it because I didn't want to part with it if I got too hot. I was fully expecting to warm up at my marathon race pace.
Much of my pre-race planning went into the logistics of the race including the subway map and schedule, the proper clothing at Athlete's village, and how I would make it back to the airport for my flight Monday evening.

At 5:30am Monday morning, I checked out of my hotel room at the Renaissance, and went to the WTC bus station to catch the silver line. I took the silver line to South Station, the Red T to Park station , and the Green T to Arlington. From there I dropped of my finish drop bag, walked in the rain through security checkpoints and boarded a bus by the Boston Commons. On this bus, I talked with a guy who said he only gets calories from gatorade along the course, and can't stomach gels or other foods when running. I told him I use gels, but that I had spent so much time on the logistics of this race, that I hadn't thought enough about race strategy or fueling plans. The bus left around 6:30am and we arrived at Athlete's village in Hopkinton around 7:30am. It had started pouring down rain during the bus ride. Now at Hopkinton, the ground was covered with a skiff of snow/sleet, yet the temps were in the low to mid 30s. Puddles were everywhere including on the grass which we had to walk through to get to the outhouses. A few large tents were set up in the village to shelter us from the rain, yet there wasn't enough room for all of the runners to sit down in this area. Many runners had to remain standing. We had to wait 2 whole hours before we could leave for the start line. I was in Wave 1 out of 4, so we got to leave first.

It was still pouring down rain when we left the shelter at Athlete's village. I was wearing two fleece jackets over my long sleeve race shirt plus a plastic poncho. I wore all of these layers to just before the starting corral where I left the two fleece jackets and poncho in a plastic bag. I had just 10 minutes to wait before my corral would start. Some runners kept their poncho or rain jackets on, but others like me just had our race shirts and shorts on. Most runners had gloves. Just as the national anthem was sung and the race started, a downpour came. I was already getting cold, and was wishing I had a rain jacket.

The race start line was fairly inconspicuous with no large overhanging banner, and no bells and whistles. I guess that is because the race started a long time ago with the elites and other divisions.
We were off on what was reported to be an abrupt steep downhill the first 1k. To me though it didn't seem steep at all. It was nothing like Mt Hebo Rd which I had trained on. The gradual drop didn't help my speed as much as I expected. In addition, there were so many runners on the road that it was impossible to run the speed I wanted. I really wanted to run 6:40 min/mile for the first 15 miles but the corrals I was in were running 7:15-7:20 min/mile. That's a huge difference. For 13 miles I was weaving back and forth trying to pass slow runners, and trying to hit the tangents of the road. My heart rate was ok in the upper 150s, but my pace stuck around 7:06 min/mile as I was passing up hoards of runners.

Storm cell after storm cell of heavy rain downpoured on me, turning my cold hands into numb appendages. My numb hands would slowly warm up and then another storm cell would come and make my hands more numb still. I was appreciating the buff that I was wearing around my neck and ears, as it kept those areas from aching. The heavy rain was turning the roads into puddles and this decreased energy return with every foot strike. My racing flats which were Asics Gel Hyperspeed shoes did not feel fast, and I did not get into any rhythm during the race.

At mile 15, Wellesley College is on the right and they were screaming loud and encouraging all of us along. At this point I was still feeling ok. After the race though, I found out that sometime between mile 13 and 16, my heart rate abruptly increased to the 180s. This didn't correspond to any particular uphill, downhill or change in pace. From that point on however, the heart rate stayed high until my body slowed the pace down. The funny thing is I couldn't tell I was running slower, except that other runners started passing me, followed by more and more running going through the Newton hills. The Newton hills really weren't that steep. None of the hills, including the second hill or heartbreak hill were steep. The fact is that there were similar rolling hills all along the course. The net elevation gain for the whole course is over 1200 ft! That is quite a bit for a road marathon. I was so focused on staying warm for the race that I decided to not bother with energy gels, but just drink lots of gatorade. After all, my final two long runs were without any fuel and I ended up doing well on this runs.

Although I had warm gloves on, they weren't waterproof, and my fingers were going numb. At one point I pulled off a glove to adjust some clothing, and it took me more than 30 seconds to get the glove back on my numb hand. I noticed another runner to my right staring at me wondering what I was doing with my glove.

Cresting heartbreak hill, I was fully expecting hundreds or thousands of people there cheering us along but there were actually few people in the pouring rain. I didn't see many signs about heartbreak hill either. I was thinking, "Is this all it is?" I fully looked forward to the downhill, but the problem was I couldn't run fast down the hill. My quads were cold and stiff. My cadence and stride length were unusually limited. The quads almost felt numb even though they shouldn't be. I had never had that sensation before.  I didn't quite feel dizzy but had this very unusual sensation of running on a treadmill. Maybe if was because droves and droves of runners were passing me up. Maybe it was because it felt like I had been running for hours and hours.

I remember some people to my right offering us hot chocolate. I briefly considered this but wasn't quite ready to walk yet so I didn't stop for some hot chocolate. In retrospect I wished I had taken some. It wasn't long--oh somewhere between miles 21 and 22 where I started taking walking breaks. I would walk for 30 seconds and that would give me energy to run for 3 minutes. Then I would take another walk break and then run again. I kept repeating this cycle which I hoped would enable me to make it to the finish line, before hypothermia set in. That was all that mattered to me by this time. These last few miles were averaging 11 min/mile. In miles 23-26, each time I would walk, I would get really cold especially in the downpours and wind. A few times near the end I wondered if I should stop at a medical tent. I could still feel my toes, I was not weaving, and my vision was ok, so I kept going.

The right on Hereford Street was ok, but wasn't that momentous. I didn't see any street signs here. The left on Boylston Street also was not very momentous for me. I didn't see the finish line sign, but only heard the announcer mention runners names as they were crossing the finish line. The announcer mentioned my name and said I was from Oregon. I ran all of Boylston Street and finished with a time of 3 hours 33 minutes 35 seconds. The half splits were 1:33 first half and 2:00 second half. It was 24 minutes slower than the Boston qualification marathon time. It was way slower than my dream time of less than 3 hours.

After I crossed the finish line I was handed a finisher's medal, a warming blanket, and a food bag.

I walked slowly while shivering to the drop bag area. There hundreds of finishers were shivering uncontrollably for minutes, waiting for volunteers to find our bags. After getting my drop bag, I walked to the subway station, still shivering. Upon returning to my hotel, I got my stowed-away luggage, changed, and headed to the airport for home.

On the airplane flight home Monday night I tried to analyze what wrong and find some meaning out of my experience. Much of the marathon I was miserable to be honest. I was discouraged, cold, and wet.

These were the roadblocks to meeting my time goal:
-The crowded streets made running my own pace not possible, which led to me passing many runners the first half of the race, thus using energy up
- The cold headwind, heavy rain and ice pellets made my muscle stiffen up, and chilled my body temperature
-I didn't stick with my fueling plan
-Side cramps at mile 20 starting my intermittent walking
-Water on roads led to less energy return with the foot strikes
-The abrupt high heart rate starting at mile 13-15 remains unclear but probably led to the bonk later in the race.
-The rolling hills, without long flats or descents made getting into a rhythm impossible
-Negative attitude hurt performance

What factors helped me to finish this race despite these roadblocks?
-Training: I had my best marathon build up ever with most consistent high miles, more tempo and long road runs
-Wearing the buff around my neck and ears, long sleeve shirt, and gloves probably prevented hypothermia, had I had not worn the buff, wore a singlet with arm sleeves and had cotton gloves
-Shoe choice: Asics Gel Hyperspeed were light enough that they didn't get heavy from the water logged roads
-Volunteers who braved the weather to provide water and gatorade
-Race organization that did all they could to help us get to the starting and finishing line

Some lessons I learned about my interaction with marathons:
-I perform better at smaller races, even if crowd support is less. Crowd support is nice but doesn't effect my performance, since I am intrinsically motivated primarily. Also, in crowded races, I feel insignificant, just another number.
-The longer the road race, the more weather influences the outcome
-I do better at races where I can get into a rhythm with long flat or downhill profiles
-I need to dress closer to how I would on my training runs
-I can't rely on only gatorade for calories at the marathon distance
-I would rather run marathons that have nature/scenery to look at than buildings/suburbs
-The more complicated the race logistics, the less focused I am on what really matters, like monitoring my heart rate, race pace, clothing choices, fuel intake and attitude

So what is the takeaway from my Boston Marathon experience?
At first I was hard on myself for the poor choices I made. Yet after reflection and reading other people's similar experience, I am more at peace.
Apparently this is the coldest weather the Boston Marathon has had in over 30 years. I would argue it may have been the coldest running weather in its history, if you include the body temperature drop with soaking rain and strong winds. Hypothermia caused most of the DNFs this year.
While starters overall had a 4-5% DNF rate, elite runners had a much higher DNF rate with a full 23 elite runners not finishing. This means that all of the finishers include me passed up 23 elite runners, including some of the most talented, fit marathoners in the World! This is the first year in many years an American woman won! Seven American women finished in the top 10! Six American men finished in the top 10!

What I take from this race is something more than whether I met my time goal. It's something more collective and philosophical. In each of us is a desire to accomplish goals, to push our limits, despite encountering obstacles than threaten our safety and comforts. In pursuing these goals collectively at this race, we helped each other by allowing others to draft off of us, setting a reasonable pace, and encouraging each other to keep running. I realize it was an honor to run the Boston Marathon. Each person there worked hard to get there. To toe the line, and then cross the finish line in the harshest weather conditions, will be a memory that won't be forgotten. Sometimes we do things in life that are downright miserable, exhausting, and discouraging. Yet, in keeping the focus, living the dream, we are changed by these experiences. We are better able to overcome the next time a novel challenge come up. This is what the Boston Marathon of 2018 means to me.

Boston Marathon Qualification: Running far and long before Mountains 2 Beach Marathon

"How fast, how far and how long do I have to run in order to qualify and run the Boston Marathon?"
This question perplexed me for quite a long time actually. The answer can be looked up and answered quite easily from the Boston Marathon website. To qualify for Boston, a person must complete a 26.2 mile race (marathon) that is a Boston Qualifying race, and also must finish it within a certain time limit based upon their gender and age. That is only the start of it however.

By October 2015, I had ran and finished 9 marathons, yet the Boston Marathon qualifying time was way beyond my reach. Here was a list of my past marathons and the finishing times:
1. Culver City Marathon (CA) Dec 2001: 5:10:27
2. Los Angeles Marathon (CA) Mar 2002: 4:14:07
3. Sunriver Marathon (OR) Sep 2013: 4:18:28
4. Portland Marathon (OR) Oct 2013: 4:13:14
5. Seattle Marathon (WA) Dec 2013: 4:18:33
6. Coeur D'Alene Marathon (ID) May 2014: 3:30:49
7. Portland Marathon (OR) Oct 2014: 3:32:34
8. Coeur D'Alene Marathon (ID) May 2015: 3:30:53
9. Portland Marathon (OR) Oct 2015: 3:41:40

Being self-coached, after having a setback at the 9th marathon, I decided to take a step back and not run a marathon for at least one year to see if I could figure this out. I would need to beat 3 hours and 10 minutes or maybe 3 hours 15 minutes if I waited a year in order to run the Boston Marathon when I turned 40.

First, I would have to look at past breakthrough marathon times in my past.
--What helped me get from 5:10 to 4:14 between the first and second marathons? I believe it was the longer training runs before my second marathon. Before my first marathon, my longest training run was about 13 miles. It was a rookie mistake of mine to try my first marathon with inadequate training.

--What helped me get from 4:18 to 3:30 between the 5th and 6th marathons? I believe it was the trail running and hill work I had incorporated over that Winter and Spring that took away my runner's knee and patellar tendinitis, thus enabling me to run the entire marathon rather than walking for the last miles.

Side note:
--An unanswered question might be "Why was there an 11 year gap between my second and third marathon?" Life responsibilities came to play in a big way. After my second marathon, I had to focus full-time on school. Then with marriage, children, and work, running was only occasionally done and was not a priority. I simply didn't have time for hobbies or extra-curricular activities. It wasn't until I had a 2 month batchelor pad time in 2012 that I gave running a thought again that May when I ran my first half-marathon in Cary, NC finishing in over 2 hours. In the Spring of 2013, a friend of mine and I decided to get back into running by doing 1 mile runs three days per week. 1 mile runs became 5 mile runs and my eyes were again set upon the marathon.

Second, I would apply these breakthrough factors to planning an even faster marathon time sometime in the next year or two.
--It would make sense that in order to bring the marathon time from 3:30 to the 3:12 range, I would have to build more strength and endurance while utilizing speed/hill work. In addition, optimizing fueling strategy would be helpful.
--Since my fitness peaks in the March to May time frame, I would want to choose a marathon in that time frame.
--Since I am a better downhill runner than flats or uphill runner, a downhill marathon would be ideal.
--The fastest lightest shoe would need to be used. Asics Gel Hyperspeed 6 was my choice given my wide feet and confidence in these comfortable shoes.

Third, I would need to run a marathon in the BQ time frame so that I could run at Boston when I am 40 years old in 2018. That would give me a 3:15 BQ limit. Assuming 3 minute cushion would be enough, a 3:12 target time would seem reasonable.

Having just got into ultramarathons in 2014 and 2015, I decided to run lots of long ultras in 2016 while I took a break from marathons, because I had learned that the adventure and problem-solving aspects of these races intrigued me the most. I tackled and finished all four 100 milers that year including Badger 100, Zion 100, Bighorn 100, and Lost Soul 100, my 100 mile slam. After having finished these races successfully, I decided to refocus on the marathon distance.

The 2017 Mountains 2 Beach Marathon in Ojai, CA would be my best chance to qualify for Boston in 2018. It is held Memorial Day weekend in May, and has a net downhill course. The potential downside of this course is that it can get warm towards the end and it can be windy at times. Yet the early start helps with those factors some.

Not wanting to lose my ultra running fitness, I also planned to do three 100 milers and a 50k in 2017. As unconventional tune-up races, I planned to run Badger 100 in March and Tillamook Burn 50k in April. Although Badger 100 was a mediocre result for me due to a flare up of runner's knee, Tillamook Burn 50k turned out to be a PR, which gave me a degree of confidence going into Mountains 2 Beach Marathon.

Oddly enough, my running mileage was down from Nov 2016 to Apr 2017, averaging only 150 miles per month vs. 180-200 per month in prior years. This year I did incorporate more cross training though, like bicycling, downhill skiing, and rowing. In addition, the two weeks before Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, I did 4 heat training sessions on a treadmill.

On the Friday before the marathon, I took a JetBlue flight to Long Beach in the afternoon, arriving around 4:30 pm. After getting a rental car and stopping at a grocery store for gatorade and food, I drove to my parents house for the night. On Saturday, I went to a church service in the morning, had lunch with my parents, and then drove over to Ventura where they had packet pickup.

After picking up my bib and packet, I drove to the Days Inn in Camarillo and had supper which included raisin bagels, tostada shells, bananas, applesauce, and pretzel chips.

On Sunday morning, my alarm woke me up at 2am! That's right--2am! I must have been expecting a good day, because jokes started popping up in my head.
"Whats a meal at 2am called? "Supfast or Brupper
"What kind of shoelaces drive you nuts when you get ready for a race?" Cat-chewed laces (sounds like cashew)

Anyway, for breakfast at 2:40 am I ate more bananas, applesauce and bagels.
By 3:30 am I had parked in Ventura and was waiting for the shuttle to take me to the start.
At 4:00 am the shuttle left and by 4:45am, it arrived in Ojai at the start.
There, a bunch of us waited in the post office, trying to stay warm. There were ample porta potties outside for the runners.
At 5:45 am I had my first gel, applied sunscreen, and headed to the start line.
At 6:00 am, the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon started.

I started between the 3:07 and 3:12 pace groups for the first 3 uphill miles. Sticking to a 7:20 pace for the first three miles was my plan and it worked well. I was breathing easily and really looked forward to the coming downhill miles. As I made the hairpin curve at mile 3, I quickly accelerated into a 6:42-7:12 pace for the next 6 miles, keeping up with the 3:07 group. I took a gel at mile 6 with water. For miles 3-23, there is a 900 ft net descent which allows the runner to maximize downhill speed without having to break along the way.

Photo Credits to Dan Holmes

At mile 10, I clocked a 6:37 mile, and at mile 13 I peaked at a 6:23 mile on a nice downhill section. I now had the 7:02 pace group in my sites. I also had taken another gel by mile 12. By the 13.1 marker, I was just under 1:31 for the half. "Nice--a little ahead of my plan but I was feeling well."

A few small hills slowed me down a touch to 6:40 to 7:16 miles for the next 4 miles. At mile 18, I took my final gel. The heat of the day was beginning with temps up in the mid 60s now. Fatigue was beginning to set in and I began getting lower abdominal discomfort.  Mile splits were now 7:24-7:39 for miles 19-22. By mile 23, abdominal discomfort was quite intense, causing me to slow down to 7:51 mile split. I looked around for a porta potty, yet knowing if I stopped at all, I likely wouldn't meet my time goal. I pressed on, but consciously slowing down more to 8:20-8:25 mile splits for miles 24-26, out of necessity. Hoards of runners now passed me. I was still running, yet I didn't know if I could make it to the finish. By the final stretch, I was just over 3:09 and I sprinted to see if I could get under 3:10. Yes! 3:09:27 was the chip time, beating my 3:12 time goal, and securing a BQ so I could run in the 2018 Boston Marathon!

"How fast, how far and how long do I have to run in order to qualify for the Boston Marathon?"
I found out that the answer was in the question. Even after multiple speed sessions, my speed had not changed over the past 15 years. In 2001, I could run just under a 6:00 mile. In 2017, I could still run just under a 6:00 mile.

In order for me to run fast enough, I would have to run far and run long. By the time I ran the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon, I had finished six 100 mile races in the past 2 years, four 50k races in the past 3 years, and 9 marathons over the past 15 years.

So, what did running far and long do to help me run a marathon faster? I believe trail running and ultra running helps a person build more leg muscle, endurance, and running economy, and also decreases risk of overuse injuries. This can also make up for the gradual reduction in speed as we get older.

Runners of the Boston Marathon have a wide range of pathways that they took to get there. Some like me, are decent road runners that work and work and work at improving there times, until one day, the years of running and lessons of the past steer the runner towards their goals. Others, the very fast and elites seemingly easily BQ when they finish a marathon due to their exceptional biomechanics, training, and fitness. Still others, may never BQ because of biomechanics, injuries, life challenges, or because it doesn't seem like a realistic goal.

I hope my 15 year journey to qualify for the Boston Marathon is helpful to others, who may have hit a performance plateau, or who would like to explore an unconventional way to maximize one's potential in the marathon.

Kodiak 100 2017 Race Report

"I just want to lay down beside the trail, and take a nap"

Having had an odd stomach ache for the last 5 miles, I pulled off to the side of the trail, down a short dusty ravine. My stomach promptly lost most of the water and gels I had consumed for the past 2 hours. I was having exercise and heat induced vomiting at 8,500 feet elevation going up Sugarloaf Mountain at mile 23, the most intense vomiting so far at any race. I could not keep anything down, although I had been hiking very slowly up Sugarloaf Mountain, allowing other runners to pass me up. Now I wondered if I would be able to go on up the mountain. Was this altitude sickness, which would require descending quickly? I did multi system checks, including math calculations to see if my mind still worked. I checked for significant edema, tachycardia, tachypnea, lightheadedness, and other GI symptoms, but these checks all turned out negative. I decided I would continue up the mountain, which would peak out at 10,000 ft--higher than I had ever run before in a race.

Kodiak 100 is a race that goes along the mountains around Big Bear Lake in California. I used to live in Southern California, so I was excited to run on the areas that I hiked when I was young.
The evening before I picked up my bib and headed back to my room to get some sleep. Before I went to sleep though, I checked my drop bags. TSA had left a card saying they inspected my suitcase containing my drop bags. One of my drop bags had double the gels and snacks, and one bag had no gels and snacks! TSA had mixed up my drop bag contents! Wow--I was glad I double checked the bags.

On the next morning, Friday, I dropped off my 6 drop bags and picked up my Spot tracker. At 9:00 am, we were off. The weather forecast called for sunny skies with highs up to around 80 F, and a high UV index above 10! I planned to wear sunglasses during the daylight hours, and a shade hat as well.
Since this was my 9th 100 miler to start, I have learned that since each race is vastly different, I don't set a time goal. That way, I do my best and just try to finish as well as possible. I had no altitude training and no heat training before this race. I had never been on these particular trails. I arrived in Big Bear 2 days before the start of the race.

Mile 0-5 (Grandview)
The race starts out on pavement and heads up on double track to Grandview A/S. I was careful to not run fast, and walk every time my heart rate crept into the 160s. I made sure to consume 300 calories per hour and to drink enough.

Mile 5-12 (Skyline)
From Grandview, nice single track descends down a ridge and joins up with double track which heads  up to Skyline. I was feeling ok, and tried to be in the shade as much as possible. when I stopped to take a gel, I made sure to stop in the shade.

Mile 12-15 (Bear Mountain)
From Skyline, I ate a few snacks, but I got some abdominal muscle cramps and had to slow down a bit on the single track downhill all the way to Bear Mountain. This A/S is situated on the road between Bear Mountain Ski area (which I have skied at before), and the Big Bear Zoo (which I visited the next week). There were quite a few spectators there at the A/S, and it was nice to see the people there.

Mile 15-20 (Sugarloaf)
From Bear Mountain to Sugarloaf A/S, the route has a lot of paved roads and some dirt roads as well. I was feeling ok to mile 20, having reached it in 4:30 elapsed time, which was 2:30 ahead of the first cutoff. I did sit down and eat quite a bit.

Mile 20-31 (Sugarloaf)
From mile 20, the route goes up dirt roads to the Sugarloaf Mt trailhead and climbs 2500 ft up to just shy of 10,000 ft. At mile 23, I had vomited and was suffering quite a bit. I had only packed 54 oz of water for miles 20-31, and I wondered if that was enough. Some of the dusty single track up was very steep, and with many runners passing me up, I was getting discouraged. Having lost quite a few ingested calories, I took it very slow. I did however reach the top, and sat down on a big rock and relaxed for 5 minutes. It would have been nice if there was water at the top, but there wasn't. I would ration my water for the descent and go low calorie for awhile. On the descent I picked up speed and got a second wind so to speak. I passed a few runners up and gained some speed down to the mile 31 checkpoint. 8:45 had passed since I started the race, and it was 5:45 pm. The worst of the heat of the day had passed, but I had hoped to reach this point by 3:30-4:30 pm! I was still 2:15 ahead of the cutoff though, so I had a little cushion. I would just have to pick up some speed now that I would hit the rolling sections. I ate some,  decided to rely more on A/S food that gels, and planned to continue on with the race.

Mile 31-38 (Burns Canyon)
The route from Sugarloaf A/S to Burns Canyon was one of my favorites. Maybe it was Deadman's ridge with all of the rocks to run on, or the relief that the evening breeze gave, or the beautiful sunset. I was moving quite well in this section and passed a few more runners.

Mile 38-42.5 (The Dump)
I put on my headlamp and meandered into the night. The route took me along dirt roads and paved roads.

Mile 42.5-50 (Holcomb Valley)
Quite a bit of dirt double track followed up hills and down hills with nice views of Big Bear lake. I ran with another runner along this section, as he was trying to save his headlamp batteries, and instead ran in my light instead. The aid station at Holcomb Valley was nice and I headed on in the night. At mile 50, it had taken me 14:30 to go that far.

Mile 50-55 (Hanna Flats)
From Holcomb Valley to Hanna Flats, the course goes primarily on double track dirt roads. Few ribbons or arrows were visible and often I wondered if I was on the correct route. Occasionally, I would see headlamps of runners ahead of me. The route went up and down hills. It was cold in the ravines and warm on the ridges. There wasn't much wind. Within 1/2 mile of Hanna Flats, I ran into quite a few runners who had taken a wrong turn and had come back to the correct route. I reached the aid station and had some soup, and other tasty items. They even had a bathroom there.

Mile 55-64 (Green Valley) Upon leaving Hanna Flats, the single track winds around several hillsides with very, very few ribbons. I didn't see any arrows though, so I kept on ahead, although several times I wondered if I should head back to the aid station to confirm I was on the right trail. Finally I reached Green Valley, mile 64. At Green Valley, the aid station folks told me some runners had taken a wrong turn just down the road and had come back to get directions. I was told which way the trail went, and it was confirmed with arrows.

Mild 64-69 (Snow Valley)
I followed the arrows and ribbons carefully and head up a hill above Snow Valley. Yet I got a text message from my family saying I was off course! I started to second guess myself, but checked again and sure enough there were lots of ribbons on this trail. I continued on to Snow Valley where the 50K runners would start later that morning. I grabbed some warm food, changed into lighter clothes and left.

Mile 69-79 (Champion)
The section from Snow Valley to Champion was my favorite section. The trail heads to the top of Siberia Canyon and descends steeply on switchbacks to the bottom where there is a creek. An aid station volunteer was in a sleeping bag and had water for us there. From here the single track heads up but less steep than the descent. Along the entire Siberia Canyon there were loads and loads of annoying gnats that tried to get into my eyes. I was swatting them continuously with both hands. I really liked the trail though and didn't mind the many scratches I got from thorny bushes along the way. Within 1/8 mile from Champion, a boy and a girl ran up to me cheering me on and asked if I wanted refills or oatmeal. I was amazed. Upon reaching the aid station, I sat down, and a whole cup o'noodles was brought to me. A/S volunteers went the extra mile and helped put things in my pack, filled up my bottles, encouraged me and sent me off quickly. Wow!

Mile 79-85 (Grandview)
The heat of the day was now building, except this day was going to be hotter than the day before. The sun was intense again and I sought out shady parts of the trail to run on. Finally I reached Grandview,  although at this point I was hiking more than running. I ate a little and took off down the trail.

Mile 85-87.5 (Aspen Glen)
From Grandview to Aspen Glen, the descent is fairly steep. I ran as much as I could but the heat was rough. At Aspen Glen I sat awhile and ate quite a bit of food. I asked carefully which way to head back up to Grandview, since I heard the signs were confusing going up.

Mile 87.5-90.5 (Grandview)
At the junction just up the trail I stopped and waited for another runner to catch up. I then asked her which way we were supposed to go, and I followed her to the left. I had seen other runners apparently going the wrong way up the other way, so that was confusing. The trail going back up was longer than the other trail. I reached Grandview and ate some more.

Mile 90.5-96 (Skyline)
This section form Grandview to Skyline was very difficult for two reasons. First, the intense sun and heat were exhausting me to no end. In spots, the heat index in the sun was likely around 90. I was hiking very slowly now, and was getting very, very sleepy in the mid afternoon, having been awake about 33 hours at this point. I wanted to go to the side of the trail and have a little nap. I resisted the urge though because I had no pacer to wake me up, and I was afraid heat exhaustion or worse would give me troubles so much that I couldn't finish. Would I have to drop out at mile 96 or before? I had only gone 1 1/2 miles since Grandview, and I was seemingly making now progress while hoards of runners were passing me up. If Sugarloaf Mt ascent at mile 23 was the first wall, then at mile 92-95, I was at the second wall, and this was much worse. At one point, I sat on a log and ate a gel with water. Somebody's pacer who passed me up here reminded me not to sit too long, and asked if I was ok. Thankfully, I reached the Skyline A/S 1 mile before I had anticipated I would reach it. This gave me a dose of energy. I didn't fuel anymore here, being worried that I would get stomach cramps on the final descent to the finish.

Mile 96-100 (Finish)
From Skyline to the Finish, I met Jonathan and his pacer. His pacer was pushing not only Jonathan but also the rest of us runners along the way to run and finish this race. I appreciated the encouragement. On the descent, Jonathan asked me if I wanted to finish together. I agreed and had a good time running down that hill to the finish, at a full sprint at the finish. After 32 hours and 39 minutes, Kodiak 100 had been conquered. I ended up 47th place out of 102 starters. Only 64 % of the starters finished, and I was glad to be one of them.

I am thankful for the amazing volunteers at the aid stations, the people who marked the course, the race director, Matt Smith, for all of the friendly runners out there, and for my family who believed I could conquer this Kodiak bear of a course.

Overall, I really enjoyed running this race. I never got lost even once. The aid stations never ran out of supplies. The aid station volunteers were helpful. The climbs were modest but not over the top. The altitude really wasn't that bad even though the average was above 7000' ft. The hot days will be there year after year, but this is the southwest in Summer. It was nice that it never rained and there was minimal mud. The temps never got below about 40 F. The 9 o'clock start was nice in that I could sleep in the night before and it wasn't very hot to start out the course.

What went well:

1. The tune-up races and runs prior to this race: Badger 100, Bighorn 100, M2B marathon, Tillamook Burn 50k

2. I kept the summer mileage up higher than in prior years, and the legs had no problem with the climbs or descents

3. I tapered effectively

4. No underlying injuries

What I could have done differently:

1. Altitude training, although it isn't real feasible where I live on the coast
2. Heat training, although it didn't seem to help me much at Bighorn (because it was cool this year, haha).
3. I should have had 72 oz fluids from miles 20-31, rather than 54 oz.

One way to look at performance is the placement. For each of my 100 milers, I have either been in the mid pack or back of the pack, which is mediocre as races are concerned. Given my marathon and half marathon times, one would think I would be faster at ultras.
Yet I have finished all of the last 7--100 milers that I have run over the past 2 years. Statistically, given the finishing rates of Badger 100, Zion 100, Bighorn 100, Lost Soul 100 in 2016, and Badger 100, Bighorn 100, and Kodiak 100 in 2017, the chance that a runner (like me) would just finish each and all of these races is only 2.5 %. That means, there was a 97.5% chance that I would not finish at least one of these races. This brings up several questions.
1. Why have I been able to beat the odds to finish 7--100 milers in a row if my performance on each of these races is mediocre?
2. Why does it matter if I finish nearly all of the 100s I start?
3. Why aren't my 100 mile times getting faster?

The questions get progressively harder to answer for me.
For the first question, factors that have helped me to finish are experience, baseline fitness, determination, but above all--I really like being out on the trails with nature for hours and hours, even by myself.
For the second question, I imagine it matters that I finish because I don't want to let down myself and others, enjoy the challenge, and know that I will regret it if I stop.
For the third question, I have no idea. Yet it doesn't really matter to me because these long races are so much fun with the challenge and everything. I choose more and more challenging courses--pushing the elevation limits, heat limits, mud limits, and time limits.
If I want to place high, I will focus on distances at races from 5K to marathons because I have some speed going for me. I run ultras because they are fun out in nature, not for prizes or to be in the top %.

Bighorn100 2017 Race Report

"Embrace the mud, or the mud will keep you from the finish."

The cool cloudy weather with trace rain expected made prospects for a fast time at Bighorn100 promising this year. I was excited about this race.
On Thursday before the race, I got my bib and dropped off my three soft sided drop bags and then headed with my family to Ole's for a nice dinner of spaghetti.
At 8am on race day--Friday, I gathered with my running friends for the day at Scott Park in Dayton for the race briefing and then was shuttled off to the start where I waited for an hour by the Tongue River.
It was a cool start with temps in the 60s with cloudy skies.

Miles 0-30
At 10am, the national anthem was played and we were off. Running at a 9:30 min/mile pace for the first mile was easy on the flat gravel road. Upon entering the Tongue River Trailhead single track, the trail gradually climbed up to Lower Sheep Aid Station at 3.5 miles where I refilled water and had a gel. The trail then headed steeper up to Upper Sheep Aid Station, and I was hiking at a comfortable pace in the cool weather. At Upper Sheep Aid Station, I took another gel, and a few items at the aid station, filled water, and took off, alternating running and hiking the gradual ascent to 8000' before running down at a 8 min/mile pace down to DryFork aid station. At DryFork, it had only taken me 3 hours 5 minutes to reach that point, a full 7 minutes faster than last year. After 7 minutes at the aid station, I proceeded down the trail, running at a good clip. The rolling hills between DryFork and Footbridge were nice allowing alternating running and hiking. Stopping briefly at Cow Camp aid, Stock Tank water supply, and Bear Camp aid for food and water, I felt great. Descending the 3.5 miles down the wall to Footbridge was slow going due to the steep narrow single track with many rocks and turns. Yet, I checked my watch at Footbridge and only 6 hours 48 minutes had gone by for the 30 miles of this tough course, a full 12 minutes faster than last year. I took 12 minutes to refuel and grabbed a light running long-sleeve shirt, running jacket and rain jacket as a little rain was expected.

Miles 30-48
Upon leaving Footbridge, drizzle turned into light rain. The 3 miles of single track to Cathedral Rock was muddier than I had remembered and had more hills than I had remembered. I hiked as much as I rain. At Cathedral Rock aid, a volunteer mentioned that the trail is going to get really muddy, but saw my Altra Lone Peak shoes and mentioned that they have great traction. I agreed and said, "they have never let me down."
With the rain, the muddy sections were muddier, causing me to slide sideways and frontward and backward. Even the normally dry single track was becoming slippery and non-negotiable. We had to navigate around the majority of the muddy trail in order to make any safe progress, meaning hiking on the grass next to the trail or navigating between the bushes by the trail. At this point flexibility and balance attributes were as important as strength and fitness. I gagged, vomited and stopped to catch my breath.
Spring March aid at mile 40 was a welcome site, and I was happy to see vegan soup and other delicious foods. Other runners were also mentioning that the front runners had not come through yet, and that we normally saw them by this point. The front runners crossed my path just after leaving Spring March (their mile 55), muttering about the terrible muddy trail conditions. I felt a little better now, knowing that the conditions were even tough on the fastest runners. The rain was heavier and heavier.
The muddy trail was getting worse and worse, with my Lone Peaks feeling like road shoes. I would slip one way, and then slip another way altogether. I would see a runner in front of me slipping and sliding in a dancing-like fashion, as if walking on an ice rink. At times it was almost comical; at other times, it was downright discouraging.
How would I ever finish this run, as I could not even hike fast? At Elk Camp at mile 43.5, the word from volunteers was that the next 2 miles were steep and terribly muddy. How could things get any worse though? The only tactic was to find the least muddy section of trail (usually on one side or other of the mud field.) I grabbed onto bushes and trees to keep my balance as my legs plunged into the mud pits. At one point, both of the legs were stuck in the mud up to my knees, my flashlight was covered with mud, and my hands were covered with mud. Finally I reached Jaws at mile 48, the turnaround point at 14 hours 14 minutes. It had taken me over 7 hours to negotiate 18 miles up the little Bighorn River Drainage arriving at 9000 ft. elevation. Upon reaching the aid station, I found my drop bag, and sat down on a chair. I munched on a quesadilla, drank some broth and shivered. A nice volunteer offered me a blanket which I readily took and warmed up before changing into a dry shirt, jacket, hat, fleece face mask and gloves. My headlamp was not working well so I ditched it, only having my flashlight now. I didn't seriously consider dropping at this point because I had dry clothes now, and I thought maybe the downhill would be easier in the mud.

Miles 48-66
After 40 minutes at Jaws aid, I trudged on. The rain showers continued and the muddy trail was actually worse on the way down as there had been more foot traffic since I came up. I passed quite a few runners on the way down. I encouraged them as much as I could while trying not to fall in the mud myself. At times I tried to tell other runners where the least muddy path was. I slipped, fell, and seemingly danced in the mud at times as I struggled to keep my balance. The muddy trails continued through Elk Camp, Spring Marsh, and Cathedral Rock down to Footbridge at mile 66. At Footbridge, it had taken me 21 hours and 21 minutes. The volunteer there said I didn't look so good. She rephrased that saying I didn't look terrible, but I looked a little pale. I quickly said that I just need to eat some food. After eating grapes, cheezits, potatoes, and M&Ms, I saw that I had spent 29 minutes there and had to get going. I was now 2 hours 10 minutes ahead of the cutoff times. I would be chasing the cutoff times all of the way, if I continued. The rain had stopped though.

Miles 66-83
The trail going up the Wall was really muddy, but it slowed me to a decent pace so that the ascent didn't seem bad at all compared to last year. I only had to stop a couple times to catch my breath. At Bear Camp aid, I sat down, ate a gel and other food before taking off for Stock Tank. The trail continued quite muddy all of the way to Stock Tank before drying up a bit going towards Cow Camp. By this time, I was getting really sleepy and hiked relatively slowly. I rain the downhills as much as I could but the ascent up to DryFork was excessively slow as I apparently hadn't fueled enough and was bonking. At DryFork, I had been on my feet for 28 hours 8 minutes and after an 11 minute aid stope, I was only 41 minutes ahead of the cutoff. This was going to be close. I didn't consider dropping though because I wasn't really that sore, and I figured I could run most of the downhills.

Miles 83-100
The climb up to 8000' was tough and I hiked slowly up and power-hiked down to Upper Sheep aid station.  At Upper Sheep aid station I was 40 minutes ahead of the cutoff, and quickly took a gel. After vomiting what I just ingested, I ate potatoes instead and I felt so much better. Now I had enough energy to actually hike fast up the Haul and then run most of the way down to Lower Sheep aid. At Lower Sheep I was feeling quite well, and proceeded on. I was a little surprised at the rolling fashion of the trail to Tongue River TrailHead, as I expected it to be mostly downhill and longer than I had remembered. I reached the aid station mile 95 at 32 hours 11 minutes, and with a 4 minute stop, was only 15 minutes ahead of the cutoff. The volunteers there looked as tired as I was but were so very helpful with having fresh fruit and other food, and providing directions towards the finish. The last 5 miles would mostly entail power hiking at 15-16 min/mile pace. At mile 96, I texted my family letting them know I would be there soon. At mile 98, a happy boy brought me and others a popsicle. At mile 99, two excited girls did a cheer for each runner coming by, and I tipped my hat to them.
At mile 99.5, I saw the bridge and road and started to run. I went back to hiking a few times though as I was tired. As I reached to park and everyone was cheering, I couldn't help it and dashed ahead and sprinted the last stretch to the finish. After 33 hours 38 minutes, I had finished the 2017 Bighorn 100! Of my seven 100 mile finishes, this was my slowest, being just 22 minutes ahead of the final cutoff. Yet, I will probably value this finish the most of all--because I worked the hardest for it, physically, mentally, and emotionally. 328 runners checked into DryFork at mile 13, and only 175 runners finished which means nearly one-half of the starters DNF. This years average finish time was 2 hours slower than 2016. I heard opinions on the trail that this year's Bighorn had the worst mud in its history. It was certainly worse than the mud at Zion100 in 2016 when they closed it down early. It will be a trail run to remember for years to come.

During each tough 100 miles, I seem to doubt whether I will ever run another 100 mile race. At the end when I finish though, I contemplate the day and decide to hold off on making any judgment about that until another day, because somehow, the job got done. Maybe it was the helpful volunteers, the friendly runners on the course, the encouragement from family and friends, or my determination.

Finally, I usually like to discuss what went well and what things I could have done better.

What went well:

1. The build-up of races in the Spring with Badger100 in March (11 minutes slower than my 100 miler PR), Tillamook Burn50k in April (18 minute 50K PR), and Mountains2Beach Marathon in May (21 minute Marathon PR and BQ with 3:09 finish time). I felt rested enough for Bighorn and race fatigue was not a significant factor.

2. The hill training was adequate and the hills seemed easier than in 2016 despite the mud, maybe because of the slower pace

3. The heat training in the month before the race probably helped my VO2max enough to make the altitude not seem so pronounced as I didn't get any altitude training in, other than 2 ski days in February at Mt Hood Meadows

4. The even effort pace during this race helped me to keep my pace up during the second half of the race.

5. My drop bags had enough dry warm clothes

6. My negotiation of the mud was good, as I was familiar with the course.

What I could have done better:

1. The biggest factor in not achieving my time potential of 100s continues to be calorie intake. Looking at top ultra runners, Scott Jurek commonly took in 300 calories an hour, while Jim Walmsley takes in nearly 500 calories an hour. I read that people can only take in 200-250 calories an hour without GI upset tough, so maybe top ultra runners have especially accommodating GI tracts. I have mostly been doing low-calorie intake trail runs focusing on fat-burning.Yet it appears that I would have done better had I trained some times with high calorie intake to fine tune exactly how much I could ingest safely so I could run fast for the duration of the run. GU gels with water work well for me so I should use those more on training runs.

2. I was down to one light source at times, and had no back up in the early morning, so I should have thought this through more. Thankfully, my last light never went out although it dimmed some.

3. I should have used some sunscreen the second day when it got sunny, as the reflection off of the white rocks caused a mild sunburn.

4. I should not have taken in the gel with caffeine in it the second morning, as it made me very sleepy after I took it. I just don't take caffeine well, and almost always avoid it. You know what they say, "never experiment with something on race day."