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 coast2. 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 %.
