This race would be my second attempt at the 100 mile distance. I originally planned to run this race in April 2020, but it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of my races were cancelled that year with a few that were still held late in the year. I decided to register for this race for the 2021 year. I had heard so many good things about this race from friends that had run it previously. But this year, I wouldn't be going at it alone, I would be going with two other Greenville runners. Earlier in the year I sent out a spreadsheet that I found online that contained a list of various 100 miles races in the US. The spreadsheet had detailed information about elevation, completion rates, links to pictures of the buckles.
After sending it to my running buddies Brittany and Rachel. After looking at it Brittany texted me and said she was considering C&O. She said she and her husband had ties to that area and thought it would be a great race. I then told her that I planned on running it and that it was a carry-over race from 2020 that was cancelled.
I used the same training plan as before, 20 miles during the week and back-to-back long runs. I was able to find a race that fit well in my training cycle, March Manic 11-hour race. It was an night race that started at 7pm and ended at 7 am. It's considered an 11 hour race because it was held on the day we turned our clocks back for daylight savings time. This race gave me confidence that I could again tackle the 100 mile distance. Late in this training cycle I learned that another running buddy, Jenny would be running C&O too.
I decided to head to Knoxville, Maryland the day before the race. I decided that I would drop my dogs off at my parents house since it was on the way to the race. It would also give me an opportunity to spend time with my family after the race. Normally, this wouldn't have been a big deal, but my dog Roscoe developed diarrhea the day before. I explained to my parents what medications to give and the frequency. My parents took on the task and assured me that they would take care of everything and that I should just focus on the race. They fed a healthy meal of Salomon and veggies which was greatly appreciated. Thanks guys!
I arrived at the Hillside Hotel in Knoxville later that evening. Ryan, Brittany's husband told about this hotel and said it was about 5 minutes from the race start. The hotel staff was very friendly and the accommodations were basic but clean. I dropped off my stuff and met Brittany, Ryan and Jenny at a local bar. We sat and talked for awhile and discussed individual race strategies including preparation for inclement weather. A week prior we had discussed on a FB group chat about bring rain gear. I didn't think it would be needed but I packed it anyway.
After the bar, we parted ways and got my drop bags ready. I had to predict when the rain wold hit, so I could have my rain gear in hand prior. There were a total of 3 drop bag locations, Manidokan, Antietam, and Brunswick. I slept well that night, I hadn't eaten much that day so when I did, my body shut down. When I woke that morning, I texted Ryan to see if they were up. I followed them to Camp Manidokan where the race would begin. When I arrived I was shocked how beautiful the area was. The picture doesn't even do it justice. Jenny had decided to "car-camp" the night before and when we arrived she was just waking up. We all place our drop bags (dry bags used by kayakers) in their designated locations, submitted our COVID-9 waivers and made any last minute preparations.
Due to the COVID-19 concerns, the race would start in waves. The faster runners would start in the first wave and slower runners in the latter waves. The waves would start every 5 minutes. Your official time would start based on your wave number. We had to run around a field first before heading out of Camp Manidokan to the C&O Canal Towpath.
After leaving Camp Manidokan we had to travel down a steep hill and cross over a steam. There were several logs that would used to created a makeshift bridge. For some reason, my legs felt really sluggish. I thought that they were tight from the decreased activity from taper. I figured that as the warmed up, the muscles would loosen up.
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| Running along the rock path leading to the Canal Towpath. |
I continued to run towards Antietam and noticed Brittany had caught up with me. She was moving at a much faster pace than I was. We were both using a run/walk intervals and kept leap frogging along the course until we came across the Antietam aid station. I dropped off my vest and long sleeve shirt and changed to something a bit cooler. Hot breakfast (French toast, sausage, and bacon) was available, but I didn't partake of any. My legs were still very tight and I was becoming a bit concerned. Did I not taper properly? It really got in my head, but I kept telling myself just keep reevaluating every 5 miles.
Several hours into the run the temperature started to rise. I also, began feeling the early stages of leg cramps. I made a bottle of Drip Drop electrolyte mix and that seemed to keep them away for a while. The majority of the day was spent enjoying the beautiful scenery of the C&O Towpath and chatting with fellow runners. I was still battling leg cramps and kept alternating between Drip Drop and Himalayan Pink Salt. It was helpful but nothing seemed to get rid of them. I continued to run and take in at least 200 calories per hour.
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| Bear Cub Observed Near the Trail |
As dusk approached I made certain that I grabbed my Columbia rain jacket. The rain was predicted to begin in the late evening and continue into the night. Initially, the rain was just a drizzle and it was still warm out. I figured I didn't need the jacket and that it would only make me hot. The jacket wasn't one of the those light-weight packable jacket, but was made of a thicker typical rain coat material. However, with time, the rain became more intense and the temperatures began to drop. I donned the jacket. I eventually arrived at Brunswick (### mile) where I saw a lot of runner in bad shape. The cold rain had gotten the best of them. Many were sitting under a collapsible canopy drinking hot fluids with the look of despair on their faces. As I was leaving the aid station, Roy, a runner that I met on the course earlier that day told me that he was going to drop. He said his body temperature had dropped significantly and that he was having trouble staying warm. I looked at him and I could see that he had been through a lot just to get to Brunswick. His light-weight jacket was soaked and so were the rest of his clothing. He encouraged me to continue on and do everything I can to stay warm. I asked if he had someone to pick him up and he said his pacer would be by to pick him up. We exchanged farewells and I put a disposable plastic poncho on top of my Columbia rain jacket. The Columbia jacket was so saturated that the rain was seeping through. I continued my journey toward Keep Tryst Aid Station.
When I arrived at Keep Tryst, fatigue was getting the best of me. My mental status was a little fuzzy. I handed the aid station volunteer my bottle for a refill and while she was doing that I grabbed a stash of food to help me make it to Manidokan. Everyone at the aid station was helpful and I continued down the trail to the next aid station. About 1.5 miles out from the aid station, I reached down for my water bottle and noticed it wasn't on me. I retraced my steps about a 100 yards to see if I dropped it. No luck. As I was searching, two other runners were passing by and I asked if they had seen it. One runner seemed annoyed that I asked her, but promptly replied with, "NO!" The guy that was with her asked me what it looked liked and I told him it was a grey bottle. He told me he saw it at the aid station. I began to panic a little. I had a decision to make, do I turn back and walk the two mile back to the aid station and risk missing a cutoff or do I continue on and take my chances of acquiring a water bottle at the next aid station. I decided to continue on to the next aid station. Relentless Forward Progress, right?! The only problem is that the aid station was approximately 2 hours away at the current pace I was going. Also, I was already thirsty. This probably wasn't the best decision but at this stage in the race good decision were rare.
I went into survival mode and prayed for guidance. The thought came to me that I could use the outer rain poncho (which was basically a plastic bag with a hood) to collect water. I held the bottom portion out in front of me so that it was in a horizontal position, so that the rain would collect in the poncho instead of running off onto the ground. Once a considerable amount was collected, I would suck the water from the poncho. I continued to do this for 2 hours. As I was approaching Manidokan I texted Ryan and asked if he had an extra water bottle. He let me know that he had a couple of Brittany's Propel waters and that he would bring some to Manidokan. He had planned to be there for Brittany at that time.
As I was approaching Camp Manidokan, the logs that served as a makeshift bridge across the stream was extremely wet and muddy. I was able to find a large branch to use a staff to support me while I crossed the log and travelled up the slippery, rocky incline leading to the camp. While I was climbing the hill, Brittany was coming down. She was full of energy and I told her she was running a great race and that her children are going to be so proud of her when she brings that buckle home. When I got to the camp I was greeted by Ryan with, not one, but two propel water bottles. My clothes were damp but not soaked but I decided I needed a dry layer. The rain didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon. I changed my outer shorts, shirt, ball cap and put on a pair or rain pants. This seemed liked simple process but it took way too much time. I think I spent 40 minutes changing clothes, eating and getting my gear together again.
I left Manidokan and headed to the next aid station, Dargan Bend. I decided not to stop at Dargan Bend in an effort to make up lost time at Manidokan. My next stop was Antietam. As I was heading toward Antietam, I was sleep walking/running and almost travelled off the travel which paralleled the river. I spun around to prevent myself from falling and became disoriented. I didn't know which way to go, left or right. I event tried to look at the map and to see which side the river should be on but I could not figure it out. I made a decision based on the information that I thought was accurate. As I was running I came across another runner. I pointed in the direction that I was going and asked him if Antietam was in that direction. He gave me a dazed look and hesitantly said, "Yes." I kept running in that direction and was relieved that I was going the correct way. This feeling didn't last long. As I approached Dargan Bend again, I knew something was wrong. This time I stopped by and chatted with the aid station volunteers to make sense of what was going on. As I was talking to the volunteer (which I later found out was the race director's wife, Emily) and we quickly came to the conclusion that I ran in the wrong direction and repeated the miles I already covered. When I heard that, I was devastated. I didn't have it in me to add on anymore miles in addition to the 100 miles it would take to finish this race. She assured me that I was way ahead of the time cutoffs. She was very encouraging and I thanked her and headed back out to Antietam. I was in a a bad headspace. I tried to be positive about the situation but I was struggling to do so. I had such a nice cushion between cutoff that had now been erased. I decided at that point, I'd take things from aid station to aid station. Eventually, I arrived at Antietam. I told one of the volunteers about my earlier mishap. She was quick to get me in and out the aid station. She even pointed me in the correct direction.
As I was running, I came across a group of runners, Meghan, her father and Deepak. I ran with them for while until we made our way back to Antietam. I sucked down some Luke-warm ramen at Dargan and continued on my way. I was a bit concerned about cut-offs and decided I needed to run more. I began a 30 step run/walk interval. This allowed me to cover more distance than walking but kept the risk of cramping down. During this section (Manidokan to Keep Tryst) I witnessed the most beautiful view of the sun break through the clouds. That gave me hope. I had a chant that would regularly say during this run, "Not for my Glory but for His." I kept saying this and it gave me strength to continue moving. When I arrived at Keep Tryst my stomach was a bit upset. Nausea had been to set in. The aid station volunteer gave me a couple Tums and I put them in my pack to use later. I came across the water bottle I left the night before. I figured it would've been trashed by now. I'm guessing the volunteer placed it on the table after filling it up and I was too busy grabbing food to noticed. To my defense it was raining, dark and I was already physically and mentally drained. I place the bottle in m pack and continued on in the direction of Brunswick.
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| "Not for My Glory but for His" |
Once I arrive at Brunswick (Mile 90) I saw that Brittany and Jenny had made their way there already. They were both lounging in chairs, laughing and having a good time. I said, "Hey y'all, you do realize we have cutoffs!," in a concerned manner. "What cutoffs?" replied Jenny. "We're are only 30 minutes ahead of the cutoff at this aid station," I answered back. When I said that Jenny jumped out of her chair and got her gear together. When I arrived at Brunswick I had been running with Meghan for quite some time. She managed to catch up with me after we separated at Dargan Bend. Meghan is a strong runner and after chatting with her, I found she was a very experience runner. She was very humble when telling me about all the races that she had run. At Brunswick, I grabbed an overly toasted croissant (no complaints- it was really good) and headed out with Meghan. We started off running. Brittany and Jenny left around the same time but started off walking. Meghan and I continued to run, knocking off a mile at a time. While at Dargan I was given Tums for my upset stomach. Not did I learn that Tums helped my stomach, it also made my leg cramps go away instantly. Could the calcium in the Tums be the key to the cramping I had been experiencing? Heck, calcium is considered an electrolyte, right?
My stomach was now my main concern. I couldn't stomach any solids, even the small silver-dollar pancakes I had picked up. Meghan offered me a gel which I was able to hold in. I also took small nibbles of ginger root paired with a Tums to help settle my stomach. During this stretch, I kept asking Meghan how much longer did we have. I'm pretty sure I asked her every 10 minutes, but the time seemed to slow down those last 5-miles. The medial side of my left ankle was starting to become painful, so I had to adjust the amount of running I could do, but the conversation with Meghan helped take my mind off the pain.
Meghan and I eventually arrive at the dreaded hill that lead to Camp Manidokan. I wondered if I would be able to cross that log bridge with my legs in the condition they were currently in. I wave Meghan on and asked her to cross first. She did so with ease. I took my first step on the log and thought to myself, at least if I fall in, I don't have much longer before the finish. Meghan continued up the rocky incline, while I scooted foot-by-foot across the log bridge. Once I crossed the bridge I made my way up the incline fairly quickly. I was just ready to be done with this race. There was a hill that lead to the camp, and I found it harder to climb than the rocky area near the stream. My legs were absolutely done! I eventually made my way to the finish, where Emily (volunteer at Dargan) greeted me with the finisher buckle. I jokingly asked her, "Do I get anything for the extra mileage I ran?" She replied, "Oh, I won't charge you for those extra miles, they are free!" We both laughed and I thanked her for encouraging me to continue.
I saw Meghan was already sitting down surrounded by her family. I walked over to her and thanked her for getting me through those last miles. I even commented to her father how strong of a runner she was, bu I'm sure he already knew that though. I hobbled over to area with an unused chair and sat down. I texted Brittany and she said she and Ryan were about a mile away. I asked her about Jenny and she told me that they had separated not too long after leaving Brunswick.
About 10 minutes later I saw Brittany and Ryan cresting the hill leading to the Camp. I got up and wobbled over to the finish as fast as I could. Brittany had the biggest smile on her face. I think I was more excited about her finish than I was about mine.
We all waited for Jenny to come arrive. I was getting really worried because there wasn't much time left in the race. Brittany texted her and Jenny said she wasn't too far away. Dipak crested the hill shortly followed by Jenny!
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| Dipak Approaching the Finish |
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| Jenny Approaching the Finish |
This was a tough race for all of us. The course itself wasn't so bad (except for that dreaded hill), but the conditions that we had to go through made it tough for everyone. I was so excited. All three Greenville runners had overcome!!!
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| 3 for 3! |
We all sat around too sore/stiff to really do any substantial moving. Ryan was pretty much the person to grab everyone's drop bags and place them by our cars, which were 100 yards away. Ryan and Brittany headed back to their hotel.
While Jenny and I both decided we would sleep in our cars. I'm not sure it that was the wisest thing to do, because when I woke up I was so stiff that I couldn't move. Even the task of walking to the Porta-Jon seemed like an impossible task. It was. I drove my car to the Jon to minimize the amount of walking needed. I looked across the field and noticed Jenny was up and moving too. I called her and let her know I was heading out. I told her I couldn't make the trip to my parents house, 1.5 hours away and that I would spend the night at the hotel I stayed at previously. Jenny thought that was a good idea and did the same. When we arrived, the attendant told us they only had two rooms left, one with a TV and one without. I didn't care either way. I just need access to a shower and a bed. We were both able to get the last two rooms left. We all continued to text each other (Brittany, Ryan, Jenny and I) throughout the evening. Ryan was even kind enough to drop-off ice he bought at the gas station across the street, so that we could ice down our aching feet and ankles.
We all woke up fairly early the next morning and headed back to Greenville. We were a sight for sore eyes!
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