Links to VHTRC report and photos
Joe Kilcoyne:
"I'm never doing this again. Where's Lorrin?"
Angelo Witten:
I felt good the entire run. Ran with Ed roughly from about 30-39 so that mentally pulled me through. Didn't have to do much complaining then, just run with Ed.
I passed people most of the way after Centreville. It's pretty funny since I remember thinking that I had 40 miles to go last year and felt sunk. I totally remember Paul at Centreville saying 40 to go! I was much more comfortable with the course this time around so the hills weren't so high or so long. Highland Sky also gave me confidence at that point.
Ran with Joe from the start to Hemlock. I stayed just barely ahead of him most of the way. I think he just lost some time at aid stations.
I started off pretty positive and stayed that way. A few times when it was really cold, i fell in the mud or when my shoe was sucked off I got negative but I was able to turn it around. It helps when you know so many people and when you are actually catching up with people.
This is definetly a boost in confidence for me. Even though the quality of my training runs aren't so good, my overall mileage is likely transforming my metabolism. It's a pain sometimes to slog out 50 miles weeks, esp. since I'm currently 70 miles behind my target (somewhere in the 45 per week range).
Pete Ponzer:
The Do Loop Aid Station had a lot of business. I fell about a mile before the station and the start of the Do Loop. I got a two inch gash about a half inch above the left eyebrow running north to south (no concussion, but it bled like a sun of a gun). At the station we wiped it down with alcohol and put a compression bandage on it. I held it in place with direct pressure at first and later by cinching my hat tightly. After I finished the do loop, they stopped me to clear off all of the blood from my face. It must looked pretty bad. My regret is that I didn't get a photo to enter into the "best blood" contest.
I needed to clear my face because my wife, Margaret, and my two daughters were going to be at Fountainhead. If they saw my blood covered face and hat I would have caught some real grief.
I finished the race, but went to the urgent care/emergency room afterwards. The doctor decided against stitches because of the time lapse, additional scarring, and the improvements in surgical glue. They used surgical glue to seal the gash. It looks pretty interesting today. I will have a good "battle" scar from the run.
Angelo passed me at about mile 47 (after the Marina). He was looking strong. Joe also looked great when he finished. I wanted to stay longer to talk and cheer, but I knew that I needed to get to a doctor to look at my head. Fortunately, they could not look inside.
I have enjoyed running and talking with you'all. I hope everybody is doing better today and we can run together soon.
Lorrin Harvey:
Five things I learned at BRR:
1. Friends really come though for you -- thanks Megan for driving me around and thanks to Anne for coordinating everyone and lending us her GPS map thingy
2. Should carry 2 water bottles to protect each hand
3. Carry my insurance card - good thing my hand wasn't critical!
4. Leave valuable jewelry at home
5. You should only ice for 15 min every couple of hours - leaving ice on could lead to frostbite
I felt like despite the weather I was running a good race, I felt strong, even though it was slow going. I saw Joe in th Do-loop & he was so cold his lips were blue - they gave him bread bags for mittens at the aid station. I hope there are some pictures of that! I came across a lady in the Do-loop who stopped to pee but was so cold she couldn't button her shorts back up so I helped her.
I was about a mile out of the Do-Loop aid station when I kicked a root or rock & went down. I felt a finger hitting rocks & when I pulled it out, the ring finger on the left hand looked really really wrong, so I immediately pulled it to straighten it back out & hoped that it was just dislocated, not broken. There was no screaming pain, and only blood on my palm, so I figured it wasn't broken. I told Katie to go on & decided the mud back to the Do-loop was not as bad as forward to Fountainhead. Unfotunately, it was the only finger I had a ring on - the heirloom engagement ring, which they had to cut off at the aid station so that it didn't cut off my circulation. I feel the worst about that, but hopefully it can be fixed.
So then I had the grueling adventure of getting out of wet clothes, getting to my insurance card which I did not have with me, then finally going to the hospital. It was a little challenging to explain to the staff what exactly happened and when they found out I was trying to run 50 miles in the freezing rain, we're lucky they didn't check me into the psych ward as well.
I was so glad to hear about Angelo's triumph over the BRR demons of the past and Katie & Michelle overcoming tremendous challenges for a first BRR (katie)/first 50 (michelle)! Yay team! Next year will belong to me & Cathy tho, so watch out!
Cathy Blessing:
It's great to see that you guys pushed through the weather yesterday and finished the race. All but poor Lorrin who tried hard but sacrificed herself so I wouldn't be the only team MCRRC member to drop out. Thanks Lorrin! Hope you're hand isn't in too bad of shape.
Special congratulations to Angelo for a great finishing time yesterday - a big improvement over his past 50 mile time and in such tough conditions.
I'm still jealous I didn't get to play in the mud any more yesterday. It was a good thing I came home though. After losing over 2 pounds leading up to the race, I continued to drop another 3+ between leaving for the race and this morning. I've got a lovely dehydration headache to show for it. The good news is that my stomach seemed to finish cleaning itself out about the time Angelo finished the race yesterday. I'm looking forward to eating more today than a handful of Triscuits and a piece of toast.
I think I'm lucky in that my system behaved rather well while I was running. I just had zero energy and got passed by EVERYONE enroute to Centerville. The hills made me dizzy, and I even wanted to walk the flats I was so drained. When the leaders were coming back after Centerville I could smell Pringles - and instead of feeling hungry, I felt a little nauseated by the smell. I knew I couldn't make it further because I wouldn't eat anything and drinking wasn't attractive, either. About an hour after I stopped running, after Anne brought me and another DNF, Joe, back to Hemlock, the stomach started acting up again and my back got rather painful as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment