Rattlesnake 50k

July 7, 2007

Why Rattlesnake?
MP: I could say ‘Amanda made me do it’ but that wouldn’t be true! I admit this one has always intrigued me; I’ve been hearing the WVMTR folks talk about it for years and have always been interested in going. I think the name sounds cool! All events conspired to actually make this the year I would do it when Amanda said she wanted to go. Not long after Highlands Sky I found myself sending in the completed Rattlesnake application…how does this happen?

Pre-race
MP: Normally before a race I obsess over possible splits, pour over prior year race results, worry about cut-offs, look at maps, plot strategy, etc. This time, there was no course map to look at, no excel spreadsheet with splits between aid stations available on-line, not even a list of distances between aid stations. In fact, the registration said there would be six well-stocked aid stations and there were actually nine of them. What I did have was a lurking fear of heat and humidity and bad memories from Catoctin in August 2006 where I just barely finished under the 9 hour cut-off. My strategy for Rattlesnake was simple - drink a LOT, eat what I can, take 1 endurolyte every 30 minutes, stay positive, and just run as best I can. Dan Lehmann, RD from Highlands and something like 8 time finisher of Rattlesnake, gave me the following details:

The Rattlesnake has ten climbs of approx 500 feet each. You climb a hill, run the ridge, then drop back down. The aid is situated in the hollow at the beginning of each ascent. It is not terrible rocky like HS or Catoctin, more difficult than Holiday or Capon, much shorter climbs than PL. You would likely run it a bit faster than PL. It was my first ultra and kicked my butt in 1999. It is all forested, well developed trails, can be humid, showers at the finish. The second half is tougher than the first.

The race site also said ‘one loop, 10 climbs, 5,500’ of climb’. This is pretty much it for what I knew about the race. Charleston, WV, here we come!

Amanda, Bill and I drove down on Friday afternoon. Let’s just say Charleston is a long way, it took us something like 7+ hours to get there on Friday due to traffic getting out of Northern VA and then stopping to eat along the way. Trip back was easier on Saturday afternoon, something like 6.5 hours.

The Race
MP: We arrive in the dark parking lot of Kanawha State Forest at 5:30 am. Check in and get a nice soft six pack cooler and race T-shirt without even running anything yet. And a race number, which I guess means I have to pin it on and run! We look at the map to figure out where Bill might meet us during the race, looks to be pretty easy since we cross the main road in the park a number of times during the race. Drop off our drop bags, they’ll be at aid #5 which is about half-way through the course. Visit with arriving runners, Dan Lehmann, Dennis Stottlemeyer, Brad Mongold, Mark Flood, Tony Morris, Jim Cavanaugh, etc. See Annette Bednosky, ultra star, arrive. I think it was in the low 60s, I try not to think about how hot it will get. Before I know it, we gather for the 6:30 am start and Race Director Dennis Hamrick says the ‘g-o’ word.

MP: Amanda and I didn’t plan to run together, she took off on the short road section, next thing I know we turn right on single-track trail and head immediately uphill. We are a line of ants hiking uphill, I decide this must be climb number 1 and vow to try to keep count so I have some clue what I’ve got ahead of me. Dan’s description is dead-on, we reach the top, run along a ridge and then drop down to a hollow to hit an aid station. This course is pretty much a blur to me, with all the climbing and descending, no knowledge of the Kanawha trails, and no idea what mile the aid stations were at, I really had no reference points. I only knew that aid station 5 was about half-way. So here’s my summary from what I remember.

AD: I have included what I remember as well, but some of it is definitely a blur. This was a mental challenge for me at times, so I am glad I finished.

AD: The first climb is tough, but listening to the line of people telling stories was fun, including how men keep various parts warm during a cold ultra - something to do with plastic bags. Maybe another use for a Wonder Bread bag? The first climb is about 1 mile and then there are about 2 miles of down hill on a dirt road, and I am having a great time flying down the hill even though I realize I will pay for this later. This suddenly changes when a group of us realize we have missed the trail and run too far down the road. We all run back up and sure enough there are two red ribbons on the tree. I had noticed the ribbon earlier but did not see that there were two, so I had followed the pack. I was just enjoying the downhill too much! This is the turn onto the Rattlesnake Trail. I am now behind several runners I had passed earlier and most ask about the excursion I took. I let this get to me and think I do not really need to be adding extra miles (I found this side trip on my Garmin data and it was about a half mile of total distance). I have finally arrived at AS 1 about 3 miles from the start, and I already feel tired. Just as I am convincing myself not to worry about the extra distance and running too fast down the hills, my foot hits the top of a rock and down I go. I am fine but it does not help my mental outlook. I arrive at AS 3, located in the parking lot where we started, and this really seems cruel. I just want to stop and stay with Bill. He is just looking at me like “what happened?”, but I know I will go on and try to forget I have only gone 9 miles.

MP: I measured my progress like this: climb 1, AS 1; climb 2, AS 2; climb 3, AS 3; you get the idea. I see Bill at AS 3, which goes through the start/finish area, he tells me Amanda has fallen, gotten lost and is grumpy. Somehow I know that won’t last for her.

AD: By the time I get to AS 4, I am feeling much better and trying to enjoy the beauty of the forest. Rays of sunshine coming through the trees are beautiful and I start running with some other runners and enjoying the company. Then comes fall number 2. This one is not bad, so I am able to quickly get up and continue. When I reach AS 5, I am in a much better mood from the natural beauty around me and the positive energy I am getting from my running companions. I hurry to get my new bottles and leave with my new found friends. They are much more experienced trail runners than I and provide some good advice on technical running.

MP: I hit aid station 4 at 9:10 am, I estimate that this is 10-12 miles into the race; I decide that 2:40 is not bad for this point and I’m moving along fine. I’m not running with anyone and am enjoying the day. It isn’t too hot yet. The course is in almost complete shade. I’m carrying my Nathan hydration pack with water and eating Hammergel (expresso with caffeine!). I also eat half a pack of Clif blocks on one climb, the other half on another climb. I hit aid station 5 at 10:10 am, I’m half-way there! I’m very happy and pleasantly surprised I’m under 4 hours here. About this time I realize that I haven’t been eating anything at the aid stations. I just wasn’t hungry running in that heat. I was very focused on drinking more aggressively early in each climb so I could absorb some water on the climb and then actually run on the flat and downhill without unabsorbed water sloshing around in my stomach and making me sick. At some point in the first half I know I ate two pieces of crystallized ginger because my stomach felt bloated and sloshy. I don’t know if it’s psychological or scientific, but it helped. I decided I wouldn’t worry too much about eating other food, I seemed to be doing ok without it.

MP: Leave AS 5, climb 6, AS 6, climb 7 and on it goes. Somewhere in here I remembered that Dan said the second half was harder than the first. I wonder if that’s because the climbs are actually harder (steeper??) or is it just because you’re tired? It dawns on me that the uphills have been hard but that my quads will also be trashed from all the descents. 5,000+ climbing also means 5,000+ descending! On each descent I would grab trees on the sides of the trails to try to help control my descent, I noticed on many trees there would be a wet smear mark from all those ahead of me doing the same thing. Funny!

AD: Once we arrive at AS 6, one of my new friends walks to the car where Bill has stood up out of his chair to hand me another bottle of Cytomax, and guess what...... He asks Bill if he can use his chair as he has something in his shoe and wants to take it off. Time has now slowed way down and Bill just looks at me. I have the good sense to say nothing, but we are both thinking the same thing - the HD pillow. Bill knows my friend has really helped me, and I can see the painfully conflicted look of that fact and the HD memories washing over his face, but he slowly and finally says yes and my friend successfully removes the rocks from his shoe.

AD: We take off and a short time later I proceed to fall again looking for the next red ribbon - this is fall number 3. Lisa, my Tennessean friend from Highlands Sky, caught up with me and proceeds to fall shortly thereafter. What is going on? Leaving AS 7, I am feeling strong, but this climb is brutal. Starting down a hill I feel better and take off. I am enjoying the run until Lisa falls and hits her knee on a sharp rock (she wins best blood). We make it to AS 8, and Lisa asks if there are any more climbs. The look on the AS worker’s face says it all, but she tells us after AS 9 there is a climb, but the last mile is relatively flat and the total distance to the finish is about 3 miles. This gives me encouragement, so off I go by myself up the hill. After this climb there are some large boulders, and I am confused about which way to go. I go around the boulder area twice and get frustrated as it seems the only way to go is the way I have just come from. After I wander for about 5 minutes, until Lisa and Sylvia arrive. Sylvia successfully follows the markers to get us on our way again.

AD: We arrive at AS 9; happily aware we only have 3 miles left. Lisa and Sylvia move ahead of me on the climb and I can not keep up. I do not think I will see them again, but once I hit the downhill slope, I pick up the pace and catch up to them. Lisa and I both fall one more time at exactly the same time. O.K., we are synchronizing our falls! We pick ourselves up finish the downhill and hit a flat section that runs along a creek. Suddenly we are off the trail and on grass running into the finish. We are relieved to finally have escaped the Rattlesnake, wounded but alive. I finished in 6:28:22.

MP: I see Bill again at AS 7, he said Amanda is fine, has fallen some more but is still going strong, says he’ll see me at the finish. I meet up with a guy in his 50s or 60s and run with him on and off for awhile. I learn this is his 8th Rattlesnake, that he’s from NC, and that he ran the race for the first time because he read a really good race report from Courtney Campbell (another ultra star). He is running strong, I decide to try to keep up with him if I can. He starts previewing each section of the course for me. We run into AS 8 together. The AS volunteer tells us that just about the longest distance between aid stations is next, she says it is 3-4 miles, others later say they believe it is closer to 5 miles.

MP: I think we leave AS 8 around noon, as we leave he tells me climb 9 is really brutal, that it really sucks, it’s miserable! I am staying positive, I say that at least we’ll know we only have one left after that!! Turns out it is brutal. I would hike to a point on the trail, stop and allow myself to take 5 breaths, and pick another spot to hike to, repeat. He loses me. I catch him again once we hit the top, we go through some big boulders where I have to lift my leg as high as my hip to climb up. I think, ‘bring it on’, this isn’t as hard as HS! We descend from the boulders and run for a really long time through a dark pine forest, we actually pass a few people here. We eventually get to AS 9, I think it’s about 1 or 1:15 pm.

MP: We start out for CLIMB 10!! Whoohooo! OK don’t get too happy yet, you still have to get up it. He tells me this one is the worst, it’s really awful, etc. He loses me on the climb again. Two others I’d passed at the aid station pass me. I finally reach the top. Tony catches up to me and we cheer each other on as we start running down hill. We pass one young guy walking. Tony disappears in front of me. I see a guy sitting down with a stick he has been using to help walk, he’s cramping badly, I give him an endurolyte and move on. We hit a flat area along a stream, I see the guy I had been running with, I’m pushing hard now. I ask him how far to the finish, he says less than a mile and I take off. He’s been very helpful and I want to run with him, but I also now realize that if I run hard I might make it in before 2 pm and do this thing under 7.5 hours. I’m gone! I really have no idea if I’m close to the finish or not, I just run as hard as I can manage. Soon I turn right and can see the finish line, I hear Dan, Bill, Amanda cheering for me and push for a hard finish. I shake Dennis’ hand and receive my nice blue glass medallion Rattlesnake finisher award. I don’t remember seeing a clock and didn’t ask what they put down as my time, but the results say I did it in 7:19:54. I am pretty darn happy!

Final Thoughts
MP: Rattlesnake results and pictures

MP: What is with the at least 3 people I saw running without any water, are they crazy or just newbies? I know there were 9 aid stations and that many could run this race with just one hand held water bottle, but to carry no fluid seems crazy to me. I wonder if they finished?

MP: Although the website may not have a lot of info on this race, it is not because the race director doesn’t know what he’s doing. It was a very well-organized race. I thought the course was very well marked and I never got lost. The aid stations had water, soda, either Gatorade or HEED, pretzels, cookies, bananas, grapes, cheese-its, etc. I still didn’t eat much, I think I had about 4 cheese-its and 6 grapes. Otherwise it was all water, Hammer gel and 2 packages of Clif blocks. I used the ginger remedy twice, it seemed to work.

AD: I also thought the race was well organized and all the AS workers were terrific.

MP: All the climbs seemed to be straight up and then straight down. They don’t seem to use very many switchbacks in WV!! For you mountain bikers, this park is big for mountain biking. As I was running down the Black Bear Trail I vowed that I would never ever ride a mountain bike on it. Naturally about then a mountain biker flies by me with no problem. I still ain’t doing it. Another mountain biker recommend the Middle Ridge Trail, said it wasn’t very technical, ummm, can he be trusted? Turns out there is a mountain bike race on these very same trails called the Black Bear 40k in August, I will not be participating!

MP: There were showers at the finish in the pool building, it felt really good to take a shower. Amanda and I had to laugh, they were close to the skankiest showers we had ever seen, but they had hot and cold running water, no line, and felt like the Ritz Carleton to us. They had Subway subs, chips and sodas for us to eat after the race. I have to ask, why do people insist on ruining perfectly good subs by putting mayonnaise on ALL of them? YUCK! We stopped for Blizzards at DQ in Lavale, MD on the way home, YUM!! Somehow a Blizzard makes it all worthwhile.

AD: Not to be forgotten is the interesting 13.5 hours we spent together in the car and the various topics of conversation one can wander onto with so much time. Besides some of the urban myth homework problems that Michelle took on, I felt comfortable (or disoriented) enough to tell my story about the time I think I ate ground hog roadkill stew. Appropriate conversation after such a grueling ordeal.

MP: Thanks Bill for driving us for all those many hours!!

MP: Dennis and all his volunteers put on a great race. The Kanawha State Forest people had the trails in tip top shape. You could see they had been out recently weed whacking and generally clearing the trails. Even with all their efforts, I still saw a lot of poison ivy which I did my best to avoid. I am hoping the several times I have now showered with Technu will keep me poison ivy free!