Burning River 100 Miler

Well here is another race report which will cap off my 3rd race in 3 weeks. I know I know it's crazy but I am addicted and can't stay away from it. Well temporarily I have no choice but to stay away from it. And that I will explain later.

Well to start off I already knew this was going to be a great weekend out in Ohio since I would be traveling out to Ohio with 2 great friends of mine, Margie Hughes and Gerard I can't think of his last name hehehe.

Well my crazy running schedule started out with CFA 50k a couple of weekends ago which was awesome and I am sure you have already read about that. Then next up was the Jay Challenge up in VT which was awesome and again everyone has to give that one a shot in the future. And then next up was BR100 which again was an awesome race. Before I forget and everyone starts to ask if I was crazy enough to run the entire 100 I have to say I was only going out to OH to pace margie the last 35 miles. I know that sounds crazy to most by say only 35 miles. But I am getting used to it now and 35 miles really is not all that bad.

So the morning of 3rd I pack my car and head up to Breezwood where I would be meeting margie and gerard and leaving my car and driving the rest of the way in margies mini van. I get up to Breezwood a little early and wait in the gas station parking lot for the call. Margie calls me and tells me they are running a little late and to find a good place to leave my car for the weekend. So I drive around a bit and find a nice truck stop with a big ass parking lot that seems pretty safe to leave my car. Well margie and gerard finally pull up and I pack the van with all my crap and we are off. They both give me a hard time because I pack as if I am going away for a long time and as though I would actually be running 100 miles. But in my mind it's always better to overpack and be safe than under pack and be screwed.

So we are off and heading down the road which should take about 4 to 5 hours to get where we needed too. We stop a few times for gas and to get something to eat. And to make an emergency stop because gerard was not feeling well after something he must have ate. Well that did not slow us down too much and we finally arrive at our destination which was the finish line of the race and where packet pick up was to be. Since we are there a little early we walk around a bit to check things out. And if the weather was any indication on how the rest of the weekend was going to be then we were in for a long really hot weekend. So we check out the end part of the course and exactly where the finish would be. We probally walked the last couple miles of the race and head back for packet pick up. That ends up going smoothly and we are back in the van heading to the hotel. Once we figure out where that would be we head off to find out where the finish would be and where I would be dropping margie and gerard off in the morning. Once that was done we head back to the hotel to check in and get situated and head to bed for what would be a really long weekend.

Since the hotel is not too far from the start we don't have to get up till about 330 or 400 to make it to the starting line by 430 or so and for the start at 5am sharp. And so I drop margie and gerard off at the finish and walk around while everyone is checking in and getting ready to start. So 5am gets there quick and off everyone goes. I myself just walk around and watch eveyone dash on down to the road for some long boring road miles I am told.

So I hop back into the van and drive down to the first aid station where crew is allowed. I get there nice and early and take a little nap. And get up in time to see Sean Andrish come flying in looking great. He had about a good 20 to 25 minute lead on Mark Goodale the eventual winner at that point. Finally around 830 or somewhere around there Margie comes running in with an awesome and bubbly attitude telling me she feels great and I congratulate here and looking great and tell her I will see her at the next spot. A little later gerard comes in looking pretty good as well. Then off I go to the next spot which would be the first aidstation/crew spot where they would come through twice. So I am at that aid station for quite awhile watching both margie and gerard come in and go both times. At this time margie is 3rd lady over all and pretty close to 1st and second I think. Then I was off to the next one which is another spot where they would be coming in twice. At this point it is already getting super hot and you could tell by the looks on everyones faces and by how bad alot of people were feeling. But as margie comes flying in she looks great and is off again till the second time around.

After this I am off to mile 65 where I can pick up and start running with margie. I am all excited since I have been waiting all day to run with her. I get myself all ready and situated and then play the waiting game. I forget about what time it was that margie comes rolling in but she looks great. I get both my headlight and flashlight ready and wait as margie gets rehydrated and food in here. Then we are off.

For the first few miles we talk about how she is feeling and about the rest of the course. She tells me that the heat really has took a toll on her but other than that she is feeling great. And ofcourse I am feeling pretty good myself hehehe and that's because I had not just run 65 or so miles. Well the run is going pretty good so far and we finally make it in to the next aid station right around when it had started getting pretty dark. We are both feeling pretty good but hungry and a little thirsty. By this point margie has been 2nd female overall for awhile which is great. But she tells me that she is not feeling all that great and if the next female catches up to just let her go since she really just wants to finish and not kill herself. So right as we are about to leave the aidstation the next female comes in and I tell margie that we need go and we are off. And sure enough a few miles down the road the lady we saw at the previous aid staion comes flying by us and we just let her go.

For the next several miles we do some good power walking/running in order to save ourselves for the rest of the race. And so the aidstations come and go and the both of us are feeling pretty good considering margie has been running forever and I am still a little tired from the previous two weekends. But I keep margie moving and try not to waste too much time at the aidstations and anywhere along the course. Aid the succeeding aidstations we try to eat some and fuel up and then we are off.

Most of the trails are really not all that bad. Which deff made it easier to run on at night. Although we are not doing awhole lot of running but a good part of it we are. I do allow margie to take a break here and there but really not for longer than 2 minutes at a time. I am trying to keep her moving/running as much as I can. I want her to get a good finish and hopefully top 3 female overall.

Well we are clipping off the miles at a pretty good rate and really enjoying eachothers company. And ofcourse all the aidstaion volunteers are wonderfull as always. At this time it is pretty early in the morning and we are moving right along. We are really running/walking from aid station to aid station at this point. Which really is working quite well for both of us. I am also totally enjoying a great run at this point. I am feeling great and having an awesome time.

Well then comes the bad part for me that is. And the reason I have not been doing any running at all this week. I think it was arond mile 90 or so. We are walking through some urban area on some of the road running during the race which totally sucks. Because I hate running or even walking on the roads now. And so we are walking along and I am tired of the roads so I decide to walk in the grass which obvioulsy feels alot better. So I had not take but more than 3 steps in the grass when I step into what must have been a sprinkler whole or something in the grass and then my right ankle goes one way and the rest of my body the other. I then proceed to let out a F**K S**T as loud as I ever have. And I swear I heard a pop or crack and I am then face first in the grass like damn this S hurts. Margie yells are you ok and I am like yeah yeah. I think at the time I am more dissapointed and frustrated that it happened at that point. I mean it has never really happened to me that bad with all the running that I do. Well I then get up and slowly start hobbling along and tell margie I will be ok.

So off we are again hobbling/shuffling down the toe path I think it was to the next aidstation. We both sit down and get some fuel in us. And before long I get up and start to walk out the aidstaion because I don't want my ankle to stiffen up too much. And so we are walking along and I know my ankle is slowly swelling up but I am able to continue to walk and shuffle along. So we are walking along the tow path or canal and I know my walking is getting slower and slower because of my ankle and it really is not comfortable at all. So eventually I tell margie since it is her race that I did not want to slow her down anymore and to just push along and I will get a ride to the finish at the next aidstaion. And so that would be the last time I saw margie till the finish.

And so the next few miles I think I have been some of the longest and toughest few miles I have run to date. My ankle was really starting to swell up and become really uncomfortable. But I could not stop or do anything tilll the next aidstaion. Well i hobble in to the next aid station and eveyone there already knows my situation since margie had filled them in. And I start to ask for a ride to the finish when a super nice guy offers to give me a ride to the finish so I can see margie come in.

So I get to the finish line and hop my way over to some chairs and plop my ass down and take off my shoe to look at my ankle. You could tell how ugly it was and so I get some ice and right away start to ice it.

Well a couple of hours later I hear the announcer call out Margie's name and I get up and hop over to meet her and hop over the finish line with her. Both of us have smiles on our faces and I can tell margie is glad that is over with. Then I finally get my ankle looked at by the emt and massage people and they don't think I broke it. Then I finally decide to get the podiatrist to look at my ankle and she just tells me that I probally just have a pulled or injured a ligament or muscle a little but nothing too serious. So she tapes it up and sends me on my way.

Over all I think I did an awesome job of pacing margie and keeping her moving foward. I did end up helping to pace her to a 25:36 finish I think it was and a 3rd place female overall finish. We both congratulate each other on a great run.

And so we sit around for awhile and watch others finish and then 11 comes around and the awards ceremonty start and everyone gets their medal/belt buckle for finishing.

We are then back in the van and on our way back down the road. We finally get back to my car and I make my way back to the house.

Well as of right now I am feeling great and can actually walk around on my ankle. Although it still does not look great with all the pretty colors I think I am doing alot better than earlier this week. I have an ankle brace now and I hope to heal up soon and be back to running in no time. I do hope to see everyone again soon and hopefulling with you all even sooner.