Cheat Mountain Moonshine Madness 50 Miler

Months ago I was intrigued when the WV Mountain Trail Runners decided to debut a new race, a 50 miler in August that would start at 9pm on a Friday night. I hate heat so a night race in August seemed like it would work better for me. Since I've been planning on doing the Mountain Masochist 50 miler in November, I wanted to get another 50 miler in so I knew I could make the distance. I've only done one 50 miler, Bull Run in 2006, and dnf-ed from jfk twice at mile 38, so I was very concerned about doing another one prior to MMTR. One potential conflict was that the race finished on Saturday, Megan's birthday, but she generously agreed to stay up much of the night and go to WV for her b-day!! So all the stars aligned and I sent in my entry.

Pre-race
What a weird feeling starting a race at 9pm! We got out there in good time on Friday afternoon, but then it was just hanging out and waiting. I occupied my time helping out some putting supplies together for the aid stations and chatting with various folks. Finally it was time for the 8pm race briefing and then at long last time to start.

Start to AS1 (mile 5.7, 1:08 split)
It was weird running in the dark. Other than Amanda and Mark, I lost track of other folks I knew pretty quickly. All you could see were glowing headlamps, you really had no idea who was around you. This section was all either paved road or gravel road, it seemed like we made it to the AS in no time. There were a lot of volunteers there to help, this AS was staffed by Kaydra, the RD's wife and their families. They took great care of us and had us out of there in no time.

AS1 to AS2 (mile 12.9, 1:33:11 split/2:41:12 cum)
This is the aid station where Lorrin and Mical were volunteering with Dan Todd so we were really looking forward to getting to this AS to see those guys. But first we had to climb and climb up the gravel road to the top of Cheat Mountain at 4,000 feet. This seemed to take forever. We turned our lights out to check out the stars, they were amazing! The breeze picked up and I was really happy that the weather was working out, I'd guess it was in the 60's at the start and the 50's for much of the race. We continued on the gravel road and finally saw lots of light up ahead. We had arrived at the AS, they had lots of food and really cool lights and were full of encouragement. Lorrin was concerned that Joe wasn't with us, I thought he was ahead of us but it turns out he wasn't. At this point I was still running with Amanda and Mark as well as several other folks, Ashley, Tracy and Dave.

AS2 to AS3 (mile 17.7, 1:34:46 split/4:15:58 cum)
We were finally leaving the road and heading out to single track trail, I was looking forward to this! This is when I discovered it's really hard to appreciate single track like you would in the daylight. You really can't afford to do anything other than focus on the circle of light in front of you while at the same time keeping an eye out for trail markers. Adam really did an amazing job of marking the course, I don't think we ever went off track. But you still had to pay close attention to the trail, there were moss covered rocks and roots and a fair number of short muddy sections. Pretty quickly Joe, Pete and Tim Daly caught up and passed us in this area. Mark took off with them too. Amanda, Tracey and I continued on our way. This section of the course seemed to take forever. I couldn't believe this was really 4.9 miles. We finally hit the gravel road section I was expecting and then that seemed to take forever. At long last we smelled a campfire and guessed we were close. We entered another energetic and totally well stocked aid station. Bradley Mongold greeted us all, Paul, Laura and others filled up our hydration packs and water bottles. We were surprised to see Joe and Mark there, we thought they were long gone! We all ended up leaving the AS pretty much together up the Whitmeadow Trail.

AS3 to AS4 (mile 23.2, 1:28:14 split/5:44:13 cum)
It would be an understatement to say I was nervous about the cut-offs in this race. They were at mile 23.2 at 6 hours and mile 33.3 at 9 hours. This seems generous to some, scary to others like me. I was now very stressed, AS4 was 5.4 miles away and we had about an hour and 40 minutes to get there. The last 4.9 mile section had taken us 1:34, I knew we'd have to push it.

Almost immediately we hit an uphill section and lost sight of Mark and Joe. It was Tracey, Amanda, Dave and me, we passed another guy in short order. We finished the climb and hit runnable trail. Tracey started out pushing us forward. Somewhere in here Amanda had an apparently spectacular fall. I was in front of her so I missed it but Dave said it was pretty amazing. Luckily Amanda hit a soft, rotting log instead of a rock with her knee and was quickly able to recover. We took off again, all pushing it as we were all aware of the cut-off. We hit the gravel road again and turned left toward the AS. The road wasn't flat so we had a number of ups and downs on the top of the ridge before we finally saw the light of the AS and we knew we had made the cut-off. These folks were even more energetic if that's possible! I knew who the volunteers were going to be at all the AS's and it really helped to look forward to seeing each group. And I must say that Bill Potts, Willie Lehmann, Joel and Katie Wolpert did not let me down!! They got us everything we needed, offered words of encouragement, lied about how good we looked, etc. And then we were off...

AS4 to AS5 (mile 27.8, 1:15:14 split/6:59:27 cum)
Still mindful that we now had about 3 hours and 10 minutes to cover the next 10 miles, we still tried to push it. We started out for about a mile on the gravel road and then turned left onto Stonecoal Trail. It was Tracey, Amanda and me again. We passed another woman walking in here. I don't remember much about this section. I think because it was now about 3am, I was totally concentrating on the circle of light from my headlamp and moving as fast as I could. We hit a gravel road finally and I knew we should be close to AS5. And finally we were greeted by the Hooks family as we refilled and refueled. This was a bustling AS, not only were Joe and Mark there but so were Pete and Tim Daly, Ashley and several others. We got in and out quickly and headed out on another section of gravel road.

AS5 to AS6 (mile 33.3, 1:21:13 split/8:20:41 cum)
First gravel road, then we hit the Shavers Trail. Mark and Joe were in the lead, then Amanda and me, then Ashley, Dave and Tracey. The Shavers Trail was an adventure, it was through a tunnel of big mountain laurel, some runnable and some washed out rocky and rooty areas. Then there was an uphill section where I couldn't discern the trail at all it was so rocky and rooty. Somewhere in here it dawned on me that after this trail, we'd be on gravel road the rest of the way. Before the race I had wished there was more single track, now I was relishing the fact we'd be off the single track. My eyes were getting real tired from staring at the patch of light in front of me. I told Amanda I felt like I hadn't blinked in hours. Finally we hit the road and I didn't even care that it was uphill, I was just happy it was a road and I didn't have to concentrate as hard to keep my footing. Amanda and I were on our own at this point, we alternate walking and running, wondering when we'd ever get to the AS. AS6 was the same as AS4 so we were really looking forward to seeing those guys again. And then we were finally there and we had made the cut-off by 40 minutes! And Joe and Mark were there too! Tracey, Ashley and Dave soon arrived. We all fueled up and heading out close to the same time.

AS6 to AS7 (mile 37.1, 55:17 split/9:15:59 cum)
Here's where I had my low point. This section was 3.8 miles and would bring us back to Lorrin, Mical and Dan Todd. But it's like 5:30 in the morning, still pitch black, and I find myself climbing hills again. I guess I had hoped this would be a mostly flat section of road, but no, it was just as hilly as all the rest and it seemed to take forever. Also, I had worked really hard to make the cut-off, made it to mile 33, and I was now ready to be done! After all, I've mostly done 50k's and this is when I would be done. Amanda kept up the encouragement and eventually I rallied, it started to get lighter, and we finally made it to see our friends. Continuing our previous pattern, we found Joe and Mark at the AS. The rest of the folks we had been with had gone on ahead. I figured I'd better get out quick or I'd want to stay and ride the rest of the way in the car with Lorrin and Mical.

AS7 to AS8 (mile 44.3, 1:30:47 split/10:46:46 cum)
Here I tried really hard not to focus on the fact that I still had almost 13 miles to go and that this segment was 7.2 miles. At long last we had been able to ditch our headlamps, that was a glorious feeling. For hours after the race I swear I still felt as if I was wearing it. Daylight helped too. After several miles of rolling road on top of the mountain we finally started to descend in earnest. Although it hurt to run, I had to use gravity while I could. Somewhere in here we passed Dave and then Ashley, we never saw Tracey again. Mark and Joe had taken off and I wasn't sure I'd see them again. Amanda and I ran and ran and ran and we made it to the LAST aid station at long last! Kaydra was still there as were several other folks. I could barely eat or drink anything, I was done. We left for the last 5.7 miles.

AS8 to the finish (mile 50, 1:07:57 split/11:54:43 cum)
I left first, Amanda, Mark and Joe quickly caught up to me and we continued our descent. Down, down off Cheat Mountain we went, we started to pass some houses. Amanda's Garmin had matched exactly with the course info so far and she started to tick off miles to encourage me. We passed two guys walking in here. Amanda said we could break 12 hours but we needed to move it. I was not all that into this idea but tried to rally again. I couldn't have been happier when we saw the 1 mile to go sign. The only downside is that it was now sunny and warming up, but heck, it was still before 9 am so it wasn't that hot! Joe was in the lead and as he crested a hill he yelled back to us that he could see the finish and he wasn't going on without us. Bringing up the rear, I crested the hill myself to join Joe, Mark and Amanda for a short run down the hill, up the driveway and across the finish line.


Reflection
I am so happy that's over with!! It's a big weight off my shoulders to know that I made it. A couple of times during the race I remembered Adam saying this was an "easy" 50 miler. I remember him clarifying that by saying 50milers aren't easy, but compared to some others, this is "easy." I've now confirmed there is not such thing as an easy 50 miler. I almost lost it after the finish, it took so much mental effort to keep myself together those last 17 miles that I just felt like I wanted to cry. Eventually I rallied after a shower and some food.

Thanks to Amanda for keeping me going all those miles. I definitely would not have wanted to run all those miles in the dark alone!! And Mark and Joe, you guys were awesome to run with! Lorrin and Mical - I know you didn't get any sleep but it was sure nice to see you at crucial parts of the run, it definitely helped keep me going. And thanks Megan for agreeing to spend your birthday sleeping briefly on the 4-H floor and getting up at 3:30 am to work the finish line, you rock!

Here are the results. And some pictures from Mical as well as some others.