The race started at 2 PM in the woods of Gregory, Michigan. Very unusual for a 100. But, I suppose they wanted everyone to hallucinate - hence the name - since everyone was more than very likely to be up all night to see and experience the sunrise the next morning. My parents and my friend Mark accompanied me on this one.
Another motivation on this one was the culture of the race. Everyone was in tie die, stoned, and maybe a little off the standard deviation charts of "normal" human beings, but I guess that is the general makeup of most ultra runners that I know (OK, maybe we aren't total druggies). This one just embraced it and added the colors to really enhance the experience. What happened in the camp I passed 6 times in the middle of the night, stayed in the camp.
But to the race. Things started jolly and merry, as they always do. The course comprises 6, 17ish mile loops. Every aid station was about 4–6 miles apart. Logistically, that made things very simple. I came prepared with 0 drop bags and malfunctioning earbuds. Mark supplied both of these things for me (and thanks again, Mark).
In costume for the culture of the event, I sported my mushroom inknburn shirt. We were now underway on loop 1. Mentally, I wanted to tell my brain to just run 6, 17-mile loops, not think of it as an aggregated 100 miles. This is usually how I break this distance up - small milestones that are more achievable rather than thinking of the whole thing. My brain told my body just repeat the 17 miles and it will advise when it should stop, just know it won't be immediate.
Once the race was underway, I found myself with a couple of 100k runners and a handful of 100 mile runners. We were being led by the eventual women's 100k winner. She was the lone woman in a group of 8 guys and was an excellent pacer until the course split between our distances and I never saw her the rest of the day and night. Also in the group was the eventual men's champion from Canada. I learned he won it last year and is a competitive marathon roadrunner. Admittedly, that was a worry coming into this. Although I came in with mountain legs, this really is not a hilly course and my training wasn't on flats at all. Having an entirely runnable course presents a different challenge, and the Canadian told me that he would be scared to do Mohican (a hilly course in OH, where I'm originally from). He likes his road and flat and said this is the max he would do on trails. Consider himself lucky this was the course ;).
We all marched on together and we picked up some aid. A lot of the course reminded me of Ketlle Morraine in Wisconsin: lakes, locust trees, greenery, non-technical single track trails, and some wide roads. This makes for some speedy sections. My favorite parts of the course were the hills and the downhills. I am not a good flat runner and like the excuse to walk uphill and then get rewarded with free downhill running which is arguably my strong suit. However, my battle today would be the flats.
Once I saw my parents halfway through the first loop, I got some new tailwind and marched on. My parents met me at the start/finish and the third aid station. Because of the short distances between the aid stations, it made restocking my supplies very easy.
Loop 2 is where the Canadian really started to take off. In fact, I never saw him again. There were a few others who also took off much earlier in the race and I was sitting between 4th-8th at the time. My hamstring was feeling a little wonky, but I think this usually happens early in races for me when I don't run for a few days and suddenly my body is realizing what is happening and acts up. Thankfully this didn't last all night. I remember lap 2 I wished I had more tailwind. I had one bladder full of water and another full of tailwind and I would restock with my parents every 8 miles. However, I realized that I wasn't drinking enough tailwind and getting enough calories. I started getting hungry halfway through this loop (mile 24ish) and picked up a single Oreo. Hard to believe, but that was the only Oreo I ate all day.- or food food for that matter. Like a child getting caught eating a chocolate chip cookie, that same guilt washed over me as I already broke my goal of sticking to liquid diet only.
When I saw my parents, I changed out the water for the 2 bladders of tailwind. This was the strategy moving forward. I remember in another race someone told me that if you burp that is a good thing as your body is digesting food. Since tailwind is basically liquid cocaine, it dissolved easily in my bloodstream and gave me the sugars, and the burps, that I needed and tricked my body in thinking it was full - success!
Now I made it to loop 3 and saw my parents and Mark there. Nightfall was imminent as it was around 7 PM. I got my headlamp, tailwind, and headed back out. I probably made it 15 more minutes and had my headlamp on at 7:30 PM. That is depressing. 5.5 hours in the daylight and I knew that I would be up all night. Likely another 12 hours of running with a headlamp and not seeing where you are going. Because sleep is something I struggle with, I made it a point to change out the batteries of my headlamp every 1.5 hours to get the max light when I saw my parents. At this point, my body was still feeling strong. The hamstring issue dissipated, and now Van Halen was telling me to "Jump" in the middle of the woods. A suiting song for what happened next. Since I wasn't as attentive to my steps being a smoother course, one of the three total tree roots on the entire loop reached up with its sharp and woody claws seemingly out of the earth and pulled me down to its woody abyss. I fell about halfway through loop three and got angry. Angry at the root for being so mean, and angry at myself for not paying attention. Similar to how I trip on flat concrete on an almost daily basis, this single root got the best of me. Rule #1 of trail running - never look up without stopping. I broke the golden rule and paid the price.
Thankfully, no major damage was done, just the annoyance of having to pick myself up off the ground. I saw my parents again and got more of the tailwind. I was still feeling really strong and continued on to the road section here before going back on the single trail. I also started to pass some people in the dark of the night and was getting more motivation from that, too. The next thing I knew, I was at the last aid station. It was run be a sweet couple with a motor home and they had a tent in the middle of the woods offering water, pickles, M&Ms and the like. They were my favorite volunteers and I always thanked them when I went through their station. The last section of the loop is the hilliest and arguably my favorite. Everyone on the course was like, "it's pretty hilly at the end." All I could think of is what a great thing. Proof that one person's trash is another person's treasure.
At loop 4 I saw my parents again. They gave me my second caffeine pill so I don't sleep run and changed my batteries again. I tried being very quick in and out of the aid stations as that is what gobbles up your time and you get nothing in return, just a longer day on your feet. My parents did a great job getting what I needed. I hit another high and was moving very well. Getting to the first aid station after the start/finish is what took the longest in my opinion. It just seemed to go on forever. I continued passing people. Not once had I looked at my watch so I had no clue what time of night it was. I just knew it was dark and I couldn't see anything and haven't for several hours.
When I saw my parents halfway through loop 4, I requested more batteries and my dad said "more again?" Not my proudest moment, but I was being a whiny baby and snippy and told him to please just get them. Arguing about batteries in the middle of the night was one of the last things I wanted to do. My parents probably don't believe me that I'm usually kind to volunteers at the aid stations, but for some reason, I am definitely the meanest to them. Maybe it is psychological and all the times they made me help on the farm is now karma making them help me in the middle of the woods changing lights and bladders. Who knows. I did apologize and mom said "you are always this way to us during these, it's OK." That made me feel better and worse at the same time. They didn't have to be out here doing this, but I guess I've already made their expectations so low on my attitude with them that they braced themselves for it.
Once I got the batteries, I headed back out and went through the winding trails until I got to the last aid station and was glad that the hilly section was left, and then I will be 2/3 done. The main start/finish is definitely the most motivating part. Once I hit the aid station I got more of my tailwind and saw a guy named James come in as well. He looked super strong and of course he also was a 100 mile runner, too. At this point I was running in 2nd. I passed a handful of people over the last 2 loops and just needed to sustain this.
I spoke with James briefly and he was doing the Midwest Grandslam: 4 100s in the Midwest within 6 months. Very impressive. He was from Chicago and we made small talk. As we headed out together someone in the hippy camp yelled "Go California!" That gave me a chuckle and made me wonder who would've said that - who knows! I'm not sure people in that camp even knew where they were at after smelling the 420 pretty heavily.
Loop 5 was the worst. At this point, it was probably 3 in the morning. My quads were not happy. Shocking given the amount of mountain climbing I did and how flat this course was, but it was the quads and not the stomach that were revolting now. Although downhill is my favorite, I was definitely feeling it. I definitely felt like I was pushing through a stone wall and wasn't making much progress. Getting to that first aid station felt like a really, really long time. Despite it all being runnable, I could feel myself getting lazy. Granted this was mile 75ish, I didn't feel great walking some of the flats. Even the smallest uphill I justified walking. My quads kept getting a bit worse and I was a bit surprised that no one passed me.
My parents weren't at the halfway point as they needed to get some shut eye, but they were kind to leave my bladders full so I just traded them out with my current ones and headed back out. I kept slogging to the last aid station and I was so glad that I was nearing the final lap. I saw the couple again and thanked them again for being out there all night. They said they are glad they will only have to see me one more time. I laughed and headed out.
Finally, lap 6! Once you hit mile 80 of a 100 mile race, unless a bone is sticking out or your puking blood, there really are no excuses to not finish, even if you are crawling to the end. The only thing I was missing from this lap was the detrimental bodily malfunctions, but I made up for it with gargantuan amounts of self-pity and woe is Nick melodrama. Once I got passed on this lap by the eventual second placer and his pacer, that is when my self-taught theatrical performance kicked in when I saw my parents. This guy breezed past me like he just started and I was on the brink of death. My quads just gave up since halfway of loop 5. Not my proudest self reflection moment, but I couldn't help but hope and wonder if he felt even remotely as bad as me. We covered the same ground but why was he feeling so much better? Did his pacer shower him with magical potion water that heals all muscles and bones? Whatever fairy dust he was drinking, I needed some of that.
They headed out and I tried keeping up on the dirt road but it was over catching that guy and I knew that. He had a pacer and just got major motivation passing me. The writing was on the wall of me securing second, but I started reflecting that I didn't puke at all during the night and overall felt really good. I pressed on and walked a bit until the final aid station. They said "good riddance" and I thanked them again was so glad my time out here was nearing. At least my headlamp was gone and the sun was out and breathing new life on me (and probably everyone else).
I passed a lot more people on this section and tramped up the final hills. When I ws close to the finish I got another wind and felt a bit emotional. Running 100 miles is usually an emotional journey, and I was so glad to have completed another with minimal damage and overall feeling good.
I passed a lot more people on this section and tramped up the final hills. When I ws close to the finish I got another wind and felt a bit emotional. Running 100 miles is usually an emotional journey, and I was so glad to have completed another with minimal damage and overall feeling good.
Finishing in 18:37, I hit my goal of sub 19. As much as I would've liked to get second, I was very glad with the result. Everything really went according to plan and the weather was incredible. I was stoked that the tailwind works so well and that could be the resolve for the stomach issues.
Onward to the next!
