The biggest reason I selected this race is because it is a Western States 100 qualifying race. I have already qualified for the WS lottery the last 2 years and no luck so far. The Burning River 100 will be my 3rd time entering the lottery which gives me a better chance of being selected. Last year I ran in the Run Woodstock hundred mile race called the Hallucination 100 (race report here)....so I wanted to mix it up and see what Ohio had to offer!
My training going into the race was a little bit above average, my highest week in terms of mileage was just above 70. I put in a ton of high quality miles but not necessarily a high quantity (Strava data here). My main goal was literally just to finish this race.
Friday afternoon I picked up my Bib #180 and headed to the hotel about 10 minutes away. Shortly after I was able to see my wife, mother-in-law, and daughter Kinley before heading off to bed. I felt pretty ridiculous calling the front desk and asking for a wake-up call for 1:30 am....hahah. Time to try and get some sleep.
Race Day
1:30 am came fast as all three alarms went off....race day is finally here! I grab my stuff, head downstairs and take some coffee to go (who knows how fresh of coffee that was?!) and drive to the finish line to take the provided shuttle bus up to the starting line. There is quiet conversation and an ever growing buzz in the anticipation for the journey ahead. My local running friend named, Scott VanLoo, just so happened to be on the same bus....we said hi and engaged in some small talk, little did we know we'd be running the first 20 plus miles together.
The bus comes to a halt and we all meander off the bus and walk up to the starting area at Squires Castle. It's super dark and everyone is slowly walking around and sitting down with their headlamps on doing last minute thinking and gear adjustments. With 5 minutes to go before the start of the race, the national anthem was performed by a solo lady singer...it was spectacular. Imagine hundreds of people standing in an open grass area in the pitch dark next to a castle in the middle of Ohio listening in dead silence to the National Anthem. I will never forget that moment just before the race where everything was calm yet electrifying with emotion and anticipation.
The race started at 4 am and I soon found myself running right behind my friend Scott. I knew the race started out with a large stretch of road, so I wanted to get into a comfortable pace. Scott and I were running at the same pace and it was nice being with someone who I was familiar with. The first 20+ miles were actually very easy and refreshing.
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| Photo Credit: Pat Dooley's Race Photography Oak Grove Aid Station early on in the race. |
The trails and scenery of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park did not disappoint. It was an extremely beautiful area of Ohio that I did not know existed. Runner's World listed the park in a recent article of best national parks for running (link here --> Runner's World Article). Fast forward to around mile 53, wow, the heat was really starting to take a toll on my overall well-being. Running in low to mid 90s is absolutely ridiculous with humidity...but I tried to be smart about taking in lots of water and walking when necessary especially when in direct sunlight.
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| Photo Credit: Jess Polnasek Around mile 53 |
The next and last 35 miles were just plain hard. The terrain had become more technical and difficult and the sun was starting to set. Mission Get to the Finish Line, was in effect by any means necessary. I was no longer thriving in this situation but more like surviving. At night time, things get freaky especially when you have been running all day. I highly suggest running during the night at some point if you haven't done so already. It is unbelievably refreshing and allows you to be put in a totally different atmosphere. Matt and I were cracking up at the fact that we were just 2 dudes pulling an all nighter by running through the woods. Around mile 80 we couldn't help but laugh about the fact that we were running alongside a giant cornfield....why are we doing this again?!
The miles were blending together and our objective was to make it to the next aid station. I was having a lot of difficulty eating and drinking, if I did eat my stomach felt nauseous and if I didn't eat then I became light headed and dizzy and drinking anything was unbearable. The last 3 hours of the race I ate absolutely nothing and took tiny sips of water....I was literally using my body fat as energy. Fast forward to mile 90, somewhere in between 3 and 4 am. We would pick out a light post or the end of a fence or a tree and try to "run" to it. It was so painful and excruciating to run but we tried to fit it in as much as possible. The sleep deprivation was having an effect as we were hallucinating pretty bad all the way up until the last quarter mile or so. Interesting how the mind perceives things when you're not in a normal state. The last 2 or 3 miles were almost all uphill but no worries because I was about to finish my second 100 mile race! We were in the downtown area and took a final turn and there was the last stretch to the finish. I had no desire to run at all across the finish line so I held my daughter and we finished together. It was a huge relief and I took great comfort in knowing that I had finished, SUCCESS!
Thanks for reading, stay tuned for my next race in early September at the Run Woodstock races in Pinckney, MI.
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| Exhausted and thrilled to be done Photo Credit: Jess Polnasek |
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| Matt and I....what an amazing friend Photo Credit: Jess Polnasek |
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| My sleepy daughter and I at the finish. Photo Credit: Jess Polnasek |
Equipment used during the Race
-Injinji Socks
-Hoka One One Clifton Shoes
-Under Armour Shorts
-North Face Flight Series Hat
-SPI belt
-Amphipod 12 oz bottle
-Nathan handheld 16 oz bottle
-Original Buff
-Body Glide
Nutrition
-GU, Powerbar, and Huma gels
-Clif Bars
-Nuun Hyrdation Tablets
