I’d like to thank Tracy so much for supporting me during the race.  I couldn’t have done it without her.  She paced me 16 miles, walked back for 3.5 hours from Myrtle alone at 2:00 in the morning, and was incredible moral support.

I’d also like to thank Tallman, who drove up from Phoenix to meet me at mile 60 and pace me through the night.  Unfortunately, we missed each other and Tallman roughed it in his car all night on the rim.  I can’t thank him enough for giving up his weekend for me.

I put together a video with footage from cameras that both Tracy and I were carrying.  I spent a lot of the race running with Carlos S.  This was his first 100 and he showed tremendous tenacity running on feet that had more blisters than skin.

Also, for my birthday, Tracy got me an incredible new Suunto watch.  It gives some amazing information and lasts up to 50 hours.  I set the sensors on the longest setting so it missed a little mileage and elevation.

From Suunto – Map of course:

From Suunto – Summary of race

From Suunto – Elevation profile:

Temperature profile (the 2 spikes in the night are from the aid station campfires):

This was by far the most technical race I’ve ever done with terrible footing, huge climbs, and very cold temperatures.  44 runners started this race, only 23 finished.

Fortunately, I was one of the finishers, coming in 30 minutes better than my goal at 35 1/2 hours.  My time would have been much closer to the 36 hour cut-off if I didn’t have “drill sergeant”  Tracy pacing me and another racer for the last 11 miles; she personally pushed us to come in 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

More to come

Update before I head back out to Washington Park:

Jim came into Washington Park aid station (mile 51) slightly ahead of schedule, whereupon we proceeded to obliterate that advantage in the next section leading to Hell’s Gate.  It was brutal—rocky, which is not that big of a deal, but much of the trail was completely overgrown with tall thick grass, so it was not only hard to tell if we were going in the right direction (in the dark), but it also made for some precarious footing and lots of spastic acrobatics by me as I stepped in holes and tripped over rocks and roots that were hidden under the grass (or stepped on the grass with one foot and then tripped my other foot with it).  That’s what pacers are for (in part) although I’m not sure I helped that much.  There were also more climbs and descents than we expected, and Jim’s knee (IT band) was starting to bother him on the downhills.

Nonetheless, we generally kept pace with the familiar faces in the pack, and made it to Hell’s Gate before 11:30 pm (the cut-off was 1:00 am).  I then had to turn around and do it all over again, so I wanted to feel sorry for myself (freezing cold, dark, no one on the trail but me, my knee hurt, and now the tall grass was cold and wet and cutting my legs like razors), but then I thought of Jim, and his having to keep going all the way through the night, so I managed not to throw myself into a ravine.  I did get lost a couple of times, and I didn’t get back to Washington Park until after 3:00 am, but the sky was clear and gorgeous and the stars were unbelievable, so once I knew which way I was going, I warmed up and made the best of the long solo.

I got about an hour of sleep back at the hotel, and then found out early this morning that Richard and Jim never met up–Richard had been waiting for hours up on the rim, but I’m guessing he may have been to the west of where Jim came out from the climb up Myrtle Trail (after Hell’s Gate), and they missed each other (such a bummer for both of them).  Nonetheless, when I checked with the radio guys at 3:30 am, Jim had already made it through Buck Springs aid station and was moving at a good pace towards Pinchot Cabin.  I am heading up to Washington Park now to check progress and to meet him, and I expect him to hit mile 86 in about two hours.