Running News Aug. 3rd, 2007

Jay Mountain Marathon July 28th, 2007
Once a year I like to do a Marathon that is not related to trying to go faster. Last year I tried the “Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon” and decided another Trail Marathon is just what I need.
For my 10th Marathon, I signed up for the Jay Mountain Challenge Run in April and began training by including trails.

I am lucky in that there is the Blue Hills Reservation just 15 running minutes from my apartment. It is odd to be running in an urban area one minute and the next you are in the woods, but that is exactly how it works here in Quincy, MA.

What I noticed immediately was how friendly everyone is when you see him or her out on the trails. Without exception everyone wanted to talk and visit.

But also, I found odd things happening out in the woods. For example, I kept having squirrels running up to me and across my path. This was confusing and a little dangerous. Then it hit me! Every time I go out into the woods, I stop first for an OJ, put the change in my pocket and go back to running. Well the noise from my change sounds like a mating call to a squirrel. I know this because when I was 12 I used to go out to the Three Hills (3 miles south of town) to hunt squirrels (I know, how could I possible kill a cute little squirrel – I pretended they were cats). My uncle had told me to carry to half dollars out to the woods and click them together to attract the squirrels and it worked. My friend Dave Parish and me would walk right through town with our 22 rifles on our way out to the Three Hills – probably can’t do that anymore.

Back to the training. I solved the squirrel issue and started to really enjoy the woods by seeing deer and hawks and ponds while running. It was great until the time I forgot the bug spray. I was out running the pipeline road and turned off to the deep, dark woods and soon found my self-slapping my head, cussing and running like a lunatic to try and get away from the biting flies. It was awful until I escaped the woods and got out into the open urban concrete of safety. The next thing I see is a guy slapping his head, cussing and running down the sidewalk like a lunatic. I come up to the guys the lunatic had come from and asked them what was up and they said the guy was trying to explain what would happen if we pulled out of Iraq. Well, I could understand his pain.

Friday Night Before the Race

I drive the 4-½ hours up to northern Vermont to the town of Jay. The town is within 12 miles of Canada. Many people at the local restaurant that night spoke French. Sometimes they would be speaking English, look at me and switch to French and then laugh. Not sure what that was about, but I smiled back and say “merci beaucoup”.

I pick up my racing packet and find out the race has been extended to 33 miles from the 30.9 I was expecting. I can see what I got myself into and it is scary, especially the part of the waiver that talks about possible death.

Race Day

The race is scheduled to start at 8 AM. All runners are required to be there ahead of time to hear Dan tells us what to expect. He informs us that since the race is longer this year, we get 6 hours to get to Aid Station 5 (about 19 miles).

With a Trail Race you use the Aid Stations(AS) to determine distances. There are no mile markers at all. This race has 8 AS.

The race starts and off we go up the grass hill in a knotted bunch. Man, these people are in good shape, not just some of them, all of them look like they just got out of Boot Camp. What was I thinking?

Soon we hit our first "technical" area. Here the slope is severe enough to require ropes and we scramble up. I made it without too many falls. Next, we hit the first of many brooks. Running in water where sometimes you can't see exactly how your foot will land creates some anxiety and often, at least for me, a dive or a fall backwards. I end up in the water and off my feet too much. The moss above the water line is slippery and the sunken trees below are also slippery causing the dives and falls. Today I will run over 5 miles in brooks. It takes me over an hour to get to AS 1 (4 miles).

At AS 2, we start the run up the mountain portion of the race. We will go up 2,100 feet in less than 2 miles. It is tough going and at the top is AS 3 and 9 miles of the race is over. I think the run down the mountain is tougher than going up.

Finally I get to AS 4 with all this mud. I can't believe how good Dan is in coming up with just the perfect mud. The kind that sucks your legs up to your knee and won't let go without at least 3 swear words.

But I need to keep going since I need to make it to AS 5 before the 6 hour cutoff (which I thought would be easy). I make it with 45 minutes to spare and 19 miles of this damn thing is over. I still have over a Half Marathon to go.

More water and more mud and this stretch is only 4.4 miles but takes me over 90 minutes to traverse. At the end, just before AS 6 you cross a river using a rope. This is nice since I finally get off my feet for a while as I pull my floating self across the river and hit AS 6.

At this point I have been running and climbing and clawing my way through the woods for 8 hours and I still have 9 miles to go. I have little run left in me. Evan, a teacher from New Jersey that I had been running with for frickin hours pulls away. I tell him I'll catch him later, but know better. My running for that day is over. I am going to walk.

That damn Dan finally gives me some road to run on. This is the first time all day that I took a step and nothing underneath my shoe moved. It was awesome to get traction. Of course, nature thought that was good time for a thunderstorm and the skies opened and I watched as new rivers were created. I figure getting hit by lightning would allow me to lay down for awhile.

A guy stops his car next to me and says, "How much fawtha you got?" I translate it and show him I have a number on my shorts that means I am out there on purpose. He thought that was funny. I swear he was the same guy that played the mailman in the movie "On Golden Pond", but at that point I was not coherent.

I hit AS 7, the last place to eat potatoes with salt and I mumble how much farther and get 5 miles as a response.

I hit AS 8 and she offers me water. I tell her I might be the last one out there. I look at her and say "mud?" and she nods. She also says it is a 45 minute walk to the finish line.

The worst mud hole in the world ahead and for fun, the biting flies are out. I slap my head, swear and try to run. I have been a lunatic for hours already.

And then, just like magic, you come out of the woods to a grassy area. There are people out there and they are cheering. Go around the bend and down the hill you started on and the finish line.

I grab my medal after 10 hours and 45 minutes and I am tired. This was harder than 2 marathons in one day.

One last look at the mountain on Sunday as I turn to head back to Quincy.

The Learnings

I have found that you can sign up for something that can kill you, they'll let you.

The days that followed were extremely painful. I could not walk down stairs. I had to go down backwards, that is the only way you can do it. I have never felt such physical pain in my life. The recovery will take weeks instead of days. I now have real respect for these people that can do these things - they are in a different league than me. For stamina, the power walk for 12 hours at a time. They run through grass at night to learn to run without seeing where there foot will fall - and learn to trust that your ankles will adjust properly and instantly.

Everyone was great, the runners liked to talk and help (I needed some) and the volunteers were great. I don't think I'll do it again. And if I did, I would trim an hour or an hour and a half off.