It is all a fog now....here is what I remember. Start time for the race was 4am, light drizzle going on, forecast hot and humid both >90%. The course heads out on hardpacked roads, 70 miles of the course are on these type of roads. These are nice in the dark because they are smooth (less likely to trip in the potholes and twist ankles on the bigger rocks), however they are firm and sure caused a beating to my stomach and hips. It seemed like there were a lot of roads at the beginning and the end. About 27 miles of the course is on single track trail, jeep roads, and packed down grass. These areas can be slippery with the rock and roots, there was a lot of puddle jumping, and the mud can suck your shoe off. Only 3 miles of the course is pavement, short increments, not bad at all. The terrain is hilly, if you are not going up you are going down. The gentle hills were a nice break from the steeper, longer, more technical Wasatch course. A couple of climbs are named Heartbreak Hill and Agony Hill, neither really affected me......but that is the advantage of being a Wasatch runner, however the downhills did seem to go on forever. Overall there is 14,000 ft. of elevation gain/loss compared to 26,880 for Wasatch.
The course starts and finishes at Silver Hill Meadow, which is just north of Brownsville and west of Windsor, and basically does 3 different loops. The first and longest loop goes up to Taftsville, tops out at Pomfrey, and comes back down west of Woodstock to Camp 10 Bear AS which is just north of Hammondsville. The second loop dips southwest to Cavendish and there is a short repeated section out and back from the Camp 10 Bear AS. The third loop starts out by finishing the bottom part of the first loop and then gets very close to the finish but instead heads east towards Windsor. The course crosses familiar roads (the one that we drove to the Silver Hills Meadow) so near the end I had this FALSE impression that I was closer to the finish, but Noooo (this is where my attitude plummeted). The course heads north and brings you back to Silver Hill Meadow from the opposite side.....aahhaaa said the disoriented runner a quarter mile from the finish.
This is the upper section of the course. The star on both maps is the Silver Hill Meadow (the
start and finish lines). Taftsville is located on the intersection of highway 12 and highway 4. I know these maps are difficult to see, you can go to Mapquest and put in the location "Silver Hill Meadow" with the state "VT", and then you can pan in and out of the area. Try clicking on this Silver Hill Meadow.
This is the lower section of the course, Camp 10 Bear is at the "g" of Reading center and loops down to Cavendish. The last loop goes just above Brownsville and almost to the interstate and then north of the star. We stayed in Claremont, New Hampshire which is on the lower right corner. It was about a 40 minute drive to the start.
The funny thing is that the VT 100 website does not have a map. When I corresponded with the race committee, they told me that I would just get a map when I got there. Post race, I feel that the only thing the map would have help me with is maybe realizing the false impression of the finish. I did get the map the night before, but I guess didn't study it enough.
Around mile 15 the course goes thru the Taftsville Bridge, it is one of those covered very quaint bridges. Two runners were taking photos and I offered to snap a pic of them in front of the bridge, I was very sad that I didn’t have my camera (alas, sorry no photos on this blog entry). I don’t know what was going on, I felt ok but I was slow (I am afraid this is a recurring theme in my races that I struggle at the start and I don’t come alive until ~mile 30). The first time I saw Sophie and Tina was at Pretty House AS, mile 21. I was ~30 minutes past my goal, bummin’ and I didn’t even notice the pretty house.
The plan was to switch out packs, I have 2, at each handler aid station. I planned to see my crew at 7 aid stations. At this first exchange of the pack I forgot my electrolyte tabs....yikes because it was hot and humid and I needed to take a tab at least every hour if not more. Nevertheless I did OK during the 9 miles of no tabs, my fingers were a bit puffy but nothing else. Almost more important than salt tabs during this humid race was “Glide”, which is a deoderant looking stick that you rub on your skin to prevent chaffing. I used the Glide in generous proportions at each handler station, however I still incurred chaffing wounds.
I remember the U-Turn AS, mile 25, there were locals cheering us on along the road. We crossed over the river and I saw the Race Director (RD) pulling up to that AS. During the pre-race meeting a woman who identified herself as the 2007 Course Nazi said "No headphones/iPods or you will be disqualified" (probably because of the horses, but tough for me because I like tunes when I run), but then the RD said that he would OK them if we could prove that “it would be a hardship to our run”. Now I typically do not ask for special favors and I didn’t want to risk DQ, so I thought buck up and be a good sport and follow their rules. However, when I arrived at the U-Turn AS another runner was asking the RD if he could wear headphones. Desperate, I immediately piped in on the conversation....the RD said OK with the stipulation that we could only wear one ear piece. Phew, no problem, I couldn’t wait to get my shuffle at the next handlers AS.
Out of Stage Rd. AS, Mile 30 (I did replenish my salt tabs, had a Red Bull, and grabbed my tunes) we started climbing up a grassy hill, the humidity was thick, thick, thick. The dew on the grass created steam under the hot sun. A fellow runner, who had run the VT 100 numerous times, informed me that once we reached the top of the hill the terrain would “look just like Julie Andrews had run through it”. When I reached the top, the heat and humidity was so high, creating in an inverse relationship with my attitude... and it was all I could do to not pop the guy with “This is NOT the Alps” as he was humming the theme to Sound of Music.
I was pleased to get out of the sweltering grass and back on to the pounding road. There was a really cool section in this part that was single track trail and it reminded me of our local Millcreek area. I came upon this guy who was chatting with 2 girls, of course Ultras was their subject and then he started talking about the Bear 100. As I was passing him he got to the part about how he dropped out of the Bear. Hmmm. I piped in to the conversation and inquired about where he dropped out. Once he answered, I said “oh, yeah, I drove you back to the finish line”. Whoa, what a coincidence that I would pass this guy at that moment in their conversation. His name is John Taylor and he is from Minnesota, he will try the Bear again this year and his buddy Al is a fellow slammer - I met Al too during the run.
Some time mid day, who knows when or where, we got into this wild weather pattern. It started by the humidity rising beyond all limits and then a downpour with spectacular thunder. The rain was cooling but I sure got sick of being drenched. This overwhelming humidity and then heavy shower cycle happened at least 3 times. The odd thing is.... this was a mentally tough aspect of the run for me, go figure but I did quite well during that section.
The next time I saw my crew was at mile 47, Camp 10 Bear. I came in strong and had really started to cruise and pick up time. I brushed my teeth (felt like a new woman) and I left in good shape, I started to pass a lot of people along the next 5 miles. There were a lot of hills and I could either power up them and even run some hills. One of the hills is named “Agony Hill”, I really didn't feel a distinction as it was no problem for this Wasatch runner, maybe it was a bit longer than the others. I started meeting lots of fellow runners and slammers during this section.
Margaritaville AS was mile 62. Here was a crazy party. They were grilling and serving up margaritas with Jimmy Buffett blaring. The one person I saw partaking in the ‘gritas was Springtime’s rider. This guy was so friendly and I saw him numerous times during the run/ride. Tina was helping to deliver his margarita but Springtime was ready to hit the trail. The course circled back to Camp 10 Bear over the next 8 miles. This started out with rolling dirt road, then some trails with required puddle jumping after the big rains and then we repeated one small section of the course back to the AS.
I arrived at Camp 10 Bear, this time mile 70, feeling strong. I was soaked, essentially had been wet from the start, and with no hopes of drying out in this humidity I opted for a full change of clothes. Tina noticed that the back of my left knee was red (first sign of my tendonitis), and yes it was sore. I had my crew slather on “STOP Pain”, which is this roll-on glucosamine and it works great for any knee pain but in the end I think that it aggravated my hamstring. Per my request, the race committee arranged for a pacer for me, Tamar from Burlington. She had never ran an ultra but was psyched for the adventure. Headed out, we climbed up a trail (I think this was Heartbreak Hill, but no problem for this Wasatch runner). As nightfall came the humidity created fog. The moon started out orange and then it was pretty full. The night was warm and the fog made the muddy, slippery rocky and rooty trail more technical.
By the time I arrived at West Winds my pace slowed way down and I was getting the stiff body aches. I realized my goal of sub 24 hour wasn’t going to happen, unless there was a miracle and I could run again. My left hamstring was painful and my body had taken a pounding. I heavily debated the issue...the little devil on one shoulder said “you can do it” but I thought about the consequences.....I had this horrible vision of pushing my hamstring only to finish just after 24 hours with or without a major injury. The little angel on the other shoulder said “save it for the rest of the slam”, I knew I was going to finish under 30 hours and I had to remember that the ultimate goal was the Grand Slam. A buckle from Vermont wasn't reason enough to blow the Slam.
Bills AS, mile 88, was in a well lit nice barn.....too nice, all I wanted to do was hang out in the barn. I had a cup of broth but my coffee was too hot to drink. I passed the weight test, I don’t remember a BP check, but I do remember a conversation with the physician - and I passed his neuro check. I had to force myself to leave the barn.
The terrain was mostly roads to the next AS @ Pollys. This is the last time I would see my crew before the finish. Tina and I decided that I should of had a Red Bull at Bills, so here I revved up with powerfood because it was obvious that I should have chased the broth with coffee or some other form of caffeine. Now it was time to finish this bad boy and I headed out for the last 5 miles. No problem I thought...but the last 5 miles was tough. This is where knowing the course helps because every mile seems 3 times as long. About 2 miles to the finish I could hear cheering, I got excited but I knew that the closest person in front of me was at least 20 minutes away. There was a sign for the "one mile to go" point....and the the "half mile to go".....and then how absolutely comforting to see the finish line @ 26:44:31. Sophie recorded my finish on video (unfortunately I wasn't able to upload the video), we all had hugs, and I just wanted to get back to our little bed and breakfast.
Overall, I liked the Vermont 100:
1. Tina and Sophie were an awesome crew. They worked hard, every handler AS was smooth, getting to the AS was challenging, they didn't sleep either, and they kept my spirits up. Tamar was a hoot, poor thing probably wanted to run in the woods and hide but she stuck with me and was positive every step
2. The entire course was beautiful
3. The course was more runable, I did get a PR
4. It was really fun to run a different 100, and it was a challenge to fly across the country to do so.
5. The Vermont race committee were well organized, fun, and sure put on a top notch production (except for the map but maybe Peter and I could make that our contribution).
6. The endurance horse race was a nice twist. Sophie and Tina had fun watching it and they would both love to do it. Their plan is to do the Vermont 100 horse endurance ride in 2011, when Sophie is 16. I would love to be their crew.
What I would do different:
1. Use my one earpiece headphones earlier. I did get looks by other runners and AS people but I didn't get disqualified. I was super aware of the horses and I chatted with people and I turned it off at the AS.
2. Wear above the knee spandex shorts, not super tight. I have not had diaper rash for 40 years and I don't plan on having diaper rash for another 40 years.
3. Force myself to take in caffeine all night long. I am not a vampire and I definitely poke along when the sun goes down.
4. Some how get a really good low down on the last 30 miles. This is the heartbreak section for me and I need details. I asked the race committee but it was vague and the map wasn't too great either. We have the map though and I am sure Peter can make a better one. One the course I asked the Sound of Music runner about the last 10 miles..... now we must have run 2 different courses because his description and the course I encountered were not the same. If I had the time I would arrive early for the race and run at least the last 10 miles.
5. Get a buckle, the plaque was cheesy (sorry race committee but all the other races give buckles to the finishers, just nicer ones for times under 24 hours).
You can see the image of me taking the photo, it is black and the wood veneer is chipped
