The third annual Burning River was held August 1-2. Dan Miller and I have been training to complete the course. It is a point to point 101.8 mile race though some of the most beautiful parks I have ever toured.
My goal this year was to get Spiderman Dan to the finish…..I was unsuccessful.
I flew to Ohio a few days early to spend a some time with my parents at their tree farm. I picked berries and did a few hikes on their private trails. We drove their RV to Streetsboro KOA, near the course on Friday. The KOA is very close to the areas of the course that I would pass though at night. So my parents were able to make trips back to the RV between crew stops.
I have never been able to sleep the night before a 100 mile attempt. But this time I slept from 8:45 pm until my 3:30 am alarm went off. WOW! Dad drove me to the start for the 4:30 check in. There I meet up with Spiderman Dan and his brother David. I put some stuff in David’s truck. Dan & I split a boost, had some food and got to the starting line just in time to start.
I was feeling good. The first 12+ miles were road. I knew that I would feel good on the road and that Dan hates the asphalt. I was feeling better then I ever remember feeling in the first few miles of an event. Usually, I am filled with fearful anticipation, but not on this day. I was just enjoying running. Since I would need a little extra time after this section to change out of my road shoes, I took off and told Dan I
would meet him at the Pollo Field aid station. The timing worked out pretty well. Dan and I left Pollo Field Aid Station together. As we proceeded through the next couple of sections, I was really comfortable. Last year I struggling though these sections. The weather this year was milder then last year. For me, all seemed right with the world. The hills seemed shorter and the stones seemed smaller and the creeks……well…I am still uncoordinated, missed the rocks and fell into the first creek that we crossed. From then on, I just kept trudging through each subsequent creek.
We met up with our crews at Shadow Lake Aid Station, mile 21; the last crew point before the hottest part of the course. We knew to load up on ice to get through the exposed tow path section just before the Station Road Aid Station, mile #36.
I was concerned about Dan. Usually he is more comfortable then me at this point in any race. I suggested he pull back a bit and relax. I was hoping that he was just having a bad patch. He did pull back and I pushed ahead. When I got to the tow path I still felt great. The tow path seemed much flatter then I remembered and I could feel a breeze. Other runners were starting to complain about the heat, but I was prepared for much hotter conditions.
I met my parents at Station Road and got a fresh bottle, and mouth full of food and another boost. When Dan came in a minute or so later, I suggested that he rest (I had included a rest break in our “race plan” for when we returned to Station Road at 43). Dan agreed and took a little extra time at 36 rather than waiting until 43.
I took off for the next 6 mile loop returning to Station Road. I was still feeling good! I met some new friends, Jeff, Rick, and Neal and we chatted on the long climbs. Then I started pulling away on a down hill section with a pretty steep grade. I was letting the gravity pull me down the hill. Well actually the hill pulling me down. As a matter of fact the hill reached right up and grabbed me by the shirt and yanked me down into a full out body slam against the rocks and dirt. Knocking the wind out me. I was sure I broke a rib or hip or something. Lucky for me I have enough boob padding . I am sure that is what protected my ribs. Once I got my breath, I shook it off and continued down the hill....walking.
I was still making good time. When I returned to Station Rd I took my rest stop to clean out my wounds, ice my feet, re-tape my heels and get some more food. As I was heading out, Dan was finishing up that section. He told me he was going to rest some more. I thought that was a good idea. It was the hottest part of the day, best time to rest and we had time. From that point on I was just keeping track of Dan, not running with him.
I completed the next two sections, and met up with my parents at Boston Store Aid Station, mile 56. I still felt good. Our pacers, Doug and Anita were already there.
I talked to them a bit, ate some potatoes, cheese, and watermelon and headed out on the 5.3 mile loop back to Boston Store with a boost in my hand. This section had some very hilly roads and I tried to take advantage of the down hills. Once I returned to Boston Store, Dan and his pacer Doug were out on the 5.3 mile loop. I changed my clothes, got my lights, ate some food, and aheaded out with my pacer Anita. I decided not to take the whole rest that I had scheduled. I was still feeling good. Last
year I lost a lot of time in the next two sections. So I was determined to keep moving good through these sections. Anita was good at getting me running though every flat or downhill section. There was a 2.5 mile asphalt section and we ran almost the whole thing and came into the Happy Days Aid Station, 70 mile. We were still gaining a little time on my planned pace.
After Happy Days, there is an area referred to as the Ledges. It contained boulders to climb over, under and though. I think it would have been fun in the daytime, but the trail was difficult to follow at night. A few times we had trouble finding the markers, but we still made better time though this section then I did last year. As we left the Pine Hollow Aid Station at 75 it was starting drizzle, it was about 1:10am. Soon the rains came. Both Anita and I have small feet so we got sucked into the mud really easily. Neither of us had done much running/hiking in this kind of mud. Early in the section we tried to go around the shoe sucking mud as much as possible, but as the rain increased so did the width and depth of the mud. We really started
to loose time, but we had enough in the bank. When we got to the Covered Bridge Aid Station at 81. 6 miles, I asked Anita if she was willing to go another section and she was. So we refueled, changed batteries, and headed out into the mountain of mud. This 4.1 mile section contained a lot of steep hills, and returns to the Covered Bridge. Each hill was a mud slide. Each flat was a mud bath. If there was a tree to hold on to for balance, it was covered in hand mud from the folks in front of us who had already fallen in the mud. That slip & slide 4.1 miles took us 1 hour and 54 minutes to complete! Lots of time lost, but we did it!
On our return to Covered Bridge we saw Dan. He narrowly miss the 5:11am cut-off coming into the Covered Bridge. Even if he had made that cut-off by a few minutes, making the return cut-off would have been impossible. I felt really bad that I had let him down, by not getting him to the finish. Dan had done so much for me. Always adjusting his schedule to come out to the woods whenever I could fit it in. I owed him the finish. I failed. I pressed forward knowing that my finish would be the best that I could give him. Because without his support, I would never had made it to this point.
Dan’s pacer Doug was ready to take over Anita’s pacing duties and I think she was happy to oblige. I know she would have attempted to go all the way to the finish with me if I had needed her, but it wasn’t necessary. She had never gone beyond the marathon and was already pretty beat-up.
So, I sat down, took off my left sock and started working on my blisters. I turned into a real ‘girl’ at this point. I couldn’t take the pain. Once I finished my left foot and put the shoe back on, I refused to take off my right shoe. My mom kept questioning whether I wanted a dry sock on that foot. I just couldn’t bear to take the sock off. So I stood up with one black sock and one grey sock and started hobbling out of the aid station. Doug and I took off to complete the remaining 16 miles. Most of the mud was now behind us and at some point it stopped raining. There were some road sections, I tried to run periodically whenever it was flat or downhill. We started gaining back a little lost time. Now that it was light and I wanted to forget about the blister pain, I started chatting with Doug. We continued to gain back time.
We hit the 96.4 mile aid station @ Memorial Parkway before 9am. I was ecstatic. Started thinking about going under 29 hours. Doug said that it could be done, but it would be very difficult. OK, I decided to push, but not to hard. Eventually I figured what’s the difference between 28:58 and 29:08, if they end up putting me in the ambulance for that ten minute gain.
I knew not to consider the last 4.8 miles “the home stretch.” The last 2 miles are a cruel brutal punishment for those of us unable to train on hills, rocks, and stairs. I did the stair training and it paid off. But the technical sections in the last mile seemed to go on forever. My dad met us at the edge of the woods to see me through the last 1/4 mile road section. The finish was completely different for me. For the first time I was happy and elated to finish rather then just being relieved. In the other two 100s that I finished, no sense of happiness, only a sense of relief. This was a very good thing. This was a very good day, which I dedicate to Dan.
