| I’ve always been a fan of Ultra’s, just the idea of running for hours on end has a great appeal to me. I really enjoy running so it’s a good excuse to go out for a very long run. I started reading Ultrarunning magazine when I first took up trail running (1989). I just never seemed to get around to doing one. Other "big" races seemed to be around the same time, there was always a handy excuse. | Here is my slightly less garbled account
of the race, how I trained for it, why I decided to do it, and what my
plans are for the future.
- Dave Dunham
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| I read about the Chancellor’s race last year and started thinking about doing it. I did a 24 hour Orienteering race last summer and it just whetted my appetite to do a "real" ultra. I was injured from August to November of last year with severe tendentious in my ankle (it still hurts). While riding the bike up to 4 hours a day, I decided when I got healthy I'd do many of the things I'd put off. This year when I returned from mountain racing in Europe I read first hand accounts by Jim Garcia and Dan Held on the World championships. It made for great reading and finally lit the fire under me. | ||
| I contacted Dave McGillvary at DMSE and asked if he could help me get into the race. I was pleasantly surprised as I got an immediate reply "Consider yourself entered". Oh-oh, now I really had to do it! I hadn’t really done any training that would be considered appropriate for a 100k. With only three weeks to go before the race I figured it would be too late to do any specific training anyway. My last 10 weeks leading up to the race were 100, 92, 95, 97, 131, 122, 86, 105, 87, 102. The week of the race I had 128 (including the 62 for the race). The mileage may look decent enough, but I was concerned as my long run was 15 miles! I am a firm believer in multi runs, and have done 3 runs a day 5 days a week since February. A typical day for me is a 4-5 mile run at 4:30am, a 3 mile run at lunch (only ½ hour for break), and 6-8 miles at 3:15pm. Weekends I’d usually race (Chancellors was my 36th race this year) so there was never a good time for long runs. | Consider yourself entered". Oh-oh, ... | |
| My final buildup to the race was 2 marathons 6 days apart. I ran Clarence Demar in Keene NH (2:29) then ran the New Hampshire marathon (2:44) comfortably. I do confess to being a bit tired around 20 miles of the NH marathon and thinking "How am I going to go 40 more next week". I contacted Dave McG again looking for any advice he might have for a first timer. He offered some great encouragement and warned that I should "stalk" the leaders. He also got me in touch with Don Allison who in turn got me in contact with Dan Held and Kevin Setnes. | My final buildup to the race was 2 marathons 6 days apart. | |
| It was very helpful to hear from a veteran of the sport and also from a successful newcomer. Their advice about food, footwear, and every other thing that I was worried about proved indispensable. My biggest fear, beyond the distance of the race itself, was that I might not do something that EVERYONE else would know to do but that a first timer wouldn’t think of. I was careful to disregard Jim Garcia’s advice "go out with the relay runners" and "wear heavy training shoes". | Jim Garcia’s advice "go out with the relay runners" and "wear heavy training shoes". | |
| It was pretty cold at the start, and windy. I was cold enough that I wore my long sleeve (cotton) T-shirt for the first 50k. I was alone essentially the entire race so I had no one to tuck in behind during the stretches into the wind. I went out as easy as I could, totally disregarding what anyone else did. I went through the first 2m in 6:40's and then started clicking off 6:30 or better depending on whether it was into the wind or not. | ||
| It was a nice course, with the multi out-back segments that meant you never ran more than a couple of miles into the wind at any time. I tried to stay very relaxed. Any time I felt like it was an effort I backed off! I took Dave’s advice to heart and was counting laps not miles. I also had the opportunity to watch the Russian’s and S. African on the out-back segments. They looked very good. | ||
| I got a charge every time I went through the starting line. I could hear the announcer from pretty far off, so I knew who was ahead. I got my power gel and coke on every lap, from my long suffering wife Cathy. I also got a boost whenever a relay runner would go by. I knew gmost of the relayuys and they thought I was nuts to try the entire distance. There were a lot of joggers on the course after the first couple of hours, but the foot traffic never seemed too bad. I kept thinking get to 50k and see how I feel. | ...they thought I was nuts to try the entire distance | |
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I had to make bathroom breaks 10 times in the first 50k, 3 actual stops of
about 15-20 seconds each, and the rest, well I’m sure its what everyone else
does! (I think). At around 40k I caught Garcia and Molnar, I thought "now
someone to run with". It was not to be, they went much more slowly than I
through the aid station and once again I was alone into the wind. The longest
I've ever raced is 42k, I saw the marker at 26.2m, and it was the only time
during the race that I really thought about how far there was to go. Hit 50k and felt fine. Started thinking about getting through the next 3 laps. My plan had been to run 6:30's for the first 50k and then 7's for the 2nd 50k. Kevin had said to expect a ten minute slowdown in for the second 50k split. I was encouraged when I heard that by 60k I was running faster than anyone on the course. I didn't really care about place, just finishing under 7 hours. |
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| There were so many people on the course offering encouragement, including other people in the race. By 7 laps I was starting to recognize people! Around 76k I took the lead! I just tried to relax and get to 2 (laps) to go. Hit 80k feeling pretty good, tried to relax into the stiff wind. I was now aiming to hit 7's but still running most splits under 7. At this point I broke the laps down into segments. "Get to the Mass Ave bridge, sight the Harvard bridge, get to ½ lap, pass the Hatch shell, get to the MDC lot, 5 mile mark, pass the aid station, get to the bridge, head back to 6m". At the Mass Ave bridge I could see the 6500 women running the Tufts 10k go streaming by, thought "I'll still be running when they are all done"! At 85k I started to get very tired, legs weren't sore and I wasn't bonking (I was full of power gel and coke) just tired. I then started thinking about the number of miles to go. | ...Hit 80K feeling pretty good | |
| When I finally hit the last lap, I heard that I had about 4 minutes up on second place. I was pretty sure that I could hold it together. I figured if I ran 7's someone would have to run 6:30's to catch me. Dave McG. lead the way on his bike and I just focused on getting the first 2m into the wind over with. I now had it broken down in miles to go, only six to go! I was running scared the entire last lap. Still pretty tired but not wobbly or sore. | ||
| Never felt so good in my life as when I saw the finish! I could hardly believe it. Cathy caught me just after the line and had to help me stand, my legs were DONE. I could not believe how sore I was after. My arms, neck, calves, and hamstrings were all sore. Quads felt fine (flat course) and feet held up very well, only one blister on a toe. I definitely wouldn't have made it through without my Cathy’s help. She was almost as nervous as me before the race. She had never crewed before, and I had never been crewed (is that a word?), so neither of us knew what to expect. She stood around for 7 hours in a gusty wind and 50 degrees handing out coke, power gel, lifesavers, and gum drops! I also got some great support from Kelly and Rich Bolt, it was nice to see friendly faces after 3+ hours of running. There was great crowd support with people along the course (like the whole Whirlaway team, and all the gang at CSU) yelling out support. Not to mention all of the other runners in the race! | Never felt so good in my life as when I saw the finish! | |
| I’m not sure what I’m going to do next for Ultra’s. I think I’ll subscribe to UR magazine and take a look at what races are out there. I think I could run sub 6:40 on a less windy day, but probably not much faster. I realize that a lot of things had to go just right for me to run the 100k well. I didn’t have any cramps or blisters or exotic stomach problems. With that in mind fifty miles seems like a nice distance to race, that last 12 miles was pretty tough. At some time I’d like to attempt a 24hour, as I really enjoyed the ones I did (Orienteering), or maybe a fast 50k? | ...fifty miles seems like a nice distance to race |
Sunday, January 07, 2007 01:59 PM