On June 18th, all preparation completed ready to leave for Brussels for the World Challenge. I had my biggest training month every in May and had cut my mileage over the last 3 weeks. Unfortunately most of the taper was due to illness. I went for a nice 5 mile run on Tuesday morning, put in a half day of work, got a half-hour massage, and was ready to depart. Dan Verrington and I were booked on the same flight, as I had taken care of all of the preparations so that he would come along! Dan had a great quote in the local paper, stating that his decision to run the 100K was due to “a momentary lapse of reasoning”. The flight brought us through Washington, where we met up with Ann Heaslett and Anne Riddle who were part of a strong women’s contingent heading over. Ann and Anne had been 1 and 2 at the 50K nationals. The flight over was fine, however the organization never met us at the airport. We arrived at 7 AM, waited 30 minutes, and then decided to move on. Dan and I took the train, as it seemed the easiest and cheapest way to get from Brussels to Torhout, which was located about 120K away.

We arrived in Torhout and tried calling the race director to get directions to our accommodations. The number didn’t work. This would be true of many things with the race direction over the course of our time in Belgium. We made our way to the tourist office and finally got some idea of where our housing was. Unfortunately it was about 5K (3 miles) away, and we had all of our gear. Dan walked along slumping over with about 20 pounds of full water bottles in his pack! I had chosen to empty my bottles over the last month, thus conserving a lot of weight. It took us nearly an hour to walk to the area we need to be, and after getting further directions found the “retreat”. Kevin Setnes our performance coach was just heading out in his car as we walked in. The long day of travel was done as we checked into what was variously called a “monastery” “nunnery” “retreat” and “church”. The housing was very nice, clean and relatively quiet.

We went out for a very easy 4 miles to ‘loosen up the legs’. There were some dirt trails around the area, and if you didn’t mind the smell (I’m not sure if it was from Dan or the cows) it was great. Dan and I agreed that it was a good way to stretch out, but it also showed how much you could tighten up in a day. I went to bed after that and didn’t get up for 14 hours. Now that is my idea of taper!

On Thursday we had a team meeting. Lin and Kris (and Kevin and Lion etc.) really know how to get everything done so that all we have to really concentrate on is the race itself. I did a morning run with Dan, Paul Young (Nikki’s guy) and Howard Nippert. We again went out on the trails and did a nice easy run. I was pleased that most of the lousy feeling from the day before had melted away; nothing like early summer hibernation for whatever ails you. Most of the time was spent lying around reading, but we broke it up with World cup soccer action on TV. You could listen to the game from your room, just walk down and catch the replays after you heard the roar from the audience. It was fun sitting around with a bunch of other countries racers watching TV. In the afternoon I did an easy three miles with Nikki Kimball and Paul. Nikki is one of the few runners to have been on the US team for mountain and ultra running.

The opening parade was held on Thursday evening. We had buttons and pencils and stickers to hand out to the “crowd” as we marched through town. Howard brought enough flags for the entire town and was quite popular with the crowd. It was a good thing the race wasn’t on Friday morning as there was a great deal of standing around waiting for the parade, marching, and introductions of each country. The parade was followed by a BBQ or Vegetarian dinner. Food on the trip wasn’t too bad, and we supplemented it with Coke, M & M’s, Orange slices, Powerbar’s, cookies, and other such things that are good for you.

Friday I pretty much slept in (we didn’t get back from the dinner until after 11 PM). Dan and I did a 2 mile jog just to wake up. We spent the rest of the day relaxing, napping, watching soccer, reading and generally grinding our teeth waiting for the race to start. An 8 PM start is pretty unusual; I’ve only done a later start a couple of times (Penn Relays). I prefer morning starts, but Ultras tend to start a little earlier than I like. We were assured that the course would be “well lighted and festive”. Full dark wasn’t until almost 11 PM, so a fair portion of the race would be in light. It would turn out to be very dark in some spots and there were very few people out on the course.

We were taken to the race start in the center of Torhout pretty early (6:00 PM) and just laid around on the grass trying to not waist energy. I got a great “team” feel with the group hanging out together everyone decked out in USA gear. It was warm and sunny, but not particularly hot or humid. It looked like it would be a nice night for running. Anne loaned me her MP3 player as I had the “chicken dance” song stuck in my head. I couldn’t think of much worse than having dada-dada, dada-dada, da-da-da-da run through my head all night.

The countries were lined up at 10 minutes prior to the start. The open runners were held back behind a fence, they were released at 10 seconds to go. What a madhouse! The open race was a 10k, a marathon, and the 100k. In the first Kilometer people were sprinting all over the place. I just tried to stay on my feet. The course had many turns and included a 10k loop, followed by three circuits of a 27K loop, and finally a 9K loop. The footing wasn’t the best, with a mix of paved road (sometimes very narrow), cobblestones, cement, and some sort of bike path. Add to that the race ‘organizers’ notes that running was pretty much allowed anywhere, and you had people up on sidewalks cutting tangents like crazy. I got to 5K in a big pack, but was able to get at the water. I drank, but my stomach did not feel right. This was the first indication that things were not right.

I settled in. I could see Dan pulling away; with his unusual head-down style of running he was easy to pick out. By 8K I could no longer see him. Jim Garcia and Mark Godale were about 30 seconds in front of me in a large pack. I couldn’t see Howard Nippert who was running well among the top runners, nor Scott Eppleman who was behind me looking to run an even paced race. I was also trying to run even and was a bit surprised by the 5K split which had to be short. I reasoned that if it wasn’t short I was having a heck of a run (and so were the 100 people ahead of me). I took on Gatorade and gel at the second water stop and gagged. I ended up losing everything I had put in; I also dropped back off from Jim and Mark (after closing to within a few seconds). This was going to be the story of the first 30-40 K of the race for me. I ate and drank and got sick and then made up ground that I lost. So much for making up 20 water bottles and attaching gels to each one to make sure I did not miss hydrating. For the most part I wasn’t feeling all that bad. The running was not very fast and I still felt like I was within myself. Unfortunately not getting the water, Gatorade and gel down would spell trouble.

At around 35k I saw something that most people have never seen. Two moons! Well, one of them was Jim taking an impromptu break on the side of the road. Note to Jim: find some bushes, I was sick enough without seeing that! (Snicker). At the end of the first big loop we pulled into the Castle water stop. This was manned by ½ of the crew, the other half were on the other side of the loop to ensure that we got everything we might need. Howard’s friend Paris was the point man; he radioed ahead who was coming in so our bottle would be in place. The crew did an excellent job. I came through feeling pretty good with Jim behind me yelling for “tape, gauze, scissors, band-aids”, all that was missing was a seven-course meal and a massage!

It got really dark on the second loop. I was pretty much on my own and I started to have some bad patches. I’d feel good, then terrible, then dry heave. I didn’t have anything left to toss, and wasn’t all that interested in taking more than a sip at the remaining stations. I kept recording splits and noted that I was slowing. My ribs were really starting to hurt from the reverse peristalsis, and my legs were getting very heavy. I caught Dan just after 50K. He was walking as he left an aid station. I was in one of the good sections and offered encouragement as I passed him. He went by me a couple of minutes later, caught up to Mark and was gone from sight by52K.

The next couple of kilometers were tough. I was hurting and bonked something fierce. I took a split at 55 and 60 K, but don’t remember anything much after the 60+ K aid station. I stopped and took my bottle. I asked “what Kilometer”? and was told “eight”. Not sure what the heck that meant, but I continued on and remember drive heaves, weaving on the road and feeling terrible.

I made it to the 67 K aid station where our staff did what they could for me, and I spent the next 8 hours in the hands of the Torhout hospital staff. The staff was very nice. The Doctor told me “running long distances is not good for you, you shouldn’t do it any more”. Yeah, like it’s that easy!

I felt pretty lousy, not just from dehydration etc. but letting the team down AGAIN. I swore I was going to run conservatively (I did) and finish this year (I didn’t). Nothing to do now, but recover and go back to it.

Most of the info I got on the other guys is second hand, but here is my take on the guys. Howard ran a very smart race taking 14th in 7:01. I got in a run with him prior to the race and was amazed that he hadn’t raced since last years Challenge. That takes quite a bit of dedication and determination. I’d go nuts if I didn’t race at least twice a month! Dan was our second finisher coming through in 7:30, not too bad for a first timer. I think that he may not be hooked on Ultra’s, but I think he wants to run another 100k and run it fast. The final scorer for the men’s team was Scott Eppelman. Scott quietly hung out in the background most of the week. He seemed like a nice guy with a wise game plan. He executed perfectly and PR’d in 7:44. He also race directs a track 24 hour race in Texas, maybe that’d be a nice place for my next run! Jim Garcia was our 4th finisher in 7:48 despite not running for more than a week leading up to the race. I bet Jim would have run 7:00 if he just stayed out of the aid stations. Jim spends a lot of time and energy yelling at the crew and changing gear, that would be better spent running (just my opinion). Mark Godale finished in 7:57 despite walking a good portion after 70K. I’ve had the pleasure of running against/with Mark over the last year and he is a great guy. I’ll race him later this year at the 50K national championships.

The ladies had a great night, taking 3rd place as a team. They were lead by Tania Pacev who finished 13th in 8:23. She was a ball of energy before and after the race. Her life story would make an interesting book/movie. I caught bits and pieces and was amazed to hear that she got out of Romania by hiding in the trunk of a car for 14 hours! Anne Riddle was 14th in 8:23 and Ann Heaslett took 18th in 8:42. CMS team member (there were three present members and one former member on the squad) Nikki Kimball was 22nd in 8:50.