[../../../top/bottom.htm] Tuesday, May 20, 2008 04:32 PMFirst let me say "Great Job" to Dave McGillivray for pulling the race together on such short notice. And it turned out to be a darn good one too.The 10 loop course turned out to be pretty fast. I liked being able to see the field three times per loop. This course was more interesting then a straight back-and-forth 5 km strip. The extra out-and-back section didn't seem out of place either. The turnarounds were smooth, except for the left-hand turn immediately before the aid station at the downstream end, and the infamous one at the end.
The pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, strollers, etc. on the course were all polite and got out of the way. The numerous signs did the job.
I was pleasantly surprised at the set-up at the start/finish and at the aid stations. I am used to seeing a couple of rental tables with Coke and water on them. The aid stations were well manned. For all my bitching about food and fluid, the only thing I partook of was the Cola and one cup of Gatorade.
I was surprised at all the volunteers. They probably had one for every runner. The post race spread was nice. It is great getting some real food inside of you a few hours after one of these races.
Thanks to Brian Adley of Chancellor Corp, for sponsoring the race. Also thanks to Eric Duerr for crewing me, Don Allison for help in getting US runners, shuttling them around, buying food, etc., Dan Brannen for bringing some name brand foreign runners to the start and writing up pre and post race reports, David Blaikie for posting everything to his Ultramarathon World site, Andy Milroy for his background work with the bios and his contact with foreign runners, Steve Vaitones for being the race official, Marja Bakker, Lisa and all the BAA workers for the registration and other duties, Mike Thompson for doing all the leg work, Granite State Race Services for the excellent timing and detailed lap times, Karen Cummings for getting some pre-race articles in the Boston Globe, plus all of the race volunteers. Special thanks to all the runners from New England and beyond who decided to show up and support this race. Without them, it would not have been an event of such magnitude. And lastly, thanks to Jan Vandendriessche for being such a noble and gracious competitor. He could have been difficult, but he chose to take the higher ground. I appreciated that.
The race started off at dawn on rain-soaked streets, but a sunny, blustery day lay ahead. Along with a strong international field, the race included many members of the USATF 100 km Team: Mark Godale, Bob Sweeney, Kevin McGovern, and Ladies Daniele Cherniak and Holly Zinzow.
Victor Hickey took it out hard and built up a 35 sec. lead by 10 km, while the rest of us stayed together. He had won the St. Donat 100 km three weeks ago, so I figured he wouldn't hold the pace.
Tim Sloan and Russ Crawford ran Victor down by 20 km. Jan Vandendriessche and I let them go. Jan held an even pace, and by 40 km had joined Victor and Russ. Note: I used the official lap times and my 5 km splits for reference. I was 3:17 at 50 km, still in fifth place. This time was 5 minutes faster than my 50 km split four years ago in Winschoten, when I ran 6:57. I was feeling good, so I knew I had 7 hours in the bag and a decent shot at 6:50.
Victor looked tired early on, and by 50 km had gone out the back door. However, he controlled the hemorrhaging and held on strong the rest of the race, regaining third place in the last 10 km. Easily the gutsiest performance of the day.
Russ was the next to fall off. Unfortunately, his pace kept on dropping and he looked like he was just going through the motions. I caught Victor and Russ somewhere between 60 and 70 km and Tim around 75 km. Tim looked and felt good, but was having energy problems. In order to get a buffer, I ran the hardest I had in the race thus far, but still only ran a 44:34 through 80 km. 6:50 wasn't going to happen.
From 50 to 90 km, Jan's and my lap times were within 23 sec of each other. We met at the same spots at the turnarounds and always acknowledged each other. He looked very strong and controlled. At 85 km I figured I still had a shot at my PR, so I pushed a little harder. Even though my 9th lap was my slowest of the day, I gained 23 seconds on Jan. We were 3:17 apart at that point.
With about 3 km to go I passed Ray the K, who told me I was 2 1/2 minutes out and prodded me to go for the win. I picked up the pace, mainly just to humor him, felt quite good, and calculated that I would break my Personal Best. With about a mile to go, Dan Brannen told me I was 1:15 out, and should make a run for the lead. I still didn't think it was possible. In fact, with a half mile to go, when I saw Jan on the other side of the pond heading down the home stretch I gave him a big congratulatory wave. Too Little, Too Late, I was thinking to myself.
After crossing the bridge, the wind was at my back and I was smoking. With a quarter mile to go, my buddy Don Allison was yelling that I could still do it. I figured that I could go all out for a measly 1/4 mile, and at least make the finish exciting. With about 300 meters to go I could see that I was chewing up ground quickly enough that I had a shot at catching Jan before the 110 degree left-hand turn 10 meters before the finish. As my mouth is often prone to do, my legs were running without any brain input. Missing the opportunity to catch Jan before the turn, I was gauging whether I should go wide or inside, and wondering if Jan could lunge the last 10 meters faster than I if I went wide. When I approached the turn, I really thought I had a clear inside path. However, when I hit the turn, Jan had moved into the middle of the 7 foot wide path. We were both going for the same pivot point on the turn, at the same time, but from slightly different angles and speeds. I planted my right foot to make the turn on the inside and we made contact. Neither Jan nor I can even agree on how much. I think more, he thinks less. Jan lost his balance and went down. The photo by Herb Ryan of Watery Hill Images shows me bounding out of the way as Jan has just hit the ground and is still rolling. I immediately stopped, dumbfounded, and looked at him for a second, then, very unenthusiastically, crossed the finish line. As soon as I crossed the line, my first action was to catch the eye of the referee, Steve Vaitones, to get a calling. He nodded "Yes".
As Jan is big guy, my next urge was to get as far away from him as possible. Jan immediately went to the medical tent to get bandaged up. Afterwards, he was quite gracious, and congratulated me on my finish. He's a better man than I. I am still in shock. With a 1/2 mile to go, I was happy with a new personal best and two grand in the bank. Then all Hell broke loose.
Let me end my report with my racing to date. I ran some great non-ultra races earlier this year, including a 1:11:21 half marathon and 2:33 marathon. I finished 2nd at the Old Dominion 100 miler and 6th at the Leadville 100 miler. I spent 10 days at altitude while running Leadville. Since I came back I have run 15:47 for 5 km and 25:39 for 5 miles. The altitude training is paying off, I guess.
In 1995 I ran a 6:57:21 less than a month after Leadville. Shear coincidence maybe. What did I do differently this time? Wore lightweight training shoes (NB 827, same as Jan), which prevented the leg and back problems I had with the bouncy, but unstable, racers. I had less spring, but my legs were not beat up at all. Worked a lot on fine tuning my left heel lift and insoles so I would have a stable ride and so my back would not go out. My leg was pinched a bit from 40 to 80 km, but less than normal. When it did go out I just gutted it out and ran on the uneven dirt path to try to loosen it up, instead of stopping and trying to stretch out the legs and back.
Did away with one fancy drink that caused a gassy stomach and diarrhea in previous ultras. Only drank as much as I could handle at the time, which minimized bloating and vomiting. Took a Pepcin AC anti-gas pill, which minimized that gassy feeling. Took only one 200 mg ibuprofen during the run, which minimized stomach upset. Took a few electrolyte tablets to help prevent leg cramping and to help the stomach empty quickly. Never felt sorry for myself.
Other random notes: Food report Woke Up 4 AM, left home at 5 AM, Arrived at 6 AM. Ate instant mashed potatoes and half a can of lentil soup with a ton of Texas Pete, on the drive to the race. Drank 1.5 oz of glycerol, 1 vitamin and 2 x 200 mg Motrin. Drank water and about 12 oz of chocolate Hot Stuff in the last hour. Also had a piece of homemade sweet rice cake, made from sweet rice flour. Drank CarboFuel at 5 km. Drank 8 oz of CarboFuel every 5 km, more or less. At halfway, I had some chocolate Hot Stuff. Had a GU about every 10 km from 40 km on. Started drinking Coke at 70 km and had some every 5 km, then every aid station (about 2.5 KM apart) later on. Threw up a bit on the 7th and 8th lap. Had some Gatoraid in the last lap. Occasionally had a bite of sweet rice cake. No other solid food. Stopped at 27 km to take a dump, at 40 km to lube the toes on one foot.