Dwayne's Ultra & Trail Tales

Well after a whole bunch of back and forth with park staff and all our partners we have a new date! The 14km will now be on Saturday, October 22nd at 9:00 am.

Register at http://trailrunmanitoba.com/register_try.php

Thanks again for your patience as Mother Nature has been playing games on us this year

Reading this story out of Australia this past weekend was a good dose of the realities we face when participating in (and putting on) events like trail runs and ultras. My thoughts are with the injured runners and their families.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/10185523/probe-into-devastating-blaze/

Just a couple quick updates on the status of the rest of the Trail Run Manitoba races.

First off, The Beaudry Lemming Loop is officially cancelled for this year. My attempts at finding a suitable alternate location came up empty, although I did discover some cool trails elsewhere in the province, sadly not ones that met all the criteria for putting on a great race. As of last week when I ran/slid/stumbled/climbed the trail, it was determined that given the current state of the trail at Beaudry, with vast sections under 8 inches of mud, numerous downed trees and parts of the trail washed away, that we just can’t make it work this year.

Secondly, although the trails at Birds Hill are now open, we are now faced with finding an alternate date that works within the park schedule and that doesn’t conflict with other events going on in the area. The replacement date is already looking like it will be pushed until after the 22km, but all the registered runners will be the first to know.

At this point, the 22 & 8 km races are still planned for October 15, so no change there.

Thanks for all your support this year, I’m still not sure what I did to get Mother Nature so riled up

Time for a quick update on trail conditions and the race season in general.

This has been a trying year; our new Manitoba Trail Marathon and 50km was first postponed from May until August due to flooding and how now been cancelled outright due to overall unsafe conditions. Then of course the 14km Try a Trail has been postponed until an as of yet unspecified date – we need at least 30mm of rain to fall on Birds Hill Park for them to open the trail, and well, mother nature just hasn’t found the time to rain on our parade…

And what may be the latest twist of cruel irony is that the Beaudry Lemming Loop will most likely be cancelled due to overland flooding, if you look just right of centre in the picture you will see the Assiniboine River just past the edge of the ‘trail’. What you’re seeing is not fresh green grass, but rather a slightly funky layer of algae and goo coating about a foot of stagnant water sitting on the trail. We’re not being too optimistic that this will dry up in time for the 1st of October and the Lemming Loop. We are exploring some other trail options though.

I appreciate everyone’s patience as we sort out action plans for ensuring we put on the best possible races.

Dwayne

This is unfortunate news but there has not been enough rain to allow Manitoba Conservation to open the Bird’s Hill Park trails for us this weekend. Therefore, the 14 km race is postponed. In the next few days I will be consulting with Conservation on a new date. (If any of you have mad weather-predicting skillz, let me know by when we’ll have enough rain to proceed!)

You’ll hear from me again in a few days with the new date and some race deferral options. I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Any complaints can be addressed directly to Mother Nature.

Happy (deferred) trails,

Dwayne

For those of you who saw the clouds and felt the rain last night here in Winnipeg, only a few drops hit Birds Hill Park so the situation hasn’t changed at all. And the forecast has gotten hotter for the rest of the week.

Here’s a couple local news stories about the general conditions we’re facing:

Winnipeg Free Press – http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/fire-ban-extends-to-birds-hill-127292388.html

And to indicate how serious Manitoba Conservation is about this issue, CBC reports on violators being arrested, not something we’ll do just to race this weekend! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/08/08/whiteshell-arrests.html

Dwayne

Manitoba Conservation has closed the trails at Birds Hill Park due to the extremely dry conditions and the fire hazard induced by this. Given that this situation is entirely weather dependent (ie. we need rain!) it is difficult for me to pick a date to re-schedule the race right now.

The final decision to postpone the race will be made on Thursday night (11 August) and will be e-mailed to the registered runners and posted here as well.

Please check back here too for updates throughout the week.

Thanks for your understanding on this.

Dwayne

Pre-Race

Leading up to the race everything was going well with my training, even if my overall mileage was a bit lower than I had hoped. The excessively drawn out winter and the cold during the winter left me unmotivated to get lots of high mileage in while it was -30 with a wind, and for whatever reason, long runs on the treadmill weren’t as appealing this past winter. Nevertheless, in the 6-8 weeks prior to the race my long runs were long and everything was starting to fall into place.

A couple weeks out we found out that Natalie was going to be starting a new job that meant she probably wouldn’t be able to take the time off during her second week. My friend (and fellow streak runner) Matthew jumped at the opportunity when asked. Rounding out the trip was Sean who was doing a documentary on ultrarunning for his RRC Creative Communications program. With a car full of running and film-making gear, off we went for Sheridan Wyoming.

Being streak runners, Matt & I had to stop somewhere to get in our run for the day, the location chosen for this particular Wednesday was the Sweet Briar Dam Game Reserve in North Dakota. A nice 2 miles in the sun and we were back in the car, heading off for our first small town meals.

When we pulled into Glendive the car just seemed to find the diner whose menu stated “breakfast served all day” to which our gang of intrepid travelers accepted as a challenge. By the time I managed to get through 2 of my 3 head sized pancakes, I could clearly tell my stomach was undertrained, maybe even it was the altitude? Sean, almost stuffed on biscuits and gravy obliged to tackle a chunk of my third pancake, as did Matt, not one to ever pass up free food!

Back on the road, we beat the thunderstorms to Miles City where we had planned to spend the night, leaving us with a short drive Thursday morning. Thursday was a short drive to Sheridan Wyoming where the race was headquartered for the weekend. Getting to town ahead of the noon kit pick up, we wandered the old downtown, checking out the funky mix of cowboy and modern retailers along with some of the 100-ish year old houses up the hill from the county seat.

Finally it was noon and time to get the race kit, do the medical check in and sort out the details of what the snow route was to be and how that would impact crew access. Over lunch we poured over the printouts and maps, sorting out where I would see the guys and when Matt would pick up his pacing.

Of course we had to do our runs, so out to Dayton to find the start/finish area and get an easy run in. Sorted out where the canyon was and did a short out and back along what would be the first and last mile of the race course. One last stop for supplies and then it was time to head back to the hotel to finish prepping for the Friday race start.

Race Day

First a bit about the course. As you can see from the map and the elevation profile, it is an out and back course. This is not the regular course due to too much snow beyond this years turn around. To make up the difference from the regular course there is a new out & back section this year that we do twice, the short little spur heading south (with the 20 & 80 mile marks on it). At the pre-race briefing it was indicated that there would be a river to cross on this section, up to maybe hip deep! All I could think about was how cold that mountain water was going to be! Normally the race starts about 5 miles from Dayton on the Tongue River Canyon road, but this year it was a true out and back with the start right in Dayton at the base of a large elk statue, with the finish just past there in the park proper.

Prior to the race start I was chatting with a couple other Canadians, one from Ottawa and another from Regina. I looked for, but didn’t see the other Winnipegers at the race.

Prior to the 10am start I made one last wardrobe change, adding a long sleeve undershirt under my t-shirt; something in the air made me feel a bit chilled and I figured once we got up in elevation it would be cooler; probably the smartest thing I did all day!

From the start to about mile 5 the run was pretty tame, a solid gaggle cruising down a gravel road. Then we got into the canyon and it was single track time! After some initial jockeying for position, the first major climb was upon me. Now if you look at the elevation profile you will see this climb listed as lasting 6.16 miles going up about 3200’ in that time, which translates to an AVERAGE of 9.8%. For my prairie legs, this meant nothing but one long power hiking climb. There were a few flatter spots you could break into a jog, but for the most part, it was nothing but climb. For the most part, it was non-technical singletrack, some loose rocks, but pretty dry overall with the exception of a few snow/mud sections and a few water trickles to cross.

As you can see in the video, nothing but a long string of power hikers going up and up. This is where the wind was also quite intense. I lost my hat once, so I took to just carrying it for most times the wind kicked in, but with a 50km or so headwind while going up, the challenge was upon me before even getting the first half marathon distance done.

Once the major climb was over, there was the first of many plunges down a canyon to a river crossing, then surprisingly, a climb out of a canyon. Thankfully there was a log bridge across this river as it was rushing along quite fiercely. A quick stop at the first major aid station (I more or less skipped the first two, only stopping long enough for a big cup of heed and a gel at each) where I topped up my bladder with water and started taking in the first major feeding of solid food; baked potatoes and some trail mix.

Leaving Upper Sheep Creek aid I witnessed the first group going off course. As we were going down a major drop, the well marked trail took a veer to the right, but a small group missed the markings and kept going down the hill, only to have to climb back up to get onto the trail again.

Back on the single track was the first major section of sagebrush. While quite benign looking, these short, stumpy brushes have an amazing way of growing over the edges of the trail obscuring visibility of the berm edges all the while feeling like you’re getting little slices taken out of your shins. While I never was scratched up enough to notice blood during the race, I did find all sorts of little nicks on my shins and calves once all the dirt and mud was washed later in the shower.

This next section until we got to the Dry Fork aid station was a fun mix of up and down (with a net climb to Dry Fork). This is where I also saw the most amount of snow, with some sections about 30 – 50 metres long. On the last descent to Dry Fork was the culmination of the snow banks, plows had just cleared the road by cutting through banks about 6 to 8 feet thick still! The day before I had overheard the race director being excited that the plows were finally through, I didn’t expect to see that much snow in the middle of June.

After a quick chat with Matt & Sean while re-filling my bladder and stocking up on food, it was time to head out to the high point of the course, Twin Buttes, at 7936’. From Dry Fork, at about 7500’, there was first a plunge down to the previously mentioned hip deep water crossing where I was pleasantly surprised to find they had since built an log bridge which meant no wet feet! Not that my feet were dry at this point, there had already been many small water crossings along with a fair bit of mucky mud, but knowing I wasn’t going to be soaked was a pleasant surprise.

Although not steep, the climb up to Twin Buttes was pretty much constant. It was a mix of jogging and power hiking, a vain attempt to keep my heart rate within reason. But at this altitude, it wasn’t taking much exertion for my HR to stay up in my normal road marathon range. More snow and mud along the way, along with the crazy winds that just didn’t seem to subside. One of the locals I was running with at one point said the wind was highly unusual and he was caught off guard by it, feeling a bit under dressed in his singlet and shorts.

I rolled into the aid station after another stretch of being thrashed by sagebrush, this time certain I would be all bloodied, but nothing noticeable through the dust and mud. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Matt & Sean had been able to get up to this aid station as well although I had everything I needed at the aid station.

Knowing that what goes up, must come down, I took off from this aid station ready to plunge back down to Dry Fork at a good clip and down I went. It felt so good to be able to run hard and strong, dropping down into the 8:45 min/mile range for brief periods as I churned down and down for 3 or so miles. It was along here that I saw the other two Winnipegers on their way up the hill still; looking good so far!

Back at Dry Fork for the second of four times was just a quick change of socks, a re-fill of the bladder and a bit of time to eat. The next major aid station where I would see the crew was going to be at Footbridge, about 16.5 miles away. On the elevation profile, this was essentially going from just about the highest point on the course, to the lowest point in the mountains. It was on this stretch that I would encounter the two sections that drew the biggest cheers and jeers from the crowd at the pre-race briefing. The first was the aid station serving up bacon (the cheers); and the jeers from a stretch of soul sucking mud.

Somewhere between these two points I did something that had the potential to radically change my day. At about mile 32.08 just as the trail dipped down an through a patch of evergreens I rolled my ankle. Now this wasn’t the wobble over on one side of your foot roll, this was a take your breathe away ‘holy shit that fucking hurts!’ roll of my right ankle. For about the previous 4 miles I had been running with a fellow Al from Calgary (turns out he we both know Sue Lucas who was supposed to be at the race this year, heal fast Sue!). I think I scared the crap out of him when I rolled over as I let out a yelp like I had been shot. Somehow I managed to walk down the rest of the slope, gather my composure, and with a bit of trepidation, began to run again. A bit tender, but nothing too bad. I was careful to take it easy on the rocky downhill sections for a while, but surprisingly, the ankle held up nicely.

Together Al and I hit 33 miles at almost exactly 8 hours, both of us somewhat surprised we were on what could be a 24 hour pace. I had gone into the race with no such delusions, but something in the back of my head wondered if it was possible knowing that I had survived the huge climb at the beginning of the race.  We hit the next aid station then braced for the mud.

I almost lost my shoe a few times, nearly fell over as my feet slid out from under me a few more times and generally just slipped and skidded around best I could to get through the muck and guck. After one more short, steep climb it was on to the first big test for my tender ankle.

It was time to go down the wall. This five mile stretch dropped 2200’ at an average slope of 8.2%. Most of the surface was littered with large-ish loose rocks. After a few tentative steps, I realized that the potential for my ankle to really wreck me was too great to push my luck. I had to take it easy and spend a lot of energy braking as I went down, controlling every foot strike so as not to trash my ankle anymore. I had been ready for this section, ready to really push it hard, ever since I read about it race reports from others, having done my best at hammering down garbage hill’s bumpy singletrack. But, alas, the delicate approach was in order.

I finally rolled into the Footbridge aid station (41 miles) at just after 10 hours, apparently only about 5 minutes after the crew had arrived! Between stopping for food, driving all the way around the mountains, and hiking in a couple miles they had just made it in time. It was now time to swap to the larger pack for the night (ready to go with extra layers packed) and pick up my lights. Of course fueling up was important too as we had been warned that the next aid stations would be limited due to having to horse pack everything in.

Leaving the aid station there were multiple sets of signs saying “you drop, you walk” knowing that the only way to get back to a ride was on your feet probably scared a few people into dropping right then and there. I was not to be one of those! Boldly I went following both sets of course markings, the flagging and the horse droppings

What was amazing about this part of the course was the proximity to the river for parts, with its rushing current that drowned out everything around you and how quickly the trail would then climb up and away to the silence of the woods. Prior to this stretch of the course, I had ran with or close to others. Other than the people I would meet later going the other way, I ran entirely on my own from footbridge to the turn around and back again. Somewhat surreal spending that much time alone in the dark on the trail.

What the descending darkness hid was the constant uphill grind it was to the turn around. It never felt like there was a flat spot to actually run on. The elevation profile says it was a 4.6% grade for nearly nine miles. Knowing that it took me four hours to go up and just over 2.5 to come down made me realize just how much of an uphill grind it was.

Now I was under the impression that since the upcoming aid stations were going to minimal my pack was weighed down with about 15 gels, 3 or 4 bars and 2 litres of water. Had I know that these ‘light’ aid stations were so well stocked, I would have left all of the food in the car. These volunteers and their horses hauled in a massive spread where I discovered my new fave ultra snack – pretzels stuffed with peanut butter! Americans will never cease to amaze me in their inventiveness when it comes to creating snack foods! A handful of these were such tasty morsels to keep me going for a while; just the right amount of crunch with the gooey goodness of peanut butter.

I did linger here a little too long as I had to warm up my feet by the fire. About 150 metres prior to getting here I dunked my feet in one of the many streams, and as the temperature felt like it was continuing to plummet, I figured a few minutes drying my feet wouldn’t be time wasted. I also made a mental note of the percolator they had going on the fire, thinking ahead to having a cup of coffee when I got back here on the way back.

Onwards and upwards I went to the turn around. It was in this stretch that I started seeing quite a few people on their way back to the finish. One nice thing about the out & back is that you do get to see the return traffic. I finally hit the turn around at 14 hours! At this point I stopped to put on pants over my shorts and finally my windshell over the other top layers. By this point I had three layers on top, plus my windshell, a toque, gloves and pants over my shorts. It was getting cold and yet I was feeling quite comfortable as I had stopped along the way to layer up rather than wait until I felt cold. At the turn around one woman was shivering horribly by the fire with her partner trying his best to get her going again. I had ran up most of the first big climb with this couple in their matching green Seattle t-shirts. In the small world that ultras are, we had a mutual friend in Ronda Sundermeir who I met in Vancouver last year at a lululemon event.

All layered up, fed and ready to roll, I began the long journey back to the finish line that had begun just over 14 hours ago. Now being the geek that I am, I had been looking at previous years finish times and splits and noticed that many people ran a negative split, most likely due to the uphill / downhill  out / back nature of the course. I had this in the back of my mind as I began the descent, first to the Cathedral Rock aid station and then Footbridge.

At Cathedral Rock I had to stop for that cup of delicious campfire coffee, some more pb stuffed pretzels then it was time to keep moving. Of course I managed to dunk my feet in the stream that soaked me on the way into this aid station last time, but knowing that I was going to be heading down and able to run more I just kept going hoping my feet would warm up on their own.

It was a great relief to hit the Footbridge aid station at mile 61 knowing that Matt was now going to pace me for a while. It was well into the early morning hours and having a ‘fresh’ set of eyes and legs with me was going to be a nice break from the relative solitude of the last 20-ish miles. Disappointment hit me when all they had was instant coffee; it just didn’t compare to the cowboy coffee at the last aid station

Now if you recall I mentioned making a crazy descent into the Footbridge aid station on the way out, and now it was time to climb the wall. Oh man, what a struggle this was. The running from the aid station across the roaring river was soon met by a climb that felt ominous and treacherous all at once. Not being able to see the top made it seem that much more grueling. Matt was a great pacer, letting me set the speed of the trundle and keeping me going when I wanted to just keel over and roll down the hill. This was by far the hardest part of the course. With 100km done and having to contend with this climb was just nasty. Had I not been so focussed on finishing, this section could have easily zapped my will and sent me back to the aid station to drop.

Shortly after getting up and over the wall and finding some relatively runnable ground again, it was time for Matt to experience the mud with me. We must have sounded like kindergarten kids laughing and sliding around in that crap. Then it was time to hit the first aid station where Matt was like a kid in a candy store; which in fact he sort of was; as he loaded up on some junk food in strict accordance to rule #1 – never turn down free food! When I reminded him that there was bacon ahead, I’m surprised he didn’t leave me behind!

The sun was also finally making its way up over the mountains behind us as we kept slogging on to Dry Fork. At about 7am we started to see the first of the 50 milers coming towards us, an hour into their race and still looking very strong. It was great to get so many kind words of encouragement from them as they went galloping past.

Hitting the Cow Camp (or bacon station) aid station after the majority of the 50 milers was a bit of a highlight, not for the bacon, but for the fried potatoes they had. On the way out I took a cup full (salted of course!) and enjoyed every little bit. At this early hour of the day (just before 8 am I think) having a cup of them still hot was like a little slice of heaven and they couldn’t have tasted better. There was a young lad, about 13 or 14 at the aid station that had been super friendly and helpful the day before, and there he was still all perky and chipper pouring drinks and keeping food set out. Hard to feel tired when you see how hard he had been working all night too. Turns out he had been fueled by chocolate and mountain dew all night

The next few miles until Dry Fork passed relatively uneventful. Matt and I chattering away about everything and nothing, trying to remember names of random TV shows based on snippets of theme songs and various other random thoughts.

Matt did play tough guy; stating that I could only stop to catch my breath if there was an epic view for him to look at. In the mountains that was pretty easy to do and I took advantage of that a few times as I was starting to feel a bit of the effects of the altitude; after longer uphill sections I felt more than a bit out of gas, but 30-45 seconds of slow deep breathing seemed to help get me going again. Finally it was the last long, slow climb up a jeep road to Dry Fork aid station for the third time. Sean was about 3/4 of a mile down the slope with video camera in hand, waiting for the speedster to roar by. No high speed camera required to catch me this time, I was happy just to be moving forward and upwards.

After the medical weigh in (the fourth time during the race) my weight was actually up about a pound; Matt’s constant reminder to drink as I was going to be weighed was working! it was now time to change into dry shoes with the bulk of the serious wet stuff behind me.

This is when I finally noticed my ankle. Now I had rolled it about 35 miles prior and had not stopped to look at it at all. Maybe out of denial or fear I’m still not sure. But if it wasn’t for the fact that I had a minor blister on the outside edge of my heal, I don’t know if I would have looked at all. I shocked myself at how badly it was swollen. It looked like I had half an orange transplanted under the skin! No serious bruising nor soreness, just this horrible lump. At that point of course Sean had to get some footage and I was wishing I had my camera handy too.

I set off to Twin Buttes on my own, Matt was going to take a short break then join me from the top of the Buttes all the way back to the finish. Now if you recall, this was a constant uphill at a somewhat gradual grade, but maybe it was the magic of dry shoes and socks, but I was able to cruise along at a decent clip, making the climb in just under an hour; power hiking at about 16 min/miles never felt so fast! A quick feed while Matt got dry socks on (I was so quick getting up there he was caught off guard!) and off we went again, running down the slope through the sagebrush and back to the road. It was great to actually run this section as it gave my legs a chance to change things up a bit and get ready for the next climb out of Dry Fork #4. Nearing the end, just before the drop down to the river, we once again met Michelle & Artur (the other Winnipegers) on their way up to Twin Buttes.

One more quick feed at Dry Fork #4 and it was the home stretch, with about 16.5 miles to go! Of course there was the climb out of Dry Fork up into the snowy section, but other than one quick stop to clean rocks out of my shoes, it was a good section, with running mixed into the uphill trudges. Coming down to the Sheep Creek aid station there were some amazing running sections, winding through the single track and generally just cruising along. There was one river crossing that I had to stop and look at for a while. I remembered on the way out I was able to quite easily leap over, but for some reason my legs just couldn’t muster the gumption to do that this time. Thankfully there was one of the 50km runners just in front of me and she held out her hand for me to jump and grab onto, keeping my feet dry!

Just after the Sheep Creek aid station there was the last drop down to a river crossing, over a log bridge then back up a grinding climb. This last big climb felt like it was going to be the end of me; I had to slowly lurch up, stopping every now and then to catch my breath and let my heart rate settle down. Once at the top it was now time for the 6-ish mile descent through the meadows that I had climbed the day before.

Going up on the Friday I had envisioned being able to fly down these hills making up huge amounts of time. This was not to be the case. With the vast number of large, loose rocks, the prospect of my ankle giving out on me forced me into a very awkward braking shuffle all the way down. My quads were just a bit on the tender side when I started going down, but by the time I made it to the mouth of the canyon they were just trashed. Not only that, but the fronts of my toes were feeling completely mashed into the fronts of my shoes. Overall, what should have been a burning good run down turned into a trudgefest almost as bad as the climb up.

With the last five miles on the gravel road my challenge was to find the rock free spots so as not to continue bashing my now tenderized toes. Although my TNF Rucky Chucky’s were probably the best shoes I have for the rocky downhills, they are not very cushiony when it comes to the hard gravel road and my feet were not liking me at this point. Not only was it a slight uphill most of the way, it was also very hot. I ran/walked for about 2 miles, then pretty much walked 2 miles before getting some short run sections in. I forced myself to finally get running again once we hit the bridge and were only about 600m to the park and finish line. Matt was right with me until the last corner before the finish line when he peeled off telling me to finish it up.

It was such an amazing feeling to hear the cheers as I loped gazelle like (severely wounded gazelle, but gazelle nevertheless) down the last 150m straight away to the finish line. A few hours longer on the course than I had initially imagined, but with an official time of 31h28m28s I had finally conquered the 100 mile beast.

Post Race

Once I got through the finish area, it was time to find Matt and Sean and sit down, using my new finisher’s blanket as a nice pillow I laid back on the grass in the shade and just did nothing for a few moments. Being the awesome pacer/crew that he was, Matt was off the car to grab my clean clothes and phone to call Natalie. I quickly gave her a call to have her shouting with joy in the phone as she answered. She had been following the race via the Spot GPS I had borrowed and was probably wondering why it was taking so frickin’ long for me to call.

After talking to her for a while, I tried to sort out what to do about my feet. My first instinct was to just leave my shoes on and not look at them at all, likewise my ankle. Common sense took over and I peeled my dirty gaiters and socks off to at least air out the feet and see how bad the blisters were. As expected, it was the tips of my toes that took a beating from the hard braking on the downhills. The two little blisters on my heels that I had patched up 25 miles earlier were in great shape; a testament to how well I’ve learned to field patch my feet I guess.

After the initial foot assessment was done, it was time to eat. While the picnic area was very close, it also looked so far away. Sean offered to get me food, but I decided that getting up was probably a good thing for me. Wandering over in a bit of a daze, I loaded up my plate and made my way back to the shady tree. At some point some beer and ice appeared (thanks Sean!) and I set to icing my ankle while thinking about a beer. I never did get to enjoy a beer that day, a wave of fatigue started setting in and it was time to head back to Sheridan and the softness of the hotel bed.

Thankfully I was not driving the 20 or so miles back as I was in a weird state of semi consciousness, not fully alert, but not fully asleep either. I somehow managed to stumble up the stairs to our room, take off my shoes and then just lay on top of the bed (it’s guys like me that make me always take the bedspread right off in hotels!) in my stinky, muddy clothes and crash. At about 2 am I woke up, stumbled to the shower, found some more food (a couple bars in my bag) and then went back to sleep, waking at precisely 6 am just as the breakfast room in the hotel was opening. Stumbling down the stairs I started the re-fueling process in great earnest.

Matt joined me shortly and we managed a few words between shoveling the food in. From there it was time to pack up the room and car, swing by the awards ceremony to pick up my finisher’s schwag and then hit the road for a long drive home.

Of course there was a short run to do on the way home. This time in another small town in North Dakota. Managed to do about two miles, very slow miles, but there were done nevertheless.

Recovery was interesting and a bit different than what I experienced in 2008 after my 81 mile DNF at Kettle. I have slept more this past week than I can remember ever doing. I napped most of Monday (arriving home at 2am made that easy) but didn’t really sleep. Tuesday I went to work, but ended up leaving early as I was fading hard. Natalie came home to find me and the dog sound asleep, with a huge puddle of drool under my chin. I also took Wednesday off and pretty much slept all day again.

The runs this week have been short and slow. Anywhere from 1.5 to 3.5 miles. Everything feels good other than some minor swelling in my ankle still and soreness in my feet, especially my big toes that still feel like they are jamming into the fronts of my shoes.

Natalie pretty much decided that I was going to go back to Kettle next year and earn my finisher status there. I think it was breakfast Monday when she first asked/told me that

I do need to make special mention of Sean Campbell who has been following me around for his documentary project. I know he’s shot hours and hours of footage, interviewed anybody he could at the race. I’m glad it’s not me having to edit all that footage

A report like this would not have happened if not for the amazing people who have encouraged me along the way. All the local ultra-kids that I run with here and there, the athletes I coach, the work mates (thanks again Capt Buff for your motivational words!) that shake their heads, except Matthew who comes along and pushes my ass up and over the mountain. And of course Natalie who puts up with the long run weekends, makes me pancakes and listens to me fret about soreness, blisters and countless ramblings about gear, gels and trails; I couldn’t ask for a better partner and fan.

I just got off the phone with Dwayne. He ran for 31 hours and change. He’s tired, he’s hungry, but he’s also completely elated. He’s off to find some food (I hope they have decent vegan options) and then we’ll chat more later. This is it for me on the blog for now… I’ll let Dwayne give you all the details of his run with a race report.

BZ Dwayne, well done! I love you.

Go Dwayne!!! About 2 miles to go, although the GPS has him in the bushes rather than on the path I’m sure the GPS has had a hard day of communicating with the satellite and the interwebz, so it’s probably just off its game a little. Ha!