Running 100 miles is hard. It’s not something you do, it’s something you survive. The Leadville 100 Trail Run is no different, if anything it’s more. The race starts at 10,000 feet and goes up from there.
After the morning rituals, we headed out to the Provin Grounds for some coffee and waited to meet up with the rest of the KS/MO contingent.
Pacers and Racers before the start At the sound of the gun, everyone takes off. After about 5 min, I realized that the feeling that I needed to urinate was more than just nerves, it was the real deal. I am positive I was the first person to pee after the start of the race. I wanted to stay with Coleen, Willie and Gary for as long in the race as possible. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Coleen and Gary were out a little faster than I would have liked. So I ran with Willie and Adam for a bit. This was my first “official” meeting of Adam. I’ve seen him around at many races but never really had the chance to shake his hand and introduce myself. Soon after our introduction Willie made a pit stop, and shortly after that Adam did as well. I had to push it to catch up to Coleen and Gary. I found Gary taking pictures (like usual) and could see Coleen up ahead. By the time we made it out of the trees around the lake I’d caught up to Coleen and we both had to shit. We ran by the toilets and Coleen was the lucky one! I kept going that urge soon left and I wasn’t troubled by it anymore.
Going through May Queen, I was pretty much on pace. Felt great. I had a couple snacks, took off my headlamp put on some sunglasses and headed up towards the Colorado Trail. Coleen and I were pretty much inseparable for the next bit of the course. We moved up the rocky terrain without fail. It was smooth going we gabbed the whole way up. Before I knew it we were on the road up to Hagerman Pass making our way to Sugarloaf. Coleen and I just hiked up this hill, made a good pace. Tried not to push to hard cause there was still about 80 miles to go. Coming down Sugarloaf I didn’t want to push to hard cause I knew that I’d still have to go up and down Hope Pass twice, and come back here and descend this again.
Coleen and I moving towards the pipeline (course re-route) We made it to the Fish Hatchery and I was feeling happy moving quick and light still. Leaving the Fish Hatchery I wasn’t looking forward to the paved road out to Treeline. I found that this section of the course was unnecessarily difficult. It’s long, flat, exposed and you can see forever! My dad’s friend Kevin caught me and Coleen on this section and passed us. Starting to feel a little down at this section. Not cause Kevin passed, me but because I was expecting to run this section a lot more than I did. Eventually we made it to the pipeline and Coleen had to make a pit-stop. Battling stomach issues I was hoping she’d be alright, I kept going figuring she’d catch me soon enough. My crew had set up a makeshift aid station a little further than the Treeline aid station, solely cause it was easier and closer to my fathers house than Treeline. Once I got there Laurie handed me a bottle of Heed (which was just what the Dr. ordered) also I got some food and my bladder refilled. I took off pretty quick and moved down the road. This section was still very exposed and it was getting hot. Moving as efficiently as I could in the heat I made my way forward.
Coleen and I made it to Box Creek, it was here I decided to put in a pad on my shoe to help protect the metatarsal in my foot. It was a nice relief the pain in my feet was getting worse and this helped make things better. I had to stop a couple times on the trail to adjust it but eventually got it zeroed in on the right spot. Once we got on the Colorado Trail we were both tired, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, but I know now. It was a lack of food. I had not been eating enough. I was out of energy and it was draining me. Coleen and I pushed on strong though (probably a little harder than we should have considering both of us were under nourished at this point). I could see Twin Lakes and knew we were close. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. The water, the mountains, meadows, trees, trails, I was tired and happy all at the same time. Descending down the jeep road from the Colorado trail to Twin lakes was a tad longer than I anticipated but it was smooth going. I made sure to remind Coleen that there was a really steep section that EVERYONE will be watching and that she shouldn’t trip on that section. As soon as I realized what I said I figured I’d doomed myself to fall down that trail! Luckily I made it without a problem.
Feeling pretty strong descending the hill into Twin Lakes I knew here I would have to eat in order to make it over Hope Pass, what I didn’t realize was how low on fuel I already was, and the amount of food I ate didn’t cut it. I also decided it was time to lose any and all chocolate candies. It was way to hot for chocolate. I replaced that with hard candies and sour candy. But try as I might, I couldn’t eat either one.
Hope kicked my ass, short and sweet. It took me about an hour and a half longer than I planed to get to Winfield. I felt horrible going over. I was short of breath the whole way up. Once I made it to Hopeless Aid station I stopped to take some video of the Llamas on top. Ate some soup, drank some Powerade, found Rick suffering at the top. Rick’s been having a worse day than me, I felt bad for him but knew I couldn’t sit around and wait. I was late already and needed to get moving. I made it down Hope Pass feeling good. I think mainly cause I let gravity take me all the way down. Once I made it to the road towards Winfield I walked all the way. This road is where I started to have my breakdown. I was feeling shitty, beat, overwhelmed, (insert as many adjectives as you like here).
I wanted to sit. I had hot spots, I was hungry. I met “Good” Ben Reeves for the first time. My crew sat me down. Ben tended to my feet, Laurie pounded food down my trap. With 15 min to spare I Ben and I made it out of the Winfield aid station. It was at this point I was totally relived to be dragged by Ben. I just relaxed and let Ben take control. He’d ask me questions I’d answer, he’d tell me to eat I’d eat, he’d tell me to drink I’d drink. Faster than I could say recovery, we were passing people then we were on top of the pass. We stopped off at the Hopeless aid station I had a cup of soup, we filled up the bottles pulled out the headlamps and we raced down towards Twin lakes. At the base of the pass we found Coleen, she was looking good, she sent Debbie on ahead to get her crew set up and ready for her arrival. I made my way to the camp, checked in and out (in time) fixed up my hot spots, got my lights set up, and Shane and I headed out of Twin lakes. I was feeling strong, happy and ready to go.
Climbing the steep hill, we made it on to the jeep road. I was making sure not to go too fast. Eventually, Shane and I made it to the top of the jeep road, and back onto the Colorado Trail. We continued to pass people going up this hill. Making steady progress the whole way. My heart sunk when we saw Coleen sitting on the side of the trail. She was tired, luckily Shane had some caffeine pills on him and gave one to her. Shortly after I began to feel tired myself, and was lucky to find Shane has a “5-hour Energy” on him. I drank that and with in minutes I was a chatty kathy. I felt wired, wide awake, and alert. Making it quickly to Box Creek, we refilled, fueled and headed out. Passing more people on our way to the Tree Line aid station. Only 5 or so miles from here to the part of the race I was dreading the most, Sugarloaf in the dark. At Treeline Shane and I both drank a Redbull and we headed out on to the paved road to the Fish hatchery. Passing more people here I think Shane was feeling pumped! The whip was being cracked, viciously cracked. He kept pushing me, he’d run out in front and I just trailed on as long as I could. Eventually we’d have to walk the last bit (up hill) into the fish hatchery, but we made up so much time and ground I didn’t care about that walk.
At the Fish Hatchery for the last time I ate two cups of soup had my feet tended to again, and this time I was gonna run with my dad. I wanted him on this section cause he’s done this course before, and at night when things can go terribly wrong I felt he’d be the best person for the job. Sugarloaf ended up not being nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Lots of false summits, but I settled into the fact that the false summits would end when we were on the road downhill towards the Hagerman Pass road. Once I realized that fact, and stopped thinking every summit would be “it” Sugarloaf became easier. We continued to pass more and more people. They were always in groups. It was always 2-3 people at a time (that’s 4-6 if you count pacers). Getting back to the CO trail it was technical downhill. I wasn’t worried a bit. I knew I still had my legs with me and I was going to be fine as long as I didn’t trip on anything and fall over. Dad and I cruised down the trail, making great time, and pulled in to May Queen with plenty of time to spare. From May Queen to the finish I would be with Laurie. I noticed in the aid station for May Queen I had finally caught up to Mr. Gary Henry! I was so excited. Gary, when you read this, sorry you were my goal from Winfield, with motivation from Ben, I was out to hunt you down! When I finally got out in front of Gary, it was yellow hat all over again (inside joke with Gary, from my first ultra, Pyscho Psummer 08). Laurie and I made great time around the lake, through the boat ramp running the flats and the downs, walking the ups. All very very runnable. I was feeling unstoppable. Passing people who were limping along I couldn’t believe how good I was feeling to still be running. Not a “shuffle” per-se but really running. This run/walk pace continued till the the short jaunt from the paved road to the Boulevard. On that dirt road to the Boulevard the wheels fell of again, and fell of for good. Laurie kept feeding me every 10-15 min but it wasn’t enough. The pain in my legs was unbearable. Every step felt like needles, my hip flexors were flaring up and my glutes were angry. Every step hurt everywhere. Laurie took my pack from me and carried everything for me. All I had to do was walk to the finish line. Just more than 3 miles to go. I knew I was going to make it. Laurie asked if I could run a little bit more I tried, it hurt. I decided to save all my running for the last bit. Coming down 6th street and up to the red carpet. I ran from the top all the way to the ribbon. My feet at this point were numb. I can’t really explain the feeling in my feet, other than it felt like, wood.
As soon as my feet touched the red carpet, the pain went away. I was washed over with joy and accomplishment. I did it. I finished the Leadville 100. I was dragged from the depths, brought back to life and finished stronger than I started!
Pain evaporating on the red carpet I could not have completed this race without the fantastic help of my crew and pacers. Holy shit, you guys are fucking awesome! I don’t know how to say it, or express how greatful I am for each and every one of you who were there to help me.
Ben, the Necromancer, if it wasn’t for you just taking control at Winfield and dragging me back to life we probably wouldn’t have made it back to Winfield.
Shane, you pushed me so hard on this section and we made up SO much time. I really think we ran more than 50% from Twin Lakes to Fish Hatchery. (I could be dreaming it, but I feel like we spent more time running than walking).
Dad, Thanks for the guidance on Sugarloaf, it was a great help to know when there were more hills, flat spots, giving me the motivation to kick ass and the advice on the CO trail, letting me know that it was going to be A LOT longer on the CO trail going down than one would expect.
Laurie, Thank you for putting up with me in my cranky, crabby, sleep deprived, whiney, grumpy, just-wanting-to-be-fraking-done state. I wouldn’t want anyone else to walk me to the finish line!
And the rest of my crew, Mom, Bonnie, Matt, Jenna, Boo, Angel and Roxy thanks for the food, the support the smiling faces, and the understanding that I was…well not really myself for those few minutes you’d see me every couple hours!