For the last couple of years I have toiled with the idea of attempting to run the North Face Challenge on F.D. Roosevelt State Park on Pine Mountain. It's only 30 miles north of Columbus, so it is a local race for me. The marathon distance is the shortest distance that all finishers receive a medal. But you must finish and with-in the 8 hour time limit.
So a couple of months ago I decide that I will start training for the marathon. It has been 3-1/2 years since I ran a marathon, and I didn't like it then. Running on the Pine Mountain trail will be a test of pure determination and endurance. Can I do it?
I decide to go up to the trail and run a different section every weekend until the race. Start line to Fox Den is 5.3 miles. Fox Den to Mollyhugger is 4.9 miles. Mollyhugger to Rocky Ridge is 7 miles, which is the turn around point. Rocky Ridge to Dowdell's Knob is 2 miles. Dowdell's Knob to Fox Den is 5.3 miles. And Fox Den to the finish line is 1.1 miles.
The first weekend I go up and park at the Liberty Bell pool which is where the starting line will be. I am going to run from here to Fox Den and back. I have never been on this part of the trail, so I ask a fellow runner where to start. He gave some pretty good directions and off I went. I tried my hardest to follow his directions and the map I brought, but I still go off the race trail. I finally made it back to the car in about 2:15. After looking back at the map, I figured that out that I had actually ran around 7 miles instead of the 5.3. No problems though and I had a good first run.
The second time out I met up with Chris Weirich and we ran the longest section, Mollyhugger to Rocky Ridge. According to the North Face Challenge website, this is the hardest section of the race. It is 7 miles long with a lot of climbing. We set out with a good pace and I end up finishing in 1:35 with Chris following me a 9 minutes behind. Another good day and run.
The third time out I am going to run from Fox Den to Mollyhugger and back to Fox Den via the Sawtooth trail. It is going to be about 7.9 miles. About 3 miles into the run
I trip over a root and fall hard on the trail. Luckily I fall and land on some moss, so I'm not too cut up. However I do get whiplash in my neck. I get up and brush myself off and keep going. After a little while goes by, I look down and notice blood on my shorts and the bottom of my shirt. I look at my right hand and noticed the blood coming from my ring finger. It is a small cut on it, so I don't worry about it and keep going.
I reach the Mollyhugger parking lot in exactly 1 hour. I take a quick break, cross the road and find the Sawtooth trail. After running a little while on the trail I start to feel a little funny. And this is not a good thing. I can only assume it is my body reacting to the trauma from my fall earlier. The trail is named Sawtooth for a good reason. you are either going up or going down. With a few steep rocky climbs in it. I decide to walk the rest of it and make it back to the car in 1:45. I was really pleased with this time considering the fall.
So after a week goes by and my whiplash is gone, I finally decide to sign-up for the race. The website says that online registration is closed, but somehow I find another way to get in and register. So it is set and I am officially ready for the race. The excitement and anxiety start to build.
Race weekend finally arrives and I am feeling really good. I go up to Callaway Gardens on Friday and meet up with Mark Wise to pick-up our race packets and listen to some of the pros talk about the race and some of their experiences. It was a good time.
So I get back home and start to gather everything together for the race. Making my Gatorade, Cytomax, and getting my other nutrition together. I also need a drop bag with a change of clothes and a place to put warm clothes in since the temp is going to be in the 50's race morning. After spending many hours getting everything ready, I finally get into bed around 1:00am. Of course I can't hardly fall asleep thinking about the race and what I might have forgotten to pack.
I finally fall asleep and the alarm clock goes off at 6:45am. My race doesn't start until 9:00am, but I want to make sure I get up there in time to de-stress, socialize, and get mentally prepared for the start.
I park at the beach parking lot at Callaway Gardens and take the bus over to the start line festival. I quickly meet up with fellow marathoners Shelly Ragan and Don Bowles. We talk and walk around looking and taking photos for the next hour.
Finally our time to go is here. I take off my warm clothes and turn in my drop bag. Hook-up my IPOD, Garmin, and eat a gel pack. We all walk up to the start line since we are all in the second wave, starting at 9:03. Don states that we should try to stay together for a little while until things sort themselves out. Of course I know this isn't going to happen, but it was a nice gesture.
The gun goes off and we are off to the races. Don takes off just like I thought and I about mid pack. Shelly is somewhere behind me pulling up the rear. After about a mile the pack spreads out and I never see Don again. I stayed with a small group for about another mile, and then I seem to be all by myself.
I get to the 3 mile mark where we have to cross a gravel road and turn left back onto the trail. As soon as I start back onto the trail I feel a sharp stinging sensation on my right pointy finger. I look down and am immediately stung 2 more times by yellow jackets. Once in my left thigh and once in my right hamstring. By the time I see the bees, it is all over but the screaming. I am able to knock off another 2 more bees before they get me too. A couple of guys that were behind me stopped when they saw me screaming and swatting at the bees. I kept on running and I don't know what they ended up doing.
After crossing over Hwy 190 again, I meet up with a guy named Matthew Bailey. We are running about the same pace so I strike up a conversation. He is a pretty big guy and I think to myself that he will eventually hit the wall. To my amazement he doesn't and actually pulls away from me a some point.
I finally reach the Fox Den check point in 1:10 and reported the bee stings issue. It appeared that I wasn't the only person stung when another guy said that he was hit 5 times in the same spot. I was ok and socialized with friends Sheryl Wise and Steve & Kathy Hickman. I talk to them for a couple minutes while I ate some peanut butter& jelly sandwiches, a banana, and a gel pack. They wished me well and I took off again.
I was feeling good until around the 7 mile mark, when I feel my first twinge in my left calf. Ok, here we go again with the cramping. It doesn't cramp, but I have to really start being careful with my running. I slow down a bit and walk the up-hills. When I finally reach the 2nd aid station at the Molly Hugger trail head , I have to stretch out the legs. I am at mile 10.5 now. I get there at the 2:25 mark, about where I thought I would be. I see Will Cliatt there volunteering.
The volunteers there are great! They take my Camelbak and fill it up with NUUN energy drink for me. I ask them for more NUUN tablets and put 2 more in. They contain 360mg of sodium each, so I think I need more than that to help with the cramping. The next aid station is in 7 more miles at mile 17.5. I just hope that I don't run of fluids!
I stretch a little bit more while I eat some peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, a banana, another gel pack and drink some chicken broth. The chicken broth was surprisingly very good! While I was eating, a lady comes walking up with blood on her head and a nasty cut on her hands. She had taken a bad fall on some rocks not too far past where I was. She was pretty banged up. I found out later that they had taken her to a hospital in an ambulance. I think she was going to be ok.
So I head out again on the trail heading to the Rocky Ridge trail head. This is touted as the hardest section of the marathon, according to the North Face Challenge website. It is 7 miles and goes up and around Dowdell's Knob. I also have to run through the open areas that were destroyed by a tornado last year. This means that I will be exposed to the sun for a few miles.
The trail starts out pretty good, but quickly turns into rocks, and then the sun. The tornado damage is very bad, but the volunteers have done a great job getting the trail cleared off in time for the race. There are several ups and down hills. Even have to hop over some downed trees. It is definitely not flat and easy. After a couple of miles I come to Hines Gap rd crossing where I see Matt Ragan again. I run up to him and give him and the other people there high fives. As I am stating to go back onto the trail, I see Shelly Ragan coming onto the road so I try to hurry a little as to stay ahead of her.
The trail is getting pretty tough and I am slowing down. the cramps are staying away for now, but I can still feel that they are waiting to pounce on me. By the time i get into the cover of the woods, It is hard for me to run without cramping. When I get to the turnoff for Dowdell's Knob, I have to stop and stretch out again. When I do this, Shelly catches me and keeps on going after a high five and a good luck wish.
I sit on a log and talk to the volunteer there for a few minutes while I rest and stretch. Several other people pass me and I see others coming back the other direction. I will eventually come back to this location on my way back. I am dreading the steep climb up to Dowdell's Knob ahead of me. It is 1.4 miles and mostly all up hill.
So I head out walking up the hill and trying not to cramp. As long as I walk without pointing my toes down, I think I will be ok. I end up catching up to 4 girls that are about the same pace as me. We follow each other for most of the way to Rocky ridge. After we reach the top, it is a long flat and then a long down hill. We cross a creek and then start heading back up a ridge. The girls finally pull away from me around the 15 mile mark. I am not feeling too good by now and the legs are ever so close to cramping. There is another long rocky climb before I get to the Rocky Ridge aid station.
When I get there I am exhausted and my IT bands are hurting pretty bad. It is now at the 5:00 mark. A paramedic comes up to me and asks if I am ok. I tell him that I wasn't, so he told me to go sit down and he would take care of me. They get some water and some food. he asks me what is bothering me and attempts for help me out by trying to adjust my IT bands. After that he tells me to sit on the ground and try to stretch out my hip abductors, when I suddenly start to cramp again. I have to get up quickly, which isn't a good thing within itself. LOL So I decide to just rest in the chair and eat for awhile.
After sitting there for about 15 minutes, I notice the time and see that it is 2:15. If I am going to make it back to the finish line within 8 hours, I need to leave NOW. So I pack up my stuff and start to head out. The paramedic asks me again if I am ok. He doesn't think that I should continue, but I assure him that I am ok. Not knowing if I really am or not. I am determined to finish this race, even if I am dead last and over the 8 hour mark.
I am now really hurting in the knees and hips. My IT bands feel like they are going to rip apart at any moment. It is harder to go downhill than it is to go up hill. It is only 2 miles to the next aid station, at Dowdell's Knob. It takes me almost an hour to get there. I am walking as fast as I can now. Running isn't even an option. There is a long climb up to the aid station and I am really struggling to get there. When I finally get there, an older couple comes up and asks how much time there is to the finish. I tell them and we head out together. I am at mile 19.5 now and it is 6 hours.
It is 5.3 miles to the next aid station. We have to go back through the open area where the tornado damage is and all of the rocks. I follow this couple for most of the way. The lady is struggling like I am, but has more trouble with the hills than I. The man is kind of yelling at her to hurry up. By the time we get through the open area, they are behind me as he has to wait on her alot.
When I get to the Sawtooth trial turnoff, I am moving very slowly. I see Carolee Luther at the turnoff and sit in a chair there to rest and talk to her a bit. I have a very hard time getting back out of the chair when I start to leave. My legs cramp when I try to stand up. I only have 4.1 miles left to go, and I have 1:45 minutes to get there.
The Sawtooth trail is by far the most brutal trial of them all. I don't think it will ever end. The up hills are so steep that they are made into steps out of the rocks. It is called sawtooth for a reason! It is either up or down hill. Almost no flats. The older couple catches back up to me somewhere in there. The climbing is very hard and I am struggling to breathe. Although my heart rate is only around 155, I am very fatigued and I think I should have eaten more. I am starting to feel the wall coming on. I eat another gel pack.
I finally get to the last aid station at Fox Den. It is at the 25 mile mark and I only have 21 minutes left to finish. The volunteers say that it is mostly downhill from here out, but I know it really isn't. I drink a cup of water and eat another gel pack while I head out. I am so relieved that I am done with the Sawtooth trail. Only 1.1 more miles to go! YAY
The older couple pull away from me when another group of people pass us. I am now all alone with my thoughts. All I want to do now is finish before 8 hours. I told all of my friends that I will finish in 7:59:59. LOL I try to pick up the pace, but my legs won't let me. There is only one last hill before I see the Liberty Bell pool. It is hard to reach the top. Now it is down hill to the creek.
I finally see the pool and the creek. I look down at my watch and see that I have 3 minutes. I cross the creek slowly because it has steep deep edges to go down. I don't need to cramp up now! I cross a small field, then Hwy 354, and another field to the finish line. I try to run again but can't. I didn't want to cross the finish line walking, but had no choice. I finish in 8:01:30.5.
I didn't make the time that I said I would, but I did FINISH and I did get my finisher's medal...
This was by far the most grueling and brutal racing event that I have ever done!!!
