Everything was going well leading into this monstrosity of a race. Training, nutrition, recovery, you name it. My best friend and race buddy T.J. Had everything mapped out. Race splits, paces, cut off times, and a brand new top of the line Suunto GPS watch. I felt so comfortable knowing he was the "brains of the operation." He is a great runner, friend, and we've been through some ugly shit together so I felt eerily comfortable.
We were surrounded by our loving and supportive families and were ready to rock this race. Had some time to chat with people from many different states and countries. They were very frightened by the elevation. Keeping poker faces we knew that the elevation would not be our Achilles heal. We were trained for this terrain and this elevation.
2:30am race day; alarm blasts off and it seems like I had just closed my eyes to sleep. It was a very light foggy sleep as I had so many thoughts rushing through my mind about the race. I get geared up, eat some food, take some supplements and meet everyone in the lobby to head out. Pre race nerves are there as this race will be the biggest test of mileage, terrain, and prestige. We make our way to the start at around 3:35am. Most every racer is there now chatting about what we signed up for. Families are in the stands looking like happy zombies ready to cheer their runner on.
4am hits and we take off sticking to the game plan. No faster than 10 min mile pace which feels awkwardly slow, but knowing so much mileage and terrain is ahead I'm content with the slow "victory" jog as I call it. It's dark and my headlamp lights the way showing me who I'm running with. We are a herd of Ultra runners moving as one through the cool morning air. I see 70 year olds, 18 year olds and everyone in between. We come up to some tight technical single track and T.J. and I got separated. It was very difficult to pass runners at this stage so I kept calm and waited for about 40 minutes until I finally found him. At this point I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. I saw T.J. Limping down a fairly steep incline and I ran quickly to to catch up to see what happened. He sounded very disappointed. At this point approx 7 miles into the race I feel panicked which I normally don't. He says " I don't think I can go on." My heart breaks and my eyes tear up immediately. We trained so hard and sacrificed a lot to be at this race together. T.J. is my warrior race buddy! I feel sick at this point knowing he won't be able to finish the race. His foot in major pain, we slowly make it to the 13 mile checkpoint and aid station. We walk up to our families-pit crew with heads down and sadness fills the air. More tears flow as T.J. Cannot go on. At this point so early on and the wind taken out of our sails I think about continuing or not. I know T.J. Wanted me to continue so I got my gear right and water refilled and took off in a state of confusion and sadness.
I run for about 20 minutes like a zombie trying to take in just exactly what happened. At no point prior to this race did I ever see myself running alone. As reality set in and the sun got brighter I got my BeastMode back ON and ran hard. The course lived up to the hype and some. Steep, steep, steep, and rocky.
2nd checkpoint felt good at 24 miles. Went from being 40 minutes behind schedule at checkpoint 1 to being about 20 minutes ahead at checkpoint 2. Saw the fam, grabbed some fuel and water and took off!
Mile 24-39 was tough. Ran on a long flat asphalt road for about 5 miles. It was hot and...well I hate asphalt. Finally made it to some trails and was keeping on target for pace etc. nutrition was probably the best part of this race for me. 350 calories per hour mixed in a shaker bottle and slammed down like a Viking. Never bonked, never felt sick or any of the bad things I witnessed around me. I saw lots of pukers, other "sick" folks along the trail. I was drinking 3 liters of water every 10 miles...I felt great!!! As I made it closer to Twin Lakes it got fairly steep and my pace was slowing. Running down into Twin Lakes the steep down hill was treacherous. 5 miles of steep down hill after mile 30 is tough, but I made my way down into the 39 mile checkpoint with only 9 minutes to spare for the cut off.
Changed shoes, grabbed more fuel and water and took off!!! I new at this point I needed to maintain a 24-min mile pace to make the cut off at mile 47. This was no regular cut off. This cut off was on top of a mountain above "timber line" which is above 12,000ft above sea level. I have tired legs and a steep run ahead!!! Going from approx 9,000ft to 12,000ft in a few miles is no easy task. My pace was perfect and ahead of schedule for a few miles in, then the trail head for Hope Pass hit. This hike is fairly easy on fresh legs, but after 40+ miles it gets a little wild! Needless to say I couldn't maintain the 24min mile pace up the mountain. With less than 1 mile to go the cutoff time hit like a stake to the heart. I was with 3 runners, all of them had in years past completed the Leadville 100. We all had to turn around in defeat and head back down the mountain to the Twin Lakes checkpoint. These runners were devastated like me. We chatted about coming back in 2014 and congratulated each other for making it to where we did.
The worst part of this race is (A.) Not being able to run with my main man T.J. and (B.) Being forced to stop when I wasn't ready to stop. Time cut offs are nasty, and I've never had to deal with them before. I know I could have made it further and I wanted to see what mile my limit was....lots of questions unanswered, but Persevere I will!!!! T.J. Is the perfect friend and athlete; he always has a positive outlook and is always up for any challenge. We will be ready to slay Worlds Toughest Mudder in November. We are HUNGRY for redemption. We Will Survive the cold, the dark, the night!!!
We are young when it comes to the world of Ultra running. We will learn, grow, and be victorious. We will be back in Leadville next year :)
Thanks for being such a great friend T.J. You are such a killer athlete and I'm very fortunate to be able to have a race partner like you!!' Heal quickly and we will conquer New Jersey brother!!!!
Huge thanks to our families!!!!!!! You guys rock and pit crews have some tough jobs. Thanks for always being there with smiles on your faces :) love ya
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