Hitchcock 100

First, thanks to God for everything He allowed me to do, and everything He gave to me over the weekend.  Excellent job on the great weather!  Then there were the awesome friends, lots of laughs, and some special surprises along the way! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My third 100 mile run over the last 6 months started with a 3:00 am wakeup call and a quick trip to the Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek, Iowa.  The run started at 5:00 a.m.  It was a 12.5 mile loop course with 8 loops to finish.  It had rained and snowed earlier in the week, but it was 40+ degrees at the start.  Shorts weather!  Julie and I arrived at the lodge about 4:15.   We spent some time chatting with friends and meeting a few new folks.  It was a great atmosphere with 50 people ready to start.  The first loop was fun!  Talking and laughing with other runners, Shawn, Adam and Curtis for 3-4 miles before we all settled into our runs.  I finished the first loop in just under 2:30, right about where I wanted to be.  The trails were snow packed and muddy with a few areas with standing water.  I was worried about how the day would go.  The trails held up pretty well on the next loop, and I finished the first 25 miles in 5:01.  The fastest 25 miles I had ever run out there.  I met a young kid named Kale, and we ran together for some miles.  It was good to talk to someone on the trail for a while.  Then he decided to tear up the big hill on Westridge, and I lost track of him...

Heading into Temptation Station

The next 25 miles were pretty lonely.  I passed a lot of people, but never spent much time talking to them.  On the fourth loop, I meet up with Jeff, Annie, and Angela.  I decided to join them for a little while.  I was going a little crazy; I had not really talked to anyone in over 6 hours.  We laughed, talked, and they "taught" me a few things.  It was kind of like when a good hallucination goes bad!  After a mile or so, I went on my way, grateful for the interaction.  I finished the first 50 miles in 11:14.  Overall, a pretty good first half hundred with 10,000 feet of climbing!

Don and I at Mile 66

Typically, once you reach 50 miles you have the option to pick up a pacer for the last half of the run.  This was no different, except my pacer had to cancel due to an illness in his family.  Will Tucker had paced me before.  I was disappointed not to have him, but I knew he made the right choice, and I supported him.  I had decided to go these next 25 miles on my own, but I knew it would be a tough challenge.  I had been trying to figure out what I could do to gain a pacer in the previous loop, but to no avail.  I had offered some prayers for a solution beyond my means.  On my turn into the fifth loop, I ran into a friend, Don Thoms, who I had not talked to in a while.  We talked, and he offered to run with me a little bit and this gave us the opportunity to catch up with each other.   Providence....had I been 10 seconds faster, or him 10 seconds slower, we would have never connected.  He helped me navigate muddy downhills and showed me how easy it was to fall on your butt in the mud!  At the next aid station, I was able to get him a headlamp as he extended his 3 mile run to 12.5 miles.  It was just the boost I needed, and he ran me hard.  We started mile 62, and he offered to run another mile to the area where he parked his car.  I did not realize until then how much I must have been pushing him on the run, but going up the last hill to the car I lost him.  I joked that I ran my first pacer into the ground. 

 It was on this loop where I met up with Kale again.  We leap frogged each other for a few miles and at the 66 mile aid station I passed him again.  This was an awesome moment for me as he was the only person who had passed me during the run.   It was a great motivator for the next 9 miles, since I was going to have to run solo again.  Running alone did not last too long as I was joined on the course by the folks starting the 50 mile run.  It was nice to see the trails a bit more travelled.

 I got to mile 75 and picked up my pacer, Adam Rood!  Adam was going to bring me home to the finish.  Adam had stepped up and accepted my pacing offer after my other pacer, Scott Reichardt, was pulled away for his daughters out of town cheer competition.  It's important to note Adam joined me about 10pm and ran all night with me!  He is one of a handful of people who knows me and my running abilities well.  Needless to say, he was up for the task and anxious to get started pacing.  On top of that, Adam stepped out of his own recovery plan to help me out.  Just six weeks earlier, he completed the Gnarly Bandit series...four of the toughest 100 mile runs and a 100K over a six month period.

 It was refreshing to see Adam, Julie and Megan for a couple minutes before we took off on the trails.  We started off talking and catching up while going down Fox Ridge and starting our decent down Shea.  I guess I forgot to tell him this was the spot Don landed on his butt.  I watched him ski down the hill before finally dropping his butt in the mud.  He got lots of style points as he sprung back up like it was nothing!  The seventh loop was a ton of fun.  We laughed, joked, told stories and ran hard.  We met more and more 50 milers and hundred milers again.

 Loop 8 started, and we began the countdown!  We had made note of other markers...less than a

Adam and I heading to the finish!

marathon, 20 miles, 15 miles....  There is nothing cooler than moving into single digits in a hundred.  We slowed down a bit, and I was starting to get a little tired.  Those 10 miles get a little blurred.  I just remember talking a lot, and Adam telling me how well I was still climbing, sometimes climbing as fast as he was.  Our goal became getting to the finish line before sunrise.  I did not want to see two sunrises on this run.  We were doing well and looked to be on track for this.  The Hitchcock 100 had a funny sense of humor...I have never run anything where the last quarter mile or more "The Chute" has about a 250 foot climb before the finish.  I had done this seven other times, but this climb seemed especially cruel. We got up it and were met at the finish by Julie, Megan, all three race directors, and many volunteers before sunrise.  25:28!  I was the 5th person across the finish!

Julie and Megan

Pacing is over!

 As I look back on this run, I can't help but wonder what pushed me to run three 100 mile runs this year.  On my end, there is still a little disbelief.  I guess it breaks down to reflecting back on a number of things unfinished, and a 100 mile dream.  2013 was a difficult year.  A year I almost lost my ability to run among other things.  2014 was a year of recovery, gratitude, acceptance, and questioning what normal was going to be.  2015 was initially about attempting to push myself beyond what my limits were and not accepting any of those limits.  In the end, 2015 was a year of discovery, execution, and accepting no excuses.  I discovered I am tougher than I ever knew I was.  I learned my mind is tougher than my body is.   When you are told you can't do something you have a choice....listen to them, or listen to your heart.  From now on, I chose the heart every time.  Most importantly, my family and friends are truly the greatest support I could ever ask for.  When I bought these ideas to Julie, Scott, and Will, I was always met with encouragement.  I met so many people over the last year that helped me and pushed me.  Some of you are incredible motivators...Steve, Dave, Adam, Angie.  There are so many other people I can't even begin to name them you all.  What is going on for 2016?  I have not figured that out yet.  But based on this year and the dreams that so many of my friends have, it can only be more epic!