Ultra Kraut Running

I literally signed up for this one 48 hours prior to the actual race start. My late signup kinda went with the theme for this race, since fellow locals Eric Fritz and gang didn't publicize this event until just 4 weeks before the race date:-) After having been out of town on business, I needed to cram some serious miles into my weekend, so this event felt like the perfect solution. There was no real risk of me running too hard, since you had to run just over 4 miles each hour before lining up again at the top of the hour for another 4+ miles. It allowed my to come up with a consistent rhythm. However, I didn't bring any race nutrition or salt and that would prove rather fatal late (too early) in the race.

I arrived at Wade Mountain Nature Preserve trailhead early enough to set up my truck right next to the start/finish arch and the course. I raised my tailgate, set up and table and chair and relaxed as other runners arrived and set up their stations. The field for this first time event was expectedly rather small, due to the short notice, but I'm sure it will grow exponentially, due in large part to the worldwide popularity of the backyard ultra format created by Southeastern ultra legend Gary Cantrell aka Lazarus Lake. 

There were fewer than 20 runners lining up in the runner's corral under the start/finish arch in time for RD Eric Fritz to explain the rules of this backyard ultra in short detail. In general terms, the race format was very closely mimicking Big Bog's Backyard Ultra, both as it pertained to the course and the specific rules. I had o intention of competing for the last runner standing title. My goal was to run for 2 hours to get to 50 miles to reach my weekly training mileage goal.

The entire field ran the first 2-3 loops before we lost the first runner to the cutoff. Both the fairly technical course combined with rather warm temperatures made for a challenging day for everyone. As a result, none of us got to experience the overnight "road loop". As is the case at Big Dog's Backyard Ultra, runners at the Devil's Race Track Backyard Ultra start with a short road out & back section before entering the trail for about 4 miles before returning to the start/finish area. This would be the day loop. The night loop would consist of a pure road loop, ensuring that runners would have no reason not to continue through the night as it would be easy footing for them. But as I mentioned before, it was not to be. You could say, I am actually partially to blame for that. Why? Because I ended up dropping out during the 10th loop as the second to last runner, which meant the eventual winner could only complete one more lap before being crowned the last runner standing. At this point, it had been 3 loops since the winner and I had been running on our own as everyone else had dropped.

Mu ultimate demise came fast and sudden and was a result of my aforementioned poor nutritional planning. In particular, the lack of salt intake caused me to have to stop early. As I came in after loop one and sat down to put up my legs as I had the previous 8 loops, my body locked up, all the way from my hips to my feet, quads, hamstrings and calves included. I tried to resolve this issue somewhat covertly as not to draw any attention from my fellow competitor as I didn't want to provide any additional fuel to his fire by asking the aid station volunteers for some table salt. Unfortunately, both the big heap of it and another teaspoon in a bottle mixed with electrolyte did not resolve the problem. While I started loop 10 as planned and made it onto the trail, I quickly turned around once I lost sight of my fellow runner.

I called it a day with just under 40 miles and I was happy to collect my DNF hat from the RD. I did stick around to congratulate the eventual winner, who was fairly new to backyard ultras, so I could congratulate him on his much deserved win. He had his own serious injury issue to deal with and kudos to him for sticking it out for the win. I'm not sure whether I will be toeing the starting line again next year as this format is not my preferred ultra race format, but I'll definitely be back out here again as volunteer or crew as I am sure this event will be here to stay and will sell out from here on out.

Thanks again to my fellow local Huntsville ultra runners for putting on a great event. I particularly love the race t-shirt logo/design. I had been waiting forever for someone to create a trail race that uses the "Devil's Racetrack" trail name. Such a cool trail name, race format and location.

I originally signed up for this race as a long, very long training effort ahead of my Tahoe 200 adventure coming up in June. However, three weeks before the race, I decided to actually taper (which is almost never do for anything). I significantly dialed back the distance while keeping the effort the same, which had been low HR training for the most part anyway. I decided to actually set an ambitious A goal. I even decided to share this goal with some close running friends, because everyone knows it ain't a real A goal unless there is some accountability attached to it, even if it is just the knowledge of having to fess up to your buddies when you don't hit that ambitious goal. 

While I have completed most of my 100 milers without the help of crew or pacers, it is always extremely helpful and way more fun to have support while you are out there struggling to accomplish your goal. This time around, I decided a crew would be essential to have any chance at meeting the challenge I set before myself. Luckily, my wife Anya stepped in once more as crew chief and my good friend Nick Schuster was willing and able to jump in as crew and pacer on very short notice. Huge shoutout to his family, in particular, for letting him miss much of their camping trip just to support me. 

I arrived in Blue Ridge, Georgia, the packet pickup and start location for the 2022 Endurance Hunter 100 Miler, around 3PM with an hour to spare before packet pickup officially opened. That gave me time to explore this little town that I had never visited previously. I grabbed a coffee at a local bakery, browsed a vintage bookstore with my buddy Jeff Morgan, who was running the event and had already arrived as well, and finished up with checking out the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway that operated out of this town and takes passengers along a 4 hour 26 mile roundtrip journey along the Toccoa River. This ride is definitely on my to do list for the future. For now, it there was only enough time for a quick pic before I headed back to packet pickup to pick up my race bib and shirt.

I chatted briefly with a few fellow runners before making the 45 minute drive to my campground at Fort Mountain State Park. I had driven our camper van while my wife had to work late, so she took our 4Runner straight to the campground, which allowed her to use a more capable vehicle while chasing me through the mountains on (sometimes) sketchy, curvy and narrow dirt roads. We both arrived at our campground around the same time and while she was kind enough to prep our obligatory pre race pasta dinner, I finalized prepping my gear for the next day. Temps in the low 30s for most of the day meant possibly carrying more layers for warmth. Aside from the mandatory emergency blanket I carried extra gloves, buff and my trusty Patagonia Houdini windbreaker. I decided not to use drop bags and instead rely exclusively on my crew to meet me at the designated spots along the course. I had extra clothes, shoes, bottles and nutrition zip-locked and labeled for easy crew access to minimize my time in the various checkpoints. By 8PM, I attempted to go to sleep to get as much rest as possible prior to the 7AM race start the next morning. That proved to be challenging, but having anticipated a restless night before the race, I had made sure I got plenty of sleep the week leading up to the race. Whether that actually works or not, it gave me the confidence and peace of mind not to worry about lack of sleep.

I set the alarm for 4:30AM the next morning, but I was up by 4AM, plenty of time for some pour-over coffee before making the 45 minute drive back to the starting line. We would leave the camper van at the campground, so Anya would crew me out of our 4Runner throughout the duration of the race. The race course would actually have us running 20+ miles inside the state park between miles 70-90 during this point to point event that starts in downtown Blue Ridge and finishes just outside Chatsworth taking runners on a 105 mile journey (vs. 94 miles last year) along retired railroad tracks, the Benton MacKaye Trail, the Pinhoti Trail and aforementioned Fort Mountain State Park all while climbing more than 20,000 feet.

While the race field of runners was small, the energy at the start was palpable. We had a great group of 4 runners from Huntsville, Jerry, Paul, Jeff and I, toeing the line for this adventure and while the weather forecast looked ominous for the duration of the race, we were all just thankful that it wouldn't be 80+ degrees. As it turned out, we ended up with many hours of snow flurries and more than 24 hours of temperatures in the low 30s. All that was left to do was to get going and so we did, at 7AM sharp.

After running through the still sleepy downtown Blue Ridge for about half a mile, we quickly dropped onto 2 miles of abandoned railroad tracks. This was a new experience for me for sure and it made for a challenging cadence and razor sharp focus. But with all that focus, I still managed to take a wrong turn off the tracks after just a mile along with the lead group of 3 runners. Now I have the answer to whether it is possible to take a wrong turn off a straight path and proving once again that playing "follow the leader" is a bad idea if you want to make it to the finish line of an ultra. Better approach "Know Thy Race Course!".

Once we finally left the railroad tracks, we started to climb continually until we reached the first of only 9 aid stations for the course at mile 8ish. I was clearly ahead of my race schedule as my wife struggled just slightly to get my bottles filled and exchanged. I grabbed my nutrition for the next section (3 Spring Energy gels) and continued on. We encountered the first of more than 20 creek and river crossings as we left this aid station. Apparently, some runners opted to take off their shoes, which may sound like a great idea...until you realize you have 20 more creeks to cross, so you should probably just accept that your feet will stay wet for the next 24-36 hours. It's part of what makes trail running what it is, be it creeks, rivers, snow, hail, ice or a crap ton of blowdowns that nature throws at you. Speaking of blowdowns, the RD pretty much assured us before the race even started that the course record would not fall today. Apparently, the 10 mile section between aid stations 3 and 4 had literally 100s of blowdowns, making this section extremely slow and cumbersome to cover. He was not exaggerating at all! 

Pretty much from the start, I settled in with two other runners, a 100K runner and a fellow 100 miler, who had run the inaugural version of this race last year. He reiterated the problems many 100 mile ultras often experience in their first year, but we where hopeful that most of these issues raised by runners had been addressed and resolved for this year's edition and for the most aprt that was absolutely true. The aid stations were well stocked for the most part, with the only exception being Mulberry Gap AS, but that was due to trstrictions out on the race organizers last minute by the owners of the MTB resort. The RD already confirmed that this issue would be resolved by moving the AS to the actual Pinhoti trail head at Murky Gap, which would also eliminate an out and back to the Mulberry Gap resort.

The most beautiful section of the race course for me personally as the Benton MacKaye Trail section offering runners lots of amazing single track trails and some spectacular views off to the side as we climbed and descended on this trail, all while being covered in s light dusting of snow. Eventually, we would leave the Benton Mackaye Trail and enter the Pinhoti Trail at its northern terminus. As mentioned earlier, due to the remoteness of some of these trail sections, runners had to be self sufficient for 10-15 miles with quite a few half marathon distance stretches. Cooler temps definitely ensured that runners didn't have to carry too much fluids, but on a hot day I can see this being even more challenging for some runners. The longer stretched did ensure, however, that I didn't waste a lot of time in aid stations and when there was an aid station, I moved through with purpose, largely due to the assistance of my awesome crew. They were ready for me every single time, providing me with the fuel I needed and even allowing em to test some nutrition ahead of Tahoe 200 (ie mashed potatoes with extra salt and white rice with liquid aminos). The latter proved to be difficult to heat up, so still some more research to be done. I may opt for pre-made cold rice balls, instead, using liquid aminos as I consume them.

I pretty much partnered up with Andrew "Andy" Harvey and we ran in 2nd and 3rd place for much of the first half of the race until about mile 55, when I hit a low point and had to let him go. This low point saw me moving extremely slow through the early and later hours of the night until just before sunrise, when aches subsided and my energy returned for the final 20 miles, much to the credit of my pacer Nick, who had jumped in to keep me company AND to keep me on course through the most challenging part of the course at Fort Mountain SP. Some navigational challenges, the late hours of the day and the vertical gain made this the most difficult part of the course for me personally. Once we completed this section and rolled into the second to last aid station around mile 92, Nick said goodbye. After this, I wouldn't see my wife and crew chief Anya until the finish, but I was ready. There was a significant downhill section out of the park on the Pinhoti connector trail towards the final aid station and I was ready to open up a little. Daylight usually provides some additional energy as well.

What I hadn;t expected was the miles we still had to cover. The course ended up rather long, which was quite unexpected, but my wife didn't let me wallow in self pity very long, instead telling me that fourth place wasn't far behind and to get on with it. I heeded her advise::-) In fact, I probably had some of the best running over the final 13 miles, shuffling uphill with the help of my trekking poles and bombing downhill.

Note to future runners: While the course profile shows a 13 mile descent to the finish, there are plenty of uphills in there that are not to be underestimated. When I finally spotted the bottom of the final descent to the finish line, I could hear my wife and the familiar sound of the cowbell she had been using all day...and night:-) While I had missed my A goal, my crew made sure that I did not give up and instead continue to fight for that overall podium spot. I managed to hold on to third overall with a large gap to fourth overall. Apparently, I missed a lot of fun 2 hours ahead as veteran Andrew Harvey and 18 year old newcomer Owen Thornton battled it out for first place, sprinting to the finish with Andy taking the win by a mere 10 seconds! Owen had led most of his first go at the 100 mile distance. Both runners put down impressive performances. Thanks to the RD and the entire race crew for putting on an exciting and adventurous 100 miler on some challenging East coast terrain. With some minor tweaks, this will be an event that is going to grow quickly. If you need an endorsement, I'm already considering to run it again next year, but sssh...don't tell my wife. She's still recovering from crewing me:-)

I can't remember if I suggested Three Days of Syllamo to Jeff or if he mentioned it to me. I had heard of it before, but never signed up. Until this year, when I figured it would be a great opportunity to use it as a heavy load training weekend. This event is a 3 day stage race that has runners run a 50K on Friday, a 50 Miler on Saturday and a 20K on Sunday for a grand total of 94 miles over 3 days. The race takes place near Fifty-Six in Arkansas at Blanchard Springs Recreation Area in the Ozarks. The different race courses utilize the Ozark Highlands Trail, Syllamo Trail and Sylamore Trail, which mostly consisted of beautiful single track trail. The biggest challenge were the number of cambered trail sections that would do a number on my ankles, especially my right one which is already held together by medical tape only.

Jeff and I decided to ride and camp together, so Thursday around noon, I left my house in my camper van and stopped by Jeff's to pick him up for our 7+ hour ride to Fifty-Six, Arkansas. Our drive to Arkansas was rather uneventful, dare i say boring, but we did stop for lunch in Memphis at my favorite vegan restaurant. In case you're wondering, anyone that ever travels with me for a weekend of adventuring out of town usually has to experience a plant-based meal or two as my hometown has a very very limited offering for plant-based folks.

Three Days Of Syllamo offers free camping to all runners, which makes this a really cool weekend of camping and ultra running with the trail running community. While there are many runners attempting to run the entire 94 miles, just as many runners sign up to run just one or two of the events. Whatever you choose, you are definitely going to experience an awesome weekend of camping and trail running in an amazing location. The race location even had a clear river nearby that many runners would use as a post race ice bath throughout the weekend.

Jeff and I arrived at the Blanchard Springs Recreation Area just before dusk to pick up our race packets for the weekend, which included a nice long sleeve shirt, a hat and CBD/THC brownies, yup. Unfortunately, we were too late to grab one of the most desirable camping spots near a big cliff wall, but our spot afforded us a short 30 yard walk to the start and finish line for the weekend as well as the bathroom. 

Jeff and I called it an early night, but thankfully, we didn't have to toe the start line until 9AM the next morning to know out the first of three races, the 50K. The 50K was an out and back with the lollipop loop near the turnaround that had us on a steady climb for the first mile, barely allowing you to get acclimated and instead, working hard from the get go. Jeff and I started the race together and stayed together for the first section, until I decided to push a little...big mistake. The trails in this area were absolutely amazing, but since I decided to run hard early on, I didn't get much footage of the course. That would change later on in the race, as both my pace and mojo deteriorated, both because I got tired and because I remembered that I still had a 50M and a 20K to do over the following two days.

The 50K consisted of 99% single track trail with only a double track section at the beginning and end of the race. While my pace slowed towards the end, I did end up just in the top ten as I crossed the finish line. The finish line has a large permanent pavilion right next to it, where the RD had set up race HQ as well as  a finish line food buffet and a cooler loaded with drinks. After I finished, I quickly nabbed a hot shower before grabbing one of my camping chairs to head back to hang out at the finish line while downing a few Athletic Brewing beers (non-alcoholic) and eating some of the free grub and deserts. Once Jeff finished, we hung out a bit longer before getting our gear ready for the long 50 mile day ahead.

The next morning called for a 4:30AM wakeup call, so I could brew up some fresh coffee before the 6AM race start. I woke up feeling only slightly worn from the day before. In other words, it could've been worse. The 50 miler started the same way as the 50K the previous day, only steeper. It assured that I was definitely not going to run too hard too early. I had decided before the start that I would run at least the first half of the race together with Jeff to make sure I had a more evenly paced day vs. the previous day. 

Jeff and I settled into a more comfortable pace pretty much from the start, making this quite a bit more enjoyable and less punishing on the legs. The race course for the day featured lots of natural highlights, from cliff walls to beautiful overlooks and challenging single track trails. As intended, Jeff and I continued to run together until and through the halfway point, slowly passing a few runners, who had made the same mistake I had made the day before. I was still feeling pretty good as we continued to make our way back on this straight out & back race course. As on the day before, the volunteers were amazing, cheerful and helpful. My favorite memory was a warm cheese and egg sandwich mid morning, which provided some much needed energy. Sadly, they had run out of these sandwiches on my way back. I am not gonna lie, I was a bit sad as the though of another one of those sandwiches had sustained me for the better part of the 10 or so miles leading back to this aid station. Oh well, I just have to make it back to the finish, so I could enjoy some of the delicious finish line food.

Jeff and I got separated with about a third of the race left and I continued on my own, slightly increasing my pace in hopes of running a negative split. As I made my way to the finish, I reeled in a few runners here and there, which always gives me an added boost of energy. I maintained a reasonable pace for the remainder of the race with no reason to slow down as the next day "only" featured a 20K race. Having saved my legs during the first half of this race, low energy thankfully wasn't an issue. 

When I finally crossed the finish line, I managed to finish just inside the top 20 overall for the day. Another hot shower and some beans and rice later, I was back hanging out at the finish line watching and cheering the remaining runners across the line. Jeff finished not much later and with a 9AM start time for the 20K the next morning, there was no reason to rush back into the camper van. Instead, we relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful sunny day that had turned much more pleasant after the rather chilly early morning start.

As expected, the final race day would be the easiest featuring a 20K loop that felt like a road race. It seemed like everyone was ready to get this final race done. I decided to push early and hang on for dear life. I managed to do that for the most part with only 3 stage race runners finishing ahead of me, the guys that ended up top three for the 94 mile stage race. Elated to hear the crowd at the finish line, I sprinted one last time to complete one of the most unique race weekends ever. Another hot shower and a small snack later, Jeff and I were loaded up and ready to make the 7 hour trek back home, but not until collecting our finisher rocks and finding out that I managed a top ten finish for the stage race.

If you enjoy camping, running trails and ultras and hanging out with a bunch of likeminded people for an entire weekend, then you need to out the Three Days Of Syllamo on your bucket list. Better yet, don't delay and sign up for next year. You won't regret it. I may just be there again myself:-)

 Well, this one was a doozie. First challenge was just making it to the start line. Severe winter weather was forecast with up to two inches of snow and icy roads. So my better half and I made the spontaneous decision to head to Desoto State Park in Fort Payne, Alabama, the location of the Lost Falls 50K, the night prior to the race to avoid getting caught in treacherous road conditions on race morning at 5AM. This plan worked out perfectly and even allowed us to sleep in, a little.

We made the short 5 min drive from our campground to the race start an hour ahead of the 8AM start time, but apparently everyone else got there even earlier, so we ended up with a short hike to the actual start line. Normally, that wouldn't really matter at all, but when it's 20 degrees with a felt 9 degrees due to the windchill, then it does matter. This cold snap also had me changing my usual running kit to something much warmer.

The field of 50 or so runners took their time getting ready to line up at the start, trying to stay warm as long as possible, well at least I was:-) This was the second running of the event and I also my second time running it. Last year, it ended up being an extremely hot day and the course was a bit long as well. This year, organizers promised a course closer to 50K and the temps, while extremely cold, would eventually feel pretty good for a day of running. The course is fairly non-technical with very little elevation across single track and forest service roads.

I figured I may have a decent day as long as I settled into a pace that I could sustain all day. It just so happened that that pace put me in second place for the first third of the race, until, well, until the craziness started. Fairly early on, I was missing some reassurance markers after trail intersections, but I followed my instinct to stay straight whenever there weren't any markers in sight in any direction. I recognized some of the course from the previous year, but specific turns in the course were generally difficult to remember after just one running. 

Clearly, my memory combined with a series of unfortunate events (ie. volunteer not knowing the exact turn, fellow runners not familiar with the course, hidden course flagging identifying a 180 degree turn) led to the biggest error of the day, a 3 mile off course excursion that kind of turned my race and that of the 4 runners behind me upside down. We had been in a chase pack of 5 and had completely lost sight of the front runner a couple of miles earlier. Once the volunteer got to us and had us back track to get back on the course, we had a giant deficit over the remaining field of runners. 

All hopes of making the podium had been dashed, but I was ok with it (after a bit of frustration). At the end of the day, i needed 31 miles to meet my weekly training goal and any extra miles would be miles I wouldn't have to run on Sunday. In fact, I turned to trying to chase down as many runners as possible, Ragnar relay race style:-) The only difference, I really had no idea whether a runner was running the 50K or the half marathon. By the time the half marathon course deviated from the 50K course, the field had spread out significantly and I was no longer seeing fellow runners at regular intervals. However, I did continue to pass a runner here or there, which felt reassuring in regards to being on course. I remembered the back half of the course fairly well, so when we once again ended up at a confusing intersection, I knew which way to go. Flags were pointing in all directions in this instance, so I relied on my memory from the previous year, remembering that this was the out and back section of the course.

At this point, it was only me and one other runner and we chose to follow the flagging on our right at the intersection. Unfortunately, just a quarter mile down the service road, I became uneasy. There were absolutely no flags on this section, so I made the decision to turn around to head into the other direction at the intersection. Once we got there, the race director had arrived to give us an update and to reassuringly point us in the right direction. With approx. 7 miles to go, we didn't get lost from here on out. However, I was sure other runners had passed us once again while we were on that final additional detour. At this point, it was a crapshoot to know where we were in the field.

I decided to at least finish strong. I knew I'd get the full 31 miles, while most other runners only ended up with 27 or fewer miles. Why? Well that's the really crazy part. Apparently, and for some still unknown reason, a couple of rangers decided to remove an entire aid station along with almost all of the flagging on that out and back section. As a result, nearly all runners skipped that entire section causing them to end up seriously short in mileage. I still hope to get the full story to this inexplicable situation at some point. With all that said, I was quite surprised when my wife informed me (confirmed by official results:-) that I actually finished third overall, even with those extra miles.

All in all, it was another great day on the trails. I did want to take a moment and mention that I hold no ill will whatsoever towards the awesome race crew. They had to deal with a whole lot of unforeseen circumstances and to their credit, they made things right by contacting everyone that afternoon and offering all 50K runners a free entry to a future race of their choosing. Well done, guys.