Race Report - 2023 Mountain Mist 50K

Crossing the boardwalk/bridge on Old Railroad Bed Trail 

At the heels of my latest 100 mile finish in MO two weeks ago, it was time once again to put on my trail shoes and get ready to earn my twelfth finish at the 29th edition of the Mountain Mist 50K, a race that is quite literally in my backyard and has a special place in my heart. It was my second ultra ever in 2009 and has become my favorite ultra of all time, which means something considering that I've finished 150 ultra marathons and started even more:-)

Making my way through the Stonecuts

My good friend Tobias had flown in from Utah to run his first southeastern ultra and to hang out for the weekend. He couldn't have timed it better as the weather conditions had probably been the best in years. Temps ranged from the low 30s at the start to the mid 50s by the end of the race. The course had some pretty muddy sections, but other than that, the course was in great shape. My buddy Sean and I had been out on the course earlier in the week to clear more than 20 trees off the trail. Thankfully, the thunderstorms that followed didn't create new trail obstructions.

Crossing the Mountain Mist 50K finish line for the 12th time. PC 

Toby and I arrived at the Monte Sano lodge, the staging area for the race, an hour prior to the race start. The lodge was already buzzing with excitement for the day to come. Nearly 500 runners packed the lodge and huddled at the two fireplaces and around tables. The Mountain Mist 50K has been the trail running family reunion of the southeast for many years, at least for me and I know of a few others that feel the same. The race started unceremoniously with the usual musket blast, startling some of us who expected a countdown or something. GPS watch buttons were pressed hurriedly as runners quickly took off to jockey for position as they tackled the 31 miles with 4500 feet of elevation gain. 

Not one of my fastest or slowest times, but well over an hour slower than my PR for this race.

I started the race as I always do, trying to gauge my current fitness level and lining up behind the first few lines of runners in the front of the field accordingly. As per usual, I took off too fast, but I settled into a sustainable pace by mile 5. I ran straight through the first aid station at O'Shaugnessy Point and continued to run with a small group of runners. as we headed towards the Stonecuts. I won't give a play by play of the course as I've done so in my previous race reports about this race, but there were a couple of significant changes to this year's course. This year, runners went straight down the closed Bankhead Parkway from the start line at a the lodge before entering the Mountain Mist trail. This provided about 1.5 miles of wide road for the field of runners to thin out before entering the single track trail. In addition, runners ran a newly added trail extension just before arranging at the third aid station at Oak Park. The final change was a recently completed trail reroute above the infamous Waterline trail section. 

Many miles and beers have been shared with these guys.

My race went pretty well through the first 20 miles, when a rock decided to get in the way of my left foot causing me to take flight and wondering what bone I would break once I landed. Thankfully, I landed on the single hand bottle I was carrying. I exploded on impact sending both its fluids and the top of the bottle flying across the trail. I lay there for a minute gathering my thoughts and thanking my stars for not having broken anything. I was definitely startled and walked for a bit before starting to run again at a severely throttled pace. I'm not sure if it was still mental or physical exhaustion, but about a mile later I could tell that my race had taken a turn for the worse. Runners started to pass me as I was slowly hiking up the Waterline Trail. This continued for much of the next 2 miles all the way through the second to last aid station of the race. a sub 5:30 finish time pace had quickly turned into "I have plenty of time to walk it in" pace. However, after feeling sorry for myself as I hiked down Natural Well Trail a quick look at my watch suggested that I could at least break 6 hours, if, and only if I started to run the flats and descents. I started shuffling, finally stemming the flood of runners that had started to pass me in drives as I walked up Waterline Trail. 

Many 5AM morning runs and trail beers with these guys.

By the time I arrived at the final aid station at the rest shelter, Josh and his crew of volunteers greeted me with a smile and a cold beer. As I checked my watch, I decided to decline the beer. I had just about 20 minutes to break 6 hours and as tempting as an ice-cold beer was, it would have to wait until after the race. Post race bars are the best and this was no exception. I crossed the finish line in 5 hours and 57 minutes, happy to have collected my 12th finish on the way to 20 finishes, which is another huge milestone for many Mountain Misters. 

The second annual Throwdown (at the Mist) was won by the Chattanooga crew. Pictured here are half of the 50 runners from Chattanooga, Nashville, Atlanta, Birmingham and Huntsville. PC Pete Schreiner @schreinertrailphotography

I was also co-hosting the second "Throwndown at the Mist". Huntsville had won the first competition in 2019 before Covid put a pause on any additional events, until this year. This competition within the competition had been cooked up by my buddy Yong Kim from Nashville with the initial event consisting of teams from Nashville, Chattanooga and Huntsville. I was one of the original Huntsville team captains and team members. Our 2019 team was fortunate to feature none other than Dewayne Satterfield an ultra running legend and 25 time Mountain Mist finisher and an all around incredibly kind human who left us much too soon. Dewayne still inspires may of us to give it our all as we toe the line at the Mist and make our way through its gnarly but beautiful course. 

This year also featured teams from Atlanta and Birmingham in addition to the OG teams. Chattanooga came prepared and did not allow for any doubt about the outcome of the day. At the end, they took first, second, third and fourth place overall plus another top ten finisher to take the overall thrown win in dominant fashion. No matter the result, everyone left the event with a big smile on their face. I know I'm already looking forward to next year. Who's with me?!?

Race Report - 2023 The Shippey 100 Mile Endurance Run

I spent some time over the holidays while being sick with COVID once more about my running plans for 2023 and beyond. One of my overarching goals is to run an official 100 mile or longer distance event in every state of the United States. Once I established that goal, I started searching the internet for races in various states I had not raced the 100 mile distance in to date. When I searched various calendars for 100 milers in the month of January, I came across the Shippey 100 Mile Endurance Run just 30 minutes west of St. Louis in Missouri. As it happened, the next day its race director Jake Grossbauer offered his fellow UltrAspire teammates a registration discount for this fairly new event. I took that as a sign to add this race to my 2023 calendar and to register right away.

The Shippey Endurance Runs offer multiple race distances from 20 to 100 miles both as solo and relay events. The course consists of five small 3-5 mile loops that are arranged like pedals on a flower around two centrally located aid stations that pay less than a half mile apart from each other. These five smaller loops formed the large 20 mile loop that we 100 mile runners had to complete a total of five times. We would experience nearly 17,000' of vertical elevation gain in the process. While I am generally not a fan of multi loop courses, I could appreciate the easy access to the two aid stations and the drop bags runners were able to place at each one of them. I was also able to park my camper van near the start/finish aid station, which would allow me quick and easy access to any backup nutrition or gear, if the need arose.

Speaking of easy access to my camper van, the race was hosted at the Beaumont Scout Reservation, which provided ample camping space both for tent and vehicle camping between the start/finish aid station and the Emerson Center, the race headquarters. This allowed me to set up my van for the night just a few steps from the start line after arriving Friday evening. I picked up my race packet and got a few instructions around the race setup before heading back to the van to head up some food for my pre-race meal and laying out my gear for the next morning. By 9PM, I had turned in for the night hoping to get some quality sleep before the long race day that lay ahead.

I had set my alarm for 4:30AM giving me 90 minutes before the race start to make my morning coffee and get ready for the race. It was to be a frigid race start with temperatures in the low teens and never surpassing the low 40s throughout the race. I probably went a little light on the layers with just a pair of shorts, a long sleeve base layer and a Patagonia Houdini windbreaker along with some gloves and hand warmers. A rolled up buff would keep my ears and head warm while still allowing air to escape through the top. I figured I would warm up quickly once we started moving and I was right. Keeping my hands toasty was key and the hand warmers took care of that.

As soon as we started the first climb just two tenths of a mile from the start, I settled into a stretched line of runners along this single track trail section. I had very low expectations regarding my race pace as I had just barely recovered from another Covid infection that had done another number on my lungs. My goal was to cover the 100 miles in under 30 hours and I planned my nutrition accordingly. I had created a number of zip lock bags with my nutrition in each of the two drop bags that were placed at the two aid stations. Each ziplock bag contained 2-4 Spring Energy gels (my favorite natural fuel in a pouch) as well as 2-4 drink mixes and some Nuun electrolyte tabs. This would give me around 250+ calories per hour which I deemed sufficient. Some runners consume as much as 350 calories, but that would be on the very high end for me and create a severe risk for bloating and general discomfort. I would supplement this with aid station foods (bland foods like mashed potatoes preferred) as well as Base Salt (Sodium/Potassium supplement) as needed. I usually consume a lot of that particular supplement (or SCaps!) being a heavy sweater, but the cold temps nearly completely eliminated the need for this.

I decided to run much of the first loop to see my time and then hike all of the hills on the second loop to see the time difference. This strategy worked and gave me something to work towards and keep my mind occupied.

I recorded a sub 4 hour first 20 mile loop and a 4:30 hour second 20 mile loop. Things were off to a great start and I was running way below my expected pace for the day. I was feeling great and running comfortably without pushing. I rolled into mile 50 in 11 hours 18 minutes, essentially on perfect sub 24 hour pace. Then things changed.

When I made it to mile 60, nearly 6 hours had elapsed over the course of the third 20 mile loop and things had become quite challenging. I felt fine physically in regards to my legs, but my energy levels were completely depleted. I was struggling to stay warm now that the sun had gone down and struggled to regulate my body temperature. I would swap out wet layers for dry layers only to change into a heavier coat because I was still cold. Then I would sweat and get cold again. Eventually I opted for a single base layer plus an ultralight puffy jacket to stay warm. As I sweated through the baselayer the down jacket would continued to keep me warm even as it started to pick up some of the sweat. One of the nice properties of down. 

I tried to slow enough and to pile on some calories as low energy (which I had) and the desire to quit (which I didn't have) are usually related to that. I grabbed vegan burgers and some pancakes as I made my way from aid station to aid station, but the energy levels never came back. As a result, my pace continued to slow and I made peace with the fact that I would be out here for a while. Once I accepted that, it made me even slower, which was not ideal. Sometimes, you just have to take what the day gives you.

As I completed one small loop after another and I got closer to 100 miles, I got excited for another 100 mile finisher buckle. I knew I would get this done. Even the relay runners passing me in the blink of an eye did not distract me from that. When I finally rounded the corner to cross under the finish line arch, there was RD Jake waiting for me with the Shippey 100 mile finisher buckle. I had completed the race in 28 hours and 54 minutes, elated to be done. I was able to take a hot shower before crawling back into my van for a nap before returning home.

One final note about this race. It is both beginner and veteran friendly all at once. The course is very runnable with a few short steep climbs. The aid stations and the volunteers were absolutely first class. I received one on one attention every time I rolled into an aid station and the food choices were a plenty. From meat burgers to plant based burgers to mashed potatoes, broth, ramen and pancakes in the morning, runners were well take care of. The finisher buckles are beautiful and the race swag was top notch in both quality and design. Congrats to all that toed the line and to the entire race crew for putting on a top event!