Race Report - 2019 Strolling Jim 41.2 Mile

The rolling hills of Tennessee dominate the landscape of this historic ultra marathon.

This race is pretty close to my heart. I ran the Strolling Jim for the first time in my very first year of ultrarunning. The race date actually fell on my 39th birthday, so it was a perfect birthday run. I would run an extra 2.2 miles rather than 1 mile per year, but it's ultrarunning, so distances and measurements are secondary anyway:-)

Running step for step with Dink Taylor, 30+ time finisher of the Strolling Jim. Whom better to tag along with.

I earned a "pink" shirt that first year. Well, actually, pink just happened to be the color for the race shirts that every runner received in their race packet. The Strolling Jim is known for awarding finisher shirts to runners according to their finishing times. Runners taking longer than 7 hours have to settle for the shirts they received in their race packets, sub 7 hour finishers receive a red shirt, sub 6 hour runners receive a blue finisher shirt and sub 5 hour runners receive the coveted gold colored finisher shirt. After my first Jim, I ran the race a couple more times earning a red shirt each time by completing the 41.2 mile distance in under 7 hours. This year, my goal was to complete the race in under 6 hours to finally earn a blue shirt. My last attempt didn't go very well, so I wasn't filled with confidence when I set my goal.

In fact, I was originally scheduled to run a race in North Georgia this weekend, but with a summer busy with work and fun travel ahead, I figured I would be better served by staying closer to home. However, since I needed a long run on Saturday, what better way to do so than to run the Strolling Jim, a 41 year old race run by just about any ultrarunner in the southeast at least once, usually multiple times in their running lives. The Strolling Jim is a rite of passage. While ultrarunners are generally better known for enjoying long distance races on mountainous trails and while the Strolling Jim is a pure road race, its elevation profile alone provides all the challenge a runner desires with its rolling hills that deliver both pain and beautiful views of the countryside.

A typical section of the course, winding country roads through the hills of Tennessee.

Rick was kind enough to let me catch a ride with him up to Wartrace, Tennessee. We wanted to get there an hour ahead of the race start and me choosing to ride with him allowed my all important crew (my awesome wife Anya) to leave home an hour later and sleep a little extra before she'd be chasing me all over the 41.2 mile course for hopefully no more than 6 hours. We arrived as scheduled and picked up our race bibs before returning to Rick's car to get ready for the race.

I really didn't know what to expect from the race, even though my race times from other recent ultras as well as my current training load would suggest that I should be able to break 6 hours. After all, I had come off my 50K PR a couple of months prior to Strolling Jim in 2015, yet I could not manage to come even close to breaking 6 hours. Why would today be any different? Confidence was low. Self talk didn't really stick, either. Rather than dwell on that, I spent my spare time in the days leading up to the race playing with different paces and goal times. I settled for 3 goals, a lofty "A" goal (5:30), a "B" goal (5:45) and a "C" goal (5:59:59).

Failure was not an option. If nothing else, this race would provide ample opportunity to work on my mental game, if I started to falter. The Strolling Jim starting line is always like a family reunion of sorts, a reunion of southeastern ultrarunners. Since all race distances from the 10K to the 41.2 mile would start at the same time at 7AM sharp, I decided to line up in the third row or so as not to get sucked in with the faster runners. I lined up near Dink and DeWayne, which is always a great place to be, both for the stories you'll hear and for the perfect pacing skills both of these guys exhibit. After all, they've managed over 30 finishes at SJ between the two of them, so that shouldn't be surprising. And forger about counting the sub 5 hour gold shirts they accumulated between them...ridiculous!

Lush green Tennessee countryside, enhanced by a consistent Spring rain that lasted for the first 3 hours of the race.

Just under 500 runners took off at 7AM sharp. There were at least 50 runners ahead of us, but it was impossible to tell who was running 10k, 13.1M, 26.2M or 41.2M without seeing their bibs. Either way, it did not matter, my plan was to try to run with Dink for at least the first half of the race. He's consistently run under 6 hours the last couple of years, so if I could keep a steady pace on not blow myself up by the halfway point, then there might be a chance that I stay with Dink and finally get a blue shirt.

Mission accomplished, sub 6 hour blue shirt earned with room to spare.

Right after the start it started to drizzle before turning to a continuous 3 hour rain. The overcast skies coupled with the rain kept us cool, but once the rain stopped, humidity crept up quickly. Thankfully, the sun never broke through, which saved many a runner, including myself. Dink and I ran together for the entire first half of the race, keeping a steady pace that allowed us to chat and stay relaxed. My the halfway point and after the first bigger hills on the course, Dink mentioned that his legs just didn't feel right this day. I had no issues at this point, so when he fell slightly behind around the halfway mark during one of the major climbs, I pulled ahed ever so slightly. I figured he'd catch me on the downhill like he had on every hill prior, but that didn't happen this time. Suddenly, I was running alone. Just like that 500 runners had spread out with only a couple of runners visible on the road ahead and one a couple of steps to be heard behind me.

Post-race pic with my booty, finisher medal, Overall Master winner trophy and RRCA Regional Ultra Champion Masters medal.

My wife Anya had been crewing me about every three miles since the 5 mile mark. I'd swap my hand bottle for a fresh one with a gel or two. I carried SCaps in my shorts along with an ipod touch that I was hoping to utilize for the final 10K push. I continued to feel pretty good and I kept a consistent pace. By the time we hit the infamous "walls" at mile 29, both the temps and humidity level had noticeably risen and I was starting to look for my wife. I had managed to pass a couple of runners leading up to and just after the walls, but I was starting to struggle. I asked my wife to meet me every two rather than every three miles. I needed both the mental boost and a fresh bottle along with a few swigs of cold coconut water to refuel and to keep me going.

The walls are a 2 mile section of very short but steep hills. The are known to break runners in large numbers. This year I barely escaped, but I slowed significantly and I still had 10 miles to go. With 5 miles to go, I asked my wife to meet me every mile until the last 2.2 mile highway shoulder section to the finish.

My wife kept giving me updates on runners ahead to give me the proverbial carrot to chase. I remember her telling me that the runner in 4th pace was just ahead. While I believed that the runner was close, I was sure she got the number of runners ahead wrong. I was certain there were at least 20 runners ahead, but I didn't bring it up or try to confirm with her. I just kept plodding ahead. With 5 K to go, I walked for the first time as I grabbed an extra long sip of coconut water. A quick look over my shoulder and I realized that a runner I had passed in the walls had caught back up to me. Ugh, I really didn't want to get passed with a 5 K to go, so I grabbed my bottle, popped in my earbuds and cranked up AC/DC. Heck yeah, let's do this!... fast forward 2 minutes, I have been unable to control the volume of my ipod touch that wasn't dealing with the rain and humidity all to well. Well, shit!

As I saw my wife in the distance at the 2.2 mile mark and final aid station, I pulled out my earbuds and gave her my bottle as I planned to just go "naked" for the final stretch without bottle or anything else. Not wanting to turn around again to see where my closest competitor was, I asked my wife: "How far back is he?" - "One foot" she responded "one foot". He was literally right behind me. Hahaha, that cracked me up. Here I was trying to be all stealthy and he was right there.

I decided to drop the proverbial hammer right there and then. If this guy was going to beat me, he would have to earn it the hard way. I crossed the highway and took off. I saw another runner ahead in the distance and decided to try to reel him in as something to focus on. Thankfully, he was walking. Yes, I thought, I may actually catch this guy. Then he looked over his shoulder. I know he was thinking the same thing as me "Aw shit"! He took off running and I just tried not to slow. The gap between us never got any smaller. When I finally crossed the finish line with my wife cheering, the clock showed 5 hours 44 minutes. I had finally done it. I had earned a blue shirt.

Pre-race pic with Rick, who let me hitch a ride so my better half could be better rested for the day's crewing duties.

I actually won 5th men overall (my wife was right, as always:-) and I got both the Overall Masters win and the Overall Master RRCA Regional Ultra Championship. To be honest, both of these titles would have gone to Greg Armstrong, who had actually run a double Strolling Jim, starting the first one at 1AM and finishing it 10 minutes before the official race start before running it again with all of us, once again getting a sub 6 hour finish. 82.4 miles with nearly 7000' of vert in less than 12 hours, are you kidding me!!! What a beast!

Not a war, nor a battle, nor a fight, but a skirmish. Friendly contest is probably a better word for what went down today, by skirmish will work, too.

Thanks to Steve and Terri Durbin, the amazing crew of volunteers and, of course, the creator of this event Lazarus Lake aka Gary Cantrell. I cannot wait to come back to see what Zack can do next year. I cannot lie, I would like to see more of the newer breed of speedy elites give this race a go. I have to believe that the prize purse for the course record will lure a couple of them to Wartrace within the next couple of years.

An entertainingly accurate elevation profile.

Race Report - 2015 Strolling Jim 40 Mile

Most of the Huntsville running crew at the start of the SJ40.

I was looking forward to yet another birthday run at the Strolling Jim 40 Miler (well, it's really 41.2 miles, but there's no point in being too specific once you go beyond the 50K distance:-). I hadn't been feeling exceptionally fast these last few weeks, so I knew this could be a long tough day out there in the rolling hills of Tennessee.

Race Report - 2014 Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run

Super cool medal, participant shirt and finisher's shirt!

I was looking forward to my "birthday run" this year. After all, it has been 2 years since I was able to toe the line at this event. As usual, the field of runners at this year's Strolling Jim 40 Mile Road Race was as impressive as ever. It also seemed that lots of local runners were using this race as their final tuneup for a new 100 mile race taking place just two weeks later. That meant a field full of runners ready to race. While I still consider myself on my road to full recovery, my training had been going well, but I just didn't have a lot of long distance events under my belt just yet. This race would be my longest event in 2 years, which meant that I would likely have to suffer late in the race, IF I miscalculated my level of fitness and target pace.

Race Report - 2010 Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run

First of all, Happy Birthday to me. All kidding aside, what was I thinking running my first 40 mile road ultra marathon on my thirty-ninth birthday? Well, I just thought it'd be cool.

Pre-Race Dinner

Richard and I took the short drive from Huntsville, AL up to Wartrace, TN and made it there in a little over an hour just in time for the pre-race pasta dinner and to pick up our race packet. RD Mike Melton welcomed us at the packet pickup tent. He had been sending multiple event updates via email to keep us informed of the latest developments. This was just one of the examples of how well run this event is. Receiving the race t-shirts from Mike was accompanied by the words "real men wear pink." The picture above explains why. After the pre-race dinner and a quick chat with some fellow runners and a visit to Strolling Jim's grave site (see picture below) behind the Walking Horse hotel which was the site for the pre-race dinner, Richard and I headed back to Huntsville to get a good night's sleep. At least that was the plan. As usual, I did get the pre-race jitters that have plagued me before every major race. But that's all part of the fun.

Race Morning

I woke up at 4:15 AM to get ready. Did I say woke up? I meant I was ripped out of my dreams by my BlackBerry alarm clock that seems to get more annoying with every morning. After my pre-race cup of coffee, I left the house to pick up Richard and we left his house for Wartrace shortly after 5AM. Even with my Garmin, I managed to miss two turns. Anyway, we finally got there 30 minutes before the start of the race, plenty of time to double-check our gear and our three drop bags. These drop bags would be placed at miles 13, 21, 29 and 35. I placed a pair of broken in running shoes as well as a dry shirt along with a couple of sandwiches in the first drop bag that would be placed at mile 13 and later moved to mile marker 35. In addition to the sandwiches, I also placed some gels, bananas and Pepsi's in the other drop bags. These would provide nice picker-uppers in the latter stages of the race.

The picture above shows the supplies that would later be placed along the course every 2 miles or so. While I calculated that I would need about one bottle of water every hour on the course, the high humidity of the day made me rethink and change that strategy to a 30 minute refill schedule three hours into the race. Thank god for these water gallon jugs...or as my running buddy Richard put it: "Tap water. The official drink of the Strolling Jim".

Race start

Just before the race started, I had a last chance to chat with some of the more experienced runners before embarking on a new running adventure.

The picture above (courtesy of Robert Lewellen's Facebook page) shows Dink Taylor assuring Richard and I that the hills really are not that bad at all. Yeah, right! More about that later. Some runners almost did not make it to the starting line. They missed RD Mike's warning of a train passing through shortly, preventing runners from crossing the railroad tracks in time to get to the start line. Luckily, the train passed through just in time for the 7 AM start and all runners toed the starting line to hear the famous conch shell signaling the start of the race.

Miles 0-10

As we approached the first turn just yards after the start, the road out of town started with an incline. Surprise, surprise. It was definitely a sign of things to come as the course consisted of rolling hills, all the way. RD Mike was kind enough to place some "inspirational" messages on the actual road course. Thankfully, he used spray paint. Otherwise, the back packers would not have had the benefits of these motivational messages as the rain would have washed them away. I later realized that that might not have been a bad thing as I learned a lesson from experienced ultra runner Bill Keane, who I was lucky enough to run with the later part of the race, to "never believe anything an ultra runner tells you". This lesson clearly referred to some (not all) of the messages that were so lovingly painted on the road. The first such inspirational message I recall appeared in front of me as I was climbing the first hill. It read as follows: "THIS...IS...NOT...A...HILL". Clearly, RD Mike Melton had all of our well being at heart making sure we did not fall for the illusion that this first "hill" we came across clearly was not to be mistaken for an actual hill. He reassured us again on the next "hill" that "THIS...IS...NOT...A...HILL...EITHER". Well, I am a foreigner in this country and while I learned most of my vocabulary in school in Germany, I am always eager to learn and improve my language skills, and Mike certainly did his part in my education. He did teach me the definition of an actual hill as we climbed the next incline of the road. His message read "BUT...THIS...IS!". OK, great, now I do know what an actual hill is. But what do you call the things I came across before we reached this hill? Anyway, on we went and the weather could not have been better. At least considering the fact that we were supposed to be battling the elements in form of strong thunderstorms, lightning, strong winds and torrential downpours for the entire day. Instead, we experienced only about 30 minutes of rain on an overcast day. Quite frankly, I could have done with some rain towards the end of the race. The humidity was quite high.

Miles 11-17

It was during this section of the race, that Richard and I re-evaluated our goals for the day. Apparently, Richard didn't feel as strongly about targeting a sub 7 hour finish as I did. Come to find out, his "nodding in agreement" as I was laying out my race strategy during some of our recent training runs preceeding this race was merely his subtle effort to keep me from talking. Note to self, get verbal confirmation on race strategy in the future;-) In any case, Richard and I were well on target for a sub 7 finish (or so I thought) as we approached the half marathon mark and aid station, allowing us to access our drop bags for the first time. I now had to decide to either change shoes or continue on with the new, larger sized shoes I had opted for at the beginning of the race in order to correct issues I have had in the past with multiple blisters. The larger shoes worked fine. I also had no issues with the Injinji socks I wore for this distance for the first time. As a result, I only chose only to pick up one of my premade prosciutto sandwiches and walked out of the aid station, enjoying that sandwich. We had reached this aid station in less than 2 hours and felt confident that we might have a shot at that sub 7 finish, if we could maintain something about a minute slower than our current pace. While I had no problems digesting my sandwich and washing it down with some Nuun electrolyte water, Richard was not so lucky. He had decided to use our Pepsi treats early and that little bottle of soda paired with his PB&J sandwich seemed to be too much for his stomach at this point in the race. Our pace slowed to a walk in an effort to get his stomach to settle. At mile 17, Richard sent me on my way to try to break 7 hours. I was feeling bad leaving him behind, but he has much more experience running ultras than I do and I figured he'd catch me later in the race anyway as I was crashing and burning. Thankfully, that never completely happened, only partially. The picture below was taken by Richard after we parted ways and shows just how beautiful this race really is. You just have to take the time to pick up your head.

Mile 18-25

I mostly ran this section by myself. I also seem to recall Margaret Curcio blowing by me with no effort whatsoever around mile 19. It happened so quickly. It was kind of a "now you see her, now you don't" moment. And after running the Umstead 100 Miler just a few weeks ago she just missed the sub 7 hour mark. That's just incredible. It was also during this stretch right after the second major climb around mile 20 and before the marathon mark that I briefly had the opportunity to meet and thank Christian Griffith for his race reports he puts out at his ultra running blog at Run 100 Miles as he was passing me at the second drop bag location at mile 21. I came across his blog while googleing for interesting ultras to run and I have been following his blog and race reports ever since. After mile 22, a long and steady incline marked the third major hill of the race. I was still feeling pretty good and maintained a decent pace, but I lost a little time approaching the "peak" near mile 25. However, it was a steady decline from here for the next 4 miles and I was able to keep it steady.

Mile 26-29

I reached the marathon distance mark after 4 hours and 25 minutes, still on target to finish the 40 miles in less than 7 hours. For some reason, I continued to use 40 miles as the total distance rather than the official 41.2 distance. Either way, I continued on my merry way to reach the finish. I figured only a half marathon to go, that shouldn't be too bad. As a continued to run, I started to think about the infamous "Walls". Not sure what to expect, I hoped for the best and prepared for the worst. Just as I came around another turn around mile 29 or so, I spotted another RD message to the runners: "The Walls". The picture below shows the house located right at the turn that takes you to the Walls (courtesy of Richard Trice, my running partner in crime).

So there they were, didn't look to bad. Actually, I thought that this couldn't be that bad if the Walls continued as they started, which was a rather small incline in the road. Boy, was I wrong! Luckily, at was at this point in the race that I met another great ultra runner, Bill Keane. While jockeying back and forth with Bill and another ultra runner for about half a mile into the Walls, I decided to try to stay with Bill for as long as I could. My body was starting to feel the wear of the road and I really needed something or someone to push me at this stage. Thankfully, Bill felt the same way as I appreciated the fact that we were able to push each other ever so slightly for the remainder of the race. Quite frankly, it was obviously Bill pushing me but I appreciate him suggesting that my presence was helping him, too. While I am not very good at remembering exact quotes, Bill certainly taught me a lot about this race in particular as well as ultra running in general over the next 12.2 miles. It is not often that a beginning ultra runner like myself gets the opportunity to pick an experienced ultra runner's brain during the actual race rather than before or after, and Bill was certainly willing and able to provide tons of interesting information about each section of this race, ultra running in general and ultra runners themselves (and their trustworthiness...or lack thereof, which I will explain later with another inspirational message I read on the road after exiting the Walls). It was absolutely great to listen to Bill's stories about some of the runners participating in this event and about their storied ultra running lives. Just four or five of the runners Bill mentioned (him included) combined for over 1000 ultra marathon finishes between each other. That is just a mind boggling thought to me.

Mile 30-35

We passed the 50K mark still feeling pretty good. Only later did I realize that I got an unofficial 50K PR as I crossed the 50K marker after 5 hours 26 minutes. As we were reaching the end of the Walls, Bill continued to provide excellent feedback about what to expect from each upcoming section. This is also were I learned that not every "inspirational" message left on the road should be taken too seriously. Such as the message "NO...MORE...HILLS". "Really?" I uttered excitedly and naive as I am to which Bill responded "No, don't ever believe anything an ultra runner tells you!" Not 10 seconds after I read that hopeful message did we approach the next non-hill. Oh, the joy of ultra running. As I reached the final drop bag location I chose to only grab a gel and some more water. I was no longer interested in sandwiches and I was still taking in gels every so often to stay properly fed and cramp-free. In all honesty, the main reason for my quick departure was the fact that I really wanted to stay with Bill and keep the running rhythm going. While we did walk the hills and run the downhills in the Walls, we maintained a pretty good pace. I knew if I could stay with Bill I would be able to have a solid finish.

Mile 36-41.2

However, the Walls had taken a toll on me and I started to realize that without a 10K or 5K PR at the end, I would not be able to reach that coveted sub 7 hour red shirt. Especially considering that the 5K mark seemed to be more than a 5K from the finish. Maybe it was just the inaccuracy of my Garmin but the last 5K felt much longer to me. Since I knew that a 5K PR wasn't going to happen, I fell back on my secondary goal of finishing strong in a respectable time and come back next year to get that shirt in my second try. I take pride in finishing my very first "Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run" in 7 hours 21 minutes and 40 seconds and to be able to cross the finish line with such an experienced and accomplished ultra runner as Bill Keane, who was so willing to share his knowledge and stories with me during this race. And this last comment is in no way related to the fact that he shared an ice-cold beer with me right after we crossed the finish line, I promise!

Final Comments

First, I would like to thank RD Mike Melton and his fantastic group of volunteers that manned the various aid stations and took care of each and every runner's needs. It was a great event and I will definitely be back next year. Second, I'd like to thank my running buddy Richard Trice for being the sport that he is and signing up for this race to help me train for my 108k race next month. Thanks, buddy. Third, I'd like to congratulate this year's winner Valmir Nunes from Santos, Brazil, who truly proved to be a "Giant Killer" as his occupation had warned everyone before the race;-) Third, congratulations to a couple of local runners from Huntsville, DeWayne Satterfield and Kathy Youngren for winning the men's masters and women's open divisions, respectively.Very impressive.