Having spent many years hunting in the Allegheny Mountains of PA I was fairly certain that Oil Creek would be my toughest test yet. It did not disappoint.
100 mile results - 142 started, 68 finished (48%) and 74 DNF,d (52%)
I headed down to Titusville after work Friday and arrived at the Middle School for packet pickup & dinner.
One of the first people I saw was my friend Eddie Carrig & his wife Suzanne. Saturday was their wedding anniversary and Eddie celebrated to the tune of a 7th overall in the 100k.
It was good to see so many people from NE Ohio representing in PA.
Congratulations to Lee Conner on an awesome 100 miler( 2nd female & 12th place overall)
Also to Jay Rasch on a great first 100k(13 place overall)
I headed back to the Comfort Inn and checked all my gear for perhaps the 4th time in the last two days.
I was very calm and able to fall asleep by 10:30 or so. My alarm was set to 3:33 am as a tribute to my wife Mary and her(and hopefully mine) lucky #3. Got up and had my typical pre-race breakfast of absolutely nothing. Not that I am nervous or anything I just don't eat before any races.
I was just going to use my car as aid station 4 since it was only 200 yds away from the actual aid station but after much thought I decided to bring a drop bag to the aid station. Smart choice on my part.
Checked in got my Timing chip/strap and waited for the fun to begin. Did anyone else have issues with the timing strap mutilating their ankle? I look like I escaped from a chain gang. My blistering, bloody ankle was the worst physical issue I had.
We started on time and took off into what would prove to be my most mentally challenging run ever.
Due to the dark, wet, rocky, uphill start after the bike path it was a slow go get into anything resembling running. The fact that it was going to be mid 80s with high humidity just reinforced the thought that this was not going to be an "easy" 100. I really believe knowing I would have to run slow to finish made me relax even more and have a fun time for the first 80 miles. Tell ya about the last 20.6 in a bit.
The aid stations were awesomely stocked and the volunteers great.These events are so much more enjoyable with the care, enthusiasm, and encouragement provided by volunteers and observers alike. Thank you all. And thank you Tom Jennings for putting on a first class event!!
There are two people that made my finishing this one a reality.
Mary, my wife & best friend that supports,encourages, and just plain makes it easy for me to believe in myself. Without Mary I don't even make it to the start. Love ya babe!!!
Charlie Bolek, without him pacing me the last 39 miles or so I do not finish! End of story!
It was a pretty much uneventful first 2 loops. Had a chance to spend time on the trail with fellow NE Ohio runners Dave Morl and Jim Heun. Both of them left me in their dust at different times. Great race guys. Way to tough it out! I could tell as the race wore on that quite a few people were dropping. My mood was pretty much on an even keel and the only adjustment needed was my realistic finishing time. I was shooting for 28hrs and if conditions were right maybe sub 27. I changed that to sub 30 & maybe 28 if I was lucky.
Got to see my pacer Charlie early at petroleum Center during loop two and was psyched knowing that I would only be running about 17 more miles by myself. He made sure I grabbed my headlamp and nutrition before I left the aid station and then took off for a bite to eat before heading to the Start/finish. I was still having a blast and enjoyed seeing Wild Bill, Tara and a few other familiar faces at the aid stations.
As I said before the aid station volunteers all rocked!!!!!
Met up with Charlie at the start of the 3rd loop and aside from some back ache and occasional right knee twinge I felt fine.Tired of course but ready to do the last 38 especially with Charlie to get me through it. Still not even a concern of finishing. Just if I would be able to break 28 hrs. Even Charlie mentioned that i seemed pretty calm and not overly concerned. That was to change as fatigue and the dark rocky trails prevented me from running as much as I would have liked to. To me the most important lesson I learned at Oil Creek was everything can be going according to plan(modified due to conditions) but a plan none the less and there is still a very realistic chance of not reaching your goal. Looking back on it I believe the extra time due to the challenging conditions started to really mess with my head before I even realized it. Having a good pacer/friend with you keeps that beast quiet and at bay longer. Charlie made sure I was hydrating, eating, taking my S-caps and kept pointing me in the right direction. We had some good conversations and I am thankful that I was able to get out of my own head. Then just like that I couldn't! We had left the Petroleum Center aid station for the last time and all systems were still go. That lasted about to the top of I believe It was called Heisman Hill.I started not wanting to talk and withdrawing inward as my brain kept questioning the sanity of my quest. Let the mind games begin!
Charlie kept my spirits up as best he could and made sure I was doing alright.
Looking back on it i believe my answers to how I was feeling kept getting more & more cryptic.
Like "Well if I had been sitting on my couch all day not good but since I have been on the trails all day I guess I am fine". Or just "Feel like someone who has been up for the last 24 hrs on the rocky, wet, hilly trails".
By the time we were 1/2 way to aid station three I was having a full blown discussion in my head between the angel on my left shoulder and the devil on my right.You know "F it just drop".."no Michael don't" I could hardly hear what Charlie was saying and I am pretty sure my answers were not very audible or encouraging to Charlie. I had this "Animal House" battle for the next couple hours and as we approached the aid station I knew I would end my internal battle within the next 10 minutes.
Seeing Katie Hoban Peterson and her pacer Anne McClain coming into the aid station tipped that decision in the right direction. Two remarkable runners with stories that make my decision to drop or not seem pretty insignificant. Knowing a little of what these two had to go through to get to where they were made me realize I was just whining and I better stop and get my "boys" back.
Sat in the chair ate some potatoes and drank some ginger-ale and after about 10 minutes I looked up at Charlie and told him I was going for it. I then grabbed the BEST cup of coffee I ever had and knew barring injury I was finishing this!
Just like that the mind game was over and I new I was going to be 3 for 3 in 100s in 2013.
Charlie, Anne, Katie and me left the aid station together with a couple other runners and started up the steps of Cemetery Hill. Katie was apologizing for making noises with every step but said that it helps her. I said it was like tennis players grunting during return shots and not to worry about it we all do what we need to do to keep moving forward. At the top of the hill there was a runable stretch and the two guys with us went for it and I explained I was not going to risk a drop of coffee on something as silly as trying to run. Turns out the four of us caught up to the other two because a bear decided to get in their way. Anne was having none of this and started making noise and we didn't catch any reflections of bear eyes in our lights so we went on.
Remember you don't have to be faster than the bear...just faster than the slowest runner :-)
Between the mind games being over, coffee and bear I was pretty rejuvenated and took off at a good clip on the next runable sections.
Charlie was great company throughout and we took turns taking the lead and setting the pace.
Thankfully we had an uneventful time making our way back to the start/finish to do the "Going Home Loop". I had mentioned to Charlie I didn't want to spend much time at the aid station before heading out for the final 7.75 mile loop. Hydration & nutrition were never an issue so I had just a little of each at the aid station. Charlie went into the school for a minute and someone I won't mention "Wild Bill Wagner" hinted that I should get moving and in my fragile state of mind "wink wink" I decided to bolt out for the last loop before Charlie came back out. I think Bill was giving him some guff about losing track of his runner or something like that. All in good fun!!
Looked over my shoulder and Charlie was approaching with a smile on his face knowing that if I am joking around I am doing just fine. As we headed out I saw Dave Morl along with his pacer Zack Johnson about 1/2 mile from the finish. Great job Dave!
It felt really good doing that last loop and being able to talk to Charlie about what it takes to make it to the finish.
He finished Burning River 100 at the end of July after not making it in 2012. A finish well earned Charlie!
I was also the third person he had paced at Oil Creek and it was a good feeling knowing I had such a determined runner and friend beside me as I finished my last and toughest 100 of the year.
