Another Superior Fall race weekend is in the books!

After using a taper that left my legs feeling energized leading up to the race, I was getting pretty excited for race morning to finally get here. I was able to get a nice night of sleep heading into race morning as well, which is always a plus! I got on to a shuttle bus, relaxed on the way to the start line, and arrived with plenty of time to spare. Saw quite a few people I knew and was able to catch up with some of them – another plus of signing up for races!

Then the countdown to our start was on and off we went. I was running exactly how I wanted to in the beginning – totally relaxed and in control, not trying to over-extend anything. I actually kept this up through the halfway point and sitting nicely in about 12th place, ready to make a move over the second half.

Sometime after leaving the Sawbill aid station I could tell something was a bit off as the temperature/humidity combo continued to increase my internal body temp (not a good sign for this guy as you well know by now). I had some heat-related issues in longer training runs this summer and was really hoping for a crisp September race day…woops! My body started diverting its focus away from my stomach/digestion and shifting it everywhere else in an attempt to cool me down.

While I was still covering ground relatively well at this point, the stomach issues did not go away. I had been in similar spots before in my long races and knew I had to keep moving forward and get to the final aid station where my crew members Mike Bushey and Jody Zeleznikar were waiting. They’ve helped me out several times now and they essentially know what I need before I even arrive, which is super helpful – I definitely can’t thank them enough for all they do! I resupplied and Bushey walked with me as we chatted about the state of things heading into the final leg of the race.

I was able to feel pretty decent after a little bit, and someone who had ran with me for a couple different stints throughout the race caught back up with me and we shared a couple more miles together heading towards the finish line. All of a sudden things got pretty bad in a hurry. I started cramping up and told my running buddy to take off without me. I knew I needed some salt tabs right away to hopefully right the ship. I took one and kept moving, then decided to take another (my last one) for good measure…well, within 10 seconds of that last one I was puking into the woods! Then again, and again.

This was a first for me in a long-distance event, even though I’ve felt sick many times, it’s never actually happened before. On one hand, that’s not an enjoyable thing, but my stomach immediately felt better!! I was really excited to motor to the finish with my newfound super power of a friendly stomach!! Within three strides I was cramping. I think I may have actually laughed out loud when that happened. Still about 5 miles to go 🙂

After some more overheating and navigating the cramping, I was able to power hike up the final long climb and feel pretty good, eventually able to finish the last couple miles fairly strong while avoiding any major cramping until I crossed the finish line where I had to stretch my hamstrings a bit.

Overall it was a good race and I had a good amount of fun for most of it! It would have been nice to have a fast second half of the race, but I learned some more about my body and what to try out going forward, and ended up taking 16th place overall.

Congrats to all who participated in the Marathon/50/100 mile races (special shout outs to Bryan LaCore, Nikk Adams, and Gretchen Metsa on their impressive 100 mile finishes!!) and thanks to all of the volunteers who make a weekend like this possible! A special thanks to race director John Storkamp as well – even though I’ve done plenty of his races before, he continues to impress me with the quality of events he puts on. He’s built up a pretty special community and I’m honored to be a part of it with so many wonderful people.