VT100 "Surface of the Sun" heatwave DNF 40-miler Race Recap!

I took a few days to reflect and get my thoughts in order for this.  It's also wordy.  I haven't updated the blog since breaking my ribs in February, and I figured this would be easier to write up and throw out there.  It's a DNF story, so there's no shiny buckle picture to share, no exhausted but beaming me standing at the finish line, no "I couldn't walk straight for three days" quips either.  I DNF'd a 100-miler.  Again.  But this one was different.

First, I'm already putting the Vermont 100 on my calendar for next year, and blocking out at least two months beforehand for training.  No "races as training runs," just focused training for this race.  I know I have the ability to finish this race.  I do.  I'd never been to this area before, hadn't dealt with the long climbs/descents of this race, and now that I've seen the course (or at least part of it), I can go forward with confidence that as long as there isn't another heat wave anomaly of a weekend, I've got this. And even if there is a heatwave.

Second, I'm learning from each race.  Training, nutrition, hydration, crew...I've been wary of asking for help in the past, but no more.  This is a tough thing, running 100 miles.  I'll gladly take the help, and my crew/pacer team of Peggy and Steve Edwards were awesome.  I'll back them anytime they'll have me!

Lastly, I loved everything about this race:  the history (31 years and counting, and last human/horse simultaneous Ultra, which was so friggin' cool!  Horses on the course!!!), the course itself, which was stunningly gorgeous at every turn, and above all, the people!  The RD, Amy Rusiecki, and her incredible team of volunteers, deserve the biggest round of applause of all.  They were scrambling all day and night to make sure that every runner was taken care of, was safe in the dangerous weather, and felt as if they were a VIP that day.  I never felt truly alone out there, as their course monitors would swing by to check on runners frequently.

So here's the recap:

I survived the lottery and got in!  In April, I ran the Jack Bristol Lake Waramaug 50-miler as a qualifier, had a bunch of volunteer hours as a trail manager for the CFPA and an aid station dude at Traprock, so I was officially starting the race.  My broken ribs had healed so that wasn't an issue, and while I had the usual work-related interferences to any sort of structured training schedule, I felt totally ready for the challenge.

I usually support charities and non-profits by donating to friends' fundraising efforts, but my friend Adam (also running the race) kickstarted my runner fundraising page (didn't realize I even had one!) and was matched by an anonymous donor, so I decided to capitalize on that and ask for help to raise some funds for Vermont Adaptive Ski & Sport.  I'm elated to write that solo, my friends and family added enough to top over $1600, and the Dark Sky Trail Runners as a team raised over $5000!  Awesome total for a great group doing really good things to help folks with physical challenges get out and enjoy some quality time in nature.  Link below!

Crutchley's VT Adaptive Fundraiser Page

Mother Nature decided to throw everyone into panic mode about 10 days out from the race, when the makings of a heatwave for race weekend started to percolate.  As the days ticked by, the forecast kept getting upped until it looked like possible record-breaking heat values for race day.  Mid-90s, dew point in the 70s, and a heat index of well over 100 degrees.  A bit unnerving, but I'd been working outdoors in direct sunlight at my construction job and felt like it had prepped me for the heat.  Sort of, anyway!

My crew, the awesome Ultrarunner husband and wife team of Peggy and Steve Edwards, offered to drive me to/from the race, and I'd booked a hotel in the same place as them which worked out great.  Peggy and I arrived at Silver Hill, got checked in, and mingled with friends and strangers until RD Amy served up a pre-race briefing, with special commentary by Kyle Robidoux and Dave "Nipmuck Dave" Raczowski.  Getting my bib sealed the deal, I was officially starting this thing!

Shit got very real when we saw this...

Runners Love Their Beer annual meeting?  Hahaha...

Iconic.

I can do both?

Faith's crew was having dinner at Publick House so we decided to join them.  Great dinner and conversation, and it's Vermont so the beer menu was killer.  I had one Focal Banger from the Alchemist and switched to iced tea, because race in the morning!

You know, just your average world-class beer on the regular beer menu.  Love it.

Back to the hotel, where I didn't really sleep and "got up" to get ready around 2 for a 4 a.m. start.  Yikes.  Steve dropped me off at the start, and I checked in, chatted with friends Niki and Russ Dresher, and Adam and Michelle Briasco, and a few strangers nervously prepping with a last cup of coffee and bite to eat.  Couldn't find Faith!  We were supposed to run together, and Adam and I lined up together, shared a few words with Joe "#hundojoe" Laskey, I looked around and didn't see Faith so when the race started, I crossed fingers that we'd cross paths...and success!!!  I tend to wear really bright flourescent shirts when running, because I run in the woods a lot and never know when it's hunting season.  She found us!!!  About 3/4 of a mile in, I get almost tackled from behind by a relieved Faith, and the three of us continued on into the morning.

I quickly understood the course:  Very long climbs, most over a mile long, followed by equally long descents, and very little flats to speak of.  It was warm and humid from the beginning, but we cruised at a reasonable pace, hiked the ups and flowed on the downhill sections.  We were also joined by horses!!!  One of the coolest features of this race is sharing the course with a 100-mile horse race.  Historic and now unique in Ultras.

I'd settled into a good rhythm with Faith and Adam, and we easily were beating cutoffs, and got to each aid station feeling confident about the day.  Adam is faster than us and we told him to pull away anytime but he stayed with us.  We also pulled another runner, Kate M., into our group, as she was running the same pace as us and we soon had a great group run going!

Adam before shit went sideways

Covered bridges!

Vermont flavor

Best part of the race, at least from my perspective:  during a big climb, full sunlight, trudging up the hill before Pretty House, we were passing a really nice farm and I yelled out to Adam "Hey!  If we come across a craft brewery anywhere on this course, we're stopping and I'm buying us a pint!"  And the guy in the farmhouse heard me.  Thirty seconds later he's yelling for us to hold up, and he runs across the lawn with two ice cold Zero Gravity Little Wolf Pale Ales for us.  Best beer ever!!!  We thanked him over and over, and the four of us split those two beers and they were fucking epic.  Trail magic exists!!!

Arrival at the Pretty House A.S. was frenetic.  We were 1.5 hours ahead of the cutoffs so that wasn't a problem, but I've never been crewed before and all the things I knew I needed I totally forgot.  Fresh socks, shit like that.  This was the aid station run by the Shenipsit Striders, my club, and I scored some awesome bacon there!  Thanks!!!  We headed out with fresh supplies, some ice in bandannas as it was already really hot, and headed toward the next stop.  At the next big climb, we came across our first major casualty of the race, a runner named Pete.  He was sitting on a log, wouldn't take any help, and after hiking up the hill with us for 100 yards, sat down on another log.  Little did we realize, it would be another 7+ miles before we'd reach a manned aid station where we could report him to someone.  Yikes.

Adam eventually pulled away from us, and Faith and I stayed together.  She'd been talking up the "Sound of Music" hills all morning, and while the views were stunning, it was now "Africa Hot," and it was a long, exposed stretch of baking in fields and briefly pausing at the hilltops to remark on the view, then get the Hell outta there.

Tarzan couldn't take this kind of hot.

Probably the first time some seeds of doubt were sown in my head, but I squashed them and we carried on.  Faith ran out of water and we were really overheating about two miles from the big Mile 30 aid station, and passing a farm the people had set up a garden hose!  Ice cold water, we took turns spraying each other with cold, cold water and it was enough to get us to the aid station.  Those people rocked!

The hills are alive, with the sound of suffering...

Mile 30 aid station was where we really started to see some real carnage from the heat.  A LOT of people I hadn't seen at all during the race were being tended to by their crews, people were dropping, and the really bad predicted heat had arrived.  Adam was nowhere to be found.  We spent 20 minutes eating, drinking, and getting cooled down.  Steve held an umbrella over my head while I changed my socks and Peggy shoved a breakfast sandwich into my face.  Those two!  They were awesome all day.  We set out from there about 1/4 mile up the road, crossed the road and a small stream, and BAM!  Straight into a monster trail climb, which was to be my ultimate undoing, although I didn't know it yet.  Steep enough and exposed enough that we played the "We'll walk 50 yards to that patch of shade and take a break" all the way up.  Hands on knees steep.  Halfway up, I look up the trail to see Adam, doubled over, hands on his knees and just stopped.  I chat with him briefly and the hill had claimed its victim.  I asked him to text me if he dropped, which he did.

Once we reached the top of this, passing yet another runner sprawled out on the trail having a rest, Faith started running and I couldn't get myself to run.  I could still walk at a really good clip, though, but we'd had a talk during training about that moment when one of us would have to pull away from the other, and this was that moment.  Some tears were shed, and we continued at our own paces.

The rest of the race?  This sums it up:

Me and a couple of other runners said "Fuck it, a couple minutes aren't going to matter so let's go sit in the shade for a bit."  So we did.

Well, I fell in with a dude named Jason who was in a similar situation, and we stayed together for a while, reaching the Lincoln Covered Bridge AS, where we were about to cross the river (YAY!) and also close to missing a cutoff.  I crossed the river as another runner had soaked in the river, turned around and headed back to drop.  After the river, I made another ludicrously long climb, and nearing the top at about 41 miles, the safety shuttle van drove by, offered a thumbs-up? to me and I gave him the "not so much" wave.  Done.  I'd done the math and I wasn't gonna make Camp 10 Bear before the cutoff.  Too slow in the heat, it just sapped that extra something you need in these races right outta me.  Hadn't peed since about 6am, had been drinking continuously all day and it was after 2.  Yikes.  In a matter of minutes the van was full of runners accepting a similar fate, and I was hearing radio chatter about the carnage.  Like "send the ambulance here," "we have a girl throwing up and stumbling and trying to continue," shit like that.  When my bib number was called over the radio I was officially a DNF, and one of over half the runners who started the race.

I got dropped off at Camp 10 Bear and did the walk of...shame? Not really.  Felt not even a little bit bad about this one.  Snuck up on my crew (Peggy and Steve were awesome, and I told them I'd crew for them anytime, anywhere) and gave them the lowdown on what happened.  We all waited for Faith to arrive and cheered on the active runners, who were coming into 10 Bear looking rough, serious, and determined to beat the cutoff.  Saw my friend Maria, who called it a day at 50 miles and was totally fine with it.  Saw my friend Andy come charging in with little time to spare, ready to turn and burn and continue on.  Stood up the hill where the runners were coming in with Joe, Faith's husband and chief crew member, and with 10-15 to spare, Faith came rolling in, with nothing left in the tank.  The heat had claimed another victim, as she wasn't regulating her heat anymore, wasn't sweating and extremities were swelling.

Game over.

Until next year.

The Vermont 100 will be my focus race for 2020.

That said, I had an absolute blast at this race, with friends and strangers.  Met some great people, was helped out by volunteers who worked aid stations in the outrageous heat all day for nothing other than the love of our sport, and raised some money for a great organization.  One of their sight-assisted runners finished the 100-miler!!!  Badass!  My friends Kelyn, Steve, and Joe all rocked the race and finished!  And the scenery was drop-dead gorgeous, quintessential Vermont beauty.  So why not give it another try?

So I will.

Oh, and here's a couple of links to other posts that better describe the weekend:

The Power of Heat by Andy Jones-Wilkins

Vermont 100 Mile Race Report by Joe McConaughy

Trail Carnage, Goals for 2019, and the Resurrection of the Blog

Does anybody still read this garbage?  Am I still big in Eastern Europe?!?  Well here's an update for ya either way:

The short recap for last year goes like this:  my 2018 was awesome, in spite of a couple of missed targets.  I was able to run a number of races (14 trail, 1 road), some of which were new to me and had been on my to-do list for a few years (Escarpment, Loon, etc.), and remain injury-free.  I also had a lot of great miles with friends old and new, and even paced my friend Liz on her first 50k run!  Although I hadn't hit my big goal of completing the 100-miler, I closed out the year well.  I planned out my 2019 race schedule (yes, already!), and kicked off the new year with a gnarly 25-mile trail run with some badass CT Trailmixers on the Metacomet/Mattabesett trails in Meriden. Perfect!  I also started a trail running group, the Dark Sky Trail Runners, to get people together for group runs in Eastern CT and Rhode Island, and have had some very successful group runs already!

Things only improved from there.  I consistently racked up some quality miles, and did my first Ultra of the year on 2/2, the TARCtic Frozen Yeti, where I slogged out 31 miles on an icy, technical course in freezing temps.  Good times with friends!

This guy.

  As of mid-February I was already closing in on 250 miles for the year, a personal best in historically the two lowest-mileage months of the year for me?

And then, on Valentine's Day, it happened:

My inner workings.  About as exciting as I'd figured.

John P. and I had plans to run 8-10 miles in Arcadia, and although it was chilly and the ground icy in places, the Sun was out and we forged ahead.  We made our way up the long, meandering climb and descent on the dirt roads to get to the Ben Utter trailhead, part of the 50k trail race I'm designing.  The roads were icy, but the trails were only icy in the middle and as long as you stayed to the edges the footing was totally fine.  We made it to Stepstone Falls without incident, stopped to take in the terrace of waterfalls that's one of Rhode Island's gems, and headed back the other way.  John took a spill in some rocks but emerged unscathed.  We SHOULD HAVE turned onto the dirt roads and kept things to the agreed-upon 8-10 miles, but it was a nice day and John and I turned onto the Breakheart Trail, which would add some mileage/hills/degree of difficulty to the run...

We were about 9 miles in, and as we made a turn on a very flat, not-at-all-technical stretch of singletrack, I hit some ice.  As my feet went out from under me, I reached out to grab a small tree, missed, and my right side slammed into the tree with all my weight.  Crunch.  I got the wind knocked out of me, and as I lay on my back trying to breathe, I was pretty sure something got broken.  After a couple of minutes I was able to get up and start walking.

As John and I continued on, I did the math and realized we had about 4 miles to go, just to get back to our trucks.  I was able to walk/jog the rest of the way, drive home to shower, and quietly make my way to the walk-in clinic, where Lori met me and I confirmed through X-rays that I'd broken 3 ribs.  Well then, what now?

Fortunately the doctor at the clinic is a trail runner.  Our conversation went like something like this:

Doc: So you're a trail runner?
Me: Yup.
Doc: You do Ultras?
Me: Yup!
Doc: Yeah, my brother lives in Hawaii and runs with HURT (Hawaii Ultra Running Team), he's trying to get me to do one.
Me (eyes lit up): They put on the HURT trail race, that's on my bucket list!  Brutal!
Doc: Yeah, I'm working up to that...so where did this happen?
Me:  Breakheart Trail in Arcadia.  Parked in Midway.
Doc: That must have sucked, getting back to your car...
Me: It did.  Now, how long am I out of commission for?
Doc: You're in good physical shape otherwise, so after a week or two (Lori rolls eyes), you can start easing back into some light physical activity.  You'll know pretty quick whether it's too soon or not.
Me:  We're going to England in a few weeks, how about I wait to start running until then?
Doc:  Sounds good!  Here (hands me a plastic contraption with a hose sticking out of it), breathe through this 10 times an hour, every hour, for a week.  We don't want you back here with pneumonia.  Here's a prescription, it's all about pain management and deep breathing so your lungs don't fill up with liquid (wait, WHAT???), because that makes the healing take much longer.  OK?
Me: Okay...
Doc:  Good luck!  Follow up with your GP in a week, and I'll see you on the trails.

So here we are, a little over a week after the accident.  I used the breathing thingy as instructed, only took pain meds when I absolutely had to (not a fan of pills), and after 5 or 6 sleepless nights (ribs broke around the back side and I just could NOT get comfortable) I'm pretty much pain-free and moving around pretty good.  Yesterday I decided to go for a walk, as my ribs might be broken but the legs still work.  Got 6 miles in at a steady walk on fire road and singletrack trail and felt good.

My takeaways from the "rib incident":

1. It was going to happen eventually.  You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs...
2. Broken bones suck.  They make everything more difficult, uncomfortable and in some cases, damn near impossible.
3. Sleep is awesome when you can get it.  Also, breathing.
4. More core work!
5. Follow doctor's orders and you'll be better off over time.
6. I really love trail running, and even a week away from the woods is too long!

The healing continues.  I'm sleeping better every night, feeling stronger by the day and I'll be ready for my next race, which isn't until the end of April.  I'm looking at this to be a breakout year for me for running, and I've set some big goals, along with making a few lifestyle changes, to give me a better chance of success at what I'm planning.  I have my race schedule set, and while it looks heavy on the surface, there are really three big races that I'm focused on:

Three very different events, each with its own unique challenges.  The first, a long and hilly but not technical race with an iconic history, the Vermont 100.  The second, a gnarly, hilly and technical point-to-point trail race in one of my favorite places to run, upstate NY, the Twisted Branch 100k.  Third, a long and pretty flat but quite scenic trail race in England in Autumn, the aptly named Autumn 100 outside of London.  

In the meantime, I'll continue to train as soon as I can start running again.  My first race is the Lake Waramaug 50-miler in Western CT in April, so plenty of time to build things up!  I'll post updates and assorted things as I can, but for now I'm really looking forward to getting out and running again!

----Crutch

August! I Don't Like You So Much.

So, August.  I can honestly say that, for running, August is my least favorite month.  This year being no exception, it was just fucking hot.  All the time.  I had shit for miles, was going into Anchor Down undertrained (yet again), but the highlight as always is the Run4Kerri 4-mile road race in Matunuck, RI.  Almost always warm, and the shortest race I do, as well as the only road race I put on the calendar each year now.  Also, my first race ever and this would be the 10th straight year!  Whoohoo!!!

I kicked off August with a couple of good training runs.  My location of choice lately has been Bluff Point.  I used to not enjoy Bluff, but the variety there (once you know it) opens up lots of options, and the fire roads allow for a ton of miles without destroying yourself.  And, it's convenient as Hell :)

2018 Run 4 Kerri.  31:58 - #101 of 456.  Always a great time at this race!  I opted to not go crazy here, but just run off of how I felt, and 31:58 was how I felt.  Got to touch base with lots of friends before and after the race, and paused for a mid-race hug from BLS!  Had a blast, and the afterparty with the TNT crew is always a great time!

2018 Anchor Down Ultra.  29.5 Miles in 8:40 - #67 of 74.  What the fuck, the wheels really came off here.  It was record-breaking hot, like Africa hot, leading up to the race, and race day was no different.  I was in for 100, and already felt like it wasn't gonna happen before the race even started.  Nevertheless, I packed all my shit, and drove over in the afternoon to get prepped for a 7 p.m. start.

I arrived, got my gear hauled over to the Shenipsit Striders tent, and then waited.  Helped Faith (my would-be pacer) set up her tent and was already sweating...crap, this was gonna be rough.  I sipped water all afternoon and sat in the shade, and finally geared up and got ready!

When it's humid enough before a race that you're drenched before the start?  I felt behind before the gun went off, but we all headed out en masse into the woods, as the first 1/3 of the loop is a trail section.  The rest?  Paved footpaths along the water, and it's incredibly beautiful there.  Colt State Park, great spot!

A short loop meant I didn't have to carry much, a handheld and a headlamp would do, and all my nutrition would be found at the start/finish area.  Faith was going to pace me in the morning, and was working the aid station, and checked on me each lap until she retired for the night.

Somewhere around 23-24 miles, I swear I simply lost interest, and started to walk.  I walked two full laps, then sat in the tent and BS'd with some people, and when a lightning/thunderstorm rolled through, I said "Fuck it, I'm done," and quit at just under 30 miles.

So there you go.  Another 100 attempt.  It's not an easy distance, and I'm having a very hard time with the walking thing.  If I can't run, I start to look at the distance and go "This isn't running, what the Hell are you doing?"  I won't give up on getting a 100 completed, but damned if my head doesn't check out of the race when I start to walk.  Have to get over it!

Anyway, I waited till morning, cheered my fellow competitors on, and let Faith know I was done.  Grabbed a coffee and sandwich at DD on the way out, and hauled ass home.  Not a successful venture.  Great race!  I'll be back!  But I have some shit to sort out first...

The rest of August?  Plenty of good running, I actually hit the reset button on my training after ADU, and closed out with two solid weeks of runs.  Looking ahead to September's race.  Just one, Nipmuck!

JULY. A tale of three races. I really need to get caught up with this shit.

Reviving my semi-defunct blog at the request of one, maybe two people, hahaha...gonna be some rapid-fire blurbs until I get to where I'm caught up!

I've been trying to include new races every year into my calendar, as I get to explore new places and it keeps things fresh and fun.  I was originally only going to do one race a month, but dammit!  There are just too many races to choose from to not throw in a couple of extras...

Race #1: Loon Mountain Race, July 8.  1:40, #345 of 449 finishers.  Right up front, I'll say that this was the most fun I've had at a race this year!  I'd been seeing everyone's posts from Loon for a couple of years, and when my calendar opened up I signed up.  This was also the USATF Mountain Running Championships, and with a Trail Sisters incentive for first-time female racers, the field grew to a record number!

I drove up to New Hampshire the day before the race, and picked up my bib/gear before having dinner with friends.  Seems like I run into more familiar faces at these distant races every time I go, which is pretty cool!  Got checked into my hotel room just fine as well, and found out it was a full condo, with kitchen, deck, fireplace, dining room, etc. and directly faced the mountain.  I pulled up a course map and could roughly trace the route from my room.

In the morning, I drove across the street to the parking area (again, pretty good choice!), and immediately ran into some of the Rhode Island contingent.  Jeff and I discussed the course, and although he was fighting off an injury, he was there to hike the course, spectate, and cheer on Matthew, who was sure to do well in the race.

So, the race:  We started on a dirt road next to the river, which allowed the men's field to spread out some before it narrowed to jeep access road, then singletrack.  The women's field wouldn't start for another hour plus.  We were pretty much climbing immediately, but it was a runnable climb, with brief stretches of hiking (for me, anyway).  The course zigzags across the property, and the downhill sections and singletrack were sweet!  I felt like I was flying through the somewhat muddy sections, and passed a bunch of folks trying to pick their way around the mud.  I knew that some big climbs were coming, though...

On a crossover section before the climb to the gondola, we saw a bear!!!  It crashed out of the woods right in front of a group of runners in front of me, and continued down the mountain.  At the next clearing I looked down the slope and it was below us, running parallel to us and had a tag on it.  Very cool!

The big climb to the gondola was a wake-up.  Long slog to get there, then a screamer of a descent down to the beginning of the Upper Walking Boss.  Sweet Jesus.  Steep!  And I've been on shit like this before, and it was a slow go, but not intimidating at all.  I just made the turn, did my mini- zigzags up to the top and finished!

The best part for me was getting to watch everyone else coming up, like Brian and Mike, and then getting a chance to see the women's mountain champs come up.  Truly incredible that they were running up the UWB!

After chatting with some RI peeps, some CT Trailmixers and Striders, and a few others, I bounded down the big ski slope to the gondola, catching Jodi and Rachel on the course, and taking my place in line for the ride down.  When I reached the lot, I showered off and changed up, and realized I hadn't eaten anything other than a couple gels and some Tailwind all morning, and was getting a bit lightheaded.  That in mind, I skipped the group cooldown in the river and headed over to a local brewpub for a big lunch before heading home.  A great trip!  I'll totally be back for this again next year, I had so much fun there!!!

Race #2: Run With the Beavers 10 Mile Trail Race (and beer swap, haha), July 14.  1:39:52, #83 of 176.  Well why wouldn't you follow up a Mountain Championship race with a Trail Championship race?  Love that my race schedule seems to peak during the hottest part of the year.  This is a great event, fun course and one that I actually feel halfway fast at, if only for a moment :)

Easy drive up to Chepachet, where I quickly realized that the low cost and championship day meant that the race would be stacked with talented, fast runners, and that the large number of people would make navigating the single-track sections tricky.

I got caught up with a bunch of friends before the race, and after Bob's speech we were off!  I was standing in the back row bullshitting with Brian, and had an "Oh shit!" moment when I realized I'd be screwed at the singletrack unless I passed a bunch of runners.

After crossing a field, there's an immediate climb up a dirt road which allows the field to spread out just a bit before we hit the narrow sections into the woods.  Once there, it was "pass as you can" through the scrub.

I fell into a decent rhythm, and managed almost identical splits on the first and second loops.  Not a PR but close, and I felt pretty good throughout!

Showered up and changed after the race, chatted and exchanged some beers with friends, and hit the road.  Trying not to linger too long lately after races, since I'm into the heavy rotation of my race schedule, and have somehow managed to find a halfway decent home/work/race balance (well, except for the whole training part).

Race #3:42nd Annual Escarpment Trail Run, Windham NY, July 29.  5:32. #210 of 257.  Here's the brief (and accurate) course description on the race website:

FOR MOUNTAIN GOATS ONLY! The Escarpment Trail is a very remote, rugged hiking trail in the Northern Catskill Mountains in New York State. This single track trail crosses no roads, has total elevation changes of nearly 10,000 feet, and requires all aid to be backpacked in by volunteers. This is not for your average runner but for the runner who trains 12 months a year, and has spent years building a base and gaining long distance experience. Therefore, qualifying standards are required to insure that all participants have experience with endurance events and have a reasonable chance of completing the course within 6 hours.

Within 6 hours, for 18.6 miles.  Yup.  Of course this was on my punch list of tough middle-distance races in New England.  It's an institution here, and in its 42nd year!  The course record is something like 2:44, which meant it had to be gnarly.  I was elated and nervous when I got the nod to enter the race, as I was kinda bratty about getting in.  Though I didn't meet their specific requirements, I felt like my "resume" (Kismet Cliff, Whiteface, 7 Sisters, etc.) was more than enough to put me in the mix.  After e-mailing the race director, I got in!  Couldn't wait!

After making the very reasonable drive to the Catskills (like 3 hours), I checked into my hotel and then walked to the downtown area to meet Michael and Karen, two of our CT Trailmixers, for a bite to eat and race strategy session.  Me being the Noob to the Escarpment, I tried to pick their brains about how to approach the race.  They'd done it the previous year and when I mentioned I was seeded in the last wave, they told me I could volunteer to start early if some waves weren't full.  Hmmm.

Race day dawned cool and crisp!  I readied early, stopped at a nearby convenience store for a cup of shitty coffee, a couple bananas, and an energy bar and drove over to the parking area.  The nervous energy was palpable, and apparently I was quickly identified as a newbie, as several people I said Hello to asked if this was my first Escarpment?  Really?  I must be like tourist boy with a fanny pack, camera around his neck and a big straw hat or something...

We all boarded school buses for the trip to the start.  The Escarpment is a point-to-point trail and crosses no roads, as stated above.  It's so remote out there, that when there was a plane crash on Stoppel Point, they left the wreckage there.  Creepy...it's right along the trail!

Anyway, we arrived at the start, and after watching several waves start, I started to get antsy, and edged my way to the front of the crowd.  After the women's elite start, they called for volunteers and I raised my hand!  Wave 5, totally out of my league but fuck it, I was hopping around with nervous energy and just wanted to go!!!

My wave went off, cruised a short, flat section and then the climbing began...and the "easy" climb was a bitch.  Oh.  Well, we're in and we're gonna git 'er done.  Run back to your car, fool!  After the first climb we hit an aid station, where there was a vista nearby that I stopped to take pictures at, chat briefly with the volunteers, then bomb down some really runnable singletrack!!!

I was warned to take it easy before Blackhead.  Everybody told me to take it easy!  "Blackhead will crush your spirit, ye be warned!!!"

The climb to Blackhead is ludicrous.  I reached an aid station that was close to the start of the climb, and they're pushing S-caps, gummy bears, chips and what-have-you at me and I'm eating all of it, and the climb started so subtle that by the time I was into it, I felt tricked!  Like there should have been a sign at the bottom.  And the climb is hand over hand FOR.EVER.  It's grabbing roots and sharp rock edges to pull yourself up, for a half-mile?  A mile?  It's CRAY.  For your viewing pleasure:



Yeah, that Escarpment.

So that's apparently not the end of the suffering either.  Stoppel Point was the next climb, after the descent off Blackhead, and after shredding your legs on Blackhead, the climb up Stoppel was just cruel.  There's even wreckage from a plane crash up there!  It's so remote that they basically recovered the bodies and left the plane...

Some rolling technical trails, and a last aid station atop a vista, and I'm thinking "OK.  Now we descend to the finish...but we don't.  for a while.  Then, as a final kick in the jewels, there's a last descent, scramble, scrabble, down a series of ledges and rocky outcrops known as Jacob's Ladder, which is maybe the toughest part of the race on toasted legs!  Seriously, one veteran of the race took a digger here this year and spent three days in the hospital with a fractured skull, wrist, etc...and in true Escarpment fashion, declared that he'd be back next year.

As will I!  I really, really loved this race, the history of it, the dedication of everyone who was there to run it, the volunteers, runners, and not least of all the course!  It's my kind of trail, the kind that you stop mid-climb and just shake your head.  With a smile.  And drive home happy and exhausted.

Next up:  August!

Inaugural Chesterfield Gorge Ultras - June 2, 2018

(I wrote a recap of this race which didn't save, and this is the rewrite.  Whoops!  I repel technology, which is probably why I spend so much time in the woods, hahaha :)

Oh, another Ultra?  And a bunch of my friends are running it?  And I don't have to drive 6 hours, camp out and run/finish/drive home the next morning?  Well then!  Take my money!

I heard about this race, a new ultra concocted by badass distance runner Amy R. and her team, after I'd committed to the World's End 100k (still on my list of to-do races, seriously, it looks incredible!).  I knew a couple of my friends were signed up for Chesterfield, but I still was planning on driving to PA, setting up camp and running out there...until...a bunch more people I knew signed up!  Now I was into a true tug-o-war in my head about what to do. So I thought about it for a couple days, then canceled WE (there was a waitlist, so I made somebody's day!) and signed up for CG.

I'd made plans to drive up to Northampton, MA with Faith, drop her at her hotel with Laura and MJ, and meet later for dinner in town.  John P. was driving up after his fishing boat docked, and he was able to meet us for dinner at an awesome restaurant in town, Fitzwilly's, where we all talked shop and figured out our game plans for the morning.

John stayed at my place, and we headed down to the race start in the a.m. for a warm (and getting warmer) pre-race briefing.  I ran into a number of folks I knew, including Claire G., who was ready to rock the 50-miler, and Maria C., who was running the 100k as a trainer for the VT100M.  I was shooting for 100k as well, as was Laura, and Faith the 50m.  The heat was cause for concern, but whatever...

I signed in, got my bib and inaugural pint glass (I'm a total pint glass whore.  Offer me a pint glass and I'll be your puppet.), bedazzled my bib with some stick-on rubies, and shared my Deep Woods Off with a bunch of other runners.  It's a jungle out there, and it bites!

First Loop:  At the race start, we all went out on a downhill with the typical enthusiasm of a bunch of trail runners: fresh and chatty, going faster than we should be going, and reveling in the cover of a riverside forest which appeared to go on forever...until it didn't!  Surprise!  The last two miles of the out-and-back course were along the river but totally exposed, and although it was early the Sun was beating down (on my baseball hat, haha).  I had started out behind JP and his posse of runners, until Maria C. and I passed them and continued on at a decent clip.  I'd later be accused (by nobody in particular...hmmm) that I'd gone out too fast, but it was more of a "I felt good, Maria and I had a good pace going, and I wanted to keep the momentum" thing.

The course!  Jeep trail along the river

So close!

No Parking here!  It's been that way for years :)

At the end of the first out/back, Maria wanted to move her drop bag to the car, I gave her my phone to call her husband (cell service is nearly nonexistent), and I started back out, only to run back after reaching for my car key and it wasn't where it was supposed to be.  Found it!  Crisis averted.

Second Loop:  A hotter, slower version of loop #1.  I was feeling the effects of the heat, drinking lots of liquids, and still...DAMN!  When I reached the exposed part of the course, I was wilting.  At the turn, I doused myself in cold water, filled up with iced drinks, and cooled off as I could.  I had designs on cooling off in the river, but it always seemed too far off the trail so I continued on.  A runner named Tammy had been back and forth with Maria and I for hours, and we three ran together for a while around 24-28 miles until Maria finally pulled away.  Tammy and I ran/walked together for a bit, and I decided that I wanted to finish at 50k, and go sit in the river.  It was HOT.  So at the 50k mark?  I told Amy I was all set.  She recorded a 50k finish for me, officially 6th place in 6:12...then Tammy decided that 50k was good as well!  So we hiked down the hill and sat in the river to cool off.  A great way to end the day.

A good place to chill on a hot day!

Great spot!

I brought some craft beer for RD Amy and her crew, which they cracked open immediately!  I also showered off with my RinseKit, and got another set of questions about it.  Yes, it's awesome!!!  No, it's not hard to set up. It's the best running accessory ever, and I can say that with conviction.  Really.  Showering off after a soupy, sweaty summer run is PRICELESS.  Believe that.

I drove home and got updates, and everyone kicked ass at every distance, including Faith at 50 miles, Laura, Maria and John at 100k, and Claire at 50 miles as the overall winner...and in fact, the ladies won every distance category at Chesterfield!  Very impressive, and with very good times on a hot day.

Post-race deliciousness, in the aforementioned pint glass!

I was wicked late with this post, and I have some catching up to do!

Huh. I overdid things a bit and dialed it back. Or did I?

Pretty sure hardly anybody reads this anymore (I used to be big in Croatia, but they seem to have lost interest, haha), but here goes!  I somehow managed to do 3 50K races and a 15-mile trail race in 5 weeks (that's kind of a lot for most folks, but in my circle of lunatics it's solidly average?!?), plus a hot AF training run with JP that included multiple submersions in the river because of the heat.  So my body is ready for a break.  Just a little one, though, as I feel fatigued (obviously, given my work/training schedule) but not injured or really beaten...just ready for some unencumbered runs, just for the fun of it.

So, first up, I'm gonna rewrite Chesterfield Gorge soon, as I'd written a nice piece about an awesome inaugural race, had an epic time with it, and my stupid computer didn't save my work so I blabbed some BS about not re-writing it.  I'll do it over.  Great first race directed by a great runner and fantastic race director, Amy R.  So that's coming, just not yet!

I took a few days off after that race, and got back to the trails.  I hit the Mystic nature center trails first, and had a fabulous run there...then found out that I'm in for the Escarpment Run, perhaps the most badass and gnarly mid-distance trail race in New England, at the end of July.  It's on my short list of tough races to do.  And I'm in!  So it's Loon/Escarpment for the 1-2 punch in July...it'll be mostly hills and technical runs for a while, I think...

Mystic trails...

More Mystical trails!

I've been able to get out and retouch the blazes on part of the Narragansett Trail, and do some basic maintenance there.  I've also been able to hit Lantern Hill and Long/Ell Pond trails, which are the perfect combination of technical and steep in this area, and are gonna be my go-to training venues before Escarpment.  

What in Blue Blazes!

This is my bucket.  There are many like it, but this one is mine ;)

Roots...

...and rocks!  My favorites!

And just like that, the focus is off big distance runs, until the Anchor Down race anyway...and I get to have fun running when and where I please.  My work schedule, as usual, is physically demanding and I have to deal with all of that.  Whatever.  Got in a run at Lantern with my old martial arts training partner Jim, and had fun bombing down the technical descents.  My buddy George is back on the trails after a long hiatus, and we've been hitting Arcadia for some really good runs in the 7-mile range, and having a blast.  Great to see him enjoying his running again!

Sir George.  Bike shorts:  the new Scots' kilt?

As for Loon?  Well...I've got that covered...

6/16 - My Shenipsit Striders group had a "Happy Hills" morning of repeats scheduled at Wachusett Mountain Ski Area.  I committed, then hemmed and hawed about the drive, then decided to just go.  What a blast!!!  I had so much fun, the drive was not bad at all, we had a crew of 10+ for the run, and I made some great new friends!  Everyone is training for something different, and we shared some awesome stories.  1000' of climb on every ascent, back to the bottom, and repeat.  I managed 9 miles and 4,000' of ascent, while others did more or less, based on their schedules and training.  No pressure day.  We all met at Wachusett Brewing for lunch afterward and had a great time there as well!  Gonna repeat this next week!  I really needed this.

Wa-wa-wachusett!  View from midway up.

6/17 - The following day, Father's Day, with still-sore calves and quads, I hit the beach at high tide for my first "Taylor Swift" run of the year.  Warm day, so I set up all our family beach chairs and umbrella, bought a bottle of water for a buck, and cruised a slow and steady pace out and back.  It's exactly 5 miles from our beach to Taylor Swift's super-mega mansion in Watch Hill, and 5 back (for the record, she wasn't home, as she's usually waiting for me with a cold glass of lemonade, haha).  I skillfully dodged a thousand toddlers darting into my path (including a near-crippling incident with a shovel.  Not a plastic beach shovel, but a real shovel with metal spade...wielded by a child...WTF), waded through some waist-deep water at high tide, and eventually arrived back at home base and parked my ass under the umbrella for a couple of hours.  Mission accomplished!

OMG!!!  Crutch ran all the way to my house and I wasn't there!

Sunday is beach day.  Oh, and run the beach day!  10 miles complete on a hot one...I love the beach, especially from the cover of an umbrella :)

As it was Father's Day, and I was tasked with choosing a meal, I chose a "Low Country Shrimp Boil," with shrimp, Andouille sausage, corn, Vidalia onions and assorted potatoes (and fancy beer for me!).  Holy Hell this was good, and easy, and we gone do it again...and maybe with crab next time...

Where do I start!!!  Joy!

So that's that.  I'm happy, uninjured, and getting miles where and when I can. I know a number of my friends are dealing with injuries, and I want them to be healthy and happy and out doing what they love, because I miss running with them!  Fast or slow, I really just want to run with you guys (You know who you are).  It really has nothing to do with pace or distance.  It's all about having a memorable moment, and I really want as many of those in my lifetime as I can!  I remember a surf session in the fog with my friend Mark Butler 20 years ago, where we traded glassy, chest high waves at Matunuck and saw the headlights of multiple cars pull in, see nothing and leave.  The fog burned off hours later, and we laughed about our luck of having perfect waves to ourselves.  Times like that!

So hit me up.  I'm busy but will block out my calendar for you.  Work is work.  I can make arrangements.

Sincerely,

---Crutch

2018 Chesterfield Gorge Ultra - You Can't Beat Our Heat!

Well then.  I wrote a whole thing about this awesome race, and the save function failed me...multiple times.  So the recap is this:  I arrived the evening before, had a fantastic dinner at a local restaurant with friends, arrived early the next morning to some heat and ran a beautiful course until the heat beat me down, I did 50k in 6:09 and sat in a river to cool off with a friend, then drove home!  The End?

Update to follow.  Too cool a race to not do a rewrite.