Umstead 100 miles Endurance Run

Anita's Umstead 100

Before the Umstead 100 Mile Endurance Run this year, I had determined that I would be happy with a finish under the 30 hour cutoff, thrilled to finish under 24 hours, and ecstatic if I finished faster than my 100 Mile PR (Personal Record) of 23 hours and 13 minutes. Well, I am beyond ecstatic because I far exceeded my wildest expectations of what I could do. Here is my account.

Jay and I arrived at Umstead park Friday afternoon for the prerace briefing and the delicious spaghetti dinner. Bob and Ann Marie Calabria sat with us for a few minutes and told us their recipe! We then headed to our truck at Camp Crabtree where we slept Friday night (there is a camper top over the bed and we have spent many prerace nights there). Jay was going to the bath house to take a shower so he went to the back of the truck to retrieve his bags. Well, it turned out they were not there! He immediately realized that they were still sitting on the chest in our bedroom where he had been "stealth packing" the night before to avoid detection by our dogs. All of my bags and our sleeping bags and other camping gear had been in the living room and were loaded into the truck. Jay's orthotics and running shoes were in the bags that were left behind and Umstead park was closed down for the night, so there was no way he could start the race.

Since Jay's achilles had been bothering him for the last month and he was in serious doubt as to whether he would be able to complete even 50 miles, we saw this as a sign that he was not meant to run. I know Jay was extremely disappointed but he took it in stride as he does everything. While Jay showered I called my sister Marcia to commiserate and she asked if I would be disappointed that Jay and I would not be able to run together. I told her that we were not planning to run together this time since we were both planning to run for time and "Jay's good time is faster than my good time." Marcia got a kick out of that one!

So it was decided that Jay would crew for me while I ran. I expected him to sleep some while I ran but part of me secretly hoped to see him every lap. The Umstead course consists of a 12.5 mile loop that you run 8 times for 100 miles, or 4 times if you are running the 50 mile option.

Saturday morning we linked up with my friends Laura MacLean and Laura Tischler who were both running their first 50 Mile races. Jay took pictures while we posed and acted silly and found a spot for our drop bags in the lodge. Laura Tischler and I ran together for most of the first 3 laps. It was fun to chat and run together since we had not seen each other in several months. As we finished Lap 1, Jay, Joey Anderson, and Fred Dummar expressed concern that we were starting out too fast. We decided to take it easier for the next couple of laps. We slowed down and walked a little more and chatted with each other and the runners around us. Laura also taught me the meaning of her running code words "butterfly" and "hyacinth". It was dry, warm (comfortable by my standards) and dusty starting out but it sprinkled the rain a little after about the 3rd lap.

The forecast called for lots of rain and cool temperatures although it just sprinkled enough to reduce the dust. I told Laura how last year a cold rain started to fall just as most people were near the 50 Mile point and that led many people to decide on the 50 Mile option. We decided that a cold hard rain this year would work to our advantage since we're tougher than most! :-) Laura stayed strong and cheerful the whole time. I had told her to go ahead in the 4th lap since that would be her final lap but I still had a few miles to go. As I approached the end of my 4th lap I saw Laura at the finish. She looked great and I knew she had finished her first 50 Miler under 10:30! Jay later told me that as she finished she was whooping and hollering and he went to take her picture. Laura is very attractive and was looking cute in her purple sports bra and pink cap and some of our friends seemed concerned and said "Jay, here comes Anita!" They weren't aware that Laura is my friend--they were wondering why Jay was photographing another attractive female while I was approaching the end of my lap. :-) I was also pleasantly surprised at this point to see Annette Bednosky, exuberant as always, who was there to pace another runner.

Lap 5 was my last lap of fully daylight running so I had a quick turnaround at the aid station between laps 4 and 5. I knew I'd spend more time after the next lap to get my headlamp and possibly warmer clothes. I thought I would slow down by the 5th lap but I felt great and kept up a good consistent pace. I maintained a positive attitude and felt strong and even told myself when I was around the 60 mile point that there were "only" 40 miles to go! At one point during this lap a couple of kids were out on the trail and they asked my name. I told them "Anita" and they yelled out my name to a group of adults and more kids that were a few yards away at a turn on the course. They started cheering for me by name and clapping. I felt like a celebrity! I said, "I must be winning!" :-) At the "halfway" aid station midway through this lap I saw Dorothy Fyock and a friend. Dorothy had brought some of her homemade gingersnap cookies for the aid station. I ate a few and put some more in my pocket. The aid station food was great (especially the baked potatoes with cheese melted on top) but Dorothy's gingersnap cookies were the best of all.

At the aid station between laps 5 and 6 I entered the lodge and saw Jay and ran down my list of what I wanted. I changed into a warmer shirt and put on gloves with chemical handwarmers inside. I picked up my headlamp since it would get dark during this loop. I also picked up my Sustained Energy/Perpetuem paste mix since I no longer had an appetite but knew I needed to get in some calories to maintain my energy. Jay ran the airport spur at the beginning of the loop with me and we saw Barbara Mack right behind me at the out and back. I fully expected her to pass me at any moment (in fact I was surprised she was behind me at all) because she is an amazing athlete and I never even considered myself to be in her league. I continued to feel so good that I was actually scaring myself. I knew that could change at any moment. But don't worry; this isn't foreshadowing of things to come--this time.

I made a quick transition between laps 6 and 7; I recited my list of requests and Jay quickly got everything together for me. The one thing I forgot was to shake the gravel out of my shoes. It was bothering me a little but not enough to stop once I started the loop. Once the race was over I realized I had some small blisters but all I felt during the run was the slight discomfort of small pebbles in my shoes. Jay again ran the airport spur at the beginning of the loop with me. It was dark and as we passed another runner we heard Mark Long's voice say, "I've just been finkled!" (A term coined in a previous race by a running friend as Jay and I passed him in the later miles, which loosely translated means to lose two places as Jay and I pass.) We laughed and kept going. Jay hugged me as he turned off to return to the lodge and then I continued along on my own. I knew that I could have gotten a volunteer pacer to run with me but I actually preferred to run alone. I was focused and running hard and did not have any extra energy to socialize too. I rarely turned my headlamp on and I had found in the past that other people's bobbing flashlights and headlamps can exacerbate nauseousness for me.

I was not nauseous this time but I did not want to tempt fate. It started to rain harder and get colder in this lap but I was running hard enough to stay warm even though I am generally a complete cold weather wimp and I was wearing shorts. I think the layers on top and the handwarmers in my gloves, plus the fact that I was able to move along at a good pace, kept me barely warm enough. At the "halfway" aid station they asked me if I wanted to go in the tent by the heater and warm up. I knew that would feel great but that it would be a bad idea! Right after I left that aid station I hit one of the coldest and windiest parts of the course and a momentary surge of fear hit me when I realized that if I fell or bonked or had to slow down I would get hypothermic in a hurry. I let the adrenaline spur me on to run harder. I couldn't see my watch with the rain on my glasses (despite the cap I was wearing) so I had no idea how my pace was but it turned out to be under 3 hours, the pace I had been trying to maintain for each lap.

At the lodge aid station between laps 7 and 8 Jay told me he had been worried about me getting too cold. Greg Loomis came up to give me words of encouragement and Annette Bednosky came up to give me a hug. Jay and Annette asked if I wanted to change into tights but I knew that would take a lot of time. I did put on 2 warmer shirts and 2 pairs of dry gloves with handwarmers inside. I stuck a chemical body warmer in the front of my sportsbra (there was plenty of room in there) and another in the back. I was in a hurry to get back out there since I knew I was on pace for a big PR. Jay wanted me to try some soup to warm up and get some more calories. I took one sip and realized I couldn't handle that right then. I realized I made a face and I told the ladies at the aid station, "It's not your cooking; I just can't handle this right now!" I did take another flask of Sustained Energy/Perpetuem blender mixture. I made myself take a swig along with some water at each aid station and water point. I knew that if I ran the last lap in less than 3 hours I had a chance to break 22 hours! I told myself that 21:59 sounds much faster than 22:01. I continued to run strong throughout this lap and I passed a few runners. I didn't have the energy to say anything to most of them and I had discovered earlier that many runners had headphones on and couldn't hear me anyway. I rarely turned on my headlamp so I didn't recognize anyone but Mike Day said some encouraging words as I passed him around mile 4 of the lap and I recognized Leo from the VHTRC as I passed him at the "halfway" aid station. I continued to run the flat and downhill sections and to power walk the uphills, as I had managed to do all along. I almost lost control on one of the steep downhills in this final loop, though!

As I approached the finish another runner was going out and I saw his headlamp and the finish tent. I yelled out, "#81 finishing!" and then realized they couldn't hear me yet! I ran down and up the stairs and yelled out my number again as I reached the finishing tent. I was immediately given a printout of my splits for each lap. I walked into the lodge and saw Jay, who was surprised I had finished so quickly! He was about to head out to watch for me.

I sat by the fire in the lodge for awhile and then Jay pulled the truck up to the door and carried all my bags out for me. He brought me to Camp Crabtree to take a shower. While in the shower I found a tick at the top of my leg that had dug in pretty deeply--I panicked and yanked at it until I got it out. We both napped in the back of the truck and then headed for home. I was so excited about how well my race went that I talked about it most of the way home and Jay was genuinely happy for me and proud of me and never mentioned his disappointment at not running himself.

Jay also shared some of the "crew perspective" that I would have otherwise missed out on. I will only include this one in my report: In the later miles many runners were spending time in the lodge in front of the fire to warm up between laps. All of a sudden a runner fell off the bench he was sitting on and passed out on the floor. The first aid volunteers were attending to him and shortly thereafter another runner went "thunk" (hitting the bench)-"thunk" (hitting the floor). A first aid volunteer ran over and shook the runner to wake him up. The runner said, "I'm okay!" The volunteer asked him, "What are you doing on the floor then?" The runner looked around and said, "I guess I'm not okay."

My splits for each 12.5 mile lap:

2:22:35
2:38:56
2:47:19
2:44:26
2:44:25
2:46:18
2:53:21
2:46:27

Cumulative Time 21:43:47, average pace 13:02
17th place overall, 5th female, 1st female age 30-39

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