Bartram 100′s

«You know, some people are just crazy! »  Custom’s officer at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge upon hearing my reasons for travelling to the U.S.

In a year during which Monica Scholz made running 100-milers look easy, I failed to complete a race of this daunting distance.  Back in the spring I entered the Jerseyville 100.  I honestly had the intention of running 50-miles and then evaluate whether or not I would push on any further.  Well, I only made it to 50K, went home, had a shower, some pizza and a nap.  The guilt of dropping out so early got to me, so I was back on the course some eight hours later to run a couple more loops and encourage the other runners.  In May I signed up for the Sulphur Springs 100, but this time the heat wore me out, so I shut’er down at the midway mark and headed straight to the beer store.  0 for 2.

On October 2^nd I toed the line of the Arkansas Traveler 100.  I had been looking forward to this race for several months and felt confident in my ability to finish, but unfortunately severe back spasms ended my quest at mile 73.

My most recent unsuccessful 100-mile attempt was at the Bartram 100’s in Milledgeville, Georgia on December 11^th.  During the pre-race briefing the race director explained the 100K option.  The course was a 5.56-mile loop through the forest.  Runners in the 100-mile event were to complete 18 loops.  If you chose the 100K option, you had to complete “only” 11 loops plus a little out-and-back spur after that final lap.  I realized early in the race that my training had been insufficient over the course of the past two months and 100-mile finish would elude me once again.  I persevered through the 100K and once back in my hotel room I managed to book an earlier flight home.  The rain started to fall shortly after midnight and when I left for the early drive to airport the next morning, the temperature had dropped significantly, the bitter winds had picked up, and the rain continued to fall.  I was happy that I wasn’t still out on the course!

To date I have completed a total of six 100-milers…in twelve attempts.  HALF!  What the heck!  That’s absolutely brutal!  I’m a high school guidance counselor, so I know that a grade of 50% is usually the sign of a lack of effort by the student or a generous gift from the teacher.  If I was a major league baseball player with a .500 average, I’d be poised to shatter Ted Williams’ long-standing batting average record.  If I was an NBA star with a 50% shooting percentage from the field, I’d probably be leading the league in scoring.  But as an ultra-runner, this track record is simply pathetic.

A wise ultra runner once told me:  “If you want to run a hundred miles, you’ve got to WANT to run a hundred miles”.  Looking back on my feeble performances of 2010, it is apparent that I really didn’t WANT to finish any of these races that badly.  As I was completing my 11^th and final lap at Bartram, a fellow Canadian runner suggested that I still had some seventeen hours to complete the remaining 7 loops (or 40-miles) and that I could walk that distance backwards and still have time under the cutoff.  He was probably right in that I had enough time, but there was no way in hell that I was walking that much.  Proof that I didn’t want it bad enough.

All was not lost on this trip though.  I did manage to lower my 100K PR by over an hour.  Also, with an official 100K time to my credit, I am able to cross Georgia off my list of states where I’ve run a marathon or farther.  Finally, I returned home safely before the snow storms and all the ensuing flight cancellations.  My original flight was cancelled, so who knows when I would have gotten home with my $20 case of duty free beer.

Despite not having completed a 100-miler this year, I have had some memorable runs in 2010.  Most notably are the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim adventure, the Yukon River Trail Marathon, and being able to pace my friend and co-blogger Bill through his first marathon.  It has now been over fourteen months (and counting) since my last 100-mile finish at the Iroquois 100.  In order to end this drought and be more successful at this distance, I really need to train harder in 2011 or stop signing up for these things altogether.  I have some interesting events planned for next year and hopefully one of the reports on M.E. will be about a 100-mile finish.

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Twenty-five 100-milers?  Most people don’t ______that often in one year!

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Gotta run,

Vince

Note: Pictures are courtesy of the Bartram Winter Trail Runs 2009. ..same course, different race.

Tagged as: 100-Miler, Places, ultrarunning