Sunrise in New York at the Iroquois Trails 100
My big running goal for 2009 was to complete The Tahoe Rim Trail 100-miler in July. Unfortunately, the heat and altitude of that race got to me, and I withdrew after 50 miles and over fourteen hours of suffering. Ultra runners are known to have short memories, so only a few days after my DNF (did not finish) I was searching the Internet for another 100-miler. I figured that I had done the training and I really did not want this failed attempt looming over my head too long. A friend and training partner, Scott, was already entered in the Iroquois Trails Ultra 100-Mile Run (now the Virgil Crest Ultras) and it was within driving distance, so this race appeared to be the obvious choice.
Seeing as the Iroquois 100 is still in its infancy – only the second running of the event – I emailed the race director to get further information about the run. Feeling reassured, I filled out the on-line registration and was forced to re-evaluate my fall racing and training schedule. I was hoping to return to Montreal to run the Oasis Marathon in September, but had to cancel it as that race was only a week before the 100-miler. I am not crazy enough to do both races!
Part of my downfall at the Tahoe race was not having a pacer. A pacer is a security runner that can accompany the participant after a certain point of the race, generally during the late stages of the run. My wife Joanne was taking care of the limited crewing duties there, but she was not about to do any running, especially not at night in the High Sierra mountains. So my next task was to convince (read: sucker) someone into missing a day of work, accompany me to some remote area in North-Eastern New York, spend an entire day navigating back roads to meet me at far removed aid stations to cater my every whim, then spend the entire night running some thirty miles and listening to my complaints and finally drive my cranky butt home. Most of the ultra-running friends I pitched this idea to were much too wise and kindly turned down this offer, so I enlisted family. My son-in-law, Ross, paced me once before in 2006, the year I DNF’ed for a second consecutive time at The Mohican 100. He was too nice to say no, and I suppose wanted to prove that he was up to the challenge as I jokingly blamed him for my ill-fated run that year.
We loaded up my vehicle, much like the Sherpa pack their mules, and hit the road early Friday morning. The drive through New York State was uneventful, other than the many pee pit stops along I-90. I was determined to start the race well hydrated! The start of the race was at The Gatherings Ski Resort. Scott had registered early for this race, and had booked one of only six cabins available to runners. The start line was approximately thirty feet from our front door. We checked in, picked up our race packets, got our pictures taken for the webcast and refuelled at the pre-race pasta dinner. After the meal, guest speaker Christopher McDougall gave an inspiring talk. McDougal is the author of Born to Run, a book about the Tarahumara Indians, a tribe of bare-foot runners in the Mexican Copper Canyon. I had finished reading the book only a few days earlier and very much enjoyed it, so this talk was an added bonus.
Sleep does not come very easily the night before a 100-miler. The fact that I had the beginnings of a cold and a severely sore throat did not help. The alarm sounded at 5am and we began our morning preparations. The weather was cool but we were able to stay inside our cabin literally minutes before the race start. The race director gave his final directives and we were off. I secretly dedicated my race to Christian, a graduate from my school who has been basically in a coma for the past two weeks. In an effort to protect his brother from a handful of thugs, Christian received several blows resulting in massive head injuries, a fractured skull and cracked sternum. To make matters worse, Christian had received a kidney transplant a few years earlier and his father’s donated organ was not responding well to the heavy doses of pain medication he was currently on. If I had thoughts of dropping out, I would remind myself that Christian was not about to quit in his battle, therefore I would not be quitting either.
The race starts with a gentle half mile of roads before a sharp turn and an immediate ascent of the ski hill. At the top we were treated to a spectacular sunrise, but that was short lived as we ran down the other side of the hill before ascending it a second time on the other side. The next section of the race was an eighteen mile out-and-back of single track forest technical trails with several short and steep climbs. At mile twenty-four, we were back at Gatherings ready to tackle the next portion of the course. At this junction, I unfortunately missed a turn and went off course for a few minutes. Luckily, I noticed my mistake early enough and did not lose too much time. I reminded myself to stay patient and not try to make up lost time too soon, especially during this hottest part of the day. I knew that if I bided my time, my experience would propel me throughout the night.
The elevation on this second out-and-back was much greater than the first twenty-five miles with longer climbs and toe-smashing descents. The nice thing about this type of course layout is crossing all the runners on their return trips. Nearing the turnaround point, I noticed that there were a lot of runners heading the other way and therefore not that many behind me. I reached the aid station and found three other runners there. This was my chance to make a move. Ross was there with a slice of pizza which I grabbed, along with a fresh water bottle and some Diet Coke (healthy eating, I think not!), and wasted no time getting back out on the trail. I resolved to run hard for five miles and try to put some distance between me and those runners and try to close the gap on others. This game of hunter versus hunted kept my mind alert and reminded me of the following African proverb:
“Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up. It knows it must outrun the fastest lion, or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the slowest antelope, or it will starve. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the lion or an antelope – when the sun comes up, you’d better be running”.
I was back at the start/finish area (mile 50) at 7pm, exactly thirteen hours into the event. With half the race behind us, we were to repeat the entire course a second time. Most of my aid station stops had been in the three minute range. I was planning on having a longer stop at this station, but told Ross that seeing as I still had a bit of sunlight left, I would leave that station quickly to try to get as many miles in, up and down that darn ski hill again, before sunset. I would return to Gatherings in less than six miles and at that point Ross would be lacing them up and joining me. As we were getting ready for the night leg – dry shoes, clean socks and warm clothing - someone approached us in the dark and said: “Hey, Vince, great job”, to which I replied: “thanks, who’s that”? The person turned out to be my cousin Steve from Ottawa. He and his girlfriend Amanda had been tracking my progress on the web and decided to take a road trip down to Ithaca to encourage me. This was such an unexpected surprise and gave me a huge boost at a tough time of the race.
With Ross’s company, we started knocking off the miles in the dark. The highlight of the next twenty-four miles was the cacophony of hoots we heard from owls. One in particular sounded like it was following us for nearly half an hour and could not have been very far above us in the trees. Another wildlife encounter involved a skunk who scampered out of the woods to greet us and ran beside of us for a few meters along the road back to Gatherings. “Do not do anything crazy,” warned Ross!
We were now through seventy-five miles and Ross had run nearly nineteen of them. All things considered, we were still moving well. No runners had passed us through the night, and we even pegged off a couple of my competitors. Since Ross is relatively new to running, and has never run anything over eighteen miles, I suggested he rest for the next couple of sections and jump back in from mile eighty-two to ninety-two when I knew I would need the company. Much to my dismay, when I arrived at the eighty-two mile aid station, Ross was not there. The roaring camp fire was enticing me to stay a while, so I waited a few minutes. Another runner was sleeping soundly in a chair by the fire and looked so peaceful and comfortable. With other runners hot on my heels, I could not afford to wait too long. It appeared I was on my own. About two miles down the trail, Ross caught up to me, huffing and puffing. As it turns out, he had fallen asleep in the car which was parked some twenty feet from the aid station. None of the volunteers even knew he was there.
Vincesquatch
I had now seen a second sunrise and was happy to have my pacer back. I revealed to Ross that I had been experiencing some hallucinations, spotting imaginary snakes on the trails, seeing army camps set-up in the distance and disappearing as I got closer and odd things seemed to be growing out of trees. I was reduced to a slow shuffle, but Ross ensured that we maintained steady forward progress trying to do as much “running” on any downhill slope. At mile ninety-two, I once again bid adieu to Ross and even looked forward to completing the race on my own. The second day was considerably hotter than the first, but I was on the home stretch now. With less than three miles to go, the runners must descend a very long, steep hill. My toes were so badly bruised and every step was agonizing and tricky. I would walk sideways for a few steps, and even tried to walk backwards a bit, but this technique is ill-advised. I was doing anything to avoid my toes from smashing inside my shoes. I reached the road and had about a mile left to the finish. I resumed my slow shuffle on my way to the finish line. Being near the back of the pack does have its advantages. The awards ceremony had already begun, so all the runners and their crews had gathered at the finish area. The applause I received from the large crowd was certainly heart-warming.
My unflattering final time of thirty hours and forty-three minutes once again placed me in the middle-of-the-pack. I was the fifteenth finisher out of thirty starters, nineteen of which succeeded in breaking the tape. During a 100-mile run, we experience many emotional highs and lows. People often ask me why I run these races. I once read an editorial where the writer attempts to explain this. When asked this question, many will answer “Because I can”. But the author of this article suggested that the answer should be “Because I can fail”. We live a lifestyle in which many comforts of life are guaranteed. When you toe the line of a 100-mile run, there really are no guarantees. Things can, and most certainly will go awry. How we deal with these obstacles and adjust both mentally and physically is the true test.
Vince finishing the Iroquois Trails 100.
When I had signed up for this event, I wasn’t sure if the 36-hour time limit was generous or truly an indication of the toughness of the course. As it turns out, with the exception of Tahoe, Iroquois Trails 100 was my toughest race to date. So with six 100-mile finishes (in nine attempts) to my credit, once my toes heal, I am sure I will be shopping for my next event. Like I said earlier, we have poor memories!
Postscript: My pre-race sore throat was a full-blown cold by the end of the race. Ross ran nearly thirty miles, his first ultra marathon! My cousin Steve and Amanda stayed to see me finish before returning to Ottawa. Scott ran an incredible 23:30. Christian woke up Friday and is responding, able to move his hands and stick out his tongue when asked. Two weeks later, Christian was walking, albeit gingerly and with some assistance, up and down the hospital corridors. He is now home and recovering well. Without a doubt, an example of another Monumental Effort!
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Here is a comment Monumental Effort author Vince received from a colleague and Grade 12 teach offline which was requested that we post:
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Just wanted to let you know that the grade 12′s loved your story. They were very inspired and impressed that you are such a die hard runner as well as a great writer. The proverb was a nice touch, the students laughed. They also enjoyed discovering that the writer was you half way through when your name is mentioned and then began to piece together who Christian was as well. We discussed the symbols of the owl, the fire, the mountains, the bruised toes, etc. I also had them look at the story in terms of life itself and how this race parallels our journey through life, the aspects of isolation, having family and friends help us through the journey but also the final success coming from within ourselves alone. All in all it was a great introduction to my unit entitled “living in harmony with self: the discovery of identity”. We also reflected upon the effectiveness of your starting your story with the mention of Christian as well as ending with him waking up which emphasizes the theme of perseverance and the overall connection to the importance of life itself. I`ll definitely be using it from now on.
Thanks again!!!!
Leah Clark
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