2002 ARKANSAS 100 MILE ENDURANCE RUN By John Wood On Saturday October 5, 2002, a group of people from Florida participated in the Arkansas Traveller 100 mile endurance run. Local runners included Dan Miller, Pete Pfannerstill, John Wood, and Lisa Hoehne (from Tampa). The following is a personal account of my experience. My wife (Trudi) and I left the weekend before the race to take a short vacation in Arkansas. We stayed in the Hot Springs area and got see some of the local attractions. We did a little hiking and visited Hot Springs National Park. The park is quite interesting and can be toured in about 3 to 4 hours. On our vacation, we also drove parts of the running course in a rented 4-wheel drive Blazer. There were some rugged sections that really necessitated having a higher profile vehicle and, of course, there were sections that we could not access legally with any vehicle. The running course consists of an initial 16.4-mile loop with 7.8 miles of it on a hiking trail, and then an out-and-back 83.6-mile section on roads and logging trails with some sections easy and others a bit rugged. About a month prior to this run, I read all the previous race reports written by past participants and studied the elevation profile. I decided that my goal would be to complete the course in 23 hours if I felt good and if the weather cooperated. I made up a chart of all the aid stations with the predicted times to accomplish my goal. I shrunk the chart down and taped copies around my water bottles so I could check my progress at every station along the way. For a couple of days in the middle of the week, we fretted about the weather since the projected path of hurricane Lili showed it passing very close to Little Rock. As it ended up, it rained much of Thursday, but by late Friday, things cleared up and race day was near perfect weather with temperatures starting out in the high 50s and climbing to about 80. The Thursday rain kept the dust down a little and we ended up with some dry northerly breezes as the storm moved east of the area. On Thursday, we picked up Dan and Hazel Miller at the Little Rock Airport and we promptly went back to Hot Springs for another tour of the Park to kill time before check-in at our motel. Friday, we checked in at race headquarters, got weighed, bought some stuff at the mini-expo table, took a nap, and went back for the spaghetti dinner. We drove the Browns Creek section of the course before heading back to the motel in Morrilton. After a delicious breakfast at the Waffle House on Saturday morning, we headed for the Quachita National Forest where the race starts. After checking in and taking care of other business, the race started promptly at 6:00 AM. My strategy was to go out a little strong since I had heard that you could get stuck behind some slow packs of runners on the single-track hiking trail that begins at 9 miles. I ran with Rick Burnett from Maryland who I previously met and ran with at 100-mile runs in Vermont and Virginia. We were running in about 10th place when we hit the hiking trail, bypassing the first 2 aid stations. We actually had to let a few people pass us because we could not maintain a quick speed on the rugged trail, but we had no problems with people bunching up. This aggressive move had another benefit. Apparently, some yellow jacket bees had a nest in the ground along side the trail, and the early runners got them upset. Starting with about the 15th person, the bees came out and stung many of the runners as they passed by. Dan Miller reported getting nailed 3 times. We easily cruised into the Lake Silvia aid station (16.7 miles) just before 9:00 AM, which was right on schedule according to my planned 23 hour pace chart. I remember commenting on how great my legs felt, hopping over rocks and logs, almost effortlessly. I thought that it would be awesome to feel this way later in the race. At the aid station, I grabbed some food and headed out, and was a little surprised to see Dan Miller 50 yards behind me. He also seemed to be making a strong push at this point. Rick and I continued to run together for the next 1 ½ hours keeping just a couple minutes ahead of my pace chart. The section from Electronic Tower (mile 24.7) to Rocky Gap (mile 28.9) was pretty rocky and tough on the ankles. I knew this would be a difficult section on the return trip in the dark. Rick and I slowed just a little, knowing that we had been pretty aggressive up to this point. Soon I heard some heavy breathing behind me and mentioned to Rick that we had a strong runner bearing down on us. We didn't dare take our eyes off the trail to turn around, but as the runner came by, he put his hand on my shoulder and grinned as he moved on by. Imagine my surprise to see my friend and training partner Dan Miller come cruising by me and looking as strong as ever. My first instinct was to go after him and fall in behind, but I decided otherwise, knowing that I was running my race, not his. After about 10 minutes, I felt that Rick was going a little slow so I gradually moved in front and picked up the pace a little. I saw Dan leaving the aid station at Rocky Gap just as I was entering. For the next 20 minutes, I saw Dan far ahead of me in the open sections. I would gain on him going up the hills, and he would pull away on the down hills. As I came over the last hill before the turn to Lake Winona, I did not see Dan again and thought that he must have been flying to get down the hill and around the corner in such a short time span. At Lake Winona I met my crew, Trudi and Hazel, and said to them, "Dan has already left?" I got a funny look and was told that Dan had not arrived yet. Then I said that he must have ducked off the trail for an urgent pit stop. I sat down for a moment and drank a can of Boost and took some e-caps. Rick went cruising by and made a sarcastic remark about my crew coddling me too much. I got back to running pretty quickly after checking the time and noticing that I was right on my predicted pace at 32 miles. I was still feeling pretty good, but not quite as energetic at that point. I caught back up to Rick and we continued a nice steady pace together. I was still wondering what happened to Dan, hoping that he did not get lost. Later I found out that he made a wrong turn at the bottom of the hill. The section from Lake Winona to Pigtrail Aid station (36.8) seemed to be a continuous steady climb on easy gravel road for about 3 miles. It really wasn't that steep but just steep enough that we didn't feel like burning up a lot of energy running it. I think we alternated between running and walking. When we arrived at Pigtrail, I noticed that I had fallen 6 minutes behind my planned 23 hour split pace. The section to Club Flamingo (39.7) was still on road, but more like a 4-wheel drive road with rocks and ruts. We all got our pictures taken at Club Flamingo with Hawaiian leis put around our necks. I fell to 9 minutes behind my schedule. We continued on to Smith Mountain aid station (42.9) and shortly after that, began the climb over Smith Pinnacle, which takes place on an abandoned logging road. This was some of the more rugged area with a lot of loose and sharp rocks to mess you up. On the way down, I had to take a nature break and this is where Rick left me behind. I came into Barton Mountain (46.4) at 3:11 PM, 18 minutes behind schedule. I needed an extended break due to some cramping in my calves and a nice lady there massaged them for me. When I started to leave, I went the wrong way but they caught me and set me straight. Who would have thought that the trail would go right through the middle of their canopy? Dan caught up to me at this station but I was quickly on my way out and on the way to our crew at the Powerline (48.5). I went through the usual routine at Powerline crew station, drinking a can of Boost and taking E-Caps. In general, I felt OK, but a little exhausted having just gone through the hottest part of the day. I was 20 minutes behind schedule, so it looked like 23 hours was out of the picture now. The section out to the turn around was easy gravel road with rolling hills but was rather boring and long. I lost some motivation on this section and also had a few bouts with cramps. I recall going past the 50-mile mark in 10 hours and 4 minutes. I stopped at the Chile Pepper station (52.4) and ate a tortilla shell filled with grilled chicken pieces. It was very tasty but took a while to digest. The climb up to the turnaround seemed to be a series of long and relentless hills. I arrived there just before 6:00 PM, ½ hour behind schedule. The return trip to Powerline (67.7) was a real drag but I got see all my fellow runners and that provided a little lift. Back at Powerline, I felt weak but drank another can of Boost and drank some Gatorade that Trudi had in the truck. The purple Gatorade tasted far better then that boring orange stuff they had at the aid stations. I put on my bright headlight and clipped an LED light on my pack belt. As I walked over to get weighed, I suddenly got very chilled and on the scale I was shaking uncontrollably. The needle of the scale was shaking too, and they estimated that I was within 1 pound of the mandatory "sit-down and eat" requirement. I got some nasty soup and ran back to the truck to get a long sleeve shirt. I dumped the soup, drank some more Gatorade and checked out of the station. For the next few miles, I worked to get re-focused, knowing that a completion under 24 hours was now in jeopardy. I also knew that I had to take food and liquid breaks to maintain strength. That meant only one thing. I would have to up the running pace a bit and fight the fatigue. The trip back down Smith Mountain was slow because of the rocks, ruts, and berms on the trail. I would run easy for 20 yards or so and the walk for a bit, followed by running and walking until I got to the easy road section. I came into Smith Mountain Aid Station at about 10:30 PM, still 30 minutes behind schedule. At Club Flamingo (76.4), I drank another can of Boost that I had in a drop bag and followed up with Coke and some chocolate. This started to perk me up a bit and I was able to run most of the rough section into Pigtrail. I questioned a volunteer at Pigtrail about the possibility of completing in 24 hours and he said it should be no problem. He also said it was mostly downhill to Lake Winona which was the next crew station but still 4.6 miles down the road. The volunteer failed to mention that the first ½ mile was really uphill and I started to get discouraged after a few minutes. Eventually the course leveled off and started a gradual downhill. I got real motivated here and started a continuous steady drive that lasted for about 45 minutes. I cruised into Lake Winona (83.9) at 1:17 AM, 43 minutes behind schedule. I continued drinking Coke and eating chocolate. They weighed me here but failed to remove my water bottles from the waist pack so I checked out fine. I think everybody was too tired to care or notice. My pace chart indicated that it would take me approximately 4 ½ hours to finish which would put me real close to 24 hours at 6:00 AM. I decided that I would try to complete it in about 4 hours. I moved on out right after changing the batteries in my little hand-held penlight. I even ran up some of the hills but that might have been counterproductive as I soon slowed to barely a jogging pace and fell in behind a group of three who walked much of the way up to Rocky Gap (87.2). Knowing that we were about to enter a rugged section, I didn't want to get behind a slow group, so I never even stopped at the aid station. I did the best I could, jogging and running easily through this rocky section and at 3:03 AM, I emerged at the Electronic Tower station (91.4), only 23 minutes behind schedule. I was sure I could beat 24 hours now, and had a wild idea that I could be close to 23. I guess my brain wasn't thinking very well here, but I took off on the good road sections and headed for the Puppy Puddle Patch station at 93.7 miles. I was pretty fatigued when I got there and had to sit down for just a few minutes. No one caught up to me by the time I started out on the final stretch. The next two miles went by fairly fast and I passed a couple of guys in the first mile. Soon the road got a bit rugged and treacherous and I fell back into a walking pace, occasionally looking back for any oncoming flashlights and scanning the trail in front of me for the big mud puddles. Toward the end of this rugged road section, I glanced at my watch and saw that 23 hours had already passed. I still had over 2 miles to go and I was continuing to walk, almost in a sleep state-of-mind. I took another glance to the rear and saw two approaching flashlights. Oh crap, I thought, there is no way I will let these guys pass me. It was as if someone kicked me in the butt and I immediately took off running. Soon I came to the intersection where a guy came out from a parked truck and recorded my number. The next section was downhill, and I raced as fast as my fatigued legs would carry me. On and on I went, forgetting how far it was to the paved section, but I got there in another 10 minutes and passed another runner on the way. I hit the paved uphill road and hardly broke stride. Soon two flashlights appeared and were headed toward me. My first thought was that it was a couple of guys headed to the campground, but then one of them asked me if I had run the course before. I said no, and they said that we must have missed a turn for the finish line. I told them it was up the steep paved section just a little ways ahead. They questioned me a couple of times about this (there were no markings or glow lights), but I knew damn well the finish line was just ahead. I did, however, forget about the two curves in the road, so I was really shot from running up the steep inclines. Nevertheless, I kept running and left those two guys behind. I felt a little bad, but it was just another two places I gained in the finishing order. It helps to learn the trail ahead of time when possible. Soon the cars appeared, parked off to the side, and in a few seconds it was just an easy sprint down the lane to the finish line. I finished in 23 hours, 28 minutes, and 50 seconds. What a rush I got completing this thing in under 24 hours. Trudi was there, trying to get my picture, but the camera was just not cooperating. I think she finally got it but I really didn't care. I went in and changed to some warmer clothes and started drinking whatever fluids I could hold down. I'll have admit that it this point, I thought we would have a pretty good wait for Dan Miller to finish up. Trudi and Hazel assured me that this was not going to be the case, because he was only 5 minutes behind me at Lake Winona. I thought "Dan must be really booking", and sure enough, the music started up for another finisher and it was Dan, coming in only 8 minutes behind me. Now later on, I heard that Dan took the wrong turn after Lake Winona (the second time he went the wrong way), so in actuality he ran faster then me, but unfortunately a little longer too. What an incredible performance by Dan and it was his first under 24 hour buckle ever! I think I see some new challenges coming up between Dan and I. We have entered the 2003 Western States lottery as buddies, so we are praying we get in next year. This could be a real fun time. The Florida folks did a pretty good job at Arkansas this year, with 3 of us "over 50" guys completing under 24 hours, one 48 year old also under 24 hours, a 49 year old female in 26:17, and our own local runner, Pete Pfannerstill (one of the best massage therapists in the area), completing in 27:49. Our first timer, 21 year old, Lisa Hoehne had a significant foot injury and was forced to drop by mandate from the race personnel, despite her desire to continue on. She made it to 70 miles, which is the most distance covered by her, ever at one time. Mentally, she has just what it takes to be a 100 miler, but with 99 % of her training on non-rocky rugged trails, it will take a while to toughen the feet and ankles. She was very disappointed, but in no way discouraged from future attempts. We wish her the best. In conclusion, this was a very challenging course. It is not that difficult, I'm sure, compared to the many Western mountain trail 100s, but there are a few tricky areas. The aid is incredibly good, and the Southern hospitality is quite noticeable. You couldn't ask for nicer aid station personnel and race coordinators. This year, we really lucked out on the weather too. That can often be factor when deciding if a good time was had by most. I'll definitely be coming back for another Arkansas challenge.