The Old Dominion 100 Mile Memorial Run - Hamilton Tyler May 28-29, 2005 It was now pitch dark and I was relying solely on my flashlight to guide me. I had been running for almost 16 hours in the mountains of Virginia and had covered approximately 67 miles. For fun I turned off my light and put my hand in front of my face - I could not see a thing. Just then the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and it started to spit rain. I heard a branch crack loudly in the woods nearby signifying some type of animal company. No other runners were remotely close to me and I had another 33 miles to go. What had I gotten myself into? When I started running ultramarathons four years ago, running a 100 mile race was the furthest thing from my mind. After running a couple of 50 mile races and approaching my 40th year almost two years ago, I thought that running a 100 mile race would be great way to celebrate turning 40. Unfortunately my legs did not cooperate and due to injury I was forced to delay my first attempt at 100 miles until this year. I sought out an “easy” 100 mile race, if there is such a thing. I did not want the challenge of running for a significant period of time at night for the first time to coincide with my first attempt at 100 miles. The Old Dominion 100 Mile Memorial Run seemed to fit the bill. It was late enough in the year that it would give me a chance to run some shorter ultramarathons in preparation. As it turned out I ran the B&A and Frederick marathons, the Hinte-Anderson Trail 50k and the Bull Run Run 50 miler during the three months leading up to the race. The Old Dominion 100 Mile Memorial Run starts and finishes in Woodstock, Virginia, about 20 miles south of the end of Route 66 on Route 81 in the Shenandoah Valley. Conveniently, the race starts in the parking lot of the Ramada Inn. This was key for me as I wanted to take my family and they were not too interested in getting up and driving me to a 5:00 am start. The course is an out and back that is run twice. That is, you run out 25 miles, turn around and come back to the hotel at mile 50, then do the same thing to make 100 miles. Within each large out and back there are three short out and backs. There was a corresponding 50 mile race as well. There was only one thing between the start and the turn around point - a very large mountain. The race is run on roads, although once you are on the mountain the roads are dirt and crushed stone and quite rural. As I drove the course the day before for the first time my tension level went up as I realized that there was very little level ground to this course. Even the 6 ˝ miles in the town of Woodstock leading to the mountain has some nice sized hills. I awakened at 3:40 am on the morning of Saturday, May 28, 2005, 5 minutes before my alarm was even set to go off. I had slept about 4 ˝ hours with nerves getting the best of me. My things were laid out and I taped the balls of my feet with duct tape, something I would much regret 9 hours later. I fueled up with some breakfast and made a last minute check of my gear. My family was asleep in an adjoining room, not wanting to be awakened at such an early hour. I had chosen to wear road shoes since we would be on roads. I put on my Nike Shox TL2 shoes, one of the most cushioned road shoes available. I figured 100 miles was going to be a lot of pounding so I should minimize what I could. I headed down to the start, but stopped in the lobby as everyone was assembled there to avoid the chilly 50 degree temperature. Since the start was just out in the parking lot, there was no concern about missing it. If I was a little late, what the heck. I was going to be running for the next 24 hours anyway. There were no traditional race bibs in this race. I sought out the race director and he wrote my race number in indelible ink directly on my leg. I felt like an Ironman already. I was number 20 out of 25 starters in the 100 mile run. There were 23 runners in the 50 mile race, so a total of 48 runners lined up at 5:00 a.m. I don’t remember there being a gun at the start. At some point someone said “go” and off we went. My plan was to start slow and remain slow. My original goal was 24 hours and I harbored hopes of traveling 100 miles by foot in one day until I drove the course the day before and saw how hilly it was. I decided my secondary goal would be just to finish under the time limit of 30 hours. The first 6.5 miles were on roads through the town of Woodstock. Not too many people were stirring at this early hour and it was still dark, although there were generally streetlights, so it was not necessary to use a flashlight or headlamp. I was just jogging easily and introducing myself to different runners. There were people from all over the country. In the first 6 miles I met runners from California, New Jersey and Georgia, certainly a diverse group. I took it very easy the first 6.5 miles and stopped at the aid station at the base of the mountain in 1 hour and 9 minutes. I was carrying a pack with 2 bottles - 1 containing water and the other Conquest, an electrolyte replacement drink with sugar and carbs that had worked well for me in training runs. I had some Clif Bars in my pack as well. My plan was to take 1 Succeed pill (salt, electrolytes, stomach buffer) an hour on the hour so I would not forget. I had found in the past that the extra salt of the Succeed helped ward off muscle cramps. I topped off both my bottles and drank some fluids at the aid station. One of the keys to long races is to stay hydrated. I knew that if I ever stopped drinking that I would be in trouble. I crossed the north fork of the Shenandoah River and started up the mountain. The climb up Woodstock Mountain is about 2.5 miles and consists of hardpack road of stone and dirt. It is very steep and has 17 switchbacks. The mountain itself is a little over 2000 feet of elevation, so I expect the climb was a little less. Everybody that I could see was powerwalking up the mountain. It took me about 48 minutes to crest the top of the mountain. The reward from the big climb was a long gradual downhill into Fort Valley on mostly dirt roads. Having driven Fort Valley the previous day, I can attest to its beauty. Mountains everywhere you look and everything was very green. You could tell that the living was slow in the valley as it was well off the beaten path. There was a general store and a post office which consisted of all of the commercial enterprises that I saw. There were very nice houses with views of mountains both ways beside doublewide trailers surrounded by broken down cars. The 4 mile downhill to the main road in the valley went fairly easily after the big climb. I was drinking lots of fluids and my body was processing the water well. I also started to eat at the 10 mile aid station, taking in a half a PBJ and some potato chips for the added salt. Downhills in an ultra are somewhat deceptive because you think they are easy, but your quads get pounded. I deliberately did not run the long downhill hard, keeping to my race philosophy of slow, slow and slower. I reached the first of 3 short out and backs at 12.75 miles in 2 hours and 37 minutes. The 3 out and backs all originated from the dirt road that traversed the backside of Woodstock Mountain. The “out” was downhill to the main road that split the valley and “back” was uphill back to the dirt road. It was set up this way in partial part because it was a little easier for the race personnel to monitor the aid stations since they were relatively close together on the main road. I continued my slow pace as the day heated up. I finally reached the end of the dirt road at mile 21 in 4 hours and 26 minutes. I was excited that my wife and kids would meet me at mile 25 at the turnaround aid station. I ran through the only semblance of a town there was, the post office and general store. The day before the lady at the post office had let me come in the back and look at the detailed road map since I was lost and could not follow the directions. She told me what road she lived on and said to stop by if I happened to run by, but unfortunately the she did not live on the course. As I approached mile 24, my family approached in our car and my two boys who are ages 7 and 9 jumped out. It was a true time of parental pleasure to have them run the last mile into the aid station with me. I reached the 25 mile aid station at Peterson’s Farm in 5 hours and 14 minutes for a pace of 12:34/mile, a pace I was pretty pleased with and felt I could maintain. I took a long time at the aid station to change shirts, retape my feet and eat. It would have been longer had my family not been there to help me. One big mistake I made was having everything in two big bags, including lots of stuff I did not need. I took too much time looking through the bags finding what I needed. This was the biggest aid station by far since it was the turnaround, so I took care to eat a little more than usual. I spent almost 22 minutes at the aid station and trotted out with both the boys at my side again for another ˝ mile. Again, this was truly wonderful to have them both running with me. My family drove ahead and waited at the post office which was about 2.5 miles from the aid station. I said my good-byes and they headed back to Woodstock to play some mini-golf and wait for me to come over the mountain. The race directors had discouraged handlers from driving on the dirt roads on the mountain in favor of the safety of the runners since the roads were very narrow. I was now mostly running by myself although I would see an occasional runner on an out and back. I had long abandoned my plan of running for 8 minutes and walking for 2 minutes. I was just walking the uphills and running the downhills and infrequent flats. The first out and back on the way back was made eventful by the ferocious dogs that were at the house nearest the aid station. They were chained but you could hear them straining at the chains to get loose. More aid stations like that one and I would not have wasted as much time filling up water bottles and eating. I reached the bottom of the third out and back at about 37.5 miles in just over 8 hours and started the long 4 mile hike up the backside of Woodstock Mountain. I fell in with Phil from California for the long hike. Although I could have easily run parts of this climb, I was still looking at the big picture and taking it slow. Phil who was 20 years my elder at 61 was running his 46th 100 mile race. He had already run 3 this year! I hung with Phil for half the way up until I started having my first stomach pains of the race. These were easily solved by an extended trip to the woods which wasted many minutes. I started back up the mountain feeling good and finally crested it after more than an hour of walking. There was a great view of both sides of the mountain from the top which I stopped to view. One of the reasons that I have been running more ultras than marathons lately is that I really enjoy being in the mountains. I figured I would make up time by running the switchbacks down the other side of the mountain. Almost immediately I begin having discomfort in my feet. It did not feel like blisters, but like the skin was being rubbed raw on the top of my feet around the balls of the feet. It also felt like I was pounding the heck out of my quads going downhill. I reached the bottom of the mountain and both my feet were very painful. Thankfully my family was there and I sat on the back of the car and removed my shoes. The tape that I had on the balls of my feet had come loose and the leading edge had rubbed the skin raw on the inside and tops of both feet. I cleaned them off and applied a product called “Second Skin” which is supposed to be like a second layer of skin. This was quite the experience in pain as it really stung. I then applied gauze and this time I used athletic tape over it all instead of duct tape, but the damage had been done. This wasted at least 20 minutes of time. It was the heat of the day at this point, but at least my feet felt better. I covered the 6.5 miles through Woodstock back to the hotel in 1 hour and 10 minutes. I had completed 50 miles in 11 hours and 27 minutes for a total pace of 13:45/mile. The second 25 miles had taken 6 hours and 13 minutes of running, including the over 20 minute stop to fix my feet. Surprisingly, my legs really weren’t feeling too bad. However, I made the mistake of going up to my hotel room to change clothes. This felt way too comfortable as I splashed water on my face and used a real bathroom. I had to redo one of my feet and that took a long time. My kids were watching the NCAA semifinal lacrosse game, but luckily it was being delayed by lightening or I would have dallied even longer. I finally brought myself to leave after a total of 29 minutes between the aid station and eating and time spent in the room. I left the 50 mile turnaround at 11 hours and 57 minutes. It was just about 5:00 pm and the heat of the day. I took care to drink a lot on the way to the mountain and reached it in 1 hour and 14 minutes, just 5 minutes slower than 12 hours earlier. I refilled everything and headed up the mountain. I again encountered Phil from California. This was a trend that would repeat itself the rest of the race. I was moving faster than Phil, but because he was such a veteran of the 100 mile races, he was getting in and out of the aid stations in a fraction of the time that I was spending. Certainly a lesson learned for the next effort. My legs really started to feel like lead on the climb up Woodstock Mountain for the second time. I was definitely moving slower. Jogging down the long straightway on the backside of the mountain provided some relief. The sun was headed down at this point. It started to get pretty lonely. All of the 50 mile runners were done. A number of the 100 mile racers had dropped at 50 when they got back to the hotel, so that left even fewer runners on the course. As I reached 60 miles going down the mountain, I saw Serge England-Arbona of Baltimore coming the other direction. He was at 90 miles at about 14 hours and 30 minutes. I offered him some encouragement as he ran swiftly by me. This guy is a 100 mile machine having won the Umstead 100 mile race in April in 15 hours and 26 minutes and run the Massanutten 100 mile race in 22 hours and 47 minutes, finishing in “just” 7th place just 3 weeks before this race. I really did not feel too bad because he is one of the elites in North America among long distance runners. He went on to win this race handily in 15 hours and 43 minutes. As it started to get dark I put my headlamp on. I was carrying both a headlamp and a flashlight. The headlamp did not provide quite enough light to my liking in those dark woods and the bright setting would last only 4 hours on the batteries. Although I had spare batteries, I found the flashlight much easier to use. It has two settings as well, a 3 LED low setting and a 10 LED bright setting. I liked having the option of swinging the light at the many different sounds I heard. The batteries never ran out. When it started to spit rain when it got dark, I was a little concerned because I was wearing only a short sleeve shirt and my warm clothes were in my drop bag at the Peterson Farm, another 8 miles or so. I started to get really chilled, but decided movement was the key to warding it off, and I did not have a choice anyway. I had stupidly left my emergency trash bag at the hotel. That would have at least kept me dry. Luckily for me the storm cloud passed quickly and before long the stars were out. It is always amazing to me to view the stars from out in the county because it is almost like being in a planetarium it is so clear. Because the moon would not come up for several hours it was quite dark and there was virtually no ambient light to distort the view. I was still moving forward at a decent pace, running when I could. It was definitely tougher to run the steep downhills in the dark. It was still lonely and several of the aid stations were now unmanned which did not really bother me too much except for the aid station near the killer dogs that were still chained outside at 10:00 pm. I reached the end of the dirt road at mile 71 in just over 17 hours and shot the breeze with the two high school boys that the race director had coerced to man the aid station. To their credit they had some hot chicken noodle soup waiting for me and were cranking some hard driving rock and roll which got me going. I made good time the last 4 miles to the 75 mile turn around, arriving at 17 hours and 52 minutes. The third 25 mile segment had taken 5 hours and 55 minutes, not bad for part of it in the dark. It was a welcome site to approach Peterson’s Farm once again. Because there was a 30 hour cutoff, I had over 12 hours to make the last 25 miles which I knew I could walk the whole way if I had to and still make it. I answered the medical director’s questions to his satisfaction and weighted in. I had only lost 2 pounds from my prerace weight which was excellent. A loss of 7% or a gain of 5% would get you pulled from the race (a gain of this magnitude is indicative of your kidneys shutting down). If I was doing anything right, I was eating and drinking well. My feet were again trashed and I had to untape and retape them. The aid station personnel helped me. I also ate and changed into some warmer clothes. It was getting chilly so I switched to a long sleeved shirt, windshirt, hat and light gloves. After packing up some more Conquest in baggies to mix along the way, I was out of the aid station after a very long 36 minutes. The time was now 18 hours and 28 minutes, or just about 11:30 p.m. Strangely, despite being up for almost 20 hours at that point, I was still not that tired. I guess it is hard to fall asleep when you are still moving. I was still moving pretty decently, but the next 4 miles took me 67 minutes which included a very long uphill out of the valley. I again encountered the rock and rollers who were still jamming out. I examined their checklist of runners and was surprised that there were only 2 runners behind me at this point. The list showed that there had been a lot of drop outs. Heading out of the 79 mile aid station I began having trouble. This was a mostly downhill 2 miles on dirt roads that should have been easy, but it was so steep it was killing my quads to run. I developed a slow shuffle. I reached the bottom of the valley once again and was greeted by the killer dogs. Again, there was no one at this aid station and not much food so I high-tailed it out of there, walking the long uphill. I was definitely tiring. The aid station at the second out and back was manned and I spent some time refueling. As I was walking back up I encountered Phil again. At this point due to extreme tiredness I had the only course confusion I experienced all day and night. We reached a fork in the road and I started up the left fork. Phil called me back and said it was the right fork. Neither of us could find any markings on the road, nor did we see any glowsticks which were periodically hanging from trees. Apparently some of the locals were not too pleased with the race and the glow sticks were disappearing. Phil walked back down to the aid station to check which direction to go. Neither of us wanted to run any extra miles at this point. Phil came back and stated that he was told to go right. We looked again in earnest and then saw the marks on the road clearly marking the way once I shined the light in the right place. About a mile later a runner came towards us. We knew something was wrong as he mumbled something and went by us. I ran after him and asked him if he was all right. He seemed coherent but apparently he was lost and was going back to the Peterson’s Farm because he had missed it. However, it was after 1:00 am and he was never going to make the 2:00 am mandatory cutoff. He claimed he knew what he was doing and continued on. About 30 minutes later I encountered one of the race volunteers who was looking for this lost runner. He would not finish the race. I reached the bottom of the valley for the last time just shy of 22 hours with about 12.5 miles to go. From here it was 4 miles to the top of the mountain. I started the long slog upward. I no longer even tried to run the short flat sections of this portion. It was extremely slow going. After about an hour I approached the 90 mile aid station and saw a runner hobbling up to it as well. It was Dimitri from New Jersey who I had run the first few miles with. He was having problems but I could tell he was going to stick it out. There was a female runner at the aid station in a sleeping bag, but awake. She was too cold to run and was going to wait until the sun came up in a few hours and it warmed up to make the final 10 mile push. I felt strangely energized and put a hard push on in the final 1.5 miles to the top of the mountain. For such a steep section I was making pretty good time. I crested the mountain and started down the switchbacks. I tried to run some of the switchbacks and walk the corners, but it was really killing my quads. As I reached the bottom of the mountain it started to get light. My feet were again painful, but I figured I would just gut it out rather than waste more time trying to retape them. I crossed the north fork of the Shenandoah River again and the Burnshires Dam. The aid station was right on the other side of the river. The aid station volunteers were asleep in their car. Not wanting to wake them, I filled up my bottles, grabbed some chips and headed off for the final 6.5 miles through town. It was 5:15 am and I had been running for over 24 hours, over 14 hours more then my previous slowest 50 miler. It was very slow going because it hurt to run at all. My quads felt like two bags of cement. I played games by trying to shuffle between telephone poles over the few flat parts of road. I sang songs to myself to try and stay awake. The drivers of the few cars that passed me waved. I am sure they wondered what this lunatic with number 20 written on his leg carrying a flashlight that was off was doing walking along the road. It took me 56 minutes to go 3.25 miles to the last aid station at the water tower. The water tower was so tall that it gave me the cruel illusion of being very near while I was still far away. The aid station volunteers were again asleep so I just filled the bottles, grabbed a banana for breakfast and headed out. This was truly the last push with just over 3 miles to go. I was now definitely having trouble staying awake. I was singing any song that came into my head. If anyone stuck their head out their window I am sure they would have tried to have me dipped up. I was staggering along, looking disheveled while singing to myself. I walked past houses and the local park where I had meet my kids who were playing there when I went by on the way back during the first lap. I reached the main road across from the hotel and was unceremoniously stopped by traffic at the stoplight. Didn’t all of these people know who I was? I had just run 100 miles. I had the right of way! I did not trust my legs so I waited for the light to change. I walked the two blocks toward the hotel. As I rounded the final corner I broke into a shuffle. I did not want to walk across the finish line. I slowly and painfully jogged across the finish line in 26 hours and 11 minutes and received a handshake from the race director. The last 25 miles had taken me 7 hours and 14 minutes. I started the race at 5:00 am on Saturday morning and finished at just after 7:11 am on Sunday morning. It has been a mighty long time since I have seen the sun come up two days in a row. I thought I would be overcome by emotion at having finished my first 100 mile race, but I was just plain exhausted. I talked to the race director for a few minutes and then headed up to my room to get my shoes off my aching feet. My wife and kids heard me in their room and came in to congratulate me. I took off everything, laid down on the bed and slept for 3 hours until we had to check out. Of the 25 starters in the 100 mile race, there were just 14 finishers. I ended up finishing in 10th place. I will certainly never forget this race. I will do another 100 mile run and hope to break 24 hours. I did some things right (stomach management and pace) and some things wrong (feet and too much time stopped at aid stations), so it was certainly a learning experience. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to run ultramarathons in some of the most beautiful places in the country.