Subject: Olander 24 hour Report (long) From: Jan Ryerse Date: Tue, 18 Sep 2001 23:23:16 EDT The USA Track and Field 24 hour national championship road race is held in Olander Park in Sylvania just west of Toledo Ohio. Last year I ran 112.75 miles at the race and placed third in my age group. However, as a Canadian citizen, I was ineligible for awards. As I have wanted to obtain USA citizenship for several years now, I decided to initiate the process in 2000 and I became an American citizen in August 2001. As a result I returned to the Olander 24 hour ultra this year as a US citizen and was able to compete for age group awards etc. I had three goals going in, first to get to 100 miles which I felt was quite achievable based on last years run, second to get more miles than last year. That would require a hard and consistent effort but I had trained hard and felt I could achieve that goal too. Third, and this was more of a wish-list type of thing was to get 120 miles. I knew this would require going out relatively fast and holding a good strong pace right through the full 24 hours. It would also require ideal weather conditions, no pouring rain or 90 degree sun and some god luck. In the back of my mind I was also aware of the national distance record of 121.22 miles for my age group (55-59) and I admit I had dreams of setting a new national record but realized that would be unlikely. I designed a race plan and set interim goals of 8:30 for 50 miles and 20:00 for 100 miles and I told myself that if I managed to reach those times I'd crank as hard as I could during the last four hours and see what would happen. Well, I'm delighted to report that I was able to reach all of my goals including the national age group distance record. Here's how it went. I drove to Toledo from St. Louis on Friday and got a campsite at a KOA about 15 miles from race site. I went over to the race headquarters, got my packet and had a good pasta feed. I was disappointed to learn that Yannis Kouros, the world record holder at 24 hours, was not able to make it as his plane had been diverted back to Europe earlier in the week after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. I went to see a movie on the way back to the campsite to relax. I got to bed around 11:30 and slept well. Saturday morning I drove back to the race site and parked across the road from the single aid station which they were in the process of setting up. Around 11:15 there was a race briefing and then some ceremonies in remembrance of the victims of the terrorist attacks. There were a number of late entrants as some had just arrived in Toledo on Saturday morning so the race start was delayed 18 minutes. At 12:18 pm 147 of us gathered at the lap-counters tent and we were off. The Olander course is a flat 1.091 mile loop on an asphalt roads and a walking path around a small lake. Every runner must wear two bibs with their name and age group in big letters/numbers, one on the front and one on the back, so you know who is passing you and who you are passing. Each runner also is given a stack of bar-coded tickets, one for each lap, which you can thread onto a pin and attach to your shorts. Each lap you detach one and deposit it in a plastic bucket as you run through the lap-counters tent. They immediately scan your ticket into a computer which maintains a running total of your laps, mileage, place etc. Just beyond the scoring tent there is a "leader board" set up with spots to record the top 10 men and the top 10 women runners which is updated about every hour. They periodically post a list of everyone's mileage and position on the back of the leader board so everyone not in the top 10 can stop and see how you're doing. About 30 yards further ahead alongside the course is the well-stocked aid station and off to the right behind that is a large building where they had hot soup and pizza during the night and sub sandwiches in the early morning. The heated building also housed medical personnel, massage tables, etc. There are homes and condos off to your left as you make your way around the loop but they are mostly far enough away that you have the feeling you are in a small park in the country. Olander is certainly not a trail run and you shouldn't go there expecting anything like that but for an "urban" ultra, the setting is very picturesque and the organization of this event is absolutely superb. I ran the first 5 miles and then got into a 0.1 mile walk/1 mile run routine. Crews had set up tents, vans etc along the end of the course where the lap-counters tent and hall are located and there was always a lot of activity for that third of a mile of so along that stretch. Then around the backside of the lake and back towards the counters tent it was quieter. I went through the marathon distance in about 4 hours so I knew I was running well. I had been keeping watch on my age group competition - I knew that Newton Baker and Javier Cendejas were strong runners from last year (they placed second and third in my age group last year). At this point in the race I was ahead of them and I wanted to keep ahead of them if possible. I was shocked to see one 55-59 age group runner, Canadian Terry Martin, running with the leaders, really flying past me and lapping me every 3rd or 4th mile. I figured that he would take our age group gold medal for sure. However as it turned out he was after 50 miles which he did in just over 7 hours and then he stopped. Frank Probst who won the 55-59 age group last year with about 118 miles wasn't there this year but Ed Dodd filled in and was running very strong ahead of Newton and Javier. I had a couple of laps on all of them by 4 hours and I worked hard on holding and increasing mylead. I went through 50 miles in about 8:36, an estimate as they don't have the 50 mile point marked on the road and I knew I was pretty close to my target pace, approximately 10:20 miles so far. By this time it was getting dark and they turned on the generator-powered lights down the backstretch and lit the coleman lanterns along the stretch through the trees to the lap-counters tent. I was now walking two 0.1 mile stretches each lap on either end of the lake, and then I would run hard until the next walking breaks, this is a strategy which seems to work well for me. If I passed one of the guys in my age group I would forego the walking break and run the whole next lap. I get into a comfortable routine in a loop course like Olander, run, walk a bit, run, walk a bit, run through the counters tent and grab something at the aid staion and carry it to the next walk break, lap after lap after lap. I took a GU every hour and was drinking a lot of Succeed Ultra that I had brought with me. I also ate a lot of raisins which are high in carbos and potassium. At the aid station I took water, pepsi, pretzels, grapes, salted potatos, potato chips and bananas and kept away from candy and cookies etc. I changed shoes once from my Nike Pegasus into my Adidas Tapers around 4 hours but never changed socks. I stayed with the Adidas Tapers the rest of the way, when things are working don't mess with 'em. Around midnight I went into the hall for a slice of pizza and a cup of soup which I carried back onto the course and ate drank while I walked. In the hall there were blistered feet being attended to, some folks being warmed under blankets, massages being administered and a bunch of people sitting around the tables with their heads in their hands. It was far too warm and comfortable to linger in there for long. The 60's of the day had dropped into the 40's and it was very humid but shorts, polpro shirt, light jacket, cap and gloves worked fine for me, I never got cold. The had port-a-potties set up along the back side of the course and there were a couple of permanent restroom facilities alongside the course so no time was wasted getting to a bathroom. I was drinking a lot and had to stop to pee a bunch so I knew my hydration level was good. It was fun watching the top runners, the Rudy Afanadors (who won with 151+ miles), John Geeslers, David Luljacks, Kevin Setnes, Roy Pirrungs and Danny Ripkas of the world power on by me, awesome runners. Also some terrific women runners. Legendary Sue Ellen Trapp (126+ miles) came on to beat 2nd place and 3rd place finishers Jody-Lynn Reicher and Beth Simpson. I happened to be beside Sue Ellen as she went through 100 miles (that marker was on the asphalt path) in 18:35 to set yet another record. There were several race officials and well-wishers there to note her time and to congratulate her. Sometime around dawn as I came through the scorers tent and glanced over at the leader board I saw my name in 10th place!!. I damn near fell flat on my face in surprise, I'm not used to being up there with the big dogs. A little while later I passed the 100 mile mark, in 19:30, a road 100 mile PR for me by an hour and 45 minutes. I felt stron and wanted to keep crankin out the miles. I knew with a couple of hours to go at that I would win my age group but I still wanted to get as many miles as I could. However I couldn't calculate in my head how many miles I had gone with the 1.091 mile loop distance, I just couldn't do the math at that point, and they hadn't up-dated the position charts in a while. If you want to get every last fraction of a mile after the last complete lap they give you a large metal washer with your name/number and you continue until you hear the 24 hour gun blast and then drop the washer at that point. I managed another 0.3 miles in the 3 minutes or so that were left before the gun went off. I didn't know it at the time but that fraction got me the national age group distance record of 121.4 miles, breaking the old record by 0.18 miles. Just goes to show that you should never stop pushing until its over, you never know what might happen!! This year I managed to keep ahead of Ed Dodd, Newton Baker, Javier Cendejas and the other tough runners in my age group but they all ran fine races and pushed me to get more miles than I would have otherwise managed. Who knows what will happen next year !!! I came through the run with only one blister on a small toe. Now, two days later, my feet and ankles have swollen up somewhat which always happens to me after a long ultra but no major pains to speak of, just tightness in the leg muscles and some tender joints. This ain't no mountain trail race but for a road ultra, Olander has got to be one of the best, if not the best, 24 hour events in the country. It's a terrific venue and exceptionally well organized and supported. Tom (and Alice) Folvey do a remarkable job as RD(s), USA T&F personnel Gordon Chase and Dan Brannen, the lap-counter computer people, and all the support staff are to be congratulated for their fine efforts. If you want to see what you can do in 24 hours, or a 50 mile or 100 mile PR, go to Olander. Now it's on to Arkansas Traveller for me and some of my fellow SLUGs (St. Louis Ultrarunners Group) - that's another one of my favorite ultras. Jan "Turbo Turtle" Ryerse St. Louis, MO