We had originally planned to get up to Hinson Lake Friday afternoon to set up camp, hang out with the other runners who had the same plan, and get to bed early for the race start at 8AM Saturday morning. But we dilly dallied most of the day and didn't end up leaving town until 8 and finishing the set up around 11PM Friday night. In the hurriedness of all the set up in the dark and getting lost before finding the lake, Jamaar had began to stress out. I assured him that this is the time we most likely would have been going to bed anyways. After climbing in the comfyness of my air mattress and feather down comforter we were in for a sleepless night. We set up camp underneath a large tree that dripped water on the tent all night long. Ol well........
The next morning my alarm went off at 6AM. It was a foggy, cloudy morning. Many other tents were now set up on the same straight-a-way were were set up on. But of course we were the only 8 person tent out there. (I really need to invest in a small camping tent) Jamaar was up before me and had already picked up my race packet. It contained my bib number, a reusable grocery bag, a navy t-shirt, and a nice beer glass. Sweet! My plan was to run 36 miles. I originally planed for just 30 miles but when I wrote out my race strategy I thought it would be easy to execute 4x9 miles. The lake was roughly 1.52 around and you had someone who counted each lap for you. So in reality all I had to do was 6 laps each time I went out for my set.
At the race start we lined up beside Jason Rose and his girlfriend Katie Hines. The race chatter was very brief and we were off to a slow start. We started in the main parking lot and had to cross a 20 foot long foot bridge, past the timer and then was the buffet of food. Lots of Candy, cookies, chips, pretzels, chicken, potatoes, etc. Then the drink choices: mountain dew, ginger ale, coke, two flavors of Gatorade, and of course water. The volunteers were plentiful at this race. After the buffet of food on this 150-ish meter long straight-a-way were all the tents. UCRR had a nice set up just near the start. This is where you would find all the race camaraderie as well. Once you rounded the corner into the forest it was only runners and walkers for the next mile and a half.
The trail consisted of fine dirt I would simply call sand. That's when I found out what Gators were and realized I wanted a pair really bad. It didn't take long until your shoes were filled with little pebbles and sand. Eventually i gave up on my losing battle and stopped emptying my shoes. About half way around the loop was a long wooden bridge across the far side. On either side you were surrounded by water and tons of Lily pads. It was beautiful. The course was mainly flat except for a slight uphill after the bridge. Someone made a sign and put if up right at the base. "Mount Hinson LOL" It got a few laughs. After this hill of course there is a downhill. You run a few twisty turns and then there is a break in the trees so you can see the lake again. This was the point I always got excited about because it was a sign I was nearing the parking lot again. I would cross the foot bridge tell my counter my bib number and he/she would tell me how many laps I just completed.
We couldn't have asked for better weather. The temps were cool, there was a nice breeze around the lake and there was a cloud cover all day. (besides the dreadful thought that it looked like it was going to rain most of the day) I ran my first 9 miles with Jamaar, sometimes running ahead of him on a few laps to get whatever he needed out the tent before he got there. He didn't intend on stopping the whole 24 hours. After my first 9 miles I spread out a towel in the tent to sit and stretch. (on my breaks I def appreciated having the large extra space in our tent, especially with the fear of rain) I sat in the tent for about 2 hours. I read, stretched, refueled, and on each lap I saw Jamaar he would tell me what he needed on his next lap around. I got his aspirin, water, change of socks/shoes, and food ready for him if he asked. I timed each of his laps and expected to see him every 15 minutes or so. Once my 2 hours were up I got ready to do another 6 laps/9 miles. The pace was easy so I was feeling good. I started off with Jamaar again. Jamaar being his talkative self, we met many runners and heard their stories, goals, and if they have run an ultra before. My first 4 laps flew by. Jinnie Austin was volunteering at this race and her shift was up. She had made the trip out there to support her husband Stan who had a goal of running a marathon each month. Since he was finishing up his marathon I asked her if she wanted to run my last two laps with me. It was nice chatting and picking up the pace on my last 2 laps. Its always a pleasure seeing the Austins.
Jinnie and I finishing up a loop
-Photo courtesy of Lucinda Kraus
Once I was done with this set I had already run more than I had run in one day this year. After 18 miles I began to get sore. Sitting def wasn't feeling very well either. I opted to walk a lap instead. This put me at 19.5 total miles. About this time Jamaar was beginning to feel it too. He hadn't stopped to stretch or anything. If he wasn't running he was walking. It was kind of unfortunate that the bathroom was up in the parking lot and there were no port-a-jons. From our tent I would have to back track. By this point I had gone to the bathroom multiple times and to the car to charge my garmin and look for Jamaars stopwatch and shades (only a bad ass wears shades when its cloudy). Now that I look back its kind of a shame I didn't plan this out better and combine my pit stops when I came around from doing laps. Another, Ol well.....
Around 2:30PM I decided to take a nap. I woke up at 4PM to the sound of Jamaar and Thomas Eggar's voice outside of the tent. He had come straight from work to offer support and push Jamaar leading into the night. It was extremely nice of him to do this since he was skipping getting any sleep for himself. At around 10PM he would drive back to Columbia for work. I then decided to get up and run my 3rd set of laps. It took me a lap for my legs to wake back up. Eventually the pace turned understandably slower. The slow pace had begun to make my knees ache. (the only injury Ive ever had was an inflamed tendon in my knee in college that put me out 2 weeks. the feeling i was having now was very similar so I picked up the pace) I asked Jamaar if he needed anything at the tent before I took off. "Aspirin." About an hour later Michelle Hazelton showed up. I was nearing the end of my set and was hurting. Bad. I was having to walk up "Mount Hinson" I also walked on the long straight-a-way grabbing handfuls of M&Ms and Pretzels and eating them before I turned the corner into the forest for another lap. Once my set was over it was getting dark. I was grateful to Thomas and Michelle for being able to run with Jamaar since I didn't think my knees and ankles would handle running anymore. I was still planning on doing my last set in the wee hours of the morning. But just in case, I decided to walk another lap once I saw Jamaar, Thomas, and Michelle. This lap would give me 20 laps/30.4 miles. On this lap, they decided to run a little bit and I just couldn't muster up a shuffle. That's when I got to see my first copperhead in the wild. Pretty scary since I almost walked right up on it in the dim light. I watched it slowly slither off the path and I continued walking. I actually caught to Jamaar at the top of "Mount Hinson." He was finishing up his 2nd marathon and Thomas convinced him to run it into the lap counting area. So I managed to run with them until I hit the buffet of food. I grabbed a baked potato and some mountain dew. YUM! After that i was done. I made the mistake of lying down and covering up with a blanket to get some sleep.
Michelle, Jamaar, and Thomas
I set an alarm for 10PM when i knew Thomas would be leaving so I could get up and see if Jamaar needed anything. Michelle continued to walk/run with Jamaar until she had to go home around 11. Then it was just him. I felt very guilty considering I slept right through my alarm. I really wanted to get up and help Jamaar as he now did more than double my mileage. But I couldn't help it. I wont say anything else about Jamaar since he will probably be writing his own view of the experience. But I will say I am VERY PROUD of him!
By morning I couldn't get the urge to do more mileage. I was happy with my 30.4 freaking miles! It wasn't 36 but in my mind it was close enough. Everyone gathered around at the timing tents to witness the last part of the race. Alot of people were still going strong, trying to finish out the last of their mileage. I must say, Mike Morton is a beast. I never once saw him walk and his running pace was fast. A car alarm went off to signal the end of the 24 hours. Now the worst part........ the clean up. Seeing as the only way to our tent was a footbridge we couldn't drive the car right up to pack up all our stuff. It took us about 4 painful trips to load up the car. We said our thank yous, congrats and goodbyes. It was a great event and I had alot of fun. Ultra people have to be the nicest people in the world.
Now its back to training for Lungstrong 15k!
