Hey Look, I finished A Race - My Quadzilla 15K Race Report

July 15, 2018

Turn Your Hat Around And The Rain Runs Down 
Your Back Instead Of In Your Eyes
[Photo borrowed from the Quadzilla Facebook page - thanks!]

I Really Needed To Finish A Race

That's really an understatement. For me, 2018 hasn't been a good year for running. I wrapped up 2017 in Physical Therapy, got healthy enough to finish the Algonquin 50K in February, but since then my running, fitness and health took a spiral. I won't detail the maladies, but since March I DNF'd a race, DNS'd another and withdrew from two more. So to say my brain really needed to finish a race is grossly understated.

The Quadzilla 15K is a race I've known about for years, but due to its short distance and key time during the summer running season; I never considered it. My training has been nearly zilch and I wasn't registered for any July races so this 9 mile contest was suddenly a legitimate option for me to begin to get my running back on track.

The Race Starts When?

I've made some race registration blunders in the past. My biggest oops was the year I scheduled a 50 mile race just 2 weeks after a 100 mile event. Yes, I finished both, but the 50 mile run turned out to be my slowest ever and I was so exhausted after the finish I felt it was unsafe to drive home. This mistake wasn't quite that bad.

I looked up the race online and after mulling it over for a while I decided to throw my name on the start list. It might've been a couple of days later I decided it might be smart to look at the race details. All I knew was that it was in Lehigh County somewhere and it was 9 miles long. There it was right on the race web site, the start time was 7:30am and that somewhere in Lehigh County was nearly 90 minutes away from home. Yep, to get there with time to get my number and ready to run I'd have get up and leave home at "0 Dark Thirty"; certainly not what I would plan for a 9 mile run had I been paying attention. Dolt!

Pretty Cool Race

The intriguingly creepy Mothra Twins. Had there been a 

Japanese version of Eraserhead, they'd be in it.

1. I was always a Godzilla fan. I still have my son Nathan's VHS tapes we used to watch over and over. My favorite was the one with Mothra, I think Nathan preferred Mechagodzilla. I had no idea why the name was chosen, but a race called Quadzilla just sounded like it had to be cool.
2. Quadzilla is run on trails at the Trexler Game Preserve and the start/finish is at the Lehigh Valley Zoo. I was stoked to check out the zoo after the race.
3. Lehigh County is the home of long time trail running buddy Tim "Nash Dash" Nash. I saw online that he was running it again this year, so it would be cool to see him as well. (I guess I could've listed Tim 1st)

Mechagodzilla

Race Day

Up at 4 AM for breakfast and on the road at 5:15 (Out Of My Brain On The 5:15 came immediately to mind as I drove east). The Rt. 81/Rt. 78 portion of the drive was a synch. The winding roads between Rt. 78 and the zoo were a different issue. I missed two different turns as the GPS and the actual road didn't seem to match up exactly. I wasn't running late and it certainly was a beautiful area to be lost in so after a couple of u-turns ("Recalculating") I made it to the zoo.

I had just gotten my race packet and sat down on the front bumper of the Jeep to pin on my number and it started to rain. I think many runners will tell you that during the days leading to a race, weather is their number one obsession. I'm no different, but for some reason I had no clue what the weather was to be for this race. It's July in Pennsylvania so heat and humidity are a given, I had no idea it was going to rain. I jumped in the Jeep and had fun watching the others scramble to get out of the rain. Soon it was time to find the way to the start line. The rain had stopped but the sky still looked quite angry.

Cool place for a race.

An Awesome Reason To Run

I'm always happiest to run a race when I know my race entry is going to be used by a worthy cause. On the race web site, it states "100% of the proceeds go to our HCM Foundation service programs to help local patients and families battling cancer." Of course in my fog of hurrying to enter this race, I hadn't noticed that fact; much less looked into the foundation.

The Race Director, Mike Marsteller, addressed the group before the start and took the time to explain the foundation, how it came about and what it does today. Mike was just a baby turning one when his Dad Harvey was taken by Colon Cancer. H.C.M. (Harvey's initials) was founded to provide the support needed by families impacted by cancer. After all, this was a life lesson of Mike's, growing up watching his Mom, family and friends persevere through life after losing his Father.  So as an adult Mike recognized this unmet need and HCM has been helping since 2009.

Mike talked about a patient who wasn't doing well and he had been accepted into a trial treatment program in Pittsburgh. The round trip to Pittsburgh came with costs and the struggle to pay them. HCM stepped in to help him with gas cards to help him travel to and from those treatments. I'm a man in my 50's and Mike's brief speech went right to my heart and stayed on my mind throughout the day. Check out their web site and give what you can.

What's In A Name

I saw Tim Nash just before the start and his word of advice was, "don't be afraid to hike". He explained that while the course had been rerouted for this year, he understood that it was just as hilly as the old course. He might've said the word "steep" three or four times. So now I knew that the name Quadzilla was referencing the damage done to my quads by day's end.  Oh well, I'm not afraid to hike up hills and as a matter of fact I consider myself pretty good at it.

Race announcements complete, I moved to the very back of the pack to get out of the way and soon we were running. On the back of the race t-shirt it reads, "I eat hills for breakfast" which I found funny considering my love/hate relationship with hills. But here I was, 7:30 in the morning and shortly after the start line we made a U-turn up a hill. So I guess I was literally having hills for breakfast.

The race opens on a brief stretch of road as the course exits the zoo and very soon we entered the forest.  The heat and humidity was evident to me and my heart rate and breathing was a mess in the opening mile. That thought of "what the heck am I doing here?" crossed my mind as I considered turning around. We hit a steep climb and oddly my heart rate and breathing seemed to settle and I was passing folks who weren't hiking quite as quickly as me. At this point, the pack was still quite bunched up so if you moved up at all you typically passed 3 or 4 runners at a time.

[Photo borrowed from the Quadzilla Facebook page - thanks!]

After the first climb we descended quickly to find the first of two water crossings of the day. This wasn't just a trickling stream, it was a legit wide creek. Not deep or swift or anything, but it was pretty wide. These shorter trail races seem to attract road runners looking for a taste of off road running. It's fun to hear their comments and reactions when they realize they're actually expected to run through flowing water and get their beloved running shoes wet and muddy. The exit of the creek was a narrow slippery steep little climb to return to the trail. I got stopped behind a significant bottle neck at this spot and I was happy to get moving again heading up the next steep climb.

That second climb was no joke. I saw runners fading all around me simply because they didn't want to admit they couldn't run it. I passed a few bent over with hands on knees huffing and puffing while I power hiked up the climb. My heart rate was soaring and I was huffing and puffing too, but for me; hiking was definitely the way to go for this big climb. I believe this is where the "Mother Of The Beast" was located on the course. It was announced that this year's route had cut out a climb from the past called "The Beast", but we wouldn't be disappointed by this year's replacements. No sooner had we reached the top of that craziness and the trail fell away like a sliding board and a swift precarious descent was our reward for surviving to the top.  I could feel that down hill chewing up my quadriceps, so I tried to stay conservative knowing we were barely two miles into the race.

I believe we were somewhere near the 6 mile mark at a spot where we transitioned from meadow grasses back into the forest when the angry sky decided to lose it's patience with us as we were obviously taking too long. A lightning flash followed by a loud thunder clap seemed to announce the oncoming down pour. Now we were having real fun! In the morning's humidity, I was already drenched in sweat so the shower meant mostly that I might cool down a little. That 6 mile mark was also the point where it felt like I was actually warmed up and running well. Lightning was quite evident as much as you tried to ignore it. I wonder about the poor volunteers standing out in this mess and I hoped everyone was ok. I had a bout with lightning while mowing the lawn when I was a kid, so I figured the percentages were with me on this day. In any event cresting the tops of hills with lightning striking made for some nervous runners.  A woman behind me asked if anyone knew if we were at least half way and she was over joyed when I told her we had less than 3 miles to go, as she mumbled something about the last bolt seeming quite close.

We had climbed his Mother earlier and now we had one last torturous climb called Son Of The Beast. Yet another humbling climb that drained much of any remaining energy of many of the runners around me. I knew we weren't far from the end so I put my head down knowing that this too would pass. On the final hill top two brave volunteers promised us that it was all down hill to the finish. At most races that's nothing more than a cruel joke, but these guys weren't kidding and I remembered the race director talking about the last half mile being down hill. I had hoped before this event to be able to finish in 2 hours. With a half mile still to go I was dangerously close to missing that goal so I took off with everything I had left. I had passed two women and on the finishing straight I thought people were cheering my finish. When I heard someone yell "catch that guy" I realized they were cheering for the two gals who were now giving chase. Didn't matter, it was encouraging for me too and I held them off and finished just under 2:01. As far as I was concerned my two hour goal was met.

A Six-Pack For Tim "Nash Dash" Nash

Nutrition

Up at 4am, I ate my typical pre-race breakfast; a banana, a Munk Pack breakfast and lots of coffee. Just before start time I drank a Pickle Juice shot and stuffed another one in my Nathan handheld. I carried a bottle full of Tailwind and planned to just top it off with water at the aid stations (yes there were aid stations for a 9 mile run). I had a couple of Clif Bar Energy Gels and a pack of Bloks Energy Chews in the pockets of my shorts. During the run I ate nothing, and might have drank a whole bottle (not sure). I'm glad I carried that Pickle Juice, early on I realized I was dumping fluids and in that heat and humidity, cramping was a real possibility. Coming over the second hill top I felt that twinge of an oncoming cramp and it was in the big muscle on the inside of my left thigh. I downed my little bottle of brine and never had the concern again. The stuff works and I was sure to hook up Tim with some before I hit the road. A couple of runners who were parked next to me asked about the Pickle Juice sticker on the Jeep and asked if I thought it worked. I gave them some too, telling them to see for themselves.

Just Another Step On The Way Back

It was good morning in Schnecksville and I even made it home in time to see two of Janice's co-ed softball games. It was just a 9 mile run, but I took away encouragement that I was heading in the right direction away from injury and set backs. The biggest positive was that feeling when I hit 6 miles and felt warmed up and ready to run all day. That's how most ultras go for me and that's what I'm looking for. Next up for me is the Dahlgren Heritage Rail Trail 50K near King George, VA; just another step on my way back.