High Water, Hills, Deep Mud & A Thousand Diapers. - My Dirty Kiln Trail Race Report

April 8, 2017

Fun Run At Canoe Creek State Park
*Photo Taken By Mike McNeil

Out of the blue one afternoon I received a Facebook message from Todd Lewis, an ultra running friend from Altoona Pennsylvania. He told me I needed to come run his club's race, The Dirty Kiln Trail Half Marathon; he was sure I'd love it. He even offered me a coupon code to use when registering. I should probably pause and explain something about Toddzilla (as he's known).

Toddzilla, Mr. Picklepower Himself

Over time, Todd and some of the other guys who are Allegheny Trail Runners have become friends. We've had some pretty good times together. Probably more importantly in the world of ultra running, we've been through some pretty tough times too. Those challenging experiences or rough patches during ultras have a magical ability to draw people together. This was just a thirteen mile race, but heck if Todd was going to go out of his way to invite me; I was going to run his race. I don't have anything scheduled until the C&O Canal 100 at the end of the month, so as long as I can get through it uninjured, it'll be a fun training run with friends.

Somehow Janice and I thought it was be a good idea to go to the Harrisburg Senators' home opener Friday night before the race. It was barely 39͒ and the winds were howling around our left field seats. Yeah, it was bitter cold for baseball. We were freezing so we only made it through the 5th inning and the Senators got clobbered [Ironically they were playing the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate Altoona Curve]. I was starving when we got home so I had the brilliant idea of eating an entire frozen pizza in hopes of dumping some carbs into me before bed. It probably wasn't a great idea because after a night of tossing and turning, 4:30am came pretty quickly.

The scenic two hour drive to Canoe Creek State Park went quickly. I was pretty psyched to see the place, as neither of us had ever been to the park before. I was barely out of the Jeep and heading to pick up my bib number and I ran into Todd. As a race director, he was busy of course so after a warm welcome and a big hug; I got out of his way. Heading to the registration table I ran into the ATR's Chief Entertainment Officer and Vol State Crazy, Elmo Snively 😎. He was working the event as well and sent me off with an, "enjoy the hills". Previously Todd had told me to bring my poles and now, "enjoy the hills", I was now wondering what hills were waiting for me. Heading back to the Jeep I saw one of the day's Life Guards, Ralph Smith driving a van with Elmo and Todd heading out to their positions on the course. Ralph of course said something like, "____ this, we're going for a beer"...honestly it sounded much better than running up hills.

Ralph "Budman" - Skilled At Making Arm Warmers Into Leg warmers.

Janice and I were both out of our element here, we're both used to much longer events. In fact, when I told her I had signed up for a half marathon, she laughed at me. She wondered why I would drive two hours to run just 13 miles. She understood when I told her who's event it was. Janice asked if there was a map of the course and we couldn't even find a map of the park. It was April and the park's busy season hadn't yet begun, so most of the facilities were still locked up for the winter. The majority of those in attendance didn't need a map, they're from the area and quite familiar with the park. Janice was just looking to maybe see me along the course somewhere. I only ever ran one trail half marathon and I really didn't even know how to prepare for this distance. I'm used to planning nutrition, hydration and gear needs over a period of many hours. I ate my normal breakfast (a banana and a couple of ClifBar Organic Breakfast Meals), but that was probably just out of habit. Just before the start I gobbled down a ClifBar Gel and sucked on a salt tablet and I was carrying a bottle full of Tailwind so I figured I was good to go. I had trekking poles with me and Adam McGinnis, another of my adopted ATR Brothers, helped me to find a place to stash them so I could pick them up for the second/hilly lap. Ben Mazur was standing near the start line with his megaphone at the ready and after a few thank-yous and Ben-like remarks we were off.

The Bens Ready To Get Us On The Trail

I was immediately awoken from my ultra runner trance, as I mozied through the tall grass I quickly realized how fast everyone else was starting out. I noticed that Matt Lipsey(Matthias Lipshitz - the eventual race winner) was up ahead and had already separated himself from the pack.No one was near him and we really weren't even out of the start area yet. I tried to step up my pace and I immediately felt like crap. My breathing was ragged and my legs felt heavy, I looked at my watch and my heart rate was pegging. What the heck? Man was I in the wrong place, what had Todd gotten me into? I'm hardly ever in a hurry, much less run fast; now what? I never even warm up before a race, I usually have all day for that; not today.

Janice Got A Shot Of Me Still In The Same Frame As Matt

I backed off my pace and even walked a couple of strides on a little hill until my breathing and heart rate felt normal again. Before I knew it we were queuing up to cross a stream. There were two stream crossings on this course which meant if you chose to run the half marathon (there was also a 5 mile race option) you crossed each one twice. I over heard a Park Ranger watching the waders say, "this is the highest I've seen it for this event". Thursday prior to the race, most of Pennsylvania had gotten dumped on by a major rain storm. This stream was high and it was flowing quickly, but it wasn't very wide so we were through it quickly.

The course went around the lake at Canoe Creek State Park and the first lap was just over five miles, so if you were running the 5 mile event; after one lap you were done. There was really only one climb on that first lap. For the half marathon the second lap repeated the first four miles until being diverted to a different section of the park for the remaining mileage. This year the race was being called the Dirt(ier) Kiln Trail Race as the majority of the course was mud. Some of it was that deep sucking mud that will pull your shoes right off your feet. I learned my lesson at the Algonquin 50K and my shoes were tied nice and tight. There was an aid station just before the second water crossing and Elmo and another volunteer were at the ready with runner's needs. I was surprised there was an aid station in such a short run, but if there wasn't; who knows what Elmo may have been up to otherwise? The second water crossing was where Ralph was stationed standing in the water at the ready if anyone fell or got into trouble crossing the creek. [Even after seeing photos, I'm still not sure what Ralph was wearing to stay warm as the water was quite chilly.] Todd was there too, directing traffic so the turn wasn't missed.

The Second Stream Crossing
*Photo Taken By Bradley Pike

The first lap was fun, and as I entered the start/finish area I looked for my poles and my other water bottle. Janice told me she hadn't seen anyone else using poles so I ditched them and took off to start the second lap. I was feeling good, but I was still running conservatively as I knew there were climbs here somewhere. I splashed through the first stream, asked Elmo for a cold IPA, his aid station was all out, and then I got to the second stream crossing. To that point I had been running behind two young guys and passed them when it seemed they stopped to place their lunch order with Elmo.

Adam Making A Splash
*Photo Taken By Bradley Pike

Lifeguard Ralph greeted me again and said, "it's all hills from here Perry, right in your wheelhouse", honestly I thought he knew me better than that. Hills? Can't stand hills! The second time through, there was no Todd telling us to turn, in fact we went straight leading right to the first climb.

Playing In The Water With Ralph
*Photo Taken By Liam Clarke

I knew I only had about four miles to go so I decided to have some fun. I had left those two guys at the aid station drive through window and I looked over my shoulder to see they weren't chasing. I looked ahead and saw a guy in a red shirt and decided to see if I could catch him. I passed him and the game was on. The following hills provided quite a few others for me to try to chase. There was one runner who changed my private little game though. I passed him on a climb and shortly thereafter he passed me on the following descent. This was not in my plans. That happened at least one more time with him before I finally passed him for the last time. I caught a few others and I was surprised how some were really struggling on these hills. Don't get me wrong, some were pretty steep, but I also believe some of these folks had gone out way too fast and hadn't saved anything for these climbs.

Dirty Kiln Elevation Profile
Business In The Front/Party In The Back

I passed another guy who also passed me going downhill. What the heck, was I being a wuss going downhill? I passed him on the next climb and he followed me through some rocky stuff where I saw Todd standing. I think he was there to mark coordinates in case anyone fell off the mountain here. We were up in the air and the view was amazing. Todd asked me how I liked their little mountain, I think he could tell I was loving it. On the next downhill that guy was still with me and I decided to run him off my heels and keep him behind me and gap him more on the climb I could see coming. It worked and he fell off my pace and now I could see my next and final target. There was a young woman ahead of me and I passed her on the climb. I'll be damned if she didn't pass me right away going down the next hill. I worked to hang with her pace and I passed easily on the next climb. I looked at my watch and recognized some terrain so I knew we had to be near the finish so I decided to run away from her too and soon I found the finish line alone. I know the folks I passed had no clue I was playing a little game in my head, but I sure had a blast using them as incentive to push myself on those climbs.

The Hills Behind Me & The Finish Line In Sight

A Dirty Kiln

Surviving the finish without injury, Janice and I decided to look around the park. I told her about the amazing kilns we had seen on the course and said she needed to see them. I sort of knew the direction to go to find them and she had eventually found a park map. Canoe Creek State Park is laced with limestone which was dug up and reduced to Lime for use in the booming iron and steel industries of Pennsylvania. The ruins of two 1900's era lime kilns are still in the park. The kilns we visited had been operated by the Blair Limestone Company between 1891 and 1916 and are still quite intact. These particular kilns produced Lime for Jones & Laughlin Steel. The quarries that produced the Limestone were behind these kilns and up the hill. We didn't go to the quarries, I wasn't real interested in going uphill anymore that day. Looking at the map though, it seems we ran very near them during the race.

Pretty Cool Things To Run Past In A Race

Kilns Viewed From Above

We also couldn't site see too long as we had a very important date after the race. A surprise diaper party was being thrown for Elmo at a nearby restaurant. Elmo and Mikalee (recently Sainted) are expecting a baby girl in May. Ben Mazur had tipped me off to the party and Janice went to work Friday night making a diaper cake for the occasion. We made our way to Marzoni's and found a pretty good sized group of jovial trail runners yucking it up with everyone's favorite Tennessee road-side sleeper Elmo.

Proper Diaper Party Attire

Elmo And 1000 Diapers

Matt Lipsey brought an adult diaper for Elmo to wear, it was a diaper party after all. I was starving, so Nachos, a Jalapeno Popper Bacon Burger and Marzoni's Avalanche IPA satisfied that need. We seemingly overwhelmed the pie-eyed waiter (I blame the Bens - yes there were two), but we survived his inattentiveness and had a good time anyway. It was tough to part company with these nuts, but we had to head back to Harrisburg and besides, I'm sure I'll see them on the trail soon enough.

While the Allegheny Trail Runners I call friends run ultras, it looks like their real skill is putting on awesome events. The Dirty Kiln Trail Races kicks off their year, The Rock'N The Knob Trail Challenge is in September, Sweat For Vets Powerclimb 5K/10K is in November and they have group runs throughout the year. They're focused on fun and quality events and they're good runners too. Check out their website http://www.alleghenytrailrunners.com/ and go run their events!

At the time of writing this, I'm nursing a strained right calf. Out for a routine lunch run, I ran behind a car waiting for traffic to clear, it drifted backwards and I took a terribly awkward step to avoid being hit. That clumsy landing brought a shooting pain up the outside of my right calf muscle and I spent much of that run's remaining three miles walking. Yes I'm running a hundred in just a few days so it's rest, ice, ibuprofen, Arnika cream and compression socks for me. I will rehab, I will be at that start line. See you all after the C&O Canal 100.




Hey look! Bonus stuff!

Check out Ben & Elmo's Brew2Brew 100K Adventure:

Elmo's Blog Post - https://elmosendurance.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/brew2brew100k/
Ben's Blog Post - https://bendivertsthenorm.wordpress.com/

All Aboard The Blunder Bus - My Stone Mill 50 DNF Report

November 12, 2016

This blog post has taken me quite a while to write. I've been taking a lazy off-season approach to both running and blogging. To be honest I haven't felt much like writing or running. I started 2016 believing this would be my last year of running ultras, I changed my mind, but forgot to tell my psyche and my body. I'm registered for a February 50K so I definitely need to get running and snap out of this funk, so here goes.

I picked the Stone Mill 50 to be the race to wrap up my year. I've run it twice before and I know it's a fun course. Completely runnable, no crazy climbs, party-like aid stations and a dirt cheap entry fee. If I were asked if I knew of a 50 miler good to be your first, I'd pick this one. Yes, as 50 milers go, I'd call the Stone Mill 50 an easy one.

Janice and I got to Gaithersburg, picked up my race packet, checked into the hotel and in no time we were at Growler's Brew Pub having a fun dinner with Ron and Jo Kappus (ultra runners from the New Jersey tribe). Good conversation about kids, dogs, softball, calories, beer, etc. and with an early morning start we headed off to our respective lodging.

Blunder #1:

My morning started normally, woke up at 4:30, got a shower, got dressed to run and ate a banana, a couple ClifBar Organic Food meals with coffee while Janice got ready to spend her day crewing. I like to get to events an hour before start time, so with an 11 minute drive to the start line, I wanted to leave just prior to 6:00. For some reason(s) I can't recall, we left a few minutes later and arrived at the elementary school at about 6:15. It was a chilly 36° so I wanted to go into the school, use the restroom, re-tie my shoes, drink water; basically complete my pre-race ritual. I walked into the auditorium and a man and woman were there chatting and they looked at me strangely as I entered wearing a race number. I said good morning and the woman asked me if I was ok. I responded that I was just coming in to get warm and the man said/asked, "you missed the start". You may have noticed that I mentioned I've run this race twice before. You would think I would've remembered that it started at 6am. He rushed outside with me to see if the timer could still record my start time, but the timing mat had already been turned off or disconnected or something (I'm not sure exactly how they work) I couldn't believe it, my day was done before it started, but all of a sudden the timer guy said, "give me a minute and I can set it back up". The other man asked if I knew how to get to the trail and I did. I ditched the bottle of water I was hoping to drink, put my headlamp on and took off when they said the mat was set.

I've been running organized races much of my life, so I have no excuse for making such a rookie mistake. As I headed out the road section before the trail head, it was all making sense now. I was wondering why we'd need headlamps for a 7am start. I also wondered why the cutoff times seemed pretty aggressive, bordering on unreasonable. At 6am, needing a headlamp made sense and a 6pm cutoff did too.

I was running down the sidewalk now with about a 20 minute handicap and beginning to wonder if my answering "yes" to knowing where the trailhead was, was a correct answer. I remembered the trail started just beyond a bridge. I saw a bridge and crossed it, but saw no trail. Thoughts of turning around, DNF'ing, sitting down on the curb and crying, etc. all crossed my mind, but instead I laughed at myself and kept running. After climbing a hill, I saw another bridge and then I noticed the familiar radio towers across the street and now I knew I was still going the right way.

I came upon a race marshal who's job was done and was heading back to the start. He told me Mike was waiting for me and would run with me to at least the first aid station. I thought, "hmm I may be stupid and 30 minutes late to this point, but I don't need a babysitter". Mike introduced himself and he fell in behind me. Conversation lead in a direction that I asked, are you the "sweep" and his answer was "yes". This was no way to start the day, having the guy who at any moment could tell me my day was done running on my heals. As most runners who volunteer to sweep events, Mike was a super nice guy and he even called ahead to let Aid Station #1 know they'd have a late customer. As we approached the aid station, Mike told me that the cutoff time for this point was 7:05 and it was only 7:01. he was trying to be encouraging, but I saw 4 minutes as way too close for comfort.

Janice was there and told me I was catching up, I told her I loved her, tossed her my headlamp and kept going. Barely a tenth of a mile further, I caught a female runner who was basically walking fast and soon after that another female and then I caught a man. I felt like I was actually catching up as I passed a few more runners. I didn't tell any of them that I started 20 minutes late, I didn't want my encouragement to be their discouragement.

Blunder #2:

Smiling & Climbing Out Of Aid Station #2

Technically, Blunder #2 came after the second aid station. It sits at the base of a small climb after a stream crossing. I was psyched to see Janice there; as I continued the climb, she yelled up to me if I had seen Rick Stahl. I couldn't figure out how she thought I could've seen him considering he started on time (foreshadowing for Blunder #3). I reminded her that he had to be way ahead of me. I was behind a woman with a guy behind me and there was a larger group of runners up ahead. We started to loop back around in the direction of the aid station and I began to notice we were essentially running in a circle and about that same time I realized we hadn't seen course markings in quite some time. Yep, we were off course. In retracing my steps I realized I had added about 3/4 of a mile, so it wasn't that bad. When we got back to the course I realized we had turned right when we should've gone left. The course was marked fine, but we were all playing follow the leader and all it took was one of us to miss the trail markers.

Blunder #3:

Re-entering the course, I saw Bert Salter approaching and I asked him how he could've gotten behind me. I asked if he had gone off course and he hadn't. I heard a voice say, "we didn't do the lake loop" and I responded "oh, didn't you?" and that same voice shot back, "no, you didn't do the lake loop". Yep, I had missed a critical turn for a new section of the course. Here the voice saying this had been running behind me at that missed junction, knew we missed the turn and said nothing. I won't call him out, but I think he saw a short cut to get himself back in the race after spending way too long with his girlfriend at the first aid station. (Yeah, I guess I just called him out.)

Now I knew why Janice thought I should've seen Rick. Now I knew why I was seeing runners, who I knew should be way ahead of me, coming into the second aid station behind me. I had spotted myself about 2 miles and even with going off course, I was mixing in with runners who I would've been with if I started on time. It pissed me off that had dude said nothing, knowing full well we were skipping that section. Freaked out about being late, being lost and now I had cheated. I thought I could possibly make it up on the way back, but how would I figure how to make the correct turn backwards, I was sure it wouldn't be marked in the other direction.

Blunder #4:

This blunder was probably the only one that sort of makes sense. In my semi-frantic haste, I was running ragged. It wasn't that my pace was too fast, but it was all over the place. I couldn't settle into a steady stride. Worse than that, I was ignoring fueling. I realized I had now run about 14 miles without drinking or eating anything. I gobbled down a Strawberry ClifBar ClifShot Energy Gel and washed it down with Tailwind. I've found that starting your nutrition late in an ultra can be disastrous. I was hoping that wasn't the case today.

[An odd note here: My right arm felt numb. Trying to tear open that gel, I had to use my left hand and my teeth. My right hand simply wasn't working. Hand swelling during running isn't uncommon, but my whole arm seemed affected. My arm was very cold, but I still had no idea why it felt numb. At the time, it freaked me out a little, but looking back I'm sure it was just the cold. In my haste to get started I left a wind jacket on and I was wearing arm warmers as well. I was dressed too warm for the day and my perspiration had gotten extremely cold. I ditched the jacket eventually, but should've taken off the wet arm warmers as well.]

Blunder #5:

There was a section where I could see a good distance behind me and a long string of runners. I was pretty sure I saw Rick Martin from back home. The trail switched back and I got a better look and was sure it was Rick. I eased up on my pace and after about a mile he was close enough for me to yell out to him. He said, "Perry? Did you pass me?". My quick answer was, "no, I cut the course...I cheated".

Soon we were running together, wondering where Rick Stahl might be, wondering about my numb arm, talking about my cutting the course. We had turned into a line of about 12 runners and somehow I was on the front setting the pace. I felt good, I was still wondering how I'd find the lake loop on the way back, but I was having a good run with friends now and in a second that was all shattered and I was trying to focus and get up off the ground. I was running strong up a small hill littered with lime stone and I caught a toe. Falling on an incline means the ground comes up to meet you a lot faster. I saw the rock coming, had no chance to catch myself and planted my left eye right on it.

I was a dizzy, semi-blind mess; sitting on my ass. In true trail ultra fashion, every last runner who was near when I fell stopped and surrounded me in an attempt to help. I wish I knew all of them, because I'm not sure if I got to really thank them. A woman offered her phone, but I said I just needed to get up and Rick Martin said, "I'll take care of him". The hand of Paul Encarnación appeared and I was back up on my feet. I walked at first and then was able to run again. Rick and Paul and another guy stuck with me. I was running, but with the lump growing above my left eye, I was afraid my day might be over early. My vision was going bad, the forest was flattening out and turning grey. Queasiness came and went, but an awful light headed feeling settled in and I needed to walk. I convinced Paul and the others who had piled up behind us to continue on and I'd be fine. They all passed, but Rick; he was concerned and determined to stay with me. We were still about two miles from the aid station when I finally convinced him that I'd be fine walking it in. I reminded him that I had self-extracted over much longer distance back home in Stony Valley, so Rick finally agreed and took off running promising that he'd let Janice know what had happened. Soon I felt a hand on my shoulder and heard, "hey old man how's it going?". It was Ron Kappus and I was in a bad way, the look on his face  was priceless when he saw my growing eye socket. I asked him to tell Janice if he saw her. Now I had two messengers, one of them was bound to see her. I walked for about a quarter mile, but started to get cold so I went back to running to keep warm. I was moving fine, but the light headed feeling wouldn't pass.

Rick Martin Arriving At The Pennyfield Lock

Aid Station - The Bearer Of Bad News

Soon I saw the C&O Canal and shortly after that I popped out onto the gravel road that lead to the Pennyfield Lock and the towpath. I was running fine, but I wasn't feeling fine. I saw Janice in the distance and yelled her name, I yelled a couple of times, but she seemed to either not hear me or something as it seemed she was walking away from me. She heard me, she knew I was coming, she was putting together an ice pack for my head. My chair was already set up at the Jeep and Janice retrieved two women who were race volunteers, each with medical experience. I was shocked at how certain they were that I needed to stop my race and they were going to call an ambulance. I still hadn't seen my head, but I thought, "shit I must look bad". I was trying to do the math about making the cut off times at my slowed pace and I realized that I couldn't even think straight much less do math. I was a mess, my run was done. I gave them my timing chip and they recorded my dropping from the race. We convinced them I wouldn't need an ambulance and with the name of a local hospital we were off to get me some medical attention.

In The Jeep And Headed To The ER

Blunder #6:

We found our way to the Shady Grove Adventist Hospital Emergency Room, recommended as the closest. It seemed like a nice place, but the receptionist person seemed to have no sense of urgency and she was asking the most innocuous questions. I made it past her without incident and with two new wrist bands I was soon being interviewed by Ingrid, an overly efficient triage nurse. I assured her I fulfilled all, but one of the common concussion symptoms and my real concern was if I had a hole in my head. She agreed, ordered a CAT Scan and sent me back to the waiting area. I sat for 90+ minutes and decided to ask if I had been forgotten. (yes, it was a Saturday, but no; it wasn't busy) I told the sleepy receptionist that I wanted to leave if I wasn't going to be X-Rayed soon and she basically gave me a stare and asked another nurse to talk to me. She had only a slightly higher sense of urgency. I found it funny when she said she was concerned my skull could be fractured and assured me I had been referred to their fast track team, but that fast track CAT Scan team was really swamped so it could take a few more hours. Two out of the three employees I dealt with were useless. An elderly gentlemen came in with a pretty serious looking laceration on a finger. He made a quick puddle of blood while lightning behind the reception desk asked him his favorite color. After I came back out to waiting area he too reappeared. His finger was wrapped in loose bandages, but it was obvious he also was sent to wait for further care. They need to remove the word "EMERGENCY" from their sign; this is clearly just a room.

I'm sure the folks who referred us to this place meant well, but don't go there expecting urgent care. (Note: In an effort to appease Janice and my Mom, early Monday morning I visited Community General Osteopathic Hospital near home and I was CAT Scanned and released in about an hour with no skull fracture. I did however receive a semi-insanity diagnosis after I explained that I was running 50 miles when I fell.)

Much Better Service At My Home Town ER

It Was Funny How They Seemed To recognize Me...

Some parts of the day were awesome:

Mistakes and mishaps all done for the day, Janice and I were now on a mission to figure out which aid station we should visit to see the rest of the tribe still out on the course. We made it to the Riffle Ford Road Aid Station to see Rick Stahl, Rick Martin and Todd Lewis.

Rick Stahl At Riffle Ford Road Aid Station

Todd Lewis Trying Not To Laugh At My Expanding Forehead

Rick Martin At Riffle Ford Road

While I'm Locating His Drop Bag

From Riffle Ford Road we relocated to the finish line to cheer on our friends as they finished. I got a real taste for what Janice goes through when she's crewing for me. The standing and waiting in anticipation is nuts. I love her for doing it...can't believe she still agrees to do it, much less still loves me afterwards.

Hanging With My DNF Brother Ralph

We'll Be Back!

The wait at the finish line was a lot of fun watching the friends and family gaze off to the last turn where runners appeared for their final jaunt to the finish line. The turn was probably a quarter mile away so you could only sorta' recognize runners when they made the turn. As they got closer though it was so cool to see the excitement swell in their folks waiting for them. Cheering, homemade signs, cow bells ringing, kids, dogs; man that stuff is priceless.

Rick Stahl Finishing Up His First 50 Miler

• Rookie Rick Stahl nailed his first attempt at the 50 mile distance with a rockin' 9:43 finish.
• Rick Martin had another great day. This was just his second 50 miler and he won the Men's 60-69 age group with a time of 10:32.  If he hadn't had the misfortune to be right behind me when I face planted, who knows what his finishing time might've been. I can't say enough about his insisting to stick with me when I was in obvious trouble. Thank you Rick, I owe you!

Rick Martin Crossing The Line

• Geoffrey Hemgen cruised into the finish at 10:47 to the cheers of his family waiting patiently at the school. His son in the Ravens jersey won the adorable award on the day.
• Ron Kappus came into the finish at 10:53 looking like he had enough left for another 50.
• Todd Lewis took care of the Lake Loop on his return trip and got across the line in 10:57.
• Paul Encarnación, another of my heroes on the day, finished in exactly 11 hours. I wonder how much time my mishap added to his time. Thanks again Paul, see you on a trail soon!
• Bert Salter came in with a time of 11:25. I'm not sure what I was doing when he crossed the line, but I missed him. Sorry Bert, I still owe you for those late night/early morning C&O Canal Pierogies!
• Jo Kappus and Ralph Smith joined me on the DNF list. Each had a physical issue that ended their day early.

That's Todd Lewis Finishing Another Stone Mill 50 (shrugging his shoulders)

The Goofball In Front Of Him Had Just Sprinted Past Him In The Final 100 Meters

Yep, That Guy Won The Jerk Of The Day Award...Ya Just Don't Do That

Finish Line Etiquette

From the finish line we scooted over to the nearby Dogfish Head Alehouse Restaurant for dinner with Rick and Stacy Stahl and Rick Martin. We got in there just in time to be seated quickly before the waiting area gorged with folks who got a 1 hour wait. Good food, good beer and good stories. A great way to celebrate Rick Stahl's first 50 and Rick Martin's age group win. For me, it was a celebration of the end of a fun year of running. No, wrapping up 2016 with 2 DNF's and a huge lump on my head was not what I had planned; but I finished 9 of the 11 ultras I entered and 2016 saw my first 100 mile finish...I'll gladly stay focused on the positive.

Insert Your Own Caption

Next up for me is the Algonquin 50K in February so now it's time to get back to training.

Happy New Year!

Glacier Ridge Trail 50 Race Report - Ya' Gotta' Have Heart

May 14, 2016

Sunrise Over Lake Arthur

Barely two weeks after bumbling across the finish line at the C&O Canal 100, I found myself standing at the start line for the Glacier Ridge Trail 50 miler. I was full of mixed feelings, I felt that because I took very little time for recovery I didn't belong there, but at the same because of my preparation I did belong there. The truth was that because I made a very simple mistake in scheduling, I was forcing myself to attempt something I may fail. Janice once said that 50 miles had started to feel like a short distance for me, but believe me I don't take 50 miles or any distance for granted. With that said though, I've run the distance a few times and by now I know what to expect and what I need to do to get to the finish. This time though I had handicapped myself to a point that I might not see that finish line.

As I drove on the PA Turnpike west towards Pittsburgh, I knew that I needed to follow through if for no other reason, but to punish myself for making such a stupid mistake. Have you ever looked at the calendar and you looked at a date at the end of one month and then a date in the next and it appeared that there was a lot more days in between than there really were? Ok, maybe you haven't, but that's what I did. I thought I saw more time between events and I registered for both. It's that simple. I could've stayed home and wasted the money I had spent, but that would never have set well with me so now here I was looking for The Jennings Environmental Education Center near Slippery Rock Pennsylvania. 

Roadside Snowman Near Moraine State Park

When I think of glaciers I really don't think of Pennsylvania. The fact of the matter is that four continental glaciers creeped to a point just north of the present day Moraine State Park. While these advancing glaciers formed other lakes in the region, Lake Arthur at Moraine was formed by the damming of Muddy Creek in 1970. The Glacier Ridge Trail runs take place at Moraine State Park and along with the 50 miler, there's a 50k, 30k and 50 mile relay. The Glacier Ridge Trail itself is 14.8 miles long and runs from the west end of the park along the banks of Lake Arthur to the Jennings Environmental Education Center and it's part of the much longer North Country Trail. The course is kind of Y shaped with about 8,000' of elevation gain. The start/finish is at McDanels Boat Launch on Lake Arthur and follows the Glacier Ridge Trail to Rt. 528, a main road that runs through the park. That point is also the location of the main aid station where drop bags were allowed as we would visit that point three times during the run. From there the course headed to the Jennings Environmental Center and returned to 528 after a loop through the center's beautiful trails. After a second visit to Rt. 528, it was time to head out on the second out and back on forestry roads to form the other part of the Y. After a return to the Rt. 528 aid station and a retracing your steps back to the boat launch on the GRT, the 50 mile route was complete.

I traveled out Friday afternoon and visited the Jennings Center to pick up my race packet. They were also offering a pre-race dinner, but I didn't eat there. Instead, I ended up at The Pig Iron Public House, a fun little Gastro Pub next to my hotel in Mars. College graduations in the area made finding a room closer to the start impossible, but it was no big deal; a 30 minute drive in the morning would be fine.

This has become my favorite pre-race breakfast - thanks ClifBar!

I found the start line at the boat launch easy enough, got my timing chip and put my drop bag with the others and waited for the start. I know no one in the area and I only knew one guy running this race, David Lister, and coincidentally when heading to dinner I passed him on the highway. What are the chances? We exchanged waves.  I caught up with him before the start, we laughed about seeing each other on the road. We also sort of laughed at me for having just run a hundred and I had the pleasure of meeting David's brother Patrick. I had hoped to meet the newest Lister, but Skyler, David's new baby girl hadn't come to the start line.

After brief instructions and a reminder to not stray off the trail in the Jennings Center, we were off. At 6:30 the weather was beautiful, partly cloudy and low 50's. I knew however the weather would change and we were likely to be running in rain most of the day. To stay warm when the weather turned, I wore a long sleeve lycra layer under my ClifBar t-shirt. I began to think it was a mistake, because I got pretty warm quickly.

Photo by MOMENTUM PHOTOGRAPHY

The perfect weather lasted about 75 minutes when the rain started and that's when my body temperature did a u-turn, now I was getting cold the wetter I got. As we descended to the Rt. 528 aid station we were only 10 miles in and now on top of being cold, my quads felt like someone had driven pikes into them. The short break since my last ultra was definitely rearing it's ugly head in the form of sharp pain in my thighs. As I arrived at the aid station, I was ready to quit. I noticed a large tarp keeping something dry, I realized I was at the aid station with our drop bags. I asked a couple volunteers, but I quickly learned that the drop bags were self serve and they didn't seem to be in any order. I eventually found mine and replaced the tarp to keep the others dry. I reloaded on ClifBar gels and Bloks, ate a ClifBar Organic Energy Food packet, dug out a full bottle with Tailwind and put on my Patagonia wind jacket. It really wasn't that cold, but I was soaked and the jacket provided the layer I needed to keep going.

I took off towards the environmental center and now the steady rain was having its affect on the trail. It was now a real slop-fest so if I wasn't going slow enough on my fatigued legs I was now at a glacial crawl in this soup. It was along this stretch where I saw David for the first time since the start, he was trailing in second place by mere seconds. The well groomed trail through the Jennings Center was a nice reprieve from the mud and much of the flora and fauna we were warned about not trampling was in bloom and beautiful. There was an aid station there too, so after a brief stop to eat peanut butter and jelly and orange slices, I headed back the way I came to the 528 aid station for the second time. I gobbled down another ClifBar Organic Energy pack, contemplated quitting again and got moving again before I did. For the next stretch I had packed a second handheld so I could carry two bottles as the distances between aid were a bit longer here and I knew I'd probably be drinking more at this point. So far the course had been entirely single track trail and this out and back section was on old forestry roads and the mud was getting bad. The hills were the worse, you were either slipping trying to climb them or slipping trying to avoid falling down them. I saw David along this out and back too and this time he was in the lead with no one close behind.(David went on to win - congrats sir!) This section also had a special little treat included at it's turn around. With a little more than a mile to its end, there was an aid station and from there you had to climb to the top of a pipeline trail where a telephone book was hanging from a pipe. The turn around was unmanned so to prove you made it, in true Barkley Marathons fashion you needed to rip a page from the phone book and return with it to the aid station. To make it a legit homage to the Barkley, I even took the time to find the page that corresponded with my race number.

Page #49

I showed them my page and got out of that aid station as quickly as I could as some woman who was volunteering asked me twice if I was going to be ok. If I looked bad enough to be pulled from the race, I was not going to give her an opportunity to ask a third time. The muddy roads back to Rt. 528 and the mud bog called the Glacier Ridge Trail made for a slow death march back to the finish line. My last visit to the 528 aid station I ate extra and took a ClifBar to munch down while I moved. I had been pretty happy I hadn't fallen in the mud all day and within less than 3 miles to go, I slipped and fell 4 times going downhill. Your feet would start to slide and there was either a tree to grab or there wasn't.

I finished under the cut off time, my slowest 50 mile run to date. In that mud I would've been slow anyway, but I did myself no favors having minimal rest in my legs. Again, I credit my disciplined nutrition intake for keeping me going, no matter how slow - thanks ClifBar! I got my nifty finishers award, warmed by the fire and took a shot at hosing some of the mud off me. I did at least get my hands clean enough to use my phone to call home to let Janice know I was alive considering I finished long after expected. I was wrecked so I decided to find a room and drive home in the morning. I survived, but I'll never make a scheduling mistake like that again.

Tuesday(May 17th) I got home from the hospital after having a Cardiac Ablation on Monday. For more than a year, I've been experiencing frequent periods of rapid heart rate (SVT). After trying to self diagnose and explain it away, I brought it up to my doctor during my annual physical. After a couple of Cardio Vascular visits and a couple tests, Monday's procedure was recommended. I won't go into the ugly details, but to complete the ablation I needed to be awake and the pain and discomfort was excruciating. It felt like I ran another ultra and it was a tough one. I can't say enough good things about the Doctors and Nurses at The Hershey Medical Center, they took great care of me and I even got see my favorite RN, Katie Keller when she and Janice came to visit Monday evening before Katie started her shift. The good news is that my heart now feels amazing. The surgeon said that I had gotten so used to the minor episodes (PVCs) that I had learned to live with them. Now I should feel like I have a brand new heart. He also suggested I should really notice a difference while running. The other good news is that I have to rest for 7 days without exception, so I'll definitely be recovered for The Highlands Sky 40 mile ultra next month - which is next up on my Ultra-A-Month Club Membership Plan. :-)

Stuff I used at the GRT 50:

Altra Lone 2.5
Superfeet Insoles
Injinji Trail 2.0
Pro Compression Calf Sleeves
Pearl Izumi Running Shorts
Adidas Compression Shorts
2XU Long Sleeve Compression Top
ClifBar T-Shirt
ClifBar Trucker Hat
Patagonia Houdini Jacket
Suunto Ambit3 Peak HR
Nathan Quik Draw Plus
The North Face Handheld Bottle

Frozen Snot 2016 - Been There Done That

January 23, 2016 McElhattan, PA

The Frozen Snot describes the event as "one tough booger" and the course was as advertised. For 2016 I've put together a pretty busy schedule of ultra running and for some unknown reason I also added the Frozen Snot to my calendar. At under 14 miles, it doesn't fit with my other plans for the year, but I registered anyway. Towards the end of 2015 (my year off) I realized that I had been doing a lot of trail runs with decent elevation gains and as the year wrapped up I set and achieved a goal of ascending more than 200,000' for the year. I think my odd excitement about all that climbing may be what moved me to take on The Frozen Snot, while it's nowhere near ultra distance it did offer more than 5500' of climbing.

So far we've had a classic El Niño extremely mild winter here in the northeast. The weekend prior to The Frozen Snot I ran the sunny Phunt 50k in shorts. As Monday's weather models started to develop, it became quickly obvious that our mild weather would soon change. Our Harrisburg forecast for the weekend offered up an epic blizzard while Lock Haven was slated to get barely 1-2" of snow. I called our hotel and added a second night in case we were stuck there. We got an early jump on driving and got to Lock Haven before any snow flakes appeared. We stayed at The Fairfield Inn in Lock Haven, which seemed like a very new property with nice amenities, and so did the West Chester University basketball teams who were in town to take on Lock Haven University. Friday night, we had a killer burger at a downtown dive bar named Uncle Albert's and stopped at the Broken Axe for some micro brews before walking back to our hotel. While we slept, barely half an inch of snow fell in Lock Haven while the raging blizzard back home was just gaining strength and beginning the dumping of 30" of fresh drifting powder.

The drive to the Army Reserve Center in McElhattan for the race start was interesting, I was following a pick up pulling an open bed trailer and the winds were howling. Suddenly an old fashioned television cart flew up out of the trailer and with little time for response, it was crushed under our Jeep. I swerved and dodged something else that flew out and decided it was time to pass. We got off the McElhattan exit and I made a wrong turn and after driving in circles briefly and one big healthy u-turn we arrived at registration. I was impressed by the nice Frozen Snot embroidered Marmot fleece that was in the race bag. The Army Reserve Center was bustling with hikers, yes hikers. I was surprised to see so many folks dressed as if they were going on a day hike.

The Start



The piper played and then we were escorted outside. I noticed a timing chip in my number as I pinned it on, but as the race director said "Go", I didn't see any mat as we crossed the imaginary start line. (I had heard him say that we were starting at the back of the building and finishing at the front, but didn't really know what that meant.) The event started with a road run to Zindel Park, the center of the days activities and location of the aid station. It was about a mile on the road and I took it easy and used it as an opportunity to get warmed up as it was only about 23° at start time.

This event requires you to have some sort of traction devices for your shoes and I really wasn't sure when I'd put them on. That little bit of snow we got over night made the initial portion of the first climb slippery enough, so I pulled off the trail after the first switchback and put on my Kahtoola Micro Spikes. Many portions of the trails used in this event, have names and it seemed that the true snot enthusiasts knew all of them. The first climb was called "Barb's Kiss My Ass", which I'm sure there's just some hilarious "had to be there" kind of story of how it got its name, but I frankly couldn't have cared less.

After getting my micro-spikes on, I was quickly in a log jam of extremely slow hiking. I probably couldn't have climbed much faster, but man this was slow. And of course I was followed by a guy who wanted to and eventually pushed by me only to stay right in front of me the remainder of the ascent. That opening climb also included a trail called the "Goat Path" which I remembered as having kicked my butt the one and only time I ran the Megatransect. We also continued onto something called "Goat Path Bonus" which the web site boasts as "adding 300 more feet of climbing". Oh boy. I was climbing so slowly, I actually got a little cold. During the slow schlog up that first climb(s) I noticed ice formed on my socks, shoes and the lower leg portion of my tights. I needed to get moving and generate some body heat, at that point watt generation seemed that it could be in the negative numbers.

I wore my regular trail running shoes (Altra Lone Peak 2.0) with 2 pairs of Injinji socks (one pair was an extremely thin liner sock which seemed to work well), 2XU thermal tights, a Reebok thermal base layer and a long sleeve 1/4 zip pull over by The North Face. I also used a Patagonia Houdini jacket, had 2 pairs of Manzella Gloves on as well (One pair was Polartec and the other a liner) and on my head I used a lycra balaclava from Bass Pro Shops (not very warm, but it keeps the wind off your skin and wicks moisture) with an Outdoor Research Novo Watch Cap on top of that. In a couple of exposed sections it was windy with blowing snow and I actually used the hood on my jacket for added protection.

After that initial climbing there was plenty more as we made our way around Mt. Logan, the first loop of this two-loop course. Everything was slippery from the dusting of snow. I saw numerous others fall, especially on the steep downhills. It was so common, I knew my chance to tumble was coming soon. We reached some crazy downhill thing referred to on the map as "Logan Direct" and it was a sliding board covered in a mixture of frozen dirt and snow crystals. Ropes were tied off to trees in an attempt to give you something to hold onto and hopefully control your plummet. I was with a group of 5 others and saw tons of magnificent falls. One guy fell and literally rolled 50 or 60 feet, he was a mess of flying gloves, hat and hiking polls. In the distance above or below you, you'd hear someone cry out and then see the color of their clothing skidding swiftly downward until something stopped them, a tree or maybe a rock or perhaps the person in front of them. I was maintaining about a 30 foot buffer between me and the guy in front of me . To stay upright I was trying to stay in the snow for better traction and holding onto Mountain Laurel and trees. I came to a stretch where I absolutely had to use the trail and it was my turn, I went quickly sliding on my ass and kept sliding. I made up the space between me and that next guy in mere seconds. I also put a knee into one of my trekking poles and bent it in the process. I bent it back as straight as I could and got back up and going again. A bent pole was better than no pole. I fell 4 or 5 more times before reaching the bottom of that sliding board the event organizers called a trail.

By now I was feeling pretty stupid about being there. These bushwhacked paths seemed as though they were created just so participants could yuck it up and boast about how difficult the terrain was over beers later. I was developing an extremely bad attitude by now.  I had run the Megatransect and thought the same thing then and said I'd never return, yet here I was in the same set of hills on the similarly contrived trails that Deer wouldn't use.

Earlier as we ran into Zindel Park, along the road there was a sign marking Chief Logan's Path and I was now certain that his spirit was looking down upon us and proclaiming in his native language, "what fools!". As those thoughts annoyed me, I heard the foreboding sound of sirens down below in the valley and through the trees I could see signs that we were soon at the aid station. Nearly 4 hours and I hadn't even gone 8 miles.

They Served The Best PB&J Sandwich In Clinton County

Toasty Warm

Arriving at the aid station, I was wondering if the second loop was worth it. As I ran (yes I was running here) closer to the aid station I saw Janice and quickly recognized Jeff Lister standing with her. That lifted my spirits immediately. I hadn't seen Jeff since I put him back on the AT in Clarks Valley last summer. It was good to see them both as I gulped down a bottle of fluid and ate a Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwich. Jeff's new dog Bella was sleeping in his truck, meeting her probably
would've made me quit the day's crazy endeavor as I'd have the valid excuse of needing to play with a puppy as my out. I was bummed that I didn't get to meet her. Jeff then told me that Janice had been quite anxious awaiting my arrival as she had heard news that someone was hurt out on the course. Jeff knew that a runner had indeed died from an apparent heart attack, but kept it to himself until I was standing there with them safe and sound. That tragically sad news was why we had heard those troubling sirens earlier. After hearing that news, I just wanted to be done. I finished eating, warmed a little by the fire and Jeff and Janice bid me farewell back out to complete the last mileage.

Jeff & Bella

Jeff & some goofball

Immediately after the aid station, the second and shorter loop began with a climb up a rock slide of slippery boulders the race organizer labeled "The Beast". When I did the Megatransect those years ago, it was the boulders where I went the slowest. I was nursing knee pain that day, but today I felt fine so I tried to get up that rock pile as quickly and efficiently as I could. I realized that on the steepest parts, which were common, I went fastest if I simply used my hands and sort of crawled up the rocks. The boulders were pretty slick, but I made it to the top without incident.

The hell that came with that climb was over and I needed to stop and adjust my micro spikes as they had twisted on my shoes. A couple of guys passed me there and each asked if I was "ok" and one said, "hey man, it's all downhill from here". I responded that I had heard that one before and he said that he was serious and the trail was rolling and easy to the road to the finish. As I descended running most of the remaining trail, it was the best I had felt all day. I was actually running, but I also came to realize that we had climbed that mountain of precarious boulders simply for the sake of it and again I felt stupid for playing into this mess.

"Bumbles bounce!"

The Frozen Snot volunteers amazed me. It was very cold, I don't think it got out of the 20's during the event. While many of them had fires burning at their stations along the course, there was one lady standing making sure you didn't miss a turn. I felt sorry for her, she was bundled up against the elements all by herself with no fire. She asked me how I was doing and I responded that I was fine and when I asked her the same she responded simply, "I'm cold". One crew we passed (twice)
had a volunteer dressed in costume, I'm not sure if they were The Bumble from Rudolph or a Yeti, but I definitely got a kick out of it. That costumed crazy person was also holding a sign that proclaimed, "Run Faster, I Farted"...loved it! I can't forget to mention the photographer Bill Crowell, how he flew his drone in that wind I'll never know. Be sure to check out his YouTube video. Pretty special folks out there encouraging us and keeping an eye on us. Thank you.

"Run Faster! I Farted!"

The rolling course that descended from the boulders in my opinion was some of the prettiest. I was surprised to see the reservoir coming up quickly making it obvious that I was reaching the valley floor. I really enjoyed those last miles that lead to the return to the aid station. I was now passing some others who looked as though they had completely run out of gas.

All Done In The Forest

As I came into the aid station area again, I soon saw that Janice was still there. That was a great surprise as I thought she had already gone to the finish. She took my micro spikes and my poles and I had an easy run back to the Army Reserve Center. It was cool to have runners leaving in their vehicles giving me the thumbs up or yelling encouragement as I was on the last road passing the prison. I was a little confused as to how to approach the finish line in the parking lot, but I figured it out.

Making My Own Path Through The
Parking Lot To The Finish Line

Unlike last weekend's race, this time I made it in time to enjoy the post race soup. The potato soup rocked! Janice and I headed back to the hotel. That hot shower felt amazing. We had no plans and almost no energy, but we decided to go watch her Alma Mater beat Lock Haven in basketball. The West Chester women won their game in double overtime so we got to see that finish and we were there to see the whole men's win as well (unexpected fun while snowed-out of our home town). Sunday morning road conditions were great and we got home to start clearing the mountain of snow in front of our house.

Next month it's back to running! Im headed to The Frozen Heart 50k in Callaway Maryland - looks like a fun grass roots race, gonna be fun!

Other stuff I used:

Ultimate Direction - Fast Pack 20 - made it easy to carry my trekking poles and micro-spikes
Platypus - 2 Liter Big Zip LP hydration bladder
Tailwind Nutrition - Berry (I carried a couple gels and a ClifBar as well, but didn't eat any of them)
Black Diamond - Distance Z Poles
Suunto Ambit3 Peak

This Kid Was Lethal At
The Free Throw Line.
I Don't Think He Ever Missed.