Mt. Mitchell Challenge 2010

results photos
35 miles - 5:39:27 - 2010 Mt. Mitchell Challenge
photos below: Citizen-Times

This seasons winter has been brutal, and has resulted in changing the courses of some well run ultra's. The Mt. Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon were not immune to this as the snow and downed trees forced organizers to make changes. At the pre-race meeting, it was confirmed that the Challenge will be modified which resulted in a shorter run, and more asphalt vs. trail.

I made a last minute decision to wear a cycling jersey. This gave me more warmth than any other short sleeve shirt, and allowed me to run without a waist strap, or pack, as I stuffed the three back pockets of the jersey with additional gear. Instead of shorts, I put on my tights which I will only do in case of extreme cold (below 20 degrees) and wind. I was carrying one hand-held bottle, arm warmers, convertible gloves, a buff, my houdini, espresso gu, a beanie, and of coarse my shuffle.

Just before the start we all congregated and I saw many new and old faces as this would be my 4th running. It always great to catch up with old friends and make new ones. I was very well rested from the night before and felt powerful energy from the start. I started in the middle of the pack. The initial part of the course bypassed some of the Montreat trails and headed up Appalachian Way. This section of asphalt is very steep and is equally as painful running downhill as it is uphill. Actually, I didn't see anyone running very far up Appalachian Way, more like a run-walk-speed hike.

Once we hit trail on the Mitchell toll road the grade became runnable. I ran in my Inov8 212 Talons. I also made a last minute decision to not carry my micro-spikes or yaktracks. I felt confident that the grip of the trail running flats would give me the added confidence to travel across the packed snow and ice. I was making a bet with myself that the asphalt sections high above the parkway would be clear and free of any ice. If route 128 up to the summit was covered in ice, I would have been forced to turn around while microspike runners would have pushed on. Running on the trail section early in the morning I wondered if I had made a bad choice.

The start of the run was well below freezing so the trail was solid ice and packed snow for most of the morning. I concentrated on foot placement while running and tried to land my foot on the tire tracks which were the most compact sections of snow. This was challenging because often times the tire tracks were narrow, so the feet had to land in a single file style of running. I could run harder, and faster, but knew I wanted to keep some juice for the second half of this run. This is where the excitement starts in my book. I got into a comfortable pace, and turned on some tunes.

I filled up my bottle at a spring as there were no aid stations until I reached the parkway. At this point, anyone carrying yacktracks had them on. Many people pulled off the side of the trail, fumbled thru their packs, put them on and kept going. I made it to the parkway in 1:59 only to see David and Terry manning the aid stations. We ran together much of the same trails only last week. I pushed out of the aid station as quickly as I could, knowing that if I hung around I would freeze.

I ran to 128 and turned left. The sky was clear at this elevation, and I could see a beautiful sky with Table Rock clearly visible to my right. It was here that I heard the loudest wind howl of the day. I pulled my Buff around my face and ears which offered great protection from the wind. The mountain raged with anger and I looked up to see frozen trees disappearing higher above in the clouds. I knew when I reached the cloud that the temperatures would drop very fast.

Jason Bryant, who eventually won the Challenge in 4:31, said "The wind chill was the worst factor. I wish I had something to cover my face.” The Buff certainly saved my face from wind burn, as there was gusts of 30-40 mile per hour winds at the summit. After running for a mile up 128 I began to run walk. I wanted to keep my legs healthy for the descent. For the next 3 miles I was passed by at least 6 runners. I promised myself I would need to pass all of them on the return.

This year's run was a true out and back, so I saw runners on the return and knew what place they were in. Drew Shelfer always amazes me at this race, as he came off the summit in 3rd place. I high fived him on his way down. Not too far in 4th was fellow UCRR runner Jonathan Savage. You could tell he was running strong on his return and evidently see the positive energy running downhill. Byron was just coming off the summit as I started my posthole action to the top. I had less than a mile to go to the summit, and picked up my pace to run all the way until I got to the short trail to the summit. It was deep snow, and we were postholig all the way to the top. My hands were frozen. I tried to drink all the water out of my bottle before filling up, but it was frozen. I tapped the summit sign, and returned to the ranger station which is where I shoved 3 handfuls of sun chips, and downed half a liter of water and coke.

As I was shamelessly stuffing my face with any calories I could get in I recognized ranger Matt! Ranger Matt helped me and Greg during our 98 mile stage run fight off a bear on the summit of Mt. Mitchell last year after the bear broke into Greg's truck and ate all of our food. Ranger Matt, thanks for helping out!! We exchanged hellos, and I grabbed one more handful of chips and refilled my bottle.

It was 6 degrees at the summit and the wind made it feel like it was -20! My hands were still frozen and numb. My water bottle was dead weight, as it remained frozen the entire run down 128. On the way down I saw D.C, Wendy, Liz, Doom, and many others! Here I ran a bit faster and consistently downhill. I noticed someone on the side of the road taking a photo of a tiny mouse as I pushed downhill at a faster pace. I wanted to get out of the cloud, and I kept telling myself that it was a really hot day in Black Mountain.

I came back thru David and Terry's aid station. Here I saw a few runners putting on yacktracks again. David hooked up some hot tea in my water bottle and I was out of there in 30 seconds. Guys, thanks for an awesome aid station. I peeled off the gloves as the hot tea did the trick in bringing the fingers back to life. It took a few tries before the hot tea worked its way to the nipple of the bottle and finally some hydration. I kept up my pace, knowing that this is where I could make up time.

It got much warmer, and I stripped down to my Jersey, putting everything I had worn into the three back pockets. A few miles later I passed Dwight Shuler who was running strong with the biggest "sweatcicle" I have ever seen. He had on microspikes. As we dropped in elevation, it got warmer, and the sun began to shine. I ran hard all the way to lake Tomahawk which is where I saw Mad A who ran a few hundred feet with me to the finish. I was the 15th challenger to cross the finish line in 5:39:27. The range in temperatures from lows on the summit with windchill of -20 to upper 40 degrees in Black Mountain made this years challenge that much more of a challenge.

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Race Director Jay Curwin:

"The 13th Mount Mitchell Challenge and Black Mountain Marathon saw some of the most extreme weather yet.

2010 snow levels prevented runners from traversing the summit trails, limiting them to an up and back trek on the paved section of the Park road, but this meant for a 10 mile stretch of complete exposure on the summit ridge, with winds topping 50mph and 6 degree temperatures.

Marathoners and Challengers alike, faced conditions on the 18 mile section of the Toll Rd. that ranged from ankle/shin deep snow to stretches of hard ice and softening mud...Even with a shortened marathon course, times for the shorter race were slower than years past.

With the abreviated Challenge course, times were a little faster (about 30 minutes for the top runners)...due, in part, to athletes simply wanting to get down out of the arctic cold as fast as possible! Volunteers told stories of aid station supplies freezing solid while sheltered inside summit buildings...In a word; it was cold!

The Challenge provided no drama for the overall wins this year...2008 champion and LaSportiva athlete, Jason Bryant bolted from the start and led wire to wire...Bryant held a 20 minute lead by the halfway summit turnaround and had extended that to almost 30 minutes at the Lake Tomahawk finish line...his time of 4:31:16 provided some redemption for his 2009 DNF...On the women's side, Vasque's Krissy Moehl had no trouble with the conditions...Being from Washinton state, she faces mountaintop snow on a regular basis...and demolished the women's field by over an hour to win with a 5:10:38."

Rattle My Heart 50k

Adam Hill puts on many fun runs throughout the year. This is the 3rd year for the Rattle My Heart, and my first time! The weather could not have been better, with temperatures going above 50 degrees. I am running the Mitchell Challenge next week, and wanted to get some live views, and a test run on part of that trail.

Matt and Carl both started the night before at 8pm from Marion. Pulling a coyote run all night in the cold, and sloppy trail conditions. It took them just over 13 hours to reach us in Montreat by Lake Susan, 30 miles from where they started. They looked a little beat up, but a few calories, and a change of cloths got them going again. They are training for an adventure called the Barkleys! The rest of us started at Lake Susan. My plan was to go the entire 30 miles.

Adam navigated the dozen or so runners to the Rainbow trail, and up to Rattlesnake Mountain. On the way up a large branch that appeared to have snapped with a very sharp edge somehow whacked my left ear. Instant pain and blood followed. I put a little snow on the ear, and ignored the pain, and just kept pushing along. At the end of our day, I discovered a chunk of ear missing. The summit of Rattlesnake gave us 360 degree views of the snow covered Appalachian range. You could hear several people point into the distance and naming off peaks. Seeing the mountains covered in snow gave off a Colorado vibe, and I could tell it would be a good day.

We all descended from the summit and made our way to the Royal Gorge Overlook. Everyone here took the time to take in the views and down a few calories. The sun was out and about, and I smelled Spring. It was a real adventure having snow on the trail. It certainly added to the challenge of it all.

We pushed on to the Kitsuma/Youngs Ridge trailhead. Here a few opted to bypass the Kitsuma climb and took a 5 mile shortcut. After climbing up Kitsuma, we descended and hung a left on Mill Creek Road for a 3 mile asphalt run. At the end of the road was Andrew's Geyser.

We were surprised to see the Geyser pumping water into the sky. It was here the yogi was calling from within for the crow. I saw a rock that was large and flat enough, and pulled the move without face planting. This was at about mile 14 of our 30 mile journey. We crossed the railroad tracks and pushed up to Heartbreak Ridge.

Photo by: Adam Hill

The next 8 miles involved countless switchbacks, and an incline that would make you climb about 3500 feet. Adam hopped up the trail like a little bunny. The next few miles I hiked up alone, and enjoyed the views, the sun, and the snow. My feet did start to get a little cold, so I tried to pick up the pace a little. I then passed a few runners that took the bypass earlier. Finally, I reached the Mitchell Toll Road. I was surprised to see how much snow there was up there.

I couldnt run downhill without concentrating on exactly where I needed to place my foot. A 4 wheeler had obviously come up this section in the snow, and their tire tracks is where I wanted my foot to go. This offered the most compact snow, so my feet wouldn't slide around and I could get somewhat of a good footing. This was a challenge, and forced me to work harder. Normally, I would want to fly down this section of the trail, and pick up some pace, but with the snow I doubt anyone will be setting any PR's next weekend. That is unless we get some heatwave ant it all melts away, unlikely.

You know your close to getting off the trail when it gets really nasty steep. Many runners cant even run this section on the Mt. Mitchell Challenge, fearing their knees would blow out. It was here that I felt like I was skiing in my shoes. You really had to have some good balance to move at a faster pace as the snow/mud eliminated much of the friction my feet were used to. Finally I hit Appalachian Way, and crossed Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, and Missouri and knew I was done when I saw Lookout road. My watch read 7:47.

Adam, thanks for putting on another amazing run in the hills of Appalachia! Carl and Matt, you guys rocked out another 100k out there, battling harsh winter conditions, rock on. And finally, thanks to all the people that came out, what an adventure!!

The Elevation Profile:








Another beautiful day was had on Sunday, so I went out for a the first bike ride in over a year. The legs were a little wobbly.

Uwharrie 40 & Adventures In The Mud

results photos
38 miles - 6:33:50 - Uwharrie Mountain Run

Vonda, Charlie, and I parked our car near a church, and hoped into a shuttle. Heather, from Asheboro was our volunteer driver, she helped us make it to the start, with enthusiasm I might add. Not a single rain drop fell as we huddled around a campfire to stay warm anticipating the start. The air was a little humid, that feeling you have after it had been raining for days. Many of us shuffling thru our drop bags, and making last minute decisions on what to carry along the run, and what to drop.

photos by: Anthony Carriveau

Byron was in his sleeveless, which is his classic look (2009 Mt. Mitchell), one that I choose to sport every now and then, even in cold temperatures, with arm warmers of course. "Mo, your overdressed." I agreed, and dropped my rain jacket, and gloves. I had on cycling arm warmers, my hardrock shirt, shorts, and a beanie. I put on the hardrock shirt for good luck with Sunday’s lottery, hoping I would get in! We had aid every three miles, so I rocked one hand-held bottle, knowing I could re-fuel at any of the aid stations.

Just before the start, the organizers, which I respect very much for putting on such a well organized run with all the bad weather possibilities this weekend, made a few announcements. This year, they were not timing the run, and they re-routed part of the course after mile 14. This made the race a bit flatter, and many mentioned even shorter. Some had been disappointed to hear this, but I was just stoked to be outside in these conditions on the trail. I enjoy the different elements of nature during these endurance events, and seeing how I cope with them. I also love mud!!

We took off, and my strategy was to run hard, and see if I can maintain a solid pace. Byron, Mark, Brad, and Ronnie lead in quattro action. After the first big hill, I let them disappear in the distance. I kept a pace up with two other runners for the next 10 miles or so, until we all broke up and ran solo. I was in 6th place, but I tried to take my mind off of this, and focus on my run. I was having a great time, high fiving volunteers, jamming to my tunes at times, and watching light snow flakes fall from the sky at other times. I love running in the snow too!!

I began to feel cold in my hands, and wished I kept the gloves. This was a bad choice on my part, but no worries, I just pulled my arm warmers down a bit and covered my fingers, bam. You have to improvise on the trail. After reaching mile 14, we turned left down a gravel road all the way to the turn around. This was the fast section of the run, and really where you could make up time. I kept telling myself I would push it harder on the return, so I took a nice steady pace. Before I knew it, Mark, Ronnie, Byron, and Brad passed me on their return. All appeared to be in high spirits, and looking strong. They were all minutes from each other.

When I got to mile 20, I downed a salty potatoe, a couple of fig newtons, and guzzled down some mountain dew, or Nitro as the kirkmister calls it. I also grabbed my gloves out of my drop bag, and attempted to put them on. My fingers were frozen at this point, and tangled into each other with no dexterity. I couldn't even put my gloves on! Marie, thank you for helping me put those suckers on. It was 3:15 when I left the aid station, and I kept trucking along.

It was here I began to pass many of the 40 mile runners who were on their way to the 20 mile aid station. Uwharrie 40M is an out and back. I high fived many of them, and picked up tremendous positive energy, which was reciprocated, from all of the runners. Some runners don't like to talk to people when they are focused on a race. I'm the opposite, I love the energy that gets passed around. Two runners, who I don’t know, yelled out "Sultan! I read your blog" as they ran past. You know who you are! I hope your run went well.

I reached the 14/26 mile aid station in 4 hours, and pit stopped for some Nitro and calories, and took off. I was back on the single track. I remember sprinting downhill on a section only to come up to a stream that was knee deep. Opposite of the stream was a 20 mile runner that was searching for a way to cross without actually getting his feet wet. In full jubilation, I leaped forward from my sprint into the stream, causing tidal waves, and a splash that was louder than my coyote howl soaked my legs and cleaned off all the mud on my lower body. The other runner decided to do the same!

I was pacing myself at 30 minutes per aid station which was challenging. I reached the 32 mile aid station and had a chance to chat with Joe Lea, a Hardrocker, and Kean Hankins a Coyote! I refueled, wished them luck on both lotteries of Wastach, and Hardrock. We were all in the same lotteries!

A mile or so later, I saw Byron in the distance. I eventually caught up to him, which seemed like it took another mile or so. We ran/shuffled together, and then I let him go, only to see him waiting for me at the mile 35 aid station. I downed a hot chocolate, and a few calories, and continued to push on. A few miles later we were passed by Willow. You’ve gotta love the trailheads and all of their trail names! Sultan likes that.

We both followed Willow to the last aid station at mile 38. We exchanged a few words, and I learned she would be running Western States later on this year! Before you knew it, another runner came up on us with less than a mile to go, Anthony Corriveau. 5th, 6th, and 7th place all finished within seconds of each other. Byron had a stronger finish than I, and dropped the hammer to finish in 5th. Willow finished first female, rock on.

Uwharrie was a great race. Special thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this event possible. I later found out that day I did get into Wasatch, along with Joe, Kean, and Flame! But with no luck at Hardrock…210th on the waiting list! Kean rocks out and got into both.

UCRR Snow Run

18 miles - 2:42 - University City

Despite the snow last night, half a dozen or so UCRR runners showed up for the 7am Saturday run. I was there to get in a few miles, and in for the thrill of running in (snow/wind) less than desirable conditions. Its good training.

When I arrived at 6:50am, the Caribou Coffee was open. No one had yet arrived, and I thought that perhaps people had bailed due to risky road conditions. Shortly there after, several runners appeared, with Savage arriving on foot. We took off...

I brought my camera along, as its rare that it snows like this in town, so I documented. Early on in the run, I pulled out my camera and accidentaly dropped my key without realizing it. I left the group, retraced my path, retrieved my key, and then ran for 2 miles to catch back up with the group at Citgo fields.

It has been a few years since I ran with the UCRR, so it was fun catching up with the gang. Diane gave me the Boston story, which went on for miles! Its inspiring to see people reach their goals, and share stories.

After 10 or 11 miles several runners pit stopped at the Caribou and I found myself continuing, running with Savage and Théoden. We headed back down the same road we started on, and then back on the greenway.

I was running in Mizuno road flats, which I ran the Sultan 50k in last weekend. I still had a few twigs and pebbles in my shoe lurking around my toes from the most recent adventure. By now the wind began to pick up, and snow was flying in my face, forcing me to squint at times. A buff would have been perfect to bring along. Although the asphalt was covered in snow, and in some sections ice, I was able to get a good footing and run at a comfortable pace.

According to Theoden's GPS, he and I covered 18 miles in 2:42. I went inside for a coffee and an oatmeal to go. Caribou's oatmeal rocks!

Later on in the day I put on the micro spikes and tested them out in the hood on sheets of icy roads. They work very well, but not recommended in flats. If you want to run tomorrow morning, I recommend you bring such gear, or a pair of crampons!

Sultan 50k+

results photos

33 miles - 6:05:38 - South Mountains State Park

Annette's Write Up

Matt's Write Up

D.C's Write Up
Beth's Write Up
Julia's Write Up

The decade was coming to an end, and again I began the planning phase of the birthday run. This year I used the Hardrock name I acquired on the trail “Sultan” as the name of the event, fitting for the handcrafted crowns we sported. The Sultan 50k.

This is really not a run, but a birthday party with friends, celebrating everything that makes you feel alive. My brother Osama, whom I have called Ozmin almost his entire life, was turning 30 in January. He saw it fit to learn a little more about the ultra running culture, and decided to come along and volunteer at the 16.5 mile aid station along with Lilly, and document the adventure we all had. They both did a fantastic job, and braved the cold and mist for the day to help us out, you guys rock!

I met up with Jonathan Savage and John Lewis in Charlotte, and we all drove up to Morganton to the Coffee House. I passed out some recycled bibs to all the participants so that when they all came to the aid station our volunteers could record their 16.5 mile split time. Each bib came from some adventure I had participated it, and I tried to match up each runner with something they could relate to. We then all drove to Roper Hollow Road, snapped a few photos, and at 10:04am we began running.

The first 3 miles are uphill. I ran a little with Anne and Annette, and then pulled back a little to run with Greg, Keith, and Stu. It was great to be outdoors, and take in the fresh mountain air with friends. I pulled into the aid station in 2:52 surprised to see how well it was set up. Lilly and Ozmin did great work. At this point I had been anticipating the cake, and I was starving. I scarfed down a huge slice, and ate lots of salty chips and fluids. As Keith and I came in, we saw Annette, Mark, Dewight, and Anne on their way out. Wendy, Keiths wife stayed behind so they could run together. I drew my card and got a 6, this would shave 6 minutes off of my actual finish time. Laughs, headstands, and cartwheels were going on to humor our volunteers and get stickers added to their names which turned into points (big sticker = 20 min, small sticker = 10 min). I stayed at the aid station for 30 minutes to help out, and to meet as many of the runners as possible. Keith and Stu went on, as the body gets cold being stationary. D.C., Jonathan Savage, Greg and Hayley all rolled in. I gobbled up some more calories and saw Beth, Ashley, and Damian come thru. Everyone was loving the cake, and then I high fived Melinda and Patrick as they came in. At this point, I was feeling the cold get to me and decided to start moving back towards Roper Hollow Road.

On the return we climbed the stairs to the waterfall, which was frozen last year, with Ashley, Jonathan Savage, and D.C. We ran all the flats, and the downhill’s, and hiked up the hills. Magically Erik and Julie, friends from Charlotte, appeared with their camera’s on the trail, taking photos of us running threw the woods! Thanks guys, and thanks for sharing. Next time make sure to grab a slice of cake before your hike! Hate you missed it.

At this point we had exited the park and started to pick up the pace. D.C. and I ran together for a while, and met up with Beth who was jamming to her tunes. We ran for a while together, and remembered her help in finding a sweet trail while I was up in Virginia a few months back in the Iron Mountains. I could feel my legs a bit heavy, but wanted to run up the hills, so I did a few times. We then started running down hill fast, and D.C. and I kept thinking we had reached the finish, only to see another bend in the road. For 2 miles or so, we thought we were at the finish, and kept up a strong pace. We then finished the round trip time of 6:36:38. The distance was 33 miles, net elevation gain was 6,000 feet, and it was between 40-50 degrees, overcast clouds, and somewhat misty-drizzly. As we approached the finish, a fire had been burning and appeared to be toasty. We huddled around and cheered in the rest of the runners out there.

After all the runners came in, some of decided to go to Jalapanos for some Mexican food, which is very tasty. I want to thank the volunteers, and the friends that helped me make this possible. Happy Birthday! Happy New Year! Happy New Decade! Live it up.

This was an amazing time, and even more amazing people. For fun, I decided to barrow some of Chris Scott C2M idea’s and incorporate bonus points and boner points for an official finish time of all the runners. Here is how it works:

Bonus and Boner point deduct and add time to your actual finish time.

Bonus Points:

Ate Cake = 20 min.

Deck of Cards = # you drew, Ace was 25 min.

Photos on trail = 30 min.

Photos post/pre run = 10 min.

Course marking = 30 min.

Post run dinner = 10 min.

Big sticker = 20 min.

Small sticker = 10 min.
Hair cut into a crown = 100 min.

Being involved added more bonus points. For example, baking banana bread and sharing, bringing along firewood to help us avoid hypothermia at the finish, and posting an elevation profile that looks like our crowns all earned you bonus points!

Elevation profile by: Dewight Shuler

Boner Points:

If you didn't wear your crown, then 60 minutes will be added to your time. If you forgot to return your bib 30 minutes will be added to your time. This is all fun and games, anyone that got boner points surely made up for it and some in bonus points!

I couldn't agree with Annette more when she said in her recent email "HAPPY LIFE! That is what yesterday symbolized to me!" What a blast!

Photo by: Jonathan Savage

Charlie and Vonda critique my Yoga (standing warrior) at mile 20 on the 33 mile journey. My Ujjayi breathing techniques worked wonders!


Many of the runners asked about the cake, and who made it? Nona from Nona's bakery in Charlotte. That red velvet was gooooood. Also, a special thanks to Melanie and Lonnie who crafted our crowns for the second year. Thinking about throwing down the crown at your next birthday party? Well check out their website, all proceeds go towards their son Daniels therapies that aren't covered by insurance. Great people to work with.

To the next adventure!

Adam's Video

Sultan 50k++ from Adam Hill on Vimeo.

Weymouth Woods 100k - 7th place

results splits photos
Finished 10:51:06 (100k PR)

Ok, so Im on a birthday high. After last weekend’s PR run at the Frosty 50k I decided to go ahead and run a 100k the following week. The morning started with a 4am buzzer and another bowl of that oatmeal! It seemed to do wonders last week, so heck, work with what works. I piled on blueberries, strawberries, bananas, brown sugar, and honey. I love that taste of fresh fruit in the morning.

Jonathan Savage, and I packed up and rolled out by 5am. We made it to Southern Pines by 7am and I began to prepare for a 62.5 mile journey. The course is 14 loops 4.47 miles long and is tough because the trail is infinitely covered in roots, with some sections fairly sandy. Jonathan reminded me it was the Sandhills after all.

Photo: by Unknown

At the start I saw a few people wearing down jackets again! My brain started sweating with just the sight of that much cloths. It was 40 degrees at the near sunrise start, and warmed up to 50 by the end of the day. I had on shorts, a tank-top with arm-warmers and gloves on. I started a bit cold, but knew that I would warm up quickly. I ran with Jonathan and Tom Gabell the first few loops and then I was feeling fairly good and decided to pass them, never really running much farther away. Pass Jonathan? Was I nuts? This guy busted out 133+ miles at Hinson Lake a few months ago. I knew I was going a bit fast, but heck, it felt good, and so I went with it. By the 5th lap I put my mind in a state of trance, and not paying attention went off course for a few minutes, quickly realizing I was on virgin trail, I back tracked and corrected myself. Shortly thereafter I was passed by several runners. I was in 4th place until this point. If I tried to keep that pace (just under a 9 min/mile pace) I would crash and burn later, so after crossing the 50k mark, 7 laps, I pulled back to a 10.5-11 min/mile pace. I ran the first 50k in 4:47:47.

Photo: by Mark Long

Marie Lewis, race director, did a fantastic job putting on the first running of the Weymouth Woods 100k. Despite me going off trail, the course is very well marked, and it was me that wasn’t paying attention that made me go off course. The trail does make a few sharp turns however. Aid stations were stealer nothing short of first class, and really gave off positive energy every lap I came thru. Susan Dummar, and her crew (wish I knew all of your names) did a fantastic job making sure all the runners were taken care of. The multiple handfuls of chips, chicken noodle soup, several slices of cheese pizza, grilled cheese sandwiches, PB&J sandwiches, pretzels and M&M's, half a hamburger with ketchup and mustard, coffee, boiled potatoes and salt, the 50/50 water/Gatoraid mix fueled my body to keep a trucking along. The last few laps I got a few coyote howls out of the aid station which gave me more energy to drop the hammer hard. Mark Long and company did an awesome job manning the second aid station on the trail. You guys rock!

I was beginning to feel my legs get heavy after the first half. I then slowed my roll a bit and was instantly passed by several runners, including getting chicked twice. I knew that I still had 50k to go, and it would be a long day, so I made sure I adjusted my pace and just told myself I would catch up with them soon. I ran a few laps alone, with unbounded thoughts racing thru my mind. I felt alive. Almost instantly I paid attention to my watch and it was three laps later just like that, it was like pressing fast forward on time. Amazing! I wish I could do the opposite sometimes and hit rewind!

Anyhoo, this is where I met Sage. Sage is a 3 hour marathoner, which is amazing. I haven’t tried to go faster than my 3:30 PR time at that distance, but I'm sure I can’t run a 3 hour marathon. The amazing thing about Sage is that she is a mother of two, and her youngest is 10 months, and she has never run farther than a marathon! Ok, so I'm a fast marathoner, let just take a stab at a 100k? Hell, that kind of reminded me of when I first started running some of these crazy distances. I jumped right into it. We kept each other motivated to complete laps 10, 11, and 12. Walking up the hills at times and compensating on the flats and downhills. Sage began to feel a sharp pain in one of her knees, so I asked her if she wanted any vitamin I. “I didn’t know there was such a thing as vitamin I?” I told her that was lingo for ibuprofen, and she downed 400 mg at the next aid station. When we finished lap 12 I pushed on with my journey, grabbing my flashlight as I wasn’t sure I would finish lap 13 before darkness. It was here I pushed myself, knowing this would be my last lap in daylight. Here was my chance to finish strong. I felt like I was in a full sprint, thinking I was running my fastest lap, I was moving 2-3 minutes faster per mile. During this fast lap something bizarre happened. Two people yelled out to me while I was focused on finishing this lap at what seemed to be a suicide pace, “Mohammed, nice blog,” or something to that effect. You know who you are! Post a comment if you read this, I’d love to hear from you.

I had to turn my flashlight on during the last mile so I wouldn’t trip on a root and face plant. I quickly came into the aid station filled up my bottle, yelled out another howl, and high fived Jonathan who was finished at this point (4th place). He asked me what pace I wanted to run? I wanted to finish in less than 11 hours at this point, so I yelled out “I don’t know 30 minutes.” 30 minutes is impossible to run, so I don’t know what I was thinking, but then quickly adjusted my expectations to 40 minutes. Jonathan at this point said he would pace me the last lap! This guy just finished, was he out of his mind? I thought sure, why not. I began to walk waiting for him to follow, then stopped for 20 seconds and yelled his name out 3 or 4 times, and then I took off like a tiger being let out of his cage. I was on a mission, and no one was going to stop me.

I finished lap 14 in 50:39, with a total time of 10:51:06. I placed 6th in Men’s, and 7th overall. Sage went on to finish her first 100k in 2nd female, rock on SAGE!! Jonathan finished 4th overall, and totally kicked some ass out there. My Sunnto Altimeter read a total of 3,691 feet of net gain and loss on all 14 loops or approximately 263 feet of gain per loop. I ran in my new inov8 212’s which I highly recommend for trail running. I was happy it was over with, but was still in a very jovial mood. Susan suggested I keep going and bust out 100 miles. I declined kindly, and proceeded to eat half a hamburger and down a coffee with some lentil soup.

I would like to thank all that made this adventure possible, and all the volunteers who made this first time event a success. This will quickly become a popular 100k event!!

Who's ready for the Sultan 50k next weekend?

Weymouth Woods 100k Trail Run

I'm usually not a big fan of running around in circles, but this Saturday I plan to run the first running of the Weymouth Woods 100k in Southern Pines, NC. The race is full, and has a sweet line up of athletes.

The course is described on their website as: Fourteen 4.47 mile loops (total 62.58 miles) through the trails of Weymouth Woods Nature Preserve. To alleviate trail congestion, the first loop will also include a .15 start from the park entrance to the trailhead. The trails are a combination of dirt, loose sand, packed sand, and some gravel. There are several wood plank boardwalks and two sets of wood stairs. Lots of slippery leaves, pine straw, and many exposed and hidden roots. Parts of the trail can be muddy and wet. Runners will cross the parking lot (several hundred yards) at the beginning and end of each loop. See the course map and the elevation chart for specifics. The course is not certified.

It should be a little warmer than the Frosty 50k this past weekend. I plan to ease off the pace a little and pull this one off in 11 hours, or just under 50 minutes per loop.

Salem Lake Frosty 50k – 12th Place

results
Finished 4:07:39 (50k PR)

I woke up at 4:45am, made last minute preparations, ate the best oatmeal breakfast with raspberries, blueberries, bananas, brown sugar, and honey for some fuel later on in the morning. A powerful energy lingered in me from last decade’s adventure on the Art Leob.  The drive up to Winston-Salem took me just over an hour.

Just before the start I met up with Jonathan Savage and the University City Road Runners. I was surprised to see them, as they usually only run asphalt and I rarely see any of them at ultras. Way to come out there and run one for the first time! Jonathan asked, “so are you going run this one fast?” I never come to these races with expectations other than enjoying the day with other like-minded trail runners. “Not sure.” I did have my new Inov8 212’s on, which I have tested out 4 other times while training. They are light, fast, and grip the trail like nothing else.

Photo by: Aaron Ligon

On the drive up, the batmobile gave me a reading of 14 degrees as the outside temperatures. The entire country was literally frozen. Even southern Florida hit record lows and dipped into freezing at night which is very rare. It was going to be a cold day. The forecast did not show that it would go above freezing at all during the time I would be running. We started in 18 degree’s. I was wearing shorts, a white cycling shirt, arm warmers, running gloves, a hat that covered my ears, and my houdini. I was wearing much less than most people out there, some of which had full down jackets and balaclava’s on.

Photo: Unknown

The 50K course is a flat and scenic, beginning and ending at Salem Lake, 6 plus miles on asphalt Greenway, 25 miles on hard packed frozen dirt around Salem Lake. It is a double out and back. The start, finish and halfway are at the Salem Lake Shelter. So I broke this run down to 4 sections, each of which is just under 8 miles (7.775 to be exact). It seemed reasonable to try and run each section in one hour, but I knew that was below an 8 minute mile, and that my body would not be able to sustain that for too long on trail. But it was sub-freezing, and I had to stay warm, so I busted it out in that pace, and I felt good.

I finished the first section in 58 minutes, second section in 1:58, and third section in 3:01. I was feeling my legs get heavy at this point and slowed my roll just a bit. I ran behind Myron Coulson and put it in cruise control, only to see him get farther and farther away. I reached the aid station where the asphalt met the trail, and loaded up on fluids and calories. It was here I convinced the aid station volunteers to let out a load synchronized coyote howl. This gave me strength and reminded me of my Coyote 2 Moon experience. I started to move faster and knew that if I tried to run hard for the next 8 miles I would PR and set the bar very high for me to PR again at this distance.

It was cold, below freezing, and thoughts of hot yoga in my mind helped me thaw out a little. I sweat when I run fast, and the accumulated sweat around my waist strap froze into solid ice, and some hawaiian shaved ice action. I noticed it, and didn’t think much of it, but later realized the price I would pay, freeze burns around my waist which is extremely painful. I was running on positive energy that I picked up from so many other runners as we continuously passed each other on the out and backs. The University City Road Runners were my little cheerleading squad every time I passed them. After I rounded the last cove I could finally see the finish, and although I wasn’t going to pull this last section in an hour, I ran my hardest to finish in 4:07. What an amazing day with amazing people!

A new course record was set this year by Ethan Coffey of Knoxville, TN. He shaved just over one minute off the previous record to run an amazing time of 3:08:08, almost an hour faster than my time. Mark Lundblad, a Sultan 50k runner this year, came in at second place with a time of 3:24:23. I didn't even recognize him out there! I came in at 12th place with a time of 4:07:39, my fastest 50k to date.

Blue Moon ALTAR 30M

The Art Loeb Trail Adventure Run was in its 9th year, and two weeks ago, a snow storm forced the tradition to break its streak. The ALTAR is run on the winter solstice or shortest Saturday of the year. After our failed attempt, we decided to give it another shot on new years eve 2009 which was a blue moon night, a phenomena that would not reoccure for another 28 years!

We rendezvoused in Ashvegas and dropped off a car at Camp Daniel Boone, which would be our finish or our turn around had we tried to double the ALTAR. Yes, some of us thought this might be possible. Then we headed over to town for some pizza and went to Charlie’s to repack, get an hour of shut eye, and off to Brevard for a true Coyote midnight start. On our drive it began to snow yet again. We started at 12:01am December 31, 2009, and it would be our last adventure of the decade.

It was cold, but not as cold as I had expected at the start. I knew that as we climbed higher it would get colder and windier. The conditions here were very good, and much better than two weeks ago. Even the downed rhododendron here which forced us to crawl two weeks ago sprung back into life and opened up the trail.

The blue moon was out, and illuminated the bright white snow on the trail, allowing us to speed hike with no headlamps. I turned mine on every now and then just to make sure I was moving in the correct direction. We took turns to break trail in the fresh snow. The moon was very bright and powerful near Cedar Rock.

While climbing up Pilot Mountain, the longest climb to the ALTAR I felt very sleepy, and was practically sleep hiking at this point. I kept following the footsteps in the snow. We reached Deep Gap shelter just before 7am, and took a break to down some water and calories. Matt made a call to Carl and gave him an update. It was getting very cold at this point, and I remember having to hike up another 10 minutes to warm my body back up again, I had all my cloths on.

We crossed the parkway and found a few large ice formations. Ice stalactites were plentiful and very large. Matt and I decided to wake ourselves up by pulling out ice light sabers. I thought about calling my Avitar to the rescue, but then woke up.

Thus far this adventure was challenging, cold, yet fun. When we reached the Black Balsam Balds I noticed we were in much deeper snow. The Art Loeb trail here is usually a deep trail, and with more accumulated snow, if you tried to stay on trail, your in some really deep stuff. We all began to posthole. This slowed our roll big time, and became very challenging. Our pace slowed to just over 1 mile per hour, and I began to wonder if we would be spending another night on the mountain. Then it got worse with all the blowdowns. We had to bushwhack, commando crawl, orienteer our way out for miles. This part was not fun. It was both physically demanding and mentally challenging.

After hours we finally made it to the narrows, and then ran back down to Camp Daniel Boone. My watch read 16:01, about twice as long as it may have taken in normal conditions. With the Blue Moon ALTAR we sealed the decade with yet another amazing adventure. Thanks to both Charlie and Matt for helping me find my way out of there alive!