Warning this is long, otherwise enjoy!
A little back story about me, I started running again Jan 4th 2013, so running my first ultramarathon on Jan 4th 2014 was a bit symbolic for me. Before last year I hadn't run consistently since freshman year of college 10 years ago. I started running to lose weight and enjoyed it enough that I kept going. I decided back in August after running my first half marathon, that I wanted to skip right over marathons because I wanted more of a challenge. I settled on the Yankee Springs Winter Challenge because back in August I thought it sounded so cool to run my first ultramarathon in a smaller setting and thought to myself, how cool it might be to run in the snow. Oh how naïve I was at the time.
So a little bit of setup, the Yankee Springs Winter Challenge, hereafter abbreviated as, YSWC, is a 3 year old race, in Yankee Springs State Park in Western Lower Michigan. They had 50 mile, 50km, 25km, and 10km races yesterday. I choose to run the 50km, or in English, 31.06 miles roughly. The course was set up for 50km racers to run 2 loops of a 15.5mile course that had 4 aid stations and followed nearly all single track trail except for maybe a mile or so of gravel road. The state park itself is very heavily wooded and fairly hilly. Weather for the race would be 28 degrees, wind chills in the teens, and snow showers in the afternoon.
Race start time was 9am, my girlfriend and I arrived around 8am and were lucky enough to snag one of the last parking spots practically on top of the start/finish line. We discussed how we'd communicate while I was running and how she'd help me change shoes at the halfway point inside the drop bag area. I'll say it for the first time here and repeat it later, but she really was fantastic and inspiring. I'm not sure I would have finished without her there. Luckily YSWC did have a rustic cabin lodge that was heated so she could stay warm while I ran. I grabbed my race bib, all my gear, and checked my drop bag one last time. I had put duct tape on both sets of shoes I would be wearing for extra protection from wet snow and made one last check to be sure I had enough gels, food and a full water bottle.
And then very unceremoniously after a brief speech from the race director we were off. The 50k, 25k and 10k all started at the same time so for a time due to the narrowness of the trail we were running in single file lines. At the first aid station at mile 1.5 the 10K runners split off and now it was just the 120 or so people running the 25 and 50k races. I can't stress how beautiful the course was. All around were thick stands of oak, maple and pines that looked pristine due to the recent snowfall. Easily a foot of snow on everything, the trail was barely 2 feet wide and sometimes only a foot wide, and at times the snow drifts to the sides of the trail were 2 or 3 feet high.
After the first aid station I recalled in my head the next would be only a couple miles ahead at a road crossing, and by this time I had settled into a single file line with 2 other 25k runners. We ran silently for those few miles, an eerie stillness in the air, only our breathing and shoes crunching the snow making any noise. The trail through this section gave a false sense of security, while it was narrow the snow was very hard packed and not very difficult to run on. I then crossed the road where the aid station was supposed to be, and there was no aid station. Slightly annoyed I just kept running and after multiple small hills, the first big downhill of the day was encountered, I mostly just shuffle slid down the hill never really picking my feet up, the snow wasn't nearly as hard packed on the bigger downhills so footing was completely treacherous. Shortly after that I encountered what would become a recurrent theme throughout the trail, soft pack snow that provided minimal traction and footing, and after a uphill section that was just as slippery as the downhill I finally arrived at aid station 2 at mile 5.5. This aid station was fully stocked, 2 kinds of trail mix, M&M's, oreos, potato chips, chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese, PB&J, combos, pretzels, bananas, oranges, coke, mt dew, ginger ale, water and gatorade. All the aid stations on the rest of the course were similarly stocked. I can't rave enough about the people manning these stations, they did an amazing job in abhorrent conditions!
After a quick restock I was on my way, and into a section known on the course map as the Devil's Soup Bowl, the course suddenly was very hilly, with a mix of heavy forest and planted pines. The sections that were exclusively pine trees were spooky quiet and dark with only sound that of my own breathing and footfalls.. As I was approaching mile 9 and aid station 3 I had reached the point where I could see no runners in front or behind me. This would continue for nearly the entire race. I reached aid station 3 which was quite devilishly placed on top of a steep hill. My duct tape had also bit the dust at this point but my feet were still dry, but a tad cold. I was otherwise feeling great, given the trail conditions I decided at the start that my only goal for the day was to finish this race no matter what. I loaded up on M&M's, potato chips and some trail mix and some coke and gently started picking my way downhill, the next few miles to aid station 4 at mile 12.5 were uneventful, I could occasionally hear snowmobiles in the distance but quietly slogged my way through the snow, the trail conditions kept alternating between great footing to slip and slide conditions, especially the uphills and downhills, which seemed to only get more difficult and slippery every step forward especially on steeper uphills which caused you to sometimes slide a foot or more backwards.
I reached aid station 4, restocked again, and immediately noticed the footing was horrible. The last 3 miles to the start/finish the trail was just trashed, soft packed snow, ice, and every step felt like a potential ankle breaker, but after one last small uphill I noticed the cabins and lodge that was the start/finish line and the most beautiful thing I could ever imagine, my girlfriend yelling and cheering me on. She also had another wonderful thing, dry socks and fresh shoes. I plopped in the nearest chair, traded out water bottles from my drop bags, grabbed my last GU gels, helped my girlfriend get my other new shoe and sock on, gave her a quick hug, a kiss and "I love you," and took off for lap two.
By this point, it had started to snow pretty steadily, I reached aid station 1 again and was mildly entertained by a race photographer as I stuffed my face with oranges and hunks of frozen bananas. By this point most of the food was rock hard frozen, and the gatorade and pop were essentially slushie consistency. Taking off for aid station 2 I was feeling good and besides my legs being tired I felt OK, after reaching aid station 2 I noticed they had the giant spanish queen olives in brine. HEAVEN. I love olives and greedily chowed a half dozen down along with some hot chicken soup and oranges. I started running again and noticed all of a sudden I was alone and with no trail markings in sight with snow obscuring visibility. I finally noticed an orange trail marker and started running...and running...and running and suddenly I was back at aid station 2!!!! I had just run 5 miles in a circle! I had made a wrong turn where the trail basically doubles back on itself. I was CRUSHED.
I stopped and pondered what to do. I knew I'd be running more than a 50K. I'd be running a 58K or 36 miles if I finished. 10 miles more than I had ever ran before. I texted my girlfriend the bad news. Her response helped lift me up, "It's okay, you're just achieving more, don't even worry about it, that just means you're that much stronger!!" Seems cheesy now but it was just what I needed at the time. I steeled myself and took off and with the help of another runner and didn't get turned around for a second time. My legs were starting to burn, and I was trying to keep my spirits up knowing the most technical and hilly part of the trail was coming. After what seemed to be an eternity I arrived at aid station 3. All the food was snow covered and frozen, but seeing friendly faces helped lift me up and remind me I ONLY had a 10K left. As I left and headed downhill from the station, my quads decided to start cramping. I downed an extra GU, and a few more raisins and the cramps lessened, then stopped after a half mile or so. But while the cramping stopped now my legs just hurt, and I started to shuffle/limp/run focusing on running for 2 or 3 minutes, then walk a minute.
I reached the 50K mark at some random point on the trail and was quite annoyed that I was still shuffling through the woods and not celebrating at the finish line. I decided at that point to just shunt my anger into finishing and buckled down and ran/walked/shuffled/limped into aid station 4, gulped down some soup and oranges, cursed under my breath knowing the worst trail conditions were, of course, the last 3 miles and took off. I trudged through the last section as the snow and wind picked up and the sun started to set. Finally after 8 hours 15 minutes and 36 miles I saw the finish line, saw my girlfriend and ran as hard and as fast as my cramping aching legs would let me and crossed the finish line into her waiting arms. I cried. I couldn't help myself, I was so happy, so overjoyed, so full of emotions. In the span of one year I went from barely being able to run a mile to running 36 miles in the snow, in horrible conditions, got lost, but never quit. As I kissed my girlfriend, and limped to the lodge to get my finishers snow globe I thought to myself, YOU ARE AN ULTRAMARATHONER.
I got to the lodge, sat down and cried again still in shock of what I had accomplished. A few minutes later tears dry, I warmed myself by the fireplace and enjoyed what must have been the world's best cup of chili, I took a moment to ponder to myself again, I am an ultramarathoner. Even now 2 days later I still can't quite wrap my brain around what I did. And I can't wait to do it again.
A little post script to this tale, I found out that the winner for the men's 50 mile race had also competed at the 2013 Badwater ultramarathon in Death Valley, talk about a massive switch! From running in an oven to running in a freezer in a 6 month time span, that is amazing to me. Moreover, he wore the same shoes as me, Merrell Trail Gloves apparently. Of note, 50% of the 50 milers DNFed, and 30% of 50K runners DNFed. Even 20% of the 25K runners DNFed! It was a rough day out there!
Also I want to say that my training on the Potawatomi trail this summer and fall prepared me for the worst. That particular trail located in Pinckney State Park is unrelenting, and brutal even in the summertime, and without that training I don't think I would have finished yesterday. Moreover, I have to give massive credit to my girlfriend, Katie for being such an amazing partner, freezing her butt off and spending her day off rooting me on. She encourages me daily to do better and push through no matter what.
As for me, my next goal is a 50 mile ultra in April. Hopefully it won't be snowing, but if it is, I think I'll be just fine.
A little back story about me, I started running again Jan 4th 2013, so running my first ultramarathon on Jan 4th 2014 was a bit symbolic for me. Before last year I hadn't run consistently since freshman year of college 10 years ago. I started running to lose weight and enjoyed it enough that I kept going. I decided back in August after running my first half marathon, that I wanted to skip right over marathons because I wanted more of a challenge. I settled on the Yankee Springs Winter Challenge because back in August I thought it sounded so cool to run my first ultramarathon in a smaller setting and thought to myself, how cool it might be to run in the snow. Oh how naïve I was at the time.
So a little bit of setup, the Yankee Springs Winter Challenge, hereafter abbreviated as, YSWC, is a 3 year old race, in Yankee Springs State Park in Western Lower Michigan. They had 50 mile, 50km, 25km, and 10km races yesterday. I choose to run the 50km, or in English, 31.06 miles roughly. The course was set up for 50km racers to run 2 loops of a 15.5mile course that had 4 aid stations and followed nearly all single track trail except for maybe a mile or so of gravel road. The state park itself is very heavily wooded and fairly hilly. Weather for the race would be 28 degrees, wind chills in the teens, and snow showers in the afternoon.
Race start time was 9am, my girlfriend and I arrived around 8am and were lucky enough to snag one of the last parking spots practically on top of the start/finish line. We discussed how we'd communicate while I was running and how she'd help me change shoes at the halfway point inside the drop bag area. I'll say it for the first time here and repeat it later, but she really was fantastic and inspiring. I'm not sure I would have finished without her there. Luckily YSWC did have a rustic cabin lodge that was heated so she could stay warm while I ran. I grabbed my race bib, all my gear, and checked my drop bag one last time. I had put duct tape on both sets of shoes I would be wearing for extra protection from wet snow and made one last check to be sure I had enough gels, food and a full water bottle.
And then very unceremoniously after a brief speech from the race director we were off. The 50k, 25k and 10k all started at the same time so for a time due to the narrowness of the trail we were running in single file lines. At the first aid station at mile 1.5 the 10K runners split off and now it was just the 120 or so people running the 25 and 50k races. I can't stress how beautiful the course was. All around were thick stands of oak, maple and pines that looked pristine due to the recent snowfall. Easily a foot of snow on everything, the trail was barely 2 feet wide and sometimes only a foot wide, and at times the snow drifts to the sides of the trail were 2 or 3 feet high.
After the first aid station I recalled in my head the next would be only a couple miles ahead at a road crossing, and by this time I had settled into a single file line with 2 other 25k runners. We ran silently for those few miles, an eerie stillness in the air, only our breathing and shoes crunching the snow making any noise. The trail through this section gave a false sense of security, while it was narrow the snow was very hard packed and not very difficult to run on. I then crossed the road where the aid station was supposed to be, and there was no aid station. Slightly annoyed I just kept running and after multiple small hills, the first big downhill of the day was encountered, I mostly just shuffle slid down the hill never really picking my feet up, the snow wasn't nearly as hard packed on the bigger downhills so footing was completely treacherous. Shortly after that I encountered what would become a recurrent theme throughout the trail, soft pack snow that provided minimal traction and footing, and after a uphill section that was just as slippery as the downhill I finally arrived at aid station 2 at mile 5.5. This aid station was fully stocked, 2 kinds of trail mix, M&M's, oreos, potato chips, chicken noodle soup, grilled cheese, PB&J, combos, pretzels, bananas, oranges, coke, mt dew, ginger ale, water and gatorade. All the aid stations on the rest of the course were similarly stocked. I can't rave enough about the people manning these stations, they did an amazing job in abhorrent conditions!
After a quick restock I was on my way, and into a section known on the course map as the Devil's Soup Bowl, the course suddenly was very hilly, with a mix of heavy forest and planted pines. The sections that were exclusively pine trees were spooky quiet and dark with only sound that of my own breathing and footfalls.. As I was approaching mile 9 and aid station 3 I had reached the point where I could see no runners in front or behind me. This would continue for nearly the entire race. I reached aid station 3 which was quite devilishly placed on top of a steep hill. My duct tape had also bit the dust at this point but my feet were still dry, but a tad cold. I was otherwise feeling great, given the trail conditions I decided at the start that my only goal for the day was to finish this race no matter what. I loaded up on M&M's, potato chips and some trail mix and some coke and gently started picking my way downhill, the next few miles to aid station 4 at mile 12.5 were uneventful, I could occasionally hear snowmobiles in the distance but quietly slogged my way through the snow, the trail conditions kept alternating between great footing to slip and slide conditions, especially the uphills and downhills, which seemed to only get more difficult and slippery every step forward especially on steeper uphills which caused you to sometimes slide a foot or more backwards.
I reached aid station 4, restocked again, and immediately noticed the footing was horrible. The last 3 miles to the start/finish the trail was just trashed, soft packed snow, ice, and every step felt like a potential ankle breaker, but after one last small uphill I noticed the cabins and lodge that was the start/finish line and the most beautiful thing I could ever imagine, my girlfriend yelling and cheering me on. She also had another wonderful thing, dry socks and fresh shoes. I plopped in the nearest chair, traded out water bottles from my drop bags, grabbed my last GU gels, helped my girlfriend get my other new shoe and sock on, gave her a quick hug, a kiss and "I love you," and took off for lap two.
By this point, it had started to snow pretty steadily, I reached aid station 1 again and was mildly entertained by a race photographer as I stuffed my face with oranges and hunks of frozen bananas. By this point most of the food was rock hard frozen, and the gatorade and pop were essentially slushie consistency. Taking off for aid station 2 I was feeling good and besides my legs being tired I felt OK, after reaching aid station 2 I noticed they had the giant spanish queen olives in brine. HEAVEN. I love olives and greedily chowed a half dozen down along with some hot chicken soup and oranges. I started running again and noticed all of a sudden I was alone and with no trail markings in sight with snow obscuring visibility. I finally noticed an orange trail marker and started running...and running...and running and suddenly I was back at aid station 2!!!! I had just run 5 miles in a circle! I had made a wrong turn where the trail basically doubles back on itself. I was CRUSHED.
I stopped and pondered what to do. I knew I'd be running more than a 50K. I'd be running a 58K or 36 miles if I finished. 10 miles more than I had ever ran before. I texted my girlfriend the bad news. Her response helped lift me up, "It's okay, you're just achieving more, don't even worry about it, that just means you're that much stronger!!" Seems cheesy now but it was just what I needed at the time. I steeled myself and took off and with the help of another runner and didn't get turned around for a second time. My legs were starting to burn, and I was trying to keep my spirits up knowing the most technical and hilly part of the trail was coming. After what seemed to be an eternity I arrived at aid station 3. All the food was snow covered and frozen, but seeing friendly faces helped lift me up and remind me I ONLY had a 10K left. As I left and headed downhill from the station, my quads decided to start cramping. I downed an extra GU, and a few more raisins and the cramps lessened, then stopped after a half mile or so. But while the cramping stopped now my legs just hurt, and I started to shuffle/limp/run focusing on running for 2 or 3 minutes, then walk a minute.
I reached the 50K mark at some random point on the trail and was quite annoyed that I was still shuffling through the woods and not celebrating at the finish line. I decided at that point to just shunt my anger into finishing and buckled down and ran/walked/shuffled/limped into aid station 4, gulped down some soup and oranges, cursed under my breath knowing the worst trail conditions were, of course, the last 3 miles and took off. I trudged through the last section as the snow and wind picked up and the sun started to set. Finally after 8 hours 15 minutes and 36 miles I saw the finish line, saw my girlfriend and ran as hard and as fast as my cramping aching legs would let me and crossed the finish line into her waiting arms. I cried. I couldn't help myself, I was so happy, so overjoyed, so full of emotions. In the span of one year I went from barely being able to run a mile to running 36 miles in the snow, in horrible conditions, got lost, but never quit. As I kissed my girlfriend, and limped to the lodge to get my finishers snow globe I thought to myself, YOU ARE AN ULTRAMARATHONER.
I got to the lodge, sat down and cried again still in shock of what I had accomplished. A few minutes later tears dry, I warmed myself by the fireplace and enjoyed what must have been the world's best cup of chili, I took a moment to ponder to myself again, I am an ultramarathoner. Even now 2 days later I still can't quite wrap my brain around what I did. And I can't wait to do it again.
A little post script to this tale, I found out that the winner for the men's 50 mile race had also competed at the 2013 Badwater ultramarathon in Death Valley, talk about a massive switch! From running in an oven to running in a freezer in a 6 month time span, that is amazing to me. Moreover, he wore the same shoes as me, Merrell Trail Gloves apparently. Of note, 50% of the 50 milers DNFed, and 30% of 50K runners DNFed. Even 20% of the 25K runners DNFed! It was a rough day out there!
Also I want to say that my training on the Potawatomi trail this summer and fall prepared me for the worst. That particular trail located in Pinckney State Park is unrelenting, and brutal even in the summertime, and without that training I don't think I would have finished yesterday. Moreover, I have to give massive credit to my girlfriend, Katie for being such an amazing partner, freezing her butt off and spending her day off rooting me on. She encourages me daily to do better and push through no matter what.
As for me, my next goal is a 50 mile ultra in April. Hopefully it won't be snowing, but if it is, I think I'll be just fine.
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