Plan
melded into first Race of year 2/15 the Iron Horse 100K
Which I had run over 500 miles since December preparing for. I found a plan that was stacked on weekends
with nothing over 30 miles at once. The
biggest weekend was 15/25/30. I also
incorporated tire drags to simulate hills.
I spent the next three months running over 500 miles more preparing for
it as well.
Gear
Hydration vest, loads of salt caps, hammer gels, knife, and
untested means to start a fire, headlamps, handhelds, misc. other goodies.
The trip:
8.5 hours to Chattanooga pre-race dinner with speakers and
prizes in hip area for outdoors people.
Local foods, outdoor dining.
Race day:
Slept in thinking there would be no sleep for over 30 hours
tomorrow and didn’t want to miss a second of bed time. Grabbed a coffee and breakfast when it started
to hail….this was going to be interesting.
Headed out on hour drive to race start and took longer than expected. Planned to fill bladder at start but they
had no water set out. Kris to the rescue
ran to a nearby drinking fountain and filled me up. This is in the 3 minutes before race
start. Starts and I’m last across the
bridge but there is a log jam ahead.
First 5.5 miles give a beautiful undulating start before first aid at Thunder rock (more of a photo opp. Than
anything plus last minute items. Cross
road and climb through slippery technical single track for nearly 10
miles. Sliding sideways in rain,
thunder, and hail.
Deep Gap aid station at this point and feeling
great….endless single track fuels my run.
I continue on from there to the first real aid and crew station at
reliance mile 25. Loads of riverside
trails with endless waterfalls and in and out of forest throughout. I realize it will be dark soon and grab my
headlamp.
The trail to Coker Falls (Mile 39) is almost 100% river and
rapids. This is the most technical trail
I have run with large smooth rocks and constant up and down along the
river. Running across creeks and into
the darkness. About 2 hours of this
stretch are complete darkness. I reach
Coker Falls (it’s dark but they are roaring for miles around and incredible
even under a headlamp). The aid station
fills me and I see multiple people dropping from the race here.
I push on from hear up the gravel fire road and into the
forest headed to Manny Cabin at mile 46.
Asphalt, cars, lost, 2:30 am find a truck from race and I have time out
after 48.5 miles and 9500 feet of climbing and descending.
I was lost and alone yet more alive than ever.
