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The rain had finally cleared for the start of the 5th Annual Mark Twain Endurance Runs. The 28 athletes attempting the 100-mile trek, and the 44 gearing up for the 50-mile run, knew, as race director Gary Fuerst cautioned at the pre-race briefing on Friday night, that “taking care of your feet” would be paramount for a safe and successful run.
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I’d never run more than 50 miles. Ten days before race day, I switched from the 100k to 100M at the Tesla-Hertz Run.
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A week of heavy rain leading up to the Hawk Hundred had left the carefully groomed single-track trails muddy and unsuitable for foot traffic. Less than 24 hours before the race start, the trail steward made the call to switch the 25-mile single-track course to a mostly paved 25-mile loop.
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I had just made the first hard cutoff at Fat Dog 120 with barely 30 minutes to spare. I had been extremely conservative all day…sticking to the Day 1 plan. If I were going to make it on Day 2, Day 1 would have to be flawless. It was anything but flawless. In a perfect world I would have a cushion of at least five hours at the finish. Thus began the mad chase to dodge the cutoffs for next 83 miles, on razor thin margins.
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Pumpkin Holler Hunnerd started with a hectic week – teaching, meetings, then a rush to the airport, delayed flights, and landing in Tulsa, Oklahoma at 1:00 a.m. on Friday, checking into an airport hotel, desperate for a few hours of rest before the endeavor ahead. The story is not new; rather, it’s a depiction of the typical pre-race scenario of the last few years of my life.
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Pine to Pain, that’s my nickname for the Pine to Palm 100 Mile Endurance Run, Hal Koerner’s race traversing the arid Siskiyou Mountains of Southern Oregon with over 20,000 feet of gain.