Well boys and girls, I am back in Tulsa, very gingerly ambling around town looking like a crippled old Geritol guzzling geezer. Truth is, I just ran 100 miles at the Arkansas Traveller 100. My spell-check says there was a misspelled word there, but the AURA people put 2 "L"s in Traveller because they think you should get a little more than you expect.This was my 3rd year doing this race, the first year resulting in a 28:09 finish, and last year, I was pulled due to missing a time cut-off despite feeling ok and strong enough to continue. But rules are rules, doggone it.
We packed the Jeep to the gills with clothing, shoes, gear, aid station food, and pacers, and left Tulsa Friday at 8:30 am
for the trip to Lake Sylvia in central Arkansas. We arrived in Lake Sylvia actually about 30 minutes earlier than I expected which gave us a few minutes to stretch our legs, take some pictures, and visit with a few old friends.
This is where it all would end, if things went well....I had posted earlier that I have had trouble sleeping the past few nights. Friday night, I turned in at 9:45, and went right to sleep. Brian, sorry dude that he is, woke me up at midnight when he crashed the motel room, but I went right back to sleep, and got in a very restful 7 hours. Yet the wake-up call was 30 minutes late, and we were scrambling to get to the race start on time. We flew out of the Super 8 parking lot, and 1/2 mile later, I realized I had forgot our Garmins, and we made a quick U-ey to get them. Dana did exceed the posted speed limit through the towns of Oppela, Perry, and Perryville. So, if any local police types in these small towns wants to send me a traffic citation, they can send it to B Hoover, 1414 S Delaware Place, Tulsa Okla.
Brian took quite a few pics before and during the race.
Arnold (left) and John Hargrove (right) gather around some slow dude, one Tom Brennan, who went on to win the race. Look at his grin. He knew he had it from the get-go.
Robin (in red) toes the line in another 100 miler. More on her later. But where is T Z?
Showed up with two minutes to spare!GO was the word....no cannon shooting off, not a starting pistol, just GO! Dana was waiting for me at the Jeep with my water bottle, and just before leaving her, I realized I might ought to take some TP (just in case, ya know!) While getting a couple of Brawny towels,(TMI, I know) and putting them into a zip-lock bag, I was about 200 yards in last place. I had to catch up within the first mile because it was still dark and I needed to mooch off someones light as I did not want to miss with toting a headlamp or flashlight for 30 minutes and then worry about having it returned to me. I did catch up, and steadily caught up and passed several runners. 5 miles +/- into the race, the first aid station had PANCAKES and BACON!!! WOW YUM! I was in and out very quickly but not without a pancake sandwich. All day long, I tried to bounce in and out of the aid stations in 30 seconds or less. I did good in this except for the aid stations where I had crew access, and even then I was in and out fairly quick.
Next, we had our first climb, to the top of Brown's Pinnacle. It was steep, but did not seem as hard as last year, maybe because it was cooler, maybe because I had dropped about 20 lbs, or maybe I was just trained better. At the top, we turned onto the Ouachita trail for eight miles of great single track trail. It was a lot like some of the medium trails at Turkey Mountain, with some roots and rocks to jump over, but the hills were bigger and the downhills were longer. I loved this section and felt like I was flying. We were also treated to a nice slow rain. It kept things cool, kept the dust on the roads down, and made breathing and staying hydrated more manageable.
At the pre-race meeting, RD Chrissy Ferguson had mentioned that the sub 24 hour runners would receive a special belt buckle. Dana and the twins (John and Jeff) talked that up and decided I should go for it. Now I AM a realist, and knew this was NEVER going to happen, but still, I decided to give it a go. Best scenario, I might just pull it off. Worst scenario, I would go out way to fast and crash and burn, but even if that happened, I was sure I could regroup and keep on going albeit at a slower pace. But the way I saw it, I thought I might put some time in the bank and although the pace would slow, it would help my overall time. That is exactly the way it worked out.
I hit the first major aid station (Lake Sylvia) in 3:45. Dana had a sandwich ready along with a diet Pepsi. Refill the bottle, grab some shot blocks, and away I went.
The next 2 miles were a long uphill that most people think is really steep, but actually is almost runnable. I would pick out a tree and run to it and then allow myself a short walk only to run for a few hundred more yards to another fixed point. I used this tactic on the hills all day long except for the most steep ones which I clawed my way up on all fours.
For those interested, my marathon split was 5:55, and my 50K split was 6:53. Not all that fast by road standards, but decent for the hills and terrain of Arkansas. I rolled into the Winona aid stop right on the 24 hour pace.
I slowed down considerably from there. I knew I would. The hills got longer, and the going got tougher. Some of the roads/trails during this section were suitable for billy goats only. My time cushion dwindled away and there was nothing I could do about it. My secondary goal was to run a nice PR which looked to still be in the cards.
Roman had came down with Kathy to help with the crewing duties. Roman is pacing me next week at the Heartland 100. He got a real close look at the 100 mile crazies, and rumor has it that he is thinking about making the jump himself! Here, Roman waits while Dana tries to stay awake! I made the Powerline aid station at mile 48 some two hours ahead of my 2006 time. I did take a little too much time here as I wanted to make sure I ate something. They put me on the scale, and I had dropped a pound. Whew! At least I did not fall below the yellow line! Food was not sounding good, but I managed to eat 1/2 a ham and cheese sandwich. I needed to use the outhouse, but someone was in there. Finally, they left or should I say snuck out, and I had my turn. But I had no luck. Maybe the urge was really a cramped buttock muscle (TMI again!) More dirt yall can smear on me....my nipples were getting raw. I normally shave a little of my massive rug of chest hair away and stick some of those real high priced fabricky bandaids on them, ya know the ones that hurt like an SOB when you eventually rip em off. But in my haste in the morning, I skipped that step. Not little lefty and righty were not so happy. So someone suggested a good smearing of Vaseline. I lifted my shirt, and Kathy made her move, playing some wicked twister on my ouchies for all to see!
But I have to say that the lube job worked and I had no further probs along the way.My awesome crew and pacers!
From the left: Brian, TZ, Kathy, John (in the green), Jeff, and my DW Dana. John paced me first, running 5 miles with me to the Copperhead Road, and then Jeff took over. Jeff paced me to the Chicken Gap (turn-around) and then back to Copperhead. AT Chicken Gap, Lou and Charlie Peyton, the founders of the AT 100, were the most gracious of all the aid station hosts. They had boiled eggs, bacon and eggs, sausage and egg biscuits, pancake and fried egg sandwiches, and chicken noodle soup. (Notice the chicken theme?) I had a nice hot salty fried egg on a pancake, and then a homemade jelly biscuit. YUM.
John and Jeff are my nephews, twins, and 17 years old. They are great runners and I love having them help me in races as well as watching them race themselves. John is having a knee give him a little trouble and that is keeping him from upping his distance much. Jeff is all set to run Sunmart 50K this December. Dana swears she could have not done the crew babe thing without their help.I probably was at my slowest pace during this out-and-back section. Sure, I did run the downhills and flats, but it seemed like I was not gaining on anyone, and was getting passed ever so often. I was a little low on calories at one point and Jeff reminded me to eat the salt and vinegar chips I had been carrying in a baggie for the past 3 miles. Worked like a charm! Jeff and I pushed the pace a little, but could catch no one. John ran me back on the same 4 mile stretch that he had ran before, and then Brian took over.
Truly, I was expecting even more of a slowdown as Smith Mountain and the Pig Trail are hard sections. But Brian made sure that if I walked, I at least stayed out of the zombie-shuffle that I do so well. He would walk his brisk pace facilitated by his longer legs, and would leave me behind. Then, he would talk to me as if I were right there, and to keep a conversation, I would have to run a little to catch up with him. I am giving him the benefit of a doubt that that was his tactic. It did make me speed up. My feeble attempt at payback was when we hit the top of Smith Mountain when I passed his ass and ran like the wind for about a mile and a half. Brian said we were clicking off 8 minute miles over mounds of dirt, rocks, and weeds.
More big climbs, more rocks, more gullies right in the middle of the trail,
and a few fallen trees and we reached the Pig Trail aid station where from there on into Winona was nice soft smooth runnable road. It was a welcome sight. It was also still 70 minutes better than my time in 2006 so far. Brian and I kept pushing the pace from Pig Trail into Lake Winona, passing quite a few runners. We ran strong into the aid station and they shuffled me up onto the scales and I was up a pound. Good sign that I'd been eating and drinking enough.And at 4:45 am, Kathy took over the pacing duties.
Robin, who I had mentioned earlier, is way fast, yet was at Lake Winona when Kathy and I were about to head out. She wanted to run along with us, and that was fine with me. What's better than a pacer on a dark lonely night? Two pacers! The three of us ran strong on the roads in the next 2 miles, and then began a long 6 mile climb. Some call this section "The Devil's Kitchen." it is steadily uphill, and even when if flattens out a little, it is rocky. The pay-off is, when you hit the top, you have 9 miles of nice steady downhill to the finish line. We chatted and joked the night away, all the while picking off a weary runner from time to time. Kathy sang a few songs, and I told a few jokes. I even sang a rendition of "Daddy Don't You Walk So Fast", except, I changed it to "Kathy Don't You Walk So Fast.....Kathy slow down some cuz yer making me run. You're saying....HUH? I guess ya have to have heard the old sappy country sign. Google it.At Electronic Tower (Mile 91) we put our transmissions into high gear. Nice gentle declines, soft yet firm road surfaces, and the sun was just coming up. We flew. We passed runners who just looked at us powerless to do anything about it. We just kept picking them off. This is so fun. (I am paying for that today!) The final 2 miles were downhill. Robin had pulled ahead and Kathy and I stepped up the pace as well. We managed to pass 2 or 3 more runners in the last stretch and came to where the race USED to end. But this year, we had to go another 1/2 mile and go UP a rather big hill. Robin was walking it, so Kathy and I ran it. We got the applause of the few peeps watching, which was cool.
Then the three of us turned and ran strong into the finish line.
Notice Tom, all chipper, showered, and clean. If I finished 10 hours earlier, I'd look that good!There was a breakfast buffet, good salty bacon, scrambled eggs, pancakes, coffee, and Orange juice. Life food.
Afterwards, we hung around and cheered the remaining runners as they came in, and at 12:30, they had the awards ceremony. The Grand Slammers were recognized for having finished Vermont, Leadville, Wasatch, and the Traveller which had the extreme priviledge of being the substitute for Western States since it was canceled due to a bad forest fire this year.
My bad, I do not have all the names, but I'll get em. On the far left is Stan Ferguson, the RD of the Traveller. The girl on the right is Kristina Erwin. More later.I could barely get out of my chair to get my Belt buckle when my name was called, but I did my best to hide the pain. All ultra-runners are good at this kind of acting.
Robin is all smiles after getting her belt buckle for her first 100 mile finish!
Ken and Arnold....two cool ultra runners and two cool belt buckles.
And finally,
the MVP of the ultra team....
Dana, aka Tatur Cakes, aka Super Crew-Babe Extraordinaire, aka my loving wife. She knows my every need and anticipates it before I even ask. I don't even have to pack a bag.
She is amazing.
