Well, I did it. I ran 100km.
The day started at 5:00 AM, so I got to see the sun rise as I was careering through the woods of Blackfoot park. My two friends who had peer-pressured me into this were there as well. We had 14 hours to finish the four laps of 25km each, but there was an additional cut off; If you didn’t finish three laps in 10 hours, you were pulled off. So the plan I had was to do the first two laps in three hours each, and accept three and a half hours for the third. That would give the last lap enough time that I could walk it if I needed to.
On the first lap, Robert was off like a rocket. He is the fastest among us, and I realized that I should not try to keep up with him; I would just crash and burn. Instead I spent the first few minutes pacing and talking to a cute girl, who eventually made a point of pointing out her boyfriend. (I don’t think I was being obnoxious.) I eventually dropped behind her, and didn’t see her again. At least until I saw the final results and saw she never made the third lap cutoff. I then kept pace with Mike for the most part. He is very good at maintaining a steady pace and keeping people in line. My biggest problem seemed to be that my shoes started hurting my feet. Maybe I hadn’t broken them in enough? I loosened them, but it didn’t seem to be enough. Fortunately I had an extra pair back at the starting point.
At the 21km refueling station I tried some flat Coke. Oh my god, it was good! I had heard caffeine was good for runners, and this was an intensive sugar drink filled with empty calories. I’ve found a new energy source.
The first lap took 2:50:08, and I only took 1:40 to change my shoes and gather more supplies for the next leg.
On the second leg, I started leaving Mike behind. My new shoes felt a lot better. I also started paying more attention to the timing. I found out how long it took to reach certain landmarks so I could gauge how much slower I was going. The chief landmark was the highest point in the park, about 20 kilometers in. I found I had reached it four minutes slower than in the last lap. So, it isn’t a surprise that I finished this loop in 2:55:17. I had a 1:23 turnover.
The third lap was getting tougher mentally. I knew I could be slower, but I didn’t want to be too slow. I was still very surprised I passed Robert at 16km in. He had lost energy and couldn’t maintain speed. By this time, the 21km refueling station had run out of Coke and was trying to pass off Pepsi. It was not nearly as satisfying.
My eventual time was 3:06:26 with a turnover of 2:09. I was under nine hours! The winner of the race finished in nine and a half hours, so at least I was never lapped.
I left before the others had gotten in, passing them coming in.
The fourth lap was the worst. It became a total mental battle to keep going. The one thing that helped was the fear that my two friends were right behind me. If Robert had still been ahead of me I could have relaxed more, content that I was not in the lead. But I wasn’t, and I wanted to keep my friends behind me. (I’m very competitive, and Mike had never let me live it down that he was technically faster than me on the Death Race.)
The first few legs had had fairly good weather, with the partly cloudy conditions making it tolerable. But on this leg, the sun was out completely, and it was blazing hot. We passed the expected daytime high. To top it off, at the start of the leg I could feel blisters forming on my right foot. I should have changed socks, but I was paranoid that if I took off my shoes, I wouldn’t be able to get them on again without them being too tight. The highest point in the park became a nemesis. Not because of height, but because I couldn’t tell where it was. I kept climbing up hills I thought must be it, only to have to go down the other side. I think this happened five times.
By now the 21km refueling station had only 7-Up, and it wasn’t even flat. Surprisingly I caught up to someone else I knew who was faster than me and my friends. However, when he saw me, he sped up and I never got close to seeing him again.
I finished the last leg in 3:21:26. My friends never passed me. In fact, it was 25 minutes before Robert came in. Mike was five minutes later.
My official total time was 12:18:32, I placed 13th out of 38 people who started. Only 30 crossed the finish line.
I wasn’t feeling that bad afterwards. I didn’t collapse, and had energy to stretch. I tried to eat, but my stomach wasn’t ready for that kind of commitment. My feet hurt the worst, and they were covered in dirt and blisters.