Outrun 24 Hour Trail Race

This may not be the best race report but I just need to finish it.  The race was months ago.  Here goes...

On April 27th I ran my 6th ultra-marathon, the Outrun 24 Hour trail race held in Kirtland, OH.  Every race I run is full of new experiences and, although very difficult, painful and long, makes me hungry for more.  This race format was new for me -- I've never done a timed race before.  The way these races work is there is a short loop, usually about 1 mile that you run as many times as you can in the time allowance.  Sounds very boring and monotonous.  At least that's what I thought when I first heard about them.  I was not at all interested in ever doing one.  I'm still not entirely sure why I signed up for this one but I'm glad I did.  Believe it or not, I really liked the race format and I'llgive you a few reasons why:

1. Aid station access - The course was a 1 mile loop so the aid station was never more than 1 mile away.  I didn't even carry a hand-held water bottle because I just didn't need to. Very convenient.
2. Crew access - It is much more spectator/crew-friendly than a distance race.  Many ultras, you see your crew only a few times the entire race.  Not so with a 1-mile loop.  
3. Course - It is almost impossible to get lost.  I've tried it both ways and I prefer to not get lost when I race.
4. Course familiarity - After a few loops you become very familiar with the course.  I knew exactly where I wanted to walk or where I could push the pace a bit.  No surprises about what's coming up next.
5. Competitor camaraderie - After hours and hours of seeing the same people on the trail it's hard not to make a few friends and hear some cool stories.
6. Pacing - Having each mile explicitly marked made it really easy to monitor my pace and to keep an even pace, which was pretty important for me this race.

 Don't get me wrong, I love distance races too.  They are fun and challenging and the experience of  crossing the finish line at the end of an ultra-marathon distance race is indescribable.  This race was just a new experience for me and I was delighted to find I really enjoyed it.

My goal going into the race was to run at least 100k/62 miles.  My longest previous race was 50 miles (Mohican 2011, Cactus Rose 2012).  The awards offered at O24 were specific medals for 50k, 100k, and a buckle for 100 miles.  Getting a buckle would be awesome and I kept that in the back of my mind but I knew realistically that going 100 miles was a long shot.  So I decided to shoot for 100k and see how far I could go after that. 
The pace I was shooting for was 12 minute miles.  My plan was to hold that pace as long as I could, because I knew it was a do-able pace and it would get me through 100k relatively quickly and leave some wiggle room if 100 miles was still possible.  Another bonus to running 12 minute miles is that it made my math very simple; 12, 24, 36, 48, 60 -- 5 miles every hour.

Pre-race pasta dinner that Jenny made Friday night

With an 8:00 start time Saturday morning the sun was already up and it looked to be beautiful running weather. After my Green Jewel 50k race I was very thankful for that. It was a little chilly when we started -- in the low 40s -- but after a couple hours it warmed up and really was perfect weather for running.  After 26 seconds of silence for Boston, the race director gave his final instructions and we were off. 

A nice view of the start/finish area

I fell in behind a few other runners for the first few laps, not too concerned with speed as I was trying to get familiar with the course.  There was one major hill that was longer and steeper than the rest and definitely warranted walking.  It was labeled "Heartbreak Hill" with a sign.  At the top of the hill the trail turned to the left and there were a couple ups and downs before a pretty lengthy descent.  It wasn't too steep but it went on for a while before flattening out.  The downhill was nice but it forced me to run pretty fast, which was fine for a while but made it hard near the end of my race.

Just a few miles into the race

So, after 3 or 4 laps I settled in nicely to my 12 minute mile pace.  I wouldn't say I coasted but it almost felt like cruise control at times because it really was a very comfortable pace for me, so comfortable that I held it steady for a full 8 hours.  (That's when Jenny and the girls showed up and I decided I would take a little dinner break with them.)  8 hours at 12 minutes per mile meant I had run 40 miles.  Unfortunately they had a glitch in the chip-timing system earlier in the day so I wasn't given credit for all the laps I had done; I think they had me at 37.  Yes, this sucks.  And yes, I told the timing guy to fix it...3 times.  I think he gave me one or two miles back but my total distance was still probably off a little.  The problem is, after about 50 miles I lost track of how many laps I had done and didn't want to claim more miles than I had actually run.  Oh well.

Having my family come was the highlight of the race.  I sat with them and ate for probably 45 minutes or so before running again.  It was nice to be able to take a break because I knew I had all night to get my 62 miles done.  When I did start running again I knew that I would see them again about every 12 minutes.  It's hard to explain I guess, but its just nice to know that someone you love is waiting for you at the aid station. 

There was a nice little playground
not far from the start/finish area

A couple action shots here.



They both were practically begging for some of my pizza.

            

 

 

I ran probably 5 or 6 miles with my family there cheering me on and it was awesome -- the best part of the race for me, by far.  Then they went home to go to bed and I stayed to run circles in the dark.  I'll admit a tinge of jealousy there...but I still had "miles to go before I sleep." (a little poetry for you there.)

 

Saying goodnight to my Grace girl. She would go home to a warm bed and I would stay to run in the dark

After they left was the hardest part of the race for me.  It felt like I wasn't making any progress.  Part of that was the lap count discrepancy and part of it I think was that I was no longer on my 12 minute mile pace (that made it so easy to keep track of my distance).  They would periodically post an updated list of everyone's distance and I always expected to see more than it actually was.  It was tough but I knew I still had a ways to go before my goal so I just kept going as best I could.  Slowly but surely I made progress.  By now it was dark.  I had my headlamp on and wore a long-sleeved shirt again.  Many people on the race had slowed down quite a bit but I still moved at a relatively quick pace, probably because I knew my goal was getting close.
Somewhere between mile 55 and 60 the race director ran a lap with me.  This was another really cool thing about this race and the director, I had seen him throughout the day running a lap with people here and there to get to know them and encourage them.  Very, very cool.  We talked about our families and about different races we had done.   He asked if I was going to stay all 24 hours.  By this time I was definitely leaning towards leaving after 100k but I still wasn't sure.  If my body was holding up I probably would keep going...but that's a pretty big "if" after 60 miles.  Anyway, that was a fun lap.
As I came up on 60 miles I was debating whether to stay or go, once I hit 100k (62 miles).  After some internal deliberation I decided that I would run 62 miles, then get some food.  I would eat while I walked for a bit and see how I felt after that.
The last few miles of running I picked up the pace some, probably back to my 12 minute miles but my quads were really starting to burn going downhill.  I also started getting a pretty sharp pain in my left knee.  But 100k was so close I could taste it so I pushed on to "finish strong."  100k is 12 miles more than I've ever run before and I ran at a faster pace than any previous trail race so I felt pretty good about my race.  However, there was still a lot of time on the clock before 24 hours was up.
I grabbed a couple pieces of pizza and started walking.  The idea was to relax a little and rest my legs and see if I thought I should keep going or stop there.  After walking one mile I took a short break at the aid station, had a little more food and drink and set out for another lap.  This time I tried to run at a few spots but it just wasn't happening.  My legs were beat and my knee pain was not going away.  Even walking the downhills was getting hard.  I finished that lap and decided to go for one more, just in case, by some miracle, my legs came back. 
Didn't happen.  I knew my race was over.  65 miles is not bad at all.  There was a fire burning at the aid station so I hung out there for an hour or so, chatting with some people and cheering on some of the other runners.  The race director gave me my 100k medal and I headed home to get a few hours of sleep. 
Do I regret not staying the whole time?  No, not really.  I mean, of course that would have been cool and I probably could have walked up to 80 miles or so, but I knew if I stayed I would be non-functional for Sunday and I was supposed to help my wife teach our primary class at church.  If I wasn't going to get 100 miles (and I knew I wasn't) then I figured it was best to be with my family.

The morning after. My kids probably wondered what was wrong with me, why I didn't get up from the couch...  I did go to church, which thankfully wasn't til 1:00pm.

Overall, it was a fantastic race.  I was happy to get a personal record for distance and meet a ton of awesome, inspiring people.  There are lots of stories I could tell about the other people running (like the guy who ran for each of the Boston bombing victims) but you'd be better served by going to distance races yourself.  If you can't run, volunteer.  It's an awesome atmosphere and you'll meet some awesome people.