Race Day

6AM start to the race. We showed up around 5 or 5:15 to get situated. We had picked up our race bibs and other information the day before, so we were ready to go. We each ad 2 drop bags that we left at different spots. Volunteers would take those to checkpoints at miles 26 and 39. I had extra socks and clothes in each bag. The bag at mile 39 had an extra pair of trail runners in case my feet were in rough shape from the ones I was wearing. I had some other first aid items in each bag as well as some extra gel packets and some protein bars. I had my knee braces in the mile 26 drop bag as well as my trekking poles.

In my hydration pack that I was carrying, I had 2 collapsible water bottles, each holding 22 ounces. I had some nuun tablets I could drop in to one of the bottles if necessary. I had extra socks in a Ziplock bag so they would stay dry. I had an anti-chafing stick and a small Ziplock bag with some first aid (couple bandaids and some Neosporin and tape). I brought my earbuds just in case I would want to put some music or podcasts on. When I first started running, I had to listen to something. But for quite a while now, I have not put my earbuds in at all. I just enjoy being out there with my own thoughts listening to my footsteps and nature. But good to have the earbuds just in case I need something to help me keep pushing. I had a couple UCan energy gels, a couple protein bars and some plastic bags of sour patch kids and gummy bears. I wanted to be smart about keeping my fuel intake consistent for the day and staying hydrated.

It was a cool morning before the sun came up, so I was in a long sleeve dry fit shirt and shorts. I had my leg freshly taped with KT tape as well as a compression sleeve over that. I wanted to make sure my shin was going to hold up nicely all race long. I wore my Nike Pegasus Trail 4 GORE-TEX sneakers, which are my favorite sneakers I’ve ever worn. I was ready to go.

National anthem was played right before the start with some brief announcements. Right at 6, we were off. Tim and I started together, and we stuck together the entire day. Amazing that we just kept the same pace for 50 miles. We went out nice and easy. Sometimes it’s difficult to run at a very slow pace, but we knew we were in for a long day, so we needed to conserve energy. Most people outside of the elite runners were in the same boat, and we all were running pretty easily right from the start. Anytime we got to an uphill section, we would switch into walking gear to conserve energy. Anytime there was a flat or downhill, we would kick it up and run at that nice, easy pace again. That was our plan for the entire race. Neither of us had ever done more than a 50k, so we were just going off what we had seen others do and what we thought would be a good game plan.

It didn’t take long to get up to a little ridgeline with a great view of the fog lifting up over the trees. We were only a couple miles in when the long sleeve had to come off. I had thought about not starting with it so I didn’t have to carry it, but I decided I wanted to be comfortable to start. I stuck that in my pack and we kept going. Unfortunately, my stomach decided to not cooperate with me that morning. It wasn’t terrible, but any little hindrance was more than I would want early on. I kept to my hydration and fueling plan. I would take the energy gels every 40-45 minutes and was constantly drinking water. I put 2 Nuun tablets in the one water bottle to make sure I was getting plenty of electrolytes as well. The stomach issues stayed with me for the entire first half of the race, possibly a little longer. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything debilitating, just a nuisance to deal with mentally.

The first checkpoint came at mile 13 (there was other smaller aid stations every couple of miles, but this was the first of 3 major checkpoints). I got there in 2 and a half hours. A lot slower than any other 13 miles I had done, but that was on purpose. We both felt this time was a solid pace for the first quarter of the race. Hung out just in time to refill the water bottles, grab some fruit and take off on to the 2nd leg of the race. These next 2 legs would have the most elevation gain, so they would be much tougher. We both were feeling really good at this point though.

The 2nd leg was a lot of uphill to start, so it was a slow grind up the mountain. I was in good spirits and everything was feeling good. The one thing that was bothering me just slightly was my big toe. I had stubbed my toe when I did the 50k a few weeks prior, but it was nothing major. In fact, I didn’t even really feel anything until about 2 or 3 days before this race, which was unfortunate timing. It didn’t bother me too much at this point, but I knew it was coming. I could feel it throbbing a little more each mile. It really wasn’t a hindrance while running. Oddly enough, it was more an issue when I was stopped at aid stations. I would move my toe around and if I lifted my toe, it would hurt against the sneaker. But when I was running, I wouldn’t be moving my toe around, and it wouldn’t bother me. We got to the 2nd major checkpoint in just over 3 hours. This was another 13.3 miles, so we had essentially done a marathon at this point. Everything was still feeling good, but I could tell things were going to start slowing down even more. We were at this aid station for about 20 minutes. They had hot food and our first drop bags, so we got some food and got what we wanted out of our bags. I put my knee braces on here, even though I didn’t need them. I put them on as a preventative measure for the last half of the race. We also both took our trekking poles with us as we knew the 3rd stretch was the most elevation gain.

The 3rd leg was a grueling climb most of the time, but we were still going fairly strong. Any time there was flat or downhill sections, we were able to run. The views we would see throughout the entire race were just incredible. Mohonk Preserve does a fantastic job at keeping their trails in tremendous shape. They also have little seating areas throughout the entire trail system at areas that provide incredible views. I can’t say enough about how amazing this area is. I grew up 20 minutes from here and I never got up there to explore - a real shame. Around mile 32 was when we both realized we were in uncharted territory for the rest of the race. We had both done 30-31 miles before, but neither of us knew how the next 18 miles would go. This leg of the race was a 12.7 mile stretch. It took us almost 4 hours to complete it because of the elevation and because we were starting to wear a bit. That also includes the 20 minutes of idle time at the 2nd checkpoint. At this point, we still thought there was a slight chance we could finish strong and come in under 12 hours. We would need to do 11 miles in just over 2 hours. I guess we were delusional, but we both thought it was possible. We both remembered from the maps that the last stretch had large chunks of downhill stretches. We got what we needed out of our 2nd drop bags, fueled up with PBJ sandwiches, oranges, bananas, candy, energy chews and water. It was time to go finish.

We were so wrong in thinking that the entire 4th leg would be mostly downhill. We were able to run out of the checkpoint for about a mile before it started going uphill again. It was pretty exciting to pass a sign for mile 40 and knowing I was still able to run. But that didn’t last. It was gradual, so if I had been fresh, it would have been no problem running this. But the legs were starting to seriously fatigue. My hips were getting extremely tight and it was difficult “getting the engine going.” We ended up walking up these hills for several miles and our “dream” of finishing in under 12 hours was slipping away from us. It was not a big deal to me. At this point, it was about finishing. I adjusted the goal in my head to 13 hours and just kept grinding away slowly. We finally got to the point where the uphill seemed to end, and we came around a turn to see a nice downhill stretch. I told Tim “This is our time to shine.” I got my phone out and put on Eminem’s song “Till I Collapse.” If you don’t know it, it’s the song that gets me more pumped up than any other song. It makes me want to run through a brick wall. What Eminem says in the beginning before the song even starts is motivational and then once the beat kicks in, I’m already amped up and ready to go. I put it on loud and I took off. Tim did as well, but he was going at a more moderate, smarter pace than I was. I was flying down the hill, passing others that had passed us awhile back. I didn’t stop until I got to the next aid station so I could refill one of my water bottles to get me through to the finish. Tim caught up and we stuck together from there. We would walk a bit, run a bit. But we were still going. Just putting one foot in front of the other. I also forgot to mention that my toe had been seriously throbbing ever since we left the checkpoint at mile 26. So, I was running through some decent pain and dealing with very tight hips. When we were about a mile out, we knew would we get in under 13 hours and were pretty pumped about it. We jogged in the last mile and then picked it up a bit as we neared the finish line. The finish line at an ultra-race is so incredible. So many people just cheering on every single person that comes along that finish line. It doesn’t matter if you’re first or last, the fact that you went out and completed that massive challenge has everybody on their feet yelling for you. It’s difficult to explain how much that means when you’re trying to get to the finish line while you are physically and mentally drained. It gives you the last boost of adrenaline you need to get across that finish line.

It was surreal finishing that race and having them put that medal around my neck. As much as the last stretch hurt and was slower than I wanted, I finished. I just completed a 50 mile trail ultra-marathon. Nobody can take that away from me. You can try, but if you do - fuck you. I try to keep the profanity off this site, but there really is nothing else to say to someone being negative about someone else completing such a difficult task. I know they are out there. I’ve witnessed them. But nobody is going to ruin this accomplishment for me. I’m proud of what I just accomplished. It doesn’t mean I’m done. There is a lot more work to be done, but I’m damn proud of myself. I even got a little emotional not too much after crossing the finish line. It was just so much hard work that I put in for months, and I was able to fulfill this goal. It means a lot to me. They had burgers at the finish line, so I crushed one of those. I was staying at my parents house for the weekend, so I also asked my mother if she would pick up Five Guys burgers and fries for when I got home. Chugging water and eating burgers after that. Well deserved. I don’t usually eat meat unless I know the sourcing of it. We have our local farm that we buy all our meat from (shout out to Lilac Hedge Farm), but we all need to indulge sometimes and Five Guys hit the spot after that long day.

I learned so much from this experience. I will continue to learn from it. Our bodies can handle so much more than we can ever imagine. Our mind is more powerful than anyone realizes. We don’t need to stop the second there is some discomfort. In order to be in control of our mind, we need to figure out a way to power past the discomfort. These long races are a way of doing that. There may be some discomfort and even some serious pain, but we need to push past it and find out way to the finish line. As much pain as I was in for the final 10ish miles, the recovery was not nearly as bad as I expected. Sure, I was tight and a little sore for a few days, but I was able to walk around, even up and down stairs without assistance. I didn’t expect that to happen. It makes me realize that maybe I wasn’t in as much pain as I thought I was for that last 10 miles. That’s the power of the mind. It was my mind telling me that I was in pain. But, in reality, I had more in the tank. So, I just need to figure out how to be in charge of my mind and to not let it win. This is just the beginning. I can’t wait to get back out there and do some even bigger, longer races.

At the end, I was afraid to take my sock off. My toe was really hurting. When I took it off, it was ugly. It still is several weeks later. But, there is no chance it stays on. Once all the blood and everything in there scabs over and comes off, the nail will come off.

Forgive me for the long post. I originally planned on using this website just to document my hikes and my goal of hiking the 48 4000 footers. I will still continue to do that, but I figured this was a big enough accomplishment that I should document this as well. The site is for my “treks.” This was quite the trek, so I think it deserves to be included.

Next up - 30 hour relay race. Tim and I will take turns running 15 mile stretches for 30 hours straight to see how many miles we can do. Our goal is to each do 5 stretches, so 75 miles each. This one will be pretty flat, so we think we’ll be able to make this happen. If anyone wants to help support us, we would love to have some people there with us. Shoot me a message if you’re interested. Here are the details on the race - Ghost Train.