24 Hour National Championship Recap: North Coast 24

Denise & Josh before
the start of the race.

September 18th, North Coast 24-Hour Run (U.S. 24 Hour National Championship)

After a successful race in Philadelphia, I spent most of August preparing for the 24 Hour National Championship in Cleveland, Ohio.  I used all of the previous races this year as a springboard to the next.  Saturday super long runs, weight training, tempo runs, hard trail hill workouts, cross training on my bike: these all helped in fine-tuning my running to prepare me for this next challenge.

As with Keys 100 Mile, Denise would need more help with crewing and since Ryan Stimers was no longer a crewing virgin, I asked him to come with us. Fortunately Ryan was available and came up to Philadelphia in order to drive with us across Pennsylvania to Ohio.  We had a good drive and once we arrived at Edgewater Park we checked out the loop course.  It was a .9 mile loop that I would repeat as many times as I could in a 24 hour period.  This meant that Denise and Ryan would see me every ten minutes or so.  PortaJohns and food stations were right off the course and with our tent set up on the edge of the path I wouldn’t waste any distance or time off the course.

The start of the NC 24.

The morning of the race was very busy. Unloading the car of race supplies, setting up the tent and getting the campsite ready for the long day ahead took a lot of effort on all of our parts.  Ryan and Denise even moved a picnic table over to our tent to use during our day together.  The race was due to start at 9AM.  I was getting nervous and was just excited to get things underway. I chatted it up with  Anna Piskorska and Sabrina Moran and did a general hello to Serge Arbona (winner of the Lone Ranger Ultra-Marathon) before the race was to begin. After the playing of the national anthem, Denise and I got a quick photo together. I lined up at the start and then the race began.  Races like this take a while to develop. I just wanted to warm-up and get into a rhythm.  Even though I could see my crew every loop I felt the need to carry a small bottle with me anyhow. This would give me the ability to hydrate as needed and not worry about getting enough fluids into my system. I thought that running all day on a .9 loop would be boring, but I found that wasn’t the case.  I had plenty of people to talk with and a lot to see. Each lap was a bit different as the sun tracked across the sky. I had a chance to talk with Ray Krolewicz, an ultra runner who had been competing back when my friend Bill Schultz was racing a lot. Ray was a stocky, barrel-chested man with no shirt, and scruffy facial hair, mid 50’s and tough as nails. I told Ray I knew Bill and a friendly sparring of words ensued. He told me to tell Bill that “this old dog is done huntin’.” I told Denise to tell Bill this message via telephone, as he checked in now and again to learn of my progress.  Bill’s response was “dogs hunt at night”, meaning there is plenty of time left to do what needs to be done in the race. As I approached Ray to give him this message, I thought his response might come across as some form of an CIA cypher like a code that I have not yet deciphered. I told him Bill’s message and Ray’s response was “this dog’s ready to crawl under the porch”. I found this amusing and knew he was getting pretty tired. I said a friendly hello now and again, but during the night portion of the event I lost track of him till the next morning.

Ray Krolewicz coming through the check point area.

I saw picnickers enjoying an afternoon in the park, a drum circle, children playing ball and riding tricycles, and young people flying kites. When I wasn’t distracted by my environment, I could always look forward to seeing the beach or looking at the waterfront of Lake Erie. It was quite beautiful. I often wondered if this was kind of like what my friend Bill Schultz has to do when he did his ultra’s.  Bill did most of his races on a quarter mile track, something I still have a problem wrapping my brain around, but I think I can understand it better knowing what I know now about ultras and the mind games we have to play to do what we do.  Mental toughness is key in this sport and I can appreciate all the long runs I did on a treadmill in preparation for such an event. I figure if you can run 8 hours on a treadmill you can deal with the stress and mind games of ultras like this one.

As I progressed throughout the race, I was constantly worried about my bib number being picked up by the scanner at the check-in area.  Each time we crossed this line scanners were supposed to pick up our chip in the bib and record our completed lap.  This would lead to much paranoia amongst the ultra-runners because as we went through in large numbers not all of our numbers appeared on the digital screen. I checked with race officials  a number of times but they assured me they recorded my laps correctly.  They did a great job.  I just get a little concerned when I put forth this effort and want all my mileage recorded.

The final of many white board messages.

As the day continued, I felt really good. It was a lot of fun looping around and seeing all of the things that I saw. Serge Arbona and Phil McCarthy, Connie Gardner and Debra Horn were a few competitors who were killing it all day long.  Each time I went though the check point area I knew I would soon be able to see Denise and Ryan for all that I needed from them. It was really cool running through the tent city seeing all the different people dealing with their athletes’ needs. It was like a little community that I got to see develop and morph into an ever-changing kaleidoscope of humanity. It was quite fascinating. After the day warmed up I changed from my arm sleeves and gloves to a tank top.  It was a bit warmer than everyone thought: high 70’s or low 80’s for the day with some humidity. I dealt with the conditions well considering what I had done earlier in the year. Hydration and salt were key for me and I did what I needed to do to keep moving forward.  

Josh in yellow shirt running
with other competitors.

To keep themselves entertained during the day Denise and Ryan would write various motivational sayings on a small white board to keep us runners amused. For example, they used the SNL line: “You are good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, people like you.” They also updated sports scores and took requests throughout the day.  As usual they did a great job for me.  I think one of the hardest job for crew members other than staving off boredom and staying awake is to keep themselves healthy throughout the event. Over the past few races Denise has had issue with exhaustion and stress due to races. Sometimes I forget that she gets so focused on my needs that she forgets about her own. This is why its important to have more than one person to be a part of your crew. A happy and healthy crew leads to a successful race performance. 

Running through tent city.

During the night time the race got much more challenging. The crowds of the day were gone and the tent city was much more subdued. I tried listening to my Ipod but that only lasted about an hour an a half.  I don’t really like racing with an Ipod. It breaks my concentration on top of the fact some races don’t let you use one at all so I never felt like I wanted to become dependent upon one. I also had many hours of stomach issues during the night. I tried all of my usual remedies but nothing worked: ginger ale, Tums, Ginger chews, ice water, nothing helped. I was getting desperate. I was walking more now and didn’t want to just give up. I was doing well and my race was far from over.  I stopped at the food table and explained my predicament and they suggested I try some oatmeal with honey.  I usually don’t like trying new things during a race but I thought it  couldn’t possibly get worse.  I took a few spoonfuls of the brown, gooey substance as I walked through the tent city. It was about 4 am and I knew I needed to get up and running again. To my pleasant surprise it worked. The queasiness went away and I could run strong again. I checked the placement sheet around this time and found out I was in the top 20. I saw that Lisa Bliss, a Badwater 135 Hall of Fame inductee, was just ahead of me. I worked at it for the next few hours and eventually passed her.  She is quite the competitor. I was moving up in the ranks and I wasn’t going to slow down until the finisher’s horn sounded.

I wasn’t the only person out their having problems. The heat of the day took its toll on a lot of the runners. David James dropped out a 105 miles after leading all day, Sabrina Moran dropped out after killing it for 79 miles and Phil McCarthy walk much of the night in his sweats trying to pull it back together. In Sabrina’s defense she broke her leg.  I saw her limping a lap or two and told her if their was anything my crew could do for her just ask. Her tent was next to ours and her dad was her only crew member.  

Ryan, Denise and Josh after the race.

With the sun coming up I wanted to get some quick laps under my belt. I got tired of Serge and Phil lapping me all day and I thought using them to draft off of would motivate me for awhile. I tucked in and sat on their heels. I zipped past my crew table and they looked at me like “That’s not part of the plan” as I said to them “I’ll catch you next lap.”  Phil eventually dropped on the pace and I tucked behind Serge. Even though he was miles ahead of me I figured what the hell I might as well use him to get two more miles down. With a fire lit under my feet I capitalized on the moment.  It was pretty cool. People  on the course like the USA Track officials, crossing guards and others were commenting on what I was doing. With an hour to go Denise told me that I was doing really well, but their was a guy in a red shirt coming after me. It turned out to be Brian Coughlin, a 34 year old fellow teacher from Connecticut, a guy who I had been talking to all day. He was a nice jovial fellow who spent much of his day on his cell phone. 

The race was on and I was running out of time.  Brian was working it.  He knew I was the last person he could get before the time ran out and he was the last person I needed to fend off. The pace got ridiculously fast. Stopping at aid stations was now only for extreme emergencies.  With about 5 minutes to go Brian came up alongside me. We looked at each other with friendly acknowledgment of what was going on here. I was red-lining it and Brian had one more gear.  He down shifted and kept going. Damn! I thought, I can't give anymore. I pushed and pushed, but Brian pulled away. With minutes left I kept thinking that I wanted to hear that horn. Then the race would be over. And then it happened. WHAAAA!!! The horn rang out and with that I laid down in the grass. I placed the wooden marker, used to mark my finish distance for later measurement, on the path and sighed in relief. As I stared up at the sky thinking about what had just occurred, many people came up to me and gave me heartfelt congratulations. Ryan came into my line of sight and helped me to my feet.  We walked back to tent city so I could get sweatpants on and a dry shirt. Breakfast was being served while results were being tallied.

Many crews had broken down their team tents already and right now all I was concerned with was eating something other than gel packs and oatmeal. Eggs  and   coffee worked wonders to revitalize me.  I was really satisfied with my performance: I had placed 6th male and 10th overall with a total distance of 124.063 miles. What a great day.

Josh, Denise and the race directors go
over race results.

Looking back on this race has made me understand many things about running long distances. Having a great crew will make or break your race. I know I could have run farther if I discovered the oatmeal connection sooner and I really truly know how to keep my self hydrated with the proper salt intake. In retrospect Denise did suffer a bit through the night. I remember her slumped over in a camping chair trying to get some deserved rest while Ryan took charge of crewing duties.  Next time we do a big race like this we will bring a tent and sleeping bag for her so she can get at least a few hours of sleep during the night.  For the most part I stayed pretty with it so I could get my own stuff if need be in courses with smaller loops. Cheers to a great 2010.

Brian Coughlin and I after the awards.