With Shawn busy getting her things ready for a trip to
McGrath this week , I thought it was a good time to write my Susitna race
report. My reports tend to be long and boring but I really like putting down my
thoughts to look back on down the road.
Coming in to the end of last year, I definitely wanted to
try and race the Susitna 100 but wasn’t sure how I would recover from the
Across the Years 72 hour race late in December. I was hoping to complete
upwards of 250 miles in 3 days (maybe a bit unrealistic given my training). As
it turned out, I was done with the race at about 52 hours in. I had run enough
(felt satiated) and had my family to visit while down in Arizona; which sounded
far more interesting than running and walking 1 mile loops. Having run over 150
miles in that time with plenty of rest during race, I came out relatively
fresh. I came back to the race a couple
of times to run with Dave who was doing the 6 day. That was super fun. People
didn’t even look at me funny or ask, “What are you doing back here?” They
understand the sickness.
The following weekend, Shawn and I ran a bit over 26 miles
on the Susitna out of Deshka Landing, pulling our sleds (I say sled because
pulled pulk sounds too much like BBQd meat). We were losing snow at that time
and I don’t think it got any better in the weeks to follow. On MLK weekend we
started out again at Deshka and run up to the Yentna Roadhouse 31 miles away for a 100K training run. I
had thought of that particular route while running in AZ. I thought it would be
a nice trip to celebrate our anniversary.
We were not together on our anniversary weekend because SOMEONE was running loops
in AZ – duh! Anyway, it was super cold out of Deshka, about -15F, and my feet
were cold for the first time this winter. At first I wasn’t sure I was going to
be able to get them warm again but they eventually warmed up just fine. That
day we saw lots of snow machiners. There was a poker run at Skwentna
and of course there were plenty of Iron Dog racers
out there training and the usual winter traffic pulling goods to remote
locations off the river. I always look at the snow machine traffic as a good
thing. I choke on their exhaust but I’m glad to know there are other humans out
there in case we run into trouble.
This
was a great trip as we bivvied just off the river near Luce’s lodge on the way
back; then continued to Eagle Quest where we spent Sunday night relaxing and
eating to our heart’s content. Cindy and Kevin are the greatest host ~ made us
feel at home.
“We interrupt this
race report for a news flash. I completely let my 40 year marathon anniversary
go by without a mention. I totally forgot it until I was reminded at our post
Susitna pizza when Pam Reed and Ron Nicholl were discussing how long they’ve
been running. Well, this past January marked 40 years since I ran my first marathon.
With no training to speak of, aside from my cross country workouts and a 14
miler the week before the race, I was trying out a strategy to run my first
marathon. The strategy came from my cross-country coach; an old guy (he was like 40) who said that unless you are planning on running sub-3, you are better off
stopping every 5 miles and sitting down for a minute. I was able to run 8
minute miles to mile 20, stopping diligently every 5 miles to sit, but ended up
hitting the proverbial wall. I walked the rest of the way in completing my
first marathon in 4:07. Age 15, January of 1976. I ran a 4:04 that summer,
again undertrained, at the Santa Monica marathon. A year after my first
marathon I had learned that I could actually run after I hit a wall (run til
you have to walk, walk til you can run, repeat) and I also trained more. My 3rd
marathon I ran my first sub-4 at 3:15. See, training does help. I ran for over
35 years before running another 4 plus hour marathon. And so it began. Back to
your regularly scheduled programming.”
The next two weekends we ran out of the Knik museum running
37 miles one Saturday then 30 miles the next Saturday for our last sled pull
before the race. I ran a slow 25 mile run on road the weekend before the race. Those miles didn’t help me at all.
Onto race weekend. First let me say that Erin and Kim Kittredge, as well as their crew, are the best ever.
We had invited Gavin Woody to stay at our
home. I had met Gavin a couple years before at one of Van’s Pigtail races. He
was running the 150 and extended to complete 200 miles; I had DNFd the 200 and
was helping out at the aid station. I knew this guy was a tough runner and
thought it would be nice to get to know him better. We picked Gavin up Thursday
to go to the pre-race brief and then took him back to the hotel. Shawn and I
still had to work Friday and Gavin chose to stay in town to check it out and
get some last minutes supplies. I was pleased that my sled bag weighed a measly
25 lbs this year. That was going to help my back out for sure…or at least that
was the plan. After adding food, water, micro-spikes, a warm jacket and of
course the sled itself, I was probably dragging about 35 lbs behind me. So much
better than 50-60 lbs I usually pull.
Since we work in Anchorage, it was easy logistics to pick
Gavin up Friday and come home that evening. We had teriyaki for dinner (a great per-race meal by the way) and all got some good sleep heading into the race. A
5:30am wake up and we were on the road within an hour to head to Big Lake. It’s amazing how many people in the race I
know. Not just the foot race but those on bike and even a few of the skiers. This
is a small sport with most entrants to this race being from Alaska. It’s the
same with most of the winter races too. So we’ve gotten to know who’s who
pretty quickly. .
Photo by Dot Helm
(Gavin, Andrea, Tony, Jamshid)
Gavin spent more time fussing over his sled while Shawn and
I visited with others. Soon the sun started to rise and we were off. I tried to
hold back (not really) and soon was in the front of the foot pack. When I say
the front, I mean the peloton ~ I didn’t even see Dave’s butt after he said
hello earlier that morning. I did see his foot prints which had bike tracks
over them in most cases.
Photo by Gavin Woody
Anyway, I was out way too fast but it felt good to run
hard. In retrospect, I should have taken off my jacket but was too stubborn to
stop and do so. Eventually, Gavin and Fred caught back up to me and I “let” them
go, knowing their pace was much too fast for me. I felt good and cruised along
at what I thought was a decent pace.
Photo by Gavin Woody
Teri Buck passed by and was out of site in
no time. I didn’t even try to stay with her. My thought was that I would be the
4
th over 50 finisher (should I finish) with Laura and Pam Reed in
the race. Shawn later mentioned to me that it would be cool of the three ladies
would finish 1-2-3 women. They did and were 3-5 overall.Wow!
Eventually I pulled over to use the woods and came out just
as Pam was passing. Laura has surely gone by and I could see Eric Roberts and
Shawn coming down a hill. I continued on and caught Pam and ran behind her for
a while. My motor was still running on high so I passed her and kept moving.
Eventually I saw Laura on a hill just ahead of me. She turned, gave me a look,
then continued on. After I made the climb, I also turned and looked back. I saw
Eric and Shawn not too far back. I decided to walk and eat a bit and to wait
for Shawn to catch up. I’d gotten the initial “run” out of me and was ready to
start running realistically. And boy was I sweating. Still too dumb to take off
my jacket. Shawn, Eric and I swapped positions for a while and were all at the
first check point together. At this point we started seeing dog teams pass and
a few four wheelers (supporting the dog race I believe) ~ we were moving at a
comfortable pace. I told Shawn that I’d like to run with her if I could keep
up; so we decided to stay together for a while. Eventually, Pam re-caught us.
She didn’t seem like she was running fast but boy is she consistent.
We traveled with her to Flathorn Lake where
Eric was busily filling up on food. Shawn and I left Flathorn before Pam and Eric but they soon
caught and passed on by.
Photo by Shawn McTaggart
We went through Dismal Swap, a section that I really like
for some reason, and I was curious as to where we would turn off to head to the
river (change in course). The cutoff to Susitna was not too long which I was
grateful for as the snow was soft. It was dark by now and Shawn, Eric and I traveled mostly together to the 5-star check point. I mentioned a couple of
times that I was concerned about Pam. She was ahead of us but we could not see
her light. Did she miss the turn? No; ends up she was just that far ahead of
us. We saw her leaving just as we were coming into the check point. I was happy
to get to the check point as I had taken off my puffy jacket and was hoping to
dry it out there. I had my light rain jacket on over my Underarmor shirt (it
was that warm), only because the shirt was wet as well and I was hoping it
would dry on me without my having to freeze. That worked out quite well and the
time we spent in the tent was enough to get my nano puff dry. I left all check
points with not only my nano but also my warmer jacket. It took less than 5
minutes each time to warm me up and I would just shed the outer layer. There
were a couple of times during the night where I just wanted to take off the nano
again but just went with it completely unzipped instead. I think I wore my
mittens less than half the race, going it bare handed.
On to Eagle Quest. I was disappointed that we wouldn’t be
running there via the Su all the way as I don’t like the rolling hills (the whoops) as they’re stressful on my back with the yanking of the sled. We still
had to travel a few miles up the Su which was a relief and the trail off the
river was not too bad. We made it into Eagle Quest rather quickly I thought and
Shawn said she needed to sleep. I order 3 grilled cheese sandwiches which Cindy
couldn’t quite figure out. “Well, Shawn is helping me,” I explained. The fuzzy
math didn’t quite work for her though. Shawn and I ate and spent time at the
table drinking coffee when a big group of folks came in. Shawn tried to sleep
for a while and I sat on a hard bench waiting (no sleep for me; makes me
grouchy). I think we ended up being there for close to 1 ½ hours which my legs
really needed. Eric said that we were at about mile 64 (if memory serves me)
and I was convinced that Cow Lake was at mile 80.
As we left I could tell right away that Shawn did not sleep
enough. We started out warm as usual then shed layers a few minutes later. The
course from here was familiar though every once in a while I wouldn’t recognize
where we were. Luckily Shawn did. We stopped a couple times as Shawn was
fading. She finally decided she needed to bivvy and I hugged and kissed her
before we parted. I felt bad, not for leaving her (she’s a bivvy pro) but
because I knew she wanted to continue on without stopping to bivvy and I was
hoping we could finish together. Before I took off, I could see Stephen and
Mark close behind.
I determined to stay
ahead of them for as long as possible and then tuck in behind them as they
passed on by. That pretty much is the way it happened. They were ONLY walking
but they walk super fast. I’m lucky if I can walk a 20 minute mile so there was
no way I was keeping pace with them while walking. I ended up doing what I
usually do with Shawn in training runs; walked until I got pretty far behind,
then ran to catch up. I did that all the way until the hills. At that point, I
could not keep up with them but didn’t get into the check point too much after
they did. Then sun had come up and it was the start of a new day. At Eric’s
arrival, he confirmed that we were at mile 80 (well 79.9 ~ close enough).
Photo by Dan Bailey
(Mark, Sarah, Stephen and Eric)
Cow Lake was fun and festive. How could it not be with the
Duffy family. I was awake despite the way I looked. Dan and Amy were there as
well. Dan was all in my face with the camera ~ photographers; sheesh! I ate
burrito and had a cup of Via to get me going.
Photo by Dan Bailey
I left Cow Lake ready to challenge the next section. I went
out warm again and mostly ran across the long lake in front of me. Mark and
Stephen caught me disrobing just before I hit the end of the lake and were
moving away quickly. Here is where I made my mistake; running someone else’s
race instead of my own. I wanted to keep the two in sight as they were moving
at a good clip. I HAD been taking it easy in the soft snow and on the whoops as
my belt and the weight of my sled were wreaking havoc in my hips; especially on
the right side. But I still tried to keep up. Eventually they were out of sight
yet I continued to push myself uncomfortably through the muck and mire. Once
out of that and on a lake, I could start running more fluidly again…or could I?
I had ruined my mojo and was cursing Kim for this “fun, interesting section,” of
the course. “Yeah, maybe for bikes.” The straight flat sections ahead of me
went on forever at my slowing pace. I felt stupid “running” so slowly and gave
into walking quite a few times. Then I would remember what Dave has told me
more than once, “running, even slowly, is faster than walking.” He’s right,
especially on the flat stuff. So I determined to run as much as possible no
matter how slow it seemed to be. This is the section that I swore off this race
for good. “I’m never going to run Susitna again!” I said this out loud, which
for me is more serious. There was also profanity involved which was REALLY
loud! I continued on and looked back every once in a while expecting to see
Eric any time. On each turn with a section that seemed go on forever, I
struggled mentally to keep it together. I knew I would finish but was not happy
in the process. I said to myself, “if I make one more turn and it’s not to the
check point, I will cry!” I made a turn at the power-lines and knew I still had
a ways to go. I didn’t cry but I was close to it. I turned and saw Eric
approaching quickly. When he passed by he offered me his hiking poles. I
appreciated the nice gesture and felt bad for not taking them. I would have
taken them but they would not have helped. I needed to get rid of my sled. We
were close to the last turn on the way to the Hunter check point so I walked it
in. Eric was dancing with his poles ahead of me and that made me smile. He gave
a triumphant “hooray” lifting his poles to the sky and I knew he could see the
tent. That prompted me to start running again. I told Eric I was going to stay
there a while to let me hips settle down and he simply signed in and moved on
to the finish. It occurred to me that I should probably take some Advil. I don’t
know how many hundreds of miles those same tablets have traveled with me only
to be ignored. I like to run as natural as possible but com’on, running while
pulling a sled is far from natural. I need to get rid of my bullheadedness and
take the anti-inflams for goodness sake. I asked Pam (Richter not Reed) if I
could go into the tent. There was a bale of hay but no chair so I sat on it
while getting some food (that grilled cheese leftover was delicious), taking in
some water then popping some Advil. It was very uncomfortable in there so I
went back out dress warmly and sat in a chair next to the fire. I was there
maybe ½ an hour and felt like I needed to go. It’s hard to gauge because I felt
fine sitting down. It ended up being just enough as I was able to start running
soon after leaving there.
Photo by Dan Bailey
The last stretch was fairly uneventful. I was already
planning on how I would approach next year’s race. I don’t take days or weeks
to go from “never again,” to “how can I do this better.” I just need one good
section to make me forget the pain. That and a few Advil.
I made good time and was happy to be finishing in less than
the 35 hours I thought (with no real logic attached) that I was going to do after the
Cow Lake to Hunter stretch. I was certain I was 32 plus but actually made it in
just under 31 hours (30:52). I don’t wear a watch in case you have read this
far and are wondering. I was an hour off of my goal of sub-30 but satisfied
nonetheless with that result.
During the last stretch I had planned out how to take a
sponge bath in the men’s room which I promptly did after getting in. Those of
you who were there don’t even know how much you appreciate that. I looked around but
didn’t find Gavin. He’d finished 10 plus hours ahead of me so maybe he and Pam
Reed were getting something to eat. I wasn’t sleepy so I hung out with others, eating a couple bowls of rice and jambalaya – yummy! I finally went
down to get the truck and drove it up nearer the finish line. I loaded up mine
and Gavin’s sleds then relaxed some more while waiting for Shawn to finish.
Marty came in with Shawn following soon behind. This is the best I’ve seen
Shawn at the end of a winter race. She was running hard and even looked like
she was awake. I believe this was a 5 hour PR for her on this course.
As we were talking and just chilling for a while, Gavin came
out of the cave where he was sleeping (the movie theater). We watched Emily
come and wanted to wait to see Shaun Chris and Rachael before leaving. Emily
said Rachael thought she’d be in by 9pm. We wanted to wait but we needed to get home to the dogs. We saw Shaun finish
extremely well and decided to leave after that. Gavin was elected to drive home and we stopped for a quick
Carl’s Jr meal.
It was 11pm by the time we got to sleep. I was just wired and had been awake since
5:30am the previous morning, I was sure I would sleep long and hard. Instead, I
was awake by 5am. I couldn’t fall back to sleep so at 5:30 I just got up and
started drinking coffee. Shawn followed
shortly after and Gavin slept until 9am. Well, someone got some rest.We had a good rest day taking a short walk outside to the
river.
Photo by Gavin Woody
(Tony, Shawn and Miss Grey)
We knew there would be appetizers at the awards presentation
and we thought it would be prudent to have pizza at the Bear Tooth beforehand.
That was a good call let me tell you.
Photo courtesy of Gavin Woody
(Shawn, Jamshid, Tony, Ron, Pam, Gavin)
The awards ceremony was fun and we stayed until the end. The
only bad thing was that we had to work the next day. Home at 10, we had another
late night. I was sleepy all week at work not able to catch up on my
sleep.
Finally Saturday came and sleep was plentiful.
It’s Sunday morning now and it’s been raining for over 12
hours. YES, raining! Anchorage is getting snow so I hope there is also some
good snow coming down out of Knik for next week’s race start.
Now it’s time to recover some and start spring training!
Next up: Dawn-2-Dusk-2-Dawn 24 hour run (May 14th)
