3 Days in the Park

Loop 1 of 92. Photo by Rachelle.

It's a goal 3 years in the making. On September 28, 2018, I publicly stated my intention to run a 100 miler in the next 5 years. At the time, I had run 1 50 miler and 1 100K. I felt like I needed more experience in the 50 mile+ distances so I ran one more 50 miler and 3 more 100Ks. 

I was planning on staging my own run to suit my needs: not too hilly or technical loops of between 5-10K, 48 hours, pacers allowed at any time, all trail/no road and in the fall/early winter and not too far from home.

Clay proposed 3 Days in the Park months ago, without major details until it was clear the event would happen. It fit all my needs except one: the course was a 1-ish (1.092) mile loop. I was really concerned that I'd go crazy from boredom, but since everything else was perfect, I signed up.

Rachelle drove me to the race start and ran the first loop (of 92) with me. I was the only person registered for 48 hours, so until Saturday morning at 9, the only registered runners on the course were me, K, Brad from Indiana, and Monica.

The first morning and afternoon were fairly uneventful. I was a little lonely by mid afternoon and messaged Lori that I would love for her to come keep me company, when Wendi showed up as well! 

gifts of food are always appreciated.
Thanks, Lori for the chicken pho!

Audrey was the next pacer for Friday overnight. It had rained off and on all day, but the course was still in relatively good shape. It was my pre-race plan to nap in the wee hours, but Audrey planned to stay until 4, so I decided to hold off on the biggest sleep until after she left, although I had a short 20 minute nap just before midnight. It was meant to be a bit longer, but my legs were aching and I wanted food more than sleep.

I took my hair down, took my shoes and socks off and napped quite soundly until 6. The sound of rain on my tent made it very peaceful and I woke up almost as refreshed as if I'd had a full night's sleep. There was just a couple of loops by myself in the pre-dawn before Brian arrived for the start of his 12 hour and Nina and Delano shortly after.

"Trails n' Tunes" should be a thing - musical geekery with Nina,
my student from looooooooong ago.

mid-morning with Brian, Delano and Xavier, 
thankfully minus the vuvuzela.

People have been asking what I least expected during the 100: I would definitely say it was needing poles for basically what was a flat loop (except for one short, steep hill). After about 50 miles it was very difficult to climb, even pushing on my quads. I put out a call on FB for anyone to stop by my house to grab the poles out of my car...

...but Michele and Wes arrived, with Michele's poles, which were not as light as mine, but a million times better than nothing! She also fed me clementines, as my hands were full. 

Wes: make an angry face!

Celebrating a new distance PB with Fireball shot #1.

Seeing Tank crewing K made me miss Greg terribly. He and B came to see me for just a few minutes. He also brought my poles.

Not dressed to run, but got a big hug.
📷 Kathryn

Heading in to the 2nd night final stretch, I had Rachelle, Josh, Lori and Agnes. The weather was wild in that there were clear skies with a million stars and then 20 minutes later a total downpour. With all the weather changes, and perhaps because of its own brand of magic, the loop never got boring. 

📷 Josh

Rachelle went to sleep and Agnes noticed some discrepancies from what her watch showed, and the official scoreboard (Clay, Andrea and some other helpers manually counted laps). I had lost count of laps before noon on the first morning and obviously was in no state to discuss numbers but Agnes went to talk and they gave me an extra loop based on her evidence.

The temperature was much colder the 2nd night and I put on my warmest clothes, which was adequate. At one point, we were talking about food (of course) and I thought that hot chocolate and Fireball would be a delicious combo. At the end of that loop, I asked for hot chocolate and like magic, it was ready by the time I finished the next loop. That was definitely warming!

I also ate another ramen, and Lori and I headed out, with Josh trailing behind. Agnes had gone to sleep so that she could drive me home after. Josh had brought no pants and his teeth were chattering very hard so Lori and I shooed him back to the warm tent. "no pants, no pacing!"

 Glowing red heaters scare the shit out of me. 

The most embarrassing thing that happened was around 80-90 miles, when I popped a squat on uneven ground, and tipped forward on my knees with my bare butt in the air. 

Josh borrowed Rachelle's pants, and warmed by Weird Roadie Gary's plain noodles in hot water "ramen", plus a candle under his butt, returned for the last loop. We woke Brian and Agnes up with 2 laps remaining, so they could see me finish.

Still not tired of the loop. It was simply beautiful, 
especially at night. 📷 Rachelle

I'm a 100 MILE FINISHER. Damn that sounds good!

All the thanks to Clay for putting together an extraordinary event, my longest distance being the smallest "race" I've ever done. Thanks to the crew for taking care of our every need: Andrea, Gary and the others whose names I didn't get Congratulations to the other runners for their achievements. And most of all, THANK YOU!!!!! to everyone who came out to support me, it really means everything that so many people took time out of their busy lives to help little old me achieve my huge goal. 💖💖💖