Well, I don’t have the lap splits from my race, but I figure that I should put down my thoughts on the race while they were still fresh and painful.
So, by the numbers my 2007/2008 Across The Years 24 hour race:
Overall place: 4th
# entered in the 24 hour race: 54
Miles I covered during the race: 106.565
Kilometers covered: 171.5
# laps ran: 343
Average pace: 13 minute 31 seconds per mile
Average pace per lap: 4 minutes 11.9 seconds per lap
Estimated calories expended: 12,000
Estimated calories took in during race: <5000
# of toenails I will lose from this race: at least 4 and probably 6
Race website: www.acrosstheyears.com
Approximate race splits for me: 1st marathon 4:20
50K (31 miles) 5:05 matched PR
50 mile 9:02 new PR (was 9:15)
100K (62 miles) 11:30 new PR (was 11:45)
100 mile 22:05 new PR (was 22:18)
The Across The Years race is actually three separate races, a 24, a 48, and a 72 hour race. The race was started in 1982, so this year marked its 25th year. The race has been held at several different locations around Phoenix, but is currently held at a private estate about 20 miles west of Phoenix.
The premise is simple, run as much or as little as you want or can during the time allotted. Some people have specific mileage goals and quit after reaching them, some go for broke and hammer out as much as they can. Some just take it easy and make the race into a party. Personally, I want to do as well as possible and with a race this long, there are no guarantees that I will do well, no matter how much I train.
My race started at 9am on New Year’s Eve. The two previous days had already seen about 34 of the 24-hour runners already complete their time. Now it was our turn. When I looked at the current results, I saw that only two people had exceeded 100 miles. This gave me a little hope that I could break the top 10 again. Trouble is, the race set it up such that some of the top 24-hour runners would be running on that last day. I knew I had no hope of keeping up with them. One of the runners had even declared his intent to try for an American 24-hour record (in excess of 165 miles). My best plan was to go out and run my own race and stay within myself. Don’t even try to keep up with anyone.
Format and Timing – this race is chip timed just like almost any marathon. The course is a USATF certified 500 meter road course. The surface is compacted gravel and is very nice for running. Every time a runner crosses the timing mat, their lap time is recorded and their distance updated. The runners change direction around the course every two hours (so we don’t get dizzy I guess). The really nice thing about the timing is that there is a large screen and projector that updates your mileage as you cross the mat. You can see the mileage for the previous 20 people as well as your own. After a few laps, you can get a good idea of where you stand against the other runners in your race. This can help with strategy. You can see when a runner is slowing down, or off the track and adjust your race accordingly.
So, I started at 9am with the other 20 runners for that day. My initial goal was to run at least 50 Km without stopping or walking other than to fuel and hydrate. I also wanted to PR every standard ultra distance beyond the marathon. That I did manage to do. I also wanted to initially go out at roughly 3-minute laps (sub 10 minute pace) for as long as I could. I knew that doing this could put a few miles in the bank for times when I felt like crap.
By 20 miles, my legs were already a little sore, but that’s normal and I just run thru it. I knew it wouldn’t get a lot worse for quite awhile. By 20 miles, I could also feel a blister forming on the side of my foot. This was not good, but after awhile, it seemed to not get worse, so I just ran.
I clocked my first marathon at roughly 4:20, so not too slow, and hit the 50k mark at just over 5 hours. After the 50k mark, I switched strategies a little and went to a 20 lap set. I would run until I hit an even 20 lap number, then get something to drink, eat, check my messages, and walk for a couple laps, sometimes three. Then I would start running again until the next 20 lap increment. This seemed to work really well, as I could get back into a pretty good running groove. Once I got into the 20 lap routine, my lap times dropped to around 3:25. I kept up this 20 lap routine until around 10pm. I knew that I would have a down period sometime during the night. I would feel drained, emotionally down, and very tired. I elected to take a short 15-20 minute break at 10pm and try to take a little nap. The race venue has a 60 x 100 heated tent that people can set up sleeping bags, their own tents, etc., and at night it’s nice and quiet. I crawled into my sleeping bag, set my cell phone alarm for 15 minutes, and was out instantly. 15 minutes later, the alarm went off, I got up, put my shoes back on and headed out into the night. I felt much better and my lap times showed by going down some.
Sure enough, at around 3am, I started getting down. It was hard to keep running, easy to walk. Once again, I elected to take a short 20 minute nap. This nap didn’t help as much and I still felt sluggish. I did take a couple of No-doze, drank some coke and ate some food (I had to force myself to eat since nothing sounded good to me) to try and get out of my funk, and by around 5-6am, I felt better. I could also start to see the sky lighten on the horizon. Ah, three hours to go.
Once I felt better my lap times dropped again, although they were now down to around 3:45 when I was running. I had also gone to a 10 lap setup rather than the 20 I had been doing earlier.
All thru the day and night, I kept track of the runners with more mileage and those that were close to me. The person (Paul Dewitt) trying for the American record eventually dropped out after about 62 miles with a hamstring injury. The person that had matched him lap for lap for quite awhile slowed down enough so that I caught up and passed him. The eventual winner (Dan Larson) just ran like the energizer bunny, a steady pace the entire time. The eventual women’s winner and I traded leads several times, but eventually I put a few laps between us and as a result, this is the first (and probably last) race where I didn’t get chicked (no women finished ahead of me). I knew that I would get somewhere around 4th place a few hours before the end of the race. I knew that 3rd place was out of reach for me and it was a question of anyone catching up with me and taking 4th place. This thought had me running scared and helped to motivate me to keep up the pace.
I started my final lap with less than 5 minutes to go and decided to at least shuffle around the track at more than a fast walk. I crossed the timing mat for the final time with less than one minute remaining in the race. We counted down the remaining seconds and all of the sudden, the race was over.
Post race – After the race finished, I was kind of at a loss as to what to do. I had been running and that had been my life for the last 24 hours. I hadn’t really thought about what I needed to do next. Finally, I decided to just go rest in my sleeping bag for a bit. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep, but at least I was prone and off my feet. I was tired, sleepy, and very stinky. After I got up, the thought of food still didn’t sound good, but I did get something to drink. I gathered up all my junk, as the tent needed to be cleared out for the awards ceremony. I then just stood around chatting with other runners waiting for the awards to be given out. I was not looking forward to the 2+ hour drive back down to my brother’s house and did end up taking a nap at a rest area on the way. As far as my body goes, my legs are no more sore than they would be after a marathon. My feet are another story. I have major blisters on virtually every toe, but none on the soles. The feet will heal and the toenails will grow back.
I think my race went very well. I’ve run this race before and knew what to expect. I had trained hard all thru the fall, putting some of the longest stretches of high mileage (60+/week) I have ever done. I had no expectations of doing well in the standings, but did have a mileage goal of 110 miles. I didn’t make that goal, but I haven’t figured out where I could have made up an additional 3.5 miles. Train harder and run faster I guess.
Not too bad for a grandpa. Who knows, maybe next year I’ll try the 72 hour race.
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