Grindstone 100K by UTMB - Race Report

The 2024 Grindstone Running Festival by UTMB took place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia among the Allegheny Mountains on September 20th and 21st, offering distances of 21K, 50K, 100K, and 100 Miles. I had registered for this race several months ago in the 100K as the “A” race of my entire year. The 100K is a beast; it is well known for being closer to 66 Miles (versus 62.1 Miles for a standard 100K) and features nearly 11,000 feet of elevation gain, including three major climbing sections. My objectives for running the race were pretty straightforward: finish and collect running stones for the UTMB Lottery for the championship race in Chamonix, France and to knock out my Western States Endurance Run qualifier to enter the lottery in December. This race was the only domestic UTMB race on the entire east coast and had the added benefit of being relatively close to Connecticut. I arrived in Virginia by car mid-afternoon on Friday, checked into my hotel, and then headed over to the start at Camp Shenandoah to pick up my bib number, check out the merchandise store and also watch the 100 Mile runners, who begin at 6:00 PM on Friday, start their race. Watching the start of the 100 Miler was a great way to stoke some fire for my own race the next morning! 

Three Major Climbing Sections: Miles 11-18, Miles 26-35, and Miles 44-47

I arrived back at Camp Shenandoah the next morning at about 5:15 AM and made my way over to the start area. This was going to be my longest race ever, and my first time doing a single loop of this size, so it was also my first time really racing in a running vest. I am not a huge fan and normally would go with handhelds, if possible, but that was not the case for this one. I was wearing my Hoka Speedgoat 5’s, a Hoka Airolite short sleeve top, a Salomon Adv Skin 12 vest, and a Suunto watch. My nutrition plan was to consumer one Tailwind packet every aid station and to supplement with solid food at aid stations and throughout the course. We began to congregate at the start line at about 5:55 AM and after a few quick words from the race director we were off! 

 I knew this was a competitive race as the top three received auto entry into UTMB Mont Blanc, but man do people start hot! It looks like the top guys were cranking 6:20-6:30 miles during the opening 5.7 Miles to the first aid station “Lick Run – 1”. This section of the course featured a short loop at the start of about a mile, followed by three miles of gradual uphill on pavement before we transitioned to a gravel fire road for another mile and a half before reaching the aid station. My plan was to start conservatively, run smart, and move up throughout the day. I knew it was going to be a long day and it was also going to be very hot later (80+ degrees) so there was no reason to overcook it too early. I kept it in the low eight minutes miles to start, giving my body and legs time to warm up for the work ahead.

Start!

Lick Run – 1 – Mile 5.7, 44th Place, 45:56 Total Time 

 After leaving Lick Run – 1, we entered the single-track trails, where we would spend most of our day. We hit the first significant climb of the day here traversing 660 feet over eight tenths of a mile, reducing the train of people ahead to power hiking. This was the first moment of the day where I was stuck with the reality of the task at hand, calves on fire at only Mile 7, reduced to a hike. We crested the top of the climb and spent the next several miles running along undulating single-track trail on the ridge line making our way over to the second aid station, Wolf Ridge. I only passed a handful of people over these miles as it was still early, and the hot starters were still out in force. 

Wolf Ridge – Mile 11.4, 40th Place, 1:49:01 Total Time

I stayed at Wolf Ridge for two or three minutes, refilling my water and Tailwind and taking my time to collect some food to go in a plastic bag, as it was nearly ten miles to the next aid station. It was early, but the only thing that really seemed to be working for me food wise outside of the Tailwind was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Oreos. Leaving the aid station, the first major climbing section of the race began, which was nearly eight miles of single-track from Miles 11-18. My plan here was to continue to take the climb relatively easy and feel good coming out at the top. I ended up shadowing another runner for nearly the whole climb who was making a good pace as we went by more than half a dozen runners. After cresting the end of the climb, we had a very nice grassy non-technical descent for nearly three miles to the next aid station where I was able to open the pace back up into the 7s. I came into the next aid station, Sand Springs at Mile 21.0 feeling great and got several remarks from the those at the aid station that I looked fantastic. 

Sand Springs – Mile 21.0, 30th Place, 3:33:16 Total Time

Leaving Sand Springs, we had a very quick 4.2 Miles to the next station, with the entirety on nice, fast gravel roads, with the vast majority being downhill. I split my fastest mile of the day here at Mile 23 running 7:17. It was also nice that this part of the course was mostly shaded. It was only 10:00 AM by this point, and the heat of the day had not entirely set in, so it still felt relatively cool traversing over to the next aid station at North River Gap – 1. During this time, I also pulled out my phone and shot a quick video to send to my family as I had promised to give them a few update videos throughout. Even though I was running fast for this section, I practiced some restraint as I knew we had the second major climbing section coming up from Mile 25 – 35 after leaving the next aid station. 

North River Gap 1 – Mile 25.2 – 29th Place, 4:07:05 Total Time 

Gravel Road from Sand Springs
to North River Gap - 1

North River Gap aid station was one of the ‘key” aid stations of the race. This was one of only a handful of stations where spectators or crew were allowed, and it was also the location of the drop bags. We would also be coming back through here around Mile 53. I took extra time at this aid station, grabbing more peanut butter sandwiches and Oreos to stash for the climb, and grabbing my extra Tailwind packets, knowing I was going almost exclusively uphill on single-track for over an hour to the next aid station. Side note, this aid station had by far the coldest water of any aid station, and it was a godsend. I left North River Gap – 1 and after a short road climb, turned left and entered the single-track. I crossed a rickety, bouncy bridge and the climbing was on. I passed several runners over the next stretch of miles, probably a combination at this point of those who had started out too quick and those who were having tough days. This climb was certainly a low point for me. I did not have another runner to key off of to pace the climb and it was the first time all day where I really felt the heat come through. Still, I felt like I was running relatively strong, and the goal was to get through the climbing section under a twelve-minute mile average. At about Mile 30, shortly before the next aid station, the single-track widened out a bit and lost most of the technicality. I came through to the next aid station, Lookout Mountain, relived to have a momentary respite from the climbing and an opportunity to refill my water and Tailwind, which I very much had to ration through the previous climb. 

Rickety Bridge at Mile 25

After leaving the aid station, I continued to climb, this time, however, on more of a fire road trail, which was quicker than the single-track but was in the direct sunlight for most of the rest of the climb. I caught another runner around Mile 34 and paced off of him for the remaining mile or so of climbing before we began to enter a fairly technical descent over four miles to the next aid station. I definitely felt very tight on this descent, with my quads not quite able to open up as nicely as the last downhill section we had from Mile 18 to Mile 26. I lost the runner I had caught up to for a bit during this section, not making up ground until we had leveled out a bit more on the trail as we approached Magic Moss. 

Magic Moss – Mile 38.1, 19th Place, 6:39:29 Total Time 

I left the Magic Moss aid station and set off towards the final aid station before the biggest climb on the course. We were greeted with five relatively flat miles of gravel road. The first two miles after leaving Magic Moss were downhill and in the shade, but shortly after that the road flattened out considerably and we were in direct sunlight as the temperatures were starting to peak up near 80 degrees. There was considerable carnage on this stretch of road where I went by no less than six runners. After a fast 7:55 mile at Mile 41, I too got caught up in the heat a bit and started to dial it back. I have consistently seen in race reports and on YouTube videos that something about the gravel road running this late in the race is such a low point, even though it should be one of the quickest parts of the race. I think it is because the only thing you really can do is run, and it is a relentless one foot in front of the other. There is relatively no change in trail conditions, no change in pace, it just feels very rote and unforgiving at this stage in the race. I made a concerted effort to relax a bit as I entered the last mile or so before the aid stations, my hips tightening up considerably over the last few miles. Finally, I rounded one final turn and ran into the Camp Todd aid station, which was well stocked with crew and spectators, preparing to take on the daunting climb ahead of me. 

Stream Crossing at Camp Todd
at Mile 44

I stayed at Camp Todd for several minutes, taking extra water and refilling both my bottles. I was starting to struggle with nutrition a little bit, my appetite for Tailwind going down with each mile. I grabbed a few more PB&J sandwiches, stashed a few Oreos, and left the aid station, with nearly ten miles until the next one, with “only” 2,700 feet of elevation gain and 3600 feet of elevation loss in between. Leaving Camp Todd, I completely drenched my feet in the stream crossing, failing miserably at following the dry path. Thankfully, I had stashed an extra pair of socks in my drop bag, but I knew it would be nearly two hours before I reached it. 

After crossing the stream, I was immediately faced with the totality of what was ahead of me. 3 Miles, 2,000 feet of elevation gain. I had “practiced” this climb in training, but nothing but the real thing ever really prepares you. These three miles were slippery, technical, and unrelentingly uphill. You couldn’t really run it even if you wanted to. It was at this point in the race where I met Nicholas Wirz, who had come into the Camp Todd aid station right before me. I went by him for the first mile of the climb, but he was a relentless power hiker, driving by me about half way up the climb with his poles. My goal was to stay in eyesight of him and stay connected. After what felt like an eternity, I finally crested the top of the mountain, and that’s when the rain hit. 

Chasing after Nicholas at Mile 54 

Thunder had rolled into Camp Todd and the Shenandoah Valley in the hour earlier, which finally gave way to a downpour. Within minutes, I was completely drenched, navigating technical undulating single-track with every cold wet shrub whacking my body as I went by. Nicholas was beginning to pull out of my eyesight as I was debating putting out my rain jacket, but finally decided against it. While the rain was cold, it was refreshing after hours of 80-degree heat. Unfortunately, this section felt very slow, due to the slippery, technical descents. After about 30 minutes, the sky began to clear and the rain dissipated, however lingering thunder would remain for much of the race. I finally caught back up to Nicholas near about Mile 49 as we traded conversation and leads. I would take the front on the downhills, and he would power by me on the climbs. The elevation loss was the real sneaky killer of this section. The near 2,500 feet we dropped over the next seven miles was destructive on the quads. The last mile before the next aid station dropped nearly 800 feet and was barely runnable at this point. Nicholas had gapped me over the last few miles, but I did pull him back in over the last downhill as we ran into the next aid station at North River Gap – 2 together. 

North River Gap – 2 – Mile 52.8 – 13th Place – 9:38:53 Total Time 

Technical Descent before North
River Gap - 2

I took my time at North River Gap – 2 again, changing my socks and taking in extra water and food, knowing this was the last critical aid station before the finish. Nicholas set off about thirty seconds before me as we left the aid station and traveled up the gravel roads that we had run down from Mile 21 to Mile 25. I stayed within eyesight of him, as I began the slow, methodical climb back up. After about three miles, we took a right hand turn back onto the trail, at which time I caught back up to Nicholas, and he and I continued to run and power hike together for the next two miles of fairly non-technical single-track. We both thought that we were still on target for a sub-12-hour finish but knew that we would need to close strong. After the single-track, we popped back out onto a short gravel descent that we had come up on way back at Mile 8 or 9, and this where Nicholas and I finally parted. He was climbing much better than I was, but said his quads were shot. He had his GPS hooked up to the course topo profile and did warn me we had a pretty extreme downhill coming up over the next mile and boy was he right. I had just passed 60 Miles on my Suunto as I entered the downhill, which was not technical, but was indeed very steep. At the bottom of this descent, I popped out on the fire roads which would lead me back to the final aid station, Lick Run – 2. This was an odd mentally low point for me of the race, especially because it was so late. I must have misread or missed the sign indicating the distance to the next aid station, because I thought it was nearly two miles sooner than when I actually reached it. I kept going up and up the fire trails, out of water for nearly 20 minutes, with each turn I made failing to yield the final aid station. I was now beginning to get nervous I would not squeak in under 12 hours, when I finally rounded a turn and could see the final aid station up ahead. 

Lick Run – 2 – 60.5 Miles, 11th Place – 11:11:09 Total Time 

4.5 Miles, a tiny bit of climbing, and nearly 600 feet of descent was all that stood between me and the finish. I did spend about a minute or so at this aid station, even refilling both my bottles. I didn’t really need the water (or the weight of it), but I think I was just trying to compensate for the fact that I had been out before and had hit a mentally low spot. I had approximately 49 minutes to go the last 4.5 Miles to make it under 12 hours, knowing all I had to do was just get to the asphalt road. After about a mile of slightly uphill fire road, I finally hit the turn left to travel back to Camp Shenandoah. The sky was turning a deep grey color, but the rain and thunder was holding off for now. I felt surprisingly strong and smooth passing by all of the farmhouses and fields that I went by in the dark over eleven hours ago that were now illuminated. I pulled out my phone with two miles to go sending a short video to my family, trying hard to contain the emotion in my voice. I made one final turn on the asphalt road before approaching traffic volunteers, who told me I was less than a mile away. “That’s the best thing I have heard all day” I said. After two quick final turns on the asphalt, I plunged into one final smooth trail that traversed the back of Camp Shenandoah towards the finish. Having clocked low eight-minute miles the last three miles, I knew I was now well inside the twelve-hour mark and tried to soak in the last half mile, thankful for the great adventure I was able to have today and the ability to be able to push my body the way that I do. One final turn and I was on the path to the finishing line, a sense of relief coursing through my body. As I crossed the finish line, the sky began to open up in a downpour, perhaps waiting until the very second that I crossed the line to unleash. I raised my hands to the sky and took it all in. 

Finish – Natural Chimneys – Mile 65.4 – 11th Place, 11:46:07 Total Time 

Finish!

I had finished in a time of 11:46:07, which was good for 11th Overall, and 10th Male. When I was told that I had finished in 11th my jaw dropped. Looking at the results from last year, on a great day, I thought maybe I could have been in the Top 20 or Top 25, but this result was far outside of my expectations. The winning times were slower than last year, but it really was a hot day out there and I’m sure there was carnage for those who went out too quickly. I ended up executing my race plan perfectly, moving up the entire day, from 44th at the first aid station to 11th at the finish, without getting passed once. After hanging out for about fifteen or twenty minutes I made my way to the car when the weather suddenly started to turn violent. Lighting directly overhead, torrential downpour basically blowing sideways. It was so terrifying that after 66 Miles of running, I still ran to my car to get to safety, zig zagging in the open field trying to avoid getting struck by lightning. That certainly would have been a way to go. I felt grateful for finishing when I did, but props to the runners still out on the course who had to battle through that. 

Overall, I could not be more thrilled with how this race turned out. It was a lot of validation for me that all of my hard work and training have been paying off; that I could come into a race put on by UTMB with a national (at minimum, regional) class field and make the Top 10 Men. With the task at hand completed I now wait for two things. First, I finally have the opportunity to enter the lottery for the Western States Endurance Run, a goal of mine since I was 12-years old. I may not make it this time around, but you have to start somewhere and often times setting the foundation is the hardest part. Second, I collected three “Running Stones” which gives me an opportunity to enter the lottery for UTMB Mont Blanc, the World Series Final in Chamonix, France. I think I probably have a 1.00% chance of getting into WSER per their lottery analysis, and probably a 20% chance of getting into UTMB Mont Blanc per other analysis I have seen. Hopefully, I am fortunate enough to be on one of those starting lines next Summer, but if not I’m sure I will have some other big plans!

Spartan Trail Bear Mountain Trail Challenge 50K

The Bear Mountain Trail Challenge, put on by Spartan Trail, takes part at beautiful Bear Mountain State Park in New York, right off the Palisades Parkway, and approximately 45 minutes away from my apartment in Stamford, Connecticut. I have had this race circled on my calendar for at least two months given that I have hiked at Bear Mountain a handful of times, the race was very close to home, and I figured it would be a well-run event considering it was put on by Spartan Trail, whose parent organization is Spartan Race. 

I didn’t necessarily go into this with the idea of it being an “A” race. I had just finished the Boston Marathon only 19 days prior and was still trying to shake off a relatively lukewarm performance there, which featured a 2:53:52 finish, but a 1:22:09 front half and then a pretty poor 1:31:43 back half. My goal today was have fun, run a smart race, and aim for a Top 3 finish and under six hours on the 50K.

I arrived at Bear Mountain State Park at approximately 6:15 AM, 45 minutes before the 7:00 AM start and walked over to pick up my bib. I was shocked moments later when my old coach, Kris Brown, who had coached me in 2020-2021, came over after recognizing me and told me he was actually the race director! Kris Brown is an extremely talented ultrarunner and a two-time Western States Top 10 finisher, so I was a bit relieved he was directing and not racing as he would have kicked my ass! Kris and I chatted for a few minutes before he had to attend to some pre-race items. After grabbing my bib, I walked back over to my car, changed out of my layers, put on some sunscreen and some bug spray, and grabbed my nutrition. For this race, I was working off of one twenty-ounce handheld water bottle with 480 calories of Maurten drink mix packets and about 420 calories worth of peanut butter pretzels. I’m honestly not a huge chest pack runner; I’m not really a fan of how restrictive it can feel and prefer to use a handheld. I finished up my pre-race checklist and made my way over to the start line with about five minutes until the gun. After a quick national anthem, some instructions from Kris, and a glance around at the field, we were off! 

Within the first half mile or so, which was on the road out of the park before entering a section of the Appalachian Trail, two guys had already broken off and were pulling away quite rapidly. Third place had also put some distance on me as I ran together with fourth place. It was quite a shock to the system hitting that very first trail section of the race, stepping onto the rocks and roots and ascending and descending the constant elevation change of the trail. My initial reaction based on the way my legs felt was that it had the potential to be a long day. Not a great start a half mile in! We popped out of the Appalachian Trail after about 10 minutes and entered about a mile stretch of the race that was on the road, climbing us uphill to the main set of trails in Bear Mountain State Park. On this long straightaway, I could see the gap between the leaders and to third place had continued to grow. I made a move here to put myself solidly in fourth place, but was wary of my heartrate, which was climbing into the 170s already. 

Somewhere Near Mile 4!

I reached the first aid station Mile 2.4 at Silver Mine in 19:11, already 2:10 seconds back of the leaders, and making a conscious effort to put myself in a better rhythm. The first seven miles or so of this race are largely uphill and it was just a “bear”, no pun intended. With the onslaught of rocks and roots, the constant incline, and the stifling early morning humidity, I was feeling pretty beat early on, especially towards the end of the first set of climbs near Mile 6-7. My Suunto, after the race, confirmed what I had expected, that I did not get my heart rate under control until just about Mile 7. I’m not exactly a heartrate runner, but I do run on feel, and I think heartrate can be a valuable tool there when used correctly. At about Mile 7, we had finally peeked out at the top of the skyline and while the elevation gain had subsided, we continued to test the skyline over and over again over the next several miles, dipping back down into the trails, and scrambling up large inclines, including one around this time that put you on all fours climbing up the side of the trail. I came into the second aid station at Arden Valley at Mile 7.7 still sitting in 4th place with the leaders apparently 7-8 minutes ahead and third place “a few minutes ahead”. I grabbed a Gu, a handful of potato chips, refilled my water, and then I was off again. 

In terms of the course profile, I knew exactly what to expect from this race in terms of the technically. The Northeast and New York State are famous for their rugged, technical rocky courses, and I have run on several just like this. These courses demand absolute precision on your footwork, one wrong step, or one step put down weakly, and you are on the ground. I took my first fall right about Mile 10, gashing my knee and sending blood all the way down my shin and soaking my sock and my shoe. Overall, Miles 8-12 were certainly my low point of the race, and that’s not where you want to be with over 20 miles to go! 

Around Mile 14, Running with Aaron.

I hit the next aid station at Mile 11.2 at Crossroads 1 again in 4th place, but I genuinely thought I had been moving well after stabilizing my heart rate, only to find out I had lost ground to all three ahead of me, with the leaders 18 minutes ahead, and third place 8 minutes ahead. This took quite a bit of wind out of my sails, and I felt like I ran a pretty sloppy race on this section of the course, losing focus, and making a handful of very minor double-backs after missing a marker. On a side note, this course was marked extremely well, with pink flags every 30 seconds or so. There were a handful of places where I had to pause for a moment to scan ahead for a flag, but for the most part I was able to switch my brain off, which certainly saved much needed mental energy. At about Mile 12, I could sense fifth place, Aaron Perez, coming up on me, so I slowed until we were connected. We ran the next several miles together, which was great morale booster for me as I had been running entirely alone since pretty much the start. 

Action Shot on the Bloody Knee!

Things started to get a little strange for the first time at about Mile 14, when we had a 50K runner come at us from down the trail. I knew he wasn’t one of the top three ahead of us, and I’m not sure how he came down that way, but we got him turned around and running with us. After a couple minutes, we ended up dropping him, and Aaron started pulling away from me a bit on a long grassy decline. Right as we were coming up to the next aid station at Mile 15.8, Little Long Pond, things continued to get weirder. This section of the course featured a short out and back, with a half mile descent down to that aid station, followed by the climb back up. Going down the decline with Aaron just ahead of me, we could see a handful of runners making their way up the climb. I reached the aid station at 2:54:21 and promptly asked what my place was. A bit to my dismay, he scanned down the list and said 12th! I’m not sure what happened exactly, but it looks like a handful of runners may have missed a small loop (~1.5 – 2.0 Miles) out near the very outer ends of the course. While the navigation was a bit more challenging out there, Aaron and I never lost site of a flag, and I actually came into the aid station with about 16.8 Miles on my watch. I left the aid station a bit flustered, forgetting to grab some much-needed food, but reminding myself that it was a long race. At this point Aaron had stopped for a bit longer than I did at the aid station, so I continued up the hill without him, and did not see him again until the finish. By the top of the hill, I had begun to catch a handful of the runners ahead of me, hoping to ascertain what had happened, and to get an idea from them as to what place I was in. I definitely had to take some deep resetting breaths here and remind myself that it was a long race, and I was feeling perhaps the best I had felt all day. At the last aid station, I had also closed the gap on the leaders to about 12.5 minutes, though I had no idea where third was. 

I continued to pick off another two runners as the second half of the course was much more runnable and had far less elevation gain than the first half. At about Mile 18 or so, I came up to the “third” place, Mac Crawford, and chatted with him for a bit as we ran into the next aid station together at 19.7 Miles at Lake Skannatati, which is where things started to get interesting. The guy who had been running in second place the entire race ended up dropping out here, putting Mac and I in second and third position, though we were somewhere between “4th to 6th” in terms of runners who had come through and might have nicked that outer loop. I came through 19.7 Miles in 3:38:49 and was now 16 minutes back of the leader with twelve miles to go, having given back a couple minutes since the last aid station. I stayed with Mac for a couple more minutes and then took off down the trail, not so much intending to catch the leader, but more so to pass the other runners ahead and eliminate any doubt as to positioning. I knew Aaron was probably still back there running strong, and Mac looked good as well, but I told him “I’m not letting anyone pass me; you can pass me, but I’m not letting anyone else do it!”. With that I set off down the trail towards the last aid station. Overall, the last ten miles of this race was super runnable and much more downhill. We probably climbed 65-70% of the elevation in the first half of the race, and the back half did not have nearly as many super steep or technical climbs. My legs continued to feel very strong, particularly on the downhills and the flats as I made my way to the last aid station at Mile 23.7, Tiorati Brook Road. When I got to the aid station, I quickly took water only, and inquired on my place before setting off. I was told I was in 4th overall, with three men and one woman ahead. I didn’t know it, but I was about eleven minutes back of the leader with less than eight miles to go. 

Around Mile 20, After Lake Skannatati.

Within about a mile after the aid station, I caught the female runner ahead on a long uphill section and went by after a brief chat. Within about another mile or so, approaching Mile 26, I had caught the second-place male, who happened to be the same runner who had run down the trail at Aaron and I earlier! We were relatively close on overall mileage when we compared, and I didn’t want to leave anything to chance on positioning, so I took off pretty hard to put some distance between us and to put myself in second position (both on the course and overall). At this point, the humidity was relatively tame, and we had gotten some decent cloud cover, but I was still trying to ration my remaining water. There were no more aid stations between Mile 23.7 and the finish, so a deliberate and patient fueling strategy was required, despite my thirst. To bad at Mile 27 I briefly stopped to put the remainder of my Maurten drink mix in my water and in my haze tipped my water bottle instead of the drink mix and promptly dumped the rest of my water onto the trail. A few expletives later, I had no choice but to continue down the trail to the finish, the only remaining place I knew would have water! That was definitely a tough stretch for me mentally; I was still running strong, and my legs were feeling great, but I was out of food and water with nearly five miles still to go. Thankfully, the trail continued to still be relatively runnable and downhill, and I worked hard to continue to put distance between myself and those I knew were behind me. 

Finish! 

Finally, with about a mile and a half to go, I spotted a runner up ahead, tall and slender. I had passed by a handful of runners still on the half marathon course, but when I saw him ahead, I just knew it was the leader. I quickly worked to close the gap over the next half mile and came up on his shoulder with little over a mile to go. One thing I have learned after years of racing, especially close to the finish, is that if you make a move, you have to make it with conviction and leave no doubt. I wish I could have stopped for conversation or been kinder about the pass, but I came up on his shoulder, and accelerated by, picking up my pace into the low sevens to put some quick distance between us and to not turn my head to look back. I certainly ran pretty scared the next half mile, but that feeling also created a tremendous amount of adrenaline as I was determined not to let up on pace. Finally, I approached the last turn on the course and could see the paved road leading back into the park only half mile from the finish. I tore out of the trail down the road and my stride just opened up as I was not prepared to coast in, pushing my pace down to low sixes. It was an absolutely exhilarating and surreal feeling to approach the finish line and have those at the finish, and especially my old coach, and Race Director Kris Brown, cheering as I approached the finish. I made the final turn doubling back down the straightaway to the finish and crossed the line first overall in a time of 5:31:23! 

Close-Up Finish Shot!

After a quick hug from Kris and collecting my finish medal, I was taken over to the starting tent for a post-race interview where I had the opportunity to discuss my race, my experience at a Spartan Trail event, and to provide some advice to newer runners or runners hoping to one day run the 50K. Afterwards, I took a quick trip to medical to clean up my knee, which had long dried but since stained my mud soaked shoes with blood (RIP HOKA’s). After about 15 minutes or so of chatting with a number of the finishers in the half marathon or spectators for the event, Kris called myself and the second and third place male finishers, over to the podium to present awards. After a photo session at the podium and some congratulations to the other runners (Tom Woolway in 2nd Place, and Aaron Perez in 3rd Place, whom I had run with way back at Mile 12!) we took a handful of professional photos with the top women finishers at the finish line before I began to collect my things to make the drive back to Stamford. 

Overall, I can’t say enough good things about this event or Race Director Kris Brown. Everything from the atmosphere to the course markings, to the aid stations were extremely well done and I’ll definitely be doing another Spartan Trail race in the future! Maybe even as soon as later this year… 

See you at the World Championships?

Overall Men & Women's Podium. 

Midnight Squatchapalooza 6H Timed Race

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here and a large part of the reason for that has been due to a lack of races the last year and a half, but a smaller, yet still significant part has been a lot of life changes that have just made it more difficult to carve out the time to keep this blog up, though I hope to continue to dedicate more time to it now, and in the future. In the past two years since I have posted, I have finished my Masters of Business Administration at Bentley University, moved into an apartment with my girlfriend in Revere, Massachusetts, worked at Bank of America, moved to my girlfriends’ parents’ house in New Jersey for a year due to the pandemic, left Bank of America, moved into another apartment with my girlfriend in Norwalk, Connecticut, and started a new job. In that time, I have also had my share of ups and down’s involving running. Some of the ups include setting a new Marathon PR of 2:49:37 at the Baystate Marathon in October 2019 and taking part in the Quarantine Backyard Ultra in April 2020. Some of the downs included DNFing my first Ultra at the TARC Fall Classic 50 Mile in September 2019 and taking two months off for a stress fracture in my tibia in September 2020. 

Race Start! Photo by Greg Hudson

I have recently started racing again as the pandemic has wound down and it has definitely put a spring back in my step, in terms of my love for running. I have always been a racer at heart and it had been really tough to keep up my motivation with a lack of races. For right now, my primary goal is to run a new PR at the Boston Marathon in October, but with more races opening up, and the fact that I had not run an Ultra in just about two years, I felt called to find one and run one, which led me down to the Midnight Squatachapalooza 12H/6H Timed Race in Columbus, NJ put on by Sassquad Trail Runners. As an aside, one of the things that left me even more motivated to run this race was seeing others begin to race again as well. I attribute part of the reason for having such a positive race to watching all the awesome guys and girls running at Western States and in the Olympic Trials. It was just a great week(end) all around for running and I really felt like I capitalized on the energy surrounding that. 

As the title of this post suggests, the race did in fact start at Midnight, something I felt a bit underprepared for, if I’m being honest. I don’t have much night running experience, but that is one of the things I wanted to change since my goal is to eventually compete in longer races and Backyard Ultra’s that will certainly require that. In fact, I’ll be running the Mountain Lakes Backyard Ultra in New York in August, and that race starts at 6:30 PM, so this would be a great test run! On to the race…

I arrived at the Burlington County Fair Grounds in Columbus, NJ at about 11:00PM after a two-hour drive from my apartment in Norwalk. I quickly picked up my bib and started prepping for the race. I had planned six bottles of water mixed with Tailwind, or about one per hour. I also had one gel and a couple bags of potato chips, but I had planned to try and run completely off of liquids for this race since it was on the shorter side. Fast forward an hour later and I am standing on the starting line, not entirely sure what to expect from my first night ultra, and first timed format race for that matter. 

At 12:01 AM, we were off. For this race, we would be completing 2.5 Mile loops with about a third of the loop being on pavement, and the other two-thirds through grass fields. I am a bit directionally challenged when it comes to trail races, so my strategy was to stick behind at least one other person for the first lap, or until I felt confident in my ability to navigate the loop. We started on the pavement and turned onto the grass field after about a quarter of a mile. I will say that I was unprepared for how tall the grass was and how it would feel; almost like running on sand. I settled into third place as we moved into the middle of the first lap as I worked to steady my nerves. I knew that I was in good shape; I had been putting together 70-75 Mile weeks for the last two months. I also have a great coach, Kris Brown, whom I have been working with for the past few months. In addition to being a great all-around guy, Kris is an impressive ultra-runner, sporting a top-10 placing at the 2018 Western States. He is one of the coaches that is a part of the Chaski Endurance Collective, founded by Marathoner and Ultramarathoner Tyler Andrews (who previously coached me in 2019). I have been a part of this group for almost a year now and I can’t say enough good things about it. Kris helped me to carve out a good race plan in terms of both pacing and nutrition. For pacing, the goal was simple: hold a sub-8 average pace for as long as possible. I knew this would be a possibility due to the fact that the course only had 20 feet of elevation gain per mile, but I was worried about the heat and humidity, and how my stomach would react to a night race. Still, I felt prepared. When I hit the first mile in 7:29, I felt comfortable knowing that the effort was not super difficult and all systems felt normal. 

Mid-Race. Photo by Greg Hudson

Overall, the loop course was extremely well marked, and only featured a handful of turns. At no point during the race did I ever need to even think about where I was going so I could really dial in my focus. As we exited the grass portion of the loop for the first time and hit the pavement again, I picked up the pace to move to catch up to first. We came through the first loop together in 18:37. He stopped quickly, and I didn’t, so I pulled into the lead, which I would not relinquish for the rest of the race. I will say that the grass portion of the course was a touch slower than I expected; I was running about 20-30 seconds a mile quicker on the pavement with about the same effort. My fastest mile of the day was Mile 3 in 6:51, which I attribute to being mostly on the pavement and the adrenaline from moving into first. While I was running by myself now, I ran into the friendly headlamps of lapped runners by about mid-loop and this would continue to direct me for the rest of the night. In fact, I dropped my headlamp at the end of loop two and relied solely on my small hand-held flashlight. The headlamp was tight on my head anyway, so it wasn’t a big loss. I hit loop two in 18:19, my fastest loop of the day. 

Beginning loop three, I remarked at how strong I felt, of course, it was early, but I was nervous about planning my sleep and my fueling the day of the race. The previous morning, I had slept in as long as possible and took a nap in the afternoon and that seemed to have been enough. I went for something easy for dinner, just a sandwich around 7PM, and that also seemed like the right call. I finished loop three at 19:06 and reloading on my water bottle. My informal goal was to run about 16-18 loops, or about three loops an hour so that generally left me in a good place to refuel each hour. 

Loop four (19:43) and loop five (19:25) went down without a hitch, but I hit my first low point of the race on loop six. By now the adrenaline had worn off, and my stomach was starting to give me issues, probably because I’m usually asleep at 2AM, not running through open fields in the middle of New Jersey. I could feel my pace begin to flag and a bit of doubt start to creep in. I hit loop six in 20:04 and stopped to refuel, which helped. For loop seven (20:08) and loop eight (20:21), I had begun to settle into a new pace range right around eight minutes per mile. Overall, my legs were feeling good still as I began to approach the marathon mark. 

Loop nine again brought problems with my stomach and my pace began to drop to nine minutes a mile, where it would remain for most of the race. I had built up a pretty big buffer on sub-8 pace but really was not feeling great. I hit loop nine in 22:43, with my total time at right around three hours. I knew at that point 18 loops were probably out the window, so I focused on a new goal of getting in eight over the next three hours to go for 17 loops total. Loop ten came and went in 23:01 as my pace continued to hover around nine minutes a mile. By the time I hit the Marathon mark in 3:27:58 (7:56 Pace) I was still in a bad place. All of the liquid in my stomach was sloshing around and I felt like I was going to throw up. I tried to stop on the side of the trail and force it but to no avail. Maybe a quick stop was all I needed to settle my stomach and refocus though because I started to get a second wind as I came into loop eleven in 22:42. 

Post-Race Sasquatch 

One of the things that kept me motivated in this race was the fact that I had absolutely no idea who was behind me and whether or not they were closing. I figured as long as I kept everyone behind me though, I would be good. I hit loop twelve in 23:05 and the 50K mark in 4:12:37 for an 8:07 average pace. While I had dropped above a sub-8 average pace, I still felt very content with the race I had run thus far. Maybe it was the lack of elevation change, but my legs really still felt fresh. I hit loop thirteen in 23:39, my slowest loop of the day, but still very much in control and with a lot left to give. As I began on lap fourteen I felt like I could begin to see the first hints of the sun beginning to appear, a sign that my time on the course was beginning to dwindle. At this point, I knew it would be super tight for me to get in 17 loops, but I had an outside shot at it. The course record was 15 loops, so I knew I was pacing well to break that. I hit loop fifteen in 23:39. I told the timing guys I had two loops left in me and of course, they were goading me on to do three instead. I stopped for my last water bottle here and set off on loop fifteen. I accidentally left my flashlight at the aid station, but at this point, I didn’t need it anyway. 

All I could think about with each step was that I just had to pass each spot one more time, just one more time. I hit loop fifteen in 22:47 and began on my sixteenth lap. By this point, I had mentally accepted that this was the last lap of my race, baring being passed by another runner. I had already dropped my water bottle to free up my hands and I was really moving to pick up my pace. It was definitely a mentally challenging lap, even though I knew I was almost done. Everything must come to an end though, as I turned onto the pavement for one final time. I pulled down the pace to bring it in strong and finished loop sixteen in 20:34, my fastest loop since loop seven, for a total time of 5:37:23 and a total distance of 40.78 Miles for an 8:16 Pace. While I may have been able to just sneak in one more lap, I was more than content to take the win and the course record. While I missed my pace goal slightly, this run was probably my best ultra-performance thus far in my running career and by far the furthest I have ever run at a pace like this. I’ll definitely be attempting more of these timed races with flatter, shorter, and faster courses in the future. 

Thanks to the Sassquad Trail Runners and RD Kim Levinsky for putting on an amazing race! I’ll definitely be back to another one again in the future.

Loop Splits from Strava 

The North Face Endurance Challenge 50K

This was my first Ultramarathon since the 60 Miler at Ghost Train last October, and it felt great to be back! I signed up for this race only a few days prior after receiving a promotional code from a friend and learning that a few other friends were running. I had wanted to run this race last year, but at the time, it did not fit into my schedule, so I was excited to give it a shot! Truthfully, I went into this race a bit more ambitiously than I should have. I had not done the proper hill training and had been taking it relatively easy since my 2:52:16 (a new PR!) at the Boston Marathon in April.

Course Map!

This race took place at Wachusett Mountain and Leominster State Forest in Princeton, MA. It is the part of a larger series that includes New York, Massachusetts, Wisconsin, and culminates in a Championship Race in California in November. I expected a great race considering that the event was being put on by North Face, and it didn’t disappoint. The course was extremely well marked, which was comforting.

Elevation Profile

My day began with my alarm going off at 4:00 AM to drive an 1:15 to the race. I was shocked when I arrived at 6:00 AM and almost no one was there yet. As people gradually started to roll in, I picked up my bib number, and met up with my friends who were going to be racing their first ultra! Pretty soon, we were on the start line, mentally preparing for the 700ft climb in the first two miles.

 

Before the Summit at Mile 6

The race began, and we were immediately going up. It took a few minutes to settle in as we were on a single-track trail for the first half mile with everyone jockeying for position. We opened onto a larger fire road which allowed me to get into a better rhythm. I was trying to be relatively cautious for the first few miles but was pretty surprised to see my heart rate hovering in the high 170s for these first two miles. For the next three or four miles, we were heading slightly downhill before preparing for the first summit to the top of Wachusett Mountain. This was course was extremely technical, even more so than the Middlesex Fells at some points. I don’t consider myself that strong of a technical downhill runner so it was irritating to feel like I was losing time in these places. The course was also pretty wet and at Mile 6 I went down straight into the mud, covering my shoes. I was caught by my friends Pete and Mitch at about Mile 7 right as we began the first summit. This was one of the most technical climbs that I had ever done. I was literally on my hands summiting the 20-25% grade. At one point, we climbed almost 150ft feet in only a tenth of a mile. However, there was something quite exhilarating about it, especially when you reached the summit to see all the spectators who had taken up the chair lift! I reached the first checkpoint at Mile 7.1 in 10^th Place in 1:13:01 (10:17 Pace).

After the Second Summit at Mile 10

I began my fueling by using Tailwind mixed with water, and Mitch was kind enough to give me another one of his packets, but after that I was stuck relying on Hammer Nutrition for the rest of the day, which was not great, to say the least. I was a bit disappointed in the food selection at the aid stations. This was my first time running an ultra without some form of a loop, so I was at the mercy of the aid stations. All I really wanted was my Cape Cod 40% Reduced Fat potato chips! After the first summit, we took an equally technical downhill before looping back and attacking the climb once again. It certainly was not easier the second time. I crested the top for the second time with Pete and Mitch right behind me. I must have spent longer than I thought at the aid station as Mitch was out of sight by the time I left. At the second summit at Mile 9.4, I was still in 10^th Place in 1:43:24 (11:00 Pace).

Pete and I left the aid station and we ran the next few miles together. It was certainly a relief to get some less technical downhills for the first time all race! At the next aid station, we were told that we had a few people that were only 3-4 minutes ahead, so we focused on closing some distance on them. I lost Pete shortly after, and I was on my own for the rest of the race. For me, the unexpected thorn in my side was the trail that traversed between Wachusett and Leominster State Forest. I still felt strong on this section and had passed two people, but I was acutely aware that there were going to be some very tough climbs when we came back this way towards the finish. This section was also very technical and had some rock climbs similar to what the summit ascents were like. I came into the next aid station at Mile 16.4 in 8^th Place in 3:05:42 (11:19 Pace).

Wachusett to Leominster Traverse at Mile 15

At this point, I entered the easiest part of the course, which was about a five-mile loop on open fire trails. After a moderately sized climb, I was greeted with flat, fast, open downhill. This was my quickest mile of the race at 8:00, but again, I definitely need to work on my downhill and technical running. I was passed at this point by a guy going at least 6:30-6:45 pace during this section. During this loop, I also started to see more 50 Mile racers who had started their day two hours earlier at 5:00 AM. It was great to be able to cheer each other on, but it was also good for me to have something to focus on ahead of me. I reached the next aid station and refueled with more Hammer and grabbed half a peanut butter sandwich. I could definitely feel the temperature picking up and it felt scorching whenever I was in the sun. As I left this aid station, a woman there told me the next one would be in five miles. Since I was only carrying a 16oz handheld, I knew it would almost an hour before I reached the next aid station, which was not a good sign.

I must have misunderstood the course map, as I expected that we would complete the fire trail loop a second time, but instead, we followed another very technical single-track trail. At Mile 20 I could tell that I was starting to struggle due to the heat. My legs felt fine, but I just could not get my heart rate down. I was only a mile into this loop and I had already taken half of my water. My mile times started to creep up into the 12-13-minute range. All told, this felt like one of the longest hours of my life. I finally, came out of the trail as the course looped back to a previous aid station. I ended up reaching the 25.7 Mile checkpoint in 7^th Place in 4:51:29 (11:21 Pace). I spent a bit longer at this aid station then previous ones as I desperately needed more water. I gave up on the Hammer mix for the last few miles and switched solely to iced water. Leaving this aid station and again following the traverse from Leominster State Forest to Wachusett Mountain, I hit (to me) the most brutal uphill of the course, which was a technical 400ft climb. This was the point in the race where I was completely reduced to walking as I couldn’t run because my head was spinning so hard. This was by far the slowest and most painful mile of my race at just over 20 minutes. I had one guy go by me during this time, pushing me down to 8^th, and I expected more to follow him, but no one ever did. I figured the heat must have really been hurting people.

Leominster to Wachusett Traverse at Mile 26

After this mile, I was finally able to switch back to running. Taking the time to get my heart rate and breathing back under control paid off. Feeling much better now, I actually caught up to and passed the guy who had breezed right by me just two miles before. Now back in 7^th place, and with three miles to go, I felt much stronger and wanted to put some distance between myself and the 4-5 runners I assumed were right on my tail.

With about a mile and a half to go, the course opened up to a rolling fire road before dropping down to the finish. I quickly stopped at the last aid station about a mile before the finish to grab water and to check to see if anyone was behind me. During the last few miles, I kept expecting the course to finally start dropping downhill to the finish, but it never really did until the last half mile, which went straight downhill. Finally, I crossed the Finish Line in 7^th Overall in 6:04:14 (11:50 Pace)!

I truly underestimated just how hard this course would be. I had the technical experience with the TARC Winter Fells Ultra, but not the elevation experience. I definitely have a lot of things to improve on going forward if I want to be more competitive, especially my technical downhill running. Right now, I have a few events on my schedule over the few months, mainly the TARC Summer Classic 40 Mile in August, the TARC Fall Classic 50 Mile in September, and the Ghost Train Trail Race 100 Mile in October. However, I jumped into this race on a whim, so who knows, I may just do it again!

I also want to give a shout out to my friends, Mitch Graves (6^th, 6:00:24) and Pete Taglino (31^st, 7:07:19) for finishing their first ultramarathons!

Finally, I have made my activity public on Garmin Connect in case anyone is interested in looking at splits, elevation etc. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3728051685

Finish!