Enoree Passage 40M (or 45M)

Tallie, Annie and I drove up the day before and camped at the Brickhouse Campground, which also happened to be the location of the start and finish of the race. The race took place on the Enoree Passage section of the Palmetto Trail in South Carolina. Terri Haynes, the Race Director, has hosted the South Carolina Ultra Trail Series for 4 years and the series consists of 5 ultra trail races. Terri actually does not charge an entry fee for her races and only asks for donations. The course is an out and back race on a very runnable trail. With no major climbs or descents and no technical sections, this is not my favorite type of course. But, I thought it would be a good training run and should be a fast finish for me. Boy, did I underestimate this race.

 We climbed out of the tent about 6:45am and I started getting ready for the 7:30am start. This was my first time camping the night before a race. I got cleaned up as well as possible and got suited up. It was easy to find the Start line with the Hammer Nutrition banner hung up at Terri’s campsite. The three of us headed over to the start and of course I gave them both a kiss. It was a very low key start. Terri started her stop watch and then said, “Go”.

The race started on a very short single track section and then opened up on a gravel road. Another guy and I took off at the start to lead the pack. After about ½ mile, we hit the single track trail again. He told me it was his first trail run and asked me how to know if he was on the trail. I told him to follow the surveyor tape and the yellow blazes, but he may have asked the wrong guy. He took off ahead of me and over the next 4 miles I would catch quick glimpses of him in the woods. I got to the first aid station at 5 miles in 38 minutes, which was a little fast for me, topped off my bottle and then headed out on a road section that lasted about a mile. Along the road, there was surveyor tape on the power poles which I thought was marking the route. I was still in second place at that point as the trail reentered the woods. At about the 6½ mile mark there was a road crossing. Instead of crossing the road, I turned right and headed down the road. I was listening to my iPod and not paying attention at all. I knew there were other road sections during the race and didn’t think anything about where I was going. Unfortunately, the power poles along the road had surveyor tape on them and I just kept on going. I did turn around and ran back a little bit until I saw another person running at me which confirmed I was heading the right way. So, I turned around and kept on going. I ran at least another mile and then turned around again and didn’t see anyone. I knew I was off route, but wanted to make sure before running all the way back. I even knocked on a fire station door to see if I was on the trail, but it was a volunteer fire station and no one was there. I started running back and noticed another runner heading back as well. As I got close to the road crossing, I noticed the red flags on the other side of the road leading into the woods. What a screw up! I had run an extra 4 to 5 miles and wasted 45 minutes figuring it out.

When I got back to the trail, I decided to go on to the next aid station at 10 miles and then head back to the finish. That way I would be able to complete at least a 20 mile training run. I knew I had to be in last place since it was so early in the race and I had just wasted so much time. I hit the trail fast and soon caught up with the other guy that made the wrong turn. I scared him a bit because he wasn’t expecting anyone behind him. It took a while for me to start catching up with other runners, because I was so far behind. Then, it was one after another which is atypical for me since I’m usually the one getting passed. I have to admit, it felt pretty good passing so many people and slowly moving up in the race order. I was no longer listening to my iPod and started thinking about why I was going to quit at the next aid station. I’m embarrassed to say the only reason I was considering quitting was that I was so far back from the front pack. I wasn’t hurt, sick or even tired at that point. I couldn’t believe I was thinking about settling on my first DNF because I wasn’t doing as well as I had hoped. By the time I reached the next aid station, I decided there was no way I was quitting and I kept on going.

Over the next 10 miles, the trail crossed the Enoree River, a swamp area and also by a few small lakes. About halfway between the 3^rd and 4^th (turnaround point) aid stations, the leader passed me heading back to the finish line. That would mean he was 5 or 6 miles ahead of me. As people passed by me, I tried to keep up with how many were in front of me. The 4^th aid station, which was also the turnaround point, was set up on a pier at a small lake. It was really hot and sunny, so I made sure to drink a lot of fluids and started eating more knowing the heat was going to zap my energy. Using a cup, I poured lake water on the back of my neck and also washed off the salt deposits on my face and arms. Before heading back out, I grabbed a gel and planned to consume one every 30 minutes to keep my energy level up. There must have been about 35 people in front of me at that point. Shortly after leaving the aid station, I caught up to a girl that I would run behind the rest of the race. She was maintaining a steady pace and forced me to speed up. Knowing that Tallie would be worried, I asked a volunteer at the next aid station to text her since my finish time was going to be much later than expected. I know you’re not going to read this Mr. Volunteer, but thank you anyway.

Over the next 15 miles, people were dropping like flies because of the heat. 77 people started the race and only 61 finished, which is a high DNF rate for this kind of trail and when there are no cut-off times. My legs were actually feeling good and strong, but my energy level was extremely low and the aid stations were running out of gels so I had to start eating more solid foods. I just tried to stay close to the girl in front of me as we continued to pass runners. With about 2 miles to go, I ran up on a young girl running behind her Dad. She had to be no more than 12 years old and she was pacing her Dad the last 5 miles of the race. They were moving at a good pace as I passed them. I passed one more runner and asked him how he was doing and he said, “I’ll be doing much better in about 8/10^th of a mile.” I picked up my pace since I knew I didn’t have much further to go and wanted to finish strong. Soon, the trail exited the woods and I was back on the gravel road that led to the finish line. I could see the girl I trailed for the last 20 miles ahead of me about 50 yards. There was no way I was going to catch her, but I was going to try anyway. I looked back to see if the guy I had just passed was behind me and he wasn’t, but the Dad and his young pacer were coming out of the woods. I picked up my speed a little bit and ran to the finish line in 8:16 (21^st overall). Tallie and Annie were waiting at the finish with a chair ready for me to collapse into. The heat had done me in and I didn’t feel well at all. The heat had kicked my butt big time. Thank you Terri and all the volunteers for putting together a great race. I didn’t have the race I hoped for, but I finished!

A week before this race, I was at a birthday party and was asked 2 questions that completely stumped me.

- What drives you to run these long races?

- What has completing a 100 mile race done for me?

I honestly had no good answer to either question. I thought a lot about the questions during this race and I think I have answers to both.

What drives me to run is exactly what drove me to finish this race. When I run a race like this, I’m in complete control of the outcome. There will be contributing factors such as weather, trail conditions or aid issues, but ultimately the way I finish or not finish a race is completely up to me. When I went the wrong way on the road, I could have easily quit and I had every intention of doing so until I started thinking about why I run these races. It’s not that I expect to win or even place that high, but to finish each race as strong as I possibly can.

What has completing the GRR 100 mile race done for me? I don’t view it as a life changing event, but it did prove to me that even under the worst possible conditions, I will not quit as long as I’m safely able to go on. During the GRR 100, we had awful weather and trail conditions but I was going to finish that race come hell or high water. At some point, I’m sure I will have an injury or illness or will not be able to make a cut-off that will keep me from finishing a race but as long as I’m able to crawl to the finish, I will do so even if I’m in last place!