FINALLY!
After 2 fails, FIFTY miles. Belt bucket reward. Finally, a real ultrarunner.
Previous history, lessons learned. Never summer, never at night. High elevation & rugged trail, those stay at Bighorn. Tunnel Hill conditions: FLAT towpath, low 40’s. Crewed. And Sis. Mile 1, Mile 51. Registered 10 days ago. Wonder Twin powers, ACTIVATE!
Friday touchdown. Sis’ hometown, St Louis. Hertz rental. Sis’ digs 10am. Quick errand at the university. Cap-n-gown pickup. Masters degree complete. Family of overachievers. Well done Sis!
Hour lunch with niece, nephew…and Stephen. (Delta flight from New Hampshire, just landed.) Double-stuff’d the family SUV. Luggage rack, food, headlamps & lawn chairs. Next stop: Vienna. 6pm packet deadline. Tunnel Hill, Illinois. Me, Sis, Paul & Stephen. Hawaii crew reunion 🌺
Hilo-to-Volcano, Sis’ only 50K. NEW Garmin territory, the BIG badge: 50 MILES.
Early Saturday start, pre-dawn & dark. Notta lotta talk. SHOWTIME. Put up or shut up. Beanie, gloves, hydration pack. Double-layered & shorts. No wind/rain. Nervous. Pretty much perfect.
Sis & I opted for the Early Start. 7am with the 100 milers. Bunched beginning. Sunrise 🌄
Lotta folks on a single-track trail. 3 miles of walk/jog/quick bursts ’round the chatters. Place where USA elites set the world ‘trail’ record. Still, it’s a 100 miles. All these folks around me. WOW!
Two separate out-n-backs. Bowtie design. We’d see Vienna twice, end of each marathon. Run a marathon, walk a marathon. Day strategy: Maintain a 17-minute walk pace & we finish in 12 hours.
Mile 14. Sis’ run pal Nathan joined our crew. Introduced to the BEST LONG-DISTANCE food fuel EVER – Flamin’ Hot Nacho Cheese DORITOS. In real life – no, no I couldn’t. Mile 26. Mile 40. Mile 47. FOOD of the GODS! Steady, even pace. All focus on Vienna – first marathon DONE. New shoes, new layers. Stretch out the legs, back. Upbeat words. Snacks. Encouragement.
Surprisingly quiet in Vienna – not OUR CREW. Y-M-C-A. Best of the 1970’s BLARING on a portable BOSE. Dance PARTY. Shoe change, two dry shirts and… DORITOS! Yeh, yeh 20 minutes lost. Same buckle, first-place, one-hundredth place. All part of the plan. I’ve NEVER FINISHED 50. Mind refresh, body stretch’d/longer. Go, go, go! BEST CREW EVER! See y’all in 10 miles!
Second half. Step, step, step. Forward movement. Counting Aid Stations, not miles. Section where our Possum Holler past was retold/relieved again. Appears neither of us were fans of the family outhouse. Bee swarms, butt-cold Decembers (literally). LOL>
Costume change at 36. Daylight goes fast this side of solstice. Pants, headlamp, Captain America jacket. Two mile out-n-back, crew again at 40. Mentally, crossing the LAST out-n-back timing mat. YES! Everything seems doable. Impossible, possible. FORTY miles. Longest EVER, EVER.
Next longest? 7-mile stretch to our final Aid Station. Dark. Pitch-black dark. Notta lotta runners. Notta lotta chatter. Sharp headlamp flicks into the woods – Sis’ stories about eyes glaring back, all too real. Hands cold. Eyes forward. Quiet determined focus.
Walker. Gender disguised, cloaked in winter gear. Pained face/broken body. Look away.
If ever you owe a sibling a Simon Pearce crystal bowl… this is it.
Counting out miles remaining (47/crew station Aid). Tough stretch. Sis’ watch now dead, mine still plugging along. Mile 47. Mile 48. Just one-mile difference; realization today’s 50 was just an estimate. Porta-potty stop, in tandem. Hips tight, brain drain. It was a long 8 miles in the dark.
BEST CREW EVER? Paul & Stephen hiked in. Mile 48 on, going back WITH us. New stories, new material. Sibling 50-mile FINISH. 100% this is going to happen.
Bright lights, Christmas lit, muted sounds. Could feel our FINISH a mile out.
12:47:20. Not your normal pacer, nor your average Sis. TWO belt buckles. Ran/walked/slogged together, the ENTIRE 50 mile course. New PR – for BOTH of us. 2019 forever memory ❤️
Tunnel Hill – 50 Miler – Vienna, IL
Saturday, Nov 9, 2019 @ 7:00 AM
Tammy Greco Fenton MO 12:47:20
Keenan Haga Louisville CO 12:47:20
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- BEST CREW EVER!
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- Barkley’s Laz Cantrell
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- crew NAVIGATOR
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- Vienna SUNRISE
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- 7am early Start
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- run a marathon, walk a marathon
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- TUNNEL HILL ✔️
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- costume change
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- we’re BACK, Vienna!
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- Wonder Twin FINISH
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- FOREVER memory ❤️
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- 3rd time lucky
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- 50 miles – FINALLY!
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- badge & BUCKLE
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- longest ever, EVER
Tunnel Hill 50
Happy RUNniversary! 6 years, 72 consecutive months. Just WOW!
Streak near-miss after March’s DNF, my 2nd 50 FAIL. Next attempt, next week. Tunnel Hill. Flat. Winter weather. BESTEST crew. And Sis. 50 miles of Possum Holler outhouse tales. LOL>
Wisdom from Pistol – find a Plan B. No guarantee next Saturday’s 50 won’t deliver a third excuse. So… REVEL Mt Lemmon. Hour-15 flight from Denver. Touchdown Friday, HOME 20 hours later. In-n-out. Streak secure. Tunnel Hill 50, no pressure. Just a long long fun-run in rural Illinois.
Hilton check-in. Phone alarm set. 4am school bus departure. Notta lotta sleeps but a whole lotta positives. Early run start = guaranteed hotel shower post-race. Bigger perk than ya think.
O’ dark hundred drop-off. Top of an Arizona mountain, surrounded by other Mylar-layered bodies. Porta-potty. Check, done. Big race, whole lotta marathoners. Hour sit & wait.
Lotta BQs at REVEL events. Not 100% on board with 4000ft elevation drops, weighted the same as KC’s hill fest…but for me, really doesn’t matter. As a male, BQ time is pretty ridiculous. Plenty of other Massachusetts gems. Falmouth, Holyoke, next year Hyannis. Ok, maybe not the same. HA!
Steady even strategy. Easy to tick 7-minute miles first 5 markers but hamstrings & quads pay later. Very different impact downhill. Goal race is next week. Easy comfortable, Arizona fun run.
Sunrise START. Piñon pine, sharp rock caverns. High above the desert, landscape explosion 🌵
Lined with the 4:05 folks. Young pace gal from Dallas. Runner from Prescott. 2 from Austin. Others weaved in, out again. Pack grew after the elevation steadied. Conversation-pace first 8 miles. No strain, easy downhill stride. Couple inclines, long stretch of flat.
Thermometer didn’t spike ‘til mile 19. 30 point increase. Heat-struggled next 2 miles. 82 degrees. Group goodbyes. Me & Prescott walked it out. She needed the company, I digged the camaraderie. Same medal, 4:05 or 4:30. 4-mile walk. Easy jog at marker 25.
Cactus FINALE finish. Well done, REVEL. Beautiful scenic course. Marathon 168, Arizona #5 😊
MT LEMMON
K r Haga – Nov. 2, 2019
Bib # 1007
Chip Time 4:36:48.25
TIMING POINTS
Start 6:31:01
First Quarter 7:29:40 6.55 58:38.29 8:57
Half Way 8:30:00 13.1 1:58:58.74 9:04
Three Quarter 9:30:24 19.65 2:59:22.79 9:07
5K To Go 10:13:36 23.1 3:42:35.00 9:38
1 Mile To Go 10:52:58 25.2 4:21:57.00 10:23
Finish 11:07:50 26.2 4:36:48.25 10:33
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- early a.m. START
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- piñon pine & canyon
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- 8000-to-4000 elevation
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- downhill ‘training’ run
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- 6-year RUNniversary
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- 3rd REVEL, Arizona #5
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- the streak lives on
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- Rover family LOVE
REVEL Mt Lemmon
Wrote it down. FREAK’d out. Prayed. Out-loud voiced to the universe.
Followed all the steps, set my Goal.
8 months ago, I committed to Triple 8. Seemed so fantastical, more DREAM than GOAL. So… unlike other crazy challenges, I didn’t blog. Needed to keep it safe. Incubate.
It’s not sensible. I get it. I’m a back-of-the-pack runner but…
Anything is possible. I BELIEVE. My faith is STRONG.
Past 6 years, they’ve not all been FANTASTIC finishes. Just as much ugly as exhilaration. But the journey – MY journey – of that I’m proud. I’ve LIVED. I’ve taken chances.
Russia, New Zealand, South Africa – ANTARCTICA. Another 10-week challenge. My first QUADZILLA. Twice around the USA, all 50 States. Canada 2020. On track, 9 provinces in.
Auckland, Perth, Singapore, Cairo.
Amsterdam, New York, Punta Arenas, Antarctica.
8 marathons, 8 continents, 8 days.
Flights secured. Evac insurance purchased.
Breathe. Let it sink in.
If it doesn’t scare you/doesn’t push you – it doesn’t change your SOUL ❤️
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- 8 continents, 8 days
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- aim HIGH: goals that SCARE, inspire CHANGE
DAY 1 January 21, 2020 Auckland, New Zealand (Zealandia) ·
With the announcement of Zealandia our newest continent, we start there and run our way around to Antarctica. We are pleased to be competing in The 3rd Annual 8th Continent Marathon organized by the Auckland YMCA Marathon Club. Auckland weather is relatively mild in January with expected high temps in the range of 20-25 degrees Celsius (70-80 degrees Fahrenheit). The race will begin in the early morning and have a time limit of 7 hours.
DAY 2 January 22, 2020 Perth, Australia (Australia) ·
The 2020 Triple 8 Quest will once again be competing in The 4th Annual Swan River Marathon & Half-Marathon in Perth, Australia organized by a local race organization. Perth has warmer weather than Auckland, where high temps can range from 25-35 degrees Celsius. The race will start early in the morning, hopefully avoiding those extreme high temps. The course is also flat as the race runs along the Swan River. Runners will have a 7 hour time limit.
DAY 3 January 23, 2020 Singapore, Singapore (Asia) ·
For our third race we will fly to the beautiful country of Singapore, where we will compete in the 4th Annual Singapore Beach Marathon. The weather in Singapore is warm and humid all year with temperatures typically in the low-80’s to low 90’s Fahrenheit for high temperatures (26-34 Celsius) with lows in the upper-60’s to mid-70’s. The course is flat and much of it is shaded as the race is held in a park along the shore. We run along a path that is well lit in the early morning hours and will be able to see a beautiful sunrise. Following the race we should have time to do some quick sightseeing of Singapore, including a stop at the infamous Raffles Hotel. Runners will have an 7 hour time limit.
DAY 4 January 24, 2020 Cairo, Egypt (Africa) ·
In 2020 we will return to Cairo, Egypt in Africa for our fourth race. We will be running in the 6th Annual Marathon Cairo & Half-Marathon in Cairo, Egypt. Our runners from the 2017 Triple 7 Quest were all very overwhelmed by the friendliness and helpfulness of everyone in Cairo. The marathon is run through the streets of Cairo, which do remain open to traffic. But given the early start the traffic is light. There are numerous volunteers who help provide directions and aide along the course. Runners will have a 7 hour time limit.
DAY 5 January 25, 2020 Amsterdam, Netherlands (Europe) ·
In 2020, we will return to Amsterdam. There we will compete in the 4th Annual Sri Chinmoy Inspiration Marathon & Half-Marathon will be held at Amsterdam Bos near Schiphol Airport, held by the Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team. The race course will be mostly flat, with a couple of very small undulations. Temperatures will be 35-45 degrees Fahrenheit above zero (8-12 degrees Celsius). Runners will have a 6 hour time limit.
DAY 6 January 26, 2020 New York, NY, USA (North America) ·
After Amsterdam, we will fly to the United States where we will take part in The 5th Annual Icebreaker International Marathon & Half-Marathon held at Eisenhower Park in Garden City, New York. The race is hosted by The Greater Long Island Running Club. Runners will have a 7 hour time limit.
DAY 7 January 27, 2020 Punta Arenas, Chile (South America) ·
Our penultimate race will be held on the southern tip of Chile in the coastal town of Punta Arenas (commonly known as the gateway to Antarctica) in Patagonia, Chile. There we will compete in the 5th annual Southern Cross Marathon which will take place on a course that runs along the Straits of Magellan. The temperature varies in Punta Arenas; anywhere from 20°c to 0°c. But one thing is certain; it will be windy! Runners will have an 8 hour time limit.
DAY 8 January 28, 2020 King George Island, Antarctica (Antarctica) ·
The final race will be The 8th Annual White Continent Marathon held around the research bases of King George Island in Antarctica. The weather in Antarctica is highly unpredictable as the mercury can drop to -20°c with windchill. There will be plenty of crowd support along the course; from scientists to penguins, skuas and seals. After the race, we will visit penguin colonies and then camp for the night in the polar tents. Our scheduled arrival date is January 28th. However, we have a 3-day window to fly in should weather not cooperate. There is no time limit for the final race.
