6 hours slopping in mud, then a night of pouring rain. Sunday morn, quiet sunshine. Calm after the storm. Rolled slowly outta my elevated poster bed. Feet on the room’s old wooden floor; steadied myself, tough day-start. Everything in slow motion, sore. Bath, clean clothes/fresh armour.
Yesterday’s battle garments fast discarded, left abandoned ’round the Lafayette Room. Gathered 2 bags: small sack of wet Colorado returns, larger bag for mud disposals. Shoes, socks, shirt – all would find their way in an outdoor McD’s trash can, ‘bout an hour away in Bowling Green.
New day. Faint timber, voice rise ‘n fall downstairs.
Anthony was passing the Mansion, pacer chatting alongside. God help him. While I slept, all night long he continued. In mud, in the dark, in the woods, thru torrential rain. Lap 7, one more to go. Ultimately he’d finish 100 miles, just under the 30-hour time limit. 3rd of only THREE. WOW.
Dropped my bag, walked him ‘cross Green Mill Bridge. Helped pull off shoes & socks, race officials outdoor-grilled a cheese sandwich. Older brother would pace his last 13 miles. Dude’s a warrior. Ran 10+ miles together yesterday, talked ‘bout my Bighorn fail. Heart full/emotional.
‘Last lap took me 5 hours. When are YOU going to run 100 miles?’
Grilled cheese in hand, crew refueled his bottles. Back on trail, last lap.
do something BIG. Folks this is how dreams are born.
Two years time. 50 miles 2019, 100 miles year after. Anthony of West Georgia – I owe ya, man. #noregretlife
7am Start. Could see day’s kickoff banner from my front window. Vans, tents, participant cars rowed neatly – and RAIN. Been in the forecast all week. Expected but now, reality. Double-shirt’d, rain jacket, hydration pack, pair of old Newtons. One last run. I get attached, hard time letting go. Save all shoe farewells for mud/torrential rain. 2 pairs at home await their last stand/surrender races [summer’s Salomons will see Antarctica].
Colonel Mustard, Mr. Green, Mrs. White – Mansion’s Clue residents all dressed to run (holding tight/staying dry) loitering the outside door. Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Louisville (Kentucky’s Lou-vul). Quick hello/goodbye – 7 minutes ‘til Start. First to abandon the community stoop. Slow-walked ‘cross Green Mill bridge, soaked in the buzz/pre-race noise/runner chatter. RD warned ‘deep mud’ and remember ‘you paid for this’.
2 laps, 6 hour time goal. Plan: Bang out the first lap quick.
Combined start. Half, Full, 50, ONE HUNDRED MILES. I’d run my Lap 1 with Anthony (from West Georgia). Young guy. Runs only trail, only ultra-distance. 100 miles today, great life spirit. His crazy? Eats McDonald’s hamburgers every 5 miles. Do the math. That’s TWENTY pancake-flattened Mickey D’s, pre-planned/purchased, in separate plastic bags. LOL> Why junk food? High calorie, not real meat/easy to digest. Hmmm.
Half-mile in, first climb UP, 800ft. Lotta UPs & downs this day. Kentucky Appalachia. Enjoyed the wooded sections, summers here must be stunning. Ran right & left of mud – kinda funny in hindsight. First lap, one of the lead runners – trail still in good shape. 145 racers later, lap 2 would be a slog-a-thon. Hugged tree-line, less downpour.
BAPTISM. GPS read 3.45 miles. Fully body submersion. No stats next 8 miles.
Thought ‘screw it’. Creek crossing. Hit it hard, fast, right thru the center. Don’t pansy out/rock-hop over/around – suck it up, PUSH hard, quick in & out. Must’ve been 3-4 feet deep. One step, two step, krrr-plunk & DOWN. River rushing, full head immersion. Instinctively hands reached/searched, pulled myself UP & out. OMG – did that just happen? And I kept running. Seriously though, what were my options? It’s a trail race. No aid stations, no medical, I’m deep in Kentucky. Tell ya this – no longer worried about rain. HA!
Heard a runner behind me retell the story. Guy up there is a bad ass. Pulled himself outta a river & just kept running. Me a bad ass? Thanks man. Tag. I’ll wear that. Met 100-miler Anthony soon after. Good company. Heavy rain, big hills, MUD, wet leafy down stretches. Left the backwoods near mile 12. Stomped off 2lbs of trail mud, met Anthony’s Georgia crew, passed Green Farms Mansion, crossed the old wooden Mill Bridge.
Lap one, done. Water refuel, pretzels, oranges – notta lotta food, that’d come later.
Hung with Georgia thru Baptismal Creek. Was holding him back, much slower slopping in mud. Run a-ok, walking – not so much. Think I cheerleader-split downriver, groin pull. Guys my age not that flexible.
And the heavens opened… Big heavy drops. Stung, hit hard. Down the bill of my cap. All by myself now. Tough conditions, Kentucky slog fest. Core builder. I’d need this for Antarctica ❄️
Tunes turned on, kept moving forward. Only one way out – and that’s the Finish. 2 laps & done.
Only one mental meltdown, maybe mile-half from the paved-road finish. No Garmin, didn’t know. Said my goodbyes, giving up the body. Dark moment. Appalachia had won. Completely entirely absolutely ALONE.
And then…a familiar tree, a memorable bog, a pink flag – I’m not lost, I’m ok. Wipe your eyes. New tune, foot forward.
Mansion now in sight – AND that Bridge. That beautiful Kentucky bridge. D-O-N-E.
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- Green Mill Bridge
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- 2 laps & done
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- Kentucky Tough Mudder
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- 6 hour FINISH
Falls 100 Trail Marathon
Christmas, New Year, Antarctica – and FOUR more marathons 🙂
Bags packed, Friday pre-dawn flight, touchdown 9am Central. Rental pickup in Nashville, 2½ hour trek north to rural Kentucky. Falls of Rough, tomorrow’s inaugural trail race destination. Self-supported run. No crew, no aid stations. Two 13 mile loops – in the woods, in December.
trick with Kentucky races: START time. State’s divided between 2 time zones, with most towns built along demarcation. Left Nashville (Central Time), lunch’d in Elizabethtown (Eastern Time), slept in Falls (Central again). RD [Race Director] pre-race talk described trail conditions, weather expectation AND another Time Zone reminder. (Lotta racers from Louisville/Eastern sleepers.)
Soooo much history. Seemingly middle of nowhere – America’s Frontier States: Kentucky & Tennessee. Joined the original 13 soon after Revolution. Boone, Crockett. Whole lotta history.
GPS set, destination: Hodgenville. Sinking Spring Farm then 9 miles more to Knob Creek. Illinois might sport ‘Land of Lincoln‘ on their plates but Kentucky’s where Honest Abe got his start.
Organized 1906 (decades before the iconic DC version was visualized), Abraham Lincoln’s Birthplace – the original Lincoln Memorial. 5 US Presidents made their journey here. Both Roosevelts (Theodore & Franklin), Taft, Wilson & Eisenhower.
Log cabin replica, the ‘Sinking Spring’, & a HUGE granite Memorial. HIGHLY recommended. 56 steps to its Greco-columnar entrance – one for each year of the President’s life. Awesome day trip.
Quick walkabout Knob Creek Farm, Lincoln’s Boyhood Home then an hour west to Grayson County/Kentucky’s Rough River. Sleeping historic Friday/Saturday nights. One of 6 staying in Green Farms Mansion. Quiet/big open rooms/creaky wood floors (the originals). Like part of the board game Clue, 19th century elegance. Professor Plum, lead pipe, Conservatory. Reminiscent of sleeps at the Lizzy Borden House, Fall River 2015. creepy, SPOOKY, dark.
Early nite/sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite. Tomorrow’s run SUPER close (maybe 500ft away) – other side of Green Mill Bridge. Miss Peacock, candlestick, Ballroom. No one hears ya scream wooded deep in Kentucky. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick….
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- Hodgenville KY
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- Frontier Family
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- log CABIN start
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- ‘Sinking Spring’ Farm
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- FIFTY-SIX: one step for each year of Honest Abe’s life
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- original Lincoln Memorial
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- ‘Lincoln logs’
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- Lincoln’s Boyhood Farm
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- Knob Creek
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- Green Farms Mansion
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- 19th century elegance
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- Green Mill Bridge, Saturday’s marathon START
