Grindstone 2017 Race Report

I’m not a huge fan of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” books/movies (yes I know I’m not a real nerd - don’t tell my roommates) but I love the line Boromir makes: “One does not simply walk into Mordor”. If you’re a fan of memes, you’ve probably seen it around Facebook and other websites. Well I made my own version of the meme.

As you would figure, running 100 miles is a little more challenging than running a local 5k. It takes a little more preparation, resolve, and especially time and money. But first I had to make the decision to run 100 miles. I remember a conversation in January or February 2016. I was running along the winter loop, talking to Anna Evans about local races. I told her my plans to do the Lynchburg Ultra Series (LUS) and she shared her experience with the Beast Series. (For those unaware: the LUS is 4 ultramarathons while the Beast is 6 ultramarathons, including Grindstone 100-Miler and Hellgate 100k, a race that starts at 12:01 am in December). I remember telling her “I will never do 100 miles… I’ll be good with 50”. I kept running that spring and I ran my way into shape. I didn’t run that much in the summer and I found myself volunteering at Grindstone last October. I arrived unexcited as it was raining and my job was parking helper – showing people to the right lot and answering basic questions. Not a fun job in those conditions. I didn’t get to see the runners start as I also volunteered at Aid Station 1 – Falls Hollow, and we had to set up early since the lead runners get there quickly. They didn’t need help with the food, so I got to hold the “light saber” and help the runners across the road.

I used to be a cleaner-shaven man.

I was able to grab food at Applebee’s and sleep in my dry, warm Jeep. I woke up on Saturday morning and helped set up the aid station again, seeing the first 30 or 35 runners come through before leaving for Lynchburg. The rain lightened up and as I was driving I found my mood had greatly increased. Even with constant rain the runners were in high spirits, the crews were cheery and helpful, and the volunteers were helpful. There’s something special about the Grindstone weekend.

Fast forward to this year. I decided to run the Beast Series (which you can find out all about in my most recent post). Thankfully a lot of my friends here are crazy like me and have completed Grindstone. All year I picked their brains, asking them for advice on training, race strategy, and a little bit of everything. We did a double-long run weekend on The Wild Oak Trail (TWOT) which shares several miles with the Grindstone course. While there I confirmed two of my pacers: Kevin Corell (a Grindstone finisher) and Steve Higgins (a great friend who paced me during Devil Dog 100k). My friend Jeremiah “Bullfrog” Clark offered to drive my Jeep and duffel bag around, crewing for me and helping at the aid stations. I talked to another strong local runner – Sarah Vickery – and she agreed to pace me as well. My crew and pacers lined up, I went to the Grindstone trail work and training weekend. One of the benefits of the weekend is seeing the entire inbound course (spread out over 2 days). After finishing the weekend, I knew I could finish Grindstone physically – it was all about the mental aspect. How would I function running (literally) on 24+ hours without sleep? Could I keep my brain from shutting down after 80 miles, needing to summit two large hills? I was a dichotomy: both anxious and confident.

We had a cooler summer but so far it’s been a warm fall down here in Lynchburg. Looking ahead, the forecast called for a warmer day with light rain later on Saturday night/Sunday morning. It seems to be an annual tradition that it rains on Grindstone weekend so I fully expected rain. Packing my duffel bag, I went to Wal-Mart and Riverside Runners to buy last-minute supplies like AAA batteries, toilet paper, and chocolate. Jeremiah picked me up on Friday morning around 10 am so we could make it to the pre-race briefing on time. I was excited to hear from Jeremiah that our mutual running friend Mary Scruggs was going to make it up after she finished work on Friday. We had a great lunch of sliders (steak and pulled pork), assorted salads (none for me, of course), apple crisp, cookies, and sweet tea. I didn’t win any of the door prizes but that means I’m due to win something at Masochist or Hellgate. I tried to calm myself and take a nap before the crowd really got there, but it was average sleep at best. I went over to my car, changed into my race clothes, packed my hydration pack full of goodies and water, and walked on over for the 5:30 pm pre-race check-in. It was an electric atmosphere – people all around, chatter, pictures and videos being taken. 

I got a big boost from seeing a lot of my running friends – Kevin Corell, Steve Higgins, the whole Thomas crew, Gina and Josh Gilbert, Shane Glass, and many more. I said hello to a couple runners I met at the training weekend or during previous races.

Alexis: "Jeremy is wearing too much neon" Me: "No such thing AT. And Gina agrees since I am repping her on my shirt"

Clark Zealand, the race director (RD) prayed for us and we were off!

Typical Clark - plaid shirt and wool socks

Coming around the lake

The course hits a major bottleneck very early, allowing for crews to migrate and take more pictures while us runners have to wait single file. I passed my friends again and then it was time to race. I found this blog post and it’s very accurate.  I’ll structure my post similarly. 

Warm-Up: Start to Mile 14ish (Dry Branch Gap)

Todd Thomas told me before I started: “You can’t run the first half too slow”. The first five miles are a little hilly but very runnable. I let a lot of runners pass me as I made it a goal to run under control. I made it up and over the railroad track to the road crossing, refilled my handheld water bottle, and took off on the Jeep road leading the single-track trail.

Still looking nice and clean less than 3 miles in

Race Time: 1:02

Time of Day: 7:02 pm

Place: 103

The headlamp came out and I made my way steadily to the gravel road up to Elliot’s Knob fire tower and bib punch. Hiking up that stupid uphill was when the gravity of my undertaking really hit me – “I’m not even 8 miles in and it already hurts… well, time to suck it up and keep going” I slowly but surely made my way up to the punch, passing a LONG group of runners as I came back down. The moon was spectacular, but I had to switch my focus to the trail leading down to Dry Branch. I got stuck behind a long group of single-file runners. Content to take it at an easier pace than a 50k, I fell into line and struck up a conversation. I heard a familiar voice behind me – that of Brian Lang. He was less polite than me, asking to pass. I took the opportunity to pass with him, leading a group of 4 to 5 runners all the way down to Dry Branch. I knew my #trashtalk and #tracktuesday running buddy Alissa Keith would be there and I was pleasantly surprised seeing both Andy and Elisa Rollins, along with baby Afton.

Race Time: 3:22

Time of Day: 9:22 pm

Place: Unknown (not everybody got a time here?)

Settling In: Mile 14ish to 37

As I started up the first obnoxiously long uphill climb up Crawford Mountain I tried my luck with Tailwynd. Right away I knew it wouldn’t work so I dumped it out and went to water. Todd also told me that I would want to quit during the race at least 3 times. This was time #1. Those hills are steep and once you finish one you get rewarded with another one. I think there are five short bursts before finally leveling out at the top and running downhill again. Like Elliot’s Knob, the downhill is rocky but not terrible. I fell into another longer line of runners before passing with a couple runners behind me. I crossed US 250 knowing I had about a mile to go before the aid station. That mile felt very long with some slightly annoying but doable climbs. I came into Dowell’s Draft to the loud voice of Frank Gonzalez (unsurprising) while also seeing my crew chief Jeremiah running the grill. He hurried over, gave me some Excedrin and Mountain Dew, and told me that I was doing well. I said hello quickly to Mike Mitchell and Brenton Swyers before taking off with food.

The Dowell’s Draft climb was a welcome change from the first 2 climbs. On a good day I’m sure I could run the entire uphill; I settled with a jog and power-hike approach. I kept on seeing headlights behind me, but they didn’t catch me until we started the descent into the Lookout Mountain aid station. The downhill was enjoyable and several of us runners formed a small group on the wider road, talking to keep the mood light. We reached and left the aid station without much activity. I was following Kevin’s advice and consuming calories every 45 minutes, thinking that I was eating well. I took off on the downhill, this time not falling into a group and instead running solo. The section seemed rockier than I remembered it from our weekend. Oh well, keep running and try not to jam my toe. I passed a woman with around 1 mile left (the “overlook” sign) and I led her into the party aid station – North River Gap (NRG). NRG is always a high point for runners as it is well-lit, well-organized, and has the friendliest aid station workers (fellow Blue Ridge Trail Runners). My spirits lightened as I saw my friends – Mary, Kevin, Alexis, Jeremiah, and even Bailey, one of the Thomas kids. She’d already taken a nap and was up very early in the morning! Drawing on them I took more Excedrin, got water, ate some pierogies, and headed out to hike. Kevin stopped and told me “This hike is going to be hard. Push through it, don’t stop, and know that it will get easier once you turn right to stay on the trail”. I thanked him and I jogged away along the flat trails leading to the climb.

Race Time: 8:42

Time of Day: 2:42 am

Place: 105

This is Getting Serious: Mile 37 to 51 (Turnaround!)

There’s a little lead-in before the climb up Little Bald. To me, it’s the worst climb on the course. Oh yeah and it’s also around 6.5 miles long, longer than a 10k. I ran it one time on completely fresh legs and even then it was a hike. This time was no different. I had Gatorade instead of Tailwynd, giving me some electrolytes I could handle. Immediately several runners passed me. I kept my pace consistent and a lot of the runners "came back" later in the climb. Before I summited I saw the race leader, Avery Collins, flying on the downhill. Amazing runner. I kept pushing, growing increasingly frustrated around every turn when there was more uphill. I finally made it to the opening and saw that it took me well over 2 hours to climb. During this segment was quitting thought #2. I felt discouraged, but I knew the next several miles would be easier. I made up some time along the trail and fields, catching some more runners. Even though I felt like crap, I managed to gain 9 positions. Reaching the aid station (FINALLY, definitely longer than 7.8 miles as advertised) I grumbled a bit before moving on. This was also my least favorite aid station – smaller than the rest of them, not nearly as many people, and no crew.

Race Time: 11:29

Time of Day: 5:29 am

Place: 96

This was the last section of the course that was new to me. I had run it in the opposite direction, but never outbound. I kept the pace smooth, hiking the uphill sections. I passed a lot of runners coming inbound – some looked great, some looked as bad as me! Always good to know I’m not the only one suffering (even if they were ahead by at least 5-10 miles). It was a lot of road and I started to run more as I approached Reddish Knob, the site of the second bib punch. Wow! What a view! Check out this video for a quick look at its natural beauty. I was treated to an amazing sunrise along with the moon on the opposite end. At the top of the climb I was right on the Virginia/West Virginia state line. There was a photographer taking pictures of the sunrise and I waited a couple seconds for two fellow runners before descending to the turnaround at Briery Branch Gap. I opened up more than them on the downhill, letting me get to the turnaround faster. The section from the summit to Briery Branch Gap was longer than I remembered (seems to be a trend?) but very runnable. I made it to the turnaround where Jeremiah stretched out my legs while Mary refilled my water, took my headlamp and pull-over, and gave me my Devil Dog moisture-wicking cap.

Race Time: 13:07

Time of Day: 7:07 am

Place: 91

It’s Mostly Downhill from Here: Miles 51 – 67

During every race a runner ends up beside another runner for a significant chunk of time. Like at the Devil Dog 100k (Maya aka Purple Pants), this race it happened to be another strong female runner: runner 110, Kirsten Smith. Easily recognizable with a pink shirt and one long blonde braid, we more or less ran from the Crawford descent (mile 21ish) until the turnaround. We left the turnaround near the same time, and she hiked at a strong pace back up to Reddish Knob. She stopped to take pictures as she went and we both commented on the beauty of the sunrise and the fall colors in the valley. At last I reached Reddish Knob, but took the right and continued downhill this time. I never saw Kirsten again until after the race when I found out she put 2+ hours on me in the last 50. Congratulations to her as her previous 100-miler had been close to 30 hours – a huge PR for her! I continued running the pavement/gravel/dirt road and fields while hiking the uphills. I passed a lot of outbound runners and I did my best to raise their spirits and cheer them on. I felt like I was moving at decent pace but I’m sure it was an illusion. I made it to “the breakfast” aid station of blueberry pancakes and egg with cheese burritos. As an added treat, they had coffee with Bailey’s and Maker’s Mark. As my stomach was not feeling the best (foreshadowing?!) I forewent the alcohol, refilled water, and grabbed some snacks. As I was leaving I saw running friend Mike Pflieger behind me. Knowing he would catch me, I pressed on.

Race Time: 14:41

Time of Day: 8:41 am

Place: 79 (More from people relaxing/getting treatment at turnaround than me passing people)

I tried one of the egg and cheese burritos with the hope that I could turn some of the calories into energy. Mike quickly caught up to me with his poles and I asked when I had passed him. Neither of us saw me pass him, but somewhere from North River Gap to Little Bald Knob inbound I had gone by him. We both expressed our hatred for the Little Bald climb and hiked for a little bit together before he went ahead. Usually the Little Bald descent is fun – nice (albeit steep) downhills mixed with flat sections and an uphill into Grindstone Mountain. My legs really started to hurt and I shuffled/jogged the downhills. It was warming up, my body was getting hot, I was sweating, and my stomach wasn’t feeling great. I started into “pout mode”. I knew I had built up a lot of time to finish in under 28 hours, so I took it easier than I should have. Coming into North River Gap should have been a celebration with all my friends, but I could only put my head down. Kevin gave me some tough love, "You feel bad? Tough luck. Suck it up. You’re going to finish this race.”, Alexis force-fed me mashed potatoes, Jeremiah cooled me down with some ice on my head and neck, Bethany Williams put ice in my pack to sip on, and Steve jumped up and was ready for me to go. I changed shirts (sorry Gina, couldn’t rep y’all all day) and socks, posed for a quick picture, and “took off” with Steve.

New shirt, new socks, and cooled off: ready to go!

Race Time: 17:01

Time of Day: 11:01 am

Place: 83

Fatigue Sets In: Miles 65-80

When doing both the TWOT training run and the training weekend, I did the ~10 mile uphill part without any break in the middle. Therefore it was nice to have the knowledge that Lookout Mountain aid station broke up the climb into two more manageable sections. Steve settled in, pacing me from ahead just like he did at Devil Dog 100k. We were passed early by two other runner/pacer teams but we managed to gain both of them back. It amazed me how much easier it was to be on this section in the daylight versus the nighttime. That fact didn’t stop the rocks from being there or the uphill climbs. There is a nice runnable trail leading into Lookout Mountain and we made good pace into the aid station.

Race Time: 19:04

Time of Day: 1:04 pm

Place: 83

From Lookout to Dowell’s Draft was when the wheels started to wobble. I tried very hard to hold in the mashed potatoes that I ate but it was becoming a burden to hold it in. I have a good track record of recovering after throwing up so I decided to let it fly. I felt a little better so we pressed on at a pace that resembled a speedier walk more than a hike. I tried eating some more, but that too came back up. The only bright spots during this time were: 1) knowing I was around 70% done 2) hearing Steve talk (dude can really keep a conversation going. Maybe I should try clubbing seals too) and 3) the beautiful fall colors (seriously, red and yellow leaves everywhere and some majestic overlooks). 

Leaves of all colors, sunny sky, and some ice cold water. What more could you want?

I was grumpy Jeremy, sipping on ice water while not moving too fast.

Actual picture of me during the Dowell's Draft descent

Steve knew his job as the “middle reliever” was to get me to Kevin, no matter the pace. He did a great job, talking to people as they passed me. We found it funny that every single runner/biker who passed offered me some advice – but it shows how helpful and sympathetic people are. The suffering is shared and they were trying to help. Normally I enjoy the Dowell’s Draft downhill as it is very smooth and follows the contour of Hankey Mountain and I did my best to smile as I hit Dowell’s Draft aid station. Frank Gonzalez took one look at me and said, “MAN. YOU LOOK GOOD.” I knew it was a lie but something about it helped me out. I received some encouragement from Mike and Brenton (and later Brenton yelling at me to go). I talked to Mary and found out that Jeremiah had volunteered to run from NRG to Dowell’s with another runner who was struggling. No matter, Kevin and Mary fixed me up and we were on our way.

Race Time: 21:50

Time of Day: 3:50 pm

Place: 91 (Worst Section. Grumpy Jeremy isn’t a good runner)

This course is STUPID! Miles 80-92 (My description includes the downhill, so mile 97ish)

I wanted an experienced pacer for the final miles. The two choices who came to mind were Todd and Kevin. Todd committed to working NRG so I knew to ask Kevin. He said yes even though he had knee surgery this summer. Together we were off, him pulling me along until we hit the road crossing where the real fun began. I quickly found out why he’s such a good ultra-runner. Dude can crush some uphill. I was huffing and puffing, drinking water while he was cruising. We passed two runners and passed a third when we started the descent. The runner used his poles to pass us back but we stayed within eyesight of him. Before I knew it we arrived at Dowell’s Draft. While there I drank a lot of soft drinks, ate some food, and trash talked Alissa (have you seen her PR? I CRUSHED it. Come at me 😀). Jeremiah finally showed back up after pacing his new friend into Dowell’s Draft and I traded in my cap for the headband and headlamp. 88 miles! I could taste it!

Race Time: 24:08

Time of Day: 6:08 pm

Place: 86

I tried to digest all that I had just consumed before getting back to power-hiking pace. In my opinion the Elliot’s Knob climb isn’t as hard as the Crawford Mountain climb, but it’s every bit as annoying. To compound matters, it started drizzling with a fog. The rain helped cool down the temperature, as did the setting sun. Kevin made the rightful comment “Enjoy it! Running doesn’t get much better than this” I stopped to think how lucky I was. I’m 90 miles into a race just a year before I had no intention of running. I was hurting, but who cares? I kept hiking up and I enjoyed learning more about Kevin as we chatted to pass the time. The flatter section before the steep gravel downhill took forever but, like all things, it eventually passed. Kevin let me set the pace on the gravel downhill and we settled in about a 60-70% pace. Not a sprint, but not leaning backward stopping our momentum. We hit the Falls Hollow trail, being careful to not slip on the rocks from the stream bed. Finishing up the section with the Jeep road we made it to the LAST AID STATION! ~97 miles in.

Race Time: 27:01

Time of Day: 9:01 pm

Place: 81

To the Finish Line (Mile 97-102)

My stomach had been revolting against me. I had thrown up more times than I could count. I had massive blisters on both big toes along with several bruised toenails. My left ankle felt bruised. I had gone 28 hours without sleep. I hadn’t consumed real, filling food (read, red/white meat) in over 30 hours. My quads hurt. I was chafing.

Guess what? ^None of that mattered! I had one little silly 5 mile run to finish this thing. I said goodbye to Jeremiah, Mary, and Steve and we crossed the road. Quickly I was greeted with more uphill than I remembered. We kept a steady walk pace, continuing to move forward. A couple ambitious runners passed us, but we pressed on. It was during this time that I really felt fatigue set in. I knew I was tired, but this was the first time it really started affecting me. I tried walking in a creek bed instead of following the trail. I was very thankful for Kevin as he deciphered the seemingly few streamers and even fewer reflectors. Running past the climbing tower I started feeling giddy. Passing the 1 mile sign, I was ecstatic. Kevin and I made our way through the bottleneck around the lake and started a good pace. We made the left turn into camp and ran together until the finisher chute. I jogged it in, happily seeing my friends who stayed up to greet me. Clark and Horton congratulated me as I picked up my (very nice) finisher jacket and eagerly-awaited belt buckle. I quickly went inside to sit down. Trying to get some more sugar and calories in my body, I drank some lemonade which immediately backfired. I couldn’t get to a trash can in time and threw it up all over myself. Being the kind souls they are, Blake and Mary found a mop and cleaned it up while I shuffled over to the showers. The original plan was to drive back that night but Jeremiah hadn’t anticipated staying up the whole time, or running at all. We both slept in the dining hall, Mary literally making my bed for me (seriously, she’s the best). I had a bucket near me, just in case.

I fell asleep almost instantly. I woke up around 3 or 4 and talked to Clifton Williams. I went back to bed, waking up around 7 am when the boy scouts started setting the hall up for breakfast. I meandered outside, wearing my new finisher jacket and slowly packing up stuff while watching the last few finishers. I was surprised to see so many of the BRTR had stayed and there was talk of going out to breakfast. Knowing I wouldn’t get an award, I happily obliged to Cracker Barrel and some bland hash browns. It was a really fun meal and it made me realize, once again, how much I love living in Lynchburg. It’ll be a very tough move, if it ever happens.

In summary, 100 miles was as hard as it sounds. I was blessed with warmer weather (80+ in October?) and little rain – a major difference from the previous year. Maybe one day I’ll train harder and, as Todd said, “Someday soon you will get curious as to what is possible”. Could I run the course under 24? Maybe I’ll get curious in my 30’s. But for now, I’m happy with one finish and looking forward to volunteering/crewing/pacing next year’s edition. I'm thinking the punch atop Reddish Knob needs somebody to "guard" it - aka camp out and check out the sunrise/sunset.

I made it my goal to run 28 hours, based on my current level of fitness and the times of comparable first year runners (exceptions who were super fast were thrown out: Kevin, Brenton, Dennis Coan, etc). I divided the 28 hours into 13.5 front half and 14.5 back half. I made an Excel document (because I'm still kinda nerdy) and used some linear regression (because I'm a math nerd) to predict my times at each aid station based on even splits per mile. I wrote the times down on Clark's aid station sheet to give me an idea of how I was doing. I didn't place much stock in this because I had no idea how my last 40 miles would go. I put a summary of it below, along with actual times. As you can see, I was ahead of pace until Dowell's Draft and then it slowly slipped away from me. With all the stomach problems I had, I was all in all happy.