After my
last race report (Grindstone, a couple posts back) I decided to make this recap
*slightly* less long-winded. Hope you enjoy!
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| Accurate Course Description! |
Pre-Race
Last year I
crewed for my friend Jeremiah “Bullfrog” Clark. As I helped at the aid stations
I ran across a Liberty student named Kaitlyn. Bundled up, all I could really
see was her face. Not thinking much about it, I ran into her at Snowflex a
couple months later when she recognized me and I didn’t recognize her (awkward!).
Fast forward to the summer and I saw her at her other job, Riverside Runners. We
reconnected and stayed in touch through social media. After seeing her own
plans to run Grindstone in 2018 (!!) I asked if she would be my crew for
Hellgate. She responded with something along the lines of “heck yes”, and a
plan was hatched. As the time drew near I asked her to pull double-duty: crew
and pace. She willfully obliged and we were able to meet twice to run some
trails and discuss race-day logistics.
She met me
at my apartment around 4 pm on Friday afternoon and we were off for Camp
Bethel. Upon checking in, I received my starter shirt
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| "Things that are HARD to bear are SWEETER to remember" - Seneca |
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| "ACCEPT the challenges so that you can feel the EXHILARATION of VICTORY" - George S. Patton |
Dinner
started at 6 pm – a delicious meal of chicken alfredo (so good yet so cheesy
and heavy), lasagna, and lemonade. I brought my own drink, Bold Rock Spiced
Apple Cider… which just so happened to be against camp rules. Whoops! Briefing
started at 7:30 pm and in typical Horton fashion included several insults,
challenges, and questionable remarks.
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| "If you don't finish, you're a SISSY!" - Horton |
We finished with a door prize raffle
around 8:45 pm and I napped around an hour before changing into my Christmas-themed
running clothes.
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| Have a Meowy Christmas, everybody! (Yes, I wore the Santa hat all race) |
Along the
way over to Hellgate Creek Horse Trailhead, Kait and I jammed to some 90’s and
2000’s rock and alternative music (90’s kids forever)
A little "
Numb" by Linkin Park, anybody?
Race
Race started
at 12:01 a.m. just beyond the Hellgate Creek Horse Trailhead. I started quickly
and saw Alissa. We said hello and she sped off, never to be seen again.
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| Picture of Alissa. Missing: "No Pressure" tank, mascara, and shorts |
I
slowed the pace down some and corrected some runners who had missed a turn. The
“bad stream” crossing wasn’t too high and I made my way to the first aid
station (AS). The section from AS1 to AS2 wasn’t bad at all – a gradual grade
up to Pettite’s Gap. On fresh legs I could have run every step but I decided to
hike some to conserve energy. Spent some time running with Jeremiah (running
for the 2nd straight year) and he powered on ahead into the long
line of cars parked near AS2. I almost ran right past Kait, my personal
paparazzi. She filmed me running by and put it on Instagram, I filled up my
water, grabbed my goggles (didn’t want Hellgate eyes!) and rain jacket, and I
was off to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRPW).
The last
time I ran the Glenwood Horse Trail (GHT) from Petite’s Gap was during our
Terrapin night training run. That night my headlamp went dim and it was a
struggle… tonight the course was marked and my headlamp was strong. Quite the difference! I made my
way down the trail, soon to be passed by friends Todd, Alexis, and Kevin
on the root-filled single-track. Local legend Marc Griffin fell in behind me
and we paused for a second before making the righthand turn to stay on the GHT.
Marc paused to ask if it was the right way and we quickly received
acknowledgement in the form of a streamer. It was a good thing too – I definitely
didn’t want to hit the Goff Mountain Road and Hunting Creek Road intersection (a la
Terrapin AS). The trail leading over to Hunting Creek road was certainly harder
than I remembered during Terrapin while the climb up Hunting Creek road to
Camping Gap wasn’t fun, but a solid okay. I was slightly thrown off as the
Camping Gap aid station was on the opposite side of its usual location during Terrapin.
It was my
first time running the grassy road all the way from Camping Gap to Overstreet
Creek Falls. Man it was harder than I expected! Horton warned us that it would
be difficult and I shouldn’t have played it off! I lost a lot of places and
spent some time with 2017 Beast Series female champion, Sarah Hodder before she
motored on (finishing in a stellar 15:58:16). I crossed the clearing after the
grassy road but didn’t realize it until I hit the familiar downhill switchbacks
of the Promise Land course. I made up some ground and drank some warm broth at AS4 (Overstreet Creek Falls, moved due to BRPW closure).
See my Strava for the first 18.9 miles:
Link
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| Start - Petite's Gap (bottom) - Petite's Gap (top) - Camping Gap - died somewhere before Overstreet Creek Falls |
I hiked
the uphill to the BRPW. The snow really picked up and it was much colder… glad
I had my handwarmers but I quickly discovered that they’re best designed for
mittens, not gloves! My fingertips stayed cold but my palms stayed nice and
warm. The next section from Floyd’s Field down to Jennings Creek was by far the
worst I felt the whole race. Tired, cold, and feeling like I was sleepwalking
in a foggy haze (it actually was foggy), I slowly made my way along the trail
to Jennings Creek. As light began to shine I gained more energy and began to
pass several runners on the downhill trails. Trying to take advantage of the
light I turned off my headlamp. It went well until I fell – twice! – in the
next several minutes. I turned the headlamp back on and soon crossed the bridge
to the breakfast AS – Jennings Creek. It was a high point to see my friends,
grab some food, get some new gloves, and drink several ounces of Coke (which
eventually backfired)
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| Frozen beard, new gloves, and cup full of Coke - yep, this is Hellgate! |
Hiking up to
Little Cove Mountain, Jeremiah and Chelsie Viar both passed me. I figured I
wouldn’t see either runner again. Nothing really stuck out in this section
except for the adorable hunting dogs huddled around AS6 – Little Cove Mountain.
In previous years people complained about the Liberty University AS workers but
I had no complaints – great food and friendly smiles! After Little Cove
Mountain I spent a lot of time running with Dorothy Hunter. Dorothy is one of
the first Beast Series finishers and a former student of race director (RD) David
Horton. We shared some stories about how he influences people, his quirky yet
driven personality, and how he loves seeing people succeed (even if the tactics
are a little non-traditional). Her conversation and the snow helped make the
Devil’s Trail and creek crossing better than usual. Arriving at Bearwallow Gap
(AS7) both Rhonda and Kait were big helps. It was mentally uplifting for me
knowing that I was around 2/3 the way done and that Kait would share in the
suffering of the final 20 miles.
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| Bearwallow Gap - Bobblet's Gap - Day Creek - Finish |
Here's Kait's strava for the final 20.5 miles:
Click
A majority
of the rest of the course was new to me.
Both Todd and I agreed that the climb out of
Bearwallow Gap was terrible! However I did pass several runners during this
uphill and created some separation on the downhill section. Horton says that
this section has a lot of “in-and-outs” and he, again, wasn’t lying (why don’t
I believe him? Oh yeah. He lies about mileage!!). Reaching the road up to
Bobblet’s Gap, it was a long mile until we found some weirdos living out Red
Hot Chili Peppers’
"Under the Bridge" at AS8. All jokes aside I enjoyed seeing
Gina Gilbert and my BRTR friends before taking off on the downhill to the “forever
section”. The section had some good climbs and the snow transformed the wide,
leaf-strewn trail into narrow single track. Reaching AS9, Day Creek, I said
hello to my friends Mike Pflieger and Missy Bradley before dropping my pack and
quickly heading out. All day I knew my goal was to survive and finish under 17
hours. Doing this would enable me to qualify for the Western States 2019
lottery and allow me to worry less at my big 2018 race, Georgia Death Race
(GDR). Kait and I hiked away, quickly catching another local legend, Rick Gray.
I caught another runner who encouraged me that I could finish under 17. After
approximately 1.5 miles my quads tightened up and I felt like slowing the pace.
Kait came through clutch with a Campfire S’mores “Honey Stinger waffle” and we
made it to the BRPW.
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| Clutch. Also, so good! Riverside Runners, stock these!!! |
Turns out that the climb was only 2.3 miles and not 3. I had
new life! I could definitely make a 17 hour finish!! Kait and I took off, well
under the pace we needed. Less than a mile into the downhill we saw a familiar
face – local runner and friend Amy Talmadge. She had come up the trail to find
a runner and pace them in and that runner happened to be me! She basically told
me “You’re moving too slow!” so I sped up to keep up with her. Around a mile
left in the race, I stopped to adjust my sole (much needed since I had the same
shoes and socks on the entire day). Amy, Kait, and I jogged the remaining mile
in and I finished in 16:43:28. I shook hands with Horton, posed for some
pictures, and received my finisher’s awards.
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| Ecstatic! ha. see below for how I really felt |
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| How I really felt. Like I wanted to sit down and not move for a looooong time. |
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| The fruit of my labor. That d@*^ bear trophy! |
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| More Patagucci - a Better Sweater! |
I couldn’t
have done this race without the help of multiple people.
Dr. David
Horton (Horton) – Thank you for putting on these races and for loving running
as much as you do. It was your running class back in 2011 that was the impetus
for my ultramarathon career.
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| Dr. Horton - Me - Lauren Acker, Co-RD for Dam 50k @ finish line of Promise Land |
Dr. Clark
Zealand – Thank you for putting on the rest of the Beast Series races and for
being another role model.
Kaitlyn
(Kait) DiJoseph – You were the race MVP. You did everything I asked with a
cheery disposition. Thank you for encouraging me and getting some incredibly
high quality videos of my early-morning self.
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| Can you spot Kait? I can't! Forced smile after the finish (and realizing I left all my clothes several miles away) |
Bethany
Williams, Kim Weatherford, Todd Thomas, Alexis Thomas, Kevin Corell, Chelsie
Viar, Brenton Swyers, Jeremiah Clark, and Alissa Keith – Thank you for “toeing
the line” with me. It takes a special kind of crazy to run this race – and all
of y’all have run it multiple times!
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| Just some crazies waiting for the race to begin! |
Mike Mitchell,
Clifton Williams, Mike Pflieger, Missy Bradley, Rhonda Sprouse, Elizabeth
Rosser, Amy Talmadge, Don (Don) Kidd, Blake Edmondson, Neal Bryant, Joe Wilson,
Steve Higgins, and all the other BRTR / volunteers – Thank you for sacrificing
your time and helping both myself and fellow runners finish the race.
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| Some of the wonderful volunteers at Bobblet's Gap |
Will I do
this race again? Yes, but as a “standalone” race. I’ll train hard for it and
see how low my time can go.
Thanks for reading!
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