it was a while ago when eliot posted a race report on his first 50 miler (lake waramaug). there have been plenty of marathons and ultras since that first 50 miler, but just last weekend eliot finished his first 100 miler right here on the streets of nyc!
________________________________________________________________________
The 2014
Great New York Running Exposition 100M/100K – Finding My First 100 Mile Finish
– Eliot Lee
TGNY100 had
its first 100M running in 2012 and was the brainchild of ultra-marathon runner
Phil McCarthy. Phil is the current
American 48-Hour record holder with 257.34 miles. Phil had a vision that he executed and
continues to nurture. Other than saying
that this course covers 100.3 miles through and around four boroughs of New York
City, starting and finishing in Times Square, I’m not going to spend time
describing the course of this great event.
It was described in this 2013 WSJ article.
For 2012 and
2013, my involvement was that of a volunteer.
Phil called me his ‘supply chief.’
For this 2014 edition, I was a runner.
This was my second attempt at the 100 mile distance (my first attempt
was a DNF at the inaugural TARC100 in MA last June) so I had some pressure to
finish this one. The rest of this
write-up won’t be in the typical ‘race report’ style; rather it will be a
compilation of my scattered running thoughts (good and bad, funny and not so
funny). Here goes …
·
Many
happy and excited runners toed the line in Times Square at 5:00 am last
Saturday morning. I was in the ‘Class of
2014.’ The TGNY100 class size is getting
bigger each year. Phil, Trishul, Kaaren
and so many others worked hard to get the race started on time. Richie and Tim were there to start supporting
the 20 aid stations on the course.
·
As
I ran up Broadway to and through Central Park and further north, it was easy to
keep other runners in sight. But, this
was still early. I made a decision to
‘try’ to stay with a pack of runners for as long as possible. The pace may have been slightly fast for me
but I would save time by not having to stop to read the turn-by-turn
directions. So, for all of Manhattan and
some of the Bronx, I tried to stay in the company of Thunder, Cherie and my new
friend Ray. It was also better to run harder
then before the full strength of the sun was on us.
·
Midway
through the Bronx, I let the runners go and ran alone because I needed to slow
down. Now, I had to rely solely on my
maps and directions and had to stop often to regain my bearings. When I got to Emmy’s aid station in Soundview
Park (~50K), I realized that my pacer John who was meeting me at the 60 mile
mark in Queens would be there too early given my current pace. I called him and told him to get there at
around 5:30 pm. By then, the full sun
was out.
·
‘Kuya’
Gerald steps in. ‘Kuya’ is Tagalog for
big brother. I may be older than Gerald
in age but not in terms of ultra-running.
This was his third TGNY100 and he told me to ‘run’ with him. So, I did for as long as I could. Gerald is a strong and consistent runner. He took me through the rest of the Bronx, over
the Triborough Bridge, through Randall’s Island and into Queens. As much as I wished I could have stayed with
Gerald, I told him to go ahead at the World’s Fair Marina aid station (~42
miles). If I was going to finish, I had
to run my own race.· I took the next 5 or so miles myself again navigating with the directions and maps through the streets of Queens. Somewhere on Brooklyn-Queens Greenway, ‘Kuya’ Luis steps in. Yes, I am older in age to him too, but he was also my big brother that day. This was his third time on the course (once as a 2012 pacer). Luis was nursing a sore Achilles from the Massanutten 100 in May. So, Luis and I ran/walked together through Flushing Meadow Park until the 60 mile point (Jewel Avenue) where I met my own pacer, John. Luis forged ahead.
·
At
60 miles, I was really starting to feel the fatigue. I made a decision to stop running and to
start only walking from that point onward.
Doing the math, it would be possible to finish under the cut-off by
keeping a 20 minute pace (3 mph). Finishing
my first 100-miler was still my only goal.
I didn’t want to risk another DNF by pushing too much so I was being
very conservative. Actually, I was being
a big baby, I know. But, if I was going
to finish, I had to run my own race. My
50 mile split was ~10:00 and my 100K split was ~13:14.
·
The
next long 30 miles of walking (~10 hours) were very interesting, especially at
night. I’ve never walked that long or
that far! We walked to and through aid
station after aid station. Darkness
fell. Every mile that passed, I tried to
do mental math to project a finish time which was always somewhere between 26
to 27 hours as long as we kept moving.
It is very difficult to do math when you should be asleep.
·
Having
no headlamps proved to be a hindrance. With
no light, we were directionally challenged in and after Riis Park and again up along
the Belt Parkway. We couldn’t see the
yellow course markings or our footing especially with the glare of the
headlights from oncoming cars. We used
our map light for the ground when we could.
·
About
my pacer John … he has only run a few recent
ultras (some BUS) but has not done a 100 mile race himself (yet). So, why John?
He and I run together all the time.
I know his idiosyncrasies and he knows mine, so it was comfortable. Plus, he was raised in Brooklyn so he knew
the lay of the land … even in the dark.
I can’t thank him enough.
·
After
80 miles, even the walking was starting to slow. Now, I started seeing ‘people’ but they were
trees and shadows. I did start seeing
rats too, but they were actually rats.
Once in a while, I scared John by letting out a primal ‘grunt’ or by
slapping my own face to wake myself up (a driving straight back from Florida
habit). I even told him that I was going
to grab onto his shoulder and continue to walk with my eyes closed … so he
says, anyway. And, that darn Verrazano
Bridge was like the moon. Walk, walk, walk
towards it … but, it never got closer.
·
By
almost 90 miles, we were going over 20 minutes per miles and slowing more. Enter Paul.
I heard Paul’s carefree banter behind us and watched his effortless
gait. Somehow, that sparked me and calmed
me … hard to explain. It made me realize
that I only had 10 miles to go and was going to finish this thing. So, after the Leif Ericson Park aid station,
John and I ran but walked now only when necessary. The running seemed to wake my mind and body
up as it got my blood flowing.
·
We
ran through the last aid station at mile 95 without stopping and walked over
the Brooklyn Bridge. Once in Manhattan,
we continued to run/walk to Times Square.
We managed to finish the last 10 miles in just over 2 hours (almost 5
mph) for a 25:14:57 finish time in Times Square at around 6:30 am on Sunday. What a second wind! That is where I gave Phil a big ‘thank you’ hug. I am now the proud owner of my first 100 mile
finisher buckle. Congratulations to all
the 100M/100K finishers … especially to my new friend Ray who showed such
resolve on his own first 100 mile finish.
In my 50’s, I
am now doing things that I thought were out of my reach. Life is funny that way. And, about this first 100 mile finish … as
Grant so appropriately quoted these song lyrics to me, “Ain't nothin' like the
first time …”
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