2018 Crooked Road 24

Test My Fitness and Current Limits

After a fantastic race at Piedmont-8 I wanted to push myself just a little bit farther to see what my current limits are. A 12-hour race would have been my preference, but there weren't any that didn't require flying with all the hassles and attendant expenses that go with that. My second choice was to find a 24-hour race within driving distance and plan on running only 12 hours. Crooked Road 24 met all my requirements: about a 7 hour drive, loop course just over a mile, good size (180 entrants), and a good reputation. It helped that I knew several other runners who would be there.

With everything in place I set up a spreadsheet to see what would be a good pace, something with an easy to remember time per lap to minimize mental arithmetic during the race, and at a pace I hoped I could carry beyond the 50K distance. I had some concerns about this being only three weeks after Piedmont-8, but I had been running well in the interim and seemed reasonably recovered. I finally settled on 18:00 per lap which is a 15:17 pace per mile. That's a little slower than my average pace at Piedmont-8, so I hoped to stay on pace a little longer.

Despite all the planning, the weekend started off on the wrong foot. First of all we'd been hit by a good snow storm. Fortunately I only had five inches to clean off my car and the road were largely cleared by the time I was on the road. Then, already being on the turnpike and too far to bother turning back, I realized that of all the things to forget, I'd forgotten my running jacket and the gloves and ear warmer in its pockets. As a side note the temperature at the start of the race was expected to be about 35F. I figured I could endure a few laps using multiple layers and my rain jacket. That would have to do since I wasn't going to tun back to get them. What I expected to be about a six and a half hour drive turned into seven and a half. Traffic was at a standstill on US 11 getting from the turnpike to I-81. Then there was an accident on I-81 that brought traffic to a complete stop for 20-30 minutes. Finally getting into Rocky Mount an hour or more after I expected, I had problems finding the hotel. It seems the entrance is not on the road indicated by the address and the signage is non-descript enough that I missed it the first time driving by. I got to packet pickup with only 30 minutes to spare instead of the couple hours I'd planned.

So much for my traveling adventures. By that time all I wanted to do was grab something quick to eat and head back to the hotel, so I stopped at DQ. Nothing against DQ, because I expect the following events would have occurred regardless, but I couldn't eat anything after trying just a couple bites. I packed up the leftovers to take with me. What I had eaten I left - on the road - as I had to make a quick stop to avoid making a mess in the car. I fully expected at that point to spend the weekend in bed until I felt better and good enough to drive home.

I never got my 6:00 AM wake up call, so it was a good thing I woke at 6:17 AM on my own. I felt okay, so dressed for the race and ate breakfast. I met some friends there as I was leaving. We decided to start out together walking the first few laps. The walking was pretty brisk, so after a few laps I stopped to remove my rain jacket before I got too warm. A long sleeve shirt with a short sleeve shirt over it was fine by then and actually a little too warm by mid-afternoon. By that time I was on a roll and didn't want to take the time to change. Within another couple hours I was beginning to think about putting on the rain jacket again as the temperature was dropping as the sun got lower toward dusk. Obviously whatever upset my stomach the day before, I was fine now or I wouldn't still be moving on the course at dusk.

My plan was to keep my laps under 18:00 for as long as possible. I figured with walking the first few laps with my friend I'd have a little time to make up, but 18:00 per lap is 15:17 pace, so I didn't see that as a problem in the overall scheme. I was surprised to see our first lap time at 18:06 considering we also started near the back of the field. The next three laps were under 18:00, then we split up as I stopped to remove my jacket. I don't know what took me so long, but that lap was over 21:00, perhaps the aid station stop also added more than I realized. The next 23 laps were like clockwork, varying from 16:34 to 18:39 with the greater times due to bathroom breaks or longer than normal aid station stops. I walked while eating and sometimes to took longer to down a PBJ than others. I also had a slower lap when I had the privilege of walking part of it with Ann Trason. It wasn't until lap 30 as I reached 35 miles that I decided I needed to stop running and start walking if I wanted to continue. Running was tiring me out too fast. At that point speed was no longer a concern; I just wanted to keep moving until I reached 12 hours, then make a decision then on whether to continue. Pace and lap times varied wildly depending on stops for bathroom breaks, going to the car to get my headlamp, who I was walking with if anyone. At times I was walking 18 minute miles and other times closer to 22 minutes. I reached lap 34 which gave me 40 miles, a nice mark. Three more laps would get me to close to 12 hours. Another lap of two would get me a 12-hour PB, so sure, I'll continue. So I'm at 39 laps, might as well make it 40. Now at at 47+ miles. Two more laps plus a partial lap will get me to 50 miles. Sure, why not. I've got company with a first time ultra runner walking with me. The time is passing quickly as we chat, but I had to promise myself that would be my limit. I didn't want to push too hard considering how I felt yesterday, so when I finished lap 43 with 50.654 miles officially I informed the timers that I was done, collected a really unusual medal in the shape of a banjo, and went to thank the RD and tell him how much I enjoyed the race.

Overall I exceeded the time I expected to run going for over 14 hours. During the race my 50K split, 12-hour split, and 50M split were all AG PBs for me. There were markers for the marathon, 50K, 50M, 100K, and 100M so runners could at least take unofficial splits for personal recording though there were no timing mats there. The 12-hour split was my official time for the last complete lap before the 12-hour mark. I probably ran an additional .7 miles by the time we'd reached the full 12 hours. This wraps up my 2018 reason, at least as things stand now. I have nothing else planned and I'm looking over the choices for next year and what I want to start with after the very strong finish to this year.