2022 Hainesport Summer 12-Hour
Survival in the End of Summer Heat

Last year this race was Fourth of July weekend; this year it's Labor Day weekend. I had hoped that might mean cooler weather, but the area has had a succession of heat waves throughout the summer and it will be hot. In the aftermath of my Merrill's Mile race, I'm concerned about the possibly of a recurrence of the heat issues and A-Fib. I will be paying close attention to my fluid and electrolyte intake. I've also recently had a fall from heat induced dizziness, so I'm planning on being extra cautious at the first hints of any issues.

The trip to the hotel was on a round about route because my preferred choice had significant delays due to holiday activities in Philadelphia. The hotel had several issues, so if I return for future races, I'll stay somewhere else. I had problems with the door key and accessing wifi, then they are still on the "help yourself to some granola bars and coffee" for breakfast. At least I got to the race on time to pick up my number, t-shirt, and mug. I even found a convenient place for my chair and cooler. I had expected all the close areas to be filled with tents and canopies for the 24-hour and 48-hour runners, but I was only a few steps away from the aid station as you finish the loop. Then after the race I forgot to pick up my medal.

With 24 and 48 hour races starting concurrently, there were over 100 runners on the narrow path through the park. While I wasn't at the very back, it still took me 15 seconds to cross the timing mat, though that's an insignificant amount since only full laps are counted and I've never cut it that close on my last lap. I had been running a lot of my training runs at run 1:15, walk :45 or even run 2:00, walk 1:00, but I thought to best to stay conservative with run 1:00, walk 1:00. It was a slow pace, but well within my expectations. There were patches of shade on sections of the course early, but once the Sun was high enough it warmed up quickly. I had my first hint of heat issues about 10-11 into the race. I may have overreacted, but I immediately switched to all walking. About 5 miles later I was definitely having problems and my pace was falling off drastically, so I took an extend break of about 15 minutes to cool down. With the drop off in pace I was worried that I might be experiencing another A-Fib episode. (So far I haven't received a call from the monitoring service or my cardiologist, so I'm hoping it was just the heat.) I had been regularly drinking mostly Gatorade with some ice water for hydration and cooling, so I don't think dehydration was an issue, just the heat from the ambient air temperature couple with direct sunlight. I managed 9 more miles back at a reasonable pace before I needed another long rest to cool down. That put me at almost 26 miles. I could see finishing with 40 miles or more gradually slipping away. Once I finished that lap I had 4 hours to finish 14 laps. That doesn't sound like much, just 3.5 laps per hour, about a 17:10 pace, but with stops at the aid station to grab something to eat and refill my water bottle, I was moving at close to 17:45-18:00 average pace. To add to the challenge, I ended up taking one more short break of about 10 minutes which pretty much ended any chance of reaching 41 laps (40.64 miles), even 40 laps would be a stretch. Frustratingly I seemed to have the energy, it was just the potential or actual heat issues holding me back. With about an hour left I decided there was no reason not to try to resume running. At this point, since it was evening and the sun wasn't a factor, my main concern was my back cramping, which was uncomfortable, but didn't directly affect my pace. Adding in running 1:00, then walking 1:00, improved my pace but not to the point where 41 laps was possible, though maybe 40 laps. Making some quick mental calculations, I figured I would have to step up the pace for two laps by 1:00 per mile and that would leave my hardly any leeway as well as still leave me short of 40 miles since the lap distance was .9913 miles. I was also concerned not only if I could pick up the pace that much, but would it worsen my back cramps. The potential gain just didn't seem to be worth the additional risk and a very large likelihood that I could make the 40th lap within the time limit.

I slowed to a leisurely last lap walking to finish with 39 laps, 38.6607 miles, and I believe a 5th place finish in the small field of about 20 males. Official results haven't been posted yet. It was a trifle disappointing, but satisfying that I was able to work through the minor difficulties and stay on the course to the end. I'm having second thoughts about running 50K for my next race and considering upgrading to 12-hours to go after 40+ miles in hopefully cooler weather next month. Two considerations are paramount, 1) no phone call from my cardiologist when the office reopens Tuesday after the holiday weekend, and 2) I recover reasonably quickly and can get in at least a couple long runs before tapering for the race on October 8th.