Going Long (again) in 2024

That Dam Hill - 24 Hour Timed Event

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Location:

Garson - Sudbury,ON,Canada

Member Since:

Apr 20, 2013

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

I ran my first marathon in 1998: "The Friendly Marathon" in Massey, Ontario.  I was 32. I had never raced in a shorter event, and I trained really poorly - ended up running it in 4:00:30.  After that, I gave up running for the most part for 6 years.  I got into karate a bit more seriously, until I got my knee kicked out and had ACL surgery.  Then I became a 'fair weather runner' and started to run half marathons every so often.  As a priest, entering weekend races always meant having to book a holiday, so it just didn't happen much.  My holidays were primarily focussed on various canoe and kayak trips.

At some point, I started training more consistently, and started to think of myself as a runner.  I guess doing that in your 40's is better than never doing it at all.  I even started to wonder if I had it in me to qualify for Boston.  Well, I did.  First time didn't count, I suppose, since I didn't make the "cut".  But the second time was a charm, and on my sixth Marathon, run in Chicago in 2015, I beat my BQ by almost 6 minutes.  And now, running a BQ is routine for me, not that I have any desire to run Boston again.

Through it all, I've made tons of mistakes - and have had lots of injuries to show for it.  Hopefully, now that I'm in my late 50's, I'm a bit wiser and can use that to my advantage to continue running for a very long time.

My PRs:

5k (12 run):      Guelph, ON.     October 10, 2016   (50 yrs.)   20:10

10k (10 run):    Collingwood      October 5, 2013  (47 yrs.)  43:37

Half Marathon  (25 run): Cleveland   May 18, 2014  (48 yrs)  1:33:08

Marathon (12 run):  Ste-Jerome, QC  October 3, 2021   (55 yrs.)  3:22:10

Ultras (5 run):   

Run for the Toad 50k Trail   September 30, 2017 (51 yrs.)  5:31:23

Niagara Falls 100k   June 17, 2018 (52 yrs.)  12:26:30

That Dam Hill 24 hours   September 15-16, 2018  Completed 100 Miles in 23:20:44

Sulphur Springs 50 mile Trail   May 25, 2019  10:37:27

Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail   September 7-8, 2019  26:46:27

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Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon.

Short-Term Running Goals:

After a broken right foot in 2022 in the later stages of a marathon training cycle, then adjusting to a 1/2" heal lift in my right shoe to compensate for a leg length discrepancy, and then a left plank plate rupture in the late summer of 2023, I had to decide:  go fast or go long.  I opted for long, for this year at least.

May 2024:  Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Trail (revisiting it after 5 years)

July 2024:  Limberlost 54KM Trail

September 2024:  Haliburton 100 Mile Trail (also revisiting it after 5 years).

Everything this year is really focussed on the Haliburton 100 as my key event.  After that, and depending on how things go, I'll reevaluate.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run until this old body of mine won't let me run any more.  I was inspired in the Spring of 2016, watching the start of the Ottawa Marathon.  Near the back of the pack was an 'old man', running with his walker.  I loved it!  I thought ... there's me in 20 years.  Maybe.  

Personal:

I am a Roman Catholic priest of 30 years, ministering in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.  I spent 8 years ministering in the small town of Wawa (where I helped establish the annual Blackfly Run) and 9 years in Sault Ste. Marie.  I have been in the Sudbury region now for 13 years.  Currently I Pastor 2 small Parishes:  St. John the Evangelist in Garson, and St. Bernardine of Siena in Skead, covering the area just Northeast of the city, surrounding the Sudbury Airport.

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to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 12.00 Month: 117.50 Year: 516.50
Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Lifetime Miles: 412.40
Brooks Cascadia 11 Lifetime Miles: 302.00
Salomon Speedcross 4 Lifetime Miles: 160.25
Brooks Launch 8 Lifetime Miles: 153.00
Asics Metaspeed Sky Lifetime Miles: 32.20
Brooks Ghost 13 Lifetime Miles: 358.50
Saucony Triumph 18 Lifetime Miles: 372.50
Ghost 13 Blue Sole Lifetime Miles: 363.00
Hoka Bondi Lifetime Miles: 362.00
Triumph 18 Treadmill Lifetime Miles: 120.50
Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill Lifetime Miles: 54.50
Race: That Dam Hill - 24 Hour Timed Event (100 Miles) 23:20:44, Place overall: 3, Place in age division: 3
Total Distance
100.34

An epic race for me - and my level of admiration for those who run Ultras in greater adversity (mountains/deserts/etc) has increased exponentially.

That Dam Hill combined 4 events on the same course:  my 24 hour timed event, a 12 hour timed event, a Marathon and a Half.  The 24 hour/Marathon/Half groups started at 8:15am Saturday.  We were supposed to start at 8am, but there was a technical delay (city didn't open up the bathrooms!).  The 12 hour group started at 8:15pm that night, so that they finished the same time as us in the 24 hour group - 8:15am Sunday.  

There were 25 of us in the 24 hour group, 29 Marathoners and 33 Halfers, so 87 of us started.  

There were 9 racers in the 12 hour group; by the time they started, the Marathoners and Halfers were done, of course.  And 6 of the 24 hour group had dropped out (or would drop out in a few more minutes), leaving 28 of us on the course at nightfall.

The course is a certified 1.4 mile loop around Springbank Park.  It's all paved.  It was not closed off to the public, and so there were a fair number of people walking/running/biking it during the day, and the odd person at night.  The first loop is abbreviated (we walked about a quarter mile up the route for the start line) in order to allow all the races to end at the correct distance at the finish line.

So, my personal goal being to reach 100 miles, I had to run 72 loops of the course.  There are really 2 hills on the course, each of which I walked from the beginning.  The first is only about 100 feet long.  The second was longer - maybe 600 feet, and rose about 53 feet.  It didn't seem like much at the beginning, but it sure hurt at the end.  The "Dam" is a water control system on the Thames River, which the route follows and from which the race gets its name.  The path drops down to the river, and then rises up again to the finish line.

The biggest 'ouch' factor of the race was the heat, hands down.  At start time, it was 18C/64F with 100% humidity.  As the day wore on, the temperature climbed to 29C/85F, while the humidity dropped into the 85% range.  At night, the temperatured dropped down to 19C/66F, and the humidity rose back to 100%, from 11pm until the race was finished.

I had my own aid station set up just past the finish line.  It worked well.  I used Tailwind the entire time, and nothing else.  I had one crew member who stayed there the entire time - taking only small naps along the way.  I had 3 handhelds, and all I had to do was swap them out every 2 or 3 laps.  My crew always had them filled for me.  I also used ice under my cap for the first 10 hours.  In a baggie, with a face cloth under it to prevent brain freeze.  The race also provided neat ice bandanas - little tubes they filled with ice which I wrapped around my neck.  So, the routine was to swap out the melted baggie of ice every second or third lap, and the same with the ice bandana.  That strategy made a huge difference in keeping me going.

I hit the 50 mile mark at 6pm, so 10 hours in.  I did a blister check after 6 hours and again after 12 hours, changing my socks both times.  After 12 hours, there were no blisters and no hot spots.  I changed my shoes also at the 12 hour mark, which may have been a mistake.  Shortly after, I felt pressure on the top of my right foot.  A few hours after that, I felt a hot spot under both my feet.  I ran through all that.

At Midnight, I was in some distress.  I had 15 laps to go in the next 8 hours.  By then, my legs were in agony.  I had felt my shins hurting through the early part of the evening, but now they felt like the bones were ready to break every time I landed.  That, I think, was the worst.  I mean, every body part from the waist down was hurting, but I could run through that.  The shins, however, were making me hobble.  

I did the math, and I figured if I power walked the next 8 hours, I could hit 100 miles, as long as I didn't stop.  My crew argued a bit with me re: that strategy, urging me instead to walk a couple of really slow laps, or take some time off to rest, and then go back to running.  I didn't like that, since I figured if the strategy didn't work, and I wasn't able to run again, I'd lose precious time and not be able to make it up.

So, walk I did for the rest of the night.  Turns out that power walking for 8 hours is worse than running - mentally, at least.  Time crawls.  I didn't like it a whole lot.  But I did it anyway.  I did try running a few times, and it was impossible.  It was a pain that I could not run through.

It got pretty lonely out there too.  It was nice to have the 12 hour runners.  2 dropped out pretty early, but 7 continued through the night.  By 1am, with 7 hours to go, there were 21 of us left on the course, so it frequently felt like I was alone in the dark.  I had heard about hallucinations, but it never got too bad.  I was seeing things that were not there - mostly people, but no pink elephants had a conversation with me.

I did meet some wonderful people and had some good conversations with them during the race.  There was a couple of ladies just at the bottom of the hill that set up a cheering station, and had a different sign for every lap.  I was disappointed that they were only there for their Marathon friend, and packed up and left when that race was done. 

At some point in the evening, when I was still running, the Race Director (who did an awesome job) told me I could win this thing.  There was a 50 inch television screen that put up each runner's numbers every time we crossed the mats at the finish line.  I wasn't paying much attention, because I was keeping track of where I was in my head.  But he made me look ... it showed that I was in second place, just one lap behind the leader.  Of course, the leader was a 24 year old who ran like a deer.  I told the Director that didn't interest me - that I was only running against myself.  Well, a few laps later, he got very animated and said 'there he is - he's resting - you can close in on him now'.  I told him I had no intention of racing the kid - that I would be happy to just hit my 100 miles.  I think he was disappointed in that, but I can understand how the Race Director would want to see a real competition for the win.  Turns out that kid ran 7 more laps than me (110 miles), and the second place runner clocked 106 miles (4 more laps than me).  As an afterthought, it would have been really nice to have been able to run to the end.  I had not envisioned having to walk the way I did.  However, my primary goal was 100 miles.  That, I accomplished.  

Before the race, I had told my crew that if there was time for another lap or two, even after I hit 100 miles, to force me to do it.  However, the 72nd lap was excruciating.  I forced myself to run over the finish line, although it was more of a shuffle, and even that took everything I had.  And I was done, even though the 54 minutes remaining gave me enough time to keep on going.  But my crew knew better - they could see that I was done.

I've left out a lot of the physical challenges my body threw at me in those 24 hours - mostly because they are disgusting and should not be written about.  One thing I can mention, however - and I only noticed this at the end - was that my fingers and hands swelled up so much that I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  Seriously - I coudn't even bend my fingers.  I read up on that later - found out it's caused by the heat.  That's when I discovered my feet were the same.  I think it explains the shoe change error.  My swelling feet likely formed themselves into the first pair of shoes.  But when I changed the shoes, the swelling parts fit differently, causing the pressure points.

Whatever the cause, I finished with quite a lot of blistering on my feet.  One toe nail came off right away.  Another will follow later, no doubt.  But by Monday, my muscles were fine, for the most part.  The only lingering issue - and it's 3 days since the race - is a very swollen right foot which is incredibly painful to walk on.  It was swollen at race end, but has doubled in size since then.  The pain is at the top - where it pressed up on the shoe.  Anyway, I've been icing it and am hopeful that it will return to normal soon.

So, just 3 of us hit the 100 mile mark.  2 got into the 90 miles, 1 into the 80 miles, 1 into the 70 miles, and all the rest 60 miles or less.  I'm very pleased with how my training cycle went, and with how I executed during the race.  I'm pretty sure that's it for me for Ultras, however.  I'm going to set my gaze back down to the Marathon distance.

Saucony ISO Triumph 3 Miles: 40.61Brooks Glycerin 13 Miles: 59.73
Weight: 0.00
Comments
From Tom K on Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 03:30:23 from 47.201.51.108

Wow! Epic indeed! Congratulations!

From jtshad on Mon, Sep 17, 2018 at 12:08:24 from 141.221.191.225

Great job, congrats on the finish and high placement! Nicely done conquering this goal!

From Little Bad Legs on Sat, Sep 22, 2018 at 18:51:32 from 71.63.172.208

Incredible! I enjoyed your report—thanks for the details. Congrats on meeting your goal!

From Tom K on Mon, Sep 24, 2018 at 18:16:47 from 47.201.51.108

I don't want to run 72 laps of anything, ever. That must have become seriously redundant. You have Remarkable will to keep going. I think a bigger deal should be made if this!

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