I've been inspired by many old school 100-miler runners who complete their races with no crew or pacers. I’ve run all my 100s with crew and pacers. I treat these races as a team sport. After filming Ozark Trail 100 last fall, I witnessed enough runners finish the race screwed (vs crewed), that I thought it was time to level up and complete a 100 on my own.

In May when I was selecting my next 100 miler, I wanted a Western States qualifier, and out of the 189 qualifying races, there were only two that were still open and worked for my schedule - Burning River and Grindstone. I had crewed and paced Gerry at Burning River, it was drivable, and worked better timing wise, so that’s what I picked.

I reserved a tiny living space four blocks from the start line. I arrived in Cuyohoga Falls, OH around 3:30 pm on Friday, hit the expo to grab my bib and race SWAG, looked at merchandise, chatted with other runners and attended the 5 pm race briefing.

Race SWAG was backpack, sticker, and a poster.

Then I strolled back to my tiny room for some rice and beans and early to bed to be fresh and awake for the 4 am start. I woke at 2:30, suited up, had some oatmeal and coffee, and walked down to the starting line. Most of the runners stayed at the Sheraton near the start.

THE RACE

Miles 0-23 > unexpected rain for 4 hours. It started nice and gentle and most of us thought this would be delightful if it lasted all day. Then it started raining harder and created sloshy, slick trails. I felt strong and moved well. I started with a handheld and waist belt, and I switched to my hydration pack at Oakhill (mile 23).

via GIPHY

23-35 > lots of flat towpath, fell in with a fun group and had a great pace - fastest of the race.
35-50 > lost my run. A lot of paved in this section. Calves tightened up on me and felt some hot spots on my feet. Kept pushing myself to run, but wasn’t happening. Worked these problems well at Silver Springs (turnaround). Borrowed a Thera gun for my calves. Cleaned my feet and put on some fresh pre-powdered socks. One hot spot that I thought was a blister turned out to be bruised and swollen. Didn’t see that when I was changing socks, only at the end of the race.
50-65 > turning around and heading back, I instantly felt better. Glad I invested the time to address my calves and feet. I was moving well again.
65-73 > second wind. Muddy fields and flat towpaths. I had my headphones and started with my warm hug playlist. That got my mind right. Feeling strong and confident.
73-77 > thunderstorm rolled in. My mind was not right. I had flashbacks to Freestate 100k where I DNFed with 2 miles to go because of the bad storm. I also got focused on the wet slippery trails ahead that were only going to be worse than they were earlier. Plus, it was dark and the rain in the headlamp made it tough to see. My demons started making some pretty strong costs vs rewards arguments. My very special lady friend saved me from self destruction. This text from her got my mind right: “Future Todd wants you to keep going. Slow and steady; take lots of breaks; you have a lot of time.” I took a nap under a picnic table to reset my mind and wait out the storm. That worked, but in hindsight it would have been better to just get going. Although, looking at the data, it only cost me 40 minutes and 8 spots in the ranking.

77-90 > muddy trails were worse than I expected. Some runners were in road shoes. They really struggled. Not much running, just a lot of moving forward without falling. I was able to laugh at my complaining, and tried to make a game of staying upright - which I managed to do.
90-100 > smelling the barn. Sun was up. I started doing some math and beating myself up. Dude, you’re cutting it close. That nap costs you some time. I challenged myself to push it and get it done in under 29 hours. That required running through some pain and up some hills, but I did it! 28:58! I had a pleasant surprise at the finish. My friend Crystal was there crewing another friend. She gave me a high five as I approached the finish line and a hug afterwards.

MY HITS

NUTRITION - lots of gels, a few smoothies and Belvita breakfast biscuits. Aid station food was not too appealing. Stuck with fruit and chips during first half, ramen and broth second half. Had some bacon at mile 77 after my rain storm nap, and immediately puked. When I felt low on energy, I took some caffeine and/or had a gel. Fruit snacks and instant coffee worked well at the end.
DROP BAGS - for the most part, I had what I needed where I needed it. Lacked rain gear. Adding space blankets to standard drop bag kit. Rain jacket at Oakhill (mile 77) would have made a big difference.
BELT PACK TRADE OFF - starting and ending with the belt instead of the pack was nice. I might be on the path to becoming an old guy with a Fanny pack.
UPHILLS - I can climb! I passed many runners with just my regular uphill power hike.
SPORT SHEILD - only lube I used and I was dripping wet for most of the 29 hours. No raw spots to report.
FINISH - at mile 87 I was in 136th place, and I finished 114th. I moved up 22 spots in the last half marathon.

MY MISSES

Rain prep.
Speed of getting in an out of aid stations with my drop bags.
Filming more aid stations and the flat bike path out to Silver Springs.

RACE PROS

Communication was excellent. Clear, concise, and timely.
Volunteers were wonderful. Many appeared to have running experience and all were extremely helpful and eager to serve. Thanks!
Course had lots of variety and some good challenges. Beautiful sections and steep hills. Flat runnable sections.
Bib size was perfect, nice and small.
Affiliation with HiHo Brewing. They brew a special beer for the race.

RACE CONS

Food at the aid stations did not have enough variety. Too many cookies and sweets, not enough substance. Would have liked to see turkey or ham sandwiches, pancakes, quesadillas, pizza.
Buckle prong on the back is too small to keep the belt buckled.

The Burning River buckle prong (right) is too small and straight to hold the belt buckled.

FUN FACT: I finished second out of four Todds in the race.

GEAR LIST

Altra
- Olympus Trail Shoes
- Gaiters
Injini Socks
2Toms
- Blistershield
- Sports Shield
PATH Projects
- Tahoe CL 8” Base Liner
- Graves PX 7” Shorts
- Simple Mtn Topo SS T Shirt
- Badlands Cap
Orange Mud
- Running Water Hand Held
- Endurance Pack
Nathan
- Waist Belt
- Ice Bandana
Petzl
- Actik
- Actik Core