BURNING RIVER 100 Race Report

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.

What a delight to see Crystal!

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.

View of the Cuyohoga River at mile 97.

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.

Long Slow Run by HiHo Brewing.

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

GOOD RUNNING is what I Say

"Good luck" is what we traditionally say to runners before a big race. It's nice. It's fine.

But I think we should come up with something better. Something that expresses the same sentiment of have fun and do well, but carries a little more personal agency and a lot more fighting spirit.

The tagline for Team Sparkle Productions is "It's not luck, we train for this." I love that mindset. One option could be a variation of that, "You trained for this. Go get it!"

I also like what my friend Gary Henry says, "Good luck at your race tomorrow (I know you won't need it, but better to have it)." That's fun and when said with Gary's sly comedic tone, it's sure to bring a comforting smile to even the most nervous of runners.

Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica gave me the gusto I was looking for when she chastised Lee after he told pilots to be careful. "Our job isn't to be careful, it's to shoot Cylons out of the frakking sky. Good hunting is what you say."

That's when "Good running" was born. It's tight. It's strong. It's empowering. It's my favorite.

Good running GIF you can share with your friends.

Last Runner Standing Experiment

I've been fascinated by the Last Runner Standing race concept. It's so different from a normal race format.

1. Only one person finishes the race. Everyone else is a DNF.
2. The clock restarts every hour on the hour.
3. The slower you run, the less time you have before the next lap starts.
4. Consistency is the key.

The goal was to experience this format to see how long I could maintain a reasonable enough pace to provide myself with the right level of needed aid station time. And get in some nighttime running.

With the help of Leia and Coleen, we devised a mock version of the race to test drive. I converted my garage into an over-stocked aid station, and my son Jack was an amazing crew chief, who had supplies waiting for me with every stop. I created a flat, simple 4.16 mile out and back route and on Friday, May 8, 2020, I started the clock.

During the early laps, I couldn't believe how much time I had between laps. It gave me a fantastic appreciation for how much aid station work can be down in a short amount of time. The tough part then was waiting for the hour to arrive. I found myself sitting, or laying on the ground with my feet in the air. Chilling.

I didn't think it at the time, but looking back at my pace for each lap, I started too fast. I was relatively consistent for laps 2-4, but then I began a steady decline in pace. That happens to me in most marathons and ultras right around mile 20. Clearly, something I need to work on.

Lap 7 is when the wheels started to come off. My pace dropped by 1:52, costing me over 7 minutes of recovery time at the aid station. I did not think I was going to make the cutoff for lap 8. I had lost most of my "run" and seriously had to go to the bathroom. When I came in for the final curly Q lap around the block, my very special lady friend was standing at the corner. She cheered me on and gave me some energy to push it. I made the cutoff, shot to the bathroom, achieved my FKT for pooping, and set out for lap 9. I might of stretched my coral time by 15-20 seconds.

In this event, once you get behind, the only way to catch up is to speed up, and I was having a tough time maintaining my current speed. I've had ultras where I have taken 45 minutes to recharge, fix issues, and get back on track. With this event, that's not an option.

Areas of growth identified:

1. Endurance in maintaining a steady pace past 20 miles.
2. Rapid problem solving.

I did anticipate energy and nutrition needs and managed to stay on top of that. And I knocked down 36 miles on a Friday evening.