2018 Dawn to Dusk to Dawn 24-Hour Race Recap

Funny how you look forward to a race for many months, but in the blink of an eye, it’s over before you know it. Dawn to Dusk to Dawn (or D3 as it’s more commonly known) had been on my radar since September last year, with the race signup taking place just 4 days after a rare personal best at the NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run in Cleveland, OH. Nothing like a decent performance to boost your confidence, eh?

It’s no secret that most of this year I’ve been gearing up for D3. Sure, I wanted to do well at February’s Rocky Raccoon 100, and I didn’t take March’s Barry 40 or April’s Singletrack Maniac 50km lightly either, but D3 in May and the North Downs 100 in August were definitely my “focus” events for 2018.

Aside from a slight hamstring niggle early in the year, training had gone really well with no real issues to stress about – just the expected tiredness that kicks in with lots of training miles and a decently busy schedule. Heading into the race I was shooting for a new 24-Hour PR (upwards of 140.47 miles), with a super-ambitious stretch goal of hitting the Team GB qualifying standard of 240 km/149.129 miles. It’s been a dream for several years to achieve the standard, although I realize with the slew of quality 24-Hour runners in Great Britain at the moment, chances of actually making the team are slim to none. I’m perfectly okay with that – I’d just love to somehow achieve the standard. Might as well aim high, right?

A few days before the race I mapped out a bit of plan with the aim of covering 10km per hour in each of the 24 hours for a total of 240 km. Sounds pretty straightforward on paper doesn’t it? The plan would have me running for 54 minutes (6 miles) before taking a 4 minute walk break (0.25 miles) where I could stretch out the legs and take on board my premixed bottles of Tailwind Nutrition.

The plan worked quite well for the first 8 hours with just over 52 miles (2 miles ahead of schedule). For the most part everything felt good, although I do remember a few laps early on where “the pace felt harder than it should have”. Tailwind and water were going down well, with some extra calories coming from chocolate crepes and Starbucks Doubleshots. The 9th hour was more of a struggle (bit concerning when there’s still 15+ hours to go) and for the first time in the race I didn’t run my planned 6.25 miles in the hour. Coincidentally, the weather had taken a bit of turn by this point, with both the temperature and humidity rising sharply. Things continued to go south in the 10th hour, so I made the decision to hit the massage table for a much needed boost – (a) to reset the mind and (b) to hopefully eradicate some of the leg fatigue that had quickly set in.

The massage (and popsicle!) helped a bit, but I found it quite difficult to get back to my early 10 km/hour pace. Hour 11 was slightly better, but the just under 6 miles in Hour 12 was a real struggle. To be honest, the main thing that was keeping me going was the exciting battle that had developed for the first 3 places in the race. During the day I’d steadily moved up from about 8 or 9th early on, to taking the joint lead after 12 hours (75.31 miles).

You’d think I’d be motivated to keep pushing, but deep down I already knew my race was pretty much done. Physically I was shot – legs were like lead and I was struggling to take in any calories. It’s almost impossible to keep running when there’s no fuel in the tank. Mentally I was frustrated that nothing seemed to be working, and without much of a fight, allowed eventual race winner Padraig to quickly extend his lead.

Surprisingly, as the weather turned nasty around 7:30pm with the predicted storms rolling in, I started feeling half decent again. It was really quite comical to witness everyone running laps around a high school track with the rain lashing down and lightning flashing all around. The crazy weather probably allowed my mind to focus on something else for a while, but by this point I’d slipped into a lazy run 300m/walk 100m routine and still wasn’t taking in [m]any calories. Folks were dropping from the race routinely now, and looking back, I think when Josh Finger said he’d be dropping at 100 miles, that planted the seed for me to quit early too.

My pre-race lofty goals were now just random numbers that would be impossible to hit, and my race had reached the point of “What’s the point in keeping on going?”. To be fair, Padraig tried to talk me around, as did Ally, who was doing her best to crew me despite the awful conditions, but my mind was made up and I decided to call it a day once I reached 100 miles. I knew I could have continued my run/walk routine until 7am, but how much suffering did I want to endure *just* to get to 120+ miles.

And… that pretty much sums up why I’m so disappointed in myself – a few years ago I would have battled to the end to run 120+ miles in a 24-Hour event. I would have gutted it out like my life depended on it. Been there. Done that. Many times. I’m annoyed at myself because somewhere in the all goal setting, planning and race execution I’d lost sight of the true meaning of the event – it’s not called the Dawn to Dusk to Dawn 24-Hour Track Ultra for nothing. You keep on running, walking, crawling until the 24 hours is up. You keep on fighting for every single lap. Sure, there are hurdles to overcome, but you work through them and grind it out. I did none of those things last weekend, and that’s kind of difficult to accept.

Early on in the race Padraig and I joked about runners always looking for the miracle food, miracle drink or miracle shoe. We both agreed there are no miracles in ultrarunning – it all comes down to putting in the miles, working hard and giving it your best. I’m disappointed that several hours after our chat, I found myself looking for a miracle at D3, when all I had to do was keep on running and keep on fighting. I’m really proud of Padraig. Right from the start of the race, he had the look of a winner. He ran his own race, wasn’t phased by anything and totally deserved the win. Next time I will be more like Padraig – aside from the Irish accent of course.

Silver Linings?

Well, you don’t run for over 17 hours without learning a few things.

1. Both the Topo Athletic Ultrafly 2 and Injinji Ultra Socks were amazing – no hot spots or blisters despite the monsoon conditions at night.
2. Squirrel’s Nut Butter is the best anti-chafe product on the market – zero chafing despite the humidity and buckets of rain.
3. Calories In = Energy Out – I let myself slide into a calorie deficit that was difficult to get out of. Still need to work on nutrition/fueling.
4. I guess 100 miles in 17:16:10 isn’t too shabby.
5. Okay, I already knew this, but the D3 Family is truly awesome – World Class event put on by 2 of the most energetic and passionate Race Directors out there, timed to perfection by the super-professional Mike Melton, and with a group of runners that are more like family than friends. Highly recommended!
6. I never run in lightning storms, but it’s surprising what you’ll put up with during a race.
7. A 24-Hour race is just that – a race that lasts 24 hours. Might as well get your money’s worth, right?
8. It’s fine to set goals, but it’s important to be flexible and adaptable when the goal slips out of reach. Unless something’s broken, don’t quit.

Where to now? (in my best Welsh accent)

Well, despite thinking about retiring from the sport of Ultrarunning during Saturday’s race, I’m already signed up for Centurion Running’s North Downs Way 100 in August. I guess I need to regroup and get my act together pretty soon so I can put in a decent couple of months of training. I’m not looking for any kind of redemption, but am keen to go back to basics and “be my best”, whatever that may be on the day. At D3 this year, I definitely wasn’t my best.

Thanks for all the support. Happy miles!