2018 Races Recap

Quick summary of the 17 races I took part in this year, ranging from the 5K right up to 100 miles. I did enter a couple of 24-Hour events, but on both occasions stopped early at just past the 100 mile mark.

January

Distance Series 15 Miler

1/27/18 – 1:43:22

Ran this as a workout with Andrew and Chuck. Can’t quite remember what the workout entailed, but it was definitely a fun way to get 15 decent miles in.

February

Rocky Raccoon 100

2/3/18 – 17:13:10 (2nd Place Male)

Can’t beat a bit of drama at the races. Despite some crazy Texas weather, I ran my heart out for 100 miles, steadily worked my way through the field and somehow found myself heading out on the last loop as 2nd place Male. Without behind caught or passed, I slogged through the muddy trails and a few hours later crossed the finish line as…. the 3rd place Male. Wait a minute! How can that be? Well, after a bit of an investigation it was deemed that the “2nd place runner”, Patrick Wills, had somehow missed several of the mandatory check-ins and was subsequently DQ’d. I still can’t my head around the fact that someone would cheat in a race, but it is what it is, and I’m glad he was found out. As for my race, I’m stoked with the result, which probably ranks right up there as one of my gutsiest ultramarathon performances.

Distance Series 20 Miler

2/24/18 – 2:12:04

Solid training run for the upcoming Barry 40. Felt decent through about 16 miles, but the last 3 or 4 were tough going.

March

One City Marathon Relay

3/4/18 – 1:28:43 (1st Place 2-Person Male Team)

Teamed up with good friend and running partner, Howie Hodapp, to take on the One City Marathon Relay. I think my leg was about 14 miles. Despite hardly any speed training, really happy with the overall pace and even more chuffed to pick up the 1st place award in the 2-Person Male category.

Barry 40

3/11/18 – 4:57:46 (3rd Place Overall)

A fun event in Wales. Check the full race report from the Barry 40 here.

April

Singletrack Maniac 50K

4/14/18 – 4:26:19 (1st Place Overall)

Really enjoyed this event in 2017, so decided to head back to Freedom Park to have another go. The Singletrack 50K course is deceptively tough and with the expected humid race-day conditions, it proved to be a real character builder.

May

Dawn to Dusk to Dawn (D3) 24-Hour

5/12/18 – 100.165

Not exactly the race I hoped and trained for. Read all about it here.

Elizabeth River Run 10K

5/25/18 – 38:41 (1st Place 50-54)

Always a fun event, and a good chance to meet up with many of the local runners. It’s always a tough event as well – too much Ultra training and not much speed work makes for just over 6 miles of pain and suffering. Who said short races are easy?

June

OSS/CIA 50 Miler

6/9/18 – 9:42:39 (1st Place Masters/5th Overall)

Wow, this was a tough race in more ways than one. After some crazy weather at Rocky Raccoon 100 in February and then D3 in May, surely we were destined for some decent weather for this night time 50 Miler at Prince William Forest Park. Nope. After setting off in daylight on the first of 2 x 25 mile loops, everything appeared to be fine. However, day soon turned to night bringing a huge thunder/lightning storm and heavy rain. Trails quickly transformed into streams and it was a challenge to stay upright, let alone move forward with any purpose.

After experiencing a DNF at this event several years ago, there was no question of not heading out on the 2nd loop. Thankfully the worst of the weather had passed, but it was still one of the hardest, loneliest 25 miles of my life. Aside from the awesome volunteers at the aid stations I didn’t see another person/runner for the remaining 5 hours – 4th place was about 40 minutes ahead, with 6th place about 40 minutes behind. Crazy.

I finally crossed the finish line in 9 hours 42 minutes (my slowest 50?), soaked to the skin and pretty exhausted from the effort – a great experience though, and no doubt a good mental test for the upcoming North Downs Way 100.

July

Tropical Smoothie 5K

7/1/18 – 19:18 (2nd Place Overall)

Just a fun, local 5K where runners had to consume a smoothie at the halfway mark, then run as fast as possible to the finish. Not exactly speedy, but nice to stretch the legs and win 10 free smoothies for my troubles!

YMCA Independence Day 5K

7/4/18 – 18:26 (2nd Place Masters)

Another chance to stretch the legs and do something a bit different than long, slow running in preparation for the upcoming North Downs Way 100. Was hoping to get closer to 18 minutes, but can’t complain considering the lack of speed in my legs.

August

North Downs Way 100

8/4/18 – 18:52:59 (3rd Place Overall)

My “A” race for the year – a challenging 100 miler in the UK, just a couple of months before my 52nd birthday. If someone had told me when I started running 36 years earlier that one day I’d be racing over 100 miles across south east England I would have said they were crazy, but somehow, I found myself on the start line in Farnham with Ashford as the destination some 103 miles in the distance.

Training had gone pretty well and I felt ready, both mentally and physically. The weather was forecast to be warm (allegedly some of the highest temperatures ever at a Centurion Running event), but having trained in hot/humid Virginia that would hopefully play to my strengths. I set off in typical fashion – steady, controlled miles, enjoying the camaraderie and beautiful scenery. The course was more challenging than I expected, but so far so good. I was lucky enough to share many of the early miles with James Williams – a speedy 2:30 marathoner and recent winner of the Serpent Trail 100km – who was running his first 100 miler.

Up ahead, the lead apparently changed hands many times, with the heat taking its toll and a few runners experiencing stomach issues. I stuck to my plan – hiking the uphills, steady nutrition, plenty of fluids and cool water in the hat whenever possible. The pace was probably a little quick, but that’s fairly typical for my 100 milers. Deal with the pain when it hits.

At Knockholt Pound (50 miles) I found myself in 6th position, 5 minutes behind James, 8 minutes ahead of 7th place, and still feeling surprisingly strong.  Spurred on by seeing family along the course, I [foolishly] started picking up the pace, and by mile 82 had moved ahead of James by a couple of minutes and into 3rd place – just 20 minutes behind 2nd, and 25 minutes behind the leader. With just over 20 miles to go, perhaps there was a chance, just a slight chance, I could catch the top 2 guys…

Just a few miles later any hopes of a miracle victory went out the window. Comically, I was briefly held up by a herd of cows in a field. I just couldn’t get past them, and as one gave chase, I turned awkwardly and cramped up.  James soon caught me and we decided to climb a fence and detour slightly into another field away from the cows. Climbing the fence, I frustratingly cramped again and was forced to stretch it out as James sped off into the distance.

By the time I reached Lenham (91 miles) I’d lost 13 minutes to James and likely a lot more time to the 2 leaders. Thoughts turned to “just getting it done” and hanging in there for the remaining 12 miles. 4th place wouldn’t be too shabby if I could just hold on. The next 8 or 9 miles were a mix of walk/run/walk/run. Darkness had fallen and I was looking forward to reaching Ashford and the finish at the Julie Rose Stadium.

Eventually it was time to turn off the North Downs Way and head through Ashford for the final couple of miles. I briefly glanced back and was greeted by the sight of a headlamp not too far behind. Spectator? Volunteer? Runner? Ugh. Probably a runner. Somehow I managed to find another gear and picked up the pace. Everything hurt, but I didn’t want to be caught at this stage in the race. My headlamp blinked 3 times. Low battery. Just what I needed, but up ahead I spotted a red, flashing light – surely that wasn’t James? Head down, scared to look back, I pressed on, desperate to hear something from the stadium. Finally, there it was – the entrance to the Julie Rose Stadium and the end of the race. Still scared of being caught, I ran as fast as possible around the track and crossed the line in just under 18 hours 53 minutes, happy with the effort and stoked with the 4th place finish.

My brother Gary was there to witness the finish and as he congratulated me I turned back to see 2 runners on the track! Literally seconds behind was James, who amazingly had taken a wrong turn in the closing miles, and just a few hundred feet behind him was Peter Windross who had closed really strongly and was the headlamp I’d spotted just a few miles back. What an amazing finish, and according to Centurion Running, “the closest podium we’ve ever seen.”

“The battle for third was perhaps the highlight of the day, with James Williams, Steve Speirs and Peter Windross all within a few minutes of each other at the turn off of the NDW with 5km to go. On the very gradual incredibly kind tarmac descent to the stadium it was anyones, but Steve made it in first with 18:52:59, James’ 18:53:38 just 39 seconds back and Peter 18:54:33 within a minute of that. The closest podium finish we’ve ever seen.”

September

NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run

9/22/18 – 100.531

Bit of a last minute sign-up for this race too. Coming just 7 weeks after the North Downs Way 100, I didn’t want to commit early in case the legs and mind weren’t up to racing another Ultra event. However, after the slightly disappointing performance at D3 in May, it was always in the back of my mind to have another go at a 24-hour race with perhaps an outside chance of besting my PB of 140 miles set at NorthCoast in 2017. Of course, the super-stretch (and probably impossible) goal was to run at least 240km/149.19 miles which is the current minimum qualifying standard for the GB 24-Hour Team. Don’t get me wrong, with the current crop of talented ultra runners in the UK, I am well aware that 240km would put me way down the pecking order for selection, but it’s been a dream of mine for some time to *just* achieve the standard and be able to say I was good enough.

Anyway, a blustery race day soon arrived and it was great to connect with some good friends in the hour leading up to the off. Gear set up wasn’t the greatest, however, with my tent blowing inside out and rendering itself useless for the rest of the day. I ended up setting up camp on a lone picnic bench and crossed my fingers that (a) nobody would steal my supplies and (b) it wouldn’t rain for the next 24 hours.

My first mistake was running with D3’s winner, Padraig Mullins – a super nice guy with a great sense of humour who just happens to be one of the gutsiest, most determined runners around. Padraig was obviously “going for it” today, as his pace was relentless and I found myself working harder than necessary just to keep up with him. I backed off and settled in to an okay rhythm, but on reflection, I think the damage had already been done. I spent the next few hours regrouping and working my way through the pack, surprisingly catching ultra legend Joe Fejes to briefly move into 3rd place behind Olivier Leblond and Padraig.

At 12 hours I stopped for a 10 minute massage to work out some kinks in the lower back/left glute. Starting up again was slow and painful and to be honest I never regained my rhythm from earlier in the race. I plodded on for another 5 hours, and despite great support and camaraderie from Oliver and Padraig, I decided to call it a day at just over 100 miles in 17 hour 19 minutes. Sadly, the appeal of a hot shower, food and sleep was more appealing than plodding on for another 7 hours when my [lofty] goals started slipping away.

Disappointing? Yes. The old me probably would have gutted it out for the duration and been happy with logging as many miles as possible on the day. Frustratingly, the 2018 me (at least in the 2 x 24-hour events I entered), seems to be content with calling it a day when the going gets tough and any meaningful goal is out of reach. Definitely something to work on for 2019, and maybe I should forget about that goal/dream of meeting the GB Team standard? It’s probably out of my league anyway, and the extra pressure of trying to achieve it might be getting in the way of the old run-as-many-miles-as-you-can-and-be-happy-with-it mentality. Still, 100 miles in just over 17 hours isn’t too shabby, so it’s not all doom and gloom I guess.

October

Marine Corps Marathon

10/28/18 – 2:59:30 (5th Place 50-54)

After my early finish at the NorthCoast 24-Hour, I left myself 5 weeks to prepare for my 6th Marine Corps Marathon. Just 5 double digit runs, a long run of 17 miles and some left groin issues wasn’t the perfect build-up, but somehow I managed to string some decent miles together and scrape through another sub-3:00 marathon to keep the annual streak going. That’s at least one sub-3:00 marathon each year since 2004. Not bad, but I think in 2019 I’ll target an earlier-in-the-year marathon to ease the self-inflicted pressure of trying to go sub-3:00.

November

Yorktown Battlefield 10 Miler

11/3/18 – 1:02:38 (1st Place Masters)

Legs felt half-decent after Marine Corps, so decided to jump in at the last minute and stretch the legs on a rare 10 mile outing. If nothing else, I figured the speedier pace would help with the Cayman Marathon build-up.

December

Cayman Islands Marathon

12/2/18 – 3:09:11 (2nd Place Overall)

The Cayman Islands Marathon is never an “easy” race, but this year proved to be the toughest marathon for quite some time. I felt pretty confident heading into the race – legs were good, no issues to speak of and with a crazy-fast Polish guy in the field, it was more about running my own race and enjoying myself, than attempting another marathon victory. The first half went well, very well in fact. I crossed the start/finish line feeling good in 3rd position, with just over 1 hour 29 minutes on the clock. However, any thoughts of another sub-3:00 marathon finish soon disappeared as I hit the wall a mile later with 12 miles still left to run. I guess my downfall was the combination of the intense humidity and slightly ambitious early pace, and can’t recall having to walk so many times in the second half of a marathon. Somehow I managed to hang on for 2nd place in just over 3 hours 9 minutes, but it wasn’t pretty and definitely wasn’t “enjoyable”. 10th consecutive Cayman Marathon in the bag though!

Seashore Nature Trail 50K

12/15/18 – 4:00:30 (3rd Place Overall)

With the 10th consecutive Cayman Islands Marathon out of the way, it was soon time to tackle my 10th consecutive Seashore Nature Trail 50K – a crazy double-race-in-December streak stretching back to 2009. Thankfully the slower than expected Cayman Marathon “saved my legs” as I experienced very little post-race soreness. However, just a few days after returning from Cayman I bizarrely twisted my knee at a restaurant and was only able to log a few weekend miles before the knee locked up completely. 5 days of rest and a visit with the local chiropractor helped somewhat, but as race morning rolled around, the knee was still sore and confidence pretty low. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the potential 10 year streak (only 6 runners had completed all nine events to date), I probably would have chosen to spend the weekend resting instead of taking my place on the start line. Long story short, I managed to hobble through the 50K and finish in 3rd place to keep the streak going…. but at what cost? It’s now 2 weeks post-race, and the knee still hasn’t fully recovered. Not exactly the perfect end to 2018, but I’m trying to be patient and taking things one day at a time.

My Year on Strava

So, I’m closing out 2018 with 17 races and about 3,100 miles; not a bad year I guess. 2 podium finishes in 100 mile events is pretty special – something I never dreamed I was capable of if I’m honest. Another podium finish at the Cayman Islands Marathon and Seashore Nature Trail 50K is also rather nice, especially as they were both sub-par performances by my self-imposed high standards. Maintaining the sub-3:00 streak for another year was a nice bonus, and I’m hopeful I can do it again next year at the One City Marathon in March. If there’s any disappointment, it comes from ending the year with an injury (even if it wasn’t initially a running-related issue), and the 2 x 24-hour events where I threw in the towel and settled for finishing early at 100 miles. Always something to improve upon, right?

Here’s to a healthy 2019, with more races, lofty goals and hopefully lots of fun training miles with friends.