My 2014 Mountain Lakes 100 race report! Fellow ultra runner Steve Ross wanted me to answer a few questions for a short video he was doing. One of the questions was Why 100 miles? I had never thought of that answer. My answer was Because 100 is that magical number to finish. And finished with Even though there are friends racing, pacers, crew and aid stations...I am the one who has to finish a 100. After this years race, I would change that a little. I would say I am the only one who has to finish a 100. But finishing a 100 in a way that you did not even dream about, THAT takes everyone! I learned 2 things in this race:1. Emotion will push you to do things you DID NOT think were in yourself. 2. Im not very competitive. But when I do become competitive, I can get lowdown and downright nasty. That monster comes out late in the race! If you didnt know already, this was my last 100. That said, I was not going to make this a farewell 100. My main goal was to get a finish and the buckle I couldnt get last year. I figured that I had a ton of friends at this race. The best way to run this race would be to thank them along the way for all they had done for getting me to this day. That is exactly what I planned to do. This race was going to be an emotional bomb for me, but I had to deal with it . START/OLLALIE LOOP 26.05 miles: I started again with my Sole Sister, Megan Bruce. We chatted about how there was no puddles to run through and how awesome it was this year. For some reason I took off from Megan. I think staying with her would have been to emotional. We have run a lot of miles over the years. I like the Ollalie loop. It has a great warm-up feel. Downhills, up hills, flats, some tough terrain. It gets all the muscles working. I felt good early and got to my crew at AS 2. D.g. Graham, part of my crew was there. He is not much of a runner (Im working on that), I think he likes to watch me suffer! I came in there grumpy and yelled at them. I think its just a ritual I have. Because I loved them after that for crewing my stubborn ass! I got near AS 3 going into a hole, I had no energy. As I was on the trail to the AS, I saw Gordon Freeman coming out. Now if you dont know Gordo, he is a smiling, energetic juggernaut! We exchanged words and a high five. This was just the little boost I needed. I ate some calories at the AS and headed out in better spirits. Saw Sole Sister Megan coming in and all started to get better. Ran the last section with new friend Jason Fedchak into Ollalie. His conversation took the worry out of my mind. Thanks!Everything is coming back to stubborn Moe! OLALLIE TO CLACKAMAS RANGER STATION 26.05-54.65 miles: I knew this section would be good and bad for me. The good part is that I know most of it. The bad part is that I will start seeing folks I know at the aid stations, here comes the emotions! When I got down the line, I kept seeing more friends and it became apparent to me that this was going to be tougher than I thought. I Started telling them (and subsequently at every other aid station) of my situation. I said Hey guys., this is my last 100 and that I thank you for being here on this day.I dont know if they noticed, and I hope they didnt, but I honestly broke down every time I had to say that. They are my running family, I owed it to them. Race still going good into Clackamas Ranger station. CLACKAMAS RANGER STATION/TIMOTHY LOOP, mile 54.65-70.95: I come into this AS, pumped! I know I will pick up my pacer, The Superfreak Jennifer Love! We had a plan for this race. She was supposed to ask me what level I was at when I came in. 1 being awesome, nothing wrong. 3 being all hell is breaking loose and nothing is going right. So she asks me what level and I show her with my fingers, 1.5! ( make a peace sign and bring your index finger halfway down). We had a good laugh at that one. It was at this point that I also told her I got the buckle, just keep me upright, J! I was that confident. The Timothy loop is relatively flat. That is my wheelhouse. We rolled into Little Crater Lake AS as Gordo was coming out. He was smiling as always and once again I got a boost from him. In and out of the AS and back to churning dirt around the lake to the dam AS and closer to the finish. Just before the dam, Superfreak and I caught up to Gordo and his pacer. This kind of worried me a little. If you dont know me, I care more about others on the course more than I do myself. Finishing time be damned! He said he was just in a little funk and he would be fine. I tried to help him like he helped me earlier in the day. I told him Gordo, for all intents and purposes, we got this race finished. We could walk in from here and get that buckle. And I knew if it came down to it, he would, just like me if push came to shove. We got to the dam aid station, and it was a party. My race was still going awesome. So awesome, that they had beer at this AS and I DID NOT drink any! Nuts,huh? It was also at this AS that I saw my friend Brian Janecek. He said something like Moe, you are killing it. I have never seen you run like this. I think my response was Brian, I dont really know what the hell is going on. Im just gonna keep running! Jen and I churn dirt out of that aid station and roll back to Clackamas AS (2nd time) CLACKAMAS AS (2nd time) TO FINISH. THE RETURN OF PAUL? MOE GETS NASTY! mile 70.95-finish: I had been checking my splits from last year. Into the Timothy Lake loop I was keeping it between 10-15 mins ahead of last years pace. Happy with that. By the time Superfreak got me around the lake and back to Clackamas AS, we were almost 40 mins. ahead of last years time! Have I told you how much this lady was awesome? It was at this AS that I informed my crew about my last 100 and thanked them for putting up with my shit! Enough of that, lets get churning! As we headed to Red Wolf AS, it was kind of weird. Its got uphill, but I was still power hiking like a madman. The problem was the AS itself. That is where I was stopped in the race last year. We rolled in and a weight lifted off my mind (that vision I have of the scene in that tent from last year I will never forget). I got into the tent and yelled If anyone of you tell me that this race is cancelled, I am going to beat you all up! And I meant it! But all was good when they said they had quesadillas. I was in heaven! Jen and I grubbed and we were out of there heading to Warm Springs churning dirt on a tough section.......and Paul came back into the picture! Now Paul (sorry Paul, if you see the rest of this report) and I had been playing leapfrog all day. I got him on the uphill, he would smack me on the downhills. But we would not see him for hours at a time. Superfreak and I had not seen Paul since Timothy loop. As I get near the bottom at Warm Springs river, he blows by me. Jen, even asks me Where did he come from? I said Superfreak, dont worry about him. If he is having a better day than me, he earned it! Inside I was a little pissed. But I let go of it, I was still having a great race. As we headed up a very tough hill I was still power hiking like a beast. It was at this point that I think I was actually at a point in a race that I had never been before. I went silent for a while. This is usually called going dark on your pacer. It is not a good thing. But I think Jen knew where I was at. She gave me a courtesy question What are you thinking about? My response was My family. And also the fact that I dont really know what the hell is going on at this moment. I have never been here. Im not going dark on you. Im just in the moment! It was at this point I finally started to look at my watch and figure finishing times. Saw friends at Warm Springs and got the hell out. On the way to Pinheads. This section I do not remember very well. Its uphill, but it think I was getting tired and the Achilles were starting to protest. I think this is where I had a verbal hallucination. Out of the blue I started rattling off the opening of the Pet Shop Boys song, West End Girls: Sometimes your better off dead, theres a gun in your hand, and its pointed at your head. You think youre mad, youre to unstable....... Hey, I was tired, damnit!!! Got into Pinheads, were outta here. From Pinheads, its 9 miles to the last AS, this section beats everyone. Superfreak and I got on our way, but I told her my legs were getting really tired. I could run the downhills, flats I could do spurts, uphills I can still power hike like a beast. Knowing that, she pushed everything to the limit. At this point, I had been running finishing times in my Gu induced hallucinating head. Under my PR of 22.5 was easily reachable. I had actually miscalculated. I said Superfreak, I actually think we can get get this under 21 hours. I think her response was Youre closer to 20! I couldnt believe it! I think I mumbled something like what hell is going on here? I dont care, lets churn it. It was also in the middle of the Pinheads section that it asked Jen what place I was in. I dont usually ask that at any time, but it was late and I wanted to know. I knew I was in the top 15. Hey Jen, do you know what place Im in? She replied Yes, I think so. Am I in the top 15? Youre in the top 10! Holy shit! I couldnt believe it! It was confirmed a short time later in the Pinheads section. ENTER PAUL....AND MOES DARK SIDE: like I said, Paul and I had been battling back and forth all day. We would have friendly chats, but it was bout your business after that. In this section, I wasnt planning on seeing to many people. But we caught a glimpse of a headlight and I said the same thing to Superfreak I always do in this spot,Target acquired, Jen!She replied as she always does, Yah Moe! I was in no hurry to pass whoever it was, we were power hiking and I was catching them at my pace. We caught up, and it was Paul. I asked him how he was doing? If he needed anything? The same thing I would do for anyone else. He said he was just tired. We talked a little more and he then said At this point in the race, you are 7th and I am 8th. I said thats awesome! At this point, Superfreak and I were power hiking faster than I know is not normal for most tired runners. As soon as we got out of ear shot of Paul, the competitive demons took over and these words came out Jen, he is not F-ing getting 7th back! We are going to grind him into the F- ing ground. Lets churn F-ing dirt! Her response was Yah Moe! (but with a little evil tone). At all costs, that was my new goal, to not get passed. I kept looking back for a headlight but we kept pulling away and we finally made it to the last AS. My homeboy Shane Kroth was there and I wanted to visit. But I was afraid Paul would make one of his comebacks. If he did, I had no response, I was shot. Jammed out and Superfreak verbally carried me the last 3.5 miles, it was so damn long, and I was shot. But she got me to the finish! 19:53, 7th place overall Like I said at the start, I ran 100 miles. But the race of a lifetime I ran, involved my crew friends and the friends I had at aid stations. I am glad you were all there. But I have to give most of the credit to the lady that made the day feel like any other run we have ever done. Superfreak, I will be forever in your debt for dragging my stubborn ass for my last 100! (Photos taken by DG graham and Teri Smith)
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 09:33:22 +0000
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