This is not a personal account of the running of the Hennepin Hundred, a one-hundred-mile ultramarathon - I really don't think I will accomplish such a feat in my lifetime! Rather, it is my report of the experiences I had as a member of the crew that spectated, provided support to, and helped pace my husband through his first one hundred mile ultramarathon. Also, I should warn you - this will NOT be short. I was awake for 29 hours over the race weekend - there are many, many details to record! I have a feeling, for us (Clint and me... and maybe someday our little guy Gabe!), it will be fun to go back and read this again someday to remember this crazy-fun-amazing-unreal weekend.
What the heck IS an ultramarathon, you might be thinking. Well, technically, anything longer than a marathon (a marathon is 26.2 miles if you were curious) is an ultramarathon (this is even how Wikipedia defines it). Typically, though, runs of 30miles/50k(31.1 mile) or more are generally considered to be ultramarathons.
Before the Race:
My husband, Clint, has had his sights set on completing a 100-mile ultramarathon for longer than I have known him. He'd run a number of ~30 mile/50k races and one 50 mile race prior but always felt like he could do more. As long as I've known him, as well as prior to that, he has had a thirst for seeing just how far he could push his body. It's one of the {many} things I love about him! He's not content to sit back and let life happen to him; he seeks out big personal challenges and grand adventures.
While I was pregnant, Clint asked me how I felt about him training for a 100-mile race and completing one in 2016. Anyone who has completed an endurance event or has had someone close to them do so knows that the training is like a part-time job that can consume an extreme amount of time and energy. For someone in a committed relationship/marriage, this really requires support of the other party. I mean, I guess you
could do it without the support of your partner - but I wouldn't recommend it. Even WITH my full support, there were times when I couldn't help but get tinges of bitterness over things related to the 100-miler (I'll get to that later). This stuff could really be detrimental to relationships if you don't have a good level of mutual understanding and fair expectations of one another.
I told him that he should go for it and gave him my full blessing to register, knowing this met that there would be days that I would be left alone for long hours with our newborn so that he could get his training in. In return, the expectation I had of him was that he would be fully present in our lives when he wasn't running and that he would help out - and allow me to have some breaks to get in runs (or sleep!) of my own. I mean why not throw an extra element of "crazy" in while learning how to parent a newborn for the first time?!
So...on January 29 this past winter, after researching some different options, Clint signed up for the
Hennepin Hundred. This race, though not exactly in an "exotic locale" like some other ultramarathons, made sense for us for a number of reasons. It's basically in our backyard at only about two hours away from our home. Additionally, my family lives not far from the finish of the race. This means that finding dependable childcare was a non-issue (I think most new moms will agree that their own mother is one of the few people they can leave their child with without worry). It also meant we would have a free place to stay AND we would have easy access to a slew of support in the shape of other family members and friends from our home here in Central IL who would be able to drive up without much difficulty or extreme expense. As much as we felt like it was all planned out, at the time that he registered I don't think either of us fully understood what the next eight months would entail.
February and March brought Clint's usual training and the occasional race for both of us. I was nearing the end of pregnancy and doing my best to hold onto at least a glimmer of fitness. Clint was focused on training one of his first athletes (he is in the process of getting a coaching business up and running this year too!) for a big marathon PR. In early April he missed a big/favorite race due to some pregnancy woes I was experiencing and I still feel badly about it. And then...on Wednesday, April 20 my water broke at home 9 days before our due date, catching us both completely by surprise. A long drive to our hospital followed, with the contractions and waiting game after that, and our sweet son Gabriel was born on Friday morning, just over 39 hours after my water broke (seriously). Clint went home on Saturday morning to tend to a few items - including going for a run. Yes, I "let" my husband go home to get a run in while I was in the hospital with our day-old infant and no, I wasn't a bit angry or bitter about it :). My good friend Jen came to visit while he was gone and the run restored a bit of his sanity - worth it, all around!
We weren't able to leave the hospital until Sunday morning, which meant we were in the hospital for four long nights. Our little guy had to be monitored due to jaundice and the fact that my water was broken more than 24 hours prior to his delivery. Everything went just fine, though, and we settled in to our "new normal" at home in our tiny one-bedroom apartment. We started the crazy sleeping-eating-crying-eating-crying dance that new parents know so well. We did our best to at least START the "sleeping" process each night at a reasonable hour so that Clint could get a somewhat decent amount of sleep in to function for work and running the next day (this clearly wasn't always the case, but we tried!).
Clint is constantly running and training for "something," so he had a great fitness base already in place prior to registering and training for the race. However, his formal training for the race started in mid-June - about 16 weeks out from the event. We have the privilege of living in a town with a great running community. Most early weekend mornings when Clint would be out on the trail getting a long run in, he would run into someone he knew even if he wasn't formally meeting someone or a group for some miles. There were many mornings when he would come back home and would have a report of 4 or more people who he would run into and then would run with for a few miles each. I often had text messages from friends telling me, "I just saw Clint out running!" and many days had coworkers telling me, "I saw Clint running by my house this morning!" or even, "Was Clint out running in this RAIN this morning?! I thought I saw him!" Rain or shine, hot or cold, tired or well-rested...Clint was out there getting in his miles.
Some of his most notable (from my perspective) long runs include the following -
1) When Gabe was just a few weeks old, the three of us drove out on old Route 66 20-some miles from home and dropped Clint off...he then ran home (I remember this day as being very cold and icky).
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| Beautiful solo miles...Clint saw many, many of these during his training this past year! |
2) In August, we planned to go on vacation to Michigan with some of my family. This vacation happened to fall over a weekend that Clint had a 30-mile training run planned. Before we left, he researched the area and found a trail system, the
Kal-Haven Trail, that was not far from where we would be staying. While Gabe slept (supervised by my mother), I drove Clint out to the train and ran the first 2 miles of it with him (and then 2 miles back to the car)...in the rain. He carried on to finish 34 total miles that day while I went back to spend time with my family. Later that day, Gabe and I picked him up and we got lunch at a cute restaurant not far from the trail.
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| Family shot at the end of the Kal-Haven Trail! |
3) In September, Clint ran an ultra at the local Evergreen Lake Ultras event. This event boasts a 17-mile trail loop that can be completed 1 ("half ultra"), 2 ("ultra"), or 3 ("ultra and a half") times. Clint ran the 2-loop option and Gabe and I played support staff. Clint got 3rd overall in his event, earning him another walking stick to add to his growing collection - woot!
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| Family shot with Clint after the race. |
This brings us to...the
big show and moment(s) of truth!
I worked a few hours on the Friday morning of the Hennepin Hundred race weekend, whereas Clint took the day off. He was on Gabe and packing duty for the first few hours of that day while I worked and then we tag-teamed to get out the door around noon. Our first stop was to our favorite Chipotle location in town where we got lunch ... and completed our Chiptopia quest (11 visits in each of three consecutive months this summer to earn free catering for 20 people!). After that, we were off to pick up Clint's race gear in Colona!
We had to stop about halfway for a potty break (daddy!) and milk break (Gabe!) but other than that, our trip was uneventful. We arrived at the packet pickup in Colona, IL a bit after 3pm. Clint picked up his timing chip, race shirt (they were really cute 3/4 length soft shirts!), number, and purchased a hat and hoodie. He also had a pre-race photo taken and dropped off one drop bag (participants had the opportunity to drop six or so bags, but Clint knew he would have crew/supporters at all of the aid stations with crew access so he chose to only drop one bag for a station that would be visited twice around the halfway point - aid station 10/11 which was at miles 47.1 and 52.3 of the race). We took a few pictures (and Gabe hung out with a friendly guy who asked if he could hold him for a few minutes) and then hopped back in the car to head to my parents' home.
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| Clint's race pic - I love it! That beard really makes him look the part of "ultra runner." HA! |
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| 100-mile Family! |
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| Ready to do this thing! |
We got to Geneseo/my parents' home around 4:30. We left G with his Gram and then headed to the local grocery store in search of dinner. Clint had brought some groceries but wanted to pick up a few more things for the evening/weekend. We very rarely have a few baby-free moments (really mostly by choice - leaving G during evenings/weekends is not something we are super eager to do since we are away from him most of the week due to work), so we relished our quick "date" to the grocery store before heading back to prep dinner. Clint whipped up some tasty gluten free banana pancakes for the three of us (himself, me and my mom) and also prepped a baked sweet potato for himself - yummy carbs!
We laid low for the remainder of the evening and Clint made final preparations to his race gear. We set our alarms for 4:15am with intentions of leaving around 5 the next morning. The race start was slated for 7am and Clint wanted to arrive about an hour prior to start time. The race started at Sinnissippi Park in Sterling, IL which is just under an hour from Geneseo, IL.
I remember I didn't sleep the greatest (and Gabe was up a few times in the night, which is typical for him right now)...but I did my best to sleep as much as possible because I knew that the next time my head would meet the pillow would be a VERY long time!
Race Day:
Morning came QUICKLY as it typically does on big race days. We did our best to get ready quietly in our guest quarters, but G did end up waking up. I felt kinda bad leaving an awake baby with a tired Gram at 5 in the morning, but (as usual) she smiled and expressed that she was just happy to be with him. That gracious Gram, I tell you. She's somethin'. Before heading out, I strategically fed the baby and pumped a fresh bottle. With the two bottles in the refrigerator that I had brought from home, Gram had three bottles from which to feed our little guy that morning which I hoped would be enough until I could make it back! {An aside - have I mentioned that the milk/pumping/baby feeding cycle is a bit anxiety-inducing for me?!}
We ended up leaving around 5:15am. Clint drove us to Sterling, stating that since I would have driving responsibilities for the rest of the weekend when he was "incapacitated" after the race, he should take a turn that morning (we usually try to split driving responsibilities for long-ish distances). Before long, we pulled in to Sinnissippi Park. A kind woman directing cars into a parking lot at the race informed us that a bus of participants (there were busses that were scheduled to drive runners to the start from a few different locations; this race is a point to point race and not an out and back so runners would not be returning to the starting area which means planning where to leave a car can be complicated without some sort of driving assistance) had gotten lost and would be late. Therefore, the start time was being delayed from 7am to between 7:15 and 7:30. No biggie.
We parked the car around 6:15 and sat inside for a bit since we weren't really in any kind of hurry. We watched around us as some participants and spectators hung out on lawn chairs or in the back of SUVs/truck beds. After a few minutes Clint said, "Is that AP?" as he motioned toward a car that was pulling in to our left. Our good friend AP drives an old black and white cop car - there aren't many cars that look like his! It was indeed him so we got out and greeted him excitedly. It was a great surprise - we knew he was coming to the race at some point that day, but we didn't expect to see him right away at the start! THANKS AP! He got up at o'dark thirty back in Blo-No just to make it up in time for the race start.
We took some pre-race pictures and Clint visited the porta-potties a few times (an aside - I also made a visit to a porta-potty that was marked by getting SPLASHED in the rear by the nasty porta-potty water. This had never happened to me before and was quite traumatic, as you might imagine. EEEEK!!!) and soon it was time to meander over to the starting line! The race officials had passed around the word that the race would be starting at 7:20am (which gave the late-arrivers ample time to prep/visit the bathrooms, etc.).
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| Porta-Potty visit, baby! |
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| AP, spectator and friend extraordinaire! |
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| Almost go-time! |
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| I think AP and I were just as nervous/excited as Clint! |
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| Clint was literally the fifth person to register for the race (he asked). Awesome! |
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| Almost time.... |
With a quick kiss and a good-luck wish, I left Clint at the starting line and AP and I stationed ourselves to the right of the starting line a few paces up. We waited for the start and shouted words of encouragement as the runners ran by on their first steps of their 50- or 100-mile journeys (the race features 50, 100, and 100-mile relay divisions). After all of the runners were off, we hopped in our cars and went in search of sweet, sweet coffee. I grabbed a decaf mocha with almond milk (standard procedure for me as of late) and some GF oatmeal. After getting sufficiently fueled up, we returned to our cars and set off for Aid Station Two.
One of the many great things about this super well-organized race is that there are TWENTY well-planned aid stations that are each manned by different volunteer groups. Many of these aid stations have access for the crews/support teams for the runners (13 to be exact - the other 7 are not accessible to crew members). The
race website includes GPS coordinates for each aid station as well as driving directions to and from each aid station with crew access. Amazing!! While the aid stations were plentiful and well-stocked, Clint had carefully put together bags of his own that he wanted us to bring to the aid stations we visited. His "goods" included - changes of clothes/socks, Honey Stinger waffles, peanut butter RX bars, Justin's almond butter packets, Monster Energy Drink (surprising if you know Clint ;)...but this was intended for the mentally and physically dark hours later in the race), Tailwind powder, naproxen, and some basic first aid supplies.
Aid Station One was not able to be accessed by crew, so we headed to Aid Station Two first. On our way there, we were pleasantly surprised to get a glimpse of the runners crossing the road we were driving on! AND...we caught our first Clint-sighting! We honked and he actually saw us as well. He was around mile 4 at this point - I snapped a picture that is time-stamped 7:58am.
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| First Clint-sighting! |
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| Waiting at mile 10.8/Aid Station Two with my compadre! |
We continued along our way to Aid Station Two (mile 10.8) where we parked and joined the crowd waiting to see our runners! First, I had to spend a few minutes in my car with my pump - gotta keep that baby fed! Let me tell you, the pumping-in-the-car game added yet another "interesting" element to this crazy-busy day! The volunteer group manning this aid station included some really enthusiastic individuals, some of whom were dressed up like superheroes. This aid station also boasted shots...and we may or may not have been invited to take some shots with the volunteers (we politely declined ;)).
At 9:03am we caught our first glimpse of Clint approaching the aid station! He looked great and was smiling enthusiastically. We snapped some pictures as he approached and he grabbed some
Tailwind refills (sports drink) at the table, pausing only for a bit before heading back out. Then...we were off for Aid Station Four (mile 19).
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Here comes our guy! This was the first time we spotted him while we were waiting at an aid station...
it was such a thrill each and every time! |
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| Always smiling :) |
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| See ya soon, Clint! |
It took 14 minutes drive time to get to Aid Station Four. We parked and then decided to both head to a gas station in AP's car to grab some water and salty potato chips (for me ;)). Once we made it back and re-parked, we headed down to the course to watch and wait.
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| Never too cool for selfies |
At 10:25, Clint approached us at Mile 19. We snapped pictures and cheered as he passed us excitedly. At this point, he stopped for a few minutes and changed from his short-sleeved shirt into a sleeveless jersey (re-applying Body Glide to his fragile nipples...ha!). By 10:29, he was on his way!
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This guy must've been spectating since last year...
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| Gram holding down the fort at one of the most important "aid stations"! |
Aid Station 7 was the first "big" stop for Clint - it was the 50k+ point and it was where he was planning to make his first shoe change. Therefore, it was important that he had one of his crew members waiting for him with his shoes, on time! Just in case I was running late after hurrying back to my parents' house to feed Gabe, I had left his shoe bag and other gear bags with AP. Megan and I headed over to Aid Station 7 around 11:45 which ended up being perfect timing (it took us about 40 minutes to get there). We did end up having a bit of a Google maps debacle here but did end up making it to the right place on time...I was sweating for a while as I drove, though! We parked and headed over to where AP had already set out all of Clint's needs (shoes + nutrition) in his own little mini aid-station area. Love that AP!
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| New shoes and socks...body glide...sunscreen...bug spray...and an assortment of fuel options including Honey Stinger waffles, honey stinger chews, Justin's almond butter, and RX bars |
At 12:46 we saw him approaching! He looked strong and had his typical smile on his face. He stopped for a bit to change his shoes for the first time, refill his Tailwind bottles and to chat with us before heading back on the trail at 12:54pm. This ~8 minute pause was his longest yet, but since it included a shoe change it wasn't a big deal.
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| Aid station refueling! |
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| Selfie with our runner! |
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| Feelin' gooood ;) |
After he set out to conquer his next miles, we hopped into our cars to head for Aid Station 8 at mile 38.7. AP, Megan and I chatted while we hung out and waited for a while here. I remember complaining about the heat and the bugs - ha, as if we had any room to complain about discomforts ;). But seriously...it really was starting to get hot and the bugs were SO gross and bite-y. We saw many runners approaching this aid station in various states of discomfort. One lady stopped and stretched for quite some time. Judging from the look on her face, she was NOT feeling good.
We saw Clint approaching us, running on a bridge over the canal, at 2:03pm. He actually started dancing across the bridge when he saw us - what a goon!
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| Here he comes! Waiting and watching runners cross this picturesque bridge was awesome! |
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| :) |
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| Look at that beard! Clint is still smiling more than 50k in! |
He let us know that he was definitely feeling it but overall was doing well. Once he was back on the trail at 2:09, we headed back to our cars to head to Aid Station 9/Mile 43.9.
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| You can't tell in this dark picture, but Clint was throwing up a heart with his index fingers and thumbs <3 td=""> |
When we got to Aid Station 9, I hung out in the car for a while and had my lovely second car-pumping session of the day. I tell you what (any fellow pumping mamas, I know you can relate!)...plotting how to fit pumping into the day (as well as bottle transport back to my mom/Gabe!) was not easy! {Easy or not, it was all more than worth it :)}
The trail as a whole was beautiful (see pics!!) and the sunny weather really highlighted that beauty. This next aid station was particularly scenic, in my opinion. The aid station was run by a group of MILFs (HAHAHA!) that actually offered FREE MILF HUGS as advertised by a large colorful poster. In all seriousness, though, they were great...ALL of the volunteers we encountered were awesome, really!
Our friends Amber, Holly-Rae and Tim arrived with a car-load o' fun while we were waiting - they also brought along their kiddos Sophia (Amber's) and Gracie and Jack (Holly-Rae and Tim's)! It was awesome to see them - and the girls had crafted some really cute signs that they were all too excited to wave in Clint's honor. They all headed down the canal a bit to run in with him. Clint mentioned later how excited he was to see their sweet faces as he exited a tunnel on the canal!
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Clint started downing some Coke at the aid stations - he doesn't usually drink Coke, but
it is not uncommon for ultra runners to rely on things like Coke for some much-needed caffeine and sugar! |
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| Love this pic - thanks Holly-Rae :) |
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Sure, he'd never run 100 miles before...but he sure looks the part of a seasoned ultra-runner in my opinion!
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He was back on the trail at 3:17 after a quick kiss (and no, sadly, he didn't take them up on their FREE MILF HUG offer;)).
Back in the car we went...off to Aid Station 10!
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| Heading back to the cars...Jack is a little rockstar, eh?! |
This next aid station was just a few miles up the road AND we would actually get to camp out here a bit as it was a shared Aid Station with 11 (runners finished 47.1 miles and then ran back out about two and a half miles and then back to the aid station for a little over 5 more total miles). It was nice to have a little "break" from navigating and running around - I know, I know...the job of a spectator is just so rough compared to that of the runners! HA. We were also very excited to have our friends Joe and Karen and Tanya join us here!
Aid Station 10 was the first place where 100-mile runners were allowed to pick up pacers. Prior to race weekend, Clint had come up with a plan that included pacers that would be with him from Aid Station 10 (mile 47.1) until the end - first AP, then Joe, next Tanya, and last me. So, AP was first up and was rarin' to go when Clint came in to Aid Station 10!
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| AP is pumped and ready to run! |
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| What a crew! Megan (my sis), myself, AP, Holly-Rae, Amber, Gracie, Sophia, Jack and Tim! |
We saw Clint running up to us at 3:59pm-
He was ready for some refueling -
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| Megan helping Clint get some goods from his gear bag to refuel while Sophia and Gracie looked on. |
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| One of Clint's "staples" at aid stations became "sandwiches" with Justin's almond butter between two Honey Stinger waffles |
...and for a shoe change...This shoe change was a bit unique. Clint has a pair of Hokas that he likes, however his feet are a bit wider than the shoes are made for. He read on some running blog somewhere about cutting out the sides of the shoes to make more room for your feet. Sounds kinda crazy to me...but then, again, running 100 miles sounds crazy too ;). So...whatever! Bring on the doctored shoes! Whatever it takes!
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Check out those kicks!
{The white spots on either side of each shoe are his socks peeking out of the holes he cut into the shoes ahead of time) |
After some high-fives from his fan club....
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| Karen... |
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| Jack... |
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| Get after it!! |
...he and AP were off! The next time we would see them, Clint would officially be over halfway done!
Megan and I headed back to our vehicle for a bit so I could charge my phone and so we could check in with my mom regarding our kiddos that were in her car. Naturally, she was holding down the fort just fine ;)...but we still wanted to check in! We let her know that as soon as we saw Clint again (at mile 52.3), we would be heading back to Geneseo for a bit. My mom told us they would order pizza for dinner for us when we returned. WOOT! I realized at that point just how hungry I really was!
At 4:59 (exactly one hour since he had approached us previously!) we saw Clint and AP heading our way. And, what's that? It's time for some trail-dance-moves? Oh boy....
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| Thanks to Holly-Rae for capturing these dancing queens as they ran in to Aid Station 11! |
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| Love those blue skies and green leaves...I bet this canal looks even more beautiful deeper into fall! |
Some of my favorite pictures of the day were taken by Scott Laudick Photography, the professional photographer on the course, as I ran out to greet AP and Clint as they ran in to mile 52.3/Aid Station 11 -
Now, Aid Station(s) 10/11 also featured the 50-mile finish line. Clint mentioned later how slightly disheartening it was to see a finish line and to know that he had TWICE what he had already run left ahead of him... From a spectator's point of view, it was neat to get to watch some happy runners run through their finish line! Also while we waited here Megan and I chatted a bit with a guy who had just gotten finished pacing his wife for the five miles between Aid Stations 10 and 11. He was SO excited - it was really cute. We saw this same guy numerous times throughout the day. His wife was just ahead of Clint (I don't know where she ended up finishing, though, I lost track of her as the day went on and it became dark) and so we saw him at each aid station cheering for her right before we would see Clint. He clearly adored her and it was truly so, so cute to watch. It was fun, in addition to seeing Clint, to see pretty much the same runners and spectators over and over throughout the day and to informally keep tabs on them as well.
As he re-fueled and got ready to soldier on, I informed Clint that Megan and I would be heading back to Geneseo for a bit and that we would reconvene with everyone at Aid Station 14 later. This meant that we would miss seeing him twice (Aid Stations 12 and 13 were crew-accessible), but I felt "ok" about this knowing that our trusty friends would be at both of those aid stations and could help get him the things he needed. Truth be told, I felt guilty leaving (I even expressed this to my sister as we drove back)...but I really needed to deliver the bottle to my mom and feed Gabe. Plus, we wanted to bring the kiddos out to an aid station to see their Daddy and Uncle!
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Me and my man before I headed out...the next time I would get to see him,
he would be about fifteen miles further into the race and it would be DARK! |
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| ?! |
We got back to my parents' right at 6pm. I totally horked back a pizza from Happy Joe's (gluten free crust, no cheese....sounds downright tasty right!? Actually, it really did hit the spot) and fed Gabe.
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| THIS. WAS. HEAVENLY. Thanks, Mom! |
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| Pa with Macy and Gabe at the family aid station :) |
We decided, after some chatting/planning to ALL head out to Aid Station 14 (about 40 minutes away) - my parents, Megan, her two girls and Gabe. Hooray!! I was pumped to share the excitement of this event with my family, up close and personally.
As I mentioned, I missed seeing Clint at Aid Station 12 (mile 55.5) and Aid Station 13 (mile 60.7) while I was at my parents' house to tend to Gabe and grab dinner, but I received texts from our good friends/reporters Holly-Rae/Amber/Joe/Karen to know that he was alive and well and even received some pictures as well. BIG BIG THANKS to our army of supporters!! Thanks to Karen (and others) for hauling the big gear bags from Aid Station 11 where we left to 12 and 13!
At Aid Station 12 (mile 55.5), AP and Clint were out at 5:51pm per Holly-Rae's report. Also of note, at Aid Station 13 (mile 60.7) there was a pacer swap - AP wrapped up his leg and Joe started his! I heard that they rolled out of this aid station at mile 60.7 at 7:01pm.
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Holly-Rae texted me this pic - AP and Clint approaching mile 55.5/Aid Station 12!
I just love Clint's enthusiastic arm in the air. This demeanor was consistent through
most of the race - Clint really did enjoy the race and it was evident by his smiles and occasional goofiness :). |
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| Joe and Clint getting ready to head out at mile 60.7. |
When we arrived at Aid Station 14 (mile 67.3) around 7:35pm, it was DARK! Also, around the time of our arrival, I received a text message from Holly-Rae letting me know that their party had headed back home to Blo-No...they sure did last a long time at the race with 3 small kiddos! I was VERY impressed (and thankful for their friendship and big efforts put forth to be there to support Clint!).
My parents, sister and I stationed ourselves with the girlies and Gabe at a picnic table next to the trail. I was SUPER paranoid because there was a LARGE drop-off straight down to the dark water in the canal basically a few feet from the trail - I just kept imagining one of the girls running off into the dark and falling into the canal! Thankfully we had lots of adults to entertain the girls (and keep them away from the edge of the canal!) while we waited.
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Hanging out with my boy at Aid Station 14! Thankfully he loves being worn so he was totally content
to hang out with me like this as we waited to see Daddy in the dark! |
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| This is about all we could see as runners came up to the aid station area - shining head lamps! |
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| My sis, mom, dad, Macy, and Charlee hanging out in the dark watching for runners! |
After we had been there for about ten minutes, the rest of our group showed up - AP, Tanya and Karen arrived from Aid Station 13, Clint's big bags of gear (nutrition, etc.) in tow. We chatted in the dark for a while and cheered as runners made their way to the aid station. By this point in the race, runners had gotten very spaced out so there was typically a sizable wait between runners. Our niece Macy loved helping to spot the headlamps as they approached us in the dark. She and Charlee clapped and cheered as the runners came by...pretty darn adorable.
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| I'm not sure what is going on here.... |
Around 8:15, we saw two headlamps that were were certain just had to be Clint and Joe - one light was considerably higher than the other (Joe is a TALL MAN! ;)). Indeed, it was our guys! They were doing well and feeling good, all things considered. They stopped at our table to fuel up and Clint downed a Monster Energy Drink (one of the "kaos" juice ones - grosses me out, but he really needed the caffeine hit at this point! He had anticipated needing caffeine at some points during the race and so we had packed two of these, in spite of Clint never drinking such things in "real life"). If you were wondering, Clint was still rocking the cut-up Hokas at this point! He expressed that he was really loving them - hey, whatever works!
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| Clint's feet were definitely feeling it at this point - he took his shoes off for a bit to get some more body glide on them |
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| Family shot |
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Macy wanted a picture with Clint...and then she didn't want a picture with Clint
...and so we convinced her to have a picture with all of us with Clint ;) |
After they were fueled up, Clint and Joe headed back out on the trail with 32.7 miles left to go before the finish! My parents and sister headed back to Geneseo with the girls (it was far past their bedtime!) and Gabe and I drove to Aid Station 15 at mile 73. We met AP, Karen and Tanya there where we waited in the dark with a light-up palm tree and camel (seriously...the theme of this aid station was "The Oasis"). This was where Tanya would be taking her turn as Clint's pacer!
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| This little guy was quite the trooper, hanging out with Mama and our friends/family at two different aid stations! |
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| Tanya, Karen, and AP hanging out under a palm tree... |
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| Karen helped me wrangle G a bit :). |
At 8:41pm (while we were waiting at Aid Station 15/mile 73) I received a text message from our friend Andy Wheatcroft, aka Marathon Man. Long story short, Andy and I met back in 2013 when we were members of "Team Believe" and
ran the New York City Marathon to raise money and awareness for Easter Seals. Andy lives in Central IL and we occasionally see one another at events (for example, he came out to Run the Woods a few years ago!) and keep in touch via Facebook. Anyway, in his text message he asked if he could join Clint at Aid Station 16! In his words, "was thinking of doing my Sunday run a few hours early....by a canal...5 out and back....or 10 if I can get a lift back to my car.....possible do you think?"
I was totally taken aback by his message - what a hilarious and amazing surprise! I knew that Clint would love to see him, if we could figure out a way to make it happen. Next thing I know, Marathon Man tells me he is getting on the road to head up to the race and will try to "figure out" how to meet him around aid station 16 (I hadn't planned on going to this one because the website indicated that this was not an aid station with crew access...but I figured if anyone could make things just "happen," Andy could).
Soon, in the midst of my text convo with Andy, we saw Joe and Clint arriving at The Oasis/Aid Station 15!
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| What a welcome sight! |
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| Thanks for companioning our guy, Joe! |
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| Tanya and Clint...ready to take on the next 13+ miles! |
I really wanted to tell Clint about my conversation with Andy/Marathon Man, but I was able to refrain - I knew the surprise of him just "showing up" would be far better than me ruining the surprise. After seeing Tanya and Clint off at Aid Station 15, I hopped in the car with a sleepy G to head back to Geneseo (also of note, as I left the aid station I saw another mama with a little one about Gabe's age, rocking him in her arms as they waited to see their runner. I commented to her that it made me feel better to not be the only mother dragging her child out in the dark to spectate. Ha!). Aid Stations 16 and 17 were not listed as "crew access" stations on the race's website, so I intended to use the next two-ish hours to get Gabriel ready for bed and make sure things were in order back at home base. The plan was for me to join Clint as his pacer at Aid Station 18/Mile 86.7 until the end! So, I knew I needed to be strategic - this was to be Gabe's first night (or at least part of a night!) away from us as he slept. Also in my mind was the fact that I had eaten an entire pizza (gluten free pizzas are on the smaller side, but STILL)...and I was really hoping that it would sit well with me so that I could get through my pacer duties without any issues!
Andy/Marathon Man called me as I drove and informed me that, based on timing of driving and everything else, he had decided to try to catch Clint at Aid Station 17. I was still in disbelief that he was going through with his crazy plan...and was pretty excited to think about Clint's surprise. I had a feeling that this would be a great distraction for him, especially this late in the race.
I got back to my parents' house around 10:20 (after a scream-fest from Gabe for part of the trip). I hurried into the house and fed him and got him ready for bed. Naturally, he was wide awake and ready to play (he started laughing so hard at one point - at really not much at all! - that he snorted. HA!). So, it took a good amount of rocking to get him to fall asleep. Once he was asleep, I pumped a bottle and left it next to him on the bed so that IF he woke up and needed a bottle, my mom or sister would just have to grab it and give it to him (saving the step of warming it up). I also had a bottle in the fridge as a back-up.
Once I was sure (HA!) he was asleep, I went out to chat with my sister who was sleeping on the couch in my parents' living room. She had offered to drive me to Aid Station 18 (where I was meeting Clint to run with him those final miles), but I told her it was silly and that she should try to get some sleep and that I would drive myself and leave our vehicle there and we could retrieve it the next day. Thankfully, I was able to convince her to stay (as it turned out, Gabe did wake up and was less than pleased so she had to take care of him :(...THANKS, Megan).
I pulled in to Aid Station 18 and easily spotted AP's car in spite of the dark and parked next to him. As I pulled in, I realized I had forgotten my head lamp on the floor in the room I was staying in at my parents' house - ARGH!!! I hopped out of the car and asked AP if he thought I should go back. He replied that he had one I could borrow - but then it appeared to be missing. After the poor tired AP tore apart his car looking for it, I ended up finding it in the back of our SUV in one of the many gear bags (Joe had worn it and somehow it ended up in one of our bags instead of AP's. No biggie...it was found, and now I had a headlamp and didn't need to go back to retrieve mine!). At this point the time was about 11:30 and we were anticipating that Clint could arrive around midnight.
Andy/Marathon Man sent me a text shortly after I arrived at Aid Station 18 (11:32pm) from where he was waiting at Aid Station 17, "What time do u think he should be at 17?" I replied, "Hmmmm that's mile 82. I would've hoped he would be there by now. It's been 1:58 since he left mile 73. Keep me posted. I just got to 18." Andy: "Will do...been asking if folks have seen a dude with a beard...not specific enough??!!" A bit after this he lets me know that a runner who had just come through the aid station let him know that Clint and Tanya were about a mile back. WHEW! It felt so good to know that he had been sighted and was still upright...not that I was ever worrying about him or anything. Nope, not at all!
At 12:05am, good Andy sent a selfie with our tired runner-man and said, "Actually not dribbling and jibbeting!" Uhhhh. I guess that is British-speak for, "he's not losing his mind yet?" Oh Andy!
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| Getting this selfie was both hilarious (because - come on! Look at that subject matter!) and relieving (it was hard not to worry about "something" happening to the runners out there!) |
They left Aid Station 17 around 12:10 according to Andy. AP and I took mini-naps in our respective cars (mine didn't involve any real sleeping and I am sure AP's didn't either, but we at least "chilled" for a bit) before heading over to the aid station that had been set up under a shelter next to the trail. While we waited (in the COLD!), we were entertained by some girls sitting around in a circle on the ground singing Disney songs. Oh boy ;). We did our best not to think about/talk about how EXHAUSTED and cold we were...knowing that everything Clint was enduring was far, far worse.
Marathon Man sent a text at 1:05am "1.5 out from u mostly walking." We knew, then, that Clint was really hurting and prepared ourselves for what he might be like. I came to terms then with the fact that I would be out on the dark, cold trail with Clint for the 13-14 final miles for MUCH longer than the 2 to 2 1/2 hours I had blindly estimated! (What was I thinking?!) I started to stress out internally a bit about the "pumping situation," knowing that things would get pretty uncomfortable since I would be without my baby or my pump for a lot longer than anticipated. (Sorry for the frankness if that weirds you out...just being honest about one of the challenges of the day!)
At 1:15am...there they were - Tanya, MM and Clint! AP and I were all too happy to see them. Clint was definitely looking exhausted. I could tell by the look on Tanya's face and the few things that she said that he was not doing the best. We tried not to comment/dwell on that fact, though, and talk about positive things (ha, like what?!). Clint changed out of his Hokas into some Saucony zealots, ate a waffle/almond butter sandwich, refilled his vest with some nutrition items, we took some pictures...and we were off. At that point, MM ran back to his car (parked somewhere near Aid Station 17) and AP drove Tanya back to get her car where it was parked at Aid Station 15 where she had left it when she started her pacing duties. AP and Tanya then planned to head to the finish line to wait for us after getting her car.
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| Fighters! Thanks, TG and MM, for taking care of Clint through these very difficult miles! |
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A tired, yet still enthusiastic, thumbs up from Clint - ready to take on the last 13-14 miles!
And no, I am not pregnant again ;)...I had stuffed my pockets with Honey Stinger gels (intended for me)
and ginger chews (anticipating that Clint might want some to calm his stomach)! |
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| That Marathon Man...WHAT a GUY! |
We started off walking a bit and Clint told me that he was going to try to do some run/walk intervals of 5 minutes running, 1 minute walking. It soon became apparent that this plan needed to be scrapped and we were instead operating purely in survival mode. He was hurting, and hurting badly. Frankly, it was really hard for me to see him in this state so I had to go to a "mind over matter" mental state. We did run for some chunks of time, but we were largely walking. I told Clint that I was proud of him because his goal (after the primary goal of simply FINISHING) of completing the race in sub-24 hours was well within reach (at this point he had just over six hours before 24 hours - 7:20am). Six hours to finish a bit under 14 miles...totally do-able, even in his current state! He, somewhat dejectedly, told me he wasn't so sure if he would make it.
The next ~6.5 miles were mentally excruciating. The dark night and creepy trees on either side of the canal path, in addition to the fact that I had been awake for nearly 24 consecutive hours, made my imagination conjure up some scary things. At one point a walnut fell from a tree to the ground and I about jumped out of my skin. At another point, we heard a train in the distance. As it got closer and closer, we realized that there were train tracks a mere 6-8 feel to our left in the trees. As the freight train crashed by us, deafeningly, I felt like we were in some sort of dream land. Shortly after this, we saw three guys riding bikes down the trail in the opposite direction that we were moving. It was 3am at this point - what the heck were they doing?!
At one point, sometime in the night (I really don't remember when - some of the memories I have of our 4+ hours in the dark are just snapshots that don't necessarily make sense or have an "order"), Clint grabbed my hand. He was standing on my left side at that point and I looked up at him. He was staring straight ahead and said, "I am just going to close my eyes for a few minutes, ok?" I replied, "NO, that's NOT ok! You keep your eyes open!!" He responded, somewhat indignantly, "Well I've already been doing it!" Oh dear me... Somehow, we pressed onward.
Aid Station 19 literally could not come soon enough. Finally, there it was -
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| A cup of hot (and really salty) broth in one hand and coffee in the other...ready to take on the final miles! |
As we had approached this aid station, Clint kept talking about wanting to sit down for a little while at the aid station. When we got there, though, he didn't end up sitting down (probably for the best). Clint drank a cup of coke and brought a cup of broth and a cup of coffee with him as we began our travels to the next aid station. Back on the trail...I held Clint's cup of broth and took a few sips myself. The warmth felt great but the saltiness was a bit much, even for me (I crave salt hard-core when I am exerting myself). Once he was finished with what he wanted of his coffee, he left the partially full cup by the side of the trail. After he decided the broth was way too salty for him too, that was left as well.
Soon, we approached the last aid station at mile 96.5 (it felt mentally SO much better to have just over 3 miles between Aid Stations 19 and 20 than the almost 6 miles between 17 and 18!). Once again, being able to chat with some other humans for a few minutes was much appreciated. At this aid station, one of the guys offered us some cold boiled potatoes. These are commonly offered at ultramarathon aid stations, but I had never partaken in them during any sort of race. They sounded oddly good, though, and both of us took a chunk and dipped it in the salt the volunteer offered up. As soon as it hit my lips, I knew this is exactly what my body craved. As soon as I finished my first chunk, I went back for a second.
After our potato-love-fest, we headed out for our final 3.5. Clint had it in his head that he still had 4 miles so when they told us it was just 3.5 miles to the finish line, he was basically high on life for a few minutes at the thought of having a whole half mile LESS than what he was thinking. His Garmin hadn't been tracking the miles accurately and said something like 106 miles at this point, so it hadn't been a reliable measure of "how much further" he had to go.
Around mile 97.5, he finally sat down on the edge of the trail, utterly exhausted and in amounts of pain I probably can't relate to (or can I?! Labor?! HA! Who knows). I snapped a picture of him sitting on the trail. At the time I felt kind of bad taking the picture, but I am glad we have this reminder of just how HARD things got.
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| This sums up a lot of the last leg of Clint's journey... |
This picture was taken at 4:08 am. We still had 3 hours and 12 minutes before the 24-hour mark. I felt confident that, in spite of his exhaustion and pain, he was going to do it! I told him this, though I am not sure he believed me. Finally, Clint was able to get up and we soldiered on. Every half mile that we completed felt like a huge accomplishment - he asked me to let him know every time we completed another half mile. It felt like an eternity before I saw some red lights peeking out of the trees off in the distance to our right. I said, "Clint! That might be the finish line!" He pointed out that we couldn't hear people cheering or anything like that so he was concerned that it wasn't really the finish line and was instead some sort of mirage or just street lights. True, we couldn't hear anything coming from the area, but I think it was just because we were still decently far out, in spite of being able to see the lights.
We trudged closer to the lights and two runners (probably one participant and who I would presume was his pacer) approached us from behind. We chatted casually a bit (I really don't remember what we talked about; nothing of consequence at that point!) and I asked Clint if he wanted to try to run across the finish. He didn't really answer (I don't think he had any idea of what he could realistically force his body to do at that point). As we got closer though, he decided to kick it into gear.
He started running, and so I followed suit. Someone, that man was able to force those exhausted and beat-up feet and legs to run toward that beckoning finish line. As we approached I could see AP, Tanya and my sister waiting for us there. I couldn't look at them, or especially at Clint, because I knew I would lose it and start to cry.
Suddenly, that finish line was right in front of us...and, somehow, we were crossing it. All of the crazy feelings of the past almost-14 miles and almost-5 hours melted away in that moment and it was just me watching Clint in the moment that his dream was realized. I was, and am, incredibly thankful that I had the privilege of being with my husband in that moment. And, if you were wondering, his finishing time was 22 hours, 51 minutes, and 39 seconds. He was the 26th finisher out of 76 finishers. Approximately 18 people started and dropped. He was 8th out of 18 in his age group. {All just amazing to me!}
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| What an amazing moment this was...crossing that finish line with Clint! |
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| Exhausted...sore...and so, so very proud and happy. |
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| Clint EARNED that special belt buckle for his sub-24-hour run! WAY TO GO!!! |
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| Clint, me, AP, Megan, and Tanya with the race director. |
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| Oh Hennepin Hundred finish line - you beautiful thing, you! |
Clint ate two big bowls of hot vegetable soup at the finish line and then we headed to our cars. Tanya and AP drove back to their respective homes in Bloomington-Normal (AP had been up since 3am on Saturday!) and Megan drove us back to my parents' house. Clint took a shower (he actually had the energy left to do so!) and immediately crashed on the couch while I made him some scrambled eggs and a pancake. The rest of his day was a cycle of sleeping-eating-sleeping-eating.
It's been a week and I still can't believe it happened. Clint is a 100-miler! He ran one hundred miles and is now a member of the exclusive 100-miler "club". He set a crazy-huge goal, made a plan, and carried it out to completion.
I am so very proud of this man and his tenacity. Though, let me be clear, I would be just as proud of him had he not been able to finish this race. The determination and focus with which he sets and accomplishes athletic goals carry over into the other facets of his life and help shape him into the wonderful man, husband and father that he is. Gabe and I are so proud to say he is "ours!"
WE are so grateful for the support of SO, so many. This couldn't have happened in the way that it did without our people. Thank you to our friends and family, both those present in person and those who offered up support from afar. Thank you to my parents for taking care of Gabe throughout that long and crazy day. Thank you to Clint's fearless pacers (AP, Tanya, and Joe) for guiding him through the last half of the race and for providing support during the challenges these miles presented. Thank you to AP for being there with us from start to finish. Thank you to all of the spectators who drove up from Bloomington-Normal. Thank you to MM for the big surprise and for always reminding me (and all of us!) to keep my head up and my heart strong. Thank you to my sister for the companionship throughout the day and for helping to take care of Gabe while I ran Clint in (and for retrieving our car with Dad on Sunday while Clint and I slept..THAT was a perfect surprise gesture!). Thank you for the countless prayers and words of support leading up to the event, during the race, and afterward. Thank you to EVERYONE who posted words of encouragement on Facebook and Instagram - I read many of these to Clint during those final dark hours and he maintains that this support really helped get him though to the end. THANK YOU all! We are so very blessed to have such a fabulous support system that is far more vast than I think either of us can truly comprehend. Much love to you all and thank you, from the bottoms of our hearts.
On to the next adventure!
~Rachel
