Been a long time since I wrote anything but this was a good race. And an interesting format. I thought it would be a good one with which to resurrect the blog, albeit temporarily.
Held up in Conway, NH on a freshly made trail loop this race began at 10 am on Saturday, October 5th. Runners had an hour to complete the loop. Every hour on the hour, anyone who finished the previous loop in under an hour could line up again for another one. The race would continue until only one person remained. They would then need to complete one final loop by themselves to be crowned the Last Person Standing.
I had heard of this format before and found it fascinating. I thought it could potentially play to my strengths and knew it would be a laid back affair, since the format allows for downtime in between each lap. Most runners would find themselves with 5-15 minutes to fill before being able to go back out there.
I drove up the night before after work. Traffic was misery but luckily I was just sleeping at the race grounds, which were the fields behind the race director's parents' house. My Santa Fe has room for a twin mattress with the back seats down and it's proved a cozy place to spend the night, though I woke up around 3 AM and sleep poorly after that. As is normal for me I was truly up at 5 AM. With a few hours to spare before everyone else arrived, I spent a couple hours cozy in my sleeping bag and then got up and made some breakfast on my hiking stove.
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| Breaking my fast while I have the grounds to myself |
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| The start which we we cross in both directions |
It was a cold morning in the upper 30s but it would warm up to the 50s as the day progressed before dropping back down as night fell. Soon enough the race director Andrew Drummond showed up, then his fellow race staff and soon enough the other runners. Only 19 people towed the line at the start of the race but everyone was clearly happy to be there and looking forward to the event.
A giant wooden coin was fashioned for a unique aspect to this event - after the first lap every subsequent one would begin with a coin flip to determine which direction we would go.
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| Early on between laps - Photo by Leslie O'Dell |
Soon enough it was 10 AM and we took off at a leisurely pace on the soft pine trails. Unlike other races there's little incentive to run fast. Completing the lap in under an hour proved to be an easy task for most of the runners. I finished in about 44 minutes. Far too fast I soon realized as it left me with an overabundance of downtime. I fared better on the second lap, sticking to the back of the pack and walking much of the course. After that I walked a great deal of each loop - maybe as much as 50% of my time was walking. It was an interesting challenge to make sure I was going slow enough but I was often following a chain of people, walking/jogging and chitchatting.
In between laps there was time to get refreshment, food from the aid station, change socks, foam roll, etc. In the early afternoon they took sandwich orders and had them ready for us on the following lap. For the first few coin flips we alternated direction but then the fates punished us with four laps counterclockwise in a row.
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| Beautiful day! - Photo by Andrew Drummond |
As the day waned I was still feeling good. Most of the runners were still in it and they started cooking up burgers for us. I got away without a headlamp for lap 8 which started at 6 PM. Wore it but didn't use it for Lap 9. Then but 8 PM the headlamp was necessary. They put little lanterns on the course and some of the flags had reflectors which worked great. At night you could see headlamps off in different directions at various switchbacks. A bonfire was going at the start and runners, spectators and runners who had become spectators all gathered round it. Now people were beginning to drop. Two after lap 9. Two after lap 10. And three after lap 11.
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| As we dropped we were added to the list |
There were six of us that started lap 14. Almost as soon as it began I knew it would be my last lap. I was mentally ready to quit and my leg was sore from the tumble on the previous lap. I finished with 10 minutes to spare. People tried to convince me to go back out but I had already quit in my mind. The impressive thing was watching another runner Justin finish lap 14 with only a few minutes to spare. He hugged his dad who had been there to support him all day and was also ready to call it quits. But when he learned that myself and the last woman were dropping, he opted to go back out for one more lap in order to secure 4th place rather than 6th. Quickly he got what he needed and was there to toe the line with the other three runners.
After that I ate another burger and hung by the fire for awhile. I watched the runners come back in, watched three go back out for lap 16 and then I crawled into the Santa Fe and went to bed.
6 AM or so I was awake and stumbled over to the bonfire which was still going. I was surprised to learn that two runners were still going at it. A young man who looked like death and and older fellow who was slow, steady and appeared to be able to do this forever. I cheered them on as they came in from lap 22 and cheered them again as they both went out for lap 23. Then I packed up my stuff and went home. In then end they both completed 24 laps and then the older gentleman went back out along to complete lap 25 and become the Last Person Standing.
I really enjoyed this race and the only thing I regret is quitting after 14 laps, though it felt right at the time. The format definitely gives the race a different feel - being fast is not necessary in this one. In fact the guy who won was often one of the last to finish each lap. There was a great vibe since everyone keeps starting the laps together. Most of the runners had planned to camp there on Saturday night so there was still a fun atmosphere come Sunday morning. One thing I will note is that the downtime between laps didn't really help. If you look at this race compared to my Kilkenny 50 miler last year, the distance and time are very similar except that Kilkenny had a lot more elevation. I thought that I'd have no problem going much farther since the elevation was so much less (maybe 4k vs Kilkenny's 15k). But this race still wore me out even though I wasn't running much of the time. I think your body is still on the race clock even if you're hanging out between laps.
I'm pleased I did this race and I'm eyeing some similar events in 2020. I think this race can be great fun for runners of all levels because you can do as much as you're comfortable with and then you can just relax afterwards. I recommend you all give one of these a shot!
