It has been over a month since my last race, and I have had the best intentions of updating the blog with the stories of my December race. After my university let school out for the winter break, I decided to take a detour on the way back home. A month earlier I had learned of a great run in Spartanburg, South Carolina simply called One Epic Run My plane left Orange County early, heading for Atlanta. Upon landing in Atlanta, I watched the sunset from the dashboard of my rental car. Four hours later I entered the small suburb of Charlotte. Spartanburg, South Carolina has a small but warm southern charm. I would have loved to spend more time in the area, but most of my time was spent on the race course. I awoke on Saturday and slowly prepared myself for the race at hand. The race didn't begin until 9 A.M. so I had plenty of time to plan.
I spent Friday night at the Motel 6, which was nearly half an hour from the race starting line. I arrived to the course with nearly half an hour left until the start of the race. As I arrived there I noticed there was a handful of people at the starting line. I would later figure out this was the race briefing. I quickly parked my vehicle and prepared to pick up my race bib. I made my way back to my vehicle, and prepared myself for the journey. One Epic Run was a 24 Hour, so I had plenty of time to relax and take in the atmosphere.
The race started out frigid, but soon warmed up as the day progressed. I began the race at the back of the pack and finished up there. The race consisted of 3 mile loops. With a run as you go type policy. The race course was a challenging one with mild climbs and rocky somewhat technical terrain.
Starting in the back of the race has it's advantages. One of those advantages is that the most interesting people thrive there. Starting the race I met ultra veterans Gene Bruckert and Terri Hayes. They had planned only for a 50 kilometer finish, but I had larger goals in mind. I began with three steady loops with the ultra veterans before lapping them and catching up with them again. While the two of them were running a little bit slow, I couldn't help but enjoy their company. After nearly nine laps with in their company I decided to depart and run faster. I ran by myself for a while and got into a rhythm. The miles ticked away, as the daylight seemed to hold. As I would pass by the timing/aid station every lap I would have one of the volunteers time my lap. For the first 12 laps my times were consistently under an hour.
Eventually, the once mildly annoying and technical terrain became rough and unsettling difficult. Occasionally I passed Gene and Terri but for the most part it became a solo endeavor. That is until I bumped into Bo and Amanda on the 14th lap who were going at a pretty good speed towards a 50 mile goal. The sun was just setting as I met the two of them. As the sun was setting the temperature dropped considerably leaving me without many options. As I left for the 15th lap I stopped by the rental car to pick up any cold weather clothes that I could summon.
I quickly caught up with the two of them and we headed out into the darkness. The three of us made conversation and the next few laps were made quite easily as a result. Soon they both finished and I was alone yet again and the darkness took its toll and my mind and body took a hold in a negative way.
As I started my 18th lap the course which only hours before which consisted of hills, became the rocky mountains. My digestive system which was an engine hours before was degraded into a heap of mush. I grinded out a few difficult laps and I couldn't muster the discipline to enter into another cold grueling lap, ending the night with only 57 miles.
Dissappointed, yet content I walked towards my vehicle to sleep off the pain which I endured over 18 full hours. After a few hours of rest I left the warmth of the rental vehicle to clean up, and slowly make my way to the airport. Later that day I would spend time at various locations, finally making my way back to Atlanta and the Hartsfield International Airport.
39 States Completed 11 Left.
Stay Tuned for the next race(s)taking place January 21st and January 22nd from Big Island/ Maui, Hawaii.
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