MT Madness: Nature Is My Home

By John Schupp

That morning, I woke up at 2:45am. I didn’t sleep well. A lot of thoughts were still flowing through my head, my main concern being my IT band. Had I strengthened it enough? I felt confident about finishing, but how well, really? I was afraid that the day was going to be a complete struggle. Tiffany had heard my concerns in my outbursts of emotion all week (basically, I was being a little bitchy.) I’m sure she had enough of that.

Our caravan of DRCer’s made it to the Berryman campgrounds in plenty of time to be race-ready and let Frank take pictures before the start. When we were lining up, I headed for the front of the group—like any 5k or 10k I’ve run, I thought I needed to take an early lead, right? Luckily, Greg grabbed me and brought me back to earth; 50 miles is a long way. I took my place toward the rear with him and Randi. We took off and walked for the first mile, single file in the dark, occasionally trotting for a few seconds as the line loosened up. When the sun came up, my nervousness subsided. Not because there was light, but because it was beautiful. I felt like whatever was going to happen, it would be ok at that point.

This trail consisted of all types of terrain, from gentle pine needle to heavy rock, rolling landscape to straight up climbs. All of it was beautiful. Nature truly is my home. I think I’ve been a trail runner all my life, I just didn’t know it. I grew up playing in the woods: hunting, fishing, building forts, riding dirt bikes, and hiking was my playtime growing up. I can sit in the woods for hours, lost in thought. Trail running is one of the few times where I’ve found myself completely engulfed in the present. Everything else seems to be inconsequential. I am just able to be.

The time was passing quickly. Randi, Greg, and I were slowly gaining ground and passing people as the morning progressed. I enjoyed the good company and conversation. At the mile 15 AS, I felt like letting go, and off I went! Mile 15-20 was my favorite section: the pine needles and the gently rolling hills made it easy to open up my stride. At one point, I looked back and felt out of place—I’ve never led in a race against Greg before—but I pushed on. I felt amazing, and I was going to keep going while the going was good.

I was looking forward to seeing my friends at mile 20. The DRC AS rocked! I didn’t stay long because I was in the zone and wanted to keep moving. Around mile 23-24, I ran into a short lady from Colorado who everybody called M. She was using this race as a training race for an upcoming 100-miler. I can’t remember where. She was moving pretty fast, so I decided to follow her for a while. One thing I liked about her was she yelled on her way into aid stations, and I’m fond of yelling, haha! And, she talked, which was good because I didn’t have my iPod charged before the race like I thought. I finished my first loop under 5:30 hours. At the Start/Finish, John Cash was there to help me process things, change my shirt, and get back on my way.

I kept up with M until mile 35 when things really started getting tougher. This section is a big uphill, and the pain was starting to creep in my knees and feet. I found myself reflecting on my life a lot while I was by myself. My iPod would have been nice at this point. The next 5 miles were dark for me. I walked almost the whole time. When I ran, I kept tripping, like I couldn’t pick up my feet. This was the first time I had doubts. I kicked a rock so hard that I thought my big toenail might fall off. I thought that if the rest of the race was going to be this hard, I wasn’t sure I even wanted to finish. People I had passed earlier were very encouraging as they passed me back. One guy told me that there are highs and lows in ultras, that it all can change in the next mile. I thought he was crazy and just nodded as he passed. This is also the loneliest I’ve been in a long time. I didn’t foresee running ever being lonely, but ultras can be just that. I think it helped me see the beauty in the relationships I have today; I also understand why runners are such a caring bunch of people, always ready to help one another. 

I was relieved to see a familiar face when I finally made it to the mile 40 AS. I think John could see the way I felt. He made some fruit suggestions and I listened with all ears. The watermelon he suggested was a life saver- I’m keeping that one in my notes! With some reassurances, he sent me on my way, actually running again. A few minutes went by, and I was still running- I broke through that wall I had hit at mile 35!

I could again see myself conquering this tremendous feat I set out to do. All the training came down to this day. I knew it was mine. I began to cry. I ran and cried. I passed people, crying. I was happy. I was determined. I still hurt just as much, but I believe I overcame that. I walked some, but I was running again. I knew my favorite AS was coming up. On my way up the hill to the DRC AS, I let out a yell, and I think they knew it was me.

Every time I passed through an AS, I thanked them for their help, except DRC. It takes a lot more than I thought to put on a race like this. There were as many volunteers as there were racers. It wasn’t because I wasn’t grateful that I didn’t thank them; I’m grateful for them most of all. I was just so excited to see my friends that it slipped my mind! See, these guys told me I could do it when I wasn’t sure of myself; these are the people that lent me their gear when I forget something; these guys helped me find a diet that I could run and survive on for 12 hours without my body rejecting it; these friends went on long training runs with me; these are my people! They made me smile when my body hurt more that it has in a very long time. Thank you so much. I finally got to see Tiffany at mile 45, Frank got her there just in time. I told them I’d race them to the finish and I took off.

I ran probably 3 of the last 5 miles. The pain was actually disappearing with the thought of finishing. With about .75 miles to go, two runners caught up with me on the last climb to the finish, which gave me the motivation I needed to take off one more time. I started running up that hill because I really didn’t like the idea of getting passed in the last mile of a 50 mile race. So, I ran as hard as I could and I didn’t stop. I looked back and they weren’t there anymore. I kept running. I let out another yell when I could see the sign at the trailhead. I came out of the woods with everything I had in me. I finished in 11:48:29. I placed 11^th overall. Now I have a goal for Berryman 50 in 2016. 

MT Madness: Those Who Can’t, Volunteer

By Stacey Hagen

This was my second year volunteering at the MT ultramarathon. For me, this year would set a PR for volunteer hours for one event, with Meg and I pulling an all-nighter. Meg, in fact, arrived Friday afternoon and didn’t leave till Sunday afternoon! I was there from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon. We helped set up, break down, and man the last aid station on the course (before the Start/Finish area). 

Our AS was pretty loaded!

HAVE ALL THE FOOD!

Throughout our volunteer experience, Meg and I discussed what we were learning from our time out there. The biggest thing we learned was that running 100 miles is really, really hard. No. Like reeeeeeallly freakin’ hard! When you see your friends- people you know to be very strong runners- out there struggling through the lows, it speaks clearly to the difficulty of the 100-mile endeavor. It is definitely not for the weak. And it is definitely not something to attempt unless you really want it, because you’re going to need that drive, that desire, to pull you through the tough low points. And there WILL be tough low points.

I don’t want to leave out the 50-milers because there were so many rock stars in that line-up. I’m particularly proud of our DRCers. DRC hit the trails, many attempting their first big ultras. Some found a profound sense of accomplishment, a milestone in their running career. Some found a renewed love for this sport that can have its ups and downs. Some went out there with the sole purpose of supporting their DRC peeps by running miles, lots of them. All of them, rockstars.  <3

Making shit happen.

Everyone out there amazed us. It was so incredibly awesome to see people come through looking very strong and determined, especially when the last time we saw them they were doubting themselves and looking rough. Volunteering at an ultramarathon is definitely a unique experience, especially if you remain for the entire event. Something that stood out to us after being there loop after loop for the runners is that you could see their relief when they would approach the aid station and see a familiar face. This was another tidbit of info we tucked away for future volunteer experiences: for runners, seeing someone that helped them out tremendously or someone with a lot of positive energy could be the one thing that gets them through a tough leg or helps them keep going. I heard from more than one racer that they could not wait to get back to our aid station, that it helped them a great deal. That meant a lot because we care a lot and we hoped our efforts were efficacious. 

We also learned that sometimes it’s tough to provide support for people you don’t know, especially in an ultramarathon. Trying to figure out what this person in front of you needs to help them continue, to help them persevere, is difficult to know. How can you know? You can’t! But, we care and we want to do all that we can for each and every person, so we go with our gut and we push them and we hope they’ll love us for it later. This brings me to the next thing we learned: you can make a lot of new friends volunteering, whether it’s racers, fellow volunteers, pacers, crew, etc. It’s pretty awesome! You get to interact with some pretty inspiring people.

Night AS! 

Of course, there were lots of little things we learned like labeling drinks, calling out people’s names when they arrived to our AS, having hot water prepared ahead of time to make warm drinks, blah, blah, blah. But, overall, we learned that giving back to our running community is something we LOVE to do! It can be so gratifying and meaningful. It is appreciated by your fellow runners (you know this),  but it can also be an eye-opener. It can help you better understand what you’re up for if you’re interested in attempting a similar type of race. So, I encourage you to volunteer. Give back! It is so good for you and the running community in so many ways!! You won’t regret it! And you just might leave the experience inspired.

The Domino Effect

By Christine Michalski

Five years ago, I started attending a bootcamp-style fitness class because my daughter was getting married and I wanted to look my best for the wedding. The class required us to run a mile every session, and the rule was if you could run a mile in faster than ten minutes, you had to run two... so I always made sure I ran just about a 10-minute mile. 

After bootcamp ended, and the wedding was long over, I continued running because I realized it was wonderfully brainless. It’s the most brainless activity I've ever done. As a mom of five kids, I could be doing anything and always have about 50 other things going through my head: groceries, who has what practice, is there gas in the car?... the thoughts go on and on! Running, for me, is brainless. It’s just me and the road and the next mile, or the next step, and that’s all I focus on.

My first snow run! Slow, but SO fun!

 My first 5k race was the Hope for Haiti run in 2012. I had already run this distance a couple times before on my own, but I wanted to say that I had run an official 5k. It wasn’t too long after that, that I ran my first 10k on my own. It just felt like the natural next step, and the Katy Trail was there asking for it!

Also in 2012, my younger daughter started running on her high school’s cross-country and track teams. Maria’s gym teacher had said she would make a good runner, and she felt a little more confident already knowing someone who was a runner, who could share advice with her and encourage her. Around this time, my older sister participated in a three-day, 50-mile walking event. When I heard she could walk 50 miles over three days, I asked her why she wasn’t running at all! Her running journey started soon after, with some encouragement (and maybe some mocking) from me.

Even later in 2012, Rae had Maverick and, when he was six weeks old, she hit the pavement to run her first mile. I stayed home and snuggled Maverick while Rae & Maria ran, then headed out later that day for my own miles. We started tag-teaming our miles-- I would run, then Rae would, or vice-versa-- and it was helpful for her to be able to depend on me to take care of Maverick, not having to worry about her husband’s crazy schedule. (Editor’s note: if it weren’t for my mom being there, I wouldn’t be a runner!!)

My girls before they headed out for Rae's first run!

The last to join our little women’s tribe of runners was my niece. She had seen her own mom’s running journey, and mine… and Rae’s… and Maria’s… how could you not be inspired to run?! Even her daughter ran her first fun-run race recently, so the tribe keeps growing! I would never say that I inspired all these people to run, it just seemed like a domino effect: I started, then someone else joined in… and it all tumbled down from there. I shared my love with those that I love.

Running isn’t always easy for me, though. About a year and a half ago, I found out that I have arthritis in my neck; I’ve been dealing with it for much longer than that, but always just pushed through the pain. Even with the diagnosis, I continue to run. When I get back from a run, I roll out my legs, ice my neck, and go on with my day. My goal is to someday run a half-marathon. Whether I make a half-mary or not, whether I have to walk part (or crawl it), it’s still a goal I have, and it would be even better if it were a Disney race!

Color Run with my husband!

Even with the arthritis, I ran my longest run this year, and it just so happened to be during my first trail run! That’s right, I headed out to run a 5-mile trail, ended up missing my turn, and ran the 8-mile trail instead (thanks, Lewis & Clark trail)! Though I haven’t explored many trails in the area, it’s inspired me to keep going! I would trail run every day if I could; it’s harder for me to hit the pavement because trail running is so different and I love it so much!

Maria's birthday trail run celebration!

To me, it doesn’t matter how far, how often, or how fast I run; it’s just about getting out there and doing it, and if I inspire others to get out there and do it too, then I’m doing something right. I’m so proud of my daughters and brag about them all the time, even though their running seems to have progressed so much more than my own. I love that there are other women in my family who run, and that we can share this. My journey started five years ago, and there’s a whole lot more running be done!