2012 Vermont 100 Race Report

2012 would be my 2nd attempt at the Vermont 100 with two goals:  1. Finishing and 2.  Sub 24 hour.  I tried both in 2010, yet just finishing the Western States 100 and dealing with extra-hot temps and humidity, I fell short by 30 miles.  

In January when my friend Jason Mittman decided to do his 1st 100, we decided to come back and join Jason along with Marcy Beard, Kip Fiebig, and Dave Bogle for the 100 miler.  Kelly Goode (who got hit by the heat in 2010) would join Shauna Metcalf on the 100K.  

Leading up to this race, I have finished 6 hundred mile races including:  Hardrock, Leadville twice, Western States, Wasatch, and Big Horn so I have a good basis to compare courses.  Although limited in altitude, there is non stop up-and-downs in Vermont plus heat and humidity (which are my worst enemies).  The course is mainly on dirt roads with about 30% on single-track/jeep roads and about 5% pavement.  

As an experiment, I carried my Garmin 910 with a portable charger that allowed a full reading of the course.  It showed 16,417ft of climbing and 16,257ft of descending with just under 100 miles (it may lost the connection in the trees which will connect with a straight line so, I still feel confident about the 100 mile distance).  

To see the Garmin report see: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/202468433  

In addition to the Garmin link there is also a video summation at the bottom of this report.

Now for the race.  We flew in on Friday, arriving in Manchester NH at 1:00 pm from Denver and we were able to make the race briefing and check-in.  Afterwards we checked into our hotel at Ascutney Hotel/resort followed by pizza in Windsor.

Race morning I woke up at 2:30am and Jason and I took off to the start allowing the girls some valuable sleep before their 9:00am start for the 100K.  After arriving, we checked in and Jason went to look for everyone else as I went to grab my gear from the car.  When I got back, I grabbed some coffee and looked around for the group but I never could find them after checking in so I was on my own.

 Few pictures of the starting area with fresh coffee and quick picture of myself at 3:50am

The countdown 

My strategy going into the race was to take advantage of the cooler temps in the morning and evening, so I started off with a solid pace between 8:40 to a 13:20 pace in the first 25 miles.  After the 4:00am start, I enjoyed some jeep roads but mainly rolling dirt roads through sunrise in route to Woodstock roughly at mile 16.  

I was able to run most of this part of the race except for a few steep climbs. On the hills, I would run into them and gain some elevation before walking and then I would run before reaching the top knowing I would recover on the flat or descent.

The next 6 pictures are in the Woodstock area. Unlike previous years, we were detoured through town because the Taftsville bridge was washed away from last year's hurricane.  The town was very scenic with several covered bridges and parks.  As I was leaving town, I began to hear the hoofs from the lead horses doing the same 100 mile race.  Oh yeah, there are horses that give a unique twist to this event. The riders are very friendly and work well with the runners.  The horses too, have their own aid-stations and support.

 Below are the lead horses on one of the few road sections

 One of the many farm homes we ran by in the race

 One of the wooded climbs about mile 19

My plan in the race was to go unsupported and without pacers.  Vermont has 29 aid-stations, so it is easy to eat and keep hydrated. Then at the Pretty House aid-station (mile 22.5), I ran into John Beard who volunteered to be crew for all of us.  In 2010, John came in 9th in the 2010 Hardrock 100 so he is a very accomplished runner and adventure racer and knows what he is doing when it comes to crewing.  I took him up on his offer and while I was eating watermelon and chips he filled my bottles and he cheered me on as I raced out of the aid-station.

 The cows in vermont are more curious then the ones in Texas or Colorado

Above, I hit mile 26.2 in just 4:36 (not bad for even a road marathon).  Despite the speed that was my goal. At mile 27 or 28,  I  hit the high point of the race on an open meadow that showed the entire area.  

Off the hill, I was slowed down some by a few steep climbs and technical trails yet kept my pace into the Stage road aid-station mile 31.

At Stage Road aid station, I had one of my two drop bags and sure enough, John had a chair and the bag waiting.  I had a bottle of First Endurance Ultragen recover mix that John added ice and water to.  While I was drinking that he filled my running bottle as I dropped my headlamp and reloaded my Gu supply.  At this point of the race the heat began to become more of an issue (but not too bad).  In addition to adding ice to my bottle, I also wetted my head from a cool waterhose. 

Below is the road going into Stage.

The section after stage is one I remembered well from 2010.  It had a steep single-track climb going through brush and 5ft tall grass.  The vegetation seemed to generated additional heat and humidity. Then after about of mile of climbing in the brush path we hit normal single-track into the woods (see below).

The next two pictures are of the Lincoln Covered Bridge at mile 39.  Ahead in the pink, was Cheryl Yanek from Brooklyn who I ran with on-and-off for the next 15 miles.  

One of the horse aid-stations.  Each time vets would check their electrolytes, heart rate, and their running form before letting them leave.

Nine hours and 30 minutes in the race, I made it to the Camp 10 Bear aid-station where my second drop bag was waiting with John.  Again I refilled my bottle with my First Endurance EFS drink-mix and loaded my Nathan mini-pack with more Gu and bags of drink-mix.  I also grabbed my Rayovac portable charger to later charge my Garmin.  

By this time in the race, the heat and Kip caught up with me just as I was running out of the station.  I turned off my competitive switch and turned-on my survival switch and focused on making it through this hot 22 mile loop.  

After a few miles of nice rolling roads the trail turned to the right for long nasty climb where I was definitely feeling the heat so I made a decision to focus on slow walking the hills.  On the climb, Kip caught me but he too wanted to slow down because of the heat. We had a good time for the next few miles as we battled the heat and took time talking future adventures.  It was really nice to have a companion to distract me from the hardest part of the race.

Pictures of Kip and I at mile 49

 (Mile 50 in 10 hours 11 minutes)

 Below is the field we cut across after leaving the Birmingham Aid-station mile 54.1

 Below is the Tracer Brook aid-station at mile 57.

 Mile 59 looking at land that was owned by the Roosevelt family - so a local told me as he drove by

Mile 57 back to 10 Bear is best runnable section of the race.  The trail is rolling but not too steep, so I was able to get some shade from the trees and pullout a slow run.  In the middle of this section, there several manned and unmanned refreshment stops and they all had ice to cool off our drinks.

At mile 65, I ran my experiment.  I carried my Garmin charger with a Rayovac portable lithium charger.  At that point my watch had 38% battery remaining and I was able to get it back to 90% before I dropped the charger in my drop bag (next time I will start charging earlier).  In the end, I was able to have GPS reading for the entire race with 50% battery to spare.

About 7:30pm, I made it back to Camp 10 bear (mile 70).  This was my longest stop lasting about 10 minutes.  I grabbed my jacket (just in case I got cold but I did not need it), headlamp, more Gu, and new EFS for my bottle.  On each time I stopped at 10 Bear, I had to weigh in.  The first time I had lost 7 pounds and the second time I gained back 1 pound.  At that point Kip was 40 minutes ahead.  

Before the race, Marcy and Kip (with their spreadsheets) had narrowed down two key points: 1- If you make it out of 10 Bear before dark you have a chance for a sub-24 hour finish and 2 - If you make it to Spirt of 76 aid-station at mile 77 before dark you have a very good chance for a sub-24.  Knowing the last 30 miles are the most challenging - I knew I had to pickup the pace and start making time to get to Spirt of 76 soon.

Leaving 10 Bear, I immediately had a very steep climb that I pushed out a fast hike passing several runners.  On the top I was rewarded with great final daylight view.  The sun was about to drop below the horizon and I still had 4 miles to cover before Sprit of 76.

After this last daytime picture, I was back on single-track into the woods and before I knew it, the headlamp was out just 1 mile before 76.  I finally made it and with a quick in-and-out with a cup of iced down soup (the only solid food I ate in the race), I was on my way.

A few miles later, I ran into Shauna who was power marching on the road.  She was tired yet determined.  Despite limited summer training and this being only her second ultra,  I think she was doing great.  The next 10 miles had some good climbs yet it was all dirt roads and the heat was no longer an issue.

When I reached Bills aid-station (mile 88.6),  John was waiting to take care of my bottle while I was weighing in.  At that point with the cooler temps, I was only down 3 pounds!  To this point in the race, I had no injuries yet I had some rubbing issues on my right achilles tendon and the front of my feet near the tongue of my shoes.  To help, I treated the areas with Neosporin+pain relief (I carry this on all my 50 -100 mile races).

Leaving Bills, the race hopped on a rolling single-track in the woods.  I slowed down to make sure I did not trip or bash my foot on any leaf covered roots. Eventually, it got to long open field for a long descent before joining the road for another long climb.  

At mile 92, I had some more solid food at Keating's and refilled my bottle with Gatorade.  For the first time my stomach was starting to bother me.  I had been eating Gu every hour with 2 sport legs per hour with limited solid food for the last 21 hours.  I grabbed some Ginger candy but it looked and tasted old so I spit it out.

At mile 93, I slowed down to fuel up with Gu and Sport Legs for a final push and just then, I heard Jason talking to his pacer Randol hiking up behind me.  I turned back, and sure enough it was them with Marcy just behind them taking a nature break (how is that for politically correct).  I am not sue if I said hi or not, but they were enough motivation to gear me up for my final push.  Thanks Jason!

My legs felt good, stomach ok, motivation hi.  Not only was I going to break sub-24, I had a chance to break sub-23.  Uphill I ran to the next aid-station where John was waiting.  I was pushing so hard, I refused to give him my bottle and I topped it off myself.  He did say I was gaining on Kip (I still did not believe I would catch him).

Still running every inch, I passed a guy who asked "Is that you Ryan?" and it was Kip.  I did not even see him and could not believe I caught him yet - I still had a goal.

Running past Sargent's aid-station at mile 98, I decided not to stop and hit the single-track into the woods. It felt great passing all the runners and getting their support for a strong finish and finally I saw a sign showing 1 mile to go and I had 14 minutes.

I had no idea what surprises that may appear to slow me down. If it was runnable - I kept going watching the digits on my Garmin tick away. I  soon could hear the finish area as I passed two more runners.  Who ever they were, they started to keep up with me and they had loud cheering section calling and yelling Hoo-Ray for them.  So I found my final gear and sprinted in to keep them from passing me (I hate it when I have a strong final 5 -10 miles and someone I just passed with fresher legs overtakes me in the final second).

At 22:57:22, I crosse the finish line coming in 89th out of 218 finishers (306 starters).  This was a good race.

Then Kip soon followed with Jason and Marcy soon behind.  We all sub-24ed the race.  A special congratulations to Jason on his 1st 100 miler being sub-24 which is amazing.  We just lacked Dave who hurt his knee at mile 47.

 (Kip Crossing)

 Jason and Marcy with Randol crossing

The whole team above:  John Beard -Crew Chief extraordinaire, Me -Ryan Martin - rabbit number 1, Mary Beard - disciplined and consistent, Jason Mittman - 1st timer, Kip Fiebig - rabbit number 2)

The next morning after a few hours of restless sleep she made it to the awards ceremony.  Kelly below got 3rd place overall female in the 100k with a 15:14:36 time.  Also, Shauna finished her 1st (she says last) 100k too.  Great time with friends at a well organized and scenic 100 miler.  

Kelly above getting he award and Jason and Marcy getting their buckles

 Below is a video summary of the race at a few different sections.

In conclusion,  Vermont is near mandatory run for all 100 milers.  It is a great east coast run with good trail conditions with lots of climbing and descending very similar in elevation change as the Leadville 100.  What it does not have in altitude is made up with heat and humidity.  It is very well organized with many aid-stations so you can cut down on heavier packs.  It has enough runners that you will rarely be alone and make many new friends along the way.