Boston Marathon 2014

Boston Marathon 2014

            When signing up for “the Boston Marathon 2014,” I knew my wife wouldn’t be going on this trip and didn’t look at the calendar until it came time to get my plane ticket and it would put me flying out 2 hours after our Church Easter Service which I lead the music so I couldn’t miss nor did I want to miss the biggest service of the year service was pretty amazing!  So I jumped in the truck and flew out of XNA Rogers, AR and made my flight just in time.  I arrived at my Hotel at 11:00pm to stay the night with Matt Aguero my long time marathon buddy.  They changed the rules this year and said you have to pick up your race bib and chip in person with an ID because of the increased security.  I emailed (BAA) Boston Athletic Association probably 3 to 4 weeks prior to the race not knowing if I could get on the bus to get to the race without a bib, let along get an official time or even this year get scanned with a metal detector before getting into the start of the race.  My wife would call me crazy for trying to go and race without a bib, but soon after the BAA emailed me back and told me to call them on Tuesday 6 days before the race.  They then told me I could pick up my bib the morning of the race at 6am at location that I wouldn’t tell anyone and that I wouldn’t tell anyone that they were handing my bib out after the running expo had closed.  It happened to the lobby of my hotel, small world and I began to think the stars were aligning for me to run a great Boston Marathon.

            This would be my 3^rd Boston Marathon and for the 2 previous years I hadn’t ran well, the course, crowd and weather seem to be perfect but I hadn’t even qualified for Boston at Boston Marathon which meant thousands of runners had passed me previous years.  This Race was to be different because I was having an the best spring I had ever had with many top finishes in 50k trail runs, Trail Marathons and in the peak training ran just a few seconds slower than my half-marathon PR on a very hard course at the Vike-Hike Half-Marathon to out kick another racer to finish 1^st place at a 6:14 overall pace with 700 feet of elevation gain.  This means a 6:35 to 6:45 pace at Boston should be a breeze right?  And if I were to run much slower I might not catch my plane back to home!

            Matt Aguero usually trains and runs 2 marathons per year, 1 spring and 1 fall, and he is the most consistent runner I have ever seen with splits training and race times!  I took his training for Boston Marathon 2013 (bombing year) and didn’t run well.  So I looked at my past training from my PR at Tulsa marathon on a hilly course, which was cross training and doing many races and applied it to my 2014 Boston Approach.   I would hope for the best I got pretty beat up after the Vike Hike it was all concrete, but what got me worse was a sinus infection and a bad case of poison ivy which would lead to a trip to the Doctor and the nurse getting to give me a shot in the butt!  I hate shots, as the nurse said, “for a guy that runs marathons you sure scared of a little needle.”  This would lead to clearing up my sinus mess and clear up the P-Ivey.

            A week later at starting line me and Matt would have to wait in line to get into the start of the race as they were scanning runners with metal detectors, guards with 243 assault rifles standing on the building tops everywhere!  Then before I knew it there was a moment of silence for the victims the previous year and the gun fired to start the 2014 race.  I turned to the guys next to me and ask if they put sunscreen on and one of them said, “looks like we are setting in the tan lines for the summer today, have a great race bub and by this time we were finally moving as I started about 4,000 to 5,000 runs back from the starting line.  This is also what the BAA would guess my finish place from my previous qualifier at Tulsa Marathon with a 2:58

            I would cross the line and think of the victoms of the previous year and think of my wife and brand new baby girl walking right through where the bombs seems to be way to soon after she has passed in the explosion points, even though it was an hour later!  And I would start my fast pace of 2 super fast downhill miles at the start of the Marathon.  Whatever pace you want to run at Boston it will be about 30 to 45 seconds faster at the first 2 miles because they are fast and everyone is stinking fast!

I would soon hit a crazy wall at mile 11 as I was setting in a perfect pace but I couldn’t breathe and my ears were feeling blocked and my sinus system was just failing.  I would push on holding pace knowing it wasn’t good but hoping it would pass.  Every marathon has a moment sometimes hopefully short but a moment that feels like wow this stinking hurts but hopefully passes so you can press forward.  But this wasn’t going anywhere and wasn’t going to get better.  The level of effort to the production of pace felt like a steam train that was burning up all the coal and starting to burn on the left over fly ash at mile 15. Pressing this pace with no air wasn’t that hard until my legs said they were done going with out blood and air flowing to them!

            This would be the start of not a death march because I would keep running at all cost with now the thought of missing my plane that was to leave 2 hours after my planned sub 3-Hour-Marathon.  I would hope the best for now just making the plane.  It would be the hardest my body as pushed through pain.   Sad when you have the best crowd cheering you from starting line to finish line, 26 miles streets lined with cheering fans and tons of  “Boston Strong” sign everywhere! I had my name and Heb. 12:1 on the side of my arm on each side which would leave a pretty cool sunburn tattoo on my right arm!  But the crowd wouldn’t just scream for Meb USA Boston Champing setting a new PR and retiring from Marathon racing but would cheer for the Okie with Joshua on his arm with the wheels falling off!

Wesley College (all girls halfway mark and they scream so loud!)

I finished at a rough 3:35ish and wow what a day feeling as medical folks were trying to take me to the medic tent and I told them I didn’t have time to go to it. 

I walked through the madness of a marathon finish and leaned against a rail trying to give my body a rest as a medical student said you need to get in the wheel chair and go to the medical tent.  I told him my flight was leaving in 1 hour he said from, “you better get going!”  And I did, I soon a volunteer if I was going the correct way to get to my hotel and get my bag because they didn’t check bags at the finish now.  She tried to turn me around and I told her she was wrong.  She said, “where are you from? Because I am from Boston.”  But I didn’t take her advise and glad I didn’t I stopped at the next block and ask again and my hotel was right, “thank God I am going to make my flight.”  I was feeling sick as I would walk what seemed to be 50 yards and then have to stop and lean against the wall or whatever I could find as I felt I was going to throw up on since I had crossed the finish line.  I came into the hotel room and there was Matt he had ran an amazing time and finish 190^th out of almost 40,000 runners, truly an amazing marathoner with a 2:35 finish! WOW I told him I was not doing good and hadn’t had a good day and he said sit down I said I have to get my bag and go there was not time to change clothes it was get to the airport!  He walked me out and helped me get a taxi!  Thank you Matt you are an amazing friend!  I then would take off my shoes and put on a different pair of shoes.  Why do taxi’s crack the windows? Saving gas? Because it was hot in that taxi and then when hit the tunnel going under the water you smell all the exhaust from other cars and it was enough to put me into a cold sweat and you know what comes next!  Yes Matt the good friend he was had given me an extra check bag that he had picked up at the running expo for me!  Told him the night before I didn’t need it but my head was buried it in now throwing up 2 Gatorade’s, 2 gels and a water!  The taxi drive was screaming and pulled over super fast and rips the door open to see a nasty taxi but it was all in the clear check bag and I held it up like a trophy and he was so grateful it almost made me smile.  But I still was hurting and continue my 50 yard segment stop.  Got into the airport got my ticket process going and ask the airline agent for a bag and she said we don’t have any and I told her I just threw up in the taxi and she found one really fast for me!  Remind you I now am wearing flip flops, a race jersey, short shorts and backpack in one hand and an empty K-mart bag in the other hand.  And if you want sympathy from TSA you never get it. But if you walk in like you had just finished the hardest marathon in your life they will rub your back, help you get your stuff checked even walk you to the bench with your shoes!

I no looked at my watch and still had 30 minutes so I walked into the food court and bought a water from McDonalds because they didn’t have a cup of ice water so spent $2.78 on 16 ounces of water and drank it.  I then sit down and put my head down on the table.  This was the finally the point where I felt like I stopped moving since I crossed the finish line.   Sat there until I figured I better change closes in the bathroom another 50 yards and head to the gate, which was about 50 more yards.  I sat at the gate and looked at Starbucks thinking I needed another water but it was past my range it was 100 yards!  I didn’t really care that a bottle of water was going to cost me 3 bucks at this point it was just I didn’t think it was worth the effort of 200 yards!  So then I got a text from Josh Wiersig that said he was praying for me because he had checked on me early and I texted him and told him I was hurting bad!  He said “I am praying for you.”  Well I know God had answered his prayer as I sat at the end of line as I always do waiting to get on a plane a man handed me a 1.5 liter bottle of water! He said, “you looked like you needed this I saw you come in earlier and something just told me to buy you this.”  Then the flight attendant saw I was hurting and got me a whole row to myself to lye down in.  She soon would place her hand on me and I jumped and cramped. She said, “was checking to make sure you were still alive!”

            Still don’t know why I didn’t run well at Boston, could be sinus troubles, could be I was over trained, or wore down from so many races this Spring?  I plan to go to Boston again when my wife gets her a BQ and we plan a longer adventure together.

In the mean time another Marathon another day! Sign up for a race and get out there and TRAIN!

Meb Winning!

           

Sylamore Trail 50k 2014

            My wife, 8 months Prego was putting my shoes on and tying them for me.  It was the Monday before the upcoming Saturday race and I had tweaked my back (Pregnant Karma Sutra, know your limits).  I showed up to the race and didn’t do too bad until I slipped on the ice and re-tweaked it at mile 23.  I finished 4^th with a time of 4:36 and was happy with my 2013 race.   But, I’ve been dying to return to Sylamore to PR and see where that puts me in the competitive group of racers that are drawing from Memphis, St. Louis, Little Rock, Oklahoma and Texas.  With 225-50k’ers and 625-25k-er’s signing up for this race, it is the biggest trail race in Arkansas if not the 5 state surrounding area.  I had looked up before the race and saw the top 6 from last year were signed up to come again and race for 2014.  That in itself was exciting and gave me more reason to trail with intensity for this early 2014 season!  So me and my 2 Valentine Sweetheart’s, Kristin and Scarlett, loaded up for the 4.5 hour trip.  It included some major twisted roads to get to North Central Arkansas near Mt. View, AR.

Chris, Bryan, and Me

At 7 am the race director announces that we have never done this before for the 50k, but if you choose to turn around at the 25k we will not DNF you from the race.  Then he went on to explain that the course was 80% snow and ice for major sections of the trail. He then says this isn’t the fun snow to run in.  This is ice on top of snow….bust you’re a** snow.  He then says good luck and sounds the horn as everyone was 30 feet from the starting line (typical for most trail races).  Me, Tom and Bryan, from Memphis 2013 with 2^nd place and a really fast time, were pacing the first three-fourths of the uphill road section together.  As we were chatting Bryan told us that Matt wouldn’t be running because he was injured, he would be just crewing and cheering.  Then Chris flies by us, and I thought, “Oh man, it is the guy that goes out fast at every race and then comes back.”  Right about then we hit the first snow and ice going downhill.  Normally we would be flying down this hill but everyone was slowing because it was super slick.  We neared the bottom and Tom goes down hard. Says he is ok and we keep on trucking.   We get on the wrong trail right off the bat and bushwhack to the correct trail and then come upon the first major creek crossing.  On the other side of the creek it was solid ice going up the steps and I felt like I was crawling on all fours to get to the top of the trail out of the creek.  The next mile would be some of the worst, most dangerous running I had ever encountered in my life.  Bryan who was ahead of me was sliding on his butt in one spot to get down.  And I spotted Tom slipping on another dangerous rocky spot.  We kept pressing forward and I passed Bryan and went into 2^nd place not worrying about Chris to much and trying to focus on running my own race.  I was feeling pretty good and being really cautious not wanting to get banged up early into the race.

Ice, Bryan, Me and Tom

            First Aid Station at Blanchard Springs, Team Snyder was there ready to go.  I dumped a shirt got my lucky hat, a new bottle and was on my way giving time for Tom.  Another dude that looked like Van Diesel running strong and Bryan were coming into the aid station as we left.  This was the first big climb and it was good Tom was leading the way because this was a good check for me not to kill this hill as I wanted to let it loose.  I finally went around Tom and pressed to the top of the climb until we bombed down it to the North Sylamore Creek shores.   Then we were fast approaching the second big climb and I was feeling great!  I then started the big descent on the second mountain.  Both of these mountains had snow that was about 3 to 4 inches deep with a layer of ice on top of the snow.  It was hard and the previous footprints were twisting my ankles and leading me on the wrong trail.  I came upon an intersection and just stood there not sure where to go.  Single Track Trail that didn’t look like anyone had ran on it at all?  Or down the big clear trail with tons of foot tracks?  I was waiting for a second opinion and after about a minute I got one but I didn’t like what he said which was to go down the hill.  So I waited for the third opinion and he said yes take the single track.  I took off and saw a cliff edge just past a few trees below the trail.  It was roughly 10 feet and led to a 150 foot drop to the river.  I said to third place behind me, “you don’t want to fall here!”  I hadn’t fallen at this point, but I had noticed blood all over Tom’s legs and seen several guys hit the ice hard!  Glancing again at the cliff’s edge, before I knew it I was hitting the ice hard.  Taking a fall at the worst possible place on the entire 31 mile course!  Luckily I didn’t slide down the mountain or over the cliff.  I then stood up slowly and went on my way thanking God as my life felt like it flashed before my eyes.  I looked down when I got to the turn around and I noticed my leg was bleeding pretty badly, but I was four minutes behind the leader Chris.

Mile 28, 60% of the Trail looked like this

            Tom and I had talked before about Chris and thought he would come back, so I felt if I kept a good pace I would see him again.  On this out and back course it lets you know how far you are behind and you also get to see how close your competitors are to hunting you down.  This is good motivation to keep the effort going!  I then saw many 50k’ers that would cheer me on and it would seem I was getting closer to the leader, but still no sign of him as I rolled into the Gunner Pool Aid Station.  There were the best two aid station workers I have ever met!  They are in their seventies I just know him as Big Shot.  I also got to meet his wife, Lou.  They are the sweetest, most encouraging people I have ever met.  Their history of trail running, their time and dedication to the sport has helped bring it to where it is today!

           

 So I took off from their aid station heading for Team Snyder at Blanchard Springs.  It was just over a couple of big climbs, but the bad thing is I wasn’t feeling the best at this point.   I decided to let up the gas a little bit and then I started feeling better real quickly.  I then starting passing tons of 25kers.  They start their race one hour later and were moving slower this year with the trail being so slick making it much more congested this year.  I came into Blanchard feeling pretty good but really had my heart set on my wife telling me that the race leader was only 2 minutes ahead.  Instead she said, “He is probably 5 minutes ahead or so.”  At this point I was upset because said, “5 minutes or 7 or 2 what is it?”  This is the point I should have not said anything and kissed my wife and started running!  Looking back, this is the point my wife should have kicked me in the tail and said get to running!!  I was still trying to get the time out of her and she couldn’t tell me.   Last year’s race winner Matt said, “He isn’t to far ahead go get em!” And off I went into the woods with now packed snow that much easier running than earlier in the day!  This same section in 2013 kicked my tail with a sore back, hopping, jumping and stumbling over the many rocks and roots.  Add to that, this year is still icy in so many places.  But I would press on.  Passing 25k runner after 25k runner thinking every time I would see him in the distance, the X-Navy Seal that I was trying to run down and pass for the victory.  Syalamore doesn’t give anything for the Second place winner.  If you get First you get to come back the next year for free and you also get a big, sweet trophy! If you get Last place you get the same thing that you get for Second.   You have to love this, but you also have to hate it when you can’t ever catch that first place runner!  As I crossed the freezing cold creek I saw one of my GU’s that had fallen out of my pocket.  It must have dropped crossing the first time so I told the camera man he could have that one!  I then took the last icy climb up the hill pretty fast and bombed down the last three-quarters of mile to the Anglers Resort and Finish Line.  My hat is off to Chris, as if he did slow down it wasn’t much because I lost by exactly 3 minutes.  As I crossed the line I asked Chris if he had already gotten a cheeseburger inside and came back out.  He laughed and told me great race!  He was a great sport about beating me and I hope to chase him again soon!  As for Sylamore I got you on the PR this year and I didn’t think a PR could be done with the course conditions.  But running smart, training and enjoying whatever you do, you never know what can happen!  Big Thanks to my Girls for crewing me, driving me and cheering me on!  Tom for telling me years ago I had to go run this race and pushing me to longer, harder runs!  And to My Lord and Savior for giving me the ability to run and enjoy his amazing beauty in the Mountains!

I love this Sign! 8.5 Hours one way!

Training a lot of hills helped me get ready for this years race looking forward to another good one next year!  This sums up the trail races for Winter/Spring 2014, now changing gears with many long Mountain Bike Races and Boston Marathon in April looking forward to those races and stories to come!

4:31  2^nd Place

Ouachita Switchbacks 50k – 2014

        Last Friday was another great, crazy night at the Snyder Home.  We had more company than usual, this time from the Northeast Corner of Oklahoma and from Tulsa.  Matt, Chandler and Kyler, my cousin, were three of the new guests, along with the normal crew of Kasey, Aaron O, and Jordo.  We ate an amazing spaghetti dinner prepared by my wife Kristin Jo.  We then headed out to the Snyder Rock Gym and started climbing and watching Sam Young show us how to climb!  We wore ourselves out climbing and finished the 4^th quarter with KD scoring 54 points!

Top of Winding Stair - (Pics - Jed Kirby)

My father-in-law had come down to watch the little ones and he looked on as Aaron and I mixed our bottles,  and Kasey and I traded our Gels and Shot Blocks.  I looked up at him and he had this crazy look on his face like, “What in the world are these guys doing?”  One of the joys of us all hanging out before the race is us trading stories, training, clothing, and always Strava GPS info!

We had an early start as always and a full car this go around.   Two weeks before at ABF Marathon, Aaron forgot his GPS watch and iPod and this week he left his sports drinks in the fridge.  So I had Kyler put them in his bag and off we went.  I saw Aaron turn around and I called him and he said, “I forgot my bottles,” and he was freaking out.  I told him I had them and he was mad.  Stihl ask what he said and I told Stihl that I couldn’t repeat it!  Always good laughs it seems when you get me and Aaron together! 

The course is a double out and back, head west and then back, then east then back. My dad was running the Aid Station at the top of Winding Stair Mountain, Chandler was running from Winding Stair to the start of the race, Stihl was running to the top of Winding Stair.  So trying to figure the logistics of people in places at the right time was fun planning!

Tom Brennan has been racing for years and he knows how to put on the best races!  Keep them cheap, give swag, beer, and find the crazy hard courses that will challenge you beyond your limits!  He had been cleaning on the trail for many weekends and for that Tom, I thank you so much!  I put in time on the trails and I truly appreciate your hard work on the trails, almost more than putting the race on!

My dad working the Top Aid Station (Pics by Jed Kirby)

We pulled into Pushubee Trail head and the sun was just rising.  I found a great place to take a dig and watch the sunrise and Kasey thought that was pretty funny so had to post it.  Sorry if you got a bad image of that!  We took off at 8am and I had been pumped about this race because Justin Franklin had been posting some crazy fast times and he had won a couple races coming into the race.   Add to that,  Tom Brennan running the race this year as well, and a long course you never know what is going to happen out there!  I jumped out in the front at a pace that felt a little slower than last year.  Ran through the Big Cedar Trail head aid station and Franklin stopped and ran down to the first creek crossing.  I crossed this last year dry, but that wasn’t going to happen this year so I busted into the cold water.  I dropped them somehow at the creek and used this time to talk to God for the next 2 miles.  I couldn’t help but think of His wonder as I ran past one of the most beautiful places on the Ouachita Trail with a creek below.  Then I came upon one of my favorite places on the Trail, the massive Rock Glacier that makes you feel like you are in Jackson Hole, WY and makes me think of God’s mystery and creativity! Franklin had caught me at this point and was amazed also.  We stopped and looked up and then down the glacier.

Franklin and I at the Top

Kristin my Beautiful Wife

Stihl 9-year-old Son at the Top

            This would end the gazing as we pressed the pace up the mountain and dropped Tom in this next mile stretch.  I knew Tom wouldn’t be far behind and figured he would catch us by the bottom of the mountain with his downhill speed.  Great to see my dad for all of 5 seconds at the top of the mountain as I turned to head back down the hill looking at the amazing view one last time as we were at the highest point of the entire OT.  Then I would soon see Tom and a crew of people behind him.  It was great seeing so many runners coming out to run, walk or crawl up the mountains.  Shortly I saw my wife and surprisingly, my 9 year-old son was with her.  She said he was doing awesome and I gave him a high five! I was so proud of him that he had made it this far into the race!  I dropped a Gu and Franklin would pass me and start dropping the hammer but it was all downhill so I didn’t think much about it and was glad to finally get a little bit of uphill to relief the pressure of my quads.  We would go through the next aid station and into a very hilly next 3 miles to the 28k mark.  Franklin really pressed down in this area.  I felt it was easy but hard at the same time, so I eased up on hill climbs.  Getting to the aid station was nice, but difficult because it would have been nice to call it a day right then! As we headed out I grabbed many gels and a new bottle.  I was hot, and this is when I notice Franklin pulled his shirt off and I took my gloves off!  Yes I took my gloves off; this is a sign for me that I will never run well if the gloves are off in a long distance race!  I then began feeling upset at my stomach as we started climbing a big climb and I watched as Franklin disappeared into the mountains.  I then remembered back to last year and remembered how this climb was so hard.  I tried to keep a good effort up and finally stopped to try to relieve some stomach issues and nothing, but my heart rate came down and I started feeling better so I started running again.  At this point in the race, on top of the east mountain, it is so rocky and very difficult to run.  Walking it is difficult also, so I figured I would try to run as much as I could.  Soon enough I see Franklin on a rock so I check on him and then head down the mountain feeling better and better with every downhill step!  I then head onto the new course and the change of dirt road as my feet say, “oh yeah!”  I then feel my muscles say “oh yeah,” as I crossed the Kiamichi River which was really astonishing.

Tatur Aid station is the best! Loud music, great food and Brian Hoover ask “You want a daiquiri?”  I did want one, but mainly I just wanted to set there.  But it was a race, and I was in 1^st place!  Brian you’re the best! Crossing the river the second time my toes were very cold, but it felt great and it was great running the road again.  I then saw a dog in the distance and Tom coming around the corner.  He and his dog Penny weren’t far behind.  He said, “Now is the time to go for a sub-5-hour run!”  I was thinking yeah!  Then I hit the next climb and was thinking yes, but my body was thinking no! But I pressed on with what I felt like was a good pace.  Another climb up the hill until where that darn top is so rocky!  Crazy thing is, if you were hiking you have a great view of a mountain to your North and to your South that you could really enjoy.  But with racing you are glued to staring at the trail in front of you so you don’t trip and fall on your face!  I continued to get over the rock null and down the backside, but I was out of liquids and asking another 50k guy for a drink!  He said I need credit for helping you, I should have said, “I just lightened your load and helped you!  But he did help me so much.  So thank you random 50k brother!  I then ran pretty well down the mountain and hit the last flat section and picked up the pace as I came to the last dry rocky creek crossings and the last little climb to the top. 

I heard a yell and I fought to hold in the tears as I remembered running last year with my favorite running buddy, Jesse my 8lbs Toy Fox Terrier.  She finished the full 50k!  She was amazing dog.  She unfortunately was hit by a car this fall.  I know she would have run again with me this year and she would have torn the trail up again! I will never forget her running so many miles with me, but especially at 2013 Ouachita Switchbacks! 

Finish Line

Would love to break 5 hours on this crazy hard course but will need some more training and need a colder day!

1^st Place & Course Record 5:17

(Sorry I didn’t give me course description)

http://ouachitaswitchbacks.blogspot.com/2012/10/course-description.html

Athens Big Fork Marathon 2014

             It was another trip with a big crew from Oklahoma with George Haney (his 3rd race ever) Aaron O and Jordo (from Tulsa), Kasey Ng (my cousin), a healed ready to run Kendal Repass, his wife Hali, my wife Kristin, my 9-year-old son Stihl, and the course recorder holder Tom Brennan.

My fifth trip out to ABF Marathon to run over 8 mountains see my favorite Aid Station that comes all the way from Texarkana, then to turn around and run back over 8 mountains!

            The race director at the beginning has everyone raise there hand if they have gotten lost before in this race and almost every person that has raced before has gotten lost in previous years.  We gather for the race picture and Aaron says to me, “I forgot my watch and my radio.”  He still had his warm up clothes on so I ask, “you still going to race?” And he said, “a Yeah.”  So I said , “well get those clothes off he is gonna start us right after this picture!”  So he started rushing around and my wife was running to the woods for a last min bathroom break and she would miss the start so I yelled at Stihl to run with Hali.  Hali looked just as relieved as Stihl because they both were counting on running with Kristin and she wasn’t at the start! Later I come to find out she hit a 7-min mile to make up for lost time.

Tom and I were in the front and a guy asked which one of you has the Course Record. Before I could say “he’s not here today they say he is a ghost and his name is Tom, and he starts in the back and then comes flying by on the second half of the race and you never have time to see him.”  Tom had said, “I have the Record and it is for sure the slowest Marathon CR in the Nation.”  The reason Tom stated this because the race measured 7,000 feet of vertical gain and it is one rough single-track trail.  This year was going to be a little more difficult with the past storm leaving a mess of branches and trees across the trails.

Wilson Klutts (Happen to be on the Trail)

            The temp was perfect but it was a bit humid for the guy that sweats on the 20-degree lite run in the winter but my hands freeze so I am pretty much a wimp I know but love to run in the cold!  So after a couple miles it was Tom and I pretty far out front and I was trying to decide what kind of time I wanted to chase after for the day!  Tom had set some good guidelines for me on this race years ago and the main one was not to look at your watch on the way out!  I looked at my watch the year I was in the lead and I pushed myself into a big crash after the turn around so Tom was pretty spot on!  This would be my game plan the complete way out only looking at my watch only to guess when I needed to hit some fuel.  I only talked to Tom a couple times after we had hit the single-track southbound trip out.  I mentioned all the trees down, pointed out some deer, and asked him, “Is this the 8^th mountain?”  He replied, “yes.” And I thought, FINALLY!  We hit the forest road before the turn around and ran together and talked about what time he thought we were going to hit the turn around. Tom said, “my guess is a 2:15” I told him my guess was a 2:15 and he said you can’t guess the same number and I told him I had hit 2:15 3 out of the 4 previous years and I said if I had to pick another number it would be a little slower than 2:15.  We hit the turn around at 2:17 grabbed some grub and headed back out.  And I said to Tom, “2:04 will get your course record, looks like it will live another year!”

A surprising 3^rd place came onto the trail only trailing by 6 minutes.  I told Tom he could lead and pull a little while and we stopped for a potty stop and pull is what he did! We hit the first mountain on the way back with an up temp pace and the flats between were the same story.  It took all I had for the next 3 mountains to stay with Tom on the downhill sections as he blazes down them faster than I have seen any other trail runner.  We got into the Blaylock Creek aid station (Mile 18) the race director! Thanks so Much STEVE! Saw I was gassed and Tom also saw I was gassed so he broke out of the aid station pretty quick.  I was down to one last gel so I snagged a big piece of Cake and took off behind Tom.  He blasted across the creek and I ran up creek 20 yards and played frogger across to keep my feet dry!  This was the first year I had ever had dry feet this far into the race!

We hit the steepest climb on the way back next and Tom seemed to finally let off the kill it button and was I ever glad!  This would be my slowest pace of the race but was still trying to regain composer.  I love an out and back course when you say on the way out I am going to run that when I get back to it, and I had already made up my mind I was going to run the 13^th mountain.  Tom set a good hike pace in and I was still running, so I made up some ground quickly that I had lost on the downhill making a pass with my steady pace up the 13^th.  Didn’t really try to make a move, I thought what is the point he will catch me if he is felling good and never know just keep pushing is what I kept in my head.  I hit the next big climb, hiked hard seeing my wife at the top kept me moving what I felt like fast.  Slapped her on the butt, and she smiled I didn’t say a word I just kept moving! 

The last aid station (Little Missouri River) I noticed Tom was not right behind me anymore, I got one last big drink of water.  Running the last mountain always feels good, coming near bottom of the backside before the single track ran out onto the road I saw blaze orange waist up to cap running!  And I knew this was George Haney, he said after the race, “I hadn’t seen anyone in a really long time and I hear the loud noise coming down the mountain and then a huge hawler, and I didn’t need to turn around I knew it was you.”  This was his 3^rd race with World’s Highest Hill his first, man is he ever tough, he and many other runners were doing the Fun Run almost 18 miles and 4,600 feet of elevation! Doesn’t the sound fun?

            Looking at my watch when I hit the road I knew I would have to run hard to get a PR on this course so I picked up the pace which helped my peace of mind knowing a legend and the course record holder wasn’t far behind me!  Tom is one tough runner and his course is going to stand for many years even if a fast marathon toes the line they are going to have to work super hard to get his record!

I was surprisingly dehydrated from sweating so much!  Hard to think you can do that in January but I was soaked from head to toe!  So I got inside to the great cheering crowd gathered around the fire!

Zoom in on the Snot!

Always good times at ABF and plan to go there for many years to come!  You will not find more beautiful country around these parts near Oklahoma or Arkansas.  Proud of my wife and cousin and my son that wanted to go 17 miles but my wife turned him around at the 4 mile mark so he got 8 miles and 1,000 feet and he loved it!  Go climb a mountain and you will not be sorry you did when you get to the top you feel like you achieved so much and you will see some of God’s beautiful creation that he created for you and me!
                                                    1st Place 4:29:40

LOViT Trail Marathon 2013

         Poteau, OK 4:45am I hit the alarm went off and my wife said, “Are you really going to the race?” It was 33 degrees outside and raining and had been raining all night.  I told her, “There are 3 guys in the living room that are ready to roll, I’m going.” She said, “Your Crazy…. Be Careful.” As her head hit the pillow to go back to where I wish I was at that point in bed sleeping!

            Aaron Ochoa and Jordan Christy from Tulsa had drove down because the ice had hit in Tulsa and there would have been no possible way for them to make it to the marathon leaving from Tulsa.  My cousin Kasey Ng was the same story so they were ready to head out the door to 5:15am coffee in hand to meet Tom Brennan, Matt Aguero, and Sam Young missing one more due to injury Kendall Repass, and yes I just said Matt Aguero and every time I said that before the race everyone was like, “wow, how fast is he gonna run?”  Matt hasn’t been on the trail running scene because of his obsession to run the fastest Marathon he can run.  Which makes him one of the best Road Marathoners in Oklahoma.

48 at the start not 63!!!!

            We cheered the complete drive to Hot Springs as the Temp rose 1 degree at a time from 33 all the way to 48, the weather channel said it was going to be 63 at the start with a 100% chance of Rain every hour.  They did hit the rain part correct but the Temp was so hard to figure out how to dress for such a race.  We got there right before the start and all 35 of us lined up and they said good luck you guys have fun!  The trail runs along the Ouchita Lake which is one of most beautiful lakes around Arkansas and Oklahoma and the trail is what I remembered being pretty flat and a big climb at the turn around, this race was an out and back course with 14 out and 12 back making for a great run!

            As it rained we ran and we ran it rained.  I took the lead on the trail and no one was going to push the pace it seemed so I took what I felt was easy and Tom was yelling I was going to fast.  I wanted to go out at record pace that was set by Tom 2 years before this race when I had ran with him and he was using it as a training run and we got to mile 19 and I had never seen a man take off that fast after running 19 miles of trail.  He was gone with-in 3 miles and I was stuck sucking wind up the last hills walking knowing Tom was running.  But this is 2 years later and my fitness is better for sure and had to at least have a shot at breaking my previous time of 3:40 or Tom’s Record of 3:35.   I knew Matt was just going to use this run as a training run and not burn it up like he normally would do a race.  But I also knew if I could get him to chase me to the turn around he might set the course record at a super fast time.  I Tom was going to have it as he jumped out in front of me and slowed the pace at mile 4.  But it was far from Tom slowing the pace down, it was mother-nature as the heavens opened up and the rain fell harder and the trail began to fill with water.  I watched Matt in his racing flats slip and slide and wish he was wearing trail shoes, “funny stuff!”  I can’t image running in a shoe that you would slide every step but I was sliding in my Brooks PureGrit also so I guess it was all fair.  We hit might 10 aid station and started down hill before hitting the climb.  Matt had jumped out front before mile 10 aid station and started pushing the pace.  I don’t think this was on purpose I think he is just so stinking fast when we hit that road section he was like yes and started feeling good!  Matt was looking for the trail at one point and almost ran straight into the woods as Tom and I laughed pretty hard!  Then a mile later I was trying to point him to the wrong direction on the trail and he wasn’t having it!  We then had our first real creek crossing at mile 12 and I said, “Look there is a rope!, Matt said, “oh that’s nice as plunged straight through the middle of the creek far away from the rope and we then laughed again! 

Matt then pushed the climb to heart rate raise and I started walking in the back as Matt and Tom were running and Tom said to Matt, “I thought we weren’t ever going to hike.”  I had been using my long legs and been hiking for awhile at there run pace!

We had a great time at the turn around and took some pictures.  I tossed my hot hands (which they don’t work when they are soakin wet) 

Matt and I at the Finish (still raining)

            From the turn around back we had a very gradual pace never really picking it up.  We weren’t racing and this was apparent early in the race but it was a great training pace and it was very hard with the weather in control of a lot of the pace.  That being said was one of the best 26 mile runs I had ever had with 2 of my favorite running buddies as crossed the line together with a time of 4:03:33 official.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and looking forward to many hard trail runs for 2014 coming up!