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A Rugged Beauty
The Promise Land 50k
Bedford, VA
April 26, 2008
She was lying on her side in an active balance of the erect and the
reclined.
Winter sun had tanned her with a tawny, oak bronze across every ridge and
curve of a magnificent and seductive topography.
She was barely clad. Draped with a scant hint of a green lace gown
sprinkled with jewels
as bright and translucent as wildflowers in April sun.
She was waiting for her perennial encounter with….
"Hey Buddy, you’re off the trail."
He was right.
As I regained contact with the outer world of people, rocks, and trees,
I Iooked back and saw two runners standing in an obvious switchback that I
had missed.
They had been gaining on me climbing up Apple Orchard Falls Trail toward
the second and last peak at Sunset Fields, mile 26 on the course.
Outwardly, I had only traveled 30 yards off the trail.
Inwardly, I have no idea.
On a warm, spring Friday afternoon, I turned left off Hwy 122, 9 miles
north of Bedford at the Millstone Tea Room. I was not too far ahead of a
bank of dark stormy clouds bound for the Promise Land. A couple of years
ago, not long after taking up running, when a ten mile run still had the
respect of distance that it really always should, I happened upon a
description of the Promise Land 50k event. The course, the campout, the
bonfire all made organic sense too me.
All I had to do was train and condition for a 30+ mile run and I would be
there. For the young and restless with a bit of athletic prowess, that’s
challenging, but for a middle-aged couch potato, like myself, more of a
fantasy. Still I dreamed, but not neglecting training. Only a dream will
make your training come true. Of course, the reverse is also true.
I pulled into the large mowed field at Promise Land Youth Camp and
set up the hammock in the trees along the edge near a small stream.
Several runners had already pitched tent and were milling about the
Pavilion. I checked in, chatted, hydrated, and waited patiently for the
truckload of pizzas and rain to arrive. The full force of the thunderstorm
missed us, though it dampened enthusiasm for the bonfire. The pizza storm
hit us head on, and there was much rejoicing.
About 9pm, I crawled into my hammock, listened to the rain and slept
several hours. At 3 am I woke. The rain had stopped and it was still warm,
maybe 60*. I crawled outside with my pad and sleeping bag and slept some
more waiting for the 4:30 wakeup call on the PA. That would give me plenty
of time to get ready for the 5:30 start.
"It’s 5 o’clock, we’ll be lining up in 15 minutes for the pre-race
briefing."
That was the next thing I heard. Fortunately I had stuffed everything I
would need to start, in a single bag.Usually, to get ready to run, I just
rummage around through my jumble of gear until chaos takes some order. But
without this bit of organization, I would have been a late starter.
I meet up with the Iron Mt Dead Guys: Doug, Rick, Jason, Tammy and her
brother.
I missed Nick. He and Tammy were crewing. I barely had time to finish my
banana, a group photo, the prayer, the national anthem, and off we go. At
just this point I realized I’d made a serious gear error in bleary 5am
judgement. Socks. I always do long and/or hard runs in thin little Injinji
socks plus a thicker Smartwool outer sock for cushion. The first time I
wore those Injinji’s alone, I ended up with a blood blister the size of
Rhode Island on the cusp of my heel. But I tried them alone on a short run
a few days ago and kind of liked the feel. I thought I’d give them a try
at least to the ridge top Aid Station at Sunset Fields where our drop bags
would be. I could add a layer if necessary and even slip out of my new,
light Streaks to my tried and true Divides, if the trail was extra harsh.
Wait a minute. There’s not going to be any drop bags taken anywhere unless
your crew does it. Miles later I realized that Tammy was going up and
could have taken it if I’d thought to ask. This could be an ultra-blister
day.
We’re headed up a paved road in the dark. I’m wearing a headlamp, shorts
(sorry kilt fans), a compression short sleeve, and loose fit short sleeve
tech from the Terrapin Mt Half, and a billed hat.I’m carrying two hand-helds,
one starting with Clip2, the other with water and in its pouch an
emergency Espresso ClifShot. In my key pocket, I have a vial with 7 Scaps
and 5 caps of ibuprofen. My Garmin just recently made it back from the
shop, but I’m going with a cheap plastic stopwatch today.
The course time limit is 10 hours. So without the GPS to pace myself, I
calculated the cut-off pace. Then divided up distance between aid
stations, multiplied, adjusted for the elevation profile with wild
guestimates, interpolated for a few Horton Miles, trademark of our
infamous race director, Dr David Horton, just in case. I crossed my
fingers and ignored the variable of technical footing variance, and ended
up with a cheat sheet of my maximum allowed arrival time for each aid
station. Thank God and Bill Gates for Excel. I memorized it.
To Overstreet Falls Aid Station #1 Mile 2.64.
Goal time 6:30am
It’s dark much of the way, but all road. From pavement, to gravel, to dirt
and rocks, it gets steeper and steeper, but never as difficult as the
first climb at Terrapin Mt. It's just a few miles northeast of PL. I made
good time and left the AS at 6:14.
To Reed Creek Aid Staion #2 Mile 8.55.
Goal time 8:00.
Immediately we start on non-technical single-track and in places it’s not
too steep to run until we crest a ridge and start down a wide lane
carpeted with moss and grass.
Maybe this is the Promise Land. I’m moving up into different groups of 2-5
runners and fall back occasionally. Few people are really chatty having
just climbed 2000’ feet. I did listen to a man talking about the Barkley.
He made 13 miles of the first of 5 twenty-mile loops before dropping out.
It took him 6 or 7 hours. That’s still an accomplishment. We are now
rolling up and down on an old road paved with grass and vetch, cut along
the south face of the mountain headed into the sunrise. We have a great
view of the mountain hollows below filled with sleepy cotton clouds. Tears
would better describe the beauty than words. I think about this. You can
see this driving in a car along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but until you’ve
ran or at least walked a considerable distance within this view, deep
beauty will allude you. It will hide beneath words and vision, even on a
postcard or in flowery verses. When you think you’ve captured that vision
of beauty standing by your car at a scenic overlook, deep beauty is still
running wild and free.
At the AS, I stay with banana and orange slices, diluted ClifDrink and
plain water in the bottles. Departure time about 7:45.
To Sunset Fields Aid Station #3 Mile 11.94.
Goal Time 9:30
Back onto narrower single track in the forest, with running and walking
interspersed,
the climb is growing less and less steep as we cross the Parkway. Soon, we
reach the course apex at about 4000’. We start to roll along down a wide
gravel service road at a good clip toward the AS. A few crews are there as
is Tammy. The sun is starting to get some strength in it, but the air is
just a touch thinner and feels cooler. I’m starting to eat some starches
at this point also, and draining at least a 20oz between stations. Down
the hill we go. Departure time about 8:35.
To Cornelius Creek Trail Junction Aid Station #4 Mile 16.09.
Goal Time 10:30
This was almost all tough technical. 4 miles of rock dancing with 2000’ of
drop. The top end was the toughest and the single track emptied on to a
grassy road at a switchback for a brief reprieve.
I planted my right foot on the very last rock about 10" high only to have
it slip completely off to the left. I jammed it straight-kneed hard into
the ground with the other foot still in flight.
I don’t how I avoided falling or why it didn’t rip out my knee. But within
a step or two things felt fairly normal. Cornelius Creek was stunning from
what I could gather from my peripheral vision.
We came into the AS with hamburgers on the grill. I was in pain here,
mainly quads, gut, and feet. Calories are my friends. Food and liquid is
going down well, but I avoided the hamburger as its getting warmer and
Colon Hollow is an unknown and may require some running. I’m banking a lot
of time, and not feeling especially exhausted, but strained gut muscle and
foot pain brought me to a low point. I left at about 9:35 and took some
ibuprofen at 16 miles.
To Colon Hollow Aid Station #5 Mile 19.26
Goal Time: 11:15
There was a paved or gravel road that had a gentle down grade nice for
running, if you like that sort of thing. After a mile or so, we are
flagged off the pavement back into the woods by our yellow Montrail
streamers. This portion is uphill, but the walking is a relief. A tall,
young, fit trail runner followed me into the station. He had started
injured, some ITB taping on both legs and struggling with pulled groin
muscles. The lady running the station said, "Pain is inevitable, suffering
is optional." I leave by myself about 10:30. My mood is improving and I
can’t think of any problem that might prevent me from finishing in 10 hrs.
My sock error, is a non-issue,
even though my feet have been wet for a couple of hours, there are no
blisters forming.
Back to Cornelius Creek Trail Junction. Aid Station #6 Mile 23.89.
Goal Time: 1:00pm
I continue the climb on a wide grassy trail deeper into the woods. There
is a little gentle downhill mixed in. I found this portion to be one of
the more enjoyable and laid back sections of the whole run. The trail ends
with a left on a dirt road. Several cars are parked there and I presume it
to be runner's families to cheer them on. Turns out they are bird
watchers. One lady asks, "What kind of event are you folks doing"?I said
it was a 50k race from Promise Land Youth Camp. "How far is that?" I say
the course is over 30 miles. "Oh my goodness". I turn off the road back
onto single track, technical, steep, downhill. Variations on a Rock Theme
in Pain major by Meistro D. Horton. Soon I’m back at the Cornelius Creek
Aid Station. Only one hamburger left, I take half of it. No ClifDrink, but
I’ve been taking S-caps by the clock. I should have eaten more and drank
more to prepare for the next section. I left at about 11:35, well ahead
of the 1:30pm cutoff for this station.
Back to Sunset Fields via Apple Orchard Falls Trail, Aid Station #7
Mile 26.68
Goal Time 2:00
Instead of taking the route that dropped us 2000’ feet in 4 miles, we’re
going to climb it in 3.
I allowed an hour. It took an 1:35. But after about 40 minutes just before
the trail got real steep, I spent 5 minutes in a waterfall. The temps were
well into the 70s and a 8’ moss covered rock with a mountain creek
spilling over it like a bottomless bottle of chilled champagne was, well,
more temptation than I wanted to dodge. Clothes and all, in I went. I felt
like a new person.
The climb involved lots of rock steps and sawn timber ones until well past
the large falls.
Even then, there was a mile left to the station. But there were plenty of
wildflowers to sooth toiling flesh, wild bleeding hearts, a profusion of
dutchmen’s breeches, and a true pink form of Trillium erectum. This
is also where I strayed. By the time I’d topped out I was rationing the
last of 40 oz of water. Tammy was watching for her brother. Her husband
Rick had finished by now, as had Josh and Doug. I lingered here taking in
extra calories and fluids, and stretching -5 minutes at least. We’ve
completed a marathon distance in about 7:40, and almost the entire portion
of climbing –just under 8000’. On average we’ve climbed 295’ and lost 225’
per mile.
I left at about 1:10pm. 5 more miles, 2000’ of loss, let the race begin.
Back to Overstreet Falls Aid Station #8 Mile 29.09
Goal time: 2:45
Having over-lingered at Sunset Fields, though I was careful not to sit, it
was difficult at first just to walk, let alone run. But before long, I
could lift my heels enough to let the mountain to run for me. In no time
it seemed I was back to this, the first and last aid station, having cut
off 4 miles of the Reed Creek section. They were out of ClifDrink, and I
declined the Gatorade. I left about 1:40pm.
To the Finish Mile 31.75
We’re back to the road now, downhill the rest of the way. At first its so
steep, I’m braking more than running. But gradually the grade begins to
lessen and the stride flows better. I catch back up with two ladies, one
of whom is a also of a masterly age. Both had passed me since the
mountaintop. We ran together, all of us glad to have the end within
earshot if not in sight of the finish. We turn in to camp, there’s David
goading us on. Suddenly, the younger woman surges in front with only 25yds
to go. "What??? We masters age runners can’t let that stand." The two of
us also surge and the three of finish in 8:42:17, 210 of 268 starters. I
grab a burger, and chat with my Iron Mt.clan, Doug took 1st male 60 and
over. Rick had a good day and Josh also with 7:14 for his first "tough"
ultra. I was glad the course had a few soft spots in Reed Creek and Colon
Hollow otherwise, I would have Suffered. Just after I’d stuck camp, the
sky exploded with thunder, fire and water. The 9:15 plus finishers got to
combine their bath with the last few miles.
I waited in my car and had a nice long soak in the creek afterwards.
See you there next year,
I Promise.
JJJ
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