LT100 2011 Results -- One Hundred Miles

I will give a full "race report" as well as my reflections soon, but for now I wanted to let my friends and family know generally how the race went.

About 875 people signed up for the race, and about 650 or so showed up at the starting line.  Of that, 347 people finished the race.

Tim and I both finished the race well within the allotted 30 hours time limit.  Tim ran a very strong race and was in command of himself and the course the entire time.  He absolutely crushed both Hope Pass crossings, which must have been some kind of psychological pay-back for the way Hope Pass treated him last year.  In his words, he has redeemed himself from last year's 76.5-mile DNF.  I would say he has done so with a huge exclamation mark.   He finished in 28:35.

I know he had a great time with his crew.  So did I, as we got to hang out together quite a bit before we got down to running on Saturday morning.  Friday night, my crew and Tim's crew got together for a magnificent pre-game feast that Molly prepared for all of us.  Getting to see my sister Nancy ("Family Liaison" on Tim's crew) and my cousin Roy (Tim's "Hope Pass Pacer") were two of the highlights of my whole weekend.

My race went well.  I had such a sublime experience that I am actually more "inspired" now than I was a year ago.  In the next post or two I'll share the details of the highs (such as my getting to listen to Matt sing the entire Neil Diamond catalogue; the lows (such as my accidental fall off a footbridge into a stream in the middle of the night); and the downright funnies (such as being scolded by my sleepy-eyed, over-worked and under-rested crew chief for showing up 30 minutes earlier than expected at a checkpoint in the middle of the night, thus interrupting the precious few minutes of sleep she was to get Saturday night).  Plus, I'll include some of the technical details (race plan, what worked, what didn't), for those folks who care about that sort of stuff.

Our Crew Shirts 

For now,  in short, I am very pleased with the way my race went.  My crew and I stuck very close to the race plan (pacing, food, water, supplements and gear), and it seemed to work.  The training I've put in over the last year paid off well.  In fact, during several challenging climbs during the race, I had flashbacks to the hill training I have done around Fort Collins, and picturing myself on my hometown hills created this strange familiarity that immediately calmed me and reduced my perceived effort.  I've already thanked Alene for her training advice because I can honestly say that had I not made Horsetooth Rock one of my bread and butter runs (as Alene suggested) I probably would not have finished this race.

My only real issue was my left knee (surprising not my feet or heels!).   It started tightening up around 65 or 70 miles into the race.  It slowly progressed from mildly unpleasant to significantly uncomfortable, and it reached a point where I could not run downhill or even on level ground without a stabbing pain.  Fortunately, it did not affect my uphill ability at all.

I could not have picked a better crew.  Molly was motivated, organized, driven and directive ("Eat this now...  NOW.").  Seeing her at every aid station was like a B12 shot that really pushed me forward.  She could write a book (or at least a pamphlet) on How To Crew a 100-Mile Race.

Starting Line at 3:45AM Saturday
(Matt, Shannon, me, Molly and Denise)

Denise got me up and over Hope Pass like it was nothing.  The only time it seemed like a little more than "nothing" was when she had to do this crazy sprint up the absolute steepest section of the entire 100 miles to catch up with me after her little nature break.  After that, we powered up the entire climb with practically no breaks.  We ran the entire downhill all the way to the river crossing, barely pausing to frolic with the strange horses up at Hopeless Aid Station.

55 miles into the race I offered some guy $100
to let me ride his horse down the  mountain,
but he just looked at me funny and told me to keep running.

Matt took me through the whole night, and he was fantastic.  His energy was strong and positive, both physically and mentally, and he made what could have been a long painful night into a fun time -- really.  It's worth noting that he completed his first ever marathon that night while pacing me.

Shannon brought me in to the finish for the final 13.5 miles.  We were all business by then because I was really focused on making my 28-hour goal time, so Shannon and I pretty much just put our heads down, kicked in our afterburners (more literally than you know) and locked onto the required pace for three and a half hours or so, pausing only to notice the rising sun creating a beautiful glow on the hills across Turquoise Lake.

Now, for those of you who have asked (or are asking now), "Who won???  You or your brother?" I adamantly say to you, "This was NOT a contest; this was NEVER about me versus Tim."

The truth is WE BOTH WON.

The Finisher's Buckle

But since I finished in 27:40, you might say I "won" fifty-five minutes before he "won."