Stumpjump 50K Recap

Preparation for this race started weeks and weeks ago when my friend Jill and I signed up with Fleet Feet for their Ultra Dirtbags training program. It was through this program that we met out kindred running spirits, Michael and Paul.  In this program the 4 of us ran through rain, through sore legs, on mornings when we had no desire to run.  We had prepared and reprepared.  We knew what order we were running in, what food we would eat, how much water we would drink.  What we would do when we crossed the finish line. We had spent hours upon hours out on the trails training for this.  We knew enough about  each others running styles that we knew when someone needed left alone to work it out on their own and when they needed a push to get through it.  All this preparation could have never prepared us for the monster that is Stumpjump.

We arrived at the Start line at 6:30AM and it was raining.  I was packed with plenty of food and water and ready for the race so after a quick trip to the porta potty I hung out in the car until 7:30 when it was time to get pictures with the Fleet Feet Nashville Ultra Dirt Bags. We got our last minute pep talks from our trainers and off we went.  We knew the last 6 miles of this race would be the hardest and everything we did had to be with these last miles in mind.  That being said we decided to start out in the back of the pack so we wouldn't feel pushed and we could just take it easy and run our own race.  In the first mile we met Lynn, who was running the race by herself, she quickly realized we had the same running plan she had and she quickly fell perfectly into place as the 5th in our group.  The first 4 miles were a wide jeep track with rolling hills and these flew by.  I remember asking Paul, the only veteran in our 5 person group if the entire race was like this, he laughed.  Before you knew it we were at Mushroom rock and the first aid station.  We didn't need anything at this point and we were all in great spirits.

After mushroom rock we got a preview of the notorious hill we would have to run back up at mile 28, it was rocky and slippery because of the rain and we knew this was going to be a monster on the way back but for now it was really fun!  This hill ended at a swinging bridge that kind of gave me motion sickness when I ran across it but it was still a really neat experience.  The next few miles were a blur of hills, rocks, silly conversation and barely being able to keep my balance at times and then we were at mile 6.1 and Suck Creek Road and our Fleet Feet mentors were there taking pictures and talking to us.  We discovered here that Paul had drank all his water and was left with ice so while Michael was helping him fill it back up the elite athletes slated to win this race came cruising by us.  Turns out they accidentally split off with the 11 milers and wasted many precious mile.  We would later see them coming towards us dropping out because they knew they would never catch up.

 In no time we were off again for some of the prettiest views I've ever seen.  There's no doubt this course is tough but it is also one of the prettiest places I've ever been.  This portion of the trail was tough because most of the downhill wasn't even runnable. It was covered in rocks that moved or what we referred to as surfers.  At some point during this portion of the trail our leader Jill hurt her knee because the terrain just wasn't easy and nothing we had prepared for. Other than her injury we were all in high spirits.  I kind of lose track of what happened when at this point.  I know at one of the aid stations we saw our Fleet Feet mentors and got smiley happy pictures and at another aid station Michael fashioned Jill a knee band and she was able to continue.  Through the mile 16.8 aid station I was feeling amazing.  I knew I had this.  I did get disgusting water at one of the aid stations but I didn't think that mattered. 

Somewhere between mile 18 and 19 we came to an area known as the "rock garden".  It is rocks as far as the eye can see and you are basically jumping from one rock to another while looking for flags to direct you.  It was misery.  The only thing that kept me going was knowing that Rhonda, Matt and Jarrod (our Fleet Feet mentors) would be at the 19.5 aid station to pep us up.  Also we had to make this aid station by the 6 hour mark to assure we would be able to stay in the race.  We got there right about the 5:30 mark making the cut off and seeing our gang made me want to cry.  They were amazing.  They got our drop bags helped us throw away our trash and reload our food for the rest of the race, filled up our water bags, told us how amazing we were and assured us we were about to get a small break in the terrain.  And within minutes we were off again. 

This was the toughest part of the race for me both mentally and physically.  I really thought that the weeks and weeks of my garmin mileage being wrong( because when you run in the woods the satellite drops some) would have prepared me but I started to feel lost and panicky like I never really knew where I was or when I would be to the next place.  I noticed that because my water tasted so bad I hadn't been drinking much of it at all.  I hadn't taken in enough salt and I didn't want to eat anything anymore even though I knew I had to.  I was pretty sick to my stomach and was even seeing stars.  I really wanted to throw up but I wasn't going to quit, that wasn't even an option so I just kept putting one foot in front of the other. I knew when I signed up for this it was going to be tough.

Finally we were at the Suck Creek Road Aid Station for the 2nd time.  6.1 miles to go!  I also knew the next 2 miles were going to be the hardest of the day.  I really had to build myself up at this aid station.  I felt terrible.  There was a road right beside me.  Someone could come get me.  My friends started running and so did I.  Michael gave me a Powerade gu with some electrolytes and in about 10 minutes I felt much better.  My stomach still ached but I knew I would make it.  Michael told us from here on out we were only allowed to say positive things.  We started climbing, we went back down a hill, we crossed the swinging bridge and then we tackled the hill of hills.  It was bad but by this point it was just something we had to get through to get us to the end.  Finally we saw Mushroom rock, we had 4.2 miles to go.  We were within an hour of finishing and this was the easiest part of the run!  We had this.  I could already feel my family at the finish line.  I wanted nothing more than to wrap my arms around Alfred.  I have never in my life wanted to hold someone so bad in my entire life.  I wanted something normal, I wanted something familiar.  With 1/2 a mile to go we came out of the woods onto the final 1/2 mile of road and Lynn's family was there.  I'd never met them, heck I'd only met Lynn 8 1/2 hours earlier, but they were just what I needed.  They ran the last little bit with us telling us what was ahead and how awesome we were and how proud he was of Lynn and all of us.  Then I saw my family and I lost it.  I couldn't stop the tears!  I was so proud of all of us for finishing even when it was tough.  I was so happy to see the faces of my boys.  Then there was the finish line.  The 4 original training partners grabbed hands and crossed the finish line with Lynn right behind us (we wanted her to hold our hand but she said she wanted the original 4 together)!  It felt beyond amazing!!  I wouldn't have changed a thing.  I will always remember my almost 9 hours in the woods with those 4 amazing people. It was a tough day with lots of highs and a few lows but it was worth every tough step we took.