This past weekend, I ran the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile trail race in Huntsville, TX . It was my second 100. My first was Hallucination 100 in Michigan last September, where I actually ran 106 miles after getting lost on the first loop.
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The Rocky Raccoon 100 course is known for lots of roots. The course this year was four 25-mile loops. Because of rain, the course turned to mud, and the race had a high drop out rate with 201 finishers and roughly 145 who did not finish. Runners had 30 hours to complete the course. My friends Linda and Holly came along as my crew and pacers.
Here is my brief, stream of thought summary of the race:
Loop 1: Light drizzle, seemed fun, hey look! Nice fast downhill road for some fast miles! Aid station has bacon! Hmmm, these roots are getting numerous. 8.5 mile out and back stretch of roots with no aid station food. Say what?? Rain sets in. Split time 5:57:17 (on target with planned 6 hour).
Loop 2: Rain. Downhill road no longer fast from mud. Not loving these roots. Even more rain. 8.5 mile out and back stretch of roots with no aid station food. Say what?? Split time 6:36:36 (on target with planned 6:30 hour).
Loop 3: Fun with Holly pacing in fog. Mud prevents running the downhill road. Slow going in roots in the dark, sometimes surrounded by mud. 8.5 mile #&$ing stretch of roots with no aid station food. F that! Holly hallucinates an armadillo. Tripping, stubbing toes, twisting ankles, singing silly stuff. Arrive to start and freak out about time. Split time 8:33:34 (off target of planned 7 to 7:30 target). Below is me after 75 miles. I look happy for all of my fatigue!
Loop 4: Fun with Linda pacing. Banked time early when could. Picked our way up and down previously fast hill that is now covered in mud. Complete 8.5 mile out and back by dropping constant f bombs at every root and mud bog. Various times of crazy singing. Linda lying to me about cutoffs. MAGIC BACON! Crawl to finish with sprained ankle. Split time 7:53:53. (Positive off target of planned 8:00 target).
Got my shiny buckle! Total time 29:01:20
This course made my 106 miles at hallucination seem like a cakewalk.
Misc key moments: All of that and I didn’t get to see a F’ing armadillo. What the heck kind of frog makes all that noise? Was that an owl or a human? Is that a glowing barrel or hallucination? (It was a glowing barrel). Why can’t we think of a single Cher song? F bomb video. No Holly, that wasn’t an armadillo! Magic Bacon!
Most important: Great times with great friends. I really owe it all to Holly and Linda!!
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Thanks! Will do the transfer tomorrow!
Congrats on a great race. I have a lot of friends who run hundos and have huge respect for all who cross the start line. Finishing is amazing! Oh, and I've heard a lot of stories of hallucinations in the night. #buckleup
I hallucinated a ton at my first one! I saw lots of plastic toys hanging from trees and by the side of the trail. I kind of got a kick out of it. No hallucinations on this one. I thought a glowing barrel was one for a minute, but it turned out to be real.
😂
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Glad to see you make it.
I survived!!!
Great to hear how your race went! I am always astounded by your energy and ability to do these!
Thanks! This was a particularly hard one!
Enrolled as an ‘’Approved’’ Runner.
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hehehe AWESOME work! I hate those rooty trails also. My broken toes is pretty much healed from my last excursion on rooty trails.
It sounds like you had a blast though.
I'm not up to running 100 miles yet, I'm still a newbie at this ultra thing, so it's good to learn from someone with experience ;-)
So, if I want to see that armadillo (in New Zealand) what should I look out for? ;-)
Keep on moving up and next thing you know you will be running 100! Then you can go to Texas and look for armadillos. They are odd little creatures. I don’t think they exist in New Zealand.
Thanks. No, we don't have armadillos in NZ. We do have pinks striped zebras.... or at lest we did about halfway through my last ultra for last year ;-)
Ha ha! Maybe next time there will be purple ones!
you never know. I'll have to ask the flying hedgehog if he has seen any ;-)
Congrats! Thanks for sharing with such a detail your race! Really enjoyed reading. All the best for future races.
Thanks!
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Awesome story, and awesome run! Not sure if I'll ever get to 100 miles, but it's fun to read of others who have. Hoping to do a 50k this year... and then see what happens after that.