On Oct. 7, I ran the Tussey Mountainback Ultramarathon. Yes, all 50 miles. By myself. No, I’m not sure what I was thinking. Actually I do know what I was thinking: put out a goal for the year and see if you can achieve it. Every New Year’s Eve since 2012, I have come up with five to six goals to try to achieve for the year. And they’re not just running goals. Some are financial (save up enough for a kitchen — thanks, CCS Custom Builders) or family goals (a date night once a month).
This year I had the idea of running an ultramarathon, which brings me to the morning of Oct. 7.
Pre-race
I got up bright and early to eat the standard pre-race oatmeal, bagel and banana, and left my house at 6 a.m. Sleeping in my own bed and eating in my kitchen was a huge benefit to running the Mountainback. As I’m driving to Tussey, I notice one thing: it’s really foggy. So foggy that I actually missed the turn into Tussey by a mile, literally. Hopefully this wouldn’t happen over the course of the day.
Parking is another plus of running the Mountainback. There was plenty of parking within 50 feet of the start line. Perfect! I enjoyed the chilled nature of the Mountainback. In most marathons, there is a lot of pomp and circumstance. The Marine Corps Marathon begins with a Howitzer cannon (because Marines can do what they want, and they should). The Pittsburgh Marathon has a lot of pump-up music. Boston, apparently, throws a chilly monsoon at you. The Mountainback had race director Mike Casper asking if anyone was a singer to perform the National Anthem. When no one volunteered, he did it himself. And it was pretty good! A few more pre-race instructions followed, which led to Mike missing the starting clock turning over 7 a.m. Upon realizing this, Mike gives us the startled, “Oh, go!”
Leg 1
The jam-packed clump of ultra hopefuls spread out pretty well within the first mile. I kept a steady pace without trying to push it even though I wanted to. And then I see mile marker 1. Only 49 to go. Oof! A few more miles passed and I saw the sign I would come to enjoy, the pink “1/2 a mile until the transition zone.” A few minutes later and I come into transition zone No. 1.
The transition zones are another reason I wanted the Mountainback to be my first ultra. They are manned by some of the nicest people, ever. Regardless of the weather they are out there to support the ultra runners. I never once had to fill up my own bottle with water. At the zones would be water, HEED sports drink, and plenty of food. One of the benefits to running 50 miles is you get to eat pretty much whatever you want. Over the course of the day I ate somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 granola bars, six bananas, four peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a few handfuls of pretzels, and the real MVP of the food table, canned potatoes (easy to eat while getting some salt for electrolytes). I ended up burning 6,600 calories so I had to make sure I was getting the needed calories. 4.2 miles down, 45.8 to go.
Leg 2
At this point I met up with Andrew Tatusko, a local runner who I’ve met once or twice from the running club. This would be his first ultra as well. We would spend the next few legs running/walking together. Running with others is highly encouraged. We spent the next few hours piling up miles while getting to know each other. As I’ve found out, there are no topics that are off limits when running together. I’ll just leave it at that. 5.3 miles later, we come to Colyer Lake. 9.5 miles done, 40.5 to go.
Leg 3
This was the leg I was planning on walking for the first time. There were some rolling hills for a bit and then there was just a constant uphill for most of this one. I would walk and run off and on. I found that walking would save my legs while not losing too much in terms of pace. Andrew kept running with a few short walking breaks. But he really didn’t gain much distance on me. This was one of the longer legs at 5.5 miles. But finally it was over. 15 down, 35 to go.
Leg 4
Finally a short one at only 2.9 miles. And downhill, too! Andrew and I ran this one, probably a little too fast, but oh well. If only the rest of the course would be like this. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. 17.9 down, 32.1 to go.
Leg 5
After being spoiled by leg 4, this leg was a smack in the face. 4.3 miles that are mostly uphill for the first 2.5 miles. Lovely. I walked some of this one with Andrew. We also had some of the relay teams catch up and pass us at this point. This was welcomed as most times when a relay runner or van would pass, they would send out some encouragement our way. It was much appreciated. The transition zone at the end of this leg had some friends organizing it which lead to some nice encouragement while refueling. 22.2 down, 27.8 to go.
Leg 6
Going into the race, I didn’t study the course as much as I should have. But I remembered leg 6 wasn’t going to be pleasant. 3.7 miles of continual uphill. Andrew and I walked a majority of the first significant uphill and ran the other not-so-steep part. The legs are certainly feeling it at this point as, cue up Bon Jovi, we’re halfway there. And at this point we are living on prayers, granola bars and canned potatoes. 25.9 down, 24.1 to go.
Leg 7
At this point, my GPS watch shows me that I’ve just run a marathon, but I still have 20-some miles to go. I cry a little on the inside. This leg was 4.1 miles of mostly downhill, which I tend to enjoy. Even after blowing past the marathon mark I still had some juice in my legs. I’m cruising down this leg, passing some ultrarunners and even a relay runner or two. Andrew was struggling with some leg cramp issues so we went our separate ways at the last transition zone. Even though I was running by myself at this point, the passing vans or relay teams honking and cheering certainly helped. 30 down, 20 to go.
Leg 8
At this transition zone, I had a drop bag waiting for me. This was the only drop bag I utilized. Next time — yes, I’m seriously thinking about doing this again — I would probably have an extra drop bag sooner in the course. Even though it was October, the temperature got up into the low 80s. I was still sweating so I was plenty hydrated but it felt great to put on dry clothes.
After going way too fast during leg 7, reality set in a little bit on this one. It was slow going during this 3.4 mile leg. Now even the slightest uphill had me contemplating on walking. I caught up with another ultra runner, Tony Chute from Pittsburgh. We stayed together for the next few miles. I walked more than I wanted to but having another runner there was welcomed company. 33.4 down, 16.6 to go.
Leg 9
At the transition zone, I asked one of the volunteers how many ultras have come through at this point, knowing 50+ registered. I assume we are one of the last ones. The volunteer says we are the 18th and 19th ultra to come through. Wait, what?! This was a needed jolt of energy and motivation to keep going. Tony and I leave the transition zone together. I start walking even the slightest uphill. But at least we were still moving forward. Halfway through this 5.6 mile leg we catch up with two other ultra runners. We get to talking with them. The one ultra runner is from Langhorne, Pa. Upon hearing that I say, “Oh, the home of James Franklin.” His response, “Who’s that?” Ouch. Soon enough we end up at Whipple Dam and I get to see some familiar faces. 39 down, 11 to go.
Leg 10
This was by far my favorite transition zone. I had planned to meet my wife at this point. She offered to drive around the course and meet me at multiple transition zones. With an 8- and 3-year-old. God bless her. I told her just to meet me at Whipple Dam. I projected before the race that I would be there by 1 p.m. I was wrong, by an hour. Luckily she hadn’t sent out a search party looking for me.
I also got to see a few former students who were working the transition zone. One of them was one of my favorite drummers in my 12 years of being in charge of the State High drumline, Alec Masters. You can’t be in a bad mood when Alec is around. It’s simply impossible. He was nice enough to fill up my water bottle for me and we chatted a bit. I wanted to just stay there and talk to him and others but I figured I should finish this thing.
At this point, I couldn’t run more than half a mile at a time. So it was run a half-mile, walk a half-mile. This was humbling because I was walking flat roads. This wasn’t part of the plan. But as Mike Tyson said, “Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth.” That’s pretty much what it felt like on this 3.8 mile leg. 42.8 down, 7.2 to go.
Leg 11
Going into the race, I knew I was going to be walking a majority of this 4.0 mile leg. It’s uphill. The whole way. Not a gentle uphill, more like a painful trudge up a mountain. And that’s exactly what it was. I walked this leg, all of it. Even if I tried to run this one, I wouldn’t have moved that much faster than my walking pace. I caught up with another ultra runner, Mike Graham. He looked like he was in rough shape but he was still moving forward. So I decided to make another new friend as we walked up Laurel Run Road. I didn’t consider how long this leg would take me until Mike said, “Well, this will be an hour.” Really? Then I did the math. A 16 minute per mile pace. 4 miles. Yep, he’s right. Eventually we get to the top by the Ed Thompson Memorial. 46.8 down. 3.2 to go.
Leg 12
The only good thing about Leg 11 being all uphill is that Leg 12 was all downhill. Even after 46 miles, I still like downhills. So I open up the stride and somehow managed to do some 8:10 per mile pace. Gravity is a beautiful thing. I see the final pink 0.5 mile to the finish sign. That was an even more beautiful thing. But they both fail in comparison to seeing my wife and kids near the final turn to the finish line. My kids jump in and run the final 0.05 miles with daddy. That was pretty cool and a moment I’ll always remember. I cross the finish line with a time of 9 hours, 38 minutes, 40 seconds. 50 miles down, 0 miles to go, and now, unlimited pizza to go.
Post Race
The guy who used to get winded after walking up a flight of steps just ran 50 miles and 5,000 feet of elevation change to become an ultramarathoner. Family, friends, colleagues and students ask me the same two questions. How and why? How did you run 50 miles? Why did you run 50 miles?
To answer the how – I didn’t exactly run 50 miles. I covered 50 miles. To say I ran the whole thing would be a gross overstatement of the word run. It also took a lot of dedication to put in some training runs, especially after running the Erie marathon four weeks prior to the Mountainback.
To answer the why – that’s more complex. There are a lot of reasons why I ran an ultramarathon. To inspire my children and students, to say I’m an ultramarathoner, to eat as many granola bars as I could stomach are just a few of those reasons. But by far the biggest reason is to expand my comfort zone. I see too many students and adults who become too complacent, too comfortable. They are afraid of the uncomfortable. Marathons and ultramarathons will do this. They’re obviously not easy. But as much as it is physical, the mental aspect is just as important. When you get smacked in the face with the uncomfortable, you need to push back. Quitting is easy. As my friend Adam Welcome says in his book Run Like a Pirate, “Don’t do easy; do impactful, do meaningful, do what makes you uncomfortable.”
Whether it’s 50 miles or 50 feet, just do something that makes you uncomfortable. Because you might just be amazed at how it might become comfortable. 0 excuses down, 1 life to go.
November Races
Nov. 3 – Run for Shelter 5k, 9 a.m.
Starting and ending from Centre House, 217 E .Nittany Ave., this race benefits Centre House homeless shelter, a program of Housing Transitions. https://housingtransitions.org/2018-run-for-shelter-5k/
Nov. 22 – Penns Valley Turkey Trot & NVRC Boalsburg Turkey Trot, both at 9 a.m.
What better way to start your annual day of gluttony than by running a 5k! The Penns Valley Turkey Trot begins at the Old Gregg School, 106 School Street in Spring Mills and benefits the HOPE Fund of Penns Valley. https://sites.google.com/pennsvalley.org/pvturkeytrot
The Boalsburg Turkey Trot begins at the Pennsylvania Military Museum. I ran it two years ago and was humbled by the hills around Mount Nittany Middle School and the short, steep hill going toward St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy. This race benefits the St. Joseph’s cross country and track and field program. https://boalsburgturkeytrot.com/
12/2 – Nittany Valley Half Marathon 10am
The Nittany Valley Half-Marathon begins and ends on the Penn State campus, touring through rolling countryside and along scenic Spring Creek and through quaint Houserville. The scenery is beautiful, but you will come to find out State College has lots of hills. I remember the first year I ran I assumed once you made the right on Fox Hollow toward the airport that it would flatten out because, you know, planes need a flat runway. I was wrong, very wrong. Even with that, this race is one of my favorites. It’s incredibly well-organized and has a low-stress environment before, during, and after the race. http://www.nvrun.com/index.php/racing/club-sponsored/nittany-valley-half-marathon
