<---- At start of race!The run was tough...very tough. I knew it was going to be difficult because of the distance and extreme amount of climbing involved but none of the runners expected it to be as hard as it was. The run included 23,000 ft of running up and down mountains with steepness grades of greater than 30% at parts. There were long sections where we were bushwacking through thick,wet jungle plants taller than me and so thick we couldn't even see the trail and soaking us from head to toe because they were so wet.
Throughout the entire course we were climbing over, under (crawling on our bellies on the ground), and around huge fallen trees on a path barely wide enough to run on and where a misstep to the side would send you plummeting several hundred yards down a steep rocky cliff. We ran through streams and creeks, over boulder fields and rock slides, through stinging nettle and who knows what else, and through 8 hours of darkness. There was also an avalanche debris field for several miles where i didn't even touch the ground the entire time as we climbed over and on top of trees, branches and all sorts of stuff, sometimes falling through what looked like solid footing. This was extremely tiring and slow.
Coming into Aid Station #3 at mile 43 (hanging out with Chris, Tyler, and my dad who all drove from TX to see me!):
In addition, we had to carry bear spray throughout the entire race because we were in bear country. The trail was poorly marked and many people (including myself) got lost more than once. We had to use our maps many times, including in the dark with a flashlight and compass to figure out where we were (which happened to be half a mile in the wrong direction). My socks and shoes got soaked several times and I had blisters on my blisters (and inside my blisters). I would lance and deflate a blister and another one would form on top of it. My first blisters started in the first 15 miles, so they hurt for a verrrrry long time. I had some horrible knee pain at times and horrible stomach cramps for several hours. During the night I had to force myself to eat because everything tasted horrible at that point and I was tired of chewing. There were several extremely long sections between aid stations including one of around 26 miles. We had to drink water out of creeks, rivers, and waterfalls, several times because we ran bone dry. Oh, and we ran through some huge freezing rainstorms. There were horrible mosquitos and giant man-eating biting flies attacking us, but no bear attacks. The scenery was the most incredible and beautiful I have ever run in. I didn't get to look around much though because if I glanced for more than a split second I would mis-step and nearly fall off the cliff. Oh, and we ran through several snow patches, including one long steep downhill where I skiied down it on my shoes. The lady behind me laughed and decided she couldn't do that and decided to slide down on her bottom. That was fun! We were both laughing and enjoying ourselves. We experienced really hot weather and really cold weather. Many times I wanted to quit (especially during the night) but managed to keep going. All in all...it was crazy!!!! Many people are saying it will be ranked in the top 4 hardest 100 milers in the country! I ran for 26 hours straight and was forced to stop by the race director at the last main aid station because a huge thunderstorm was coming in and we were about to run to along the crest of the mountain and he thought it would be too dangerous. I was extremely bummed because I had just survived a horrible 8 hours of running through the night and had just regained my energy and was feeling great (except for my throbbing, blistered feet) and had decided I was going to run the rest of this thing no matter what happened. Well, when he stopped us I had already ran somewhere between 75 and 78 miles. I was so pumped about finishing and had been thinking about crossing that finish line all day. It was hard news to take and we argued hard with the race director but he wouldn't budge. During the race I told myself i would never run this race again, but after the race the director said he felt bad for stopping us and would let us run it again next year for free...so plans are in the works to return next year to complete my goal and fulfill my vision of crossing that line.
At Aid Station #7 at mile 75ish after being told I have to stop. My feet were happy about the news but the rest of me wasn't.
Thanks for your support and prayers.
Regarding the Challenge 100:
Several individuals and one group of people at a church stepped up HUGE to the challenge.
Some things they did included:
-Donating one hundred pounds of food for kids in needy families through a backpack program put on by a church in Alvord, TX. They give each kid a backpack with enough food to provide a family with nutritious meals for the entire weekend since they get reduced lunch at school.
-Donating one hundred items of food or clothing to local shelters.
-Making one hundred meals for 100 homeless people and walk/jog/run 100 miles over 10 consecutive days.
-One family used it as a way to simplify their home and lives by going through their house and donating boxes upon boxes of stuff that they don't really need.
-One guy said he was impressed/challenged/inspired by my letter/challenge 100 and is going to read it to his small group from church to challenge them.
-I told one lady, who I ran with during the race for probably over 15 hours, about my challenge and what some people had committed to doing and she thought it was a great idea so she told me she would make 100 treats for cancer patients recieving treatment and take them to the treatment room where they sit bored and lonely for hours at a time.
-I am, however, kind of surprised that nobody did any challenge involving prayer or inviting people to church, two things that are so very powerful and possibly life changing and not as time-consuming as doing other things. There's always next time...
Many thanks to everyone who participated in the challenge. During the run I prayed for each person or group who accepted my challenge. Please let me know when you complete it.
At post race party with Chris and Tyler: A scenic view from the course:
