It is not our usual form here at Team Pirana to post things written in first person. An exception is being made in order to get Samsonite’s race report from the North Coast 24 Hour up before the Team heads to Kentucky.
Brothers –
So, about North Coast 24 Hour Endurance Run, oh where to begin…?
Well, the start line is usually a good place to begin any race story. So there I was, standing mid-pack next to my best friend, Josh Bowen, lined up with some of the best ultrarunners in US history, at the start line of the US 24 Hour National Championship race. Mark Godale, Scott Jurek, John Geesler, Connie Gardner… Chisholm Duepree! Western States champs, Badwater winners, US record holders, US National Team members… And me. It was a special field to be a part of.
The long-short of it all is that the first 8 hours were great, the next 4 were rougher, the 2 after that were weakening, and the 3 after that were just pity miles. I was through mile 52 at 8 hours, 74 at 12, and 84 at 14:45. 84 is where I really consider my run to have ended. I recorded my last lap, mile 88, at 17:39, but those last 4 were just pity miles.
I feel like 135 miles was there for me, just waiting for me to reach out and grab it. But…stuff happens. What did me in was my stomach. I vomited black death – a thick, turpentine-like, bile/scum from the depths of my being – 3 different times. When I finally went to the medical tent, I had a brief episode of loss of consciousness and deep, cold/clammy sweats. That is when I made the decision to stop. T3 was right – I have already convinced myself that it wasn’t that bad and that I should have stuck it out. And he continues to be right – this is all natural, and yet all wrong.
I am proud of the journey. Right now I’m just a semi-tough rookie with little racing discipline and even littler racing smarts. I’ll get there. The average age of the top 15 finishers was something like 43 years old. I’m 21. Running in this field was exactly what I needed to experience. Being with Jurek for 12 miles (not consecutively). Seeing Jurek have a human moment and eventually drop out of the race. Seeing John Geesler bide his time and pace ever so perfectly, and run the last 3 hours at a Boston-qualification pace, en route to a 2nd place finish. Being reminded just how long the back half of a 24 hour run actually is. These are the golden tickets that I came to Cleveland hoping to find. Yes, 135+ miles and a spot on the US National team would have been cool. But… I’ll take my golden tickets, re-cock, and race another day.
Thanks to Iron Mike Beck for crewing, and big congratulations to Sapper Josh Bowen for running 101 miles, his first foray into triple digits.
Here’s to taking all that you can, and giving nothing back.
Samsonite
Friends at the beginning:
Here is a pic of the mighty Samsonite:
And his home away from home:
This is a pic of Samsonite eating a piece of pizza (said pizza which may have caused all his troubles…)
