Oh where to start...I'm sure by now most of you know what a 24 hour race is all about. This past weekend marked my 3rd 24 hours of adrenalin event at the ever enjoyable Hurkey Creek albeit the vibe was not quite the same from years past. The organizers announced prior to the race that most of their equipment was stolen from their trailer at it was felt at the start finish line. They ended up renting a bunch of equipment to still put on this fantastic event although the turn out was really low. It had more of a "grassroots" feeling to it. This is the first time where there were virtually no vendors on site except for Kenda for a whopping 2 hours. The campgrounds were not as busy and the parking lot seemed empty at times. Regardless, the race must go on and everyone was in good spirits.
Team Duke!
I drove up Friday night with my teammate Mike Z and company. Thanks for driving Mike! James had home base already setup at the super camp. Thanks James for handling the logistics and making the Weekend Warrior our home for 24 hours. I was a little worried about the race since my legs were still sore from a short run on Wednesday. I probably shouldn't have ran, but no reason to cry over it. I was hoping they would feel better the next morning. Race day morning arrived and my legs were still fairly tight. Damn! Oh well...the race must go on. I was going to be the first man up of our team of 4 followed by Derek, James and finally Mike. I was glad to hear the Le mans start was much shorter than years past. I'm not a big fan of running, but I do like to run for fun...occasionally. I lined up at the start 5 minutes till noon and I was surprised there was only 3 of us at the line at this time, but everyone lined up eventually. The bell, horn, or gunshot went off, I don't remember the noise that was made, but we were off and running. I was able to run the course in under a minute and I was in the top 10 by the time I got on my bike. I was completely gassed from that run and it took me a breather to get to pedaling. I took a big swig of my life-blood in the form of First Endurance EFS and tried to work my way through traffic on the initial single track. Keen Camp climb was going well, but then I started to get passed by some faster guys. I knew I was lacking some strength and I was hoping my legs would start to warm up soon. They still felt fatigued...stupid running...grrrrrr! I put in efforts where I could and recovered nicely on the descents! I freakin' love Exfoliator and Tunnel of Love! Those trails are what make the course. I finished my first lap with a respectable time in the 47min range...48 min range total with the run. I gave Derek a high five for the exchange and off he went.
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Staging for the 12pm start.
Staging the bike for the start
I felt I had to redeem myself on this lap and that's what I did. I knocked of 1 minute to the top of Keen Camp and continued to push on. My mouth was feeling quite dry and I knew it was from the medicine I took earlier. I then got this massive cramp in my left calf as I was descending Exfoliator. That ibuprofen was just drying me up. I tried pedaling through the cramp and eventually it went away, but boy did that hurt. I got to the bottom of the Jeep Trail (whatever it's called) and was 2 minutes ahead of my previous pace. Yay! The rest of the lap went well and I was able to put in a 45 minute 2nd lap.
This routine would go on for another 20 hours or so. The whole team was able to put in some very solid lap times. I was able to get into the 44 minute range for my 3rd lap. My personal lap time goal was accomplished.
As night fell, things started to slow down a little. The lap times got a little slower and the competitors started to thin out. At this point we were in 1st since the race started with almost a lap ahead of 2nd place. We just had to keep things going and hope that there would be no major problems through the night. Speaking of the night, I had a pleasant surprise for my 1:30am shift. As I arrived at the timing tent, I was greeted by some familiar faces! Chanson, Dan&Steph, Justin, Allison, and CeeDubb (am I forgetting anyone?) were being the "superfans" in the cold of the night cheering all the competitors. These guys just gave me the biggest group hug before I had to set off for my 5th lap. They definitely woke my ass up and gave me the energy and encouragement I needed to kick ass in the frigid dark night. Thanks guys! :-)
Trying to stay awake after group hug at 1:30am
On my 6th lap, I remember taking a gander at the camp temp gauge and it said 32...yikes! It was getting cold. It was just past 5am and I didn't want to pedal in these freezing temps. I then reminded myself why and who I'm doing this for. Though this lap was my slowest at 52 minutes, I did think a lot about those close to me that have suffered from cancer. In my mind I dedicated this hardest lap to all those that have fallen and are fighting to survive. I definitely had to battle the freezing night. It was a welcoming site to see dawn approaching fast as I was finishing my lap....ahhhh.....no more night riding.....Stoked!I did try to get some sleep in between those night laps but it was almost futile. As soon as I got cooled down, ate some food, and get changed, I would only have maybe 1.5 hours of rest. It was hard to sleep because there was almost always someone rustling around in the trailer getting ready for their lap. That's just the nature of the beast with these 24 hour races. The rest of the race went well. We were well ahead in first after I put in my 7th and final lap. I was actually hoping we could get in a 29th lap, but it would have been impossible. We needed about 20 more minutes to make the cutoff and that wasn't going to happen. Mike finished our 28th lap in style with his 2nd bee sting of the day. I believe he got stung on his first lap, so it was suiting to get stung on his last lap....ouch! Luckily he isn't badly allergic to them like me.
WE DID IT! We won the 4-man competition...we met our goal of 28 laps...and just this week we were able to meet our fundraising goal of $10,000! How F'n cool is that!? In fact, we are still receiving donations and now hope we can meet our new goal of $12,000!
There are so many people I'd like to thank so if I miss anyone...my apologies. We received so much support from family and friends in almost every way possible. I'd like to thank my awesome teammates for being such awesome competitors and friends. You guys are just incredible and so are your wives (Lisa, Tracy, Jamie). I owe alot to Greg Graber of the John Wayne Cancer Foundation for his support and supplying us with the necessary equipment to represent such a great organization in Team Duke. Of course my Mother for practically everything in life. Thank you to the "Superfans" in Chanson, Steph, Dan, Justin, Allison and CeeDub....SUP!!!!!!!! Thanks to Dave Pyle for the bike maintenance. Thanks to JD, Heather, Troupe Racing and all the other riders out there for just being awesome. Thanks to Chamois Butter for being our team sponsor for the race. Seriously...that stuff works and felt oh so good on my ass. You guys have to try their EuroStyle butter...nice cooling sensation on the parts that matter. Lastly, I have to thank all of those donors that supported us....you guys made this race truly inspiring for me and many others.
Split Results
Post Race Beer...yum!
I'll probably take a small break from training since "life" is catching up now. I'm moving next weekend so I will be busy packing for the new pad....I can't wait!
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