Juliana Moves

Juliana note: Patrick doesn’t have a blog (bummer), but we knew he had to share his MMT race recap with the world! Please enjoy this guest post from Patrick 🙂

Whenever I told someone I was running my first 100 miler, their usual response was to ask me about the longest run I was doing in the lead-up. This was usually followed up by dubious looks when I replied that I was doing some 50ks, a couple 40 mile runs, and some big back-to-back weekend runs; I’d be lying if I said I didn’t share some of that skepticism and self-doubt. This is the first time in a long time I was embarking on something I wasn’t sure I could finish. For me, it was hard to imagine how something the magnitude of a 100 mile run would feel until I had actually done it. All in all, it didn’t go anywhere near perfectly, and the thing I’m most proud of is the mental toughness and perseverance I demonstrated in the face of adversity. Here’s the story of my MMT:

The shenanigans all started as my crew/pace team started to gather. Two of my brothers-in-law, Mathew and Jeff, flew in to support me, Erica and Derek drove up from Richmond, and Juliana was obviously my crew commander-in-chief. I’m so grateful for them and literally couldn’t have done it without their support. We congregated at our AirBnb MMT HQ in Luray and headed to packet pickup at Caroline’s furnace. My favorite part of becoming more involved in VHTRC is the support club members give to one another, and I felt that in spades this weekend, starting at packet pickup. I honestly felt like a bit of a celebrity from the enthusiastic greetings I got from all of our friends as we meandered through the pavilion. I’ve been to three MMT pre-race meetings and every year I’ve heard the story of my friend Bob breaking three ribs at mile 60 and still finishing the race (this will come full circle, albeit not as extremely). Another cool thing this year was the land acknowledgement from the management of the host site. With my race number and some swag in hand, we headed back to our AirBnb for some pasta and an early bedtime.

Race day started with an 0300 wake up for breakfast before heading to the start line. At 0500 on the dot we embarked upon the 30th edition of MMT. One of the things I was nervous/curious about pre-race was whether or not to run up Moreland Gap Rd. It’s a low-gradient, very runnable road for the first four miles of the race before getting on trail, but one of my (and Juliana’s) biggest worries was going out too hard and suffering for it later in the race. Following some advice from my friends Heather and Barry, I ran up it at a very comfortable, chill pace and was (relatively) shortly on the section from Short Mountain to Edinburg Gap (miles 4-12). On this section I found myself running with a group of guys named Andy, Brennan, and Holden. We were joking around and chatting and generally having a pleasant morning run through the woods. A little while into the section, it came out that Andy and Brennan were hoping for a sub-24 finish. That was quite a bit more ambitious than my goal, but I felt super comfortable and figured I may as well stick with them as long as it stayed well within my comfort zone. Our little crew stayed together until the Edinburg Gap aid station where we all split to go to our respective crews. All things good up to mile 12 at 7:23AM, 2:23 into the race. 

On the next section between Edinburg Gap and Woodstock Tower (miles 12-20), I again linked up with Brennan and Holden for much of the time. We were chatting, and it all felt cruisy up to that point. I don’t normally run with anyone so sharing some miles and conversation helped this section go by quickly, and it was much the same story for the next section between Woodstock Tower and Powell’s Fort (miles 20-25). Lots of chatting and trying to not get overconfident or mentally reset my finish time goal to something too ambitious. The next section from Powell’s Fort to Elizabeth Furnace (miles 25-33) is a few miles of fire road followed by a climb up and over the ridge into the aid station. At some point on the fire road I texted Juliana I was past Powell’s Fort and she responded “Slow down!”, again worried about me going out too hard. At this point, I decided to heed her warning and let my remaining run companion, Brennan, run away from me. I was once again running alone, and would be until picking up pacers later in the race. I reached the Elizabeth Furnace aid station at 12:09 (mile 33, 7:09 race time), still feeling great and raring to go. Crew access is intermittent in the early part of the race, and Elizabeth Furnace was only the second time I got to see everyone. I was starting to get hotspots on my feet so my plan was to change socks and shoes, restock, and be on my way. Unfortunately, I spotted a blister on my toe, and my crew rightly insisted I take care of it immediately. I was frustrated by the delay because at this point I had started thinking maybe I wouldn’t have to be awake for the full 30+hours straight I was anticipating. I popped the blister myself with our busted Leatherman multitool before Mathew and Juliana patched me up. Also shout-out to our friend Zach, who was walking by and came in clutch with some blister-care tips.

The next section to Shawl Gap was only about 4 miles up and over a ridgeline before seeing my crew again. This section is so short so I don’t really remember much besides being excited to see my crew again so quickly. I arrived at Shawl Gap at 1:30PM (mile 38, 8:30 race time). My favorite pizza toppping combination recently has been pepperoni, bacon, pineapple, and banana pepper. As requested, my crew had one of these delicacies ready for me at Shawl Gap. I only ate one slice, and it did taste quite good. Unfortunately, after Shawl Gap, things started to unravel for me, slowly at first, and then all at once.

The section from Shawl Gap to Veach Gap is 4 miles on a mix of paved and gravel roads so I was looking forward to some runnable miles. Unfortunately, I started feeling some pain in my right knee pretty early into the section so I started run-walking in an attempt to avoid calamity. After a brief stop at Veach Gap (mile 41), I began the long ascent and ridgeline section to the Indian Grave aid station. At this point, I had a little bit of service and texted Juliana about what I suspected was IT band pain in my right leg. We texted back and forth a bit trying to come up with some mitigation plans before I saw them next at mile 54. I was still able to run-walk a little bit, but I was beginning to suspect that I might not be finishing as quickly as I hoped. Somewhere in this segment I briefly thought about what a DNF would look like. Something I’m very proud of from this race is my mental toughness and tenacity; almost immediately into the fleeting DNF thoughts I remember thinking “come hell or high water I am finishing this f-ing race”. Somehow I was able to mostly run the descent into Indian Grave aid station (mile 50) and the following 4 mile stretch to Habron Gap aid station (mile 54). This was really the last stretch of the race where I was moving relatively well and able to actually run at all. 

I reached Habron Gap at 5:38PM (race time 12:38) and was very excited to see my crew again. I ate some more pizza and random aid station fare before embarking upon Habron Gap climb, the longest of the race (maybe? I don’t actually know but it felt really long). From this point on my plan became power hiking, run as tolerated, and try to run as many sub-20 minute miles as possible. I again don’t really remember much from this section except feeling frustrated because my legs felt like they had juice, but my IT pain was getting progressively worse. The light at the end of the tunnel of this section is picking up my first pacer at the next aid station, Camp Roosevelt (mile 63). I arrived shortly after dark at 8:40 (race time 15:40); it was the first crewed aid station without Juliana as she was (kind of) resting before pacing me. Jeff, Erica, and Mathew did a great job, even without Juliana’s supervision! In addition to my crew, there were a lot of friendly VHTRC faces at this aid station, and their support really helped as my race goal became simply to survive to the finish.

Mathew was my first pacer, and we took off on the 6-ish mile section between Camp Roo and Gap Creek I. This segment is the infamous Duncan Hollow section, often described as trudging through a river. We majorly lucked out with the weather and conditions this year. It was pretty hot during the day but otherwise the course was dry and we got only a brief period of rain Saturday afternoon. Even Duncan Hollow was dry! Having company was really a breath of fresh air and Mahew did a great job keeping the conversation going. Mathew asked me if my fingers were each a liquid dispenser what the five liquids would be. My mind immediately jumped to beverages: water, chocolate milk, good coffee, LMNT black cherry lime sparkling beverage, etc. I also took my first caffeine at this point, which was awesome. The cola-flavored Never2 gels might be my favorite of all gels, and I was saving them for this section. We covered this section pretty quickly, and got to Gap Creek I at 10:38 (race time 17:38). I even told Mathew at one point my legs felt like they still had some 12-minute miles in them but my IT band was frustratingly preventing any significant running. Unfortunately, this was the last section where I felt like I was moving well at all; the turning point from hiking to hobbling.

Runners go through the Gap Creek aid station twice, at mile 70ish and at mile 97 before heading down Crisman Hollow Rd to the finish line. It was crowded and had a vaguely party atmosphere when I came through at mile 70. I was happy to see my friend Bob at Gap Creek too as I had a bone to pick with him. He does a lot of trail maintenance himself and cajoles others (including me and Juliana) into helping. I told him something like, “Bob, you did a crap job of trail work, there are still rocks all over the trail.” To those that don’t know, the joke is that MMT is run on infamously rocky trails. He just laughed and told me he expected to hear that same sense of humor when I crossed the finish line in the morning. Horrifyingly, the first place runner was going through towards the finish while I was there restocking to head out at mile 70. Juliana started pacing me here for the ridgeline on Kerns, arguably the most rugged part of the course. The uneven nature of the terrain and lack of clear path through the rocks really bothered my knee but we kept trudging along. It was really great having Juliana as company; she was such a calm and comforting presence to counter the ruggedness of Kerns. This ridgeline section was also the first time Justin passed me on course. Juliana and I eventually made it to the fire road that descends to the Visitor Center aid station. This portion was painful in a different way: it is a few immensely runnable miles in normal conditions, but I couldn’t muster more than a slightly spirited hike. 

I reached Visitor Center at 2:19AM Sunday (mile 78, race time 21:19). I had a canned Starbucks espresso drink, which provided another major jolt of caffeine. Justin was hanging out at the aid station when I arrived and was still there when I left. This is where Derek started pacing me for the next 18 miles; neither of us were prepared for what was in store. I have run the next section more than any other portion of the course. It starts with a long climb up Bird Knob before a couple flat-ish miles, a sneaky second climb, and then the pink trail looping back up to Picnic Area aid station. Normally the 10-mile loop takes me around 2 hours. The climb up Bird Knob went relatively well, and we even passed a couple runners. We briefly sipped some coffee at the Bird Knob aid station (mile 82, no crew), and as soon as we departed my left hit seized up, presumably from compensating in some weird way for my left IT band. Again, for those keeping track, it was my left IT band and now my right hip. Derek was another great pacer, keeping a conversation going and energy levels up. We hiked along the fire road and up the climb, but I think the steep descent down to pink trail was the final straw for my IT. This descent was also where I had my first hallucination; I would have sworn I saw the cartoon Pinocchio in my peripheral vision. I was still with it enough to recognize it as not real though so I didn’t tell Derek yet. We hobbled along the pink trail and started seeing the first of the sunrise. At this point, Justin passed me for the second time. 

We eventually made it to Picnic Area aid station (mile 88), where I got to see my full crew. We arrived at 6:00AM Sunday (race time 25 hours). I had a full breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes plus a massage from Derek, in an attempt to open up my hip and relieve some of the worst IT pain. Justin was also at Picnic Area when we arrived and I (jokingly) told him he had to leave because I couldn’t handle him passing me for a third time. Eventually, Derek and I departed on the last major section of the course, the climb up Big Run and descent into Gap Creek for the second time. 

This was undoubtedly the bleakest section of the race for me. I normally like Big Run but during MMT the steep up and down sections were absolutely brutal on my IT band. After my IT band started hurting I kept joking to myself, “at least it only hurts on the uphill and downhill”. I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to all of my pacers; Derek hiked behind me for nearly 8 hours, much more time and much different pace than he was hoping/anticipating. We intermittently talked and hiked in silence but the camaraderie and patience was undoubtedly a huge help. I also had two more hallucinations on this section. I mistook a big rock for a geodesic dome; it could have been some forest service observation thing!! Later on I thought I saw an RV and even Derek admitted he saw what I meant. We eventually made it to the saddle and I gumby walked towards the descent. At this point, I said what I believe may be the quote of the event for me, “I have a PhD and am still dumb enough to do this.” We were making our way across the saddle and saw some boy scouts that had been camping, which spurred all kinds of jokes about what they would think when seeing my zombie/gumby walk. “Look what you have forward to kids”, “Parents look out for sings your child might be ultrarunning”, etc. When they finally did hike past us on the descent they were very respectful and encouraging so shoutout to their parents and/or troop leaders. After seemingly an eternity, we made it to Crisman Hollow Rd. The final 5ish miles of the course are on this fire road back to the finish line. We had planned for Juliana to accompany me from the final aid station to the finish line so I was very excited to reach Gap Creek for the second time. The cruelest hallucination of the race was when I thought I saw a sign saying “Aid Station” with an arrow a little ways up the road. I told Derek I want to run to the aid station and we took off. Maybe a minute later I looked up again and there was no sign in sight. Derek admitted that he hadn’t seen anything but didn’t want to stop me from running. I was trying all sorts of stuff to limit the discomfort on this road: walking backwards, side-stepping, more gumby walking, etc. 

We finally made it to Gap Creek 2 at 10:03 AM (mile 97, race time 29:03:52). I had my second snow cone of race (strawberry lemon-lime mix), and Juliana and I started the final 4 miles to the finish line. I was so happy to have her for company on this stretch because I was soooo ready to be finished. I got passed by some absolute crushers from the solo division really close to the finish. Solo division means racers without any crew or pacers. It’s truly so impressive; I can’t imagine doing it without my squad. I finally turned into the finishing chute and managed a trot across the line. As I crossed the line, the race director Dan greeted me with a high five and my buckle. I was so happy to be reunited with the rest of my crew and to see my friends Heather and Bob. After my IT and hip really started bothering me, I came up with my finish line “joke” for Bob. I think the first thing I told him was, “I just kept thinking of your f-ing ribs”. This both is and isn’t a joke because I knew he’d laugh but I also did remember that story at several points during the long hours of the race.

In the end, I’m proud of the grit and tenacity I demonstrated to finish MMT this year. The jury is still out on whether it was a good idea, but I’m proud of myself nonetheless. I’m so grateful to Juliana, Derek, Erica, Jeff, and Mathew for their incredible support during the race. I also can’t emphsize enough how amazing all the volunteers were on course. VHTRC races are second to none. Finally, and in no particular order, thank you to Dan, Chelsea, Heather, Bob, Adam, Lexi, Lauren, Keith, Gary, Tom, Ram, Paul, Cara, Zach, Ivory, Quatro, Kevin, Justin, and all the other folks my fatigue-adled mind can’t place who make VHTRC the incredible community it is. Thank you all for the support and encouragement.