I love / hate 100 Milers because they are so all-encompassing, challenging, humbling, and primal.
There’s also a very real possibility of failure, if any small unplanned thing happens.
Much to my chagrin, I DNF’d (Did Not Finish) at the Mile 70 Aid Station (AS), which I’m still processing…
I missed a (poorly marked, IMO) critical sharp right turn to the west (after having been running south for quite some time), around 2am on Sunday (22 hours into race, about 1.5 miles (?) to Mile 70 AS, with about 1 hour 45 minutes left before the cutoff for reaching Mile 70 AS), in the haze of night, mild visual hallucinations from my headlamp, and sheer exhaustion.
Got off trail southbound for probably 2/3 mile until my (alone) stubborn mind accepted that I was probably off the course.
I retraced my steps going northbound (slowly), ironically right to the critical juncture where the hard turn to the west was, but even on a second pass, I still didn’t see the non-illuminated red ribbon (meaning do not enter), nor the reflective yellow streamers ~ten feet off to my left (west).
So, in a moment of weakness / exhaustion / disorientation, I decided to simply take a 3-hour nap right at the critical intersection, by a big tree until sunrise (set phone alarm for 5:50am, snoozed twice!), since I figured daylight would help my faculties.
Immediately, when I woke up, I saw the red streamers, covered mostly in mud, about fifteen feet down the trail (south), looked to my right (west), and saw the reflective yellow streamers (“confidence ribbons”) ten feet off as well.
Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity (I think well over an hour), I trudged through the rocky, rocky terrain and muddy creeks to get to the Mile 70 AS, arriving around 7:45am, four hours after the cutoff to reach Mile 70 AS — volunteers had been worrying where I had went, as they had not yet accounted for my whereabouts…
When I told them about missing the hard right turn, they mentioned another person had missed the turn as well.
…
The course was the rockiest (not just rocks, but large rocks!) and least runnable trail I’ve encountered thus far, in my relatively young “ultrarunning career” (5 attempted 100 Milers, 1 attempted 200 Miler) — I found it very hard to find a running rhythm, as there weren’t very many long flat sections, but repeated short, steep rocky climbs and just-wet-enough-to-keep-you-uncomfortable creeks, streams, and muddy patches.
The sweltering heat (about 86F high, 68F over night?), humidity, and Bug Heaven made the race even more challenging / enjoyable.
The DNF rate was very high: 49.5% — 96 finishers, and 94 did not finish (including me)!
…
I keep thinking about whether I could have found the turn, if I had “tried harder”; or that I should have slept closer to the trail, in the hopes of some of the last runners would have seen me (I was hidden next to a tree, about 5 or 6 feet to the right (west) of trail); or if I had had a pacer…I know these thoughts aren’t helpful, but I had such a low point / mental anguish around Mile 61 (thinking I was going to, for sure, quit at Mile 63.9 AS (Camp Roosevelt)), but once I got to the Mile 63.9 AS and a volunteer said that this was normally the lowest point for most runners, I felt confident, upon leaving for the next aid station (Mile 70), that I was going to finish, since I was still about 1.5 hours ahead of the cutoff…
…
You win (finish) some, you lose some.
Every 100 Miler I run in, I learn something new.
This race I learned: don’t forget RunGoo to prevent hot spots on feet; use your bug spray, even if you think you’re tough; have spare socks in earlier drop bags (didn’t have second set of socks until I think Mile 38, at which point my feet were far too wet); and don’t run too far, if you haven’t seen a yellow confidence ribbon in a while!