I first heard about Chisholm’s plan for a 24 hour race at Bluff Creek while working at the Redman booth at the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. Wow, that’s a lot of endurance events in the same sentence! Once I heard about it, I knew I had to be a part of it. Before I knew it I was heading up the aid station for the event.
As the planning meetings progressed, I was getting more and more excited. This was going to be a great event! I didn’t want to just volunteer at it, I wanted to run it! Mind you I had never run more than a 50K before. Sure, the event offered a 6 and 12 hour event. But the way my mind works, I knew I had to go for the max. I didn’t drive to Wichita Falls to go half the distance in the Hotter’n Hell Hundred. Nor did I bother to try a half ironman before going for the REDMAN full. I was going for 24!
I won’t bother boring you with the details of my training. Long, long training runs. Most of these training runs were alone, but some with Shay, Melissa, Peggy and Beth. Tanya met me for some 4:00am runs to get used to the trails with shadows. Chisholm and Joel were awesome with their encouragement.
I’m not going to call it a race because I think competition causes unnecessary stress. What I do are events. I set goals and try to accomplish them. Whether there are other participants there, so be it. I hope they reach their goals, too. My main goal was to cover 51 miles. Yes, that is weak, but I wanted to go more than 50 miles. It’s kind of like someone calling a 27 mile run an Ultra because it is more than a marathon. 50 miles is a benchmark in the Ultra-community and I wanted to pass that. My secret goal was 72 miles. That would be an average of 3 miles per hour. Slow, huh? And guess what? I didn’t make it. Oh well, I’m thrilled with my 68.32.
The weather was perfect for a long run, something you can’t count on for late October in Oklahoma. My event started at 9:00. There were 6 events going on that day. The 24, 12 and 6, and you had your choice of a one mile paved loop or a 2 mile trail loop, both met back at the start/finish area and shared an aid station. In the 24 hour trail event there were just 6 of us: 2 female and 4 male. A few of the other entrants had switched to the paved event due to wet conditions on the trail. (The trail was perfect)! The 12 hour event started at 6:00am. My friend and training partner, Melissa was running in that one and I got to see her go by before my start. Looking good, but one fall already. I had posted on Facebook that I was taking a poll: How many times would I fall during my run? I had figured 6 – once for every two hours. Funny, but both Melissa and I only fell once that day, and both on our third lap ...
My husband Scott is not a runner, never will be, just doesn’t understand it. There is no way I was going to ask him to be there for the race. Plenty of others had families there for support, but Scott wanted to paint the house. Go for it, buddy. Had he been at the run I would have been worried, “Is he bored? What is he doing?” It would have messed with my head. But, I told him I wanted him there for the start, to meet me for dinner around 7:00pm and be there at the finish. I have an awesome, supportive husband!
No problem the first 3 hours, well, other than missing a turn on the second lap! This is my HOME TRAIL! I know it inside out, every tree and root. Well, the course didn’t follow the usual route and I zoned out. At least I didn’t’ get too far off course. Bret, who designed the course, had a good laugh about that.
At noon, the 6 hour group got started. For the next 6 hours, all 3 events would be on the trail. My friends Jane and Tanya were there and I got to chat with them a bit.
Did I mention my friends Rob, Sarah, Ben and Chap were doing a relay? Team Bacon. Yeah, that makes sense for a relay team that is half vegan! Rob passed me about every third lapduring the first 6 hours. Never once laughed at my slow speed, and always had a word of encouragement. This encouragement continued from all of Team Bacon until 9:00 the next morning. That relay was very inspirational! Thank you!
The mutual aid station was well staffed and organized. Thank you to all those volunteers. What was wonderful was this was where I could see the runners doing the paved events. So many fo my friends were out there and I loved seeing them. Throughout the day, other friends and member of the triathlon and running community came out to watch and cheer us on. Team Bacon member took to calling me Kit Kat and whenever I approached the timing mat/aid station I’d hear, “Go Kit Kat.” No one had ever called me that before, or since.
Peggy, Dave, Bret, Keith and Beth were awesome! With every lap they asked how I was or if I needed anything. Beth had already made a trip out to get Melissa some Doritos. “No thanks, I’m good.” Then, shortly before 6:00 it hit me. It hit me hard. I needed a glass of milk. Huh? Yes, milk! I called Shay as I knew she would be working the aid station at 6:00. Um, OK, are you sure you want milk?” Yep. Oh that tasted so good. More than one person commented on that later. So I’m a little different.
The 12 and 6 hour events ended at 6:00pm. A gunshot signaled the finish. When I heard it I jumped and then almost started crying. I was so happy for all of those people who had met their goal. What an accomplishment. Then I almost started crying again when I realized I still had 15hours to go! This is when things started to get interesting. There had been some 25 people on this two mile loop, now there were just 6, 7 counting the relay.
A couple hours went by where I didn’t see anyone except while at the aid station. I didn’t see another runner on the trail! As evening turned to night and we donned our lights, shadows began to play tricks. There was still a good crowd of people with chairs and tents lined up along the mutual aid station area. It was dark and I was tired, and I had a hard time recognizing people as they cheer me on, but it was inspiring nonetheless. There even came a point where I thought I saw a fire on the trails. As I got closer I could see a couple people dressed as skeletons holding a torch. I wouldn’t have recognized Martha and Biff and they not told me who they were. Awesome, though it was a very windy night and I feared they really might start a fire!
The low was in the upper 50’s and I still didn’t need a jacket. The wind in the trees was peaceful and I was thankful that I was running on the trails. I worried about the gang on the pavement loop getting blasted by the wind.
Around 1:00am I started getting dizzy. I was tired, the shadows were messing with me, so I decided to go lay down in my car. Let me tell you that the backseat of a Ford Focus was not built for sleeping! My hips hurt, but I thought the rest would do me good. It was 2 hours before I got up again. Did a few more laps, then just couldn’t go on. I had to take another nap! This time when I got to my car, I couldn’t think of any good reason why I shouldn’t just go home. I have to backtrack. I said I think competition is unnecessary stress. But, there was just one other women in this event. If I beat her, I would WIN. I’ve never won an event before. I had absolutely no idea where Lorrie was, or how many loops she had done. I had passed her on that trails in the late afternoon, but hadn’t seen her since. All I could ascertain was that I was one lap up on her before I took a two hour break. Fine, I need to rest. Let her win. I’ll take second. Better yet, I’ll still be First Masters Female. I had lost track of my lap count, but didn’t think taking two naps would get me to my goal of 72 miles. I was too tired to drive home, so I slept.
Climbing out of my car the second time was killer. My legs and feet felt fine, oh, it was my hips. But once I started moving again, all was good. Back at the aid station I learned that only one other person and the relay was still on the trails. The other participants had dropped out.
Beth had accompanied Melissa on her final laps during her 12 hour event, which by the way, she WON! Beth had also offered me company. OK, now it was around 7:00am and I needed it. Beth and I power-walked throughout sunrise. How awesome to hear the birds waking up out on my favorite trail. Joel, Maurice and Chisholm had told me what a ‘pick-me-up” sunrise would be, and they were right! Only 2 more hours! I could do anything for 2 hours! OK, now my feet hurt. I didn’t trust my legs. Who put all these logs where the tree roots used to be? I used to joke that I knew every tree and root at Bluff Creek. Beth commented that I now I knew every leaf and blade of grass!
It was getting close to 9:00, I was ready to see Scott. More people were starting to gather at the aid station area to see the finish. I grabbed a flag with my bib# on it to plant on the side of the trail if the gun sounded and I hadn’t completed the lap. Partial credit, yeah! Beth continued with me for another lap and I walked as fast as I could. Running was no longer an option. Towards the finish we ran into Melissa. She was getting around pretty good, walking her dogs. She shouted, “Will you do another?” I replied, “No way!”
Beth helped me finished another lap, and there was Scott waiting for me! There was only a few minutes left, so I grabbed Scott’s had to join me until the finishing gun sounded. Truly, he had a hard time keeping up with my power walking pace. Just passed the bridge, I heard the countdown. When the gun fired, my eyes filled with tears and I planted my flag. I wish I had the words to express my feelings. Awe, amazement, pure fatigue… similar to what I felt crossing the REDMAN finish line, but more so.
When the awards were announced and I was the overall female winner on the trails I was thrilled. Chisholm handed me my certificate and said that he was crying. I know he was so happy for me. Having a friend win your event must be a great feeling.
Thank you Chisholm for putting together this great event, and for the encouragement throughout.
See you on the trails!
Katharine Miller
2009 Oklahoma Female Ultra-Trailrunning Champion
