Running with the Big Boys (and Girls): The 2012 Clinton Lake 30 Mile Race Report

My recent Kettle Moraine 50K trainer grounded me so into the earth with brute, relentless force that the next day I started to wonder, why am I doing this again?  Also, it made me hungry for more!  Enter the Clinton Lake 30 Mile Trail Run near DeWitt, IL.

Three Days Prior

I’m looking at the results from last year’s race.  I’m reading race reports online.  I’m trying not to worry.

Dang this thing is hilly!

But… I’m… feeling competitive?  Yes, yes I am!  And I have six weeks to recover for Ice Age, so let’s give it a good effort, Jeff!  Dig deep!

I’m pumping myself up with positivity, knowing that if it hurts too much I can always pull back.

I’m gonna put myself up front and just see what happens.  Let’s live.

Day Before

I finish work at 5 p.m., then get in the car and head south on a jampacked I-55.  I’m going to my mother’s house, just outside of Springfield, IL, but I have to sit in traffic before I can crank up the old ’99 Maxima to 80 mph (not her preferred cruising pace I should add).  I want to get as much sleep as I can and it’s a 4-hour drive.  My right piriformis is behaving, so I consider myself lucky.

Race Morning, 4:30 a.m.

Up and at ’em!  Did I even sleep?  I have one cup of coffee, a banana and 5 fistfulls of whole grain Chex.  My youngest sister, Cara (17 years old) is awake too, ready to keep me company on the drive and crew during the race.  We hop in the car, I crank up The Cranberries Greatest Hits and we are off.

7:00 a.m. — 30 Minutes Before Start

It’s 42 degrees.  The sun is creeping up.  We are here.

Middle.

Of.

Nowhere.

Seriously, when I look to the Google Oracle for directions, even she says whaaaaaaaaat?  A country road here, a gravel road there, vast farmland everywhere.

But we are in the right parking lot.  Lots of anxious runners are getting ready for the long voyage consisting of three 10-mile loops around Clinton Lake, with about 4500 feet of elevation gain.  I go over the last minute details with my sister and she assures me I have nothing to worry about (she’s right).  She’s a smart kid and her help will prove invaluable on the day.

Parked just beside us is a friend of mine from my Chicago running club (New Leaf Ultra Runs).  We chat a little before he asks if I have any goals for the day.

Yeah, I’d like to finish in 5 hours, I think.

Whoa, he says, 5 hours.  It took me 6 hours the first time I ran this race.

Well, shit.  Now I’m not so sure about myself.  This guy is a great runner.  His stride is so effortless and strong that I’ve expressed my jealousy more than once.  I’m glad I didn’t also just tell him I hope to finish in the top 10! He might think I’ve gone mad! (I have)

Damn, well, okay, maybe I won’t get 5 hours?  I don’t know.  I’m gonna try, I say.

We wish each other luck then head towards the start line but, before I get there, I run into another friend of mine, Paul “Crazy Legs” Stofko, a phenomenal runner from northwest Indiana.  Paul schooled me on the mighty Indiana sand dunes last summer.  After one particular 4-hour run, I recall finishing, then immediately throwing up all over the parking lot.  That’s how hard Paul pushed me that day (don’t feel sorry for me, it was an awesome run).  In exchanging salutations with him, I’m hoping he has forgotten about my puke job.  He doesn’t mention it, so I feel like we’re all good.

7:30 a.m. — Start Line

I position myself at the front.  Clinton Lake is almost ALL single track.  There’s a short climb up a paved road at the start, another short paved climb at the loop halfway point, but otherwise it’s all trail, so I want to make sure I don’t get stuck too far behind.  Once you’re stuck in a single track conga line, it’s pretty hard to get out of it.

The RD gives his speech and… WE’RE OFF!

Loop 1

One guy darts out at the front and the rest of us give chase.  We maneuver through the parking lot, bang a louie and go uphill towards the trail head.  I’m moving pretty swiftly.  There are maybe 4 or 5 or 6 people in front of me, the leader about 40 yards ahead.  I look to my left and there is Paul.

Crazy Legs, I don’t know what I’m doing up here, I say.

He laughs.  We chat about the upcoming Ice Age Trail 50, then, as we reach the trail head and start our single track adventure, I tuck in behind him.  I know I have to be careful here because Paul is fast, and if I try to keep up with his torrid pace too long I might blow up.  I mean, I will blow up.

But as we move our way through the first mile of trail, it is apparent that there are a couple of slower folks ahead of us, keeping the pace very conservative.  Too conservative, in my opinion.  Inevitably, in every race I’ve ever run, there is always someone up front who probably shouldn’t be, blocking the path for everyone else.

Some chatter regarding this scenario starts and it’s apparent that everyone wants to make a move, but no one wants to be the first one to do it.  And then, someone does.  One guy goes by me.  Two.  I tuck in behind the second passer, Paul tucks in behind me and we fly by the slower runners, bombing on a downhill.

This course has some mighty big hills, but hills work both ways, and the down sections were a blast to cruise!  With trail conditions as ripe as they were (damp, soft, smooth), the footing for bombing was perfect.  So that’s just what we did.

A few minutes go by, I give way to Paul, feeling like we would both do better if he were ahead of me and voila!  I’m in the chase pack!

That’s right.  The four leaders (3 guys and 1 girl) are far enough out front that we can’t see them.  The chase pack is two dudes I don’t know, followed by Kirsten Marek (who I get to know a bit later), then Paul, then me in the back.  I look behind me and there’s no one.

We are about 3 miles into the race and I’m surprised at how hard those in front of me are hammering the uphills.  I spend a lot of time working on my power hike, so I’m able to keep up with them no problem, but I worry about being able to later on.  Just run your race, Jeff. 

I realize I’m currently in 9th place.  I decide to chill out and enjoy the ride.

We hit the first aid station just after the 5-mile mark and I’m feeling pretty darn good.  My nutrition plan for the day is my 20 oz. handheld bottle filled with half water, half Gatorade. (I drank about 120 oz total) I plan to eat a GU gel every half hour and suck on an orange slice if it looks good.

We all whiz through the first aid station, cross the bridge then find ourselves quickly back onto single track.

—
Brief Aside
I love watching races on television.  Every televised marathon I can watch, I watch.  Every track meet too.  And one of the things I enjoy watching the most is “the chase pack”.  Seeing Dathan Ritzenhein’s effort in the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials is the sort of thing I mean.  Complete, utter, AGONY.  Screw Law & Order SVU, the CHASE PACK is drama!
—

We aren’t in agony, but we do have a lot of work to do if we want to catch the leaders.  The four runners ahead of me keep charging up those hills.  I try to hang with them, but by the 8-mile mark, when a brief stretch through an open meadow allows me to see Paul’s bright orange shirt waaaay up in front of me, I realize I’m gonna have to conserve some energy if I want to finish the race, let alone place in the top ten.

I’m totally cool with that.

I power hike the uphills.  Hard.  I bomb them on the way down.

I’m playing!  I’m having so much fun!  And now… I’m all alone!

Loop 2

I come through the start/finish line and there is Cara, waiting for me, all smiles.  She switches my empty bottle for a full one, takes my jacket and tells me I’m doing good.  I look down at my watch and see my first 10 miles are done in 1:34.  Heck, I am doing good!

How many in front of me? I ask.  I’m pretty sure I know, but I just want to check if I am right.

Seven or eight, she says.

Close enough.

I don’t even stop.  Our entire exchange takes place on the run.  My sister does a great job.

Now power hiking up the paved hill towards the trail head again, I see Kirsten ahead.  I didn’t know her name until we turned onto the single track together, but over the next 5 miles, we keep each other company by introducing ourselves and doing what ultrarunners usually do on the trail: talk about running!

And oh what a pleasure it is!  We are moving along at a pretty fast pace, but the conversation masks the hard effort, makes it flow.  She is relatively new to ultrarunning too, so we exchange tips, talk about races, mull about the possibility of one day getting into Western States (don’t we all?!?!).

Just before the next aid station, a friend of hers creeps up on us, then flies by me.  He’s moving quickly, but I keep him in my sights as we come out of the woods.  We are officially at the halfway mark and I’m feeling great.  Kirsten stops to get some fluids, her friend does the same.  I have plenty with me (thanks to Cara!), so I just grab an orange slice, thank the volunteers and boom, I’m off before they know it.

I won’t see either of them again until the end (Kirsten eventually took home 2nd overall female. Good work!).

And now… I’m all alone.  For real.  No one in front.  No one in back.  But this doesn’t stop me from keeping my pace.

The toughest hills are on miles 8 through 10, on the back half of the course.  I make sure to power hike hard, but to fly downhill even harder.

I’m having so much fun.

Loop 3

There’s Cara!  Ready to go!  She switches my bottles, takes my arm warmers, skull cap, gloves.  She hands me a fresh hat, a sweatband for my wrist and three gels.  I’ve already eaten 4 at this point, and now that the temperature is warming up (about 60 degrees), I decide to pop a salt pill too.

Good work, Bro! says Cara.

Looking at my watch, I holler back, Definitely going to finish under 5 hours.  Next time I see ya, I’ll be done!

I charge back up the paved road to the trail head and then:

Holy shit, I’ve got 20 miles in my legs right now and I feel fantastic!  Let’s do this!

No hyperbole here.  This is an historic moment for me.

The course is not easy.  Just 7 days earlier I was getting my ass kicked by hill after hill after hill and now I’m conquering them like a warrior.  I know I’m in the top ten, but not exactly sure where because each race official I ask tells me something different, but it doesn’t matter.  What matters is I feel great, my body is adapting to all this crazy running, and I’m surrounded by some kickass forest!  Lots and lots of green.  Lots of birds: woodpeckers, cardinals, pelicans!  (I didn’t know we had pelicans in Illinois either)  I’m feeling great, I’m feeling alive and I ain’t backin’ down.  Instead of slowing, I speed up.

Still, this loop is lonely.  I pass several folks on just their second loop, each one offering me a hearty cheer and a Great job!  I reciprocate with high fives and encouraging words of my own, for them, and I can’t help but revel in the awesomeness that is the ultra community.

In standard road races (5Ks, 10Ks, marathons), when someone gets passed, there is no “great job” or “you’re doing great” or go “get ’em”.  There’s… nothing.  But the ultra community survives on kindness, on mutual encouragement.  It is so full of altruism that I can’t ever imagine myself not being a part of it.

This is what I think about on this loop.  Well, that, and I wonder just how fast I can go on these downhills.

Turns out, pretty fast.

I hit the last aid station, look each one of the volunteers in the eye and thank them.  Then I’m off.

I’m in La La Land.  I’m so happy.  I can’t wait to sprint through the finisher’s shoot, give my sister a hug and soak my warrior legs in that big ass lake.

After 4 hours 48 minutes and 12 seconds, an 8th place overall (7th male) finish*, I do just that.

And I feel as happy and alive as I ever have.

– – –

*At the finish line, I asked the race officials what place I came in overall and they told me 7th.  So that’s what I told all my friends/family.  The official results show that I came in 8th overall, 7th male.  Still, not too shabby for an early spring race, or, any race for that matter.

Paul Stofko came in 3rd overall.  Awesome work, Paul!

– – –

The post-race food and vibe was also pretty sweet.  That homemade turkey chili… someone should get an award for that!