West Virginia Mountain Trail Runners

My friend Phil, who does triathalons, posted the report below on slowtwitch for his buddies, I thought it was a good one so I thought I’d pass it on.  He summed it up pretty good for us, he agreed to run with me since this was my second attempt to finish my first ultra, and I thought I could use the help after DNFing at Capon last year. He was kind enough to go along, running with me out at KSF on Saturday mornings, and then decided to do the whole thing.  I think he’s hooked now and just doesn’t know it yet, he really liked the scene. I’d never been longer than 20 before, and noticed the second time down Hoffman that I was walking sometimes when I should have been running. I’ll agree with Phil, that we were in the “hurt locker” as he puts it, me more than him actually, but I do take exception to his description of me “doubled over pulling on a tree.” I was in perfect running form as I walked up Lindy the second time, and I was just trying to move that tree out of the trail. He also said there was “no finish line”, which is just his excuse for me taking him by one second at the finish line, which was obviously the crack in the sidewalk.

Thanks to the Dolin’s for the race and the aid stations, and for sticking around waiting on us.

Dave Simmons

Phil Combs report:

Haven’t seen many race reports lately so here’s one from me. My first ultra and first race report. It’s long but you can always skip to the end. Although finishing an ultra was an accomplishment for me, don’t want to sound like this was some amazing endurance feat. We ran really slow and by ultra standards this was an easy course. Still, it was great experience and I wanted to share . . .

Earlier this year my best friend, an ultra runner, asked me to run the second loop of the Fat Ass Snowflake 50k, an unsupported 50k trail run in Kanawha State Forest in Charleston, West Virginia. My kind of event–no fee, no shirt, just see if you can do it. I agreed, thinking that it would be fun and provide some focus to Winter training. At the time, neither one of us thought that I would be up for 31 miles so the plan was that I would pace him for the second loop and provide moral and if necessary logistical support.

Although I had never had any desire to run an ultra, I’ve always thought ultra runners are a great group–chilled out, unpretentious, very friendly, always willing to give advice and encouragement. Probably what triathletes were like before the sport got so big. I crewed for David at the Capon 50k and worked at an aid station and really enjoyed the scene. I just never had any interest in running that far.

Began training in September after the Charleston Distance Run (15 miler). Increased my mileage and started doing one long trail run every Saturday morning. Got about 10 long runs in, working up to 3 ½ hours. Wasn’t sure if that was enough or not but just didn’t have the time to do anything more (my wife got real sick real fast of me leaving her with the kids for 3-4 hours every Saturday morning, I can assure you). Once I got over 3 hours I decided to do the whole race and Phil T agreed to step in to run the second loop with us to provide the moral support.

In December the weather got really shitty and we were running in 15 degrees on snow and ice. Quickly realized how important conditions were going to be. A couple of weeks before the race North Face agreed to sponsor. Suddenly it was no longer a Fat Ass race–but it will always be the Fat Ass Snowflake to me for obvious reasons. Kept my nutrition simple and ate ½ a pbj or a powerbar every hour on all of the training runs, carried a Camelback with water and some electrolyte powder mixed in. Worked great and that’s what I did on race day. Also brought a bag of peanut M&Ms to munch at the halfway mark to help get me out of the transition area for the second loop.

Course was a 15.5 mile loop with three big climbs, couple long down hills, tons of rolling hills, and a few miles of flat. Not overly technical but constant elevation changes–as you would expect from a WV trail run.

I’ve never been very good at tapering but gave it a shot. Cut everything to 50% the week before the race. My head wasn’t on too straight and I started to question the wisdom of running 2x farther than my longest previous race. Body felt real tweaky, knee here, groin there, etc.

Woke up at 4 a.m. on race day and felt perfect! Ate a monster breakfast and went right back to sleep. Back up at 7 and on my way to the race. Karma factor was HUGE, beautiful pink and orange sunrise, 26 degrees (warmed up to 45, no rain (rained the day before and the day after), cranking Neil as I drove through the woods. Got to the start and discovered I was #22, my lucky #. Need I say more.

Start was hysterical, no start line, thirty men and four women standing in a gravel parking lot, some guy said “let’s run”, and off we went. Compare that to the start of your last triathlon. Ten minutes later I did a complete face plant while crossing a stream about 18 inches wide–welcome to trail running. Gloves were soaked and I looked like a fool but got up and plowed up the first big climb.

Perfect day. Blue sky, gorgeous woods, beautiful creeks winding through the mountains, sun dappling through the trees, dark green moss poking through the brown leaves. No place I would rather be (okay that’s a little bit of a stretch but I’m married and Chrissie Wellington hasn’t called yet so given that caveat, no place I would rather be).

We ran, we ran, we ran, we ran. Chatted with the other runners when we would pass them or vice-versa. Finished the first loop, picked up my food for the second loop, reloaded the CamelBack, crammed an entire package of peanut M&Ms into my face and started over. Phil T joined in.

By mile 23 we were in the hurt locker as we finished the 5th big climb. At one point I looked back and Dave was doubled over and pulling himself up the hill by holding on to a tree. Not quite a death march but getting there. I just started laughing–what can you say at that point? Phil T, a former professional cyclist, cheered us up by talking about all of the times they used to puke doing time trials. Got our second wind on the 2 mile descent down Middle Ridge Road. At this point, I realized that I had broken my left big toe nail and it hurt like hell–too tired to wrap it with duct tape so I just kept running. Could no longer ignore all the crap that was in my shoes and poured out a handful of dirt, rocks, and leaves. Miles 29 and 30 were a brutal 2 mile climb up Snipe and Mossy with lots of mud at the top. Turned the corner at Logtown Hollow and it was all down hill from there. I would say we ran strong to the finish line but there was no finish line. Finished 12th or 13th, no one was really sure, nor did anyone care.

Ate a bowl of bean soup and drank a quart of chocolate milk. Won a pair of women’s pink running socks as a door prize. Thank you North Face, my wife loved them.

Huge success: we finished; had fun; hung out with cool people, and no serious injuries. Big accomplishment for someone who 3 years ago weighed 218 and hadn’t run 1 mile in 20+ years. Will post a couple of pictures this evening. They will depict three middle aged white guys running through the woods.

Next stop Smithfield Sprint, 4/4/09. I will break 57 minutes or my head will explode trying, or both.

Phil