Dances with Dirt - Hell Race Report

A sign for things to come:

My plan was to run the race with no Watch, no Garmin, no Pace Chart, no Drop Bags. In fact the only plan was to just take it easy and get the miles in.

I was ready, feeling great and was going to settle in for a long day.

I met up with Clara at the start of the race. She was running the 50 miler and at the time of this post, I am still unsure if she finished or not. If she did, my hat is off to her. She has not trained running wise that much since Mohican. The times I saw her on the trail, she was looking great and moving right along.....way the hell ahead of me. : )

Well, what can I say. I hate Hell. The race was going good until I got to the section called:

"This Sucks".

This is the section I got totally lost for about a good 15 minutes...no kidding!

Then I get sucked down into a Bog not once, but 2-3 times in sternum deep nastiness. I believe it was the Ann Arbor Sewage Treatment plant. Anyway, I was covered with this thick black nastiness for miles on end. My bottles were covered in it, and there was no way I was drinking from them.

Check out this link for pictures of last years run through this mess: http://www.shutterfly.com/progal/slideshow.jsp?auto=0&aid=768a5498cf3c5052803d

This picture does no justice as to how muddy I really was.

Let's not forget the Stripper Pole. This is a hill aptly named that because it is a 70% grade. Yep we had to climb up it. I wasn't able to get many pictures after my bog incident as I didn't want to chance getting my camera ruined.

My plan was to run the 50 miler and use it as a training run for Javelina coming up in only 7 weeks! The race really wasn't that bad and had they not thrown the craziness in, it would have been an even better race. This is what the Dances with Dirt series are known for: Insanity!

I was mentally and physically drained by mile 18. I had to crouch down and try to run and avoid the low lying trees, briar's, weeds. The constant darting in and away from trees and thick brush while looking for course markings made it so much more difficult.

On a side note, I was a little pissed off that almost every aid station I came upon was out of friggin food. This was uncalled for and they need to make better preparations. I needed a change of pace from my Perpetuem and Hammer Bars. They were out of sandwiches, potatoes, no soup, no real food anywhere. I stayed away from the fruit and candy as it can cause stomach issues.

In fact, I had not one stomach issue...not even a pain. My plan worked very well for me. Thank you Hammer Nutrition!

Everything was going well until about the final 6 miles. The final aid station until the 50k finish, my foot start killing me. I keep plugging away and the pain came and went. Eventually, I pull over and lossen my shoe laces a bit and make some adjustments. It helps a little but, it's too late. At this point I start to mull over the idea of going on and completing what I came here for.

It wasn't until I saw the trail leading back to Half Moon Lake that I knew I should be smart and end my day. Going on could have had serious consequences for my Javelina Race coming up.

I don't need to be nursing injuries leading up to the big day.

I have no idea what my time was, but I did place 5th in my age group. Check out my sweet rock I got.

A huge shout out needs to go to Mark Carroll. He single handedly kept me from getting blisters on my feet by taping them up for me a day before the race. The tape job he done has become a necessity for his Ultras. After a while, I never felt the tape job on my feet. It was smooth and ready to keep my feet friction free. This tape job had no bearing on my foot pain later in the race. I will for sure be taping my feet the way he showed me when I head to Arizona and all subsequent Ultras after that. It worked!

By the way, for the best blog reading ever, read this guys blog. Seriously.

All in all, DWD-Hell was an adventure. These races are notorious for torturing you in the final miles by making it seem to drag on and on.

One thing for sure people in Michigan are really nice and the times I have been there, even in Detroit, they've always been helpful.

DWD Hell Pictures