Wild Duluth 100k Race Report

This would be my second official attempt at the 100k distance. Kettle last year was my first and I failed. Jeff and I made it to mile 55 before we had had enough. Jeff had a terrible day, sick around mile 20 on. I just got sick of being out there and moving so slow.

I completed an unofficial 100k with Tony in the Northern Kettles on the Ice Age Trail a couple months after Kettle and was happy to get that monkey off my back. But Duluth would be my first official 100k race since the Kettle debacle.

My training prior to WD has been about right I thought, if not quite enough. I averaged 40 miles per week mostly on road with the following monthly long runs:

May: The Ice Age Trail 50k race

June: 40 miles / 8 hours on the Ice Age Trail in Washington County

July: 35 miles / 7 hours on the Ice Age Trail in Waukesha County

August: 30 miles / 6 hours in the Northern Kettles

September: 40 miles / 8 hours in the Northern Kettles

Some might do more, some less. But that looks about right for me with my family and work schedule.

Uh oh. That was the thought I had as we drove into the city of Duluth Friday afternoon. What have we gotten ourselves into. These are bigger hills than we’re used to. These were additional thoughts I had, later confirmed when Jeff and I checked out the trails around Spirit Mountain later that day.

Here's what we saw as we crossed the bridge and entered the city. Those are real hills (photo credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duluth,_Minnesota).

Pics from checking out Spirit Mountain, a shot of Jeff on the trail.

Me on the trail.

A small stream and bridge (there were much larger rivers and bridges seen the next day).

The view from Spirit Mountain.

Rocky section of trail with “steps” in the background.

Some bright fall colors still to be seen.

Packet pickup was very low key, got my bib and the race sweatshirt which had a neat old school design. Then back to the Motel 6 for a good night's sleep.

Up at 5am for the 6am start. Jeff was in the 50k starting at 8 but brought me to the start. At 6 we were off and after a fist bump from Jeff I was on my way. The morning was brisk and the day would be cool but I was comfortable in my t-shirt and shorts thanks to my warm gloves.

The first 3 miles took us onto the Superior Hiking Trail and up up up into the hills above Duluth and confirmed I was really in for a new experience. Most of my trail running is on the Ice Age Trail in the Kettle Moraine Forest which has plenty of ups and downs but they are shorter and briefer than what Duluth has to offer.

Here's what the day had in store for me.

The terrain was also more technical than I'm used to. Almost constant large rocks to avoid tripping over. Eventually I was able to get into a rhythm but it took awhile.

The course starts in Duluth at Bayfront Festival Park and is an out and back, the turnaround point is approximately the start of the 50k.

Here's a map of the course.

So we made our way up into the hills. I ran through the first aid station, not needing anything just yet. I stopped at the second one around mile 11 for to put water in my bottle which already had Tailwind powder in it.

My nutrition plan was Tailwind for the first half of the race or as long as I had powder remaining (I had half a dozen little bags of it with me). Then switch to whatever electrolyte/energy drink the race offered (it was HEED). Also in the second half of the race start drinking Coke and eating off the aid stations tables. Typically for me that means mostly pb&j with little experimenting. My stomach has gotten a lot better as I've raced more but has been iffy at times when not careful.

The first 20 miles of the race were fine but I was definitely pushing harder than I knew I should. I was hoping to finish in 14 hours so wanted to get to the halfway point in 7 hours. After seeing the course was harder than expected I should have reset my plans but did not. Consequently I found myself breathing a little heavier than was wise for the first half of the race so that I could get to the turnaround in 7 hours. I was hanging on but not feeling confident.

I think this was taken around mile 17 (photo credit https://www.facebook.com/shane1130).

I ran into Jeff running the 50k coming the other way around mile 20. He looked really strong and was in the top 25 (out of 200) I'd guess. We talked for a bit about our days. He was taking lots of pictures and asked me if I was. I had planned on doing that to force myself into an easy “I'm just out here enjoying myself pace” for the first half but that didn't happen. I hadn't taken a single picture.

So I took this one (I didn't take another).

I wanted to keep talking to Jeff but also knew I needed to keep moving so we parted ways. Jeff hoped to finish and then come back and cheer me on and even pace me the last few miles to the finish if he felt well enough.

I kept moving towards the halfway point cheering on the 50k runners coming towards me. At one point one of them said way to go you're top 20. Later someone said you're top 15. Those comments didn't really register though because I wasn't feeling great about my prospects for the day since I was working so hard in the first half and was pretty sure that was going to come back and bite me in the second half.

The last few miles before the turnaround took us out of the rocky hills and onto smooth mountain bike trails.

Here's a shot of part of that section that interestingly had patio bricks covering it which I'm sure is great for bikes tires but tricky for running shoes (photo credit https://www.facebook.com/jessica.maveus).

As I approached the turnaround I tried to keep track of how many were coming back my way in front of me and thought it was about 10. I knew I had improved on 15th place since I'd passed some guys. When I got to the aid station at the halfway point my suspicions were confirmed. I was indeed 10th and there was a guy sitting there not looking great so if I left quickly enough I could snag 9th. After hurriedly mixing some Tailwind off I went!

The volunteers at the mile 31 aid station were awesome. All the volunteers were extremely helpful. I’m always amazed at the helpfulness and ability of volunteers to brighten the day.

I had been feeling pretty rough prior to the halfway point but knowing I was in 9th place now really lit a fire. I turned on music, had been music/podcast free to this point, and started cranking out the miles on the mountain bike trails. Just before the next aid station there were some very steep ups and downs that really got my heartrate going. I caught 8th place at the aid station and after filling up on coke took chase.

I caught and ran with 8th place for awhile but he was pretty cooked so asked me to pass him eventually. He said he wasn’t sure he’d finish that day. Hopefully he was just having a low moment and continued on.

Back up Ely’s Peak and into the hills. Here’s a couple pictures of it (photo credit https://www.facebook.com/Wild-Duluth-Races-100K-50K-125046210858671).

There was also this cool abandoned railway tunnel at the base of the peak (photo credit http://abandoned.photos/post/51466130103/dwp-railway-tunnel-elys-peak-duluth-mn-source).

So I was back up in the hills with about 25 miles to go. Could I hang on to 8th place? I was no longer thinking I would catch up with anyone else as I was pretty spent. All I could do was keep moving. I’d fill up on Coke at each aid station and keep drinking that to keep the legs going. The sugar and caffeine were exactly what I needed. I’d occasionally grab a little pb&j or some soup as well. The pb gave me the bit of protein I needed and the soup gave me the salt and warmth I needed. The potato soup at the Spirit Mountain aid station was a bit too peppery and I paid for that with some indigestion but it went away.

I had been texting Kelly and Jeff since I left him letting them know how I was doing. Kelly was very encouraging and really helped me hang on. Jeff let me know he crashed around mile 25 of his race and had to take a nap. After about a half hour nap he carried on and finished strong in about 7 and a half hours. The plan was we would keep in touch and he’d meet me somewhere out on the trail before the finish. Unfortunately my phone died right after that. The cold of the setting sun sapped the battery life. I should have kept it closer to my skin to keep it warmer and avoid that. Lesson learned.

There were several sections of small rivers like this seen from the trail. Several bridges as well (photo credit https://www.facebook.com/Wild-Duluth-Races-100K-50K-125046210858671).

After the phone died no more music to keep me going. Only my own thoughts. I’m almost always listening to podcasts while running, especially if on the road which is most of my running. I also have a long drive to work so I listen to A LOT of podcasts. For races I listen to music more than podcasts though so I can keep my brain engaged more. This is especially important if the terrain is technical which Wild Duluth certainly was.

Keep moving. Hang on to 8th place. Gotta get to the finish so I can charge my phone and call Kelly to let her know I was still alive. It was now totally dark with the exception of my headlamp and the city lights from Duluth. I don’t remember the moon providing any light. The lights of Duluth below me and to my right were beautiful. But I had to stay focused on the rocky trail. I hadn’t fallen yet and really didn’t want to do so now. Every aid station meant more Coke and a little soup.

Saw some animal eyes, deer, other small animals. Saw some other things too that weren’t there. Not really hallucinations but as tired as I was the dark was playing a lot of tricks on me. I experienced this running the Northern Kettle 100k with Tony as well. After awhile you stop looking twice because you know it’s not real.

Just keep moving. Grind it out. Don’t stop for anything. Finally hit the last aid station, 3 miles from the finish. Still in 8th place. I had decided to ask a volunteer to borrow their phone here instead of waiting until the finish. It was hard knowing Kelly might be worried. A very nice volunteer let me use her phone and I called and left a message for Kelly (she was putting the kids to bed). I let her know my phone died and I was 3 miles from the finish and doing fine and would give her an update when all done and my phone was charged back up.

While on the phone the 9th place guy caught up with me. He saw me and hurried out of the aid station. There were lots of great food options at the aid station but I really wanted to be done, and I also really wanted to catch up with the guy that just passed me, so I slammed some Coke and ran out of there.

I caught up with him and we started chatting. This was his second time doing this race and really wanted to beat his previous time of 15:03. Our current time was 14:30. I hadn’t been moving at anywhere near 10:00 pace lately but he was convinced if we pushed it we could beat 15:00 so we ran hard down the hills. He led at first but his stomach turned on him so I took over. It was pretty treacherous yet with lots of rocks to trip over and would be until the final mile took us off the trail and onto the streets of Duluth. We ran hard to the finish trying to get there before 15:00 and almost made it! When we could finally see the clock it read 14:59:53 but were were still about 20 seconds away, unfortunately. We crossed the line just over 15:00. I insisted he finish ahead of me, wanting him to take 8th place since I knew I wouldn’t have pushed those last 3 miles so hard without him and I was grateful that he got me to the finish.

Here’s what the finish line looked like (photo credit https://www.facebook.com/Wild-Duluth-Races-100K-50K-125046210858671).

Done. Didn't make my time goal of 14 hrs but made up for it with a top ten finish, a first for me. There was soup at the finish but after eating that at the last several aid stations I felt more like eating pizza so skipped the meal at the finish.

Where's Jeff? No sign of him at the finish so I walked to where we parked the car and there he was asleep. Since he couldn't get ahold of me after my phone died he decided to get some sleep and recover from his run. He was bummed he hadn't been able to run the last few miles with me but admitted he didn't know if he could have run back up into those hills anyway.

We went back to the Motel 6 and ordered a pizza. It tasted great but my appetite wasn't totally back yet. I was really cold so cranked up the heat in the room which felt great. My legs were absolutely shot. Sore and tight, calves as hard as rock. Asleep by midnight.

Up at 6am. I was really tired but had to stretch the legs. Ideally after a long effort I try to run at least 5 miles the next day to get blood flowing to my sore muscles but all I could manage (and had time for, really) was a slow shuffle around the block.

In the car for the long drive back home. We stopped several times to stretch the legs and it was pretty painful each time. It was not a fun ride and I'm sure being stuck in my Corolla for 6 hours hampered my recovery. It wasn't until Wednesday that the soreness fully subsided.

Looking back on my first official 100k distance race it was an amazing experience. Being able to turn off the pain and grind out the miles is a skill that has taken several years to develop but I'm glad it's something I'm getting better at as I look at doing longer distances in the future.

I think I'm mentally ready for a 100 miler now and am looking at Superior 100 which is also in Northern Minnesota and seems very similar to Wild Duluth. If I can get into it, it has a lottery system for registration, it'll be my first. If not, I have a couple backup options.

Thanks to Wild Duluth race directors Andy and Kim Holak and to all the awesome volunteers for an incredible 15 hours in the rugged hills above Duluth.