When I would tell people at other races that I was running
my first hundred at the Wildcat Ultra on September 3-4 in Pensacola, Florida,
they would cringe. Actually, the words
of one person were, “Ew, you are running that as your first 100?” This reaction had nothing to do with the race
itself. You see, temperatures in
Pensacola at this time of year can climb into the 100’s with heat indexes of
105 to 115. Can you say recipe for
disaster? Suffice it to say, I didn’t
give it a second thought when I signed up back in February after finishing my
first 100k at Iron Horse.
The Wildcat Ultra is held at the Escambia County Equestrian
Center in Pensacola, Florida and is a flat,2.5 mile loop course with one main
aid station near the start/finish area. Personal
aid stations can be set up as well.
Three distances are offered, a 50k, 100k and 100 mile. All three distances have a 40 hour time limit
to finish. I figured that this race
would be a great test of my physical and mental strength being that I live in
Florida and can train in temps that are almost as hot.
When Jennifer Van Vlack and I found out back in January that
we were both going to be running this as our first 100, we decided to keep in
touch throughout our training to keep each other accountable for what we were
setting out to do. We would touch base every
1 to 2 weeks to see how things were going.
We were both crushing the miles and pushing our limits. During one weekend I even ran for 12 hours
through the night for a total of 50 miles and Jennifer ran back to back to back
marathons in three straight days, with all 3 times around 4:30. Crazy stuff was happening and before we knew
it, the race was only 6 weeks away. We
even started using an app called countdown to show us exactly how many days,
hours, minutes and seconds were left until it was go time.
The date was now August 27th and the race was
only a week away. We were getting so
excited. I had been tracking the weather
for a couple of weeks now and things looked normal, but a week before the race,
there were now signs that a tropical depression was coming in off the west
coast of Florida near the panhandle, right where I would be driving. The initial plans were for me to drive up on
Friday morning, the day before the race, but that was not looking too good at
this time. After watching the tracker
for a few more days, I decided to head on up on Wednesday to stay ahead of all
the rain. Talk about a smart move. I did hit some rain heading on up, but as
soon as I passed Tallahassee, the rain disappeared and the blue skies came
out. I got to the hotel around 7pm on
Wednesday night and now had 2 full days of being able to rest before the
run. When I look back on this now, it
probably helped me more than I know.
It was now Friday, September 2 and there was a packet pickup
at 12pm for about an hour if you were able to get to the venue. Since I was already in town, I went over to
the equestrian center and picked up my bib as well as Jennifer’s, since she was
on her way to the venue with her husband Brian, 3 year old daughter Andie and
her friend Lindsay who would be helping crew and pace during the race, but they
would not be there in time. Jennifer
decided to rent an RV for a few days so that they wouldn’t have to camp out in
tents and had invited me to stay with them a couple of weeks back since there was going to be room for one more
adult to sleep. Since I was at the venue
already I made sure that everything was in order for the RV spot that Jen had
rented. The four of them arrived at the
equestrian center a short while later and we finally got to meet. Jennifer and I had been talking for such a long
time now though that it felt like we had already met. I gave her, her race packet, the tag for the
RV and then they went to pick up the camper as I went to get some lunch and
refill my coolers with fresh ice that was keeping all of my gallon containers
of Tailwind cold since I had made them the day before.
We all then made our way back to the equestrian center where
they parked and set up the RV. It was at
this time that I finally met Dale Cougot.
Dale had been coaching Jen for this race and so she signed him up to run
it with us. Dale is a very experienced
runner with many 100’s under his belt.
He even recently finished his second Badwater135 where Jennifer crewed for
him. He was friendly right off the bat
and was real easy to get along with. We
all hung out in the RV for a while before Jennifer, Dale and Lindsay went
grocery shopping and I stayed back to get my stuff organized for the race that
would be starting the next morning. A
short time later they were back and got everything situated.
It was now time to head to dinner. We all headed on over to Tamiya Thompson’s
house to have some chicken and pasta.
Tamiya is Aaron’s (the Race Director) brother, and I had met him and his
mom Julie back at one of the 8 Hours of Hell races back in July. We became fast friends and saw each other
again a couple of weeks back at another of the 8 Hours of Hell races. At this one, all talk was of Wildcat and the
excitement that was building. A few days
later Julie reached out to me to ask if I’d like to come to dinner. When I told her that I would be with a group
of people, without a moment’s hesitation, she invited all of them as well. Me, Jennifer and Lindsay all jumped in Dale’s
truck since mine was full of my stuff and Brian and Andie went to pick up
Jennifer’s other friend Chris from the airport, who was coming to crew and pace
as well. Dinner was real casual and very
comfortable. We were treated as if we
were family and it was a great feeling.
We didn’t make it a late night though since it was now time to head on
back to the RV and get some sleep. The
pre-race meeting was going down at 7:45am with the race starting 15 minutes
later. After having a few more laughs at
the RV after getting back, we finally shut it down and got to bed.
I was up at about 5:15am.
I never sleep great the night before a race and since I’m so used to
getting up early and had two great night’s sleep on Wednesday and Thursday
nights, I was already well rested and ready to go. I was able to take my time getting
ready. I decided to start off with a classic InkNBurn shirt, the Out N Back since it was white, my white compression under my black shorts that I would probably wear the entire way, a favorite pair of Balega socks, my original Altra Olympus and my white and red Headsweats trucker hat. Dale and I even took a ride to
the store for him to pick up some ice for his cooler and some coffee. Just after 7am, Jennifer was ready to go and
after getting some last minute things taken care of, the 3 of us headed on over
to the race start for the briefing.
Aaron basically went over the course with us, which was pretty straight
forward, and then a local priest said a prayer and blessed all of the
runners. Shortly thereafter Aaron
started the countdown and all of a sudden we were off on our EPIC journey.
The day was looking beautiful and clear as we started on our
first loop. My plan was to do my
intervals from the very beginning. I’ve
learned that on long races, you need to preserve the energy and do what feels
comfortable for you. So many people get
caught up in the moment and go out too fast or start doing things differently
than how they trained. I’ve gotten
caught up in this in past races as well and I was not going to let that happen
today. I knew that Jennifer and Dale
would get out ahead of me, but I also knew that there was going to be quite a
bit of walking involved and Jen and I would do a lot of the race together in
the later miles.
The first 5 miles (2 loops), I was keeping just a tad over a
12 minute per mile pace since I completed it in 1 hour and 32 seconds, which is
exactly like I had thought it would be.
I had passed the main aid station twice already, but not really eating
much this early. I did refill my
Tailwind bottle and water bottle at our own personal aid station near the RV at
this point and I was feeling good. The
next 2 loops were just a bit slower and by the time I finished 10 miles, I was
at 2:03:46. It was now that I decided I
needed to up the calories and the hydration a bit. It was only 10am and it was already getting
very hot. I slowed my pace down after
mile 10 and started walking a bit more.
At 15 I was at 3:27:27 and by the time I hit 20 I was at 4:54:54 and
this is where the wheels almost came off for me.
I was standing at the main aid station and I started to get
a bit emotional. I really don’t know
why, I just was. I was not crying or
anything like that, but it was weird. Julie
came over to me and asked what the matter was.
I remember saying that nothing was wrong, but she noticed I was not
myself and figured the heat was probably getting to me. They sat me in a chair right away and she and
Grace just kept putting ice cold washcloths on my arms, back, legs, calves and
head. Julie even put some ice in a
couple of zip lock baggies and put one under each arm. Then they made me eat some real food, a
turkey and cheese wrap, and drink some pickle juice. I never once thought that I was done during
this ordeal, but I was definitely having a moment. After a short time and getting some of those extra
calories in me besides the Tailwind, I felt completely better. They all noticed how much better I looked at
that point and knew I was ready to head back on out. One more shot of some pickle juice and I was
off again and starting loop #9.
The next 10 miles went very smooth. I took my time after my little ordeal and
just kept trucking on. I did not feel
tired at all but it had been a very hot day with temps very high and heat
indexes even higher going over 100 degrees.
I’m not exactly sure what loop or mile I was on when what happened
next. All I know was that it was a few
hours before it was to get dark, so most likely between miles 30 to 35. I was just getting to the grass island area
where we would run down the middle. Our
table and my cooler were off to the side towards the RV. I looked on over to see Lindsay and Chris
standing there, but with 3 other people.
At first I thought it was Brian and Andie, but when I looked again I saw
who was really standing there. My wife
Kasi had driven the 6 ½ hours that morning with my daughter Zoe and her friend
to surprise me. I ran over to them and
hugged them so hard. The emotions were
too overwhelming to contain. I was so
happy to see them and genuinely surprised.
Talk about an emotional boost!
Kasi had gotten to the RV earlier and met everyone, so they couldn’t
wait for me to get to our spot along the course and see them. Suffice it to say, I was ready to take on
these next 65 miles or so and there was no stopping me.
Just after hitting the 38 mile mark, it started to get dark,
so I made my way on the course and veered off to the car to get my headlamp on
and my small flashlight in my pocket as backup.
In a 100 mile race where the temps are very hot during the day, the
nighttime becomes your friend. It’s a
great time to get a lot of miles in a steady rate. It was at this time that I met up with Jen
and Dale on the course and we walked together for a bit again. As the time started to get later the storm
that had been brewing was rolling in and before we knew it the rains came. Before it started getting bad, Jennifer and
Dale decided to stop at the RV for a bit and wait for the storm to pass. For me, I decided that I wasn’t going to stop. I was powering forward at a nice pace at this
point and wanted to get in as many miles as I could before the sun came
up. At one point I did stop at the car
to change my shoes, socks, hat and shirt and put my poncho on. I seriously considered stopping myself for a
short while until the rains slowed when I was in the dry car, but I told myself
not to get caught up in the moment. I
got out of the car and continued on.
That’s when the heavens opened up and it came down in buckets.
I made my way around the course doing
intervals at a pretty quick clip. By the
time that the rains finally let up and the storm was moving past I had made up
a couple of loops on Jennifer when she and Dale were heading back out onto the
course. I decided to change my shoes for
a second time at this point and it was now that we started to do the rest of
the race together as much as we could
As the loops were ticked off on the lists in our heads, the
miles added up, the hours passed on by and we got closer and closer to our
goal. By the time that the sky started
getting lighter and we were able to get rid of our headlamps, we were over the
60 mile mark and figured out that Jennifer had 14 loops to go and I had 16. It was at this point that we both felt that
we had to check our feet. I knew
something was going on for a while and so when we stopped at the RV and I
looked, I saw I had some blisters that needed taking care of. Without any hesitation, Jennifer said she
would tape them up for me. She said she
was used to it after crewing for Dale at Badwater. This really saved me and I am very thankful
to her for it. I again changed my shoes and socks and shortly thereafter getting
back at it, Jennifer was hitting mile 70 when I was hitting mile 65 and we were
trucking on. At 24 hours on the course, I was at mile 71 and Jen was at 76. I
did have to stop one other time to redress my foot at some point.
It was crazy to think of what started out as a 40 loop run
was now down to 10 for me and 8 for Jen.
It was easier to look at what we had left to do in this way at this
point rather than in miles or time since mentally it seemed easier.
One by one the loops got ticked off, we continued to
hydrate, continued to consume calories by eating real food each time we passed
the main aid station, told stories to not think about what we were doing and
saw less and less people on the course. Many
people, who had signed up for the 100 mile race, either dropped to a lower
distance or dropped out completely. In
the end, out of the 50 people who started the 100 miler, only 17 people
finished.
Before we knew it, Jennifer was down to her final loop and I
had 3 to go. Dale, who had a couple of down moments, had even come back with a
vengeance and had one loop to go as well.
Jen’s husband Brian and her 3 year old daughter Andie, decided to come
with us on her final loop. When we got
about 100 yards away, Chris and I went ahead so that we could see her
finish. Jen came across the line in
33:32:34 and was the second woman to finish and 9th person overall and
Dale was right behind her in 33:35:43, 10th overall.
It was now my turn to head on out for my final 2 loops. I already couldn’t believe that I had
finished 95 miles, but that was not the goal.
Kasi and Chris paced me for that loop.
We told Kasi about the course and everything we talked about. She enjoyed herself and kept me distracted
and before I knew it we were finishing that loop and now I had 1 to go. Chris came with me again and I could tell
that it was going to be dark in about 50 minutes, so I kind of picked up the
pace and power walked the whole way.
Even Chris noticed that I had gotten a second wind and mentioned
it. I told him that I wanted to finish
just before it got dark, and that is exactly what I did. I crossed that finish line in exactly
35:09:21 and 12th overall.
After receiving my buckle from Ben and getting my picture taken and was
congratulated, I immediately went to Kasi and gave her a big hug and kiss. It meant so much to me for her to be there on
the finish of my first 100 mile run. Jen
came back to the finish to see me cross and gave me a hug as well. She looked how I felt, exhausted! I
hugged Julie as well who was a huge supporter of mine from the get go and I
even promised I’d give Pops a hug and kiss on the cheek when I finished and I
am a man of my word.
I finally sat down to savor the moment and have that beer I
was looking forward to, but that was just not going to happen. Halfway to the bathroom, my body knew that it
was over. On the way back I started
shivering and had to remove my shirt and wrap myself in a blanket. Kasi walked me back to where the RV and cars
were, got some clothes out of my car to change in to and then went back to the
hotel where Kasi had gotten a room. I
took a shower, which felt soooo good, took care of some aches and pains
including my feet that experienced a first by getting blisters on both and then
got into bed. I was probably asleep 1
second after my head hit the pillow, but that is expected after being up for
over 40 hours straight. I don’t know how
my body did it, but when you are in the moment, you don’t even think about
it. We knew we were tired but our bodies
knew that we were doing something special and it wasn’t time to rest. Celebrating came the next day at Olive Garden.
This EPIC journey would definitely not have been the same if
I did it by myself. First of all, having
Kasi surprise me and be there meant everything to me. She is my rock, my shoulder to lean on, my
best friend and my biggest supporter.
She has put up with so much when I was training and she is the reason I
am who I am. She has taught me to fight
for what you want and challenge yourself.
She is always saying, “If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change
you.” She is so right. This incredible journey sure has changed
me. Secondly, I now have a friend for
life. Jennifer and I have been Facebook
friends for quite some time now and we have been keeping tabs on each other’s
training, but when you run and complete a 100 mile race with that person, that
friendship is solidified. You learn so
much about each other over those 33 to 35 hours. We laughed, told stories and just had a great
time from beginning to end. We look
forward to running other 100’s together and supporting each other in many
others. Kasi and I look forward to
heading to TX as some point to spend some time with Jennifer, Brian and Andie
and just having a great time. Team
Trucking On has been established!! Third,
I’d like to thank Dale Cougot for all of the race know-how he provided, the
wisdom of being in this situation before and the inspiration he showed while
running himself. He is truly a great guy
and a total badass and I am lucky to call him my friend. Fourth, even though they came for Jen, Lindsay and Chris were the best crew/pacer duo you could ask for. Without any prompting they were there for me as well and they were a big part as to why I finished. I couldn't have asked for anything more. The friendships I have gained also mean so
much to me and made a world of difference.
The whole Thompson family was so welcoming and treated me like I was one
of the family. They took care of me
every step of the way and made sure that I kept putting one foot in front of
the other. They even bought me beer to
have when I finished, but it just wasn’t happening when it was finally
complete. Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my brands I am an Ambassador
for, Tailwind Nutrition for fueling all 100 miles and keeping me going the
whole way, Headsweats for the awesome trucker hats that I never run without and
InkNBurn for the incredible dry ice tech shirts that do everything a tech shirt
is supposed to do including looking good.
I also want to thank Altra Running for the most awesome running shoes on
the market in my opinion and Balega International for the most comfortable
running socks I have ever worn.
Lastly, I want to thank all of my friends for the words of
encouragement and support during the entire run. I am floored by how many were following my
journey into the unknown and humbled beyond belief. I grabbed every ounce of energy from wherever
I could get it and took it to the end. I
look forward to going on many more adventures with all of you behind me and
taking it as far as I can go.
Run Hard, Run Strong and #stayvertical my friends.
Truck On!!
Peace!
Joe Rainone,
September 9, 2016