The Daytona 100 – Race Recap

Did you ever wish you could run a 100 mile race on a course that catered to your style in perfect weather conditions?  Well, that’s exactly what we got this past Saturday, December 10^th, 2016 in Jacksonville Beach, Florida for the second annual running of the Daytona 100 that is directed by ultra running legend Dave Krupski and his wife Alex.  The Daytona 100, only in its second year, is a newer 100 mile ultra here in the state of Florida that starts at the One Ocean Resort and Spa in Jacksonville Beach and travels 100 miles south, ending at Daytona Beach’s North Turn.  It starts at 6am on Saturday morning and ends at 12pm on Sunday, giving you 30 hours to complete the distance.  The course is flat, fast roads with a few beach sections thrown in for good measure.  As luck would have it, a small cold front moved in the day before, so the temperature at start time was in the upper 40’s, daytime temps were only in the low 60’s and nighttime in the upper 50’s.  To make it even more perfect, throw in a 10mph tailwind to push you along.  To say that we were anxious to get going was an understatement.

Jennifer Van Vlack, my ultra running partner in crime and co-member of Team Truckin’ On, and I, started planning this race back in mid-September, shortly after completing our first 100 mile race at Aaron Thompson’s and Ben Pangie’s Wildcat Ultra.  This one would cater to us though since, as much as we love the trails, we are more used to running on the roads.  Being that a cold front was moving in and the weather forecast was calling for temperatures that would be ideal , (highs in the low 60’s and lows in the high 50’s) we couldn’t wait to get started.  We both believed that we could sub 24 this race if everything worked the way we wanted it to. Our plan was to run 5/1 intervals from the very beginning, for as long as we could, before making any kind of adjustments.  A perfect scenario would be to hit 50 miles in 10 hours so that we could set ourselves up for a nice back half.

After waking up just before 4am, I got ready for the race.  I had prepared what I was going to wear the night before so there would not have to be any thinking in the morning.  I decided to wear my newest Headsweats hat, Ugly Christmas sweater, since it was that time of year.  I also chose to wear my 26.2 INKnBURN shirt over a long sleeved compression shirt to start with plans to change into my 50 after I passed the 26.2 mile distance and change into my 100 after passing 50 miles.  I also wore a little bit thicker Balega pair of socks since it is the only brand I run in.  My shoe brand of choice to run in is always Altra.  I went with my Paradigms, the most cushioned road running shoe that Altra makes.  I felt it was the most appropriate choice for the terrain we were going to be running on.   I also brought two handhelds with me filled with Tailwind Nutrition, my fuel of choice, because it really works.  My crew had the rest of the Tailwind that I had brought with me in the car and would continually replenish my bottles each time I saw them.  Fortunately for me, Tailwind Nutrition was the official fuel/electrolyte replacement drink on the course and so it would also be available at every aid station.  Our crew dropped us off at the hotel/starting line at about 5:20am since we were required to be there by 5:30am to check in.  After heading into the hotel lobby, where all the runners were gathering, we said hello to a number of people that we recognized or knew from other races.  At about 5:45am, Jen and I headed back outside to get a few pictures by the start.  Being that it was still a bit chilly at that time, everyone was bundled up with layers.  I even took out my gloves to start the race with, only to find out I had grabbed my Injinji toe socks instead, mistaking the toes for fingers.  We really laughed at this.  Talk about a funny moment to take the edge off. 

A few minutes later a prerecorded National Anthem was playing, and as always, I removed my hat out of respect for my country.  Less than 2 minutes after that, the timing clock was counting down from 10 and before we knew it, we were off on our quest.

Because of the location of the race, crews were only allowed to crew in 5 designated areas for the first 31 miles, the first being between miles 3 and 4.  Jen and I knew that we didn’t need our crew that early, so we told them to meet us at the second location, the Mickler’s Landing parking lot, which is right around mile 13.  During these first 13 miles, the run was going great and we were sticking to our plan.  We weren’t pushing ourselves and the scenery of all the homes was keeping us from even thinking about the run.  It was here that our most awesome Team Truckin’ On Pit Crew got to work.  Jen’s friends, Chris, Lindsay and Sara, all flew in with Jen to crew the both of us since we were running this race together.  I had already met Chis and Lindsay back in September when they crewed us for Wildcat. Even though Sara was the newbie, she fit right in.   We met them in the parking lot, took a couple of layers off, refilled our handhelds, and then were on our way.   It was at this point that we were originally supposed to enter the first beach section, but because of Hurricane Matthew and the damage it caused, we had to run along the shoulder of A1A to mile 16.5, where the first aid station/check in was located. We told our crew to meet us there as well since they were able to.

We reached AS1 a short while later by continuing to stick to our plan.  We let the aid station know our bib numbers, refilled our handhelds again at our crew vehicle, ate some food and then continued on our way.  We would be seeing our crew again at mile 22, where AS2 was located and the first beach section would start.  Jen and me continued with our 5/1 intervals and were keeping each other preoccupied by telling stories and keeping up the conversation. 

By the time we got to mile 22 and saw our crew again, Jen and I had been running for about 4.5 hours by now.  We were just over our pace to hit 50 in 10 hours, but were close enough to feel good about where we were.  Again, we shed any layers that we wanted off, refilled, ate and then hit the beach.

To be perfectly honest with you, I’m not a fan of running on the beach, even though the surface was pretty solid.  Beach running can really sap the energy out of you very quickly.  Maybe this is what got into my head at this point because this section was taking me down the wrong mental road.  Not even a mile into this section, Jen knew that something was wrong with me when I just got really quiet.  She was trying to make me talk about things to distract me from thinking about what we were doing, but my answers were short and it was not working.  As runners, we know there are times that this can happen and it’s nothing against anyone you might be running with.  It was at this point that we cut our intervals down to 4/1 to see if that would work.  Just under 2 hours later we were finally at mile 28 and leaving the beach section.  The Team Truckin’ On Pit Crew met us here where once again we refilled our fuel/hydration, ate some food and changed some clothes.  I changed out of my 26.2 INKnBURN shirt and changed into my 50 INKnBURN shirt like I had planned.  Right before leaving I heard my name called and turned to see Claire and John Kelly, new friends of mine I had met at Justin Radley’s 8 Hours of Hell race series.  Claire was the only one running though as John was crewing her.  This was her first 100 miler and I was rooting for her.  I gave them each a big hug and john got a picture of the two of us before Jen was pulling me along to get going.  I was so glad I got to see them!

 At this point Jen and I were back out on the road and on our way to AS3 which was at mile 32, the start of St Augustine.  Crew restrictions would now be lifted after going over the small Vilano Bridge at mile 31.  Right after starting on this next 4 mile section though, I was in a bad spot.  We decreased the intervals again right away to 3/1, but for me, everything was just going south.  As much as I would have loved to run this whole ultra with Jen, I also didn’t want to hold her back.  She’s only 31, 16 years younger than me and I’m just the old guy trying to keep up.  I knew she would sub 24 this race if she went off on her own, so a short while later I told her to go on without me.  She asked if I was sure because that’s just who Jen is.  We planned to do this together and she would have stayed with me if I wanted her to, but I didn’t want to hold her back.  I said to go and sub 24 this ultra!  I was going to walk a bit more, make my way to the next aid station slowly and go from there.  She reset her watch back to her intervals and went on ahead.  She would tell the crew to wait at the aid station for me.  By then I had about 3 miles to go.  During these 3 miles I thought of so many things, one of them being that I had nothing to prove to anybody since I had already run 100 miles and I was going to pull myself from the race.  Every now and then I would think otherwise, but with about 2 miles to go I tried to start running again and my calves started cramping and I had to stop and walk the rest of the way.  I texted my wife Kasi to let her know what was going on and she called me.  She told me that I knew how to listen to what my body was telling me and to listen closely.  She supported any decision that I made.  Kasi always knows what to say to me.   By the time I finally got to AS3, I had been running for just over 7 hours and I was still having a moment.  I decided to take some S Caps at this point if the aid station had any, which they did.  I swallowed two, had some food and rested a bit.  I then actually did tell my crew, as well as the AS, that I was dropping out.  Well, neither my crew nor the aid station people would let me.  The AS guys said that I had to run through St. Augustine and over the Bridge of Lions first and after doing that, if I still wanted to drop, my crew would get me.  I moved around a bit and realized that the cramping in my calves was completely gone, so I said I would continue.  There was even one runner, an older guy that my crew nicknamed The Mayor because of how he acted.  Before leaving the aid station, he asked me to give him a thumbs up to let him know I was ok.  Everyone was overjoyed and was so happy for me.  The S Caps that I had taken helped me so much that I would continue to take them every hour for the rest of the race.  I must say, I held it together pretty good, but shortly after getting to mile 33 I had a pretty emotional moment all to myself.  I knew that 90% of what I had just gone through was all in my head and I would have been pretty bummed if I had dropped.  Sometimes you just hit a really low moment in a race like this and for me, this was mine.  Luckily it was the only one I had.

So now here I was, back out on my quest to complete my second 100 mile ultra in 30 hours or less.  Since Jen and I made such great time early in the run though, I was still at a great place time wise.  My A goal of sub 24 would really be a push at this point, but B goal of 27:00 to 27:30 was definitely in reach.  I locked in to the adjusted intervals and made my way through St. Augustine and over the Bridge of Lions.  I really enjoyed seeing the town.  I definitely plan to come back with Kasi to stay for a weekend and enjoy the history.  The breeze off of the water lifted my spirits and really cleared my head. 

After leaving AS3, my crew went on ahead to meet Jen at her next spot and then doubled back to meet me somewhere around mile 36 or 37.  They noticed right away how much better I looked and were really happy for me.  I asked them how Jen was doing and where she was mileage wise.  I did this each time I saw them.  I found out later on that she asked about me as well each time she saw them too.  Since AS4 was going to be at mile 40, I told them to meet me somewhere around mile 44 or 45.  I refilled my handhelds, drank some coke, took a turkey wrap to go and was on my way.

The next 8 or 9 miles went by in no time.  There was some cloud coverage now, so I was happy I had on my heavier pullover.  I stopped at AS4 at mile 40, replenished my needs and was off in no time.  By the time I met the crew again just after 44 miles, I had been on the road almost 11 hours.  Since it was closing in on 5:00pm, I proceeded to put my headlamp, safety vest and front and back blinking lights on for the nighttime hours.  I ate some more food, refilled my handhelds with my Tailwind Nutrition, made sure all was a go and was off.  I would be seeing them again at mile 52 where AS5 was located.  This would probably be the longest stretch of the whole run before getting more aid.  Because of this I brought some quick eats in my pockets.

I continued to trudge along A1A, running, walking, running, walking…over and over, not thinking of anything but getting to AS5.  All I kept saying in my head was, “get to 50 and you could start counting down”.  When I finally got there around 7:00pm, I was feeling pretty good.    Crew members Lindsay and Sara were there like we had planned and once again got what I needed, made sure I ate and had fresh Tailwind and made me get going.  They would be meeting me around mile 57.

This was the start of running through Flagler County all the way to Marineland.  I got to mile 57 without a hitch, got what I needed and planned to meet them again somewhere around mile 65 or 66 since I was going to be getting to AS6 at mile 61.8 first.  When I finally got there around 10pm (16 hours in) I was really happy because my friend Jamie Woyton was captaining that aid stations with his sons and some other people.  When Jamie saw me, he shouted my name, gave me a big hug, sat me down and fed me some warm food.  Anyone who knows Jamie knows that he is just an awesome person and someone you want in your life as a friend.  He’s so positive.  I was feeling good when I got there, but I felt even better when he kicked me out a few minutes later telling me that he can’t miss me if I don’t leave.  He did give me another big hug before I left and told me he was proud of me and that buckle was mine.  Talk about an emotional boost, especially since I had 38 miles to go.

Once again I met up with my crew just past mile 66 in a Publix parking lot along the route.  I ended up getting there a minute before they did.  While I was standing there, a woman came up to me and asked me what this walk we were doing was for.  I just smiled and told her it was the Daytona 100.  She told me she saw all of these people walking and was wondering what was going on.  I don’t think she really knew what it was we were doing, but she made me smile when she said good luck.  My crew pulled up at that point and this time it was Chris and Lindsay.  Sara was out pacing Jen at that point.  The Team Truckin’ On Pit Crew was working like a well- oiled machine at this point, going to meet Jen, then backtracking to meet me, over and over, putting more miles in the car than we had planned, but never complaining once.  After once again getting what I needed from them I headed on out making that push for AS7 at mile 70.

I ended up getting to mile 70/AS7 just before 12:15am.  When I arrived I saw the older guy I had seen at AS3 back in St. Augustine who told me to give him a thumbs up to let him know I was ok.  As soon as I saw him and said hello, he took one look at me and said, “Hey, it’s the thumbs up guy! You made it”.  That made me smile.  I sat down, had some coke, refilled my bottles with water in one and Tailwind in the other and had some food.  One of the aid station workers said that she had brought mini pre made toothbrushes, if anybody wanted one.  My eyes lit up!  How refreshing that was to brush my teeth at that point in the run.  These are the little things that keep you going when taking on an ultra like this.  Again, not spending too much time there, I got up and headed on out since I was going to be meeting my crew again around mile 75, which went without a hitch since I was still running the same intervals that I started back at mile 32.  Lindsay told me she had a shot of Fireball at AS8 that I was heading to next. 

I got to AS8, mile 81, at around 3:15am.  It was set up in the TGIFridays parking lot.  I sat down for a sec and again went through my routine of refilling my bottles, eating some food and drinking some coke.  It was at this time that we were to cross the road and run on the beach side of A1A since we were going to be heading back out onto the beach fairly soon.  One person at AS8 was telling everybody that the turn off was 7 miles up, which would make it mile 88.  I decided to meet with my crew again shortly before this around mile 86, which I did.  I got what I needed pretty quickly this time since I knew they wanted to get to the finish line to see Jen finish since she was around 10 to 12 miles ahead of me.  Lindsay did mention that Jen’s Garmin got screwed up around this point right before the beach and to be careful.  Being that I was 86 miles in, I could not think too clearly, but said ok.  I wish I had paid attention a little bit more.

Since the person at AS8 was telling everyone that the turn off onto the beach was 7 miles up the road, which would mean 88 miles based on my Garmin, when I got to 88, then 88.5, then 88.8, I started panicking and was texting Lindsay to find out if I had passed it.  She told me I hadn’t, not to worry and just keep going.  Long story short, the mileage was more like 8.5 to 9 miles to the turn off.  When I finally saw the signs for the turnoff onto the beach, I was so happy.  It did throw off my intervals a bit though, but I was not worried.  I had only about 10 miles to go.

When I finally got onto the beach and made the right turn, I had a little less than 4 miles before getting off the beach and hitting AS9 and meeting my crew for the last time before seeing them at the finish.

Slowly but surely I made my way on the beach.  By the time I was getting to the exit, Lindsay said she was going to come onto the beach so I could see how far I had to go.  It was now getting light out even though the sun wasn’t up yet and I was finally at AS9.  For the final time, I got what I needed from the car, refilled my bottles, ate some food and headed on out for the final 7 miles.  Lindsay was going to come with me to talk me through the final stretch.  We set on out and didn’t run much of this last stretch.  We talked, told some stories and even ran into a guy who at first made a funny comment after overhearing a story Lindsay was telling, but then went on and on, bragging about how great he was.  After about 10 minutes of this one sided conversation, I couldn’t take it any longer, and said we were going to run for a bit again.  We laughed about it after leaving him behind.

Finally, we were back on the beach for the final 2 miles and I kept looking to see if I could see the finishers arch that I would be crossing.  My walking pace at this time was somewhere around 19 or 20 min/mile.  When I was about ½ mile out, I was able to see the finish.  Jen and the crew were there waiting for me.  I crossed over with an official time of 27:17:05, a PR from my first 100 by just shy of 8 hours.

This 100 miler was so much different than the first but was just as rewarding.  Even though I ran most of the race on my own after Jen and I had split up, it never felt that way.  This was a journey of EPIC proportions and I am so thankful for being given the ability to do things like this.  These are the challenges in my life that I thrive off of and motivate me.  This ultra would not have been possible without the best possible Pit Crew a runner could have.  They not only crewed 2 runners, but did so by going back and forth along the route over and over again since Jen and I were at different places.  They didn’t complain once and handled it flawlessly.  Thank You Lindsay, Chris and Sara, from the bottom of my heart, for volunteering your time to come and help Jen and me accomplish 100 #2.  It meant everything to me and I know it meant everything to Jen as well.  I also 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 tech shirts that I always wear when running and even when I’m not running because they look and feel so good.  I’d also like to thank Altra Running for making shoes for running that work for me better than any I have ever worn, and Balega International for making the most comfortable running socks, again in my opinion that a person can run in.  I also want to thank all of my friends for all of the words of encouragement and support during the entire run.  It’s always very humbling.  I tried to garnish every ounce of energy from wherever I could to keep me going. 

Last, but far from least, I want to thank my wife Kasi for being so supportive of this quest and believing in me that I could get it done….again!  Love you honey!

Run Hard, Run Strong and #stayvertical my friends.

Truck On!!

Peace!

Joe Rainone,

December 14, 2016

The Wildcat Ultra - My First 100 Mile Race!

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 27^th 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 9^th person overall and Dale was right behind her in 33:35:43, 10^th 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 12^th 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