Tuscarora Trail 252 Mile, Six Day Run March 17-22, 2003 Photos are on my web site at http://www.geocities.com/pbakwin Results and more info at http://www.vhtrc.org/events/tt252.htm It is safe to say that most trail ultrarunners never race beyond the 100 mile distance. Multiday trail races are few and far between. Road runners are familiar with the multiday, both stage races such as the TransAm, TransAustralia, and many shorter races in Europe, Japan and elsewhere, and go-as-you-please events which are often held on tracks or short road loops. Multiday events draw on a very different set of skills than 100 milers. You must keep your body functioning at a high level for many days in a row. You must avoid injury or somehow find a way to continue at a reasonable pace while injured. In a 100 mile event you can often gut it out and press on at a fast pace through stomach problems or with an injury since after several hours the event will be over and the wounds can be licked later. This strategy leads to disaster in a multiday where you must get up and do it again tomorrow. Success in a multiday is less about speed and more about the details than in a shorter ultra. In a trail multiday self sufficiency and wilderness experience are critical. Rule #1: Don't get lost! Rule #2: Don't get hurt out there far from a road. The Tuscarora Trail six day race gave competitors a chance to test their preparedness for dealing with all of these issues and with some surprises that were thrown in by Mother Nature. When I first heard about the Tuscarora Trail six day I was very intrigued. I have had some multiday experience, both in a formal race setting on roads and in some adventure runs, and often dreamed of a multiday trail race. The race was directed by Joe Clapper, who ran the entire Tuscarora Trail in just under 4 days in 2000, and by the legendary David Horton. How could I pass this up? My wife, Stephanie, actually signed up weeks before I did. I couldn't let her have all the fun! Reading the information about the trail and the race on the VHTRC web site I was filled with a mixture of anticipation and dread. The $75 entry fee indicated the nature of the event -- self-sufficiency was going to be key. One thing was perfectly clear to me: this was going to be a very difficult event! Here we go again! The TT is a little-used spur of the Appalacian Trail. It was created only a few years ago by a merger of the old TT in Pennsylvania with the Big Blue trail in Virginia, W. Virginia and Maryland. The race would traverse the entire 252-mile trail from north to south. Support during the race was provided by Phil Offield, in a red van that was rented using our entry fees, Jennie Henry (Ryan's wife) driving a white van, owned by runner John DeWalt, Janice Lee, Tim's wife who drove her own car, and a guy simply known as Walker who seemed to show up magically at the most hard-to-reach locations and when the runners needed it most. These people did a truly incredible job. They would be out all day and often well into the night supporting the runners, then stayed up until all hours studying the maps to figure out access to the various trail crossings for the next day. And yet they always had a smile and an encouraging word for us grumpy runners. Amazing! Stage 1: Northern Terminus to Hemlock Road, 42.3 miles At 4:30 a.m. on Monday, March 17, a group of 20 runners lined up for photos in front of F&W Street Rods on a back road somewhere near Carlisle, PA. This group consisted of some well known runners and some relative newcomers, but all were upbeat and filled with anticipation. We walked together 1.9 miles up the snowy and icy Appalacian Trail the start of the TT and the official start of the race. It was immediately apparant that snow was going to be the order of the day. At 2 miles we emerged from the woods and ran a short road section. Traffic was busy and our flashlights were useful for safety in the still dim pre-dawn light. A deer shot out into the road and was hit by a speeding truck, which sent it flying into Joe, knocking him down! The truck driver was terrified that he had hit a runner! Because of the snow progress was very slow. The trail was generally under untracked snow 8-24" deep. "The trail and conditions were the toughest I have ever experienced, including Hardrock," said Scott Mills, who was along just for the day. Breaking trail was particularly slow work, of course, and so many of us stayed together for most of the day, taking turns leading the way and collaborating on route finding. The entire TT is blazed with blue paint, but in many places following these was difficult and we spent quite a bit of time searching for the next blaze or studying the map. At one spot the blue blazes led off in two directions! It was a lot of fun to hike through the snowy woods in a group of 12-14 like-minded runners, swapping stories of other snowy days, races, and our favorite trails. Every 10 miles or so we were able to get aid from the support people who had somehow driven into remote locations on terrible snowy, slippery roads. The group traversed a long ridge in deep snow and with many blow-downs, and progress was very slow. We stopped for photos at the spectacular Flat Rock View, with an expansive overlook of the valley below and endless ridges in all directions. Our shins were already bloodied from the snow and rocks and blow-downs, and scraped and bruised shins were to be a painful annoyance for the entire race. At about 32 miles Jeff Wilbur finally tired of the slow pace, or maybe of the mindless banter, and shot off the front of the pack. Garrett Graubins and I were eager to get the day done and decided to follow. The trail climbed over a series of ridges, going steeply straight up and down with not one switchback. The descents all faced north and were either snowy or (worse) icy. The trail was thick with downed branches and blowdowns, very tedious travel. Our bleeding shins reddened the snow. Just 5 minutes from the end of the stage we lost the route and found ourselves surrounded by blue-blazed trees. Discouraged we sat down to study the map and by the time we figured out the correct direction Joe Clapper had caught us with Scott Mills in tow. The 5 of us finished the stage together in 12:05, and we were sorely disappointed to find that the aid vehicles were unable to reach the finish line. Hence, it would be necessary to run 4.5 miles down a very slippery forest road to the main road. The group retired to the only motel in Blaine, PA, which was also the only restaurant. We dined heartily and awaited the last finishers. John Hayward, John DeWalt and Mark Evans were the last runners off the trail, finishing well after dark in 13:40. Four runners missed cut- offs at 25 or 33 miles, and were pulled for their own safety. After only one day the challenges ahead were clear! Our group filled the Blaine Motel to overflowing. Some runners even slept in the dining room. There was only one shower, which delivered an unsteady stream of alternating icy cold and searing hot water. Stephanie and I snagged a bed in a small room, with David Horton and Bethany Hunter on the floor. Stage 2: PA-641 to PA-456, 40 miles Tuesday morning at the Blaine Motel Bethany is sitting on the floor cutting up her insoles with scissors. I do not bother to ask why, my head is filled with all the little things I need to do to get ready for another long day. One of those little chores is to stuff my insoles back into my still-damp shoes... Oops! "I wondered why they didn't fit in my shoes anymore!" she explained. Well, I don't think one can be held responsible for one's actions at 4 a.m. on day 2 of a multiday (especially if one happens to be 23 and blonde). The second stage was to be 50.6 miles starting with 10.6 miles of what Joe described as the most difficult, rocky terrain on the entire trail. Combined with the deep snow we had encountered the previous day and with the 4.5 mile hike back up the road just to reach the start, it was clear that few if any of the runners would be able to complete the stage within the available daylight hours. Hence, the race directors made the wise and popular decision to eliminate the first 10.6 miles of the stage, starting at an easy access. This led to the disappointing result that the race would not actually traverse the entire TT, but it was clearly the only possible decision if most of the runners were going to finish the stage. Nevertheless, this was a long stage! Stephanie and I decided to run together, and we enjoyed expansive views during long traverses of some narrow ridges. We encountered very little snow, but the ridges had generally terrible footing due to rocks, much marshy ground, and frequent blow-downs, making for slow progress. Still, there was also some excellent running on grassy double tracks and some dirt roads. Towards the end of the stage we caught up with Robert Tavernini, who was cursing the rocks but seemed to be enjoying the day all the same. The three of us ran in together in 10:14, over an hour behind the leaders (Jeff Wilbur and David Horton) but having had a thoroughly enjoyable day. Unfortunately Mark Evans was so slowed by problems with tendonitis of the shins that he missed the cut-off at 36 miles, so we were down to 15 ranked runners. Stage 3: PA-456 to Hamshire Grade Road, 43.7 miles The third stage proved that the TT has a little something for everyone. The first 21 miles were on paved and dirt roads and 8 miles of the flat C&O Canal Towpath. I felt good and strong and ran ahead of the pack. The weather was cool but dry, and it seemed a good day to be alive and to be moving fast. I had a feeling that the runners would become so spread out that our aid crews would have trouble to keep up with the leaders. So, I stocked up on food when I saw Janice at 24.6 miles. I didn't worry about water since there was water running everywhere from the heavy spring snows. This was a fortunate choice since I had no aid for the final 19 miles of the stage. After 21 miles we left the roads and encoutered generally good trails and roads. Walking up a dirt road a pack of five or six dogs came charging after me. I fended them off with a stick and lots of yelling. The hazards of this trail were many! The stage had one ridge traverse in the Sleepy Creek Mountain Wildlife Management Area of Maryland. The route was smooth but very muddy. After descending off the ridge we ran on muddy dirt roads which caused access problems for the support crews. The final miles dragged on a bit, but as Marv Skagerburg once told me sometimes you have to run in place for a while and wait for the finish line to come to you. I finished the stage in 7:15, recovering much of the time I had lost to the leaders the previous day. All of the ranked runners finished this stage except Ryan Henry, who decided to quit at 17 miles due to pain in his ankles and shins. He said he didn't want to risk a more serious and lasting injury. Ryan made some adjustments to his shoes and was fine for the rest of the race (except for getting bitten by a dog during the 4th stage!) Stage 4: Hamshire Grade Road to WV 23/1, 39.5+ miles (probably around 44 miles) Stage 4 would turn out to be the pivotal stage of the race. The wear and tear of long days was beginning to show on many of the runners, and several were suffering from injuries. Tendonitis of the shins is usually the most common injury in any multiday, and was affecting Mark Evans, Bethany Hunter, Ryan Henry, Carl Laniak, Tracy Bahr and others. Kevin Tobin and John Hayward had sprained ankles, and Sean Meissner had strained his knee. But, the big story was the weather. Steady rain and 45-50 degrees was predicted, but in fact the high temperature was 37 degrees in the valleys and probably 30 degrees at the higher altitudes. Everyone was ill-prepared for the conditions. Everyone became soaked and dangerously cold. I had intended to take an easier day after a good hard effort in Stage 3, but simple survival demanded otherwise. Once my rain jacket became soaked through the only way to stay even marginally warm was to simply move as fast as possible. The first section of trail had recently been re-routed adding about 4 miles to the stage and resulting in our support crew missing the runners at the first planned stop. Once again I outran some later aid stops. I just put my head down and ran. The route was quite nice, with some beautiful, runnable trails through woods and verdant (though swampy) pastures. Temperatures at the higher elevations were below freezing, and every surface was covered with a thick coating of ice, making for very slippery travel. On the last big climb over Great North Mountain the trail was rocky and very rugged but maddeningly paralleled a smooth jeep road, sometimes as close as 10 feet. I began to have very bad thoughts about the people who designed this trail! As we climbed above 2000 feet the ice was so thick on the tree branches that they drooped heavily over the trail and battered the runners with their cold fingers. It was stunningly beautiful, but I found it hard to appreciate due to the cold, and my aching back from running stooped over to sneak under the branches. At the last aid stop, 4 miles from the finish, I was very tempted to climb into the warm van and call it a day. But, after extracting a dry fleece from one of the occupants of the van, I pressed on along a fairly flat dirt road that was flooded over in several spots by rushing streams. I finished the stage in 8:06, climbed into the white van and began to eat everything within reach. Oh it felt good to be out of the rain! It would be several hours before enough runners finished that we could take a load to town, and it was amazing to see the others come in, some nearly catatonic from the cold. "I have been this miserable before," said David, "And the sad part is I know I'll be this miserable again." Joe called this the most unpleastant day of his running career. But a few, such as Bethany and Ryan, were still smiling. In my eagerness to get through this stage I was the first finisher and gained the overall lead in the race. Not surprisingly we had a number of DNFs on this difficult day. Those who were injured were unable to move fast enough to keep warm. Stephanie hates cold and had stomach problems and also had to retire early in the stage. Garett, Carl, Tracy and John DeWalt also dropped. At the end of the day only 8 runners were still in the race, though many others continued to run portions of the stages. Stage 5: WV 23/1 to Little River Farm (VA 747), 43.4 miles Stage 5 saw a return of nice weather. All the runners were very tired from the effort of the previous difficult day. Several runners who had already dropped opted to help with support, including Stephanie. Sean Meissner had strained his knee during the second stage. He continued through the next two stages, recording a strong 3rd place finish in the 4th stage. But, the knee forced him to retire early on this long day, and he also jumped right into a support role. John Hayward was also forced to quit this stage due to injury. I started out running with a group including David, Jeff, Joe and Tim, but after about 10 miles we spread out some. We had lots of climbing and decent, and several ridge traverses. Trudging alone up a long ridge I came to an trail junction. There was one faint blue blaze to the left so I turned that way and ran down hill for several minutes. But, it didn't feel right and though I looked on both sides of the trees I did not see any more blazes so I stopped and studied the map. I was unable to determine my exact position so I hiked back up to the intersection and explored two other directions. No blazes. I was still studying the map when Jeff arrived and we consulted and finally decided the route must be the way I had originally tried. After running quite a ways down we finally encountered more blue blazes -- what a relief! Though I lost probably 30 minutes here I was always willing to spend as much time as necessary to avoid going a long way in the wrong direction! I ran ahead again and enjoyed a long downhill. At the bottom of the hill I found Stephanie, Carl and Sean manning a remote aid station -- I had no idea where I was or how they had gotten in there, but I was very happy to see them and get some sustainance. We had one more ridge climb and traverse (Little North Mountain) before decending into the Shenandoah Valley. Dark clouds were gathering and just as I reached the ridge crest they burst into a strong thunderstorm with an alarming amount of lightning. "This would be a good time to get off the ridge!" I said out loud, but the trail stuck to the ridge for some miles. Thunder was cracking all around and rain mixed with hail as I tried to move quickly over the rocky trail, climbing over and under many blow downs. There was a flash and instantaneous CRACK as lightning struck a tree less than 100 yards to my left. That really got my attention and I began to run as fast as was possible with tired legs over difficult trail. This was just not fun any more! Fortunately I did not get fried by lightning and as the storm abated I finally reached the white van that was parked at the end of the ridge at Fetzer Gap. "I have had just about enough of that!" I exclaimed as Jennie helped me load up on food and fluids. The route continued steeply down a leaf-covered trail into the valley. We then crossed the valley on rural roads with many tricky turns. I was extremely tired from the long day and my hard effort on the ridge. My legs just felt dead. It was clear that the other runners were tired too, as several missed turns on these roads and put in some "bonus miles". The route crossed some muddy pastures and farm fields, and ran through some residential neighborhoods. It sure did seem to drag on! I finally arrived at the finish line at Little River Farm, on a sleepy dirt back road a few miles from Woodstock, VA, at about about 5:15 pm, after 11:12 on the trail. No one was there! I had heard that some runners got lost earlier, and figured all the support people were busy looking for them, so I just took off my shoes and soaked my tired feet in a nearby stream, and waited. After a while I put my shoes back on and sat down in the driveway of Little River Farm. The Sun was going down and it was beginning to get cold. I had no food or water, and was dressed only in a tee shirt, shorts and a wind breaker, all still damp from the storm. Still no van and suprisingly no other runners (I learned later that Jeff had been not far behind but took a wrong turn and lost over an hour.) A fellow came up the road walking briskly, and greeted me. We talked for a minute and he introduced himself as Jim, the sole resident of Little River Farm. After some more talk he noticed my shivering and said he would find me something to keep me warm. He disappeared inside and soon returned with an old blanket, two cups of decaf and a box of chocolates! My mood quickly improved, and we continued to chat. He asked me where I was staying, and I could not say. Every day I had carried the cell phone numbers of the various crew people, but this morning I had forgotten to put those in my pocket. At this point I had been waiting for about 1.5 hours. Finally, Jim said "OK, I'll go inside and call all the hotels in Woodstock find out where you are staying, then I'll give you lift into town." What a guy! Jim went inside to execute this plan and shortly the red vans and Janice Lee drove up just about the same moment that Jeff arrived off the course. Janice had been searching for the finish line for some time. The runners loaded into a vehicle and were immediately whisked to the heavenly confines of the Ramada Inn in Woodstock. Stephanie, who did not run this day, had already secured a room for herself, Jeff and me, and was quickly dispatched to obtain food from Taco Bell across the street. She took great care of us after this long and trying day! Run, eat, sleep. Such is life in a multiday. Runners continued to trickle in until about 9:30 p.m. The welcome announcement was made that we would roll out at 7 a.m., a late start! Stage 6: Mudhole Gap to Skyline Drive, Shenandoah Nat'l Park, 31 miles This section of the TT crosses both forks of the meandering Shenandoah on low water bridges, but due to heavy spring melt and lots of rain the bridges were deeply submerged under fast-moving, icy water. There was no question that we would not be able to cross. Hence, to avoid the North Fork the stage started at next possible access point, which cut off about 2 miles. I did not hear any complaining! Everyone seemed very upbeat and excited to start the last stage. We began immediately began climbing up Three Top Mountain and the group went together for a while, talking and laughing. Later I ran with David and Jeff, and still later, as usual, alone. It was Saturday, and for the first time in the race we encountered hikers and other runners on the trail. For me it was a difficult day. I was very tired and was nursing an inflamed achilles in my right foot. Every step was painful, and I even considered dropping out. But, how can you drop out the last day?! So, I hobbled along, reaching the South Fork after about 5.5 hours. Carl would shuttle the runners to the other side in a car, a 45 minute drive to get 100 yards across the swollen river. I would have to wait for a full car load of runners to arrive, so I cooled my feet in the river and chowed down on everything I could get my hands on. Jeff arrived about 25 minutes later, followed closely by David and Garett, and we loaded up for the drive. The four of us restarted our watches together at the water's edge. We ran some dirt roads for a couple of miles, then launched right into the final big climb, which would bring us up 2500 feet to Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The climb started gradually but got steeper and steeper. It was a very pretty section through lovely woods and by beautiful streams. Garett took off ahead and I was alone. Later, I was suprised when Garett overtook me from behind, saying he had taken a wrong turn. We hiked the last steep climb together, and stopped to admire a beautiful water fall. The finish line of the race was simply the junction of the TT with the AT, and a small sign stating "Hikers: Big Blue has been renamed Tuscarora Trail." The race ended as it had begun, at a remote trail junction. I had completed the TT252 with a cumulative time of 56 hours and 53 minutes. We joyfully jogged the last couple tenths of a mile to the parking lot where the support crews were eagerly waiting. Great! We took pictures and admired a spectaular view of the valley and long ridges in fantastic evening light. Runners continued to trickle in well into the night, and we jumped out of the warm vehicles to snap pictures and congratulate each finisher. Only 6 of the original 20 runners were able to complete each stage: Myself, Jeff Wilbur, David Horton, Joe Clapper, Tim Lee and Bethany Hunter. John DeWalt and Ryan Henry completed 5 stages. Human beings are like dogs, we are happiest when in the wild places and in motion. We are built to run, so it is the most natural thing in the world. Our biochemistry rewards long effort with endorphins, which bring a sense of well-being. Multiday trail running seems the perfect and most natural state of being. Run, eat, sleep. Repeat. See you on the trails! Peter Bakwin Boulder, Colorado