Highlands
Sky 2011
June
17
It
is Friday afternoon, and I am flying to Davis, WV. Fortunately, there is a little private
airport near Davis that has allowed me to land and spend the night. The controller lets me down through the cloud
cover, and I am left trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack. At first, I am searching for the airport
about 30 miles to the west of where it actually is, but then I look at my iPad, and it shows that the airport is actually to the
east. Upon touching down on the runway,
my front landing gear shimmies quite a bit from the bumpiness of the
runway. No issues though, and I tie the
plane down and head up to the Windwood Fly-in
Resort. Note, resort should be in
quotation marks, but it is inhabitable, and my room is fine. It just isn’t a Hilton.
After
checking in and catching up on emails and finishing up my work for the week, I
rent a car from the resort to drive over to the race headquarters to check in
and eat dinner. The car that I get is a
little bit old and well used, but it works for my few trips back and
forth. At the dinner, I sit across from
Jay and Anita Finkle and next to Marty
Lindemann. Caroline Williams is also
close to us. Jay and Anita had their own
adventures getting here as they had a flat tire, but were fortunate to find a
shop to repair it so that they didn’t have to drive on the spare donut for too
long.
During
the race briefing, Dan makes me and Aaron Schwartzbard
stand up as the two of us and Dan are three of the remaining six survivors that
have finished all eight Hellgate races.
Dan has to mention that apparently I said he would be the next to not
finish Hellgate, but I am not sure that is accurate. Anyway, the food was outstanding, and I got
plenty of it. Then I drive back to the
resort and turn in early.
June
18
The
race starts at 6:00am and there is a bus to ride that leaves the race
headquarters at 5:00am. I make it with
time to spare, although David Snipes did laugh at my “rental car” when he saw
me pull into the parking lot. Our bus
driver to the start tells us all of the history of the area, which includes the
logging towns that used to be here, but are no longer. I debate whether to wear a shirt or not, but
decide to wear one as it isn’t going to be that hot, there is a chance of rain,
and I will only see my drop bag once at about the halfway point. Before the start, it is a VHTRC reunion, and
we even take a picture. Snipes, Martha
Nelson, Aaron, Caroline, and many others are there. Aaron and I talk about Hellgate and whether
Dan will be the next to drop.
Unfortunately, Aaron says he is in until the bitter end.
Mile
2.4 18:38 (7:46 avg./mile)
Aid Station #1
Snipes
and several others are with me. Rick
Gray is back about five or six people. I
am leading a line of runners down the road, and Snipes likes my pace. We hit the first aid station, and I don’t
think any of us stop as they just have water and such.
Mile
10.5 2:07:45 (15:46 avg./mile) Aid Station #2
This
section begins the single track trail portion.
It is mostly a good long climb. I
have a large pack behind me for the first half until I have to take a
leak. There were about a dozen other
runners close behind me. There are
stinging nettles on this part of the course, but I don’t think they are terrible—just
a little annoying.
Mile
16.0 1:24:14 (15:19 avg./mile) Aid Station #3
Rick
and I are together across the rocky plain.
There is some water standing but not too much. Bushes are tight on both sides of the trail,
and it is hard to see the rocks. One guy
is out of water as his Camelbak sprung a leak, but we
are almost to the aid station by that point.
At the aid station, I grab more food and water. I still have my original water in my Camelbak. While I am
in the aid station, Doug Blackford goes by me.
Mile
19.7 54:38 (14:46 avg./mile)
Aid Station #4
My
pace quickens as I push a little nearing the halfway point. The bridges in this section are neat, but I
almost slip passing another runner. I
climb to the top and the aid station with Ed Duval, and I ask him about
Charlottesville. We debate about
changing shoes or not. I decide to
change my shoes when I see Ed changing his.
As I sit down with my drop bag to start changing my shoes, I remember
the Conquest and bagel I have in my drop bag.
The Conquest is outstanding, and I take the bagel with me to eat on the
next section.
Mile
22.7 36:08 (12:03 avg./mile)
Aid Station #5
While
I was changing my shoes, Rick went on ahead, and I don’t see him again until
the finish. I don’t think I was ever
more than 5-10 minutes behind him, but we must have kept a very similar
pace. This section is just three miles
on a dirt road. For some reason they put
the next aid station at this spot, but we aren’t even halfway done with the dirt
road part of the race.
Mile
27.0 54:07 (12:35 avg./mile)
Aid Station #6
This
aid station (finally!) marks the end of the dirt road section. An aid station worker says the next section
is not marked as someone apparently stole the markers. However, after the first half mile on the
next section, there were plenty of markers.
I grab some more food and water as I am trying to stay ahead of my
calorie and fluid needs.
Mile
32.9 1:33:33 (15:51 avg./mile) Aid Station #7
This
section is actually marked and well marked at that. Up and down my energy and course goes over
the Dolly Sods. I am glad that I changed
shoes at AS#4 as they are dry until most of the way through this section. Then the course gets muddy to go along with
the rocks. Boulder hopping is necessary
near the end of this section in two different places. When I get to the aid station, Dan’s children
are working it. I am spent, and I stay
quite a while shoveling food and drink into my mouth.
Mile
36.9 1:03:11 (15:48 avg./mile) Aid Station #8
Down
and down the course goes, and then up a ski slope. Then the best section (in my opinion) of
all—they call it the butt slide. It is
down through the trees in between a couple of ski slopes. The ground is muddy and slippery. I still have my legs and have a blast
cruising down the hill and manage not to end up on my butt! At this aid station, Kimba
is here. She is from Ohio, and I know
her from the Mohican Trail 100. I
congratulate her on her Massanutten finish this year. Before leaving the aid station, I grab a
couple of Cokes and then am ready for the charge to the finish.
Mile
41.0 43:15 (10:33 avg./mile)
FINISH!
With
the Cokes and my legs still feeling okay, I am ready to roll. I run most of the way to the finish. I barely manage to finish ahead of Ashley
Dolin and her friend that is running with her.
Official
Finishing Time 9:35:29
85th
out of 210 starters (178 finishers)
17th
out of 38 Males, 40-49
This was a
great, challenging race. I am not sure
how many times I will make it back to run it again, but it is definitely
something that I would recommend to everyone.
The views in the West Virginia highlands are wonderful, and the course
is an excellent challenge that runs like a 50-miler.
I am able to fly
home Saturday evening, and the next day I start a four-day backpacking trip on
the Appalachian Trail with Nathan and his Boy Scout Troop. My legs are sore, but it is still a good
time. My summer has been extremely busy
thus far, but I now have a couple of weeks until I fly myself out to Colorado
for a convention and then the Leadville 100 miler. Until then…
Never stop
running,
Darin
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