Jalloween Fun!

October 31, 2009 - Javelina Jundred 100-mile Endurance Run

Schools were closed for a long Halloween weekend so we decided to make this a family roadtrip. What a great weekend it was! My best 100-miler yet (okay, okay I've only ran 2!) with a finish time of 25:17:24. Fun for the entire family. Camping in the AZ desert with Shelli and her family. Hanging out with friends from So Cal Trail Headz. The crazy costumes. The fast runners. The slow runners. Running through the desert at night. Halloween crafts and trick-or-treating for the kids. The best Halloween party ever!

































Javelina Jundred is six and a bit loops on the Pemberton Trail in McDowell Mountain Park, Fountain Hills, AZ. The neat thing about a loop course is that you are never really alone on the trail. The bad thing is that the fast guys pass you, then pass you again and again. It gets a little demoralizing at times... especially when you gain control of your over-heated brain sufficiently to figure out that Dave James is already 14 miles ahead of you and it's early days yet! The course is not as technical as some, nor does it have the elevation gain of most, but the unrelenting sun and no shade anywhere take their toll. Dehydration is a major issue, as is severe blistering caused by the gritty desert sand seeping through shoes, gaiters and socks to attack the feet.

I had a great race. I didn't really have a plan except that my pace needed to average between 15:00/mi (best case) and 17:30/mi (to meet cut-offs). Life, family and work had gotten in the way of my training and I simply hadn't gotten in the long training runs that I had going into SD100. I was relying on what I had in the bank and the shear guts and determination that my British heritage has bestowed on me. As I stood at the start line, I told Shelli that my plan was to be done in time for breakfast.

Shelli did not have a good race. The ankle injury she sustained in Costa Rica continues to plague her (because she simply will not take time off to let it heal) and it gave her problems right from the start. So nearing the end of lap 3 I made the tough decision to leave her and run my own race. I felt good the whole race, even on the last loop when a huge blister on the ball of my foot made it impossible to land on the ball of my foot. Eventually it burst and I suffered the usual red hot coal burning sensation. But at least I could run again! As Lorraine Gersitz once pointed out, you can only focus on one body part hurting at a time so I had no pain anywhere else.

Shelli paced me through the early hours on lap 5 and then again for my victory loop on lap 7 so she earned her 100K buckle.

I love this race. I didn't even mind running 101.4 miles in costume. It got hot, but not too hot; it got cold, but not too cold. The volunteers were terrific, the race organization outstanding. Fun for me, fun for the entire family.

And with two 100s under my belt, I can now enter Badwater 135....

Oh, the Angel wings - couldn't run with them, too much flapping. So if there's any costume designers reading this post, please bear that in mind. Yes, there is a whole subculture of crazy ultrarunners that like to run 100 miles in costume....

Many thanks to Will LaFollette and whoever else I stole pictures from....

Javelina Jundred

Collared Peccary (aka Javelina):
- native to the Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts of southwestern Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.
- the only native, wild pig-like animal found in the United States.
- called Javelina because of their razor-sharp tusks, Spanish for javelin or spear.
- you may smell a peccary before you see it.
- the prickly pear is ideal food for the Javelina due to its high water content.
- Javelina have poor eyesight and good hearing.

So what does the Javelina have in common with a girl wearing an angel costume?

- The Javelina Jundred 100-mile Endurance Run, October 31st, 2009.

Yup, that's my costume (minus the heels, of course). Just imagine running 100 miles in heels, LOL!

I'm not planning to carry a spear but after 100 miles you will definitely smell me before you see me, I may resort to eating prickly pears if I run out of water and my eyesight definitely deteriorates as I get tired.

I'm probably not going to be feeling very angelic either after 70 miles or so. More like the Devil I think (Shelli's costume). This will be a blast! The greatest Halloween costume event ever.

The Super that wasn't... or "Yay Us!"

Some races go text book right, some go horribly wrong. In fact, even a tiny thing being just not quite right can upset a whole race. This was one of those races...

I was intringued by the idea of running the Super Triple, back-to-back marathons followed by a 72-mile ultra. Could I do it? I decided to give it a go. Afterall, the Triple last year wasn't so bad.

I should have known it was not meant to be when Jody and I showed up at Shelli's ranch in Riverside early Thursday morning to find that she wasn't going. Family committments. Change to Plan B - we'd still take her (big) car and JD as crew and head to Tahoe. I'd run the Super Triple, Jody and fellow TrailHeadz member Jean would run the Triple.

We met up with Jean and Gregg, checked in at the hotel and headed over to race registration. Jody and Jean decided they'd like to try the Super so switched the registration. Afterall, both races cost the same, you just get an additional 46 miles with the Super... more for your money, right?

So Day 1 I took it extra easy. No racing, just enjoying the sights and sounds of running along a busy 2-lane highway around Lake Tahoe. The sights are spectacular, the driving skills not so much. If you like the excitement of hopping over guard rails to avoid being hit by the side-view mirror of a RV or run over by a boat trailer, this is the race for you. LOL!

That evening after a birthday celebration at the Riva Grill (did I mention it was my birthday?), Jody decided she'd probably switch back to the Triple. So she called the RD to find out it was no big thing anyway because... the 72-mile race was canceled. No permit, no race.

Day 2 was not such a good day for me. I felt deflated, never really got into the spirit of the race. I just ran when I felt like it, walked when I didn't feel like running. The camaraderie of the Triplers is amazing, the folks crewing are wonderful. But still I just didn't really get into it. The highlight of the day was soaking in Lake Tahoe at the finish line. The water is unbelievably cold but Jody is quite the mermaid and decided to swim. Not me!

Day 3 is Tahoe Marathon day and is the only day that has aid stations and crowd support. I decided to hang with Jody and Jean and just have fun. "Yay Us!" was our motto and fun we had, even on the Hill from Hell. We caught up with fellow TrailHeadz Jakob Hermann who had run the unofficial "fun run" 72-mile. The 3 Amigas had fun, fun, fun all day and boy, was it a long day. Here we are at the finish line and afterwards on the beach with Jakob.











Would I do this race again? I don't know. I'd like to finish the Super but I don't know how much faith I have in a RD that "forgets" to add the 72-mile race to the official list of events and hence is denied a last-minute permit application. I just didn't drive all that way and take 4 days away from my family to run an unofficial 72-mile race with no published results. I can run 72-miles in the mountains of So Cal. Thankfully, the friendship and fun of just hanging with Jody and Jean (two of the most fun-loving, positive people I've ever met) made it a memorable trip. And I would like to take my family to Lake Tahoe on a camping trip because it is a spectacularly beautiful place.