Chattanooga, TN
October 3, 2009
To soak in sweeping views of the Tennessee River Gorge while running above the cloud line along the rim of Signal Mountain on some of the best trails in the east amongst national class talent in perfect temperatures with great race management is the best way I can describe this race. In its 9th Annual running, Stump Jump 50km by Rock/Creek is a classic and should be on every runners future race calendar.
2009 has mostly been an ultra running year for me and this race marked my 6th ultra of the season and served as my fall goal race. That meant an actual training plan, specific training and a taper! For a few years I have wanted to run this race but honestly was a little afraid of the stellar competition that made their way from all over the country to run this race. I finally felt like I had the type of conditioning and experience required to place at the top of the leader board.
At just before 8am after a short warm up, I moved forward to the start line from the back of the pack through the nearly 350 runners. At the front were runners from Rock/Creek Race Team and the Vasque Trail Team. I was the lone runner wearing Team inov-8 gear. After a few race instructions from Matt Sims, we were off and running.
Photo Courtesy (c) Lucas George 2009
With a race of this size it is almost required to have a road start and let the pack thin out before hitting the trails. For us, we ran 6/10ths of a mile on the road before ducking into the woods. The pace was fast from the gun, lead by Brian Dayton, Josh Wheeler and Nicholas Selbo. Behind them where a few other Rock/Creek Race team members and then I was in a small chase pack. With my GPS battery low I knew that I would be running on feel and the first mile felt hard! We rolled through it at sub 7 pace.
I was running alongside another guy and chatting a little through the 2 mile mark but then I pulled away on a downhill section that I knew would last for another 2+ miles out to Mushroom Rock.
In this race there were several keys to my success. The first one was advanced course knowledge. This summer in the Stage Race, we ran the first 6 miles of the course and then on a later trip, Joey Butler, Eric Fritz and I came out to run the middle 20. Knowing that the two miles out to Mushroom Rock was on a jeep road and very fast helped me to create some separation before running through the first aid station.
Photo Courtesy (c) Lucas George 2009
After shouting out my race bib number of 1234 to the aid station working, I made the hard left at the rock and began the 400' drop on technical switchbacks down to the famous swinging bridge. This is a great section as after crossing the creek you immediately climb back up 450' to another ridge at 1750'. Being a strong climber I was able to regain the gap I had on the next runner that I lost after having to empty my already full bladder. After dropping back down to 1400' at the Suck Creek Road crossing I think that I was running in about 7th place as we hit the second aid station.
Turning up the road and back onto the Cumberland Trail I was able to catch a glimpse of the runner ahead of me. Another key to my race success (#2) is that I run better when chasing someone. Periodically seeing a flash of his red jersey from time to time kept me pushing hard as we ran along the rim of Signal Mountain. On the flats or downhills he would pull ahead slightly but on the climbs I would chip away at his lead. This went back and forth for another 2 miles through the 8 mile mark where I finally passed him.
A key to my race success (#3) is that I run better when being chased. After passing the Team Salomon runner, it gave me a rush of adrenaline and helped me pick up the pace until he was no longer in sight. In doing so, I also moved up into 6th place, though I wouldn't have confirmation of this until later int the race.
About a mile before the next aid station at Indian Rock House, I could hear another runner come up from behind me. A few minutes later I could tell that it was David Rindt, winner of the 2009 Mountain Mist 50km. David ran 4:07 in Huntsville besting a talented field. Mountain Mist was my break out ultra as I ran 4:32, or 25 minutes behind David. David and I talked a little as we ran along about the race and as we crossed the power-line cut (which is actually underground phone line) we had the most amazing view of the river that was completely engulfed in fog, yet we could see across to the ridge on the other side. David and I both remarked that it was the best view of the day. David looked strong and was pushing the pace so when we came to Indian Rock House aid station at mile 10.6, I let him set the pace in front.
From Indian Rock House it was about 2 1/2 miles to Snoopers Rock and the next aid station. The section had a small climb, followed by a 300' drop in elevation over the next mile before it rolled along with plenty of ups and downs. David had pulled ahead and out of sight pushing me back in 7th place. I decided not to stay with him and run my race. I had settled into a nice rhythm with pace and I just wanted to hold it for the middle section. The welcome reception at Snoopers Rock was pretty cool as the aid station workers shouted all in unison which gave me a little lift. It was hard not knowing how far I had run or how long it had been. I just kept running as hard as I could sustain. I didn't know it, but I had about 19 more miles to run.
Here is a view downstream on the river from Snoopers Rock overlook.
Here is a view upstream on the river from Snoopers Rock overlook.
After the Snoopers Rock Aid, the course turned inland and headed west away from the river. This is a very runnable section but feels like "No Man's Land" as you are in complete seclusion on the Mullins Cove Loop for about 4 miles before hitting the Hailey Road Aid station. After the first mile we were again along a ridge line along Mullins Creek, running in and out of coves. It was around this time that I could start to hear some chatter behind me, so I figured that I had at least 2 runners talking with each other close by. I felt like I was running steady, but they must have been getting faster as the voices got closer and closer.
Popping out of the woods on Hailey Road it was nice to see people again. I love ultras for the seclusion but I also like to see people along the way. The lead into this aid station is up a steep rocky dirt road (road is a lose term here) which as I remember from our summer trip here, lead to another technical climb that I was dreading. At this aid station I was ready for some more Subtle Strawberry Heed, but all they had was Poweraide and water so I went for water. The guy who filled my bottle said that I was running in 6th place. I didn't know for sure that back at Indian Rock House that I was in 7th place but I was pretty sure I was, so someone must have dropped out.
The volunteers were cheering and clapping for each runner so as I left I could tell how long it was until the next two runners came through; it was only about 2 minutes until they arrived, through I don't know how long they stayed there. Just after that, I heard two more runners come through which meant that places 7, 8, 9 & 10 were all within earshot of me. Referring back to #2 key to success, running well when being chased, I tried to run strong up the first climb as opposed to walking, which really would have been nicer.
The next 3 1/2 miles made up the 3rd hardest section of the course (Suck Creek in both directions were 1st and 2nd) as there is a 250' climb from Haley Road, followed by the 'Rock Garden' and then another 350' climb back to Indian Rock House. The Rock Garden is a section of the course where you run along Short Creek and hop from rock to rock. These rocks are down in a deep hollow where there is no sun and the shifting rocks stay damp with plenty of moss on them. That meant that for better than a half mile of stepping from rock to rock it was slow going. I was wearing the inov-8 Roclite 295 which proved to be the perfect shoe.
I stepped on each rock with confidence that I would not slip as the rubber compound on the tread literally grips to each rock even after a few hundred miles of use. After the race I had a conversation with another runner who chose another trail shoe for the race but commented on mine, that he wished he had selected them instead because of the amount of wet rocks. I think that this shoe was designed for this course.
Coming out of the darkness and climbing back up onto the flats, the two runners I had heard miles earlier finally closed the gap and one of them passed me just before the aid station above Indian Rock House. I noticed that he had some dirt on his shoulder and commented about a possible fall. He said that he was a triathlete (and not a trail runner) and had taken a nasty spill earlier. Falling behind him meant that I was again in 7th place. The runner still behind me of the twosome turned out to be David Rindt. As we ran through the aid station and Jamie Dial shouted some words of encouragement, David said that he had taken a wrong turn earlier which set him back. Going back to key #1, course knowledge, I knew that after leaving the Indian Rock House descent, there was a wooden sign that pointed to the right and reads "Trail ->" We had come across this turn on our summer run and in one of the few turns on the course that was not well marked, I knew to turn right. So with about 11 miles to go, David and I left the aid station together. I asked an aid worker what time it was and they said it was about 11am. I think that we started a few minutes after 8am, so we had rolled through about 21 miles in less than 3 hours.
Key #3, running better when being chased, held true over the next 5 miles. I remembered to when David passed me at this point on the way out and how I backed off the pace a little; I didn't want that to happen again. I ran with much more reckless abandon on the technical sections (rocky descents) and pushed harder (on the climbs), refusing to back off as we went back toward Suck Creek Road. David stayed very close for a few miles but after passing the powerline cut together and now seeing the fog gone and an amazing view down to the river and over to Raccoon Mountain, I noticed that I couldn't hear him any more. I did not look back to see where he was as this would be a sign of weakness. I was getting a tremendous lift from running ahead of the Mountain Mist winner and the closer we got the next aid station, the harder I ran. From talking with Jamie after Mountain Mist, he said that David was an amazing climber and I knew with 2 steep climbs to go, that he could easily run me down so I held my strong pace.
I took a full bottle of fluids and began the first climb. A policeman working traffic control said that the time was ten 'till 12, so I had been running for 3 hours and 50 minutes through 25+ miles and had a tough 6 miles ahead of me. As I crested the first climb, I spotted the triathlete that had passed me at mile 21. I quickly closed the gap on him and noticed that his shirt was even more dirty than when I saw him earlier. He said that he had fallen just after passing me and he thought he had broken his arm. I noticed him favoring it and after passing him, I could hear him wincing in pain a few times. I was now back in 6th place. While it was unfortunate that he fell and was now slowing down, I had put myself in a position to take advantage of the situation and move up on the leader board.
From the plateau, back down to the swinging bridge and then climbing back up toward Mushroom rock, I moved as quickly as possible. I wanted to break 5 hours, which meant that I needed to average about 11 minute miles for the last 6 miles, which would seem difficult given the course profile.
Surprisingly I made it to Mushroom Rock much faster than I thought I would. This meant that I had only 4+ miles of runnable trails to go, albeit still up hill for the next two miles. I took one last full bottle of Heed and pushed on after mentioning to the volunteers that they should ask the triathlete about his arm to make sure that he was ok. Knowing endurance athletes, they don't always think straight when competing and I was worried about him.
I was more than four hours into the race and I felt stronger than I had all day. My last key to success is that I took all of my fluids and fuel at timely locations throughout the day. I never felt week, or thirsty or developed cramps. I had stayed with Powerbar Cola Gel Blasts, Heed, Water and S! Caps.
Somehow I was getting stronger and stronger late in the race. Key to success #5 was that I was properly trained for this race, having done specific training for this event and was properly rested with my 2 week taper off of a 140 mile / 9 day training stretch. I really think that logging all of those miles on long runs and doing tempo runs and track work were now paying off.
Still not knowing my pace, I ran as hard as I could until popping out on a road crossing with what I thought was less than a mile from the finish. The course marshall on the crossing said that it was another 2 miles to the finish. I was a little overwhelmed as I was pushing like I was almost done and now I had to keep it up for another 15+ minutes. I was still running a little scared like I was being chased closely so I stuck to my hard pace. Just before popping out of the woods with 6/10ths of a mile to go, I saw another runner ahead of me. It was one of the Rock/Creek Racing Team members that went out hard early on. He was struggling on a short climb and I flew by, getting another adrenaline rush from the pass. As we came out to the road, we ran back uphill around the school toward the finish. I picked up the pace again, now running near top speed, not wanting to get passed back. I had worked my way into 5th place overall, which is where I would finish as I sprinted down the chute and heard Matt Sims announce my name to the crowd.
My final time was 4:44:35 and looking back over the recent race times on the revised course (since 2006 when the start/finish line was moved, making the course longer) I had the 12th fastest time recorded. I was about 30 minutes behind the winner Josh Wheeler. Vasque runner Brian Dayton was 3rd OA and only 12 minutes ahead of me.
Photo Courtesy (c) Lucas George 2009
What an amazing feeling as I accepted the finisher medal to have completed the course in well under 5 hours and in 5th place; all in a race that I had been intimidated by in the past to run based on the difficulty and tough competition. I joked with Matt that I felt good enough to turn around and do it again in reverse! He said that the double had never been done, so maybe that is an option in 2010 for the 10th running?
When I signed up for a post race message, the gal asked me 'what hurt?" I felt guilty when saying 'nothing!' I just got a light stretch but I had no aches or pains whatsoever. I did see David after the race and he commented on how he was impressed that at mile 21 I picked up the pace and got stronger when I pulled away from him. It wasn't until then that it sunk in to me that I actually pulled away from David Rindt!
So I owe this performance to being well rested, properly trained, having the right footwear, fueling properly and running well while chasing and being chased. It was the combination of these factors combined together that helped push me to a 5th place overall finish at one of the largest 50km races in the country with 243 finishers.