|
Sunmart is the largest ultra marathon trail run in the country
and has been held for a number of years. It features a 50K
(31+ miles) and a 50 mile race through Huntsville State Park.
This is the story of a group of mostly rookies (and mostly
Austin or Round Rock Fit members) who set out to challenge
themselves and conquer a daunting run
"The morning dawned clear and bright as the intrepid
runners"...oops...wait a minute. Wrong story.
"Friday morning dawned drizzly and gray in Bastrop as
James"Boom Boom" Booher, Kyle "Marathon Mastodon"
Cottington and "Uncle" Dinty Moore tried to decipher
the crude map drawn in crayon. They had foolishly agreed to
pick up one of the natives and ferry him to Huntsville, Texas.
Henry Hobbs had gotten them into this lunacy and they weren't
about to let him off the hook. The four of them had stumbled
their way through the torturous San Antonio Marathon just
three weeks earlier as a "training run" for the
Sunmart 50K. They had been joined in that pain by the indomitable
Veronica Lee and Larry Childs who also planned to test their
mettle in the biggest ultra run in the United States. James,
Dinty and Henry had spent a fair amount of time during the
summer and fall careening out of control on the Barton Creek
Greenbelt in an attempt to prepare for their first 50K trail
run. Dinty and Henry had run the Rocky Hill Ranch 25K in April
and fancied themselves to be "trail runners". Or
at least trail runner wannabes. They had also religiously
followed the training schedule generously bestowed upon them
by Debra "Swami" Saleny, the high priestess of distance
running. Swami herself was going to attempt the Everest of
Sunmart, a/k/a the 50 Miler. The four neophytes (some would
say "Stooges") managed to cram their seemingly limitless
supplies and bags into two SUVs and headed for Bastrop. Swami
Saleny had charted a course for the minions which called for
a breakfast of carbohydrates and coffee at the renowned Texas
Grill in Bastrop. Where else can you get eggs, hash browns
and biscuits for $3.25?
The Gang of Four Virgins arrived late (as usual). Joining
the caravan with Swami Saleny were Steve "Trailmaster"
Williams and Carol "Ultra Slut" Masterson. Carol
had baked goods for all the carvaners which insured that no
one would be short of glycogen for the next month! Also joining
the pilgrimage were Bill "Only when I am not running"
Patience, an employee of RunTex; Kathy "Don't blink or
you will miss me" Misiti, chief coach and fitness guru
of Round Rock Fit; and her friend Bess Hilpert, who was also
going to run her first ultra marathon. A car load of eager
runners featuring Ted "Antelope" Aanstoos, Linda
"What me train/worry?" Elsby, and Teresa "Silk
Streak" Sotomayer had arrived for breakfast at 8:15 a.m.
and soon departed when word came down that a hungry Mastodon
was on the way(actually Ted thought that we were supposed
to meet in Bastrop by 8:00 rather than leave Austin at 8:00,
but being an academician and being so tall with his head in
the clouds that day, it is understandable that there was a
miscalculation) . The entire group stuffed their faces and
headed for the road. The mist fell as the cars motored East
toward the piney woods. There were cries of "Gig 'Em"
as the adventurers passed through Bryan/College Station (well
James hollered it anyway). Despite the poor directions by
Hillbilly Henry and at least ten stops to, ahem, counteract
the effects of intense hydration, the pilgrims reached Huntsville.
After a last desperate bathroom pit stop at the Golden Arches,
the gang found their home away from home for the weekend-Holiday
Inn Express. Despite the early hour (1 p.m.), all of the subgroups
were able to get rooms and check in immediately. Management
had wisely put all of the Sunmart hopefuls' rooms within shouting
distance of each other. Everyone stowed their assorted gear
and settled in for a nervous rest before meeting to tour the
park later. By this time the group's ranks had grown with
the addition of Robert and Diane, veteran members of Austin
Runners Club.
It was agreed that the group would meet at 3:00 p.m. to go
to Huntsville State Park to survey the start and finish line
in order to get their bearings for the next day. After that
the group had to travel to north Houston (60+ miles) for packet
pick up and pre-race meal at the North Sheraton Hotel. After
losing the speedy Kat Misiti in traffic, the adventurers drove
into the State Park. The Mastodon grew a little uneasy when
one of the first signs in the park declared that "There
are Alligators in the Park". No doubt this was an innate,
primitive response to a traditional foe. The group found the
volunteers for the race hard at work setting up a full kitchen,
aid stations, port-o-potties, etc. The sky had turned partly
cloudy and it was warm. The group took a brief stroll down
the first trail and a couple of eager beavers even broke into
a light jog (okay I couldn't help myself. I had to do SOMETHING
with that nervous energy). Satisfied that we could find our
way back in the morning, we piled into our SUVs and headed
south for Houston.
In a remarkable display of synchronized driving through rush
hour traffic that would have shamed any NASCAR team, the group
managed to all arrive at the Sheraton within seconds of each
other. The parking lot was packed and we soon found out why.
As the bold runners strode through the lobby, they saw that
the hotel was literally filled with people wearing race shirts
and running shoes. It seemed that over 1000 other crazy runners
had signed up for the run. We all found our race numbers and
picked up our packets. We then stood in a long line to get
into a large ballroom of the Hotel. This was the "premiums"
line. Sunmart is famous for its cool race gifts. At the first
stop, the volunteer hands you a great travel bag with the
bright yellow logo of "SUNMART Texas Trail Endurance
Run" emblazoned on it. There is a reason that you get
the bag first because you get to fill it to the brim by the
time you get to the end of the line. Here are some the items
that we received: a nice cloth baseball cap with the logo
on the front, a travel kit, a manicure set, a water bottle
belt with the logo, a pocket knife, sunglasses, a calendar/daily
planner case, a disposable camera and a plush toy bear. My
Christmas shopping was done! That's what I call a race bonus!
Giddy with our loot, we found a couple of large tables and
headed to the buffet line. WOW! There were veggies, penne
pasta, ravioli, mashed potatoes, new potatoes, salad, fruit,
cobbler and more. We all chowed down and then sat back and
listened to a short inspirational talk by one of the country's
foremost ultra runners. Then the race director spelled out
the rules and the course and advised that we were supposed
to get a cold front through that night, but the course was
in such great shape that any rain would not effect the run.
Indeed the weather forecast seemed to say that the front was
supposed to come through between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. and then
it would be breezy with a high in the low 60s. That all sounded
pretty good. We then dragged our booty out to our sleds and
headed back north for the hour plus drive back to Huntsville.
Even though the lights went out early (9:45), most brains
did not. The consensus the next morning was that 4 hours was
the maximum of sleep that anyone got. The four Stooges (Kyle,
James, Dinty and Henry) got up at 4:45 and Dinty peeked out
the door. There was a blast of cool air as he did so and we
all heard the pounding of rain on the parking lot. "Maybe
it will clear up by 7:00" someone said. The 50 Miler
started for Debra and Steve at 7:00. The 50K for the rest
started at 7:45. We began the lengthy preparations. We all
applied various tape and creams and such to strategic parts
of our bodies, packed our drop bags with spare shoes, socks,
duct tape, shorts, shirts etc. Parking seemed limited at the
park so we had decided to go early. Dinty (at Henry's suggestion)
had brought a brand new tent to put our drop bags in so that
we could find them easily. We had told everyone that we would
set it up and tape an "AF" on the side so that all
could use it. We loaded up and headed for the Park. It was
pouring rain. Halfway to the Park, Dinty slammed on the brakes.
There had just been an accident on the road. A car had crossed
over from the other side and crashed head-on into a pick up
truck. It was not a good omen. A bit sobered up we headed
for the Park.
We found a decent parking spot (defined as one where the
water had not risen so much as to make it unlikely to get
out of) and proceeded to check out the situation. The rain
was still falling, but we decided to get the tent erected.
We were pretty much the definition of a good joke about how
many lawyers and salesmen it takes to set up a tent. Everything
was getting wet so we moved under a canopy that someone else
had set up (it later turned out to be our brethren with Clear
Lake Fit). After several tries we got the tent put together
and then all raced back to the car to warm up and dry off.
It was a mess and we still had an hour and a half before the
run started. The debate raged among us as to how much stuff
to wear. Should we wear and jacket? Should we wear a jacket
AND the poncho that had been included in the gifts? Should
we just forget all that stuff and wear a singlet? Did we have
time to go back to Huntsville and buy scuba gear? As you might
guess, the discussion was lively and everyone did something
different. Slowly the whole group began to assemble and drop
their bags into the tent. 7:00 arrived and 200+ hardy ultra
runners began the 50 miler. Debra and Steve flashed past to
a chorus of whoops by the Sunmart Virgins. After a dozen trips
to the port-o-potties, we slowly began to make our way to
the starting area. The rain continued to fall as we mooed
like cows going to market. Then right on time the crowd surged
forward under a canopy of American flags. The race had begun!
The first part of the course was a 10K out and back which
started on the park road. This allowed a least some chance
for separation of the pack. The asphalt didn't last long and
we soon plunged in to a narrow two lane trail under a roof
of tall pines. The water had eroded chunks of the middle of
the trail and we soon had to utilize our fledgling trail skills
to navigate the course. At the 3.1 mile mark, there was a
turnaround and an aid station. The Virgins quickly became
separated on the course and Dinty and Henry found themselves
running together. They dodged branches and runners who had
already made the turn. Bill and Kat both streaked past as
they set a scorching pace. Steam rose from their heels as
the rain evaporated under the heat of their jets. After vowing
to walk every 15 minutes, it was nearly 45 minutes before
Dinty and Henry took a quick walk break. That didn't last
long and the two continued on to the turnaround point at the
start. We crossed the chip mat at about 1:04 for the 10K and
quickly shed the poncho and jackets. The next loop was 12.5
miles and the trail quickly descended into the woods again.
The aid stations were positioned every 1.5 to 3 miles on most
of the course and were incredible. We snaked our way through
the woods to the first "trail aid station". It had
it all-water, gatorade, coke, power bars, M&Ms, candy,
bananas, and even boiled potatoes with salt for dipping (mmmmm).
We ate EVERYTHING.
Unfortunately this was where the trail got bad. This portion
of the course was shared by both the 50Kers and the 50 milers.
The red mud was thick and wet. Traction was nonexistent and
it wasn't long before every runner had an extra 10 pounds
of weight on each shoe. This portion of the course also had
lots of uphills and down hills, making the navigation even
trickier, especially on the down hill slopes. There were quite
a few white shirts that became brown. Most of us soon had
mud caked to the backs of our legs from the knee down. We
leaped over (or through) a running stream and headed up a
sharp hill tunneled by pines. The reward was the back loop.
When we finally got off of the "pig trail" and headed
onto the back loop, an aid station appeared. It was a marvel.
I called it the "Back Loop Soup Kitchen". They had
everything that the other aid stations had PLUS hot noodle
soup AND PB&J sandwiches. This was about 13 miles into
the run and was sorely needed. The soup was ideal. It warmed
us up and fueled us, too. The temperature had hovered in the
upper 40s and low 50s the entire time and with the rain and
wind from the cold front, it was chilly. By this time James
had caught Dinty and Henry and the Three Amigos who had trained
during the summer on the Greenbelt and had run all of their
long training runs together pressed forward. We all had on
some yellow in honor of our Austin Fit group and soon caught
a woman running in a yellow fleece vest. We let her join our
yellow group for the next few miles of narrow trails and gentle
hills. We soon came to a swampy area where the footing was
quite precarious. We joined another small band of runners
and finally arrived at the last aid station before the turnaround.
This one was 3.5 miles from the Back Loop Soup Kitchen and
2.6 miles from the turnaround. We gulped down more fuel and
headed up a hilly trail. It wasn't long before we came across
that veteran ultra runner, Lennie Winkleman. Lennie had been
challenged by his running partner to not walk the last portion
of the loop. Seizing the opportunity, we fell in behind these
two trail warriors and let them pull us the last two miles
into the turnaround.
We arrived at the chip turnaround at 3:24. Our shoes and
socks were soaked and caked with mud. After 18.7 miles or
so we decided to make a gear change. Dinty and James changed
socks and shoes. Henry changed socks and picking up a tip
from Lennie, he reapplied moleskin and wrapped his toes in
duct tape to prevent blisters. It took at least 15 minutes,
but the Three Virgins took off again. It wasn't long before
they saw a nearly naked Mastodon lumbering up the trail. "I
lost my band-Aids" he cried, "and my nipple is bleeding".
He was running with no shirt. It was a scary sight. That quickened
our pace as we plunged into the second loop. We walked the
up hills and ran the flats and down hills. We again came to
the pig trail where the muddy trail had gotten so bad from
the traffic that there was now almost no firm footing. Dinty
went ahead for a distance and when the other two caught up
he declared "I am having a hard time starting up again
after I stop." That was understandable and Henry nodded.
So at the next aid station, Henry took off. Tired of the pig
trail, he was determined to get to the relative dryness of
the Back Loop (and the soup!). Henry caught up to fellow Yellow
coach Leslie Barclay who was (as usual) moving at a solid
steady pace. They ran together for a bit back and forth and
then side by side on the back loop after the soup kitchen.
It was about 6 miles from the Back Loop Soup Kitchen to the
finish. Henry was still feeling strong and knew at that point
that he would finish even if he had to walk. He started to
run some of the up hills and got separated from Leslie who
had take a spill, but was unharmed. It was a long 3.5 miles
to the final aid station, most of it alone. At the last aid
station he looked at his watch. 5:35 and 2.5 miles to go.
If he ran 10 minute miles on the way in, he could perhaps
crack the 6 hour mark. He grabbed a handful of M&Ms and
began a gentle jog up the hill. A 50 miler came up behind
him as Henry muttered "I don't think I can get there
in 25 minutes. "You've got to try!" said the 50
miler. "You're right" Henry replied and started
jogging a little faster. Henry ran the up hills now and only
walked after getting up particularly difficult ones. As he
rounded the corner for the entrance to the last trail he asked
the volunteer "How much farther?" "About a
mile" was the reply. He looked at his watch and it was
5:54. "Oh well" he thought, I think a 6 minute mile
is out of the question. Nonetheless he decided to at least
run the whole last mile. He even sprinted the last 300 yards
to arrive at 6:04:47. Veronica "Lightning" Lee had
already arrived at 5:54 and cheered him to the finish. Before
Henry could even get back to a good cheering spot, James Booher
streaked in at 6:09. Henry was able to snap his picture as
he sailed in. Then Dinty came in at 6:19; Robert and Diane
Heynen in 6:29; Ted and Theresa came in 6:43. Duane Lewis
at 6:44; Kyle at 7:12 and right on his heels was Carol at
7:13. Linda came in at 8:04 (a truly remarkable feat since
her longest training run to that point had been 13 miles!).
Carol was only supposed to run 21 miles in preparation for
running the Disney Marathon next month in Orlando. Game as
she is, however, she joined the trek and finished. She was
the only "non-virgin" in the bunch. Kathy Misiti
had already motored to a 2nd place finish in her age group
at 4:43 and Bess Hilpert, despite a concussion from a fall
on the first loop had finished in a swift 5:35. Bill had also
collected his horse statue and plaque as the 2nd place finisher
in his age group (which was the one with the most entrants!).
Every finisher got their choice of a Tyvek jacket or a gorgeous
Afghan (blanket that is).
The Virgins took advantage of Mean Gene's Kitchen for chicken,
burgers, hot dogs etc. Then shortly before 4:00 p.m., Swami
Saleny and Trailmaster Williams came in after their third
loop with one more to go. The race officials advised them
that they did not make the time cut-off to start the last
loop and could not continue. "Balderdash" exclaimed
Debra (well it was something a little more concise than that
and involved the word "you" at the end) "we're
going out anyway". So she and Steve grabbed fresh gear
and flashlights and headed back out for the fourth and final
loop.
The weary Virgins headed back to the hotel where tequila
and champagne were uncorked. We had done it. After hot showers,
a change into dry clothes and some sessions with Mr. Happy
and "the Stick", the group headed back to the park
to look for their guru. It was quite dark and the Virgins
were anxious as they waited under a canopy (it was STILL raining).
Then they saw 2 points of light bobbing down the final trail.
Henry dashed out to see who it was. He thought he heard Steve's
voice. "It's them" he cried. The Virgins whooped
and hollered as the Swami and the Trailmaster came into the
light. They made it to the finish and even got a medal! The
nasty race volunteer declined to give them a finisher's prized
despite the fact that they had come in only 15 minutes or
so after the final cut off. They were muddy, but unbowed as
they had each conquered the 50 miler for the first time
After a quick shower by the two stalwarts, a gang of 15 or
so invaded the local El Chico's for a celebratory dinner.
There were many drinks and frequent toasts. A grand time was
had by all for they had conquered their fears, the mud, the
rain and the cold and they were Virgins No More.
Postscript by Debra Saleny
Fifty Miles. What WAS I thinking! Not a lot, apparently.
Well, after running numerous marathons and several 50k runs,
I decided to attempt a 50 miler. Since Sunmart is suppose
to be THE ONE for a first time ultra, I choose it. I met a
runner one morning, at the Barton Creek Greenbelt, one of
our many greenbelt training runs, who was also interested
in training for the 50k. Of course, being the man …
I mean runner … that he is, he changed his mind, as
he ALSO had to run the 50 miler, since I was going to run
it (and I am a girl, after all!).
We trained, I planned, we met our great friends, and the
gun went off. Well, I never heard a gun go off, but everyone
started propelling forward, so I did also. If I wrote about
my experiences on this 12+ hour run, it would take a lot of
cyberspace. Therefore, I will limit this to some highlights.
As you are aware, there was mud, rain, cold, mud, slosh, and
did I mention mud? I wish that I had taken up skiing during
training, as it would have come in handy. I even got stuck
in a sticker bush, trying to get through one patch of mud.
My goal was to dedicate specific miles and/or hours to special
persons in my life, my father and grandmother who passed away,
my best friend, Pepper, my running (dog) partner for 12 years,
my close friends, my family, friends who are ill, Austin Fit,
and others. The beauty of running the 50 miler is that there
are 75% less runners than in the 50k. We have more alone time,
on windy, narrow trails. Time for me to talk out loud and
share my thoughts with others (who are only there in my mind).
I carried on some rather interesting conversations during
my run.
I had learned from Joe and Joyce to speed through aid stations.
I was so proud of myself. I stopped, grabbed and went. I left
Steve behind me, who was shopping for goodies. He always managed
to catch me, though, as he is a faster runner (as most are).
At one water stop I did manage to arrive at the same time
as Steve, and now have a story to tell, that will make Pat's
Vaseline-eating story obsolete. Steve thought he saw salt
tablets semi-crushed, to dip his potato into. After he swallowed
a bit, I asked him why he was dipping potato into aspirin
tablets. I think he started a new trend, but I doubt it helps
with salt intake!
Before I ramble any further, I will say that my determination
to finish the race was crushed when we missed the cutoff time
a few minutes (due to the darn! mud) and were told that our
race would not count. I have never had tears flow so quickly!
Looking towards the group at our private aid station, a few
yard away, I remember why I was there. Finishing the 50 miler
was MY goal, I had promised that I would do it, my support
team was there. I could not fail. Steve and I agreed to finish,
anyway. We did not care about our names in a silly book, as
that is not the reason why I run. One of my fondest memories
is the pit crew (Henry, Dinty, James, Robert, Diana …),
as they helped me change clothes (don't get any ideas!), eat,
drink, and get on the road again. Indianapolis pit crews could
have learned something. We got on the trail, when I realized
that my gloves were still not on (the ones Henry took off
his hands and gave to me, as mine were wet). We stopped, and
I turned around to look, The entire pit crew was looking at
us (later I found that they were amazed we were going to continue
and finish, despite the circumstances, and cold, and rain,
and mud).
Flashlights in hand, we left. It was a long haul, when you
realize you are two of the few out on the trails, and would
remain towards the back end. I will skip forward to the dark.
The darkest dark I can remember. Rain, clouds, no moon, no
lights, in the forest, with trees above. I found the trail
using a tiny flashlight and aiming my body between trees,
hoping that I was following the trail. I amused myself (or
realized it later) when I made a pit stop along the side of
the trail, and in a hurry, started running again, before I
pulled up my shorts (I did have short tights on however).
Funny it must have been, if you had night vision … me
running down the trail, shorts around my knee caps, flashlight
in my teeth, trying to wrestle those darn shorts up to where
they belonged. Later, I was even more delirious, as I ran
down the trail with both the tights and shorts at the knees.
It made me laugh out loud, and helped me finish a few more
miles. The final miles had to be a very fast walk. I did not
want to be airlifted out at night, from a severe fall, into
the creek, over a rock, or slammed to the ground by a huge
root. That would have been embarrassing. I passed six runners,
as I walked, and Steve kept getting so far behind. I could
see his flashlight getting farther away, so that he had to
run to catch up. When we finally got closer to civilization,
we ran. I felt great, we finished. Steve was such a trouper,
staying with me earlier in the run when I was so tired, and
trying to hard to keep up with me when he was tired, and I
would not slow down (I was on a mission … finish, and
finish NOW).
My favorite part of the entire weekend, and my most outstanding
memory of the race was getting near the finish line and hearing
my name ("I think it is Debra"). Theresa later told
me she thought I was a motorcycle as I was coming so fast!
The entire group from Round Rock Fit, Austin Fit, and Diana
and Robert from the ARC were at the finish area, in a huge,
huge, it seemed huge, group, cheering waving, high-fiving.
I don't care that my time did not get my name in the results,
or that I failed to get a jacket (but did get a finisher's
medal, thanks to a kind-hearted volunteer). That reception
at the finish line was so unexpected, so warm, welcome and
thoughtful, that each time I think about it, I tear up. THOSE
are the kind of memories that stay with us forever. And, I
will never forget. Thanks to everyone who made my dream come
true.
|
