This will be brief, as my race at Grindstone turned out to be quite brief. I was running well early in the race and was enjoying myself quite a bit. I came into the 2nd aid station positioned well and was ready for the 2nd major climb of the race - Crawford Mountain. A mile into the climb my stomach started to bother me and I became a little dizzy. About 2 minutes later I was throwing up and was shivering. I struggled to the 3rd aid station after a couple more bouts of stomach distress. I don't know what went wrong and why it hit me so quickly but I decided at aid station #3, mile 22, that I should call it a night. I could have, in the words of Mark Carroll, walked for 10-12 hours and hope that it passed but this was the wrong course to get stranded on if things went terribly wrong. I think I made the right decision but I'm still having a very hard time coming to grips with my first 100 mile DNF. I need to get past this so it doesn't haunt me going forward but I also don't want to force another 100 and will wait until Umstead in spring to take another stab at the distance. I will be back but I'm going to take my time.
Shout outs to the other Ohio runners that represented so well at Grindstone - it turned out that I was the only person who had a bad day. In order of placing here's how the other runners faired (times are approximantions as results are not posted).
Sandy Nypaver dominated the womens race winning by nearly 4 hours (23:05 if I'm not mistaken), setting a new course record! Needless to say she is a very talended runner with a promising future in the sport. Well done!!! Shout outs to her pacers Rachel and Sean who guided her through the 2nd half and got her home to the victory.
David Huss (aka Mountain Lion) ran a PR on one of the toughest courses around, posting a time of 25:25. He ran a perfect race, stayed focused, pushed through the pain, and was rewarded for his efforts. His pacer Steve Zeidner, and crew - headed up by his wife Katie - provided him the support he needed to acheive his goal. Congrats Dave, you earned it!
Dave Peterman posted a time of 26:35 (approx.), showing great perseverence in the 2nd half to get that buckle with a fantastic time to boot. Dave now has three 100 mile finished on the year, including MMT and Grindstone, very impressive! Dave now has one race to complete the Beast Series, the Hellgate 100k+. Shout out to Jay Smithberger who jumped in to pace him the last 50 miles after his runner wimped out and DNF'd early.
Last but not least, Regis Shivers Jr finished his 3rd Grindstone and 28th 100 in a time close to 28:00. Regis was steady throughout the race and acheived a new course PR. I enjoyed running a few early miles with Regis and enjoyed getting to know him. I also spent a good chunk of the race crewing and getting to know his mom as well. It was a pleasure meeting them both and hope that our paths cross at future races.
So even though it was a very bad day for me personally it was a very exciting day none the less. I was able to wrap myself up in my friends races and focus on crewing them through the day instead of sulking in my dissapointment. I am very proud of all of their accomplishments. Well done, you all earned it!
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