[Many thanks to Mary Beth Kierstead for contributing this race report!]
After hearing so many rave reviews of the fast, beautiful, mostly downhill Bizz Johnson Marathon, I decided this would be the perfect race for my first ultra. It's mostly downhill! It's a fire road! It's through the beautiful Cascades! I am in! In February, I registered.
After a summer full of 20 mile runs in preparation for this race, I could not believe two weeks out I had my first case of poison oak. Determined not to take steriods for fear of how it would effect my body, I tried to fight it with calamine and benadryl. A week before the race, it had spread to my feet and ears. I called the doctor and took the predinsone unsure if this would ruin my ability run the race. I figured worst case, I would step down the 1/2. I would just have to see how I felt. Ad the day approached, my poison oak almost disappeared but I was getting some strange pains in my quads. This happened last time I took predisone. I just hoped it would be gone by race day.
Kathryn, Sarah, Michele and I were not a bit disappointed in the beauty of Susanville and the warmness of its residents. We were awed driving through Mt. Lassen National Forest. Susanville is a little town tucked inside the eastern side of the forest. Clearly the town had fallen on hard times. Most the restaurants we had read about were closed and the downtown was all but abandoned. But when we arrived at the railroad depot to pick up our bibs (don't think expo, think bib pick-up), there was a fun community market going on complete with beer and a band. We headed over to the Best Western which was about two miles away. The staff was very friendly and assured us they would have breakfast up early for us. They informed us that we could leave our bags with them in the morning and would have a room where we could take a shower after the race. The rooms were much nicer than we had expected. They were very clean and big and the beds were super comfy.
We found a little family owned restaurant, Rosie's, and had a decent pre-race pasta dinner, along with every other runner in town. We passed on a night cap at the bar next door in spite of the name, T & A! Since it was almost 7, we decided to call it a night. The race didn't start until 8 but we had to be on the bus at 7, still, not bad for a marathon. I didn't have much hope for sleeping but the bed was so comfy I actually slept most of the night.
Feeling rested but stunned by the sub 30 degree temperature, we found the breakfast to be just what a runner needed. We chatted happily with runners from all over the country and guaranteed them they would have a great run. We headed off to the buses and Sarah and I headed up the mountain thrilled by the scenery. At the top, we dropped our sweats and shook with cold while Wendell explained the 5 mile out and back we would head out on before circling around and meeting up with the marathoners at the BizzJohnson Trail.
We ran fast the first few miles, trying to warm up. Right away I noticed that I felt winded and light headed but my body felt fine, no pains in my quads. At mile two we headed into some deep dust. Every step my foot would sink, as if in snow. My lungs were burning and my legs felt like rubber. A car was heading towards us, kicking up a thick cloud of dust. I started seeing spots, my ears were ringing and I felt like I was going to pass out. Sarah urged me to stop and slow down. I did. Finally I made it to the turn around and starting heading down the slight decline. I knew I was in trouble.
No matter how slow I went, I could not get my breath. I could not get into that zone. I started panicking, realizing that I could not run 31 miles like that. Marathoners were flying past us. Where were they getting that energy? I started making deals with myself. Things will be better when I see Kathryn. She will tell me what to do. I convinced myself that there would be a 1/2 marathon starting line at mile 18 and then I would be able to leave the race. I saw Kathryn. Drink water and slow down, she advised. I tried. My misery, coupled with the guilt that I was ruining everyone's race made me got to that dark place reserved for distant runners. I felt sorry for myself. I trained so hard and now the altitude is going to ruin my day? Not fair! I told Sarah and Kathryn to go on. They hesitated but I convinced them that only I could get me through this run. Magically, I had stuck my i-pod in my fuel belt, just in case. I hate running races with it but I knew the only way I was going to check off the miles was to drown out my thoughts with music. I decided to just focus on the mile and to reward myself with a walk break at the beginning of each mile. And that's what I did. Slow at first, then faster and faster, the miles started ticking away.
The course is lovely but hard because it is 20 miles of downhill quad pounding. The road is gravel, which is tricky after hours of running. There was a lot of support from the local scouts and I did an impersonation of the Cookie Monster at each stop, trying to fuel myself through this endless race.
Finally, I finished, surprised to find I wasn't hours behind my fellow runners and shocked that I finished third in my age group.
I will never run above sea level again!
