Race: Hellgate 100k++
Location: Blue Ridge Mountains, VA
Finish Time: 15:24:58
Starting Time: 12:01am, December 13th, 2014
That Friday didn't really go as planned, but does it ever? My plan was to sleep in and go in for a short day of work, but I ended up with an early meeting so that wasn't possible. I was able to come home around 11 and snooze for a couple hours though before I headed out. We got down in great time, ate at the pre-race dinner and shortly after snuggled up with 140+ other runners for the pre-race briefing. Somehow Dr. Horton manages to infuse enough humor into his briefings to keep even the most fidgety of runners interested.
The briefing ended around 8:30pm, but we weren't headed to the start until 10:45, so we had a couple hours to sit around (yay...), lay-down, and prep our gear. The weather was great by Hellgate standards, we had temps at Camp Bethel in the 40s, clear with very little wind. I brought clothing for 3 different weather conditions, which are hard to predict until the night of. The challenge is to be warm enough that you won't freeze up on top of the mountains at 4am, while not getting too warm at the lower elevations earlier on. Once the sun comes up you can always shed layers in a drop bag or carry them on your pack. I ended up wearing light-weight running pants with shorts on top (so I could shed the pants later if needed), a long-sleeve tech shirt, a light shell, gloves and a hat. This ended up being the perfect choice; I was a little hot at the start but once we were into the coldest part of the night I was glad to have everything.
Hellgate has seen conditions ranging from the 50s at the start during warm years, to having starting temps in the 20s, with lows in the 0s, often complimented by sleet and snow. Though harsher elements provide for a "true" Hellgate experience, I was happy to have relatively nice weather for my first running.
I attempted to lie down a bit and sleep. While most people aren't actually able to sleep it does feel good to just kind of get off your feet and medicate before your hectic final preparations. At 10:45pm I met up with my ride and we followed the train of cars on a 30 minute drive to the start.
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| A more accurate representation of the course elevation and aid station locations. |
The Prologue
After lining up at the official Hellgate gate we sang the national anthem, counted down to 12:01am and we were off! Into the night, into the unknown, with our paths lit by dozens of bobbing headlamps. The first few miles are fairly easy, mostly grassy jeep roads with a few ups and downs. There are a few minor creek crossings that you can hop over, and a more substantial creek crossing that you are wise to just walk through. While it might be possible to tip-toe around it, the rocks are slippery and one wrong step will put you on your ass in the rock-filled creek. Not a good way to start your day, er, night.
My feet dried out fast; within a mile I forgot had just waded through water. I was getting a little warmer so I shed my outer shell and felt fine. Aid station 1 only had water, most people skipped it but I did grab a quick sip.
Forest Serivce Road 35 (AS 1: mile 4)
The next section was both boring and inspiring. It was a long march up a gravel road, runable in some spots and speed-hikebale elsewhere. There was only about a half-moon that night but it was still enough to let you turn off your headlamp and gaze out over the mountains. Soon you could see a trail of headlights further down the mountain. Coming into Petites Gap aid station I got another sip of water and pushed on. I knew it was only about 5 miles to the next aid station so I wasn't too worried. However, the distance between AS 3 and 4 is closer to 9 miles so I knew I would need to refuel there.
Petites Gap (AS 2: mile 8)
Soon after leaving Petites Gap we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway and got back onto a single track trail heading downhill. I was looking forward to getting to open up my stride downhill, but the trail is fairly rocky and has lots of little turns which, combined with the darkness of being back in the forest, meant a fairly cautious pace. We emptied out onto a grassy jeep road which was a nice change. You soon take a right turn back into technical trails. Apparently this is a turn people have missed, though it was very obvious to me. After the trails we had another uphill to aid station 3 Camping Gap. I knew we had a long section ahead of us, something like 9 miles which could take upwards of 2 hours. I took a real stop here, refilled my bladder, ate some real food, and grabbed some more to eat on the way.
I had a slight hold up here as well. My bladder ended up not getting screwed on correctly, and when I tested it (as I always do before leaving an AS) it was spilling everywhere. I had to refuel it again as well as deal with a pack soaked with cold water. It dried out soon at least. This is why I try to be pretty insistent that I like to fill up my own pack; I hate coming off as rude or ungrateful to volunteers who are just trying to help, but those bladders are tricky to seal back up and its usually faster to just do it myself.
It was probably around 3:00am at this point, we were entering into the coldest part of the night but I was still feeling pretty good. Not as tired as I thought I would be. Still we were only 13 miles into Hellgate so I could now consider myself "warmed-up".
Camping Gap (AS 3: mile 13)
What followed Camping Gap was long in duration, but a lot of it was runable which kept me warm and also staged off any hunger. This was the highest section of the race in terms of elevation, and run at the coldest time of the night the risk of hypothermia could creep in if you aren't dressed properly and don't keep moving. It wasn't very memorable, just a mix of trails and jeep roads. Rather than think about the 9+ miles to the next aid station, I just counted down: 4 miles down, half-way! Kinda... Then 4 more miles down. And then 1 more mile which is easy to quantify.
Rolling into the aid station it was very cold out. There was a lot of wind up here which added to the sense of urgency to get out of this aid station promptly. We had access to our drop bags here, so I got in mine, took an advil, grabbed an apple, and drank my starbucks coffee drink. The volunteers here were really helpful, opening up both the advil and the coffee drink for me, as well as stocking me up with warm food. I refilled my bladder and was off, happy to get running again and warm back up in the woods where the wind was blocked some.
Somewhere along the way my headlamp was really starting to dim. This is tricky though because you need a light to replace the batteries so you can see what you are doing. I saw someone not far behind me on the trail and they kindly shined light on me for enough time to change batteries. Another lesson learned: its important to plan your battery changes either at aid stations, or by carrying a supplemental light to assist you This is a great thing about Ultras, your "competitors" are usually eager to help you too. It goes both ways - I've given out Gu's or sips of water during races to others. All part of the Ultra feel. Though I doubt the lead pack is as giving.
Headforemost Mountain (AS 4: mile 24)
Coming out of AS 4 I soon met up with my friend Danny Rogers and we got to run together to the next AS. This helped pass the time and provided some company. This section saw more single track, some rocky and downhill, as well as jeep roads. It was still very dark out, probably still before 6:00am. The night was starting to wear on me. Hellgate is run close to the longest night of the year, so even though we start at midnight thats still 7 hours of darkness. Knowing that sunrise was only an hour away did at least help some.
Jennings Creek (AS 5: mile 31)
Coming out of Jennings Creek we finally started to see some light and soon the sun was up. This was a huge mental boost! Getting out in the open you could feel the sun's rays warming you up. On the downside I was having some stomach issues in this section. I was feeling hungry but eating at the aid stations just didn't seem to do the trick. Energy Gels usually do not help this feeling either. I was able to eat some tums which helped but my stomach was still churning. I took a pit stop in the woods which helped some but I was still not feeling great. I was past the half-way mark (around 34 miles in) which was kind of nice, but also kind of depressing that I was only half-way! I trudged on up the gravel road to the next aid station.
Little Cove Mountain (AS 6: mile 38)
AS6 was smaller, and kind of demoralized me in a way. My Garmin read 38 miles, but the sign at the aid station only said mile 34.5! I don't know why but that 3.5 miles really seemed to make a difference. I know that when you deal with "Horton Miles" the estimates can be off, but I didn't think they would be off that much. At that point I assumed my watch was wrong. My stomach wasn't feeling great, but I was able to get some warm food and then after the AS was a downhill stretch which felt good to jog.
A little later I met up with another runner who had an accurate mileage chart. His watch read the same mileage as mine and the chart confirmed that we were further than the aid station indicated. This was a big relief at the time. Having someone to chat with also helped distract me from stomach and sleep issues and got me into a good running zone to carry me into the next stop.
Bearwallow Gap (AS 7: mile 47)
Bearwallow Gap was another morale booster. It really started to feel like we were close to the finish. I met my pacer here and was able to dump some stuff off with my pacer's ride. I had a drop bag here but ended up not even needing it. The aid station was fully stocked, and my friend Danny left a starbucks double-shot behind which I happily utilized. I wasn't really sure if I needed a pacer at Hellgate, and a lot of people go without, but I took my friend up on the offer and I was really glad I did. 20 miles out from the finish still meant over 5 hours!
My Garmin 305 was giving me a low battery alert so I ditched it here. My pacer had a GPS watch of his own and I was able to compile the data from both units after the race. This ended up giving a very accurate depiction of the race since those units ping about every 4 minutes. The longer lasting, ultra-specific GPS units ping satellites way less to conserve battery life, but can result in less accurate mapping.
This section had some ups and downs but nothing long in duration, and a lot of parts were pretty runnable. One strange effect of the race, being held after fall and with dry conditions, were that a lot of the trails were rutted out, rocky, and filled with leaves (the rocks are hidden beneath the leaves). This made for really difficult footing even in the flat parts. Annoying but thats just part of Hellgate.
Bobblets Gap (AS 8: mile 53)
Bobblets Gap was another quick refuel followed by a fairly uneventful section to Day Creek AS. There were some ups and down and some more of the now infamous rocks-hidden-by-leaves ruts, but I was so close to finishing that it was trivial. It felt great getting into Day Creek; one last quick stop. I went out of my way to thank the volunteers there too - I recognized them from earlier aid stations, which meant they had been up all night!
Day Creek (AS 9: mile 60)
Soon after leaving the Day Creek AS we started our final climb for the day. I stripped down to shorts and a long sleeve shirt and started power hiking. This final climb wasn't a big deal, though I did get pretty exhausted at a few points and took some short breathers. Up, up, up, then we crossed the Blue Ridge parkway and it was down, down, down. Nice that the final few miles were runnable. We got out onto a flatter gravel road and another runner started edgeing up on me from behind. I really didn't want to get passed with a mile to go, so I kicked it into high gear with 1 mile left.
The Finish at Camp Bethel (mile 66.6)
I was so in the zone I actually almost missed the final turn into Camp Bethel! I didn't see the marking, but the entrance was obvious so I made the sharp left into camp, then into the chute and finally done! I kissed the ground at the end. Hellgate was very difficult. Finishing at Camp was perfect, after getting my finisher swag and my Beast Trophy I was able to take a shower, put on clean clothes, grab some snacks, and then take a well-deserved nap before my friend arrived to pick me up at like 6:00pm.
I was worried that finishing The Beast series would overshadow Hellgate. It didn't - I felt very accomplished at the end of Hellgate, almost so much that closing out the Beast was just a bonus. This is a special race and now I get to be on the inside looking out.
During these races I'll often feel like I left a part of myself behind. A little piece of me got left out there on the mountain in the middle of the night when the wind was blowing, for no one else to see. Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk at work I imagine what it is and where it might be. If things work out in 2015 for me I would like to return to Hellgate to find it.
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