Before, During and After Uwharrie 100K: Simply Unrelenting

Before it Began

Where do I begin? I suppose I should start off with a little about my ultra-running career (or lack thereof). After running my first marathon last November in Richmond, I could never fathom running an ultrarace. After just missing my goal time of sub 4 hours by three seconds, I could barely walk. I figured that marathons were going to be few and far between. Half marathons were more to my liking as I enjoyed the challenge and was able to recover from them fairly quickly.  

Lo and behold I had no idea that I would fall in love with trail running (and soon ultras) and loath road racing altogether. To put this in context,  I’ve only been running since mid 2016 and was training for my first 5K in October which got cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew. I eventually ran my first 5K and placed first in my age group in January 2017 (it seems everyone places in their first race, haha).

In October 2017, Medoc Mountain 10 miler was my first trail race and longest race distance other than a 10K. I got injured in the first couple of miles with and PF issues plagued me for months after, but I still managed to finish strong. The following year, in 2018, I got 2nd AG and cut my time by 17 mins and since then I have run a number of races up to marathon (only two total) distance. 

Badwater Cape Fear 50 (my farthest race) 

Not to long after, my good friend and running compadre, Chris Coker, threw out a big dog, the Badwater Cape Fear 50 miler! Yes, fifty miles on the sand (39 to be exact), and 12 on Bald Head Island. They have a 50k option, but we skipped right over that given our first 50K would be in a training run and we wanted that buckle.  

I gulped at the idea. A fifty-mile race when I had only run a marathon? All I could think was, “No way!” But what are friends for? I guess getting you to sign up for stupid, crazy events like Bad Water. So, I got on a 50-mile plan from www.ultraladies.com, which is great by the way (no its not for women only, ha). No crazy speed work, intervals, etc. Just time on my feet and logging miles to finish was my goal.  

I had also signed up for my second marathon in Wilmington the weekend before my 50-miler (maybe a rookie mistake). Not sure this was a good idea, but I was planning on using it as my last training run and to use a 7:3 run/walk/run method developed by Jeff Galloway. This was the same method I was going to do at Badwater Cape Fear given it was flat and I could manage the intervals. In March, I did that for my marathon and ended up with a 3:48:07 PR and felt great afterwards. That 50-mile training had really paid off.  

The following weekend I finished Badwater in 11:32:00 (cut off was 12 hrs). I felt very accomplished and had a number of 50K’s lined up afterwards. This was the “ultra” year! I knew these would be hard given the terrain, but doable because… “Hey, I’ve done a 50-miler right!” Well some of those 50K’s (like Grayson Highlands) made me think twice about being able to run on anything with several thousand feet of gain. 

After keeping the mileage up and trying to stay injury free, I took on those 50K’s and was able finish them. However, my friend (yes, the same one that got me to sign up for Badwater) thought it would be a great idea to do Uwharrie 100K in October. Gulp! I’ve run the Uwharrie 8 and 20 milers the last 2 years, so I know how hard the terrain is. But I’ve never run the full 20.5 mile figure eight at Uwharrie. So, I took the gamble and figured if I’m going to have a goal to keep training through the summer since I didn’t have races, then this was it! And it’s only 12 more miles than a fifty, right?!? Oh, and 11,000 more feet of gain too! Yikes! 

Uwharrie Training Runs 

To get you prepared, Dan and Amanda Paige (the RDs) host some amazing, totally supported (Crossroads only) training runs each month starting in March (which is kicked off with the URE Marathon). I was able to go to May, June and October runs to get a feel for the course. After running just one 19.5 mile loop (I skipped Kelly’s Kitchen), my legs were toast. I knew I had bitten off more than I could chew and really had doubts about being able to complete the race that was fast approaching. I continued to run 50K’s and was on ultra-team in the Blue Ridge Relay in September. 

The generous (for 100K’ers) 36-hour cut-off given to both the 100K and 100 mile racers was the only thing that gave me some relief that I wasn’t racing the clock too. I was mainly concerned with an injury and my legs just shutting down. This would be my longest distance, most elevation gain and the most time on my feet to date. Blue Ridge Relay helped me with sleep deprivation as I stayed awake for 36 hours to prepare myself mainly for night running and exhaustion. 

My fastest loop on a training run was 4:34 including the Crossroads Aid, but not the Kelly’s Kitchen out and back. So, while this gave me an estimated time it was in no way exact. After some heavy contemplation and figuring out my strategy to tackle this beast of a course, I threw out an 18-hour goal time. I would go for 5, 6 and 7 hour loops. I knew fatigue and darkness would play major components in finishing, so I wanted to get the most miles in during the daylight. 

Race Day Weather: Enter Tropical Storm Nestor 

Wow! I can’t believe October 19th is already here. The last training run was on October 5th, so after only a couple of weeks the time was here to overcome my ultra fears and get after it! With weather conditions being sent by Dan a couple of weeks prior by email, things started to go from light rain at 35%, to dryer conditions, to nearly perfect conditions the week before. I felt like the stars had aligned or something and the temps and weather were going to be great…. hold that thought!! 

Only two days before the race, tropical storm Nestor decided to come out of the Gulf of Mexico barreling towards the eastern seaboard and of course directly across Troy, NC where our perfect race conditions were predicted.  

Side note: If you are a meteorologist in NC, then I don’t know how you have a job, because trying to forecast the weather here, well…. is pointless.  

I digress. Now 20-30mph winds, 1-2 inches of rain and wind chills in the 30’s are expected to infiltrate the course mid-afternoon. I knew that this was going to be a disaster on that terrain. I had packed and planned to have minimal running gear. However, as I was leaving the house, I was grabbing everything for three seasons worth of weather conditions. Man, this was going to suck!!! 

Pre-Race Dinner 

I made my way with friends Chris, Joseph, and John to the packet pickup and the pre-race dinner at Lily’s Marina. We hung out, got some great food from Zeno’s and checked out the finishers medals and buckles laid out on display. Wow! They looked sweet! The buckles especially. After Dan presented a short race brief, we finished up eating and headed to the trailhead to get our canopy set up for tomorrow’s big day. 

After feeling confident about our setup and getting everything secured, we took off to our hotels to try to get a good night’s sleep. Each of us on pins and needles about what lay in store for us the next morning.  

It’s Race Day! 

Our alarm goes off at 4:00 am. I get ready and gather all my stuff together that I had in dry bags and zip-locks and head out the door. I wanted to arrive at 5:00 am, but ended being about 20 min late. We got our gear set up at our canopy and everyone tries to use the bathroom before the pre-race brief. Headlamps flickered about as runners and volunteers gathered around the Wood Run Trailhead to hear any last-minute details. We put on our gear and did a quick mental check of everything need for that first loop.

Then I heard, “Five minutes until race start!” Oh wow! It’s here and the pre-race jitters are in full force as well all gathered at the start. I find my way to the middle of the pack. After a few minutes pass, Dan announced that there wouldn’t be a count down, just a bull horn. Then, shortly after he gave a 10 sec warning and then the blare of the horn belted through the quietness of the dark morning. 

Headlamps shuffled off into the darkness as the narrow trail and woods consumed some 100 runners. It wasn’t until around the fourth or fifth mile that the packs of runners broke up. I found a nice flow and began to keep that 5-hour loop in mind. As I came in to the Crossroads Aid Station, I could smell bacon and waffles. Dawn had broken and breakfast was smelling great! I quickly grabbed a bite, refilled my fluids and headed back out. I knew that I could not spend more than a few minutes at each aid. 

I headed out towards Kelly’s Kitchen (another 5.7 miles) and then back to Crossroads (another 3.3) to get some more bacon and waffles. I think I lived off of bacon, waffles, grilled cheese with green apples and Dijon mustard and a ham and cheese sandwich with spicy jelly the entire race. Besides my fluids and maybe a handful of chips and M&M’s this was my nutrition (and pickles too). I ate at every station, but only enough to get me to the next one. Sometimes I found I may have had a calorie deficiency because my energy would just be gone.

As I headed back to the start (another 5.5, but seems like 8 miles), I finished up my first loop. I missed my time by 10 mins putting me in at just over 5:10 hours. I changed shirts to a short sleeve, and reapplied Trail Toes to my feet and changed socks. This took way to long and cost me 25 mins. While I wanted to skip doing anything with my feet, I knew I would regret it midway through loop two as hot spots were already developing.

I felt good, but my legs were starting to get heavy. The weather was perfect. Dry conditions, a little overcast and 50 degrees. I took advantage of this as much as possible but still tried to maintain a conservative pace. My 6-hour time was already being pressed by that 10 min loss and the additional time at the start/finish aid. I continued on with the same plan and would get second winds here and there. Nothing spectacular. My legs never really came alive because this course has so many challenges that when you think you’re going to get some recovery; they get smashed in another surge of up and downs. 

“Sasquatch” Summit as it’s known, was right after the Crossroads. This is a very steep, boulder field that is like climbing steps on your hands and feet. It’s short, but it’s a leg burner for sure. Then after only a couple more miles you see signs for “Soul Crusher” and it is! This long steady climb will wreak havoc on your quads and calves. When you think you’re at the top, it will level off for a few yards and then more climbing. It’s just enough to let some lactic acid flush out, but not quite. Finally, when you reach the top and it crests, your legs are destroyed. But…still you’re not even half way through the loop yet and still have another two miles to Kelly’s Kitchen.

After leaving Kelly’s Kitchen, I headed back to Crossroads on my second loop. There are steady climbs and descents scattered about the course. Finally, after leaving Crossroads with the same nutrition plan and awesome volunteers at every aid, I knew Hallucination Hill was still lying in wait around mile 17. Although it’s not the hardest or steepest climb, being on the last part of the loop made it tough on dead legs the second time around.

I completed my second loop in 6:22 hours. While it wasn’t the six hour time I wanted; I knew that was because I was chasing the lost time on the first loop. But regardless, I was okay with it. After being welcomed again by the amazing volunteers and grabbing some awesome food at the start/finish aid, I headed over to our crew tent and changed my shoes and reapplied lube to my feet. I then had to think about the darkness and the rain coming my way. The storm kept getting pushed back hour by hour and I was taking every advantage of the dry weather while I could. I knew rain was coming as I had felt sprinkles here and there on the second loop, but nothing steady.

I took off at the crew tent with lights ready to go. I was about 1/10 of a mile down the trail before I realized I had forgotten my rain shell (that would have been disastrous). I ran back and got Chris to put it in my vest while he was getting ready for his third loop. With only a short sleeve tee on, I was also planning on having arm sleeves to keep the cold, damp rain at bay. Unfortunately, I had forgotten them, but it was too late when I realized this.

Immediately, my legs came alive as I headed back to Crossroads for the fifth time. I got a third wind I suppose. It wasn’t dark enough for my head and waist light so I held off as long as possible. But soon after arriving at Crossroads and getting fueled up to head back out, that third wind was short-lived and my legs were heavy again. Having been relying on trekking poles since the beginning of the second loop, they quickly became my main support. I powered through the next 5.7 miles as night had fully set in.

I arrived at Kelly’s Kitchen thinking this would be the last time I’m here. It was just around 8:30 pm when I left. I didn’t get more than .25 mile and the bottom fell out. I scurried to pull off my vest and lights in search of my rain shell. By the time I was able to get everything back on I was pretty much wet inside and out. The rain came in bands of cold bursts from all directions. All I could do was put my head down and keep moving. I knew the longer I took, the longer I would be in it. To keep my core warm and hypothermia from setting in, I knew I had to move at all costs.

I arrived at Crossroads for my final time and knew I had the hardest part of the course left. Which seemed like ten miles in these conditions. I was so thankful that I wasn’t attempting the 100 miler at this point. I knew that I had only 5.5 miles to go. I would find out later that a number of 100K runners dropped at this point. I got some quick fuel and dug in for the long haul. The damp trail quickly turned in to puddles and the slippery rocks, roots and mud made the already treacherous descents and narrow trails on this part of the course very difficult navigate. Come to find out, both first place 100-mile contenders dropped due to the hazardous conditions.

I forged on through the cold, wet rain. With wind gusts at only 10-15 mph it was slightly more manageable, but still no easy effort. I dug my poles in the ground to secure my footing on the climbs and descents and on the flatter sections I did my best to run. After finally crossing the second wooden bridge, I knew I was within a mile of the finish. Then, I stepped over the small concrete tile that crosses the creek. All I had was a short, .25 mile uphill finish. I tucked my head down and powered up the hill in as much of a run as I could muster. The multi-color flags lined the finish chute and the cheers of the volunteers and cowbells filled the air as the rain fell.

With poles in the air I crossed the timing mats and heard that beep one last time. I had done it! Dan was there to present my medal and hang it around my neck as I was congratulated by a small crowd of aid station volunteers and crew. With a final loop time of 6:41 and a finish of 18:14:17, I was less than fifteen minutes from my goal time. Given the loss of time at the crew tent and tropical storm conditions, I was more than happy with my time.

I will say this has been the most epic adventure and grueling event I’ve ever experienced. In fact, I’ve even got my eyes set on the Uwharrie 100-miler in 2021. Hopefully Dan and Amanda will bring it back. This experience will not be forgotten and it tested my mettle to the core. I overcame the challenge that was set before me despite the less than ideal conditions. And even though there were times my body wanted to quit, I had to have the mental fortitude to press on. To put it plainly as Dan so eloquently does; Uwharrie is… Simply Unrelenting.

Dan and Amanda Paige put on a spectacular race and the volunteers make it all happen. I can’t thank them enough for all they do.

Matt Kornegay