5/23/2014 - Sehgahunda Trail Marathon and Relay

5/23/2014: 25.85 miles, 6:36:08, 15:14 pace, 55F at the start, around 80F at the end, 88% RH, calm, sunny.

Sit down, grab a drink ... this will be a long post. Sehgahunda deserves nothing but the best. For those who don't know  ... the Sehgahunda Trail Marathon and Relay is a grueling 26.3 mile trail run with over 2900 feet of elevation change from the Mount Morris Dam down to the Parade Grounds near Portageville. Why? Well ... why not?

My darling wife, Christine, and I woke up at the Allegiance Bed and Breakfast down in Mount Morris. We had arrived shortly before 9PM and I fell asleep a bit after midnight. Our windows faced the east so we were awake with the dawn around 5:30AM. We got out of bed at 6:20AM. Later Christine told me that she had not slept because she was worried about me and my history at Sehgahunda (more later).

The gear is all ready!

I had laid out my running clothes so I just put them on. I wore my CW-X shorts, Sehgahunda Training tech shirt from 2012, Darn Tough crew socks, Salomon SpeedCross 3 trail shoes and my lucky orange Fleet Feet hat. We left at 7:07AM and arrived at the Mount Morris Dam at 7:12AM. Nice!

I geared up with my cobbled together Salomon running vest and Camelbak water reservoir and 3 GUs. I walked around and say "Hi" to people I knew: Prem Kumar, Steve Levitsky, John Muoio, Frank Quattrone, Anzhela Knyaveza, Kathy Reardon, Bambi Jasmin, Joe M, Jim Roche, Jim McLaughlin, Laura Church and many more. The 2 Jims and Laura were members of the Brooks Endurance Team and were helping put on the event. Christine applied lots of sunscreen to my head, neck and shoulders.

The solo women went off at 7:45AM. I milled around, kissed Christine and got in with the solo men. I heard Boots tell us that the course was muddy. And .... we were off at 8AM.

The start - taken by Christine

Start to CP1, 6.1 miles: I started in the middle and was soon antsy. I was behind Frank and Steve before mile 1. Frank dared me to pass so I did. I soon found mud ... lots of mud. I started to pass the slower women around mile 3. I said "Hi" to the ones that I knew. Soon I saw high tension lines so I knew the climb to Check Point 1 (CP1) was soon. The tone was now set ... lots of unrelenting mud ... sticky, slippery, shoe sucking mud up and down to CP1 through CP6. Some of the people that I had put behind me real early passed me: John, Frank and Steve. I think I am destined to be a rabbit when I run long distances ... I start fast and finish slower. Anyway ... I managed to run a bit up through the mud as I said "Hi" to people that I knew coming down from CP1. I would see most of them at each CP. I saw Prem coming down from CP1 as I was going up so I knew he was ahead of me. Every time I saw him he always told me that Christine was waiting for me. Sure enough, Christine was at CP1. Leg1 of 6.1 miles was complete in 1:06:25, 10:55 pace. I had 2 Endurolytes, water and chips in the 2:27 I spent in CP1.

CP1 - taken by Christine

CP1 to CP2, 2.5 miles: I ran down from CP1 and said "Hi" to the people that I knew: Kathy, Bambi and others ... I would see them again and again. I turned left at the bottom and ran onward. Up and down, through mud fields. Faster relay runners would pass occasionally now. Soon up, up and up to CP2. I managed to run a bit through the mud up to CP2. Christine was at CP2. The CP2 people was insistent that I had enough fluid to reach CP3.

CP2 taken by Julie Schroth D'Ovidio

CP2 - taken by Christine

CP2 to CP3, 6.8 miles: This was a long stretch punctuated with the usual mud fields, long climbs, roots, rocks, descents into gulleys, ascents from gulleys, stream crossings, etc. I had a bad stretch for a bit around mile 12 to 13. I had a couple of GUs and soon felt a bit better. I remember looking at my Garmin and seeing it click over to 3 hours and saw that I had gone 14 miles. It had gotten hot. I walked most of the climb up to CP3 and ran just before I heard Christine. I changed from my black Sehgahunda Training tech to my white Flower City Half tech, had 2 Endurolytes, water, GU and potato chips. My trail shoes and Darn Tough socks were caked in mud. I was certain that I was getting a blister on my left foot somewhere. Leg 2 (CP1 to CP3) of 9.3 miles was complete in 2:10:29, 14:02 pace.  I spent 4:48 in CP3.

CP3 taken by Christine

CP3 taken by Christine

CP3 to CP4: 2.3 miles: I was slowing. A shuffle down through the mud field, turn left at the bottom and onward. I reminded myself to be careful of the roots. Same old, same old and back up. Christine was at CP4. I had 1 Endurolyte, water, GU and potato chips. I had several PB&J squares since I was getting hungry. Christine told me that she could not drive to CP5 so she would see me at CP6.

CP4 - taken by Christine

CP4 to CP5: 1.7 miles: Onward ... down through the roots and mud field, turn left at the bottom, onward. More roots and rocks to be careful of. This section had a really long climb and descent. I was now walking the ups and trying to run the flats and downs. My run pace was more like a shuffle ... Steve Levitsky later called it the Sehgahunda shuffle. Then the climb up to CP5 ... just mud, roots and mud. The usual water, PB&J squares and chips were consumed.

CP5 to CP6: 2.5 miles: Onward ... down through the mud and roots, turn left at the bottom, onward and back up to CP6. The climb to CP6 was brutal. Up for about 1/4 mile in a kind of dry streambed, then more mud fields. Christine was there waiting for me. I was in kind of bad shape at CP6. I teetered a bit, put my hands on my knees, had 2 Endurolytes, water, PB&J squares and chips. Leg 3 (CP3 to CP6) of 6.5 miles was complete in 2:03:09, 18:57 pace. I spent 4:45 in CP6.

Only 4.4 miles to go ... I told Christine that I would see her at the finish. There was no way I was not going to finish ... the motto "run when you can, walk when you have to, crawl if you must" came to me.

CP6 - taken by Christine

CP6 to CP7: 1.3 miles: Onward, mind over matter ... down through the mud fields and rocks for the last time, turn left at the bottom ... onward for a mile that seemed like it would never end. RFP was my motto ... Relentless Forward Progress. I was careful not to trip, I knew I was tired. I made it to the stone road and CP7. I had water, PB&J squares and chips ... onward.

CP7 to CP8: 1 mile. The stone road had some hills that should have been easy to run up ... but.not so much after 23 miles. I struck a deal with myself: walk the ups, try to shuffle the flats and downs, look for shade. I had water, PB&J squares and water at CP8 ... onward.

CP8 to the finish, 2.2 miles. The path was the Greenway now ... relatively flat and level. So I struck up what I could that resembled a run. Onward for about a mile. I walked a tenth and then ran onward. I could hear the finish. I saw the stop sign at the Park Rd. I turned left, went up the hill. I had to walk a bit. I got back to a shuffle, then a slow run, I turned into the Parade Grounds, took a wrong turn in the parking lot, got back on course and headed to the finish. I saw Christine. I raised my arms and did a V for victory sign as I crossed the finish line in 6:32:56. Leg 4 (CP6 to Finish) was complete in 1:01:01, 13:52 pace. Done!

At the finish line - taken by John Simpson

The finish line!

Finish: I had some Lemonade. I sat down where Christine had put the chairs that she had brought at Dollar General when I was running between CP2 and CP3. She got me some food. I was really tired. Both our cell phones were dead so I asked Anzhela Knyaveza to take a few post race pictures.

Prem came over. He had run a real strong 6:01:59 just 2 weeks after running 53 miles at Mind the Ducks. Tina Pellegrin came over to talk. She told us that she had DNFed at CP3 because of a wasp sting she got on her butt around mile 12. She said she remained calm and walked herself out for 3 miles until she reached CP3. I saw a lot of people as I sat next to the finish line watching people finish. It's all a blur. Taking off my trail shoes and socks was not enjoyable. They were soaked and caked with mud. I got a bit of a cramp in my left knee, ouch. I was surprised to find that I had no blisters. I might have picked up a couple more black toenails to go with the 3.5 I already had though.

Mud! - taken by John Simpson

Someone did take a picture of the scenery ... I did look around occasionally and saw a bit

Christine wanted to drive back to Mount Morris but I jumped into the drivers seat first. She was a bit pissed. We carried our gear up to our room. We charged our phones and powered up the laptops. We took turns using the bathroom. She had the bathtub first. Then I took a shower and a bath. My feet and legs were filthy. I noticed that the bath towel was a bit dirty when I toweled off ... maybe I should have taken 2 showers and baths.

I pulled up the Sehgahunda results, link here. Officially, I finished in 6:32:56, 14:57 pace, 111th out of 164 solo runners, 8th out of 15 in my 50-59 age group. 32 solo runners DNFed, the highest of any Sehgahunda. Other people that I knew who ran the solo: Joe Ciecierega finished in 5:30:17, Yoshihiro Nozaki finished in 5:31:36, John Muoio finished in 5:40:11, Frank Quattrone finished in 5:55:04, Anne Esposito finished 5:55:19, Anzhela Knyaveza finished in 6:12:13, Steve Levitsky finished in 6:22:01, Rob Ganey finished in 6:52:51, Bambi Jasmin and Kathy Reardon finished in 7:08:06, Marilee Pryor finished in 7:18:13, Bob Lonsberry finished in 7:22:53, Tom Butler finished in 7:45:01 (and ran the Buffalo Marathon the next day) and Veronica Falkevitz finished in 7:59:18. The relay team results are here.

But Sehghunda is more than results and stats ... it's about the experience of earning the hoodie and the necklace! It's the opportunity to test oneself and see if you are worthy.

The aftermath ... muddy shoes, socks, calf sleeves and bib along with a well earned hoodie and finisher's medal.

I would like to thank Fleet Feet, the Fleet Feet Endurance Team, Yellow Jacket Racing, their staff, the volunteers, the Park Police, the ambulance crews and spectators for all their help encouragement. I would especially like to thank my darling wife, Christine, for crewing and helping me during the race.

I am now 2 for 4 at Sehgahunda. I fell and broke a rib on my right side in 2010 between CP1 and CP2, DNFed at CP3, blog post here. I overhydrated in 2011, DNFed at CP6, blog post here,. I finished in 2012, blog post here and now 2014. Will I be back for 2015? Maybe, maybe not. It might be time to experience the Buffalo Marathon instead.

I collapsed on our king sized bed back at the Alligiance Bed and Breakfast. I revived my phone enough and texted my kids and siblings to let them know that I was still alive and had finished. I listened to Christine snore for a while as I watched a bit of TV. Supper was Bugles and cookies. Soon ... zzzz!