75 K

On Saturday I completed my longest run to date. The 40 mile trek turned out to be closer to 50.
I got off to a great start at 6:30 a.m. There is something magical about the forest as the sun comes up. At mile 2 I crossed a stream with pentiful flow. "Good", I thought, "water won't be a problem". But as I climbed in elevation things dried up. I arrived at my planned water refill to find a bone dry creek bed. From this point on water would be the primary objective.

I started rationing Gatorade (I still had about 20 0z and 2 hours to Allen Gap) and things moved along smoothly. At mile 13 I ran into this high altitude peacock (4800 feet). At first he would not budge, then he lead me down the trail, running, for 50 or so feet.

Everything changed at Allen Gap. The first 20.2 miles flew by in 4 hours 10 minutes. I thought I would find water here, but no luck. The nearest gas station was 5 miles away. I ran and hitched, and got a ride after about 1.5 miles. I restocked my Gatorade supply, drank a couple of Cokes and ran back. No one picked me up and I added on another 5 miles. The mountain in the background is Allen Gap. I was expecting the most grueling section to be the climb out of Allen Gap and it was. Little did I know I would already have pounded 6.5 extra miles of uphill road to get to the climb. Back on the trail I experienced my first major bonk.

During said bonk, I put my foot down about 8 inches in front of this rattler. The adrenaline gave me a needed boost.

This exposed ridge line trail features some of the best views I have ever seen from the AT. I was running low on water again and having the most painful abdominal cramps I have experienced. Dehydration and exhaustion were wearing me very thin. The abdominal cramps persisted for an hour or two and made running nearly impossible. I walked all the climbs and stumbled and ran the descents and flats. This run pushed me far past my pain threshold. After mile 32 the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I had no choice. Water was still a major issue and I was rationing again, trying to make 20 oz last 9 miles-not fun in 95 degree weather. As I floundered into a clearing and shelter at mile 40, I was shocked to see a gallon of pure water glinting in the sunlight. No one was around. I called out and found some hippies camping behind the shelter. We worked out a trade and they hooked me up with 64 oz of water and some ibuprofen (I forgot mine). Those last 7 miles would have been pure hell without them.

Beat down. I shot this self portrait at the trail head as the sun started to slide behind the mountains. It took me about 12 hours and 15 minutes to run 47 miles (just under 75 k) including breaks. I am glad I did it, but I hope I never hurt like that again.