On October 5, 2002, I was lucky enough to travel to the mostly hillbilly-populated state of Arkansas to run the Arkansas Traveler 100. The AT 100 is a racewhere approximately 150 people gather in the woods outside of Little Rock and attempt to run 100 miles across the back country on a trail that contains 24,000 feet of elevation change, big rocks, lots of snakes, aggressive yellow jackets, spiders, wild dogs and some highly dangerous drunken hillbilly locals. Here is a 100% accurate accounting of my adventures:
Miles 0-25 (Hours 0-5). The race started at 6am near a rustic cabin just west of Little Rock by Lake Sylvia. There were about 300 people at the start, half of them runners and the other half crew members that came out to pace runners from time to time or just give moral support. I didn’t bring onebecause if I happened to puke on myself or piss my pants during the race, my crew would probably just take pictures and laugh. The pre-race consisted of a safety briefingwhich revolved around two subjects: Watching out for rocks on trail and Making sure to stay on trail because it is squirrel hunting season and the local hunters would be out (everyone knows Arkansas squirrel hunters are bad shots!). After the briefing, the starting gun went off and we were on our way. It was pitch black out, and I forgot to bring a flashlight so I hung close to a German man with a headlamp. Hans was his name and about an hour into the run the sun finally came up and we parted ways. I did not see 61-year-old Hans again until mile 98 where he would blow by me like I was standing still. The majority of the trail during the first quarter of the race was a lovely single-track trail with very little rocks on trail. The race was set up with aid stations placed every 4-6 miles on trail, and every aid station set up their own themes to try and motivate the runners. During this leg of the run I was quick to find that the aid stations were well stocked with everything from peanut butter sandwiches to Vaseline. The only half interesting action that happened during this leg occurred as I was running behind a gentleman who told me stories of when he was a surgeon during Vietnam and backpacking travels around 3rd world countries. While his stories were very entertaining and impressive, the best part came when we ran through a swarm of yellow jackets and he got stung 4 times on the butt. The first time, he jumped straight up screaming like a little girl, and by the time he received the 4th sting I thought he was going to start to cry. I eventually took one sting in the back myself but I didn’t let him know that because it would ruin my chance to give him a hard time for his whining, which I did for a couple of miles.
Miles 5-75 (Hours 5-20). I call this section of the run “no mans land” because you don’t have the excitement of the beginning of the race and you’re not on the tail end. The name also refers to the fact that by mile 55 or so the pack gets really spread out and you find yourself alone on the trail most of the time. My favorite aid stations came during this leg, the first one was called the Flamingo and the second was Chili Pepper.
So, there I was (all cool stories start this way) running past mile 40 like I was Superman; I felt so good, if a bear jumped out I would have probably wrestled it to the ground and made it scream “uncle,” or wet myself. As I passed through mile 40, it was becoming dusky and the shadows of trees started to cast images across the path, sometimes playing tricks on my mind. Most of the time I mistook the shadows for small animals, in particular, snakes. Well, there I was running down the trail dodging shadows which looked like snakes when I looked down at one of the shadows and it was a copper head snake within 2 feet of me. It was a cool day so the snake was not moving very fast. Never theless, my super powers immediately left me, and I ran off the trail approximately 15 feet and gave the snake enough room for an elephant to pass by. With my almost near life threatening experience, I marched on and with in a couple more miles I found myself alone and at my lowest mental point of the race. It was at this mental lowness when I looked up and what did I see but a plastic pink flamingo sitting in a tree. Before I continue I need to tell you I am not a person that gets choked up easily; I believe the last time I got choked up was a few years ago watching my father return from the Gulf War - my point is I am not a cry baby. With that said, I looked at that plastic pink flamingo and a actual tear ran down my face. I am not sure if it was a tear of joy knowing I was close to my favorite aid station with warm food and clean socks or if I actually had been bitten by the deadly “sissy” mosquito. You will all be glad to know that the blood test came back and the deadly “sissy” mosquito caused my lapse of manhood. After my emotional bull crap, I finally reached the flamingo aid station and it lived up to all my expectations, there must have been 30 cheesy trailer park flamingos all over the place and the people were dressed in hula skirts and were very helpful in bringing food or clothes you needed. I stayed in this little piece of paradise for about 4 minutes and then moved on down the trail. My next favorite aid station on this section was Chili Pepper, this station was part of an out and back section of the course where we ran to a point in the middle of nowhere and then we would turn around and head back the exact route we came. What this means is I got to see this aid station twice and the joy of this aid station is the food and the people. The people were extraordinary liars because as soon as I strolled in at mile 60 the look at me and say “you look like you haven’t even ran 5 miles let alone 60;” this kind of talk is always helpful. They also had an enormous amount of food: fajitas, chicken, beef, black beans, brown rice - anything you wanted. I decided this was a great place for a full 5 minute stop, I found myself a chair ordered two fajitas and a beer. Remarkably they produced all three, I ate my food, drank my Bud light and left that aide station a better man. The last 10 miles of this section put me into darkness and to be honest running at night is my favorite time, and with no one around, it really gives you the feeling that at any moment a really scary animal could jump out and rip your arm off.
Mile 75 – 100 (Hours 20-27:52). This section is what separates the crazy from the clinical insane, most of its at night and the body is defiantly resisting any and all efforts to run. To be honest I don’t remember too much of this section due to my daydreaming and physical state but I will tell you what I do remember. At his point, I had my headlamp on high beam and I was completely alone with no runners in sight for miles. The trail wasn’t really a trail but an old jeep trail with a bunch of rocks and holes, I found myself walking about 60% of the time. One of the rules of running ultra races is to not give up until the sun comes up on the second day, because it’s amazing how nice you feel after the sun comes up and with knowing this all my thoughts were on just keep moving forward until the sun came up. One bit of excitement that did happen during this leg happened around 4 am, there I was jogging along a small section of single-track trail when I heard some voices. My first thought was of concern, because we all knew it was squirrel-hunting season and the local hunters have been compared to the lovely hunters in the movie Deliverance and I am not partial to squealing like a pig! I continued on cautiously squinting harder and harder at the shadows ahead when out of the dark two Army Officers appeared stating “Drive on, sir”, I said thanks and ran on. I wanted to tell them what I was really thinking, “Geez, you army bastards almost made me crap my pants!” (The Army people were on the trail to look for injured runners). The sun finally came up around 7 am and at this point I was around the 90-mile mark, my legs were pretty tired but all in all I felt pretty good. I reached the last aid station at mile 94 around 7:30 am, I ate a cup of soup and a turkey sandwich and moved on. I felt good and felt like I was jogging at a good pace until I came off the jeep trail and entered a dirt road that ran through a camp ground and an elderly lady walking her dog passed me. I wasn’t very pleased to find out that I was moving at a 20-25 minute mile pace over the last couple of miles. About 30 minutes after being passed by the speed walking grandmother, I finally reached the paved road, which meant I only had one mile left to go. The last mile was uphill the whole way, and when I got with in a quarter mile of the finish I could here people cheering for a runner coming in front of me. This cheering gave me a 2nd wind and I actually began running up the hill and I when I reached the top of the hill I turned into the 100-yard driveway of the rustic cabin where we started the day before. At the end of the driveway they were playing music, like the theme from Rocky or something and around 300 people were cheering me on. I crossed the finish line in 27 hours 52 minutes; not a speed record but a pretty good time for my first completed 100 Mile Race.
Website: www.run100s.com/at100.htm