Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 miler

5/7 - 5/8/2005 - Massanutten Mt. Trails 100 Miler - 101.8 Miles - 28:25:25 - 18,599' elevation gain on rocks

A total of 143 starters, 93 finishers (65% finish rate), 26th place overall, 8th in my 40-49 age group. 

Splits

Heart Rate and Elevation Profile

What a day out on the trails.  This idea all started when Chris Scott told me that in order to run "The Ring" (a cult 70+ mile one day running event on the same course by VHTRC), that I had to do MMT 100 first.  Well that was enough to get me to join in on the fun.  I committed to the race in December so my training would be focused on running technical trail.  This was not a problem as the rains in Southern California in early 2005 were torrential and damaged many of our local trails.

Training for Coyote Four Play and ferrying loads to some of the remote aid stations helped get me in shape.  After C4P at the end of February I rested for a week and started back increasing my mileage.  Lots of business travel forced me to the roads and that took its toll with a week of shin splints.    After recovering for this it was back on track in prep for a Rim to Rim to Rim one day adventure in the Grand Canyon.  This was my last long run before the event.

I showed up at Dulles Airport Wednesday night and was picked up by Scott Mills.   Scott, a fine ultrarunner with lots of experience, would be marking trail on Thursday with some of the locals and working out the final logistics for the event with Race Director Stan.  Both Scott and Stan showed me best hospitality by letting me sleep in their chalets.  I was well rested for the event and this was invaluable.

 I got a taste of the trail when I helped mark the first few miles of course.  Trail turned to rocks, rocks turn to more rocks.   These were not your typical streambed rocks, but angular fixed rocks the did not move so foot placement was critical.  I shuttled the car to the first aid station location and ran up the trail and marked until I met up the trail marking party.  Back to the car for the next leg of marking.  We travelled to Gap Creek aid station and I left the course marking party and went to the Visitor center to check out the local flora and fauna.  When I returned back the car I saw I had a flat tire in process.  I motored down to the nearest tire shop (10 miles down the road and spent the next 2 hours reading magazines in a garage.   Yes this was relaxing but I would have preferred hanging out at the aid station.

Once the tire was repaired I motored back to the rendezvous location and found Scott and Derek putting up the last trail marking ribbon.  We timed it perfectly.    Back in the car and off to Mexican Food for dinner.

The race:

Took it easy in the beginning and paced myself.  The rocks were unrelenting.   I was going strong until I hit Bird Knob aid station.  Met Bruce Grant there and he took off just ahead of me.  This would be the last I would see of him until the finish line.  I plodded along in this section and realized my pace had slowed considerably.  I was low of calories and needed a boost.  When I got to the next aid station Sally fixed me up with some nutrition and encouragement.  It was another 6 miles and then I would be with Derek my pacer and Chris Scott at Gap 2 aid station.  Filled up grilled cheese and power-walked up the trail. 

More when I have time.....

MMT 2005 Splits

Time Between Aid Stations
Compiled by Valerie Meyer

Splits--Times of Arrival | 2005 MMT Report Page | News

The time to complete the leg into the aid station is on the line beside the runner's name. The numbers on the line underneath are the rank of the split and the place at that point. Thus, "2, 4" means that was the second fastest split over that section and the runner was in fourth place at the end of that section.

Note that the times were collected by various people whose watches were not synchronized, and we did not record the time of departure. In many cases a portion of the time between two aid stations was spent sitting in a chair at the station of departure.

Heart Rate and Elevation Profile

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