Post by brucedenton on Aug 3, 2011 20:14:00 GMT -5
Two QCS runners completed their first 100 miler last weekend in the Cleveland area. Joe McQuade finished in 26:07 and Mary Jane Baniak in 28:28. The race was run in high heat and humidity, and the drop rate was about 50 per cent. Several runners wound up in the hospital during or after the race. Many strong, experienced ultra runners failed to finish. I was one of them. I felt great at 33.5 miles (5:56) but the heat began to wear on me over the next 10 miles, and even though the 10+ minute pace, which included walk breaks every 10-20 minutes, felt easy and comfortable, I still think it was a little too ambitious, and I began to struggle some around mile 45. At about 55 miles I somehow strained a hip flexor and was no longer able to run, and after limping progressively worse over the next 8 miles had to call it quits. Joe and Mary Jane persevered through a long night on the trails and were extremely impressive with their stamina and determination. Joe moved up steadily from over 200th place at 15 miles to finishing 61st overall. MJ came in 111th after also being in the low 200s early on. We were a sorry sight after the race, she utterly depleted and recumbent and me barely ambulatory. (Joe, meanwhile, looked great.) Both of us are still days (at least) away from running again. We can't say enough about our crew, who took time away from their jobs and families to drive around all these country roads to various aid stations all day and night, with no sleep, and pace us through some very hard miles, and then help us get to our hotel room when it was finally over (and then driving home with no sleep!). All six of them were indispensable, most of them logged double digit miles themselves, and most of those miles were on trails in the dead of night. We never would have been able to do it without Dave, Vicki, John, Tina, Todd, and Shauna. It was an amazing adventure, not sure if I would prefer to be the runner or a crew member for the next one, but I don't think I would try another one in the middle of summer. And I can't say enough about Joe and Mary Jane's fortitude, it brought tears to my eyes to see them finish, they were beasts out there.