You're a marathoner. Surely you could do seven of these loops. Roughly 42 km and you get a whopping seven hours to complete it. Easy, so you should be able to go even further. But how far can you go? At what point will you be so exhausted, either as a result of the kilometres you ran or caused by a lack of sleep, that you no longer can run the 6 km loop within the hour. That's the question Another One Bites the Dust asks to its competitors. And I was curious to find out what my answer would be.
To reiterate, this is no regular ultra. Instead, every hour we have to start the same loop again. Official distance 5,959 km. In reality a bit longer (my watch measured it as 6,3 km), as is apparently a tradition with the organisers: Stef and Tim of Legends Trails. You don't have to be fast (just average at least 6,3 km per hour, preferably a bit faster so you have time to recover and eat before starting the next loop), you have to be stubborn enough to keep going.
It's a bit of a diabolical concept, really. Designed to break a runner either physically, mentally, or both. Unsurprisingly, the first race of this kind, Big's Backyard Ultra in Tennessee, is hosted by none other than Lazarus Lake of Barkley Marathons fame.
My goal
Mostly, I came to learn. I was interested in this type of race as soon as I first read about Big's, and when I found out about this 'local' (two hour drive) race I knew I had to try it. When I first discovered it in 2018, however, it was two weeks before the start. Too late to enter. This year all my training was focused on a fast Seven Hills, but I didn't want to wait another year so I signed up for AOBtD anyway. Even without specific ultra training, I was sure I could last for a decent amount of loops and test my limits.
My approach to ultra has been conservative so far. All races I started I knew that I had a very high chance to finish. As a result I wasn't really sure about my limit as far as distance is concerned. My furthest so far, 70 km at Olne Spa Olne last year, went reasonably well. Surely I could go further, but how far? This should be a rather risk-free way to find out.
With what I knew about ultra's, I figured a few things:
-Eat a lot, you'll need the fuel. Don't wait 'till your hungry as you'll be too late.
-It's very much a mental game. Especially in this event where speed is less important.
So my prep involved bringing a lot of food (you never know what you'll crave, and the aid station at the start/finish might not serve it). And mentally I convinced myself I was going to win. Deep down I knew that wasn't realistic, but I didn't want to set another barrier. The event hands out medals to anyone who does 28 loops or more, and looking at the results I noticed many dropped out at exactly 28 loops, when this goal was achieved. My goal was to go as far as I could, I didn't want to have a finish line, not even one I was unlikely to reach.
Finally, I was curious to see how better runners than myself would tackle this event. And with another start every hour, they wouldn't be out of sight all the time.
Registration was as simple as writing down my name on this startlist
The Loop
After going round a few times, I had divided the loop in five sections. First, the easy road: tarmac then concrete. Running between some meadows until a left turn after a lone house. Next section was a single track, running between tall grass. I was glad we started with about 100 runners, as this meant to track was a little wider after a few rounds. Third section started with a cobblestone road, then onto some forest tracks (one of the few bits in the shade). It ended with a small climb. Nothing spectacular, but after two loops I decided to walk this uphill to conserve energy.
After the climb we were rewarded with a false flat downhill over tarmac. Then a left turn onto a tractor road. Sector five, by my reckoning, started with a right turn onto a grassy path. Then a narrow bridge (more like a balance beam as far as I'm concerned) and some off road through the meadows, ending up at the path we started on. Enough variety, not overly hard but very uneven (plus loose rocks) so you had to pay attention to your footing.
The Race
We started at 8 p.m. and it was still quite warm. Drank a lot, got familiar with the route and its characteristics, and tried to run at an easy pace. The bit with the tall grass I alternated running and walking, mostly because that's what those in front of me did. Didn't really like it but overtaking was nearly impossible here and would cost even more energy. Third loop I brought my headtorch after seeing others lining up with them at the start. Didn't really need it yet, but the fourth loop I never switched it off.
Also, we got burgers after loop 3
Fifth loop I wore a warmer shirt (long sleeves), as it got a bit colder. My stomach was a bit full, I could hear water splashing around as if I had my reservoir with me. Tried to tone down the drinking a bit. After the sixth and seventh loop I readied some food and gear for a little plan I had hatched. With the warm weather I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep during the day, so I wanted to try a little nap in the night time. After a fast loop 8 I went to my tent and laid down for 12 minutes. Wasn't tired enough to sleep, so I'm not sure if I actually came out on top here (the fast loop cost some energy).
After resting I grabbed everything I had readied and went for the start of loop 9. One mistake I did make was to bring an empty bottle, so I did this loop without any water. At 4 a.m. it wasn't all that warm, so I got away with it. Still goes to show how you can mess up these small things. It was a nice loop, with a spectacular sunrise.
Post loop 10 I decided to switch my shoes and socks. My left foot looked a bit battered. Dewdrops had clung to the tall grass and got my feet wet. On the left this resulted in what felt like a blister forming. Not much to do other than drying my feet and getting into clean socks. After ten loops in trail shoes I switched to road shoes. The course was dry (worst of the dew over) and didn't require extra grip. Especially in daylight it wasn't overly technical.
Legs felt fine. Some tiredness but I had over 60 km done. End of loop 10 and during loop 11 I did have some dizziness. By walking a bit and downing some jelly babies I fixed this. Not sure if this was really the miracle cure I needed, but I wasn't dizzy for the rest of the race. This did start a new pattern for me: walking the first bit of the tarmac road (start of section 4) and eating some. It was easier to eat while walking and I could afford to lose a minute there (most loops were between 40 and 42 minutes, so I had plenty of time in between rounds).
Loop 12 was special for me, passing the 70 km mark I now ran farther than I ever had before. Unfortunately, I also started to struggle a bit more. Legs were tiring, my left foot hurt at times and it was becoming harder to eat properly (just small bites). Still managed to get a good lap time, but it didn't feel great. The running of loop 13 felt slightly better, but afterwards I felt worse. Changed into a fresh set of clothes (underwear, different shorts, and now a sleeveless shirt).
Nevertheless, loop 14 I didn't improve. At this point I realised the endgame had started. More walking, and a loop time over 45 minutes. Little less rest, and I had trouble eating so I knew that tank would be empty in a few loops. Despite not wanting to set a limit, I had calculated that we'd pass the 100 km mark in loop 17. Even with my legs hurting more, I could definitely still make that.
So loop 15 and 16 I completed in crunch mode. Walking quite a lot but by running just the few parts where I felt strong I could compensate plenty. Loop times went up, bit over 47 minutes and a little under 51. Though really, I was also very much losing the race mentally. It just wasn't very fun anymore, hadn't been for hours now.
Beforehand I had one rule for myself: never quit in camp (I got this from John Kelly). Plus I wanted to go past 100 km now that I was so close (at 6,3 km per loop I was actually at 100,8 km already, but I used 6 km to be safe). So I started loop 17, walking more than I really had to, hoping to finish just under the hour. Ideally, I would sprint the last part to heroically make it, then miss the next start due to not having any time left.
While thinking this over, I had to admit that mentally I was broken. Even though I had set out to push myself, now that I'd been out there for over 16 hours, I just didn't want it anymore. So walking the last stretch towards the finish line, I was almost disappointed I still had over five minutes to spare. Nevertheless I knew I'd quit, accepting defeat in the mind game this race plays with you. I even mentioned this to another runner. Glad I did, as he pointed out we had plenty of time for another loop. In fact, he'd carry on until he'd be timed out.
It reminded me, that's what I wanted. That's what I came here to do. No way I could quit with five minutes to spare. I could drink, eat, and get ready. So I did.
From the start of loop 18 I walked, as I had the last few loops. This time, I couldn't really be bothered to start running. The previous round had taught me that with very minimal running, I could make it, and I wasn't sure if I even wanted that. After a while I did pick up the pace, and noticed I was going at about 6,5 km per hour. A new challenge presented itself. Could I walk to whole way and still finish in time?
Walking as fast as I could, I went for it. The small climb I figured I lose a little time, but even there I noticed I was going fast enough. At that point I knew I wouldn't have to run a single step. With two and a halve minutes to spare, I made it.
In a weird way, I found this was a good reason to quit. If I could even make it while walking, then really my only way out of this was to quit in camp. Sure, if I kept walking my laps I would eventually encounter something major. Perhaps my left foot would deteriorate so much I couldn't use it anymore. Or the lack of fuel in my stomach would put a halt to my efforts. In any case, I wouldn't want to be away from the camp once that happened. So I accepted defeat.
DNF after 18 loops
Postrace
Some regrets about quitting, even though I got quite far and was happy with the distance. But still, I actually felt pretty good walking and perhaps... I suppose there's always a lingering doubt, especially after the pain and exhaustion subsides. Fact remains that I hadn't eaten properly for the last few hours, so even the walking pace wouldn't be sustainable for much longer. Plus I was quite tired, a few laps I had trouble keeping my eyes open (especially with the sun out).
Unfortunately, the warm weather had turned my tent into a sauna so I hardly slept. Just got a little shut-eye on a blanket in the shade. Hanging out there meant I got to meet some nice people who were supporting Jack, a runner who was still in the race. After a while I found myself helping out a bit as well, fetching water and other drinks. Jack made it to 28 loops, which got him a "participation medal" and watching him in between loops taught me a few things about ultra.
As expected, the medal at 28 loops was a finish line of sorts to most runners still in the race. Only one, Merijn, opted to go for loop 29 and thus won the race. It was inspiring to see how deep these runners could go and I was happy to be around. Atmosphere at the camp was great, which made the waiting time pass rather quickly. Still, when I return to this event, it won't be for the camp. It'll be to run 6,3 km. And again, and again, and again...
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