72 Hour run for Andrew and CAH Awareness - 2018

"If you are going to face a real challenge, it has to be a real challenge.  You can't accomplish anything without the possibility of failure" -- Lazaraus Lake, creator of the Barkley Marathons, the world's most difficult race.

People often ask me why I choose to run such long distances.  Why would I choose to run so much that my body breaks down as I try and push it to its limits?  Running through sleep deprivation, sore muscles, swollen ankles and feet, running through the extreme heat and torrential wind and rain.  Why?????

I wish I had a really good answer.

I think running gives me a sense of accomplishment that I must not get from anything else.  When I was working, closing a big deal was never as rewarding as the feeling I got after finishing a 24 hour race.  Sure closing a big deal after months of selling felt good, but it was different kind of "good".  Training for a 24/48 or 72 hour race can itself be a full time job.  The months of long runs and accumulated time spent on your feet make it a true investment in success.  This year (Jan-May) leading up to the 3 Day run for Andrew, I had run 170 hours, the equivalent of 7+ days.  There are achievements along the way with training.  Pushing myself just a little bit further each time out or maybe a little bit faster.  Running through hunger and a depleted body to mimic race conditions.  Working and learning what my body can or can not do.  I am in control, for the most part, of my success.  If I put in the time and the effort, and train smart, good things will come and I am always working to try and get better.

Last year's 3 Day Race for Andrew was hot and the heat affected my results.  I ran a disappointing 182 miles.  18 fewer than my PR of 200.  This year's training plan was the same as last. I didn't change anything except maybe adding a few more days with longer runs.   I felt I had done everything possible, except train in the sauna!  With the race being in May, your body doesn't have enough exposure to hot days to acclimate to running in the possibility of  the 95 degree weather that we had last year.

I am a big treadmill runner.  I train pretty exclusively on the treadmill during the winter.  If I was training for a winter race, of course I would spend my time training outside.  But the 3 day race is in May!  The treadmill in my basement allows for the freedom to hop on or hop off whenever needed.  The accessibility of the treadmill would allow me to log extra miles, because I couldn't let myself just sit and watch television.  (I can do that on the treadmill) and on those rainy days, I would rather have a great mindset on a 15 mile treadmill run, than struggle mentally through a rainstorm.  If I was just sitting at home, I might as well be running on the treadmill, even if it's only for a few miles.  Those extra miles would add up throughout a week of training.  It probably wasn't until early April, when we went to Hawaii for spring break, that I started to go outside and train.  I had a good 7-8 weeks of outdoor runs, to get my legs used to the ground again!  Sure there a negatives to me spending so much time on a treadmill, but I truly believe that If I ran as many miles as I did during the week, exclusively outdoors on the pavement, that the possibility of injury would be greater!  I went into the race injury free.

DAY 1 (Thursday, May 17th) - 9am

My alarm went off at 4:30am and I intended to leave my house in Ridgewood for the race at 5:30am and pick up ice on the way.  I had already set up my canopy (personal aid station) and tent, the day before, so I would not have to mess with it the morning of the race.   I was going to be solo, with no crew for the first 36 hours, until Friday night.

When I arrived at the Sussex County Fairgrounds around 6:45am it was raining.  There were 50 or so 6 Day runners out on the 1 mile loop, racking up the miles.  They had been running for nearly 3 days already, and the 72 Hour runners would be out there shortly to join them for another 3 days.

When the horn went off at 9am I still wasn't quite sure what my strategy for the 3 days was going to be.  It was raining.  I had on a rain jacket and I was just going to run.  That was my strategy.  Run by feel.  My distance goals were short ones.  I wanted to first get to 10 miles, which is when I decided to ditch the rain coat.  Then a half marathon, then 20 miles and I crossed the marathon distance (26+) in 4:35:00 and the rain stopped.  Everything was feeling pretty good.  Crossed the 50k mark in 5:33:00.  I think it was at this point that I started to get into a rhythm I had a few marks along the course that I would get to and take walk breaks in order to keep my heart rate down.   You can't afford to push all the time, it will lead to exhaustion and failure quicker.

With no one crewing me, I didn't feel the need to pull into my aid station as often, there was aid on
the course and no one to talk to at my camp.  This kept me out there running longer. I got to 50 miles in 9:49:31, which I'm pretty sure is close to a 50 mile PR for me.  I was on pace to surpass my 24 hour PR of 107 miles, I needed to slow down.  It's a 3 day race, not a 1 day race.  I pulled into the tent at 7pm and took my first long break of about an hour.  Ordered a hamburger from the aid station, grabbed some rice with chicken broth and sat down to eat.  There was no need to push it to get to 100 miles in 24 hours, that would likely make day 2 and 3 disastrous.  So I slowed it down a bit and took more walk breaks.  I took my next break at 1:30am and "slept" in the back of my SUV until 3:30am, setting my alarm.  I did not sleep, but I closed my eyes and laid there as my body throbbed to the rhythm of my heart beat.  By the end of day 1, the first 24 hours, I had run 91 miles, and was feeling in pretty good shape.

DAY 2 (Friday, May 18th)

I hit 100 miles in 26:26:07.  I was feeling good and just wanted to keep going.  It was at this point that I saw a familiar face from previous year's races.  Pablo Espinosa, a Canadian professional runner and creator of GO JUICE (https://www.pablosrun.com/go-juice.html), who had helped me in previous years with my race strategy and a horrible chaffing problem!  Pablo and I exchanged hellos and acknowledged that it took 24 hours to finally see each other on the course.  Pablo would again, play a large part later in the day, getting me through my race.

I honestly don't remember much about Day 2.  According to the time stamp of a text to my wife, I was at 122 miles at 6:20pm on Friday.  Time was going so slow.  I was waiting for the arrival of my friend Sean, who had graciously offered to crew me during the overnight hours of Friday into Saturday.  Sean arrived just as the sun was going down.  I gave him the lay of the land, showed him where all my stuff was, pointing out my cold running gear, and rain gear, as it was going to get cooler and more rain was expected.  We walked a lap together and then I was on my way.

I ran for a few more hours, and I felt like the wheels were coming off.  I was walking more and contemplating getting to 150 and just quitting.  I wasn't feeling good.  Then, running at my heels were Pablo and the 6 day race leader, Johnny Hallneby.  Johnny is from Sweden and was crushing it.  Having already run, at that point 4 1/2 days in, roughly 350-400 miles.  More on that later.  Pablo tells me to stop walking and join them on their lap.  I was thinking there was no way I was going to be able to run very long with the Canadian National 24 Hour Champion and also the elite 6 Day Race Leader.  They swept me off the side of the course and started talking with me about my goals and assured me if I hung with them they would get me over my target of 200 miles.  Pablo was shooting for 250 miles, and Johnny?  Well, he was only gunning for the Swedish National 6 Day record!  I ran with them until the early morning hours until I had to pull over for another nap, I think I closed my eyes for another 90 or so minutes?  Sean left at 5a to drive to Brooklyn to fulfill a NYRR volunteer commitment.  His help was much appreciated.  Over 72 hours, the time spent looking for various gear, and clothes adds up, having someone in your tent to just grab and meet you the needed gear or nutrition, is so helpful!  THANK YOU SEAN.

I joined back up with Pablo and Johnny and we proceded to knock off more miles together.  They had a great run/walk strategy and Johnny was focusing on steady 13 min mile pace to maintain chase of the Swedish record.  By the end of day 2, 48 Hours of running, I had covered an additional 60 miles and my 2 day total was 151 miles.  I needed 50 more miles on the last day to surpass 200.

DAY 3 (Saturday, May 19th)

The rain had started up again early Saturday morning.  It was going to be mid 40's all day and nothing but rain.  My wife and 2 boys were going to come to the race midday and stay until the finish Sunday.  It would be the first time for the boys to sleep in a tent outdoors.

I had brought maybe 10 different waterproof/water repellent coats of various thicknesses.  No matter which one I wore, each coat would just get bogged down, wet and become cold. (I will add that my Foot Joy Golf Jacket was the best for repelling the water)  I saw many other runners wearing garbage bags, and was told by Pablo this was the best bet.  Most of Saturday I wore, a t-shirt, with a long sleeve shirt over it, with a garbage bag over the top of that, then a fleece, a rain jacket and then another garbage bag.  The idea is to keep your skin dry to avoid hypothermia.  This method was fantastic.  I poked some air holes for ventilation and my upper body stayed warm and dry!


Andrew's dad, Doug, showed up unexpectedly around noon and brought me a huge coffee and a McDonalds chicken club sandwich, just as Sandy and the boys arrived.  It was so great to see them.  By this point my body was broken, I was tired and I think pretty emotional.  I sat in the car with Doug and I vented about the miserable conditions and ate.  The boys got settled into the tent where they would pretty much stay until Sunday morning!

It was around 6pm on Saturday, I had logged 173 miles.  I stopped to eat another chicken sandwich, fries and a huge piece of chocolate and I noticed my ankle was really sore.

I looked down and realized it was swollen.  This was not good......After sharing the pic on Facebook, a concerned friend reached out, he was connected with an ankle/foot surgeon.  Based on a few more pics and some follow up questions, the "diagnosis" was synovitis.  Inflammation caused by synovial Joint fluid.  I put it up, took an alleve and iced it for about an hour.

I was told that If I couldn't feel my toes, then I would have a problem.  I could not rotate my ankle without help, couldn't point my toes, couldn't pull my toes up!  Time was running out.  I needed 28 miles in the remaining 14 hours to reach my goal.  My slowest walk, in pain, would probably be a 30 min mile.  So If I was going to go, and walk it in to the finish, 2 miles an hour for the next 14 hours, I needed to get back out there and get moving!!

I went back out on the course and started walking, then I picked up my knees and tried to jog. Jogging actually felt better but I had to adjust my foot strikes and leg rotation to alleviate the pain as much as possible, and get me the most speed (I use the word "speed" loosely!). 

At just about this time, up run Pablo and Johnny, telling me to join them again.  Pablo immediately asked what mile I was on and was doing the math to get me over 200.  He was always doing math, figuring out his laps, his breaks, his massages, his meals.  He was certain I could break 200.  I told them about my ankle, and the response I got was "yeah, that sometimes happens, what are you going to do about it?"

I guess I was going to run until I couldn't run anymore.

We ran together off and on, probably 8 or 9 of the last 14 hours.  I would join them, run 5 miles then have to sit for a few minutes, then I'd rejoin them on their next loop and run some more.  At one point, I had to cross in front of Johnny to avoid a puddle and Johnny tripped up on the back of my shoe.  We laughed (albeit briefly) about the headline the next day, "Stupid American injures Swedish runner, ruining his chances of setting new national record."  Thank god, no one got hurt, and Pablo and Johnny still pulled me along.  These guys were great, and honestly, if it was not for them, I may have quit the race when I was down the most.

The overnight hours on Saturday, were pretty consistent.  I'd run for 2 hours and then pull in for a 15 minute break, run for 2 hours and break.  I took 4 breaks of an hour or more, to put my feet up and eat.  I hit mile 201 at 6:40am Sunday morning, had a big breakfast from a local diner that Sandy brought me, a burrito and potatoes! I   Had over 2 hours to add to my PR.  I joined Pablo and Johnny in the final  few hours and ticked off 7 more miles, with the last mile, mile 208, run in 8:39, my fastest mile of the day.  So I did it.

Here was my Finish!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m02PvmSYXa0

I ran 208 miles in 72 hours.  Roughly 20 minutes per mile for 3 straight days.  I managed the rain, the pain, the sleep deprivation and sore muscles and achieved my goal.  But It's over now.  I don't have to deal with it again until my next race.  Andrew, who will be 9 in July, has to manage his life with the obstacles of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia everyday, and he doesn't get a break.  Life will throw him curveballs like a stomach bug, fever or broken bone.  These are not life threatening situations for you or I, but to Andrew, he can have an adrenal crisis if he doesn't manage these types of obstacles properly.  Thanks to your help, we raised over $11,000 for the CARES FOUNDATION to help others like Andrew navigate life with CAH.

www.caresfoundation.org                                                                                                                                                                  

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

DAY 1 - 91 miles

DAY 2 - 60 miles

DAY 3 - 58 miles

Anyone interested in looking at all the lap data it can be found here! 

2018 - 3 Days at the Fair lap data

Up next for me is a 100k road race in the Catskill Mtns. (NY), then the USATF 24 Hour National Championships in Cleveland in September.  This will be my 9th time running the Northcoast 24!

For those of you wondering how Johnny and Pablo finished------

Johnny set a new 6 day Swedish National Record, covering 547 miles in 144 hours.

Pablo finished first in the 3 day race covering 252 miles!

Here are Johnny and Pablo finishing together their last mile:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_6b4wMs68s

NOW TAKE A LAPP!