48 Hour Race for Andrew and CAH Awareness (3 Days at the Fair)

Andrew is a 5 Year old boy who lives with a rare genetic disorder known as Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). For the past 5 years I've run in 24 Hour Races while raising money for the only organization in the world that is dedicated to supporting the CAH community - THE CARES FOUNDATION (www.caresfoundation.org)

This year I chose to run for 48 hours and have raised over $13k for CARES this year.

I run for Andrew and all those parents and families that are affected by this rare disorder.

I  woke up Friday morning at 4:30am and prepared myself for the 3 Days at the Fair Ultra Event.  I showered and loaded my things into the car. I drove one hour, to the Sussex County Fairgrounds. Scouted for a good location to set up my canopy and personal aid station. Found a spot about 100 yards from the aid station and 50 yards from the bathrooms.


By Friday morning at 7 AM the 72 hour runners had been on the course for 22 hours and already you could see some signs of wear and tear on some of the runners as the trudged through the early morning hours.

I had a bagel with some peanut butter and sat down in my chair, put my feet up and encouraged the runners as they ran by.  My wife Sandy arrived to the race about 7:30am.

The 48 hour race started at 9 AM on Friday, May 15th.  At 8:50 race director Rick McNulty gave his prerace instructions. And at 9 AM he rang the bell signifying the start of the 48 hour race.

For some reason at the start of these races there is a hesitation among the runners at the starting line to be the lead runner when the bell rings.  Someone's got to be first out so I just went for it and ran my comfortable pace.  You have to go into these type of races with a plan and a goal.  Sometimes you share your goals prior to a race, sometimes you don't.  My public goal was to run at least 150 miles, I'd be happy with that. (My PR in 24 hours is 107)  My secret goal would be to run 200 miles, and place in the top 3.  In the beginning, I would warm up with a 20 mile run at training pace and then slow down into race mode - and shoot for 4 miles per hour. I figured to have a chance at placing in the top 3 I'd have to get my mileage up whenever i could.  getting mileage up early would be a good time.

I have never run for longer than 24 hours.  "They" say a marathon is not a 26 mile race, it's a 6 mile race.  The first 20 miles are warmup and the race begins at mile 21, after you hit the wall.  For a 48 Hour Race they should say, "remember.........it's a 2 day race, not a 1 day race."

In past 24 hour races my brother-in-law Mike had crewed for me.  But he was unable to make the trek from Ohio for this race, and the pressure would fall on my wife Sandy!  Sandy stepped up and offered to redeem herself from a previous crewing attempt and offered her support for the first shift (Friday 9am-7p).  

You may remember a few years ago, Sandy was banned from crewing for me!  She committed the ultimate crewing no-no!  In the middle of the night, during the Northcoast 24 hour, Mike was taking a nap in the car and sandy was subbing for him, my spirits were low and I was cold and shivering, barely moving, it was pouring down rain, Sandy suggested it was alright for me to quit the race, that I had already run enough miles!!  Sandy was fired from the crew and demoted to spectator! (I made Mike do it!)

Sandy's job during her 10 hour shift Friday, was to make sure I stayed hydrated, to make sure I took in calories, take my electrolyte pills and my anti cramping sports legs pills.  Make sure I am peeing, putting on sunscreen, re-apply sunscreen, get change of clothes ready, swap out shoes, and most importantly offer ENCOURAGEMENT.  When you get in to race mode, and you are running around and around a 1 mile loop, it's hard to remember to do all this without help.  Having a crew is really important to me and it makes the race more enjoyable.  Let the crew remember all the "little" things and I can just focus on moving forward! I created a spreadsheet so she could write all the pill info down.  

I organized all my clothes into storage  bins - t-shirts and shorts in one bin, 2XU compression gear, socks and underwear in another, cold weather gear (long sleeves, tights, gloves, hats).  And then had all the electronics (Gps watch, headlamps, charging blocks, ipod, headphones) a nutrition bin, with cliff bloks, my endurolytes, sports legs, alleve, Hammer Fizz, snicker bites, gummi bears)

Friday was a hot day, a hot day by running standards, it got into the low 80's with hot sunshine.  There was no shade on the 1 mile loop, except for about a 75 yard grassy/dirt stretch between the horse show area and the rodeo area.

I chugged along and banged out the first 26 miles in 4:09.  I covered 50k in 5:15.  Sandy was diligent about keeping up with everything!  She was fantastic. I see a promotion in her future.  (Assistant crew chief?)

Completed the first 26 miles in 4:09

I don't remember much more about the first 12 hours.  Sandy left around 7p to go see the boys at home and was relieved by my friend/brother/and Andrew's dad - Doug Zehner.

Doug volunteered to crew for me during the overnight hours Friday-Saturday afternoon)

I think when Doug arrived Friday evening it was around 8pm.  

12 hours into the race.  By 9pm, I had run 60 Miles.  Very good, if I WERE RUNNING A 12 Hour RACE!!!!! (my PR for 12 Hrs is 65 miles).  This is a 2 day race, this is a 2 day race, this is a 2 day race.............

feet up sometime Friday!

I quickly briefed Doug on Sandy's system she had put in place and was off running again.  All a blur, but notes we took at different mile markers indicated, at 11:25pm, (14 hours and 25 minutes into the race) I had run 70 miles.  At 3:50am (18 hours and 50 minutes) I had run 83 miles. It was around 4:20am, when I crawled into the car for what would be my first moment of sleep.  I "slept" for 50 minutes in the back of rented Dodge Durango.  Off and running again.  

5am - Saturday morning, the Fairgrounds were bustling, as the cowboys started to arrive for a Rodeo that was to take place later in the day, in addition to a horse show.  The fairgrounds were echoing with rooster calls, which became quite annoying and the constant announcements over the PA system of the variety of horse names winning each category,  For those that are interested ---  "Pleasure Me" won a lot of awards in a bunch of different categories.

At the half way point, (24 Hours of running), 9am Saturday morning, I had run 101 miles.  (but this is a 2 day race).  My legs were in check, no chaffing issues anywhere (yet).  I felt pretty good.

But the next 6 hours were painful and I think the longest.  I slowed dramatically, only "running" 9 miles in 3 hours.  Doug would walk with me every once in a while overnight and into the day.  I figure he may have walked over a half marathon over the course of the 15 hours he was helping me.  He was a tremendous help, and I couldn't have done this without him!  

By 3pm Saturday (30 hours into the race) I had covered 115 miles.  At this time Sandy, my boys and our nanny Melissa, had arrived and I was recharged. Drew ran a lap with me, and he really ran!! 

Sandy was back for more, She was going to crew during the Saturday overnight hours.  There were thunderstorms brewing and rumors were starting to spread around the course about the possibility of heavy rain, pea size hail and 30mph winds.  The cars and trucks started to roll into the fairgrounds for the rodeo, there was lots of activity.  A private jet plane buzzed the fairgrounds a few times, extremely low to the ground.  Then the Rain, thunder and lightening came, can't say for how long, but it delayed the rodeo.  When the rain passed 2 guys had jumped out of a plane and landed safely in the middle of the rodeo ring.  

At some point, Sandy left to go to a local diner to get me a sandwich!  I devoured a crispy chicken sandwich.  The first real thing I had eaten since I ate half a cheeseburger Friday night. 

But the highlight was the chocolate shake!!!!!  During another downpour and thunderstorm, I laid in the back of the car and enjoyed my milk shake and slept for about 60 minutes. It Rained quite a bit Saturday night.  After coming in soaking wet after a downpour, I had a bought with the chills, and had to lay back down in the car. At that point, Sandy monitored the weather radar, and we decided that i would take another 30 minute break until the storm passed.  I ran with rain gear on for awhile, don't know how long, but there was a constant rain for some time and I was drenched but I trudged along.

I think it was around 4am, that I became somewhat energized again.  I was looking at the standings.  I had gone from 10th up to 5th place overnight.  The guy in first place was out of reach, and still moving pretty well.  Second place was out on the course and still moving.  Third place was at 151 miles and 4th place had gone home at 150 miles, I was at 141 miles.

It was around 5am that I asked the race director what the guy looked like, and how he was moving.  He told me he was hobbling and had been seen sitting eating breakfast.   He told me his last mile took him 44 minutes.  My 143rd mile took 13 minutes.  The race director thought I could catch him, I thought I could catch him too.  I had 4 hours to make up 10 miles.  Could I do it???

Katherine arrived to the race around 6am Sunday morning to help Sandy crew and cheer me on!  Katherine is Andrew's Mother, best friend and President of the CARES FOUNDATION.

Over the course of the next 2 hours I ran 9 miles, it actually felt good to run faster, working different muscles.  But word was out that I was making an attempt to catch the 3rd place runner, and  the first and second place runners scooped him on his feet and kept him far enough ahead of me to make it more difficult to catch him.  When I did lap them, I made a point to run as fast as i could by them, letting them know I was coming.

In 2 hours the race director said I had narrowed the gap and was now 5 miles behind 3rd place.  But I couldn't maintain that for 2 more hours.  I finished very strong and I will be curious to see what my spits were in the last 4 hours!!!

At 8am Sunday, 47 Hours into the race,  I took a shower, changed into warm clothes and walked around the course for the last time with my 2 boys.

We walked by the 3rd place finisher, Bastiaane and I patted him on the back, shook his hand and acknowledged that I just  didn't have what it takes to catch him.   He told me he thought he was just going to be able to cruise comfortably in 3rd place and just walk during the last 4 hours.   He said he was a little pissed, but he recognized it was all in good fun.  We spoke a little about CARES FOUNDATION, Andrew, and he asked some questions about CAH.

Race Directors Jen and Rick McNulty
.

3rd Place finished with 162.
2nd Place finished with 171
1st Place 179 miles

I Finished in 4th Place with 156 miles in the 48 Hours

During the Awards Ceremony - RIck, the race director told everyone about my chase for 3rd place, and how Bastiaane asked "Who brings a knife to a fight at 7am, after running for 46 straight hours?????")

Who does????

THIS GUY :)

BLISTERS - both feet looked like this, and are actually worse.

WHAT DID I INGEST OVER 48 HOURS???

I swalled 48 Sports Legs capsules, 42 Hammer Endurolyte capsules, and 3 Alleve.

I ate 5 packages of Cliff Bloks, but my diet consisted mainly of grapes, strawberries, bananas, pretzels, chips, PBJ squares, pizza, salted boiled potatoes, gummy bears, snicker bites, half a cheeseburger and the highlight was a crunchy chicken sandwich and chocolate milk shake on Day 2.

I drank orange, lime, fruit punch gatorade, sometimes mixed with diet mountain dew and of course water.





SLEEP?

Over 2 days I "slept" for 135 minutes, plus a few rest periods with my feet up in the back of Dodge Durango to get out of the rain!

THANK YOU TO ALL MY SUPPORTERS and ALL OF YOU WHO DONATED TO CARES FOUNDATION.  DONATE HERE: http://caresfoundation.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1137134

THANK YOU TO MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE SANDY!
THANK YOU TO DOUG AND KATHERINE ZEHNER.

What's next?  I'm registered for the NORTHCOAST 24 Hour in September of 2015!

TIME TO KICK IT UP A NOTCH........

ROAD TO THE NORTHCOAST 24 HOUR - September 21-22, 2013 - I run for CAH - Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia - CARES FOUNDATION  www.caresfoundation.org

In February of this year I ran the Febapple Frozen 50k in treacherous, icy conditions in 6:05:31, shaving 9 minutes off of last year's time.  I followed up a few weeks later, with an OK performance in the NJ ULTRA FESTIVAL 50k, running in 5:12:39, improving on last year's time by 17 minutes. 

A few days after, my wife and I went on a fabulous European vacation to Spain and France, where I ate and drank a lot, only running a total of 15 miles in 2 weeks, but tragically gaining 8lbs. 

The month of April I ran average mileage, 40-50 miles per week, but never going longer than 13 miles.  My eyes set on the next goal of running the MOHICAN 50k in Ohio, on June 15.  Have not had the chance or the time to get to the trails and train there.  Instead I've stuck with the roads and the treadmill.  (i am a big fan of the treadmill in my basement!)  Not afraid to run a 20 miler on the treadmill.  This may hurt my chances for a good Mohican race in June.  In the last few weeks, I've experienced tendonitis in my left knee, not surprised that my knees are not able to carry the added weight of my vacation!!!! (fat ass)

I've managed to get the tendonitis under control, have slowed down my pace, avoided the hills as much as possible.  After having a good week of logging miles last week, i pulled the trigger and registered for THREE DAYS AT THE FAIR (www.njtrailseries.com).  72/48/24/12/6 hour races.  I registered for the 12 hour race.

The course will be run at the NJ state Fairgrounds, in augusta, NJ - 1 mile USATF certified loop course, FLAT.  the 12 hour race will start at 9pm on Saturday, May 18th and finish on Sunday morning May 19th at 9am.  I will use this as a gauge to check my strength, my endurance, and practice running at night dealing with the exhaustion and emptiness of night running.  Will be satisfied if I can log 40-50 miles +.  Not in top shape yet.

Had another good week:  Monday 8 miles on the treadmill in 1:05, Tuesday 7 miles running around Cincinnati - Mt. Adams, Wednesday 7 Miles treadmill, Thursday, 6 miles treadmill, Friday 10 miles - Central park.  I am planning to run again today and try to log additional mileage on the treadmill.

We'll see.  I hope to blog about my training over the next several months as I prepare and train for my big race of the year the NORTHCOAST 24 HOUR Endurance RUN www.northcoast.org

2012 North Coast 24 Hour Endurance Run (for Andrew and CARES FOUNDATION)

Here is a RECAP of my NORTHCOAST 24 Hour Endurance run – Saturday, September 21-22.

  

Saturday morning at 9am the horn blared as 175 endurance runners began their 24 hour journey around a .090075 mile loop in the North Coast 24 Hour run, on the shore of Lake Erie, Cleveland, OH.  I was one of those runners, with a personal goal of running 100 miles!  The race had no official charitable cause, but for the past 2 years I have dedicated my run to Andrew Zehner, the son of dear friends who was born with a rare genetic disorder called Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)!  (Andrew’s Story  http://youtu.be/8XCkmR1hu74)

The weather at 9am was 54 degrees with cloudy skies.  I went out a little fast, trying to bank as many miles as I could before my body would begin to recognize that what I was doing was not exactly normal.  I completed the first 26.2 miles in 4:34:48.  I changed clothes in our tent and was given a pep talk by one of my crew members (*note – when doing these ultra runs it is common to have crew members, or support crew, who monitor your food and supplement intake, help with clothing, supplies and most importantly motivation.)  My crew for the past 3 years has been made up of husband and wife team, Kristy and Mike Niegowski.  Kristy is my wife’s sister.

Around 4pm the skies grew darker and a huge storm rolled  in off Lake Erie.   The rain began to fall heavily and the wind picked up.  Other runner’s tents and aid stations began to be uprooted and blow around the park.  Then it got worse, lightning, thunder and then HAIL.  The race director took out his bull horn and advised everyone to seek shelter.  Any runner on the course was advised that he was running at his own risk.  There was no way I was going to stop, if anything, I was thinking this was the perfect opportunity to move up in the standings if any of the faster runners were going to take shelter.  I forged ahead.  Aside from a lot of water, the storm brought a sudden change in temperature, dropping into the low to mid 40’s.  So now I was completely soaked, wearing a waterproof windbreaker, and shorts.  I completed my 2^nd marathon by 7:24PM.  I had been running for a total of 10:24:56.  (My 2^nd marathon time roughly 5:51:00)

Miles 50-70 were really tough.   Darkness came.  We had a few breaks without rain, but for most of the night we had a constant rain.  I had rain gear, but after a few hours running in the rain, I would be drenched and cold.  I would change my outer wear and head back out on the course.   Around 11:30pm, I hit my first low point of the race and began to question whether or not I would be able to finish.  I was shivering cold and the warmth from the propane heater in our tent was so inviting.  My body was shutting down, shivering uncontrollably.  I was worried that I could be getting hypothermia.  My wife (Sandy) and her sister Kristy were with me.  (Mike was taking a nap in the van).  Sandy could see I was fading, I was covered up shivering and slumped over the propane heater.  Sandy began telling me that I didn’t have to finish, I had done great going this far, I could quit whenever I wanted.  I LOVE MY WIFE, but this was not the motivation I needed to hear.   Where was MIKE!!!!!  Sandy gave me a bag of Snickers bars, (I probably ate 4 or 5) and a warm can of coke.  That’s what I needed.  Suddenly after 5 minutes of sitting, the sugar kicked in and I was back in the race.  I stood up, left the tent and continued on my quest for 100 miles.

Miles 70-84 – I don’t remember much.  I had not been running with music all day.  Random thoughts and the constant pace calculations filled my head.  I anticipated running with music late at night to pass the time and maybe for some motivation.  But by late night my head was in bad shape, there was a constant battle of stop or go and screams of pain that filled my head.

(I think I now know what it must be like to be a crazy person).  When I tried to listen to music, there was too much noise already in my head and the music only made things worse!

By 4am – I had covered 84 miles – with 5 hours remaining  in the race, I needed to cover 16 miles to hit the century mark.  But I had reached a new low, shivering and wet again, the rain had continued to fall and it had destroyed me.  I had enough of being wet and cold.  I pulled into our tent, fell into a chair.  Mike was putting layer after layer on me to try and warm me up.  I had a ski mask, several layers of long sleeve shirts, rain jacket, hooded sweatshirt and Mike’s Carhart jacket on.  I was done, I thought to myself, “hey, it wasn’t  my worst attempt, nor was it my best, but I could quit and not be ashamed of my attempt.”  but Mike wasn’t going to let me stop.  He continued to pepper me with “pick me ups.”  I could see him out of the corner of my monitoring his watch as each minute I sat there passed.  He knew if I was going to make it to 100 miles, I didn’t have much time to waste.  It wasn’t until he told he was proud of me, that something clicked and I started to turn the corner.  Mike got me to my feet and out of the tent, we walked 50 yards, and then he asked me to try and run, I shuffled slowly for about ¼ mile and stopped, we walked again a few steps and then I tried to run again.  This time the legs felt a little better and the movement was warming me up again.  I began to shed layers again and I was on a roll.  I don’t know how he did it, but Mike got me up and out of that tent.  I could not have completed that race without Mike, Kristy and Sandy.  (and also Chris and Colleen who drove up from Cincinnati to cheer me on!!!)

The clock continued to move and I was getting closer and closer to my goal.  Every so often Mike would join me on a lap to make sure I wasn’t dogging it.

FINALLY 23:10:00 into the race, I completed my 100^th mile (111 laps around that park course)!!!!  Mission accomplished. 

Official results aren’t posted yet, but with 30 minutes remaining I was in 12^th place overall, out of 175!!!!   100 miles and $9106.00 RAISED FOR CARES FOUNDATION in honor of ANDREW!!!!

Thank you to everyone for your support and your donations!  If you haven’t made a donation, and would like to, there is still time.  I will keep the donation page open for 1 more week. 

DONATE HERE:  http://cares.kintera.org/faf/r.asp?t=4&i=1024640&u=1024640-299774209&e=5936846613

FINISH LINE VIDEO: