2019 Howl At The Moon 8 Hour Ultra
Kennekuk Cove County Park
August 10th 2019
1st Overall, 60 Miles
No this is not the Howl at the Moon Bar and Entertainment Venue. If your looking for that you might be greatly disappointed showing up to a field with tents and crazy people wanting to run for 8 hours. Upon a simple Google search for the race one might do a double take on what they typed in. One might also get weird looks during office chatter when you tell them you're doing 'The Howl' over the weekend.
The Howl at the Moon 8 Hour Ultra is one of the longest standing timed ultras in the United states...I believe, might want to double check me on that. This event is held in memory of Scott Hathway and in honor of ultra marathon legend Rob Apple. This event is also held in the lava fields of eastern Illinois in the middle of the hottest month of the year. In years past the course was on a 3.19 mile loop. This year they added a little detour out to the barn that adds a little steep downhill and a path that meets up to the old course making it a 3.5 mile loop. And yes this new course still had the "Howl Hill of Death." Which by the way I made it my goal not to walk that thing on any of the loops. If I remember right I walked it once after my charlie horse episode around mile 40. Every time up that hill I was tempted with chowing down on watermelon. Aid stations and time keepers were awesome and made the day go by easier.
I've been wanting to do this race for a few years now. I've also had my eye on breaking the course record that has been standing since 2004. Record is held by Howl legend Scott Colford with 61.72 miles. This year I was able to train well for it and put it all out there to go for the record and was on pace for 40 miles or so. Once the temperatures started to heat up the wheels started falling off slowly. I was able to move forward just a much slower clip than I wanted to be at.
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| 2019 Results |
Race kicked off at 7:30 a.m. Weather was clear with temps starting at 68ish and warming up to 84 and sunny. Goal was to stick to my own pace of 7:15-7:30's for as long as I can. Horn went off and Zachary Pligge went out pretty hard and was holding 7:00 pace early on. He gapped me and I lost sight of him for a while. It wasn't until mile 24 or so when I saw him again. I came down the hill after the new aid station by the barn, turned the corner and saw him running backwards. Wasn't expecting that. Ran with him for a bit and then continued on. Around 33 I hit my first low spot but was able to push forward. My average slowed a bit but I was still moving forward. Around 40 I got bit by one of those charlie horse snakes, just reached up and bit me in the left hammy. Hurt bad enough it brought me to the ground. Just played there rolling around on the path trying to stretch it out. Someone came by and helped me to my feet. I walked for a little bit then started to run again. After that I was holding 9:00 mile pace steadily. Unbeknownst to me Zach was moving well again and was gaining ground. Got back to the start finish line at mile 55 and had a descion to make. Start on the out and back or continue and do one more loop. I had about 31 minutes to run the last loop. I had been running 25-28 minute loops all day. But if something went wrong, like another charlie horse , and I didn't make it back in time my loop would not count. At this point I had no idea Zach was so close and he decided to opt for the out and backs. I decided to go for it and ran the last loop solo. Nobody else was out on the course at this point, which felt weird being out there all alone after seeing tons of people all day. Got back and had 2 minutes to spare. So i headed out to try and squeak in an out and back. Got done and clocked in 60 total. A mere 1.72 miles shy of the record. Still felt good about the effort and the day as a whole. It wasn't my type of course to be honest and was quite miserable at times. But the people and the atmosphere made it fun and enjoyable. Shout out to my dad for crewing me, with him I wouldn't have been able to keep moving through the aid station 'tent alley'. Congrats to all those who ran and toughed out a hot day.
Food Intake: Basically stuck to a Vanilla Bean GU and salt tablet every hour. Drank Heed electrolyte out of my 12oz. handheld. Took in 2 organic Apricot fruit rolls, and 1 squeezable baby food.
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| Top 5 Males |
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