Trying to turn molehills into mountains: The tragedy at Terrapin

The first thing I thought when I signed up for the Terrapin Mountain 50k was, "man, I need to do more hill work."

So I did. I ran up and down the tiny little hills of western new york at sub seven minute pace every week- boosting my confidence and supposedly preparing my body. Zach was feeling good. Then I saw the mountain.


Julia and I arrived in Sedailia Virginia just a little past 7:30 pm to set up camp and head in for the night. When I got out of the car and looked at the Mountain my heart sank a little bit. "That might be a different mountain... Yeah. Were probably just running a portion of it. Piece of cake."


My friend Nick (an ultra running FREAK) had already set up his tent when we arrived and within minutes of us embracing he pointed to the very mountain that I had seen and dreaded and said, "Thats Terrapin. Thats what were running tomorrow." Now my heart was somewhere in my scrotum.

The lack of preparation doesn't end there. I was running in a water belt that I had never worn before in my life,  smart wool socks on a day that turned out to be 70 degrees, and  a long sleeve rossignol ski top.  I also decided to wear New Balance Minimus sneakers- which on such a rugged terrain (compared to the trails in WNY) tore my feet up. I was screaming obscenities alone on the trail hoping that Ibuprofen would fall from the sky like manna from heaven. Or even just a pair of conventional shoes? God? Are you listening to me?

Oh, but you wanted to hear about my race? Here it goes.

I actually started out a nice moderate pace, hanging in the middle of the pack, sipping water, being a socialite.

I stayed with Nick til about mile 10- when he got into his race mode, lost connection with all things that surrounded him and turned on the after burners. Nick finished top ten.

Julia had a busy morning asking all people associated with the race where she could come meet up with me and help pace for a few miles. The race director advised her to drive to the first aid station up the road and go from there. She picked me up at around mile 6 and ran with me. Straight uphill. Needless to say, her legs were hurting that next day.

With Nick and Julia at my side I felt great. The ground was soft and the jagged stones were few at that point. I was moving 9 minute pace up most of the hills and clocked at top speed of 6:14 minute miles down the hills we had just ascended.

At mile 11 Julia and Nick were both gone and the course got harder. It was very humbling knowing that in order to survive the event- lots of walking needed to be done. Looking at my GPS watch seeing the pace come up as 17:41 miles is disheartening. Then you step on a rock and you want to scream. I did that for about 4 more hours.

I met some very interesting people on the course. Some professors from Liberty college, a 21 year old VT college student who was in their ultra marathon club (which was stacked might I add), and man from North Carolina with a thick accent and lots of ultra marathon stories. Those were the people that pushed me through this event. Had I been alone for that long, despair would have set in and the wheels would have fallen off.

The aid station volunteers were also a crucial element of this race. They were like angels- through the combination of the heat, altitude change, and exhaustion they all looked like they were glowing to me. That was my cue to rehydrate. In ultras, glowing lights are bad- unless its the finish line of an event that spans the entire day.


In summary- heres my race. I was unprepared. I wore stupid clothes. Wrong shoes. I met cool people. Had amazing support. Ate a phenomenal dinner that night. Drank 2 beers. It felt like 12. Got a cool tee shirt. The end.

The lesson learned here is this:

You may be able to substitute avocado for butter in a baking recipe, but you cannot substitute hills for mountains when it comes to an ultra marathon recipe.

Peace out- and always remember to run your own race.

Photos courtesy of Julia Smith :) My pacer of both the Terrapin Mountain 50k and Beast of Burden 50 miler. She also drove me home after this race. Props.