Ghost Train 100 Mile (Race Recap)

Brookline, NH

Saturday, October 19

100 Mile attempt #23

Weather - Warm during the day, very chilly overnight

This race was planned for over a year. Lisa, a good friend through running (paced/crewed for me at Tahoe and Cowboy) wanted to run this race for her 50th birthday. A bunch of us decided we would travel to New England to join her, and we all signed up in January.

Race Morning:

I had my alarm set with plans for getting to the race start maybe between 7:30 and 8 for the 9 am start. I was awoken well before that because the people that had the room next to me sounded like they were having a bachelorette party. So much noise from there. (If you are reading this race report and you stayed at the DoubleTree in Nashua on the 6th floor - THE ROOMS ARE NOT SOUNDPROOF).

(Note, I always say things like, "thankfully I woke up before my alarm because it took longer than expected," this morning was no exception.)

My room had a coffee maker and I managed to make a complete mess and spilled my entire first cup, so that took some time. I was rushing to get out the door and had to make sure I had my breakfast burrito and everything else. I left just after 7 and it was supposedly around 25 minutes to get there. I only made one wrong turn (yes, even using navigation), but got there just after 7:30. IT WAS A ZOO. There was "tent alley" - where everyone had sent up tents and canopies, camping chairs and tables, etc. - I had to drive THROUGH all that (dodging people) to get to my parking space - which initially seemed like it was going to be pretty far away. I had seen Tyler when I drove in, and decided I would finish eating my burrito and then go look for people and pick up my bib. 

After getting everything ready there was nothing else to do but wait for the race start. We got a few pictures of all of us in our pre-race layers.

Runners Edge folks - Lisa, Janet, Alison, Kristin, me

And most of us ready to go - Kristin, Doug (not running, Janet, Lisa, Tyler, me, Terri, Alex & Alison)

Lisa had indicated that she wanted to run with me at the start. I did warn her that I would be doing my own thing (slow) and doing 3/1 intervals. The start was fairly chaotic, and we all lined up middle/back of the pack.

We started out with what I can describe as a "very easy" and sustainable pace. We ran through what I called tent alley and then headed onto a very wide dirt road/trail that was covered in leaves. It was good to start out in such a wide spot since there were so many of us.

For at least the first mile we could tell that there would be no issues with two way traffic. Weather was perfect and I enjoyed talking with Lisa as I don't get to run with her very often. 

We stuck together for maybe the first 2-3 miles. I started my intervals and Lisa was doing intervals that were different than mine so we separated. Initially there appeared to be a few areas where it might get tight with two way traffic, but in general, it was really a nice, shaded trail. 

The FB was really active with people sharing pictures and I was told I could grab this one since I was in it :) 

The first aid station was 4.5ish miles in, which was a nice distance between aid. I think I had finally caught up to Kristin, Tyler and Terri at this point, although I think we leapfrogged a bit since I was doing intervals. We did get this picture together shortly after the aid station though.

I hit really the only "hill" which was somewhere maybe around 5.5 miles in. It was not very long and it was decorated with all sorts of paper plates that had funny and inspirational writing on them. Not sure why this was the only one I took a picture of.

The course leveled out a bit and then a nice, semi-technical downhill.

Fun skeletons like this decorated a lot of the course!

We had a (few?) road crossings before getting to the turn around. I had to use the bathroom at this one, but it was the only time I used the one at this aid station because it was more off course than I wanted to go. Outside of the one "hill" the trail was relatively wide, flat, and not at all technical. I especially liked when it was open double track.

And apparently, I only took one selfie on the course.

This gathering of skeletons around a campfire would let me know that I was getting very close to the start/finish area.

Terrible picture of me taken by the volunteer photographer David Metsky

We had to run past the timing mat to a tunnel at the end of the parking lot and then run around this cute carved pumpkin telling us... to do a u-turn.

Tried to take more pictures on the second loop since it wasn't nearly as crowded. I had done the 3/1 intervals the whole first loop and switched to 2/1 intervals for the second loop.

This section had the best carved pumpkins, although I really only took pictures of these:

And figured I should get pictures of water along the trail near the middle aid station.

So funny story about these skeletons - the bottle of fireball went down DRASTICALLY during the race, and no, I didn't have any. Other people clearly did though!

No recollection of the turn around at the end. On the way back I noticed that this section of trail had these planetary signs. 

And the hill from the other side:

Shortly after leaving the middle aid station I nearly stepped on a snake! Scared the crap out of me.

I was doing a run/walk that had me in line with Faith (in green) and a friend of hers. This is coming into the start/finish (I think) after the first two loops, so 30ish miles in. (Could be 45, I'm not sure).

Headed out for my third loop. I still was carrying my Airshed and R1, and had picked up my headlamp at tent city, but wasn't ready for night layers yet. The bridge below was NOT something we crossed on course, but I like bridges, so I took a picture of it anyway.

Right at the base of the hill I saw friend and teammate Monica and we got a quick selfie. She was running the 30 mile night run - her first ultra!

I tried to get a picture of these milk jugs along the trail (that later would have candles in them, which was fun) right before the turnaround.

After leaving the aid station:

I was able to get through the first tunnel before deciding that it was dark enough that I was going to need my headlamp. I had spent the entire day thinking the sun didn't set until 7, but it turns out it was 6 or something. Saw and passed Alex at some point and figured I would need to put on pants when I went through again. I put on my REI pants (at least I think I did at this loop?) and headed back out.

The moon looked really neat, but of course it never comes out great in pictures.

And the Ghost Train pumpkins looked really cool lit up!

This lap was a blur and at least I remembered to take a picture of the lights in this tunnel.

I think this is another picture from the volunteer photographer of me finishing 60 miles?

So once it got dark, it got cold. After doing 60 miles I had to stop again to add tights because the pants alone didn't seem warm enough. I also added the R1 over my airshed layer. I think I got to 67.5 before I added my puffy coat. There was a decent amount of hot foot items at the aid stations. I had pretty much crapped specific intervals for nighttime, although I was still running. I was listening to music to pass the time. After 75 miles I struggled a bit. I definitely got pretty tired at one point, can't remember the mileage, and had to take a short nap leaning up against a tree. Maybe that was around mile 80 or 85, but it was right before (or right as) the sun was coming up. I tried to remember to get pictures of some of the other decorations before I wasn't on trail anymore. 

I stopped at the tent to grab shorts to change into since it had warmed up on the last 4-5 miles. I had to  change in the tent by the bathrooms since it was daylight, which took a decent amount of time. After going through mile 90, for whatever reason, I had it in my head that I was getting pretty close to cutoffs. My pack felt SO much lighter since I had gotten rid of everything that wasn't a necessity. I did a little bit of running here and there, and then when I saw the turnaround (which meant I only had 5 miles left), I got a second/third/fourth/whatever wind.

I set up 30 second running/1 minute walking intervals and boy oh boy did I cruise!! Some of my faster miles all race were these miles. I passed at least 12-15 people on the return to the start/finish. I felt REALLY good.

And of course, I was not in any danger of missing the 100 miles in the 30 hour allotment, but I sure was happy to get there a lot faster.

I was on the phone with Ben when I got to tent city because he wanted to cross the finish line with me, but I accidentally hung up with him because duh, I forgot that taking my headphones out and putting them in the case would do that. Janet and Kristin got some great pictures of me coming into the finish.

Official Time - 28:04:43

Garmin Time - 28:04:49

Garmin Distance - 99.89 (and no, I didn't feel the need to do the extra .11)

Garmin Pace - 16:52

Elevation Gain - 2,632'

Run Time - 12:39:31

Walk Time - 13:26:58

Idle Time - 1:38:27 (and I bet at least 15 minutes of that was changing clothes)

Miles 1-10 - 13:23, 13:21, 12:56, 12:37, 12:49, 13:21, 13:04, 13:45, 13:50, 13:13

Miles 11-20 - 14:46, 12:44, 12:50, 12:57, 14:59, 13:43, 13:38, 13:49, 13:13, 15:07

Miles 21-30 - 14:22, 14:03, 15:41, 15:41, 14:06, 16:04, 13:21, 13:37, 14:00, 17:19

Miles 31-40 - 14:44, 14:06, 14:23, 14:12, 16:33, 15:43, 14:16, 20:41, 16:18, 14:48

Miles 41-50 - 17:16, 14:01, 14:38, 14:43, 24:58, 15:53, 15:48, 15:32, 15:00, 19:36 (12:21:29 for 50 miles)

Miles 51-60 - 17:10, 16:10, 19:44, 18:42, 16:32, 20:25, 15:43, 17:09, 17:12, 34:53

Miles 61-70 - 19:30, 18:41, 19:19, 17:45, 21:11, 18:11, 16:44, 19:33, 19:36, 17:02

Miles 71-80 - 19:01, 16:06, 17:26, 18:40, 33:19, 18:13, 19:01, 19:46, 17:12, 22:56

Miles 81-90 - 25:52, 16:30, 21:46, 19:56, 17:50, 20:04, 16:43, 17:04, 18:53, 31:40

Miles 99-100 - 18:21, 17:02, 16:33, 16:27, 16:11, 16:10, 14:15, 14:27, 13:34, 12:30

Thoughts:

• This is not a race that I would have picked at all, but it ended up being so much fun. It is not expensive (I believe I paid around $100 for the race, which sold out in a few hours - for the first time). The buckle is adorable and I paid $50 for it after finishing - it was an optional expense.
• No frills event in terms of swag. They had a small offering of beanies and sweatshirts, which I opted to not purchase because I have way too much gear anyway.
• There were a total of three aid stations - start/finish, middle of the course and turnaround. There were port-o-potties at all of them, and lots of food options. Plus drop bags could be at the start/finish and turn around. 
• Course is absolutely gorgeous and the volunteers did an incredible job of decorating the course to give it a festive and fun vibe.
• I wouldn't do this again, just because travel was quite pricey. I can see why people keep coming back though - it was a way better experience than I expected.

Gear:

• Salomon pack and 2 soft flasks
• Garmin 7s
• Petzl headlamp that I had to use for a horrific 13+ hours. I went through I think 3 sets of batteries, I think because it was cold.
• Goodr sunglasses, although I hardly wore them at all since it was tough to see tree roots with all the cover in the woods
• CVG 5" shorts. Later wore INKnBURN tights and my trusty Rainwall rain pants, Rabbit EZ tee team shirt, Patagonia Airshed, Patagonia R-1, Patagonia Nano Puff, Zensah High Neck Sports Bra, Gloves and Smartwool mitten liners later in the race, Tahoe 200 hat during the day and Bula fleece hat at night, Stance and Smartwool socks, Topo Ultraventure 2's with gaiters (my second to last pair of version 2...)
• I think I only carried my medical kit and electronics (chargers, cables) for about half the total miles thanks to the course set up.
• I applied sunscreen prior to starting but didn't really need it with the cover in the woods, although there are exposed areas.
• Chapstick, Chamois Buttr/Salty Britches.
• Random of note - I have had a lot more issues with chafing my last few races. I think part of it is my weight gain and subsequent chub-rub. This was the first race I used the single use packets and those are absolutely amazing. I find the regular tube to be very thick and somewhat difficult to use. The single use packets seem softer and I was able to put directly on chafing for instant relief.