Across Florida 200 (Race Recap)

Withalacoochee Bay Trail to St. Augustine Beach

Wednesday, November 12

200+ mile attempt #13

Weather - chilly overnight, warm days, humid

Preface

I had heard about this race and was interested right away. The first 10 registrants were promised a special puffy coat and the price tag was relatively low. I didn't sign up when it was first announced because I saw it was going to occur over Ariel's birthday. Then, I saw that Paul signed up. Andrea said she was also signed up and that I should join. Ariel didn't seem to mind that I would miss her birthday since she would be busy with school anyway. I signed up the week of Summit since that was right before the price was supposed to go up. The race itself was $800 and I had to pay an additional $75 for the shuttle since I planned to be an uncrewed runner. All in all, it was just under $1,000 after taxes and fees.

Top Three Pre-Race Problems/Issues/Concerns

1.  Drop Bags - Additionally, there was a Facebook group where we would be able to chat with other runners and ask questions. My main concern was what was listed for drop bags, to which I posted way back in August "Am I reading this correctly in the runner guide - we can only have 1 gallon drop bags? I won't have a crew, so does that mean I can't have any shoe changes?" I should have known at this point that I was navigating some... dangerous waters. After a few days one of the race directors responded with "You are not limited to 1 gallon bags, that just is the standard in our shorter events, runners just tape shoes to the bags. Maybe we change it to 2 gallon to help with the larger distance or add one gear bin per runner that can be at every 4 Aid Station? Just tell us what you feel will be needed and we will make it happen." Well. I let it be known MANY times that I didn't think I was asking for anything outrageous, but that a drop bag of a BIT bigger size was absolutely necessary for those of us without crew. They eventually bumped up the drop bag size to 2 gallon, but let me tell you that with my women's size 7 feet, I could BARELY fit a pair of shoes, small change of clothes and a tiny bit of nutrition. But, that's what they decided was "fair" for uncrewed runners. 
2. Crews - So you might be thinking that with the very strict drop bag policy that crews would have limitations, so that the runners that HAD crew would not have a huge advantage over the uncrewed runner. You would be wrong. Crew was allowed at... EVERY SINGLE AID STATION. Yes, you read that correctly. If you were a runner that had someone willing to help you, they could be at every single aid station.
3. Pacers - We had a pre-race briefing about two weeks out from the race. The RD went over the whole course, describing where aid stations would be, etc. Then we got into the pacer info. Pacers were required to register and pay $30. BUT... they were also allowed to MULE. The race kept insisting that it was NOT muling since the runner had to carry their mandatory gear. To be clear, the "mandatory gear" was - cell phone, bib, tracker and sand bottle. That's it. So if you had a pacer, they could carry ALL your gear, food & nutrition. ADDITIONALLY, pacers did NOT have to be on foot!! Yes, you read that correctly, pacers could even be on a bicycle. But no, the race did not think that was an unfair advantage to those that didn't have a pacer

Pre-race to Start

The shuttle was scheduled to depart at 6 am SHARP, but since I was just down the street, I didn't need to allow for any travel time. I figured getting up at 5 would be enough time to get everything done and still give me a buffer. What I didn't plan on, for example, was there being NO coffee in the lobby of my hotel at 5 am! That's not even that early (comparatively). Either way, I got out the door and was parked in the lot at the finish line at 5:45. I was shocked to see that the shuttle bus was nearly full and it appeared that I was actually going to be the latest arrival, filling the last seat. As it got closer to the time to leave, more people kept showing up. Then, we discover the guy that is driving the shuttle bus is actually a registered runner and was doing this as a favor to the RD. He calls Jeff and says "hey, we have more people than seats," to which the RD responded that he was driving and we would need to figure it out. Two people had to drive their vehicles and then worry later about how to get back (I mean, the whole point of the shuttle, THAT WE PAID $75 FOR, was so that those without crew could get to the start line. The ride was supposed to be 2.5 hours. We left a little late and it did take longer than we expected, plus we had one stop along the way to use the bathroom. We also got a little lost at one point, but eventually made it!

Start to Aid #1 (11.5 miles) - 2:50:20

Before the event even started, we had to walk to the beach to fill up the first part of our sand bottle. We started at 10:30 (instead of 10) and I just wanted to get going! Lined up near the back, like usual. 

I set up 3/1 run/walk intervals and planned on running those as long as it was sustainable. The first section of the race was on a wide asphalt path. We had to do a short out and back to the pavilion at the end of the pier (supposedly this was supposed to make up for "lost distance" from course changes). Very quickly, I found myself at the very back. I wasn't going to let this bother me as I have done this strategy before and it helps me to get running in but also not get burned out by doing too much. Wasn't too far into the run when my stomach started to scream for a bathroom - thankfully there was one a few miles in, as I wasn't sure I was going to make it too much further. I felt much better after that and continued on with my intervals. We came upon a parking lot and as I hadn't seen any markings or gotten an off-course alert, I kept going on the path. Not too long after, I see Jeff (one of the RDs) running down the grass after putting a sign in the grass. I took out my headphone to hear him yelling "turn at the sign" - which I did. But, then what? To my left I see what looks like numerous "trails" of tall grass that have been moved down and then sort of straight ahead I can see the edge of the parking lot. I am still looking for more signage to know where to go, but then I heard Jeff yelling to "go back that way." So I take out my headphones and Gaia and am trying to figure out WHERE to go because I am still not seeing anything. A few runners come out off the trail and said they had gotten off course and were turned around and was I going the right way. No idea, but I followed them and it seemed like we got back to where we needed to be. OK, I don't think I have ever been off course less than 10 miles into a race, but apparently this is how it's going to be... I guess other people had been looking more at the course and knew we had to do a loop around a lake, but I couldn't even see the lake for quite some time. I did keep glancing over and when I finally saw water I kept an eye for alligators, but nada. I met up with the runner I had been sitting next to on the bus and he was telling me that he was turing off his Garmin navigation and was just going to use the "Guide Me" on Gaia, which I could not get figured out either. Mapping was proving to be challenging for sure. 

This section was pretty and we were definitely in more of a foresty/remote type area. I get to a sign that says trail ends but it seems like we have to keep going through on just a more rugged area - I should have taken a picture or video here, it was total bushwhacking. Suddenly, we are at the river crossing and we have to take a canoe across. It seems that there are two canoes and three people could get in each one. I only had to wait for one. I have to say that I have never been in a canoe during a running event! 

Get back on the shore and it's time to start back up with intervals. We are on a wide section of double track/grass. Came upon some horses, which was fun. The course did a 180 and we moved onto the other side of the canal. I had been leapfrogging with a female and male runner and finally I asked them if they were doing intervals. They said they were running one mile and walking one mile. I said that sounded truly horrible and they were welcome to join me for my 3/1 intervals if they wanted to. They ended up doing that and I took my earbuds out and finally got some new people to talk to! We could see the first aid station from a distance away and it seemed to be at a road intersection. I saw Paul and Andrea leaving as we were arriving, but they didn't see me. We stayed only long enough to top off our waters and grab a few snacks before heading back out. 

Aid #1 to Aid #2 (12.2 miles) - 3:15:22

I was really happy with the quick aid station turn around. This section started by running along the side of the road, which wasn't great, but it at least it wasn't a highway. It was also relatively shaded, which I appreciated. 

We were having a good time talking and the miles passed quickly. We moved off the pavement and onto some dirt, where we acquired zillions of goatheads (or as they call them in Florida sand burrs). We had some climbs that gave us some extra walk breaks and even had to climb over a gate. Moved onto some dirt road, still doing our same 3/1 intervals. I could not believe how deep the sand was. Pretty annoying stuff! More road and then we arrived at the second aid station. We spent a few minutes longer at this one so that we could use the bathroom (I think there was even running water at this one) and then grabbed some food/snacks. There was still no real food here, but I think I just had a peanut butter and jelly or something, maybe a banana and figured I would be fine until the next aid station.

Aid #2 to Aid #3 (9.3 miles) - 2:30:08

Next big goal was getting to the first drop bag! This next section started out on pavement again, but it was more of a really wide sidewalk. I let the other two know that I was going to change the intervals up a bit because I was starting to feel the 3/1 a bit more than I would like for this early in the race. I either went down to 2/1 or 1:30/1, I can't recall. We still were doing really well overall. In this section we finally moved onto the Florida trail - it was mostly still just grassy double track, but it was a nice change. 

Then we ended up... on the side of the highway. I still wanted to do the intervals, but we had to do a lot of the running in the grass, and by now it was also dark so the footing was not as good as I would like, but it was nice to keep the pace up. We could see that there were some runners ahead of us and I figured out that it was probably Paul and Andrea. It was!! I was really happy to have caught up to them (and their new friend, Lisa). They had been walking until we caught up to them but got a second wind and ran much longer than we did, but we all came into the aid station at roughly the same time. They all went to their crew vehicles and I just wanted to get my stuff done quickly so we could all leave together. The race hadn't gotten their own port-o-potty and the only one available was all the way on the other side of the lot, plus I had to wait to use it. I came back to the aid station and noticed that all we were going to get was a half dozen camp chairs in the dark. Uh... the only hot food was ramen, which I gladly took. Was looking for my drop bag and a guy (would know later that it was Ron) was saying something about having a beer and I asked if he had any. He said he had some in his vehicle and brought me an IPA! I only had about half of it, but I was really happy for it. Then, I had to get Kogalla out and all the food and snacks that I would need until my next drop bag, plus my pants and hat. I had told them to make sure to grab me before they left and I saw Andrea walking out of the aid station and yelled that I just needed 60 seconds to get my bottles filled and they headed out. I let the two I was running with know that I was going to have to head out and felt pretty bad that they weren't able to get their stuff ready in time to come out with me, but this was also first 200 mile attempt for both of them.

Aid #3 to Aid #4 (9.2 miles) - 3:55:01

That meant that I had to run out after them. I was a tad annoyed by that but I really wanted to try to stick with them as long as I possibly could. We were on the actual trail very shortly after leaving the aid station. I was really surprised at how technical it was. And by technical, I just mean that there were a lot of leaves covering the trail and there were a TON of roots. We all fell in this section. I fell pretty early on, catching my toe on a root and landing hard on my left side. Of course I had my headphones phones and mace my pocket, which was pretty painful. At least it wasn't my phone like when I fell during Monster. Otherwise, this was a pretty nice section. 

It was fun being with Paul and Andrea and the miles seemed to go by pretty quick. This was supposed to be the coldest night on the trail and I was happy that I had seemingly packed pretty well and wasn't going to end up needing my pants. Lisa, on the other hand, was freezing. We were all trying to think of things we could loan her to warm her up. Paul gave her some gloves and she borrowed a jacket from Andrea. Then I told her that she could wear my pants and jacket. And then off we went! We survived the first night! We were in a swampy area and lots of big trees and plants and leaf covered bridges. 

This area was really pretty and I'm glad we saw some of it in the daylight! The plan was to go to the camper van and get some food and a little rest. I was starting to feel some blisters, so I took off my socks and cleaned my feet and then laid down for a 30 minute nap. I don't think I slept, although maybe I got a few minutes here and there. Cannot remember what food we might have had here, but whatever it was, it something provided by CJ. Breakfast burrito maybe? Lisa asked if she could hang onto my pants and I said that was fine, especially since I hadn't needed them. I figured I would be able to get them the next time that we stopped.

Aid #4 to Aid #5 (10.6 miles) - 4:06:41

So we did not all head out together. Paul and Andrea were ready to go and I went with them, but Lisa was still doing some things and said that she would catch up to us later. This was the section where I got a little behind Paul and Andrea. We were running on the side of a road and my stomach was screaming at me. With nowhere to "go" I was moving slower and just trying to find somewhere to stop where I wasn't going to be on display. We ran by what looked like a private hunting compound forEVER. 

Down one road, turning onto yet another road. Finally got to a junction of dirt roads where I was able to briefly stop and then I felt SO much better. I was able to do some intervals to try and catch back up to them. Knowing them as well as I do, if I get too far behind I won't see them again! I got up (finally!!) and we were together this road/trail for a bit. I remembered that my Topo coupon was ready to go and I tried to do my once a year shoe purchase. I had pre-loaded my cart prior to the race since I knew the sale was coming and thought all I'd have to do was enter the code and be done with it. It ended up being such a pain, issues with my address that I had to delete and re-enter if though it was correct. My card number was in there, but I didn't know the code, although I thought maybe I guessed correctly since it went through. I noticed I didn't get a text about the credit card charge and saw my order had been cancelled. So I called and they said I would have to start over. UGH!! Thankfully I could just pay using PayPal since I did not have my card on me. Once THAT was done, we started to do some more run/walk. They got a second/third/hundredth wind and I was definitely trailing behind. We had to cross the highway and run along another highway to get to the trailhead where the aid station was. I came in just a few minutes after the two of them. Headed immediately to the aid station to see what the food options were. I saw a can of Chef Boyardee spaghetti and meatballs and figured that was as good as anything else and I wouldn't have to get it heated up. The volunteer indicated that everything food-wise on the table was provided by them and NOT the race. Not a good sign. I had been hoping to get a nap in the camper, but coming in late meant CJ made the camper off limits. I sat on the ground and ate my cold "pasta" and Jackie gave me a small can of coke. I asked how much longer Paul was planning on resting and once I heard a half hour I told Andrea I was going to go ahead and get out of there now since I had no doubt they would catch up to me soon anyway.

Aid #5 to Aid #6 (9.9 miles) - tracker didn't work this segment

Guess what. More. Road. Miles and miles of being on the side of yet another busy road. I was by myself much longer than I expected to be. I could not believe they had not caught up to me yet. My stomach was feeling off AGAIN (this is pretty abnormal for me during a race and it was happening EVERY time I ate something). But once again, we were on the side of the road and it took MILES before I found somewhere I could duck off behind some tall grass. 

I got passed in this section by a few female runners and decided now that my stomach was feeling better that I could do some running. After probably 5 miles into this section I could see people behind me and it was Paul and Andrea catching up to me. Together again! We turned off the road and onto a dirt road. We noticed a runner sitting in the dirt and she was clearly suffering from heat exhaustion and looked very upset. We spent a few minutes giving her some calories and talking with her and she decided to get up and join us. Turns out her name is Alex and she is a runner from Mexico! 

Thankfully, I had a drop bag here. We all went to the camper, I changed clothes, probably ate something (maybe this was the breakfast burrito?) Taking turns for the bed, I got the couch this time. Laid down I believe for 45 minutes. I dozed off but didn't get a ton of sleep. 

Aid #6 to Aid #7 (13.5 miles) - 8:58:03 (this was for #5-#7)

Our trackers had to be swapped out because they weren't going to last the entirety of the race. We all headed out together. What happened here? I have no idea. I think we were on the trail the whole time? Or maybe this was the section that was also on the side of the highway? I think that's it. So it was me, Paul, Andrea and Alex. Even though it was hypothetically warmer, it felt colder to me and I was in a dire situation. I had never seen Lisa again to get my pants back and I was fucking COLD. Like to the point that if I hadn't been with other people I'm not sure what I would have done. I stupidly did not have an emergency blanket in my pack (I ALWAYS have one, so why did I not this time??) and I had NO more layers to add. 

All I had was my Patagonia R1 and thin stretchy gloves. I did have an emergency poncho that I pulled out and put on. It helped a bit, and it also helped to do some running, that also made me a bit warmer. Andrea also had an extra jacket that I added to my layers and it honestly saved my life. We found a section of concrete where we all agreed to take a break for a few minutes. Of course it turned out to be some private driveway and a woman nearly ran over my head and then kept saying "I just need to know what you are doing" so we had to get up and keep going. Lord am I tired of all this side of the road stuff that is affecting my trail naps!! Aid station. Things happened and I don't know what.

Aid #7 to Aid #8 (26 miles) - 9:40:13

This section sucked. One of the later course changes was having to move an aid station, so we were going to have a full marathon distance without aid. Thankfully they were going to have a water drop in this section because we did most of this during the day. We all thought we had already done the "highway to hell" and turns out, no we hadn't. This dirt road went on forever. And ever. And ever. Seemingly the only "hills" in this whole course. We kept seeing these weird bugs on the road/trail and I looked them up and they were some sort of walking stick that thankfully wasn't poisonous. I can't remember how far we got into this segment before we came across Ron and his truck. Paul had been talking about how he was going to have special treats for us. Turns out - he did!! There had been zero shade in this section and we were able to sit at a picnic table nearby, top off our water AND he had a cooler filled with cold beverages. I grabbed an IPA and a can of Clearly Canadian (which I didn't even know existed). This gave us all a boost and we headed out in better spirits. At some point we got back on the Florida Trail, I think. For hours we kept hearing and seeing helicopters circling the area and we wondered if something happened to a runner. We had a funny conversation about 25 miles into this section where Paul didn't realize that we were currently IN the really long section, which made him happy. Maybe a mile before the aid station we hear someone yell something like "hands up, police" and it turns out it was Ana who came to pace Paul! She got us into the aid station and told us that even she got lost even just trying to find us. Oh, that's because this race didn't mark anything... we all went to the camper and spent a few minutes eating and getting ready before having a pretty quick turnaround to get right back out. The lack of sleep was going to catch up to me eventually!

Aid #8 to Aid #10 (20.3 miles) - 8:51:46

Not a typo - aid station #9 was pulled last minute because the location was inside a park that couldn't be accessed because of the government shut down. Thankfully the missing aid station was between two relatively short distances. But still. 

Another insanely long section. We were leaving the aid station and walked by a few groups of people camping. There was a section where we could hear people yelling and the others were concerned that there were hunters or people out on the trail that maybe shouldn't be. I wasn't necessarily worried, but I was glad that we were all together at this point! It was still night and that apparently had rejuvenated Paul and Andrea and they kept doing run intervals - which would have been fine if they would have been maybe a little shorter. Alex and I were definitely struggling to keep up with them, and Ana being on fresh legs. I was also back to having stomach issues, which caused me to get further behind yet again. Once I just took a minute to stop and use the bathroom I felt better and did some more running to try and catch up. Alex and I started to discuss how it was getting more difficult to keep up and I told her I would make sure to stay with her the rest of the race - if she wanted me to. I don't have any strong memories in this section, but I think we came into the aid station around sunrise. Did I sleep at all? Was I in the camper? I think so. I believe that Ana took a nap in Jackie's vehicle. I believe this is when Ana gave us all meatball subs!! Yay, food!! Maybe THIS was the time I slept on the couch? I had a random last minute drop bag here that really only had a battery bank and my car keys, so I gave that to Jackie to hold onto because I really wanted to ensure that didn't get misplaced somewhere. My feet were SO FUCKED at this point. They felt almost as bad as they had at Divide and I had blisters on my pinkie toe and on the balls of both feet. When I first stood up I wasn't even sure I could keep going.

Aid #10 to Aid #11 (14.4 miles) - 7:01:21

We hit up the "aid station" on the way out onto the trail. This was unmanned and all that was out on the table was some water and snacks - bags of chips. Oh my lord. How are truly 100% uncrewed people surviving this?! Ana led the way out of the aid station and once again, we immediately got off course thanks to zero markings. I have never in my life run a race where you had to keep your phone out the entire time. So frustrating to also not have the turn by turn cues from Garmin. UGH. Pulled out Gaia and backtracked. Looked like I had found the path, and I led the way only to end up in a patch of brambled trees and bushes that were pulling my hair on snagging my clothes. I honestly freaked out and was screaming for help when I heard someone say "Rebecca, the trail is up here" and I felt like I had only gone a few feet out in front and could not see them. Had a minor panic attack and thankfully came up behind them. OK, I really need to stay more alert and do everything I can to stay with people. 

At one point, Alex said to me, "what do you think they will say if we ask for a five-minute break." I knew that they would not be up for it so I waited a few minutes before asking and they did say they wanted to grind out the miles. We were in a nice area of single track with lots of trees and at this point is when we let them go out of sight. As much as I wanted all of us to stay together, there were still LOTS of miles left at this point and I didn't want to end up in "danger" from going out too hard. Finally we got to the aid station. This one was at the "store" - which was no longer (or temporarily?) closed.

I decided to not bother with the camper and hoped to eat, change clothes and maybe take a quick nap. The food here was a hot dog and quesadilla. All my stuff seemed really chaotic here, but I had a wonderful volunteer that offered me a foot bath (?!) she filled a basin with ice and water (only ice I saw the entire race) and had me soak my feet while I was eating and figuring out what I needed to do with my pack. My feet looked and felt 100% better after this. 

Aid #11 to Aid #12 (18.7 miles) - 11:26:20

Alex and I headed out together. We had a good time talking and grinding out the miles. Can't remember a lot of the miles in the start of this segment, but I think we were still on the Florida trail. I believe this is also when I was getting emergency notifications that the 911 system was down, but to... text 911 in case of emergency? 

We saw a body of water in front of us and couldn't figure out where the course was supposed to go. It was dark and we had to have the map out yet again to figure out where we were going. I was definitely getting very tired here. We came up to some sort of bridge and there were cars parked on the side that seemed to be for people fishing? At night?

We definitely stopped for a short break on the road here. Where are we going and are we ever going to get there? We were on a VERY wide trail or road. Lots of leaves and some tree roots and it seemed that we were along a canal of some kind, but since it was night we couldn't exactly see anything. This was the section of the world's longest mile. Every time we would check to see how much further to the aid station it was a mile. Or 1.3 miles, and then still a mile. It never seemed to get shorter. Up ahead we can see lights and it appears that the aid station is close. This is also the one with the gate, which thankfully we had the "code" to. I think we all thought it would be a keypad, but it was actually a padlock. Took multiple tries to get it open, then we had an even more difficult time to get it closed. Ridiculous. We seemed to be at some sort of dam and then we finally were at the aid station. I thought that Paul and Andrea were probably still there but the camper was dark so I didn't even try to head over there. The volunteers at this aid station were AWESOME. The best food of the whole aid station was a breakfast burrito with avocado. I was tired and new that Alex was napping. This was a sleep station but that was just a tent. No sleeping pad, no blankets. One SHEET. Are you kidding me?? The husband volunteer said that if I didn't mind lying down in his truck I could do that. He did run the heat but I still only had that sheet so I didn't sleep but it was exponentially better than just being outside in the elements.

While we were getting ready to head out I was concerned with how cold it felt. They thought someone had left a jacket that I could use and then the woman even offered to give me a pair of tights that she had. I wore someone's random Tunnel Hill finisher jacket and this amazing volunteer's pants and that was seriously the only thing that kept me from freezing to death. 

Aid #12 to Aid #13 (22.7 miles) - 9:44:37

I was finally able to get some hot water to make a cup of coffee, only the aid station didn't have any cups. Thankfully a runner's crew was also at the aid station and she had a cup for me to use. Alex and I walked out of the aid station to discover... more road!!

At least it was the middle of the night at this point so there was not a lot of traffic. We were not on the main road for too long, and then we turned and went up another road and entered more "residential" type roads. Both of us were super dragging here. Alex had a sandwich in her pack and when we got to an area where it looked like we could sit without being shot for being in someone's driveway, we sat for a minute to eat. It's probably 3 in the morning and suddenly we hear a woman screaming at us "I wouldn't sit there it's private property!" - mind you, we are in the ROAD not in anyone's driveway, which is what I said, but she continued to yell about private property, so we got up to continue on. Well, my stomach was hurting YET AGAIN, so after a bathroom break we figured we needed to do some intervals again and I actually turned on my timer for them. It did help wake us up, and also there was just weird stuff happening at this time of day.

We came into Palatka and we were SO HAPPY for civilization. We stopped at 7-11 and bought another sub sandwich and some sodas. We stopped to eat and rest for a few and then continued on. This was sidewalks and road and pretty sure we were completely done with any trail stuff by this point. 

We had big bridge we had to go over, which meant on the shoulder of the road - AGAIN, which was not fun. I also wanted to get rid of the jacket and tights, but there was not really anywhere great to sit. We then ended up on the longest path of my life. 100% exposed and HOT. We started to do a run walk and would reward ourselves with sitting on the benches for a minute here and there. 

At some point the Warrior truck pulled off on the highway and Jeff got out and asked us if we needed any water or if we had anything we wanted to get rid of. I explained that the volunteer at the last aid station had loaned me the pants and jacket and he took those, which was nice because it emptied out my pack a ton. FINALLY WE MADE IT TO THE LAST AID STATION. 

I had initially thought I was going to have to sleep at this aid station. I was running on fumes. After talking to Alex, she said she wasn't tired but she did want to get off her feet and rest for a bit. CJ and Jackie were still there and we were able to hang out in the camper for a bit. Thankfully we were able to get some food - I think I had more of a sandwich and some cheeses/meat, plus CJ gave me a Fanta. With only about 20 miles to go, we really just wanted to get out of there! I used the bathroom and then waited for Alex at the trailhead while grabbing some additional snacks. Aid station food here was VERY limited, just some candy and bags of chips. I swear I saw ramen, but don't recall a stove or way to heat anything up. 

Aid #13 to Finish (22.2 miles) - 9:31:42

I think we were both just ready to be done, but we had a great time this last section. We were still on this asphalt path. For miles and miles and miles. 

At least in this section we were mostly in the shade, which was nice after the exposed section. We decided to take a short nap on the sidewalk for 10 minutes in the sun and of course had someone yell to see if we were ok so got awoken sooner than we wanted, but I think I still got a few minutes.

This section went on and on and on and on forever. I think we did intervals here and there maybe? 

We were on the side of a major highway and had to cross at one point, which was a little scary. I had been texting with Ben and he had found a restaurant where we could get a burger but it was unfortunately the wrong side of the highway and we would have to backtrack. We were running a little low on liquids and motivation, but spirits were lifted when we discovered that there would be some food options right along the course. We decided to stop in at Burger King. Got some cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes. REALLY hit the spot. 

By now the sun was setting, but we only had about 10 miles to go!!! I told Alex that before we got too deep into the last miles that I really needed a quick nap. We found a place sort of off the main road. I set an alarm for 15 minutes and woke up (actually slept!) with a few minutes to spare. I didn't see Alex and panicked that she had left me! She said that some weird people were wandering around so she went up to the sidewalk and watched over me. Awww! Well the nap really did help. We were going to try doing some intervals but we still were on the side of a major road, plus we had another insanely long bridge to go over. When we got to only about 3 miles to go we started to do "Paul 30s" where you just basically count to 30 while running and then find a landmark to start over again. The last few miles went really well! 

We got close to the finish line and our friends were there! Andrea and Jackie both did videos of us running together into the finish. 

We finally did it! We got escorted to the beach to fill up the second half of our sand bottle. 

Jackie let me know that my inhaler somehow fell out of the pocket of my vest and thankfully Andrea found it, phew, it was a brand new one! We all did pictures at the finish line.

Garmin Time - 81:51:17

Run Time - 10:15:45

Walk Time - 55:37:32

Special Thanks to finish spring of 10:25 pace

For fun, I still did one selfie at every mile beep. I also did a second picture of what the trail looked like at the time. To condense, I made it into a video:

Thoughts

• I was really surprised at how resistant the race was to making any sort of concessions for runner drop bag sizes. I asked multiple times on the public FB group and even sent an email privately and they just did not seem to comprehend how difficult they were making it for people without crew. I guess I feel that there should have been a separate division for people that were running with crew and ones that were not. Those of us without official crew paid for what was promised to be a "fully supported 200 Mile Trail Run" - and it was not.
• We had a decent number of last-minute changes to the course. That happens fairly regularly with 200s, so I was not "exactly" surprised, but in the last week we had multiple shorter sections that just became longer, without any additional aid.
• The aid stations were... not great. The volunteers did 100% everything they could, but most of them were stocked like a normal 50k that has aid every 5-6 miles. In the back half we had 5 sections of 20ish (or longer miles) - those are BIG distances without support, and the lack of calories was relatively shocking. There was also no ice at any aid stations, with the exception of #11. I never had the chance to use the ice bandana I brought.
• Sleep stations - I only asked about them one time, because thankfully I had other options. With unprecedented cold weather and record-breaking lows, how on earth are they providing people a tent with no blankets? And those without crew couldn't exactly pack their own sleeping gear with the 2 gallon drop bag limitation.
• Not being from the area or even remotely familiar with it, I was really surprised by how little trail there actually was. There was SO much running on the side of very busy roads. It was very unsafe!
• Absolute and horrific lack of marking. They advertise as "limited marked course" and that's true, I guess if by "limited" you mean maybe 50 race markings over 200+ miles. I was stunned at having to have my phone out pretty much nonstop to navigate. I did not plan to have my phone battery die so fast (yes, even in airplane mode) and once again, as a crewless runner, it was hard to keep things charged and have enough batteries.
• On that note, absolutely no medical professionals on the course, outside of the store aid station #11 who happened to be a nurse. There was no first aid available at any aid stations, so I'm glad I carry my own medical kit.
• Another last minute change was we had to have a blaze orange safety vest that we had to wear from Aid Stations 7-12. We were not told about this change until the week of the race. We were told this was because we would be running in areas where hunting is permitted. Ok, fine, but you really didn't know about this beforehand so people could prep? I will say that they did provide vests for people that were not able to get them in time, but it seems like information they would have had well in advance of the event.
• The shuttle was another disaster that the runners made work, but I hope that the RD will refund the people that had to drive their own cars to the start! Apparently they didn't add the shuttle option to Ultrasignup until later so they had "two" lists of people and never realized it when they only booked one van.
• The race shirt is a sun shirt, but only made in unisex sizes, so the smallest size is of course huge on me.
• The buckle is so big it's almost just ridiculous. It's very cool, but for display only. I took a picture of a guy at the start and this is honestly the only way you could actually wear it.

• Would I run this again? No, no, no. And I would honestly caution people against running this unless they are fine with basically running a fatass. The organization primarily runs adventure races and really have a lot of work to do for putting on a long endurance run. I had remembered a friend of mine doing an adventure run that she DNFd due to not feeling safe and reached out to her to see if it was the same organization - and it was. Her report for that is linked here. For some reason there always seems to be a hesitation to tell the truth about events or organizations, and I am not really sure why. Am I glad that I ran this? Sort of? I was really happy to have a reunion with my other 200 buddies and of course meeting Alex and running with her for so many miles was a highlight of the race. If I knew then what I know now, would I have done this? I'm not sure. Unfortunately, they seem to not be willing to listen to feedback and have gone the route of deleting posts and banning people from the group. I am sharing screenshots from a post asking if people felt like they were supported (which is now gone).

• Not really race-related, but I have never had my hair be such a disaster. I wore just a single braid instead of my normal double braids. Within the first segment my hair was matted and snarled. By the last few sections I had to take my hair OUT of the braids and just had a messy, matted ponytail. I actually ended up just ripping out huge sections after showering because I could not brush the tangles out. 

Essential Gear

• Ultraspire Zygos 5.0 vest. Used 800 ml flasks with straws.
• Garmin Enduro 2. I charged once when I got down to about 38% just because I happened to be taking a longer rest break. I believe it got up to 97% and I still had over 50% left when I finished.
• Goodr Sunglasses, $1 Amazon poncho saves the day again, Kogalla light strip and small Anker batteries (I would have used the beefier batteries if I had known I was going to be using my phone so much. I also was using Ben's lightbar and didn't realize he had it on the highest setting because I drained my first battery by 1 am the first night), Petzl headlamp
• Clothing - Rabbit UPF long sleeve and two YMX shirts. Rabbit EZ tees, Patagonia Maipro 7" shorts and Rabbit Smashem 5", socks were Stance and Smartwool. One Zensah highneck sports bra. This was the first time in a while I didn't use the rabbit sun shirts and that was a mistake not having the hood. I did have a Patagonia Airshed that I used a lot but it's definitely warmer than the rabbit tops. Also my trust Patagonia R1. Shoes were one pair of Topo Ultraventure 4s and two pairs of Ultraventure 2s. My trusty Tahoe 200 hat and super cheap stretchy gloves, buffs for under my headlamp. 
• Nutrition - LMNT Raspberry. Other food I packed that I used was Nerds Clusters, Nature Valley granola bars, trail mix, apple sauce, 5 hour energy, grape juice, Dots pretzels. Other food that helped a ton was sandwiches and chips.
• Salty Britches - I think I applied twice and while I had some hot spots I really didn't get any chafing, hooray!
• Gear mistakes!!! Loaning out my pants, honestly. Also for some reason I didn't have an emergency blanket or bivvy. With the lack of drop bags and restrictions I couldn't have had room for extras even if I wanted them. 

***I think some of these sections may not be right or I am remembering in the wrong order. This is the first race I've ever done that just had numbered aid stations instead of names and I didn't do a good job of documenting those. Reserve the right to edit as I remember or new things come up***