On March 24, 2012 was the PALM 100 race which consisted of three races, the individual 50K (31 miles), the 100K (62 miles) and 6 runner 100 miles team relay.  The 100K race started at 6:00 am at the corner of Las Olas Blvd and A1A, Fort Lauderdale Beach.  They go 31 miles north to the turn around point, Ocean Ridge (Boynton Beach Inlet Park) and back.  Meanwhile the 50K runners are bussed at 7:45 am from Las Olas Blvd to Ocean Ridge for a 10:00 am start.  The teams had a different time and route schedule.  I got on the 7:45 am bus with the 50K runners and took a nap along the way.

The PALM 50K was my first 50K at age 82 and can now say I’ve done 40 marathons and beyond since age 70 (11 after age 80).  The seeds for this run were planted one year ago when I saw the Banyan Road aid station across the street from my condo and watched the runners checking in.  Coincidently it is the midpoint of the 50K.  Not that I never thought about a 50K before but at the end of marathons I always thought, there is no way I could do another 5 miles so I would dismiss the idea.  This time, seeing the aid station, my thoughts turned more positive and another 5 miles is truly mental as all long distance runners say.  It still feels like a lot more than “just another 5 miles“.  Doing a 1/1 run/walk was my running plan.

No question this run was a heat endurance event with it being a typical Florida sunny 83 degree day.  The 50K started promptly at 10:00 am.  The first aid station was at about 2.5 miles.  After that they were basically 4 to 5 miles apart except gratefully the last 5 mile segment was split.  No mile markers like in marathons.  Between aid stations drank mostly a full bottle of water and had a combination of my favorite Medjool dates, gels and even a bar.  Also would grab a handful of M & M’s with nuts to chew on as left the aid stations.  At the 9.5 mile aid station was already starting to feel signs of heat fatigue and felt needed to do something or I wasn’t going to make it.  I put about 6 ice cubes in a sandwich zip lock bag, put it on my head and my cap over it to hold it in place.  It felt a little too cold at start but that didn’t last long.  Then it started dripping.  The bag had a hole, but it felt good.  By the next aid station the ice and water were gone for the next refill.  It worked.

My Wife Josie, met me at the mile 15.5 midpoint Banyan Road aid station.  I called her in advance that I forgot sunglasses so she had them for me.  Our drop bags were also there for us.  I gave Josie my cap and put on my Australian safari broad rim hat.  It had more head room for the ice and offered more all around sun protection.  During this first half I was doing mostly a 1:15/:45 run/walk.  From this point on hardly saw any runners, there was a long lonely stretch of open road to the mile 21 aid station where several runners were gathered.  Sat down a couple minutes.  Still maintaining the 1/1 run/walk on my way to the next aid station at mile 26, the marathon distance.  But what was strange, when I reached the mile 26 aid station, I felt like I was at mile 20 of the marathon.  So I went into my marathon ending mode of :30 to :45 seconds run surges with about 1:30 walk.  Gratefully next aid station was at 28.5 for last refill of water and ice.  The last 2.5 miles were along Fort Lauderdale beach with the sidewalks filled with people, kids, coolers, strollers and open car doors to dodge.  At last 31 miles, 7:33:22 (14:37 pace).

I got my medallion, bottle of water, some fruit and relaxed.  It’s now about 6 pm, still sunny, beach crowded, people in the water.  Couldn’t resist, went for a 5 minute swim, shower and now feel chilled.  There was a reserved meeting room for us at Exit 66.  Changed clothes there, then to car for sweater and back to the bar for my free beer and though it’s against my diet had the free pizza.  Awards at 10 pm, got my award 1^st of 1 in 80 plus age group.  Stayed to the end of festivities about 11 pm.

Would I do it again?  Absolutely, for as long as I’m able.  What I like about a 50K versus a marathon is that they are really small and there is no time pressure, it’s all about just finishing and surviving.  It’s not a mystery anymore.  I can’t express how good it feels, especially at my age, to still be able to compete and be among such an energetic and friendly group and also a unique breed of runners.  I firmly believe the number one secret to running longevity is a healthy diet to avoid the most common diseases that end running.  Second, vigorous exercise to be able to enjoy the life.  Thank you all for your compliments, they keep me inspired to continue.

Augie

Peanut Island,  A race against time!

I decided to enter the 2^nd annual Peanut Island 24 only a few weeks before its start date, out of sheer boredom that I knew would exist over the News Year’s holiday.  As you know, I enjoy putting on races, and being involved in races, so having something to do over the New Year’s weekend, just seemed right!  Common sense did prevail as I had only 4 weeks to train, so I opted for the 12-hour run, instead of the 24-hour event. The latter was to start on Saturday morning and run past midnight until Sunday at 10am, while the 12-hour run had two options, noon to midnight and 10pm to 10am. I chose the noon start. There also were two 6-hour runs mixed in to all this madness created by club member Bob Becker, who as it turns out is a masterful planner and event director.  As if running 12 hours wouldn’t be enough, I volunteered to help Bob and about 12 other volunteers on Friday the day before the race, a task I soon learned, that was a lot more then I bargained for!

You see Peanut Island is a man-made island in the middle of the intracoastal between Riviera Beach and Singer Island, just south of the Blue Heron Bridge, and the only way to get to the island is by boat.  That means you and ALL the your personal stuff, plus ALL the race and timing gear had to be unloaded on the dock, packed on to the boat, shuttled out to the island, off-loaded onto the dock and carried to the staging area –  a monumental task, that was carried out with precision by the volunteers, many who had done the race last year and were back to support the event.  I brought my tent, to stay on the island with several of the volunteers to oversee the equipment, and finish setting up the transition area, which turned out to be one of the best decisions I made.  The island was very peaceful and the intracoastal was as quiet, which reminded me of my childhood growing up on a lake in Pennsylvania.  The path around the island is so well lit that running or walking it at any time of the day, even in the wee hours of the morning.

Peanut Island is a 79 acre Palm Beach County park. In my almost 30 years in South Florida, I knew of the island but had never been there. It has 3 buildings that house bathrooms, a campsite for 20 tents, showers for the campers and a 1.2345 mile brick paver path that runs around the island close to the water offering a real 360-degree view of the island.  On the south-west corner the terrain rises about 100 feet above the water offering some spectacular views over the intracoastal toward downtown West Palm Beach. Runners dubbed this area of the island Mount Peanut and the Look-Out.

The race started right on time as Mike Melton, the official timer for the 5 events, led the countdown to 10am, and the 24-hour group was off.  With only 2 hours to go till my start I headed back to my tent to catch some quiet time and think through how I was going to pull this off. You see, this was my first attempt at any distance approaching this length. I’ve done two 50k’s before, but they were both completed in less than five and a half hours. This was going to be twice that challenge and take more than twice as long.

My race started at high noon, on a beautiful hot cloudless day. There I was on a tiny island  in the middle of the intracoastal with no way off. It seemed like such a good idea, just last week!  “3.2.1…Go” Mike shouted,  and we were moving forward, not at 5k pace, as people were still adjusting their gear, and getting set to run.  Within the first quarter mile I was out in front of everyone –  not a good idea this early in a race,  but hey I still had 11hours and 58 minutes to recover.  I was soon passed by a young girl who was running at a nice, pace and I joined in, running the remainder of the 1^st lap with her ( again, not a good idea! ) We finished the lap at just under an 8 min pace, which left only 11 hours and 50-something minutes to go.  I quickly worked out that I wouldn’t be able to pace her much longer and let her surge on ahead as I slowed down to a near crawl.  Several laps later she came buzzing by –  heck she had just lapped me, and was already 1.2345 miles ahead of me. Then, after several more laps Tatyana, Tot, as her friends call her, breezed by me again, something she would continue to do over and over all day!

Since this race is run in a fixed time, in my case 12 hours, it doesn’t matter how far you go, just that you go… and forward!  Since the path is circular you came back to the start area every 1.2345 miles, giving you an opportunity to grab some nutrition or to hydrate.

In events like this, nutrition takes on a whole different meaning.  Things such as M&M’s and Oreo cookies, Twizzlers, beef jerkey, PB&J, grilled cheese, hot dogs and hamburgers, Heed, bottled water, Coca Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Hammer gels and the other things, were the foods of choice, and were kept replenished on  the table at the transition area by volunteers for the entire 24 hours that the race went on.

Since everyone was moving in the same direction, but at various paces, the people that you had a chance to run and chat with as you progressed forward was ever changing.  Being the quiet and shy type (not,)  I had the opportunity to meet a lot of the people in all the events, some for just a few minutes other for a lap or two.  I finally met up with my speedy friend, Tot, as we neared the ten thirty mark.  Seems she had broken the course record for most distance in twelve hours, set the previous year at 59 miles, and was at 65 miles when we walked a lap around the island.  She was trying to figure how fast she had to do each of the 5 laps she needed to complete 70 miles.  Are you serious, I remarked, you’re trying to get to 70 miles, by midnight?  She told me it was her goal to hit 70, and we both figured out she had to run the remaining 4 laps, as walking was not going to get her to 70 by midnight.

I finished the race at witching hour, then managed to catch a glimpse of the fireworks in Downtown West Palm Beach.  Most of the others had headed to the look-out area to view the pyrotechnics and drink Champagne, but that was further than I was willing to walk at this point and the last thing I wanted was something alcoholic to drink. So I settled for watching the fireworks from the comfort of the bench by the finish line.  After the display,  I went back to my tent to grab some clothes and headed to the showers, before crashing in my sleeping bag till the next morning. I slept well!!

When I finished the race at midnight, I had logged a bit more than 49 miles –  good enough for 10th place, in the 12-hour event.  Tot finished 1^st with the course record, and when I saw her the next morning, she was just coming back from a 6 mile recovery run, while I was gingerly tiptoeing around.  The 24-hour event was won by Stephanie who also smashed last year’s course record, of 116 miles going 117 in the allotted 24 hours.  I have no idea how she did it, but I watched her determination kick in as the clock hit 23 hours and 57 minutes  she took off running at a full sprint just to get as far as she could in the remaining three minutes. An amazing display of athletic ability in the final minutes of a grueling event!

Would I do it again…yep you bet! The race was incredible, the scenery defies description ( so I took pictures!),  the runners and their families and support crews, were some of the friendliest people I’ve met, the race organization superb, the volunteers, the best.  I’ve been on a euphoric high since the race, and can’t say enough good things about the event and the effort Bob and his wife Suzanne put into putting on  his event in our back yard.  I have already signed up for Bob’s next event, the Everglades 50 miler in a few days, and plan on either running or volunteering for the Palm 100 & the Keys 100 later this year!  I asked Bob why he does this crazy stuff, and he said…”What keeps me doing this crazy RD stuff is feedback from runners who had such a great time and discovered a different kind of racing experience.  You mentioned the helpful and friendly people you met.  That sense of camaraderie and willingness to give the next guy the shirt off their back is what I saw immediately when I ran my first ultra and what has kept me coming back.  It’s a small enough world that you see many people from around the country over and over at ultramarathon races, make friends and stay in touch.” Bob, I’m hooked!

Looking for a new running experience, want to push the limits a bit, join me at one of the events, I guarantee it will change your outlook on running and what you are capable of accomplishing – forever!
Scott