Guest Post by John Ticer
Yes, besides marrying my practice wife this was the most insane thing I have ever done. But, for this event I prepared well. The 24-hour round-y-round has always intrigued me for some strange reason so I knew that I would some day have to check it off my bucket list. The day (days) came on Sept. 18th-19th at the North Coast 24-hour.
The Scene: Edgewater State Park, .92 mile loop (yes, I meant to put that dot in front of the 9). Sara and I arrived at 7:30 for the 9:00am start. I picked up my packet with two bib numbers and timing chips so that you could put one on your day shirt and one on your night shirt – oh that should have been a clue. Next, we found Connie Gardner who took us under her wing and let us set up at her tent, then told her crew to help me with whatever I needed…wow. If you have never been to a 24hr event it looks very similar to one of the mountain stages in the Tour: just past the timing tent on both sides of the path are wall to wall tents for about a 1/4 mile. Crews/family get very creative with their attempts to stand out so that their runner will be able to pick them out deep in the night.
The Race: The RD said go….about 7:30 min. later I had the course memorized. Oh boy this is going to be interesting. From the gun I knew something was wrong, but I also knew I had plenty of time to figure it out and fix it so I kept going round and round, waiting to find my groove. Somewhere at about 4 hours my little toe on the right side had a baby. I sat down and took a pin off my bib and stabbed a couple of holes in it. Problem number one solved.
I still have not been able to figure out why I’m working so hard to maintain a slow pace. Am I overtrained, not eating/drinking enough, being whimpy – I can`t figure it out. Fast forward to somewhere around 6 hours. What the hell was that? A defect no doubt but something happens to the fragile male ego when an attractive woman with a prosthetic leg passes you. I acknowledge the fact that it makes me a little man but the feeling was like letting the air out of your life vest….you’re going down! This was about the time Sara showed up with a great looking dinner, so, I took a break. Time for plan B, but I didn’t have one. I was totally focused on my goal of 145 miles. Still able to do math I realized that my 50 mile split was toast as was my 100 mi split … no way I was going 145 … ok, uh, how about 18 hrs for 100 miles? Well, that didn’t happen either. My big toe on the left side BLEVEd at about 8 hours. Soon after that both my plantar fasciae collapsed. Now it was getting interesting.
The Damage
As I was closing in on 100 miles I knew I was nearing one of the greatest physical achievements of my life. I also knew I was going to do some walking. Just when I thought nothing else could hurt, my eyes started burning. Man, if I could just close them for a few seconds – hey why not – so I started closing my eyes on the straightaways figuring that the worst that could happen is I’d drift off onto the grass and tip over … they really need botch dots on these paths.
I was done at 100 miles – my walking and running pace finally merged. I walked for the next 4.5 hours until my wife started teasing me. I was somehow able to run the last half hour.
The Results: Never be afraid to try even if you sometimes fail. I didn’t even get close to my goal, but I had a blast trying. I know I can do better, but as of this posting I hope I never have the opportunity to try.
The Facts: 11th overall / 7th male – Debbie Horn, my hat is off to you. I think this is the first time I’ve been chicked by someone in my age group. 1st 50yo male national age group champion and proud of it!
Great job JT! That is the ugliest toe I have ever seen!
@KRW, Thanks Kelly,a lot of work went into making that picture.
Hey, thanks for filling up my waking-up-in-a-deep-sweat nightmare schedule for the week with that photo. Yowza!
Congrats on the fast 100…
SD
@ScottD, Scott I`m concerned you might be going through “the change” if the night sweats continue let me know and I`ll send you some of my wifes little green pills.Craig dreams about me all the time and has never complained about getting sweaty.
Thanks for the pat on the back.
Good Job Ticer! Thanks for the story.
@Dan Olmstead, OK Dan you made this one way to easy.
Dan I think this might just be your event you could run hard for the first 93 miles,kick back in a chair for…..oh lets say 7-8 hours and still get a silver buckle.
Awesome report Ticer. You’re a funny dude.
@BK, Ah,my brother from another motha,I got nothing on you dude,solo float of the GC…. your my hero for this life time.
Damn man, that was some write-up. I know Sara’s tough, but making fun of you at hour 23+? That is some gnarly toe. You recovered yet?
@SLF, Not recovered yet,my dog took me for a really slow 60 min. run on Ridgeline today….oh baby!
Sara,well thats why I have her pace me from Hiway 49 in.
Hard to paint unless you stop the bleeding first.
@LT, Thanks for the coded message LT but I know what your saying,If I would have followed LB`s protocol #793 and painted my toe nails before an important race none of this would have happened….point taken
I want to take this opportunity to Thank You, John.
See, when I was a boy and we all went to the theatre to watch E.T. on the big screen, while others gazed in wonder at E.T. and Elliot flying through the air on BMX bikes, my thoughts were on another level.
I wondered what E.T. would look like if a nice wind came up and dumped his ass out of the basket and he were to hit the ground with a thud. What would that look like?
Now, looking at your toe, I have that image.
I am forever indebted. The circle is complete
XOXO
@MonkeyBoy, Man there are alot of similarities between the little freak and the TOE,good eye MB.
Ah but not to worry because Elliots mom took out a Firemed Membership just days prior to the now famous flight so had this terrible scene actually happened the little freak would have been rushed off to the nearest Trauma Center.
It`s easy to become a member or renew your currnt membership.
Firemed only-$50
Joint Firemed and Lifeflight-$85…but you must act now enrollment is closing soon.
I love it when the good guys, the tough guys,
have bad days and aren’t afraid to tell about
it. We all like to talk about the good days,
but you show your character (JT is awesome)
when the ladies go by and you deal with it.
pv
@Phil, Phil not only do I have to deal with it,I`m getting used to it
Cool photo! Makes me glad I had some of my toenails surgically removed years ago. There just in the way.
@grae, It`s crazy what they can do these days I felt the same way about the rational side of my brain,since it`s removal I have become a much better Firefighter.
BLEVEd. Boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion! I’m always greatful when my ultra vocabulary gets expanded. The photo actually looks like you grabbed the nail
with a pair of pliars and ripped the dang thing off! Well done!
@Aztek, I actually just cut along the border of the BLEVE with a pair of scissors then lifted the alien mass straight up and disposed of it before Sara got back from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Thanks for the awesome report, JT. You know, you were only one marathon short of what I guessed you’d run. Getting chicked by a woman in your age group might start happening more often as the The Queen from Corvallis will be turning 50 next April.
@Craig, I already have a plan in place so that I will never get chicked by the Queen.I`m not going to enter any race that shes in,but I will crew/pace her.
BTW thanks for believing in me,I also thought I`d be a Marathon further along.
@John Ticer, good plan!
@John Ticer, Is the Queen willing to publicize her list of races next year? Sorta glad we’re not seeing her at the SOB (too close to States–even for her). We’ll fill even quicker with the old guys not worried. ‘Course that assumes they can remember what they were worried about.
@SLF, I`ve never seen a list although I do have a few suggestions that will help narrow down the possibilities.
1)The Queen will always show up at a race where Craig challenges her…I know,I also thought man when is he ever going to learn she chicks him every time.Ahh then I realised he does this just to see her pass him wearing those tight little bunn-huggers,Craig your my hero!
2)The Queen runs any race that offers prize money so that she can take all her dead-beat team mates out to dinner.
Just read your race report John. A very tender looking red toe! Ouch!! You do portray good character and you are to be commended for it. You have an awesome support team, especially Sarah, who has tremendous respect for you John. See you at another race one of these days. mom from cool!
@mom from Cool, My Cool Mom,right you are Sara is the best and I will see you at the low key 100 miler that runs through your back yard.
BTW- the “TOE” is almost normal looking now…well normal for a runner`s toe.