On September 28, 2024 I participated in a last man standing event in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.
Due to a hurricane that made landfall during the week, the race time and camp set up time was adjusted a few times, with the final set up beginning at 7am and the race beginning at 9am.
While I went to park the car, my oldest and youngest daughter set up our camp. We had the tent to keep the girls dry when I was not at camp (rained 9 of 12 hours I ran). A table for any food, hydration or gear I may need between loops and a chair if I had enough time between loops.
The picture above gives you an idea as to what was brought. You can get an idea as to what went into the tent and what was left on and under the table.
There was also a tent for runners that did not have a crew to r if there was not enough time to go to your own tent between loops.
Bib number and t-shirt.
Getting to meet and talk with the race director, Laz Lakes.
One more picture before we start.
The storm caused some issues with the trail, so we ended up doing the loop as an out and back on the road for both the daylight and dark hours.
Had a plan and practiced that plan for a number of weeks. Several 30 mile Saturdays tested and tried my plan. Half mile walk and half mile jog was going to get me the most loops unless something went wrong.
Well, when you start to talk with people on the loop, you forget your plan and adopt theirs.
Well, ran long enough to complete a few of the night loops. But on the 11th loop, had a pain that would not go away and decided that I needed to drop. Well, my group started chanting for one more loop and then the entire camp was chanting my name. Well, at this point you have to completely empty the tank. My last loop I finished with 1:30 left. And although I started the 13th loop, I returned to the corral just a few minutes later.
The race organizers were able to track our progress throughout the race allowing friends and family to see how we are doing. The above picture shows my status after 12 loops.
You can see when the pain started coming in the picture above.
#ultrarunning #trailrunning #onemoreloop #squirrelsnutbutter #skratchlabs #littledogsbackyardultra
Country Road Runner 