New Jersey Devil 100 #49

"Never give up, never give in

Rise from the fire if you're gonna win

Sing with your soul, soon you'll be old

Fight the demons inside you

There is no limit to what can be done

Climb every mountain with power so strong

Dusty roads on the way, leaving the past behind you" -Spirit never die, Masterplan

Signed up to run this race in 2020, a 'flat' course through the Pine Barrens of New Jersey on the Batona Trail. It was canceled when COVID hit and didn't take place until this last weekend. I honestly wasn't thrilled to be running it and thought about dropping for a mountain race, but I'd already paid for it and decided it'd be an easy check-mark on the list of 100s to get me to #50. I knew nothing about the Batona trail. We lived in NJ when my son Adam was born and I'd driven through the pine barrens before. I was expecting a somewhat boring 100 miles of trails in the pines. Driving down in 88 degree temps I was really relieved that it was supposed to cool off to cloudy and highs in the high 60's for Saturday, with a potential for heavy rain overnight.

I found out just before the race a little more about the course,

1. It had a 30 hour cutoff, wanting to become a Western States qualifier. That set off the alarm bells that there was going to be more than I expected in challenges out there, and 30 hrs would be tight.

2. I could expect 20-ish miles of sand.

So, the night before we left for NJ I was gluing Velcro on my shoes so that I could wear full shoe sand gaiters to spare my feet. South Jersey feels like you are way out in Podunk-ville. The closest hotel we could really find to the start/finish line was about 40 minutes away. Got a pretty restful night's sleep and heading to the start line at 4:45 am we thought we'd be there in good time. Instead, it took us almost an hour, the directions on GPS were somewhat vague trying to get us to turn onto some nonexistent access road, and the only other route was closed for construction. We had about 15 min to get to the start line and I still had to check in, get my bib and put out my drop bags. It was so stressful! I was mildly panicking a reoccurring nightmare is showing up to a race after it started lol. Luckily, I turned on my phone to try and find a route and fortunately it took us a different way and we made it to the start with just enough time!

I was worried about making the 30-hour cutoff, it's a quicker pace than a mid pack pace when you're on trails. Started out solid, getting the first 10 miles out of the way quickly at about 11 min miles. The trails were absolutely beautiful for running. Flat, soft and not hardly technical. I was carrying poles and thought maybe it was a mistake to bring them but after 10 miles the trail got a little more technical & I tripped on a pinecone and face planted lol, so I decided it was a good thing that I had them. The soft terrain actually ended up being a little difficult to run on after awhile. It was easy on the feet but your shoe didn't bounce off the trail well, it kind of sucked energy from your legs. For about 5 miles there was a conga line of runners, so I kept letting everyone pass as much as I could so that I could find my own groove. The race had a headphone rule not to have headphones in two ears, so I had an old wire set which was pretty annoying, but I ended up having some really wonderful conversations early on, so I didn't really miss having music blaring in both ears. This really nice guy named Geoffrey slowed down to run with me for a little bit, he asked me about the Marines on my pack and he just thought I was doing the greatest thing. It was so nice that he took the time to talk to me, he ended up taking 2nd place. I had a few guy recognize me from other races we've run together and it was so much fun to chat about what we'd been running and how things were going. I think the best encounter was with a Dad who asked me about my pictures, and after I told him what I was doing he told me how he had lost his 4 yr old son Eli, who was one of a set of triplets. We talked about running and being a grieving parent and it was just super cool to find someone on the trail who really understood why I was there, he was there for the same underlying reasons. One of my friends from a few past races, Greg, went past me quickly but by the first aid station at 11 miles, I pulled ahead, he was saying he'd gone out too fast and was already struggling a bit. We were all talking about the trail drag on our legs and how we'd need to slow down.

After the first 11.9 mile, we had about 7-8 to the next AS. The sun was well up and I was sweating though it was still cool out. I was really trying to stick to 200 calories and 8oz of hydration every 4 miles while it was cool. I knew I'd have to beef up electrolytes once it started getting warm. I had been thinking this would be boring as far as scenery went but for a flat trail it was quite spectacular. The trail opened up to ponds, marshes, lakes, and various types of trees and forests so it felt like the landscape was constantly changing. I realized this really wasn't a flat race either. There wasn't really climbing, but the sandy trails and roads were a bit of a roller coaster, lots of little ups and downs. It ended up having about 6000 elevation gain by the finish. I thought that was a good thing, it kept the run interesting and helped switch up the muscle groups. The white powder sand sections were difficult, you just had to walk through them best you could. I was really grateful I had sand gaiters and leggings on because everyone had dusty and sandy feet and legs. I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures, I was too worried about the 30 hour cutoff so I was in constant forward motion as much as possible.

I ran into my friend Fernando as we were approaching the marathon distance aid station. I knew it was him because he was blasting music coming up behind me... I'm like, that's gotta be Fernando! We talked about the races headphone rules and he said , well the race rules said “please”no speakers and I considered it and then said no. ha ha. I took that to heart and when the trail cleared out a bit more later, I ditched my headphones too. Honestly though, a girl in front of me had a snake by the side of the trail ready to strike, so I think playing loud music alerts wildlife so they're more likely to move off. Its a safety issue! I was pretty impressed with the first 2 aid stations, fully stocked with plenty of food, snacks, hot potatoes, bacon & salt! From 19 to the aid station at 26 miles, the day started to warm up and was already above the projected high of 68 climbing into the 70s and full sun. I ran out of water a mile before hitting the 26 mile aid station. I slowed down a little to talk to a girl named Jennifer. She was pretty solid and fast early on but the sun and the trail drag on the legs was starting to slow both of us down. The three of us, Jennifer, Fernando and I, all got into 26 at about the same time only to find out the aid station had run out of water!! They had nothing. No electrolytes, soda, juice, nothing. Oh my gosh. That was a huge mishap for an aid station. I felt sorry for the guy working the aid station, we were all miffed and concerned. It was close to 1pm, hottest part of the day, and we still had to run another 7-8 miles. That meant only 1 water bottle covering me for 15ish miles. That was not good. Also the temperature now was pushing 78 degrees and the forest was getting stuffy and hot. We sort-of brushed aside the aid station guy and started digging through all the supplies to find anything that resembled liquid. I grabbed the last 3 applesauce, Fernando found a Tangerine, Jennifer found a box of veg broth. She poured out 2 cups for herself and whoever might need some. I took the rest of the box and chugged it down, hoping it would be enough to not get dehydrated. I was super worried this was gonna come back to bite us in severe dehydration later in the race.

We got into survival mode, Jennifer had some water left in her bladder so she split it with us, and another girl named Angelica joined us. We took the meager stuff we had and decided we'd all stick together until the next aid station to make sure we would all be okay. Leaving the aid station we took a wrong turn and went probably half a mile before we realized and had to go back. Ugh! It was slow going. Fernando and I still had some energy so we took turns being out in front, but we'd stop and wait to make sure everyone was doing okay. Another guy joined our group for a while, then moved ahead of us and left us. He ended up dropping at the next aid station, I think. That was a miserable 2-ish hours through the hottest part of the day, trying not to overexert and sweat. Jennifer called her crew and about a mile from the aid station they had run out with a huge thing of water, filling up everyone's bottles. There were apparently a couple guys in front of us who were in such bad shape that they were calling 911. Water never tasted so good! I would have drunk from a muddy puddle if I'd seen one, but the trail was just hot and dry. Jennifer and Angelica were kind of in tough shape, I shared some zofran and my extra salt tabs and magnesium with them and hoped they would bounce back. I got a text from Hannah my daughter at some point, wearing a wear blue shirt to the gym to support my run. That made my day!

I was so happy to finally reach the next AS, I guzzled down 2 16 oz bottled of electrolytes, a meal drink and a couple capri suns, and packed liquid calories with me to get through the rest of the afternoon. Jason had given me a blessing the night before and felt inspired to warn me that this would not be easy and that I needed to listen to what the Lord had to say to me though music and throughout the run. Because of that I tried to stay centered and mindful of every mile, staying in the moment, thanking God for the scenery and the opportunity and good health to be running, praying for he families of the fallen and for my family, praying for help and guidance to execute well within the tight cutoff of this race. Praying for my new friends that they'd meet their goals. That worked out pretty well for the first 50. After that my brain was a blur.

The next section of trail had some gravely ground, more sand, more roots, sketchy bridges, a medium sized climb, wood paths thru marshes, and a really freaky looking rooty jungle. For some reason my trail shoes that never give me trouble were squeezing and pounding my toes so I had to change out shoes when I met Jason at 50 miles. I was staying well above an hour over cutoffs, even tho I lost a good 45 minutes during the afternoon with no hydration. It was good to see him and wash my face and hands. I knew rain was going to move in but I was still pretty warm so I didn't bother with a jacket. I got on my new hokas in a double wide size and my feet felt immediately better. Left him just as it was getting dark. Was feeling strong but still concerned about staying consistent to make the cutoffs, I knew once the rain started it was going to be a different story, and wow, it was!

After I left Jason and it got dark the heavy rain started and kept up for several hours. Jennifer had warned us that the sandy trails didn't drain at all, and she wasn't kidding. The entire trail for some sections was like running through a small creek. There was some pretty scary lightning strikes and wind gusts, and it was raining so hard that I could barely see more than a few feet in front of me. I was still warm but had on a poncho to hold in body heat. It rained for a few hours and I was getting pretty tired, the rain let up for a while but kicked in again and stayed pretty steady. All in all ended up with about 10 hrs of fairly heavy rain. The night trail had a bunch of frogs and I felt so bad, I'm sure I kicked or stepped on more than one. In the morning light I saw quite a few trampled frogs from all the runners!

In the late night with the rain I had some weird hallucinations, I thought I saw a 3 foot tall, white tree frog, the white ghost of Pikachu, a highway with trucks in front of me on the trail, and several skeletons. Ha ha. The jungle part of the trail looked like it would be the actual lair of the Jersey Devil, so that creeped me out. The forest had all kinds of loud night noises, it sounded like angry ducks, frogs, rattling, croaking, whining...I was blasting my music to hopefully scare anything in the forest away. I didn't see anyone for hours. Every aid station I was at, people were dropping out of the race. When I met Jason again around mile 80, I switched to a long sleeved shirt and stuck a hot hands down my shirt under my poncho. I got a little bit chilled, but it did a pretty good job of keeping my core temperature up even though I was soaked to the skin. One benefit of the rain is that it firmed up the powdered sugar sand a little bit so I could still move forward. Once the sun came up I could navigate around the puddles on the trail and the sandy roads better.

I was so relieved to finally get to the 11.9 mi aid station. It was chilly but with the sun coming up I thought I would move along much better and I did for a while. I dropped all my unnecessary weight in my drop bag and my trekking poles, dumped a ton of trash and my destroyed poncho off. I realized one thing I really hate to do but is an ultra-runner skill and is important is trash management! With all the snacks, applesauce, drinks, toilet paper or fem supplies, electrolyte packets, etc. you have to stash it all in various pockets and remember to empty out at each aid station. Annoying! I knew the final miles of the trail were fairly smooth with just a few little bridges, rooty sections so I made up a little time, but I'd lost quite a bit trying to get through the overnight storm. I was about 40 minutes under cutoff. After the rain, the forest was sparking in the morning sun. It was so beautiful!

I had to stop finally at about 3 miles left because my foot suddenly started hurting like heck. Sharp pains with every step. I sat on a fallen tree and let myself take 4 minutes to pull off shoes & gaiters and pull my socks back, my feet were white and messy tho not quite to trench-foot stage thankfully. I rubbed some voltarin cream in them in hopes it would ease the pain some. It didn't do much. I tried to walk but walking hurt worse so I was doing a slow slow jog. Every step hurt for the last 3-4 miles. I was feeling a little queasy by the last aid station at 2 miles left. Drank down a coke and brought it in. It was starting to get hot out again, in the sunny sections. I passed a couple runners right near the end of the race. Running it in I was remembering it was Sunday morning so I put on some church music to help keep my spirit going, my body was done.

A song from a musical from my childhood with lyrics that remind me of Dexter, came on my playlist and man I choked up and had tears going down my face and I rounded the corner and there was the finish. I was crying to the song, and crying because I was so relieved to be done. Finished in 29:15 with 45 minutes to spare.

We sat at the finish for the next 40 minutes to cheer on the last of the runners. I was so happy that Fernando finished with like 10 minutes to spare, and was sad the two girls we'd toiled through the hot afternoon with us did not. Turned out to have a really high DNF rate for an “easy” trail. 89 finishers, 80 dnfs. I wondered how many got stuck without water like we did and had to drop. Jason had to check out of the hotel since I didn't finish till after 11 so I had to take a sponge bath and change clothes in the car, lol. I really thought I'd wrecked my foot. We had to stop a couple times so that I could get out of the car to pee and vomit...my foot was so bad I couldn't put any weight on it at all. We tried to get into gas stations but I could barely stand up outside of the car. I was super worried imagining I had a fracture or something, wondering if this was an injury that would wreck my #50 at Cruel Jewel. Luckily when I woke up the next day the intense pain was gone and I could walk/(limp) normally on it...as normal as you can get around after 100 miles lol.

I was really having a great time for a good portion of this race. Fun and beautiful scenery, absolutely awesome volunteers, mostly good aid stations, other runners who were friendly and supportive. I did have quite a few miserable miles where I was questioning my life choices and wondering how I was going to possibly survive 48 hours at Cruel Jewel next month. I really don't know how that's going to go, but I'm so grateful that I finished #49 and I'm right at the cusp of the halfway mark of 100 100s for Dexter. Never forgotten.

“I take some paper in my hand, And with a pencil draw a man The dream of what I'd really, really like to be. A man with courage in his brow, Who's licked his doubts and fears somehow, A warrior of great nobility. But who am I' Just a wandering kid. A cipher on the wall, not even brave at all! And where's my dream like his that I would fight for? And where's my cause like his that I would die for? And in his eyes he's not a afraid Because you see he's got it made The dream of what I'd really, really like to be. A brave and noble, fiery youth. Who's not afraid to die for truth. Who's tall and straight, but best of all he's free A cipher on the wall, not even brave at all! And where's my dream like his that I would fight for? And where's my cause like his that I would die for? But still the paper's ion my hand And every day I sketch that man Who knows the truth and what life's all about? My conscience says I should be him I guess I could at least begin But chances are, I'd probably... strike out. :( " -Paper Dream, Saturdays Warrior