It’s a long read… :-)
Oil Creek 100 is in the bag…all 100 Miles!
Race went well…31 hours!…
The race is 3 loops on a 31 mile trail and then 7 more miles on a “heading home” loop.
The first loop started at 5:00 am in the dark. We run with headlamps to light the way for about 2 hours until the sun comes up. The trail was in good shape, temperature was around 45 degrees, near perfect! I kept a good steady comfortable pace trying not to over do it…save my energy for the later miles to come. Had only one slip down a hill at a stream crossing where I pretty much spun around about 3 times before catching myself! Finished the first loop in about 8 hours, 31 miles…felt pretty good still!
My Crew Chief, Jennifer Starr, was there at two of the four aid stations around the loop to make sure I ate something, hydrated, and had all the right equipment when I needed it. This was Jenn’s third time crewing for me so she really knows what to do and when and she was a huge help here at OC!
Second loop went (mostly) well too…62 miles Slowed down a bit, 9 hours total I think, and had only one mishap…hit a mud patch and lost my shoe! Tried to keep my balance and put my left hand and glove right into the mud all the way up to my elbow and then put my right foot and sock deep into the muck too! Crap!! Went back and had to pull my shoe out of the mud with two hands…now I had a wet glove, two wet shoes and one wet sock!! Found a dry spot to sit down, wiped all the muck off as best I could, put the shoe back on and got to running again…and I had about 9 miles to go in wet shoes and socks…”buck a mile” dammit! Finished the loop no worse for the wear, starting to get tired and cold (the sun had gone down already)…and grumpy…this is when Jenn has to snap at me to eat something…and eat more…blood sugar and electrolytes start to get out of whack and I don’t want to eat…so, she makes me eat and rest for a bit…and she reminds me why I am out there…for a cure! That helped a lot!
Headed out for the third loop…another runner, Gary, was heading out too…sort of..he was talking to his wife and he looked like he was hurting…he had a huge blister on his foot and he was in pain and tired. I could tell he didn’t want to go back out…I didn’t want to go either…I asked if he was alright, was he hurting…he said he had the blister…I said come on, you can do it, I’ll stay with you for a while…so he came. We walked and talked and headed down the trail…he got it going and was ok after a bit and said I could go ahead…so I did. I felt stronger too and I was glad I had said something to him back at the aid station.
The next 15 miles got tougher. The temperature was dropping pretty quickly, 28 degrees, it was 1 or 2 or 3 am, not sure, I was getting slower…and hungry but my stomach kept getting upset…I just tried to keep it moving…buck a mile Baby! I kept thinking about my sister and her chemo last Thursday. I don’t know what to do for her, “sorry hope you feel better” just doesn’t seem to cut it…so I kept running and tried not to think about running…just a cure…then I fell, stepped into a hole which caught my leg and I went straight down and jammed my wrist…shit! That hurt! I sat there for a minute, pulled my leg out of the hole, straightened out my wrist…got going again.
Got to mile 84, the third aid station, 9 miles before the end of the loop…several really big hills to climb after this…I was freezing cold, teeth chattering, legs hurting, getting hard to think straight, feeling all alone even with the volunteers there who were trying to help…wanted to quit…and then Gary was there…he had caught up…he asked me if I was ok!…and that woke me up a bit. Thank you Gary!
Got it going again to finish the third loop, 93 miles…the sun came up, everything started to warm up and I was feeling better…talked to Gary a bit as we were finishing the loop together…He told me this was his first attempt at a 100 mile race…I told him about how this is my fundraiser for cancer research…then he told me about his daughter being diagnosed with Melanoma a few years ago, luckily they removed it early, and she is now fine and doing well. I was glad we got to talk.
The last 7 miles came and went and were just a little annoying…after 93, they are the toughest mentally!…I was so glad to be crossing the finish line and to be done…total relief! All 100 miles Baby!
Thanks to everyone for following my FB posts, all the encouraging comments and support helped a ton! And the “buck a mile” mantra worked real well! Thanks so much!
Donor Update – We are getting there!
Thanks to this weekend’s donors Jimmy Gnass, Ryan and Mia Leone, and “buck a mile” pledges from Dave Schlaudecker and Kimberly Hasapes! Thank you so very much!
With donations already in and pledges and checks on the way, we are up to about $ 4,751! That’s almost 48% of our huge goal of $ 10,000! We have a couple of weeks to get all our donations in still. So, if you haven’t donated yet, there is still time! Woohoo!
You can donate online at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/RoadRun14/ealewis
If you want to send a check…make it out to: LLS…and mail it to me at: 3936 Elmhurst Road, Toledo, OH 43613
Thanks to all of our donors and pledges so far:
Stacy Warren, Bob Bethel, Ruthellen Ondrus, Bonnie Kimpling-Kelly, Frank Cody, Judy Kehrle, George Brymer, Dana Zanville, and Doug Hartman, Martha Lewis, Joe Erard, Jennifer Smirnoff-Poling, Scott and Betsy Saneholtz, Jim Veller, Sean Thomas and the Employees at Axis Engineering, Dan Robertson, Jennifer Starr, Joel Salazar, Gary Ehrmin, Darlene Lorenzen, Frank Cody, and Deb Chany and Dr’s Jeff and Rachel Elmore, Matt Folk, John Frank, Debby Peters, Honoree George Evanoff, Kathy Pigott, Brendon Matthews, Honoree Karen Landis, James Hunt, Martha Lewis, and Mike and Shannon Irmen, Honoree Carol Haddix, Pam Weirauch, Michelle Marentette-Hermanutz, Shelley Foos, Michelle Ansara, Tom Spy for an awesome pledge, Violet Stoycheva, Kevin Simpson, Honoree Rodney Cundiff, Jenn Wenzke, Honoree Andrea Loch, and Deb Yeagle.
Thanks to these business owners and their employees and customers in advance for helping through the Blood Drop Campaign:
Maumee Quick Print – Peggy Masters and Jennifer Starr
Champion Credit Union – Steve Grindle and the CCU Staff
Laura’s Framing Place – Laura Osborne
Dunright Building Services – Bill McConnel
Outstanding Nutrition – Sheryl and Terry Losey
The Flying Joe – John and Becky Ohm
K&R Auto Repair – Kristin and Roger Davenport
Verizon Wireless – Chad Brogan
Key Bank – John Frank
Thank you everyone! Every little bit helps…we are getting there!
Help us reach our fundraising goal so we can continue to fund cancer research…to make a difference…a world without cancer!
Please consider a donation. We just have a few weeks left to get all of our donations in. No amount is too small! We need all the help we can get to fight the good fight. You can donate online at: http://pages.teamintraining.org/noh/RoadRun14/ealewis
If you want to send a check…make it out to: LLS…and mail it to me at: 3936 Elmhurst Road, Toledo, OH 43613
Thank you!
Run Steady, Run Strong!
Ernie
It is so inspirational. How is your wrist. And other parts of your body
Enjoy the day. It is gods gift to you
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