On June 3, I ran the FANS 6-Hour race. This is one of the FANS Ultras, which also include a 12-hour race and a 24-hour race. I’ve been going to FANS regularly since 1998. When I’m not competing in one of the races, I’m usually volunteering or crewing for John Greene, who often competes as a race-walker. This year, I did a little bit of everything. I ran the 6-hour run, volunteered later as a lap counter, and checked in on John’s race in between.
Last year, I did the 24-hour
race, even though I didn’t really train for it.
I might have been tempted to do it again, but I have a marathon next
weekend. One week is enough time to
bounce back from a 6-hour race, but I need a minimum of two weeks to recover
from a 24-hour race. Even that’s a
stretch.
The races were held at Normandale
Lake in Bloomington, MN. Our course was
a paved 1.82 mile loop around the lake.
All three races started at 8:00 AM on Saturday.
I stayed at a hotel that was
only half a mile from the course. Normally,
I would just stay at home, but MNDOT just started a construction project on
I-494, and I didn’t know if there would be delays. With no traffic and no construction, the
drive time is normally about 20 minutes.
With construction, it could easily have been twice that. I needed to drive back and forth a few times
during the weekend, so staying close was a time saver.
I went to bed early, but it
took me about four hours to get to sleep.
I only got about four hours of sleep, but I was able to shake that
off. It would’ve been a bigger deal if I
was doing the 24-hour race.
There’s an area on the west
side of the lake where we could set up tents.
We arrived at 6:00 AM so we could get a good tent site. We didn’t actually need that much time to set
up, so we had some time to relax before the race. Having a tent gave us a dry place to store our
gear if it rained. In past years, we’ve sometimes
had to race through long periods of rain.
It also gave us a place to change clothes, if necessary. I was only running for six hours, so I could’ve
got by without a tent, but John was doing the 24-hour race. He was planning to stop periodically to
change shoes and socks and recover from the heat, so the tent was more
important for him.
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| Photo credit: Betty Greene |
After we set up our tent and
unloaded our gear, John and I checked in at the medical tent for our pre-race weigh-in. Then we went to the finish line area to meet
our lap counters.
It was a hot day. The temperature was already in the low 70s
when the race started, and it was forecast to get above 90 in the afternoon. It was hot enough that I had to have a strategy
for coping with the heat. If I was doing
the 24-hour race, I would be doing as much walking as running, and that would
make it easier to dissipate excess heat.
In a 6-hour race, I’m mostly running, so I could easily overheat.
I brought a small cooler filled
with ice cubes, so I could put ice cubes in my hat. I’ve done that at other hot weather races,
and I’ve found it to be an effective way to cope with the heat.
When I signed up for this race,
I wasn’t planning to run competitively.
There’s usually at least one runner who can put up 40+ miles, and I don’t
have that in me. I was just going to run
at a comfortable pace and put in at least 50K.
When I saw how hot it would be, I started to wonder if that would work in
my favor. I tend to hold up better in
hot weather than most runners. More than
once, I’ve been able to win a race like this because I kept running while other
runners had to take rest breaks.
About 10 minutes before the
start, we walked out to the starting line for pre-race instructions. We started the first lap in a different
location than all the other laps, so it was a little bit shorter. They do that so people in the 24-hour race
can hit the 100-mile mark right at the end of a lap. 100 miles is a common goal for the 24-hour race.
I wore one of those cooling bandanas
that you soak in water and then tie loosely around your neck. I felt the water dripping from it as I walked
to the start, but I didn’t notice it much once I started running.
I expected the fastest runners
would be other 6-hour runners. I lined
up close to the front, so I could see who went out fast. Four runners went out faster than everyone else. I followed them. I didn’t try to keep up with them, but I
stayed close enough to keep them in sight for the first mile. I wanted to get a feel for how fast the other
6-hour runners were starting.
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| Photo credit: Betty Greene |
With our race packets, we
received a list of all the runners. We
each had an opportunity to list a goal when we registered. Many of the runners didn’t list a goal, but
one runner in the 6-hour race had a goal of 40 miles. I didn’t know him, but I kept an eye on him
for the first mile. It looked like he
ran the first mile in nine minutes or faster, which put him on pace for 40
miles. Whether he and the other fast
runners could keep up that pace remained to be seen. Anyone starting too fast can blow up when it
gets hot.
I ran the first mile in 9:14,
which I knew was an unsustainable pace.
Over the next several miles, I gradually relaxed. Each mile was slower than the previous one
until my pace stabilized in the 9:50s.
My sister, Betty, was going to
be doing lap counting from 2:00 to 8:00 PM, but before her shift started, she
had an opportunity to walk a few laps around the lake. She was walking in the opposite direction as
the runners, so she could take pictures.
The first time I saw Betty, I asked her how many of the runners ahead of
me had bib numbers in the 300s. Those
were the other 6-hour runners. The next
time I saw her she told me at least two of the runners ahead of me were in the
6-hour race.
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| Photo credit: Betty Greene |
There were two aid stations on
the course. Each one had water, Gatorade,
and a variety of food. I didn’t eat any
food, but I drank Gatorade every time I passed an aid station. I also kept a couple bottles of Gatorade at
our campsite. If necessary, I could drink
three times per lap. I expected staying
hydrated would be challenging as the temperature climbed.
The lap counters were under a
tent next to where we finished each lap.
I had finished my sixth lap and was stopping briefly to drink some
Gatorade when I heard one of the lap counters calling out #311. That was the bib number of the runner who
started the fastest. He was already
finishing his second lap.
By now, I had been running for
almost two hours. The next time I came
by our tent, I stopped to put ice cubes in my hat. The ice cubes gradually melted on the top of
my head, keeping me from getting too hot.
When I finished my next lap, I felt the back of my hat to see if any ice
cubes were still there. I could still
feel a sizeable lump, so I waited another lap before adding more ice
cubes. For the majority of the race, I
refilled my hat every other lap.
With the ice cubes in my hat, I
started to run a little faster. My
slowest miles were about 10 minutes, but my faster ones were closer to
9:30. I wasn’t trying to stay on any particular
pace. I was just going by feel. I ran at a pace that was slightly more
relaxed than my marathon pace.
In the past, whenever I’ve put
ice cubes in my hat, the water gradually ran down my back and legs, and would
eventually get into my shoes. That didn’t
happen this time. I eventually realized
the ice water from my hat would run down my neck and then get absorbed by the
bandana I was wearing. The bandana got
to be ice cold, and it prevented the water from running down my back.
I saw Betty again, and she told
me that two of the 6-hour runners were a lap ahead of me.
Putting ice cubes in my hat was
my first line of defense against overheating, but I still didn’t think I would
be able to run continuously for the whole race without overheating. I assumed I would eventually need to take
short walking breaks to dissipate excess heat.
I never did.
It was mostly cloudy, and I
sometimes felt a cool breeze off the lake.
I was able to run comfortably, so I kept on running without any walking
breaks.
I hit the 18-mile mark in about
2:55. That wasn’t a surprise. To finish 18 miles in three hours, you need
to average 10 minutes per mile. Most of
my miles were faster than 10 minutes.
What was surprising is how the comfortable the pace felt.
As I ran through “tent city” on
the west side of the lake, I caught up to one of the 6-hour runners who was a
lap ahead of me. This was a runner who
has done FANS before. He asked me what
my goal was. I said I wanted to get into
the mid-30s. What I didn’t say was that
I was hoping to win, but I needed him and another runner to both blow up.
I mentioned that the heat wasn’t
bothering me as much as I thought it would.
He said he was expecting it to be worse, but the cloud cover was really
helping. From our conversation, it didn’t
seem likely that he would blow up. He looked
strong, and he sounded like he was just as comfortable as I was. I ran with him for a couple minutes, but then
he began to pull away and add to his lead.
After three hours, I was on
pace to run 37 miles. Before the race, I
didn’t think 36 miles was a realistic goal for the conditions. I didn’t think I’d stay on pace for 37, but
getting to 36 miles now seemed much more realistic.
I had assumed I would need to
drink three times per lap to stay hydrated, but I felt bloated just drinking at
the two aid stations. I had Gatorade in
a cooler at our tent, but I held off on drinking it. We were required to weigh in every four
hours, so the medical staff could tell if anyone was getting dehydrated. I decided to stick with only two cups of
Gatorade per lap until I weighed in.
Just before noon, I stopped at
the medical tent to weigh in. My weight
was up a pound since the beginning of the weight. It might have just been water in my clothes
and my bandana, but I had to consider the possibility that I was drinking too
much Gatorade. After all, I did feel
like I was drinking all I could stomach.
I decided to stay the course and keep drinking only twice per lap.
There was a sign marking the completion
of a marathon, when we passed it in our 15th lap. I got there in 4:16:18. Just a few months ago, I couldn’t run a
marathon that fast, even in cooler weather.
I couldn’t believe I did it on a hot day while still feeling like I had
enough gas in the tank to run for another hour and 44 minutes.
Even if I slowed down a little,
I easily had enough time to run 10 more miles.
There was very little doubt in my mind that I would get to 36 miles.
As it got closer to the start
of her volunteer shift, Betty went to the lap counting tent. That gave her an opportunity to see exactly where
I stood compared to the other 6-hour runners.
When I finished a lap, Betty told me I had moved into second place.
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| Photo credit: Betty Greene |
When I finished my 17th lap, my
total elapsed time was 5:02. I now had
less than an hour to go, which meant I had the option of switching to the “short”
course. The short course is an out-and-back
course that’s 1/8 mile each way. If you
start a lap around the lake and don’t finish it before the time limit, it doesn’t
count. The short course if a way to keep
piling up additional mileage when there isn’t time to do a “big” lap.
I had yet to take more than 18
minutes for a lap, so I had time to run a few more big laps. Once I was on the short course, I wouldn’t
pass an aid station again, so I wouldn’t have any opportunity to drink more
Gatorade. I also wouldn’t pass my tent,
so I wouldn’t be able to add any more ice to my hat. I didn’t want to go without ice or fluids for
almost an hour, so I kept doing big laps.
By now, it only took one lap
for the ice in my hat to melt, so I started refilling my hat every lap.
I ran comfortably for one more
lap. Then the sun came out. Some parts of the course are shady, but the
east side of the lake is fairly exposed.
When I got there on my 19th lap, I started to really feel hot. I also started to get tired on the
hills. The loop is mostly rolling, but
the hills never bothered me until this lap.
When I finished my 19th lap, I
had about 22 minutes to go. I could’ve started
another big lap, but it was risky. You
never know when the heat will get to you.
When it does, you can slow down dramatically. I didn’t want to risk starting a lap I might
not be able to finish, so I switched the short course.
I wouldn’t get any more ice or
fluids, but the short course was on a flat section of the loop, and I was
looking forward to having flat terrain for the rest of the race. I thought I could also avoid running through
the sunny parts of the course again.
There’s just one thing I didn’t realize.
The short course used to have a fair amount of shade, but four large
shade trees have been cut down since last year.
Without those trees, the short course is now much more exposed to the
sun. I ground out as many short laps as
I could, but I was always in the sun, so I got hot and thirsty.
The one runner who was still
ahead of me was Charles Mahaffy. He’s
the runner I talked to halfway through the race. When I saw him on the short course, I could
see he was still running strong. He was running
short laps much faster than I was. He
went on to win the race with 39.37 miles.
I came in second with 36.42 miles.
After the race, I stayed near
the finish line of the short course to wait for the awards for the 6-hour
race. They used to do all awards at the
post-race breakfast, but this year they did the awards for the 6-hour and
12-hour races 15 minutes after each race finished.
I wasn’t expecting an
award. I thought they only had awards
for the first place male & female. I
was wrong. They had awards for the top
three overall, plus an extra prize for the top male & female. For hours, I had been pressing on without
expecting to win anything. I was
rewarded for my effort with the award for second place overall. It was a plate made by Danny Ripka, who makes
handcrafted pottery.
During the race, I felt like I
was drinking all I could stand to drink.
Based on my weigh-in at noon, it seemed more than adequate. Now, suddenly, I felt completely parched.
On my way back to my tent, I
stopped at the medical tent to weigh in.
That’s not required, but I was curious to know if my weight
dropped. I was only down half a pound
from my pre-race weight, but I was down a pound and a half since my previous
weigh-in, which was only two hours earlier.
It really made a difference when the sun came out. If I had been doing the 12-hour or 24-hour
race, I would’ve needed to work much harder at getting enough fluids.
I was surprised to see the
temperature was only 82 degrees. I was
expecting it to be close to 90 by now.
The unexpected cloud cover for the first five hours kept the temperature
from climbing too fast. I nevertheless
felt really frail now that I was done.
I stuck around in the finish
area until my friend, Mary, finished her next lap. Mary’s goal was to run enough miles to be
inducted into the 500-mile club. I would
have to wait until later to see if she made it.
I also took pictures of the tent
city and a few of the more creative campsites.
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I went back to the hotel to shower. In the shower, I discovered I had some
sunburn. I did a good job of applying
sunblock in the areas where I’m most prone to burning, but I missed the front
of my neck.
After changing clothes, I went back
to the lake to see how John was doing. John
has previous walked 100+ miles at this race, but his goal this year was more
modest. He was aiming to walk at least
70 miles. His plan for coping with the
heat was to walk at a brisk pace but take periodic rest breaks to cool
down. When I got back to the lake, John
was on a rest break, so I had a chance to ask how it was going. The sky was now clear, so the heat of the sun
was making it more difficult for everyone.
When John started his next lap,
I walked to the start/finish area to talk to the lap counters. I found out that two of the other walkers
were on pace for 100 miles.
I waited there until John
finished his lap, and then I walked with him until we were almost back to the
tent. Then I left to have dinner. Other than a bag of Sun Chips, I hadn’t had
anything to eat since an early breakfast.
I was starving.
I found a restaurant near the
hotel. After dinner, I was getting
sleepy, even though it was only 5:30. I
needed to be back at the lake at 1:30 AM to begin my volunteer shift, so I went
to bed as early as I could. I had to get
up at 12:30 AM to get ready for my volunteer shift, but I fell asleep so quickly
that I managed to get about six hours of sleep.
That’s more than I got before the race.
My volunteer shift started at
1:30 AM. When I arrived at the lake, I
had to walk from the parking lot on the west side to the lap counting tent near
the bandshell. I brought a flashlight, but
I didn’t need it. There were lanterns
lining either side of the path. In addition,
there was a full moon, and it was a clear night. Usually, it’s cloudy on the weekend of the
race. I don’t remember ever having this
much moonlight before.
I’ve done lap counting before,
but it was always during the first shift (8:00 AM to 2:00 PM on Saturday). There are usually six lap counters, and each
one is responsible for all the runners in two lap-counting books (18 runners
total). I’ve noticed in the past that
they only have a few lap counters during the night, so I assumed they must be
pretty busy. In fact, lap counting
during the night isn’t at all hectic.
Once the 6-hour and 12-hour
races are done, there are only half as many runners on the course. On a hot day like this one, as many as a
third of the 24=hour runners have either stopped or are taking breaks. Those who are still on the course aren’t
moving as fast at night. Keeping up isn’t
at all difficult. The hard part is
reading the bib numbers in the dark.
We had a nice calm night, with
no rain and no wind. That hasn’t always
been the case. It was hot in the
afternoon, but the night was quite pleasant.
Counting laps made it easy to
see how people were doing. The first
runner to come by after I started my shift was Mary. She struggled with the daytime heat and never
really recovered from it. She didn’t get
the miles she needed to reach 500, but she did win the best campsite award
(again).
I got to see Ed Rousseau reach
3,000 lifetime miles at FANS. Ed is the
only person who has run this race every year.
Of the two walkers who were
attempted to walk 100 miles, one made it and the other didn’t. John finished in the mid-70s, which is about
what he was expecting.
Before the race, I met a runner
named Tess, who was doing FANS for the first time. Tess was one of the runners I was responsible
for counting, so I was able to follow her progress. She came in first among the women, with just
over 100 miles. It was cool to see a
newcomer have such a successful race.
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