This one was a grind... But I finished! I ran the 2024 No Business 100 endurance run a couple weeks ago. I wanted to hold off on doing a blog post to let things soak in and also link to a special podcast episode I did on the race.
I took my recording gear, for my Weathering The Run podcast, to the race and interviewed a handful of runners during the pre-race dinner that took place the evening before the race. There were some really impressive runners at the race and it was great to hear some of their experiences running through some wild weather. I also did one post-race interview with a runner that ran the race wearing combat boots and cargo shorts. Feel free to give the episode a listen! My next episode was a listener-favorite last year: holiday episode where I talk with a running store owner about great gift ideas for the runners in your life. This may or may not come as a shock, but most significant owners have no idea what to buy their runners and they often make a common mistake... That episode comes out on November 20th.
Back to the race...
This was my "A" race for the year and I had not run another ultra race since Mohican 100 the year before, 16 months earlier. I throttled back during that time while I had Evan in preschool part of the day then I was with him the rest of the day. So my free time did not allow me to train as much and I was perfectly fine with that. So this race was on my calendar for a long time and I knew I needed to finish it in order to get my Western States lottery ticket.
The race started at 8AM and it was a beautiful fall day in Northern Tennessee. We would run around a bunch of rock outcroppings, along some scenic overlooks, and under the cliff overhangs.
We also ran underneath two rock arches while doing the 100 mile loop. We had amazing photos taken by the race photographers. This photo was taken by Nick Morgan. Misty Dawn was also there taking great shots along the course and at the finish line. It did get warm on Friday with temperatures getting into the lower 80s. The route is a big loop that goes through Tennessee and Kentucky with a little more than 14,000 feet of elevation climbing. We also had a handful of stream crossings where our feet had to get wet, including a river crossing twice where the water was about knee deep and 150 wide.
But man those views! So I ended up getting a lot of blisters on my toes because my first pair of shoes were not big enough for the swelling from all the pounding. I did switch into a wider pair of shoes at mile 60, but the blisters had already formed. I also had trench foot from all the water crossings and higher humidity. We ended up getting some light rain during the night then some heavier rain on Saturday morning. My feet were very painful the final 40 miles and I was very grateful for my friend Joe for being my pace, or safety runner, to join me for the last 40 miles. I did the same for him in September when he ran Grindstone 100 in Virginia.
I love this shot of Joe following me for the final mile of the race and the trees were in peak color.
We grinded it out through the painful feet and got it finished! The 100 miles took me 30 hours and 47 minutes. I came in 62nd place. There were more than 260 people start the race and 149 finished and half of those finishers came in during the final 2 hours of the time that you are given to run the race. So there were a lot of people that dropped out from heat, stomach, feet, or other issues. It was a tough race, but absolutely beautiful! The other cool thing about the race is that it alternates direction each year and if you run the race in both directions then you get a special belt buckle for running the race in both directions. While I was running the race this year and in the pain, I swore I was not doing the race again, but the pain is gone and I want to see the portions that I missed during the night... So I plan on going back and running it again next year. I also want to run the Laurel Highlands race in Pennsylvania in June, which will get me my Western States qualifier earlier next year. For now I am enjoying running for the fun of it and I also joined the gym to start doing more strength training. I am hoping that it will help me with endurance for the later miles of these races and build muscle to climb the hills and mountains easier. Always room for improvement! Have a good one!
