Ultrasignup Results 30 DNS, 38 DNF. I managed 26th out of 48 finishers. And honestly, congratulations to everyone that ran even a mile that day... it was a tough day. Here is the Strava track
I didn't expect to get into this race this year. It fills up within an hour of registration opening, and I was actually in the middle of a trail Half Marathon while it sold out. But I got on the waitlist anyways, and not expecting to get in, I signed up for the Potawatomi 100 Mile race taking place just 2 weeks after Clinton. And then I got in the waitlist, so I was running both! No problem, I figured. Having run Clinton Ultra twice before, I figured it would be a good tune-up race and I'd just slow pace through it.
Nature had other plans though. It rained overnight and it was 20-30mph continuous wind and freezing rain throughout. I saw a few cars in the ditch on the way there. Still, the Start line didn't look too horrible, and I had delusions of even keeping my feet mostly dry.
The finish line looked a little different. Over six hours of freezing rain, gusts over 35mph, 2 hours of face blasting sleet, inches of freezing standing water and mud, and then finally snow topping it off.
My hope of staying dry were gone within 15 minutes. Before the first half hour my feet and clothes were soaked through completely. At the end of the first loop I ditched my headband and gloves, wringing a cup of water out of them. I didn't bring extra because I've never needed extra... probly don't even have extra. I switched out my soaked windbreaker for the only other jacket I brought, my 2017 Central IL Ultra Series fleece. I was worried it would be too much, I get very hot when I run. But with so much wind and being wet, it was just about right... and mildly water repellent. It did soak through, but it took an hour.
As usual these days, I was a good 12-14 hours fasted at the start. At exactly 2 hours into the race I started having a package of Honeystinger chews every 45-90 minutes to augment glycogen because you can't run up 4200 ft of muddy hills without a steady 100 calorie/hour supplement.
I didn't bring my phone during the run, it would've been soaked in the rain and ruined. So, sadly, what you can't see are the 30 miles of muck and slippery climbs and slick mud descents in between those pics.
I didn't see much of it either. I forgot my contacts, and my glasses were worse than useless, couldn't see anything with the heavy rain. I ran about 80% of the race with my glasses in my coat pocket. I could barely make out roots and obstacles in the trail, so I picked up my feet a bit extra and hoped for the best. I had half a dozen close calls and one actual fall (into clean snow on side of the trail), but luckily nothing serious.
I'm not sure why I didn't take the hazards very seriously at the time. I do recall wondering if I'd get frostbite on my toes and hands. But there isn't a lot of time to contemplate that when you're literally trying to keep moving without going face first into the mud.
My feet were completely soaked in freezing water and numb from ankle down for 7 hours. Finally peeled off the shoes and toe-socks to find layers of fine silt mud... everywhere. One final challenge, getting to the shower upstairs without getting mud everywhere. Had to put grocery sacks on my feet and bunny hop, which Kai thought was hilarious.
About 15-20 miles into the race I made a deal with myself... Giordano's pizza when you get home, if you can manage to not fall or freeze to death and actually finish this race.
So I did, and it ended up being a PR, my fastest of 3 times running the Clinton Ultra, in the worst conditions I've ever ran anywhere.
And now the Potawatomi 100 miler is 10 days away, and the weather is looking to be another wet nasty mess. Can't wait!
