#12 - Firecracker 40 FA - 43M

So I took the drive down to Clevo (as locals call it) to part take in a Fat Ass run through the last ~43M of the Burning River 100. I decided to take Thursday off and drive down with the family and do some sightseeing and shopping, by the way the Zoo is great. Even though I had gone to Cleveland once before, for some reason I didn't remember it so green, granted I did not go downtown so the R&R Hall of Fame will have to wait.

Ok, so the whole thing started by meeting at the end of the BR100, close to the Sheraton Hotel. There we met most of the people and we carpooled to close to the starting point, Pine Lane Aid Station mile 58.6. We waited for few minutes until everyone was there and we started shortly thereafter. Lots of people this year, I think 46 (however not sure how many finished), and last year only 8 people finished the entire run with maybe double that starting.

I brought my Salomon pack with lots of gels, water, food, etc... not knowing how the rolling stations would work and what was going to be there. Let me tell you, I would love for all the races to have aid station like these. They had everything, even pizza! At the later stages (roughly the last 15M) our group was a bit too far ahead so we didn't have the help of rolling aid station, but that was our fault and we had no issues.

So 7:10pm, at the time we started it was still +32 degrees plus humidity so pushing on 40 I think. So still very hot, and glad I had my pack and salt tablets but still worried on how the night was going to turn out. It turned out that temperatures dropped to mid-20s with much lower humidity and it was a very pleasant run. So to get to the official start of the trail (Pine Lane to Happy Days) I believe we ran about 1M and from there it was relatively easy rolling trails for 1.5M and then very easy road/footpath for the rest. For the record I did twist my ankle on the first mile, and had to walk and stay back a bit until the pain went away, however it was not an issue for the rest of the run. I managed to catch up to a smaller group at the end of the first stage, you don't want to be running alone on these trails if you don't know your way since its very easy to get lost with many side trails in every direction. They say on the race day trail markers will be everywhere, let’s hope that's the case.

This next section was very nice (Happy Days to Pine Hollow 1), with impressive rock formations and beautiful trails nothing too technical and easy running. It is the longest section at 6.8M but still nothing major. At the end of this section we somehow made a 0.5M wrong turn and ended up ahead of the leading pack. I had some issues with my socks so I made a quick change and started with the new group. At this point, and after about 13M it was time to turn the lights on, roughly 9:15pm. I think at the time of BR100 you will need lights at around 8:45pm, depending on where you are.

The upcoming section (Pine Hollow 1 to Pine Hollow 2) is technical with steep hills, its short only 3.3M but still somewhat hard, hopefully I can pass this one during day time on race day. The new group I was running with had a lot of experience running 100M, and at the head was a guy who had run BR100 last year in ~21:30 and designed this years Mohican 100M race and had finished that three times. Great guy, very helpful and was terrific in leading our group through the trails. I ended up running the rest of the run with him.

Once out of Pine Hollow the next section (Pine Hollow 2 to Covered Bridge 1) is a relatively easy run through trails and pastures, somewhat long at 6.6M but easy with some minor creek crossings which can be an issue at race day and a lot of horse markings (both tracks and crap!). I think this section ends at Tanya's Aid Station, which seems to have the best food of the BR100. However, she will kick you out fast so dig in quickly and don’t spend too much time here.

Next (Covered Bridge 1 to Covered Bridge 2) is the last significant technical trail section of the race and after this one only ~15M of minor trails and footpaths are left to finish. This portion is tough and more so if you have 81M on your legs. It seemed longer than 4.7M with lots of up and downs, creeks, trees, etc... Once we finished the section and from here on out knew we would not have aid station support b/c we were way ahead so we loaded up on water and Gatorade and I ate a couple of pieces of pizza, soooooo good.

Next is an easy and short section (Covered Bridge 2 to O’Neil woods), with nothing major to report and about 1.2M of road before hitting the trails once again. After this section is another easy and short section (O’Neil woods to Merriman) with a bit of trail and then on footpath. Only thing to worry about here is the compost plant at mile ~91, and if you have an upset stomach then get ready. One guy was saying that some people used Fabreeze towels on their nose to pass this 0.5M section and not get sick. Next up is a short footpath section of roughly 3M (Merriman to Memorial Parkway) before re-entering the last trail section to the finish line (Memorial Parkway to Finish Line). On the last section which is about 4.8M there is quiet a bit of stairs before leading into 1M trail beside the river and then on to the last 1.2M. All these 3 sections are very runnable and expect to make up some time.

We crossed the clock on plaza at the finish line right at 4am, so it took us 8:50 to cover the 43.5 miles. The total miles directly from the course manual are 42.5 miles but we ran an additional mile up to the Pine Lane
so 43.5. My first group had a 0.5M-1M screw-up so I guess I ran about 42.5-43 miles.

Summary and Tips I heard:
1) Do not underestimate the first 50-60k of the race, its easy in terms of the technical aspects but could take a lot out of you if you are going too fast; keep your pace
2) In terms of terrain the toughest portion is mile ~30-50 (not all of it just parts, at least in my mind), then comes 3.3M at Pine Hollow and finally 4.8M at Covered Bridge 1; not much hard technical mileage but you need to plan ahead
3) Many creek crossings, if there is rain plan to get your shoes very wet and muddy
4) Lots of access for crews along the way, but I've been told that aid stations are amazing so very easily you can run this race unsupported
5) The last three sections are very runnable, and if you still have some legs on race day I assume you can make up quite a bit of time

Can’t wait, four more weeks!