This was Mark's first trail ultra and we're hoping that it won't be his last.  All of the training in the world can't prepare you for the unexpected.  Somewhere around 14 miles Mark's foot got suck into a mud hole and he thought he had a bad sprain.  Up until that point, Mark's excellent training was paying off as he was on pace for a 7 - 8 hour finish.  But now Mark had a real problem.  He was still moving, so he decided to push ahead even though he was not quite half way home.  Stopping was not an option unless Mark wanted to camp out for the night.

Reports of his problem made their way to the finish line crew and we all waited anxiously for more news on his condition as subsequent runners came in.  "He's still moving, and his spirits are high" was the report from our crack sweep runner Scott Brockmeier.  Eleven hours passed, twelve hours... and then we saw Mark skipping down the road.  Mark managed to hop, skip and shuffle more than 18 miles over some of the toughest trail in the Adirondacks to finish his first ultra.  At one point he even fashioned a crutch from a stick to help him along. He ditched the stick for the finish and even managed to jog a little for the photo.

Later that night Mark decided he better seek medical attention as the pain in his ankle was getting worse.  We were all surprised to hear that Mark actually completed his race on a broken tibia.  Ouch!  Mark couldn't qualify for best blood, but he sure did earn bragging rights to one heck of an accomplishment. Great job Mark!

Read Mark's Race Report here: 


Mark relaxes back home in the office with his new friend.