by Mark Justh

A brief account of my trip into the mountains.  I'd first like to say that anyone contemplating a first trail ultra at the Damn Wakely Dam run should know that the logistics, maps, recommendations and helpful tips proffered by Race Director "Jim"  are terrific and the people that I met were immensely supportive and made my first ultra amazingly memorable.   In addition, having brought all the items on Jim's logistics list with me was immensely helpful as I spent a lo-o-ong time on the trail.  The Webber grill did become heavy near the end though. 

I had run 12 previous marathons in cities and I live in Brooklyn, NY so my trails consisted of a concrete path along the FDR drive and East River.  My hill work has been on the Brooklyn Bridge and Prospect Park in Brooklyn. 

Prior to the race I had spent three evenings a week commuting home by running from work from mid town Manhattan back to Brooklyn.  My long runs took me from mid-town out to the Verazano Bridge.  So, I had never been to the Adirondacks prior to the race and was really looking forward to getting into the mountains. I was soon to realize that I also had never  climbed over blow down trees while running nor forded swaps during my jaunts down the FDR drive. 

But, I felt that I had done the training and I had a lot of helpful gadgets including a hand held GPS (by the way they don't work even under light foliage) The night before the race I drove to Wakely Dam and marked the waypoint on the GPS for fun, so I could get an idea how far id have to go during the race. During the race the main GPS screen kept asking me if I was outside.  That question was kind of absurd especially when I had a broken ankle during the race and I just wanted to know how far I had to hop to finish the race.  (More on the broken ankle below.) 

As a first time trail ultra runner, I took my training seriously putting in 40-50 per week and cross training.  I was thrilled when Jim gave me the nod off the wait list and the race was my focus for the summer. 

I arrived at a B&B alone on Friday at Piseco.  Great place the Piseco Inn, but about a 45 min drive to the Dam where I left my car on race day.  I think I'll camp next year. 

At the beginning of the race I decided to start at the very back of the pack given my lack of trail knowledge as well as my 3+ liters of fluid I was carrying (perhaps a bit much for a 7-8 hour run, but just dandy for 12+ hour odyssey)  The support of the runners and their willingness to answer questions and lob in encouragement to me was great. 

For me the first part of the race was a blur, but I felt great and was taking in the scenery.  At about mile 8 I finally got my lumbar pack comfortable, my energy was great and I started thinking about the race, not about the fact that I wasn't in Brooklyn. 

It was probably about mile 10 after dueling with RD Jim,(I did overtake him when he stopped for photos) that I picked up my pace.  Jim wisely said, "save some energy for the second half it's tougher than the first"  Jim's statement was a modest understatement.  My splits were somewhat unbalanced, about 3.5 for the first half and about 8.5 hrs for the second. 

At or around mile 14, I crossed what I thought was a modest muddy area, which became my most memorable summer event.  I sunk in to about my knee fell forward and broke my ankle when it caught on a log. At the time I knew something serious was wrong and I did actually chuckle at Jim's suggestion on the web site about how expensive rescues were and how one should take an aluminum running blanket (which I had). 

I realized my car was at Wakely and I wanted to finish the race, no DNFs in my history and I wasn't going to start.  I tried to run, realized it wasn't going to happen so I went with a skipping move and got a good walking stick which I put my weight on when my left foot hit the ground.  My run became a very long skipping hike. 

I think the most difficult part of the next half of the race was the blow downs, where I mostly crawled under them.  The scenery was amazing and I actually saw a large tree fall in the forest, they do make noise. 

Mostly, I wrote this to let people know what an amazing race Wakely is and how well Jim organizes the race.  But most importantly I wanted to specifically thank Scott Brockmeier for his support and encouragement which was amazing in helping me get across the line.  A final thanks to that Navy guy Jay Yanovich who suggested that I may want to do more than ice my ankle. See ya next year! 

Peace,

Mark