by Mary Houck

Well, I did it...I finished! I guess I'm one of those impulsive people who thinks one day that it would be "fun" to run the Wakely Dam Ultra, even though I'd never run more than 20 miles at a time, and that was two years ago! You see, I enjoy a lot of outdoor recreation but I spend most of my time training for marathon canoe races. I race almost every weekend and during the week I spend most of my training time on endurance paddling. Why I thought that all of that training, using my arms, would transfer down to my legs I'll never figure out. However, I signed up for the Wakely on a whim.

My friend, Barbara Day, decided she would like to try it as well and so she signed up too. She had never even experienced a good trail run.  I love the NTP and have hiked it end to end twice, so I'm familiar with the trail. I had also run up to Spruce Lake and back two years ago.I do run on the trails at Highland Forest . As the day approached for the Wakely I became increasingly anxious as I had not put in the time and distance to train properly for this race. Much of my time was in the boat and the heat was also a deterrent to running long distances. I had a lot of cramping difficulties on a 10 mile run at Highland on a 90 degree day and decided I'd better bump up the Endurolytes on the Wakely. It turned out to be the best decision ever for me.

On race day I was just praying I could finish. I was concerned about the heat and humidity, certainly something that would drain us all. Questions of uncertainty ran through my mind, did I bring enough water...or too much? Do I have enough Endurolytes, Gels, what if I sprain my ankle on mile 15? Do I bring an emergency blanket or not...questions I didn't have the answers to.  Barb and I had decided to stick together for the run, no matter what. She was not in her comfort zone on the trail, having never been on it before. Yet she had already run 6 marathons and I felt comfortable with her ability to run the distance. It was my ability I was questioning!

We set a comfortable pace in the beginning that really put us near the back of the pack...that was okay. It was going to be a long day and we just wanted to finish. About mile four or five I began to struggle. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the elevation gain and the 3 liters of water on my back. I really began to question my sanity as I thought about the next 28 or 29 miles ahead, how would I ever get through it if I feel so poorly now! The next couple of miles were a mission in misery as I continued to struggle. I finally stopped and drank a little Hammer Sustain, used a Gel, took some Endurolytes and continued the climb up to Spruce Lake .

By the time we reach the lake I was feeling much better. Barb appeared to be feeling good as well and we moved on. We were reluctant to stop for too long as we had just passed two women on the trail and we didn't want them to catch up. So off we went and we enjoyed the rolling terrain as we picked up our pace. I was so thankful to be feeling better. I worried a little about the next Wall but for now I was going to enjoy the run. As we checked off the lakes I began to feel like we were really going to do it. We slowly made our way through the wilderness, tripping here and there, working through some muscle cramps, and ingesting plenty of Hammer Gels.

Then came the rain! At first it was a welcomed relief from the heat. Our pace quickened as the thunder boomed in the distance. After a while however the pouring rain began to turn the trail into a stream, the swishing in our sneakers started to cause problems as our legs seemed to weigh a ton.

Then came the "Y" in the trail...which way to we go? Unfortunately, we chose the right trail, which took us the wrong way, to a leanto of beer drinking hikers who quickly told us we had to go back. Something told me, in their response to our arrival, that we were not the first guests with a number on our shorts! You've got to be kidding, we've got to back! Bummer! Once we were back on the trail we decided to Gel once more...oh dear... only one Gel left. The sign says it's 4.4 miles to the finish...Barb's pedometer reads 30 miles....wait a minute...we're not as close as we thought! Oh God...here comes that Wall again!

We were pretty tired at that point but we move on, our pace slowed considerably though. The grassy road seemed to go on forever and we were very happy to see the dirt road. The dirt road soon became annoying as we just wanted to be DONE! Once we turned the corner towards the Dam we were greeted by Barb's husband Jay and their two boys. I felt a little emotional for a second as I realized that we did reach our goal. We may not have completed it in record time however we finished and we were happy about that. Next time...watch out...we're talking about knocking off at least 60 minutes!