Oh, baby. 275. It's hailing. It's hailing on us. Over the next 12 hours, I'm attempting to complete my first 50-mi ultramarathon in the Colorado Mountains. To make things crazier, this is my first time trail running at elevation.
I did all of my training in Indiana, one of the flattest states in America. The race is called Run Rabbit Run and it starts at 7,000 feet in Steamboat Springs and climbs to over 10,500 at the top of Rabbit Earier's Peak. Over the past few years, this race has built a reputation for having some of the most temperamental weather. Snow, hail, thunderstorms, sle, and even blistering heat are all on the table. That's one of the big reasons why roughly 25% of the runners drop out during the race. And to cap off what makes this a truly gruesome event for those not acclimated to the altitude is the majority of the course takes place above 10,000 ft.
This is by far the most challenging thing I've ever attempted. And if I don't cross the finish line in under 15 hours, it's classified as a DNF or did not finish. So, watch as five buddies from the Hooser State take on everything the Rocky Mountains have to offer and live to tell the tale hopefully. So, training for this was a lot of ups and downs. I tried to average around 40 miles a week, but with just the craziness of life, we don't always make it. So, starting in uh March, April time, we hit 34 and then we had a 21 mile week.
Then we hit a 40 mile week, the 13th through the 19th back to back. Then we go down to like a 20 mile week, 24, 27, 26, 28, 34. I was trying to just stay above 20, get closer to 40, though. We were traveling a lot of Saturdays. It was so hard to find time to get 15, 18, 20 miles in. I actually only did one 22 mile long run the entire training block.
Then we did 27, 39, 28. My largest single week was August 17th. I did 73 miles, which that was like 11, 4, 9, 10, 7, 22, 10. All that to be said, I did not prioritize the long run. I prioritized getting out as many times as I could. For me, we're running a company.
We're trying to build up and it's it's more squeeze your training in the margins of life. If time was unlimited, I would have gotten down into southern Indiana to Morgan Monroe State Park, Hooser National Forest, Brown County, Floyd's Knobs in southern Indiana. But time was the limiting factor and we had to get elevation where we could find it. So elevation can be tricky to find here in the Hooser State. And so here at Butler University, there's a couple hills that we like to climb. This one up behind Hinkle Fieldhouse kind of curves up there.
You get a decent chunk of uh of elevation there. And then there's another one over kind of by the Oakland Gardens. So we're going to hit a little 10 and 10 today. And uh then we'll we'll tally up our elevation for the day. I think it will be 485 ft. And uh could you remind everyone what your elevation gain during the races?
7,500 plus. I know that down along like Floyd County and Floyd's Knobs, there's a lot of elevation there. Morgan Monroe State Park, there's a lot of places to grab elevation. Just not always easy to prioritize getting down there. Honestly, I've just been picking the most hot, humid times. Hot, humid days, no matter what.
Going out and running every day. That's what they say. Humidity is the poor man's elevation. Need the only ones up early and working, baby. Bulldog lacrosse. He's saying go at the buzzer.
That was uh just under 2 miles, 1. 97. Now we had 10 more at Hulcom Hill. We ran 5 miles in total. Moving time of an hour and 3 minutes. 551 ft of elevation gain.
Nice. Let's go. I will say at the blueberry I felt the best I had felt in months. What do we got? 9 15k. Whatever.
15 9. 3. Ready to ride? Come on. Let's go. I was zooming.
Felt electric. Nutrition was good. Pace was good. I was ripping 630 at the ninth mile. I ran that and felt like a pain in my calf. And so I haven't ran since and I've been trying to rehab that.
So now I'm nervous again. You ready to hear? Yeah. All right, Bob. Wow. We're ready for a battle, boys.
Dude, are you sure it's going to grow back? No, it's never going to grow back. This is my new haircut. This is what I look like now, actually. Yeah. Damn.
King, what's his King Neptune? Let's go, dude. I think it looks pretty good. It actually looks good. Do you think it looks good? Yeah.
This is Robert's first time leaving 465. Welcome to Colorado. Is it what you expected? We're at the flagship REI store because there is an 80% chance that it is going to rain on Saturday. And I didn't bring a raincoat. It's hailing.
It's hailing on us. Dude, I'm going to easily spend like $400 here. If Arctic sees this and next time we have a race they want to uh be part of it, hit me up. I feel like Red will help too because you'll know where I am. A fire truck coming down the street. Said a fire truck the hall.
We got a rain jacket. We got a bunch of uh food, some new socks. Got to get the anti-chave. We're ready to rock now, boys. As I was checking out, he said, "Oh yeah, getting ready for the rain this weekend." That's ominous.
One should never drive while drowsy. Oh, this is a hard drive. We still got 75 minutes. All right, Rob, where are we going? The egg breakfast spot. And what are we doing there?
Eating. Huge plate. I haven't seen what rabbit ears looks like yet. Yeah, we got in too late last night. One of the things I love about the Ultra community is everybody treats you like friends from the moment they meet you. This was a random encounter with a stranger at breakfast.
I love it, dude. It was Jake. I'm Nate. One of the biggest question marks in this race is the altitude. We run a ton of it around 10,000 ft. So, 2 days out, we wanted to get up on the mountain, get a little 5K in up there, and just see what we were working with.
Welcome home. Let's go. That was fire. That was really fire. Bennett Clark, 27. I am from Zansville, Indiana.
Boyd Smith, I'm 32 and I'm from Zansville, Indiana. Kyle Frost, uh, 27 and I'm from Columbus, Indiana. This is the same size distance. What's been the hardest part about your training so far? Giving up the weekends for the longer runs. Missing out on stuff I'm doing with friends.
The altitude is definitely going to be a problem. First bit of running was like breathing through a straw. Bathroom breaks on the trail, man. absolute grinder training for the 50 mileer. I ran the eight hour dream at Butler this past summer. Hit 37 miles around Butler's beautiful campus.
I would say that was probably most challenging training to date. Most preparation I'm feeling uh for for our event here. You know, it rained on us for 4 hours during that thing. So, we could do 4 hours in the rain in central Indiana. What's a few hours on a mountain in Colorado? Does being a dad give you a performance-enhancing advantage?
Uh, I think it does make life in general just mean more. Um, I feel like just having a kid, there's a little bit more to live for than probably just myself. So, why are you doing this? Whenever you're in it, halfway in it, towards the end of it, your legs are hurting, out of water, out of food, and you're kind of on that last leg and your body's screaming out to you to say like, "Stop and just start walking." Where is your mind going to go in that time? And how you going to respond to that adversity?
That's what I'm going to find out about myself on Saturday. So, everyone's busy about something. Getting the long runs in were a little bit of a challenge, but too many people use that as an excuse. Oh, I can't do it now because I only ran one 22 mile run. Yeah, I ran one 22 mile run. I'm still gonna rip this 50 mileer and we're going to be fine.
It all started with a love for running, but from that we've gone on crazy cool adventures. We've had cookouts. We've celebrated life milestones. It's been such an awesome time. This year to get five guys to come across the country for this, it's awesome. Like, it's just something that we don't take for granted.
We're excited to put ourselves to the test. Friday before the race, we went down to the start line to see the 100 mileers take off. Talk about inspiring. These people are going to run all through the night. Some of them will be finishing right around the time that the 50 mileers get started tomorrow morning. The crazy part is that some of them will be finishing after we finish our 50 mi.
The goal for the boys, 12 hours. We want to push ourselves to get this whole thing done in 12 hours or less. We wanted to take in the views on top of the mountain cuz the next time we're up here, it's going to be dark tomorrow morning. Then we were off to packet pickup where we dropped off our bags and listen to a few words from the race director. You ready? So ready.
Kyle saved the day. Ready as rubber be number 1285. We'll be on the lookout for you, man. This is Boyd and this is all of us. I kind of look like this guy too with my new haircut. It's a puppy.
Look at the dog. Yeah, I think I stepped in dog poop. What are you made of? It was crazy to see all the participants in one place. And just as things were getting started, the lead 100 mileer came through about halfway done with his race. You want to remember it as a day that I did something fantastic.
or you remin remember his day that well that's the day that I start coming up with all the excuses for why I didn't that's your choice you either do something wonderful or you regret that you didn't give it your all so start here but this is where it's crazy this Mount Werner is here but it has like three false peaks that where you think you're at the top but you're really not then you get to the top of rabbit ears 10 525 there's where we're meeting This is where you're meeting us at. Dude, that is so far. We'll like hit chitchat, say, "See you soon, boys." We'll run up this way. Get our playing card on the top of Rabbit Ear's Peak and turn around. He's scared.
He definitely is scared. He's been He's been shivering the whole time, all week. Shiver me timber. Here's the thing about us. We will never quit. Just a little tingle in the the belly.
Just getting excited. I'm nervous for you guys. I'm also a little nervous for you guys. Yeah. Are you nervous then? You got a little butterfly.
Do you feel like you're in the locker room? No. This is less like immediate action. We lived a hell of a life and it was full and we did crazy things and we went on crazy adventures and the art of the adult adventure. Like so often I feel like people grow up and life smooshes them down into this box where they work in corporate and never go out and chase dreams and try new things and you know adventure. Let's go.
One mile in. We're climbing. Vibes are high. We're singing karaoke with the locals. Thunder rolls straight up. 7:00 hour.
Supposed to be a little wet. We heard lightning a couple minutes ago, right Rob? Mhm. Still going pretty hard. um a bit of thunder, but um here's to hoping they're doing okay. Torrential downpour 1 and 1/2 miles in.
We were barely into the race and it started pouring. It made it so slippery and I couldn't get any traction. Just got to get them on flat ground. You're never out of the fight. You just got to get them on flat ground, baby. Let's go.
Let's go, baby. Ready to go. Woo! Through the first aid. I wonder what the boys are up to. We're at uh I honestly got a harder problem cuz my butter won't melt on the pancakes.
Have a lot worse than they do right now. So, okay, we're cruising in on mile 10. We're at 9:55 right now. Boyd and Buché took off. They were cruising. Back on the road after Long Lake.
Aid station was electric. Sun is up. Uh I'm pretty sure I left my headlamp at the aid station. I think I'm just going to have to get back before sunset. 14 miles. Looks good out there.
Early leaders Boyd, then Andrew, then Nate, Bennett, and Kyle. And battling double hammies starting to cramp. So, it's just a factor to keep in mind as we continue going. 13 down, 37 to go. That's silly. 37 to go.
But we good, baby. Now we ride. That's Long Lake Aid. We're there. Come on, boys. Just came through Long Lake Aid.
Vibes are so high. Stomach updates good. I got a banana down. I'm feeling good. I'm ready to rock again. Essent flows, peaks and valleys.
So, we just climbed through 300 ft. No joke. Here's the overall map. Boyd is separating himself. He's at like 17. 5.
And then we go back here. Here's the rest of our crew. We're hitting the 4hour mark. Hamstrings non-issue right now. Issue we're working with, we got to get more solid food down. Pacing really well for 12 hours.
Little bit behind schedule, but I think it levels out with the climb. I mean, we're at 15 and a half at the 4h hour mark. I'm I'm in good shape. Vib's looking high right now in the back, but the caboose still finishes. Let's ride. This has been my thoughts for this race.
I'm not freaking special. I'm really not. The only thing special is that I give a lot of effort and I bring a great attitude. like thinking about why I'm doing this, thinking about just the life that I get to live. I'm not some genius. I'm usually the dumbest person in any room.
I just chuckle and talk to people. The thing that I pride myself on is effort and attitude. And Bennett said it best. That was like something from a youth team. He said, "But you can control how hard you work. You can control never quitting.
and you can control. Bring in a positive attitude, baby. Let's roll. I was feeling good until 20 and then between the last station, which I 18, and now my legs feel are pretty cooked and two, my stomach feels terrible. But, uh, the vibes are high. Weather's really good.
It looks like there's about to be a storm though. I'm going be interested on the way back cuz my legs are already kind of torn up. So, we'll see how it goes. Not many guys I know have a kid and then decide this is a good time to do my first ever actual sanctioned race. Y and he's never done even a marathon. Never about to see my kid right here at this station.
I can't wait to capture. Oh yeah, boys. This guy. Come on. Let's go. We got a long way to go, boys.
My race my race really started at 20. I start I felt the best actually 19. From 19 to here, I felt good. I felt like complete hot ass the first part. Trying to get the radar to work. Do a little 180.
Look up there. Could be bad. Feel like we're barely moving up to Rabbiter's Pass. 2465 in. This is like the definition of a trudge. This without a doubt was the most soul crushing part of the race.
It was literally straight up. I felt like I was taking one inch at a time. It was so hard. Thanks, gentlemen. Yeah, you guys are sick. How you feeling?
I'm good. I'm happy to be back. The last couple hundred meters is like straight uphill. Stomach's feeling a little bit better. Got a long way to go. Little pickle juice, little goldfish.
Uh we're going to see what we get what we can do here. I forgot about that. I took a tumble. Uh I uh I was not paying attention. Right over a rock. Hit my face.
Hit my shoulder. Skin it all up. Idiot. Total idiot. It is literally hailing. There's a piece of of glass.
You want to go quick. Uh Bet, how would you describe that? Up to Ravity. The hardest hike I've ever been on. Kept going. And no one coming back down.
No one coming back down was like, "You're almost there." Never. Not one person. But that was worse than a stairstepper. That was terrible. But we're past a marathon.
Three hearts. Three hearts, baby. Cuz you have a family of three and it's all I got up there and I asked the guy like that. I asked the guy, "Do I keep going?" And then you go, he's like, I like your attitude. Keep going, man.
I'm wa wa wa wa. Top of the mountain. Absolutely dead. Super hard. But we're still here. Still rocking.
Still got that perfect view. That is a nice That's something to enjoy. Let's ride. That aid station was just packed with crew. It was electric. Just like feeding off the energy of the whole uh the whole aid station.
Um feel like that really got me back. I start running up rapiders. I took a tumble. Well, you got to be kidding me. I'm just like upset now. I just smacked my face on a rock.
But we're through that. Through the hard part. Now we just got to take it home. What do we got left? 3396. Just spitting a little rain.
DP GG. Don't ask what's in it. It's magical. Just Dolly Parton's maple syrup, babe. Uh-huh. We're on another episode of uh Kaboose Mentality.
Still holding up the rear. Buns are great. Uh still going to see this beautiful trail. Still going to see this uh beautiful state of Colorado. Uh one of the things that I keep telling myself to push through. Every step I take is closer to the finish line.
And that's what I'm rocking with. Mile 38. Just dinged it. Mile 44. 4 will be the top of Mount Werner. Yep.
And then we just got to get down. I'm semi-debating. In true delt fashion, uh, I might mark the trail myself down the last six and a half. Just aim for the bushes, right, Hazi? What's up, guys? About 9 hours and 32 and 12 miles.
Got about 18 left. Maybe 17. Math is kind of fuzzy right now. We're on the downhill. We got about I think 10 more miles of forest and then the six miles of downhill and we are rocking. Still cabooseing.
Still does not change a thing. But right now, it's just one more minute. That's what I'm rocking with. Let's see what I can do for one more minute. Oh, dude. What?
It's hailing. It's hailing on us. Vanhaling. It hailed on us. I think that was where I checked out last was started hailing. I couldn't feel my hands.
So, we are now under a mile to the final aid. Based off of our tracker, Void is the next going to be the first one from our group in. He's at like mile 468. The tracker is saying that Nate is in last place right now, which Robert and I are like, there's just no way that that's true. Tracker is either not right or his cap literally exploded. Yeah.
Or towards Achilles or some [ __ ] There's no way Nate would let all those people pass. Yeah. So, we're a little worried about him. We're unable to locate Bennett and Kyle on the tracker. So, we're kind of just going to hang out here until Boyd gets here and assess the situation. I haven't felt my fingers in about an hour, but they're slowly coming back.
We got the gloves on. Feeling pretty good about that. 6. 4 to the bottom. Let's go. When we saw this view, I almost couldn't believe my eyes.
It was such a beautiful sight. It might rain on the mountain. It might rain on your race, but it won't rain between your ears. So many times I wanted to quit. So many times it was not any fun. But what's fun is finding out what you're capable of and pushing yourself.
I just think 46, four miles to go. I love you all. I'm appreciative. I'm grateful. I hope you enjoyed the video. And I'm ready to finish this puppy out.
We're at 46 mi in. Uh clock says 1311. 13 hours and 11 minutes. Uh beautiful sunset. See if we can see it. Easy.
But yeah, Kaboose is going to make it home somehow. Some way we prevailed. Let's ride. 3. 6 miles away. We'll just cross Mount Warner on.
It's going to be awesome. That's the town. Let's go, boys. Hey, let's go. Let's go. Grateful for the ability to go out and compete, to push myself to my limit, to see what I'm capable of.
There were times I wanted to break. Angry, frustrated, wanting to quit. That's the thing. It's temporary. That was so tough. Greedy.
That was greedy, man. That was probably one of the worst I've ever done in my life, but also the most rewarding. I thought I would cry here, but I'm not crying right now. So, the amount of sweat to like give tears to. Like, I have nothing to give right now. 7,000.
You feel like you just burned 7K. I wanted to quit a lot. Like the like when we were on top of the mountain and it started hailing and you couldn't feel your hands, it was so cold, man. I was I was in a I was in a pit of despair, but it was it's temporary. It's like take a second. It can't hail between your ears.
And that was insane.