So there I was awake at 2:15 am because I woke up before my alarm. After gathering my gear, I drove over to Daniel Julian and Alan Horton's apartment to meet up with the rest of the running crew (I, Bobby Holcombe, Will Jorgensen, Jeff Woody, and John and Jim Cobb) and drivers (Daniel Julian and Greg Johnson). We weighed in and then traveled east up I-40 towards Davenport Gap, NC, the eastern boundary of the Smoky Mountains National Park. The goal was to run across the 72-mile national park, and try to break a ten-year record time of 17 hours, 2 minutes. The plan was to begin at 4:30 am, but we were slightly behind schedule, so we took a few pre-race photos and started at 4:45 am. It was dark for the first hour and a half, so the six of us dawned headlamps and proceeded to hike up the mountain. It was crucial to conserve energy in the beginning because of the initial elevation gain, so we mostly hiked the first 5 miles. After 7 miles, we hit the first downhill section and I went on ahead of the rest of the group. At this point, I wondered if I was going to be by myself the rest of the day. Then Bobby Holcombe rejoined me at mile 12, and we jogged on in to the first support crew at Tri-Corner at mile 15.3. There to meet us with our drop bags and water were Alan Horton and Michelle Meek. I spent about 12 minutes at this station, refilling water bottles, one with an electrolyte tablet, and refueling with food, to include a PB&J sandwich. I left Tri-Corner before Bobby H was ready to leave and I never saw any of the other runners again. So there I was, one with nature, briskly walking up mountains and running down them. It was 16 miles from Tri-Corner to Newfound Gap, and I managed to run out of water with about 5 miles to go. I was extremely thirsty and asked a group of 8 people for some. They kindly filled up two of my bottles and I traveled the last 3 miles with no problem. Bobby Glenn, one of support people at Newfound Gap, had jogged up the trail and ran back with me for the last 2.5 miles. It was cool to have someone to run and talk with and it motivated me to cruise on in to the second support crew area. At this point, I've run 31.5 miles, which is more than a 50k trail race. It was here that I made my biggest exchanges. Lally was there as well as Bobby G and both helped me get organized. I ate a cheese sandwich, downed some Pedialite, two waters and a Gatorade. I took a dried fruit bag, and refilled my water and GU packets. I also changed shoes and my shirt and I was on my way. I still felt great at this point, other than a blister that was forming on my left heel. I left Newfound Gap at 11:45 am. The next section was an 8-mile jaunt up to Clingman's Dome, the highest point on the Appalachian Trail at 6,600+ feet. This proved to be the slowest section of my run and my hamstrings were burning. I finally made it to Clingman's Dome around 1:45 pm and met the third support crew, the Woodys. At this point, I decided to bandage my left heel and duct taped it to ensure it stayed on. I once again refilled my water bottles and food, and ate two slices of pizza. At this point I had traveled 39 miles and still had 32 miles to go till the finish. This next section would prove to be mentally challenging since it would be 16 more miles until I would reach the Spence Field support crew. This section included descending the steep trail from Clingman's Dome. I could really feel my shins and knees during and after this section, and changed my stride and ran on my toes to reduce the shin pain. I then started hurting all over my lower body and found a stick to use as a walking stick to get up and down the nonstop mountains I was climbing. At the time, I didn't know how much I would appreciate the stick, but I kept it the rest of the race. I once again ran out of water with about 5 miles to go before Spence Field and asked several hikers to provide me with some water to help me get there. I finally got to Thunder Mountain, the hardest part of this section and started my climb. It was here that it rained on me for the first time and I ironically heard thunder for the first time right at the summit of Thunder Mountain. I proceeded to run off the mountain as fast as I could. It was extremely cloudy up at that elevation so I did not even notice when I ran across Rocky Top. The rain let up after an hour or so and I deliriously sprinted on in to Spence Filed to meet up with an energetic crew, which included Todd Montgomery, Michele Owen, and Julia Connor. My body could have easily stopped there, but my adrenaline levels were extremely high and I was determined to get that record. I only stayed at that support station for about 6 minutes because I did not have any time to spare. During that time, I refilled my water bottles and GU packets and ate three donuts and 4 orange slices. I ran out of Spence Filed at 5:45 pm, so I had 4 hours to break the record. My stomach started acting up about a mile into the last 15-mile section, so I was not moving as fast as I wanted to. I thought I was farther along than I was when I luckily got a hold of Bobby Holcombe by cell phone, who was already at the finish line waiting for my arrival. I told him that I thought I was only 9 miles away and said I would be there before 9 pm. However, I would later find out that I was way off on my prediction. Then the fun began. Nature was determined to make me work for the record. It began to pour down rain with about 12 miles to go as the sky got dimmer and dimmer. I passed by a shelter that had two hikers under it and I asked them how far it was to Fontana Dam. They said I still had 10 miles to go till I reached the trailhead and another 1/2 mile to the dam. They said that I probably should stop now, but I looked at my watch and saw it was 7:35 pm, and said, I've got to go, and took off sprinting down the trail which now looked like a river. I only had 2 hours and 10 minutes to get to the finish line to get the record and it was getting darker by the minute. I was running as fast as my body would let me to cover as much ground as possible before it got pitch black. By about 4 miles to go I could barely see the trail, but it was still light enough to run down because the night sky illuminated the river of a trail. My headlamp was not very strong to say the least and provided no help once it became pitch black. It was at this point that I did not even know if I was going to find the finish line. I tried to call everyone at the finish line to get some light up to me, but the cell phone signal was bad there, so no one answered their phones. I had done well up until this point not falling, but did so many times when I could not see anything. I managed to walk off the trail several times, but once I realized I was not on it, I would turn around and realize the trail had switched back. I also could not determine trail depth, so there would be times that the trail would drop a foot and I would trip and face plant or slip off the trail and have to climb back up. I kept looking at my watch and saw the time slipping closer and closer to the record cut off time of 9:47 pm. At about 9:30, I saw several headlamps out in the distance and knew that it had to be people I knew. So I started yelling for Bobby Holcombe to come meet me with a head lamp and run me out. I also knew at this point that I was going to barely get the record. Once I reached the road, it was a downhill 1/2 mile run to the dam. Even though my body was aching, it was the greatest feeling ever as I ran towards the finish line. I had Bobby Holcombe running in front of me, and Cindi Holcombe and Lally in the car driving next to me playing music. Waiting at the finish was John Cobb, a former finisher and record holder for this same run, who had the official time. I crossed the finish line in 16 hours, 53 minutes, which beat the record by 9 minutes. After I finished, my body came off autopilot and realized it was in extreme pain. I was extremely sore that night and yesterday, but I am recovering very quickly. Now I am taking several weeks off to rest before I start back up my summer training.
