Boogie Marathon Race Report

Submitted By: Ron Flemming

We arrived in Ellerbe, NC about 4pm and took a drive to see most of the course. It's already looking hot and hilly. We parked on the side of the road at Bethel Baptist Church where the race starts and finishes. Everyone was parked along both sides of the road and it looked like we were all setup for "tailgating". I guess in a sense we were. Friends and family of the runners remained at their respective cars during the race to provide support to the runners. Temps were in the low to mid 90s and the sun was killer. After getting my race number and getting all my "things" together that us runners need to make it through these long runs, I found a spot on the ground under a shade tree and listened to a father and son discuss their recent trip and experience at the Comrades ultra marathon in South Africa. Shortly after, Doug Dawkins - Boogie race director, gathered us around the front of the church for a pre-race briefing where he informed us "This ain't Disney Land". By this time some clouds had rolled in and the temps had dropped a whole few degrees making it feel a little more bearable....that or I had become acclimated to it. I had no goal other than to finish...It's really hard to set a goal for yourself on a race that is completely outside of your normal training routine.

The 50 milers and marathoners start together, but in opposite directions. The marathoners go down the road one tenth of a mile and turnaround and head back towards the starting area to get in their .2 and at that point, everyone is going the same direction. I started off in a shirt because I was worried my hydration belt would cause chaffing, but after a mile I could tell the shirt was a bad idea...It was hot. The first several miles were very uncomfortable and I wasn't sure if I would ever get it together. At mile 6 when I arrived back at the church, I stopped at the car and drank some coconut water that I brought along, which is an awesome natural sports drink with tons of potassium. I ditched the shirt, grabbed an 8oz fluid bottle in each hand, made a quick stop by the main aid station to fill them up and got back on my way feeling like a new person. Things are finally feeling right. This next section is 2 miles out....mostly steep downhill and 2 miles back...mostly steep uphill. It's a monster. I let gravity do it's thing on the downhill and when I got down to the creek where it flattened out, I had to walk briefly to let some side cramping issues work themselves out. The uphill is bad...I had to walk a lot of this, but ran where I could. On my way back up Bethel Hill, I saw Amber, Jon and Frank. It's always nice to see familiar faces on the course.

I hit the main aid station again at the church to fill my two bottles and made another stop by the car to pick up another gel and have some more coconut water. This was mile 10. Somewhere near the halfway point I met and ran with with Laura MacLean. We talked for a while and she is super nice and encouraging. Come to find out, she is the 2009 Medoc Marathon winner and she plans to come back and defend her title this year! We were kinda back and forth for the next couple of miles and then she went on ahead....on her 50 mile journey.

Back at the church I'm at mile 16, I restocked on fluids and grab my headlamp as the sun is now down and it's starting to get dark. Someone had a thermometer out on the road and it was just below 90 degrees every time I passed it. I was still feeling pretty good considering the conditions, but had quite a difficult 10 miles ahead of me. Once again, I let gravity do it's thing on the long downhill away from the church towards the out-and-back point. It's pretty dark and I can see the other runners in the other lane, but can't make out any faces. Some people are wearing headlamps some not. I turned mine on when cars were coming, which was extremely rare. After struggling my way back up to the top of Bethel hill, I was starting to hurt, but still in good spirits. The top of this hill meant mile 20.2 and that was the last out-and-back section I had to do. Just one small six mile loop ahead. Mentally, this was a good thing. I still had very challenging hills ahead of me, but was closing in on the finish and no longer had to run the dreadful out-and-back. Once again, I restocked on fluids and head down the hill to start the last six miles.

I don't recall my time at the 20 mile mark. I knew it would be a difficult last six miles, but to give myself something to work towards, I decided to set a goal of finishing in sub-5 hours because I knew it would be close, especially with the amount of walking I was expecting to have to do. These last six miles, even though they really really hurt, I really really enjoyed it. It was one of the nicest stretches of a run I have ever had. I had to walk-run the majority of it. For the most part I was alone and it was completely dark. I was listening to some of my favorite music at a very low volume and still able to enjoy the sounds of the very much alive forest. It was such a peaceful and surreal stretch. The long and painful six miles on the asphalt broke my body down, but it did not break my spirit. I have had long runs where my attitude just went into a tailspin. This did not happen at Boogie and it is what I feel most proud about. I made a strong push through the last mile to finish around 4:52. Looking back, I am completely satisfied with the time given the conditions. But what I really learned about this race is that time does not matter here, it's about finishing and it's about the experience.

For anyone wanting a very unique and challenging race experience, I would highly recommend this race. The people are so kind and encouraging. The way it's setup for family and friends to tailgate and support their runners as they pass the church is very cool. It's like one huge team effort. Everyone is in it together, runners and friends and family.

I was barely even sore yesterday. I woke up pretty sore today, but it's not too bad. I think with such a late finish (11pm), soreness never had a chance to settle in until last night. This race will serve as a great training run for Grandfather Mountain. I am already looking forward to Boogie 2011 and I cannot believe I am saying that right now...