Shakori 40 Ultramarathon (2020)
I hadn’t heard of the Shakori 40 until last month when I was telling a couple of running buddies about my recent DNF at the Bull Mountain Epic 100k. It sounded intriguing as the format seemed straightforward: 10 laps around a 4-mile course of trails and hills.
I decided to sign up for it since most of the races I registered for in 2020 have been postponed or canceled for obvious reasons, but this seemed to be a great local option to close out the year.
Two nights before the race we got some serious rains here in North Carolina, making the trail conditions questionable for race day on Saturday morning.
My wife (Christa) and I got to the Shakori Hills Community Arts Center just before 7 am, right on time to check-in, with 30 minutes to spare before the start of the race. We set up our aid area, went through our checklist. Hugs, kisses, and positive vibes.
I put my headphones in, but could still hear the loudspeaker, “3…2…1…”
We started down a hill, through the sea of tents and relay teams, and soon were channeled to a different field and into woods where we’d hit our first section of singletrack. The ground was saturated from the rain and I think the overall consensus was, “this is going to be muddy.”
My headphones died 15 minutes into the first lap, which is standard for me on race day. I have yet to run a race where I haven’t had some sort of headphone malfunction. Luckily for me, the venue had music playing loudly throughout the woods during the entire event, and they were playing the good stuff: Led Zepplin, Ryan Bingham, and Tom Petty to name a few. This was a pleasant surprise and would help me to stay positive when things got a little tougher towards the end of the race.
Throughout the first lap, I was just taking in the scenery, comprised of old hippie buses, little cottages, obscure relics, happy campers, big fields, and some beautiful fall colors. It was an awesome course.
I made my way back to the start/finish where Christa was waiting, ate a gel and drank some electrolytes, refilled my water, and set out for lap 2.
The next 3 laps were rather uneventful, but the sun came out in full effect during my 4th lap, and it started to warm up considerably. Also, the volume and frequency of footprints through the wetter sections reduced some of the trails into mud pits, which became increasingly taxing on the glutes and hips.
Midway into lap 7, I could feel myself slowing down a little bit, but I refused to let any negativity burrow its way between my ears. I stayed present, grateful, and began to take stock of all the things that were going right thus far: nutrition plan was on point and I wasn’t wavering, the weather was great, I hadn’t hurt myself yet.
Lap 8 was a struggle. After miles of slipping and plodding through the mud, my legs we growing weary. I reminded myself that we were all struggling with it, and to just stay positive and keep running my race at my pace.
A mile into lap 9 I was slowing down even more. I was starting to focus on the finish and was getting a little impatient and exhausted. I had pushed pretty hard thus far, but I was ready to wrap it up and wasn’t really looking forward to the final lap. My splits were getting longer and I was becoming a bit discouraged about my overall time and what type of energy I would have on the 10th and final lap.
Then, something happened. I was almost midway through lap 10 when I found some reserves in my tank. I turned my brain off, put everything I had into my legs, and just started moving. I don’t know if I would call it a flow state, but it was damn close. I wanted to stop. Everything in me wanted to stop. But I keep pushing forward as fast and as hard as I could. I passed a few of the other 40 mile runners in the final mile, 3 if I was counting correctly, which moved me from 8th in the field to 5th. I decided I wasn’t going to let off of the gas at this point until I crossed the finish.
The final stretch. I saw familiar faces, heard some cheers, and kept focused on the finish line.
Finishing time: 7:38:40. 5th overall out of a field of 41. Another ultramarathon to add to my resume.
What a great time.
