Croom Zoom 100K Run

When Andyman announced the approval for his much-anticipated Croom Zoom in January, I thought that would be a great way to stay in shape over the holidays. But as we all know, I overindulged during my two months off. When I ran a horrible 20+ miler on New Years Eve, I considered dropping back to the 50K. In doubting my ability, I'd told everyone that I was just planning "to run as far as I can" at the Zoom.

After an emotionally draining week, I headed up to Croom with Dave at o'dark hundred Sunday morning. We nearly convinced ourselves to keep driving North, but decided to give the Zoom a run. We checked in and met up with A2, Steve, Patrick, and other usual suspects .

At 6:00am Andy gathered the fifteen 100K runners and at 6:05 yelled, "Go!" I yaked with A2 and Rebecca for a few minutes, then Rebecca dropped back. A2 surprisingly hung with me for several miles while we caught up on life (I make a great pace car!). But when he decided he was ready to stretch it out, I was on my own.

On my second 10-mile loop, Patrick came flying by me, trying to catch his competition in the 50K. A short time later Woody caught up to me. We traveled together for four miles, back to base camp. But alas, Woody left me too, leaving me to run the next 10 miles alone . I made my lonely way through the third loop and by 12:08pm, I'd run 50K. At that point I was warm enough to change into a short sleeved shirt.

I passed June and Sue just out for a walk in the woods, and later on the fourth loop, I passed Dave who was making a pit stop, and waited for him to pass me...but he never did. I met up with Woody again at the far aid station, but when he stopped to refuel, that was the last I saw of him.

Luckily, I was feeling fresh and quick. I plugged in to my music and ran consistent 2-hour loops. By 2:10pm, I'd run 42-miles. I chatted with the aid station volunteers like John, Justin, Mark and Sara every 5-miles, and other people hanging around camp. But overall I was getting pretty lonely. On my fifth loop, Steve came bounding up behind me. We briefly chatted about the 'BOOMs' that we'd been hearing (He thought it was thunder, but it sounded more like hunters exploding their prey to me!).

I made it back to camp at 4:20pm, and texted Armando that I was starting my 'Victory Loop.' But a breakdown almost came when Andy chatted with me. I was so lonely, I begged him to run the last loop with me. He really considered it, but not wanting to cause any problems, he declined. He saw Greg standing there and said, "Ask Greg!" Rather than ask I pleaded, "Greg, come run with me!!!" And Greg didn't hesitate. He put down his beer, and we started down the trail. But it didn't take long for me to realize that I'd forgotten my flashlight, which I would need the last couple miles. Being the awesome person that he is, Greg ran back to my bag, grabbed my light, and met me out on the trail.

Greg and I chatted, which helped me forget about running. He seemed happy to be out in the woods and in fact, said he'd been waiting all day for someone to ask him to run! We spotted three white-tailed deer hopping across the trail and saw another armadillo. Greg was precise in his mileage estimates and was very positive. When we made it to the far aid station, Greg committed to go the remaining miles with me. I only had one dinky flashlight, so I asked Mark if he had a spare...which he lent us.

With 5-miles to go, I told Greg I wanted to finish before 7pm, which would mean a sub 13-hour run. He kept me moving, and as we got closer to the finish, we both picked up the pace...until that last rooty half-mile. By then it was dark and those roots were jumping out at us. Luckily neither of us took a face plant, and we started hooting when we saw the camp lights. I crossed the finish line in 12:31...a PR by 6+ hours!!! I was congratulated by Armando and everyone else who was hanging out.

I have no idea how I ran so well, considering the last two months. I can only assume that taking time off allowed my body to heal and rebuild. I felt really strong and ran consistently, and the cool weather was a big factor. But by far, the best part was having a companion run that last 10-miles with me. I owe Greg big time!

Oh yeah...and I placed second woman overall in the 100K!