2018 GSER 100k race report

 Like most 100k(s), especially the best ones, getting up at 3AM for a 5AM start - somewhere technically you shouldn’t be-, should be enough alone for long lines and lotteries, just to have a chance to participate, but then maybe it wouldn’t be the GSER?  

The race started out with a view over my birth place like I had never seen before, and that alone garnered my gratitude, and I assume is what gave me such a positive outlook that even with a multitude of screwups, I never ventured into the land of self pity.  Leading up to the race I had lamented about the weather for as long as there was a plausible undesirable forecast, it turned out perfect. There was never a time where the breeze wasn’t coming at you, not enough to complain about, but the perfect amount that only helped you by drying your shirt and keeping your core temperature where you needed it.  The temperature itself was great, not the by the book temperature of 41 degrees, but not mid 90s either. The sun was never an issue, due to its lack of it being in the sky or being nicely hidden at the most appropriate times by a beautiful layer of cumulus clouds.

I met a ton of new people; photographers, lawyers, professors, and even a group of college kids that had both an amazing crew and who stuck it out together the entire adventure; their first foray into ultra, and probably because of the event they chose, not their last.  I ran with men and women old enough to be my parents and some that I could be theirs.

Technically 100k should mean 62 miles, but this was an unmarked urban adventure with almost 150 different choices to make along the way.  After passing the first landmark, “The Big Chicken”, the first aid station came along pretty quickly, a family opened up their home, handing out bacon and providing pine trees just in case we had been staying on top of our hydration.  Before leaving the aid station, I did pretty well with my choices and continued doing so until somewhere around mile 7ish, but then I took my first 3 mile out and back. The out was for my first sightseeing tour, the back was to get back to the point where I decided to leave the course on my semi personal adventure, luckily I had company and you know what they say about misery and company, but it was early and we all seemed OK with it, we had our self proclaimed optimist with us, the fantastic Mr. Fox.  So we got back in line and picked up the pace, trying to find 30 minutes, not sure we ever found the time, but at least we did finally track down several runners.

The sun rose at a perfect time; once we entered the longest stretch of wilderness, which gave God above enough time to billow in the needed clouds.  Luckily for us, pity was taken also by the RD as he and his man JA threw down some flags to get us through, and I am extremely happy they did as I doubt I would have made it out otherwise, based on my navigation during the race as a whole.  To be honest, I was planning for just about 2.5 flags strewn over the ~3 miles, but instead it was so well marked it became apparent that they understood who they were dealing with. Coming out of the woods alone, I found myself near my wife’s old college apartments (self interested reminiscing) and started my first round of reunions with many of the other runners.  The race was again back on track, we even out ran a ferrari for about two miles heading towards the Governor's mansion, albeit he did have to adhere more closely to those pesky stop signs, red lights, and traffic. Maybe outrunning the car is what put my mind in the clouds once again, or maybe it was that I kept wondering why the Governor wasn’t handing out oranges, either way, my second extra 1.5 mile ensued.  Running towards Piedmont before circling Chastain Park just wouldn't cut it, although in the technical sense, it did. Luckily I still had a partner, someone who I could talk to and rationalize the situation. So we headed back to the intersection where we made our wrong turn, and along the way found assistance by another runner’s crew, you know who you are. They reassured us of our course correction, and provided me with both the perfect ginger ale and bottled water.  Now the reunions once again started to take place, we again had to find 15 minutes. We probably failed again, but did find lots of friends, some old and some, well actually they were all old friends at this point. We then found ourselves at another aid station, and they like every other one, were great. Here I was dropped by one of the original other three members of our lost tribe, but picked up two of the others, Mr. Fox and the photographer, the reunion was super sweet.  We left that aid station together, shortly after I fell, maybe it was a good sign, usually I do well only if I am bleeding. Mission accomplished! They escorted me through our next semi illegal activity as we traversed the beltline, the college kids also caught up with us, now we were 5. We left the beltline and traversed through my old college campus (GO Panthers!), the 2nd amendment demonstration, MLK’s birthplace, Atlanta Zoo and as the RD said on his turn sheet, dead ended into Oakland Cemetery, guess he loves puns.  Here began my last detour, I left my guys once again and found a new tour guy, Omar. We did well for a while, but we took another 1.5 mile detour on Moreland Ave., turning right instead of left; the RD had changed the course. My sage had a dated memory as our guide. We realized this when things looked funny and he consulted his magic phone. Not that it was Omar’s fault, I had the directions in my pocket and I could have been helping more. This was a common theme, I was sucking off of others more than helping. Again, the reunions started over, luckily I found the photographer and Mr. Fox and we made it to the seminary.  At this point we picked up the professor and another guy I had never seen before. We took aid, and again they were great and came at a perfect time. We strolled into Avondale Estates, and at this point word had trickled down that attrition had taken its toll on the field. There was still hope for a place on the podium, although the first two in surely would be the two front running females, everyone already knew they were fast, and apparently they also had managed their race much better and possibly even paired up at some point, which probably even strengthened them; this is all conjecture on my part. Another great thing about Avondale Estates is that this is where the final trail starts, leading into Stone Mountain Park, my brain could finally relax, no more thinking.  We had about 10 miles and could see the finish line, if only briefly through the trees. I still felt great and finally the Fox said take off, so I did, finding one more guy along the way heading into the aid station at the base of Stone Mountain. Here, I got a quick drink, said hello to some great people and headed up the mountain, finding both my family, who I was missing (seeing them always gives me wings) and also my other original partner in crime. I never knew his name, or what he did, so I will call him yellow tail after his shirt. He was a great companion during the race and my only witness to beating a ferrari at the quarter mile. I really didn’t want to see anybody where I did, heading up the hill, but I just lowered my head and went up. At the top it was surreal, just one man standing on the survey marker using his phone as the official timer.  He shook my hand and then told me “looks like you are the first male to finish”, something I didn’t expect, but made the nauseating climb worth it.

To be clear I didn’t win GSER, I just happened to be the first male, the winner and second place went to females, everybody who reads this probably knows who they are, but I was happy with the effort, 13:30 at just over 67 miles.