Where do you sleep at night during a desert run?

Usually 8-10 smelly racers pack into a single tent. This is no doubt the best part of the race. With no TV, phone or any electronics you actually spend a lot of time meeting and getting to know other runners from around the world. While you only spend 6 days with them, you go through an experience that bonds you together. Here is my tent mates during the Atacama run. It was awesome!

Dont forget artwork needs to be in before Feb 17. Go to: www.runforgrasp.org for more details

Wondering About Desert Runs...

Runners usually cover 20-25 miles per day except for the long day which is 50+ miles. We have to carry all of our supplies, clothing, food and gear for the entire 150 mile week. Runner backpacks usually weight anywhere from 18-35 pounds. For safety reasons, every 6-8 miles you will pass a check point or simply "CP". I attached a picture what one looks like. Sometimes you see them in the far distance and spend hours closing in on them, other times they are hidden on the back side of a hill and pop out on you. Either way they are staffed with the most helpful and incredible volunteers and medical staff that cheer you on all day, and night!!

Atacama Desert Flashback-

Stage 4 was a little longer than a marathon through the infamous "salt flats" in northern Chile. This is a place where you are running on 4-5 inches of crystalized salt and it was so hot the air felt like you were breathing in front of an oven door. Many of the runners got weird sunburn on their noses and chins from the strong reflection off the ground. The only way to get through the day is to think of the positive things in your life like family and friends. For me, I thought of my son Ryan and his daily struggles. He never gives up, so how could I... step by step I finished the day.

Don't forget to submit your artwork or encourage someone you know with AS to submit. 

Run for GRASP Flag- "Call for Artists"

Do you know (or are you) a boy or girl with Autism that loves to draw? How about a teenager with AS that loves Photoshop? Or an adult on the spectrum in the graphic arts profession?

We are seeking a race logo for “Run For Grasp” that will be printed in the center of a 12”x18” lightweight flag that I will carry the entire length of the Gobi Desert.

What is Run For GRASP you ask?

Well, I am running across the harshest and unforgiving deserts around the world to raise money and awareness for the Global Regional Asperger’s Syndrome Partnership or simply, GRASP.

What is your next run?

My next run is the Gobi March,  a 250-kilometer (155-mile) staged foot race that takes place in the Gobi Desert in northwestern China. Competitors are unsupported, meaning they have to carry everything they need while they run across a wide variety of terrains including dirt tracks, sand dunes, dry river beds, hills, villages and more. 

Why?

My son Ryan was clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) when he was 4 years old. While there are many charities for finding a cure there was a serious need to help teens and adults who have AS. Many diagnosed with AS have difficulty in social situations and fitting in. This problem can be magnified in middle and high school when teens can bully and target peers with AS. GRASP has been there for my family, now its time to give back! All funds raised go directly to GRASP.

Back to the Flag…

Artwork can really be anything the artist wants, any number of colors, just needs to say “Run for GRASP” and be a maximum of 3 inches by 6 inches and submitted in electronic format.

Please share this around the Autism community.  If you know someone, please encourage them to submit their artwork to: runforgrasp@icloud.com

Deadline to submit artwork is February 17th.  After that we will also request submissions for 150 boys, girls, teens or adults with AS that really demonstrates the ability to never give up when facing their daily struggles.   These names will also be selected and printed on the flag to symbolize their courage and tenacity.  I will draw on their strength when I face my own struggle.  

Thanks for your support. 

Vermont 50 Ultra Run -September 30, 2012

Vermont 50 Ultra Run
September 30, 2012

I drove up to Brownsville, VT to run the Vermont 50. It is a well-known mountain bike and ultra run that has been around 19 years. I looked at previous years results and noted a usually high DNF rate of 15%. As an ultra runner its sometimes better not to know a course. When your feeling really bad and know its only going to get worse due to a big climb 

it can make those little voices in your head to quit to get louder. I chose to study the course and develop a plan to start slow and walk all the up hills. That plan would have worked if it were not for the 9000 feet or so of accumulated elevation gain. Too much walking leads to a DNF.

It was already raining when the race started at 6:25 am. Prior to our start, all of the mountain bikers rode the same course. With the rain and bikers, I knew it was going to be a mudfest. The first mile was gravel road and downhill, then level for another 2 miles. I started around at a 9:30-10 min pace until I hit the first long uphill climb. I walked the hill and then hit the trails but didn’t feel myself. My legs were dying on the hills and a quick check of the heart rate monitor showed 170-175 bpm. I guess it wasn’t the best idea to run 2 ultra races within 3 weeks of each other. I knew it was going to be a long day.

I hit the aid station at Skunk Hollow (12 miles) and since it was raining so hard decided changing socks was useless. The hills were starting to come more and more and at mile 20 was Garvin Hill (1812’) the highest point in Hartland. The rain almost felt like it was coming sideways at the summit. I couldn’t believe how happy the aid station staff was. While I have only have done about a half dozen ultras, they by far were the most helpful and knowledgeable. I couldn’t have imaged how cold and wet they were waiting at that summit all day long. They were awesome. I filled my bottle, drank some soup and ate an orange. I decided before the race not to eat or drink anything with sugar until the 30-mile mark, when I really needed a boost.

After Garvin Hill came a really long decent, I couldn’t help but to think how much fun (and faster) it would be to mountain bike down vs. trying to run. The next 11 miles were almost exclusively trail sections with slippery mud, but through some beautiful New England forest.

So far in the race I met and ran with some really cool and interesting racers. I met 2 PhD mathematicians who were passing time by trading complicated logic problems, and a fireman from Brooklyn. I also talked with a northwest pacific native transplanted to Boston and a woman who both missed the 47.2 miles cutoff the prior year. They told me that the 5:45pm cutoff is strictly enforced. I started to do the math in my head and knew I was going to be in trouble.

I hit the 31.9-mile Greenall’s aid station and decided to change my socks and put additional hydropel on my feet. I also drank a water bottle of Ensure since it worked so well during the last race. While leaving the aid station I heard a volunteer mention it was closing in 10 minutes.

I started to pick up the pace a bit and hit the Fallon’s aid station (37.3 miles) with 20 minutes to spare. I still felt like I didn’t “have it” and wasn’t my usual self.
I ran right through the 41.1-mile aid station to save time. I had to run the next 6.1 miles in 1:10 to make the cutoff. That little voice was getting louder, at moments I found myself walking, thinking just cruise to the aid station and get a ride to the finish…. NO WAY!

Somewhere between mile 44 and 45 I ran past a backyard with a cooler and sign that said “free beer, racers only”. Pretty funny, I knew time was tight, but took about a minute to down the best bottle of Blue Moon I ever had. The cold beer immediately fueled my body and spirit. I decided I had to try to make it. I ran the next 2 miles as if a pack of wild dogs were chasing me, passing 4-5 runners.

I hit the 47.2 miles cutoff with 4 minutes to spare, AWESOME! I was going to make it. I also ran past a volunteer that asked if I needed a pacer. Man did I look that bad? Of course I said yes, and while I didn’t get his name, he really made the last 2.8 miles go by quickly and pushed me the whole time.

I spent a total of 12 hours and 16 minutes running in the mud and rain. Man did I get my money’s worth!

Pine Creek 100k Challenge -September 12, 2012

Pine Creek 100k Challenge

September 12, 2012

The Pine Creek Challenge takes place in the “Grand Canyon” of Pennsylvania and running the majority of Pine Creek (some 100 miles).  For me this will be the longest single stage race of my life.  While I was nervous, I completed several long runs in the hills of New Hampshire and felt ready. 

The race started at 9am (late for ultra standards), you would have to run fast in order to finish before the sun goes down… I had my headlamp in my last drop bag and intended to wear it!

Runners assembled at the start line 15 minutes prior to the gun and the rain began to fall.  The race director told us that it was going to get pretty bad and forecasts called for a heavy storm with possible hail at 4pm.  The entire course is run on crushed granite and is 10-15 feet wide and the first 31 miles slightly downhill.  Due to the weather and relatively easy course, I decided to take it out a little faster than normal (9:30 to 10:00 minute per mile pace).  I instantly liked up with 2 other runners named Andrea from Connecticut and John from Philly.  Both are veteran triathletes that have been exploring the world of ultra running for the past couple of years.

I ran with Andrea the first 30 or so miles threw so heavy rain as john dropped slightly back.  Trees lined the running path and the views were great with the creek sometimes swelling to 40-50 feet wide and running heavy with all the rain.  It was raining pretty hard, but we hit the 26.2 mark at 4:40 and the 50k mark at 5:40.  I knew my pace would slow down running the slight uphill in the dark, especially wearing wet clothes back to the finish.  As Andrea broke away at the turn, I decided to slow a bit.  The rain stopped around the 8hr mark and I decided to change my clothes at the next aid station… chaffing OUCH!!! It took 6-7 minutes but well worth it.

From the 30 to 48 miles I ran completely alone, was pretty cool at first but after the sun went down, it was a little lonely.  Just in case I needed a boost I packed an ipod in my last drop bag grabbed it as I went through the aid station along with my headlamp.  I kept it a pocket figuring I would need it when I hit my first wall. 

At 48 miles it began, my legs started to tighten and feel heavy.  My pace was slowing to a 14 min per mile pace and I was out of it.  Was I eating enough? It was hard to, after Chile I have learned a couple of tricks for this though.  I grabbed a fresh water bottle at the last aid station that had 2 bottles of Ensure in it.  Yes, Ensure the nourishment drink used by seniors… I downed the whole 500-calorie bottle with no issues.  Put the ipod on, first song was Funky Town, as the music played I took off and banged out 3 consecutive 9 min miles.  Wow, what a difference music makes.

52 miles was another wall, pushed through but I was definitely getting tired now.  It was so dark.  The old trick of stopping to walk, pick a stop in the near distance and run again when you get to it didn’t work, there was a fog and visibility was only 5-10 feet.  I decided to run the length of 1 song then walk until the first lyrics are sung on the second giving my legs a brief break.  I managed to do this for 7-8 miles.  I hit the last aid station 4 miles from the finish, when I was leaving I saw a runner arrive with no headlamp.  It was John from Philly.  He was telling me that he as well was running alone since it got dark and he couldn’t see anything, and said it was pretty scary.  I honestly don’t know how he made it.   For safety reasons, we decided to run together to the finish.  He definitely showed his ironman attitude by making it that last section.

We hit the finish at 13 hours and 35 minutes taking 8^th and 9^th place respectfully.  I am more proud of my fundraising for GRASP, I snagged four 1 dollar per kilometer sponsors…  PAY UP!  Very proud of my accomplishment!

Gobi March (China) 2013 Official Website

Gobi March (China) 2013 Official Website