A Little Friendly Competition on the Road to Blisterville

Prologue

Samantha: The Ring is my favorite race and as of 2023 it was tied with Bull Run Run for my most finishes in any given race - at five. I finished The Ring in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 (unofficial COVID Ring), and 2021. In 2022, I signed up for The Ring fueled solely on the ambition to become the overall record holder for most consecutive Ring finishes and on the hubris of thinking this was possible despite almost no training and very little running after coming back from a hip injury, simply because I had a 100% success rate. In reality, my mental health was suffering and my mental gas tank was empty and meant I was unable to do what was necessary to make up for lack of physical fitness. I still regret that DNF.

In 2023, after destroying myself to finish my second MMT 100 (also with no training), I decided to let Nick try his hand at The Ring. Race day that year was bittersweet for me. I had toed the line at every Ring since 2017. I was proud to help Nick finish his race, but I knew I had to go back to redeem myself for my 2022 DNF.

As of 2022, my streak was over, but I was now chasing a new goal - the most Ring finishes for a woman. In 2022, Gaynor finished her fifth Ring. However, since my 2020 finish was unofficial, I was technically headed into 2024 with only four official finishes, going for my fifth, while Gaynor was going for her sixth. I had no doubt whatsoever that she would finish this year (she did) and remain officially in the lead with the most female finishes (she is) even if I finished my fifth official/sixth unofficial Ring.

I had no doubts that I could finish - I know this race like the back of my hand, my consistent training since last December had made me faster and stronger, and my mental health had improved dramatically this year. I had visions of maybe getting my PR - perhaps even finishing under 23 hours - but I also know that you never know what can happen at The Ring, so my main goal was to finish and regain my confidence on the course.

Nick: In this, my second go at The Ring, I am well aware of what this race can throw at you. We, who have toed the line at the Signal Knob parking lot, are aware. Man that sounded cool!

Yeah, that’s great, but what exactly? What exactly do we know? A mere 71 miles? Some not too extreme elevation changes? Rocks perhaps? Plague of locusts?

No, no locusts… just flies, oh and gnats, lots and lots of gnats; swarms of gnats.
And then the rain, cooling, soothing… “moisturizing” rain (Ah, foreshadowing, you are my devilish friend). I’m not trying to sell you that this is the world’s toughest race, but it has its merits in that regard. These nefarious, but known Ring adornments should not sneak up on you. You should meet them, head on, and combat them with training and preparation.

A nemesis of your choosing awaits, from which to snatch victory.
Added to this year’s nemi-sis… nem… nemi… what’s the plural of that?

Ah yes, NEMESES. Samantha was A#1 appointed nemesis. We were a house divided 😄
In actuality, I never had a chance. I had a one in a million shot, or so I thought. She would stay ahead of me, though admittedly closer than I expected her to be. I would not know if she knew how close I was, until one ever-so-brief moment at Powell’s Fort, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Samantha: To make things interesting this year, I suggested that even though I was returning to The Ring, he should also run it and we’d make it a friendly competition. We agreed to even the playing field - no crew and no pacers. I enjoyed people’s reactions when we told them about the plan, with them asking who would win and both of us stating the obvious - there was no competition. I was going to win. I had five finishes:
2017: 23:41
2018: 25:09
2019: 24:26
2020: 24:07
2021: 24:03

He had one finish in the 27 and 1/2 hour range. I mean, the data doesn’t lie.

Nick: Was Samantha truly my nemesis? No (pishaw), she’s my love. This is a friendly rivalry, right?

Turns out that the nemesis du jour was the diabolical sort. It came bearing gifts of cool soothing drops of rain from the heavens meant surely to ease my ascent up Duncan Hollow.

In 1999, a 32-year-old, non-surgically rebuilt young lad did his first ultra in about 13 hours. It was flat and fast. It was not anything like the pointy rocks that our beloved VHTRC has on offer.

Despite my youthful vigor, I was ill-prepared for that day 25 years ago and learned a hard initial ultra running lesson; feet are pliable. My grotesquely blistered feet on that day bled through socks… and my shoes. As I ran and then walked the smooth surface of the C&O Canal towpath, with feet wrapped partially in duct tape, I suffered mightily.

Jump ahead to Labor Day 2024. Samantha and I have finished my second Ring, Samantha her sixth, more than a day ago and are now trying desperately to fall asleep, if only to forestall the pain in our collective four feet.

“What happened?” She asked. “Well, it’s just the constant pounding”, I said.
“No, that’s why it happened. I want to know WHAT (physiologically) has happened to my feet.”

That’s a good question. Her feet hurt. My feet are torn up. I count the blisters. Of course it’s tough to know how to count them when the blisters have merged together or envelope an entire toe.

What caused this condition that I have not experienced in 25 years?

Ivory Lira has a story of perseverance to tell and she may start crying while telling it, and when she does you might start crying too. It is a story of feet.

When I caught Travis Bertram on the way to Woodstock. I said “how ya doing?” He said, in a low voice, “I’m low on calories… and my feet are on fire.”

When I caught Jackie she said “I’m slowin’ down on the backend.” At the finish, her bandaged feet would be revealed like many others.

When I arrived at the finish I lay down on the ground to not be on my feet.

We had all individually arrived at the Signal Knob parking lot, but we had all arrived together… in Blisterville.

But why? Why the podiatric carnage? Well, in 1989, the band Milli Vanilli encouraged us to “Blame it on the Rain”. And while it was later revealed that they weren’t really singing the song and just lip-syncing frauds, it turns out that they weren’t wrong.

Wait, I dangled my participle, they were wrong about lip-syncing, but I don’t think they were wrong to blame it on the rain.

In summary: I’m blaming it on the rain. LMAO

[Samantha editorial note: Nick originally wrote that “our” feet were torn up, but I edited it. Actually, I had three blisters total, plus a little trench foot. Although my feet hurt, I didn’t feel like it slowed me down and my feet were in far better shape than others that I saw at the finish. My finish-line “collapse” was because I ran like a possessed woman for the final nine miles of the race to stay ahead of Nick. My legs - not my feet - had failed momentarily. As for the pain in my feet, I had developed a painful, numbish feeling in the balls of my feet which I thought was perhaps related to the trench foot, but that I still have. I had a similar pain at this year’s C&O 100 that became so unbearable I dropped out after 60 miles. I still don’t know the cause, but it’s enough that I’ll be seeing VHTRC’s own Dr. Eric next week.]

Start to Milford Gap:

Nick: Robot Knee and pal “Knobby” get The Ring going for the second time. Let me start by saying thank you to everyone who asked about my arm. That was nice. It was pretty sore all day, but worked well enough for the task. And Robot Knee was happy to have someone (something) take the pressure off of him.

[Samantha editorial note: This whole “Knobby” thing? A bruise!! A bruise!! That’s it!!! So much drama over nothing! Does anyone remember what my arms looked like or the blood dripping down my legs after a fall in around mile 70 of Pinhoti!? Come on!!]

Nick: Isn’t it just a million little devious things though? Ready to “trip” you up though? Ruin your day though? Make you say hmmm, though?

I didn’t start my watch properly at the start and I would be about a half mile off for the entire race, causing me to do distance and time math (which I do not like). I fell once, early, going through Elizabeth Furnace, on hands and knees, with no damage, but would stay upright from that point for the entirety of the course. This time on feet feels like foreshadowing.

Through EF, I caught a glimpse of Samantha ahead on one of the switchbacks.

Would I get the chance to see her again? Time, provocation (not that one, the other one), and perhaps even destiny awaits on The Ring.

It’s a hot day, but somewhat overcast. It isn’t the best Ring weather, it isn’t the worst.

Arrived at Milford and the company of the haulin’-aid-up-the-hill peeps. Took a selfie with the selfless station society. Love you guys!

Say team, “what time did Samantha come through?” “…about 15 minutes ago, okay. Not bad”, I thought to myself. I’m off to a slowish start, but that was according to plan. Don’t want to cramp bonk on Duncan again.

Samantha: I took off ahead of Nick at the start. I generally like to stay in the mid-pack at the beginning and not get caught in the back of the line headed up to the ridge. I found myself leading a fairly large group of people to the top. At the top there were some blow downs and hearing some murmurs from people indicating they weren’t sure where to go, I confidently led them in the correct direction. The blow downs and overgrowth made the trail tricky at many points during the course. In some cases after finding your way around a downed tree you’d need to pick your way back through the branches or some brambles or nettles to figure out where to pick up the trail.

I continued to lead a small group with Gaynor, Ivory, Drew and a couple of others but after a couple of miles on the ridge pulled aside so I could get some salt and calories. One of the lessons I learned from prior races was to stop or slow down to do the important things you need to do and not worry about people getting ahead of you or ruining your time. It’s not stopping to do the things you need to do that will kill your race.

When you run the race enough times you know what to expect during these long sections on the ridge. Often they feel like they will never end, but after some nice run flow in the miles before reaching Veach Gap and an easier-than-usual-for-me climb, I quickly came into Milford Gap, filled up my water, got a dousing of cold water from Carl, and continued on my way.

Milford Gap to Camp Roosevelt:

Samantha: After I left Milford, I checked my pace chart, which has all my past splits, and chuckled when I realized I had arrived at Milford at the exact same time as several of my past finishes. Not really on pace for a PR, but possibly for sub-24 hours. I wasn’t going to worry about it. I wanted to move well to the finish while having fun and not get hung up on time. In 2022, one of the things that got into my head was being significantly behind my past splits, even though I was ahead of finishing pace. I wasn’t going to let those things get stuck in my head again and decided to use my past splits as pieces of data to inform my race strategy and expectations rather than something to compete with.

It was getting pretty humid and I ran out of water about a mile from Camp Roosevelt, but overall I was feeling physically and mentally good. I was pleased that the miles seemed to go by fast and weren’t too laborious. In the miles before Roosevelt there are some great rocky downhills that I would usually have fun gliding and dancing down. However, I opted to take them fairly easy and from this point took an overall conservative, relaxed approach to the rest of the race.

At Camp Roosevelt, I saw Lauren, Jenni, Tracy, and several other friendly faces. Jenni helped fill my pack, Heather got me a popsicle. I changed my shirt, lubed up, swapped out my gel flasks, decided against more LMNT in my soft flask and instead chose coconut water, and took some quesadillas to go. I also filled my cooling wrap with ice. I didn’t rush here. It was fun to see friends and do a little regroup before the next dreaded section.

A note about the gel flasks if you’re interested:

At a recent training weekend, I had been intrigued to see that Ivory had several small flasks filled with various concoctions in the fridge at the Airbnb. I had the vague sense they were gels and had also seen gel flasks advertised on the Maurten site. The ones on the Maurten site had been out of stock forever, but someone had recently told me about the Feed and there were some gel flasks on there. I really dislike opening all the individual gels and having sticky wrappers and residue, so after some consultation with Ivory and additional research I decided to do something different with my gels. Using a rough estimate of how many carbs I would need, how many carbs are in the Maurten gels, and the capacity of the various gel flasks, I used an Excel sheet to figure out how many prefilled flasks I would need and how many combinations of gels would be needed to fill them. Ring prep had suddenly become a math exercise supplemented by purchasing many gel flasks from all corners of the internet. Because I wouldn’t have a crew, I’d need to prefill nine gel flasks - three to take with me on the long section before Camp Roosevelt, and additional flasks to pick up at each aid station. Prefilling them in the hotel the night before the race was a giant PITA, but it was worth it on race day to know that I didn’t have to open any packets and would know that I had consumed the right amount of carbs.

Nick: Early on, I passed a few runners who were struggling. Another day, perhaps another year to try again. Best of luck to you all. I guess it is pretty hot already. Many PUDs to irritate you here, but pace, nutrition, and my attitude are dialed in.

I caught up to Travis Bertram for the first time today. It wouldn’t be the last: I think I had him on the “ups” most of the day, but he descends way better than I do and had me on the “downs”. It was a leap-frog kinda day.

Arrived at Roosevelt to see lots of very good friends. The race plan called for switching out my Hoka road shoes that I was wearing and, yes, I know they are road shoes but they are super, super comfortable. However, the lesson learned from wearing said shoes at Reverse Ring is that they lack the performance characteristics necessary to “weather” the “storm.”

(I did the Reverse Ring slip-and-the-slide-land-on-my-back-side dance in four inches of wet snow in February. I had no desire to repeat that… and the storm, I heard, was a comin’ today.)

RD Extraordinaire LGM helped with personal services, stinky shoes, and socks removal. Amazing. Jen Norris got me the Pickles, Pierogies, and Pandemonium that I needed. Amazing.

Say Team, “Did you happen to catch what time Samantha came through?”

About 30 minutes you say? Hmm. Interesting.

Picked up my on-the-go nutrition pack and I was out!

Camp Roosevelt to Crisman Hollow Road:

Samantha: This is a brutal section. It’s generally at the hottest part of the day and much of the first six miles is exposed to any sun. The trail is often wet and the flies are a nightmare. The first six miles is also basically uphill. I recalled I had been able to move fairly quickly on this section in 2017, but had hated it every time since. I really wanted to do better on this section in 2024 so I specifically trained for it on the treadmill, figuring out the incline to match the section and setting it to a speed to match my 2017 pace. I did this workout several times in the two months before The Ring. At a final training weekend a few weeks before The Ring, I had done a real-life test and had been able to run the entire first six miles of that section to almost exactly replicate the pace on my treadmill. I knew I wouldn’t necessarily do that on race day because I would have 26 miles on my feet before then, but it was a huge confidence boost. On race day, I felt relaxed through this section. I jogged most of it, hiked the hills, and didn’t let the long section get to my head. As with the long stretch to Camp Roosevelt, I felt myself getting to landmarks sooner than I thought.

Once you hit the intersection with yellow and make the hard left turn to stay on orange, it’s pretty runnable. It went by quickly and I found myself at the base of Waterfall. I had also gone up Waterfall during the training weekend a few weeks ago and the heat and humidity had practically killed me. I figured it couldn’t be worse than that so I grabbed a stick to use as a makeshift trekking pole and made my way up. I found myself having an easier time than usual, perhaps because I kept my eyes focused on the ground and not looking up to see how far I had to go, using my stick to make steady pace. I think having the expectation that this climb would be awful actually helped mentally because it ended up being better than hoped. At the top I jogged easily into Crisman Hollow Aid Station.

It had begun to rain in this section but because I was under the tree canopy, it hadn’t really impacted me much. My shoes were a bit wet, but I was ok.

Nick: In 2023, the cramp monster bit hard here, and would live with me for 20 plus miles. In 2024, I backed off the pace to Roo and in all other ways, I felt like I was better prepared this time; I was right. I power hiked the six miles up Duncan Hollow. I recovered all of the slower time and was now slightly ahead of last year’s pace through Crisman (oh, and not busted).

But before Crisman, back on the six-mile Duncan climb, the wind and thunder rumbling started. It was hot, and though I was nearly at the top of the hot climb, the rain was still welcome. The wind whisked the gnats away and the air cooled quickly.

I suppose, though, it was sort of like inviting a vampire into your home… Are you guys following that analogy? No? Okay, trust me, you DO NOT want to do that.

Anyway, it rained. Down Big Run, up Waterfall (missed the Waterfall turn, but turned around quickly at the first White blaze). Hey Travis, good to see you again. Up Waterfall and into the Crisman aid station. It was raining.

I recovered my drop bag from a puddle of water, everything inside was in dry bags; no worries.

Oh, hey guys, “What time was Samantha through here?”
“What, 30 minutes?” “Are you sure?” Hmmmmmm. So you’re saying there’s a chance…

Picked up lights and my watch recharging gear, and I was out. Oh, it was raining.

Crisman Hollow Road to Moreland Gap:

Samantha: At CHR, I grabbed my bag and repeated the same routine as at Camp Roosevelt: change shirt, swap gels, drink coconut water, eat some food. I also picked up my handheld light. I had come into CHR about 30 mins behind my previous splits and was ok with that. The general rule of thumb is if you can get to Moreland Gap before sunset, you are on sub-24-hour pace. I knew it was likely to be dark when I got to Moreland Gap, but I’ve run over Kerns alone at night before and know it well enough to know where the tricky parts are. I generally don’t mind Kerns and feel like I can move well.

The rocks were slippery because of the rain. I also knew ahead of time from the training weekend that it would be overgrown, so I had appropriate expectations for how this section would be. Despite these factors, I moved well, took my time where needed, and managed to avoid getting lost. Having run this section countless times, I also have a feel for how far along you are without looking at my watch. This relieves the pressure of “are we there yet” getting in your head, which can really get you down mentally. When you know the trail as well as I do, you just are where you are, and you don’t overthink it.

I was pleased, once again, to get to the intersection with Jaw Bone sooner than expected. By that time I had had to put my light on, so the run down to Moreland Gap was a bit slower than I would usually take, but I was glad to know I was more than halfway to the finish and was over an hour ahead of cutoffs. I always feel that if you can get to Moreland with plenty of time to spare, you are pretty much home free. Only two long eight-mile sections, a five-mile section, and a nine-mile section to go! You’ve practically already finished!

At Moreland I decided to do a full costume change. A friendly volunteer held my light and pointed it at my bag while I apologized for stripping down to my underwear. I drank my coconut water, swapped my gels, put on my waist lamp, and tried to make sure I wasn’t forgetting something. One of the volunteers told me I should sit down and eat and drink some coke and take a few minutes to sit and rest. It was a good reminder to take additional time to do what’s necessary. I enjoyed some fried rice and then grabbed some food to go.

Nick: This year, I got to spend much of Kerns Mountain in the daylight; a delight. Travis and I would spend lots more time together before he powered his way into and out of Moreland.
Otherwise the traverse of Kerns was unremarkable, but now seems like a good time to mention how overgrown the course seemed and the great number of blowdowns adding to the fun.

Now would also be a great time to mention the growing discomfort in my toes. It’s okay, I said to nobody. The great thing about blisters, is that they ONLY hurt. They hurt when you go up, they hurt when you go down. They hurt when you go slow, they hurt when you go fast, but other than that, they are somewhat inconsequential… to a point (double meaning).

I had switched out of my toe socks at Roo and switched back to them here at Moreland, it would be of no help. I ate and picked up the second on-the-go nutrition pack and out. It was raining.

“When did Samantha come through?” I asked.
“I knew that was coming next!”, someone shouted.

The “competition” was apparently known and apparently the conversation was making its way around the course with Samantha and I. I didn’t have to ask…

RD Daisy Weill quickly offered.. “You were 34 minutes behind her at the last aid station and now you are 29 MINUTES BEHIND!”

What in the literal Ffff… oxtrot! I mean yeah, last year I barely made the Moreland Gap cut off, this year I’m 45 minutes good. But only 30 minutes behind her, still? I pondered the possibilities. I considered the trend.

Moreland Gap to Edinburg Gap:

Samantha: In past years, Moreland Gap is where I have had my first crying moments, dreading going into the night alone. But after so many years, I know what to expect and it didn’t phase me to head out on the section alone. I know that it’s a long section, requires lots of hiking due to the rocky terrain, and can be confusing in some places. In 2020, Lauren and I spent 20 minutes trying to find the trail, and I found that same spot again, knowing not to make the same mistake as back then.

At this stage, the gels were really getting to me. Maurten gels are tasteless but are slightly sweet tasting. I was consuming the appropriate amount and I knew I needed calories and carbs for energy, so despite feeling somewhat ick, I kept taking them. I was craving real food, though. I had some chocolate donut holes and a chocolate crepe with me, but I didn’t want something sweet. I forced myself to eat a couple donut holes, washing them down with water. 40+ miles into an ultra is not the time to be picky.

I also began to feel some ominous signs of blisters and trench foot. My left little toe was painful and the bottom of my right foot was painful. The combination of the rain and humidity had made my socks and shoes wet. I wasn’t worried enough to do anything, but knew I should keep an eye on it and maybe take a look when I reached Edinburg Gap.

This section feels really long, but I was still able to keep things mentally under control. I had recently read or heard something about the role of emotions in races. Early on I had told myself that I would treat the race as business. Get the job done and don’t assign emotions to any part of it. Trouble shoot, keep moving, and do what is necessary to get to the finish. Other than that, keep your mind free of emotion and stay in the moment. This is what I felt on the way to Edinburg and the section went by quickly.

I know that when you come over to the edge on the left of the ridge with a steep drop to your left that you’re almost at the road. But I also know not to get too excited, because there is another climb before you drop down again. My knowledge of the course helped to manage expectations and avoid the trap of “I’m almost there… but wait… we still have so far to go.” The distance is the distance. You are where you are. Don’t assign any emotion to it.

Headed into Edinburg, I saw a light coming to meet me and was happy to see Karen! I got the VIP treatment from Karen, Lauren, Daisy, and Homer. I ate some food, got a nice leg/foot rub from Karen, chit chatted a little bit, and took my time. I was in a good mood. My feet hurt, but I opted to leave them alone here and wait until Woodstock to check them out. I had socks and shoes waiting for me in my drop bag there.

At this point, I still had not asked how close Nick was. I assumed he was at least an hour behind me based on his times last year. I almost didn’t want to ask, but I wasn’t worried at all that my lead was in jeopardy. After thanking them for the VIP treatment, Lauren mentioned that they had a lot riding on me finishing before Nick because people had been taking bets. Yikes. The pressure was on!

Feeling good, I left Edinburg to head up the next climb and to the last eight-mile section.

Nick: Travis was out of Moreland well before me and with nemeses everywhere, I had forgotten how tough that Short Mountain climb is. It was still raining. It still felt good on my brow, but the tenderizing of my feet was well underway. Both the climb and my feet hurt, with 30-ish miles to go.

I continued the day’s trend of powering up the hills and I started to gain on the head lamp in front of me. “Hey Travis, how many times have you done this?”, I yelled ahead.

Paul Aumayr’s voice came back instead: “I’ve finished it once.” He reminded me of his name. (We ran some miles together last year.) “Oh hey Paul, I thought you were Travis.” “Well, at least it’s not hot,” I said awkwardly. We would spend the next couple of hours together but not say a word to one another until we hit the fire road to Edinburg Gap. “I think I’m going to sit for a moment,” he said. “Nausea.”

Oh crap. I know that feeling here at Edinburg. Last year’s slog up Waonaze was the direct result of a sick, sick stomach. I felt bad that my stomach felt good today, but I felt bad for Paul. I never did hear how his feet were. Into Edinburg aid, hugs and help from Karen, Lauren, and Daisy. Kirk and Homer are there too. It’s a late night party, so I sang an upbeat song about how much I hate that GD climb (Waonaze) coming next. Flip you Waonaze! Gotta say I feel pretty good, though. So quick to get out and get on with it. No sick stomach like last year. Legs are feeling pretty good and my lead over my own pace from last year keeps extending.

Uh hey guys,

Not that it matters (it did matter), but, you wouldn’t happen to know… when… Samantha came through would ya? Oh, about 45 minutes. Okay, NOW she’s starting to get away from me… but… that’s still kinda close-ish, right?

A member of the AS team told me how they were “betting on me,” something told me that might not be true! LOL

Edinburg Gap to Woodstock Tower:

Samantha: The first climb in this section is long and arduous. But, once again, everything just felt easier. When I got to the top, I questioned whether that was it. Setting expectations, managing emotions, and my improved fitness and climbing practice likely all played a role in making that feel fairly easy. This is a nice section, but I’ve had some not great moments in the past. In 2020, Lauren and I swore we saw an animal running to our left. Probably a bear. And in 2021, I heard such a terrifying sound that I thought there was a witch and scrambled/sprinted to catch up to other people and then blew past them out of terror yelling “I’m outta here.”

There is also a very bad mental trap in this section. Near the beginning after the climb, there is a sign that says something like 7.5 miles to Woodstock Tower. So, you look down at your watch and make a mental note of when you’ll be done with the section. But that sign is a lie. Because when your watch tells you that you are almost at the finish, you are still on the right hand side of the ridge, but the section finishes on the left hand side. Not only that, if you rely on that sign and your watch, you will find yourself expecting to come to the aid station any minute, but instead will find yourself at a sign telling you there are still two more miles to go! When Lauren and I reached that in 2020 we both groaned. This year, I made a mental note when my watch hit what should have been the end of that section and said to the trail, “you’re not fooling me, I know we still have over two miles to go.” It’s business. Do not assign emotions to the distance.

Soon enough, the familiar widening of the trail meant we were coming to the hang-gliding ledge to the left and the tower on the right and then a nice jog down into the aid station.

I came in to hear the delightful sound of Bob Gaylord’s voice. Ivory’s crew was waiting. I had passed her a couple of miles back and she had been suffering with blisters on her feet. I let Bob know she should be here soon. I decided I’d hang out at Woodstock for a bit. I told the assorted onlookers, including Bob, Heather, Jeff, that I planned to do a little spa treatment. I grabbed my stuff and pulled out my blister kit, socks, and shoes. Bob looked on approvingly as I sterilized my foot and safety pin with an alcohol swab and drained the offending blister. You can’t get much better than Bob being proud of your own foot self-care routine.

I cleaned everything up, put new socks and shoes on (opting out of my toe socks for the last section). I was really hungry and decided no more gels. Time for real food. I had delicious wonton soup and despite being 99% vegetarian told Jeff I would take a burger to go! As I was packing up to leave, Ivory came in and Bob and co got busy attending to her feet. As I left the aid station I heard her crying out in pain as they worked to drain the blisters. After seeing her feet at the end of the race I don’t know that I would have been able to finish if that were me.

Nick: Oh crap again. I have been horribly remiss. All this talk of nemeses and I forgot about the ROBOT KNEE. There is another good reason for this remission. RK is a ROCK STAR! (at least today.)

In the 2023 version of The Ring and even three weeks ago at MMB, RK’s weakness (lack of full range of motion) was on full display. RK was better today. I’m better at training, adjusting, compensating, or whatever I’m doing. It’s just better.

I tend to keep a running tab on how many times during a trail run that I do a kick-rock-pain-stumble-limp-recovery. This number is usually in the dozens, and on this RING-2 occasion it was a mere TWO. The two times RK was “noticed” equals it being a non-factor. I couldn’t be happier with you Robot Knee.

Oh, by the way, I can’t wait to introduce you to the other members of the Happy Trails Robot Fun Time Squad!!! Stay tuned!

Maybe it was having other things to worry about, maybe it was not being quite so downtrodden. Maybe it was my training mate and rival telling me very unsympathetically to pick my feet up when I run. Pragmatic. Wonderful. [Samantha editorial note: Yes, I do tell him to pick up his feet because that is a sure way not to trip and I call BS on your knee affecting your range of motion so much that you can’t pick your foot up six inches!] [Nick editorial note: Like I said, pragmatic and little bit mean LOL]

I don’t know. The Robot Knee just worked. Good job dude.

Most important thing about this section to Woodstock was that I did NOT get lost as I had last year. Somewhere on the long descent to Woodstock, I finally caught back up to Travis and his words are still ringing in my ear “…my feet are on fire.” I know the feeling. Jack passed me, I caught Jackie. The trail sure seems a lot busier than it did last year.

Anyway, into Woodstock riding a wave of pretty good vibes, down to but not including my feet.

And I asked the question of the day: Samantha? “Oh she just left a few minutes ago.” “What? Really?” Oh well she got in about 45 minutes ago, but she really took her time. I heard something about “foot care.” [Samantha note: LOL]

Had a burger, knocked back some coke, and go, go, go. Am I still in this thing? Sure feels like it. All along the way, I had been zipping into and out of Aid Stations and Woodstock was no different. Each time, I took care of business and was off. Was I rushing, well yeah, as best I could.

Woodstock Tower to Powell’s Fort Camp:

Samantha: I left Woodstock, burger in hand, thinking I’ll take a nice fast hike for a bit, do a little jogging, and then at Powell’s Fort eat some food and hang out for a while before the final stretch. I was way ahead of the cutoff and there was no need to rush. I ate my delicious burger on the go and was ready to rock and roll. I picked back up to a jog, moving well, knowing this would be a short section. In this section, you’re always looking out for the sign that tells you you’ve reached the intersection with the blue-blazed Tuscarora Trail and there is a nice hill to run down to the road. My mental game was on point and I knew I just had to be patient.

Finally, I reached a sign and an intersection and felt a huge boost knowing I had reached that last intersection and I was done with ridges. I headed to the right and down the hill. Things were looking a little different than I remembered, but the trails had been really overgrown so I put the thought aside. I then passed a trail to the left that had pink blazes. I stopped and thought that was odd, but figured I just hadn’t noticed it before in the dark. The trail became more overgrown and then I got to some bollards. Hmmm.

I kept going and was glad to see I had reached the fire road. But the entrance to the fire road looked different. Where was the gate? Why was the trail sloping to the right to get on the road? I come on to the road, thinking, this must be it and turn left like you’re supposed to. Suddenly, I find myself at a dead end. I stood still shining my handheld light all around and realized something was terribly wrong.

I pulled out my phone to look at the Gaia app. I had come off the ridge about a mile too early on to the Mine Gap Trail down to Mine Gap Road. I was going to have to climb back up to the ridge.

I held my light in my right hand and my phone and the map in my left hand and retraced my steps all the way back up. It was about 500 feet of gain in half a mile. This was arduous and by the time I reached the top my legs were exhausted because I had tried to move as quickly as I could to get back up. I managed to keep my emotions in check and told myself to shake it off and just keep moving. I’ve got a job to do and I have to do it. It did feel like forever getting to the correct sign and the correct downhill.

I arrived at the aid station and flopped down in exhaustion regaling Quatro, Heather, and Bob about my error. I was so hungry after the unplanned 45-minute detour and was excited to get a cup of avocado rice. Yum. Suddenly, I heard Bob yell that Nick was coming. I felt the blood drain from my face and I was like, no way, that’s not possible. After having been 30-45 minutes behind me all day, he had caught me?

I jumped up and grabbed my pack as Nick sat down in a seat. I looked around hurriedly for some food I could take with me and grabbed a few small pancakes. I left saying something like “See ya” and took off.

Nick: For this section to be only 5.5 miles, it still blows my mind. It feels so much longer than that. It feels like you are never going to come down off that ridge. It feels like you are never going to get to that steep descent to the road and quick 0.5 road trot to the aid station.

I would later learn that my rival, feeling the same anticipation, elected unfavorably to take the earlier, WRONG, steep descent to the wrong road only to have to climb back up and recover.

OH OUCH, in so many physical, mental, and emotional ways.

As I approached the Powell’s Fort aid station, someone yelled, “is that Nick”. “Yes”, I responded. To which I got the (perhaps, only half-jokingly). “YOU CAN’T COME IN!”

Oh no! Is it possible? Yes. There was Samantha sitting at the aid station. Prior to that moment I had every reason to believe that she was at least still a half hour ahead of me. I was unaware of her inadvertent foray into darkness. Though it felt like I was close all day and night, I had every reason to believe that she had the goods to prevail in any manner she chose.

“Hi, Honey!” I said enthusiastically, as I took a seat near her under the canopy.

At that very moment, I noted my seated position slightly “up the trail” in reference to hers. I was technically “ahead” of her! Yikes!

I went about my work, and she continued her work. I had no idea how long she had been there. The “situation” was incredible, and thoughts raced through my head. Why was she there, what happened to the lead? Was she flagging? Was she succumbing to bad feet? She got to her feet and said something quickly like “I’m out”, or “I love you” or “see ya sucker” or something. It was a legit blur.

If you know Samantha you know she’s a bomber and rockhopper, but I can climb and had been doing pretty well in that regard all day. But, despite Robot Knee’s stellar performance on the day, there were so many rocks to traverse and to descend to the finish.

All I know is, at that moment, beneath that canopy, with my opponent’s silhouette fading into the morning twilight, amidst the surreality of what had just happened…

I started doing ultra-walker quadratic equations of obtuse ascent plus power hike, times miles run factor, cross referenced by descent boulder field, rock hop cosign, divided by, foot hurty, carry the two vs. opponent foot hurty squared potential. There’s a chance.

Get on your feet - SOLDIER!… is what it felt like in my head.

Let’s go Destiny!… is what it felt like I yelled. UH, I mean Travis GO LETS!!! Or Travis said let’s go Nick maybe! (Again, super blurry!) But we went.

Powell’s Fort Camp to the Finish:

Samantha: After spending the first 60+ miles mostly taking it easy with a relaxed pace and chilling out at aid stations, I was suddenly scrambling to get out of the aid station as fast as I could and forced to push the pace up the fire road - my least favorite section! I had been planning to take my time given how many hours ahead of cut off I was, but now I was running scared constantly looking over my shoulder.

I knew if I could stay ahead of Nick up the fire road and get back on to the trail at Signal Knob before him, he wouldn’t be able to keep up with me on the gnarly rocks and downhill. After about three miles (after going around the reservoir), I looked behind me and saw him coming up about 100 yards behind me. There was no way I was going to let him catch me so I had to grind up the hill panting like a maniac and with my legs burning. I even tried to psych him out by hugging the edges of the road so that he wouldn’t see me around each bend in the hopes he would give up trying to catch me.

According to Strava, the final 0.5 miles uphill before Signal Knob was my fastest time on that segment during any of my Ring finishes by 42 seconds, an indication of how much I wanted to beat Nick. My previous best time for that segment during any of my Ring finishes was 12:44 in 2020 when Lauren was pacing me.

Luckily, I managed to hold him off - my segment was 12:02 to his 12:00 - and popped back onto the trail. Passing up on a chance to take in the gorgeous view at Signal Knob and ignoring my burning muscles and painful feet, I began moving as fast as I could across the rocks, passing another runner almost immediately.

Even though I knew this section would be tough on Nick, I wasn’t about to risk him catching me. I ignored the stabbing rocks and focused on moving as quickly as I could without tripping and breaking my neck. My motivation was so great that my time for the final 4.5ish miles from Signal Knob to the parking lot was 1 hour 29 minutes, my third fastest time for this segment during any of my Ring finishes (1:21 in 2021 and 1:26 in 2020), despite feeling more tired and my feet being in the worst shape than during any of my Ring finishes. (My PR for that segment outside of The Ring is 1:12, so that segment is a strength of mine, which is why I knew getting there before Nick was key.)

In this section, I benefited not only from being quicker on the rocks and on downhills in general, but my experience with this section and my ability to not let it get to me mentally. Dare I say, I enjoy this section? I know there are endless boulder fields, so whenever I get past one, I always tell myself there will be more. Eventually you get to a point when you tell yourself that there will be more and there aren’t any more. And that feels great. I love getting to Buzzard Rock Overlook knowing you have only two miles downhill to the finish. This is where I stopped to take my only photo of the race.

I ran as hard as I could down those last two miles, wincing at some pain in my feet and a slightly tweaked ankle. But I was feeling great and excited to finish. Pushing it paid off as it took Nick 1 hour 52 minutes to complete that segment and I went from being 100 yards ahead of him to finishing over 20 minutes ahead of him. I didn’t realize how much that effort took from me until I reached the parking lot and my legs collapsed from under me as Daisy and Lauren held me up in the best finish line embrace ever!

Nick: We motored up the road, Travis running, I, power walking.

18 minute mile, 18 minute mile. To the trail, past the reservoir - maintain, Nick, push.

It’s all I’ve got. Do your best! Now is the time. If she makes the top ahead of you, you have no shot! You know that right?

Where is she? She clearly isn’t bonking. She clearly wasn’t succumbing to any foot pain.

Damn my feet hurt! THERE SHE IS! Reel her in now.

Gaining, gaining!, GAINING!! So many turns, she’s out of sight, she’s back in sight, when does this thing end…

200 yard back, 150… 100 YARDS BACK… running out of time. But, she could stop any minute. She has to be exhausted, right?

RUNNING OUT OF TIME! How can she keep grinding?

Wait is that… is that the trail, the overlook trail?… she’s, SHE’S…Turned left… onto the trail. She’s reached the top. mwamp mwamp. Game over.

It’s over. I’ve lost. Well, super good for her! Damn my feet hurt.

Oh, good I already lost AND NOW I get to do 4.5 miles of the most heinous rocks on the whole course and I’m so good (sarcasm) at it. Want to see a grown man cry? Well tough, cuz I ain’t gonna… this time.

By the time I reached the Buzzards Rock Overlook with some 2+ miles to go to the finish I could hear the cheers and the cow bell for each runner in succession. I knew she was one of them, which one, I didn’t know, didn’t matter. So proud of her. So proud of myself: two for two!

I couldn’t wait to be done. I couldn’t wait to hear what allowed me to be so close to her at Powell’s Fort. I knew that we would and will be talking about this epic run for a long, long time.

It would take almost an hour more to get down from the overlook and I kept pushing. I was waiting for Travis to pass me at any moment. Congratulations on your third (I believe), Travis. The pain in my feet was intense. But it was settled, in every way that mattered. How great. Mostly so relieved that we would BOTH Samantha and I finish.

I arrived at the Signal Knob parking lot to take my place among the citizens of Blisterville. Not 100% sure of my exact time with my watch screw-up, but it was well under my best and only previous time, so, big win.

I love you Honey, maximum effort for the win.

The Pursuit!

Final Thoughts

Both: Thank you to Lauren and Daisy and all the volunteers who made this a memorable and - dare I say - fun race. Thanks to Tracy and Laura for Michelin star food and service at Signal Knob Cafe. It’s also always a pleasure to share the trails and witness the triumphs of fellow runners. Special shout out to Gaynor, who also finished her 6th Ring, and Ivory who had one of the all-time grittiest finishes we’ve seen at this race. Her perseverance getting to the finish and overcoming some of the most horrific blisters we’ve seen was so inspiring.

This was such a fun race and we were glad to have entertained people with the competition. To be two of the 21 finishers out of 51 starters feels pretty special. Samantha will be back at Reverse Ring where she has a 100% DNF rate to Nick’s 100% finish rate. Perhaps we’ll see some more friendly competition.