Pumpkin Holler 100 miler!!

The whole reason I started this blog was for my first 100 mile race, and I have accomplished this goal! I will admit... my training was nothing like I wanted it to be or what it should have been. The longest training run I ever went on while training for the 100 miler was a 19 mile run. I had plans of following the training schedule I had put together which had several weekends where I was supposed to run 30 miles on Saturdays and 20 miles on Sunday. This was what you would call an EPIC FAIL! It was partly due to the fact that after my 19 mile training run a started having IT band issues that was never resolved till the race day (by the grace of God).

The final week before the race I did real good at tapering and eating appropriately.. easiest part of the training. My wife, father, and I camped in a tent at the race start/finish. The race was held at the Eagle Bluff Resort just north of Talequah Oklahoma. The Pumpkin Holler 100 miler was put on by a great racing company called Tatur.

                                                                   Before the Race

The night before the race I layered myself in warm clothes and cuddled up under a collection of blankets and tried to get to sleep. It didn't take too long, but longer than what I would have liked. I woke up several times throughout the night, but had no problem getting back to sleep. Just outside the warmth of cocoon was a cold crisp air.

For the first time in a long time, I actually hit the snooze button on the alarm on a race morning. That may have been due to the cold air and that I didn't want to get out of the warmth. But I knew I had to start organizing everything and getting ready for the race, so I slipped on some shoes and went out to find the chip pickup and the restroom. Surprising enough, I only had to use the restroom twice before the race, compared to my 6-10 typical times. The buzz of all the athletes made the morning get more and more exciting as the sun started to come up over the horizon. As at drew nearer to start time I stood among the crowd of 50k, 100k, 100 milers, and a few early 25k runners.

                                                                          The Start

The race director smashed a pumpkin at the start of the race and we were off... in a slow shuffle trying to stretch out the stride a little. A friend from Joplin area was there and so I went with him and we chatted a bit. I was going much faster than I had planned but not too fast to that I needed to slow down. I looked down at my watch thinking we had only been running for maybe five minutes and it was already 30 minutes. The time was flying! I also got to chat with a man from California who has ran 14 100 milers before and he hi fived me when I talked to him about running with a cross and shared with me about how he had just been baptized recently. The race started with a 7-8 mile out and back. When we got back to the start line we all separated from that point on because of the different amount of times we would each spend at aid stations.

                                                            Loop 1... Miles..

I shed my gloves, refilled my bottles and headed out for the first 50k loop. When I took a swig of my Gatorade it tasted horrible... the start/finish line aid station had some nasty tasting water. About four miles into the loop is probably one of the best aid stations, Mad Dog. You have to fight up a long tough hill to get there but once you do you are greeted by a very nice family. Like before I grabbed a few small thing to eat, some more water/Gatorade and I was back at it. I was informed that I was in 6th place... I didn't care, because it wouldn't matter.   Half marathon, and marathon distances passed by in no time.

I started passing the 100k and 50k runners around mile 10 of the loop. At this point I had already ran 8ish more miles than them. 

The longest distance I had ever run before the race was a 50k, and as I reached this distance I felt fine. In fact, I even ran it faster. As the day moved on the sun came out and it got hotter and my stomach did not like anything I put in it, especially the nasty water. Luckily some of the aid stations had good water. During a long stretch of sun exposed running a tried one of my gels (typically the only thing i take during races)... This did not go well with my stomach.

I didn't walk till one of the hills around mile 20. After that some of the hills I would walk up to save my energy. When I was at the Hard Up Ahead aid station I talked with a man very briefly about what my jersey meant and he looked forward to talking more next time I came by. Hard Up Ahead is called this because up ahead is a 3 mile stretch of asphalt road and some hills.The sun was not kind to me on this section of the course.

The course is described as relatively flat, which as of the first loop I would agree with. I finished the first loop + the out and back around 7 hours and had my amazing wife waiting for me with my water backpack. The waterbelt I was wearing was hurting my hips a bit. 

                                                                2nd Loop

When i finished the first 39ish miles I was burning up! The sweat was dried all over me. My dad tried to have me go cool off in the shower because my skin was so hot, but it didn't sound good to me. So I took off my jersey, strapped on the water pack, and headed out for the 2nd 50k loop. When I first started wearing the water back pack i felt very suffocated by it. Any time I wasn't running I had to loosen the chest straps and set them out on my shoulders.

Getting up the hill before Mad Dog was a bit harder than the first time, but still not too bad. At this point all of the aid station were infested with bees/wasps, attracted to the sugar from the Gatorade and foods. When I came into Mad Dog I thought I would try to use the restroom for the first time in over 40 miles. When I stood up i didn't feel so good. I knew I needed to get some food into my belly so I tried to eat a few things. I will use the same expression I used earlier, EPIC FAIL. I got up to try and leave and my stomach and head were driving me crazy. I felt so nauseous! I sat down in the chair trying to get my stomach back but it just wouldn't work. People came and went at the station. I was there long enough for the aid station man's son to ask his dad why I was here. Eventually I grabbed what little gut I still had and decided I might as well go for it. It started out real bad but as I got back to moving the nausea started to go away (but not completely). I'm not sure what was causing it.. but it seemed worse when I took off my waist strap for the pack.

Around mile 50 I was starting to feel tired, nothing big, just a feeling. I brought along with me a very useful motivational tool... my Iphone. I was updating my Facebook page and reading everyone's motivating words and prayers for me. It helped me out a lot! I may not have made it without their motivation, it gets extremely lonely out there. I know for sure I would not have made it with out their prayers! Up till the day of the race I struggled with an IT band issue and not once did it bother me during the race..

As it started to get darker outside I realized that I had forgotten my head lamp at the start/finish line, but I think (not for sure) my spare was at the Savannah's Corner aid station, about 13 miles into the loop. It got darker and darker and people would ask me if I had a light. I was able to see a huge fat snake and avoid it still. The sun went completely down before I made it to the aid station and when I came in I was praying that I had put it in this drop bag. I was wrong.. I put it in the Hard Up Ahead drop bag. I thought about running with some people that had a light but I didn't want to wait around. And so began the hardest part of the race... Being alone and in the dark.

The 6 miles I spent by myself were the hardest miles I think I had ever done. Luckily it was broken up 3 and 3. For the first 3 miles most of the course was in the open, not much was covered by the trees so I was able to see better because the sky was wide open! Most of it was fairly flat as well so I started striding out and picking off the miles quickly. Even though I was accomplishing a lot during this time it was emotionally very difficult. This is when I first started playing with the idea in my mind that I would stop after this lap. I had text my wife earlier telling her I wanted her to run the last lap with me, now I was texting her that I needed her. I was whimpering and every now and then I got cold. Finally I reached the next aid station, but no one had a light so I tried eating what ever I could and started getting ready to head out (Stomach was still driving me crazy).

I can't remember if it was at the aid station or a little bit after the aid station but it was because of this moment (and a few others) that I was able to finish. There was a girl running with her pacer and they suggested I run with them so that I could see. This not only enabled me to see better because of their light, but it also helped me go faster. It gave me someone to keep me going. This wasn't the first time I talked about my wife during the race, but it sure was the most important time. I am proud of my wife and I love her, she would do anything for me. And because she would do anything for me she would run 32 miles with in the middle of the dark even though the longest she has ever ran was 10 miles.. And those 10 miles she ran were because of me also (helping me with my first 50k back when we were dating). So I talked about her a lot during the race and how she was going to help me on the last loop.This girl and her pacer helped me through these 3miles and I started feeling like I could do this again. Once we got to the Hard Up Ahead aid station I got my head lamp so I finally had light! I wanted to keep going with them so I had someone to help me not slow down but I took too long at the aid station. I talked with the guy some more and he told me he looked forward to meeting my wife on the next lap, so I better show up!. And then I was off and then began the hardest 3 miles I had ever done.. (the second half of the 6 i mentioned earlier).

As I was running on the concrete section of road the mixture of not enough food, running for about 60 miles, awake since 7am, night time, and the glow from my head lamp.... made me very sleepy. My eyes got heavier and heavier and I started to doze off as I ran. Every now and then I would realize that my eyes had been closed and I would open them, and I was still moving down the road. I got a tad bit chilly. Finally I came into Bathtub Rock aid station. I sat down and felt so tired, I started to fall alseep. The guy was standing their watching me so I told him I was so tired, I just needed to rest my eyes. I got so cold! Eventually two runners came by and I knew I had to go with them or else I would never get back. This was another one of those moments that I would have never finished with out. It was a 100 miler and a 100k runner. It took a while for my muscle to unstiffen and to warm back up after sitting there for how ever long I did. It was tough but I was able to keep up with them and use them to pull me along. The entire time we talked about getting closer to the camp ground in my mind I started convincing myself I was going to tell my wife I was done. This was it, sorry I dont need you for the last lap because I'm not doing it. As we came into the camp ground the 100k runners went into finisher mode and I stayed in I am soo done mode.

                                                                    Lap 3.. Last Lap

So about 70 miles done and 30 to go. I think it was somewhere between 1-2am. I sat down and my wife rushed over to me ready to help me with the last lap. She knew in my mind I was ready to be done and she was ready to fight me if I told her I couldn't do any more. I never said it out loud that I was done, but she gave me words of encouragement. I forget his name, but one of the race directors came over and started giving me a pep talk. Told me I could do it and that as soon as the sun came up I would feel like a new man. He got me some potato soup.. and would you believe it.. that was the best tasting thing ever! I finally could eat and my stomach felt fine!! 70 miles later and I finally felt good! They gave me a shot of 5 hour energy and I was feeling great! They kicked me out of the aid station and Alexis and I were on our way! I felt so good and we started running. I was talking up a storm, sharing with her how the race went and how people were excited to meet her and everything was awesome!! I already felt like a new man!

We stopped at Mad Dog and he noticed how much better I was feeling and how I was able to eat anything. The only thing that didn't sound good was the chicken noodle soup, it never ended up up sounding good. About 8 miles into the loop my "good knee" became my bad knee. Out of no where my right knee started hurting. No bueno.. It was from this point on that running was almost not an option anymore. I would run some, but my knee would hurt so the distance I would be able to run got shorter and shorter. With about 20 miles left and not being able to run... that's tough. Every time we stopped at an aid station I indulged in a variety of foods, and my stomach was great. 

Each mile got harder and harder and we both began wishing for the sun just to get out of the dark and to be able to see. This lap was very challenging but a really enjoyed it because I got to spend it with my wife. We bonded more, grew together, experienced each other in knew ways, it was really good. Its amazing how God helped me during this race. He healed my IT band, he healed my stomach, He provided me with people that cared and helped me. And with my lack of training there should have been no way I could have even completed half of this race.

The sky became kind of cloudy so when the sun came up the sky just started getting lighter till we could see. I was hoping for a beautiful sunrise, but I was more than happy to see light that it didn't matter. I stopped being alone when Alexis joined me, and I finally didn't have to be in the dark anymore. As time moved on I could no longer run because of my knee and it wouldn't have mattered because Lexi's foot was hurting very badly also.

I have to add... that earlier in the race one of the aid stations had jambalaya. I reeeeally wanted it, but my stomach was not going to like it so I never got it.. But on the last lap.... OOOOH BUDDY!! I ate 2 big bowels of it! mmmmmmmHMMMM!

Each mile seemed to get longer and longer as we kept going. And it seemed like time just started to drag on. We looked forward to the next aid station, and then the next, and then the next.. That's what kept us going. We would keep telling each other, "oh, it's just around that corner. Not much farther now, almost there." The longest mile ever was the last mile.. Which typically is the quickest and shortest because you are almost done! Not the case for this race... When we finally made it to the campsite my dad rushed over to give us hi fives and try to take pics of us as much as possible. When we rounded the last corner we went into what felt like a sprint to us.. but after watching the video... not exactly.
As we approached the finish line we grabbed hands, raised them high.. and Finished!

                                                                           Post-Race

The feeling of finishing 100 miles was awesome. And the feeling of finishing next to my wife who helped me do it and had never gone more than 10 miles before... even more Awesome! Because of how much I talked about my wife and them seeing her do it.. some of the race people gave her a medal and a shirt. It was very nice of them! And it is awesome that my wife has never even ran a half marathon, let alone a full... yet she just ran an Ultra-marathon!

After I laid down for awhile.. my legs started getting worse because I stopped moving. The funny thing I wasn't even sore. I had almost no muscle soreness the week after the race. The only thing that was bad was me knees. But Monday night... they got better and have been feeling better each day! Which makes me feel good, because I still have to run a marathon in 7 days carrying my cross!

Gonna need some more prayers in order to pull this one off!!!

Take up your cross and follow me

It has been a long time since I have been able to post. I had a very busy summer with church camp at Galilee and getting married!!

I ran in the Hospital Hill half marathon at the beginning of the summer with the cross. The cross did not leave my shoulders as raw as the first time, but it still hurt a bit. 

As I stood in the crowded pack of runners ready to start the race director came over and shook my hand.When the gun went off I went out fast but trying to hold a little bit back. I was very careful that the cross did not wack anybody in the huge crowd. As the race went on slowly people would pass me.
I had several people offer to help carry the cross, but it almost sounded like they were joking the way they worded it. There was a very nice guy who paced me up one of the difficult hills when I was getting very tired!! One gentleman joked about how he didn't think I had to take the Scripture so literally. (Matthew 26:24)

After I finished the race I went to find where I had stashed my race packet in the bushes. When I went to find it I ran into Team Nebraska, I running club from the University in Nebraska. They had a lot of questions about why I was running with the cross, how much it weighs, did it hurt, was it hard, etc. I answered everything they asked me and they asked to take photos with me. It was kind of funny because they were really interested.. but kind of quiet and shy about it.

Cross Country Missions/Crazy Runner 4 God

4 years ago I was the summer intern at my home church for the youth ministry position. My youth minister gave me task to take something I had a passion for and mesh it with God! That day I created Cross Country Missions. I combined my passion of running, missions, & God. I hosted my very first race to raise money for mission work. Since then I created fun, new, and exciting races the raise money for mission work! In 2012 I have already hosted the Yeti Set Run series and the Potter's House 5k. Still have the Annual Conference 5k, Bigfoot's Legend/1 Insane Trail Run, Backwards Mile, and a few others to go. And in 2013 I will be adding the Forrest Gump Challenge and creating the Cross Country Missions race series. You will receive the finishers medals from YSR, BFL, & FGC and also receive a special series medal for doing all three.

On top of hosting races I started to pick-up racing under the identity Crazy Runner 4 God in order to raise money for missions also. I created a jersey for myself to wear with the CCM logo... but it just wasn't enough. Sure, people noticed the jersey every now and then and commented how it was great and good job running for God. But I wanted to get God out there much better than that! So... why not run with a cross!

Thankfully for my very supportive running friends from Ozark Mountain Ridge Runners running organization I was able to run my very first race carrying a wooden cross! On April 28th, 2012 at the Frisco Highline Run I sat my cross on my shoulder and lined up at the start line to run 13.1 miles. Having no idea what I might be in store for running with a cross on my shoulder ( I had never ran with it before). I started out and felt great, tried to slow my pace a little but my legs just kept turning so I just kept going! I started out switching which shoulder the cross was on about every 800 meters... and then as the race continued that distance got smaller and smaller. Eventually every couple seconds I would switch. Because the length of the cross the weight pulls at me from behind so I had to hold the cross in a way so that the center of gravity from the cross would be more in line with mine. I ended up gripping the top portion of the vertical beam, bringing the horizontal beam in to my body and the bottom end of the vertical beam sticking more into the air. (Next race I am going to try and find the best way to hold it)
I ended up finishing 4th in my age division and 12th overall with a 1:38, my best time ever being a 1:21. The Lord is good, and if I practice this and run more and more races like this I will eventually be able to win some races and then I will get the publicity I am wanting to share my passion for Christ! 

It takes a lot of money to do all of the stuff I do with my missions. Gas money, race entry fees, running gear, and hosting the races for missions is even more expensive. I use my own money to do all if this, unless anyone feels led to sponsor me! So if you feel led to do so, you can make checks out to CROSS COUNTRY MISSIONS and mail it to:
PO Box 520
El Dorado Springs, MO 64744


or go to paypal.com click on SEND MONEY and send it to:

 crazyrunner4god@aol.com 

My goal is to run across the U.S.A. with-in the next 10 years and carry the cross for a certain amount everyday. To God Be the Glory!!!

Been Awhile...

Sorry about the long expanse of time I have not posted anything! My life has been being blessed more than ever and busier than ever! I have gotten engaged, I am about to graduate, and will be moving to Camp Galilee to work there! I had hopes to get a teaching job as well, but there is no open position as of now, but I don't care because all I want to do is work at camp and do work for GOD! So many ideas running through my head!

RUN TOTO RUN 50K

I ran my first ultra-marathon in February, 50k! This was one incredible experience! It was a record low of 20 degrees that morning and the course was mostly on bridal trails. Meaning that all of the mud with horse tracks in them was frozen solid and very uneven! This started out fun but turned into a disaster and foot/ankle killer. It was a 10 mile loop course totally over 31 miles. I started the race with my ipod and a water pack... but to my dismay the water in the tube had frozen and I could not drink from it! As I got into the twisty turny part of the course my headphones ripped out of my ipod and I though I had lost my ipod. I ditched my pack after the first lap which turns out still had my ipod in it! phew! As the second lap started I hung with a couple of people for awhile and chatted with them, but eventually couldn't keep up their pace and fell back. The aid stations were very cheerful and people were very excited to see me coming with my team beef jersey on. This is also the lap where my hand... went completely numb and I wanted to cry... but for some reason I couldn't. I may have whimpered a lot though. Eventually I got to an aid station that had hand warmers and I was able to warm up my hands by putting them in my gloves.

By the third lap I wasn't sure how I was going to make it 10 more miles. So as I came around past the start/finish I spotted my girlfriend(fiance now) and shouted out for her to run the last lap with me! She replied she was wearing flipflops and I told her to change into her shoes. She joined up with me and we headed out! about 2-3 miles in she asked how far the loop was... and I told her it was about 10 miles... Sorry. ooops... she didn't know it was that long! She hasn't ran more than a 5k! EVER! She replied, I love you. We ran that last 10 miles together! The course by that point had been turned into solid mud. What an experience! I have one amazing woman in my life!



Since then I have run several other races, including a 5k in a parking garage, duathlon, and several half marathons. I also hosted the Potter's House 5k race to raise money for the Christian coffee house which is a college campus ministry creating a fun and safe alternative community that students can hang out at instead of getting drunk.

I have re-amped Cross Country Missions to a 3 race Series in 2013. Consisting of the Yeti Set Run races, Bigfoot's Legend, and the Forrest Gump Challenge. Each race you receive a finishers medal, and if you complete all three you receive a series medal! Once I am stationed at Camp I will have alot of time to work on making the trails better and the races better. I have also decided to raise money to purchase an IPICO timing mat/software. This means the events would become chip timed and much better overall.

Mission Miles

It has been awhile since I have been able to get on and blog. I have been super busy organizing and hosting the Yeti Set Run race series. For the year of 2012 I have been running at least 1 mile every day in an attempt to raise money for missions.

Though one mile a day sounds simple, sometimes it can be tough. After running the marathon in December while I was sick left me off and on being sick for about a month! It was very difficult to continue running through this, especially when I knew if I stopped running I would get better quicker. I have been so dedicated to this task that one night I ran a mile in my living room. My girlfriend and I had watched a scary movie and I did not want to go outside, so we ran back and forth in the living room till we reached 1 mile. Which meant taking two steps and then turning around, take 2 steps, turn around, and so on. The treadmil has been my bittersweet friend over this past month, but the Lord has been providing some amazing beautiful weather this winter. Last night I did not even have to bundle up to go outside. Aaamazing.

If you want to donate as little as 1 quarter (only 25 cents) per a day I run a mile. That will only come to $91.50!! How simple is that!

Run for the Ranch

Wow... So I am really delayed in writing about the Run for the Ranch marathon back in December. Prior to the marathon I ended up getting some kind of virus that made it very hard to eat the proper diet leading up the a marathon. My meals were way too light and almost non-existent on race day. The race was in the afternoon so I had to deal with eating on race day, which consisted of some peanut butter and honey toast which I struggled greatly in eating. I had to wash it down with water, my body did not want to eat.

The time leading up to the race was long and drug out and I wasn't feeling any better. I slurped on a gel packet about an hour before the race. I chatted with all of my friends and lined up for the start (sizing up the competition, as usual). When the race started I went out nice and easy to conserve my energy, I was looking for 7 minute miles. When I looked at my watch and saw it was longer than 7 minutes and still had not seen the mile marker I sped up. But slowed my pace once I realized that there were no mile markers on the course. I felt pretty good for the first few miles. It was a beautiful day!

People said I was still looking and my time was still close to my goal as I was approaching the 13.1 miles. But on the inside I was hurting alot! It wasn't that my muscles were tired or that I couldn't breathe. It was simply that I was sick and hadn't eating enough food. It was probably around mile six when i first started feeling faint and pale. Obviously I was still able to push for a bit longer to keep up a good pace, but it finally caught up to me and slowed me down alot! I tried to drink and consume gels every chance I got. But even this substance could not save me.

I can across the 13.1 behind my mark and from there everything went down hill. My face was as white as a ghost and it took everything I could to keep moving forward. In the beginning of the race I was cheering people on and having conversations, however, as the race progressed my ability to talk and sound enthusiastic was dramatically decreased.

As I was rounding the corner to the finish line, I mustered all I could and hit a "dead" sprint. From where that came.. I do not know! haha. When I crossed the finish line I was wobbling every which way and my eyes rolled into the back of my head. Alexis was trying to get me to come to her so I could lean on her but I was just not able to get to her. Her and my mom had to walk me inside. I was sicker than sick and paler than pale. I was finally starving but if I would have eaten right then I would have puked!

Lesson Learned from this race: running a marathon while sick and not eating... bad idea!

This race left me very sick! In fact I only ran twice between the race and New Years. I am still somewhat sick but unable to stay away from running, especially due to my Mission Miles (at least 1 mile everyday)