Saturday, March 14, 2015
Pre-Race: What a crazy few weeks leading up to the 2015 Georgia Death Race.
There was a considerable amount of social media
traffic with course updates/changes, laughter about everyone’s pending doom,
controversy on obtaining permits for the race, etc. Knowing that a lot of the hype about death on
race day was more about psyching everyone out for the race I simply enjoyed in
the banter back-n-forth and laughed along with everyone else. However, I was a little concerned about the
potential issues with permitting and also the constant changing of the
course. I know that permitting issues
can be treacherous on race logistics and I was concerned that if it didn’t get
sorted out before race day then the course may be drastically different or the
race could be nixed all together. Thankfully, the race director, Sean (aka
RunBum) was able to obtain the necessary permitting and worked with the local
U.S. Forest Service to refute some false accusations that were made against
this race and other organized events on the local trails.
The weather forecast leading up
to race day showed heavy rain all week and a potential for rain on race day. Other
than deciding on which jacket to wear and what shoes to wear, I normally don’t
think twice about the weather. However,
there was some discussion just 2-3 days before the race about the possibility
of yet another course change due to the possibility of so much rain… seriously! The USFS had required RunBum to submit an
alternate course for potential “heavy rain” conditions that would eliminate all
foot traffic from the trails and would be rerouted to only forest service (FS)
roads. So, with such heavy amounts of
rain predicted in the days leading up to the race and the day of the race the
decision came to RunBum to make a split decision on Wednesday before the race…
we could (A) gamble on the amount of rainfall and risk having to run from Vogel
State Park to Amicalola Falls via all FS roads; or (B) run the course in reverse
from Amicalola to Vogel with some ~30 miles of FS roads at the beginning and
then get single track all the way to finish.
The decision for the RunBum was easy; we were going with option “B” and
would be running from Amicalola Falls to Vogel.
What did this mean race-wise… well, now we were going to get the easiest
FS road miles done in the first ~30 miles of the race and then have the
hardest, steepest, single track miles at the end of the race! Oh, and most of the later hard miles would
probably be run in the dark now too J I mean,
that's what we paid for, right? We signed for a race called 'The Georgia Death
Race..." It's not called The Georgia Snuggly Unicorn!
 |
| Getting Packed for Race Day |
This required a lot of last
minute re-figuring for crewing, accommodations, course planning, etc. that had
to take place with only a couple of days before the race. But, those minor
inconveniences for the runners were nothing compared to the nightmare that the
RD and support staff went through to make all of the last minute changes to
ensure that runners would still have a great race. Thank you again to RunBum
and all of the volunteers who jumped through so many hoops in those last few
days to still put together all of the race logistics for runners and their
crews.
All of the details were discussed
in great detail at Friday night’s pre-race mandatory meeting and it was evident
how much this race really means to RunBum and seeing the passion he had for
this race made it clear that we were all still in for a great race and he and
the volunteers had and would continue to work tirelessly to make sure that
everyone had a great race day experience.
My favorite RunBum quote from the entire pre-race meeting was, “When in
doubt run up hill!”
Race Day: I wasn’t really
sure what to expect with this race. It
wasn’t even on my list to do this year since I was focusing on the Grand Slam
starting in June but when an opportunity came to run I figured it would be a
great chance to test my mountain running legs in preparation for the climbs I
would see out west this summer. This was going to be my first US Skyrunning Race and I was really
excited about the anticipated 20,000 feet of elevation gain and 20,000 feet of elevation
loss over the 68ish mile course. The two 50-milers I ran at the end of the 2014
and the beginning of 2015 resulted in me taking some extra time off through the
end of January and really only gave me about 5 weeks of training coming into
this race so I wasn’t expecting to be in top form but was perfectly okay with
just enjoying God’s beautiful landscapes in the North Georgia Mountains and
taking the day one mile at time.
 |
| What Did I Forget... Crap, I Didn't Fix my Hair! |
 |
| Daniel and Me Pre Race |
My Dad, Step-mom, Jodi (their
trail dog) and my good friend Daniel Hamilton were going to be crewing me
throughout the day.
My wife, Katy and
daughters were going to be joining us at the finish along with Daniel’s
wife.
I prefer getting to see my wife
and girls periodically throughout the race but sometimes it just doesn’t make
since to drag them all over the place so seeing them at the finish is a great
way to wrap up a long day on the trail after I’ve been out running with a bunch
of sweaty trail runners all day!
GDR is the first race I've ran
with a mandatory gear list that everyone was required to have on them for the entire
race. This included; water proof jacket, thermal top, warm hat, whistle,
working headlamp (w/ extra batteries), space blanket, and capability to carry
minimum of 22 ounces of water. I usually do a good
job of carry plenty of things but never had to carry his much for a race. So, I picked up a new Salomon
S-Lab Advanced Skin3 12-L pack to help manage all of the gear and my other
essentials.
 |
| Georgia Death Race Starting Line |
Amicalola to Nimblewill (9mi): Standing on the starting line I noticed a few
familiar faces either through previous races or Facebook, Twitter, Strava, or
other social media “friends” I’ve met over the past few years. As a special treat for the course reversal
this year we were being treated to a 1,000-foot gain in the 1st mile of the
course to the top of Amicalola Falls via some paved road, paved walk path and
604 stairs.
From there we immediately
dropped a 1,000 feet back to the entrance of the Amicalola Falls Park on a
washed out gravel road in the 2nd mile of the race.
This was the best way to warm the legs up for
the 3rd mile of the race that lead runners up the 25% grade pavement from the
entrance of the park up to the lodge at the top of the Falls.
Yeah, that’s about 3k feet of elevation
change in the first 3 miles of the course!
I had decided to run the race to feel good by the time I reached Point
Bravo aid station (43ish miles).
This
was where the race was supposed to get really “interesting” and I figured it
would be better to save some legs for these climbs and steep descents.
Standing on the starting mat with my fellow
200+ brave souls we started the race to the ‘honk-honk’ of RunBum’s car and
rather slowly found our way to the bottom of the paved path leading us to the
Falls. Everyone seemed a little shy to take the lead in this section, maybe for
fear of what was looming ahead or possibly for fear of banter from the RD as we
passed him at the end of the road.
Either
way, I didn’t necessarily care to lead the charge but also didn’t mind when
someone came around me just before the walk path to lead the charge to the
stairs.
The climb to the stairs was
actually pretty nice with an absolutely gorgeous view of the Amicalola
Falls.
Once on the stairs the slow jog
turned to a steady 2-step hike as we made our way to the top of the climb.
The Falls made the climb worth every
step.
At the top we made a short trip around to the steep softball-sized gravel road toward the park entrance.
A short run up the road and we were cheered by family/friends/crew as we made our next climb to the top of the park via the 25% grade pavement.
This climb gave way to a runnable FS road that we would climb and descend all the way to the Nimblewill aid station (9mi).
During this section I jockeyed positions with a couple of guys and finally settled into running a nice relaxed pace.
Although FS roads are not generally my cup of tea, this section was actually very beautiful.
 |
| View of Amicalola Falls from the Stairs |
 |
| View Back Down the Stairs |
 |
| Walk Path Leading to the Stairs |
 |
| Running Through the Amicalola Falls Park Entrance |
 |
| 25% Grade Leading Back Up to Top of Amicalola State Park |
 |
| Gravel Forest Service Roads |
Nimblewill to Jake
Bull (8mi): FS roads continued from the Nimblewill aid
station down the mountain for the next few miles and dropped another 1,200+
feet. I was fortunate to pick up a
running partner just after leaving Nimblewill.
Clay Warner, a friend I had just met in person the night before was
caught up with me and we fell into pace with each other. I don’t recall a lot about the next few miles
of the course other than it was a bunch of downhill on FS roads which finally
ended at some pavement and continued downhill for the next couple of miles
until we hung a left at the Nimblewill Church.
Clay and I talked about all kinds of stuff and I am thankful for the
wisdom he shared from his vast experience with running ultras. I don’t think either of us really felt like
we were working very hard but it was no time at all and we were at the Jake
Bull aid station, 17ish miles into the race.
 |
| Jake Bull Aid Station with Clay Warner |
Jake Bull to Winding Stair (6.5mi): I ended up spending an extra couple of
minutes at the aid station getting rid of some fluids and in that time Clay had
already departed and I found that pushing just to make up a minute or two now
wasn’t necessary. We had been pretty
evenly matched on pace so I figured through the natural order of things with
ultra racing that we would find each other before too long and hopefully share
some more miles. We had got back onto FS
roads when making the turn at Nimblewill Church and continued on the FS roads
after leaving Jake Bull.
 |
| Climbing FS Roads in the Mud |
In less than a
mile from Jake Bull our course shared a long FS road climb up toward Winding
Stair Gap with a mountain bike race.
There was a local 50-mile mountain bike race that was sharing 5-6 miles
of the same FS road that we were using for the course. This was a lot of fun and definitely helped
pass the miles on the normally boring FS roads.
This section of the course contained roughly 2,000 feet of elevation
gain in the 6.5 miles to the next aid station.
The grade was just steep enough that my running pace was slightly faster
than most mountain bikers so I was able to run with or just beyond the bikers
and this was great mental encouragement for me.
It was nice to have conversations with the mountain bikers about their
race, talk with them about our race and share in some laughs about what kind of
people would pay money to get out and put themselves through so much to earn a
railroad spike! I thanked God for the
company through this section and was especially glad to have some amusement
from the bikers slipping and sliding around in the mud. Before I knew it the mountain bikers were no
more and I was coming to the top of the climb and had made it to the Winding
Stair aid station, 24ish total miles. I
was excited because I would see my crew here; my sponsor Rock/Creek was working
this aid and most of all because I still felt really good. Coming into the aid station I was had just
caught a fellow runner and came in about 20-minutes off the lead and in 7th
place.
 |
| Winding Stair Aid Station |
 |
| N8's Crew - Taj MaN8 |
Winding
Stair to Long Creek
(6.5mi): I grabbed some supplies and got back on my
way. I knew we once through Long Creek
we would be pretty much done with FS roads and I was itching to get onto some
single track. The next 2 miles down were run right beside a beautiful creek and
provided some awesome background noise to the soft thumps of your feet
descending the dirt/gravel path. At the
bottom of this climb we hung a right onto another FS road that would carry us
the next 4.5 miles to the Long Creek aid station. This section boasted more of
the same lush vegetation and sounds of creeks rumbling off the side of the
road. Before I knew it I was coming up
on Long Creek aid station, 30ish total miles into the race.
Long Creek to Sapling
Gap (8mi): A few items from the aid station and I
quickly finished up the last mile of FS road to the “T” gate that would take us
up a short steep climb into an open field and from there we would hang a right
running directly into the Benton MacKaye Trail (BMT) (white vertical
diamond). At last!! Despite how much I am bored on FS roads, the
previous 30ish miles were actually fairly pleasant and good company and
beautiful surroundings really made the mile roll off quickly. However, now I was actually on some trails
and was looking forward to the challenges that were to come. It was shortly after getting going on the BMT
that I finally caught back up with Clay.
He said his legs were feeling a little… “Ehh” so we kind of fell in
together again and continued with our conversation as though we had never
missed a beat. There were times of
silence and I don’t think either of us felt the urge to force conversation. We simply enjoyed the fact that we were on
some beautiful trails and were enjoying the fact that we had some company, even
in silence. The trail was pretty
runnable through here. We would run the
flats, downs and moderate climbs, but we would hike the steeper sections. A great piece of advice Clay shared with me
was to run any little flat, down or slight uphill in between hiking sections because
even 5-running steps will help you transition in to or out of hike that much
quicker. He was right! I used that throughout the day and it worked
great. At Sapling Gap aid station we
were at 38ish miles in to the race and both were feeling pretty good.
Sapling Gap to Point Bravo (5mi): We continued on the BMT and made our way down
to an awesome swinging bridge that crossed over a gorgeous creek. We slowed just long enough to get a picture
or two and then fell right back in the grind as we climbed our way up and over
Tooni Mountain. This was about a 700+
foot climb in just over a mile or so and then a 700+ foot descent in immediately
after that as we made our way down to Point Bravo, the second crew accessible
aid station of the day and roughly mile 43ish for the day.
 |
| Swinging Bridge with Clay Warner |
 |
| Point Bravo with Clay Warner |
Point Bravo to Fish Gap (8.5mi): My focus all day was about feeling good up to
this point in the race. From here to the
finish was supposed to be where the race really began. The next 25ish miles to the finish were
nothing but steep, steep climb and steeper downhills with little to no flat
trail. Surprisingly my legs really felt
good and I had a good feeling about this section of the race. I took just a few minutes to change my socks
and shoes, grabbed some supplies and joked around with RunBum about what a
“sick individual” he was with this course!
Back on the BMT it was time to give my climbing legs a workout. Leaving Point Bravo we immediately started a
1,200-foot tall climb in just over a mile followed by a short steep 300-foot
descent and immediately back up another 700-foot climb. This would continue along the fairly
non-technical BMT for the next 4.5 miles where we picked up the Duncan Ridge
Trail (DRT). The DRT continued with
relentless up and down climbing for another 4 miles to the Fish Gap aid
station. About a mile or so before Fish
Gap a friend of mine William caught up with me and we shared some small talk as
we made our way into the aid station at roughly mile 52ish.
Fish Gap to Mulky Gap (2.5mi): Neither of us spent much time at Fish Gap
since we would be seeing our crew’s again in the next couple of miles at Mulky
Gap. We grabbed a few items and
continued on our way. The trail was
really pretty nice. The terrain was
fairly soft dirt with minimal rocks and roots.
It was easy to tell that these trails don’t see a lot of foot traffic
and nice to know that GDR and maybe one or two other organized races throughout
the year are the only reason that these trails stay even halfway
distinguishable. The climbing and
descending continued for the next couple of miles as we made our way over to
Mulky Gap, mile 54ish. Mulky Gap would be the last time we saw our crew’s until
the finish so we were both pretty excited to get through this aid station and
head out for the last few miles of the race.
Mulky Gap to White Oak Stump (5mi): Coming into this race I hadn’t really had a
chance to test my downhill legs too much and I was pretty concerned how my
quads would handle the steep descents. I
was pleasantly surprised to feel so good at mile 54ish. Looking at my watch I didn’t know if I would
have a chance to make up the roughly 20 minute lead that 3rd had on
us, but knew that I had would have a chance at meeting my goal time of just
under 11-hours if I could maintain my pace.
As we left the aid station William got a little jump on me and continued
to run strong over the next couple of miles, putting some time on me. For the first time all day I had found myself
in a little low. I wasn’t loosing much
time but just found that I had lost a little bounce in my step. Having dealt with plenty of these little
funks in the past I knew that the best way to get out of them was to focus on
eating and drinking, maybe take something sugary and keep on grinding until I
found my legs again. Yes, worked like a
charm. After just a couple of miles my
legs were back and I was feeling great again. I couldn’t see William but wasn’t too concerned, I knew that I still had
10+ miles and could still make good time as long as I stayed on top of my
calories and continued to push through for a strong finish. Around mile 57ish I made my way up another
steep climb and began down the steep descent on the other side. All day I had been approaching downhill’s a
little differently depending on how steep and how “runnable” the section
was. Some were so steep that it was
everything you could do to hold back and not tumble down the hillside, while
others were slightly more runnable with a ski-type approach of running/bouncing
back and forth as you made your way down the loose dirt descents. This particular descent was slightly more
runnable and I was letting the legs fly as I made my way down. Bounding down the hill I jumped over a small
boulder in the trail and I landed directly on a small odd-shaped rock and
immediately felt my left ankle roll outward and hit the ground with a loud
pop! … Crap! I knew that it wasn’t your “typical” trail
runner ankle roll. The kind where you
roll your ankle and run a little funny for the next mile or so and then it kind
of works it’s way out for the remainder of the run. This one was going to hurt and might be
really bad. Picking my self up off the
ground I tried to keep running to check out the damage… not happening. It was pretty painful and already felt really
weak. I looked around for a hiking stick
and picked up the first one that looked reasonable. With adrenaline pumping and my new stick I
tried to hobble/run as quickly as possible down the grade. I knew there was another aid station coming
up within a mile or two and I could get something there to address my ankle. Just then… Snap! That stupid hiking stick snapped in half and
before I knew it I was laying on the ground again writhing in pain from rolling
the same ankle again. Back on my feet I
looked around for another hiking stick.
With the second stick in hand I continued down. Another 300 feet down the trail and this
stick cracked and fell apart in my hand.
Luckily I didn’t eat it this time but I was really wishing I had brought
some hiking poles now! Taking a few deep
breaths and calming down I said a quick prayer asking God to help give me some
strength to finish this thing. A few
minutes more hobbling down the trail and I found a decent hiking stick. As I got into a hobble/hike and hobble/run
rhythm I finally saw the White Oak Stump aid station coming into view, mile
59ish.
White Oak Stump to
Wolf Creek: The volunteers at this aid station knew that
I was hurt and quickly helped me into a chair to see how they could help. Someone mentioned some duct tape and I
quickly jumped on that opportunity. With
a couple of strips run under my ankle and up the sides we wrapped two or three
strips around the ankle to try and give some support. It wasn’t perfect but it was better than
nothing. It hadn’t taken me any time to
realize that I had ‘some’ mobility with my foot flexing up and down like on
flat ground, but I had zero lateral support.
Good thing it was nothing but flat ground from here to the finish!! I knew it was going to be slow going from
here to the finish so I tried to get going as fast as possible knowing that my
crew would be expecting me around the 11-hour mark and I was going to be quite
a bit slower now. Leaving White Oak
Stump we had about a 900-foot climb over the next couple of miles and I quickly
found that steep ups and downs were very, very painful. Gritting my teeth and praying almost continuously
now I tried to keep moving as fast as possible.
Focusing on the trail in front of me became my number one priority. It was excruciatingly painful to come down on
my left ankle and roll it, even slightly to the outside or inside. I was putting so much focus on each step that
I was falling behind on food and drink.
I finally made it to the top of Coosa Bald, the highest point in the
race at roughly 4,300 feet and started the 2,200-foot descent down to the last
aid station at Wolf Creek. I was really
at a loss for this section… my legs felt great like I could have really run
this section but my ankle reduced me to some weird hobble/run that was at best
something like 15min/mi downhill. My
climbing speed had slowed to some 20min/mi and my downhill wasn’t much better. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity I
saw the river crossing and last aid station at Wolf Creek, mile 64ish. Just before reaching the river I heard the
inevitable footsteps of someone catching up to me. I knew that it would only be a matter of time
given how slow I was moving.
Wolf Creek to Vogel (3.5mi): It was just starting to get dark as I
was climbing out from Wolf Creek. I had
thought about taking my “good” headlamp from the last crew aid station at Mulky
Gap but was feeling great at that point and thought I would have no problem
finishing before dark. So, I had a
decent light but it was nowhere near as good as my Petzl
Nao that I wished I had grabbed from my crew. With every odd step and lateral movement my
ankle throbbed and pain shot up the outside of my leg. So, with dark setting in I was focusing every
bit of my attention on the trail and trying to find solid footing for every
step. Luckily this last 3.5 miles of
trails were substantially easier and I was able to hobble/run most of this last
few miles. After just a short while I
heard voices and saw flashlights ahead yelling that a runner was coming. They asked if I was Nathan and then quickly
yelled out to let someone know that I was coming. I knew that it was my crew and they had been
worried since it had taken me over an hour longer than I had anticipated. As I dropped off the trail I turned to make
my way down the pavement to finish at the pavilion beside the lake. I was in considerable amount of pain and very
frustrated that I had gotten hurt but was still extremely thankful that God had
helped me ‘stick it out” through the finish.
 |
| RunBum Welcoming me to the Finish |
 |
| My Oldest Daughter and my Hiking Stick |
5th Place Overall, 12:13:08
 |
| Post Race Ice for my Ankle |
Gratitude: As always, I want to thank God for the
opportunity to toe the line and enjoy some of His beautiful landscape. This was my first time running in the North
Georgia Mountains and I loved the terrain.
Steep climbs, steeper descents and relentless ups and downs! Thank you RunBum for
putting this awesome event together. It was a
fantastic day and I look forward to a redemption run next year. Thank you to all of the volunteers, USFS and
everyone else who made the race possible.
Thank you to my wonderful family/crew/friends for coming out and
supporting me in these crazy adventures.
Having the love and support from my family is the most rewarding part of
these races. Thank you Rock/Creek and Patagonia for the support and
awesome racing gear. Thank you to Hammer Nutrition for the great
nutrition products helping fuel me in training and races. One last big thank you to Salomon for the great
products, your S-Lab
Sense Ultra and Ultra
Soft-Ground shoes kept my feet feeling great all day, the S-Lab
Advanced Skin3 12-L pack carried all my race essentials and the Bonattie
WP Jacket for keeping me dry throughout the day.
 |
| Family/Crew |
 |
| Beautiful Wife and Girls |
Nutrition Plan:
After
Mile 43
– Added Chicken Noodle Puree, Beef Jerky, Pickles, and Coke as Needed
Until
the next race,
Nathan
Holland
