2016 Crooked Road 24 Hour Ultra

CROOKED RUN 24

Wade Park, Rocky Mount, VA – November 19/20, 2016

Upon arrival in Rocky Mount on Friday afternoon it was sunny and in the 70’s.  A far cry from this ultra several years previously when one runner told us it snowed.  Team Sloth members, Lindsey, Jo Ann and Al, had a nice hearty dinner and turned in for a relatively sleepless night prior to the race.

Saturday morning was a crisp 40+ degrees, but not bad for beginning the race at a civilized 8 am start time.  Registration packets had been picked up the afternoon before with a nice long sleeved T, gloves and a car sticker plus race instructions.

The course was mostly flat with a certified 1.1815 loop which was counted by a chip on the runners number, and ran through the park which was circled by a bubbling brook.  A very pleasant and scenic route.

This was our first time doing the CR 24 and we were so impressed by the quantity, quality and variety of snacks throughout the day; starting in the morning with coffee and moving on to cold beverages, sweet and salty snacks, fruits, burgers mid-day and hot soup kept warm in crock-pots and served throughout the evening and wee hours of the morning.  Everyone was so friendly and helpful and supportive throughout the race.  The temperature maxed out in the 60s mid day and then you could actually see the cloud cover moving in and then the temperature took a steady dive while the winds picked up.

A total of 79 miles were completed by Team Sloth, with Al pulling the majority of miles, not completing until 6 am and then staggering back to the motel to have breakfast and hash over the race from everyone’s perspective.  A Virginia Tech alum, he insisted on getting updates throughout the evening on their football score and letting their victory spur him on to completing his personal goal of 50 miles.

Al was proud to tell us the story of his first race hallucination…it was about 2 am and he was dead tired and freezing – “I’ve never been that cold, I’m literally going to shoot whosever idea this was, literally”.  And ahead of him, in the middle of the path was a set of white bleachers.  His first thought was that he had just been there half an hour before, when did they have time to put the bleachers up?  His second thought was how am I going to get around them?  His third thought was I know this is a hallucination…but still, how am I going to get around those bleachers?

These 24 hour ultras make me think of a quote I received from Al earlier this week – “5k intrigued us.  10k made us curious.  24 hours?  That’s what nightmares and dreams are made of!”