DNF, 26.89 miles, 5:00:00. My second DNF at the same race I DNF'ed at last year. This year, I felt ok for most of the first half until stomach pain/cramps started slowing me down on the return from Corral Pass back thru Ranger Creek into Buck Creek. Unfortunately, they progressed to the point where running more than a few steps brought on pretty severe pain. Some nausea produced (reproduced?) my stomach contents just before the halfway aid station and gave me a 10 second reprieve but attempting to move at faster than a walk made the rock in my stomach return, and even walking/standing wasn't terribly comfortable. Spend about an hour and a half at the med tent lying down, sitting up, doing whatever to get thru the cramping before a trip to the restroom produced some relief. The medics guessed than I had some kind of stomach bug since the day prior I'd had some GI issues during my run. So, now I'm left with what next. My confidence for running Cascade Crest next month really hinged on how well I did here, since I've not really gotten in a bunch of quality long runs this year (like 3, including this one). Plus, at the halfway mark, my legs were pretty beat up and I was already mentally struggling, although how much of that was brought on by the stomach woes? Dunno. My splits up until where I dropped were decent....a bit faster than two years ago, although a slight course change made the comparisons moot until the 2nd Ranger Creek time: - Camp Sheppard: 29:15
- Ranger Creek: 1:29
- Corral Pass: 59:26
- Ranger Creek: 59:05
- Buck Creek: 1:02
The Buck Creek time is really just a crappy estimate....I think I pulled into the aid station at the 5 hour mark but forgot to stop my watch. Spent the rest of the weekend thinking about what next. Initially, I was pretty convinced Cascade Crest was out. Really not 100% convinced it was a stomach bug, given my predisposition to GI distress. Wonder if the gels got to me (I am about ready to swear off gels for good...given that what did come back up looked like a clear string of twisted wax, I'm guessing it was a gel I'd consumed an hour or so prior). The winner had no such problems. He destroyed the old course record (which had been set in 2010 in a significant course record run), despite the warm weather. I remember getting passed by him on my way to Corral Pass thinking "the front-runner is HERE already???". Just wish I could've made it through the entire 50.
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