Devil Dog 100K Course Record Race Report

Recovery went surprisingly well after Tor this year. With only 2 weeks of training, I was able to run 2:58 at the Marine Corps Marathon. I had a huge base for Tor and was able to layer some solid speed on top.

I signed up for the Devil Dog 100K in Prince William Forest. I hadn’t run it before, but I have run the OSS CIA 50 miler many times, which covers most of the same trails. I also coached several athletes at Devil Dog last year.

The route has 3 laps primarily on single track trail with about 6,000 feet of vertical. It is largely runnable with some punchy, steep hills and a few sections that are quite technical, notably the South Valley Trail.

I looked up historical results and set an ambitious goal of trying to break the course record of 9:44. That seemed like a big stretch and would take an amazing day, but it was a fun and motivating goal to chase.

TRAINING

I had three training weeks between Marine Corps and Devil Dog outside of recovering and tapering. I knew my aerobic base was there, and I wasn’t worried about the hills. With 700,000 feet of vert in my legs just this year, I’d be fine on the climbs and descents.

I focused instead on speed and specificity. All three weeks I hit the track for big speed workouts. I did 4-5 miles of hard intervals on short rest, ranging from 2 miles down to 200m. I was pumped to see I was hitting the best numbers I’ve had on the track in over a decade.

Another key aspect was two long runs on the race course. To hit the course record, I knew I would have to ride a fine line, and I wanted to make sure the paces I’d have to hit were doable without blowing up.

My first run was 28 miles at 9:07 pace. I felt like I was in the ballpark of what I’d need to hit the record, but the margin was slim. My next run was even better – 22.5 miles at 8:46 pace. I wore my heart rate monitor, and in theory I should be able to go out at this effort level without blowing up. It was a huge confidence boost.

I still managed some good volume with a 90 mile week and two 70-75 mile weeks. I maintained my strength training regime and threw in some sauna for good measure. The fitness was theoretically there.

GEAR, NUTRITION, and LOGISTICS

So many variables come into play throughout an ultra. I turned every dial I could think of to maximize odds of success.

I have been using Maurten Bicarb and feel like it is beneficial for these kinds of high output efforts. My nutrition plan called for about 110 grams of carbs per hour. This was the first race where I used the Adidas Agravic Speed Ultra supershoes, which are incredible.

I would also need to minimize any aid station time. John Downey, an athlete I coach, kindly agreed to crew for me. We would use pack and bottle swaps with the goal being to not stop at all at aid stations.

While I rarely use pacers, I would be pushing super hard and knew some emotional support would be helpful on the third lap. I called in my good friend and training partner, Peter Gudmundsen, to jump into the third lap.

I had a plan and now just had to do the thing. Easy. My best case scenario splits would put me around 9h20min to 9h25min. I knew something would go sideways over a race this long, so that left a bit of cushion for the course record.

The only problem was that in my shake-out run the day before, I somehow managed to severely tweak my neck and upper back. It was shooting pain, and I could hardly move. I got an emergency appointment with my amazing PT, which seemed to help. I couldn’t sleep all night as it was too painful, and I just had to hope it would magically hold up on race day.

THE RACE – LAP 1

It was a brisk 23 degrees as we set off at 6am with our headlamps. I lined up at the front and charged off the start line. Apparently we were supposed to do a short loop around the parking lot to help spread out the field before the single track. I missed the loop and took the whole field with me. Great job, Will.

I’m on the right, charging ahead off the start

There were a bunch of young, fast guys in the race who I expected to go with me or lead out. However, I was quickly alone, and it was clear that no one was going with me. We hit the bridge across the stream, and Vlad was in a speedo as the race lifeguard and cheering squad. You are a brave man, Vlad.

My heart rate was a bit high in the early miles, upper 150s vs. my planned upper 140s. I felt amazing though – light, bouncy, and fresh. The only trouble was my neck. It was uncomfortable, but if I didn’t move it too much it was good enough and didn’t seem to be holding me back. I just had to hope it wouldn’t seize on me again.

I quickly arrived at the Farm to Forest loop, an extra 3 mile loop run only in lap one. I made quick work of this loop and saw lots of runners going in as I was leaving. I had settled into a nice rhythm at this point and felt great. The sun was coming up, and I was able to turn off my headlamp.

The next 4-5 miles is the fastest section of the course. You have some less technical, net downhill trail followed by fire road. I ran these in the 7:30-8:30 range, really trying to hold myself back. I came into the mile 8 aid station (Camp Gunny), said hi to Carl Bligan, and ran right through. I already had a 12-minute lead at this point.

The only problem was that my bottles were freezing in the cold temps. I stopped twice to chug from one of my flasks with calories and electrolytes. I couldn’t get anything out of my water flask though. I would just have to make do.

Coming off the fire road, I was fully locked into race effort. I was right around 148 heart rate and was going to hold that for as long as possible. I ran the short, steep uphills as we approached the next aid station, Camp Toofy. I made the climb up from the river and would soon see John for our first crew point. I dumped two bottles, quickly grabbed a gel and two bottles, and ran out of there.

The 6 miles back to the start / finish is the most hilly and technical stretch of the course. I had been moving fast with an average pace close to 8:30, so I throttled back a bit on this section. My stomach also started to get a bit iffy. The bottles I picked up from John at Toofy both had electrolytes. Since I couldn’t drink much of my water flask on the previous section, I felt I was probably too high on electrolytes. With the cold temps, I also realized I didn’t need as many fluids. I backed off my hydration to try to settle things down.

I rolled into the Start / Finish in 3h15min, averaging 8:45s over the first lap. I swapped packs and traded out my warmer gloves and beanie for my light gloves and USWE hat. I was out of there like a shot.

THE RACE – LAP 2

Lap 2 started out well. It was nice not to have to run the Farm to Forest loop, but this lap started to get tough early on. I was going through my gels fast and working hard to get in enough calories to fuel the output.

I was also starting to get lonely, and leading from the gun was taking a mental toll. Most races I run I can check out mentally while power hiking steep uphills. But for Devil Dog I had to be constantly switched on, making sure I didn’t fall while running singletrack at this pace. I was really looking forward to picking up Peter on the third lap and so glad that he had come out to pace.

Still feeling ok towards the back end of Lap 2

As I came off the fire road and onto the steep hills in the back half, I started to really feel the cumulative effort of the race. On the bright side, I was a few seconds shy of a 50K PR and ran a split that would have won the 50K Devil Dog race.

I realized I was already on my last gel with over 9 miles still to go. Because I was drinking less, I was getting less calories and carbs from my bottles. I debated a longer stop at Toofy, mile 36, but I remembered I had some extra gels in my bag at the Start / Finish and decided to push on. I stopped just long enough to take off a top layer, running now in just a t-shirt and arm sleeves.

I took only one bottle from John at Toofy since I hadn’t finished my current bottles. I started bonking on the tough section back to HQ and was struggling mightily. I was hungry, depleted, and fighting to keep pace. I hung on tight and hoped that I could dig myself out of the hole with some additional nutrition and the boost of having Peter join me.

I was right on schedule and hit the Start / Finish in 6h13min. I felt terrible but still flew through the aid station. John swapped my pack, and I fished an extra gel out of my drop bag. I ditched my gloves and yelled at Peter to grabbed me grilled cheese from the aid station. I took the grilled cheese mid run, and we were off.

THE RACE – LAP 3

Eating some grilled cheese and trying to dig myself out of a hole

I was fully in the pain cave at this point. I was so happy to see Peter, but I was too exhausted to talk at all. Another 19.5 miles seemed like a long way and holding anything close to the pace I had been running seemed impossible.

I remember feeling so bad at this point, but Peter and I seem to be having a delightful time here as we started the third loop

The first few miles of the loop are slower and net uphill. I fought to claw myself out of my nutrition hole with grilled cheese and the bonus Beta Fuel gel from my crew bag. I felt awful and was on the edge of blowing up. The course record was still in sight, but there was a risk it could slip away if I couldn’t hold on.

We came through the Gunny aid station, and I hoped I could turn things around on the fire road. I kept forcing down calories and tried to reset on the gentler terrain.

Then suddenly – WHAM! I caught my toe on something and hit the deck HARD. My knees took the brunt of it, and my hands and forearms also smashed into the ground. I was seriously shaken and hurting. I tried to ignore the pain and resume running. I had lost what little momentum I had, and it was a tough time to take a hard fall when I already was bonking. I had to walk again on the short uphill to loosen my knees up and shake it off.

I was now even more worried about the course record, but I dug deep and summoned the courage to keep pushing. I forced myself back to the pace I needed to get the record, ignoring my protesting body. My wife and kids would be at the next aid station, so I channeled that motivation, shoved down the pain, and ran hard.

On the next section with the punchy hills, our splits miraculously were improving. I managed to still run every step of the uphill, albeit slower than previous laps. I was able to move fast again on the flats and downhills. The calories were starting to kick in. I was going to do this.

We crested the penultimate climb on this section and start down the fire road towards South Valley. I was moving fast again and went by David Kim, a friend and athlete I coach who was on his way to a stellar 100K debut.

We charged hard up the hill to Toofy, and I was pumped with the splits we hit on the uphill. At Toofy, I was thrilled to see my boys there cheering with my wife. It was such a big boost. I didn’t even break stride in the aid station and only swapped one bottle while running through. 6 tough miles left – it was go time.

Coming into the last aid station with 6 miles to go

We descended fast down to the stream and the South Valley trail. That’s when something magical happened. I don’t know if it was seeing my boys at the aid station, calories fully kicking in, the prospect of the course record, or smelling the barn of the finish and the win. It was probably a combination, but I was on FIRE. I popped in my pump up playlist and kicked it into high gear. Peter and I flew up the South Valley trail. The steep uphills were still a grind, but I ran the flats and downs as fast or faster than lap 1.

I saw Sara Jordan, another athlete I coach, on her way to a very strong finish and a 1.5 hour PR! I was hurting, but it didn’t matter. Full gas all the way. I was running too hard to do much mental math, but I knew that sub 9:30 was going to happen. I took my last gel, kicked it up another gear, and told Peter it was time to burn down the house.

We hit the even hillier and more technical section. I had to be careful on the uphills as I was on the verge of muscular failure. I was red lining at this point. I fell again on a technical stretch, but I popped back up and didn’t even break stride. It was a problem for later.

We crossed the bridge and started the last climb up to the Finish. I finally let myself take in what was about to happen. Peter and I approached the finish, and I saw my boys cheering like crazy. I waved for them to run across the finish line with me. I crossed the line into the arms of friends and family in 9h22min, a new Course Record by 22min.

Approaching the finish. Game face: “on”.

Waving in my boys to cross the finish line with me

I was elated and hugged my family, my crew (John), Peter, and my friends (RDs Pat Early and Justin Contois, race timer Alex Papadapoulos). I laughed and told them I felt terrible. I poured myself out on that course and didn’t leave anything out there.

A massive thank you to John for crewing me, Peter for pacing, the RD extraordinaires (Pat, Justin, Wes), the amazing volunteers, my incredible PT (Tammy from Bull Dawg Athletic), and my family. I’ve said it before and will say it again – this is a team sport.

Elated with how this went and so happy to share the moment with Jen, my boys, Peter, John, Pat, Justin, and Alex.

SUMMARY

It is hard to compare courses and distances, but this is probably the best race I’ve run. Here are some high level takeaways on what went well and what could be improved further.

WHAT WENT WELL:

Training: I covered this above, but training went really well going into the race. I don’t think I would change anything.
Transition time: I had two minutes of stoppage time for the entire race, which included bathroom breaks. I barely stopped at all at aid stations, swapping packs and bottles mid run.
Pacing: I went out hard and took some risk. I had very little slowdown at the end though, so I think I walked the line well. Going slower on Lap 1 wouldn’t have made Lap 3 any faster. Dialing in my heart rate zones and running with good heart rate data was key to walk this line and optimize pacing.
Fueling (for the most part): my fueling plan called for 110 grams of carbs per hour. I had all the gels I planned on plus an extra. I kept my stomach together throughout (barely) and had plenty of energy to close hard.
Chasing the course record: while it was scary to do, I’m glad I put out such an ambitious goal publicly. It pushed me to train harder and dial in all the variables. Without the course record goal, I would not have pushed as hard on race day. I ended up winning by 1h56min, so going for the win wouldn’t have pushed me. I may have picked a goal like running a PR or going sub 10. But without the CR to chase, there is no way I would have gone 9:22. It feels good to know you got the absolute best out of yourself, and it gives me a lot to think about with future races and goal setting.

WHAT COULD BE IMPROVED

Redundancy in the fueling plan: I ended up with less calories from bottles and ran out of gels, which causes my bonk at the end of lap 2 and start of lap 3. With a crew, it would have been easy to bring more supplies to have backup options. I’ve had other races where something changed from my standard fueling plan, and I didn’t have enough backup options. This is an easy fix going forward.
Not falling!: my knee is still very swollen 5 days after the race. I’m not sure there is much you can do about this one, but it sure would have been nice to not hit the deck so hard.

I can’t wait to come back to this race, maybe at another race distance. For now, I’m focusing on healing up and then will turn my attention to Rocky Raccoon 100.