Rocky Raccoon 100 Race Report

I have long been terrified of a runnable 100 mile course. I am better at steep climbs and descents than flat, fast running. A runnable course is relentless and monotonous, and I also find it much harder to keep nutrition on the rails when running a faster pace. The only runnable 100s I’ve tried ended in DNFs many years ago.

It is good to challenge yourself though, and I figured something different was called for after Tor des Geants. Rocky Raccoon is a 5-loop course in Texas with about 7,000 feet of climbing. The race has been around for over 30 years with many historically fast times. For four months, I’ve focused more on speed and running economy. Marine Corps Marathon (2:58) and Devil Dog 100K (9:23, CR) both went really well, so I was excited to see what would happen at Rocky.

I flew into Houston on Friday and met up with Matt Conroy, an athlete I coach who generously came down from the Dallas area to crew for me. I was hoping to move fast with minimal down time in aid stations, so crew would be crucial.

On race morning, I arrived 35-40 minutes before the race and was greeted with a traffic jam that bottlenecked into the State Park check-in. The park fees were included for racers, but they were charging pacers and crews, which took forever. This was my only complaint about the race, which otherwise was incredibly well organized. They need a different system, and I would have been happy to pay a higher race entry fee to avoid this.

I ended up parking half a mile from the start and having to run right to the start line, arriving with only 30sec to spare. I had no time to go to the bathroom or warm up. I was also hundreds of runners deep, which was far from ideal given the pace I was planning to run.

At 6am we were off into the night to start the journey.

Lap 1 – 2h46min

I tried my best to weave through runners and move up the field. The first few miles were hilly with lots of twists and turns. I made a mental note to expect a slower pace on the first few miles.

I went by a group of guys running together, and one said, “let him go. We’ll reel him in later.” Coupled with the stressful race start, I was going to a negative mental space, which wasn’t how I wanted to show up to this race. I breathed out the negative emotions and remembered I was here to have a good time. I finally started to relax.

I came up to a guy who was moving really well. After 3.5 miles of working my way up the field, I decided to hang with him, and we started chatting. We went through the mile 4 aid station without stopping and started down the out-and-back section. It was great to let these miles roll by with some good company.

There were two guys right in front of us, and Jared let me know we were running in 3rd and 4th, though I think we were actually 4th and 5th. Also, it turns out Jared is a 2:20 marathoner(!), which was terrifying to me on this runnable course.

After the out-and-back, the sun was coming up, and we turned off the headlamps. Jared slowly distanced himself, and I held back, trying hard to run my own race.

My goal for lap 1 was 2:50, and I came in 4 minutes ahead of that and feeling great. Matt was ready for the crew handoff, and we swapped packs mid run. I was off on lap 2 without breaking stride.

Lap 2 – 2h58min

Lap 2 was uneventful. I worked my way up to third and was running right on my target pace.

It was getting warm though as we moved into the heat of the day. I expected lap 3 and first half of lap 4 to be the toughest. After that, it should start cooling down, and I’d start smelling the barn.

Garrett caught me towards the end of lap 2, and I stayed with him through the end of the lap. He was a strong triathlete who had been crushing ultras for the last 3 years, including Leadville and the Cocodona 250.

I came in to the start / finish and took a quick bathroom break. Then Matt helped me dump ice in my hat and arm sleeves, which felt great with the warm temps.

Lap 3 – 3h49min

I could see Garrett as I started lap 3, but he was running strong and pulling away from me.

I quickly realized I was not feeling good. I was bonking hard, and my stomach wasn’t happy. I unintentionally fell behind on calories and had fallen off my nutrition schedule, so I tried to catch back up. My stomach was gurgling and sloshing though, and it was hard to force anything down. I was on the verge of throwing up.

These moments in ultras are so hard. I was falling off pace and still had so very far to go. My legs felt dead, and the idea of trying to run 60 more miles seemed impossible. I felt terrible on the out-and-back section, and I saw a bunch of runners looking strong closing in on me. It would have been easy to go into a negative spiral, but I’ve been here before and knew that I could turn it around.

I struggled my way to the aid station that is 9 miles into the lap. I filled a bottle with water and a bottle with Coke to change things up. I grabbed some PB&J and upped the intake of electrolyte pills to balance things out.

I power hiked some of the hills coming out of the aid station. I still felt terrible. I got passed on this section and moved back to 5th. I was honestly surprised it took as long as it did for someone to pass me on this lap and figured that more people were closing in.

I was not improving and realized I needed a bigger reset at the last aid station on the loop. I sat down for 5 minutes while eating solid food and taking in electrolytes. I just needed to let things settle down. I grabbed some avocado and tortilla and hiked / jogged out of the aid station. I finally started to feel a little better. I kept the fluids, calories, and electrolytes going as my stomach finally settled.

It always amazes me how night and day these turnarounds are. I felt good again, and my legs felt way better at mile 58 than they did at mile 40. I was able to push the pace on the last few miles and was ready to make up for lost ground in lap 4.

I told Matt we were changing things up a bit and to have Coke, water, and grilled cheese ready when I got back at mile 80. We made sure I had my headlamp, and I was off.

Lap 4 – 3h29min

As I left the start / finish, I saw Jared running back because he forgot his gels. I wished him good luck and hammered on.

The first half of the lap was uneventful. I felt way better but tried to hold back, planning to start pushing only at mile 70.

I felt amazing as I got to the back half of the loop, and I was running some fast splits. I saw 3rd place in the distance and soon flew past him and his pacer. Unlike the last lap, I moved quickly through the last aid station in the fading light.

Lap 5 – 3h42min

I came into the start / finish faster than Matt had expected given I sped up in lap 4. He was still ready though and had a hot grilled cheese for me. Matt was killing the crewing game! I also changed my headlamp just to be safe. Matt asked if I wanted warm clothes for the last lap. I said no and told him I’d just have to run hard enough to stay warm.

About a mile in, someone came up fast behind me with a pacer. I did not want to give up third, but there was still a long way to go. I started chatting with them and asked if they wanted to go by, but they said they were happy to hang with me. It turns out they were on the fourth lap and had a burst of energy with the temps cooling. It was great to have some company for a bit before I pulled ahead.

The euphoria of lap 4 was long gone, and it was going to be a pure grind to the finish. My legs were screaming, but I committed to running every step, focusing on keeping good form. The miles went by so slowly. I had music in for most of this lap to try and distract myself from the pain.

I was not looking forward to the uphill coming out of the midway aid station. I gritted my teeth and pushed through. All the runners out there were so encouraging. Seeing so many people on course with the loop format was a real highlight of the race.

I called my wife to ask for splits from the timing mat that is 6 miles into the loop. I had closed the gap on 2nd to 10 minutes. That seemed hard to overcome unless he blew up, but I kept pushing. It seemed like I had a decent gap on 4th, but lots can still happen in 14 miles.

Miles 90-95 were the hardest. It took everything I had to force my body to keep running and keep up a good pace. I kept forcing down my nutrition, knowing I needed to keep adding fuel to the fire.

Shortly after the last aid station, you can see and hear the finish line across the lake. I still had 4 miles to go, but I started allowing thoughts of the finish to enter my mind. Then with 3 miles left, I started to get paranoid about holding on to third. Since I was constantly lapping people, there was always a headlamp behind me. Was that headlamp moving faster and gaining on me? Was it someone I lapped or someone chasing me down for third?

I summoned a higher gear and pushed harder. I did not want to get passed this late in the race and miss the podium. And if I did, I wanted to know I left it all out there.

Those last few miles took an eternity. Finally, I came out into a clearing and knew that I had third place. I crossed the finish line in 16h44min. I gave Matt a hug (sorry, Matt) and thanked him. 3rd place and sub 17 would not have happened without him.

Happy to be done, holding the sweet award they gave me for 3rd

The Aftermath

Rocky Raccoon was a great experience. My legs have never hurt so much after a race, but recovery has been going really well.

It has been fun to change things up, train differently, and do some races outside of my comfort zone. Now I’m excited to go back to the mountains and start training for Terrapin and Hellbender!