Ultra_Tales_Issue_13

EVENT REPORT MOHICAN 100DION PICTURED DURING THE MOHICAN 100plenty of cheers of support. Still feeling strong Iheaded out feeling great and positive that I wouldcertainly be completing this race. About halfwaythrough the 2nd lap my ankle/toe was starting tobecome increasingly painful and mixed with thedehydration things were starting to look desperate.“When I got to HickoryRidge checkpoint (47.3miles) I was struggling. Isat in a chair, which is acomplete no-no at thispoint”I was still in 2nd lady position at Covered Bridge(41.8 miles) but soon after that I started to slowdramatically. When I got to Hickory Ridgecheckpoint (47.3 miles) I was struggling. I sat in achair, which is a complete no-no at this point andhad a cup of the most delicious salty potato soup totry and kick start things. It was here that I started toget overtaken by quite a few runners. A lovely ladyat the checkpoint recognised me, and knew thatDion, my husband, was ahead of me. She said thatshe had seen him at this checkpoint but he wasn’tlooking good and was possibly going to drop whichwas a shame as he was in 7th place after 50 miles.Little did I know at this stage that he had beenpeeing blood again (he had the same issue at MdS).I think hearing that switched a little mental switchin my head and the last 6 miles back to the start/finish were a long battle of my thoughts; should Idrop or shouldn’t I? I had to grab a stick along theway to help me get down the hills as my toe justcouldn’t take any more pressure. 2 1/2 hours to dothose 6 miles and I made it back, completing lap 2.Dion is super positive for me, telling me to eat anddrink something, sit for a bit and think about what Ireally want to do. Always thinking that there is nopoint doing lap 3 if you can’t do lap 4. I thoughtback to my last 6 miles and how long and painfulthat was; I could do one more lap I thought, but nottwo. So I dropped! There is roughly a 40% drop rateon this race, and as we sat waiting for Princess tocome through, we witnessed lots of peopledropping out as well. During conversations throughthe race with other runners it became quiteapparent that most people were here on their 2nd/3rd attempt as a minimum so I didn’t feel too badabout the decision. Live to run another race right?13 ULTRA TALES | OCTOBER 2014Sponsored by thehttp://