Happy Halloween (or “Jalloween”)

Race report–Javelina Jundred, October 31-November 1, 2009

First things first–what the hell is a “Javelina” and why are all these words spelled with a “J”?

Same questions I had last year before my first Javelina event.  This is a Javelina:

Handsome fella, eh?

Often referred to as a pig, my understanding is that Javelina is a “collared peccary,” found in Mexico and the far southwestern United States.  Oh, and it’s pronounced “Have-eh-LEEN-eh.”  Thus, the exchange of “H” for “J” in any number of words associated with the event, including “Jundred,” “Jalloween,” “Jeadquarters,” etc.

With that out of the way, on to the event itself.  The JJ is held on the weekend closest to Halloween and closest to a full moon.  Or something like that.  This year’s event fell right on Halloween, ensuring a festive atmosphere in a fun event.  The 2008 Javelina Jundred was my first hundred miler, so the event holds some…uhh…..special memories.  Like barfing at mile 25 (my fault, introducing a foreign drink in my race day diet) and damn near quitting at the 62 mile mark.  But I finished, albeit in a pedestrian time of 26:23.   Since then I’d finished Rocky Raccoon in 25:45 (more self inflicted woes) and Lean Horse in 21:53, a time way better than I expected.  Arriving in Phoenix, I was shooting for a 24 hour finish.

If possible, having a full day before a long event is a good thing….just to chill, sleep, eat, etc.  So rather than arriving on Friday afternoon and rushing around, I arrived in Phoenix early Thursday evening, wolfed down some very tasty pasta (coupled with some Sierra Nevada Pale Ales) at Oreganos and headed for my hotel in Fountain Hills, AZ.  The race takes place in McDowell Mountain Regional Park just north of Fountain Hills, which is itself north and east of Phoenix.  I highly recommend lodging in Fountain Hills–otherwise, you can find a 45 minute drive from the race start to a hotel in Phoenix.

The pre-race briefing and pasta dinner takes place on Friday evening.  Not mandatory, but fun.  Micah True, or “Caballo Blanco” of the book “Born to Run” gave a slide presentation and talk about running and living with the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico’s Copper Canyons.  Dave Combs, master of the Ultra list and official timer, cautioned participants about going out too fast, noting that one in two end up dropping.  Dave was pretty much prophetic.

Packet pickup, Friday evening. Is that Dave in the middle?

Camping is available at "Jeadquarters." Of course, I opted for a king suite at the Holiday Inn Express in Fountain Hills.

The race has a “Jalloween” theme.  This includes the awards for the various categories of finishers:

Awards for fastest, oldest, first timers, etc.

Of course, I’m always a candidate for this one:

Award for "Dead Last," or "DFL" as it is better known

With three hundreds and one JJ under my belt, race day was sort of matter-of-fact.  Oh, not that I was sure I was going to finish or run well.  You never take that for granted.  But I knew what was coming, had a race plan and was reasonably ready to go.  Lean Horse was 10 weeks previous, and I felt reasonably well trained, in spite of botching my last long run due to overestimating my physical condition (see the previous post in this blog).  The 2009 JJ had 270+ signed up, a very large field.  This was partially due to making additional spaces available to the Angeles Crest runners whose race was canceled earlier in the year.  As it turned out 249 actually started and 125 finished the 100 mile distance (Dave was right!).

Costumes are encouraged in the JJ, and awards given for the best.  I snapped a few random photos, but by no means got all of the good ones:

I watched my language around the guy on the right, just out of caution.

Doesn't show in the photo, but its a "cereal killer" on the right (boxes of cereal with protruding bloody knives).

On to the race……..the course is six loops of the Pemberton trail (alternating directions), which is 15.4 miles, followed by a final shorter loop of nine miles, for a total of 101.4 miles.  (As the miles and night wore on, the additional 1.4 miles really began to piss me off.  Couldn’t we have shortened the course somehow, someway to fix that?)  My sort-of plan was to average 3:15 per loop for the first three loops and 3:45 for the last three.  This would bring me to 92.4 miles in 21 hours with three hours and nine miles to go to make 24 hours.

Typical course scene.

Cholla cactus. Very pretty, but can look weird under full moon desert sky.

Generally, things went according to plan.  The cumulative loop times were 3:02, 6:11 and 9:28.  The latter two included time spent at Jeadquarters, removing layers (after the first loop) and wolfing down very tasty sub sandwiches (and other stuff) after the next two.  One of the “problems” with this race is how inviting Jeadquarters is.  Good food, lots of activity, your drop bag near, etc.  I tried to get in and get out, but the watermelon, food and drink perhaps caused me to linger.   I kept telling myself that the third loop was the last hot loop (mid-eighties, no shade) before things cooled down.

Loop four was something of a transition loop.  Warm at the start, then the sun dropping low in the sky and directly in my eyes during the first half of the loop, then dark and cool for the last section.  This is a dangerous loop.  Not in terms of physical danger, but in the temptation to drop.  Last year I just goddamn near bailed after the 62 miles achieved at the end of this loop.  Hell, you’ve finished 100k, you get a buckle, your car is 50 yards away, your warm hotel room maybe 30 minutes.  What the hell?  This year I didn’t have any inclination to quit, but I didn’t linger in Jeadquarters either, lest a weak spirit overtake me.  Warmer clothes, my iPod shuffle and I was out.  Elapsed time 12:56, or a 3:28 loop.  Not fast, but I was a bit ahead of plan.  At this rate, I could tolerate four hour loops and still have three hours for the last nine miles and a 24 hour finish.

I damn near needed it.  My stomach had cooperated much of the race to this point.  I’d avoided sweet drinks (Gatorade) and had been able to eat everything from PB&J sandwiches to fruit to bean burritos.  That pretty much ended after loop four.  Soup.  That was about it, and thankfully all of the aid stations featured it.  Man, stomach woes are frustrating.  Consistent with other events, my mood swings and calorie intake were directly correlated. Feel fine for a while, clip off some miles, then feel like crap and slog along.

Funny thing……you meet some people in the late hours of a race, have some serious discussions and never even know who you were talking to.  Based on finishing times, I think I ran with Steve Ansell.  Steve is a veteran of really tough races (Bighorn, Cascade Crest, Plain 100) and was trying to beat his 2008 JJ time of 22:41.  He’d had some stomach woes, but was battling through.  Kept telling me we were on a sub-23 pace.  I kept telling him I’d be damn lucky to go sub-24.  Steve blasted past me on loop six en route to a 22:27.  Good job, Steve!

In 2008 I finished the sixth loop in just about 24 hours and watched a second sunrise in completing the event.  In 2009, I readied for the last loop at about 2:50 AM.  No hesitation….just get out and get the damn thing over with.  The frustrating part of this section is that the last, short loop goes uphill through a rocky stretch…..difficult for me to navigate with any speed.  As the course goes, runners head to the Coyote Camp aid station (five miles) then down the Tonto Tank trail for three miles, finally to the last mile on the Pemberton trail.  While intellectually I knew the location and distance to the Coyote Camp station, my mind still played tricks on me.  I’d see lights, but they were just the headlamps of other runners coming towards me.  The fixed lights of the aid station were like a mirage…..evaporating the closer I got.

Finally hit the last aid station, and checked my watch…..22:15.  That left me 44 minutes for four miles and a sub-23 hour finish.  Eleven minutes a mile?  Generally, a piece of cake.  But miles 97-101?  Very questionable.  About the last thing I wanted to do was run hard at this stage.  And the additional 1.4 miles further pissed me off.  But off I went.  The Tonto Tank trail is the best part of the course.  Well, partially because you only run it at the very end.  But its smooth and downhill.  I ran about as hard as I could, all the way to the finish to see the clock at……..23:00:31.  Missed by half a minute.

Overall, it was good.  Finished 25th out of 249 starters and 125 finishers.  Great organization by race director Jamil Coury, great volunteers everywhere.  Highly recommended event.  If you can navigate the 101.4 miles, that is.