Rim To River 100 – West Virginia’s Only 100-Mile Race

What went right?

• Bladder vs handhelds in race vest
  • Great for tons of ice.  This allowed me to use my front pockets for food/trash/phone for taking pics.
• Caffeine Pills
  • Great boost of energy once you are tired. Took it twice during the race and really helped get me back on my feet.
• Fire pit to dry feet
  • Have no spare socks but near an aid station?  Use the fire pit to dry everything out!  Why did I never think of this?!?!?!  Thank you random drunk pacer that had no runner!  Put my shoes, socks, and bare feet next to the fire for 5 minutes and they were as good as new!
• Pre-set race pace of 12:30-13:30
  • Right at the start, I tried to hold this pace but I didn’t do it enough.  It was both good and bad because I still would rather run slightly faster with someone than alone.
• No rocks!  What was amazing was how different the trails were from PA-type trails.  That is basically all I know and most of what I have run. 
  •  I thought it was a joke when they called PA “Rocksylvania”, but it’s true!  The course had way fewer rocks than the trails in Philly. (Wissahickon)
• Road shoes were used vs trail shoes. 
  • This race was very runnable in a road shoe.  You will kick a bunch of rocks as there will be a sea of leaves, so keep that in mind.
• Music 
  • Used headphones on my head at the start, but didn’t have music playing 100 percent of the time.  Clicked on music to take my mind off the pain when needed.
  • They lasted THE ENTIRE RACE (25 hours) because I would pause when running with others. Great wireless headphones, highly recommend them!
• 3 camera system
  • 2 action cameras and my phone allowed me to capture a lot of great footage.  At least I think so! 
  • Cameras: DJI Action 2 – https://amzn.to/3SClwtH
  • Insta360 Go2 – https://amzn.to/3ebQxpl

What went wrong?

• Reusable cup lost
  • One of the aid stations would NOT give me soup/soda because I didn’t have my cup.  I told them multiple times it fell out of my pack.  I get it guys, you want to go cupless, but using one cup for a guy who lost his isn’t a big deal.  The next aid station was able to make it work and got me a replacement cup.  
• Ran out of water during an 11-mile section.
  • I didn’t top off my water bladder before I left the aid station.  This was a HUGE mistake.  I had to drink from a stream because I was dying of thirst and it was getting really hot.
• Didn’t close the aid bag and it got rained in it.
  • Didn’t change shoes because 3rd pair got soaked and I also forgot to carry an extra pair of socks.
• Out and back format of this race can be annoying on the single-track sections.
• Watch course tracking via Garmin didn’t work very well on the GPX files I had loaded. This cause me to get lost once.
• My feet were wet for too long and I paid the price. I will never go that long with wet feet without changing socks. If it’s been more than 20+ miles and they have been wet, be prepared for some foot pain.
• Forgot my headlamp for the race start, but was able to grab it from the aid station truck.

Feedback for race directors:

• If I had a message for the race directors it would be that all aid station bags should be kept under a canopy.  Every other 100 I have run has done this.  I know it was my fault, but they lined them up out in the open to make it easier to find but got soaked in the process. It was 100% my fault for leaving my bag open a bit which caused it to get flooded.
  • Allows people to use non-waterproof bags.
• Have backup cups for people that might lose them on the course.  This is also my fault, but please have some leniency.
• I thought a drop bag was mandatory for Friday night. Some people like to give them a once-over at the hotel.  I don’t know if I missed that note, but the trucks were still there in the AM.

What I would do differently?

I was consistent with my pace, but not enough.  I was with people that pushed me slightly faster than I wanted to run.  I still would have rather run with someone than alone so this was still the right decision, but I need to try a race fully set at a target pace.  The fact I forgot my spare socks in my pack was pretty dumb.

Final Thoughts:

I gave my buckle to my dad because he joked about when was I going to give him one.  It was a tiny act of kindness I could do for someone who sacrificed everything. There are so many people that come together to make this happen.  I would give them all buckles if I could, my in-laws, my parents, my wife, aid station workers, and people who marked the course.  The list is endless, but I’m just glad there are people that make these races a reality. Check out the video below to see the course through my eyes. I hope you enjoy watching it!  I really enjoyed running it! 

Runner Shout out: 

Michael Warren, Jennifer Russo, and Brian Collins shared the most miles with me and I can’t thank them enough!