It’s year 2 of the Breakneck Trail Marathon, and it was amazing. This was the exact feeling I had after I had completed my 2nd Broad Street I’m sure. For the 2nd year in a row I decided on Breakneck over Broad street. Broad street was a Philly race that is the fastest 10 miler in the nation run down the center of the city by some 40,000 people. Why would I head back to New York? I will answer that in this post.
Broad Street was a family tradition I enjoyed for several years, but the more I hit the trail, the more I enjoyed being out in nature, the more I developed a love for the sense of awe that comes from trail racing. Trail running strikes a nerve that road running never did. While if you told me my son or daughter wanted to go run Broad Street I would have to go, but these 2 races are worlds apart, just like I am not the same person that ran Broad Street 20 years ago. Change is law, and it came from this quote.:
“If you don’t get what you want, you suffer; if you get what you don’t want, you suffer; even when you get exactly what you want, you still suffer because you can’t hold on to it forever. Your mind is your predicament. It wants to be free of change. Free of pain, free of the obligations of life and death. But change is law and no amount of pretending will alter that reality.” – Socrates
So yes, I could have kept doing exactly what I have done every year, and got exactly what I had always got. A fast run down a loaded road with thousands of people. I know exactly what that run tastes like. Breakneck is the new kid in town. Will I be saying the same thing after 20 years of Breakneck? Maybe, or maybe not? I don’t know, but what I do know is that my breathe is taken away at the top of some of those views. My limits are pushed on those descents, and as Bud Wilson will tell you, there’s no point in broad street where you feel like doing this:
If you ran Broad Street, congrats to you. One thing I also broke in my habits is caring about the clock. The goal of this race was DO NOT CRAMP, not PR, seriously, it was to not cramp from going out too hard on hills too steep. How awesome of a race goal is that? I took my time, I took it all in, I enjoyed every damn moment of that race again for a 2nd time. I even took a friend with me. I convinced Bud Wilson, and many others from my video last year that this race is a race that you need to experience. It was a blast seeing a person experience it for the first time, seeing the look in his eyes once he was finished, and also hearing how the race kicked the crap out of him.
Each year I plan my adventures in December for the following year, and I put this one again because its worth the trip and effort. I met so many awesome people in the race and so many of you thanked me for showing them the race through filming it. I was glad that it was inspiring, but thank the people who put this on, the race directors, the volunteer at the aid stations, and most of all the catering at the end. Good lord that BBQ at the finish was great and its almost worth the trip up there for that meal. I hope they keep putting on this event, because it was the highlight of my week, my month, and to many even their year.
For my race report, here are my what went right, what went wrong, and what I did differently this year. I used my own custom high carb gels, and forced myself with a zone 2-3 HR for the first 6 miles until I got to the rock scramble. Those are the 2 things that I did that lead to not over extending myself in the beginning that would have lead to an inability to run later in the race. Hyner 50K with its 6,800 ft of climbing taught me that if a race starts with a massive climb, it has the ability to wreck you, that you struggle to recover from the entire race. Run the first few miles as you would like to be running your last. Why do I still struggle to remember that?
Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey. You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.
I was listening to a podcast that talked about the need to determine your “noble quest” in life. At the end of my life, I don’t want to have just accumulated a bunch of stuff. I want to gather experiences and enjoy moments of completing hard things. When I look back, I want to be shocked by the risks I took in pursuit of my “noble quest.” I want my mind to be filled with these things before I go, because I like to think that when we die, the experiences in our minds might be the only things we take with us. If that doesn’t happen, maybe your life flashes before your eyes. If it does, and my life flashes before my eyes as I lay on my deathbed, I want to know I went hard, had fun, and laughed a lot.
This race checks all of those boxes. Ultras are my “noble quest” in life, and I think everybody should have one. Your “noble quest” becomes your guiding light for how to structure your days, and it becomes the “why” that gets you out of bed. How can you complete your quest if you don’t put in the training? It’s the driving story you center your life around—what’s most important. For me, it’s my family and my noble quest. I want to spend more on experiences rather than things.
That said, I did just get a new 360 camera to film with 😊. I consider the camera more of a tool than a toy. It helps me document my quest and gives me the ability to reflect on the hard things I’ve done on those days when insecurity fills my head and negative thoughts tell me I can’t do hard things. I have proof that I can.
So below is my race report and a list of what went right, what went wrong, and what I would have done differently.
Shared a lot of miles with Colson Zucker
What went right:
Training:
What I did half worked. My peak total training time was about 40–50 hours per week, which was fine, but the main issue was that I couldn’t get anywhere near the amount of climbing this race required. My primary target had been the 3,500 ft trail marathon in Philadelphia, not this 9,000 ft race. So, I knew I was going into the race undertrained for the vertical gain, which was NOT a good strategy. But if you’re racing constantly, you can’t focus equally on multiple races. I decided to set this as a B race, not my A, so it was more of a side quest to see if I liked the event and the course. I had no expectations on finish time or place.
Gear:
My new racing shorts that I’ve been using this year worked GREAT! I was even at the start line with some other people using the same shorts and sponsored T8 athlete:
Those are not love handles, its SIS gels I swear
These shorts allowed me to hold 9 Oreos, 15 SIS gels, and a phone. You can NEVER have enough pockets, especially for food. I downed SO many SIS gels and never felt any GI distress. Because of this, I didn’t need to be weighed down by a vest—which I’m not a huge fan of, as they tend to hold in heat and bounce around. I also carried a waist Ultimate Direction Unisex Ultra Belt that held my filming equipment: a hat camera, a self centered stick, and a 360 camera.
Miscellaneous:
For the first half of the race, I wore a pair of gloves. While they were helpful for the rock climbing section, I would have ditched them if it had been any hotter—they mostly just made my hands sweat. I think the change in the course this year meant there were slightly fewer scrambles, so it was less vertical gain than the advertised 9,000 ft.
What went wrong
Camping:
I was still hesitant to camp out, fearing I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep. In hindsight, I should have camped, because I ended up making a poor hotel choice with a host of issues (which I won’t get into, since they had nothing to do with the race itself). It was a cheap motel about 15 minutes away, and it just wasn’t a great place to stay. If you plan to check out this race, I recommend bringing a tent. Check out my video for a look at the camping situation. There’s also a large parking lot for campers right at the start, spots for trailers on the side, and tents are right at the starting line.
Shoe Choice:
Carbon fiber shoes can roll your ankles. After speaking with another runner, I learned how using carbon in a shoe can be a bad idea for a technical trail run. I rolled my ankle badly during my first half marathon trail race this season—it was extremely painful, and the injury happened two more times with the new shoes. This isn’t an issue on flat gravel, but if you’re running off-camber, rocky terrain, you’re much more likely to roll an ankle. That led to injury and caused me to miss a few training runs as I recovered.
Poles in Wet Conditions ONLY:
The race recommended no poles for the scrambles, but I disagree if it’s a wet day. Poles would have been helpful for the first half, and I could have ditched them for the second half.
Cramping:
My training wasn’t at the level it needed to be for this much climbing per mile (300–350 ft/mile). I knew I was undertrained when I took the risk—and I paid for it with horrible cramping during the race. It wasn’t a nutrition issue; my muscles simply weren’t adapted for the demands of race day. Pushing on more difficult terrain than your body is ready for just causes muscle damage, so my body was trying to protect itself.
Hydration:
My hydration was borderline (medium to low). I wish there had been a few more aid stations, or that I had carried slightly more water. On a hot day, this could be a major issue. If you’re able to filter water on course, though, there are enough stream crossings to make up for it. I might just carry one bottle that can filter for next year.
Bugs:
Bugs! The gnats were relentless in some sections—I had them in my eyes more than twice. A bug net definitely would have helped, and bug spray might have made a difference too. There are small, packable bug nets you can carry. The bugs were not an issue the entire race, it seemed like only the first half.
AMAZING views in this race
What I Would Do Differently:
Next time, I would make this my A race, train with a lot more climbing, and definitely camp onsite. That’s my plan for next year. The views and climbs in this race are hard to match, especially if you’re used to the PA trail running scene. I’d also bring a bit more hydration, given the distance between aid stations, and I’d make sure to go to the top of that fire tower I saw to enjoy the view. I regret not doing that—adventures like this don’t come around very often for me.
I would also bring poles. When I started cramping, I really wished I’d had them. I saw one guy absolutely fly down a rocky section with poles—it was incredible. No one without poles could have done that. Poles are great, as long as you have a way to store them during the rockier sections.
Final Thoughts:
I loved the race, the views, the food, and the overall vibe from start to finish. This was such a well-run event—credit goes to the race director, and his crew that have run this race for 11 years. You can tell it’s a mature event that’s worked out most, if not all issues.
In life, you have to make space for something new to come in. After 21 years of running a flat, road race down Broad Street, I think I’ve found a great event to make a new yearly tradition. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt are baked into running ultras; they’re uncomfortable by design. Most will choose a life of comfort and avoid obstacles, but what happens if you always take the easy path? If you choose hard things, life becomes easier. I decided not to choose Broad Street this year because I didn’t want comfort—at least, not the kind I was used to. Comfortable is relative: ten miles on Broad Street used to be uncomfortable for me, but life keeps changing, and so should your challenges. When life gets hard beyond your control, it just doesn’t stress you out as much when you know how to push yourself. It’s still tough, don’t get me wrong, just not as bad.
Shavasana
One final thought I had was about trail running itself. The nature of your happiness lies in your relationships: to people, to places, to your community, and to your family—and in a race, in your relationship to your own body and to nature. So take care of your body, control your thoughts, and talk to the people next to you in a race because they’re going through the same thing you are. We’re all interconnected, especially with nature. So when you think you’re “alone” out there, you’re really not. You’re always connected to the world around you—and that’s a big part of why I love trail running so much.
I shot this race in a new style with my 360 camera. Let me know how you thought it came out in the comments. Thanks for reading! If you found this interesting or helpful please let me know.
Patrick is an ultrarunner and coach from Philadelphia who loves documenting his running career. His mission is to provide useful tips and tricks to assist others along their ultra journey. You can find his coaching services at https://ultraruncoach.com.
