You Can't Win Then All

After a miserable attempt at a 100 in Florida last May, The Keys 100,the ROAD KILL 100, as I have named it, due to all the traffic which you encounter the entire length of the Florida Leys, with no safety signs or markings put out by the incompetent RD, I decided to give Florida one more chance, opting for a 100 miler outside of Jacksonville, on an old, unimproved rails to trails path.

Having run on just about every survace imaginable on this planet with the 100+ ultras I have done, I thought, "piece of cake!" Flat, out and backs, and not all the horrible traffic that I encountered at Road Kill.

Indeed, the RD of the Iron Horse was first class all way. A retired Marine, he truly cared about the runners. Unfortunately for me, the well water they served didn't agree with me. No problem, I paid a volunteer a few bucks to get me some water from a gas station, and although slightly weakened from not keeping anything in or down for 30 miles, I began to feel better. Until the cramps started, forcing me to slow my pace, making it impossible to maintain a fast enough pace to stay warm. After 2 hours of uncontrollable shivering, I made the tough choice to call it quits at 75 miles. I hate DNFing a race, but sometimes it's best to stay safe and save your strength for another race. On to the next race....

Although I didn't take any pictures, and have vowed NEVER to return to Florida again, here is a token picture of my beloved cat, Pricess, feeling like her mommy after a DNF.