Run It Fast®

Here is a sneak peak of the 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon poster that was leaked online earlier this week.

The popular cult-like marathon takes place this Sunday, November 21st, 2010.  The up-and-down course is located in Nashville’s Harpeth Hills.

The event filled up in just 32 minutes this year and is limited to approximately 275 runners.

Many veteran Monkey runners claim the marathon is one of the 10 most difficult marathons in the United States.

Check out the Flying Monkey Marathon Website for more details.

I am exhausted and in pain now. I know running Ultra is painful, but I just tend to forget how painful the last Ultra was and still end up signing for a couple more. I can feel the twinge of soreness in my achilles tendon and I dare to break those nasty blisters. I’d decided that I would rather leave the room lights ON and go to sleep instead of making an attempt to get up and turn it off.

3:18AM, Oct 16th, I forced myself out from the bed at this God forsaken hour to hit the shower. Race starts at 5:00AM. I decided to start along with my friend Diane, two hours prior to official start time. My ambitious goal was to get the 50 miler under 10 hours and run until 7:00PM to get a 100K. Little did I knew what was in store for me for the rest of the day.

It was very cold that morning that one could see their breath. I wasn’t expecting it to get this cold. No long sleeved shirt and no gloves. About 20 runners took off, into the fog, into the darkness. Not knowing where you are running at times is a bliss. I could hardly see anything ahead of me and that included the elevation as well. The first few miles were quiet hilly until we reached Kohls from where we ran towards Percy priest dam and back to the start line. Running that long wooden bridge along Stones river has always been my favorite course. While running back towards the start I saw the runners who started at 7:00AM. There were many faces that I could recognize. Dallas Smith, Josh Hite, Mike Melton, Mike from Bartlett, John Titjen and more. By the time I got to the start line which was mile 16 now, my hands were completely frozen and I had to take Angela’s help, another awesome runner and a good friend, to even open a can of coke and the cap of the water bottle.

The sun was up by now and I headed my way towards Shelby Bottoms. The course was great and the course directions were marked pretty clear. There was NU written all along the intersections. It was a pleasant surprise when the arrow turned right detouring from the pavement to a dirt/grass trail. The grass drenched in early morning dew, with trees covering both sides of the trail, it felt like running in the wild. That’s when the unexpected happened. I landed myself in a small ditch which was camouflaged by the covering of grass and I really twisted my ankle and felt a sharp pain shoot out from my Achilles. I walked a bit and when I felt good I started running again. The grass trail was winding through all along the course until a few miles short to the Shelby Bottoms Aid station.

It wasn’t until after crossing the Pedestrian Bridge, mile 26, that my feet started hurting from the earlier ankle twist. It was getting hotter but nothing unbearable. Running along the Cheatham lake reminded me that it’s the Purity 10K course which I ran earlier this year and I ran the purity 10K just for the unlimited ice cream after you finish. I saw the turn around point for 60K and 70K and was eagerly waiting to approach the 50 Mile turn around point. Mile 31, finally I made it to the turn around. Now all the way back to the start in addition to a small loop to the finish line.

Mile 33, piercing pain hit my achilles and even running a 13 min pace was becoming impossible. I was well in time until now for a sub 10:00 and decided to take it easy and walk till the pedestrian bridge but when I reached mile 37 I lost all hopes and the goal was just to finish. A doc at the aid station looked at my leg and after examining my feet he said that my feet is swollen and it’s going to be difficult but when I insisted to continue, he decided to splint my achilles which offered very little support. It was still painful but at least helped me keep moving. Prolonged walks on the hot pavement, my Vibrams couldn’t hold it, and ended up developing blisters. At mile 40, when I reached the aid station I had nothing in my mind but to quit. Should I drop down to 40 mile and finish the race, running another 10 miles in this situation was something too daunting. While my body was waging a battle against my mind, I decided to keep moving on the course so that I will not have a choice but to continue to the finish line.

Soon I hit the grass/dirt trail. The same course which I loved running earlier that morning was looking like a crazy demon waiting to devour my leg as soon as I set my feet on it.

READ THE REST OF NARESH’S NASHVILLE ULTRA RACE REPORT HERE

The finisher’s medal from the inaugural Tennessee Ragnar Relay from Chattanooga to Nashville (195 miles).

Live blogging from the 2010 Tennessee Ragnar Relay from Chattanooga to Nashville.

PHOTOS FROM BUMPSHACK RACING at RAGNAR

CHECK OUT THE MASSIVE TN RAGNAR RELAY BLING

LIVE BLOG

Bumpshack Racing Final Time – 27 hrs 39 min 21 seconds
– 32nd of 160 Overall
– 10th of 79 Open Division

Team R3 won the relay in 19:47:09
2nd Place: TR2 Slug Monkeys 23:43:47
3rd Place: Blue Suede Shoes 24:12:46

View 2010 Ragnar Relay Tennessee Full Team Results

Sat 1:38pm – We are done. Totally rocked it. Everyone had a blast and really ran it fast. Will update more later. Life calls! On road home, stopped at Sonic getting sweet tea to assist in my toughest leg the past row days.

Travis brought us home with our 36th overall leg. We met him as a team of 12 there on 1st ave. We ran the last 200 yards as a team and crossed the finish line together.  A very happy and joyous occasion for us all.

Perhaps cheesy, but I couldn’t have asked for a better team. We all got along extremely well and had a really fun time pushing each other across 195 miles in 27 hours and 39 minutes.

“Great challenging event that pushes you to the max both physically and mentally. Would totally do it all over again…with some rest of course.” – Josh Watson

Sat 12:30pm – Done with my and Chad’s legs. 15.3 miles. Tough. Get text when done that wife and baby in ER. Baby stopped breathing for bit, turned blue. Three x-rays and bloodwork on baby. Not sure what’s wrong, maybe obstruction in stomach. Speeding home shortly after done.

Miller is currently running next to last leg, then Travis and we are done.

Sat 8:33am – Kirk came in strong but spent. Van 1 set a high standard throughout. Those guys can now shower (at Tommy’s condo), relax, and start the party (at Hooters) if they can still move.

Van 2, led by Estes, is off to finish this off.

Sat 6:58am – Van 2 with little to no sleep. I have none as most have little if any. I did get a very cold shower in the girl’s locker room at the school we stopped by. Very cold Shower and old-school open for the locker room to see! Oriental woman walked in astonished I was using their shower. But I chatted her up and she became friendly telling me about her running so far. About 8 other women walked in during this time all with the same look. I finished getting dressed and told them I enjoyed it and we’d do it again some time.

Chad is injured so I am going to attempt his leg, as well, after my 9 mile leg in a bit. Won’t lie, I have no clue how my body will respond to 15.3 more miles on no sleep, after 2 fast legs already in the tank, but we as a team will get it done some how.

Van 1 during this time has continued their torrid pace. Gene, Josh Watson, Flowers, and Tommy are done with all of their legs. Van 2 should take over again around 8:30am to bring this home and to our bling at the end of the rainbow.

Sat 3:30am – Chad’s run across Shelbyville turned into a skip-to-my-Lou across Shelbyville as the ‘One-Legged Pony’s’ calf started acting the fool.

Scott ‘Heather’ Miller is out running abacus fast. Travis is up soon, then we are off to attempt sleep as Van 1 takes over.

Sat 2:30am – Just finished my 2nd leg (21st overall). It was very cold so I just took off at about 7:25 pace for first 3 miles. I felt good, so I kept pushing hard. Did last 3.8 at about 7:04 pace. Caught some people on last mile. Finished 6.8 mile leg at 49:09, 7:13 pace. So much better than first crap run. (New pace record for Bumpshack Racing so far).

One-Legged Pony Richardson is currently running through Shelbyville. Rest of guys in Van 2 have nicknamed me ‘Hot Flash.’ I have tried to shorten this to ‘Flash’ but to no avail.

Garth ‘Darth’ Bentley is seriously doing a great job getting us to these exchange points and supporting us along the route.  ‘Darth’ just got renamed as ‘Hoke’ for you ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ fans.

Sat 1:30am – Estes said he had a hard time breathing but still set the fastest pace for our team, so far, at 7:15 for his 2.7 mile leg.  We will see how long this stands.

Fri 11:15pm – At exchange waiting on Van 1 that has, like Sherman, blazed through their second set of legs. The entire team Gene, Watson, Flowers, Tommy, Andy, and Kirk have really ran fast. Watson was about 7:30 pace, Flowers 8:08.

Estes is ready to take off on a short 5kish leg once Kirk reaches him. Estes plans to set the fastest pace of the race for the team once he starts.

“Holmes, take your headlamp into the porta-potty, you can’t see crap in there!” – Chad ‘One-legged Pony’ Richardson

Fri 10:10pm – Watson finished his 2nd leg in 43:08 – very fast. Two very fast runs for him. He’s on fire.  Flowers running now.

Fri 10:00pm – Still waiting at fancy Italian place in Winchester (oxymoron?!) for our food…Van2.  The fancy Italian place took about 2 hours to serve and feed us but was worth the wait. Great food and bonding time with Van 2.  Our van, mostly strangers before the race, has quickly become friends and fans of each other.

“She was wearing tutu, and she blew me away!” – Travis Lampley

Fri 8:38pm – Travis ‘Quad City DJ’ brought us down off the mountain. 1/3 of the legs are in the books. Van 1 is back running with ‘Mean’ Gene starting round 2 of their legs. Both vans got to spend a good amount of time together at this last exchange.

Van 2 is now off in search of food and relaxation.

“It was rough, but it was fun!” – Travis Lampley

Fri 7:30pm – Scott Miller had a very fast run thru Sewanee before handing off to Travis.

“Knock’em off!” -Scott Miller

Fri 6:07pm – Estes battled the mountain and sleet and rain and some how pushed it hard. Brandon then took over for leg 8 and smoked his leg on top of the mountain. I took leg 9 which was a ‘Support’ leg which really means no course-support, that it’s up to your team.  Myself and team figured this out about 3.5 miles in. I struggled hard the first 4 miles before finding a semi-decent balance the last 2. The thin air, cold, and just my suckness made it a tough leg for me.  Still managed a decent pace.

Chad took over for leg 10 as darkness totally took over.  He looked strong when we just passed him.  It is getting colder, but everyone is running really well. Our 2nd runs, starting with Van 1 here in a bit will start to challenge us all as it gets colder.

Garth is doing a great job navigating the van.  About time to eat!

“Thinking about the Lonestar concert at the end helped me garner the strength and courage to conquer the mountain.” – Chris Estes

“I ate a potato, so bring on my next leg.” – Brandon ‘Spud’ Piacine

“I think I pulled my hammy hanging a left at that last stop sign.” – Garth Bentley (Van 2 Driver)

Fri 3:46pm – Van 2 is off and going. Estes is currently attacking the mountian. He looked very strong when we passed him in the van. The van struggled but made it up the mountain.  Brandon is now waiting at the exchange spot for Estes to meet him. Just as Brandon hopped out it started raining and sleeting.  It’s starting to get fun.  I’m up after Brandon, then Richardson, Miller, Lampley.

At the Van exchange where vans switched Kirk came in extremely fast and soaked. He ran as fast as he ever has. He seemed tired but excited.  Ready to run!  I will update pics as soon as I have a 3G signal.

Fri 1:42pm – Van 2 is checked in at exchange 6 and ready to go. Flowers ran a strong 3rd leg, as did Tommy. Andy is currently running then Kirk.  The weather has been cold, raining, sunny, warm, repeat!

Estes is ready to climb Mt. Eagle and fly with the birds.

Garth tried to put window paint on our van to decorate…below the windows, on the paint.  Immediate panic and dash to bathroom for towels to wash it off.

Van 2 in van, staying warm, waiting on Van 1 and Kirk to arrive.

Thanks to Scott Miller for the usage of the computer and wifi-card.

Fri 12:05pm – Gene smoked leg 1 in 65 minutes. Cab setting the bar high. Great start.

Fri 11:00am – Gene is off at the start after proposing to a girl in the stands during intros. Very cold at the start.  Ran into some Jackson friends, Jennifer Vailes Jones, Mandy Hill Reeves and her husband Randy Reeves as well.

Us Van 2 guys are currently at the Mellow Mushroom carbing up.  Chad and myself thought it would be a good idea to split and finish off a 16-inch Hawaiian pizza before our first leg.

Fri 9:26am – In van, on way to start line. Photos on link above.

Friday 7:15am – Up, quick shower, then down to meet rest of team to see them off at start. I couldn’t turn my brain off. Fell asleep about 3:00am. Will get food with Van 2 runners at some point. Estes is ready for some bling.

Thursday 10:00pm – Met up with Chris Estes and Tommy Dabbs in Nashville at Tommy’s place around 1pm. We got a quick bite at The Corner Pub before van driver Jon Arnold graciously picked us up to take us to the team meeting spot in Murfreesboro. Everyone quickly introduced themselves to the guys they didn’t know.

We then boarded our respective vans and headed down to our luxury hotel, the Microtel (yes, mirrors on every wall. Gene and Kirk were pumped to be sharing a room), in Chattanooga. After a gaffe by the hotel, giving half the guy’s room we headed to Carraba’s for a nice pasta-carb load and socializing among ourselves.

Then 7 guys boarded van 2 to head back to the hotel for some sleep while the remaining 5 runners and our teo drivers headed to the Fox and Hound for drinks. Most of our leadoff van headed to the Hound so it could me an interesting start to the morning.

I passed out the team shirts to the guys who came back, and everyone seemed to approve. About to attempt some sleep. Van 2 plans to head to the start with Van 1 to see them off.

Check back tomorrow for updates when the connection allows.

It’s going to be a blast.

I will be live blogging my experience doing my first Ragnar Relay race.  Our 12-person team, Bumpshack Racing, consists of myself Joshua Holmes, Scott Flowers, Kirk Catron, Tommy Dabbs, Chris Estes, Gene Caballero, Travis Lampley, Brandon Piacine, Scott Miller, Andy Schmeltzer, Chad Richardson, and Josh Watson.

Each Ragnar team (except the Ultra teams) consist of 12 runners split into two separate vans with each runner running 3 legs throughout the relay.  Every runner must stay in the same order throughout the race.

We are fortunate to have Garth Bentley and John Arnold driving our vans throughout the relay.

We will be meeting up in Murfreesboro tomorrow afternoon, hopping in two 15-person passenger vans, and making the trek down to Chattanooga to get settled in for pasta, socializing, and perhaps even a little bit of rest for our 195-mile journey starting on Friday morning.

Van #1 – Gene, Watson, Flowers, Dabbs, Schmeltzer, Catron
Van #2 – Estes, Piacine, Holmes, Richardson, Miller, Lampley

Most of my updates during the live blog will be centered around Van #2 since that is where I will be spending most of my time.  There will be several times during the relay though where both vans will be together.

Ragnar Relay Website

Race Start Time: November 5, 2010 – 11:00am (Downtown Chattanooga)

(Refresh Page for Updates Until the Race is Over)

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