24 Summits

I am not sure where to start this...at some point Eric mentioned this crazy run as a training run to get him ready for his next 100 miler attempt. It sounded like a must do, but quite a stretch for me physically. 12 Summits is 34 miles with 10,500 feet of elevation gain, which if you do the math properly makes 24 summits 68 miles with 21,000 feet of elevation gain. We had talked about doing a long night run so we combined the effort and decided to do the first 12 summits in the dark. I had not attempted a 12 summits before. Perhaps it was fate that I would attempt it for the first and second time within the same 24 hour period.

On Friday night I had my family over for dinner. They arrived at 6 p.m. and Eric and Michelle were picking me up at 8 p.m. I ate some lasagna and prepared my bags, double checking my supplies as I did so. I got the usual questions about why I would do something like this and do not think I ever fully responded. To answer this question fully would take a 2-300 page book that I am not quite ready to write.

Eric and Michelle arrived right on time. I said goodbye to the family and we headed out to drop some supplies on the opposite end of the mountain for our return trip x2. The weather was wet, but a non concern. The focus was on the climbs and the length of the trip and the conditions were not remotely bad enough to alter that focus. All day Friday I had a sense of fear and anticipation that I had not felt before.

We dropped our supplies and headed to the start to meet up with Arthur who would be running the night section with us. Arthur left his car down below the gate and Michelle gave us all a ride to the top where the main trail began. Arthur had his dog, Shela, with him as well, which added another measure of safety for us. I imagine if there were a bear, or cougar anywhere near us Shela would go crazy and fortunately that never happened.

Around 9:15 p.m. we headed off into the darkness. The first climb is the most difficult of all, but as I found out there are many more difficult climbs to follow. I was carrying my Camelbak with water, an extra shirt, some food, and other little supplies just in case, as well as two bottles of Gatorade. The first three summits were routine with a little added stumbling along the way. I was managing to kick just about every root and rock on the trail, which added extra entertainment for Eric who was running behind me.

Arthur led the way most of the time, but Eric took the lead occasionally as well. I tried to stay in the middle because I was the most unfamiliar with the trail and did not want to get left behind. Both of them are very strong and I definitely would have been lagging if we were going all out. There were a few sections with devils club, nettles and blackberry bushes to run through and enough to scrape the legs up nicely. I also had a nice fall on the way out, but managed to bounce back up like one of those blow up punching dolls. I tripped and fell to my right side and protected myself with my arm and in doing so popped right back up and continued running. Eric had a difficult time staying on the trail after that since he was laughing so hard.

The trip up to the final summit, South Tiger, was where I entered new territory. TC had taken me to Middle Tiger before and I remembered parts of the trail vaguely as we were running. The night ended up being dry for most of the trip, but the brush we ran through kept us nice and wet. I stomped through the mud and tried to run directly through all puddles, but missed a few, as Arthur and Eric would point out to me when I did so.

When we reached South Tiger I had to sign the book at the top since I had never been there before. We reached the summit a little before 1 a.m. I was feeling tired and anxious to get to the end of the trail where we would restock and head back to the start. We still had about 4 miles to go, but most of it was runnable. Somewhere along the way Arthur noticed that Shela had disappeared. He called her name, but she did not come. He turned back to look for her while me and Eric waited. Arthur heard her yelping and thought she was being attacked, but fortunately she had just got her collar caught in the brush and was stuck. He caught back up to us and we headed to the turn around.

We made it to our supplies in about 4 hours and 30 minutes. I drank a Starbucks doubleshot and an ensure plus and refilled my bottles, but not my Camelbak. I still had water left and felt like I was doing okay with drinking. The trip back to South Tiger went by rather quickly. Eric took the lead on the way to Middle Tiger and must have entered the zone because he zipped ahead of us and tried to kill me at this point. Arthur stayed behind me as we headed up the long arduous climb. When we finally reached the summit I had to remind Eric that this was a 24 summits and not just 12. I was definitely wiped out at this point.

Arthur took the lead and powered up some of the hills. Eric told me to set the pace and we hiked up the hills and ran on the flats and downhills. Talking was at a minimum the rest of the way back to the start. I recovered and managed to keep up on the way back to Tiger 3. Arthur ran ahead and waited for us at the summit. After that he went on ahead so that he could get the Jeep and bring it back up to the main parking area since we had our bags in it and would need to move our bags into Robin's car before we headed back out.

On the final descent Eric went ahead and I shuffled behind. My legs were pretty shot at this point and on the way down I was thinking of how I could get Eric to go on ahead as there was no way I would be able to keep up on the next 12 summits. I had invited Robin to run the 2nd 12 summits with us and arranged for her to give us a ride home as well. The guilt would be too overwhelming to stop now. Not to mention that I had announced it on this blog, which was another motivator.

I finally reached the bottom and made my way out into the parking lot where Arthur, Eric, Shawn and Robin were all waiting. I felt like death, but I knew that I was heading out again. Arthur was heading home, Eric was getting ready for the next loop and Shawn and Robin were going to help us along the next 12 summits, which we hoped to finish in under 11 hours.

I put dry socks on, changed my shirt, and refueled. Robin filled my Camelbak and bottles with Gatorade for me and before I knew it we were on our way. Shawn was the navigator and we joked because she got confused right from the start about where to get on the trail. They made me lead the way and I joked about how slow I would be moving. The brutal climb began and I knew there were many more to come. There was a lot of talking and joking around that really helped to distract from the pain in my body.

The climbs up the first three summits were uneventful and the movement was steady. We warned Shawn and Robin about the devils club and mud and tried to prepare them for what was to come. I forget where my next major bonkage was, but I was able to fuel up and recover after a relatively short period of time. Both Shawn and Robin were making sure that we were eating and drinking enough. I tried to get them to hold back food from Eric so that he could experience the same misery that I was feeling, but they kept feeding him. Eric had fun pointing out at each major climb or descent that he felt better the second time around. I responded with my typical form of appreciation and kept moving forward.

We reached the turn around and I drank another Starbucks doubleshot, restocked and used the facilities (bushes) before heading out. At this point the finish was certain. The unknown was how long it would take to get back. I felt a certain amount of guilt for holding the rest of them back, but Shawn and Robin were all about being there for us. One of them would run with Eric and one would run with me and we would meet up at the summits. They would make me lead from time to time and I joked that they were using me to get some rest. "Sure, just put Rob in front and we can all take it easy for awhile." Then when we needed to make up time Eric would lead.

I fell way behind on the way to East Tiger. Shawn kept me company and I told her how lucky she was to experience the full depth of my bonks. I attempted to run when it was flat, but I think it mostly went up. We finally arrived and Eric and Robin had been there for who knows how long. I banged my bottle on the picnic table and turned around and headed down the hill to get ahead of them. They made me lead on the next section and I was able to move fairly well. It was a good runnable section with some steep downhills.

We then reached what I considered to be the last major climb. Let me assure you that it is much longer and steeper after 60+miles and 20,000 feet of elevation already climbed. Eric lead the way and was soon out of sight. We hiked and hiked and hiked and I swore and swore and swore. We took an alternate route up to the hikers hut and found Eric inside waiting for us. I had to sit down and was completely toast at this point. That climb took every ounce of energy I had left.

I tried to get them all to go ahead, but both Shawn and Robin insisted that they were going to stay with me. Robin gave Eric the keys to the car and Eric went on down ahead. I knew he could still run, but I could not at this point. It is quite steep on the way down from Tiger 3 to Tiger 2 and then over to Tiger 1. Walking was painful and the pain between my feet and knees was constant. This section was the most emotional for me and I was close to tears at several points, but managed to maintain my composure. I hoped that Shawn or Robin would not say anything to me during this because I am not sure I could have responded without losing it.

We finally reached Tiger 1 and had one final descent to the finish. I shuffled the first section until we got on the main trail to the bottom. There was a lot of silence and Shawn and Robin had taken my Camelbak and bottles away from me at this point. They were talking, it was pouring down rain and my movement could only be described as a death march. I had a moment of despair and wanted to get down so badly that I attempted to run. It didn't last long and before I knew it I was walking again with my head down, but always moving forward. This trail is endless especially when you are feeling bad.

The stumps on the side of trail kept looking like animals, but I knew they were not. This is a highly traveled trail and I looked down and swore that I saw a kid on the side of the trail up ahead about 100 feet. I asked Shawn and Robin and they told me it was not, but assured me it was perfectly normal to hallucinate at this point. Every time I looked down the side of the trail all I could see was that it kept going down and there was a long way to go. I swore some more, but was glad to have Shawn and Robin to keep me company even though I felt extremely guilty for keeping them out on the trail for so long.

After 22 hours and 40 minutes I came out of the forest and into the parking lot. I did not have enough energy to be happy. I was thankful for Shawn and Robin and all of their support. I was thankful to Arthur for getting us through the night section and to Michelle for driving us to the start and watching my kids so that I could join Eric on this Epic adventure. I was thankful to my wife for putting up with me and buying me McDonald's on her way home from work even though I was falling asleep while I was eating it and also for checking in on me at 4 a.m. to make sure that I was still alive and breathing and did not suffer permanent damage. There is a saying that I have seen several times and is always inspiring, "Pain is temporary. Pride is forever." The pain is already starting to fade.

Happy Running!