Background: I
feel as though an introduction of myself might be necessary because no one
knows me and why would you? Jason Gray,
husband and father, teacher, and all around fun guy, maybe, I don’t know. I’ve been running since February of 2012
after deciding that moving was the only way for my back not to hurt--4 back surgeries,
rods, screws, fusion, yada yada.
This year’s goal was to not get injured and most importantly
to have fun running. I decided early in
the year that I would attempt my first hundo (100 miler). This winter was a bitch, but my buddy Jesse,
whose blog I’m hi-jacking because I don’t write or blog and he encouraged me to
write up a race report, kept me going strong during most of it. My plan was to do a bunch of 50k’s leading up
to Ghost Train, the 100 that I decided on that starts in Brookline NH and goes
out to Milford NH and back (a bunch of times).
I ran Twin States 50k with Jesse (a PR for me @ 4:49:28), Bear Brook
Trail Marathon (which is basically a 50k @ 5:14:00), the TARC Fall Classic 50k
@ 5:13:00, Wakefield around the Lake (in which I paced my dude, Luke, for 35
miles) and a bunch of trail ½’s and other shit.
I’m going to name drop—Justin Contois, the greatest runner
that’s ever lived (at least that’s how he’s perceived in my head because he’s
responsible for getting me thinking of ultra’s and introducing me to Jesse “I
run way too damn early” Veinotte), along with Jesse really got me dialed in
mentally for Ghost Train. I was ready
for this race. Nothing was going to stop
me. I had only run consecutively a total
of 35 miles before attempting this 100, but that didn’t even matter to me. I set a goal, I got ready, and I was going to
do it. I was mentally in the right
place. Jesse agreed to pace me from mile
60 to the finish, so I knew that I would be in good hands—the dude knows his
shit.
The night before the race, my friends Luke and Tom all met
for dinner with another friend of mine, Justin Fitzgerald and his wife Dawn,
whom I met at other ultras. Dinner was
great, had a beer, and headed back to the motel to try to get some sleep and do
some last minute preparations before the race.
Luke, Tom, and myself woke up, got the cars packed up, and
headed out to starting point of the race, Camp Tevya, on a very chilly
morning. Luke actually had to hang his
head out of the window as the windshield was frosted over, to drive over to the
office where we checked out. We arrived
early, set up our tent and personal aid station, and just general pre-race
stuff. We met up with Justin and his
wife Dawn and she agreed to take some of our gear to the other end after the
race started. Ghost Train is a 7.5 mile out
and 7.5-mile back course so you have an opportunity to have a drop bag at each
end, which was nice.
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| Jay prepping before the race, photo by Tom Ronan |
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| Luke getting ready to go, photo by Tom Ronan |
When the race started it was in the lower 30’s and the
forecast for the day was partly cloudy in the mid 40’s with rain
overnight. The forecast was spot
on. I ran the first 15 miles with Luke
in 2:32, stayed with him to the next turnaround at mile 22.5, and then let him
do his thing as I felt I needed to conserve some energy for the later miles. I came in the first 30 miles at 5:24 feeling
pretty good. My left front hip flexor
thingy was acting up from the start of the race and never went away. It was tolerable, but remained on my mind.
The next 30 miles took me 7 hours and 15 minutes for 12:39
at 60 miles. This stretch was full of
ups and downs as every step past 35 miles was a PR distance for me and
unchartered territory. I began to take
more walk breaks in this stretch as fatigue and inflammation began to creep up
on me. I made it to mile 45 without the
need of a headlamp, but it was dark for the next 35-40 miles. I saw Jesse, his wife Amanda, and their two
kiddos, Matthew and Emma, at the Milford side at mile 37.5. It was a good boost to see familiar faces
cheering me on, especially the kids. It
made me think of my daughter and how I told her that I was going to be running
100 miles. I couldn’t let her down.
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| Mile 45, still smiling |
I started to develop a pain on top of my left foot. I decided to change my shoes at mile 52.5 as
my feet were beginning to swell and I had a pair that were bigger and loosely
tied in my drop bag. That seemed to do
the trick as the pain began to dissipate.
Tom and Jesse met me on the other side with coffee and encouragement,
while keeping me moving in and out of that aid station. Without them, I would’ve sat down, ate
something delicious, and probably stayed way too long.
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| Sometime right around mile 60, photo by Tom Ronan |
I picked up Jesse at mile 60 at the Brookline side and he
stayed with me until the finish. At this
point I put on some running tights, a base-layer shirt, and a thin hooded rain
jacket for the rain that was coming. The
last 40 miles took me/us 12 hours and 47 minutes. We did a walk/run thing for probably the
first 15 miles or so to make it to mile 75.
After that, it was pretty much just a “do what hurts the least—walk/run/jog/shuffle.”
Jesse was awesome as a pacer. I don’t know if he’d ever gone that slowly
before, but he tolerated it and stuck it out with me—I really appreciate it
man! More than words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ISYT6EeUM0 He’d go ahead and push the pace a little at
times, he knew when to back off and let me rest, he’d ask if I could run to the
bridge, and he shut up without me having to ask. He would run ahead and fill my Tailwind and
water and let me know that the aid station had broth or potatoes or anything
else that might interest me.
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| Around mile 92 coming through the scented pumpkin bridge |
I stayed up on my hydration and nutrition during the race
and really didn’t have any issues/concerns with that. Jesse made sure I ate and drank throughout
the last 40. I got to a point where I
hurt so bad that I had to engage in butt kicks as I was taking a leak just so
my legs didn’t rest and seize up. Supposedly
the loud howling we heard around 1:00a.m. was a pack/herd/whatever you call it
of coyotes that probably just made a kill.
I kept thinking that I would have no fight left in me if I were to be
attacked at this moment. I would’ve
presented my throat hoping they would take me quickly.
“One foot in front of the other,” “Some people don’t have
legs” “Quitting is for pu$$ies,” “If Contois could do it,” were all things I
kept saying to myself to get through to the finish. A few students of mine found out about this
race and emailed me on Friday wishing me good luck. I couldn’t let them down. Mostly, it was thinking of my daughter that
got me through. She thinks I’m Superman
and even said, “You’re running all day and night and day…whaaaaaat?” Her smile was on my mind and that made me
smile every time I thought of her.
From mile 60-75 it took me 4 hours and 17 minutes, 75-90 it
took me 5 hours and 4 minutes, and from 90-100 it took me 3 hours and 26
minutes. Wow! This is the first time I’m actually looking
at these splits. I think you want to do
the exact opposite of this, but oh well, it was a great learning experience for
the next one.
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| Nearing the finish, somewhere on the last 10 mile stretch |
I remember distinctly at mile 93.5 having a shooting pain go
up my right shin and I was sure that I just splintered the bone. I couldn’t take another step and Jesse
actually got worried, then pointed out that the middle aid station was real
close and we could have someone call and pick us up if necessary. We re-evaluated the situation, Jesse
mentioned that it could ‘ve been a severe cramp that may have hit a nerve, and
I tried to take some steps. I had to
walk sideways for a little while to avoid that shooting pain coming back. Jesse told me to take some salt pills, which
I did, and soon enough the pain was gone and I could resume a “as normal of
form as one could imagine after 93.5 miles” death march to the turn-around and
then finished the 100.
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| Coming down the stretch, photo by Tom Ronan |
With about a half mile to go, Luke and Tom came strolling
into the woods to guide me back in. I’m
convinced they thought I collapsed and were going to drag me to the
finish. Coming back into the area where
the start/finish was, was such an awesome feeling. I took my race vest off, handed it to one of
my buds and ran it in solo. I saw
Jesse’s kiddos at the finish line and gave them a wave. Luke was convinced I was losing my mind as he
thought I was waving at random kids thinking they were mine. My wife and daughter couldn’t make it for the
race. They both came down with some sort
of virus, which I ended up picking up after I returned that put me out for
three days (Not good for recovery). As I
crossed the finish line, I looked down at my watch and it read 100.2. I got a little emotional at this point for
the first time in the whole race. I shed
a couple of happy tears, thought about my wife and daughter, collected myself,
and then reported to the timing table to receive my very cool finishing
railroad spike.
Overall, it was a great experience. I saw a lot of brave runners out there
pushing their limits in one way or another.
The volunteers were phenomenal, the race was flawlessly put together,
and I had a blast.
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| Finishing railroad spike, photo by Tom Ronan |
I have to thank Luke and Tom for joining me on this
endeavor, both of whom achieved PR’s for distance. They turned into my crew after their day was
over, where they could’ve packed up and gone home. I’d also like to thank Justin Contois for
just getting the wheels in motion for this day (mentally and physically)—I miss
you man! Jesse Veinotte is the man!!!
This dude got me training for real, way early in the morning, in the
cold, rain, heat, humidity, you name it.
He paced me for 40 miles and over 12 hours. He crewed for me before that. He gave me tips, podcasts, emails, words of
encouragement, etc…I can’t thank you enough my friend. Most importantly, I need to thank my wife,
Greta, and my daughter, Gracie, for putting up with me throughout this whole
thing. The training, the ups and downs,
my piss poor attitude at times, the time I took away from my family to
race/train/recover, was all sacrifices they had to deal with. I truly appreciate them and how they
understand this passion of mine.
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Results can be found here: https://sites.google.com/site/ghosttrainrailtrailrace/results/2015-results
Jay ended up finishing 17th out of 41 finishers, in a time of 25 hours and 26 minutes.
Jay ended up finishing 17th out of 41 finishers, in a time of 25 hours and 26 minutes.
Thank you to Jay for writing up an account on your experience and talking about the determination that it takes to not call it quits when you return to your car/tent/chair every 15 miles. It takes a lot of willpower to push on through the night and we all have our focus that helps us through a long race such as a 100 miler. After seeing everyone out there all night and being part of the Ghost Train again for the second year, I may make an attempt next year at a 100 miler. Not sure where yet, but it will be a big focus race for me next year and I hope to complete it in the fall sometime.
