Coast to Coaster 2025

Race: Coast to Coaster 2025

Date: 4/24/2025

Time: DNF

Place: DNF

Pre-Race Conditions:

If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit. -Banksy

Ready for a shit show. My biggest fear for this race has come true. It looks like rain will start Friday and be with us on and off for the next couple days. I have some rain gear with me as back up but was hoping not to use it. I’m going to carry an extra poncho and be ready to be wet for a while. Hopefully I can get some good miles in early before it all starts. 

Part of the concern is being cold and wet. The only path is forward. We’ll see how it goes. 

The last few weeks have been kind of crazy. One of the amazing things that happened is I was finally able to get the title and pick up Paul’s Mustang. It seems only fitting that I did that last week. I remember years ago when he brought his girlfriend, me and Mitch to cedar point and then after we decided to go to Kings Island the next day. I’ll be thinking of him during this run. That was a fun trip. It was my first time on a roller coaster. Right into cedar point we went on the raptor. I didn’t do all the coasters but still had fun. My next trip to Cedar Point I did a lot more. Still not my favorite thing. I’d have no problem climbing to the top of the towers. I’ve never liked the stomach dropping zero G feeling. 

Training for this race has been a little bit of a struggle with a lot going on. Trying to balance work, life, training, yoga and everything else has been fun to say the least. I did have a good run in the rain a couple weeks ago where I wiped out with about 4 miles left. I scraped up my knee and bruised my right hip. I’ve had to fight through some pain and discomfort since. It feels like mostly a bruise and strain. I was able to get some decent runs in. I should be able to manage that with some Tylenol and stupidity.

We went to dinner tonight with the screwed runners who were already in town. 6 of us and the Race director went to a back up brewery. The first brewery was closed for a private event. Too bad. It looked like a cool place in an old factory. It was just our first challenge of the race. We quickly found a new plan. That’s the purpose of these style events. You have to think on your feet and constantly adapt. It was cool to meet everyone and hear some stories of some other races. 2 of the other runners are from Michigan. Kim is from Bloomfield and has heard of thee Bruce Seguin. He’s a legend. Her words. 

I’m back in the hotel room relaxing and doing my last little bit of gear prep. Tonight is going to be a good night's sleep night. I’m going to need some rest if I’m going to be awake for almost 3 days. I keep looking at the distance and timing. At Vol State last year I was able to do 84 miles in the first 24 hours. Then averaged about a 50k every 12 hours. The weather here isn’t going to be as hot and it’s 100 miles shorter. I won’t need to pace or be as reserved. I keep looking at it like I will be able to finish in about 3 days. About 90 miles day 1 then 2x 70 mile days. Throw in a few naps in there and I’ll be wiped out. It should be doable. The closer I get to the finish line I’ll be able to push more. I do think I’m going pretty heavy. There won’t be much aid through the night. Everything will be closing at like 10 and opening at 8AM. I’m going to have to rely on what I can carry. It’s going to make it fun. 

Race Recap:

Well that quote didn’t hold up on this one. I think this may be one of my first real DNFs that I intentionally quit. I’ve tapped out early in a timed race or may not have hit my goal. Never called it quits. I made peace with that at mile 30. No matter what happened I realized that I’ve grown past kicking the crap out of myself like this. 

The day before some journey runs like this one starts with a ride from the finish line to the start line. Logistically it’s a nice thing to not have to figure out how to get yourself 230 miles. Part of this trip included a stop at the Ohio State Reformatory. This is the famous prison where the Shawshank Redemption was filmed. Or as Steve called it when I sent him a picture, OSU. I really need to watch that movie again soon. 

It was a cool stop and we got the Behind the Bars tour that takes you to areas of the prison you can’t go on the self guided tour. The prison was at mile 54 in the race and check in number 2. 

After our tour we had the hour drive to our hotel. I was rooming with Addison. Hoping to take advantage of spending time with a runner who whooped Vol State last year in just under 4 days after winning HOTS weeks earlier. We got settled and went to Walmart for our last bit of race supplies. Dinner was at the steakhouse down the road. About a 5 minute walk. No Chinese buffets like Vol State. 5 of us went to dinner about 5PM. A little earlier than planned but it was good to go with the group. After dinner I made my pre race phone calls to everyone then stopped by Applebees to get my bib and tracker. This race had live tracker on al of us so the RD could see where we were at in real time. Kinda cool especially when we were going to really be in rural Ohio. I chatted with those guys for a while and headed back to the room to load my gear up. 

Addison and I packed our vests and compared them. We couldn’t tell who’s vest was heavier or lighter. I think that’s a good sign when I though I had way too much with me. I knew I was going to carry some extra bottles with me from stores. Those are heavy until you drink them. Better to be slower and hydrated than fast and dehydrated. 

Race morning. Packed. Dressed. Fed. And ready to go. 

At the start line. Cedar point in the distance behind the start. 

The race started right at 7:30. No delays and everyone was there on time but one no show. We took off and I was feeling very calm and comfortable. Normally race morning I’m a ball of nerves, panicked and crazy. I think being this calm was a product of knowing what lie ahead and that should something come up I could deal with it.

We set off at an easy pace. For some reason I was leading. It was a good group to run with. Sorry Kim for cutting you off. I couldn’t see my phone and was blind selfieing. 

About 2 miles in I found an alley with a little hiding spot aka a place to pee. There was no way I was going to make it miles until we got out of town. We stayed together until about mile 3 when Kim slowed down. Then a couple miles later Darren slid over to Starbucks and it was Kyle, Addison and me. We were together for a little bit longer before I had to pick up a little bit. My hip was bothering me running at an awkward pace. I didn’t think I was moving much faster than them until I looked back and realized I opened up a decent gap. My plan wasn’t to run ahead of them. I just couldn’t continue risking aggravating my hip so early. I planned on having to deal with pain later in the race. The plan was to manage it as best I could early on. Luckily it did feel better the more I ran. Even at the end I was not hurting and it actually felt pretty good. 

Not really on purpose. I was the first to make it to the Thomas Edison bench at mile 14 and check in. Kyle and Addison were only about a minute behind me. I started walking and then stopped to retie my shoes and adjust my pack a little down the road and join back up with them. 

We jogged it out to the dollar general at mile 18 for our first resupply of the course. I loaded my water bottles, grabbed a coke to run with and had a frozen fruit bar. I lived on those bars at Vol State. They are great in the heat. It was nice because Addison even paid for the 3 of us. I wasn’t able to repay him later. 

We took back off after a little bit I had to split off again. Their easy pace was about 15-20 seconds too slow for me to feel comfortable at. 

Next was an 11 mile run before the next store. It was warm but there was a nice breeze. I was having flashbacks of that shit run Bruce had me and Zach do down Lake George Road. I think we were running exposed for 80 miles down Lake George on that 15 mile run. There was a little PTSD popping up. 

Miles of endless road. Completely boring. I don’t know how road runners do this. I could have picked a race in the mountains or a trail somewhere in nature. The endless artificial views are miserable. I tried not to think of it. 

I ran the first marathon at a pretty comfortable pace. Taking a few easy walk breaks. I knew cloud cover was coming in the early afternoon.  That was my goal. Run the first marathon easy or around noon then swap to a run walk. The course was completely flat so when I would decide to walk it was almost no incline. 

This is face you make when that first cloud blocks the sun and you get a nice break from it. 

At mile 39 was a market that closed at 5pm. It was one of my first day goals to be there in time. Easily doable. I didn’t know it was a Mennonite market. They had a lot of good things there. No frozen fruit bars though. I grabbed a few bananas and drinks. At the checkout I was talking with the girl who kept thinking we were biking the 232 miles. Even after multiple times explaining we were running I don’t think she believed me. 

I went out to a nice bench on the patio and took my shoes off for the first time. I had planned to cut these shoes at some point. So far my feet were feeling ok. No modifications needed yet. My plan was to leave there by 3:30. I figured 30 minutes off course would have let Addison and Kyle catch up. I think I got moving a little bit early. No sign of them. 

One funny thing was that while I was sitting on that bench an older woman sat down and commented on the manure smell. I commented back that it wasn’t me. After telling her what I was doing she didn’t get it. 

People can’t seem to comprehend running across a state. 

It had to be about 5:15 when I was running down a country road with spread out houses a car pulled up and offered me an apple. At first I didn’t recognize who it was but gladly accepted at that point. On second look it was the cashier from the market. I just happened to be in the same road she took home. She stopped to say hi and give me the apple. I think this was one of my favorite moments of the whole race. It was so good. 

The Ohio State Reformatory, aka Ohio University according to Steve, was check-in number 2 at mile 54. I made it there without many issues. My pace was slowing a bit but the course was so runnable. I did miss a turn but only went about 200 feet off course before realizing my mistake.

I was looking for a place to take a nap but they had no openings for me. 

I was the first one here. It wasn’t by plan. I was running my race. At this point I knew I had 2 miles until the next town and aid. A had met my goal to get there before 10PM by about 3 hours. At this point I wasn’t beat up much but realized I did push to do it. It felt good to hit this milestone. I did change my plan a bit to get a hotel room for a few hours. A shower, hot food and a 2 hour nap then back on the road about midnight for a big push thru the night would be good. I’d be able to make mile 92 by morning and resupply before some good miles during the day before the rain hit. The concern was the was the rain was coming at us the further you were the sooner it would hit you. I was executing my plan. 

I called the days inn and confirmed they had a vacancy and made my way there. Derek, the Race Director, text back from my check in selfie and told me to keep it up. I told him my plan to do 3 things:

1. get to the hotel and get a shower and nap

2. Get 1500 calories in me

3. Let Addison and Kyle pass me

In these races a lot of shuffling happens when the runners are resting or resupplying. At vol state we kept changing positions when you would see someone sleeping after day 3. To me we had a fun pod and it made it interesting. You never knew when you would see someone. That course had lots of people around. This course was the opposite. It was very isolated. 

Dollar general resupply and a little rain walking the block backwards to the hotel. The best part of the hotel stop meant that I would get hot food. If I would have kept going I would have had to eat whatever I could find that didn’t need to be heated up. I grabbed about 2000 calories and planned to at least eat 1200-1500. I forgot cheese itz. 

I checked it into the hotel and got a room on the 6th floor right near thr elevator. I snacked a bit, showered then ate a bunch more. I was feeling good. Nothing really hurt. I was able to relax and get my feet up. After eating what I thought was a good amount, about 1200 calories, I decided it was time to sleep. I set multiple alarms for 2 hours. I didn’t want to oversleep. 

This is where things went sideways. After about an hour I woke up with one of the worst migraines of my life. I didn’t really have any normal triggers as far as I could tell. I was laying in bed in with my head pounding and fearful I was going to throw up. After about 10 minutes I was able to work myself to getting up and taking some meds. I laid back down. Still extremely fearful of throwing up. I knew if I did that I was going to be in for a really rough time. I slept for a bit more. I kept waking up feeling really crappy. I figured out I had ziplocks with me so I walked to the other side of the floor to get ice for my head. That ice machine was broken so I had to walk down the stairs to the next floor and back. 56 miles and my legs had no problem with stairs. I got back to my room and slept until about 1:30 when I was feeling better. I knew laying there wasn’t going to help. Moving actually helped so I decided to pack up and get on the road about 2.5 hours behind my initial plan. No worries here. Plenty of time left and no need to kill myself. 

I decided to take it easy and walked the first 2 miles. No running. In those miles I saw a blinky light up ahead. I want sure if it was another runner or just a street light way ahead. Eventually I caught up to Darren. He had just went by. I walked with him for a half mile before needing to walk at my pace and split off. 

I had a bottle of coke with me that normally helps during a migraine. I was forcing myself to take sips to keep some caffeine and calories going. My plan was to just keep moving as much as I could through the night. I was jogging a little bit but overall taking it easy. At this point sunrise was only a few hours away. I had a plan that if I made it to sunrise I would be able to rally and get back in the race. I kept going as the rain started. At this point I was pretty low. I kept bargaining with myself about what I could do to finish and how much more I needed to make. I realized that I still had 4 hours until any store opened. Even then I would still have to get there. I didn’t know how long that would be. Finally I wasn’t having fun. This coming from someone who loves to run in the rain. The rougher the conditions the more fun I have. I decided to run my decision by someone to see if I was making the right decision. At 4AM there weren’t too many options. First I tried Tina. I knew she got up early and she had offered to talk in middle of the night if I needed it. No answer. Next I called Matty. Again. No answer. Then I walked another 15 minutes or so giving one of them time to call me back. I finally decided to call my coach, Bruce. We talked it over and I explained what was going on. We kinda decided that calling for a ride was the best idea. I could have finished but why do it if it isn’t fun. While I was talking to Bruce I found a little pavilion near a lake. I walked off the road to get out of the rain. Laid down on a picnic table and text the RD for a ride. He asked if I was sure and I told him I was. He told me I had to wait until sunrise when he was going to head out of the hotel and check on the runners. I told him I was safe and warm. No rush. In my mind I was thinking of something from the Ode to Laz video. 

No one ever regrets finishing. 

Part of me wanted to push but I didn’t know what I would be pushing for. 

While I was laying there Matty called me back. He actually slept in and didn’t wake up at 4AM like someone who turned 50 years old 3 or 4 times now does. He questioned me and made sure I was sure that I was done. He made some good points but nothing was making me feel like I wanted to continue. I was just feeling way too crappy and miserable. I was also struggling to eat and knew the migraine meds would have me messed up for a couple days. I actually had to take all 3 rounds over the next day or so. Normally I only take the weaker pill and I’m good. I never liked taking the stronger ones because of how they mess with me. 

Matty offered to come crew me. To me that would have defeated the point. I could have finished like that but then I wouldn’t have gotten the experience of the journey run. In my mind this race was supposed to be about you out on the road finding your way. Using your problem solving, creativity and grit to make it through. Having a crew and support like that would just make it a run. I know I can do 314 miles. Having someone support me for another 170 miles wouldn’t have been a challenge. I declined his invitation. We hung up and then I pulled my emergency blanket over my head and took a nap. 

Most people would be upset about a DNF like this. I was happy with it. Mentally I wasn’t in a great place to dig deep into the pain cave. The migraine didn’t help anything. I accepted that this wasn’t my day and I was grateful for the new experience. I found something that wasn’t what I really thought I would like. I made an attempt. A couple years ago this would have crushed me. Today I can accept and move on. A sign of growth. 

As the wise and great Homer Simpson once said “trying is the first step towards failure”. A favorite quote of mine. It just happened to be very true for this one. Normally I just use it ironically. 

The Bad:

 

The migraine. That has to have been the worst migraine I’ve had in at least 5 years. Maybe in the last 10 years.  I felt a little bit off through the week but wrote it off as stress, nerves and exhaustion. Race week is always has a lot to do. The bigger the race the more to do. This one was one of the biggest I’ve attempted. There was a lot going on and a lot to do the night before that had some plans change.  

It took about 2 days before I was feeling good enough to eat most of a meal. After looking at everything from my paces to nutrition to the week before. This was either a combination of everything or complete random bad luck (which would require me to believe in randomness or luck).

The Good:

Trying something new. I said after Vol State I never wanted to try Last Annual Heart Of The South (HOTS) or Third Circle of Hell. This was supposed to be a middle ground in between Vol State and those. I would know the course, the weather and would only have 232 miles to run. Not complete surprise like HOTS or 3rd Circle (Those you don’t know the course until the day before. They don’t even tell you the start. Just the finish location). While it obviously didn’t go as planned I’m still happy I tried it and had the adventure. This race format may not be for me. The endless deserts without aid is tough. 

Moral of the Story:

A quote from Laz comes to mind when I think about this. 

“You can't accomplish anything without the possibility of failure” -Lazarus Lake

Even though I didn’t succeed, if there wasn’t a chance of failure there would be no reason to try.  This was a big undertaking for me and I’m happy I made the attempt. Now to figure out what’s next. 

Best Moment:

The Mennonite girl giving me an apple on her way home. That was another long stretch in the hottest part of the day. It made my day that someone I talked to for 20 seconds happened to recognize me and I was running down the road she drives to work. The lack of good options on the course was hard. That apple was highly welcomed. 

Worst Moment:

The feeling after giving up. I came to terms with it. But it still sucks to not meet your goals. I think this was my first true DNF at a race. I’ve had struggles before but always managed to grind myself to a finish. I think this has to be a step on my way to being a true ultra runner. 

I still have never lost a toenail. Have that to look forward to. 

Funniest Moment:

There wasn’t much that stood out here. There are only 2 things I can think of that were remotely funny. 

The first was the debate over HOTS this year in the van. This year the race is 343 miles with an option to do a 396 mile route. The race is won by the first one to the finish line. It doesn’t matter which you run. The debate is whether you start at the 343 and admit you are doing it to win or run the 396 because you want the bigger, truer challenge. It was a true mind fuck that is excatly what Laz would have wanted. It’s just a social experiment 

The Second had to be Kim’s motivational Dumpster Fire. She had a crocheted dumpster fire attached to her bib. It was a good talking point for the first miles. The motto in my mind I kept joking about was “be the dumpster fire, embrace the dumpster fire, love the dumpster fire”.

Map:

Results: 

https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=115766

Gear:

• Topo Magnifly Size 10

•  Salomon Adv Skin 12 vest

• 2 soft flasks

• 2x Feetures Socks

• Injinji toe socks

• Fabletics 5” shorts

• 2x Runderware long compression shorts

• Patagonia long sleeve with hood

• Poncho

• Emergency blanket

• Spartan Hat

• Mission cooling head towel

• Nike PRESCRIPTION sunglasses

• Vaseline 

• Gurney Goo

• Trail Toes

• Buff

• Shokz Headphones

Nutrition:

• Water

• Coke 

• Body armour

• That’s it bars

• Mashed potatoes 

• Rice a Roni

• Lunchables

• Frozen fruit bars

• 2 bites of a Kit Kat 

• Bananas 

• Apple