Jay Challenge, 2008: A Couple of Graphs

These are compiled from the race results posted on Des Rosier's site. The following was Dan's comment posted on his race forum:

"On 400 registered runners for the marathon 92 did not show up at race packet pick up. I believe that the Northeast tornado and massive rain the week leading to the event is the main cause of this high percentage of no show.
291 racers were at the start line, 10 had to drop out during the race for injuries and various reason and 63 did not make the cutoff time and were forced to DNF.

On 200 registered ½ marathon runners 65 did not show up at race packet pick up. We had 135 runners on the start line. 10 DNF on the ½ marathon."

The first graph shows a frequency plot counting the number of racers finishing in a 30 minute interval from 5hrs to 10hrs. To read the plot, note that the point at 5.00 is for finishers with times between 4:30 and 5:00. The point is centered on 5hrs, which seems lame, but I didn't feel like correcting it. I've broken out runners by under/over 40 and overall totals. Men and women are combined.

Also note on the top graph that the teal graph is behind the pink graph, not stacked on top of it.

The second graph shows that there is no correlation between age and finishing time among men.

Jay Challenge, 2008: Trip Reports

Note: Pics are posted here. (I screwed up on the link before.) Also some guys pics are posted here on Flickr.

MadDog's Report:

1. Mr. Reems, aka a runner #85, in retrospect, I should have paid $1 to pass and rub the stache. -TammyTheTrailQueen
2. Burgers, dogs and organges at the finish were a welcomed touch and taste.
3. I owe Ray $2 for some cold drink.
4. I owe Mutha and a guy named Jeremy (who hugged at the finish) big time for some e-Caps...I was in a big world of hurt for about 8 miles.
5. Don't drink from your race bottle, before the start. Or, if you do, remember to refill it - Doh!
6. Sue (as the sole representative of the other gender) served as a great counter-balance to house of 7 male trail trompers. Thanks Sue!
7. Vicky must have arrived too late. Tmail had already rigged the game tables. We need to play again, soon.
8. Glad to see the g-$$$ express on the trail and at the house. Hopefully you got some good work done while bombing through the brooks.
9. My two good deeds on the course were to give some guy named John who was keeled over in pain in the pine forest, my last e-caps. WTF was I thinking. I then couldn't get my sorry ass outta there. The other was to haul some slob up into the culvert because he couldn't get up. Only to see him pass me after mile 24.
10. Coming off Jay, I got chatting with Captain Nate from the Army here in VT...talking about the range, rolling down the road and we're following a handful of Canadians. Shit! The Canadians turned around and headed uphill towards, screaming and pointing. We missed the turnoff. Arrrgghhh!
11. When limiting yourself to 2mins in a TA, never ask a group of grandmothers if anyone has any NSAIDs. "Rapid Response" is all relative.
12. There was one portion of the trail about 1/2 mile away from mile 19 before you cross the river, that is 30-40 above the river, straight drop. No shoulder protection and I came bombing around a turn and nearly launched myself. Who the f is in charge of highway signage on those trails?
13. Comical event #52, Gloria the Garbage Giver tries to sweet talk one Mutha and Maddog into packing out her trash. Stick it in your pants, I tell her. And Mutha suggests another proven method, stick it between the buns of her ass and carry it that way. It was then she knew we couldn't be had. She opted for the famed "cleavage carry". See ya babe!
14. I betcha Treadmill could have womped some butt out there.
15. Overall the Wampum boys made a good showing. Ray and Roland rocked the course, I thought.
16. It was great that we all saw each other through the finish.
17. On a number of occasions, a lone spectator would be cheering people on in seemingly isolated areas of the course (roads and woods). It was bizarre and pleasant .
18. I met a Mr. Cranky Pants around mile 31, who did not think my mud jokes were funny. Apparently all his mud humor stopped around mile 12. What an Ahole.
19. Tmail, what is the french word for love?
20. At the end of the race, I visited a well-suited, clean, plenty of TP, and overall respectable porta-pottie. It was heaven. At that point in time, it didn't take much (other than being off the course) to make me happy.
    

tMail's Report:

1. Arrival at Frosty's Love was a pleasant surprise...
2. Sitting in the porta - potty eating a Powerbar and someone opens the door and looks at me and says "HI"
3. I can't stand the running skirt
4. Running over gu flasks and being able to identify the flavor
5. Putting my hand on some guys ass...and pushing him up the rope section...Tip to Guy..."use the rope"
6. Losing my shoe in the mud and then having someone directly step on it driving it 3 more feet down
7. MD all of sudden appearing in front of me...never knew he passed me nor said Hi to me...
8. MD all of a sudden at the finish never said Hi to me as he passed me...trail jerk!!!
9. Running on some section with a guy from Long Island asking me is the rope section coming up...I said, "Yup in about 3 hours" he proceeded to slowly pull up and walk
10. Being in the river falling...total submerged...standing then falling immediatly again totally submerged
11. Asking the 45 year Canadian chick for bag number 218 at Drop Bag location 1 after she repeadly asked me what number I said "Fuck it and left"
12. Isolation
13. I never knew what mile I was at at any point in the race
14. Feeling like I was dead...Feeling like I was alive...Feeling like I was in limbo...having a softball size cramp in my left hammy...
15. Picking up a fuel belt flask drinking the liquid then putting it back on the ground
16. 8 E-Caps in 2 minutes
17. Seeing someone disappear for 10 seconds in the beaver swamp...
18. American shorts guy...
19. The dirt road is equivalent to the rail bed on the Wilderness Trail...
20. What is Rick and Pat's nickname going to be? Idea's for Rick = Texas Rick, Bandana Rick, Sensata Rick...Idea's for Pat...Irish Pat...Race Series Pat
21. Peeing while running its getting catchy!!!
22. Peeing into my shoe in hopes it would dislodge a rock in my sock...it didn't work...if i bent over I would have cramped...
23. What a great group of people thanks for the memories and laughs...

The Master Puppet Master's Report:

1. First Some Links: Jay XC route, Jay XC Profile, The Puppet Master , or This
   
   Let me first state "Holy sh*t you guys are fast!" Great job.
   
2. The house was a lucky strike - thanks to Craig Ross and poo to Ray for not listening to my advice about the TrailView Lodge!
   
3. The mud was special this year - a cross between butt soup, manure, clay, quik-crete, and pudding
   
4. eCaps get so much hype... what about the d and f caps?
   
5. RaceReady shorts and Helly top stayed with me the whole time - like a 2nd, REALLY stinky skin
   
6. Harry Reems, with a raised eyebrow and moustache, at mile 20 to the couple from Toronto that had yo-yo'd a few times... "Hey, you come here often?"
   
7. Talking to your legs actually can cause them to act as you want them to - voodoo style
   
8. How many cramps can one person have in a 200yd stretch of beaver slop... by my count, 17
   
9. Garbage dropping a-holes suck
   
10. A few times solo on the trail, "Where the f is everyone?! Am I lost?!"
    
11. I agree with MadDog, it was great that everyone convened at the finish (and that everyone actually finished.)
    
12. Thank the Mountain Gods for Sue and Vick to help balance our testosterone fueled conversations, ensure we ate something other than bananas, and help add to the post-race laughs.
    
13. I was at one point (mile 25-ish) cursing you guys, and myself, for putting this on the 2008 calendar and thinking this could be the last Jay race for me. However, after the crampy finish, post-race burger and pizza, the beers, the story telling/great conversation, this morning's coffee in the hot tub, squeezing the mud out of my shoes this afternoon, etc, I am ready to sign on for 2009. You just can't stop the sickness...
    

Mutha's Report:

1. The camaraderie at the house was excellent. Great mix for next year. The ladies were the icing on the cake ... or actually the cake. Good thing to remember for next year. Also to remember: don't play foozball with Vicky.
   
2. Next year? Did I say "next year"? How insane is THAT?!?
3. Running alone... with MD; with some other folks; with MD; alone again; with MD; alone; alone; alone ... from off in the distance: "mutha... mutha ... " HEY, it's MD!! Where the hell was everybody?
   
4. Being passed by MD, then being passed by MD an hour later... but I never passed him!!!! What the frick?? How'd he do that? He's Mystical MadDog (thanks for the suggestion, tMail!)
   
5. Early in the race, runners slowed or stopped to figure out how to get around puddles. If only they knew then what they eventually figured out.
6. I never had any idea where the heck I was. I just followed the polka-dot flags. The race-course map shows a figure-eight. Maybe, but I have no idea where we went.
7. Passing tMail: "you okay?", "yeh." Failed to notice he only had on one shoe.
8. In beaver swamp, having the guy in front of me drop up to his neck and totally cramp up, screaming
   "AHHHHH, AHHHHH, AHHHH, ...".
   "Dude, let me massage it..."
   "AHHHHH, AHHHH, AHHHH...",
   "... uh, okay ... good luck".
9. Dumb broad figured me and maddog would carry her trash because she asked politely. MadDog recommended she stick it in her waistband. I suggested that storing things in the crack of my ass was always effective and worth considering. She never turned around.
10. Plunging unexpectedly neck-deep into hollows in the beaver swamp - unbelievable. It can't even be described to somebody who wasn't there.
11. There was never a break. Ever. The closest thing was after pounding the mile or two on the dirt road, hitting that soft pine-forest trail. That luxury lasted less than a mile, but it was beautiful.
12. Seeing NOBODY on the dirt road, in the pine forest or anywhere near the sad-pit. I was quite sure that the event had ended and everybody but me was at a really great pub in downtown North Troy.
13. Soft mud, firm mud, deep mud, shallow mud. I never knew, and tried not to care. But taking one extra step and dropping knee deep, then the next step staying high, and the next step slipping off a submerged log ... jeezum - what the hell is a guy supposed to do? There was no such thing as pace. Course average makes a little sense, but really my pace would change from a 7min to a 30min and back again with no warning.
14. Pizza. Cold Pizza. Hot Pizza. Who cares.
15. Both big toenails separating from the nailbed. A pessimist would say "I am injured". I say, "I have two new pendants for a necklace".
16. I ate close to 200,000 calories in the 24 hours following the race. I am now called "fat man". I can hear it now: "mutha is so fat that when he sits on Wednesday, Tuesday & Thursday bounce into next week."
17. Lesson Learned: Don't drink a 12oz beer in one gulp immediately upon coming to a stop after the race. Drink water. Drink the beer later. Ohhhh, my aching large intestine.
18. Getting carried downstream by the current is faster than stepping.
19. Obi Wan MadDog on going fast in the brook (said while passing me): "Mutha, trust your shoes"
20. Learning to piss while running.
    

Jay Challenge, 2008

Mud. Water. Mountain. It was all there. Everybody: post reports in At The Start
the comments and I'll promote them to this main article. Even though we've talked it out endlessly over beer, pizza, bacon and hot tubs, it'll be good to have this all down for posterity. And who knows - there may be somebody in our lives who hasn't yet heard repetitive, redundant & tediously verbose descriptions of each section of that run, along with stories of who disappeared in which mud-hole.

I have to say, it was a great group at the house. Thanks to the PM for getting the house, thanks to Sue for the pizza, to Vicky for the foozball body slam, to tMail for such vicious domination of the pingpong table, to g-$$$ for the veggies, to MadDog for inspiration, to Rick for the half-marathon tales from the darkside, to Pat for the chicken-eaten-by-ferrets stories and to Spanky for eating all the leftovers.

I had decided last year that Jay 2008 was the last, but now I'm not so sure.

And oh, what a difference a day makes. The National Weather Service issued the following special weather statement for today for all of northern Vermont:

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND SOUTH
OF A NEWPORT VERMONT TO NEWCOMB NEW YORK LINE BY EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN AREAL COVERAGE
AND INTENSITY AS THEY MOVE INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN VERMONT
THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BE HAIL UP
TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER AND ISOLATED STRONG AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS.

IN ADDITION...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALIZED
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON. THE COMBINATION OF RECENT RAINS...RESULTING IN HIGH
WATER LEVELS AND SATURATED GROUNDS...ALONG WITH MORE
THUNDERSTORMS...WILL CAUSE MINOR FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR
DRAINAGE AREAS.

THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS EXPECTED TO DIMINISH ACROSS CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN VERMONT BY EARLY THIS EVENING.

[Update 7/27 3:20pm] Pics are posted (what few there are)

Preparing For Jay

We can use this post for Jay info as it arises. The MPM will get us the address to Frosty's Ski Shack and other pertinent information. Currently, the plan is to show up some time Friday afternoon/evening.

MENU

Friday Lunch: On your own

Friday Dinner:

• Bread – MadDog
• Salad – G$
• Meat of Choice (Chicken/Beef) – Pat
• Meat of Choice (Pork/Fish) - Nate
• Rice (w/cooker) - tMail
• Beverages – Rick
• Dessert of choice (fruit, cookies, a bunt cake, crème brule, it’s up to you…) - MuthaZ

RACE DAY Breakfast: Bring Your Own (MPM will pick up some extra bananas too)

RACE DAY Dinner:

• Pizza
• Beverages – Bring your favorite post-race beverage(s)
• Snacks – Pretzels, chips, etc. will be provided by MPM. Bring anything else you think you may want

Sunday Breakfast:

• Fruit & Eggs - MuthaZ
• Pancakes & Syrup - Nate
• Bacon - Rick
• Sausage - tMail
• Bagels - MadDog
• Cheese – Pat
• OJ & coffee – G$

Gannett Trip Report

tMail/PM Fishing Titcomb

When you can, post brief anecdotes in the comments and I'll collect them for the DVD.

Images are posted:

• tMail's pics: [Link]
• The Puppet Master's pics: [Link]
• Wildman Bob's pics: [Link]
• Mutha's pics: [Link]
• Mutha's pics as .mp4 slideshow: [Link]
  

Last Gannett Post

I figure this is the last post on the blog until we all get back safe and sound from Gannett - healthy, happy and at least g-$$$ having hit the summit. Today and tomorrow: pack, unpack, repack, scratch head, and unpack and repack. Feel free to post comments if needed and I'll get the juiciest parts here on the main post.

MadDog & Mutha: Arr Jackson Hole, 2:36pm via Delta 3908 from Salt Lake City.

Sunday is MadDog Day!

... this can't be good ...
MadDog's Choice, MadDog's Torture, MadDog's Joke.... Whatever it may be, it'll be 100%, Grade A, All Beef MadDog!

[Update 7/6/08 10pm]
We hit Adams and Jefferson via a novel route: from Appalachia, ascended via Sylvan Way to the Amphibrach to the Kings Ravine Trail (and the caves). We traversed to Adams and Jefferson and descended via the Castles to The Link - a remarkable trail for it's lack of use. Pics are posted. [Link]

MadDog's Trip Report:

Nice day out Mutha, thanks for the trip. Yep, the ravine did not live up to the guidebook description. It is essentially a mini-Mahoousuc notch, with some tunneling. It provide some nice extended scrambling, I enjoyed that.

What is kind of interesting, looking back at the day, at the point we popped up out of the ravine, Mutha and I were a bit stalled. Uh, where to next? We talked about Madision, the hut, Adams, etc., and there was no obvious choice given the large amount of daylight we still had. Plus, I think the threshold for exertion and trail travel with this crowd is now getting so high, that anything less than 6 hard hours of trail tromping hardly seems worth doing 2) I have now observed that once you're up on those ridges, no matter how much Madison et al bite it, there is a feeling of incompleteness if you don't cross at least one of the summits. So that's what we did as Mutha noted...and the Castles were very cool.

I really enjoyed the Link because of how little traffic it gets (as a result it has a nicely cushioned floor in most parts - the last 1/2 mile being the exception, it was a mud bog.

Also, I blistered both feet and now know for sure that I have to pre-treat for WY. Looking forward to the end of the week, start of THE trip, and not having to training with mega-loaded packs :-)

Mutha's Trip Report:

The Kings Ravine, touted as one of the greatest, visually stunning places in the Whites was kind of a disappointment ("...one of the most spectacular trails in the White Mountains."). The cave trail was cool and rather difficult (with refreshingly chilling air) but the views from the Castles were much grander. Kings Ravine headwall isn't all that tremendous an elevation gain (i.e., "not as bad as it looks") and as such didn't cause a pucker. Huntington Ravine is more challenging.

The summits were almost completely calm, even in Edmands Col. Sitting for any length of time allowed swarms of bugs to target us.

The Link was really interesting from The Castle Trail to Lowe's Path. After that it was kind of boring but that section was saved by lack of food (MD), lack of water (MZ) and good company (both). I haven't read about it, but it clearly links all the ravines and ridges and crosses all the trails between Bowman and Appalachia and the northern Presi's. The trail is remarkably unused. The rocks are moss covered and slippery and it crosses quite a few absolutely excellent camping sites on rushing rivers and one lovely cascade where it crosses the Israel Ridge trail.

Total Distance: about 15 mi.
Total time: about 9 hrs.
Elevation Gained: about 5,000 ft. (MadDog, elev gain from appalachia to Adams is 4,600ft!)

Conversation: wyoming, hiking, boots, wyoming, risk, gear, ice, tmail's speed, jay, wyoming, ruth foreman, gastric reflux, colonoscopies, purging, prunes, satisfaction, gastric reflux, jay, wyoming, getting older, fart sounds, gardens, canning/preserving, wyoming, tomatoes, camping, training dogs, chickens, cars, scooters, mccain, obama, pepper sauce, wyoming, dehydration, kings ravine was a let-down, wyoming.

Pics are posted! [Link]

The White Mountain Marathon

First, the details of tMail and Mutha's "White Mountain Marathon":

• Route: Start at Zealand Road parking area. Twinway/Bondcliff Trail/Wilderness/Thoreau Falls/Ethan Pond and back to car
• 26.2 miles
• 5,400 ft of elevation gain
• Five 4,000 footers (Zealand, Guyot, Bond, West Bond, Bondcliff)
• General plan: each go solo
• Total time Mutha: 7.5 hours
• Total time tMail: 6.5 hours

You got that right. tMail is one fast and furious mutherf**ker. In Click To Zoom Elevation Profile
my own defense I'd like to point out that I took a 15min break to pump 2L of water w/ the MSR filter and have a sandwich, and technically I did tell tMail that I wasn't going to push on the ascents - but that was because I would've dropped dead. It's possible I could've narrowed that margin to 45min, but I doubt it. That kid is a freakin' animal!

More details later. Must have Gin & Tonic.

Mutha's Report:

• This was great training for Jay. Clearly tMail will crush that course (see notes above).
• I finally have traveled the entire length of the Wilderness Trail.
• The Bondcliff Trail was quite busy, but there wasn't a single person on the Thoreau Falls trail. We did find a HUGE container filled with peanut butter though. I was too tired to carry it out.
• I lost my "Otter Creek Brewing" cap somewhere in the Pemi.
• Repeated head soaking/face washing/hand soaking in the icy cold brooks saved us.
• Weather above 4,000ft: sunny, blue sky, 70°F, dry air.
• Weather in the valley: hot, muggy, muddy, buggy, sweaty
• Biggest Thrill: crossing bridge on the Wilderness Trail with sign at each end that read: "Caution: No More Than 2 People On Bridge At Same Time"
• I jammed my left toe on Zealand Notch. The toe is swollen and under the nail is already turning black. Click On Toe
  click on picture at right for really gross photo. If you don't like toe photos, don't click on it. For all trip photos, see photo gallery HERE.
  
• The whole thing was a blur. A really big blur. It still is. 6:45 to 2:15. Yeowtch.

tMail's Trip Report (ver 0.10):

• going to bed right knee swollen as I smashed it off a rock after zealand which is a piece of $hit...and I have nice foot rot from being in wet shoes.
• In the last month I have done Bond Cliff 4 times Bond 3 and West Bond 2...
• Wilderness I hate!
• Thoureau Falls I decided I hate it because it connects to the wilderness and is similar.
• Guyot: I have been there twice and never stood on the summit nor do I care
• If I had poison I wonder if I would take it if ever put on wilderness or thoureau falls again
• The tub of peanut butter pisses me off now.
• Zealand is another weird hut we ran by and it seemed they had a band playing at 7am
• If I don't smash my toe and ankle off another rock that would be a good thing
• This was another hike that Mutha and I only said 5 words to each other the entire time
• I decided for a challenge once I saw the sign for Bond (0.7) I would hit West Bond - Bond - Bond Cliff in under 1 hour I did it in 58 minutes.
• I wanted to throw up running up Bond
• Running threw 100's of cob webs really sucks
• Thoreau Falls Trail made me think I was in the Blair Witch project
• I often thought of being eaten by a bear
• I thought of MadDog and his knee pad when I smashed my knee off a rock near Zealand.
• While running across the saddle from Bond to Bondcliff I thought of Spanky
• WILDERNESS TRAIL - Burn it!!!!
• Mutha is a Beast - Monster rolled in one
• I twice thought of throwing myself down Thoreau Falls
• Zealand has a great soak spot!!!!
• The Yahoos are out for the 4th!!!!
  
  

Incoming!

Tomorrow, July 2nd: 25 mile trot over guyot, bond, bondcliff - return via thoreau falls trail.
Sat or Sun (July 5/6): maddog wants to trample the carters/wildcats