If you hadn’t guessed yet, I’m pretty obsessed with Eastern States so here’s yet another post on the race.
Let’s start with finish times. Here are the median finish times over the years and how mine compare.
2023 was the second slowest year to the infamous 2016 race (oh yeah, it sucked). This makes me feel a little better about my slower time this year, but obviously I took a slight step back versus the field in general compared to my last 2 races. Now I’m happy with my run. I say any time at ES100 is a good time and I mean that. I felt good for the most part and think I executed a solid race. Thinking back I can’t really pinpoint where or how I lost time compared to last year outside the 10 minutes I lost in the first section. Maybe I’m just getting old. Word on the street is this tends to happen.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the two slowest years are also the years where we had decent amounts of rain. Rain will typically slow runners down in two ways: 1) mud causes you to use more effort and slows you down compared to a hard packed trail and 2) colder temps/chaffing/blister issues will have you spending more time in aid stations. #2 is definitely in play at ES100, however the trails drain well and you don’t get the shoe-sucking mud that a lot of courses provide. The issue is the technical trails become oil slick ice rinks. Every step requires an extra second or two pause to make you’re not going to slip and fall. This will also cause you to break more than normal on the downhills further stressing your quads.
Course Changes
I’ve already said more than I want to about the Pine Creek crossing in my race report so I’ll refer you to that.
The move from two to one AS between Tomb Flats and Blackwell went fairly smoothly for me. With my Garmin dying on me I was able to just zone out and not count down the miles in this section. Hearing my watch beep at me every mile probably would have messed with my head a little bit so I was able to run tree to tree. They changed up the trails around the old Long Branch AS. I kept looking for the familiar run into it, but it never happened. Suddenly I was just on the drop down into Blackwell. Someone’s done a significant amount of improvement on the upper portion of this trail. It used to be legit sketchy at about eight inches wide with technical rocks all around and a steep drop off to the right. It’s been widened to a normal single track width and for the first time, I didn’t feel like my life was at risk with each step I took.
Final Thoughts
Back in 2017 when I finished ES100 for the second time, I set a goal to someday have the most ES100 finishes. I’m not exactly sure how or why this became a thing for me. Maybe I just wanted to do this really hard thing more times than anyone else. At that time, there were five or six runners with more finishes so I definitely had my work cut out. The race ended up being cancelled in 2018 so I didn’t make any progress that year. 2019 had several of the runners ahead of me finish again so again no progress towards this goal, but I didn’t fall any further behind. Then COVID and another year standing still. This has not been a front burner goal so it’s not I lost sleep or anything. Since 2021 though, the runners ahead of me just stopped showing up. This allow me to tie the prior front runner (Tsutomu Bessho) last year and then pass him this year. I’ve accomplished a lot in my ultra career to date, however this is what I’m most proud.
I don’t have a revised goal with ES100 finishes now that I’m on top at six. I’m not targeting to eventually get to a certain number. I love the race and I’ll keep coming back as long as that’s the case. I don’t want to come back just to hit a number when my ultra interests and passions move in another direction. This sport is too demanding and if you’re not 100% stoked for your adventures, you’ll burn yourself out. And if I have a bad stretch of races resulting in DNFs and get passed? Well, more power to the other runners. This is a wonderful community and the last thing I’d want to do is root against other runners achieving their goals.
Until next year.