There are five established hundred mile races in Pennsylvania. I have managed to finish four of them over the years with Rabid Racoon being latest this spring. Viaduct is the last one on the list even though it was the first hundred miler in the state beginning all the way back in 2008. The race started out as a fatass event and it retains the same structure to this day. This means it’s a loosely organized event with no entrance fee, no swag, and no aid. Runners are expected to bring everything they need with them to complete the event and to contribute a little something to the communal aid stations. There’s one aid station out along the course that they’ll take a drop bag, but you’re pretty much on your own.
Reading race reports from prior years, there appears to be some support given at the two aid stations along the course, but my goal will be to bring everything with me that I’ll need and not rely on others. This is supposed to be a self-supported race and I’d hate to be “that guy”. I’ve done enough of these types of events over the years that I think I know what I need to bring and how to organize it. The biggest change from my normal racing kit is that I’ll need to wear my UltrAspire vest instead of my normal Nathan waist pack.
It’s always a little difficult to come up with realistic expectations for new races. Expectations? Easy. Realistic expectation? Not to easy. You never really know how realistic they are until you’re out on the course. Even though this is an old rail trail, I don’t know how technical it is until I get out there. The course has about 4,000 feet of elevation gain/loss, which is pretty flat but not completely so. Over the years, I’ve developed a rule of thumb that 2,000 feet of elevation gain/loss is equal to about an extra hour on my finishing time. It took my 19.5 hours last month to knock out a hundred miles so Viaduct is at least two hours more. Add in some extra time for the trail vs. paved loop and my best guess is I should be in the 22-23 hour range for a finishing time. I’m leaning towards the higher end though considering the temperatures will be a little warmer and I’ll be carrying more gear.
My pacing plan will be to go out at a 22 hour pace right from the start and hope (pray?) that I can maintain that for the full distance. I’ll be starting out about 20% slower than Sri Chinmoy, however my gut tells me in order to run even splits I should start even slower than this. Unfortunately, I am an unapologetic optimist when it comes to race goals so will target a faster split even if I think I’ve at best a 10% chance of success. “So you’re telling me I have a chance?”
My #1 goal though will be to go out and have some fun running a new race. I know a couple other runners so it’ll be fun catching up with them. Worst case scenario is I’ll get a great race report out of the experience.