Hallucination 100: Taking Care of Business

After my DNF at Massanutten, I vowed that I was taking a break from 100's and giving up the dream, goal, and accumulated tickets for Western States.  After some soul searching over the past few months, I came to the realization that I would really regret not at least giving it another go.  On September 8, I toed the line at the Hallucination 100 in Pinckney, MI part of the Run Woodstock events.

The goal of the race was not to race at all.  It was all about taking care of business.  This was the race of firsts: the first race that I had ever traveled to alone, the first 100 without crew, and the first 100 with no pacer.  I was undertrained, but over prepared and mentally ready to cover the distance.  The course was 6-loops of 16.67 miles and I had a drop bag at the start/finish.  I was prepared for whatever might happen (I even had a sleeping bag in my sack of tricks) and was going do whatever it took to finish; even if that meant using every second of the 30-hour limit.

There is certainly nothing exciting about my race execution.  I simply got it done.  Six loops is a mental test, but aside from some sleepiness from the 4:00 p.m. start, the loops passed uneventfully.  I enjoyed the cool, clear, Michigan night cruising along to some good tunes and the beam of my headlamp.  It was a long night, but I enjoyed countless cups of coffee, handfuls of potatoes, gels, and even some pancakes in the pre-dawn light.  Amazingly enough, my watch lasted the entire race and can be viewed here on Strava.  22:19 was the finishing time; no worse for the wear.  Happy to have finished my 7th 100-mile race.  All seven under 24-hours.

So now I have 6-tickets for Western States.  Fingers crossed yet again in December!