I ran the Sri Chinmoy Self Transcendence 7 Hour Race at Magnuson Park, Seattle on Sunday, September 21. I thought about running it for a couple months, but didn’t actually decide to do so until about 10 days prior. I sent my application in on the 12th.

I got everything I might need together the night before. I had more food than I expected to need, but wanted to have different options just in case. I had an extra pair of shoes, sunscreen, salt caps, water bottles, body glide, gaiters, a button up golf shirt and a few other odds and ends.

My sleep schedule was even further from ideal for race day leading up to it than my last race, the Rattlesnake Ridge 50k. I was able to get nearly a full 8 hours of sleep the night before, however.

I woke up at 5:40 am, got ready and put everything in the car. I headed out just after 6:30 to give myself a little time before the 8 am start. It’s a little over an hour drive to Magnuson, with a few minute delay due to construction on SR522.

I stopped at the gas station across the street from the park to pee and pick up a bag of ice. A few minutes later, I found parking right near the aid station. I checked in and went back to the car to get ready. I had about 17 minutes to start time. I needed a longer restroom stop before the race started, but the park staff hadn’t unlocked the restrooms at the start/finish line. So I drove down near the boat launch. I took my shoes and bib in with me to finish getting ready.

Back to the start line with a few minutes to spare. The pre-race briefing had just started. It was a pretty small crowd, about 20 runners. We had 7 hours to run around a 1.528 mi course as many times as we could. No credit would be given for partial laps.

I decided that I’d carry one handheld bottle and wear my UD Jurek Essential belt to carry food and my car keys. I could have gone without the belt. I had a second bottle that I left at the aid station, so I could swap out. I asked whoever was manning the aid station when I swapped if they could refill the empty bottle and leave it for me to pick up later. It worked pretty well. There were a couple times that I found an empty bottle waiting for me, but I don’t know how well I expressed what I wanted at times later in the race. I also had a cooler that I left by the aid station with fruit and ice.

The race started to the sound of a conch. Four other guys and I took out in the lead, following the race director, Daulot Fountain, on his bike, showing us the route.

I probably went out too fast, but I really wanted to see how far I could go in 7 hours. I still think that I might be able to hit 50 mi on a perfect day. Sunday wasn’t perfect, but I still put in the effort.

After a few laps, I had settled into 2nd place. The temperature was comfortable for the first few hours. I stopped at my car a few times during the race, because I forgot to put the freezer bags of dates that I brought.

I kept a fairly even pace for the first 20-22 miles or so. I was fairly comfortable to nearly 30 mi. By then, I had slowed a bit and stopped at the aid station almost every lap. Earlier, I went 2-4 laps without stopping for aid.

About halfway through, I took off my tank top and went sans shirt for a couple laps. By then it was starting to get rather warm. It hit the mid-80s and most of the course was exposed to the sun.  I then stopped at my car again and grabbed the Nike golf shirt that I brought.

I’m so glad I brought the button up shirt. The first lap wearing it, I left it unbuttoned. It kept the sun off most of my upper body for at least half the lap. Almost every lap after that I either took the shirt off and dunked it in my melting left over bag of ice or squeezed sponges of ice water from the aid station over the shirt to act as sort of a swamp cooler. I also started doing just the top button. This kept the shirt from flapping all over, protected me a little more from the sun and still kept air circulating around my body very well. This was the first time I tried a button up shirt and I will definitely do it again.

The early leader lapped me twice somewhere around the marathon mark. I lost 2nd place somewhere around the same time as well, to the guy who eventually won. He had an impressive day, keeping a pretty even pace throughout.

I kept on trucking along. I had definitely slowed from my early pace, but I tried to maintain at that level.

The course was fairly flat, much flatter than nearly anything I normally run. There was one small hill, about 15 ft gain over 30-40 yards. Around 22-24 mi or so, I started walking the hill. The miles and the pace were catching up with me and I decided it was better to conserve that little energy. It was also good to stretch my legs with a different gait.

Starting to run again from a stop at the aid station was rough later in the race. It took a minute to get back into the rhythm each lap. The paved portions of the course started to get to me as well. About 1/4 or so of the course was paved. I started trying to run on the small grass strips along the sides.

Somewhere north of 34 mi, I unlapped myself from the leader once. The eventual 1st place also lapped me somewhere around there too. I wasn’t really in the mindset of running against other people though. Sure, it would be cool to win, but I was running for me.

I came around for what turned out to me my second to last lap, and my lap counter told me there were 15 minutes left. My current pace was around 16 minutes per lap. I decided to go. I looked for my bottle swap, but it was empty. The aid station volunteer helped me quickly fill it most of the way, and I was off.

I pushed the pace to about the same as my first few miles. My last 1.8 mi were between 8:38/mi and down to 8:16/mi. I saw the women’s winner coming back on the lollipop section as I went out. I was a few hundred yards from the finish line when I heard the crowd of volunteers, other runners, friends and families cheering her on to finish. Looking at my GPS, I thought I had less time than I actually had, so I sped up again.

As I neared the finish, everyone was cheering and the other runners created a tunnel with their raised arms for me. It was an awesome feeling to finish a race to that kind of support. I crossed the finish line with about 1 minute left on the clock, the last runner to come in.

I came in 3rd place, 2nd in my age group. With that last lap, number 28, I finished the same distance as the early leader, though he finished about 10 minutes earlier.

After the race, there was a picnic and awards ceremony down by Lake Washington. I took a dip in the water to cool off. Then a quick shower to rinse off the algae and grime from both the race and the lake.

It was a great event. The volunteers were kind, helpful and very supportive. Three of them also took part in the run as a team. Other volunteers walked around the course cheering runners on as well. The layout of the course was such that you didn’t go very long without seeing other runners. Even if you weren’t passing or being passed by someone, you could see them on the lollipop section. All the runners were supportive of each other as well. All of their compliments definitely helped. And they were a friendly bunch to chat with after the race as well. I look forward to seeing them at races in the future.

I may not have hit my reach-goal of 50 miles, but I’m thrilled with my performance. I ran farther and for a longer time than I had ever run before. I had a little concern, beforehand, that running laps around a course would be too repetitive. I didn’t find that the case at all. I’ve written about reaching a meditative state while running before. I was in it for most of the day. I was so deep in the zone that I nearly ran off the very well marked course a couple times, even though I had already run multiple laps. It was a transcendent run in many ways.

 

Official distance: 42.784 mi

GPS data: 43.77 mi, ~500 ft gain (difference due in part to restroom trips, not taking the most direct line, etc.)

 

Gear:
Altra Superior 1.5 (blue)
Injinji Trail mini crew
UD handheld bottles (fastdraw plus and fastdraw 20)
UD Jurek Essential belt
Under Armor tank
Nike ACG Drifit button up shirt (thrift store purchase)
RGear Stash & Dash 3” split shorts

 

Fuel/Hydration:
Unsure how much water I took in. Started with 20 oz every 3 laps, went to every 2 laps, then every lap for the last hour.
~5-6 bananas
~1 orange
5-6 small slices of watermelon
~5 Pluots
~20 medjool dates
~15 salt caps