Pittsfield, VT welcomed some 200 Death Racers for the 2013 summer race this past June. It was the year of "The Gambler". This theme took on many meanings throughout the race which either resulted in a chip or no chip. At the end of the race only those that had completed all tasks and collected a total of 8 chips were allowed into the makeshift casino in the Barn at Riverside Farm for the final bet. The dealer and racer each picked a card fro a deck of 52 cards. If you had a higher card than the dealer, then you were given a skull...if not then tough luck...no skull.
The race began at registration on Friday at 6AM and ended on Monday at 6AM. A 72 hour romp in the woods of VT. We built a 1 mile staircase up the side of the mountain, chopped wood, cleared fields with snips, hiked for 30 miles + carrying a 45-50lb rucksack along with a 30lb stone. We carried wood, we swam 3 miles, navigated a barbwire infested gully, swam through a mud pit, chopped more wood, hopped up a mountain with our ankles strapped together, memorized and forced to recite pictures and sayings, found our way through a cave and ran miles and miles back through the woods over and down the mountains all while avoiding cutoffs or the wrath of one of the organi
zing staff.
This years field was chock full of talented athletes, however the Death Race has its way of weeding out the field. In the end it takes a little luck and a lot of just sticktoitness determination. It has been said that the only reason why they have an end to the race is because the athletes that finish would never stop.
Admittedly I was asking myself the first night, "why the hell did I sign up for this damn race again, I know better!". After getting to Saturday morning I wasn't feeling any better and by mid afternoon when we made our way back to Amee Farm I was ready to throw in the towel, as was Michael Moore, a fellow Death Racer from Nashville. I placed a timely call to Carla telling her that I had had enough and was going to call it quits. She reminded me of all of the training and sacrifice that I had made for this race and that just because I was feeling tired right now that I would regret it in the morning and forever actually if I just quit. I think her words were.."don't be such a pussy pants, get something to eat and get back at it". Those weren't the words of encouragement that I was looking for, but it struck a chord as I do know better that there are many many peaks and valleys in an endurance race. There are so many points in a race when you just want to quit, give up, but you fight through it and finish. This is what I did in this race. It was a grind. I didn't enter the race in my best condition, but good enough to finish. As usual, the run, hiking part saved my bacon. Endurance running and experience pays huge dividends int a race like this. Nutrition is important, hydration and taking care of your feet. Once again, trench foot and blisters took down even the toughest of competitors. Fortunately I had 4 changes of socks and pair of trail shoes.
In the end, it all came down to one hand of cards, I drew a 9 and the dealer drew a 2...Bingo. This was my 3rd Death Race and 3rd Skull. Toughest race to date.
Next race up is the Silver Rush 50 Mile Trail run in Leadville. No easy task.
Cheers!
PT
