The Woodstock races are run on the Poto trail in Pinkney/Gregory/Hell MI. I've run the trail system numerous times when I lived in MI. I finished the 50 mile and 100 mile races at Woodstock in previous years. They moved the start/finish from Hell, MI to Gregory, MI since then. The loop is ~16.67 miles. 100 milers run it six times. They cut off ~half of a mile for the 100km, and the loop is only run four times. Another unique thing about Woodstock is that the 100M and 100km races start at 2pm on Friday. I drove up to MI on Thursday, and stayed with Kurt and his family that night.
Friday morning we drove to the race, got a parking spot directly behind the aid station (AS) at the start/finish (S/F), and proceeded to set up the table with my snacks, and I unpacked my clothes onto the trunk of my car for easy access. I wasn't really nervous at all. The 100km and 100 mile races have 30 hours to finish. My best 100km time is 12 hours and some change, so I wasn't worried about getting timed out. I was looking at it as my last long run before Ghost Train 100.
Ruth arrived, start time came, so we headed up to the starting chute. And we're off like a herd of turtles! I had settled into the mid-back of the runners. We ran along an access road for ~.75 miles, then entered the single track through the woods. The course is 95% single track. Those first 3-4 miles, everybody is pretty bunched up, with plenty of conga lines. I passed some people, bombed down all the down hills, and just kept hiking when that momentum ran out. I passed the first AS (at mile 4 of the loop) without stopping. I had 2 .5L flasks of electrolyte mix on me, and hadn't finished either one yet. It was beautiful out. A high of 82° with little humidity. A stark contrast from my training during the summer in Charlotte, NC.
The 2nd AS is around mile 9 of the loop. I stopped and refilled my flasks with electrolyte mix, grabbed a handful of pringles and pretzels and continued on my way. At some point, I kind of decided in my head that I was going to walk a lot of the race. The hills were really taking a toll on my legs. I hadn't run any kind of trail since 2019. All my training and DNF between then and now have been on pavement. I was definitely feeling the elevation gain/loss in my quads.
The 3rd AS is located round mile 13 of the loop. I topped of my flasks, grabbed a few oreos and M&Ms and carried on to see my crew at the S/F.
I finished the first loop in nearly exactly four hours, which was my goal for the first loop. Now that I was at my camp, with my crew, I changed my sweaty shirt for a fresh one. There are some sandy areas on the course, and I don't like to wear gaiters, so my socks and shoes had picked up some sand.
It's always worth the time you take to tend to your feet. I cleaned off all the sand and dirt with a baby wipe, reapplied lubricant, and put some fresh socks on. I would repeat this process at the end of every loop.
I took 12 minutes there, refilled my flasks, grabbed my headlamp and flashlight (the sun would set during this loop), and was on my way to start the 2nd loop.
I had a major case of the sleepies when I started this loop. That was annoying. Thankfully that ended by the time I got to the first AS.
I was able to snap a decent photo of the sunset when I came to a stream crossing
This time I did stop at the first AS. I just wanted to sit down for a minute. I gave myself five minutes of sitting, talked up the volunteers, grabbed a few snacks, and got out of there.
The sun had set by now, and it was DARK. If you've ever been in the woods in the middle of the night, you'll know what I'm talking about. This wasn't anything new for me. I had my flashlight out and just kept moving along towards the 2nd AS. When I reached it, I grabbed some snacks, refilled my flasks, and gave myself another 5 minutes of sitting. The AS captain was a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in years, so we caught up briefly. But I wanted to be done with this loop, so after my 5 minutes were up, I got up and got going.
I breezed by the 3rd AS this time without stopping. I wanted to be done with this loop so I could pick up Kurt for the last two loops. I changed my shirt, bandana, undershorts, and socks after the 2nd loop. I finished my 2nd loop in almost exactly 5 hours. At that point, I stopped caring how long my loops lasted. Then Kurt and I started loop three.
I told Kurt how cooked my quads were, and that I wouldn't be running. At all. I was 100% ok with hiking the last 50km. I had already hiked ~40 of the first 50km anyway. Kurt and I have been running together since 2012. In fact, this race was our 14 year anniversary of our first official ultra finish. We ran the 50 mile race together at Woodstock in 2012. If you skim through my race reports, he's probably in most of them. I knew he wouldn't be happy with the fact that we weren't running at all, but at that point I didn't care at all. This was my race, and I was going to do it the way I wanted to. Everything from my hips down to my feet hurt. Joints and muscles. But I was in a great place mentally. Every other ultra I've done that lasts through a night, I've experienced some deep psychological lows. I've always called those times "The Long, Dark Tea Times of the Soul" (all credit to Douglas Adams). That was not the case this time. I was feeling great in that regard. It was nice to know that I only had two more shortened loops to do, as opposed to 4 more full length ones if I was running the 100M.
The night time miles are kind of a blur. I remember sitting for five minutes at each AS, just to let my legs rest briefly. I remember Kurt making me drink pickle juice (not a fan) at one of the AS on the 3rd loop caue he thought I needed electrolytes. I remember talking up all the volunteers.
It's hard to describe the feeling of an AS in the middle of the night. You've been moving along for however many miles, in the dark. When you come upon this bastion of light, hope, and awesomeness. All the volunteers want to do is to assist you. I almost always will chat up the volunteers. To have someone to talk to after being alone with your thoughts, in the dark, is incomparable.
When we finished the 3rd loop I changed my socks, tended to my feet, and we headed out on my last loop. I just wanted to be done. My entire lower body hurt. I was tired of hiking up and down the hills. I was tired of it being night. The sun rose before we hit the first AS on this loop thankfully.
I mentioned that the 100M and 100km start Friday 2pm. The 50M and 50km start Saturday 6am, the half and full marathon start at Saturday 7:30am. The 5 mile starts at 8am. All of the races use the same loop for the first I don't know how many miles. So you have the 100M and 100km who have been out there for 16 - 17 hours, and all of a sudden there's a ton of people on the course that are running significantly shorter distances, and therefore running significantly faster.
and it's single track
At first, Kurt and I played the trail etiquette game, and stepped aside into the brush to let them run by. During one of these forays into the brush, Kurt stepped into a briar plant. His shorts were 75% covered in burrs. After going less than a mile like that, he said "I can't wear these anymore the burrs are tearing my legs up."
So he took them off, tied them to a tree branch, and finished the race in his undershorts
When we reached that 2nd AS on the last loop, I sat down for my five minutes of rest. We had a blast with the volunteers at this AS. We ended up talking smack back and forth with one of them. I asked her if they had any hot food, and she gave me a breakfast burrito.
Burnt bacon, an unmelted slice of Kraft cheese, and some instant eggs. Tasted pretty damn good to me at that point though.
We paused for a few minutes at the 3rd AS, but we both wanted to be done with it, so we pushed on to the finish. There was Ruth by my car, I said "C'mon lady! Let's go!" As Kurt and I headed to the finish.
I crossed the timing mat. A volunteer gave me my finishers medal. Another volunteer gave me an ice cold bottle of water. Then a 3rd volunteer told me that I had finished second in my age group (AG), so I got a mini VW bus as an AG award. That made me laugh pretty hard, as my time was 21:09:31, which is an atrocious time for an AG award.
As it turns out, there were only 2 male finishers in the 45- 49 age group. And I was second. It's just funny.
They had an actual podium there at the finish. Ruth made me crawl up onto it
Lessons Learned
I learned that I'm as ready as I'll ever be for Ghost Train, which is in less than five weeks now (it will be on October 17 - 18, 2026). During my 2nd loop and 3rd loops, I was able to hike a low 15 minute pace for as long as I had level ground.
I learned that there doesn't always have to be a Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. I think that's my biggest take away. Long ultras like this are a big mental game for large chunks of it. I feel like I know a cheat code now.
