September 05-07th, 2024:
In the quant country town of Gregory Michigan, about one hour drive west of Detroit, is the Pinckney Recreation Area and the grounds for Run Woodstock trail race. As the name proclaims, this event is truly a festival. Peace and love symbols and bright rainbow colours for miles, and a friendly party atmosphere from the community and runners alike.
The event hosts distances ranging from 5 kms all the way up to 100 miles. They all have their own names. I ran the “Halluncination” 100 miler that began at 2 pm on the Friday. All other distances were dispersed at different times and days.
My course ran mostly on the Potawatomi trail on a 27 km loop. Repeated 6 times. Which meant that every 27 km you had full access to your vehicle, race gear, cooler, etc… That to me was the largest buy in here, as I usually race solo, and with the absence of a crew, this race hits that sweet spot to self manage effortlessly. I will say not everyone thinks alike, as some runners say it’s very hard to pass the finish line multiple times especially in struggle miles or where you feel like it’s a grind. I can argue it’s a major confidence boost to know in a few hours you’re right back at the comfort of all your arsenal to problem solve, swap in/out, change, tweak, rest, reset etc.
Each runner is designated a tiny space enough for a vehicle and tent. Kudos to the organizers for fitting hundreds of vehicles in a very choppy condensed area. They were playing Tetris out there an hour before the start and in my opinion they nailed it!!!
The start line had a musician rock the national anthem on electric guitar giving off a Jimmy Hendrix type display and the community cheers and smiles from other runners was such a unique vibe that is truly different from any race I’ve done prior and that’s a twenty year story… In fact live music played for the better part of the entire day of the race at the start finish line.
The course was entirely varied, there were grassy sections, sandy sections, hard packed dirt and single track, double track open atv trails, country gravel sections here and there. Each 27 km had about 1500 ft of elevation. The trail was flowy, it didn’t have any nasty ascents or descents just nice little rollers to keep your legs guessing what was up next… I love rolling courses as mentally it gives your thoughts and psyche something fun to chase and sink into your own rhythm…
Each loop had 4 aid stations, one at 8 km, 13 km, 21 k, and start finish. Which meant the longest you had to run in between was no more than 8 km. This was a huge bonus as there were a few loops I ran at night with just one handheld!! Some of them including the mid way aid was lit up for 500 m up the road with a light show, which at night can be a revitalization of energy …
The volunteers I saw on loop 1 were the same volunteers on loop 6. I was blown away for the people out here on their own time helping us crazies run around in loops for 20 hours or more… I hugged the chief crew at Food for Love aid (half way) on my last loop at 18 hours in at that point he was still smiling and exuding such joyous positive spirits and I was humbled by his and other crew’s commitment…
There were many tough spots for me mostly at night, where my stomach was angry, and I struggled staying awake and I couldn’t shake that sleepiness off that lingered; but every time I passed an aid someone picked me back up psychologically whether it was a stomach tonic or a positive affirmation or a hug that peppered me back up for another push forward …
The race swag is off the hook!! The medal and buckle is dope, the hoodie is super comfy, the bracelet like a Woodstock concert is probably my favourite token or keepsake to date …
After the race I was contemplating how I was going to move my half broken legs down to the showers which were at the other side of the park. I ended up driving to the central lodge, and to my astonishment, I then see multiple volunteers either chauffeuring or supporting runners in golf carts. My guardian angel (haha) sweeps by and even offers me shower gel and states she’ll wait at the door until I am finished to cart me back to my van. Like this festival experience needed any other token of pure jubilation. I was so thankful for this, I still don’t have many words that serve gratitude to its fullest.
I had the privilege of running with people from all across America. Some of who were doing the Midwest Grand Slam which is running any four of five 100 milers in one season. Kettle, Woodstock, Indiana, Mohican, Burning River. I ran with two awesome souls for a good chunk at night, and had some of the wildest laughs and storytelling that was fit for a Joe Rogan podcast for the ages! As the race hinted at, I certainly did hallucinate at times mostly due to sleep deprivation, but in that blend, it made for a memory for lifetimes and this race will hold dear to my heart as it was also a redemption race after major GI failure at Crazy Mountain 100 6 weeks earlier…
I came in at 20 Hours 40 minutes. I was happy with my finish; I certainly hit many lows here but what was different was my ability to embrace the discomfort with curiosity and to manage the hiccups by adjusting my strategy along the way…
I’ll conclude with a Chris Farley type story here for good measure. It’s about 4 am, I’m on loop 5 and it’s almost twilight giving us some anticipatory sun vibes, and the feller I ran most of the night with was giggling in tiredness and our laughs were feeding off one another, we approach the half way aid station, he’s still laughing, with his head down and eating a piece of orange like a starved raccoon in the wild for 90 days on an episode of “Alone”, he runs right into a big black garbage container as he falls to the ground in slow motion. I haven’t had a laugh like that in years, as it felt out of body; as we both recomposed and took back off with a freeze frame for campfire shares in the future…
Thank you to the amazing Run Woodstock team for hosting a treasure of an experience!
Today is a good day to be alive… I am blessed! On the the next adventure …Waaaawhoooooo!
