Emerald Necklace.

For most people these words bring up images of beautiful green pendants that sparkle around your neck.

This summer, however, Emerald Necklace had a whole different meaning. I hadn’t registered for many races this year but The Emerald Necklace Ultra was one race that I had my eye on and committed to fairly early. I knew it would motivate me to run (more than I otherwise would) and would keep me training throughout the summer. It would. It did.

Emerald Necklace is the name of a 3-day stage race around the Sunapee Ragged Kearsarge Greenway (SRKG). It’s an 80(ish) mile loop that runs across some of NH’s greatest peaks and through some amazing forests in the towns of Andover, Danbury, Goshen, Newbury, New London, Springfield, Sunapee, Sutton, Warner and Wilmot. The trail is fairly well-marked, yet not heavily traveled. It made for a perfect race course!

The race was set up so that teams of two (traveling together) or solo racers would run about 25 miles per day. (24.5 on Friday, 26.5 on Saturday, and a hefty 31.something on Sunday.) Piece of cake!

I wasn’t sure how I’d fair with this race. 75- 80 miles is a LONG way. Not only is it a long way in general… that’s a REALLY long run. I felt confident that I could preserver. My endurance is really solid, but would my feet hold up. Would I chafe beyond what I could handle, or would I stiffen up so much that by the 3rd day I couldn’t get from my tent to the start line. These were all very real questions I started asking myself.

 

With a little Googling on the internet and a shopping spree for blister prevention, I practiced taping my feet. I ran with permanent blisters and I learned as quickly as I could, what would work and what certainly wouldn’t.

This is what I came up with.  Fortunately, it worked… and it worked well. My goal of Stage 1 was Happy Feet. (I can’t type that without the thought of little cartoon penguins dancing around in my head.) But, happy penguins and happy piggies, I needed them to make the first 24.5 miles without incident… and to my delight, they’d make it all the way through mile 80.

Day one was intimidating.

The starting archway was full of very lean, strong women who clearly were runners. People were dressed in compression socks, visors, water packs, bright colors, rain jackets, and they were ready to go! We took off like a steady bolt of lightening. I settled into a decent pace and found myself up in the front of the pack with several other men. I relaxed a bit, since this is where I typically fall into place, and started chatting with the guys around me. I learned where people were from, who they were racing with, and what their goals were for the next 3 days. What I found out was that people really just wanted to finish the darn thing. 80 miles wasn’t just a long way for me; even the guys in the front were nervous about 80 miles. As we left the rail trail and made our way up the first ascent onto a dirt road, I let go of the guys I was with. I settled into something that seemed more easily maintained and started running alone- people ahead and people behind, but in my own space and doing my own thing.

It wasn’t long until I was VERY alone. I left the guy closest to me as he ducked into the woods for a bathroom break. There was nobody. I ran a bit higher up the logging road… still alone. I soon realized that, seriously, I was… alone. Thinking that something might actually be wrong, and since I couldn’t easily find a trail marker, I decided to head back towards the guy pooping in the woods. I had seen people there. About 5 minutes or so had passed and it was very clear that I had missed the trail junction. Whoops. Back on course, I caught up to one of the only people I knew running the race, Andy Hager.

Andy is local to the area. Not only does he know the trails well, but he’s on the SRKG board! I ran with him and his teammate, Chael, for the remainder of Stage 1. Were they going a bit slower than I probably would have run on my own? Perhaps. But were they saving my life by keeping to the trail and leading the way? Absolutely!  They were the best! We talked a bunch that evening and it became clear that our match up earlier that day was a good thing for each of us. I was pushing the pace a bit, and they were keeping me in check and pointed in the right direction.

That day, Friday: Stage 1, we crossed the finish line together. Andy, Chael, Tony (another guy we picked up along the way), and myself. We finished in 5:34 hours, tied for 5th place.

Stage 2 was similar to stage 1. Andy, Chael, and I started off together from the Kearsarge Middle School. We ran well together for the earliest part of the morning, until Chael’s knee started bothering him. We made it as a group to the first aid station (conveniently, the medical doctor’s home). At that point, Chael decided that he would run with Tony (also struggling with a knee issue), and Andy and I would continue our race. It felt weird to leave them after having such an awesome first day together, but I was grateful that Andy wanted to preserver. We ran as a couple until the last 6 miles of the race that day. Andy matched himself up with another couple of guys, and I opted to move forward towards the finish line at my own pace. I knew that part of the course well- I had just run it the Thursday beforehand with Chad Denning. (That REALLY helped.) The last section of this day was twisty and difficult to find. The trail was flooded and misleading. For this reason, it didn’t take long for me to catch the lead two men- Rick, from CA, and his buddy Mark, with an Australian accent. I lead the way with them and another guy we had picked up on the decent of Mount Sunapee- Dave Caron.

Day 2 came to an end with Dave, Rick, and I crossing the finish together- tied for 1st place.

It was an awesome moment. I helped us to weave our way through the woods- following the signs and keeping on the trail- but they could have outrun me on the pavement back to the finish. Instead, we ran together and they slowed just enough for me to catch them before the archway. We crossed the line arm in arm. This was by far, my favorite moment of the race. Completed in 5:38 hours with smiles on our faces.

Stage 3 was LONG! I was dreading stage 3 before the race even began. One step at a time; that’s how I approached this day. The miles went by quickly with Andy at my side. We ran the road for several miles and quickly caught up to Tony, Rick, his buddy, and Dave. That was us. This group stayed together for almost the entire day. Tony took off without much of a chance for anyone to catch him (he made up 37 (ish) minutes that day and took 4th place in the overall race by only 14 seconds off Dave’s 3rd place finish. But the rest of us stayed close.

This was a tough day for everyone (with the exception of Tony). We saw sheep, we ran roads, we were stung by bees, and we were met by Jeff (!!!). Jeff ran 14 miles that day- he ran in from his parked car, met us near the second aid station, and ran along with us until the finish line. I knew he was going to try to meet up, but it was GREAT to see him that day. He brought new conversation and a sense that the race was almost over.

The Bog Mountain descent was the worst. The weather that day was hot and muggy enough for bees- lots and lots of bees. They stung us repeatedly. I don’t think a single person made it out without some kind of sting. I was stung twice along the rocky outcropping on the downhill- as were Andy and Jeff. Other people spoke about bees in the clearcut area of the race. But fortunately, we never found those. Ugh. Bees. It’s a quick shot of adrenaline when you’re stung… and it probably helps the next few miles pass by more quickly then they otherwise would have… but ouch.

I was happy to have stage 3 over and done with. It was a bitter sweet ending. The race camaraderie was wonderful and I made so many friends that weekend. Each and every person there was friendly and fun. I enjoyed the group and the race crew. But after 80 (ish) miles… with a 2.5 mile finish on the rail trail… I was happy to be headed home.

Jen, my sister, was my full-time support person. I couldn’t have done this without her enthusiasm and love. She kept me going each night. She hung out with me and stayed positive throughout the course of the race. She helped me prep my stuff, drove from point to point, and lugged my gear around- including the tent. And with all that, she also volunteered at the aid stations. (The volunteers are such big part of these races!)

It’s hard to show it in the moment and while the race is going on, but I was so grateful for my support people. Jen (and Jeff) are the BEST! I couldn’t have done this race without either of them. Jeff took care of the dogs and joined us for the last 14 miles of the race. After 80 miles you think nothing of 14 miles… but that’s a LONG way for a non runner. He went above and beyond to show his support. And Jen completely submerged herself in the experience and was an amazing crew woman. I’m grateful for such wonderful family that help to make my adventures possible. XO.

First place woman with a combined time of 18:07:14. 5th place overall.

And a great crew of race organizers! MadAthlete guys & Chad.