Reason for Running Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile Trail Race

With Superior Sawtooth only days away, I read a great post tweeted by Scott (check out his blog) a fellow Sawtooth runner, who shared a great post by Steve, another fellow midwest ultra runner, on motivation and thoughts on Superior Sawtooth. I particularly like the bottom section that talks about dropping from a 100 mile race.  This quote is so true and comes from a runner that has logged a lot more miles than I have.

"People don't drop out of 100's because they aren't prepared or because they're injured, but because they can't think of any reason they should keep going."

-Steve Q.

So you might be wondering what is my reasoning for doing this 100 miler?  What's my reason that will keep me going?  Especially since up until a few weeks ago I was telling everyone I was not going to run Sawtooth.  Those of you who know me well, know that I'm not one to make snap decisions, especially ones that involved me being in severe pain and exhaustion for 30 or more hours.  So why the snap decision this time around?  I've been thinking about that a bit myself, something I should have done before paying $175 for the registration I guess, here is what I've come up with.

I have no doubt that this 100 mile race will take the longest, I'm expecting a 30-36 hour finish time.  It will be the most difficult of the three 100 milers I'll do this year (Zumbro and Kettle Moraine), I've run the 50 mile version of this race and it is in a word, relentless.  The course is all on the Superior Hiking Trail, which is mostly single track, super technical (very difficult footing, rocks, roots ect.) and there is a constant up and down with barely any "runnable" areas meaning flat smooth trails to really run for an extended length of time.  As you can see from the below picture, it is simply difficult to move quickly on the trail at all.

So why do it?  What's my reason and what's going to motivate me to finish?  The reason I'm doing Sawtooth this year and the reason that I'll put myself through this is because this an awesome event.  Scott summed it up perfectly in his blog post on why he's running Sawtooth with reason number nine.  "Epic everything."  Having been a part of it before and having gotten to know quite a few people running, volunteering, crewing and helping to organize the event I want to finish simply to be part of something great, something epic.  I will have two close friends Edward and Ben running the race as well.  This will be Ben's first 100 miler and Edward's second attempt, they only have some idea what they are getting into.  If there is one thing that running, and ultra running in particular, has taught me; is that whenever you have a chance to be a part of something "Epic" do it!  Pay the money, put in the time, do the work or get out of work for it, because it WILL be worth it.  Forget a runner's high, that won't last for 100 miles of trails, believe me.  You're going after something much bigger.  I think that John Parker Jr. summed up well with this quote from the book Once a Runner when the main character Quenton Cassidy explains to his girlfriend what he's running for.

"It is simply that we can all be good boys and wear our letter sweaters around and get our little degrees and find some nice girl to settle, you know, down with...Or we can blaze! Become legends in our own time, strike fear in the heart of mediocre talent everywhere! We can scald dogs, put records out of reach! Make the stands gasp as we blow into an unearthly kick from three hundred yards out! We can become God's own messengers delivering the dreaded scrolls! We can race black Satan himself till he wheezes fiery cinders down the back straightaway....They'll speak our names in hushed tones, 'those guys are animals' they'll say! We can lay it on the line, bust a gut, show them a clean pair of heels. We can sprint the turn on a spring breeze and feel the winter leaves at our feet! We can, by God, let our demons loose and just wail on!"

-Quenton Cassidy  

Now, Quenton, was talking about running the one mile not 100, but I think you get the idea.  I got a taste of this during the Ragnar Relays a few weeks ago, when Andy, Edward, Greg and I spent 28+ hours, enduring the heat, the hills, the dark and the awful smell of the SUV to finish the 196 mile relay race as four man team.  I even heard a few  people whispering, "those guys are animals."  Stuff like this is, as they say, one for the grand kids.  Ben and Edward are going to remember this race for the rest of there lives, and those are the types of endeavors that are worth doing and the reason I'm doing Sawtooth this weekend.

I'll see you on the other side...