Superior 100 Run (the abridged version)

I had a huge, detailed, blow-by-blow account of the Superior 100 almost done when I realized, no one wants to read this...I don't want to read this.  Here's a condensed version of the same:

I ran/walked 100 miles and it wasn't easy.  Hard lessons were learned last year and so I started out slow and made sure to eat more, much more.  The first 42 miles went pretty well.  Knowing the course helped and I made it to County Road 6 much earlier than last year.

Once it got dark I started walking a lot more than running which was a mistake.  The course from CR 6 to Finland and on to Crosby-Manitou was the most runnable part of the trail.

At the halfway point in Finland I slept for 30-45 minutes and spent too much time drying my socks by the fire.  It would have been nice to have had a drop bag with dry socks and shirt.  Thanks to Dallas Sigurdur I left Finland with a dry, if not completely clean shirt. 

I chatted with Jason Buffington at the Sonju Lake Road aid station in the middle of the night.  It's always good to see folks you know.

By Crosby-Manitou aid station (mile 63) I was falling asleep walking and really needed a nap, but there was just no way I could stop and still finish.  The sky was beginning to lighten.

From Crosby-Manitou to Sugarloaf was the most trying section of the trail.  I almost dropped out.  I had to take a nap on a rock (only about 5 minutes, but it really helped).  It started raining and kept raining.  Combined with the cool temperatures I was starting to get to a really bad place.  Luckily my Arrowhead instincts cut in and I stopped, made a raincoat out of a garbage bag I was carrying (thanks to Lynn Saari), and was able to continue if slowly and unfashionably.

By the time I arrived at Sugarloaf I was a wreck.  My feet were wet and blistered, I was cold, and in a foul mood.  Kurt Neuberger and his wife (whose name I should really know) nursed me back to health with some warm soup (squash, very good), ibuprofen, and clean dry socks!

From there I started to feel better and move faster.  I started to pace off of some of the 50 mile runners and that along with some conversation made the miles pass.  Climbing Carleton Peak I was stung by a wasp which was painful but took my mind off of the rest of my pain and the ~20 miles I had left.

At the Sawbill aid station I found that I was dangerously close to the cutoff.  I would really have to book it if I wanted to finish.  I ran like an old man, but I ran pretty much the whole way to Oberg.  I was stung by a wasp once again and by happenstance met another runner from Ames.  I arrived at Oberg with 15 minutes to spare.  I would have 3 hours to run 7 miles.  That was a cushion I could deal with.

I mostly fast hiked the last stretch with a small group.  Two 50 mile runners and two 100 mile runners.  The "Stairway to Heaven" section of Moose Mountain was a welcome sight (I am good at uphills) and soon enough the lights of Lutsen were in sight.  My right ankle was screaming at me on every downhill.  More than once I had to stop for a second and collect myself.

Breaking out of the rocky, rooty trails and on to a paved road felt strange on my feet.  Like standing on solid ground after a day on a boat.  I crossed the finish line in 37:36:42.  Less than 24 minutes before the cutoff, but I finished. 

Roberto Marron, the author, and Dallas Sigurdur early in the race.

photo: Londell Pease