Does the “A” in Arkansas stand for Apathetic or Achievement?

“You know what we were doing last night at 7pm? Walking down a dark road at mile 57 with lightning flashing above us.”

I wanted to quit. I was standing ankle deep in a mud puddle in a downpour mile 25. I wasn’t injured. I wasn’t tired. I was just… uninspired.

When I signed up for the Arkansas Traveller 100 mile race I was stoked. My life schedule had simplified and I had months to train and prepare. I had high hopes. I had never trained with intent for a 100 miler before and was looking forward to doing so, but somewhere along the way… I lost interest. I just didn’t feel like pushing and training in that way. I was solid for a bit in the beginning of the training block… but eventually I fell off and started to redirect my focus onto work and music. The 5 or so weeks leading up to the race were subpar at best and felt like I was just doing enough to get by. Meh… these kinda cycles happen and sometimes ya just need to roll with them. Nevertheless, I figured things would change when we got to Arkansas.

I drove up to OJG’s house Friday morning and we made our way towards the great state of Arkansas. We didn’t want to feel rushed so we left out early and took our time on the trip.

We scooted into the start/finish area a little after 4pm to grab our hoodies and drop off our drop bags. This was a solo mission (no crew or pacers) so we were reliant on them.

After discovering the closest town to the starting line was dry… we hunted down Octoberfest and pizza at the Red Moon Tavern.

The race provided free camping in the group camping site about a mile or so down from the race so we took advantage of the proximity. Since it was set to rain all night, we canceled the tent plan and threw our sleeping pads in the back of OJG’s 4Runner, popped the hatch and drifted into slumber.

We awoke around 4:30am and eased our way up to the starting line. When we got to race headquarters, we grabbed our psych ward looking wrist band, our bibs and a cup of coffee. We sat outside listening to the excitement of all the runners… but I just couldn’t shake the feeling of emptiness and apathy I felt. I honestly thought that spark of excitement would ignite as it got closer to race time but it just didn’t happen.

At 6am, the gun blasted and we headed off into the morning darkness. I slid into an easy rhythm about 10 folks deep and just coasted through the first couple of aid stations. Physically, I was moving fine… legs felt good… body felt good… movement felt easy… but emotionally… I was hollow.

After the the Electronic Tower aid station (mile 24.6), a heavy rain storm set in. I found myself just apathetically walking through the ankle deep puddles. I just wasn’t having any fun. At one point… I kinda just stopped and stood in the rain for a bit. I had all but made up my mind to drop at mile 31 and crew OJG for the rest of the race when the Legend himself came splashing down the trail.

“What ya doing?”

I started slogging through the puddles with him.

“Listen, I’m gonna drop at mile 31 and just crew you the rest of the race. My heart just ain’t in this dude.”

OJG simply said, “Nah. Just run with me till mile 50.”

He knew as well as I did that if I got to mile 50 and started the back half I’d have to finish.

At times we held conversation and at other times we were silent. Having a running partner that you can just simply be present with in any aspect is priceless. It all felt organic… no forced conversation… no bullshit pep talks… just 2 souls knowing what needed to happen to get it done. I’m real real thankful for OJG and he’s 100% the reason I finished.

We flipped on our headlamps as we approached the Turnaround (mile 57). OJG opted for a Desitin foot bath and I sat and watched the spectacle as I ate a mashed potato and bacon burrito (it was litrully one of the finest foods I’ve ever consumed at an aid station).

We left out of the Turnaround with lightning flashing above our heads. We figured it was gonna rain again at some point but hoped it would be a mild drizzle and not a storm.

Because of the amount and proximity of the aid stations, the race can easily be covered with just a handheld and a small waist pack. That was both our initial go-to’s for the first 68 miles but we both decided to slide on our vests for the overnight. We didn’t have a crew or anything and didn’t want to chance not having a backup headlamp or comfort items throughout the night.

The night miles were steamy. Typically, you’ll get a lil chilly on the overnight portion of almost any 100 miler… but I stayed drenched pretty much all day. Thankfully I stayed on top of lubing and didn’t experience any chafing. I couldn’t bare the thought of a repeat of the horrendous chafing of 2018 Cruel Jewel 100!

The most exciting part of the overnight was the amount of SNAKES we saw. We saw a shit ton of baby copperheads, a full grown copperhead and one pesky rat snake that coiled at OJG. I bet I saw more snakes in the overnight portion than I have all summer here in Alabama.

The sleepiness had set in by the time we got to Lake Winona (mile 85). We could’ve easily taken a quick nap in the chair but opted to down a Red Bull and start walking into the darkness.

The last 15 miles were slow. My right achilles had gone to shit and I was having to do this weird shuffle thing to keep up with OJG’s power walk. By the time the sun came up, we were both ready to be done with the race.

The last 2 miles were a long downhill on a gravel road. With the exception of about 8 miles of rolling single track… the race was comprised of either forest service roads with gravel or rutted ATV type forest service roads. The race course itself won’t go down as a favorite, but the aid stations, volunteers and overall experience is top notch and professional.

Once we hit the main pavement, we had a short climb up a hill to Camp Ouchita. Since we were in no rush… we stopped by the car, dropped our vests and picked up our flip flops before crossing the finish line at the 26hr30min mark.

After a quick and unsuccessful 30min nap at a Walmart parking lot…

We carried on to our boujee spot in Memphis.

The Peabody is probably the fanciest place I’ve ever stayed! I felt a lil out of place in shorts and flips flop, covered in mud, limping through the lobby of a fancy smancy hotel… but… I felt super comfortable fine dining in the room in a cozy robe…

You learn something new every time you cover this type of distance. My biggest take away from this past weekend is more of a reminder than anything… a reminder that sometimes hard things can and should be done even when your heart isn’t into it.