Note: I am writing this race report approximately 3 months after finishing the race, but I wanted to capture my experience before I forget the pain and triumph. I think I've forgotten some particulars, but this is a good approximation of events.
I hate
when people call a race a “training run” so I will not do that, but this race was
a specific part of my build up for my upcoming journey run at The Last Annual
Vol State. 100ks of Convenience included navigation, roads, and convenience
store stops, GSER 100k had roads, heavy navigation, and plenty of hills with a
monster climb at the end, and the Keys would be my prime time to run on road
shoulders of heavily trafficked roads as well as gear test in the high heat and
humidity.
Part of my preparation for Keys included plenty of heat training. I often checked the weather for the Keys and most of the time it was cooler there than where I live. Central Florida does not have the benefit of an ocean breeze, so typically our temperatures are hotter and more chokingly humid than down south, so it was nice to know that the weather would never be as bad as what I was running in regularly. I ran outside at the hottest parts of the day and created my own homemade sauna, aka a space heater in my shed where I spent an hour doing yoga and sitting around in 105-110℉ heat. My coach, Ani Weiss also knows how to build my fitness without wrecking me and I felt very physically prepared going into this race.
My husband Tom would also be joining me for the duration of the race. We previously ran the entirety of the Badger 100 in 2021 together. It worked well because I slow him down in the first half and he makes me run more in the second half. We were hoping for a similar result this time.
Pre-Race
One annoying thing about the Keys 100 is that you now have to have a crew (pre-covid there were some aid stations and water drops and runners could visit stores for necessary items but that has gone the way of the dodo). I’m not a huge fan of having a crew because I get crew guilt (more on that later), but needs must. I put out the call to my group of friends that I was looking for and my friend Cheryl agreed and roped her boyfriend Eric to come down and crew. In exchange they would get…uhhhh, a flight and a night in Key West they couldn’t enjoy because they were exhausted from crewing? After picking them up from the Miami airport Thursday night, we made the drive to Key Largo on Friday.
The race had a livestream of the pre-race panel and since we weren’t going to make it in time, we listened in the car. The instant Bob Becker told a story of a runner who died the previous year a few days after the race because of an electrolyte imbalance we turned off the livestream. We did not need that weighing heavily on our minds right before we took on the challenge.
The day
before the race was not ideal as I typically aim to have a very chill day
before a race, but due to some issues with school stuff, I ended up staying up
later than I wanted to and stressing about that. The morning of the race I
briefly contemplated taping my feet, but since I’d had zero issues in my last
two races, I figured I would be fine (narrator: it was not).
Mile 0 to Mile 20
The race starts in the parking lot of Diver’s Direct in Key Largo and it is quite chaotic. Waves of runners take off every three minutes and we had a 5:51am start time which is based on the order in which people register. The elites get the 5:30am start time, which means I never ever had a chance of seeing them. The line for the portapotties was long and I ran up to the start line, still trying to pull up my pants to where they needed to be, as Bob Becker told us, “Go!”
In addition to the 100-mile runners, the race also has relay runners. We discovered pretty early on that it is very easy to get caught up in a relay runner’s pace. I kept looking at my watch knowing that we had to throttle back our speed or risk burning out too early. The weather wasn’t too hot, but the humidity was definitely there.
As a result, I ended up with squishy shoes. I saw other squishy shoe prints in front of me so I knew I wasn’t the only one dealing with the issue. Tom and I were running a nice pace and I didn’t want to break up the flow by changing my socks so early into the race. RED ALERT, RED ALERT, THIS IS A BAD IDEA. I will also straight up say that for the past two 100k races I’d done, I did zero pre-taping, just globbed on some trail toes and I was fine.
The smart things to do: pre-tape known problem areas, dry my feet and apply more lube, and change socks and/or shoes. What did I do? Nothing. Shae, you absolute turd, you know better.
Mile 20 to Mile 40
Around this point Tom started feeling off. He sometimes struggles with running in the heat. Because of that, we started walking more. In the past walking has always done me in at races. Feet move differently in shoes and blisters pop up in ways you don’t experience while running. My last two races had almost all running and minimal walking, so I did not factor in how much walking, especially in still squishy shoes, would impact my feet.
As the day got warmer, Tom began to suffer more. He had the mental will to continue, but his body said no. Without going into it, it shut him down and there was nothing he could do. Eric and Cheryl arrived to pick him up and I continued on.
At that point I had to pee, but there was no portapotty; using the bathroom anywhere other than a portapotty or approved store is strictly prohibited and will result in an immediate DQ. I figured there would be one after the bridge I was going over, so I looked forward to that short crossing.
What I didn’t know was that I had started Long Key Bridge, the second longest bridge in the Florida Keys. Long Key Bridge is nearly 2.5 miles long. I tried to pick up my running pace, but at times I was slowed to a walk or had to stand still so I didn’t pee my pants. In my opinion, this was the longest bridge during the Keys. It is one of the few pedestrian-only bridges, so it was filled with groups fishing off the various outcroppings. There were also several garbage cans along the bridge and I fantasized about hopping inside one and peeing. I stopped drinking water in hopes that it would make me have to pee less.
I also spotted this bucket truck, which was literally parked IN THE OCEAN and it had a portapotty next to it. I was mad at bucket trucks parked in the ocean because they could go to the bathroom and I couldn't.
As I said
before, the bridge is only 2.5 miles, but you could have fooled me. It felt
like ten miles. When I finally saw an end to the bridge, I desperately started
looking for a portapotty. There was none to be found. I asked my crew and they
told me there was one a few miles up. Nope. I was going to go. I got into the
car, closed the door, and did my best to piss into a Gatorade bottle (as a
woman, it is very, very difficult especially crouched on the floor of the front
passenger seat). Afterwards I felt a million times better, but also bad because
now my crew had to be in a pee car, but at least it wasn’t in public? I wiped the
floor of the vehicle the best I could, but I’m pretty sure they had to go back
in with some paper towels and wet wipes.
Mile 40 to Mile 60
Five(ish) miles after the end of Long Key Bridge was the infamous Hell’s Tunnel. It is said to be one of the hottest parts of the course as most people arrive in the peak heat of the day and it has foliage on both sides of the bike path, so there’s no breeze at all. I asked for and received an ice bandana, but having it on my back ended up being too cold, so I swung it around to my front for a bit. I had to alternate because it was just too cold/painful to have ice that close to my chest or back. This was the first time I’d ever used ice in a race and it solidified I didn’t like it. I had snug a few stray cubes into the pocket on the back of my shirt, but they melted fast or I removed them after a little while.
At some point in the middle(?) of Hell’s Tunnel, I stopped to do some foot repair. My feet were megafucked. The heel blisters and ball of the foot blisters were going to be a problem. The toes hadn’t yet posed a problem, but they were on the verge of doing so. It was then that I accepted that I’d be walking the vast majority of the race and that was okay. It was going to hurt, but I would get it done.
I can’t remember exactly where, but between 40 and 50, I started feeling mega crew guilt. We all know that ultrarunning is a very selfish sport and that it takes up a lot of time. I’ve dealt with really bad crew guilt before and it was one of the main reasons I DNF’d a “virtual” 100 miler a few years ago. I feel bad for the people sacrificing their time and attending to dumb little me. I came into the crew stop, sat on a rock and told Eric and Cheryl that I was having a real bad time mentally. I felt bad for them having to shuttle from spot to spot to give me water and food. I felt bad for Tom for sitting in the car recovering from heat issues. I felt bad because I knew that I couldn’t quit because where would we even stay that night?
Funny enough, that was one of the main things that kept me going. Especially when it got really late. There was nowhere for us to go. It was hard enough finding a hotel for the night after the race, I couldn’t imagine how difficult finding a room for that night would be or how exorbitant the price would be. Some of the things I focused on were: you need to make it through this so you can make it through Vol State, there’s nowhere else to go tonight so you might as well keep going all the way to Key West, you paid waaaaaaaayyyy too much for this race to not get that pretty buckle. Very silly reasons for sure, but they kept me going. Getting ahead of myself though – back to the pit of despair.
Around mile 47ish, I realized that I would be arriving to Seven Mile Bridge about 45 minutes after the time I wanted and I got really bummed. I wanted to get there and be mid-bridge as the sun was setting, but there is no stopping the passage of time, so it was going to be dusk and then dark on the bridge. Knowing there was a McDonald’s in Marathon, I texted my crew to ask if they could get me fries. When I got to the Marathon Garden Club (the location of the 50 mile start), the fries were gloriously hot, fresh, and life affirming.
It was
maybe a mile and a half onto the bridge that the sleepies started to hit. It
was one hell of an awful place for that to happen, too. You’d think with the
cars flying by going 60+ mph while you’re on a narrow shoulder would wake a
person up, that was not the case for me. Darkness starts, I get sleepy. Them’s
the rules.
Mile 60 to Mile 80
As I came into Big Pine Key I saw my very first Key Deer. Instant tears! They are a very special kind of deer that only live in the Keys. They are small, some compare their size to a dog but they’re a little bit taller than that. I first learned about the key deer while listening to books from Carl Hiassen, which a friend had recommended. Listening to his books about the wild characters in the Keys got me really excited for this race, and the deer were something I really wanted to see.
Since Cheryl told me that she needed 14ish miles that weekend, I asked if she wanted to pace at the next crew point. That would give her time to get into running gear and mentally prepare herself to endure my company. At the next crew point as I drank a red bull and ate some room temp ramen noodles (noodles soften with water, no need to be fancy and try to acquire warm water in the middle of the night), I warned Cheryl again that there would be very little, if any, running, but she agreed to spend the time with me on the road. We saw a few more adorable deer and I kept up a litany of really dumb stories from my tired but caffeinated brain. We may have done a little bit of run/walk, but I can’t remember. Once she was done with her miles, I started out again on my own.
I was feeling pretty raw in my undercarriage area and going to the portapotty in the parking lot around mile 75 I discovered something was bleeding, but I wasn’t sure what. Lady zone, thighs, bhole. Take your pick. Something down there had a lot more chafe than I would have liked, so I threw some more trail toes on and shrugged my shoulders. Not much to do but endure it.
Mile 80 to the Finish Line and Beyond
The next several bridges and miles are a bit of a blur. Everything looks the same during the night and I knew I was going over absolutely gorgeous places that I didn’t get to see at all. Darn me for not being one of the super speedy runners that gets to see all the pretty stuff during the best part of the day. Oh well, I got to see a very nice sunrise and got the happiness that comes with finally being able to take off your headlamp.
With 10 miles to go and the heat already starting up for the day, I went into my very first store of the race. It was a Circle K and I wandered around for a bit to search out the best breakfast to have; I made sure to stop in the beer fridge and enjoy the chilled air for a minute. I found a sammich and an icee and put my feet up to eat them next to the car. This is one of the many stops I made that were way too long. If I had been crewing me, I would have kicked myself out much sooner every single time I stopped at the crew car. Buuuuut, I knew that my crew was very nice and they didn’t have the heart to kick me out really fast, so I took full advantage of all of the rest time they allowed me.
I met up with the crew at Dion’s with a little less than five miles to go; Tom was dressed back in running clothes and was ready to go! It reminded me of when he paced me at Long Haul in 2020 when my feet were bad. This time my feet were worse, but I was moving better than I had then. I even ran in teensy little bursts here and there, much less than he wanted, much more than I felt like doing.
We got to Smather’s Beach and ran along there, hoping and hoping our turn would be coming up quick. Several people who had done the relay or finished the race cheered us on and told us we were close to the finish (not quite the truth, not quite a lie). We hit that final turn and ran through the inflatable arch at the finish where I was presented with a medal and a buckle! It was beautiful! My final finishing time was 29:22:20. It was a long ordeal, over the time I wanted, but it is what it is.
And then all I wanted to do was sit down. Sit down. Right now. The award ceremony for all of the races was happening right then, so the tent was extremely crowded, which did not help the way I was feeling. I went from sitting down to, “I need to lie down NOW.” So there I was, in the sand, holding my buckle, and entirely all of the people around me who seemed to be in great spirits and showered.
For some reason I was not having it and I wanted to leave. It meant that I totally neglected getting a photo under the finish line with the Mile 0 sign and running into the water at the beach like I had envisioned during the night. Getting into the hotel afterwards was a whole ‘nother cluster that I won’t go into; I should have gotten over myself and stayed at the finish line for a while, but hindsight is 20/20.
Conclusion
The Keys 100 is absolutely incredible and absolutely awful. Would I do it again? Fuck no. Am I glad I did it? Hell yes. If you’re looking for a good challenge, I highly suggest putting this race on your list.
I think I could have run a lot more, but I didn’t really have the mental will to do so. The thing I always hear and should have said to myself, “If it hurts to walk and it hurts to run, then run.” I’ve beat myself up a lot in the last few months about not running this race more. I definitely could have had a much better finishing time, but I’m actually pretty grateful for the learning experience I did have. I learned that even with blistered, horrible feet I can finish a race and that I am capable of walking it in for 50+ miles. My feet were peeling and still healing going into Vol State, almost two full months later.
Another part of this race that happened all throughout was talking to people. I enjoy talking to people at races. New people, old friends, whoever. At this race, I found several people who were repeat Keys finishers. I asked every single one WHY. Why would you do this crazy thing again? I got the full gamut of answers – “I don’t know.” “The finish line is great!” “I really like to suffer.” “I’m very dumb.”
It’s
always interesting how people are drawn to certain events. Like the call of Vol
State and Heart of the South. Why are those so interesting to me? Why would I
want to do either? Well…I’m dumb. I like to suffer. I don’t know. The finish
line is a relief and beautiful. At the time I didn’t understand the repeaters.
I do now. They couldn’t ignore the call of the Keys much like I can’t for other
events.
