Summary of the Death By 5k race I did two weeks ago in Milton FL. (Ten 5ks in 24 ours)
I'm always up for a
new adventure, so when I seen this race was in Florida...I said let's go!
This race consisted of 10 separate 5ks that started exactly every 2.5 hours for 24 hours.
This race is tough enough, but when I arrived and jogged the course the evening before race day...I knew I might have bitten off more than I can chew. I figured since I only have one life... I might as well push some limits!
The course was the toughest 3.1 miles off road I have every ran or walked! Solid roots, up and down hills, rocks and most of it was single trail. Oh my I thought.🙃
Race #1 at 8am Saturday morning: Fun, exciting and I felt good and pretty fast. Finished 6th overall I belive. I thought, that wasn't too bad. I can do this.
Race #2 at 10:30am: Felt good again, was going pretty fast on this terrain. Top 10 finish.
Race #3 at 1pm: Laid it out again for #3, but a little fear started creeping in regarding how many races were left! Top 10 finish.
Race #4 at 3:30. Shadows started coming in. It was getting colder. I tripped a few times, nothing serious. The fear was getting stronger. Top 10.
Race #5 at 6:pm: It was dark and getting cold. I was already tired. I was sore. This is when I actually started to think what a doofus I am for signing up for this torture. I laced up, threw on my 5th Superman shirt and lined up. This is crazy I thought! My right leg cramped up on the last mile pretty bad. Top 10.
Race #6 at 8:30pm: I massaged my calf muscle trying to loosen it up. It was 30 minutes before the start. I seriously said to myself "I'm done. I'm tired, my leg hurts, it's cold and dark". I just wanna lay down in the warmth in my camper, which was 100 feet from the starting line. Then I hear the little 9 year old boy yell over the bull horn "15 minute warning". I walked up to the line and said to a couple guys I met that I'm thinking about pulling out. One of them looked at me and said "no way, You came this far, you can't give up now". He was right. I got power from his words. Top 10
Race #7 at 11pm: I was getting exhausted. I was delirious. I was freezing. I was fighting the little round pacman looking running demons with sharp teeth. That were actually biting me on the knees and arms. I fell pretty bad and had some blood in various places from these demons. They smelled my fear, and me thinking of quitting, so they wanted to finish me off. Well, they forgot something. They forgot that I'm not a quitter and I have to... and I must finish this event. They did not figure in my will, my Faith, my drive and my little bit of anger! Top 10.
Race #8 at 1:30 am: It's on like Donkey Kong now. I'm sore, bleeding, delirious, tired and feezing.....but I'm a little mad too, as those pesky little running demons are making this more painful than I thought.
I decided to back off just a hair and settle in, lowering my chances of hurting myself. I jumped in behind Josh and just stayed with him. Scott jumped in behind me and we were trucking along at a decent clip. Not one of us wanted to pass the other. We were happy this way all the way to the finish. There was no sudden burst from neither of us to try and beat the other two to the finish line....even 100 yards from the finish. It was an honorable gentleman finish. I was proud to have made friends with these two guys! Top 10.
Race #9 at 4am: Nothing was normal. Nothing mattered it seemed. Survival was all that really mattered. I was in a bad dream...a nightmare! I pushed through it. Top 10.
Race #10 at 6:30am: This was the most challenging 5k I have ever done! I was leading Josh and Scott. Only 1 second separated us as we made our way through the course. It was brutal. I tripped badly on mile 2 and hit hard on the roots with my knee. I could not get up on my own. They both stopped running and helped me up. I told them to go ahead, but they wouldn't leave me. I walked some and told them again to go ahead. They both said " we have followed behind you this far and we are not leaving you now". I was absolutely amazed at these fellow competitors refusing to go on ahead.
I started slowly running with only one mile left of this brutal challenge. As we approached the finished, I told them since I cost them so much time, I wanted them to pass me before the finish line.
They said "not gonna happen, we will follow you through the finish".
Amazing to have met these awesome guys during this race. All I can say is I have the greatest respect for these two guys and what they did during this brutal race. They never left me behind! Top 10.
I finished 7th overall out of 150 or so. Out of 5 hours and 27 minutes of accumulated racing, my new friend Josh beat me by a mere :09 seconds!
What a race, what a memory and what an amazing couple of great guys!
Life is so awesome!
Jonny Whacked Simpkins🙂
