Keys100 - an ode to crew angels

Sunday 9 am: It was mile-88, temperatures were heading to over 100F heat index, the sun was blazing down on me, I have been running for over 27 hours by now, without a crew or pacer, and a major shin injury in my right leg! I can feel myself staggering on this cement side walk that was going up a bridge... a lot had happened until then....

All smiles, but this is within the first 25 miles

Pre-race: I flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Thursday before the race weekend, as I had planned a few days off from work around Keys100 ultra-marathon. I will be going to the Florida Keys for the race any ways, why not stay a few extra days. My friend Melissa Kaiser from the Chicago area ultra-running community had joined me for this trip as she had also signed up for the race. We drove to Key Largo and stayed at the Courtyard Marriott, which was conveniently positioned next to the packet pickup and the race start line.

A relay team we met before the race

We went around Key Largo and spent most of the time prepping for the race, buying last minute stuff, packing for the race, etc. On Friday, we drove our rental car to Key West, dropped it at the hotel near the finish line, and got a ride from David Castro and his crew back. Melissa had met David in the Keys100 Facebook group and this is the best person we may have ever found on Facebook randomly. We will come back to his crew, but these 3 crew members - Rita, Polly and Michael, are the best.

I went out for a shake-out run with David, Dave Krupski, Luis Cocco the day before the race. My long-term goal is to get the 6-pack like these dudes :D

Shake-out run

We attended the pre-race meeting and picked our packets. The Race Director, Bob Becker, is a veteran ultra marathoner, and he is one of the kindest people one will ever meet. I met a few running friends - Grant and Susan Maughan, Steven Kellet and others.

Grant Maughan

Keys100 is a point-to-point road ultra marathon from Key Largo to Key West. You follow the mile markers (MM) in descending order from 100 to zero. Unlike other races that I have run, the mile markers indicate how many miles left in the race. So, MM60 is 40-miles into the race and 60-miles left. There are aid stations (AS) every 10 miles, and water/ice stops at 5 miles between aid stations. So, you start at MM100, at MM95 you have an unmanned water/ice stop, at MM90 there is a manned aid station, at MM85 there's an unmanned water/ice stop, etc. You get the point.

There are 2 types of runners in this race: crewed or un-crewed (aka screwed). You can have a crew follow you in a vehicle which will essentially provide you with your supplies. Or, you can be screwed, depending on aid stations, stores and other crews - who turned out to be the angels who saved my race.

Race morning (Saturday) - it was an easy walk to the start line. The 100-mile runners start in waves every 5 minutes starting 6 am. My start time was 6.15 am. I met Billy the Trainer (this dude runs the entire race with the American Flag and is aiming to break the record for most 100s in a year, I wished him Good Luck).

Billy the Trainer

My wave started at 6:15, and I kept a steady pace. I was dripping sweat within a few minutes. While it was not too hot, I could feel the humidity. It's Florida after all. For the first 20 miles, I was running at a comfortable pace and I could feel the heat and humidity increasing.

Rainbows were beautiful

I met Cass Tinkoff around mile-10 when she was cheering for runner and called out my name. I knew Cass by name, but never met her. Around mile-20, I asked if she had any ice and they also gave me a bottle of gatorade, that I gulped in a few seconds. They were supporting Rachel Belmont, whose mother and Cass were the crew. A little later, their runner Rachel Belmont ran past me, I didn't see Cass and Rachel's mom after that. Very thankful for their help.

Cass and her crew gave me water, ice and gatorade

At mile-25, I felt a discomfort on my right shin, I knew something was going on that didn't feel right. But if you know ultra-runners, you know we just keep going. Sometimes these aches and pains will pass, sometimes it will heal in a few days after the race. Little did I know that this one is here to stay for a bit.

At mile-30, I looked down at my right shin, it was swelling a bit and I had major discomfort with every step. I ran past David Castro's crew van many times. David was targeting a 24 hour finish. But he had some GI issues early on and was a few minutes behind me. His crew was a major help to me. They gave me water, ice, banana and offered anything else that I needed from their fully stocked van, that really looked like a General Store. Without them, I don't know how my race would have went. I asked for a KT tape, and both me and Michael didn't know how to put it on. I just wrapped it around my shins and started moving.

At the mile-40 aid station, my right shin had swollen to the size of a tennis ball. I asked the medic if she had some KT tape and if she could take care of the swelling. She googled how to apply the tape on shin area, and did a fantastic job of taping me. From here on, I couldn't fully run. The pain was so bad that I almost moved to a fast shuffle walk. If I ran a few steps, I had shooting pain. And the swelling got bigger and bigger.

Sunset at the beginning of the 7-mile bridge was beautiful

There was a lot of hype about the 7-mile bridge. This bridge started at mile-53. No crew or aid station for 7-miles. The sun started going down around that time, but it started getting scary to see the oncoming traffic. The shoulder was wide enough or a person to run. The parapet on one side, the water beneath it and traffic on other, along with a bit sleepy feeling was not good. Around mile-4 of 7, I saw lightning. The rule was, if there is lighting, you can get on a crew car, but you have to start over. I didn't want to do that, as the lightning was afar. I started running with my painful right leg, and sprinted to the aid station at the end of it, mile-60. I got some ginger ale, drank it and immediately threw up. Nausea is a real thing in these race. Considering the super hot weather, lack of hydration and nutrition, not having a crew, it all caught up to me. I just sat there for 5 minutes on the ground. Had a ginger chew and started my hike through the night.

The night time was not bad, except it didn't cool down. I felt like, I went from a microwave level heat to oven level heat. There was no wind, felt super muggy, and I had to push to push through it. I was getting hungry for real food. The aid stations had chips, soda, etc. but not ramen. At mile-70 aid station, I had to sit for a bit as my nausea was getting severe, and I had run out of ginger chews I was carrying. I heard someone call my name, "Sivaaaaaaa!!!!!". It was my friend Melissa. She had dropped off after mile-50 as she was not enjoying the journey anymore and didn't want to go over the 7-mile bridge alone. Running 50-miles in those conditions is no joke. That's 50 miles more than most people on this planet. I really didn't know how to respond to her dropping off, as I know Melissa had prepared and trained very well for this race. I exchanged a few words, she gave me some of her ginger chews, as she was riding with the medic to the finish line, picking up others who had dropped.

I saw a whole bunch of Key Deer when I ran past this Keys, they were beautiful and provided some necessary distraction.

I have to say, I could have dropped off this race at mile-25, 30, 40, 60, 70, 90 or 95. That thought kept crossing my mind due to the heat stress on my body and primarily my right leg was in a very bad shape. This was my big race before Badwater135. I kept telling myself that this is my "training" run. I kept telling myself, if I bail out of this, how the hell am I gonna run 135 miles in Death Valley?! I kept talking myself out of dropping. Sometimes we are brave, sometimes we are stupid. This race could fall under either categories.

At mile-75, I had a hot grilled cheese, which felt like heaven. When one goes through these ultras, though it is a self-imposed torture sometimes, it also helps learn the value of many things: people, community, food, water, nature, etc. I spent a lot of time thinking about how to push through life during times of hardship.

Miles and miles of Moon

The sun started coming up, and back to heat and humidity over 90F early in the morning. I kept pushing though mile markers. Many crews helped me, I didn't have the energy to ask for their name or take a selfie, but just kept thanking them for their generosity and kept moving.

Though I was fast hiking, I passed many runners in the last 20 miles, as I was not stopped every couple miles since I didn't have a crew. Once again, David's crew helped me with some food. He passed me around mile 85. I was so happy for David that he overcame his nausea and GI issues and got a second wind to push through.

Around mile-90 I could feel the sun on my head, and was losing control over my cadence. I felt I am going to pass out. I stopped for a bit, washed my face, filled my hat with ice (which I kept doing at every opportunity), and took a caffeine tab. This woke me up!! At one point, we had to go around a bridge, which I think added extra mileage, but at this point, my only goal was to get to the finish line.

The last 5 miles felt like forever. I ran into my coach, Dave Krupski, a couple miles before finish. He had dropped off due to some personal issues, and was on a run by the beach in Key West. Seeing him perked me up. And I kept pushing to the finish. It was nice to see the tourists cheer for me.

And finally after winding through the entire Key West, I could sense the finish line. I ran limping to the Finish Line, where my friend Melissa and a whole bunch of people were cheering. THANK GOD ITS OVER!!!!!!!!

This race was a real test to human endurance and I had my first major running injury, which I didn't know at that time. This race taught me a lot of things, most importantly not to give up. I will write another post on what I learned from my injury but for now just knowing that Keys100 was a great race. It was a tough one in the hot and humid conditions, but highly recommended for those looking for a unique challenge.