Do you like to run? I have a race for you where you wear 3, 4 or 5 layers of winter jackets, winter tights and snow pants, and winter running shoes. And a winter hat, balaclava, many winter socks, base layers, etc. If you think, 'OK, I just need to layer up before I run because it will be cold, cool!', this might be the race for you...
You also need to wear a reflective vest, one powerful 30-lumen or higher red blinking bike light in the front and two red bike lights on your back throughout the race, day or night. You have to carry 'required gear' like a below-zero sleeping bag, a bivy (don't worry if you don't know what this is. I didn't know it either until I needed to buy one), cash, headlamps, extra batteries, a reflective vest, etc. Previous years had additional required gear like a stove, Esbit tablets for fire, stormproof matches, 3000 calories of food. The idea is, in case you get stranded, you need all these to survive until you feel better to move or until someone comes to give you a ride.
You put all your supplies in a sled and pull it the whole distance. While there is no requirement on the sled, most racers have found that a sled is the best way to carry your supplies through snow. Backpacks are an option, but they may break your back. After all the mandated gear, you also carry food for 3 days, extra batteries, a phone, additional headlamps, red blinking lights, battery banks, etc. You also take additional layers of all your clothing, in case you are wet and need to change. And don't forget hydration in a hydroflask-like water bottle so that it doesn't freeze. After all that, we haven't even talked about the distance. Now, go run 160 miles. Thats Tuscobia for you.
CHAPTER 1: TUSCOBIA WINTER ULTRA
Tuscobia is a winter ultra marathon in northwest Wisconsin in late December. There are 2 distances (80 and 160 miles) and 3 (categories foot, ski and bike). This could be easily considered an extreme endurance sport, and it is certainly not for the weak of heart. This is a self-supported race, i.e. the racer is in charge of everything with no external support or aid stations, with a few exceptions. The racers can get help from race volunteers, from fellow racers and can patronize at local businesses. But if your friends or family come to see you at a checkpoint or at an establishment, they CANNOT help you. They can't order food for you or provide any kind of support. This race is self-supported and those rules keep the spirit of that theme. There are other rules that would lead to disqualification.
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| Tuscobia State Trail |
I ran the Tuscobia 80 miler footrace last year successfully and signed up for the 160 miles this year when the registration opened early in the year. To be honest, I had no business running the 80 miles last year. I had a ton of issues during that race, physically, mentally and gear-wise, but wanted to go back to solve the problems. So while I was at that, I thought that I may as well do the 160 miles. To sign up for the 160 mile race, one needs to have completed at least one of a dozen or so winter races. Tuscobia starts at Rice Lake, goes 80 miles to Park Falls, and then goes back another 80 miles from Park Falls to Rice Lake. This year, the race started on Friday 6 am and finished at Sunday 11 pm. This is 3 days and almost 3 nights in the winter weather of Wisconsin, dealing with the elements.
CHAPTER 3: TRAINING
Minimal to none. I had run a few long distance races by October 2019 including Badwater135, Keys100, Hawk100 and Hennepin100. Work and life got busy after the Chicago Marathon in October and I significantly reduced my training, just due to lack of time. I tried to maintain my fitness by running or working out 4-5 times a week, but I did much less mileage than one needs for a 160 mile race.I would not recommend this approach. Looking back, a few things I should have done would include a lot of core workout as that would help in pulling the sled. There was absolutely no snow in Chicago this year in December, so couldn't train in race simulating conditions. I would suggest training for the 160 to follow a training plan similar to a 100-mile race and more.
CHAPTER 4: PREPARATION & GEAR
One of the most important things in preparing for a race like Tuscobia is to get the right gear. Last year I had invested in some good quality winter running gear for the 80 miler that I was planning to use this year. I had borrowed a bunch of stuff like the winter shoes, sled, etc. which I was planning to buy new for this year's race. As for most of my races, I waited till the last minute to order them, and luckily they came in time. I bought Black River Sleds' Arrowhead Ultra Toboggan. This is a really good high quality sled with a built-in waterproof duffel bag. I used Altra Lone Peak 4 Mid RSM (Rain Snow Mud) shoes, this was a life-(and feet-)saver. Most of my winter layers were Arcteryx. Arcteryx can be a bit pricey but the products are very lightweight and they dry so quickly. I think the Arcteryx gear must have saved my race whenever I got too wet and cold because it would dry quickly at checkpoints. My base layer pants were from Path Projects, my gloves from Salomon, and I used a Mountain Hard Wear Ghost -40F sleeping bag. Trail Toes (lubricant for the feet like Vaseline) proved to be a solid product that protected my feet from the crazy wet winter weather.
CHAPTER 5: PRE-RACE
The pre-race events include a gear check and the pre-race meeting the evening before the race. The gear check is where the racers show the required gear to ensure it meets the race standards. Once you pass this test, you get the race BIB number and attend the meeting, where the race directors (RD) Chris and Helen Scotch go through the key points of the race. They appropriately spend an extreme amount of time discussing safety.
A note about the RDs: Chris and Helen are two of the most wonderful people I have met. They give their heart to this race and it shows. They don't sleep during the entire weekend and work to track every racer out on the course. This is not an easy race to put on. There is no cell signal in most of the course, one's phone battery could have died due to the cold weather, one could be bivying (sleeping on the side of the trails), or one could be in serious trouble. This is not a race with a lot of money and people to run around taking care of every racer. Remember, it is a self-supported event and supposed to be hard. It is a grassroots level event with high quality race structure. Chris goes on his snowmobile back and forth the entire night, checking on racers.
We stayed at Rice Lake, so that it was convenient to head to bed after the pre-race meeting on Thursday and to get to the start line at 5:15 am for check-in before the race started at 6 am on Friday. Unfortunately, I couldn't sleep on Wednesday and Thursday nights due to the adrenaline kicking in. Two nights without sleep before the race was not a good start.
CHAPTER 6: NICK
I met Nick last year during the Tuscobia 80 around midnight at mile 40. Nick was in pain and was slowing down. Angela and I picked him up, and I ran the remaining 40 miles with him. We had a very painful and slow last 20 miles. Misery loves company and we became good friends. We kept in touch. Nick is super busy with grad school, but he signed up for Tuscobia160 with me and we planned to run the race together. Having company makes a big difference in a race like this.
We will come back to Nick throughout this story.
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| With Nick at the Start |
Someone told me I should name my sled, so I named it Robin. At that time, I felt like Tom Hanks from the movie Castaway, talking to his volleyball Wilson. I was going to name my sled Grayson to rhyme with Wilson, and Grayson was also the real name of Robin in DC Comics. But I didn't want to be left alone with a sled, so I stuck with Robin. Robin was really good to me, and it moved very well when we went uphill or downhill. Pulling Robin didn't break my back. We decorated Robin with Christmas lights from the race directors in honor of a runner who passed away last year (not during the race). I liked having the Christmas lights on my sled, both for visibility and because it brightened my mood when I was out there in the cold and dark. The lights were always a source of encouragement.
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| Batman and Robin the Sled! (too much?) |
CHAPTER 8: THE RACE START
We arrived around 5:30 at the Start Line to check-in and get ready to start the race at 6 am. I could feel a bit of a sober mood before the race; maybe it was in my head or maybe it was true. I had talked to a few racers the previous day. I am sure there were a bunch of questions looming in everyone's mind: Did I pack enough? Did I overpack? How heavy is my sled? How cold is it going to get? Do I have enough layers, enough food, enough hydration? Is it really going to rain all Saturday and Sunday? What are my eating stops? Where do I sleep?
I started the race started in a really good mood. Nick and I did a decent pace for the first few miles. The course was mostly flat, which helps. Nick and I were leapfrogging each other, as racers tend to go in single file, staying on the right side of the trail. This was to be safe and allow enough space for snowmobiles. After the first 13 miles, the course got a bit hilly and we were approaching the first stop at Birchwood. Birchwood was around mile 16.5 miles, where there a nice place to fuel up called Ed's. They even had free coffee for Tuscobia racers. Nick and I had a quick sandwich, and since we ordered fresh ones, it took a bit for mine to arrive. But we had 3 days to go, so we were not in any hurry.
After we ate, we headed out and the next many miles flew by fast. We were leapfrogging runners at our pace. The trail was in decent condition to run and we were doing a decent pace. We stopped after about 20 more miles for a quick bite, where we saw a bunch of UTV's stuck in the snow.
At around 4:30 - 5 pm, it started getting dark. We tried to push it fast to get to Radisson at mile 40 before it became too dark, so that we can grab a bite. Foot issues started bothering Nick, so he wanted to go to the Ojibwa check-point at mile 45ish and dry his feet in the fireplace at the checkpoint. I advised Nick to go ahead, as I wanted to eat a sandwich and freshen up before I headed out. The next 6 or so miles were dark and lonely. I didn't see a soul until I got to the Ojibwa checkpoint.
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| At Birchwood, mile 16.5, early in the race |
On Friday night (night 1), the weather was getting colder to the teens and felt like single digit. I reached the Ojibwa checkpoint, where the legendary ultrarunner John Taylor was volunteering. John has run over hundred 100-mile races and such a nice humble human being. John came out of the checkpoint to help me. It was dark so I turned off my headlights in order not to blind him, and he did the same.
Me: Hi John, how are you?
John: Who's this?
Me: It's Siva.
John: Steeeve?
Me: No, it's Sivaa.
John: Steeeva?
Me: It's Sivaaa.
John: Steeevo?
He then turned on his light and saw my face and said "Hey Siva!" Only then did I realize that my face had frozen and I couldn't speak properly, so I was slurring my words.
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| John Taylor and 'Steeva' |
CHAPTER 10: "I CANT FEEL MY FINGERS"
At around mile 60, Nick and I took a real short break to hydrate. I could feel the temps falling, it was getting very cold and I wanted to add a liner glove below my winter gloves. I removed my gloves to open my sled, all my fingers immediately flash froze.I could not feel any of my fingers. They were hard and swollen, and I was unable to put them back into my gloves. That was a moment of fear. I was thinking, 'Am I going to lose my fingers? Is this frost bite? They said it was not a cold year!" Nick tried to put my gloves back and since we both couldn't, he gave me a spare set of mittens to wear. Another veteran racer, Scott Sugimoto, came upon us. He said he was going to drop off at Park Falls as he was having some issues. We borrowed his hand-warmers since we couldn't locate mine.
We decided to cut short the break and start moving so that my body will start warming up. Nick also got a couple of hand-warmers and put them inside my mittens. It took over an hours to start feeling my fingers. I was out of danger of losing my fingers but I had 2 more days and nights to go.
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| Visibility is key during winter ultras |
CHAPTER 11: "IT'S A WARM YEAR!"
One of the curses of these long races is people constantly watching the Weather App and freaking out. Last year, there was no snow and it rained and snowed the night leading up to the race. The previous 3 years the temps were way below zero, down to -32F. This year showed between 0 and 25F with winter rain all day Saturday and Sunday, which was not good as runners don't want to be wet during these events, which could lead to hypothermia, etc.
For context, a refrigerator is set above 32F and your freezer is set around 0F. So we are running in temps between your fridge and freezer. (It's a warm year, my a$$.) This is like when I ran Badwater135 this year in July in Death Valley. Everyone said 'It's a cold year', but it was 125F the day before the race!!!!! So I guess the weather is all relative. It felt pretty hot in Death Valley and it felt cold at Tuscobia. There were moments of decent weather at Tuscobia, but I felt pretty cold at night and when it rained nonstop.
CHAPTER 12: MILE-80 PARK FALLS
We were approaching Park Falls when Nick was slowing down due to feet issues and asked me to go ahead. I reached Park Falls all by myself around 9:30 am on day 2. It took me around 28 hours to get there. So far I was feeling good. My feet and clothes were wet but not too bad.
Gastropub at Park Falls had opened up for the racers, and they had space in the 2nd floor to rest up. I tried to get on a cot and take a nap. I must have been there for 10 minutes, but I couldn't sleep. I am a light sleeper, folks were talking, walking and phones were buzzing. I got up and got ready to head out. In addition to not sleeping, I was also not hungry. The race had grilled cheese, so I got a couple to carry with me. It started raining as I headed out.
Nick and his friend Adam were dropping off the race. Both had foot issues. Nick had some really bad tendinitis, blisters and many hot spots in his feet. I felt bad to leave my buddy behind but that's the nature of these events. One never knows what will happen on such long distance and long days and nights.
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| At Gatropub, Park Falls |
CHAPTER 13: 'I AM GONNA QUIT'
As I always say, 'running is a state of mind'. I was in a good mental state during the first half the race. When we reached the 80-mile turnaround at Park Falls, Nick said he was dropping off due to some severe foot issues. He asked me, 'How much do you think your chances of finishing?' I said, "100%."It started raining when I left Park Falls around 11 am on Saturday. According to the weather forecast, it was going to rain until finish time, which was 11 pm on Sunday. Winter rain is not good, since if you are wet, you get cold and that leads to all kinds of issues. Within the first mile, I saw a racer who I had previously met during the race come back from the course. He had finished the 160 last year, so he has experience. He said something that I couldn't hear. He was yelling, 'I hate winter rain. I HATE WINTER RAIN'. He was quitting the race.
When I reached mile 110, I was in the town of Winter. I was so hungry and tired, I thought I will grab a bite at the gas station store at Winter before heading the Ojibwa checkpoint where there is no food.
Once I reached Winter, I dragged my sled on ice to the store, just to realize that it was closed. CLOSED. My mood went from 3 to 0 on a scale of 1-10. I just stood there in the winter rain, ate some toffee for calories from my sled and started again.
The next 5 miles were the worst. The snow had no footing. I was slipping and sliding and my feet was going into the snow. Now, my shoe and socks were so wet and I started feeling the cold.
When I reached Ojibwa, I saw Chris Scotch (RD) leaving on his snowmobile. He asked how I was doing. I said, it was getting tough. He acknowledged the tough conditions, asked me if I needed something. I said I am just gonna dry up a bit at the checkpoint. It was so icy that I couldn't even walk on that. A nice volunteer, Bill, helped me to undo my sled and get inside the checkpoint. There was a fireplace, I pulled up a chair and sat there. It felt so good. Another volunteer, Emily, took my wet clothes, gloves, shoes and put them near the fireplace to dry.
It felt so good to be near the fireplace and the outside was only going to get worse. I decided to quit. I turned on my phone and tried to call Amy to come pick me up. But, there was no cell signal. I was dejected more. I kept staring at the phone that had no cell signal and wishing someone would save me from the misery. But I had too much pride to tell the volunteers that I was quitting.
I just sat there for a bit near the fire contemplating all my options to quit. By nature, I am not someone to quit. But this was a real low. I just let my mind and body process the low point. My stuff would be dry in a few minutes. I put my gear on, had a cup of coffee, and slowly headed out limping in the ice. Bill walked with me until the trail and I started moving slowly.
I was thinking, let me try to go some more to see how I feel and maybe quit in the next town - Radisson or Couderay. But I got a small second wind. I started moving better. But the trail conditions were getting worse. I was still slipping and sliding, my feet were going ankle deep in the snow in some places.
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| Ojibwa checkpoint, Miles 45 and 115. |
I had tried to sleep at Park Falls but couldn't. I had thought about bivying many times but didn't want to go through the effort of taking the sleeping bag out and dealing with it in the cold. So, I went sleepless for the duration of entire race. All in all it was 3 full days and almost 3 nights, so if you count the previous two sleepless nights, I was running very low on sleep for over 65 hours.
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| Robin and I were well lit |
After I had turned around at Park Falls, I was mostly alone for the last 80 miles, except for the checkpoints and a couple other places. After a real low point on night 2, when day 3 came up, my mood turned to anxiety and I started doing the trail math.
What is trail math? It's just calculating and recalculating how much time I had left and what pace I needed to run to get to the finish line before the final cutoff of 11 pm on Sunday. I must have calculated pace at least 50 times. I also needed to account for any breaks I may take for food and hydration, time to change socks or clothes if needed, time that may be spent if the weather gets bad. It was constantly raining, sometimes heavy and sometimes light. When I left the Ojibwa checkpoint at mile 115, the next 10 miles were unsafe. There was a portion of the trail that had a few turns and elevations, so I was literally sliding down as I couldn't get good footing. Then there was a stretch of road-like trails which were entirely icy. All these slowed me down.
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| Winter rain |
I reached Birchwood on the way back, which was 16.5 miles to go. I got something to eat and a coffee. My hand was shaking so bad. I decided not to spend a lot of time there, and headed out. Nick met me at Birchwood, which was a good mood booster. He had gone home, showered, taken a nap and was out to see me. Since I had the on GPS tracker, folks could track me in real time.
I knew I won't be finishing by 11 pm and started thinking if I can get some bonus time. The RD had said in the pre-meeting that if you get trash from the trail left by others, you can get some time back. I started collecting trash in moments of desperation. My calculation was, "I will finish by 1 am, which is 2 hours after cutoff time." But I was going to finish, no matter what.
I also carried a compass given to me by Amy's mom Sue. This was to find my path if I get turned around in a snow storm, which was unlikely. I used the compass just like Robin, as a symbolic support and a friend.
CHAPTER 16: THE FINISH
When I left Birchwood, it was so foggy, and visibility was almost zero. At one point, I had to pull out my phone and turn it on to check that I was still on the course. I was also having bad hallucinations. I had hallucinations the previous two nights, but day 3 was the worst.
With 13 miles left to go, something got into me. I don't know if it was adrenaline or fear of failure or what, I starting booking it. I started running so fast that I was gaining some time back. I just didn't want to stop. My calves and thighs were on fire, but I was so close to the finish line that I had to give my all and keep pushing.
At mile 156, with 4 miles to go, Nick and Amy met me at a final turn. It was 4 straight miles to the Finish. I pushed it so hard. I was the last racer in the running group, as everyone had finished or dropped off. I passed a skier and a 80-mile racer, and they were in good spirits as we were all going to finish.
Amy met me with a half mile to go. It took me 64 hours and 25 minutes to run 160 miles.
We finished together where Chris Scotch (RD) was at the finish line congratulating me. I touched the Tuscobia sign and it was DONE!
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| "Thank God it's over!!!" |
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| Amy |
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| Chris Scotch, RD |
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| Nick |
Absolute kudos to everyone who started the race, in either distance in any category. Though there were many drop-outs, just to start this kind of a race is mind-blowing. And a huge thanks to all the volunteers. Without them this event is not possible. They definitely saved my race by helping me dry my stuff and asking me how else they can help. They were also great cheerleaders, who helped change the cold dark mood to bright and sunny.
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| Emily & Brian |
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| Helen Scotch, RD |
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| Nick and Amy |
- Preparation: Do your best preparation for this event, for training, gear, mindset, nutrition, hydration, issues like blisters and more. You cannot wing this.
- Weather: Don't keep checking the weather. I usually do not check the weather until couple days before the event, just to ensure on what to take for clothing. But I know many folks who freak-out checking the weather app constantly. I put weather in the "I have no control over" category. And remember, this race is supposed to have bad weather.
- Forward progress: The only constant in a long event like this is forward progress. I chose to not stop too often on the way back, which I am sure attributed to my finish.
- People: Try to connect to everyone you see, as there are not a lot out there. Cheer for other racers, talk to them if they want to chit chat, thank the race team and volunteers, and chat with the locals whenever you run into them. Its always fun to see the strange looks "what are you doing again? I don't drive that long myself!".
- State of mind: This would be the most important thing in the list. Deal with your emotions. Its gonna be long, hard, painful and difficult. You are going to go through highs and lows, more lows than highs. Keep pushing along. Running is a state of mind.
After the finish, I took some pictures with Amy, Chris, Nick, Helen, Brian Kutz, Emily the volunteer who really helped dry my clothes at Ojibwa.
I went inside the Knight of Columbus (KC) Hall, which is where we had the pre-race meeting and we started there. A group of racers clapped and cheered me as I entered. I was so glad to be done. Chris got me a beer, a volunteer got me a piece of pizza and soup. I sat and was overcome with emotions. I tried to be vulnerable for a few moments.
I got up, said bye to everyone, hobbled to the car, Amy covered me with two blankets to keep me warm and blasted the heat in the car. I just remember getting into the car, and I immediately passed out.
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| My race tracker GPS |
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