Race Name: Old Dominion 100 Miles
Race Location: Woodstock, VA
Number of Years Finished: 1
Years Finished: 1999
Best Finish Time (Year): 27:46:53 (1999)
Course Description: Starts at the Shenandoah County Fairgrounds in Woodstock, heading out on roads over Woodstock Gap.
The course uses mostly paved and gravel roads with about 15% single-track rocky trails.
This race is in the same area as the Massanutten 100 Mile but does not use many mutual trails. For example, going north from Edinburg Gap, Old Dominion uses the ATV trail, and Massanutten uses the Massanutten West Ridge trail. Old Dominion runs more in the Fort Valley, whereas Massanutten runs the ridge trails that ring the valley.
There is a small northern loop then heads south down the valley. A southern loop that returns to a common point in the valley called Four Points follows this loop.
Just after 45 miles, the course climbs to and along the western ridge into Elizabeth Furnace. From there, runners cross the eastern range via Sherman Gap and back over Veach Gap before crossing the valley to climb back over Woodstock Gap and roads to the fairgrounds.
Old Dominion has 14,000 feet of climbing as compared to almost 35,000 feet at Massanutten.
Old Dominion is considered one of the easier 100-mile foot races. As if running 100 miles can be easy.
What makes this race a special memory: This is the second oldest 100-mile race in the United States. The first Old Dominion Cross Country Event was in 1979. Like Western States, there was a 100 mile horse ride event in the years leading up to the run’s start. The initial run shared the trails with the horses.
It was one of the original Grand Slam events and is now one of the options for Grand Slam events. When the Grand Slam started, there were only four US-based 100-mile races: Old Dominion, Western States, Leadville, and Wasatch. In the current years, 100-mile races have sprung up like Starbucks in Seattle.
I ran this race distance because I thought I could. In the years leading up to the race, I had completed over 25 races of at least marathon distance, the longest being 90 miles during a 24-hour event.
In addition to training to cover the distance, I made numerous trips to the Massanutten Mountains and Fort Valley to scout the racecourse. I’m more sure of my mental tenacity and logistical skills that could overcome my physical deficiencies.
The race starts at 4 am on the first Saturday in June. It has a 28-hour time limit. So, runners must finish by 8 am on Sunday.
A couple of minutes before the start, when I strapped on my double bottle pack, I realized it was a little light. Fortunately, I had enough time to fill my bottles to make the start on time.
Even with the 4 am start, the early paved roads through town were easy to run on without a headlamp. Civil Daylight started about 5 am during the climb up Woodstock Gap.
I may have gone out too fast. I went through 20 miles under 4 hours, and the marathon in 4:45.
This race had two medical checks. On Friday night, we were weighed, wearing very light clothes and no shoes. At the medical check, we were weighed again. If we dropped 3% of our Friday weight, we were required to stay at the medical point hydrating until we got back to the 3%. At 5%, an official pulled us from the race.
The medical checks were at miles 40 and 75. Old Dominion still does the medical examinations and may be one of the last ultras to track weight loss. By the way, weight gain is not necessarily good as too much water is being retained.
At the 46-mile crew stop, I changed shoes and used a safety pin from my bib to pop a small blister. The new shoes did not feel tight.
I went through 50 miles in 10:30. The last 50 miles, I did more walking than running, like 49 to 1. Remember that mental tenacity strength.
I was going a little slower than expected as night fell, and I had to run the last mile into Elizabeth Furnace Aid Station with a handheld flashlight.
Elizabeth Furnace Aid is at 75 miles which I arrived at in 17:30. After being weighed, I was not doing well. I swore that both of my heels were large blisters.
My crew told me there were no blisters, and I easily changed to trail shoes. The moment of decision came to one thought “I can finish a marathon in 10 1/2 hours”.
Fortunately, from mile 75 to 87, I was allowed a safety runner. This section of the course had two passes to cross, and for us mortals, we needed to travel in the dark.
Over Sherman Gap, I did 30 minutes per mile. I didn’t think the climb would ever end. Coming back over Veach Gap was not much better. As I headed into the aid station at the bottom, the shadows looked like people standing next to the trail.
I had 13 miles remaining, and the remainder of the course was mostly on paved roads. I changed into road shoes without issues. I had plenty of time to finish, but it was easier to walk uphill than downhill. In the final descent off Woodstock Gap, about seven runners passed me.
As always, if you start a race running, you must finish the race running. I was able to run the last 100 meters across the finish line and then walked to the post-race shelter. I sat down to eat a little something and could not stand up but finally did.
There were 101 starters and 61 finishers within the 28-hour time limit. I finished 60th in 27:46:53 with 13 minutes to spare.
I was able to execute my food, fluid, clothing, and shoe plan without issue.
After getting to the hotel and in a bath, I started giggling. My crew thought I was losing it. I had my first cramp since the race began, and it was in my thumb.
My feet and ankles started to swell. My sandals felt nice.
The awards breakfast started at 9 am. Looking around, I would have liked to have the Birkenstock contract for these runners. The loads of bacon I consumed told me that my sodium level was a little low.
I got about 3 hours of sleep before heading home.
My ankles stayed swollen for a couple of days. It appeared that I weighed 300 pounds.
I set a goal to run another 100-mile race when I finished JFK under 9 hours. Since 1999, I never have, and my longest race has been 50 miles.
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Over the years, I’ve run 140 different races and finished some of them multiple times. To some, this is not a large number of various events. Over the years, I’ve had some memorable races and have been able to rank my favorite races. If I couldn’t visualize the course and remember how I felt, I moved a race down my rankings.
Other races on my list