Guest post by Ru Shodai, 2024 SRT 70-mile competitor who completed 57.8 miles

I remember reading about the SRT race, years ago, and learning about the barefoot category, and wanting terribly to do it. Back then I could barely do a 10k on trails, but it was placed on my bucket list. After successfully racing North Face Endurance Challenge’s 10k race at Bear Mountain for several years, I was ready to sign up for the half, when it abruptly discontinued.  Fortunately, I had discovered Red Newt Racing’s Breakneck Point Trail Runs. And ran the toughest half of my life. And was hooked. Ran that half several times, and rediscovered the SRT. In 2022, I  signed up for the half. I had no idea what I was in for, but it was an amazing journey. I missed a turn, added 5 miles, stumbled into the finish, legs completely shot, and realized I had just done 18 miles on the trails. In sandals. I got my barefoot pin! I immediately wanted to sign up for the 30 miler. 

The following year, 2023, I signed up for the SRT 30 miler, along with way too many races. I went from running a race a month, to a race every weekend, to several races on back to back Saturdays/Sundays. I completed my first ultra in the spring, Sassquad’s Big Bear SquaTCh North 50k, with my friend Matt Willix. So I had the distance under my belt. And felt confident that I could handle the unsupported aspect. The SRT 30 miler was hard, but not as bad as I had expected. Everything was tired, but nothing was injured. My feet were tender, but no blisters. I got my second barefoot pin.

In 2023, the SRT 70 miler had one female runner, due to the weather? I remember they started in a downpour, and the trails were waterlogged. And I thought, just by getting out there and finishing, she won the race. I had a thought, if no one else runs…I also had a thought that we need more women out there accepting the challenge. So I signed up, and the word got out on FB, encouraging more women to run the race. And looked for a plan to train. I found nothing I liked. Almost every plan is cookie cutter designed for everyone, and therefore most likely suitable for no one. They all entailed 5-6 days running…I do physical labor at work 40-50 hours a week. I log about 6-9 miles of walking every day, in addition to repetitive lifting stacking of carting weighing anything from a couple ounces up to 50 pounds. Last thing I wanted to do after a 10 hour shift was run 5 more miles every day. I stumbled upon The Women’s Hundred Miler Project, a group dedicated to helping women successfully run a hundred mile race. Their training was a different approach, and after consulting with founder Lee Connor, we tweaked the plan to accommodate my physical workday.

Can I run 70 miles on 3 days a week training? I used to run once a week for years, and managed to race 10ks. I’ve done halfs and now ultras on 3 days/week running (with the occasional 4th day). I just don’t have the drive to push myself that much. Running is fun. If it becomes work, I don’t want to do it. Lee’s strategy seemed doable, so I began to train for the SRT 70 miler. In addition to the training plan, I read SRT race recaps. I learned what went right, what went wrong for many runners. Nutrition/cramps seemed to be a make or break for many a runner, so I spent a lot of time researching and testing my nutrition and hydration. I used Jordan Snyder’s race recap as my main guide, his detailed breakdown of the segments and the time he took at each, gave me an idea of how much time I had and how difficult each section would be. 

Big Bear 50k was cancelled this year, due to the previous year’s rains destroying so many trails. Instead, I ran Breakneck’s full marathon. Came in dead last, over the 11 hour cutoff, and running the back half in pouring rain. I also ran Port Jervis’s Midnight Madness 12 hour relay solo, managing 35 miles overnight, a great training race. I trained all sections of the SRT, trained hill repeats, trained to run on tired legs. I was confident I could run 70 miles.

But the clock was not on my side. It never is. I am a back-of-the-pack, party pace runner. I am always battling cutoffs. Could I finish the SRT 70? We would see.  AlsoI knew going into the race, that a lot of the streams were dry or barely a trickle, so I knew hydration logistics would come into play. 

SRT race day. Or should I say night? The 70 miler began at night, at High Point NJ. The weather was nice, but unseasonably warm and humid. My Orange Runners Club peeps surprised me by showing up en masse to the start of the race. I had expected to see Sue and Meg, my running besties. But to see everyone else, I was floored and humbled. And suddenly excited and nervous, it had never really occurred to me the scope of my adventure. 70 miles without aid stations or crew. What a far cry from a 5k with a water stop halfway. 

Ken Posner gave us a quick speech and we were off! Tapering had worked, I was on fresh legs and ready to go. We set off into the sunset. I started off with a handful of runners, and we took turns losing the trail. I got distracted by the setting sun and the rising moon, and missed 2 turns. Sorry Jodi! (I should have turned on the navigation on my watch, lesson learned.) And of course I went too fast on the very first technical downhill. In the dark, it was so much fun, but too much slipping and sliding, my ankles and quads took a beating from the start, and never recovered. Somewhere in Huckleberry Ridge, on a steep uphill, the late start runners caught up to us. I got to chat with Jordan for a hot second before he took off, flowing so smoothly up the hill. It was beautiful to watch. Soon after, another runner went by us. My quads were already tight. Made it to checkpoint 1 no worries, then headed up Gobblers Knob, and down to the Bashakill, and miles of flat. From the train tracks to checkpoint 1, and the Bashakill, was the hardest section for me. I hate flat. HATE flat…except my light died on the flat, so I was able to change my batteries without stopping. (Had an issue with the light, so was glad I had a backup light until I could get it working again.) Filled up at the Bashakill spring, knowing that from Wurtsboro to rt 52, there was very little water. Through this section, our group of runners spread out. Wurtsboro streets were beautifully eerie, lost in a mist. Finally the flat ended, and the hills began.

At checkpoint 2, at the VFW in Wurtsboro, one of the volunteers recognized me from Breakneck, and asked about cookies. (My mom’s famous post-race cookies) I figured they’d all be gone by the time I got to the finish. Someone had left trail magic, a jug of water. Felt good, but with the sore quads, assorted pains came and went. But still moving in good time. Headed into the Camel Humps, one of my favorite sections. Made it to the Rosa Gap Fire Tower as the sun was rising, perfect timing. My watch said 35 miles. The longest I’d ever run, and I was only half way! But I felt good, mentally, if not physically. Took a moment to adjust my gear, eat, take a couple pictures. Sandra was there, dealing with chafing and massive blisters, but she was moving well, and soon passed me. I leapfrogged for a while with a couple from NYC-Irina and Nick I think. They slowed down considerably on the uphills at Shawangunk Ridge state forest, even as I was struggling on the downhills. The last hill out was especially difficult, my quads were so tight. But I made it to checkpoint 3 with a couple hours to spare. 

South Gully climb is another of my favorite sections. The uphills were definitely easier on my quads, as I was able to rely heavily on my trekking poles to bear the brunt of the work, and shuffling on the flats. I met up with a couple of runners from Ithaca, a younger female, Catarina and and older gentlemen, Charles (? I’m sorry I am terrible at remembering names.) Chatted with them for a bit about the Ithaca trail races as we leapfrogged back and forth. At Sams Point visitor center, we took way too long break, filling our water, adjusting gear, waiting for the real bathroom, as well as chatting with curious hikers and bikers about our crazy race. I felt good on the climb from the visitors center, and out to Verkeerderkill Falls, slowed a bit as that area was packed with hikers. Eventually past the hikers, and back on our own, suddenly Charles stumbled and fell off the trail, a few feet down a fairly steep hill. He got up with some scratches and bleeding, but shrugged it off and was able to continue. But he slowed down after the fall, and I left them behind. Sometime after, I decided I needed to stretch my muscles. Big, big mistake! Stretched my glutes too far, and felt a sharp pain, like someone shot me in the butt. Every step after that felt like I was being stabbed. My forward progress slowed considerably. I was still able to shuffle-run, but the downs that I normally love to run full-send, were an awkward sideways slow-step. I struggled on the Mud-Pond reroute, the soft ground, combined with the cut down mountain laurel stumps sticking out made for rough going. I would have happily slogged through the original marsh. I somehow missed the purple rock scramble up to Castle Point? Came across a couple runners, Bill Hoffman who had done the early start, and young Mikhail who was struggling at the base of another steep scramble. Rainbow Falls was so dry! The trickle that fell wasn’t enough to fill my water, so I filled half my flask and hoped I would I could make it to refill at checkpoint 4.  But that was not to be.

When I finally got to Jenny Lane, I looked at my watch and was shocked to see it was 4:00. I had 30 minutes to get to checkpoint 4, which was 3.5 miles away. I knew I was doomed. I don’t run that fast on a 10K road raced lol. So I made the difficult decision to make the call to Ken and let him know I would miss the cutoff. It took almost 90 minutes to get there. Those final miles to the checkpoint were hard. Even though I knew my race was over, I still kept trying to push my pace, just a little. Andy Garrison and the sweep team found me, as well as the SAR team, they continued to round up the other stragglers. I texted my father, who was waiting at the finish, and my friends who were volunteering at checkpoint 5. Disappointed that my race was over and that I wouldn’t get to see them there. That 90 minutes allowed me to reflect on my race, how I did, how I felt, and how to move forward. My glute pain subsided to a dull ache, and my quads, while totally shot, didn’t scream any louder than they had been all race. I was a mess, but I could have continued. But for the cutoffs…*sigh*.

At checkpoint 4, the volunteers already gone, and Ken was waiting instead.  He gave me a hug, said he was proud of me for making it that far, and asked me how I felt, how my feet were. When such an accomplished runner as Ken says “well done”, it means so much! I told him mentally I was great, and physically I was tired but willing to keep going. It might have taken me another 12 hours, but I could have finished, eventually. My feet were fine, even in my backup sandals, no blisters. (The last month before the race, I began to have chafing issues with my regular sandals, so I wore my backups, and didn’t have the laces dialed in.) I talked about how the race went, and and that I was already planning for next year. My friend Chad gave me a ride to the finish, and we chatted about the race and about other races he has done. He hasn’t run the SRT, I hope he does, he would enjoy it. He critiqued my gear and gave me some pointers. Always love to pick the brains of other runners, any tip to up my game helps. 

Training and race takeaways

-I CAN run a 70 miler on 3 runs a week. They just need to be quality runs. And to beat the clock, I have to get faster. Ugh, that means not skipping speed work days.

-Strength training is important! It was only 5-15 minutes a day, but it made a world of difference.

-Hill repeats also made a difference. But I felt I needed to do longer endurance hills. When there’s hills that climb (or descend) for 2-4 miles, I think I need to train that. Also some training on going down the large stone blocks. Step-ups and step-downs in training were only a foot high, my quads and knees always suffer on the stone steps that deeper.

-Doing long runs the day after hill repeats, learning to run on tired legs. At the halfway point, my quads shot, hammie’s tight, and yet, it felt like just another Sunday long run. 

-Conventional wisdom only works on conventional runners. My max long runs were supposed to be 8 hours. But my 8 hours at my easy pace doesn’t equal the 8 hours of a faster runner’s easy pace. I think I will incorporate longer runs or perhaps a long run the day after my long run on tired legs, when I have Mondays off work. Or both. 

-Nutrition and hydration are critical. Getting it dialed in. It was more about hydration and electrolytes for me. I run slow enough that I feel I don’t need to get as many calories. Alternating sweet with salty, and adding some protein and fat, and throwing a few ginger chews in the mix kept my taste buds and gut happy. I may throw in some gum, to get rid of the fuzzy teeth feel.

-Kept a small flask of water just for cooling my arm sleeves and headband. Was so warm and humid, the cooling helped. As well as splashing through the few streams I encountered. 

-Carried way too much gear! My normally 8# vest was 10#, those 2# made a difference and I didn’t need it. 

-Trekking poles. Many runners don’t used them. I rely on them. Saves a lot of quad strength, which was gone by mile 12, so having the poles, and the arm strength to use the poles helped me keep moving. Also good to have for sketchy water crossings.

Post race recovery

-Immediately after the race, my legs were tired, but was able to drive the hour home without issue.(I drive a manual with a sport clutch, so sometimes the drive home after a race is excruciating!) Also left a mug of coffee at the finish area, so I didn’t fall asleep on the drive.

-Took a vacation week off work, and accidentally did 12 miles the Friday setting up course markers for Sassquad’s Wild Goose trail festival. The 5 mile loop ended up being 7 bonus miles, because, well, trail running lol. Felt tired, but good. Like I felt for the last 8 months. 

-Eventually my glutes healed. 

Ru vs SRT 70 miler

Winner: SRT 70 miler

I ran 57.82 miles, time 23 hours, 11 minutes; I essentially ran back to back trail marathons, almost 23 miles longer than my previous longest run. And double the time on feet. In sandals. I didn’t finish but I exceeded expectations. I will be back next year. For that barefoot pin. Thanks Ken and the RunWild crew for hosting such an epic race.

PS: I did hear something BIG in the woods next to me for a bit, but I never saw it.