The Barkley Fall Classic - Race report
As many of you already know, I was admitted to race year by being on the waitlist, I got into the waitlist in order to be able to register for next year. I did get acceptance 10 days before the race and 2 days after doing my first 50 mile run.
So basically no logistic was planned and had to be ultimate last minute planning in order to make it and not interrupt my professional activities. I basically did drive the way down to Wartburg TN from Montreal - about 15 hours drive. On the first day I made a stop to finally meet the mighty @Steve boer and @scott dinhofer, we had a great dinner with awesome beer ! We even made with the brewer to taste his new product coming soon. I drove close to a client location where I had booked a last minute meeting.
Thursday was mostly driving my way down to Wartburg and start heavy hydration and eat a lot of fruits and the food I had prepared and in a cooler from Montreal to avoid stops and having to eat highway food.
Friday I went to the FHSP before package pick up for an easy 3 mile run, here is my after the run, I once heard that if you wanna run the big boy, never touch the left side of the gate. So here I am on the right side =)
After that run, I go to the school get the map and meet the famous RD, laz, this summer, he walked across the USA and took a red eye fly to make it in time to be at the race.
One of the big thing about this race is that you dont know what will be the course until you get the map. Here is a little piece of the map, I will not post the full map as we are not allowed to do so.
I started talking to people etc to study the map, only to discover after race day when stalking profile that I studied the map with the O/A winner and a Barkley veteran, Benoit Laval, he gave a lot of hints that I applied which I will discuss later.
Then a funny moment incur when @Jeff Horn arrives and at first was here to cheer.. but he had a lot of peer pressure to get in and asked the volunteers if spots were available and they said yes. You can read his well described race report ! That was so funny and bad ass from him to toe the start line 6 days after an Ironman. We then went back to the hotel and got prepared. I was happy not to be alone going into that thing, so glad he made it and finish the marathon, he went out of his comfort zone and thats what we all want !
Race morning was a long wait until we started, we were in the far back of the line at the start but I didnt really care as I had a plan to get in the middle or mid-front. When he lit his cigarette, I started running and wish good luck to @Jeff Horn and a "see you in 13 hours"
first section is on the road where you leave the parking and go up to the trail where the gate is and then you start climbing, on the map above, the gate is where you see the little red tent. It was then a big conga line, but following Benoit advice, I start passing 3 people per minute until I get behind someone that im satisfied with his speed. The switchbacks made you have a gorgeous view on the valley, sun was coming out, it was so beautiful and I was so happy to be running that mythic course.
My goal was to "bank time" as much as I could, so when it was coming back to flat, I was running even if that required to pass people I was doing so. First AS is 7.6M, the cutoff was as 11ham, it was 9h15. I was really glad to have 1h45 "in bank". I ate a lot, refill the bottles, pee and went off.
Next aid station was about 7M per the map. That section was new for this year and nobody had ever run there, even the Barkley vets they take the first corner south instead of going east like we did. Not much to say about that section except we were getting full of mud.
Cutoff to arrive that AS was 7 hours. I was 4:04:52 into the race - did what I had to do in the aid station and start running again and I knew what was coming.
My goal here was to focus on hydration in that 2.8miles section which includes Testicle Spectacle and Meth Lab.
as you can see by timing mats, it took me 1:27:50 to go through 2.8M.. yeah you are reading right.
This view is after the first downhill, you climb, down and climb again.. it just never ends. The briars were not that bad and didnt need much to bear walk in order to climb. Speed was good and told myself, oh well I can take another shot of that, so much fun. Sun was hitting hard, no shades to cover etc
when we arrive at the top of TS:
We arrive at the prison, cutoff was 8h30 and I was 5h31 into the race, I had about 3 hours in bank, which means I didnt waste or gain any time.. but most important I was on pace to finish AND achieve my other goal which was to beat the course record for a Quebecois which was 11h29.
Arrive at the prison AS, usually business, I drank my 2 bottles of water, refill with skratch and went up to Jared Campbell to have my bib punched. I couldnt resist and told him I knew he was a bad ass but I now consider him as fuckin bad ass .. hah my brain was getting weird but he laughed and walk with me to the tunnel and told me best way to attack rat jaw and not waste time behind people, to create my own path if needed.
https://www.facebook.com/davidearlmartin/videos/10216814090964045/
When you arrive at the beginning of the climb, it says 0.9M, I was so yeah that will not be that bad, eh.
watch this video to have an idea of what is Rat Jaw: https://www.facebook.com/davidearlmartin/videos/10216814090964045/
this video was made by a drone... and you can imagine how people were getting paranoid about wasps at that time hah.
This section just destroys every part of you, mentally, physically that is totally the hardest thing of my life. I was with a guy and a girl and we decide to create our own path in the briars as people were too slow and didnt want melt in that humid and sunny area, so we went up and rotate every one to be the briars destroyer in the front. When you get at the top and believe you are, its not done, you only did "big rat" it does a 90 degree turn its much more steep. In some place I just had to put my hands straight and was touching the ground. Now I could figure why people are so destroyed after just 1 loop at the big guy, even more when you make it to 5. Depending on when the race starts, they might at Rat Jaw in the dark 3 times. Again, that didnt discourage of maybe someday apply for the big guy.
It took me 1h30 to go through 1.2 mile.. had no more water at the top. I thought we were getting full AS at the look out tower.. oh well, nope. The AS was few meters down the tower.. so glad.
The last section was a downhill easy runnable to laz and our drops bags. Prison to shelter which is 4.5 mile took me 2h17. I was 7h50 into the race and cutoff was 9h30 to keep going for the 50k and not finish with the marathon. I had 2h40 buffer, so that means I lost 20 minutes in rat jaw, but I wasted a good 15 minutes at the last AS, I just needed it. I emptied so much water on my head, I am sure I could have cook a egg on my body.
Then I get to laz, he tells me "here you are, you told me you drove all this not to finish with a marathon, I am glad you didnt waste all that time for a marathon" its crazy how remembers people etc. I grabbed my drop bag, took my coke, I sitdown. Then i get my bib punched by laz and tells me that I can still beat the Quebec's best time.
Then we got on the Chimney trail which is 8.2m, it took me 3 hours to finish that loop, it was so steep that section is full of ridge and this is where Garry Robbins got lost in 2017 and made him miss the cutoff by 6 seconds. This is also where Guillaume Calmettes got lost. I can imagine why, you hit a lot of rock walls that required you to go around and Its so easy to get lost in the woods.
Finally came out of that trail and ran my way up to finish. Was super pumped to see @Jeff Horn and see he finished the marathon as he had no expectations! so proud, I am sure he wish he had his amputation tools in Rat Jaw.
Look at my watch, was almost on goal for a sub 11h. Made it with style 11:00:03 (lol 11) and I have not the best time for a Quebecois at BFC, by 30 minutes.
Final result 66/331
I came here knowing I could get my first DNF, but before getting to that DNF I would need to see where is my ultimate limit, my edge point and I dont think I got to it yet. Dont get me wrong, that was really really hard, but not even close to the point where I could think not finishing, it didnt even cross my mind.
Will I be back ? hell yeah I am coming back, I dont believe it will next year as my goal is to race Leadville, but If I dont get into Leadville, I will go again. The plan is to register for 2019 and drop off with refund If I get into Leadville.
Am I even more convince that I wanna do the big guy ? 100% sure, but I am aware chances are 0.000000001% as I dont know how to apply and I have so much more to learn, geez, cant tell I am Barkley competent after 1 month of ultra running (lolz). I have so much other races that I wanna go in order to get the experience and learn all the technical of ultra running (Hardrock, AC, Leadville, Vermont 100, Bromont 100, WS100, Wasatch 100, UTMB).
What for sure convinced me is that I am done with triathlon and that I will request to WTC the 20% refund for IMAZ as I dont wanna do it and I am not going to invest time and money in something I dont wanna do. I havent touch my bike since Placid and I dont wanna touch it, I might maybe never really enjoyed cycling ? cant tell.
Now I am resting z378417 for 2 weeks, just walking nothing. Only strava posts will be my bike commute. Will then go RDP until Christmas and then do the following:
1) lose weight, I wanna lose another 5 pounds and get in the high 130 instead of the 145 I am now.
2) Will add musculation, specially on the top body
3) Consult to see if any big damage to my groin (didnt have any hurt during BFC but wanna take a look at it during the off season)
Thanks for reading, sorry if that was a long read !
yolo bro
Comments
Well I keep saying I think your gonna be pretty good at this Ultra thing.
but here is a big surprise
"What for sure convinced me is that I am done with triathlon and that I will request to WTC the 20% refund for IMAZ as I dont wanna do it and I am not going to invest time and money in something I dont wanna do. I havent touch my bike since Placid and I dont wanna touch it, I might maybe never really enjoyed cycling ? cant tell."
I certainly get it.... I did not miss IM at all this entire year... But I did miss racing triathlon .... SOS was a nice change from Ultra. So you never know what the future may bring. I hate to see you NOT go sub 10hrs at IMAZ but totally endorse doing what you wanna do... I am certainly more on the Ultra band wagon at the moment....
You killed it at BFC and you did not convince me to join you there. But I like your list and we will run at Rattler!
@Francis Picard I am amazed you had so much detail with no GPS, TP or Strava.
I am very happy that you found something that you have so much passion for. Like @tim cronk mentions, I really wanted to see you get a sub 10 IM or go to Kona someday. What I want to see is not important.
I am looking forward to sitting back and watching you do epic stupid things! Well done @Francis Picard !
Maybe you can teach me to do ultras and win the Internet
FVGK!
@Francis Picard, that is awesome!!! What a great report! I look forward to your adventures in the future!
So awesome @Francis Picard! Way to execute and trust your training. Really neat that @Jeff Horn could join you!! I'm jealous.
It sure was fun hanging out with you at this race @Francis Picard . I was not surprised in the least to see you cruise in to the finish a mere 20 minutes after I had only done the marathon. You have a lot of speed and billy goat to unleash on the ultra community. Look forward to seeing it.
Your a Beast Francis...a crazy Beast. LOL. You crushed that difficult crazy race...Congratulations!! I enjoyed your race report. I haven't gotten the ultra bug yet so I'll just enjoy tracking and hearing about your ultra journey.
Thanks for sharing a really fun report! Congrats!
Well done FP! It takes a certain brand of crazy to tackle something like this only a couple weeks after a 50 miler, and you clearly have it.
While I understand your IM retirement, forever is a long time and I would give it some time before you truly commit to that. As for no biking at all, I have read others say (and have seen myself) it is a great tool for cross training purposes if nothing else.
Congrats again, I may start calling you BA Picard. Or no socks. I can’t decide.
What an adventure you tackled @Francis Picard ! Huge accomplishment! ... especially given how last-minute it was ... and it seems obvious that it's a "gateway event" toward your Ultra future!
You have been soooo bloody busy this year! ... not surprising that IMAZ is dropped ... and even more so given that you've gotten hooked on Ultras.
Congrats again Francis!
@Francis Picard it was a ballsy move to do this race shortly after your first ultra, and I love it! I've loved following your adventures this year and hopefully have been one of the devils/angels on your shoulder goading you on. I don't know if I could handle the briars. Your legs look shredded. What was the DNF rate? The results aren't up on ultrasignup yet.
I can relate to not wanting to wear the spandex again. After IM Santa Rosa, I pretty much said I'm not doing another WTC Ironman again. It wasn't horrible, just for that volume of training (not to mention the expense) I could be doing something like a 100 or beyond. I would consider doing an ultraman or extreme triathlon like Alaskaman. Xterra triathlons are a boatload of fun as well.
Cycling is some secret sauce that most ultrarunners don't have. You can get a ton of virtually risk-free volume in. If you get a niggle, just switch to cycling for a few days. Maybe consider getting a MTB or gravel bike so you can mix in some off-road adventures.
Nice Job Francis. Great reading your report. Gives me a little itch to do Ultra just not that one. You are truly a badass.
Wow. Just WOW!
Congrats on such an achievement!
Thank you all for your comments - hope my report made you wanna do that race !
I also want to clarify that I am out of triathlon for 2018 and 2019, I will be back someday but now for the next year.
Also forgot to speak about my nutrition on race day.
Everything went per my normal IM plan which basically includes gels, blocks, water and liquid calories in my bladder.
The only issue I got was that we cant bring gel packs and it has to be in flask. My gels are made of maple syrup.. with all the movement in my vest, the maple syrup became solid caramel and wasnt able to eat it as it as all solid.
I finally went all liquid, I put 2 X portion in 1L bladder, I had to refill with powder three time. When I passed laz point, I finally had a coke.
@sco
@Francis Picard does this mean you are not doing IMAZ?
Le ven. 28 sept. 2018 à 14:51, Brenda Ross <
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