When I arrived at Camp Bethel around 5:00 pm I was one of the first runners to show up. I introduced my dad to Dr. Horton, who was longing to meet him ever since Dr. Horton got me into ultra running (but that's a story for another day). When we stepped into the room, Dr. H said "let me guess who that is, your dad? (sarcastically said because we look alike). An hour later we entered into the dinning hall where the owners at Camp Bethel prepared an amazing meal for all the runners. At 8:00 pm Dr. Horton hosted the pre-race briefing, among the comments jokes were made by and about Dr. Horton. Rides were situated, and of course I was packed into the "rookie" van with 13 other runners. So at 10:50 pm a caravan of vehicles headed 20-25 minutes to the start of the race.
As we arrived at the start we turned on to Hellgate Road, and Dr. Horton was calling out runners names trying to get everyone checked in. At 11:45 pm I made my way down to the start, Dr. Horton was still using his megaphone trying to get runners checked in. At 11:50 pm we sang the national anthem, and said a prayer. Then at exactly 12:01 am 12/14/13 he gave the command "go" no gun, no shout, just at a normal talking voice "go."
To aid station one was probably the most enjoyable part of the race, since I was fresh and eager to go the furthest distance I would have ever gone, if I was to finish this race. I distinctly remember after getting to the second aid station, even after asking Dr. Horton what extra tips I should know before starting, that he told me "take the first 13 miles easy, it is a tough 13 miles." Did I do that? no. I ran the first 13 miles in 2 hours with an elevation gain of 1672 ft. I also remember Horton saying if you look over the hill you can see all the lights from other runners climbing up the hill, I almost stopped to take a picture, but I knew I just had to keep moving. When arriving to the aid station I saw Brenten Swyers who offered me soup and Bethany Nettekoven, who gave me a big hug. About 3 miles after aid station two I felt sick from the soup, and had stomach issues for the next 13 miles.
From aid station 3-4 (13.1-21.9miles) I do not quit remember, because of the condition I was feeling. What I do recall was in this section is when it started to snow, and snow heavily! Part of this section if I am correct of what I remember, is the long grassy road that is apart of Promise Land 50k, and the rest of this section is apart of Promise Land as well. Also, at this point my batteries in my headlamp were fading, so I reached into my bag to get new ones, but i dropped them and could not find them, so I had to struggle to the aid station with minimal light. Arriving at aid station 4, covered in snow, but still dry thanks to Patagonia's Torrent Shell jacket, I met up with another runner who I paced behind till aid station 5. When you first see aid station 5, you think it is so close because you can hear the aid station workers, and crew members, but it is actually a lot farther away than it seems. When I finally arrived at the aid station my dad who was crewing me supplied me with new batteries, and so I was set to go as light was considered for the rest of the race.
Next section I remember was from aid station 5-6 (27.6-34.5miles) which was around when the sun started to come up. I knew I just wanted to sleep at this point, but once that sun came out I felt alive again. Stowing my headlamp back into my bag, I ran this whole section without a runner in sight. All I wanted was to get this section over with, since it seemed like just one big climb. After arriving at aid station 6, I remember seeing their sign saying the next aid station was 8.8 miles away, and I just wanted to pass out.
Arriving at aid station 7 (42.5miles), the first thing I could hear was Dr. Horton on his megaphone saying "here comes Austin Burling an LU student, with his father running next to him. When will his father be a man like his son and run these?" I responded with laughter and a pumping of my fist. At this aid station I switched out my shoes and socks, struggling to keep balance as Jamie Swyers was helping me put them on. Oh and had some bites of a delicious burger. Starting the next section to aid station 8 my dad was as usual taking many pictures trying to capture as many moments as he could.
Turning into this next section, is a huge climb up and up. Once you conquer this climb, I followed a ridge line that just seemed completely ENDLESSSS! With a each quarter mile swooping in and out of the mountain, there was at least one steep climb at the end of each swoop. Although this was the most beautiful section of the course, because you were able to look out to your right and see the valley and the other mountains, one image you would not forget is that incredibly frustrating swooping of a section that just seemed like you were not getting anywhere. Right before you end the section of swooping their is one last climb of a gravel road to the aid station. This road is not that bad of a climb, but after that swooping of the mountain I felt it seemed endless. About .2 of a mile I found my self squatting, trying to relieve some stress in my quads. At this point it was also raining/freezing rain. As I finally got the motivation to keep moving again, I saw the aid station right around the corner, and realized I should have just kept moving. Arriving at the aid station my dad was there again, along with a guy that I worked with earlier in the fall with Dr. Horton clearing some of the sections of Hellgate. He had prepared some broth and amazing cheese casadillas. After getting to this aid station the section had a great start of down hill.
Heading to aid station 9 (56.1miles) was the "Endless" section. I distinctly remember working this section with Dr. Horton. It seemed a lot longer running it then when I walked/cleared it earlier in the fall. With every climb there was a downhill, but the downhills never seemed to last. I distinctly remember by the time I reached mile 54, it was the farthest I have ever gone before. Yet I was still in cruise mode after taking some ibuprofen. I was trucking it throught the last part of the section, or so I thought was the last part of the section. Going through some rocky quite switchbacks I tripped and almost face-planted down a hill. Almost arriving to aid station 9 I could here cow bells and cheers. All I could think was it was finally here the last aid station!
From Aid station 9-finish was one last huge climb about 2.6 miles long up to the parkway. After climbing about .25 of the climb, Brenten Swyers caught up to me and helped me make the climb up to the parkway. If he did not keep me company and push me up that last climb I would not have been able to make the time I did. After reaching the parkway Brenten gave me some encouragement and I made my final descent 3 miles downhill to the finish. A pacer caught up to me with about 1 mile left saying "are you Austin Burling from Scranton, Pa?" I responded, "yes how'd you guess?" He then said, "your dad asked me to run you in." Of course dad was being a typical dad. But I was actually quite happy he ran me in, because by this time my eye sight had gotten so blurry I couldn't tell where the finish was. Crossing the finish line I almost fell after stepping into some muddy grass. Dr. Horton with proud look on his face after seeing how far I had come as a runner in the past year.
I crossed the finish line with a time of 14hours and 26minutes. The Hellgate 100k++ (66.6miles) was the longest and hardest race I have done yet. Many memories of struggle and heights in the race, but definitely coming close to one of my favorite races. The race had terrible weather, with snow, freezing rain, and rain throughout 90% of the entire race. By far a great experience, and excellent with regards to aid stations and markings on the course. My first ultra was Dr. Horton's Holiday Lake 50K++ in February, signing up the day before the event, running only 13 miles as my farthest run before that. Yet this climb to becoming an ultra runner has seemed impossible at times, but I found that if you just keep moving through it, anything is possible. I finished as the youngest male runner at 20 years old, and the youngest of conquering the "Little Beast Series." I plan on returning next year and completing the actual "Beast Series."
I could not be thankful enough for the support of family and friends for their support. God has taught me so much through this. With God anything is possible, "Jesus looked at them and said with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26
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