Race Reports — Seth LaReau

Race: Titletown Ultra Series - 8hr

Location: Shorewood Golf Course — University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus — Green Bay, WI

Date: June 29, 2019

* Reached checkpoint and did not have enough time to make the next checkpoint before the 8-hour cutoff

I grew up just outside of Green Bay, Wisconsin, so ever since beginning my ultra-running journey, I wanted to run an ultramarathon in or around Green Bay. Needless to say, I was excited to learn about the Titletown Ultra Series races while casually perusing UltraSignup!

The race series consists of three timed events — 6-hour, 8-hour, and 15.5-hour — all run on the same 4.75-mile trail loop that circumnavigates the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay campus.

The objective is simple. Runners try to run as many miles as they can in the given timeframe. They can stop at any time, but the time never stops.

There are three aid stations — the start/finish area, 0.9 miles into the loop, and 2.6 miles into the loop — each of which serves as an official checkpoint, meaning runners need to reach the checkpoint for that mileage to count towards their total. If any runners are tied in total mileage, the runner who reached the checkpoint first holds the tiebreaker.

Many of my San Francisco running friends know that I have a special place in my heart for looped races. Something about the repetitive nature provides a unique mental challenge in addition to the challenges imposed on the body and mind from running 30+ miles. I was excited to take on that challenge and felt confident that if I ran my race and stayed focused I could have a successful day.

Given the relative flatness of the course (~200 ft of gain per loop), I was confident that one loop per hour (i.e. 38 miles) was doable, and if I was able to bank some time early on, 40.6 miles (one loop per hour plus the 2.6 mile checkpoint on the 9th loop) was a real possibility as well.

My intention was to start conservative, settle into my “all day pace”, and run my race.

One thing I failed to account for was the late-June Wisconsin heat and humidity.

While it’s true I grew up in the area, and am more than familiar with these conditions, I’ve lived in San Francisco for 10 years and am no longer acclimated to that type of weather.

Even with the race starting at 5:10am, I was completely soaked in sweat by the end of the first loop. My brand new gray Patagonia shorts looked like I had pulled them out of the laundry without drying them. I realized very early on in this race that it wasn’t going to be a comfortable day.

As I suspected, it would only get hotter and more humid as the day went on.

The coolest thing about this race is that my mom agreed to come out and crew me.

The nice thing about the looped nature of the course is that she was able to post up at the start/finish area and see me once every 45-55 minutes, as well as help prepare my water bottle for each loop. It was motivating to know that I would see a familiar face so frequently and helped break up the race into manageable portions.

As far as nutrition goes, I brought two handheld water bottles, but alternated between the two, using one for each loop. Each bottle contained a half serving of GU Roctane Summit Tea drink mix and one GU gel for a total of 200-250 calories per loop. Add in the occasional handful of potato chips, M&Ms, or watermelon from the aid stations, and I was probably consuming ~250-300 calories per hour.

Each loop, I would hand my mom the empty water bottle and pick up a new one she prepared while I was out on the loop. Rinse and repeat.

My primary focus was on taking things slow and running at an easy effort (something I could maintain for 8 hours, lol). I figured even 10-minute miles would have me finish a loop under 50 minutes, allowing me to bank extra time for later in the race.

For the next few hours, things worked out swimmingly. I finished loop one in 47:18, followed by loop two in 49:27 (including time spent in the aid station after loop one), loop three in 51:18, loop four in 52:42, and loop five in 54:22.

Before I knew it, I had run almost 24 miles in less than four-and-a-half hours and still felt pretty okay!

Race analysis from Strava. Ran the first ~20.5 miles in 3:37 and the last 20.5 in ~4:16.

Loop six is where I really started to feel the pain.

It was so hot, I was sweaty and chafing, and my legs hurt. I spent some extra time at the aid station at the beginning of the loop to take in more calories and just give my legs a bit of a break.

Running definitely became a struggle, but I had become so accustomed to the course at this point it seemed my body knew its way through muscle memory alone. I picked up a second wind heading out onto loop seven and actually ran faster than on loop six (the only loop all day that I ran faster than the previous loop).

Something about passing the 50K mark gave me a bit of a boost. Well, that and I could truly start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. “Just one more full loop and then one half loop,” I told myself.

My goal of 40+ miles seemed to finally be within reach.

I would love to tell you at this point that I found some sort of third wind and everything became easy, but the last 1.5 loops were a slog.

I got into a rhythm of just focusing on my breathing and moving forward one step at a time. It was quite meditative in a way, but also exhausting, hot, and painful.

I broke up each loop into the sections between aid stations. The start/finish to aid station one was 0.9 miles. Then another 1.7 miles to the second aid station, which had a tub filled with ice water that I used to soak my hat and buff. Finally, just another 2.1 miles to the start/finish again.

Something about these small chunks made the daunting task of running another loop more manageable.

When I finished loop eight, I knew it was unlikely I could finish another full loop. If I recall correctly, I had about 43 minutes until the 8-hour cutoff and even a full sprint would have been cutting it close. To be honest, I just didn’t have that kind of fight left in me. Still, there were checkpoints to hit, and another 2.6 miles would give me the coveted 40.6 on the day. Just 2.6 miles in 43 minutes — 16:30ish per mile.

Leaving the start/finish area, I tried to soak it all in. There were a bunch of spectators and crews lined up along the sidewalk leading out of the area and, to their credit, they were incredibly supportive. I knew this would be my last time running past all of them, so I let myself enjoy it.

A little less than a mile later, I stopped at the first aid station to eat several pieces of fresh-cut watermelon. Especially on a hot day, not much beats cold, juicy pieces of fresh watermelon!

Eyes on the prize. Just 1.7 miles to go.

I knew I was going to make it as long as I didn’t get injured or pass out. I started alternating running and walking every five minutes or so, just to keep breaking up the remaining mileage into smaller and smaller chunks.

Finally, the course turned a corner and shifted to a downhill with familiar signage and decorations on either side of the trail. I knew I had made it to the second aid station and my final checkpoint of this eight-hour adventure.

Final moving time was 7:52:58 and 40.92 miles (40.6 according to the course marking), good for 7th place overall and 3rd place male!

Sweet coaster for placing top 5. I use this all the time!

I have to give huge credit to Titletown Ultra Series for putting on such a unique and enjoyable event.

The volunteers were great. The other runners were friendly. The spectators were supportive and courteous.

I really didn’t know what to expect from running around in circles for eight hours aside from the fact that it would be a mental challenge to keep going.

And it was.

But I kept moving and I ran my race and I’m proud of the effort I put forth on the day. I really couldn’t have asked for a better day out of myself and am grateful for the experience.

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