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From first to last - Returning to Marji Gesick

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From first to last - Returning to Marji Gesick

My coveted buckle and race purse from my 2019 Marji Gesick 100 win.

For the past three years, I’ve competed at the Barkley Fall Classic to claim a guaranteed slot into the infamous Barkley Marathons.  Every year, I wrestle with three other events I’d like to race amidst a hectic month putting on events for IRONBULL.  With the Marji Gesick 200 occurring every five years, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to return to the event that brought me back to ultras after eight years of retirement.  Since then, I’ve become so much more experienced so I felt compelled to sign up in October 2023 to come full circle and make the Marji Gesick my first 200 miler.  I also convinced my husband that I should dish out the $1500 to sign up for the Leadville training camp to bypass the lottery for the Leadville 100 after not making it in the prior two years. 

My summer was spent with more time taking on a new activity, visiting doctors, which I thought was decades away.

Curveball

But my summer was far from my expectations. Rather than pursuing goals to push myself, I took on an activity that I thought I was decades from:  doctors appointments.  I suffered a cryptogenic TIA (aka a mini-stroke with an unknown cause) in May.  I spent two nights in the hospital undergoing test after test to determine the cause less than a week before helping put on the Rib Mountain Adventure Challenge.  I had my first MRI and CT scan with my only other hospitalization being the birth of each of my three children.  I had to learn how to refill a prescription. The phlebotomist told me this was the most blood samples she drew at once.  I didn’t bother telling her that someone had drawn several more samples just an hour earlier. 

I was discharged with no answers.  I spent the rest of the summer visiting doctors to rule out causes.  I didn’t fit into any risk factors.  Despite how many times I was asked if I smoked, I still rolled my eyes every time.  I was the complete opposite with a exercise regime and healthy diet.  I had a healthy BMI, good cholesterol, and no family history.  I had more people than I care to share indicate that I should give up my passions.  I immediately withdrew from the Leadville 100 and doled out another $200 to defer to next year.  This was my first time ever DNS for a race.

The seed of doubt was planted and grew, so now a dark cloud hung over me when I exercised.  It wasn’t the same. My refuge was gone.  I tried to maintain my motivation with a glimmer of hope I could return to pursue my passions with the Marji Gesick still on the calendar.  Altogether I ran a total of three times in the month of August. 

As I slow down, my kids take on bigger challenges.

Silver Linings

The whole summer wasn’t lost, I was able to spend time with my children on the trails.  We paddled, hiked, biked, and even ran together.  They pushed me and at times I couldn’t keep pace, which gave me a mix of emotions as my fitness waned while theirs flourished.

I had a breakthrough in August with unexpected good news following a PFO closure.  The hole that had been deemed initially too small for closure (in fact I asked the doctor immediately before the procedure to do whatever necessary to close the hole, even if it required enlarging the hole, just to mitigate it as a cause for a future stroke).  Turns out the hole was significantly bigger than expected and blood flow was continuously shunting across my heart.  Although we’ll never know for sure, is a likely cause of the TIA.  That news provided me a huge sense of relief that I felt I could now return to Marji.

Due to a health scare, I spent more time on adventures with my children.

The Switch

Ironically, the last time I was at Marji, I not only claimed the prize purse (a one dollar bill!), I was the very first person to cross the finish line.  That year, only a quarter of the runners I started with reached the finish. 

Despite no crashes while Marji scouting, all the bruises on my legs make me look like I'm a cheetah.

Based on my prior unsupported FKTs, I expected to reach the finish in 72 hours, four hours before the finish line opened! Since I already had this Marji experience (I didn’t see another runner after about mile 25 in 2019), I began thinking about the bike.  I’ve never spent this much time on a bike.  I’ve only done one other bike race in my life.  But that’s what excited me.  I know I can run 200 miles, but can I bike 200?  On the rugged terrain, especially when so many trails are now machine built?

Juxtaposition

As I began diving into preparations with scouting and looking at prior race splits, I came to the realization I will likely be in dead last in 2024 from the start. LIke DFL last, so  I expect to be by myself for the entire race. Ironically had I stayed in the 200 mile run, I’d be by myself in the lead, so for the completely opposite reason!

Last edition, only three brave women lined up for the Marji 200 bike.  None made it more than halfway.  After pre-riding the course, my time estimates are slower than the slowest rider. The racers that toe the line for the Marji Gesick 200 are serious riders.  So much so, most of them have a sponsor alongside their name.  And me?  I don’t consider myself a biker.  I can barely change a tire.  When people ask me about my bike I can tell them its color and brand and that it has 29 inch wheels.  I usually ride my bike in running shorts and a $5 t-shirt.  In fact, over the summer, I rode more wearing an Eddie Bauer flannel shirt from high school than bike shorts. 

Positive Momentum

What I have going for me is:

1) I’m not 13 weeks post-partum.  The only other mountain bike race I’ve done is the Wausau 24.  I did it in 2012 and in 2018.  In 2018, I spent more time on my mountain bike in the race as I did training since I had a newborn.  During the LeMan’s start I was shouting instructions of where to find the breastmilk I had just pumped as I ran by my husband.  Despite layoffs due to health issues this summer, I still got in more training than in 2018.  Plus I won’t have my attention divided taking care of three kids under the age of 4.

2) I previously finished the Marji Gesick 100 course entirely on foot in just over this year’s halfway cutoff time.  Nonetheless, I haven’t turned enough heads to ever be a sponsored runner, in my best sport. Instead I’ll be surrounded by many sponsored bikers.  But I figure if I could do it on foot nearly fast enough, I should be able to gain enough mechanical advantage with a geared bike on enough of the course (for anyone that knows Marji knows that there’s plenty of places a bike is dead weight pushing up a hill or even negotiating downhills!) that I can at least gain a few minutes to meet the halfway cutoff.  When I scouted portions of the course on a bike with my husband in 2019, I frequently was thankful I wouldn’t have the liability of a bike on technical sections and punchy hills.  However, when I “ran” the course, my quads were so sore that I couldn’t run downhills and I was walking the uphills.  I went so slowly I couldn’t fathom how slow the rest of the field was moving.  Nonetheless, I set a women’s course record that still stands five years later. Now I’m chasing cutoffs.

Since 2019, I've learned how to fuel better during big efforts.

3) I’m comfortable being alone in the woods. In fact, it rejuvenates me. With my health in question, there were times I returned from doctors appointments wondering if I’d be able to take part in races again. Now I’ll savor every morsel more than ever before. Although navigating backwards on the course without course markings especially through the night is probably a deterrent for most racers, especially women, I didn’t want that to hinder me. Even though I had never ridden with a Garmin before, it was easy to pick up a few weeks before the race. I love spending hours with myself and a map and compass bushwhacking in the woods. So compared to orienteering where I need to thumb the map to not lose my spot and constantly reorient the map on the move, following an arrow on the Garmin screen is pretty easy!

4) I’ve not only finished Marji, but I’ve done much harder things since then. I’ve grown in life experiences and have also learned to embrace the possibility of failure through my journey with the Barkley Marathons.

Yes, I will likely fail.  But I know the experience will give me the opportunity to learn something about myself I cannot learn in any other way.  And after this summer, this opportunity means so much more.   Thank you to Todd and the 906 Adventure Team for this opportunity to discover the best version of myself as well as all that have supported me in my journey!



Banner photo: Scouting for the 2024 Marji and taking a stop at Top of the World before beginning my hike-a-bike down.

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