Single Track Frame of Mind: 2013 Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run 50k Trail Race: Here We Go Again

At first glance, there are two things that set the Psycho Wyco Run Toto Run 50k Trail race apart; terrain and weather. Remember, Kansas is flat. How then, does a Kansas 50k course have an elevation profile of gains & losses that total not in the hundreds, but in the thousands of feet? Thanks to Kansas’ February weather, those thousands of feet are always frozen solid, buried in snow, covered with mud, or in some ridiculous combination of any or all of the above. However; having written race reports about the previous two Psycho Wycos (2011 & 2012), there’s no reason to spend a ton of time harping on the terrain or giving a blow-by-blow re-telling of each obstacle. As for the weather, winter took a break and gave us the warmest Psycho Wyco yet. Pre-race rain, hundreds of runner’s feet, and rising temperatures made for three distinct loops in terms of trail conditions.

I guess some people hate their horses

First Loop: After a few words of encouragement (or was it discouragement? I can never tell) from Bad Ben, we were off. As usual, quite a few bats out of hell led the way across a bridge, over a small field and into the woods for some immediate up-hill running. The temperature was still cold enough that the trail wasn’t as muddy as expected. This race has become an annual ritual with the renewable goal of beating all my previous year’s times, something I’ve somehow managed to do for each of the last six winter Psychos. Hearing rumors of the muddiest course in Wyco history in the days before the race, I’d started to worry that this would be the year without an improved finish time. But now, running that first loop I couldn’t help but think that I’d seen it way muddier than this. (2009, maybe?). When I hit the start/finish area ten minutes ahead of my fastest ever Wyco loop I thought “oh, it’s on, I can do this”. Turns out it was ON alright, but not in the way I expected.

Second Loop: This was a mess! With the rising temperature the trail thawed and with over two hundred feet beating on it, the trail became a mud wrestling pit. I knew I would have to work a little harder to maintain the pace of the first loop. About 2 miles or so into the loop, the trail became realllly muddy. Horrible mud. The pack I was running with all slowed down considerably. “This is exactly how the French lost Agincourt", I said to no one in particular. Mud like this in a race can really get you down. I just had to keep telling myself that I’d seen it way worse (2009? Come on Wyco historians, help me out). The whole 2nd loop was tough. I was practically “skiing” the down hills while the traction-less up-hills felt like cage fights. I went flying down speed demon ridge (Sonic the hedge-hog for all you local old school Nerds) and where the signs say DANGER and SLOW-DOWN, I did not in fact slow down. I did; however, stop abruptly after becoming airborne for what seemed like an eternity. If an idiot falls in the woods and no one’s around does it make a sound? Well, it does…and the sounds rhyme with ‘fun-on-a-bench’ and ‘truck’. On the bright side, I probably saved some time since jumping off a cliff is the fastest way to the bottom.

The Rucking Jayhawk

It was then time to hit the canine-designed Fester’s Wander which includes a climb up Misery Ridge or what I like to call “holy crap” ridge. About halfway up what must be Kansas’ only mountain, I came across a 10-mile race competitor who was decked out in full combat gear. This bad-ass motivated the hell out of me. I’ve spent plenty of time in all that gear so I knew what he must have been going through. We had a quick exchange (something about the mud being god-awful) wishing each other good luck as I went around him. Turns out this was the ‘Rucking Jayhawk’, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel David “Petey” Arnold. He’s racing the hard way to raise awareness and funding for the TACP Association. The Tactical Air Control Party Association helps raise awareness of the occupation field and helps take care of those that fallen TACP warriors leave behind. His ultimate goal is to run the Air Force Marathon in full combat gear. Not bad for an Airman J He successfully finished Psycho Wyco so I know he’ll just KILL the rest of his races. Anyway, hit-up his site if you can, like him on Facebook, and wish him well!

Once out of Fester’s Wander, I started passing some of the ten mile loop-ers whose race had started after the 50k. Every single exchange was totally positive. They all offered tons of encouragement and I tried to do the same. That’s what I love about our sport. No matter what your distance, ability, or where you’re at as a trail runner, there’s just a ton of mutual respect and camaraderie among everyone out there. We’re all pushing personal limits, trying to get better, and sharing the adventure.

Heading towards the Triangle

Third Loop: The 2^nd lap took 20 minutes longer than the first but somehow was still 10 minutes ahead of my previous fastest time for two loops. A quick refill of the water bottle, a gel, some S-caps and then it was back out for the final loop. It was also time to do some math (always a dangerous thing… especially two-thirds into an ultra). A 2:49:00 loop was what it would take to match my previous best psycho. This races’ third loop is notorious for chewing runners up but barring a complete melt-down (hmmm, like 2008), another PR felt within reach. The first couple miles felt awful. I was suddenly tired and the mud was still pretty bad. I got passed by a number of runners and death-march mode was starting to kick in. Fortunately in an ultra, things can turn around as fast as they can go bad. Right before the Wyandotte Triangle the wall came down and I was able to hammer through the mile long winding section. In fact, it was probably too fast because that’s where some mild nausea kicked in. As I emerged from the triangle, someone at the aid station called me red-beard and asked why I looked familiar. Whoever you were, I apologize for my barely grunted “I don’t know” response and fast exit. I was just feeling crappy and winded and couldn’t seem to get anything audible out of my mouth! You guys and gals at the triangle aid station were over the top awesome every time I came through.

The Awesome Wyandotte Triangle Aid Station

About this time, there came realization that the trail was firming up. The weather was getting very warm and coupled with several hundred runners pounding down the surface, the trail was actually getting runnable. “Who are you and what’ve you done with my Psycho”?

Moving about as strong as ever on a third loop of wyco, I made it down the switchbacks, across the dam, and up the Damn Dam road onto speed demon ridge. Getting passed a couple of times during this stretch bummed me out a little until I started thinking about it. I was now running with a faster demographic then years past so just being around some of these runners this late into a Psycho Wyco felt pretty good.

Speaking of getting passed, heading into Fester’s Wander for the last time, I had been hearing a sound behind me that resembled a Cherokee or Navaho song with an occasional “whoop” thrown in. Somebody loud was gaining on me. Louder and louder, the war chant was echoing through the wander. “This guy’s gonna attract the cougar’s attention”, I thought. Finally (and I must say, inevitably since this guy was movin’) he passed me near the end of the Wander. As he went by he shouted “its go time”, or something. I remember thinking “Ok, cool…dudes psyched up and it’s working for him”. His native-sounding song began again once he got by and I knew he would also pass the runner ahead who I too had been focused on catching. About three minutes later he did pass that runner, but as he did, his Cherokee war chant morphed into a version of the na-na-na-na, hey, hey, hey, good-bye song. “Oh no he did’ent just do that,…dude”. Well, what was I saying about support, respect, and camaraderie? At the time I thought it was pretty obnoxious. Now though, having put a little more thought into it, he probably didn’t mean it like that and was just getting himself fired up and motivated for the home stretch. If I’m honest with myself, it was probably only obnoxious because I got passed. Truth is, these ultra-events are so tough that you’ve got to do whatever it takes to get through it. Whatever that means for you personally, go ahead and do it…even if it’s weird or obnoxious. Once, at the Mardi Grass Marathon, my first and ONLY road marathon, I counted to 1,000 (it was soooo freakin boring…total elevation gain was 25 feet) on the route between the superdome and Lake Pontchartrain. I’ve also been known to sing out some motivating Marine Corps Cadence or let out a high-pitched eeee-yhee war cry like some mad-Fianna. Do whatever you gotta do.

And speaking of doing what you gotta do, it was time for one final trip through the three hills section. The last two miles of each loop have some serious vertical. Three monster climbs are all that stand between you and the beoir & craic of the finish line area. Two weeks before the race I actually ran this entire section for the first time in my life. I hiked the big hill today on the first two loops, knowing that there had to be something in the tank for the final loop. I almost decided “screw it...no matter what, I’ve had a great day out here. I’m hikin’ the hills” but as I did a quick descent on the approach to the first hill, I suddenly decided that I wanted a PR more than anything. I don’t run with a time-piece and the loop hadn’t felt very quick. There came an irrational fear that I would miss a PR by just a couple of minutes. That fear made me put the hammer down (as best I could). It was a complete willingness to have a heart-attack and die in the three hills section in order to gain a single minute. It didn’t last. As soon as I got through the three hills and crossed the final road, I had to hike up the last little ‘bump’ and use the little metal ‘hand-hold’ sticking up out of the ground to pull myself up. Oh well. Not the dignified glorious finish I envisioned but a finish nonetheless, a finish 27 minutes faster than my previous best Psycho.

Another Psycho is in the books! There’s way more than weather and terrain that set this race apart. This was my seventh straight ‘glance’ and it’s really the people that set this thing apart. From the volunteers to the race director to the runners, the trail running community shines and is really at its best every February in Wyandotte County.

MUD - Thanks to Tyson Hofsommer for the pic!

Huge thanks to Bad Ben Holmes and the KC Trail Nerds for another top-notch event. Run Toto Run is building a rich history and a tradition thanks to all of the effort and expertise that goes into it! My eternal gratitude to all of the volunteers for their generosity, care, and time; a race is only as good as the volunteers who make it happen. Big time thanks to Dick Ross and crew of www.seekcrun.com for being a staple of the local trail racing scene and the thousands of pictures. Thanks also to Tyson Hofsommer for the action pictures you took out on the trail, I hadn’t seen your work before and am impressed with the high quality of your photography! A big-time thanks to Danny, Chris, Travis, Larry, Colleen, Jonathan, the down-hill bomber from Colorado, the 1/64^th Cherokee warrior, the AF Colonel, and all of the other runners and crew members who shared the trail, offering their encouragement, camaraderie, and motivation.

Most of all, thanks and love go to Jessica, Alyena, & Ayden. You are with me on every mile of every run.