TL:DR: It was wet and muddy but I finished 1st overall
The Red Barn Challenge is a 24-, 12-, and 6-hour race on a 1-mile looped course on a beautiful little farm in Lykens, Pennsylvania. The 24-hour race started Friday at 6 pm. The 12-hour race, which I did, began at 6 am Saturday. The 6-hour began at noon.
My race did not go as expected and couldn’t have gone any better. I can’t imagine how the conditions could have been worse. It rained on and off for 8 of the 12 hours, which made the course a mud pit in places. It got steadily worse after the 6-hour race began at noon, turning the sometimes-runnable sections into soup, or brownie batter as one competitor described it. In many places the mud was ankle-deep.
Despite the rain, I couldn’t have asked for a better result. I finished 1st place overall, covering 54 laps in the 12 hours! The more it rained the more determined I was to maintain a consistent pace. After the rain stopped, I thought my calves were cramping but it turned out to be the mud caked on them hardening. The course did NOT dry, however, and remained a soupy mess to the finish.
Race Strategy
My strategy was to begin conservatively, planning to run a 12-minute per mile average from start to finish. I expected to hold this pace for the first 4-6 hours then start to walk more sections, slowing to something closer to 15 minutes a mile. About 31 miles into the race my wife, who is the best crew I could ask for, told me I had just taken 1st place. I was shocked, certain some error had been made. I didn’t know what to do! I’ve never led a race so this was new territory for me, and a bit emotional. I knew I had a LOT of time left and told myself to just stay consistent. If anyone was going to beat me, they were going to have to work for it.
With about 2-1/2 hours to go, 2nd place was closing but I was able to keep running steady lap times in the 12-to-14-minute range and that did the trick. After an hour their pace slowed again, and I maintained a lead of several minutes through the last lap.
Fueling the race
My fueling was VERY simple. Breakfast was coffee with hot chocolate mix on the way to the race. I took a Vespa while I got ready to run, then every two hours during the race. I ate a few snacks when I passed through the aid station, whatever looked good at the moment but didn’t really need much. My energy level matched my pacing, extremely steady. My total food intake consisted of: 2 granola bars, a small cup of chicken noodle soup, a cup of broth, one mini muffin, half a bag of sweet potato chips, one small cup of mashed potatoes, two small cups of watermelon cubes, half a slice of cheese pizza, and 16-oz of Hammer Heed energy drink during the last ½ hour of the run. I also had two or three small cups of Mountain Dew when I wanted a quick energy hit.
My mantra for the race was “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop”, a running joke with my wife because of my last name. I stopped once to change socks about 4 hours into the race but ran past or did a grab-and-go at the aid station if I wanted a snack. I kept a steady drip of water and electrolytes by grabbing a hand bottle from my crew tent. Being able to have crew support every mile was fantastic. I could put in an order for electrolytes and a bottle would be there waiting on my next lap.
Consistency Paid Off
I’m SO happy I was able to continue running throughout the entire 12 hours. I took short walk breaks on up-hill sections after halfway. My performance was well beyond my expectations. Credit goes to the last few weeks of training I’ve put in with my coach, and the focus on a diet supporting fat metabolism. Being fat-adapted has been a game changer – allowing me to train hard more often without needing much recovery before training hard again. I’ll be out for a run today, Monday, after the race this weekend – albeit a slow one, to aid recovery and to keep things loose. I’m still building toward a 100-mile effort early in 2024, this was just a fun test along the path. If you get the chance to do the Red Barn Challenge I would HIGHLY recommend it. The organizers and volunteers did a fantastic job!