Chasing a DNF

My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my temples. I look at my watch and check my heart rate; wow! I can’t believe how much climbing I’ve done. I look down below me. Nothing but trees and rocks. I’m reminded of George of the Jungle, “If you fall, you have a very long time to waive goodbye”. I look up ahead of me, still can’t see the tree line. “The Beast” is living up to its name. Climbing the Beast; Photo courtesy of Mike McNeil I first heard about the Frozen Snot around the same time I ran the 2017 Boulder Beast. Its many of the same trails with some added extras. My interest was piqued but I didn’t really consider doing the run until I decided to run 12 trail runs in 2018. I needed a January run and I thought, to quote a particularly nasty trail on the race, Why Not? At about 430’ of elevation gain per mile, the Snot dwarfs most if not all other Pennsylvania Races (see the graph On Matt Lipsey’s blog ). I read more than once that it’s the toughest trail race in t...

DNF: Did-Not-Finish. The mar on every endurance runner’s record. But what does that really mean? I can only tell you what it means to me and why, counter to anything that makes sense, I have spent my time chasing one. Bald Eagle mountain and boulder field leg of a trail race as viewed from the finish line. 2017 Boulder Beast, Lock Haven, PA I don’t know anybody that loves endurance running. I’m talking about the actual act of endurance running.   “Actually, I hate having toe nails, and I love blisters, torn muscles, vomiting, and exhaustion. Endurance running is so fun.”                 -Nobody. Ever. So why do people do it? Why do I do it? Wait, what the hell am I actually doing? The definition of an endurance run, or long-distance run, is a continuous run over a distance of at least five miles (mi)/eight kilometers (km or k as its usually referred to in the running world). Don’t beli...