BIGFOOT 200 ENDURANCE RUN – RACE BEYOND THE BOUNDARY OF EXTREME #3
05. 09. 2019
Shortly after eight o'clock in the evening, when it started getting dark again, I said goodbye to the station staff and thanked them for saving my race. I decided to put on the headphones and let the tones of my favourite music guide me. It was a good decision. I started climbing eagerly up the hill, where I had wandered in hallucinations for five hours. I was full of energy, so I could handle a couple of climbs and descents with bravura. I started to descend from the top. I even tried to run. The terrain was finally acceptable, not easy, but “runable”. And I was running! I helped my body (doctors, do not read this, please) with painkillers and a dose of caffeine fit for a horse. I had batteries from the previous night in my headlamp, but I also had a spare headlamp in my backpack. I stopped, took the spare headlamp and tried to turn it on. Whoops! It didn't work. Maybe the rechargeable battery was depleted. I replaced it for another one, but nothing happened. I remembered that I had two sets of nearly empty batteries in my backpack from the previous two nights. I knew that if I used the functional headlamp at the minimum setting, I could endure much of the night. But that meant I had only a weak beam of light. It was good that the trail was still visible even under such weak illumination. I ran on one set of used batteries for an hour, but then I had to replace them. I had to suppress the feeling of panic. It would not work without the light. I wanted to run as much as I could and as long as I would be able to, and that was why I ran at a fast pace. Two cones of light appeared in the forest in front of me. Fortunately, I was so fast that I had caught up with two other runners. I asked them for help and I was relieved to find out that one of them had a spare set of batteries in his emergency reserve. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking and I had to ask my colleague to replace them. Then I said goodbye with the feeling of immense gratitude and continued running like hell.
I jumped over even the biggest trunks like a chamois, stones and roots were no obstacles for me. Suddenly I was full of self-confidence and trust in my navigation device. I was overtaking one competitor after another on the track. I was in seventh heaven. The terrain kept changing. It was dark but I deduced that it was the end of the mountains. Instead, there appeared a long straight forest path with a very pleasant surface leading along a stream. I was so excited that I greeted every new ribbon marking the way. I didn't see whether I was running up or down. I just kept the same, fast and relaxed pace. All the time I had been accompanied by a sense of déjà vu: "I know the root here, I will stumble on that stone (and I actually stumbled over it), I will get stuck in the mud here, etc." As if I had already run there. There were some lights flickering on the right - those were trucks on the road. The last checkpoint, Ovens’s Creek was not far away. Before I got there, I tripped and fell flat on the rocks once, strayed slightly and had to wade across the stream. And then I was greeted by the illuminated final station.
Suddenly there was only the last section roughly the length of a half marathon ahead of me. Partly along a dirt road but mostly on a tarmac surface. One or two other runners were sitting at the station. I was asked to sit down and relax, but I was feeling so well that I just refilled the bag with water and rushed away. I set myself a new goal of finishing the race under 90 hours. That meant beating the last part in no more than 2.5 hours. By the road I saw a pair of runners sleeping wrapped in an emergency foil. In a moment I overtook two runners and then another. After about 6 kilometres I reached the main tarmac road and there began a real grandiose finish run. It's like I hadn't run over 300 kilometres in extreme terrain. I was running easily, singing loudly, and when there was a series of 5 Rammstein songs in my headphones, I was in seventh heaven. I overtook three more couples and a few individuals. They asked me what I had been smoking that I was running so fast. Then there were only ten kilometres to go. The road kept ascending and descending but I did not take any notice. I pushed forward at an incredible speed. The kilometres passed quickly one by one. When I crossed the main road, I turned right and there were only two kilometres to go. By that time, I had been laughing like a madman. I was shouting the lyrics from my headphones and added a few swearwords at the end. It was half-past three at night, but for me the sun was shining at that moment. I turned into the high school campus, made one lap on the track and I crossed the finish line with my arms raised at 89:41:55. Although I was welcomed by only a few other runners who had finished before me and several organizers, I did not mind and the finish was very emotional.
I dropped my backpack and sat down with the other few finishers in the armchair in front of the heater, which was running at full power. It was three in the morning, and even when it was a starry night, it was pretty cold. I was covered with two thick blankets - which was good, not only because of the cold but most of all, because the odour after nearly four-days without washing was completely out of this world. The staff of the stall abundant with food and drink promptly rushed to serve me. I had them tap a victorious beer for me, then another and then I added two more beers. After that, I virtually swallowed a whole pizza. We all gathered around the heater, but most of the time our session was in thoughtful spirit.
I covered my head and fell into unconsciousness. I woke up at around seven in the morning. I did not have to wait long for the sunrise and its warm rays. I had two more beers and started thinking about what to do. I wanted to change my clothes, but I don’t know why I thought Jirka did not continue anymore. He was not at the finish line. I also had no reports of Szilvia since the Twin Sisters. Before the start, we had left a bag with car keys and wallets at one of the organizers I could see then. I asked her whether anybody had picked the stuff up. She told me nobody had. That could mean only one thing - Jirka and Szilvia were still on the way. I was really glad to find out. The computer told me Szilvia still had some 4 km to go.
How did the remaining members of the team fare? Did Jirka make it in the limit?
Find out in the final part.