2005 Report
Wakey, Wakey...Eggs & Bakey!
By
Warren Bushey
FlatRock 50/25K • September 24, 2005
The running of FlatRock 10th Anniversary II was a complete success and we want to thank all of the runners and our great volunteer support team for their continued support of our beloved event. This year’s race was called the 10th Anniversary II because of some math error that one of the KUS founding fathers, Scott Demaree, had brought to our attention after we already held the 10th Anniversary last year…good looking out there Scott. We had 37 runner’s toeing up for the 50K and 33 in the 25K. Runners came from the following states and Canada: CO, IL, KS, LA, MO, NE, OK, TN, TX and AR. Wow, 20 percent of the entire states in the US represented!
Friday afternoon was a busy day, as always, with all of the last minute preparations for the race being put together while meeting the new faces arriving along with the veterans who always show up to take a good look at the competition for the next day’s event. This year’s Friday evening dinner was catered from a local restaurant in Independence called Uncle Jack’s and the food was fabulous. This made things easier for us and gave us the time needed to climb into the new racer’s heads and get them geared up for the challenges facing them the following morning. Many of the FlatRock vets were spinning the usual lore about the beautiful yet very rugged nature of the trail.
This year nearly everyone’s eye was on Tom Lasater from Wichita, who was going for his tenth consecutive finish of the 50K. If he finished today he would be knighted into the elite and glorious “FlatRock Hall of Pain.” Will he make it? Go Tom go! David “Wakey” Wakefield, who had once again returned in an attempt to become one of only six individuals to break 5 hours on the 50K course, was walking around mumbling to himself and lightly cursing the trail that had beaten him down the last few years…not this time he was saying to himself…not this time. We also had our second youngest runner this year…his name was David Young and he was only 19 years old…what did the trail have in store for such young meat? By the end of Friday evening’s meal most of the newbies weren’t so sure as to what they had gotten themselves into and a slight look of panic had fallen over most of their faces. Dinner was breaking down, early tales had been told, it was quickly time to shut down for the evening and let the sandman man turn out the lights…for tomorrow will tell the true tales.
Saturday morning came around in what seemed to be a blink of an eye. Runners were gathering at the shelter house to receive the race instructions while our aid station personal was busily gathering their things to get there respective aid stations set up. The morning sun was just breaking over the horizon and we knew we were in for a very hot day. While looking over all the new faces we couldn’t help but smile because this little gem of ours has become a serious breeding ground for new ultrarunners just breaking into the sport, all while still challenging the veterans. Most of the new runners moved nervously towards the starting line as the vets put on there game faces and you could tell they wanted to get back some of their hides that the rock chewed off of them in years past. Who would win this year? Jess McNeely had returned to defend his crown but as always, Paul Schoenlaub would be gunning for top placement. However, we all knew that David Wakefield was hell bent for leather to not only become the FlatRock Champ, but to also break five hours… could it be his year? With a backwards 10 count, the 10th Anniversary II of “the Rock” was underway.
Exactly an hour later the 25K runners toed the starting line. By now the sun had turned so bright and hot that the cones in the runner’s retinas were beginning to get torched. This race is the first step to becoming an ultrarunner, yes a 25K is not an official ultra, but our 25K here at FlatRock is much closer to a full marathon and is a great way to get baptized into the sport of ultrarunning. It also gives new runners a taste of what a trail run is all about. Looking at the faces in the crowd you could see that many of the runners had never ran any distance probably over 10 miles. There were a few returning runners that love this race and still aren’t quite ready to step up and take a bite of “the Rock” in the 50K distance yet. Maybe next year we will offer them some type of cash incentive to help move them to the next level. The count down began and exactly one hour after the start of the 50K, the 25K competitors took off to get a small taste of “the rock!” What some of them didn’t know is that they would be leaving big parts of themselves behind to maybe recover at another time.
While all of the runners were out to enjoy their day chewing off some “rock” we were busy preparing the finish line and the evening events. I was making my special brew of homemade chili, while huddling over a large vat stirring with my new paddle and casting some spells, while Eric was running around chanting incantations about Tom Lasater being knighted and Dave Wakefield breaking five. We were all praying it was going to work. With each tick of the race clock the temperature seemed to raise several degrees. This was, of course, a big concern of ours because we didn’t want runners seriously suffering from dehydration. However, Chad Flint and his pick-up handled this like a champ and before it was all said and done he delivered over 400 pounds of ice to all of the aid stations through out the day.
A couple of hours into the 50K, Chad returned with the times from the turn around and it showed to be a very tight race. David Wakefield, David Young, Paul Schoenlaub and Jess McNeely were all within a few minutes of one another. David Young, at only 19 years of age was giving the veterans a serious showing. Could he keep it up…was the young buck going to show up these seasoned vets? After laying a few gentlemen’s wagers amongst ourselves, we returned to our finish line duties. Soon, it was time for everyone to come alive with the first of the 25K runners beginning to arrive. As always, in all ways, people were clapping hands, cowbells were ringing, train whistles blowing, marine whistles shattering eardrums, pots and pans clinging, some tubes that sounded like a U.F.O. landing were whistling and of course, that infamous damn blue horn was blowing. Over the years runners consistently comment that it is by far and wide the most incredible and loud finishing cheer they have ever received at any race…bar none!
Eric Nelson, a Kansas runner, finished first in the 25K with a time of 2:12:36 followed by Scott Wadle another Kansan with a 2:21:11 and in third was Jerry Piszczek with a time of 2:39:00, from nowhere else, but Kansas. The first woman to cross the finish was a Kansan as well, Sarah Hill Nelson, closely followed by an Independence local, Jessica Williams, who’s time was 3:13:33…way to go girls! We are looking forward to all of these competitors stepping up to our 50K next year.
With the day being so blazing hot we really didn’t expect to see a 50K runner come in under 5 hours. But to our surprise and total amazement, David “Wakey-Bakey” Wakefield (a Kansan) came cooking down the gravel road through the finisher’s tent with not only an overall win and a sub-five hour finish, but broke the course record as well, with an incredible time of 4:46:44…great job David!! After screaming out some choice expletives, David and Eric exchanged a huge bear hug and then David continued hooting and hollering about setting the new course record while attempting to hold back his tears of “joy and pain” regarding his incredible accomplishment. What an awesome sight it was to watch David realize one of his most important dreams that he had been chasing for four years. David has already sent in next year’s entry so he can defend his crown and try to ensure it will remain on his head for a long time…damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead man! We love you!
Following close behind David was past champion and sub-5 finisher, Paul Schoenlaub, from Missouri with a finishing time of 5:04:40. To everyone’s bewilderment, the young buck from Kansas, David Young, finished third overall with an amazing time of 5:11:22. This year we decided to move our Masters age bracket up to 50+ years. Our Masters Male Champion, placing 5th overall with a very impressive time of 5:50:41 was Jack Christian from Oklahoma. Finishing behind Jack in 6th place overall and the only competitor to finish this race all eleven times, one of our beloved knights of the FlatRock Hall of Pain, Dennis “Sir Last Minute” Haig in a time of 6:23:28. Dennis claims he’s thinking about putting together a FlatRock 550K so it won’t take him another ten years to log all of those trail miles.
As has been stated repeatedly in the past, the women of “the Rock” are very strong runners and a force to be reckoned with. Mindy Wilson from Missouri returned to defend her ’04 Women’s Champion Crown and did so by finishing first overall for the women with a time of 6:27:29. Next came Stacy Harding from Kansas with a time of 7:22:27 to take second, followed by Molly Gibb from Colorado who was right behind her with a 7:25:58 and Danielle Rideout from Illinois rolled in with a 7:39:40 and a really pretty smile on her face…I’m sure this was because she was finished. Shortly thereafter came Theresa Wheeler from Kansas in a time 7:47:14 which is her 7th finish in a row and well on her way to be the first woman to be inducted into the FlatRock Hall of Pain, just three more to go.
Nearly a couple hours later and the one runner nobody had yet to see was Tom Lasater who needed this finish to become only the 4th person to be knighted into the FlatRock Hall of Pain. Eric spoke confidently to several of Tom’s family members and friends that Tom would not let any of us down, especially himself. And Tom didn’t, as he finished in 9:41:34 and was now on his way to being knighted at the evening award ceremony, way to go Tom!! Throughout the day and on into the early evening each and every runner was greeted with smiling faces and enough noise that they heard us all the way to Independence. Congratulations to all of you!
Copious quantities of chili continued to be consumed as the runners nursed their wounds and iced down their legs and feet. Stories were being told of the day’s events and far casting commitments were already being made for next year’s event. Once every one was fed and relaxed it was time for the awards to be handed out. After all finisher’s awards had been handed out it was time for the King to arrive, and suddenly “King FlatRock” flowed in with his royal burgundy robe, crown upon his head and a bright shining bone handled sword on his side. Tom Lasater was called to the front of the crowd to become only the 4th person knighted into the FlatRock Hall of Pain. Sir Blue Flame and Sir Last Minute were there to have Tom take the oath of the Knights of FlatRock Hall of Pain. Once Tom took the sacred oath, King FlatRock waved his sword and knighted Tom as “Sir Clydesdale.” Tom then received his lifetime cloth race bib with the #4 and free entry to “the Rock” for life. The entire crowd then gave three mighty cheers to the new knight.
We posted record time this year wrapping up our post race activities due to our awesome volunteer staff. Shortly thereafter we all set off down the road to enjoy the ever-growing FlatRock campfire. The fire was roasting, smores were being made, the world famous Blue Flame popcorn was popping and drinks were being served. Tall tales of races from the past and some for the future were being relayed with big smiles. It’s great to see how the FlatRock family continues growing every year. Once again, thanks to all who make this event possible and don’t forget to keep spinning the yarns about our “little gem” down here in southeast Kansas. See you all next year, if not sooner, up…out!
David Wakefield Adds:
Death, Taxes and Flat Rock
Well it’s the morning after and just like every year the laundry has been washed, the socks have been trashed and the lactic acid has slowly taken siege of my legs. Unlike in years past however, I didn’t find myself running back to the drawing board to try to figure out what went wrong. Where did I screw up? Asking myself the question I’ve become all too familiar with. “Why can’t I win this race?” Well as luck would have it the Gods of Flat rock were unusually kind this year, and the question of, “Why can’t I win this race” is one I’ll never have to ask myself again.
On the morning of September 25,2005, after four years of fruitless attempts to win this particular event, I toed the starting line with numerous feelings of doubt and an extreme lack of self-confidence. To make matters worse, the expected forecast of the day was to be 90 degrees Fahrenheit with the humidity above 60%. On a day it looked like it would become the hottest, nastiest day in race history, just surviving would be a victory in itself.
As the RD, Eric Steele, was taking his customary role call and giving competitors some pointers as to which runners they should get behind to avoid a delicious breakfast of spiders, a sense of not caring anymore came over me. Win, lose or draw I felt that if I just ran a smart race, I would finish strong. Whether I finish first or 51st that would be okay as long as I gave it all I had from start to finish.
The thing I like most about this race is that it started about one-forth of a mile from the trailhead. This is nice because it gives everyone a chance to settle into their pace and you usually don’t get a lot of jockeying for position once you hit the trail. I prefer to use that one-forth of a mile for a different reason however, to prepare myself for a steady diet of spiders I’ll soon be ingesting throughout the duration of the next two hours or so.
With the 2005 edition of the “Rock” underway I found myself again leading the field into the abyss. No surprise to me, FlatRock veteran and 2003 champion Paul Schoenlaub was right on my heals. While Paul and I continued to forgo a moderate pace through some of the rockiest terrain east of Pikes Peak, we felt that lurking about two minutes or so behind us was Jess McNeely, last years defending champion. By first aid station Mr. “P” and myself were still running together. Paul had chosen to stop for a few seconds and sticking to my race plan, I rolled right through. My intention for that was not to gain an advantage over Paul, but only to give myself a few seconds so that I could back off the pace a little considering the temperature for the day.
Not long after his aide station stop and eating a few spiders that I left for him on the trail, Paul caught back up to me. The race remained this way into the second aide station around the eight mile mark with Paul only a few seconds behind. I stopped here just long enough to top off my bottle and then I was gone. Paul stayed close and I didn’t feel all that great, but by the time I reached the Oak Ridge aide station around mile 11 Paul was nowhere insight.
Coming into the Oak Ridge aide station I felt pretty comfortable, but soon I started to worry that maybe I was setting to hard of a tempo and that maybe I was jeopardizing my race. Grabbing a new bottle from my wife and a couple of gels I was through in less than five seconds. My thoughts at this point shifted towards the second half of the race, which in my previous four attempts I met my demise. Not knowing how everyone else was handling the heat or where they were on the course, I decided to forget about the second half and just focus on getting to the turnaround.
With about two miles left to the turnaround, I started to calculate in my head what I thought I’d come in at. At best I predicted 2:15, and you could imagine my surprise when I hit the turnaround in 2:10 and some change. After another quick aide station I was out in 2:11 something and at this point I kept telling myself just don’t blow it. I figured from years past, that my worst-case scenario would be for me to come back in no worse than 2:56 giving me a 5:06 for the day and a very respectable time for the heat.
Coming back fro the turnaround I met Paul who was only about five or seven minutes behind. I thought, “Man he looks strong!” Another seven minutes or so went by when I saw surprise to see Jess McNeely for the first time, but to even a greater surprise to me was that young 19 year old David Young in his first ultra was running with him. Running scared now, knowing what the promising “Young” rookie was capable of, I made the decision to keep my pace up as long as I could, thinking victory this year would be decided by the slimmest of margins.
Now not to say that this race was easy for me this year. It had its share of ups and downs, and down is exactly what happened when for a single moment I let my mind wander just before coming back through the Oak Ridge station. Once I hit the deck there was no time to lay there and cry or curse. I pulled my butt out of the dirt and told myself to get it together.
I did get it together only to make another amateur mistake while in the Oak Ridge aide station where I thought for some reason I needed to swallow a fist full of rock salt. No sooner did I do that and after running for about 100 feet out of the aide station everything in my stomach decided to come out and get some fresh air! Not once but four times. Over the course of the next three miles, I would vomit three more times and because there was so much salt in my stomach, every time I sipped on my bottle and ran a little ways, it would leave me curled over on the side of the trail.
At that point I truly thought the race was over. I mean lets face it, I had no fluid in me anymore, I couldn’t drink what I had, and at last count Paul Schoenlaub and whoever were only five minutes behind. I managed to keep moving forward however, making it to the next aide station. Here my only concerns were finishing top five overall. Still feeling queasy I drank three or four glasses of water to get some fluid in me to try and dilute the salt mine in my stomach. I was able to jog out of the aide station without hurling and thought “Hey, I don’t feel that bad anymore”.
Between the last two aide stations I don’t remember much of anything just that the sun was Hot!!! On the top of the bluffs and in the meadows and man did I get to the last aide station surprising fast. I guess I was in one hell of a zone and in a day full of surprises my time into the last aide station on my watch said 4:05 and some change. I had to do a double take and after verifying with the aide station volunteers that I indeed sprouted wings and was flying, I got out of the last aide station in what felt like less than two minutes.
Back on the trail I tried hard not to think about victory. I just kept reminding myself that I lost the race at this point during the race last year being passed while stretching out a cramp. “Like Hell if that was going to happen this year”. I continued running without stopping until through the trees I spotted the reservoir dam. I knew I was close now; about a mile and a half or so. As I reached the last of the big rocks above the trail, where they form into a temperature changing, cave like formations, I thought salvation at last. Now I knew there was no way I could lose this race this year. The funny thing was that I was concentrating so hard not to get passed that it hadn’t dawned on me to look at my watch.
As I pounded my way down the last bit of trail and climbed out of the ditch from hell onto the road, I glanced at my watch, 4:42 something! No way did I run that last section of trail that fast. Happy that I was going to break five hours on this most brutal of days I then realized I had a chance at the record as well. So with the thought that I may never find myself in this position again I didn’t want to finish knowing that I didn’t give it everything I had left. It was going to close I thought, but if I could run the last half mile I just might do it.
Two hundred yards to go and my watch said 4:46. Semper Fi, Do or Die I knew it was going to hurt and hurt it did. I gave it everything I had at this point, and ran as fast as I could. The turn on the gravel road, the flags, the finishers tent, done! Clock 4:46:44. I did it! On a day when I thought just to survive would be a victory in itself.
The monkey was finally off my back and a title wave of elation came over me. Just before I turned into an emotional train wreck minutes after crossing the line, I remembered a quote I read by Lance Armstrong which was simply this “To be afraid is a priceless education”.
Running scared was how I won the race but to be afraid of this event is something I’ll never be again. Over the past five years I’ve developed a love hate relationship with the “Rock”. I feared it during the hot summer months of training. Hate every moment during the race and love it after I cross the finish line. The one thing that remains constant through it all is the respect I have for the course, the race participants and all the volunteers that put in countless hours to make this event into the great mid-west gem that it has become. This is for me, the race that all the others are compared to and look forward to being here every September for years to come.
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