Mile 98 - 100 of the Kettle Moraine 100

Many have experienced the last couple miles of a marathon, a 50k, or even a 50 miler...but I'm pretty sure that pales in comparison to Dan Crouse's description of miles 98-100 of the Kettle Moraine 100, which he shared below.  Again, WAY TO GO DAN!

“Go on without me. I’ll finish. But I need to slow it down.”
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, go on ahead. It’s only another two miles. I’ll be fine. I just need to take it slow. Go on, I know you want to run it in.”
I slowed down to a near crawl and she sped up. She disappeared over the crest of a hill and was gone. It’s amazing how complete strangers become your closest friends during the course of an ultra. Karyn and I had paced each other during the extremely difficult overnight hours. We had never met before the KM100 and 25 hours later we shared a connection that is impossible to explain. We helped each other get past some of the darkest times of this race. Tripping over rocks and climbing up and down the stairs and hills of Rice Lake. Others had joined us for a while and ran on and some had run with us for a bit only to fall behind after a few miles. After almost 98 miles it was only Karyn and I left. Not another soul in sight. And, now she’s gone. Good for her. I hope she finishes strong.   

It’s all on me now.

  I can do this. I can finish my first 100. 2 miles left. I can do this. I’ve come way too far to drop now. Still though, it’s 7:00 am. It’s starting to get hot. I’m out of water. I’ve been up since 4AM the day before. And, I’ve been running for the past 25 hours. It’s only two miles you’ve got to focus and get this done. I can’t. I just can’t. Another day, maybe. But not today. I’m sick to my stomach right now. I just want to puke and pass out! Holy crap is this entire thing uphill? Please, please help me up this hill. Oh, god, I think I’m actually starting to fall backwards now. No wait, one more step forward. We can do this. We’ve come way too far to give up now. Make it happen. Don’t give up now.  

Ignore the pain. Happy thoughts. How ef’n awesome is this? You’re going to rock your first 100. Keep it together you’ll finish sub 26! Holy shit, another hill?! Where did all of these hills come from? I barely made it up the last one. How am I going to do this. I hope Karyn finished. Please God, please dad, help me. I’m just trying to make you proud.

There it is, the mile marker. One mile left. We can do this. Let’s try to run this last mile and see what happens. I might actually, maybe be able to come in under 25:30! I’m running! Wow, this is awesome! 99 miles and I can still run! A downhill, finally! Let’s cruise this. My feet hurt so bad though. It feels like my toes feel are doubled over. My empty water bottle feels like a ten pound weight in my hand. I wish i had some water. I am so thirsty. I wish I had a beer. Oh, no. The stomach just growled at that. Ok, no beer. Just let me get to the end, please. I promise, no beer.

I can’t. I just can’t. I’m sorry, I don’t want to disappoint anybody. I’m really sorry. But this is just too much. Make it stop, please! I just want to sit down. Suck it up asshole! You didn’t do this because it was easy. Run it out. Make this happen. You’ve come this far. You can actually hear the finish line now. Run! Just run! Ignore it all and just run! There it is, the red outlines of the finish line. I’m almost there. Just a bit more and I can finally sit down. All I want to do now is just sit down. Shit, another hill. Oh god, I feel like I’ve been kicked in the stomach by Seabiscuit. Just a few more yards. You can push through. Make this happen. Do it! Run in out!

Applause. Oh, thank you for the applause. And there’s Karyn and her mom and her son. She finished and looks great! Done, oh god, I’m done. How amazing is that? Thank you. Thank you God for getting me through this! I’m done! I did it! I just finished my first 100 mile run! That was amazing! I can’t wait to do it again.