8-Hour Dream Endurance Race: 5 key takeaways

By Henry Howard

A 30-something minute delay due to lightning in the area. 93% humidity. Trails full of mud and puddles. The 8-Hour Dream Endurance Race at Butler University on July 11 offered plenty of challenges.

The race offers two loops, one about 3.1 miles and the other 1.9 miles, both of which include a short but steep climb up Bulldog’s Revenge. The course, which starts and ends outside of Hinkle Fieldhouse, has a mix of pavement, hard packed dirt (or mud) and stone trails, and some grassy sections. It is overall flat with the exception of Bulldog’s Revenge with roughly 90 total feel of gain per loop, for both the short and long courses.

Upon my arrival at the race, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., the predicted rain began. There was quite a downpour as most runners scrapped their pre-race warmup and opted for shelter. (Many thanks to my new friend, Jackson, who let me hang out in his tent and place my stuff in it as well.)

At 9:58 a.m., the race director announced that we would start on time. Then suddenly he was summoned back to the race HQ booth, and soon told us that we are on 30-minute hold due to Butler Police Department seeing a lightning strike in the area.

The race — call it the unofficial 7 ½-Hour Wet Dream Endurance Race — began after the delay. This was my longest timed race to date, and I learned quite a bit. Here are five key takeaways from a timed event of this nature.

1. Nutrition is a work in progress. For marathon and 50K distances, I can rely on gels and waffles for my on-course nutrition. For 50-milers, I need some sort of real food for my gut. While I had a higher goal for my distance, the 35 miles I did cover fell midway between the gels/waffles and real food plans. My plan was to have three Precision Fuel and Hydration 300g of carbs pouches, which would give me the carbs I needed and then some. As my pace slowed, I didn’t want to waste the third pouch and unfortunately didn’t have any real food options with me. Overall, I did have about 620g of carbs for the seven hours, or roughly about 90g an hour.

2. I need to improve my hydration. I waited too long to start drinking water. Since I had the Precision Fuel in a bottle in my Nathan waist belt, my options were to carry a handheld or take water from aid stations. In the second half of the race, I alternated both of those methods. But it was too little, too late.   

3.  My crew was a game changer. I coordinated my wife and a friend taking shifts for the middle and last third of the race, which worked out perfectly. They were both super helpful getting me in and out of the aid station quickly while refilling my water bottle, grabbing what I needed and placing an ice bandana around my neck.

4.  Don’t forget trail shoes. This was an oversight on my part. I should have had at least one pair of trail shoes, given the rain in the forecast. I started out in HOKA Clifton road shoes, which did not work well on the muddy sections of course. In fact, I took a fall going down the muddy trail after Bulldog’s Revenge on the second loop. That’s when I knew I had to call my wife and ask her to bring my HOKA Challengers, which saved the day for the second half of the race. 

5. Keep moving. In timed events, it is crucial to keep moving whenever possible. While I slowed to mostly walking the better part of the last three loops, I never sat or paused longer than needed at aid stations. That’s a win.

I finished 35 miles in roughly 7:07 of running time. It was not the distance I wanted but felt proud that I kept moving throughout. I finished second in my age group of 16 and in the top 20% overall.

While I know I can do better at this race, what’s most important is to learn from these races and use that knowledge in the future. It was a decent performance, especially considering I dealt with an injury in spring that limited me to 19 running miles in April and forced me to cancel my first two planned races of the year.

Looking ahead to what’s next, I have a marathon in 11 weeks and the Dinosaur Valley 100K in November.

Onward.

(Like my work? I'd be honored if you'd support me. Consider a donation of any amount, such as a cup of coffee.)