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New Year's One Day 12 Hour (Uh, 7 Hour) Race Report



Here's the idea: You pay actual money to run around in a circle for either 6, 12, or 24 hours. This is how you choose to spend your New Year's Eve. 

That's it. That's the course. Just keep turning right until midnight. 


Each time you complete a lap, you pass under the finish arch, that is never actually the finish line, and over a timing mat that tracks the number of laps you've done and displays it on a screen.
This should actually say, "KEEP GOING FOR MORE HOURS"
You're looking at the same people lap after lap. It's the Golden Gate Bridge over and over again. You're not actually getting anywhere. 

What is the point of what we are doing.

That question is exactly why I love this race. 

Here are hundreds of people, lap after lap, living entirely inside their own heads for hours and hours, each with a different answer to that question. 

Last year I ran because I just wanted to find out if I could do it. I wanted to know what it felt like to run for 12 hours. I wanted to see what was possible. I completed 43.7 miles in 12 hours before raising a champagne toast at midnight with everyone else (read about it here) and knew right away I would be back again this year. 

My goal was to break 50 miles, but I ended up calling it a day after 7 hours. Within the first hour my stomach turned on me. Maybe it was the Gu, which has been causing me stomach issues recently, or the Cytomax that I drank a bunch of that I don't normally drink. Maybe I wasn't fully recovered from The North Face 50k. Maybe I jinxed myself or the stars weren't aligned or maybe it just wasn't my day. 

I completed 29.7 miles in 7 hours, and it feels like a victory. My reason for being out there, for signing up for 12 hours, initially was to accomplish a goal, but I very quickly realized it wasn't about that at all. My reason for being out there was to revel in the highs and push through the lows, to watch the sun set and see the city light up, to live inside the hours of music I'd spent hours putting together, to stare at the Golden Gate Bridge, to meditate, to pray, to think about the past year, to mourn, to celebrate, to forgive. 

That's why I signed up for this. It's not a race, it's an experience. 

We start out as strangers and come to recognize each other every lap from the back. Whether you're passing or being passed, you see familiar gates and pony tails and backs of shirts hour after hour. We chat, we throw a thumbs up, we stay quiet. We feel great, we suffer, we feel great again. It's just relentless forward progress. There is no finish line, only time in front of us. This is the reason I'm out here. To experience this along side everyone else. 

If you were out there, I recognized you from the back as we circled the lagoon. I remembered you each lap and wondered, why are you out here doing this...I'll bet it's a beautiful reason. 



Thanks, Wendell, for a great experience. 
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Comments

  1. notthatlucasJanuary 5, 2015 at 9:04 PM

    Total insanity! One thing I was curious about is how the tourists reacted to what was going on - that's a very popular area with them! (And, insane or not, I want to do that event sometime. Maybe.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LiaJanuary 5, 2015 at 9:21 PM

      Allen, there's a lot of bewilderment...lots of people stop runners to ask, "what is this...how long are you running...does this go on all night...WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING."

      Delete
    2. notthatlucasJanuary 6, 2015 at 7:55 AM

      Ha ha ha - I can hear them muttering "Only in California!" as they wander off. (If they only knew the madness that was going on at Across the Years and other events that make this look normal!)

      Delete
  2. WendellJanuary 8, 2015 at 8:05 PM

    So well said, Lia. It beautifully articulates why I love this sport. Thanks so much for your report/perspective. Wendell, RD

    ReplyDelete
  3. KarenJanuary 10, 2015 at 12:04 AM

    If I had to run in circles all day long, I wouldn't mind it being at Crissy Field. I feel like my mental game is the last thing to recover when I run a race as long as TNF. I'm sure that had something with how your day went. What's next on your calendar?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Bob HearnJanuary 12, 2015 at 5:31 PM

    Great report, Lia. When I write a report it comes out all about paces and splits and stuff. It's harder for me to put the actual feelings down on paper. Uh, pixels.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LiaJanuary 12, 2015 at 5:37 PM

      Thanks, Bob...I was just reading your report admiring your planning and execution!

      Delete
    2. Bob HearnJanuary 12, 2015 at 9:14 PM

      Would you believe, it never struck me that the arch said FINISH on it.

      Delete
  5. LaylaJanuary 18, 2015 at 6:54 PM

    I like this -- the reason you ran, rather just the fact that you ran. Maybe it wasn't your day to run 50 miles (I can't handle Cytomax at all, though Gu and I are still best friends), but you made it your day to run. In the end, that's what matters: You ran, and you know why you ran.

    ReplyDelete

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