100Triathlons: Dawn to Dusk 12 Hour Endurance Challenge 2020

Monday, February 17, 2020

Dawn to Dusk 12 Hour Endurance Challenge 2020

First event of 2020! Sunday was my third time racing the Dawn to Dusk 12 Hour Challenge. There has been a different course each time and each has been a challenge. Yesterday's course in Deland had elevation changes and the high temp was in the low 80s and sunny. Lots of friends there from Seminole County Triathletes so it was great seeing everyone.

7:00 AM start saw a big crowd head out on the 2 mile loop paved course. The first 2 hours were nice and cool and then the sun began to warm things up. The two previous D2D races were on flat courses so the "hills" started getting harder, prompting me to follow the ultrarunner's mantra "Walk the Hills!". I took a break at mile 10 and mile 20 but the heat was getting to me so I stopped again at 26. After a 20 minute rest, along with eating and drinking, I felt better and thought a goal of 50k/31 miles would be fine. After another 6 miles I still felt good, so I kept going. I did get to run with Harry Hoffman, a 300+ marathon racer and David M Robinson III and Carrie Campbell were also there, honoring our vets, carrying Old Glory. The skies became overcast around mile 34 which helped a lot. I felt strong and a light drizzle started which cooled things down. Mile 38 saw a steady rain falling along with darkness too. I got to 40 miles at 6:15 and Amy L. Fedock encouraged me to keep going and I realized there was time to do one more lap before the 7:00 cutoff. About 500 yards into my 2 miles, the skies opened and it poured. I was running strong in the rain and darkness and really enjoyed this last lap. I caught a few people and we all finished together.

My 42 miles earned me a 7th place out of 22 males and an 11th overall. My friends Rob Marens and Jennifer Jordan did very well, both taking 2nd places. Teardown was a joy as the heavy rain continued so there was no recovery stretching but I'm feeling good today. My previous efforts in this race netted me 45 and 44 miles but I was very happy to complete 42 today. Total elevation was 1,413 feet so the hills were real!