Walk 50 miles in one day from Potomac, MD to Harper's Ferry, WV on the C&O trail.
Things you know in advance: the start is at 3:30am. The hotel is "at" the finish so the start is at least 50 miles away. Busses will take you from the hotel to the start. You must finish before 10:30pm. There are some vans that can carry some things for you if you want but they may or may not be at the stop where you need the stuff when you get there 🧐
Arrival Friday at the Clarion Inn Harper's Ferry. Check in. Given a room in the main building on the first floor. I later told P this is likely because in the event of a Saturday night fire alarm stairs would be impossible. Buffet dinner Friday night 5:30. An hour of instructions and corrections and instructions where we learn those morning busses load at 1:15am and we are expected to gather in the lobby at 1:00am!!!!! ONE FREAKING AM. We also learn about "makeshift" bridge over a culvert in the canal that may or may not be under water when we get to it due to the recent heavy rains. We opt to start in trail shoes. Carry everything we will use and avoid the unpredictable Van's including an extra pair of shoes a piece. Eat. Bed. Toss. Turn. Check watch every 30 minutes. Alarm set for 12:45am. Change it to 12:30am around 10pm.
Screw it at 12am just get up. Get ready to roll out. 1am in lobby. Coffee. Mingle. Get on busses at 1:15am.
Leave at 1:30am. One and 1/2 hour drive to start on a school bus. Bus driver Trish! Trish made terrible, terrible, horrible jokes and it was great! In the seat behind us on the bus was a random lady and man. She was Army. This was her second attempt at this 50 miler. This was also not his first time at the event. Without wanting to know we learn how horrible last year was for both of them..... her feeling like her legs were ripping open.... him unable to lift legs to get in shower after.... 1.5 he bus ride and we hear this the entire ride!
We have arrived! It's 2:30am. Run to non-heated 3 stall bathroom. Get that done. Back outside to WAIT in 28 degree weather. And of course we are standing. 3am more announcements: there are trees down they will be after the first stop so it should be light. Technically the trail in closed in that area due to down trees but again after first stop, after light, just take it one stop at a time. Culvert part may or may not be passable. Volunteers after lunch stop will have more info. One stop at a time. Roll out......
Mile 24+ lunch stop
Ok let me say hear and now there were no sinks, no hand sanitizer, no way to wipe your hands at any stop. Are we clear? No way! Lunch - Subway sandwiches loaded with everything (including nasty ass onions - are we clear on how much I HATE RAW ONIONS) .... pull off onions and eat a roast beef. There is nothing P can eat except grapes. NO CHIPS - who are these people? Finally I say, "She'd pay $10 for a banana." To which the volunteer responds, "Are we out?" To which I reply, "We haven't seen a banana all day." Well he found them and then seconds later another lady appears with another bunch of bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. P has a slightly better outlook now with a banana in her belly and one in the backpack. Lisa is at the stop and heads out with us.
Leg #4 - 6 + miles
Fairly populated area with several trail users present. We walk along. HUGE TREE DOWN with a guy in it. I think he's trying to help get some of it passable. He is. This is a huge tree or maybe trees. High knees over branches carefully place foot in between branches. Grab hold to strange helpful man's butt to balance myself..... ooooppppssss. OK all three of us are through. Continue.
Mile 31+ "stop"
There is a trash bag and a bowl sitting beside the trail. We turn right because there is a parking lot and a bathroom in view ( 1/10th of a mile or so ). The bathroom was a glorified porta potty like basically a porta potty in a building. A toilet over a hole in ground. Again no running water, no sink, no hand sanitizer.
Now there is a volunteer standing at the bowl beside the trail. This is the rest stop and what she has left - a couple of apples, fruit snack bags, and a couple of nutrigrain bars (literally like 2). I grab an apple, Lisa grabs more fruit snacks, P gets her emergency banana out of the backpack and we head out.
Leg #5 - 6+ miles
We pass Sathy and crew again at a trail bench taking a rest stop but doing well. We just continue walking. We think the next stop is the soup stop. So do several others we see along the route. We are all just walking to the soup and next timing mat. Mile 35 P STOPS immediately and CANNOT move. I do not know what is happening so I just grab her so she doesn't fall down. She is able to get out, "That blister just popped and it feels like shards of glass in my foot with every step." This is her left foot. Another walker stops to help and applies a KT tape blister patch to her foot. Lisa continues on as we again work on feet. P sits for a while trying to see if pressure on her foot is even possible. Finally she is able to get her shoe back on. We have 2 miles to the next stop and NO OPTION but to get there. There's no help available on the trail. About one mile out a lady on a bike supporting offers tape but there's no option to stop walking. Blister on P's right foot bursts now. She is walking on the outside edges of both feet which is horrible for her knees. She is going to stop at the next stop to minimize the injury to herself. She wants me to continue. I DON'T WANT TO. I WAS ONLY DOING THIS TO BE WITH HER! But she tells me to finish for her. UGHHHHHH
We get to the rest stop and cross the mats at mile 37+. THERE IS NO F'ING SOUP. WHERE IS THE SOUP? Next rest stop. WHAT????? HOLY SHIT!!!! There's literally nothing eat at this stop but blueberry muffins. So there is NOTHING P can eat. We switch crap out and get bags straight. One of the two guys who walked with us that last mile is also calling his day. His quads were done so he was staying with P and taking shuttle back.
Leg#6 - 6+ miles
His friend is heading out so I ask or basically beg to join him. We leave P. This sucks and this is hard! I want to cry. I can't cry. I'm too dehydrated to cry. If I cry I cant breathe. I text P. She is cold and waiting on the shuttle still but sends me encouragement to continue (not like I have a choice.... you have to get to the next stop yourself anyway). The man I am walking with is walking 16 min miles at mile f*cking 38. Is he human? Holy crap. I just try to hang on. I'd fall behind and he would let me catch up. I told him he could go ahead but he said it wasn't fun to walk alone anyway. This is absolutely the truth. We came upon the culvert with the rocks and wood crossing we had been told might be washed away (but at lunch were told was fine and cross able on foot - damn).
I had pictured an NC stream with boards draped across haphazardly. This thing they had scared the shit out of us about was an at least 3 foot wide boarded portion with the boards bolted to man made rocks. WAY different from my mental picture and not scary at all. Should be 3 miles from soup. Three miles honestly seams like a damn eternity at this point. We are now on what appears to be a wide gravel road. No longer small rocks but big gravel and that SUCKS. Every rock hurts. My feet are just done with being on the ground. Walk....walk....walk.....
Where is this f*cking soup? Holy shit how are we not there yet? My Garmin has me at mile 43. I need something to keep me going. I need a MOMENT to be still! Mile 44 on Garmin- SOUP!!!! THANK GOD. Butternut squash, pear, and curry soup. GIVE ME THE SOUP. I had a cup of soup. Lisa is heading out for the last 6 miles. The man walking with me from the last stop is taking the shuttle back. Drank an entire bottle of propel. I got a clementine and I think it took me 10 minutes to peal it because my hands were so swollen. I kept thinking why won't someone help me. I got another cup of soup and refilled my bottle with propel. Remember swishy pants lady from leg 1? Swishy leg lady is at this stop and we chat. She has a foreign accent and it is a nice distraction. I text P. I tell her the other guy is taking the shuttle. Basically I'm asking for permission to quit. P tells me to go finish this thing for her! Damn it. I head out alone for the last 6 mile stretch.
Leg #7 - the neverending last 6 miles
My feet hurt. Every step just hurts. I'm amputating my little toes when I get done because I'm going to have to. I want to cry but in order to cry I have to stop because I do not have enough energy to walk AND cry. Two men pass me. We speak and they go ahead. Squishy pants catches up. She speaks and passes me by. An angel sent from heaven whose name I had no clue of but I called her the beautiful Asian woman. Paurenia was her name according to the results. She was the biggest blessing to me. She caught me and said , "How is your ponytail still perfect?" To which I replied, "It is perfect? I have no idea how because it has completely fallen out once already." I stayed with her step for step. She caught us up to the 2 men and squishy pants. They ask if we want to pass and I say,"Nope I just want feet to follow." He replies that this is an I interesting strategy and we walk on. We were warned at the soup stop about a down tree on the trail. Just at sunset we reach the tree. We maneuver through the tree, not without me knocking my calf on one of the trunks. We continue on. Paurenia puts on her headlamp. I had my flashlight (sticklight from Booty Full) in my front pocket and clipped it to my bag strap. About 4 miles from the from the finish it's DARK DARK DARK except for Paurenia's headlamp and my stick light. The leading men stop to get their headlamps on and we three women just keep walking. I wanted my headlamp but to get it I had to take off my pack and I just couldn't so we just keep walking NO WORDS AT ALL only the sound of feet and swishy pants. We just walked in darkness. I would look at the Garmin sometimes for reassurance we were getting closer and amazed that we were in the 18's per mile still. 47 miles, 48 miles... ( on Garmin) NOW something I forgot to mention in first part. A train took out the pedestrian bridge the walk normally ended after. So the end had to be changed and we were told it would be 48.8 miles. At about 48.5 Garnin miles I see a headlamp facing us. THIS MUST BE IT. WE MADE IT. We get closer. No this is a lady supporting a man lying on the ground. I ask if they are ok. She replies yes, just stretching thighs. We continue same stride never really slowing. I have no idea how I thought I was going to help anyone. Mile 49.5 we see another light. THIS HAS TO BE IT. OH THANK GOD. We get to the man and he says,"One mile from here." If I had, had the energy I would have said, "F*ck you mean?" It was SOUL CRUSHING honestly. About 0.5 miles after I SMELL CHEESEBURGERS. I say, "Anyone else smell cheeseburgers?"
SILENCE
We walk. O.6 more we see some lights ahead. THIS FREAKING HAS TO BE IT!!!! This is it. Swishy pants, "Where do we go?" Paurenia, "Up that ramp cross those mats." We were there. There were two timing mats, the timing truck, and some concrete things we sat on in the cold. They had water only at the finish. I drank a whole bottle. We waited for the bus to the hotel. 15 minutes he says. We wait and congratulate each other and those coming in as much as a group of extremely tired humans can. I couldn't even remove my backpack. We get on the bus 20 minutes or so later to ride to the hotel. The bus steps were mountains. 30 min ride to the hotel. Trying to get off that bus, RIDICULOUS. At the hotel there was a buffet of chicken smothered with a brown gravy and mushrooms, pasta mixed with vegetables, and salad. I just went to the room and cried. That was the hardest thing I have ever done and took me to some deep dark places mentally. I drank an entire coke and a bottle of propel and ate root chips while wearing my Normatec boots in bed. I poured a glass of wine but had zero energy to drink it. 20 minutes done in boots and I had to cut them off. I needed sleep NOW. DONE!
P.S. 3:30am I needed to pee..... try to put on Oofas, nope can't get feet in them. Try to stand and take step. Nope that ain't gonna happen. That is when I crawled on all fours to the toilet.
Things you know in advance: the start is at 3:30am. The hotel is "at" the finish so the start is at least 50 miles away. Busses will take you from the hotel to the start. You must finish before 10:30pm. There are some vans that can carry some things for you if you want but they may or may not be at the stop where you need the stuff when you get there 🧐
Arrival Friday at the Clarion Inn Harper's Ferry. Check in. Given a room in the main building on the first floor. I later told P this is likely because in the event of a Saturday night fire alarm stairs would be impossible. Buffet dinner Friday night 5:30. An hour of instructions and corrections and instructions where we learn those morning busses load at 1:15am and we are expected to gather in the lobby at 1:00am!!!!! ONE FREAKING AM. We also learn about "makeshift" bridge over a culvert in the canal that may or may not be under water when we get to it due to the recent heavy rains. We opt to start in trail shoes. Carry everything we will use and avoid the unpredictable Van's including an extra pair of shoes a piece. Eat. Bed. Toss. Turn. Check watch every 30 minutes. Alarm set for 12:45am. Change it to 12:30am around 10pm.
Screw it at 12am just get up. Get ready to roll out. 1am in lobby. Coffee. Mingle. Get on busses at 1:15am.
We have arrived! It's 2:30am. Run to non-heated 3 stall bathroom. Get that done. Back outside to WAIT in 28 degree weather. And of course we are standing. 3am more announcements: there are trees down they will be after the first stop so it should be light. Technically the trail in closed in that area due to down trees but again after first stop, after light, just take it one stop at a time. Culvert part may or may not be passable. Volunteers after lunch stop will have more info. One stop at a time. Roll out......
3:30am pitch black darkness headlamps shine through. I bet this area was beautiful with rivers on each side and you could hear the sound of the rushing waters but you couldn't see anything and could only try to avoid the standing water and mud. We walk alone in darkness. Occasionally a headlamp would appear and go past us. One headlamp was worn by a lady wearing VERY LOUD swishy pants. swish swish swish swish as she walked. P slowed down to get away from swishy lady. Around mile 8 we are approached by a group of 5 people who start talking and P picks up their pace and we chat and walk. Sathy his girlfriend their "pacer" as they called him and Lisa from Florida. We chatted away and walked on to restsop one at mile 10+. This is where P admits she was "sleep walking" until they let us join them. "The pacer" states, "Ten minutes here guys. Ten minutes only." We pee (porta potty, thank God for headlamps, no hand sanitizing optionsat all), grab some coffee, chug half a cup and get ready to continue with this group. The stop had hot oatmeal but instant (not GF) and no bananas or peanut butter or anything a GF free person could eat except whole not peeled clementines.
Second leg - 8+ miles
We walk with Lisa, Sathy, and crew. Sathy and his group have an issue about a mile in (we later learn it was cramping). Lisa, P, and I continue as the sun rises behind us.
Second leg - 8+ miles
We walk with Lisa, Sathy, and crew. Sathy and his group have an issue about a mile in (we later learn it was cramping). Lisa, P, and I continue as the sun rises behind us.
Around mile 17 my right pinky toe has a hot gushing pain that I felt like had to be a blood blister bursting. I hobble to the stop. Get to stop and remove the shoe. Just a stupid whimpy water blister WTF why does it hurt so bad? Lisa gives me a silicone toe separator with a pinky toe guard. I put this on and switch from trail shoes to Hokas because my little toe refused to go back in the trail shoes. P places a second skin from a volunteer on a blister forming on the ball of her right foot but stays in trail shoes. Lisa continued on as we fixed our feet issues. The stop had some oatmeal based bars, trail mix, water, Gatorade powder, Welches fruit snacks. P and I moved on after grabbing some trail mix.
Third leg - 6+ miles
The first mile is spent getting used to new shoes for me and adjusting to toe thing. About 2 miles down P had to remove the second skin because it was bunching up. We continue walking along and begin to find our first downed trees. The first of which we had to BELLY CRAWL under!!!! You belly crawl after 20+ miles and let me know how that goes!!!! We continue zigging and zagging through tress. Worse than a belly crawl at mile 20 are high knees to climb over trees at 20+ miles. Helping each other became a major factor. We were leading the pack through and stopped. In our Facebook live you can hear "The Pacer" ask, " Are you ok?" To which I respond, "Yes, but we have to Facebook live this!" So we did. Onto stop #3 "lunch".
Third leg - 6+ miles
The first mile is spent getting used to new shoes for me and adjusting to toe thing. About 2 miles down P had to remove the second skin because it was bunching up. We continue walking along and begin to find our first downed trees. The first of which we had to BELLY CRAWL under!!!! You belly crawl after 20+ miles and let me know how that goes!!!! We continue zigging and zagging through tress. Worse than a belly crawl at mile 20 are high knees to climb over trees at 20+ miles. Helping each other became a major factor. We were leading the pack through and stopped. In our Facebook live you can hear "The Pacer" ask, " Are you ok?" To which I respond, "Yes, but we have to Facebook live this!" So we did. Onto stop #3 "lunch".
Ok let me say hear and now there were no sinks, no hand sanitizer, no way to wipe your hands at any stop. Are we clear? No way! Lunch - Subway sandwiches loaded with everything (including nasty ass onions - are we clear on how much I HATE RAW ONIONS) .... pull off onions and eat a roast beef. There is nothing P can eat except grapes. NO CHIPS - who are these people? Finally I say, "She'd pay $10 for a banana." To which the volunteer responds, "Are we out?" To which I reply, "We haven't seen a banana all day." Well he found them and then seconds later another lady appears with another bunch of bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. P has a slightly better outlook now with a banana in her belly and one in the backpack. Lisa is at the stop and heads out with us.
Leg #4 - 6 + miles
Fairly populated area with several trail users present. We walk along. HUGE TREE DOWN with a guy in it. I think he's trying to help get some of it passable. He is. This is a huge tree or maybe trees. High knees over branches carefully place foot in between branches. Grab hold to strange helpful man's butt to balance myself..... ooooppppssss. OK all three of us are through. Continue.
Mile 31+ "stop"
There is a trash bag and a bowl sitting beside the trail. We turn right because there is a parking lot and a bathroom in view ( 1/10th of a mile or so ). The bathroom was a glorified porta potty like basically a porta potty in a building. A toilet over a hole in ground. Again no running water, no sink, no hand sanitizer.
Now there is a volunteer standing at the bowl beside the trail. This is the rest stop and what she has left - a couple of apples, fruit snack bags, and a couple of nutrigrain bars (literally like 2). I grab an apple, Lisa grabs more fruit snacks, P gets her emergency banana out of the backpack and we head out.
Leg #5 - 6+ miles
We pass Sathy and crew again at a trail bench taking a rest stop but doing well. We just continue walking. We think the next stop is the soup stop. So do several others we see along the route. We are all just walking to the soup and next timing mat. Mile 35 P STOPS immediately and CANNOT move. I do not know what is happening so I just grab her so she doesn't fall down. She is able to get out, "That blister just popped and it feels like shards of glass in my foot with every step." This is her left foot. Another walker stops to help and applies a KT tape blister patch to her foot. Lisa continues on as we again work on feet. P sits for a while trying to see if pressure on her foot is even possible. Finally she is able to get her shoe back on. We have 2 miles to the next stop and NO OPTION but to get there. There's no help available on the trail. About one mile out a lady on a bike supporting offers tape but there's no option to stop walking. Blister on P's right foot bursts now. She is walking on the outside edges of both feet which is horrible for her knees. She is going to stop at the next stop to minimize the injury to herself. She wants me to continue. I DON'T WANT TO. I WAS ONLY DOING THIS TO BE WITH HER! But she tells me to finish for her. UGHHHHHH
We get to the rest stop and cross the mats at mile 37+. THERE IS NO F'ING SOUP. WHERE IS THE SOUP? Next rest stop. WHAT????? HOLY SHIT!!!! There's literally nothing eat at this stop but blueberry muffins. So there is NOTHING P can eat. We switch crap out and get bags straight. One of the two guys who walked with us that last mile is also calling his day. His quads were done so he was staying with P and taking shuttle back.
Leg#6 - 6+ miles
His friend is heading out so I ask or basically beg to join him. We leave P. This sucks and this is hard! I want to cry. I can't cry. I'm too dehydrated to cry. If I cry I cant breathe. I text P. She is cold and waiting on the shuttle still but sends me encouragement to continue (not like I have a choice.... you have to get to the next stop yourself anyway). The man I am walking with is walking 16 min miles at mile f*cking 38. Is he human? Holy crap. I just try to hang on. I'd fall behind and he would let me catch up. I told him he could go ahead but he said it wasn't fun to walk alone anyway. This is absolutely the truth. We came upon the culvert with the rocks and wood crossing we had been told might be washed away (but at lunch were told was fine and cross able on foot - damn).
I had pictured an NC stream with boards draped across haphazardly. This thing they had scared the shit out of us about was an at least 3 foot wide boarded portion with the boards bolted to man made rocks. WAY different from my mental picture and not scary at all. Should be 3 miles from soup. Three miles honestly seams like a damn eternity at this point. We are now on what appears to be a wide gravel road. No longer small rocks but big gravel and that SUCKS. Every rock hurts. My feet are just done with being on the ground. Walk....walk....walk.....
Where is this f*cking soup? Holy shit how are we not there yet? My Garmin has me at mile 43. I need something to keep me going. I need a MOMENT to be still! Mile 44 on Garmin- SOUP!!!! THANK GOD. Butternut squash, pear, and curry soup. GIVE ME THE SOUP. I had a cup of soup. Lisa is heading out for the last 6 miles. The man walking with me from the last stop is taking the shuttle back. Drank an entire bottle of propel. I got a clementine and I think it took me 10 minutes to peal it because my hands were so swollen. I kept thinking why won't someone help me. I got another cup of soup and refilled my bottle with propel. Remember swishy pants lady from leg 1? Swishy leg lady is at this stop and we chat. She has a foreign accent and it is a nice distraction. I text P. I tell her the other guy is taking the shuttle. Basically I'm asking for permission to quit. P tells me to go finish this thing for her! Damn it. I head out alone for the last 6 mile stretch.
Leg #7 - the neverending last 6 miles
My feet hurt. Every step just hurts. I'm amputating my little toes when I get done because I'm going to have to. I want to cry but in order to cry I have to stop because I do not have enough energy to walk AND cry. Two men pass me. We speak and they go ahead. Squishy pants catches up. She speaks and passes me by. An angel sent from heaven whose name I had no clue of but I called her the beautiful Asian woman. Paurenia was her name according to the results. She was the biggest blessing to me. She caught me and said , "How is your ponytail still perfect?" To which I replied, "It is perfect? I have no idea how because it has completely fallen out once already." I stayed with her step for step. She caught us up to the 2 men and squishy pants. They ask if we want to pass and I say,"Nope I just want feet to follow." He replies that this is an I interesting strategy and we walk on. We were warned at the soup stop about a down tree on the trail. Just at sunset we reach the tree. We maneuver through the tree, not without me knocking my calf on one of the trunks. We continue on. Paurenia puts on her headlamp. I had my flashlight (sticklight from Booty Full) in my front pocket and clipped it to my bag strap. About 4 miles from the from the finish it's DARK DARK DARK except for Paurenia's headlamp and my stick light. The leading men stop to get their headlamps on and we three women just keep walking. I wanted my headlamp but to get it I had to take off my pack and I just couldn't so we just keep walking NO WORDS AT ALL only the sound of feet and swishy pants. We just walked in darkness. I would look at the Garmin sometimes for reassurance we were getting closer and amazed that we were in the 18's per mile still. 47 miles, 48 miles... ( on Garmin) NOW something I forgot to mention in first part. A train took out the pedestrian bridge the walk normally ended after. So the end had to be changed and we were told it would be 48.8 miles. At about 48.5 Garnin miles I see a headlamp facing us. THIS MUST BE IT. WE MADE IT. We get closer. No this is a lady supporting a man lying on the ground. I ask if they are ok. She replies yes, just stretching thighs. We continue same stride never really slowing. I have no idea how I thought I was going to help anyone. Mile 49.5 we see another light. THIS HAS TO BE IT. OH THANK GOD. We get to the man and he says,"One mile from here." If I had, had the energy I would have said, "F*ck you mean?" It was SOUL CRUSHING honestly. About 0.5 miles after I SMELL CHEESEBURGERS. I say, "Anyone else smell cheeseburgers?"
SILENCE
We walk. O.6 more we see some lights ahead. THIS FREAKING HAS TO BE IT!!!! This is it. Swishy pants, "Where do we go?" Paurenia, "Up that ramp cross those mats." We were there. There were two timing mats, the timing truck, and some concrete things we sat on in the cold. They had water only at the finish. I drank a whole bottle. We waited for the bus to the hotel. 15 minutes he says. We wait and congratulate each other and those coming in as much as a group of extremely tired humans can. I couldn't even remove my backpack. We get on the bus 20 minutes or so later to ride to the hotel. The bus steps were mountains. 30 min ride to the hotel. Trying to get off that bus, RIDICULOUS. At the hotel there was a buffet of chicken smothered with a brown gravy and mushrooms, pasta mixed with vegetables, and salad. I just went to the room and cried. That was the hardest thing I have ever done and took me to some deep dark places mentally. I drank an entire coke and a bottle of propel and ate root chips while wearing my Normatec boots in bed. I poured a glass of wine but had zero energy to drink it. 20 minutes done in boots and I had to cut them off. I needed sleep NOW. DONE!
P.S. 3:30am I needed to pee..... try to put on Oofas, nope can't get feet in them. Try to stand and take step. Nope that ain't gonna happen. That is when I crawled on all fours to the toilet.
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