During the two months between Merrill's Mile and A Race for the Ages, Jim tweaked his training schedule to prepare the best he could for his attempt to walk 100 miles at ARFTA.

Sunset at the ARFTA race site the night before Jim's race began

He included some strength and stretching exercises and watched his diet a little more closely in case his two bouts with "runner's lean" at Bronze Butterfly and Merrill's Mile were caused by some type of nutritional imbalance such as inadequate electrolytes.

By September 1 he was rarin' to go and on his way to Tennessee for Race #4 of 2022.

A RACE FOR THE AGES (ARFTA) 74 HOURS, SEPT. 2-5

ARFTA is designed for older ultra-distance runners who may no longer be able to run, to still have a chance to reach 100 miles in a race by just walking.

Participants 41 and over get as many hours on the course as their age in years. Everyone 40 and under gets 40 hours (they are all referred to as the "kids").

The finish time for everyone this year was 9am Central Time on Monday, Labor Day, Sept. 5. That meant multiple starting times over a couple days and nights, based on age.

The oldest runner, Donald Jans, turned 90 this year. He started on Thursday morning, Sept. 1 and has always exceeded 100 miles in this race. This is a picture someone took of him walking on his third or fourth day with one of the youngest participants, age 9:

Jim's 74th birthday was in August so he was allowed 74 hours for his race. His start time was 10am Central Time on Friday, Sept. 2.

Photo of Jim on the first day, by our friend Karen Holmes

This was Jim's fifth time to enter ARFTA. He sometimes says he's "not going to do it this year" but he always signs up as soon as registration opens because he doesn't want to miss it! He has to go through Atlanta to get there, he has to train through Georgia's hot and humid summers, and it's usually still pretty hot around Labor Day in central Tennessee . . . but he has a lot of friends who run or walk the event and he usually (mostly) has fun when he goes.

I was there for a couple days the first time he did the race in 2018. It's been a hassle since then with three big dogs and no RV, and Jim really doesn't need a crew. He sets up his canopy in the same spot each year, right off the course near Doyle Carpenter and some other running buddies.

Here's a graphic for the convoluted, paved, one-mile USAFT certified course at Deadman Park in Manchester, TN:

Jim puts his canopy where the blue dot is located, just a few feet off the course. He usually adds side pieces to protect from rain, wind, and sun. It's shady part of the day and he can park his truck nearby:

His own food, equipment, and other supplies are convenient during the race, just a few steps from the course.

There are a couple other areas around the course where runners can set up their tents, one just below the start/finish area and another down by the creek. Those places aren't as close to parking so all the equipment has to be hauled there:

 

 

RVs are also allowed on the far side of the course if they fit into a 10 x 18' parking space.

Race management  provides full meals to participants every six hours. Jim's not a big fan of the catered Cracker Barrel food but he tolerates it for three days and supplements it with the food he takes and keeps in a big cooler. This was his Cracker Barrel lunch on the second day he ran:

I like this race because it has real-time results and live streaming. The internet connection at the park isn't always working well but when it does, I can see Jim coming down the slope from the start/finish banner toward the camera at the timing tent. I've gotten a lot of good pictures of him smiling and waving to me when he knows I'm awake and watching.

He carries his phone with him during the event and will text messages and pictures to me that he's taken. That's an advantage of walking a race vs. running! He can also carry an umbrella for protection from too much sun or rain. This year they did get rain but not until Jim's second evening on the course.

It was partly cloudy after Jim started on Friday morning. He was in good spirits even though he didn't sleep well in his tent the night before.

Screen shot I got of Jim from the live cam when he was at 10 miles

I saw Jim several times on the live cam when it was working well in the afternoon, messaged back and forth with him, and talked with him on the phone about 9pm that evening. He had 22 miles at that point, felt good, and was getting ready for another break.

His plan is always to walk more when it's cooler after dark, although that's when his body clock naturally says, "Let's sleep!" It's something every ultra-distance athlete has to combat if their race goes through the night. After all the years Jim's been running or walking ultras, it's still a challenge to stay awake all night.

When he takes nighttime breaks at ARFTA, he usually sets his alarm for two or three hours and gets back on the course to take advantage of the cooler temps.

Still smiling at 49 miles Saturday afternoon before the first storm rolled through

It was cloudy again on Saturday and began raining in the afternoon.

Jim was approaching 55 miles by the time I went to bed that night. He was still in good spirits and didn't have any blisters or the "lean" that plagued him in two races earlier this year.

He didn't walk much overnight Saturday/Sunday due to more rounds of rain. There were puddles on parts of the course and water running through the floor of Jim's tent. A lot of his things got wet in his canopy even with the sides enclosing the space.

This is what the radar looked like at his location (blue dot) about 9:30pm:

At least Jim's canopy held up during the storms. Some of the other runners' canopies and tents didn't fare well that night:

Jim was discouraged Sunday morning because he had "only" 60 miles:

He got up and kept going to 65 miles, however. That's when he reached an "ARFTA lifetime"  distance milestone -- 500 miles!

He looks much happier then. He got a nice pin for that achievement:

 

 

He seriously considered stopping at that point.

In the previous four years at ARFTA he walked 106, 106, 113, and 110 miles respectively. Would he regret stopping at "only" 65 miles this year?

Yes, he knew he would. He kept going.

It was a good decision because there wasn't any more rain during the remainder of the event. Cloud cover on Sunday kept Jim more comfortable than if the sun was shining. He looked pretty happy in the rest of his live stream appearances. This screen shot is at 81 miles:

Our friend Karen also took these pics of him sometime on Sunday as they were walking:

 

When I went to bed Sunday night Jim was up to 90 miles and pretty certain to reach his minimum goal of 100 miles.

I didn't know until I got up the next morning that he reached 101 miles around 1:30am Central and decided that was enough:

 

His chip time was 67:01 hours, meaning he had another seven hours he could have kept going if he'd wanted to.

After getting a few hours of sleep, Jim packed up his belongings, ate breakfast, and drove home on Monday morning. He stopped a couple times to stretch and rest along the way so he didn't fall asleep while driving.

Race shirt, hat, 100-mile buckle, and 500-mile ARFTA lifetime pin

Jim's 5th 100-mile buckle from ARFTA

This race was a much-needed mental boost for Jim. He met his goal with plenty of time to spare, had fun (mostly) doing it, didn't develop a lean during all that time, and didn't notice he had a small blister until he got home.

Now that's the way to run or walk a three-day race!

ENDLESS MILE 48-HOUR RACE, OCT. 21-23

Within a few days of finishing ARFTA, Jim had a decision to make about registering for Endless Mile. He has had the same dilemma each of the last five years. Endless Mile is scheduled five-six weeks after ARFTA, which gives enough time to rest and regroup if you're younger, but what about age 74?

In addition, it's considerably harder to walk a hundred miles in 48 hours than it is in 72+ hours. There is simply less time for rest breaks and more time required on your feet, relentlessly moving forward.

Every year Jim says, "I wish there was a 72-hour option at Endless Mile." But so far, 48 hours is the longest event there. [For 2023, a 72-hour option has been added!]

One of numerous photos I took at the race in 2018; there are no photos from this year.

Endless Mile doesn't fill up early like ARFTA does, so Jim had plenty of time to make up his mind. He finally decided to do Endless Mile again. He was well-trained, had several weeks to rest, and had a good race experience at ARFTA.

He entered the 24-hour race first, then a few days before the race he switched to the 48-hour one. He might not get 100 miles again, but he'd give it a go. This would be his fifth time at Endless Mile.

Jim got to the race site on Thursday afternoon, October 20, parked in a quiet spot, and set up his canopy again near his friend Doyle Carpenter. It was a chilly night in the upper 30s F. so he slept in his truck. He didn't take the sides to the canopy this time.

This was Jim's set-up last year; this year's was similar.

Endless Mile is held in beautiful Veteran's Park, a city park in Alabaster, Alabama. It's also about a three-hour drive from home but a good thing is not having to drive in Atlanta traffic to get there.

The asphalt course through the park has about the same slight elevation gain and loss as ARFTA but is a continuous one-mile loop that is much more scenic than the ARFTA course and doesn't have any out-and-back sections. There are ponds, meadows, a large dog park, nearby baseball fields, and other interesting diversions along the way.

Another photo I took along the course in 2018

All the runners in the 48-hour event began on Friday morning. Runners in the 6-, 12-, and 24-hour races could start either Friday or Saturday. There are no live results and no live streaming, so I rely solely on Jim's calls and texts to keep me updated on his progress in this race.

As often happens, Jim did not sleep well in his truck the night before the race. Before he even started, he lowered his goal to 50 miles. I talked to him in the morning and later that evening. He did not have fun the first day.

The next morning he told me he overslept during the overnight Friday/Saturday. Later in the day he developed that dreaded "lean" again around 40 miles that stymied him in two previous races this year. He was frustrated, couldn't get enough rest to eliminate the lean, and stopped at 48 miles. He drove back home that afternoon.

Another scene from the 2018 Endless Mile event

After having such a stellar race at ARFTA, I'm sorry Jim ended the year with a race that left him discouraged. He considered doing a 48-hour event in Ft. Lauderdale a couple months later but decided he wasn't motivated enough to drive 12 hours to another race that might end up the same way.

We'll have to wait and see what he decides to do race-wise in 2023. I'm proud of him for still training so hard and doing his best every time he enters an ultra marathon.

Next entry: back to the garden again

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Casey-Girl, Holly-Holly, & Dapper Don

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