TOP 10 favorite Kettle Moraine Moments

IF YOU ARE Pressed for Time and cannot read them all GO TO # FIVE, it is the best one!! also picture slideshow at the bottom ...and short youtube video clip of my nasty blister feet--woot woot.


TOP 10 Favorite weekend "Kettle Moraine 100" Moments

#10 - FLYING into Windy Chicago on a very ROUGH "WINDY" Landing, after that landing it was all uphill from that moment on ....ummm so I thought--Haha

#9- "My comforter was thicker then Tom's rollaway cot"

The night before with my roommates Tom, Meghan & myself...Laughing our asses off as Tom was explaining how friggin "COMFY" the rollaway cot was and how he might be able to stand upright by 4 pm race day after sleeping on the middle bar all night smack in the middle of his back.

Lets put it this way My comforter was thicker then his mattress!!!. I did offer the side of my bed or Meghan said she would sleep on the cot but Gentleman Tom stayed put & continued sleep on the cot the entire weekend. That may have been tougher then the race course.

#8- Sleeping with my MP3 on all night listening to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" on repeat---ahhhh very soothing... Listen Here!

All the other songs were to rockin' or motivational speeches not good to sleep to....The reason why I slept with my MP3 is because I need to sleep with the radio on & didn't want to disturb my lovely roommates... I only slept about 2-3 hours max anyways...which was enough, time to get this party started!!!!!

#7- NO Trail Falls!! For having very little trail experience...I never fell, yes stubbed my toes on rocks & roots a few times but never once took a dive... I am 3 & 0 for my trail races (GTR, JFK & now KM) NO Falls YET in my short running career :-)

#6- Sitting at the 31mile Aid Station Dehydrated & could not EAT...

Prior to that I had eaten 3 pb & J squares....around 26 miles I guess is were I started to fall behind on my fuel & overheat from the Heat & 90 plus humidity... I saw three people drop here and heard there were quite a few prior to that... Tom was helping me cool down with ICE & trying desperately to get me to EAT FOOD which leads to the next & Best great moment.

#5- I HATE YOU !!! this by far was an instant classic moment that Tom & I will be talking about for years & years...

OK it was 2:30pm 100% humidity & in the 90's and I am still at the Mile 31 aid station (stayed there for 40 mins to re-group, dehydrating--YIKES) Tom is throwing down food like a garbage disposal... and I could barely get down HALF of a small pretzel--lmaooooo.... He said about thousand times that I NEED TO EAT.....noooo chitttt sherlock is what I was thinking ....I just couldn't swallow anything once it went into my mouth it just SAT there and not willing to go down my throat (felt like I would gag or puke it up instantly), so friggin' annoying & very, very weird feeling.

Finally he looks at me dead in the eyes and said "Bob, IF YOU DON'T EAT we might as well DROP OUT right HERE"...hmmm thinking to myself but NEVER said out loud "that sounds good to me fkr" --LOL

Instead I calmly looked back at him and said "I HATE YOU" ahhhh that brought out the greatest moment up until that point of the race...

Tom laughs out loud and says "It's 2:30pm and you said YOU Hate Me Already, you are suppose to save that for 2:30 in the morning NOT 2:30 in the afternoon".... LOL well Tom's response back to me gave me my chance to SPIT out the half Pretzel that sat in my mouth for 20 mins already that I was not going to swallow anyways---

ahhhhhh after that (inspirational talk--haha) I got up from the picnic bench and said "OK Bro, Let's Get out of here",

I got up after eating my "FIVE" Calories worth of food, laughing out loud and said "I still Hate you Mthrfkerrrrrrrrrr.... (ya my JERSEY tude was out in full force & will reappear a few more times)
Let's go Bro, I will choke down some Energy GELS in a little bit I promise " as we trotted away from a memorable stop at mile 31 aid station, finally moving again!!!!!!

#4- Could have charged one of my Cliff SHOT BLOCKS Rent because it SAT inside my mouth for SOOOOOOOO long....

The second 31 miles was nothing but a HUGE roller coaster of UPS & DOWNS on my energy levels....( sadly averaged about 100-200 calories an hour if that, compared to what I should average of 200-300 ) every hour falling more and more behind but came to grips that "IT IS WHAT IT IS" just had to fight through the bonks until the GEL, S-caps or Shot blocks kicked back in...I got use to it because I had no choice this was the poker hand I was delt with for the day... a pair of three's you could bluff with it but if your called you can get screwed big time, -haha

#3- LYING Down FLAT on a wooded bridge with our Heads propped up looking around like two small puppies as bolts of lightning were all around us in the OPEN Meadows....
the frogs got a chuckle at us lying flat in sheets of rain on the bridge...

(Googled Lightning-- OOOPS we didn't need to LIE FLAT--haha Article says: Go to the lowest--not the highest point on the ground. For instance, don't stand on a hill; seek a ravine or valley. Make sure you are not the tallest object around. If you are trapped in an open field without adequate shelter when a thunderstorm comes calling, drop to your knees and bend forward, with your hands on your knees. Contrary to popular belief, you should not lie flat on the ground. Be especially cautious if your hair starts feeling like it is "standing on end." This could be a warning that lightning is about to target YOU!

OH CHITTT we might be screwed and in trouble here is what we both were thinking for those 10 minutes as the worst of it was going right by us... Glad our hair wasn't "standing on end."


It was SIMPLY Amazing to RUN through 4-5 inches of water on the trail for MILES & MILES while being blinded with sheets of SIDEWAYS Rain Blasts & Flashes of Lightning bolts... It is SOOOO Hard to describe, I wish I had this part on VIDEO!!! I would NOT CHANGE IT for anything that experience.

Tom & I caught up to TWO Runners in front of us and the FOUR of us just SPLASHING & LAUGHING (out of fear maybe huh) LIKE MAD for miles... Tom said "Bob I think we got lost and are now in "Costa Rica" haha

and We did use the Over Hyped word that I really don't like to use but we did... we said this part of the race was "EPIC" and honestly it truly was...NEWS Reports stated the county had 20,000 lightning strikes in the area and repeated tornado warnings and ton's of local flooding areas!

Those TWO who were with us DNF'd at the mile 47 mile Aid Station, they justified in their minds that they would not make the midnight cutoff.... we said "It will be close but we will make it, come on" well they said "Nope" & we said "Later, at this point we were very determined"

#2- The "Crack filled" Soup cup (actually chicken noodle--no drugs kids, hugs only) We had with 7 miles to GO from this Aid Station...

OK this is another Classic Moment...going into this Aid Station Tom is still very cautious of the cutoff time and wants me to run through and he will fill my water bottles up... the problem was that sounded great but I didn't DO IT, We came in and I was pretty fired up about the meadows adventure and started to tell one of the volunteers about it and how we laid flat on the bridge for 10 mins and the trails were solid water---(as I was looking at the all the yummy food that I couldn't eat....blah blah blah...

Tom YELLS OUT LOUD " Bob What the FUCK Did we say, GET GOING!!" --LOLOL

I politely responded with a firm "FUCK OFF BRO" even though what he said was justified because I didn't listen to what we agreed on going into this aid station but me being on zero calories didn't enjoy being barked at around 15 hours since the starting line --LOL then one of the volunteers said " You Guys want some Soup"... poor guy was trying to keep the peace...

I said " YES Please" Grabbed the cup of soup and Tom and I headed out on the trails not talking to each other for about 15 mins ---lmaoooooo ahhhh this would have been a best seller reality show !!!!!!!

On the brighter side I am SO glad I stopped cause that Soup did give me some well needed energy/calories to close it out...

Cut-off time was midnight and we finished 30 mins before the cutoff but you fellow ultra bloggers know how fast 30mins goes by after being out there so long... One more good bonk away (if I cramped here) I could have easily missed the cutoff time... Many thanks to the volunteer who gave me that yummy cup of "Crack" soup!

#1- The LAST Mile!!! , Tom & I long forgot about our mile 7 outbursts & steadily jogged in (my blisters at this point had enough & were pretty painful), We re-caped the day a bit & had huge smiles as we crossed 100k Finish Line with 30 mins to spare...WHEW! ahhh now I feel like peeing -GEESH....(only pee'd ONCE all day-- well 2 but the first was 2 miles into it and I probably could have gone at start time) so that was not good but I never stopped sweating or felt that dehydrated but indeed it was always on the borderline for a long time, right up until the end.

Meghan our roommate , who was very kind to come back was waiting for us with big hugs and smiles!!! Thanks Chica :-)

NOBODY completed the 100 miler who came in within the 2 hours of the time we got in, Most decided that was enough for the day...Those few who ventured back out ended up missing the cutoff time at the 85 mile mark, so the decision to stop at the 100k point (62 mile) was fine.

If I was fueling properly I would have addressed my blisters earlier on, not have let them get so horrific...but we (well umm I ) left toooooo much time on the table at the aid stations (had to accumulate at least 2 hours of aid station stops trying to figure out what kind of food looked good, most of the time none at all) So when we left the stations we had to push to make the 100k cutoff time.

Only 30% finished the 2008 KM 100 miler--((37 finishers-123 starters)) , and about 50% ((38 finishers- 70 starters)) who signed up for the 100k finished...so you can tell it was pretty extreme conditions.

Want to Congratulate!!!! Mark Tanaka for SECOND & Rick Gaston for his THIRD Place & Personal Best...Great Job & also to Meghan Hicks who finished Third Female in the 100k even though she keeps stating it was a bad race for her, I think she did fantastic.

Lastly I would like to THANK the Race Directors Timo & Jason, all the volunteers & fellow runners who toe'd the line and MOTHER NATURE, you all made it a tremendous weekend that I will remember for a long, long time!

Tom "Pacer" Triumph THANKS Bro for pushing me all the way to the END It was one Heck of a Ride...Look forward to hanging with ur family in the summer !! I love ya Man :-)



OK This is a short video clip of my FEET right after the race... WARNING, this is for my Ultra sicko's that requested it :-) and anyone else of course. CLICK HERE