Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset: One family's story
Published: July 29, 2010
A group of SOFA-sponsored runners from Okinawa spent last week competing in the Mongolia 100K and 42K ultra-marathon running races. Highlighting the group’s feats, Anna Boom took first in the women’s division and placed fifth overall in the 100K race. Two high school-aged students, Avery and Corinne Lennard, each took part in the 42K race; Corinne was the youngest female to ever run the race.
Corinne’s mom, Kathleen, chronicled her family’s adventures in the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset event. Following is her story:
Here's the scoop on the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset 42K/100K for all you runners who like the gritty details--and those who like travel adventure stories! Runners may want to look at the course map and elevation chart on the website www.ultramongolia.com. Our WOOT team consisted of Amy Stewart, Andrea Kaltenbaugh, Steph Shimkus and Kathleen, Avery and Corinne Lennard doing the 42K and Anna Boom doing the 100K. The background info is relevant to our race, so you get a little travelogue first:
On Saturday, July 17, we met our race group in Ulaanbaatar for a charter flight to Moron. From there, we took a 3 hour bumpy jeep ride up to the camp on Lake Hovsgal, which is on the Siberian border--we could see Siberia from the shore. It was very rustic. We stayed in gers (mongolian yurts) and only had electricity from 8pm-11pm. The water is boiled and the food was very limited in variety--and very white (bread, potatoes, rice--very little vegetables)
The first day was fantastic. We were breathing fresh air after Shanghai and getting to know some of the other runners. Most were from Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong (although many of those were expats from Europe and the US) Australia and NZ. There was also a Singapore Navy team and a group of Australian and NZ army officers--lots of good conversation with interesting people! We met a guy from Australia who is running 52 marathons in 52 weeks! In total there were about 80 runners, 33 doing a marathon (42K-26.2 miles) and about 47 doing a 100K (62 miles). We did an easy horse trail ride on Sunday afternoon and just soaked in the beautiful scenery!
Unfortunately Day 2 was not so fun. Avery came down with a case of food poisoning and it slowly moved to two other members of our Okinawa group (Amy and Andrea) and several others in the camp. She couldn't keep anything down but the race doctor gave her anti-nausea medicine so at least she didn't feel quite as awful. And the same night she got sick I tripped outside our ger and broke my toe ): So by race day on Wednesday, Corinne was by far the healthiest member of our family! Avery was able to drink some gatorade on Tuesday and eat some crackers so she decided to go ahead and try to run the marathon. I soaked my foot in the freezing cold lake and prayed it would hold up okay if I taped my toes. The race doctor said I wouldn't make it any worse, it just might hurt too much to run that far. Corinne needed someone to run with so I decided to give it a go. I know you may be thinking this was a very bad idea but remember that I was surrounded by ultra runners so no one really challenged my thinking (:
So at 4 am on race day, our group had 3 dehydrated women who were still a little nauseous (Avery , Amy and Andrea), one with a broken toe (me), one complete novice marathoner (Corinne) but although Steph had a touch of stomach issues, she and Anna were feeling pretty good race morning. We had our camelbacks checked for our emergency gear--rain gear, compass, notepad, medical kit, emergency chocolate bar, etc. It added quite a bit of weight to the usual stash of Gu and power bars.
There is nothing I can say to describe the race adequately. It was hands down the most difficult physical thing I have ever done. The course was designed by several ultra runners who were racing the 100K and that should have been a tip-off --ultra-runners are a crazy bunch! We started out with Steph and Anna going out in front with leaders and Andrea and Avery leading our back group. Andrea is a very fast marathoner though--so when we got through the first 2.5 miles in the woods (which we walked because it was very dark) and came out to a dirt road, she ran ahead. Avery stayed with her for a little bit but then started to feel sick so she waited from me, Corinne and Amy.
Corinne, whose pre-race nutritional plan consisted of loads of Tim Tams (chocolate cookies) from our Australian friends, was feeling great and decided to run ahead and left me, Avery and Amy (who had the second worst case of food poisoning) together. We looked like such a rag-tag group. It reminded me of the civil war pictures of a little band of soldiers returning from the war all bandaged up and looking weary. Amy stopped to get sick at one point and Avery seriously looked like she needed an IV right then and there and we were only about 5 K into the marathon! I nagged, I cajoled, but I couldn't get Avery to eat anything but shot-blocks (gummy square of electrolytes). My foot was hurting and every third or fourth foot strike felt like it was on fire. So at this point in the race, which was on relatively flat country roads, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get Avery back to the camp and somehow keep track of Corinne. I was planning to ask Avery to stop at the first aid station (12K) but it turned out to be a few Mongolians with a horse. My dreams of her getting an IV were shot and so we just hobbled along and started an incredible climb to the first of two peaks in the race.
This part of the race was very, VERY hard. We climbed from 1650m to 2300m over the course of a 5K. It was misty so we couldn't see much until we got close to the top--the view was incredible but the physical work was excruciating. From what we heard, even the leaders walk some of it, and we walked all of it. Corinne waited for us because she got lonely running in the mist. The descent was gorgeous but also hard because it was so steep. At one point we had the "sweeper" (usually a vehicle that follows the last runner but in our case it was a horseman) behind us and a trio from Hong Kong. That was a little demoralizing but we were in pretty bad shape in a very athletic race...
The section after the descent and before the next climb was really varied terrain. We ran through meadows, forest, and then hit some really marshy grass and got our feet soaked. In hindsight, I think this really helped my foot because the water was cold and it kept the swelling down. And the scenery was beautiful! We made it to the 25.5 aid station and I retaped my toes and everyone else changed socks.
The good news is that as we crawled out of the 25.5K aid station, the shot blocks must have kicked in because Avery was now a new woman. She started to run faster and Amy was also feeling better and picked up her pace. Corinne was feeling the length of the race by that time and my foot was not happy so we continued to take it slow. And the second peak was a nightmare--gorgeous scenery but wet, marshy, and a ridiculously steep incline. It reminded me of the Sirens in mythology--beautiful song, deadly intent. This part was very, VERY, VERY hard. It really trashed us for the more forgiving last 10K of the race. My only consolation as I was cursing the race directors in my mind was that they all were running the 100K that day!
Thankfully after another steep descent, Corinne and I were able to run enough that we never saw the sweeper horse again! Corinne had a great attitude the whole way but it was hard to be happy on this run. I felt badly because when I ran the Naha marathon with Avery I was coaching and encouraging pretty consistently. For much of this race I couldn't think of anything positive thing to say ("only 10 miles left" doesn't quite lift the spirits when the last mile has been a slug fest!) so i just stayed quiet. But she never asked to quit--it was great to see her push through something so hard. The scenery was beautiful in the last 10K (recurring theme)--meadows of wildflowers and rolling hills. We tried to run as much of it as we could but unfortunately I had moved into a phase where every step felt like I was running on broken glass so it held us back. We call our strategy the "Reverse Galloway" in that our walk was interrupted by several short run breaks (:
THE BIG FINISH: They say to expect 50-100% more than your usual marathon time and most of us did double our usual times. The great news when we finished was that Andrea had smoked the course and finished 3rd woman overall at 6:55 (she is normally a 3:20 marathoner) --Steph finished right behind her after battling altitude sickness on the run.
Avery really pulled it out and finished strong at 8:30 and Amy, who had taken lots of incredible pictures along the way, hung on to finish right behind her. I later calculated what Avery ate and found out that after two days of eating only 6 crackers and a small pita with peanut butter race morning, Avery consumed only 250 calories of shot blocks during the race--everything else was still in her pack. It is absolutely a miracle that she made it through the race and that she picked up speed in the end. Mind boggling!! This was an answer to prayer because I was really concerned about her and wondered about my parenting skills in letting her attempt it. Corinne and I came in just after 9 hrs. I can't tell you how good it felt to finish that race!! The race support at the end was really great--they were waiting under a tent to cheer each runner in even though there was a long spread in between runners.
The course was set up so the 100K competitors finished the marathon and then went back out for another 36 miles (can you imagine?!) Anna had been the first woman to finish the marathon (at 6:15, which is ridiculously fast for this course) and we got updates by radio that she was powering through remaining 36 miles---she cranked it out out to finish FIRST woman and FIFTH overall in the100K!! Steph, being the crazy good friend and athlete that she is, ran out to run the last kilometer in with her. Anna was absolutely glowing when she finished and her first words were "That was SO much fun" which is a red flag that I am hanging out with women who are not normal (:
We are thrilled that every one in our group finished the race--there were several DNFs in the 100K run and the marathon was definitely not a freebie. No cheering from the sidelines, no aid stations to speak of (water from a barrel in the bug-ridden wilderness after our team's stomach issues? no thank you.) Everything really depended on what you had inside your camelback and inside your head during the race. I told Corinne that she would have had it far easier if she had just signed up for an Okinawan road race marathon. The race director shook her hand this morning and told us that she is the youngest female to have ever finished it!
So on the bright side, I have never been so grateful to see a finish line in my life and while I won't break a toe intentionally for the next run, I did experience what we all know--its not really about the level of pain, It's all about commitment. And mine wasn't any kind of crazy runner dedication--I was just being a mother. I don't think I would have finished any of my other marathons if I had been in that much pain but I couldn't leave Corinne alone in the Mongolian wilderness!
I am really excited for all the WOOT women and very proud of my daughters. Avery ran one of the hardest races imaginable in a nutritional deficit and muscled through it. And I would NEVER suggest this as a first marathon, but Corinne really accomplished something by slugging through it. And as one of the other runners pointed out, EVERY marathon she runs after this will be easier and faster than this one!
So glad to have done it--very grateful that its over!
Corinne’s mom, Kathleen, chronicled her family’s adventures in the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset event. Following is her story:
Here's the scoop on the Mongolia Sunrise to Sunset 42K/100K for all you runners who like the gritty details--and those who like travel adventure stories! Runners may want to look at the course map and elevation chart on the website www.ultramongolia.com. Our WOOT team consisted of Amy Stewart, Andrea Kaltenbaugh, Steph Shimkus and Kathleen, Avery and Corinne Lennard doing the 42K and Anna Boom doing the 100K. The background info is relevant to our race, so you get a little travelogue first:
On Saturday, July 17, we met our race group in Ulaanbaatar for a charter flight to Moron. From there, we took a 3 hour bumpy jeep ride up to the camp on Lake Hovsgal, which is on the Siberian border--we could see Siberia from the shore. It was very rustic. We stayed in gers (mongolian yurts) and only had electricity from 8pm-11pm. The water is boiled and the food was very limited in variety--and very white (bread, potatoes, rice--very little vegetables)
The first day was fantastic. We were breathing fresh air after Shanghai and getting to know some of the other runners. Most were from Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong (although many of those were expats from Europe and the US) Australia and NZ. There was also a Singapore Navy team and a group of Australian and NZ army officers--lots of good conversation with interesting people! We met a guy from Australia who is running 52 marathons in 52 weeks! In total there were about 80 runners, 33 doing a marathon (42K-26.2 miles) and about 47 doing a 100K (62 miles). We did an easy horse trail ride on Sunday afternoon and just soaked in the beautiful scenery!
Unfortunately Day 2 was not so fun. Avery came down with a case of food poisoning and it slowly moved to two other members of our Okinawa group (Amy and Andrea) and several others in the camp. She couldn't keep anything down but the race doctor gave her anti-nausea medicine so at least she didn't feel quite as awful. And the same night she got sick I tripped outside our ger and broke my toe ): So by race day on Wednesday, Corinne was by far the healthiest member of our family! Avery was able to drink some gatorade on Tuesday and eat some crackers so she decided to go ahead and try to run the marathon. I soaked my foot in the freezing cold lake and prayed it would hold up okay if I taped my toes. The race doctor said I wouldn't make it any worse, it just might hurt too much to run that far. Corinne needed someone to run with so I decided to give it a go. I know you may be thinking this was a very bad idea but remember that I was surrounded by ultra runners so no one really challenged my thinking (:
So at 4 am on race day, our group had 3 dehydrated women who were still a little nauseous (Avery , Amy and Andrea), one with a broken toe (me), one complete novice marathoner (Corinne) but although Steph had a touch of stomach issues, she and Anna were feeling pretty good race morning. We had our camelbacks checked for our emergency gear--rain gear, compass, notepad, medical kit, emergency chocolate bar, etc. It added quite a bit of weight to the usual stash of Gu and power bars.
There is nothing I can say to describe the race adequately. It was hands down the most difficult physical thing I have ever done. The course was designed by several ultra runners who were racing the 100K and that should have been a tip-off --ultra-runners are a crazy bunch! We started out with Steph and Anna going out in front with leaders and Andrea and Avery leading our back group. Andrea is a very fast marathoner though--so when we got through the first 2.5 miles in the woods (which we walked because it was very dark) and came out to a dirt road, she ran ahead. Avery stayed with her for a little bit but then started to feel sick so she waited from me, Corinne and Amy.
Corinne, whose pre-race nutritional plan consisted of loads of Tim Tams (chocolate cookies) from our Australian friends, was feeling great and decided to run ahead and left me, Avery and Amy (who had the second worst case of food poisoning) together. We looked like such a rag-tag group. It reminded me of the civil war pictures of a little band of soldiers returning from the war all bandaged up and looking weary. Amy stopped to get sick at one point and Avery seriously looked like she needed an IV right then and there and we were only about 5 K into the marathon! I nagged, I cajoled, but I couldn't get Avery to eat anything but shot-blocks (gummy square of electrolytes). My foot was hurting and every third or fourth foot strike felt like it was on fire. So at this point in the race, which was on relatively flat country roads, I was trying to figure out how I was going to get Avery back to the camp and somehow keep track of Corinne. I was planning to ask Avery to stop at the first aid station (12K) but it turned out to be a few Mongolians with a horse. My dreams of her getting an IV were shot and so we just hobbled along and started an incredible climb to the first of two peaks in the race.
This part of the race was very, VERY hard. We climbed from 1650m to 2300m over the course of a 5K. It was misty so we couldn't see much until we got close to the top--the view was incredible but the physical work was excruciating. From what we heard, even the leaders walk some of it, and we walked all of it. Corinne waited for us because she got lonely running in the mist. The descent was gorgeous but also hard because it was so steep. At one point we had the "sweeper" (usually a vehicle that follows the last runner but in our case it was a horseman) behind us and a trio from Hong Kong. That was a little demoralizing but we were in pretty bad shape in a very athletic race...
The section after the descent and before the next climb was really varied terrain. We ran through meadows, forest, and then hit some really marshy grass and got our feet soaked. In hindsight, I think this really helped my foot because the water was cold and it kept the swelling down. And the scenery was beautiful! We made it to the 25.5 aid station and I retaped my toes and everyone else changed socks.
The good news is that as we crawled out of the 25.5K aid station, the shot blocks must have kicked in because Avery was now a new woman. She started to run faster and Amy was also feeling better and picked up her pace. Corinne was feeling the length of the race by that time and my foot was not happy so we continued to take it slow. And the second peak was a nightmare--gorgeous scenery but wet, marshy, and a ridiculously steep incline. It reminded me of the Sirens in mythology--beautiful song, deadly intent. This part was very, VERY, VERY hard. It really trashed us for the more forgiving last 10K of the race. My only consolation as I was cursing the race directors in my mind was that they all were running the 100K that day!
Thankfully after another steep descent, Corinne and I were able to run enough that we never saw the sweeper horse again! Corinne had a great attitude the whole way but it was hard to be happy on this run. I felt badly because when I ran the Naha marathon with Avery I was coaching and encouraging pretty consistently. For much of this race I couldn't think of anything positive thing to say ("only 10 miles left" doesn't quite lift the spirits when the last mile has been a slug fest!) so i just stayed quiet. But she never asked to quit--it was great to see her push through something so hard. The scenery was beautiful in the last 10K (recurring theme)--meadows of wildflowers and rolling hills. We tried to run as much of it as we could but unfortunately I had moved into a phase where every step felt like I was running on broken glass so it held us back. We call our strategy the "Reverse Galloway" in that our walk was interrupted by several short run breaks (:
THE BIG FINISH: They say to expect 50-100% more than your usual marathon time and most of us did double our usual times. The great news when we finished was that Andrea had smoked the course and finished 3rd woman overall at 6:55 (she is normally a 3:20 marathoner) --Steph finished right behind her after battling altitude sickness on the run.
Avery really pulled it out and finished strong at 8:30 and Amy, who had taken lots of incredible pictures along the way, hung on to finish right behind her. I later calculated what Avery ate and found out that after two days of eating only 6 crackers and a small pita with peanut butter race morning, Avery consumed only 250 calories of shot blocks during the race--everything else was still in her pack. It is absolutely a miracle that she made it through the race and that she picked up speed in the end. Mind boggling!! This was an answer to prayer because I was really concerned about her and wondered about my parenting skills in letting her attempt it. Corinne and I came in just after 9 hrs. I can't tell you how good it felt to finish that race!! The race support at the end was really great--they were waiting under a tent to cheer each runner in even though there was a long spread in between runners.
The course was set up so the 100K competitors finished the marathon and then went back out for another 36 miles (can you imagine?!) Anna had been the first woman to finish the marathon (at 6:15, which is ridiculously fast for this course) and we got updates by radio that she was powering through remaining 36 miles---she cranked it out out to finish FIRST woman and FIFTH overall in the100K!! Steph, being the crazy good friend and athlete that she is, ran out to run the last kilometer in with her. Anna was absolutely glowing when she finished and her first words were "That was SO much fun" which is a red flag that I am hanging out with women who are not normal (:
We are thrilled that every one in our group finished the race--there were several DNFs in the 100K run and the marathon was definitely not a freebie. No cheering from the sidelines, no aid stations to speak of (water from a barrel in the bug-ridden wilderness after our team's stomach issues? no thank you.) Everything really depended on what you had inside your camelback and inside your head during the race. I told Corinne that she would have had it far easier if she had just signed up for an Okinawan road race marathon. The race director shook her hand this morning and told us that she is the youngest female to have ever finished it!
So on the bright side, I have never been so grateful to see a finish line in my life and while I won't break a toe intentionally for the next run, I did experience what we all know--its not really about the level of pain, It's all about commitment. And mine wasn't any kind of crazy runner dedication--I was just being a mother. I don't think I would have finished any of my other marathons if I had been in that much pain but I couldn't leave Corinne alone in the Mongolian wilderness!
I am really excited for all the WOOT women and very proud of my daughters. Avery ran one of the hardest races imaginable in a nutritional deficit and muscled through it. And I would NEVER suggest this as a first marathon, but Corinne really accomplished something by slugging through it. And as one of the other runners pointed out, EVERY marathon she runs after this will be easier and faster than this one!
So glad to have done it--very grateful that its over!
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