1592. Hainesport 12 hour 2025: a quick riff

The Hainesport ultra event holds a special place in my heart because its the place where I ran my first 100 miles ever, it’s a place where a lot of people run their first 100 miler ever. 

That’s one of the reasons I love these loop races (yeah it’s a one mile loop you run round and around) they’re so beginner friendly, but if you have ultra experience or a good day, you can put the fuck out and grab some really big numbers. 

Most people think this idea is ridiculous, but for some of us, we like that. It’s safe, logistically easy, we can control a lot more variables with this style of race, and we can really give it our best shot – there ain’t much to do besides just run.

The one mile loop also gives this race a party feel because we are seeing people, aid, music, etc like every 10 – 15 minutes – you’re seeing the back of packers, the middle packers and those getting after it, spectators come and go, you’re never really alone, everything is within a few minutes away… 

That’s comforting. 

And let’s be real, misery loves company. 

Back when I first ran this race in December 31, 2021 there were about 70 people…

This year there were over 200 across all the events. I love to see that for the RD’s Kline and Swannie because they are such genuinely good people who are doing a service to the Ultra Community. 

They put tf out themselves too.

12 hours 

I ran the 12 hour race here last year with 61 miles, and set a new PR by about 4 miles this year with 65 miles total

My goal for this race was to give my best, like it is for mostly all the ultra’s I run because you never know what’s going to happen. 

Things could be going so well, and then come crashing down…

it’s gut wrenching in the moment.

The mental battle of How could I feel so good and now feel so bad, I have this much more time to go are you kidding, these many more miles? 

I found with the goal to just “give my best”, no matter what I’m feeling at the moment…

the highest high or lowest low

I can still give my best and that’s what really matters to me with these things,

and with life…

To give my best, all the time, with a positive attitude

And it’s hard to achieve that goal to the fullest, in every moment or situation

Especially when you’re getting punched in the mouth.

With all that said, I do try and have an idea of what I can hit based on the pace I think I can keep – but I don’t stay attached to that at all and use it more of a guide. 

For this race I’d figure to keep an overall 10:00 pace – again, not being attached to if I’m sucking or crushing. 

I had such a rough day from the start of this race at 9 am till about what felt like forever. 

Everything up until the race went perfect, but once we started, shew:

• I kept a 10:00 pace up until about mile 40… except I felt like shit the entire time just dealing with gas and burping
• Mile 40 – 60 I slowed down to about a 13:00 pace, this is where things really started to suck for me mentally BUT i did get to chat it up with some friends: Pete, Gagz, Sean, Mike, Jeff, Bryan, Rob, Rhiannon, Lisa, and make some new ones: James, Perkins, Degeorge, Louis 
• miles 60 – 66 the spell eventually wore off and I was able to throw down about an 8:00 pace and I finished with a little more than 65 miles in 12 hours, about a 10:30 pace overall. 

My time at the aid stations was pretty quick too, stopping every other lap to refill my water and grab a quick bite – it took less than 30 seconds each stop. 

This really saved my time and despite the rough day, allowed me to get a few more miles over my previous PR.

This race was a total win for me personally and it really reenforced that slow and steady can sometimes skirt out some of the faster runners.

Geekin’

I try to keep it around 250 calories, 1000 mg of sodium, and one liter per hour 

Calories and sodium usually come from tailwind / lmnt, fruit (most of the time), and sometimes peanut butter, avocados, potatoes

Sparkling water is a gamechanger too. 

As for food – I fall somewhere in the grazing category, just sipping throughout the hour and a bite of food here or there.

I prefer that anyway

When the time calls for it – I can slam a water bottle down, grab a bite of food and keep it moving, usually🤣

You never know with these things.

Why did I have stomach problems this morning? 

After thinking about it, I chalked it up as nerves and hopefully that doesn’t happen again 

BUT it seems to happen every race, my version of the pre race jitters.

This time, it lasted a little more then usual

Until next time fam ☮️