6/13/2026 - Shan’s Kettle 100k Race!
It is really difficult to fully explain what it is like to train for and run a 100k trail race. I’m hoping this summary can re-capture the moments I felt and the love I was surrounded by for those who are interested in reading it. And for my future self who will likely want to experience something like this again. Trail running has changed my life; more specifically, it has re-connected me with my life.
Good Morning
The alarm went off in my body before my phone alarm on Saturday morning. I woke up at 3:56 am and was ready to get up and moving. I knew it was race day!!! I got out of bed and quietly went to meditate and journal and it helped me really start the day with groundedness and self awareness and delay the adrenaline for about 7 minutes. I had gotten so many messages the night before from family saying good luck and sending me so much love, and I was remembering them all that morning so I could soak them in.
Then I woke up my boyfriend Patrick, my crew chief, and we got all our things together that I needed and that he needed for his day of foraging and hiking and crewing me. My dog Smokey was already with my Mom and I already missed him SO much! Also the night before I laid out alllllll my race things I’d be bringing with me on race day on my favorite pizza blanket, which helped me get organized for race day! I had packed all that the night before in a giant Costco box. So race morning I just got dressed, hit the bathroom, ate some food and off we were.
We made our traditional pre-race stop at Kwik Trip to get ice for the cooler for the day and to use the bathrooms with no lines, and then we got to Palmyra High School at 6am before the shuttle to the start line left at 6:15am. I put on my belt, got my shoes on, loaded my water bottles and looked into Patrick’s eyes and thanked him for everything leading up to this point and everything we were about to experience that day. All the other runners were loading up too with their loved ones (and many alone!) heading to the bus.
We walked hand in hand to the bus and he told me: “You’re tough. This is what you trained for. Go out there and have fun and remember Smokey and I are with you the whole time. You got this baby.”
And we hugged and kissed and I boarded the bus, sat second to the last row and realized: Oh shoot! I forgot my energy drink! So I quickly texted Patrick and juuuusst as the bus was pulling away, he literally walked in front of it and stopped it, climbed in and said: “Here you go Shan! Good luck everyone!” And handed it to me before heading out. He’s the best.
It was a funny last-minute connection before I sat on the bus and just thought about joy and gratitude, feeling it course through my body. I was just so happy and excited to be there with everyone and felt kind of like how excited I’d get on the first day of school. Maybe it was being on a literal school bus.
Getting to the Race Start
We pulled up to the parking lot at John Muir across the street from the start line, de-boarded and crossed the street to the start line at Nordic where everyone proceeded to pace back and forth, stretch and get in the zone. We weren’t allowed to have spectators at the start line due to lack of parking, so we were all in our own heads and bodies. It was SUCH a beautiful morning. I had on shorts, a tank and I came to find out, the wrong kind of sports bra (I chaffed a lot), but otherwise it was perfect weather for me. We all were feeling nerves and excitement for about 35 minutes before the race started at 7am sharp. I just looked around, stretched, used the (very clean) port-o-potties and was truthfully just taking in as much of the moment as I could.
It was so cool to be at the start line. Anyone can sign up for a 100K and show up there, but not everyone can train for six months (the longest I’ve trained for something) and show up prepared with excitement, curiosity, joy, gratitude, and probably some life-altering self-love and pride from showing up for oneself. That’s what I was feeling. And it probably helped that I had no idea what was in store for me. Not reeeeally.
All of a sudden we got the three-minute warning and lined up. It felt abrupt (due to being in my head and counting down the seconds to starting) and everyone jumped up so fast; it was kind of funny. Nordic has this incredible intoxicating smell of ponderosa pine that just plugs me directly into a peaceful state of mind. I wish I could bottle up that scent. I’ve run so many miles starting or ending at Nordic and my body felt excited, calm and at home. I didn’t fully know what I was about to experience, but that’s okay. I trusted the moment and at that start line I was overjoyed. Like a kid maybe.
No. Maybe like a girl who finally realized after all these years that she just belongs in the woods with the birds; they were singing so beautifully that morning. I’m sure they do every morning. I was just happy to hear them. Just happy to be there. Grateful for life.
3…2…1…
Then they sent us off! All the watches clicked “start” and we headed out. I love that sound of all the watches starting all at once; like a field of electronic crickets or something. I texted my mom saying I was starting and went on my merry way!
The Beginning of The Run of my Life!
I started in the back third of the group and just did what I know how to do. I ran. I had a big smile on my face for who knows how many miles. It felt like the majority of the miles. I breathed in those beautiful piney smells and listened to all the footsteps around me like a metronome.
I walked up the hills and descended the downs like a champ (my favorite). I was actually passing people? Kind of crazy. I tried not to get too in my head about it.
I drank water and electrolytes I carried with me every mile or so and soon came up to the Tamarack aid station at about 5 miles. The volunteer said “what can I get you!?” And i said “PICKLES!” And everyone laughed. Good one, Shan - it always feels good to make the volunteers laugh. I grabbed pickles and pickle juice, refilled my water and headed out.
My watch was showing me my average pace and I was way ahead of where I expected to be. Low 13-minute pace for a while! I got a text from my sister Manda with a voice memo from my niece Mabel saying “Hi Shanny! I love you! You got this! See you later!” And it just crushed me in the best way. I listened to it a few times that day to keep me moving!
It felt so good out there. We hit Bluff aid station and I did the same thing there, grabbed some fuel, ate an applesauce and headed right back out.
I was sending my boyfriend and sister short voice memos along the whole way so they could hear how I was doing. Yes, I saved them all. Maybe I’ll listen to them again someday when I prepare for my next (?) 100k. I told them what I ate and how I was feeling - I was just feeling my body and listening to what she needed the entire way.
I ran through Horse Camp and Emma Carlin and eventually made my way into McMiller - the 20 mile aid station. McMiller Aid Station - Mile 20 - First Crew Visit!
I crossed over the first checkpoint where my bib registered my location and said “Hi mom!” Like I always do during races when I cross a checkpoint. The aid station was PICKLE THEMED. And it felt like EVERYONE was there. Manda. Gracee. Erik. Mabel. Patch. Jane. Kristin. Tony (holding the giant sign with my head on it - that cracked me up). Alice. Vivienne. All shouting for me and cheering me on!! Mile 20 on the dot. As I came up to the group, I heard “ GO SHANNY!” And saw Mabel standing there. All 2 feet tall of her with a big smile on her face. A tentative smile… and I opened my arms and said “Come here!!” And she RAN into my arms. I could’ve just stopped running right then and called myself a winner.
I took a long aid station break and really soaked up all their love. My heart was so full.
And Patrick - my CREW CAPTAIN EXTRAORDINAIRE — grabbed all my bottles, refilled them, got me pickles, pickle juice and a Dr. Pepper slushie (which they filmed me drinking at the aid station). It was all soooooo delicious. It was getting warm out there and I absolutely sucked down as many cold calories as I could. Manda squeezed an ice cold sponge on my back and cooled me down immensely! My sister and boyfriend combined are unstoppable.
McMiller was such a great aid station stop and boosted me big time. It was about noon and it was definitely starting to heat up. (Luckily I have some solid heat training rooted in me) My other sister Gracee and my niece Mabel ran down the trail with me for a little bit and Gracee kept walking with me for a while. I love that time with Gracee so much because she’s truly the biggest positive cheerleader, dude.
As Manda and Mabel were leaving, Mabel yelled: “Way to go, Shanny!” And my heart melted. AGAIN.
From there I headed into the meadow section of the course. There was no shade and it got very hot. Lots of people were walking and I kept reminding myself: “You train in the heat. Your body feels good. You can do this. You have water.” So I ran as much as I could and actually started passing a lot of people.
Then I reached the next aid station, refilled my water, drank some soda and kept moving. At this point, FOOD food was harder for me to take in, so I really focused on getting calories through soda. And pickles. And candy. ….. the beauties of trail running.
I saw Patrick at Highway 67. He was so focused on refueling me, even though at that point I was mostly surviving on sugar and liquids, kind of like a hummingbird. I was feeling good and tired and was just happy to keep moving. I had acquired an ice-cold bandana from a volunteer around mile 30, and at every aid station after that I would dunk it in ice water, wrap it around my neck and wipe my face with it. HEAVENLY.
After Highway 67 I worked through more technical terrain and eventually made it to the ZZ Aid Station, which might have been my favorite aid station of the day. They had ice pops, Sour Patch Kids and a volunteer gave me Squirrel’s Nut Butter
for my seriously chafing bra line, which I badly needed. After dumping so much water on my body, my bra started to twist more as I ran and it led to some serious chaffing around my rib cage- OUCH.
Halfway Done!!
I was then heading into Scuppernong in the middle of the afternoon - and it was hilly, hot, exhausting and only the halfway point. What a mental trip. I know Scuppernong’s trails so well and they were brutal as hell. It was almost worse that I knew what was coming??? But I just listened to the birds and walked all the ups and took as many breaks as I needed in order to get through the grueling heat of the day. I remember seeing people coming out of that segment looking like the walking dead and did not want that to happen to me. That was a hard segment and I was SO happy to hit the turnaround and see the ZZ Aid Station again.
I was officially heading back!!!!! I was beyond-words excited and knew it was going to be a tough thirty-plus miles back. I refilled water, grabbed more anti-chaffing stuff and a cup of Dr. Pepper and kept moving.
I have to say I was listening to some interesting podcasts along the way and that kept my mental focus lightly so I could let my body just do its thing. Eventually I got back to Highway 67 and my dad, stepmom Renni, Manda, brother-in-law Erik, niece Mabel and boyfriend Patch were there. I couldn’t believe they had sat there all afternoon for me. By then it was incredibly hot and around mile 38 I was really starting to feel the fatigue. The chafing was getting painful too. I had to tuck my tank top under my bra to alleviate touching the open skin! But I trucked onward.
Renni made me a grilled cheese that was delicious and I ate half. I also had some pretzel bun that Erik handed me and Mabel ate one too. We basically cheers’ed with pretzel buns. Patch refilled all my gear, Manda got a cold sponge and poured water on me, which felt amazing. Dad sat down with me and went through a checklist of how I was doing mentally, physically, cardio-wise and everything else. He’s so good at that and it helped me re-evaluate in the moment, sitting on the cooler in the shade
It was so good seeing them. As exhausted as I was, my family boosts me so much. Their love, attention and focus helped me stop thinking so much and simply feel the moment. I’m so grateful for all of their big hearts and big love. And for Dad getting me into this whole running thing in the first place. And for my Mom for keeping me alive with fuel and SO MUCH SUPPORT through emails and research about ultra running— and yes for emailing the race director to see where Patrick could see me along the course. That’s love, folks!
I switched out my headphone because it had died, and Patch gave me a portable phone charger to take while my Dad, Mabel, Manda and I walked down toward my next section. What a beautiful moment. My family is just the best. I’ll never
forget Mabel yelling: “Shanny! Papa!” and running past us. She’s so fast!! Maybe I’ll come cheer for her during a race some day. That was my last big family aid station stop, so I soaked in every second I could. I kissed Patch, thanked him for everything, and headed back out.
After that I don’t really have many clear “thinking” memories for a while. HAHA. I walked and ran through the meadows again and couldn’t help but think about how many ticks were probably out there. It was so beautiful now that it wasn’t as blazing hot. All the while the 100 mile runners started to come back and flyyyyy past me. So wild.
I started getting some random pain on both sides of my thighs so I tried moving my water bottles around in my pockets because little did I know the outer thigh chafing situation was already well underway. (Next race, I’m getting a vest!)
I finally came back to McMiller and saw my Crew Chief again! My watch said mile 46. What a trip. I was feeling good?? Tired, of course, but overall… good? I had some pretzel bun, soda, pickle juice, and refilled liquids. Food didn’t sound so great to me much anymore, so I focused on the soda for sugar and even just getting a few calories.
I went back out and began running into dusk. ; the sun setting so quietly and beautifully. Officially Night/Dark Running
I knew I wouldn’t see Patch for a while, and yet we forgot to set up my lights for the nighttime running portion! OOOOOOPS. I mean, you don’t know what you don’t know I guess! So all of a sudden I find myself at mile 49 after leaving McMiller around 730pm, and now its 9pm…and getting really dark really fast. The woods are not like the city; when it’s dark, it is DARK. You cannot see anything around you or really in front of you.
The best I could do was turning on my watch light (with the watch Patrick had just gotten me a week prior - THANK YOU!) and my cell phone light. Aka essentially 10 lumens. I was petrified of falling, so I began my speed walking journey that eventually took me to the last couple miles of my race. I started texting Patrick “SOS, I need light!! Can you meet me somewhere??” And I dropped a location pin for him so he could find me… four times we exchanged pin locations.
And gosh dangit he FOUND ME! I was unbelievably grateful. He walked in the opposite direction I was going, meeting me halfway on the trail with two headlamps saying “Wow its dark out here!” I just thought, “Yeah, I noticed!” I could fiiiiinally
see where I was going with some level of confidence. Thank goodness! Even though the body light and head lamp helped tremendously, it was a bit scary not being able to see more than 3 feet in front of me, let alone all the bugs and moths literally crashing into my phone light and into my body, which they did all night long. I had to let go of my gross-out reactions to the bigger bugs and just remind myself “you’re in the woods in the middle of the night. This is their territory.”
All I did was speed walk, drink sips of water and electrolytes and listen to a quiet podcast (I couldn’t even tell you what I was listening to…) But then all of a sudden I came up to an aid station at Horse Camp around mile 54 and literally kind of hallucinated, thinking I was seeing a giant columbine in the fields. Nope! It was an aid station. Just shows you how tired I was getting! I was just grateful to see humans and get some soda and more water and keep on moving. I had to be at Horse Camp before 11 pm and made the cutoff by 10:25pm! Go me!
Thankfully I was getting midnight messages from my mom (she stayed up late!!!) and everyone else that kept me going. I could’ve cried thinking about them rooting me on out there essentially alone in the dark on those beautiful trails. What a freaking day into night transition…
I got to see Patch again at the Bluff Aid Station around mile 56, and that was a huuuuuuuge boost for me for the next several miles as I headed truly into a very hard speed-walk, dark-night-of-the-soul time. I switched out my headlamps and just held them in my hands now - I couldn’t put another tight band around my head. I tied my bandana around my ears so I didn’t have to hear gigantic moths flying by my head and I refilled my water and gave him my other empty bottle. I was just going on hydration, determination and mental toughness at this point. I was trusting my body to take me through.
Patrick kissed me and said “You are DOING this. You only have 7 miles left!!” Time was passing, and all I kept chanting to myself was: “Hiking in the woods at midnight.” “Hiking in the woods at 1 AM.” There was a lot of “Just keep swimming” and “Swim through it, not over it” mantras happening too.
I was speedwalking as fast as I could, and it was pitch black out. I had no real concept of exactly what time it was except that my watch beeped for every mile that went by, and I saw how many hours I had been moving. 14 hours…15 hours… I kept looking at my watch and couldn’t believe the total time I had been moving. 16 hours!
Coming Into the Finish
My mind was so tired, my chaffing was so raw, but my body was determined. I need something to focus on for those wee hours of the night into the morning. So focused on finishing. And my sister had said: “When in doubt, don’t stop moving!”
The blister on my left third toe was growing and limiting my pace, too, so I just listened to my body. My arms and shoulders were pumping, and knees were flexing and pushing into the earth and my feet were propelling me forward with every step. I even saw a bat swoop down and catch a bug in the beam of my headlight, and I knew that my family had some sort of natural entertainment they’d sent me.
Nature was with me and around me all day, and I felt it. It filled me with such awe and gratitude. I started getting so emotional. I texted Manda and she said “you’re almost there; don’t get too emotional yet!” Little did I know I still had 2 hours to go…
Finally. I came to the last aid station. That meant only 5 miles to go! I was DOING IT! I took a quick video; so wild to know it was after midnight and I was still out there. And I was texting my family short updates that I was out there doing it. So thrilled!
With just under 2 miles to go, I picked it up and kicked it into the highest gear I could. I actually started jogging again! I saw the lights around the trees and ran with both headlamps in my hands as I went to the finish. My whole body began to buzz - that finish line was RIGHT THERE. I could feel all my hard work, all my practice, all my determination, all my drive… bolstering me to that finish line. I knew Patrick was just 5 feet past that finish. I knew as soon as I crossed, I would be DONE. It was the most incredible feeling.
I crested the top of the hill (yes they made you finish on an incline), I saw Patrick, saw the lights and the finish line, lifted my arms as high as I could, and was across the line. That feeling was such a relief. To be done. And through. I stopped my watch and collapsed into Patrick’s arms, sobbing.
Of course I texted my sisters and Mom immediately.
So happy. So grateful. So proud!
The race director approached me, shook my hand and handed me my belt buckle. I, of course, through sobbing tears, told her how amazing the course was, how wonderful the volunteers were, how important and incredible this day was for me. The finish line volunteers were tearing up when they heard me speak, knowing it was my first 100k. I walked over to the PR bell and pulled that rope, overwhelmed with exhaustion and joy. I took a seat in the first chair I could find and held Patrick’s hand and just stared at the finish line; reliving that moment that just happened minutes before. I had done it! My watch said 65.8 miles and I knew I was a different person than when I had started that race the day before. 19 hours and 21 minutes before. What an adventure and dare I say, I can’t wait to do it again!
