News & Race reports through the years
100 mile men’s course record: '09 Zach Gingerich (29) 15:17:32
100 mile women’s course record: ‘22 Michelle Magagna (31) 16:58:18
100k men’s course record: '15 Michael Borst (22) 8:34:58
100k women’s course record: '05 Kami Semick (38) 9:45:13
50k men’s course record: '16 Juan Moran (34) 3:58:36
50k women’s course record: '15 Emily Ansick (30) 4:43:10
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for your leadership and OMR's commitment to the trail community! This goes so far beyond running. There's something special you've created and empowered all of the runners to experience out there in the pines and wild flowers of Kettle Moraine.
I was here in 2022, admittedly a newbie to the trail community and running in general. It was only the second race of my life, having avoided running until age 38. I stumbled my way through the 100k, navigating every rock, root, and stone that seemed to chase me through the forest. This year in 2024, I returned as a trail runner, ready for the pace and challenge of racing 64 miles. The experience is different. It's louder but with a swirling connection, like the effect of a sustaining pedal on a piano. The cadence of footfalls echoes off the trees in rhythm with my own increased breathing and arm swings. The faster pace of movement smooths out the otherwise choppy and individual rocks and limbs that litter the trail. Sure, I fell in the mud and rain. I threw up, cried, and suffered. But I mostly danced. And the forest danced with me.
It was such an honor to race, run, and dance with the OMR community for a weekend. Thank you to all of the incredible volunteers, the other runners, and especially to you for your kind, fun, and thoughtful leadership.
Best wishes,
Scott Wopata
A little bit about our OMR Racing Team. We want happy, well fueled and cared for runners. Since everyone on our team has run plenty of races, we know what we like and work towards filling our stations with those items, and suggestions from runners.
OMR Team Michele, Royal, Sid, Nicki, Lil Royal
We have a team of 3 that our full time job is preparing for races. Nicki, my son, Royal Jr., and myself. Sid helps part time while juggling a full time job. My husband Royal works on race preparation year around, but specifically takes off work from his truck driving job the three weeks before each of our 100 mile races. His truck driving skills are ideal in having what it takes to deliver and set up all our aid stations. Michelle Curcio is our volunteer coordinator and she works hard for the months leading into the race to set up our aid station captains and fill their needs.
We all love what we do and enjoy working together. I personally am so grateful for this extraordinary team. Seeing the runners reach success drives us to do the best that we can.
Menu planning: We carefully plan our aid station menu, wanting to cover a variety of runners needs, as well as having practical food to prepare outside and deliver. We keep spreadsheets of every item that will be delivered to stations. Our spreadsheets have built in formulas with the weight of every food, appliance, tool item that needs to be brought to each aid station. This is important in keeping the truck weight correct. When trucks are overloaded we risk flat tires and mechanical problems.
Properly loading trucks is important to help us quickly deliver. My husband is a truck driver and does a great job on this. His team delivers and cleans up race weekend. We can not deliver too early because we have had plenty of items stolen over they years. Having everything properly boxed in waterproof and animal proof containers is important.
Recycling: We find it important to produce as little trash as possible. Please try and use your own cup at aid stations, or refill a cup we supply if getting a second serving of something. There are recycling and trash containers at each station. Our race clean up crew will even go through the trash and pull out anything that was put in wrong container. After races we organize it and take it to the recycling center. Here is a video of us working on this. LINK
We try and cover various diets. Any vegetable soup that we supply to station will also be vegan and gluten free. Pancake mix we supply will be vegan. We make sure savory food options like bean rollups are at most stations, both vegans and non vegans love these.
This is a good thing to bring on your self supported runs. Easy to make on the trail and taste delicious.
We choose food we like to eat. It was so fun after our Galena Sky trail race (last weekend) that we had requests for the recipe for our vegan burritos. Recipe: Pre-package Spanish rice, refried beans, salsa and flour tortillas. It is a favorite for many. (as made by Royal, each volunteer may make it in a different way, Royal’s burritos are always getting high praises)
Our Aid station captains get our planned menu before race day. Captains can request food they think the runners will enjoy. For example our aid station captains at Hwy ZZ used to love to grill hot dogs up for the runners. This year it will be “Bigger than the Trail” captaining this station. I am excited to see what great ideas they come up with. We offer to either deliver “special food” or we will cover the cost of extra items. Our runners greatly appreciate the extra work the aid station captains put into making their aid station a stand out. We are completely blown away by the extraordinary job the volunteers do at their stations. Many of these stations you will see the same volunteers for 15 hour shifts. They work just as hard for the first and last runner. Be sure to appreciate their efforts. It is a huge commitment they make in hosting an aid station.
In helping our runners prepare for what to expect I wanted to share the menu we sent our captains for the 2022 aid stations. This is what we supplied before the volunteers add their special touch. If I remember what the special treats they brought I have included them.
Ice Delivery Truck- 2 race day staff on this. Large truck full of coolers of ice. We deliver this before aid station opens. Then we give aid station captains a phone number to text if they start to get low.
Water Delivery Truck- two trucks with 3 race day staff.
Food Delivery Truck- 1 very large truck with 2 race day staff.
Tent delivery Truck- 1 large truck with 6 race day staff setting up, then tearing down.
Same delivery team is the clean up team for aid stations.
Aid station food and supplies is all delivered before the race. Our staff does a basic set up for them, then the volunteers work hard to organize it and make food appealing and ready for the runners.
We super appreciate how hard staff and volunteers work to care for the runners.
Often aid station tables are set up with quick grab and go food in front, and hot food on back table. Look around and ask for what you want. Sometimes aid stations will list a menu to help you quickly find what your body is craving.
Salty food is things like: potatoes, mashed potatoes, chips, pickles, nuts
Sweet food is things like: cookies, candy, easy grab and go items
We do a lot of these foods individually packaged to keep it fresher and cleaner for the runners, as well as being easier for the volunteers.
Be sure to take time at each aid station to refuel. Race day adrenaline can trick you into feeling good and quickly cruising through aid stations and missing an opportunity to get calories in.
We will update menu as we hear from Aid station captains on any “extra special treats”.
Simple Spreadsheet of all aid stations, distances, notes and locations
Hosted by: Matt & Dani Hussung, with Ryan Steiner
Turkey Rollups
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Vegatable (Lentil) Soup - Vegan / Gluten Free
Chicken Noodle Soup - we think a hearty canned soup taste better than ramen and that is what we supply. We also send broth for when runners want something less hearty.
PB&J
Potatoes
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Hosted by: Flatlander Running club with Captain Carleen Coulter & Linda Lopez
Grilled Cheese some with Ham
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Vegatable Soup - Vegan / Gluten Free
Chicken Noodle Soup - we think a hearty canned soup taste better than ramen and that is what we supply. We also send broth for when runners want something less hearty.
PB&J
Potatoes
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Pancakes n sausage
Hosted by Lokeyz Trail Runner with Captain Danielle Wangess
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Vegetable Soup - Vegan / Gluten Free
Chicken Noodle Soup - we think a hearty canned soup taste better than ramen and that is what we supply. We also send broth for when runners want something less hearty.
PB&J
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Pancakes n sausage
Hosted by Yeti Trail & Ultrarunners of Illinois with Captain Laura & Maddie Mangrum
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
PB&J
Potatoes
Extra savory food by aid station captain. This year will be Chili and cornbread
Hosted by Coyote Running Club with Captain Natalie Brunson
Fresh Fruit, this station tends to be a spot people are feeling hot and fresh fruit and fruit cups are the most requested item here.
Sweet n Salty Snacks
PB&J
Fresh fruit
Hosted by Ten Junk Miles with Captain Scott Kummer
Turkey Rollups
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Grilled Cheese
Bacon
Potatoes
PB&J
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Hosted by Kelli Gorski and Brad Gorski with a bunch of Rockford, Illinois trail runners
Fresh fruit and fruit cups (another hot section of the race course that fresh fruit and fruit cups is highly requested)
Sweet & Salty snack
Potatoes
Bean rollups
Frozen Popsicles have popped up here by thoughtful volunteers.
Hosted by Jeremy & Alison Dee
Turkey Rollups
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Potatoes
PB&J
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Hosted by Bigger Than the Trail with captain Andy Averill
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
PB&J
Potatoes
Extra savory food by aid station captain. 2022 and 2023 was hot dogs, but there is a new captain working on menu for 2023 race.
New captain Kristin Napora with Trail Sisters
Pancakes and sausage
Potatoes
PB&J
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Hosted by Ornery Mule Racing Trail Team with Captain Megan Veldkamp
Grilled Cheese some with Ham
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Vegetable Soup - Vegan / Gluten Free
Chicken Noodle Soup
PB&J
Fresh Fruit
Sweet and Salty snacks
Aid station captain brought perogies that were a big hit.
Hosted by Justin and Bonnie Heller
Cheese Quesadillas
Bean Rollups (Vegan)
Chicken Noodle Soup
Potatoes
Bacon
PB&J
Fresh Fruit
Sweet n Salty Snacks
Gnarly Fuel20
Soda, Coke, Ginger Ale, Sprite, Root beer, etc…
Pickle Juice
Spring water in gallon plastic jugs. These make it easy for volunteers to pour. Spring water is tasty and our water of choice.
Hot broth at night.
We always wish we had more photos of our amazing volunteers. If you have any you want to share please email them to dirtrunner100@yahoo.com. I also love to hear about ways we can better serve you. We love you, the community and the trails. So excited for our upcoming party in the Kettles!
~Happy trails, Michele Hartwig- RD
Ultra running aid stations are magical.
By Ornery Author Ryan Chukuske
These are different times. We continue to hear that over and over. And yes, it’s certainly true but one thing has remained the same. The running community remains strong. We remain committed. And most importantly, we remain connected with each other even when we couldn’t always be with each other. Unfortunately, many of our favorite races were getting cancelled or rescheduled during the pandemic. However, the emergence of the virtual race allowed for us avid (or let’s be honest, stubborn) runners to keep on keeping on. Virtual races are nothing new. COVID didn’t create them but it certainly brought more attention to idea. And on May 14, 2021, I continued my tradition of participating for the second year in the Bigger than the Trail (BTTT) Block Party Virtual Run.
BTTT is a Midwest based, nonprofit organization that utilizes trail running as a means to advocate for mental health awareness. Tommy Byrnes began this group because of close and personal connections with mental health. The entire purpose of BTTT is to help provide educational support and treatment options. And it’s not just for people who run. Running can be a great method of dealing with mental health issues but it’s not the actual focus of BTTT. Instead, the organization is concerned with the individuals they can impact. The goal is to bring light to the real struggles and challenges that go along with mental health.
So, Tommy had an idea. This was taken straight from the BTTT website: The BTTT Block Party is a virtual event for everyone. We ask that you run solo or with members from your household, respecting social distancing guidelines. We have distances ranging from 1 mile to 100 miles. Whatever distance you choose, you participate in the block party by stepping out of your front door and using your neighborhood block to create your unique course. May is mental health month, and now more than ever, we want to let people know that mental health matters! Even though we can't be together physically, by registering for this event you are making a clear statement that mental health matters to you. The $20 registration fee is a tax-deductible donation that goes directly towards providing online counseling to those who need it most. The 2021 BTTT Block Party is a running event, as running is our organization's platform, but more importantly, we are fighting against the stigma of mental health. We may not be together in person for this event, but we will be doing everything we can to stay connected with all of you to make this experience unforgettable!
I am fortunate to be an ambassador for BTTT and this race was everything I needed. I decided once again that the 100-mile race would be my run of choice. Too many of my races had been cancelled or rescheduled and I needed something to get me out and tested (and I had the Kettle Moraine 100 miler coming up as well). I’d been staying very motivated during the whole “Stay at Home” order that had been placed on Minnesota. I participated in a virtual 200-mile challenge but that wasn’t an all at once kind of run. I did the 200 miles over the course of eight days. I wanted the BTTT Block Party race to feel as “real” as possible. So, I set up a “home base” of sorts in my camper that was parked in my front yard. This basically looked exactly how many aid stations look (if not a bit more luxurious). I had a grill, a refrigerator with sandwiches, a bed, bathroom, and fully stocked with your typical aid station food options. This would serve as my go to area throughout the entire 100-mile experience.
Although the event official began at 8am CST on May 15, it was made very clear that we could start whenever we wanted. I was paying attention to the weather report for the weekend and there was a lot of rain forecasted for what would be the back half of the 100 if I started at the exact start time. I was planning on spending most of the Friday before to get things set up, take care of normal weekend chores such as mowing the yard, restocking groceries, etc., however, that changed with the weather report. Instead, with the advice from my much more intelligent wife, I decided to start running on Friday afternoon. I rushed through Friday morning to get everything ready to go with the goal of starting by 1pm.
At 12:46pm, I was out for a grand adventure. I had no course. No direction. No spectacular pre-race gathering where there would typically be nervous energy fueled conversations with others. Nope. It was me against the next 100 miles of wherever the hell I felt like going. I decided to take a nice leisurely stroll down to the Minnesota River and get a bit of trail running in to start the adventure. I figured that I would take some larger chunks of mileage earlier in the race and stick it close to my camp as the time and miles added up. The river trail proved to be a great way to start as it was a gorgeous day and there were lots of people out walking, running, biking, etc. It kind of made it feel more like a real race. I said, “hello” to passersby and maintained a good 10 to 11-minute mile pace. Every now and then I found myself getting a bit too feisty and had to pull back.
After around 15 miles, I took a quick trip back to my house, grabbed the running stroller, and went to pick my three-year-old son up from daycare. After the drop off, I was at 18 miles and made my first trip to my camp. I refilled my water bottle, ate some ham, turkey, and cheese sandwiches and was back on my way. Now the real block party began. I started plotting out various neighborhoods to go visit. Basically, the plan was going to attempt to not repeat too much, see some of the city that I don’t typically get around to, and just try to keep my mind strong. I think that may have been the most difficult part of the virtual ultra. During regular races, it’s easy enough to start letting negative thoughts infiltrate the mind. Tell you that you’re not good enough. You’re not strong enough. It’s so easy to give up now. During a virtual race when your nice warm bed and a cold beer is only a few simple miles away, the mind plays some dirty tricks.
I stopped by the house because my wife had made a pizza. That was such a rejuvenating experience. I left feeling so alive. As night was starting to approach, I was closing in on 36 miles. I stopped by the house again to say goodnight, visit my camp, and adventure into the darkness. I decided to head out of the city again and onto another state trail. It was paved but still nice to leave the oh so joyous scenic views of people’s houses. I took a nice 14 mile out and back and then returned again to my camp. The rest of the night consisted of some short loops through neighborhoods close to the camp so that if I started to struggle, I could perhaps rest. I was gazing into the cloudless night sky and noticed that Venus was particularly bright. I became mesmerized by the beauty and solitude of both the planet and my journey. This journey was so amazing. No one else near me. Me against myself. Venus shining brightly. Venus…moving?
Yeah, turns out each time I gazed upon the beauty of bright and majestic Venus; I was actually spotting an airplane landing route that apparently was rather busy this particular evening. The mind sees what the mind wants. So yeah, hallucinations are always fun. As morning approached, I was looking forward to connecting via social media with other people running various distances for BTTT. The virtual chat/video room was going live at 8am. By that time, I had only 7 miles left to finish. It was cool to see so many people connected. I made a brief check-in and then as I approached mile 100, I logged back in to share my “finish line” experience with others. It was so inspirational.
Taken from the BTTT social media, whether running or walking, distances ranged from 1 mile to 100! We witnessed PRs achieved and records were broken; but more importantly, lives were impacted. This event raised over $30,000! This money funds online counseling services for those struggling with their mental health. As an organization, we've seen people in desperate need of support, and our biggest fear is the possibility of having to turn someone away due to a lack of funds. We are blown away by how many of you showed up and humbled by your generosity and willingness to fundraise. Because of you, lives will be changed! Thank you for donating, spreading awareness, and working with us to defeat the stigma around mental health. Together we can do so much!
Being a part of this amazing organization has truly been a blessing and an honor. So many of us struggle from various mental health issues and often, we find ourselves trying to hide our thoughts and feelings. I struggled with depression and anxiety for years before finally admitting that I needed to seek help. I kept telling myself that I could handle it on my own. I kept feeling embarrassed and a sense of shame for not being able to “control” myself. The truth is, mental health concerns are extremely normal. And we are here for each other. There are people out there that want to help. We just need the courage to say, “I need help.”
Stay Ornery and Journey on my friends.
KETTLE MORAINE 100 - RACE REPORT 6.13.2021
The Kettle Moraine 100 is one of the country’s oldest 100 mile trail runs dating back a quarter of a century and is a qualifying race for the Western States 100 in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. 239 ultra marathoners registered to toe the start line this past weekend at the Nordic Trailhead in the Kettle Moraine State Forest’s Southern Unit. 65 miles of the course traverses the Ice Age National Scenic Trail with very hilly terrain accumulating an altitude gain of 9,500 feet while runners would take on many glacial landforms such as sinuous eskers, kames, deep kettles, bogs and tumbled moraines.
My 2020 races were cancelled during covid and I opted to have the Kettle 100 rolled over to June 12, 2021. Without having a race to train for during the pandemic, I did not maintain my endurance fitness levels and really needed a push to get moving. I reached out to fellow Team Apex Multisport teammate Kari Stuart of Stuart Coaching to see if she would be willing to coach me, and I am so grateful she obliged. With only 12 weeks to train until race day, Koach (Coach Kari) put a plan in place for me to build up my mileage and to prepare me for many unknowns. Up to that point in time, my furthest running distance was a marathon (26.2 miles) with the vast majority of all my lifetime races being on pavement, not trail. Despite being an Ironman, I knew I was stepping into a different world. From that day on I became a student of the trail doing predominately all of my training solo. I learned so much from listening. I listened to my coach, I listened to my body, the sounds of the trail and the advice from so many in the ultra community. I am extremely grateful to the numerous athletes who helped and inspired me along my journey.
My original goal for the Kettle 100 was to try to finish in less than 24 hours, but ultimately, to finish under the 30 hour cutoff. Having watched the forecast leading up to race day, I knew it was going to be upwards of 90 degrees and humid with a good chance of rain. After checking the weather on race day morning, the app showed that the humidity was 100% (no lie) and once I left the start line at Nordic , the sun made its presence known in short order.
Through the first few sections, I was moving faster than I planned to, but I was also just soaking it all in and letting my legs do their thing. By the time we climbed Bald Bluff it was already hot and the air was thick enough you could have cut it with a knife. It was a clear signal to me to keep a heightened focus on my nutrition.
In all of the FB training group chatter (all that I read and watched), Kettle veterans brought up the Prairie section of the race and how it could break you. The forest canopy covers the vast majority of the trail from direct sunlight. The Prairie section however, is exactly as it sounds; wide open with zero coverage, and when the sun is out in summer, it can quickly cook you. My first crewed stop was at mile 19.5 and from what I recalled, the prairies didn’t start until mile 22ish. As I got closer towards seeing my crew, I began running in a wide open section. I thought to myself, is this the prairie? I even asked other runners. No one was sure, but we all felt the direct sun overhead and just wanted to get back under the trees. It came and went and I had only hoped that was the Prairie section. I found my Dad, sister Katie and my niece Kennedy set up and waiting for me at the McMiller Trailhead aid station. They had my organized cart with gear, medical supplies and cooler ready. I took down some Tums, Tylenol, a McDonalds breakfast burrito (my request) and an ice cold Red Bull from the cooler. I added another layer of sunscreen, some tick spray and wiped my face with baby wipes to remove my sweat and their salt deposits. By this time in the day it was scorching out and as I started to pour the staged cold hydration formula into my vest flasks plumes of smoke (really steam) billowed out of my flask openings reaffirming what I felt in the “Prairies” just before. I was thankful they were behind me (or so I thought). I thanked my crew and told them I’d see them at mile 27 and headed out.
I emerged off the trail into a wide open clearing and the sun met me with beaming authority. I looked outward and realized quickly this had to be the prairie section! Oh crap! I kept running and told myself it would be over soon. From here, I slowly carved my way through the grassy inferno wishing clouds would appear or the forecasted rain would swoop in; but no such luck. Just then, a fly came and did one of those buzzing drive-bys near my ear drum, followed by a swift figure eight around my head. I had planned for the deer fly apocalypse and pinned a fly trap patch to the back of my hat before the race. The fly did another aerial assault dive bomb and the buzzing kept going directly behind me and then slowly faded away. I caught one on the trap! This would become a frequent occurrence for me, especially in this section of the course.
As I followed the runners ahead of me, I soon realized we were vacating the Prairies and entering into the IAT! We climbed a hilly section at Brady’s Rocks where boulders hugged the single track trail and towered above us making it hard to move through. Suddenly, one of the runners turned and started running towards me saying we took a wrong turn; we were off course! Sure enough, the yellow blazes (similar to a vertical dash mark) were nowhere to be seen on any nearby trees. Seeing yellow blazes meant you were on the Ice Age Trail. We backtracked our way out and eventually found where we went wrong. After going more than a half mile the wrong way and wasting some precious time, it was a relief to see both the yellow blazes and the yellow Ornery Mule flags flanking the right hand side of the trail.
I could hear the crowd from a distance and I knew I was close to the Highway 67 aid station which meant I was close to getting some relief from my crew. My Dad, sister Katie, niece Kennedy and my buddy Ben were there waiting for me. Once again, I took the same prescription: Tums, Tylenol, a McDonalds breakfast burrito, an ice cold Red Bull and applied sunscreen, some tick spray and wiped my face with baby wipes to remove my sweat and their salt deposits. The aid station had tubes of freezie pops which I consumed quick enough to give myself an ice cream headache. I took my hat off and did a double take at my deer fly collection that had grown over the last 8 miles. I poured cold water over my head, changed my shirt and put my hat back on. Ben had filled my hydration vest and gave me the next round of gels to take with me on my journey and I headed back out.
My core temperature finally felt cooler and I took to the trails refreshed. Out of left field a bug hit the back of my throat and I tried to clear it to no avail. Just then my gag reflex kicked in and a mild vomit dislodged the bug out of my mouth and onto the trail beside me. What a relief! I pushed onward for the next 5 miles through the Scuppernong loop ending at the trailhead where I met my next roster of crew all stars. My wife Kelsey Gonring, daughter Millie, Father in Law Tim, Mother in Law Vicki Weinberger my buddy Ben OK, my buddy Dustin Mayer and his girlfriend Denise Steele. My first official 50k was in the books and I celebrated with some much needed calories; a double butter burger with cheese from Culvers! I changed my shirt and switched to a bucket hat after painfully remembering that I had to hit the Prairies again on my way back in!
I was officially done with the outward portion and now I was on my way back. As the day grew longer my feet felt heavier and my quads took the brunt of the constant climbs. Descending a hill, I tripped on a rock and flew airborne lunging forward. I braced my fall with my hands to the ground but the momentum took me head over heels doing a front flip of sorts and landing on my back. The guy next to me helped me up and I sprung to my feet, slightly embarrassed over the fall and thankful to be ok, I kept trekking on.
By the time I hit the Prairies again, it was slightly cooler out and I was glad that I was wearing my bucket hat for optimal coverage. I embraced the suck and eventually made it out of there alive, eager to get to the next crew stop back at the McMiller Trailhead (mile 44). At this point my sister Amanda joined the crew party as she was set up to start pacing me from the Bluff at mile 56, but that meant I had a long 12 miles to go. It was great to see her and I really looked forward to her pacing me to the 100K mark. I ate some cold ramen noodles, refueled, changed my shirt, hat and buff and headed back out.
On my 12 mile journey back, I had few revelations. The first one was that I had assumed that I would be at the Bluff by 9pm, but if I didn’t make it there by then I would be in a tough spot because my headlamp and waist light were in my crew bin. Additionally, I realized that every mile I now ran became the furthest distance I had ever run and it was a great feeling when I hit mile 50. The sun slowly started to go down and that caused happiness and anxiety. I knew the cooler temps in the evening would soon be here, but I had to get to the Bluff before dark.
In the low level parts of the dense forest trail it seemed like the sun was already absent, but as I got closer to Bald Bluff, the lighter it became as I climbed higher and higher towards the sky. The familiar sound of the aid station generator and the cheers of people were getting closer. I pushed myself to the top of the Bluff and then rifled down it to the aid station where I met my crew just before 9pm. Amanda was ready to pace me with her gear good to go. I smashed a slice of Rocky Rococo’s pizza and chased it down with some chicken broth while Kelsey changed my socks. Ben and Amanda filled my hydration pack, stuffed my pockets with gels and off we went.
With darkness upon us, a new excitement invigorated my body and mind. I was only 7.4 miles to the 100k checkpoint at Nordic and got to spend those miles catching up with my sister. In retrospect, after this moment forward, I completely lost any concept of time. She and I shared some laughs and just enjoyed the trail. I walked more than I probably should have in this stretch back, but there were some huge hills on this segment and I was getting acclimated to the dark. About a mile out from Nordic near the 100k point we passed a girl hunched over and puking her guts out. She dug deep and belted out her cadence loudly. Just a blunt reminder to myself that if I didn’t keep up with my nutrition that could easily be me.
I reached the Nordic Trailhead where I started the race nearly 18 hours earlier and crossed the finish line checkpoint at the 100K mark. At this point, 100 mile registered runners were giving an enticing option if desired, to bow out and drop down to a 100k finisher or they could make their way south to the Rice Lake Trailhead with an out and back accumulating some 37 additional miles to reach the 100 mile mark upon crossing the finish line back at Nordic. I joked a few times while getting ready to head back out that we should just go to the bar instead. Alas, I laced up my boots, grabbed my trekking poles and took off back through the Nordic start line. The race MC yelled, “Hundred Miler Going Out”, and the crowd cheered.
For the next 14 miles, my buddy Ben would be my pacer. He would take me through Tamarack, the Bluff, Duffin Road and finally to the Highway 12 Trailhead aid station. Ben and I met at WIBA (Wisconsin Brick Adventures) while training for Ironman Wisconsin back in 2017 and have kept in touch since. He has done many ultras previously so I was glad he agreed to help. Ben and I talked about endurance sports, our goals, our gear and what’s next. The Tamarack Aid Station was decked out with a Hawaiian theme and multi-colored glow sticks lined both sides of the trail. They were so welcoming, helpful and hospitable. By this time I couldn’t eat another gel so I opted for the Ritz’s Handi-Snack pack; a familiar thing of my youth, while Ben snagged a bag of Gardettos. The first 7 miles seemed to take forever and mainly because it was the same 7 I just did previously, but in reverse order. We made it to the Bluff and my sister and my next pacer Scott were there crewing and waiting.
I switched to my waist light and that made a considerable difference to the visibility of the trail. Ben and I climbed to the top of the Bluff, but this time we got to take a left instead of a right at “Confusion Corner” and head south towards the Rice Lake segment. The next 6 miles were somewhat of a blur as we ran through technical switchbacks and steady climbs in the middle of the night. When we reached the Duffin Road aid station, I was drastically behind on gels and nauseous to the thought of sliding another one down my throat. Between the electrolyte hydration fluids, dabs of base salt and countless gels, my mouth was desert dry and my tongue akin to jerky. The aid station volunteers sold me on a tortilla roll-up filled with strawberry jelly that I washed down with some ice cold ginger ale. I feverishly ate two orange quarters and jumped back into the dark meandering wooded path. At one point, we passed a group of runners and they said “Good Morning”. I thought to myself, good morning, what time is it? It was 4 AM already which meant the sun would be up in just 1.5 hours! We got closer to the highway 12 aid station and the stars began to disappear as the sun started to climb.
The Highway 12 aid station became my crew’s “war room” to strategize the finish. My buddy Scott, and my sister Amanda were there waiting and we did our routine fill and fuel up. The smell of breakfast was in the air as the volunteers were crisping up bacon with potatoes and had coffee at the ready for us zombie runners. Amanda grabbed me some breakfast, some more orange quarters and Ben fetched a grapefruit La Croix for me from his stage vehicle in the Highway 12 lot. I addressed my chaffing in multiple locations with aquaphor and Scott and I took off to Rice Lake just prior to daylight.
Running the out and back Rice Lake segment with Scott was exactly what I needed. He and I have worked together for the last 11 years and also trained for Ironman Wisconsin together and beyond. This stretch was very difficult with steep vertical climbs and rough terrain packed with large rocks and tall manmade wood beam steps. These objects made footing hard to come by and it also meant I had to lift my legs higher to clear at a time where they had already been in constant motion for 24 hours. The harder the challenges the trail gave us though, seemingly the more laughs Scott and I had. Before long, the familiar sound of a generator was off in the distance and I could see the sun illuminating a body of water that I concluded to be Rice Lake.
Amanda was there patiently waiting with my gear and cooler as we “checked the box” of the race’s furthest mile South. The Rice Lake aid station was stocked with food and a lady who was volunteering was crisping up some fresh grilled cheese sandwiches. She pulled one off the flat top and insisted that I eat it. I happily obliged and ate it with satisfaction alongside a few more orange quarters. Amanda loaded my fuel and nutrition needs and said just a heads up, “You have 18 miles to get back to Nordic and 6 hours until cut off”. My mind didn’t process what she said and math was a foreign language to my brain at that point in time.
Scott and I ventured back out the way we came in and you could feel the earth below us start to rekindle its embers from yesterday’s fire as the morning sun rays danced on the soil around us. I knew Sunday was supposed to be nearly the same temps as the day prior and the last thing I wanted to do was to get caught in it while I closed the gap on 100 miles. I tried to pick up the pace, but seemingly the opposite direction of the trail we just did was even more difficult. The downhills were cumbersome with the rough terrain halting any momentum from the quick footwork prior to. This meant walking the steep uphills and walking the downhills for safety sake. Towards the last mile of the leg I was able to find some true runnable stretches that took us straight to highway 12.
When I got there, Kelsey, Amanda and Ben had everything ready to go. Amanda told me that if I kept the pace I was going plus the time for aid stations I would miss the cut off by 15 minutes. I knew that on the way back to the Bluff, I would have to dig deep to close the gap and hopefully, bank roll some time. Ben paced me from mile 86 to 93 and I gave it everything I had. I dropped a 15:39 minute mile, then a 12:33, a 15:53, 15:07 and 17:01 with time spent at the Duffin Road aid station to refuel and finally a 17:11 as we ran down the Bluff to the aid station. Ben texted the crew what my needs were and they had everything ready to pick up and go! We made up some considerable time and Amanda was ready to take me home, back to Nordic where I started this journey 93 miles earlier.
I was gassed from emptying the tank the last 7 miles, but I knew I had to use everything I had left to carry me to the finish. It was already late morning and the sun was raging early. Even though this was technically my second time back to Nordic, everything looked different. It was light out now and I realized almost the whole stretch back was exposed to the sun. Nordic is used in the winter months for cross country skiing so the trail was really wide and mostly unobstructed. I had no choice but to sweat it out. The climbs were torturous and every time I made it to the top, I had to catch my breath. I attacked the downhills fast and furiously to try to save more time. When we reached the last aid station at Tamarack I guzzled down some iced ginger ale, put some ice down my buff and under my hat and took 2 cups of ice with me. The ladies at the aid station pumped me up. They said, “You are going to finish and get your 100 mile buckle on a very tough course on a super hot day. There aren’t many of you in this race that get to say that. You got this.”
We headed out and took the remaining 5.1 miles one at a time. Run, walk the hills, and run the flats and the downs; repeat. What seemed like an eternity, the finish became a reality; I heard the crowd at Nordic and I laid eyes on the finish. Amanda and I stopped quickly so I could change my shirt. I put on my pink Under Armour tech tee for cancer awareness. I had worn that shirt 8 years previous at my first marathon that was dedicated to my mom who was in the throes of battling cancer at the time. She passed away a year and a half ago and it was important to me to cross the finish line wearing that shirt in memory of my mom. My sister paced me to the bottom of my last hill and ducked out to join the crowd and I ran it home to finish what I had started. My family and crew were there waiting for me and the race director expressed her congratulations and handed me my buckle. I became an ultra marathoner that day at the 50k mark, a 50 mile ultra runner, a 100k ultra runner and then finally a 100 mile finisher! I later learned that out of the 239 registered runners only 67 of us finished the 100 mile race in less than 30 hours!
A big thank you to all the volunteers and organizers of the Kettle Moraine 100. Thank you to the Ornery Mule Racing event team, this group on the Kettle Moraine 100 endurance races Training Group and my entire crew for all your support. I could not have done it without you
Kettle Moraine 100, situated in the western side of Wisconsin near the city of Whitewater, was my second attempt at a 100 miles race, after Leadville in 2019. Besides the much lower altitude and the overall setting, there are some similarities between both courses: prairie, pine trees, single tracks, and an identical cut off time of 30 hours. Kettle is 'supposed' to be a more approachable course for a first 100 miler, is a Midwestern classic, and it has an excellent reputation in terms of organization. So when it was confirmed for 2021 after being postponed in 2020 due to Covid, I was very much looking forward to it. Wherever I've been running (in France, Luxembourg, or Portugal), races are excuses for tourism for my wife and I, and this was a way to discover a part of Wisconsin that we had not explored before. I wanted to see the Kettles!
The preparation went well overall (first full winter in Wisconsin!) as I was able to start a more specific program back in April, after the snow cleared and it was possible to run outside more consistently. Going into the event, I felt that my legs were strong, and I was confident that my they would not be the problem. The unknown for me was how my digestive system would react in high temperatures, and I knew that things were going to get hot. So I spent training time testing different types of nutritional strategies, including mixing gels and solid food, the type of drinks to include, supplement, etc. In the end, I decided to keep my drinks limited to electrolytes. The calories would come from gels and food, and the sodas I could get from the aid stations. For gels, I decided to use a mix of 2 brands with different consistencies and flavors (SiS and Spring).
As far as race strategy was concerned, I knew that I needed to avoid overheating to have a chance to finish (which was the only goal). So I was prepared to follow the advice from local runners reports, i.e., don't start to fast, don't hesitate to power hike when needed, give these small yet persistent hills the respect they deserve, etc.. I prepared a large hat that could handle the sun and the bugs, and a belt where I could put ice. I also came up with what I thought was an elaborate spreadsheet to project my pace. The fun part is that I think in kilometers, but I kept the data in miles, and that ended up being not so funny during the race.
The morning of the race, at 6am, the weather apps were showing a temperature in the 60s and 100% humidity. Sweating came easily and quickly, and by the time I reached the Tamarak aid station, I was already drenched - did I mention that I sweat profusely? I kept to my plan and took it easy, avoided following other runners' rhythm as much as possible so that I would not get carried away, monitoring my breath and ability to speak. Getting to Bluff felt fine, but the signs that this was going to be an extra long day was already showing up. My expected comfortable pace was slower than what I wanted, and I was power hiking more than I thought I would be going into Horseriders aid station. My focus was getting to McMiller aid station where my drop bag and crew (my lovely wife) were expecting me, and to get a refill of energy. Before that, Natalie's new aid station was a gift that gave me a jolt going through the small stretch of prairie, but getting to McMiller seemed much longer than I was expecting (and the shooting range is definitely loud!). I was hot, slow, and barely 30 miles into the race. I had already passed runners that were not doing well, and was getting worried that I might be next. Thankfully, when I reached McMiller, it was an oasis of fun and joy. I took time to refill my products and ice, and get a bit of mental fortitude.
The next section to Wilton Road aid station was actually a good transition to the prairie and getting to the Highway 67 aid station. I have not mentioned it before, but I'm actually a slow runner overall, and especially on flat terrain, and so the bumps and holes under the grass do not favor my clumsy style. Trying to be consistent and steady, and running whenever possible, I made my way to Wilton Road, where I liked the special brand of optimism displayed by the volunteers. I took the advice from one of them and decided to power hike my way until the wooded area. That's when I noticed that even walking was slow! Where was my brisk pace from the training runs of the last few weeks? Nowhere to be seen! By the time I reached Hwy 67, my body temperature was even hotter and I really needed the ice and cold water gun that the volunteers were shooting at me to get out for the last stretch of the first 50K. Also, my crew (my lovely wife) was waiting for me, which was a surprise as we had initially agreed to meet at the Scuppernong aid station. This surprise really helped boost my morale, and I went on towards Hwy ZZ aid station. I enjoyed that section's profile and single trail, busy crossing with other runners, encouraging each other with the usual 'good job' smile or gesture, which gives courage and makes you believe in yourself a bit more (even though I was not convinced that I 'got this' at that time). Getting to Hwy ZZ, I realized that I had not done my homework properly and that Scuppernong…was 2 sides of one coin. "Just a 5 mile loop, this way…". Right! That five mile loop must be a delight in any another context, but on that specific day, I did not enjoy it one bit. I felt glued in a greening mesh of heat and humidity. At any other time, the switchbacks are probably so much fun, but after over 8 hours in the race, I found it difficult to know where I was, where things began and ended, and how long 5 miles can really be. That's when the math hole I put myself in uncovered itself - I could not figure out from the kilometers on the watch how many miles it meant, if I was late, and this was a mind twister. Making it to Scuppernong was a relief ! I changed shoes and shirt, my pacer had arrived in the area so we had a quick chat. The temperature felt a bit better. At that moment, my mind was split between some vague hope that it could still end well, and the disheartening fact that I had to go back all the way to Nordic aid station, where I began!
The inbound part of the course was a long, slow descent towards the dark side of the running world. I knew I was late, but for some reason could not figure out by how much. My stomach was officially saying "no" to anything that would have otherwise looked good. My feet where happily splish/splashing despite the new socks and shoes. And it was hard to come to terms with the fact that I was not even halfway through! That's when the mind goes numb, in a daze, and that things happen on automatic mode. I remember getting to McMiller and thinking 'huh, I'm back'. I was able to pick up my pacer, and we slowly made our way back to Bluff. My walking pace had dropped to the 18mn/mile range, with effort, and I was able to keep it steady and move forward. When we finally made it to Nordic, it was pitch dark, but I can still see the red numbers of the clock marking 18:30…and somehow I remembered that I should be out of Bluff already! My sinking feeling was confirmed when my wife told me "You're late, don't know if they'll let you back out." At this point, it would have been easy to sit down and let it go. For some reason, I did not, and instead when to talk to the RD. "Hi…I just came in, can I go back?". She gave me a solid look for a few seconds, and then said "You look strong…you're going to make up some time, right? Go ahead".
While I did not feel strong at all, I said thank you and got ready to leave before she changed her mind. So around 12:40ish, my pacer and I went back out into the dark, mostly walking, some slow running, doing our best to keep moving forward. At this point, I doubted that I had any real chance of making it back in time, and was kind of in between moods, until we hit Tamarak outbound. The volunteers there would not have any of it: "#16, you look strong! You've got this! Keep moving! Don't stop too long at the aid stations! You're going to finish! Come back and see me tomorrow so I can tell you 'I told you so!'" While it did not help my hurting legs, it did my mind and it supported me to Bluff. From Bluff to Duffin Road was actually not such a bad stretch, as the weather had cooled down and I did not find the path too difficult. I actually enjoy moving at night, so this was comforting. At Duffin, we got the same message again: "you need to make it to Rice Lake by 6:30am for the return, otherwise…". Ouch! Needless to say, we did not make it on time. The stretch to Hwy 12 was probably the slowest - I got really tired, and it took a real effort to keep moving. We got there by 6:15 and another 4ish miles to go to Rice Lake. And I almost stopped. I sat down, paused the watch, and told my crew (my lovely wife): "Why don't you ask the AS Captain what she thinks". Between us, I was looking for an excuse to stop. But when she came back, I heard "she said you can go"! Arrggghhh…really? I can't say no! What's another 4 miles…ok, what the heck. Let's go! And all of a sudden, here we are, climbing the uphill past Hwy 12, on our way to Rice Lake. It was a beautiful stretch of a single track and for some reason we went a bit faster - maybe it was the sun coming up or that my stomach was finally settling down. Towards the end, we saw a couple of teams coming back. They were almost as late as we were, not much faster, but were still going. I was wondering if I was going to stop, or continue if I was allowed. Ten minutes before the aid station, I still could not figure out the answer.
Finally, Rice Lake. We crossed a small bridge and the volunteers cheered us like we were leading! As I sat waiting for word that this was the end, I heard some strange words: "the sweepers are ready, they'll go with him and close the trail, does he want to go?". That woke me up! You see, I have a history with sweepers. In Portugal, that was my specialty - finishing with the sweepers! They are usually super nice, full of energy, patient, and get you going to the end. I figured this was a sign that I could not ignore. Yes, that meant another 17 miles back to Nordic, but it meant 'finishing', actually going the distance! While my pacer had to stop, I decided to give it a go. With two super nice and strong lady sweepers picking up the flags while chatting without interruptions as my back up, I slowly but surely made it back to Nordic, wrapping my up first 100 Mile distance in the modest time of 33:45h. Despite the heat, my legs, my stomach, and my doubting brain, I completed the course. I did stop by Tamarack where I was told "I told you you would make it back!" by the volunteers that waited for us despite the late hour on Sunday. We finally got to a deserted Nordic aid station, with some very kind people holding the banner for me. Dead last! But finisher!
FINISH TIME: 33:54:43
I'm absolutely delighted that I finished. When I think about what made the difference, the philosophy of the RD (kindness, community & ordinary people doing extraordinary things) is what comes to mind. The kindness of the volunteers and their energy made me believe in myself when it would have been easy to find excuses to stop. My crew's (my lovely wife) presence and steady support was the other factor: never judging, patient, and listening. In terms of learning and analysis, the following comes to mind:
• What did not work well: my pacing strategy (too ambitious on paper and underestimating the time I needed in the aid stations); my time management was weak overall; my understanding of the distance (with the kilometers/miles snafu); and having only one pacer (vs. 2 or 3). All things that can be fixed.
• What went well: not overheating and moving forward; nutrition and hydration went great; despite some queasiness, I finished being able to eat, thanks to having found the right mix of gels balanced with solid food, with no calories in the drinks; the physical preparation, which carried me well despite the heat and conditions; and my mind, which did not give up and kept pushing until the end.
Thank you, and see you guys in other events!
Runners must be diligent not to go out too fast. This section is wide, beautiful, and gentle with less than 400 feet of elevation gain. The first 2.5 miles are flat and adrenaline will carry the pack swiftly under the luscious tree cover and allow for sorting out an order ahead of any single-track. The stretch from mile 2.5-3.5 has been closed up until race time to support conservation work, so users need to detour around it on the other loops of the system. These trails are closed to foot traffic when there is snow on the ground and are groomed for cross country skiing. The trails normally re-open in March. There is a wonderful system of multi-use mountain bike trails located directly across the street.
However, this same section doesn’t feel flat at all on the way back inbound, so runners ought to give it the respect it deserves – especially that section 2.5-3.5 out from Nordic!
The Tamarack aid station is at the end of a straight tree-lined stretch just ahead of a short climb for outbound runners, making it the perfect place to grab a snack and make adjustments. Runners will never see it, but they’re just across the road from S&R Egg Farms, a third-generation family operation with multiple locations. This location has a capacity of 800,000 hens. The 2.5 miles or so from this aid station to the next is also fast and flowy with only around 200 feet of elevation gain, including some short open sky sections, and another beautiful pine forest. Runners will have enjoyed a total 7.5 miles on Nordic’s blue loop. The loop is 9 miles around in total, and has mileage signs every half mile. The signs will be facing runners on the inbound legs and come seemingly slowly at that point.
After runners have been able to warm up and sort themselves out in order for 7+ miles, they’ll leave the Nordic loop, and cross Bluff Rd to visit the Aid Station in a wide-open grassy area. They will take a short single-track connector to meet up with the Moraine Ridge Snowmobile trail. That trail runs 32 miles from near the North end of our racecourse all the way to near the South end of our course, but today our runners will only be on it this very short while before approaching Confusion Corner. Confusion Corner is where Moraine Ridge and the Ice Age Trail cross in a fashion that can leave folks confused on which way they would like to go if left unguided. On the first way out, approximately 8 miles in, runners will head straight to hop on Ice Age Eastbound.
This is the toughest leg with over 700 feet of elevation gain (approximately 160 feet of gain per mile). Runners will enjoy running along a high ridge with a long view to the Northwest before winding around and down to cross Young Road. They’ll enjoy another flat half mile or so before climbing Bald Bluff also known as Indian Signal Hill. At 1,050 feet, Bald Bluff is one of the highest points in Jefferson County. Its prominence made it attractive to Native Americans, pioneers, and the U.S. military during the Black Hawk War. Runners will see some black skeletons of trees from a controlled burn this spring, meant to reinvigorate the natural prairie plants. The Black Hawk War ended on August 2, 1832, at the Battle of the Bad Axe just north of Prairie du Chien. The Black Hawk War was the last major Indian war in Wisconsin. Rapid settlement of the Kettle Moraine region followed. It’s a steep hike on medium sized stones, but doesn’t take too long, and the runners will be treated to a gorgeous overlook at the top. From there, they’ll proceed 1.5 miles on single track to the Stone Elephant – a massive granite erratic. While there is the most elevation change in this leg, there are also fast and flowy stretches, and entirely shaded. There is a wonderful downhill approach to the Horseriders aid station (which is a grueling climb on the way inbound). Horseriders is a very popular camping spot all summer long with access to many beautiful equestrian trails in the Kettle Moraine State Forest Southern Unit.
100-mile runners on their second outbound approach and fun-runners will turn left at Confusion Corner to head out on Ice Age Westbound (jump to Duffin Rd AS for next notes on this).
After refueling, Horseriders to Natalie’s New Aid station is a quick 5K averaging less than 100 feet of elevation gain per mile, mostly shaded, with beautiful wildflowers lining the single-track path. Emma Carlin has rugged looped hiking and mountain biking multi-use trails with tight switchbacks, rocks, and roots, and the parking lot fills early in the morning on delightful summer days, so that’s why we’re not setting up an aid station there anymore. Emma is a wonderful spot to visit with pit toilets and drinking water available. Our runners will be refilling their water at the road crossing in between full aid stations at Horseriders and McMiller.
Runners will enjoy 1-2 miles on the Stoney Ridge Segment of the Ice Age Trail before spurring off onto the trails of the McMiller Sports Center. The first mile is open prairie, which should be fast on the way out, but hot on the way back. It is a real treat having a race at McMiller, because the trails are not mowed during summer otherwise. This section off the Ice Age is new to the course this year. McMiller is best-known for the shooting range, which may alarm runners being in earshot of, and cross-country skiing. There are many loop options and locals find amusement in often getting lost at McMiller, despite how well the loops are marked. Runners will pass the approach to “big hill” which offers a panoramic Western view of the sunset. McMiller is very hilly, but also fast with comparatively few rocks and roots underfoot.
After being treated to the full hospitality of the Ten Junk Miles podcast crew in the shelter under the tall pines at McMiller and swapping out gear from drop bags, runners will cross the road onto McMiller’s biathlon course for a short while, before connecting with the Eagle Horse Trail. This is new to the course also. The horse trail has stretches of deep, loose, fine sand. It may also have equestrian traffic, which always has the right of way. Between sandy stretches, the surface is mostly rocky, with some decent climbs and descents, but also mostly shaded. It will be a slower section for many. Veteran Kettle runners will return to familiar sights just south of Hwy 59 as they cross the train tracks and rejoin the Ice Age Trail outbound. Crossing the tracks outbound begins a very fast section in cool weather, but has grown an infamous reputation for how hot it can be on the return stretch in typical hot afternoon conditions. Runners cross a short section of private land that is available only by the kindness of the property owners. Highway 59 to Highway N is 1.4 miles of rather flat meadow, followed by a one mile stretch of wooded trail approaching Wilton Rd.
Runners will want to restock their fluid supply and enjoy a snack at the exposed Wilton Rd aid station, because they have over two more miles of open prairie ahead of them before retreating into woods for the entirety of the Northern end of the course. This section has several boardwalks and turtles were spotted within the last week laying their eggs. It is typically very wet in Spring, but this has been an exceptionally dry year. Runners will have a view of Brady’s Rocks in their final mile approaching the Highway 67 aid station – our small bit of evidence of the Niagara Escarpment.
The distance from Highway 67 to Highway ZZ is only two miles, but they pack a punch outbound after so long on relatively even terrain in the meadows. The return trip inbound is fast with a noticeably net loss in elevation after climbing up from the Hwy ZZ aid station. Many runners will be hitting ZZ at lunch time, along with being early in the 50K race, so those volunteers have their work cut out for them. This section is heavily shaded and beautiful.
From Highway ZZ, runners will enjoy 5.1 unique miles as a single loop before heading inbound the way they came. They’ll start on horse trail under tall pines and meet back up with the Ice Age Trail for approximate 1.5 miles. This section has steep, tight switchbacks. There is a hiker logbook at the top of a long climb to sign in and enjoy a break on the bench if desired. They’ll then meet up with the Scuppernong Green Hiking Trail and complete the remaining 3.5 miles of it counterclockwise. The loop is wide ski trail and heavily shaded. This is one of the few loop trails in the area that is no longer groomed for cross country skiing, making it a welcoming haven for runners year-round. Scuppernong is a wonderful place to celebrate being 50 kilometers into the day’s journey. Runners will then cross the road back to the Highway ZZ aid station.
This begins the leg unique to the 100-milers and 38-mile fun-runners and is not part of the 50K or 100K course. Here they’ll turn left at Confusion Corner and head Southwest. This section is relatively flat and fast West of Highway H, and runners can enjoy a welcomed break here under tall pines. They’ll run around the backside of the John Muir Hiking and Biking Trails. There is a reservable primitive shelter for hikers near Duffin Road, and a stream alongside the trail when there’s not a drought.
This stretch has several climbs and descents along the way, and a wonderful variety of plants and scenery to take in. There are slow climbs and fast flowy parts too, and it’s all single track. Runners will enjoy many views of Lake LaGrange as they run most of the way around it, getting very close to the water’s edge on the Northern side of the lake. Once they get around the lake, they’ll start a wooded climb and descent to get to the Highway 12 aid station, which is a popular lot for locals because of being located on a US Highway and its large size.
Most runners will be experiencing this, the Whitewater Lake Segment of the Ice Age Trail, in the dead of the night. It is arguably the most technical section of the course and will be slow-going. It is a gem to visit during daylight hours and worth a visit back to the area to see. There are views of Rice Lake from a distance, views of the city of Whitewater, and an iconic tree tunnel among other favorite spots. There are wood beam stairs in a few locations to prevent erosion on the steep elevation changes. An airplane landed on this section in May, closing the trail for approximately one week until it was air-lifted out by a larger plane. No one was injured. However, what most of our runners will see are lots of large roots and rocks underfoot. They will delight in the respite of the Rice Lake aid station, but then have to turn around and do it all over again inbound.
We are excited to introduce our Volunteer Coordinator, Michelle “with two Ls” Curcio. We have found she has a passion for this position, experience and a beautiful personality! We are so lucky to have her. We asked her a few questions to help you get to know her.
Favorite treat at the end of a race: Beer! I’ve also been known to want to sign up for an event just for the post-race lasagna dinner.
Favorite trail food: dried mango and fig bars
Started running: I was in track in high school, but I didn’t start long distances until I had kids. I was pregnant when I signed up for my first long distance run, a marathon. I ran Chicago Marathon 5 months after I gave birth!First trail race: Hateya Run in Petrified Springs Park. There was a segment where you go through Pike River at the end, and I fell in. I got to the finish, and a fellow runner/total stranger gave me his towel to dry off. That act of kindness was one of many things that drew me to trail running.
Kids/Spouse: I’m married to my high school sweetheart, Jeff, for 15+ years now, and we have two daughters, Morgan is 13 and Jessa is almost 10.
What I like about volunteering/crewing: My sister is a big trail runner, and I got involved in crewing for her at some pretty cool events. My favorite part is taking their minds off difficult parts of the race by being totally silly. For one of her first ultras, I made huge signs for each aid station that we could go to. They were everything from funny puns to quotes from her favorite movies. She still has them plastered up in her basement! I’m glad I can brighten someone’s day and show my support for such amazing feats of strength the athletes go through!
Michelle “with two Ls” Curcio
Waitlist: Our goal is to make sure we have a race this year. It is important to us that we have the race, so we have self-capped at a much lower number than in previous years. We do not want the race being too large to be a cause to have to cancel. This is the reason many races had to cancel last year.
We are being very cautious.
We want to have a race. If you did not make the race, we can sure use some more volunteers. If you would like to volunteer please send our Volunteer Coordinator an email: loretta.ornerymuleracing@gmail.com
Rollovers: We have completed all rollovers. As we stated in our emails, anyone that never made a choice by February 1st will consider your entry a gift and send you an early invite for 2022.
7/20/2021- We sent an email to all registered runners letting them know that we had to cancel the race due to COVID-19. 95% of our entrants opened this email.
This is a list of choices runners were given
No cost rollover to the 2021 race- we will send an invite and code to pay for you to register
No cost rollover to 2022 race- we will send an invite code to pay for you to register
50% refund by check in the mail and we will send you an early invite to register for 2021 or 2022
Donate entry fee to race to help us continue with the quality of event. We will send you an early invite to register to guarantee a spot for the next two years.
12/1/2021- We listed on website that we would be working on getting everyone registered for the 2021 race. That all runners were required to register on ultrasignup with the invite we would send them. We said that if you did not see an email come in or your email had changed then to reach out and we would take care of you.
We had a deadline to get registered by February 1st but extended it to February 19th in our best effort to get people registered. Our deadline stated that if you did not register or make a choice by that date then we considered your choice was a donation.
12/11/2021- We sent an email to all registered runners and let them know if they would like to change their mind and switch to 2022 race rollover they had that option. We did this because it allowed runners to get a better feel of the state of our country and how safe they would feel in an event. If someone had made a choice in July to run in 2021 and now felt they did not feel safe, this gave them the option to change their mind.
December 28th-
We sent an email to all runners that chose to run in 2021 an invite to officially sign up for the race. The email included a link that you needed to click and sign a 2021 waiver and you were now officially registered for the race
450 people did this and got registered for the race from the invite we sent them.
Periodically I looked at the email data to see who had not opened the invite or used it. I would resend this email to anyone that had not done either of these steps.
We made various posts on social media to let people know these emails had been sent to get registered for the race.
February 19th- We kept the option to use this invite open until February 19th, 2021. At that point, we shut down the option to rollover and considered anyone that had not signed up or made a choice a donation.
I have already told DNR our race final numbers at this point so there is nothing I can do for this year.
From our very first email that we cancelled the race we said that you would need to watch for an email to get re-registered for the race in December/January time frame. Then we extended keeping registration open through February 19th. We have to be able to communicate by email and we can see on our end that 95% of the people opened our emails sent. We have record of all emails.
We also listed all we were doing on the front page of our website from December 1st to February 19th. We posted it on our Kettle FB and Kettle training page. We worked very hard to get people successfully registered for this year and 450 people did this. The only people we let into the race this year were rollovers from last year.
I will take your request into consideration for 2022. We have spent a lot of office work hours on getting people rolled over at no cost when our race waiver said there was no refunds under any circumstances.
Thank you so much for your donation. With your help we were still able to make a donation to Ice Age Trail Alliance for $3,000.
Tanya Eggert
Kimberly Auth
Angela Barbera
Brad Birkel
Benjamin Ewers
Jeff Goodmanson
Tammy Hellings
Ryan Heywood
Andy Hurd
Aurora Lemay
David Mentjes
Kurt Neumann
Tom Pearce
Anna Przybylski
Mary Simon
Tate Whitlinger
Brenda Campbell
Butch Darsow
Jose Delatorre
James Feeny
Dominic Guinta
Lisa Guinta
Ryan Juza
Thomas Kifowit
Laura Phillips
Valerie Thompson
Curt Whitacre
Keith White
Katie Binhack
Nicole Diedrick
Carter Dodd
Scott Gerretse
Doug Herrick
Ed Mathein
Dave McCollough
Eric Sevick
Lisa Wilson
Kimberly Atkins
Blake Boeing
Joseph Cichon
Jeff Conzelmann
Tom Conzelmann
James Ivan
Joseph Ivan
Joseph Monahan
Julie Schroeder
Briana Weber
2020 Race Shirt- Sugar Skull artwork by Leslie Mitchell. She is the same artist that designed our logo. We are excited that the shirt are Ornery Mule Racing brand!
Kindness is Cool!
We are looking for models of every size. Send us a message if you are interested. We ask you stop by the Ornery Mule Racing Trailhead to have your photo taken. We will share photos online so runners will have a better idea if they ordered the right size shirt. We want to make sure everyone gets a shirt that fits them. You deserve it!
Kettle 100 aid station- it was hosted by the RDs for Grandmasters Ultra- Dan & Beiyi. They packed this up then went and ran Duffin Road aid station all night long. I returned the favor by helping at their race this year.
By Michele Hartwig- RD
I am always excited to learn about the latest and greatest ultra gear. This month I discovered the best night time running light ever! The Kogalla UltRA light.
I learned about it while volunteering at an aid station at Grandmasters Ultra Marathon in Arizona. Beiyi and Dan are the RD’s. I had seen the light on the trails before but while working the aid station I got to hear about Kogalla directly from the runners using it on the course.
Grandmasters Ultras is for anyone that is over 50. It was full of runners like Catra Corbet, Gordy Ainsleigh, Tor Gudmundsen, (who won the race 100 mile race with a time of 18:43) wearing the Kogalla UltRA light coming through my station.
Catra Corbett was wearing the Kogalla Ultra Trail light
I kept seeing these runners wearing the Kogalla UltRA Trail light. They were all telling me it was the best light they ever owned. With this veteran line up of runners, their high praise caught my attention.
Kogalla Ultra Trail light
I tested the light on course and was sold to order my own.
How does the Kogella UltRA Trail Light work? Notice the design of multiple lights. In a traditional light all the energy going to one light causes it to heat up. This results in the light changing brightness from high to dim. The Kogalla UltRA light brightness stays consistent because it does not heat up. It is easy to attach it to a vest, waist pack, hat, or where ever it would work best for you.
DISCOUNT FOR OUR RUNNERS: We wanted our runners to enjoy the benefits of this amazing light and reached out to the fine crew at Kogalla. They generously offered a discount code. Good for 15% off. Use Code: OrneryMuleRacing
The Kogalla Ultra light in action on a dark night
Gordy taking a short rest on his way to a 100 mile finish. These Veteran runners know a good trail light!
Here is some photos of the Kogalla Ultra light attached to a vest and waist pack. We personally use the RA single pack 3 for 100+ events!
We are very excited to be working with Erica McCarrens. She has been busy painting Kettle Moraine 100 trail artwork. We will use one of these pieces for our race bib, and another will be used for our Overall and Age Group awards. We wanted to give you a chance to get to know her!
Tell us about how you started painting? I started painting when I was in 4th grade. I got a set of oils for my birthday, and painted a terrible landscape. I had no idea you cleaned oils with mineral spirits, and ended up throwing away all my brushes in frustration.
Fast forward to 2001, I accepted a generous scholarship from the Memphis College of Art. An odd choice for me, having grown up in Chicago-land, and never even giving Memphis a thought in my life. I didn’t even realize Elvis was from here! I graduated as Valedictorian with a BFA in 2006.
What kind of art forms do you do? I do all kinds of art, but my favorites are these site-specific illustrations, and large paintings of paths that lead to a bright light. I love connecting with my viewers. Many people ask what my art means, but that’s my story. I want to hear the stories that come to my audience’s minds.
You are registered for Kettle 38 mile run, but you have a trail race coming up. Can you tell us about your race? Yes! A beautiful, glorious, muddy, rainy, cold 50k trail race in Memphis TN! It is my first ultra run, and my husband and I are running it together. We completed our first marathon in December and immediately registered for 3 more races. Like any good ultra noob, I’ve over packed and over prepared.
Tell us what inspired you to do the Kettle Moraine 100 artwork? My inspiration for Kettle Moraine started with just looking at the landscape and race photos. But I dove into the history of the trail, the maps, the route, the surrounding towns, and I felt like I was transported there. It has been one of those projects that is more love than labor, and I found myself pouring over it 9 hours a day.
This marriage of my 2 favorite things in life is like a dream come true. I started running during my husband’s first long stent away in the military, as a way to de-stress and clear my mind. But I quickly realized that running also cured artist’s block, and I started painting better than ever. My friend introduced me to trail running, and slowly, my art started to morph into trail landscapes with majestic canopies. So, in short, I run to paint and I paint my runs. I am so honored to paint images of Kettle Moraine. I wish all the runners, volunteers, coordinators and director all the luck and love!
Scroll through to see some of the amazing designs she has created for us!
We get our race permit from Department of Natural Resources. They are the agency that owns and maintains the trail our race is on. They are big supporters of the race and love welcoming all the runners.
We met with them in May before this years race. During our meeting we were confirming 2020’s race date. They explained to us that the 1st weekend of June is National Trails Day. It is free for people to park that weekend. The DNR does this with a goal of attracting new people to the trail. Over the years they have been getting push back from people visiting on “free day” because the trail is busy with runners. We want to make sure everyone has a great trail experience. Our goal is to respectfully share & care for the trail. DNR gave us a few choices for the race date, June 13th and June 20th. We felt June 13th worked best with all the races surrounding ours.
Heather Moore
I was BOTH excited and nervous when Michele asked if I would design this years Kettle 100 shirt. Excited because I love the challenge as well as the race. I’ve spent many years at Kettle 100, either running the Night Run, pacing, or crewing. It’s one of my favorite weekends of the year. The nervousness came from the worry of being able to create just a few months after losing my best friend, Logan Polfuss. This was also his favorite race... and also a weekend that he loved coming home from Colorado to visit with all his dear friends. I quickly realized that I needed this wonderful opportunity very much. So, i took it on....
I knew early on that I would connect with my friends within our Ultra Running community. Angela Barbera, who has competed in the Kettle 100 many times, (This year will be 13!!) was the first person I contacted to get an idea of what “Kettle 100/Kettle Race weekend” meant and looked like to her. “Looking up at the sky at night, Heather”, was the first response from her. In speaking with others, it was so evident how the prairie, the night sky, HUGE moon, and the lush green of spring was the first that was expressed. There is so much passion within the runners to begin with...and, to hear the love for the race surroundings and all that serves as emotional and physical strengths while trying to persevere for something they trained their A**** off for....was BEYOND inspirational to me.
Michele’s daughter Tasha models a sample we had made.
I want to thank Michele for the opportunity. Michele’s trust in my creativity was an honor, to say the least. Thank you to Kurt Olinger for his “Concert Poster” inspiration, Jesse Santoro and Mikki Albiero from Homeward Bound Tattoo for helping me and creating the initial outline of my idea, and Jason Harris for pushing me forward with my crazy, bold design. Lastly, thank you to the those friends who allowed me to bounce around color ideas. I am grateful for the creation of the race shirt. I feel that Logan would be proud and excited...and, I believe with my whole heart that it was him that led me to the final piece. I want to wish the BEST of luck to all the runners in all the different distances! What an AMAZING RACE this is!!
Heather Moore
#LLL
Hanging on a tree at Scuppernong aid station
Leslie Mitchell is a regular on the Ornery Mule Racing design team. She is a graphic designer at Mitchell Design Link. Leslie has done an amazing job understanding the personality & history of Kettle Moraine Endurance races, and bringing that story to the art design.
Leslie’s Hobbies include-
Running- she is famous for getting great jumping shots during races
Comedian- Leslie performs regularly at Comedy Sportz- Quad Cities
Kettle Moraine Buckle Design Inspiration- Leslie tells the story of Kettle Moraine 100 in the buckle. The color is copper, to represent the classic Kettle. The topographical elevation design is actual design from a Kettle map. The pines are represented as a favorite part of the trail for so many. The owl’s eyes are focused on the race, and getting to the finish line. You can feel the determination in them to run through the day and night to get to the finish line. The runners will have that same focus on race day.
Pictured is the sub 24- 100 mile buckle. It is larger in size then the 100 mile finisher buckle. We will post pictures soon of the other buckles.
Thank you Leslie for all your hard work in this design. You are a gifted artist, and we sure appreciate you sharing that gift with the trail runners here in Heartland, USA!
Heather Handley Moore is a trail enthusiast, and Wisconsin based artist. We are honored she is designing our 2019 race shirts. She has spent the winter hand drawing the design. It is beautiful already, we can not wait to see the finished art. All the runners are very lucky to get to wear one of her original art pieces.
Heather owns a art shop. Link to her shop
Everything Artistic
139 South 6th Avenue
West Bend, WI 53095
Leslie Mitchell from Mitchell Design Link took the classic Kettle Moraine 100 logo, and gave it new look. The owl now has center stage on this updated logo. Leslie has worked with Michele Hartwig and Ornery Mule Racing for many years. Leslie is an amazing artist, has a fun personality that shows up in her work, and is good friend of all of our team!
In Leslie’s spare times she runs, does triathlons, and is a performer/comedian at Comedy Sportz Quad Cities.
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