this was DEFINITELY my biggest win ever. the feedback from the local running community also confirms that. people’s minds are blown.
i’ll summarize it here, instead of below.
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I wokeup at 04:50 AM. felt good but left calf felt tight still.
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Had a banana & orange juice at 05:00 AM.
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Left for the event at 05:25 AM.
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I got to the event at 05:45 AM.
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Rushed to drop off my bags (full of supplies) along the course, after the lap marker, near people’s tents
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Rushed to the bathroom, had to wait, got out of it at 05:57 AM.
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Rushed up to the start.
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Waited a few minutes, boom horn goes off.
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Go out at 7:3X pace or so.
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It felt easy so I just kept it going.
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During the very first mile, had to pee… ended up holding it the entire race. LMFAO.
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Luckily I never had to drop a #2
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Used my head lamp for about an hour. Worked good, felt fine.
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Left calf kept yelling at me, just randomly, as if it were about to strain/cramp.
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For the first two hours, I was mostly battling my calf, even though I was laying down solid laps (all under 8:00 min/mi total per lap).
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My calf eventually stopped complaining, it was amazing. I was still cautious of it but, that’s all I wanted… for it to just go away so I can relax more and have a great race.
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Around hour 2 I was running with one of the ultra marathoners who got 2nd OA last year. I know him. He kept telling me I was doing great and that I was in about 5th place. I was cracking up inside my head because, I knew I was in first. He had no idea. So I never let on I knew. Eventually we broke apart, then i saw him again later and he’s like “DUDE YOU’RE IN FIRST”. It was funny.
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During the first hour, people who knew me kept telling me to slow down. I’d joke with them and tell them i’m fine, just jogging.
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They really didn’t get what was going on.
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Towards hour 3, they started just showing more support instead of instructions, it was starting to set in that I was really competing to win it.
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I had rocks in my shoes for the entire run, accumulated from the rocky/mulchy trails. Sometimes it really sucked.
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At hour 4, somewhere at the start of the lap, I started feeling my stomach a little… I was worried about cramping from dehydration, so I finally caved in and told myself I will down a small bottle of gatorade at the end of the lap. So at 4h:10m, I had my first hydration/calories.
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After that hydration, I actually started slowing down. It felt good and helped my stomach, but it also signaled to me that I was out of a danger zone so I let off the gas → in order to play it a bit more safe and “coast out the W”. I figured after dropping sub8 min/mi pace for 4 hours, that I was basically untouchable if I kept it at sub10 min/mi. Which was actually accurate.
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Thing is however. I took in some more liquids every other lap. Each time probably wasting 1 minute, since I was drinking in place. Then wasted another minute looking for my hat (eyes were getting sunburned).
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Total all of that up, in addition to running at like 9:5X pace, and the 2nd overall guy who I had lapped, had now come back to me and was on my tail… AND I HAD NO IDEA.
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At ~4.5 hours or so, people I knew, and didn’t know, were really cheering me on now. Giving me extra support, trying to get me to stay focused and win it. At this point, it dawned on everyone that I could win this race.
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I had really slowed but I thought I was in a commanding lead.
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Some random guy blew by me, who wasn’t in the relay, and I started worrying that he was trying to catch me on a crazy lap. So, I actually picked it up a little to make sure he wouldn’t lap me. This turned out to be a very important move.
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As that lap was finishing, and i’m crossing into the crowd/timing/lap section, I hear: “Here comes our leader Andrew Darqui!!!”… i’m like yayyyy… then I hear: “and right behind him, is 2nd place, who finished 3rd last year. This is our closest race ever folks!!”
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I said to the announcer (who I knew): “yo, how far behind is he”… and he replies: “i dont know, like 2 steps?”
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I go what the fu*k… I turned my head, and almost in slow motion, I see this guy barreling down on me, no shirt with muscles popping out everywhere, and pure intensity in his face like he’s about to terminate me.
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I literally freaked out, as if I was scared shitless to lose, after racing for so long, and just hit the gas.
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I hit the gas… and hit the gas… and turned my head… and there he was trying to stick. Then we get to the big hill.
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I hit the gas, hard. Knowing this could wreck me.
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I get to the top of the hill, and my friend who was cheering both of us, stopped to whisper to me: “dude he’s closing on you HARD, GO”
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I freaked out once again, and just gunned it.
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Arms flailing, adrenaline flowing hard through my veins, just running as if my life depended on it. I did that for about a minute, turned my head, and no longer saw him. I dropped him.
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So I hit the gas harder and finished the last stretch at like 5:18 min/mi pace… Just crazy shit considering how long I had been running.
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My friend who whisper to me, told me after the race, that he also told the guy: “dude that kid is a miler, you have to go hard if you’re going to catch him, go” … which is cool, i’m fine with it. But I guess this is where that speed training i’ve done so much of this year, just became the difference maker in such a critical moment. He just didn’t have that gear at that point, or in general, because of his love for long endurance events. I had several gears, and tapped into every last one of them.
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It was a complete nightmare for me, to think I was about to lose after giving such a great performance.
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That nightmare was just something I didn’t want to have to cope with after the race, so I risked system failure in order to get it done.
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Once I crossed the line, I heard the cheers/announcement, and knew the victory was mine.
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It felt really good… better than any race victory i’ve ever experience. Nothing came close.
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I actually entered some state of “euphoria” which people were misinterpreting as me being dizzy/out of it etc… I imagine I was just glassy eyed and wobbling around, but I was just in awe of how that ended.
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I really thought i’d win this race… No one else did.
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What I didn’t expect, was how i’d have to win it. To win it like that, makes it something I will never forget.
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After the race I got some crazy respect… from like, everyone. It was nuts. People were shocked.
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At the awards, they announced “Andrew Darqui, who just made his ultra marathon debut.”
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Then my friend (who is a local legend), kept yelling “and sub5 minute miler!!”
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He kept yelling it, until the guy announcing it actually repeated it… then when the guy repeated it, my friend the local legend was basically like “im proud of you darqui” … he told me that alot.
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“you made us proud”
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I really pulled this one out of the hat today… lmao.
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Finally, as they are announcing the 2nd place guy … he comes up, i give him a bug handshake & congratulate him … and he actually turns it into a hug. He just gives me a huge hug, without saying anything…
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It was really intense and interesting.
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Now knowing that this guy is as beast as he is, it makes it even more interesting. I think we pushed each other pretty hard… and it was just some major respect from him to me.
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After that, I went to go get two milkshakes 
so ya… that was insane.
i’ve been amp’d up about it all day. big smile on my face… can’t wipe it off.
Ever since doing the relay last year, I knew I could win this thing. I was confident I would win it today, as long as I hit 40 miles. Instead, I had to hit ~42 miles to win it.
They take tons of awesome photos at this event so, i’ll have alot of content. I also have some videos, one by the event themselves: they told me they have my last finishing stretch.
Can’t think of anything else… if I do, i’ll re-edit and add it in.
what a day.
also, i didn’t drink fluids/have any calories etc until 4h10m. this might seem odd but, didn’t want to risk cramping up (sensitive stomach etc). so around that time, felt like i needed it, then started downing liquids.
only took 4 breaks, to drink fluids. i’m not comfortable running and drinking, so i stopped completely to drink gatorade etc. you can see this by the long lines. also not how long before the first long line… 4h10m before I first ingested some calories:
my fastest mile, of the ~42 miles, was the LAST one… that’s INSANE. can see this by the fastest estimated mile on the right. my last lap was also the fastest (lap = 1.24 mi):
