From that sea, a massive wave rears its head. Known as Tammany, it dominates the region like the powerful Lenape chief whose name it bears.
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| Mount Tammany from across the Delaware River Photo from Wikipedia |
The Tammany 10 is less a race than a challenge. The concept is simple. Two trails climb to the summit of Mount Tammany from the Delaware River: the steep and rocky Red Dot Trail and the slightly-less-steep-but-still-very-rocky Blue Trail.
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| Mount Tammany loop |
For normal people, climbing the Red Dot and descending the Blue makes for a scenic 3.3 mile day hike with about 1,200 feet of climbing.
Those who are
The resulting elevation profile looks like a fine tooth comb:
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| Tammany 10 elevation profile |
Tammany 10 is the premiere trail racing event in NJ, and likely the only true mountain race in the state. I had volunteered at the aid station there in 2017 and 2018, since grilling quesadillas by the Delaware River seemed like a much more enjoyable use of a Saturday than hauling myself up a mountain ten times. In 2019, my FOMO got the best of me and I finally signed up.
As is tradition...
I woke up on race day morning with a sore throat and my head in a fog. In what I hope will not turn into a pattern, I had picked up a cold a few days earlier, but it seemed to be subsiding. I downed a shot of DayQuil, popped a zinc supplement, and hoped that my daily bucket of coffee would put some pep in my step.The weather for the race was perfect... well, by my standards anyway. It was a brisk 24°F with 29 mile per hour winds. For those of you keeping score at home, that's a wind chill of 7°. For my stocky, prone-to-overheating body, that's as good as it gets. A light snow had fallen overnight, depositing just enough powder to make the course look pretty. I started the race with a thin long sleeve shirt, shorts, and gloves. I would go on to finish the wearing less than that.
At 6:35am, we set off on our challenge, 61
I quickly fell back to the midpack as runners surged around me on both sides. It took me a few minutes to regulate my breathing since my cold had left me a little congested. Thankfully trail runners are unfazed by snot rockets and obnoxiously loud throat clearing. After an all-too-brief runnable section, I took out my trekking poles and set to work on the mile long 1,019' ascent of the Red Dot Trail.
One of the nice things about Mount Tammany is that the climb has numerous vistas along the way, including a 180° panoramic view from the summit. I tried to remind myself to take in all of these sights during the climb, since the descent offers no chances to relax and look around.
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| View of Mt. Minsi from the summit of Tammany in 2018 |
Once at the summit, it was time to put our heads down and focus on the ground lest we become one with it. The descent is relentlessly steep and technical for about a mile, before leveling out at the banks of Dunnfield Creek.
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| A runner negotiating the felsenmeer at the summit Photo by Elizabeth Azze, Mountain Peak Fitness |
After tap dancing downhill for what felt like hours (I just checked - it was actually 13 minutes), I reached the creek and caught up to Mendy Gallo and Kathleen Cusick, two of the most badass ladies you'll ever meet. I knew I was pacing myself right if I was in their company. Together, we finished the descent and got to work on the second climb. They were both moving well, and their enthusiastic conversation helped pull me along the climb. We reached the summit together, and I pulled ahead for the second descent of the day.
And so the pattern for the day began. Climb, descend, and repeat.
After every second loop, we made a short out and back to the start/finish area to check in with the race directors and grab our nutrition. The aid station was staffed by NJ ultrarunners Alex Galasso and Steve Lange, the latter of which holds the second fastest Tammany 10 finishing time ever. Needless to say, these guys knew how to get runners in and out of the aid station with everything they needed. If you're reading this, thanks for your help!
Since the remaining loops all pretty much run together in my head, here are some highlights from later in the race:
- Seeing Mike Siudy just ahead of me and Mendy just behind me on every out and back. Too bad we didn't just run together since we all finished within a 20 minute window.
- Hearing "Ay girl, you look good in them shorts!" and looking back to find Jay Lemos lapping me late in the race, running in first place. He had finished 2nd overall three times in his prior four Tammany attempts.
- Chatting briefly with 2nd place runner Brian Rusiecki on one of the final laps and realizing that he was not going to catch Jay.
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| A very happy Jay Lemos after winning Tammany on his 5th attempt Photo by Elizabeth Azze, Mountain Peak Fitness |
Let's finish this thing up, shall we?
After running steadily all morning, I found myself at the base of the final climb. Only 3.5 miles and 2,400' of elevation change separated me from the finish. I had 57 minutes left to finish the loop if I was going to finish under my goal of 9 hours (okay, my A goal was to beat my buddy Ryan Espulgar's time of 8:45, but that wasn't going to happen).
If you've read my race reports before, you know the drill. Head down, ragged breathing, and probably a worse smell that usual. I wouldn't say that I red-lined on the final loop, but I was definitely orange-lining it, if that's a real thing. I didn't want to push myself too hard since I had a 100 miler in three weeks and I also didn't want to overexert while sick and end up passing out on the trail and having to be rescued.
After a 48 minute final loop, I jogged the final road section and crossed the finish line in 8:57:06, good for 7th place. Mike and Mendy both came in a few minutes behind me. Mendy had finished first woman, with the second fastest women's time in the history of the race! We quickly changed out of our gross racing clothes and spent the rest of the afternoon eating freshly grilled food, sipping on beer, and enjoying the sunshine.
Video from Mountain Peak Fitness (featuring Jay sending it! on his final descent)
You gotta pay the piper
It wasn't until I got home that night that I realized just how sick I was. It turns out that I had the flu (like, the actual kills-a-bunch-of-people-each-year flu), and the race effort inhibited my recovery quite a bit. I was up all night with chills and full body aches, and I didn't run for the rest of the week. So, I guess racing was a stupid decision. But sometimes you just have to send it!
On the bright side, this race gave me some confidence going into Hellbender 100. I had gone from 21st place after two loops to 7th place by the finish, and I had the smallest differential between my fastest and slowest double loop (6min 55sec).
Three weeks later, I would run the Hellbender 100. Stay tuned for more details.
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