Arny Johnson 10

This was certainly one of the most interesting races of my life.

The odd thing is that it was supposed to be the exact opposite. See, prior to the Indy Mini in 2010, I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 in Washington D.C., and to this day, it is the best race I’ve ever run, finishing in 53:32. However, I never recaptured that same feeling the rest of the spring season, and in hindsight, think I might have emptied my best effort prior to my goal race.

So this time around, I picked out the Arny Johnson 10 miler not as a race, but rather, as a hard training run. I knew it was hilly and I figured it was a good way to contend for a win for only $30. In other words, I picked this race because I didn’t want to leave it all on the course. The irony….

My plan was to treat the first 5 miles easy and hope for a negative split. Ideally I hoped to run 29:00 and 27:00. After feeling really sluggish all week, I figured 27:00 on the second half would be tough, so I essentially decided to just play it by ear. During the first mile I let two others set the pace. We passed mile 1 in 5:59; 1 guy seemed smooth, the other already laboring. I continued to let the guy feeling smooth lead for miles 2 (5:52) and 3 (6:03), with the majority of the 3rd mile consisting of a long uphill climb. I decided to push the pace – and start stringing this guy out – during the 4th mile, which was 5:37. By this point he was breathing hard, and after a 5:40 5th mile, I had put a decent gap on him. The first half split was 29:11. Just about perfect.

From there I stared to push the pace. I remember looking at my watch at about 5.5 and seeing 5:12 pace for the last half mile. And I felt good. Unfortunately, that didn’t last long. I knew there were three climbs between mile 5.5 and 7, but on the course profile map, they looked minor. While they weren’t long, they were much steeper than I expected. All 3 absolutely crushed my rhythm and slowed my splits. Mile 6 was 5:47 and mile 7 was 5:55, but for each, I felt like I was alternating between low 5:00 pace and over 6:00 pace. That’s not my strong suit. I’m a “lock into a pace and hammer” runner. Surges and pace changes hurt me. Suddenly I feared I left the door open to be beaten.

I was pleased when mile 8 flattened out. I once again was sitting at 5:15-5:20 pace for the first half. Then, out of nowhere, I started to feel nauseous. Then my mouth started salivating. I felt like I could vomit at any second. I was told I had more than a minute lead, so I backed way off the gas, now the only goal to hold onto the win. Mile 8 was 5:32 and mile 9 was 5:46.

At this point, I was really struggling. I was burping, spitting, swallowing….doing whatever I could not to puke. Did. Not. Work. At about 9.4, now with spectators lining the street, I vomited all over myself. I slowed again, but thought I couldn’t afford to jog it in. In the next half mile, I lost it 3 more times, now pretty much wearing my breakfast and last night’s dinner as I approached the finish line. I crossed, dropped to my hands and knees, and continued to spew all over the street. Awesome.

I think what surprised me most is that no one came to see if I was alright. I laid there vomiting for another few minutes while people starting crossing the finishing line, still with no assistance. Finally, a young boy – maybe 6 years old – walked up to me and handed me a bottle of water. He’s seriously my MVP of the day.

So I’m not sure if I accomplished my goal for the day. Yes, I won, but it was a slow time. The vomiting wasn’t fitness related; I simply have stomach problems related to having had my gall bladder removed years ago. It has happened a handful of times, including at mile 8 of a half-marathon when I was on perfect pace for a sub-1:10. The hills were certainly harder than I anticipated, and my quads were trashed the rest of the day.

If nothing else, it makes for a good story. Pictures to come.

Congrats on the win, but sorry about the stomach issues. I'm shocked that no one came over to see if you were alright except for a kid - that to me is very weird and troubling. Where was medical? I know it was a small race, but stilll????

I was wondering if you were every going to tell the story. All though I knew the outcome from talking to Foster! Congrats on the yet another win Dave. Sucks about tossing your breakfast and dinner and no one seeing if you were ok.

This is all Chris' fault.

Congratulations on the win!

Good to see and talk to you at the race. Yeah, not much medical support at that one. Don't remember seeing a transport crew, I guess they'd call one if need be. The last trail race out there they had to call one for a guy who had heat related issues, but they don't hire a crew. Anywho, Good win sticking it out like that! Congrats again!

I was looking forward to reading this report, but it was unexpected and worth. Way to hang in there for the #1.

Awesome.

What's better than a win? A win with a good story. Congrats on toughing out a rough day and breaking the tape. Now you can move on towards your big goal race and knock it out of the park.

Yeah, I blame it on Chris' pics, too. Power of suggestion!

Congrats on the win! On a hilly course in the middle of training, the time doesn't really matter right now anyway.

Matt W wrote:What's better than a win? A win with a good story. Congrats on toughing out a rough day and breaking the tape. Now you can move on towards your big goal race and knock it out of the park.

+1

I agree with Michele in that it is certainly troubling that nobody checked on you.

Congrats on the win. Sucks that you had the stomach issues pop up but way to hang in there and finish it out. Hey, I'll see you tomorrow morning for a run - no puking on me and Schuey!

We want a montage like that from my National Marathon buddy here....

Great story, and great win, congratulations!

JohnP wrote:Great story, and great win, congratulations!

+1. Well earned!

Way to power through the stomach issues for the win but I agree with Michele and Kathy, very weird about no assistance other than a little boy.

Great job Dave. Congrats on the win. Hopefully you were able to throw down some real beverages a little later.

Great race Dave despite the barfarama. WTF on that by the way - were you just entertainment for everyone or what? Very strange.

Boy, I'm really impressed with how you ran that race. Just the pace and the course itself sounds painful. I'm not surprised that you puked and went on to win the race....you're an elite and you shouldn't let bodily fluids get in the way of the win. Congrats!

So glad you ran this race. LOVED it the one year I ran it. (almost did it this year but pulled out a few weeks ago)

It is a hilly race.......and now slippery too.

Yipes, what a way to finish a race. At least it happened in the last mile rather than two miles in.

Congrats on the win, though I agree with you: the hero of the day is that 6-year-old kid.

It reminds me of this great old commercial:



(Please don't say you gave him your puke-soaked singlet, though... )

I finally found the race pics, which were taken by a local photographer.

Smooth sailing in the early going











And then, the fun in the final straight-away:










Which one should I get for my 1st Place Plaque?

That last one is SO awesome! Orange Gatorade? Classic! You gotta put that one in the 1st place trophy/plaque frame.

HaHa those pictures are classic! AWESOME!!

Sounds like you ran a great race despite the vomitfest. Congrats on your win!

Wow on the pics!

How is it that you have no gall bladder at such a young age? I can see how that could throw a curveball at your racing.

Thanks for the smile - how in the hell were you able to stay running so strong when sick like that? Epic pictures to be sure

Chris M wrote:That last one is SO awesome! Orange Gatorade? Classic! You gotta put that one in the 1st place trophy/plaque frame.

Mostly OJ and stomach bile. But yes, I need to get that picture.

jon c wrote:

How is it that you have no gall bladder at such a young age? I can see how that could throw a curveball at your racing.

It was removed way back in 2005. I was having problems for about a year until finally a doctor was willing to conclude that my gall bladder was non-functional. I guess it was releasing bile for digestion at the wrong times, which would cause me to go from feeling fine to vomitting in about 5 minutes. A few doctors were unwilling to remove it because I did not have gall stones, but I finally went ahead with the surgery mainly because I had no other diagnosis. It turned out to be correct, and I never had the issues again.

The only side effects is that I have to take a daily pill for acid reflux, and occasionally during a hard workout or race, te reflux punishes me. Its another reason I struggle to run in the mornings.

John Kilpatrick wrote:Thanks for the smile - how in the hell were you able to stay running so strong when sick like that? Epic pictures to be sure

Pure fear of blowing the lead with the finish line in sight.