St Croix 40 Winter Ultra (Finale)

Sunday January 12, 2025

It's a wrap! Everything about this race has been everything I wanted it to be and more! I'll cut right to the chase...no, I did not finish, but I accomplished my goals, had a lot of fun doing it and will definitely be adding "winter hiking while hauling a sled" to my list of favorite winter activities and am really looking forward to my trek from the cabin to the end of the trail before winter is over!

Last I left off, there was maybe an inch or so of snow and I had planned on pulling the rickshaw we'd built. As Friday progressed and the race directors got a chance to visit the trail to mark the course, they let us know that pulling a sled was absolutely possible as there was a good 2" of snow on the ground and more coming! So I spent Friday night hauling the sled back inside and re-packing it! Made the decision to just bring the sled after confirming multiple weather reports that more snow was definitely on the way - while pulling the rickshaw through an inch of snow would have been fine, through several inches of snow would have been difficult. 

On Saturday, I mostly chilled, had avocado egg toast for breakfast and made a pizza around lunchtime. Hard-boiled some eggs and laid out my gear to wear. Temps were going to be perfect - hovering in the low 20's with minimal wind, yet it was going to snow the entire time so I needed to throw in a few hats with visors! 

Marcus took the seats out of my car and threw in a roll-up mattress and a couple of sleeping bags. Turns out, he was wildly underprepared for spending the night in the cold - definitely needed his warmest clothing and boots plus! Don't think he ever got warm!

I got dressed around 2pm - smartwool leggings + 1/4 zip top, duluth trading wool bra, rain pants, smartwool vest (put my phone and phone charger in the chest pocket), TNF Casaval hoodie. Darn Tough socks, Altra Lone Peaks, Dirty Girlz gaitors and lots of lube on my feet as I was preparing for very wet feet with the fresh snow. I was perfectly dressed - I intentionally started cold by having everything unzipped for several inches. After an hour or so, the course turned into some wind and I zipped up at that point. Wore my #2 mitts (saucony) the entire time. Never had cold hands, but the mittens were quite wet at the end. 

We left around 2:20, stopping at Dunn Bros for coffee. Made it to the race sometime after 4pm. Hauled my gear in for gear check and then hauled it back to the car again so I could officially pack the sled! Since the race didn't start until 6pm, we had some downtime in the car (with the heat on, trying to keep my feet as warm and dry as possible). Around 5:30, I started getting my gear on, dragged the sled to the start, peed again and got settled in my sleeping bag.

Once the race was on, I quickly removed the bivy from the bag and stuffed the sleeping bag away, along with my sleeping pad that I was kneeling on to stay dry. I used the bivy to cover the top of the duffel bag and secured it down with the buckled straps. I knew with the snow coming that I wanted to keep the duffel free from snow otherwise every time I needed to get into it, snow would get in the way. 

I headed out with a bunch of people all going about the same pace and stuck with them for an hour or so. I thought I was a fast walker, but no, there are definitely faster walkers than me! For the most part, I was alone, sometimes I could see some blinky red lights in the distance, but often not. I rarely turned around, but didn't see much coming from behind either. 

Being in the dark didn't bother me at all, although headlamps do give me a bit of a mild headache. I tried to eat some gorp in my pocket when I felt hunger pains. I drank what felt like quite a bit of water. During the second half, when I was still toying with the idea of doing a second loop, I took the time to stop and drink some coke and eat a mushy snickers ice cream bar. With all of the snow, getting into my bag was more of a pain so I didn't do it as often as I should have. I should have stashed more food in my pockets - the gorp was fine, but I really could have used my bag of potato chips! 

The course this year was the 2-loop course which I was really disappointed about. I understand why they had to do it with the snow uncertainty, but I definitely prefer a circle course or a point to point. Their original figure-8 course would have been great, too as the aid station was at 24 miles (more than halfway) and a good mile away from my car. Knowing I was going to be coming into the aid station and the car was "right there" was really difficult. Having to repeat the exact same course a second time was not thrilling me!

I knew getting to the Crooked Lake loop was approximately halfway through the course. Or so I thought. The hill up was fine, the loop was fine and I got to sled down the other side which was wild - heading into a black abyss with snow coming at me, not being able to see more than a few feet ahead of me! After this, I thought for sure I only had a couple of hours left, but this section really dragged on. For the most part, the course is quite flat and my muscles really needed to have a bit more elevation. The course was also extremely icy. I'm not 100% sure, but I think at least 3/4 of the course was on pavement. Let me be clear. This was ice-covered pavement covered with a couple of inches of snow (and at least 2-3" more during the race). Not only was it extremely slippery, but my poles were nearly useless. I couldn't use them to dig in and propel me foreword like I'm typically used to doing. They were really just being used to keep me from falling. Since I couldn't assist pulling the sled with my upper body, my lower back to the tole and was quite achy by the time I got to the aid station. 

To be honest, I was struggling mentally from the start. A lot was going on this week and I think it all kind of caught up with me. I knew I'd finish a loop, but I was pretty set from the start that I would end with a single loop. I had accomplished all of my goals of getting to the start line, finishing a loop and boiling water. All while feeling good (although I didn't realize how pruney my feet were until I got back to the car and took off my shoes). I wanted to end on a high, so while I didn't finish the race and I know I could have gone out for a second loop and taken it slow, I feel good about my decision. Notes to self, though: were you to head out after boiling water, take the time to pull out your camping pad and change socks/shoes. Also take the time to swap out your wet shirt and vest for dry ones. If I hadn't gone into the aid station with the plan to drop and had taken the time to do this while my water was boiling, I might have attempted a second loop, but I'm okay with my decision! I loved the prep for this race - I'm so glad I have the proper gear and as soon as I return Rolf's sled, I'll be buying my own! 

The drive home was absolutely wild! We left around 1am and it took us more than 2 hours to drive the typical 80 minutes. We had blizzard conditions and unplowed roads so driving was very slow. We stopped in North Branch to find the one open gas station so I could pee and get some food - had a piece of Juniper's banana bread and an extremely cold no longer grilled cheese! 

We finally made it home around 3am to a very cold house. Skipped the shower, went straight to bed and slept solidly until 8am. 

Unofficial results: 74 runners signed up, 55 started the race, 15 dropped. I got to the aid station at 12:07am, just under 19 minute miles. I'm feeling good today and don't regret a single thing about this entire wild adventure!

St Croix 40 Winter Ultra (Part 5)

Friday January 10, 2025

What a rollercoaster I've been on over the last week! The extended forecast a week ago showed little to no snow in the forecast so I fully expected the race to be somehow altered. I wasn't sure how, but I knew it wasn't going to be possible to pull sleds without destroying them. Obviously, skiing wasn't possible! For bikers, I assume they could somehow attach their gear to their bikes. But, for runners, our only option would be to carry it on our backs? I mean, I know this is a thing, but it's not something I was prepared for! 

So, a week ago, the race directors sent out an e-mail that basically said there is no snow, but the race is still on and to figure it out! I assume some people might put gear in a jogging stroller and push it or in a burly and pull/push it? Since we got rid of both of ours a few years ago, I was pretty confident this was a DNS for me. With only a week to go, I just wasn't sure how feasible it was to look for a used one somewhere. 

My dad, however, sent me a photo of the skeleton of an old burly he's kept in their attic since I was a kid. I spent 7 hours with him on Saturday (one week before the race) desperately trying to figure out how to turn it into a rickshaw of sorts. With only two wheels, it continually wanted to pitch down to the ground as we couldn't figure out a way to securely (and rigidly) attach it to my waist. At one point, we thought we had something figured out, only to realize it fishtailed wildly which was also not an option. On the way home that day, I thought I had a new solution, but it would require borrowing Rolf's poles. On Sunday morning, I tried my idea with his poles by attaching them to the top of the frame. I quickly realized that the stress being put on his poles as they were holding all of the weight from my gear was also not an option as I didn't want to destroy (or break them). 

At this point, I decided I needed to go back to my original idea - I just need a sled on wheels. At first I contemplated building a frame with casters on it, when I remembered we had a bunch of moving dollies in our garage! I took the sturdiest one with the strongest wheels and attached the sled to it. Then worked on a new bumper as I assumed the sled would still have a tendency to nail me in the back of the legs on declines. I then took off and did a 6m hike. While technically it worked - meaning the sled didn't fall off and I got home in one piece - it also wasn't sustainable for 40 miles. For one, my back was killing me! Sleds also have a mind of their own (even ones on wheels) and will always take the path of least resistance so it had a tendency to slide to the side if the path I was on wasn't perfectly level. It managed hills very well and obediently stayed behind me. It rolled over most terrain surprisingly well (grass, roots and sand were no problem, but it wasn't a huge fan of gravel). However, it was also very VERY loud. 

While taking a shower, I knew I had to give a backpack a shot. I mean, it's called rucking for a reason, right? So I pulled out backpack we had in storage and spent an hour or so trying to figure out how all of my gear would fit inside. It did, but barely. And then getting it on was nearly impossible for me to do by myself and this was without wearing any outerwear! There was no way I'd be wanting to stop and take it off during the race and I couldn't figure out a place to carry my water so this was also a nope. Unpacking it took nearly as much time as packing it! 

So I went back to the rickshaw and decided that the poles needed to be coming from the base of the weight and not the top of the weight. Having never taken physics, I'm sure there's a reason why here, but for me it was just trial and error. This time, instead of using Rolf's poles, I used some 5 foot 1/2" PVC I'd bought months ago when I was training for this race in warmer weather and was trying to build my own system. I attached them securely to the back and the front of the frame at the bottom where dad had attached a thin piece of 1/4" plywood as a base. I attached the end of the poles to my waist belt and called it a night as it had been another full day of trial and error!

On Monday morning, I went for a 7m hike. Before I even made it to the end of the street, I realized the waist belt was not going to work as the poles fishtailed too badly. So I removed the belt, but left it attached to the poles. I then just used my hands to hold onto each pole. This worked surprisingly well and when I got home, I decided this could work! But there were some tweaks I wanted to make. I was going from a hands-free system to a two-handed system and since I still wanted to be able to eat and drink freely, I needed a one-handed system. Every time I removed one hand, fishtailing happened. So I needed something rigid to hold the poles together, but far enough apart that they wouldn't rub against my hips. On Saturday, Mom had brought a pair of bike handlebars Dad was no longer using and I wondered if this could work? 

Notice the kickstand?
Dad's idea,
very much needed!

On Tuesday, I headed back to Dad's to try! At first, we tried to figure out how to attach a straight bike handlebar, but the 90-degree curve into the poles was frustrating us so I reminded Dad about the curved handlebars. Of course, the opening to the handlebars was just slightly too small to slide onto the end of the PVC. So dad whittled down a couple of wooden dowels until they fit firmly into the end of the PVC. Then he filed down the PVC a bit until they fit firmly into the end of the handlebars. Added some tape to the connection and foam to the handlebars so my hands don't get cold and took it out for a spin around their yard. Best yet! We worked on securing my poles a bit better and added some wooden dowels to the opposite ends, too, for added security. 

My body needed a bit of a break before Saturday so I'll be honest, I haven't taken this newest system out for more than a few laps around my yard, but I'm pretty confident it'll work. What I like is the ability to easily attach the bike lights to the back of the frame and to the handlebar. I also like the freedom of not having to wear the waistbelt. It's very easy to turn around, put the kickstand down and get stuff out of the baskets. Marcus also suggested I figure out a way to be able to use the waistbelt for a hands-free option. At first, I tried with hardware, but nothing worked. Then I realized I could simply attach the belt to the handlebar directly by wrapping the velcro around it tightly! So now I have a hands-free, one-hand or two-hand options. To be honest, I can also turn around 180 degrees and "push" the handlebars were I to need to. 

HOWEVER...AFTER ALL THIS...

It snowed Thursday night. Of course it did. Less than an inch, but when I went out to test both the sled and the rickshaw, either seemed to work, at least in areas that hadn't yet been trampled. Added to the equation is the fact that it's supposed to start snowing the night of the race and continue snowing all night long, accumulating another 1-3"! I mean, what? 

It's Friday afternoon. We're leaving tomorrow afternoon. At this point, I'm bringing both systems and will just have to decide once I get there and maybe see what other people are doing. While the sled doesn't need a lot of snow, it does need snow to protect it. I don't think an inch of snow with gear in the sled and multiple people on the trails is smart, even knowing more snow is coming. The rickshaw, on the other hand, travels over all terrain very easily, including snow. I had no problem going through the inch that fell. The question is, how well will it go through 2" or even 3" of snow? As of now, I'm leaning towards rickshaw and its the one that's packed with the gear. 

THE GEAR

(some tweaks have been made, but this is mostly what I'm bringing)

St Croix 40 Winter Ultra (Part 4)

Wednesday January 1, 2025

After coming home from my 2nd trip to the cabin in 3 weeks, it finally snowed on December 19th! Snowed most of the morning. After snow blowing/shoveling 5-6", I put my sled in the car, drove up to Rice Lake Elementary and headed up to the mountain bike single-track trails I'd found awhile back. Virgin snow as no one had ventured out yet that day! Went through the trail 2x and headed back home. What I learned: single track with a sled is difficult as the sled has a mind of its own and will always take the path of least resistance, which often means slamming directly into a tree! This was annoying, especially with my particularly stretchy bungees.

Single Track

I wore my Kahtoola cleats and didn't really need them. I also had bought a size large to make them easy to get on and off, but I now realize that this also makes them slip around a lot which is annoying and was causing some hot spots/blisters on my toes. I need to buy a size small. 

Worked my butt off on the 20th with getting food prepared for both Christmas and the cabin so I could take advantage of the snow over the weekend. Headed out again on both December 21st and 22nd. I discovered a 2nd single track up near Centerville lake that I wanted to try out. Marcus joined me on both days, but we went at our own pace. After the experience with the single track the previous day, I decided to try using a non-stretchy short rope instead of the bungees so I had more control over the sled. This worked well as it was less likely to run itself into trees, but it is harder to pull a sled with a single rope than with 2 bungees. One of the days was cooler than the other and I wore a bulky Icelandic sweater under my Casaval Hoodie which seemed to work well. 

The carabiners on my bungees were making me nervous, though, after one pulled loose. Dad gave me a bunch of "locking" carabiners that I'm using instead, they're much more secure!

After getting these 3 great runs in and celebrating Christmas, the entire family headed back to the cabin. For me, the 3rd time in 5 weeks! It was a particularly warm weekend, in fact we actually had a bit of rain up there. I also discovered the snowmobile trails which were absolutely perfect as this will be the type of trail the race is held on.

Poplar Lake

The first day out, I headed south towards the Trail Center. There was way more elevation during this section than I was expecting as the Gunflint Trail is relatively flat throughout. After walking the sled down most of the inclines, I finally remembered Griffin asking me if I had ever rode the sled down hills. So I tried it! It was so much fun and the sled was actually quite easy to control! Once getting to Hungry Jack, I thought of turning around and going back via the snowmobile trails, but was kind of curious about heading back home via the lake so I hiked over to the Trail Center and got on Poplar Lake instead. It was an incredibly cloudy/misty/foggy day and the lake was quite something. In hindsight, the snowmobile trail probably would have been smarter (and would have given me more practice sledding down hills).  Only passed 2 snowmobilers this day. It was very quiet out, didn't see any wildlife. Going up hills with the bungees though was a bit tough and I was afraid of snapping them. 

"Sledding" Down Hills

The second day out, I headed north. Plan was to get about 13-15 miles in. Marcus started out with me, but we got separated pretty early. In the middle of the first incline, I realized I needed to solve the bungee situation so I attached the single rope to the middle of my belt and made sure its length was slightly longer than the bungees (while they're not stretched) to ensure that it would only come into use on an incline and would be slack the rest of the time. This seemed to work well and I would do this again. 

The trail was extremely quiet and after getting to Loon Lake Lodge, I started wondering if I should just keep going and have Marcus pick me up wherever I ended up. We weren't sure we could communicate with both of us being out of cell coverage, but I tried to text him using the satellite feature that both of our new phones have and we eventually were able to communicate back and forth and it was decided that he'd just come pick me up when I was done. So I kept heading north! Passed 2 snowmobilers, but for the most part had the woods to myself. I finally got to the "T" where I could either continue to the end of the trail or turn off for Gunflint Lodge. I took the turn and hit 3 major downhills before ending at the Gunflint Lake boat landing. On the middle of the 3 downhills, I heard some snowmobilers coming so I let them pass. At the bottom of this hill, I crossed paths with some skiers who stopped cold and gave me some really weird looks as I slid passed them riding my sled! Must have been a sight!

Water Boil on
Gunflint Lake

Once on the lake, I texted Marcus to have him come pick me up and I took the time to practice being at the aid station. I went on the lake and set up my stove and started boiling water. My fuel tablet was broken and instead of opening a new one, I tried it anyhow. But my matches wouldn't light. The striker was wet. I fished out a new striker and it was also giving me trouble so I definitely need a backup lighter! Finally the fuel tablet lit and I started boiling the water. Meanwhile, I fished out my down jacket and my foam pad. Decided to change socks and shoes for the practice and boy, did that make a difference! Socks were soaked as well as the shoes. Putting on dry socks and shoes was a game changer! So easy to do while standing on the foam pad, too. So glad I bought it! My water wasn't boiled yet, so I also decided to change clothes. Took off my wet jacket, wool vest and long-sleeve and opted to just put on a dry Polartec hoodie and my puffy Pumori as I was done for the day. During the race, I would have put on an entire new set of layers. I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do for a 2nd outer layer though. My Casaval Hoodie is perfect, but it does get wet and I don't want to put on any wet clothes after taking the time to change. I have doubles of all of my other layers, except my outermost layer so I still need to figure out what to do for this backup layer. I might just end up bringing my North Face Thermoball hoodie, even though it might not be as warm. I can always add another layer (maybe my Polartec hoodie?) under to make up for the difference.

Things I need to improve/add/change:

1. My foam bumper has taken a beating during the last few weeks (hitting a bunch of trees didn't help) so I am working on replacing the foam again. Dad suggested upholstery foam and I happen to have a piece of 2" foam that might work better, left over from when I made the cushions for my Morris chairs. Will work on this tomorrow. 

2. Replace carabiners on bungees that attach to waist belt with the locking ones from dad. I had just replaced the ones that attach to the sled and realize I should replace all of them for maximum security.

3. Bought smaller Kahtoola cleats. They'll be more difficult to get on, but if there's ice and I need them, I'd rather have a pair that fits and not a pair that slide around. 

4. Bought both reflective tape AND a different type of reflective vest. I love the pocket on the vest I'm using, but getting it on and off is a pain. I cut a seam down the middle so I have better access to my zippers and can zip/unzip more easily, but it's still annoying to wear. The pockets in my Casaval are huge and I think I can just stash snacks in it instead of using the vest. So I'll either try the new vest or will put reflective tape on my jacket. 

5. Don't use a broken fuel tablet and maybe have it open and in the stove ready to light? And have a backup fuel tablet ready to go as you might need two. 

6. Bring instant coffee to mix in to the water? Might be quicker to dissolve than hot chocolate?

7. Don't put chocolate chips in your gorp - they're too hard when frozen and you don't want to chip a tooth. Better to add peanut butter m&m's and chocolate covered espresso beans along with multiple types of SALTED nuts and dried cherries/cranberries. Also, buy some king size Reese's peanut butter cups. And maybe make some cookies - the coconut macaroons and gingersnaps I made for Christmas are soft when frozen and easy to eat! 

8. The balaclava I love has been discontinued but I need a better backup one than the one I already own so I bought a new turtle fleece one from REI as an extra. 

9. Stash your gear so that it's really easy to change socks/shoes and upper layers at the aid station. And plan on changing socks 3x (once after 4ish hours, once at the aid station where I'll change shoes, too, and once again around 12ish hours).

10. Add pull ties to zippers to make them easier to grab, especially if wearing mittens. Use the green fabric ties from mom. 

11. Put pee funnel in exterior pocket so you're not having to hunt around for it in the big duffel. 

12. Bought a better fire starter. Practice with it and make sure it works in cold/windy weather!

At this point, I guess I'm as ready as I can be, but the fact is, it rained and was well above freezing for the entire week after Christmas and the little bit of snow that we got is now completely gone. And there's literally no snow in the forecast so I'm not at all sure what the Race Director's plan is? Last year, they were faced with a very similar situation, but fortunately it snowed 1-2" the night before the race. Some spots were bare, but it was just enough to pull a sled. Fingers crossed!

BACK-UP PLAN: If the race is cancelled, Marcus and I may head back to the cabin on January 11th. As of today, temps look to be about 5-10 degrees with little wind. My ideal would be 15-25, but so long as it's not below zero, I think I'll be okay. On Sunday, he'll drop me off at the Trail Center and I'll hike/sled to the End of the Trail. It's about 30 miles (so, not 40, but it's something) and I'd also do most of it during daylight, but would end in the dark. With the snowmobile trail being so close to the road, I can tap out at any point and have him pick me up. Then we'd head home Monday.