More loops in Andy's backyard

It was the end of May 2022 and I was ‘power-hiking’ up a decent sized hill in the woods at Capital Backyard Ultra. I was giving it my best hiking effort. I was trying not to lose time during this loop. Then, Kevin McCabe FLEW past me and stated kindly “I’m a good hiker.”

Despite my running volume, speed workouts, consistency, and being able to eat a family sized pack of Oreos in one sitting before a run, it dawned on me that I, Dave Kwiatkowski, was an absolutely shitty hiker.

I struggled through the second day and my walking pace sucked more and more. Eventually, walking or hiking just wasn’t an option, because it was just too slow. 1 mile through the 38th loop, I could no longer run, so I had nothing. That was the end of my running adventure at Capital.

There is this 153 foot vert staircase in Seattle called “Howe Street Stairs” about a mile from where I live. Most weekends throughout the summer and early fall, I’d shuffle over there and spend a few hours running and hiking on those steps. I sacrificed so much time on those guys, but I had little indication that it was actually doing anything positive for my hiking speed. So I just had to cross my fingers that I’d become a glorious power walker after the taper.

I rolled up to Andy’s Backyard on a Saturday morning in mid October and jogged over to my tent with a cooler of Tailwind in my arms. This year, the tent areas and bib number were seeded by prior backyard ultra performances. Based on my performance at Capital, I had scored tent #2, baby! I was #2. That being said, I had some impressive tent neighbors. And you never know who else will go the distance! Here was some of the competition:

#4 was the happy, calm, and positive Marc Hengartner. Often found smiling and laughing, he kept the energy high as he encouraged other runners. Marc was a big part of what kept me going throughout those tough night loops last year at Andy’s. His goal was to get to 100 miles last year, so he chose not to continue after 24 hours, though most of us believed that he could have gone further. After he completed his 24th yard, he continued running around the start line to wait for his watch to indicate he ran exactly 100 miles.

#3 was the cool and zen Travis Walker who completed 30 yards at Capital. He was known to be very consistent and conservative with his pacing. He is often one of the last runners to start and finish each loop, which I think is a mark of wisdom in this niche sport.

And #1 was Peter Diak who achieved 39 yards at Capital. He was kind, and I had enjoyed our loops together back in May. I reached out to him after Capital hoping he'd consider attending Andy’s with me, and he did! He said he was ready to push me beyond my limits.

“[high pitched whistle noise]!” – Bundled in a couple layers of clothing, I took some steps through the chilly morning air from my tent to the start line of the race. A minute later, at 7 am sharp, the cowbell rang and we all made our way from the wide start line to the narrow bridge between the trees beside the porta potties.

Andy’s Backyard Ultra is my dad’s race, a “bronze ticket event” for Big's Backyard Ultra, where the winner gets a free, reserved entry to the competitive Ohio’s Backyard Ultra. My goal for Andy’s was to discover if my change in training from speed to vert was substantial. I hoped to run until I couldn’t or win the event.

As always, the first day loops of the backyard ultra were spent having a good time, conversing, and getting to know the other runners. I got to share some loops with my sister, Mary! We all got to really take in the scenery of this spectacular 4.17 mile field/trail loop in the Tevendales’ backyard. Filled with green, red, orange, and yellow, the trail is absolutely gorgeous in the October sun.

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

“Bang!”...

I could hear a fellow runner chuckling. But I was a little bummed. This meant 8 runners hit the brand new “DNF” gong as they decided not to continue the race after running 50 miles in 12 hours. The party had a little less people now. The other 14 runners and I continued under the stars, and it was noticeably quieter, and I was noticeably a bit sadder.

The night loops were a little quiet. People began to spread apart a bit, and so did the conversations. During those loops, it became apparent that some of the other runners were also struggling more here and there. As the loops went by, the number of runners left in the race dropped significantly. No one dropped after loop 20 until completing 24 last year, but this year, 2 did. In hindsight, I think we were not working as a team as much this year to help people push to 100 miles. Last year, we had a tight chain of runners all running 52 minute loops during the night, and we were all facing some sort of adversity. This year, we were running more independently.

During the late night loops, I was running 53-54 minute loops (2-3 minutes slower than the day time loops), since I was sleepy and it was harder to be confident when running on the rocky and rooty trail. I had some stomach discomfort, but a trip to the bathroom settled things.

“I’m going to drop after loop 24.” Travis told us towards the end of the night loops “At Capital, I was able to run 30 since the night loops were quicker on the flat road. This trail does not allow me much time in between the loops to rest.”

3 of us toed the start line of loop 25: Pete, Marc, and me. Not a lot of people, but I still believed that the race was nowhere close to being over. Pete and Marc looked solid, spirits seemed good, and I was feeling quite nice.

In the field after the start of loop 29, I turned around to see Marc grimacing in pain. He said that he didn’t think he could finish the loop, since he was experiencing some serious leg pain on the second day. I told him that the previous course record was 29. I said "This is the lap of meaning." I was hoping this would give him a bit of a boost to continue, but it seemed shaky. After some more grimacing and pep talk, I think I remember seeing Marc behind me getting to just about the half mile mark before he took a shortcut through the woods to get back to the start line. He decided to quit. Towards the end of this loop, I heard the gong.

So now it was just Pete and me.

My body was feeling better and better each loop, and I was hitting 51 minute splits comfortably on the second day. At some point, I met a solid looking Pete hiking up a hill a bit before the 2 mile mark and told him “I’m not gonna lie, Pete. I was thinking about it, and I can see us getting to this second night, getting PRs for both of us, and then it will be a matter of time for us to get to the next morning! We have something special going on here, Pete.”

To my surprise, he replied “Do you want me to lie?”

I told him “Whatever you want?”

and he said “I feel amazing!”

Getting ready for loop 32, I was drinking a smoothie while on my cot under the shade of my tent and was chatting to my crew (my mom and my sister <3).

About 56 minutes into the hour, Pete walked over to my tent and told me that he was done and congratulated me (I would later hear that he was experiencing some injury-like pain on this second day). My first reaction was excitement that I was about to “finish” the event.

Pete and I were on the start line for loop 32, he gave me a fist bump, and I ran off. He immediately turned back to bang the gong, symbolizing his defeat.

Throughout this loop, I spent more time thinking about how great I felt physically and how I could run forever. I thought about how happy I was that I was going to win. But then I felt an increasing sadness and disappointment that the race was going to be over after this lap, and I would not know how far I really could go.

After some celebration from my friends and family and those still at the ridiculously long event, I felt content with how the event concluded. I did feel that my hiking and walking speed improved drastically from my training, and it was being noticed by the other runners at Andy’s. I felt incredible after 32 hours of running, while I felt rather crappy in pretty much all ways after 32 hours at Capital. That seems to be an improvement, but it remains unknown if all of those weird repetitions up and down those Howe Street Stairs would have gotten me to a further distance. I suppose I’m blessed to try some more of these workouts and find out at Ohio’s Backyard Ultra on March 18th, 2023.

Shoutout to my friends and family for being part of a race to remember! Thank you Mom and Mary for crewing me and for my dad for creating the race! Thank you to the Tevendales for a beautiful course and amazing support! I cannot wait to help put on the race next year, reunite with the Andy's running community, and see how the race ebbs and flows over the years. I hope someone can get to 33 yards next year!

#runhappy #srcbrooks