Type 4 Fun!

The Run Woodstock festival is a 3 day party every September in Gregory, Michigan. It is my favorite time of the year and one of the biggest things about the Mitten that I miss.

Put on by my friends at RF Events, Run Woodstock exemplifies all the best parts about trail and ultra running.

It has something for everyone:

• Hallucination 100M (DNF’d twice! Paced twice!)
• Happening 100k
• Peace, Love & 50M
• Freak 50k (my first ultra & my PR!)
• Mellow Full
• Hippie Half (ran once)
• Flower Power 5 Mile
• Far out 5k (Lost count)
• Feelin’ Groovy 5k (lost count)
• Free Love 5 Mile
• Bohemian Beverage Mile (this is newer, otherwise definitely would have run this a bunch of times)

And, that’s just the runs! There is yoga, live music, food, and community. It is a wild party and camping is highly recommended!

Every time I’ve been to Woodstock I have raced and or volunteered and each experience is always a highlight of the year. The trail and ultra running communities are already so full of love and support, but to add a weekend of 60’s hippie culture to mix and what you get is divine.

2015 was my first year. It was also my first ultra, and if not for the encouragement of friends and the community at large I may not have finished.

That almost wasn’t to be. I had injured my IT band earlier that year after slipping and falling on some ice. About 8 miles in the IT band flared up and every step became painful. I finished the first of two laps with tears in my eyes convinced I was going to have to drop. My friends wouldn’t let me, thankfully. My dear friend Brian, the man who’s fault it was I had started this crazy hobby, performed some aggressive PT. Meanwhile Nicole, a complete stranger to me, was re-lacing up her shoes after having just raced earlier that day and was getting geared up to pace me for another ~17 miles. It was truly glorious and speaks to profound goodness of the running community that continues to ensorcel me.

The following year, I opted to race something shorter but only so that I could be available to help pace someone attempting the 100 mile. What a year that was, the weather couldn’t hardly have been worse for that time of year. It rained torrentially for all of Friday turning the trails in muddy rivers. Pacing my friend over night in ankle deep water for 17 miles was quite an adventure. I think I fell more than he did and he’d run two laps already.

We were a bit behind schedule, he came in for his third lap a bit slower than planned and we ended up taking about half hour longer than the goal was. He was struggling, and would ultimate take a nap and end up not finishing. But I had a half marathon to run in 2 hours! Soaked to the bone, I tried to get a little sleep. That half was wild. The rain had stopped but the muddy trails had been so chopped up by the hundreds of trampling runners that there was no solid footing. A sloppy great time!

I skipped 2017 to attempt to run The Rut, that”ll be a different post.

Then came The Year of the Bees!

The 2018 Run Woodstock festival would colloquially be referred to as the Bee Year. It was my first 100 mile attempt and it could not have had a more comical start. For me anyway, two of my friends who were also running the Hallucination 100 that year fair far worse than me.

Somewhere on the course, I forget exactly where but I think it was around midway, the 100 mile front runners kicked up a nest of carpenter bees that truly wreaked havoc on the front pack. A friend of mine was stung nine times! He developed a mild allergic reaction and was ultimately unable to finish. It was pretty upsetting. The RF crew set to work trying to clear the nest from the course, once it was reported to them and they could get to it. But, the bees lingered. By the time I was approaching the nest, I was running near a friend with a known allergy significant enough that he carries an antihistamine with him. We we were blissfully unaware of the danger that lay before us.

As my friend running a few meters behind me recounts, I suddenly jumped straight up clutching my calf. As he was thinking, I must have just cramped up something fierce to jump like that, he too was stung right in the hand. His allergy meant that his hand began to painfully swell, but he was able to take his Benadryl. I, on the other hand, confirmed I did not have an allergy to bee stings, but it still smarts! The pain in my left calf caused me to over compensate with my right leg and I started cramping up a lot. The next 6-7 miles were a real struggle and the race had only just begun.

I did ultimately complete two more laps with only minor problems. Cramping would come and go but was largely manageable. My headlamp dying in the middle of night 2-3 miles from an aid station was a bummer but not a race ending problem. What did ultimately end my race was some mild hypothermia. After completing my third lap, I sat in camp chair next to my tent and cooler and ate some breakfast. It was a homemade breakfast burrito with eggs, chorizo, peppers, and some cheese; a V8 energy drink, and a lot of water. I felt totally fine if not a little chilly, it was around 5 am and in the 50s. As soon as I stood up I began to shiver violently and wouldn’t stop. Even after putting on pants, a hoodie, a jacket and wrapping up in a puffy blanket I wasn’t warming up. Ultimately, I crawled into my tent and stuffed myself into my sleeping bag. This would be end of my race. After a short nap I climbed out of my tent, sore and tired. It was daylight and friends were sitting by a campfire. The allure of a fire and a beer with friends was too much for me in that moment.

I had paced a friend for a lap and a half on her way to a successful 100 mile finish in 2019.

A largely uneventful year…

It was also the last year of Run Woodstock at the old location at the Hell Creek Ranch. The future of festival was in doubt but thankfully after the sale of an nearby BSA campground to RF Events, the festival (and other RF Event races) had a new and stable home in the Pinckney Recreation Area for when the world would reopen some day.

2021 was a big year for me and everybody else. I had signed up for Broken Arrow and after a few cancellations and rescheduling – which you can read about here – and was eager to get back into racing. RF Events announced the new location and modified course. It turned out to be a blessing, as the new campground was larger and the more central location in Pinckney Rec Area meant the routes could incorporate some of the more popular sections of the Potowatomi Trail (affectionately referred to as “The Poto”).

Of course there was an increased energy and enthusiasm in 2021 but the new location and the new course are just objectively better. That may or may not have contributed to running a 50k PR a month ahead of traveling to Palisades Tahoe for Broken Arrow.

I moved to the East Coast in 2022 but I would travel back to Michigan in 2023 to give it another unsuccessful go at the hundo.

I don’t know when I’ll make it back there again, but it is always on my mind when I’m plotting out my year. The trip is a 1000% worth it, so if you’re ever in Michigan looking for a race definitely check out the RF Events calendar or if you’re looking for a killer event location check out The Woodlands at Bruin Lake