Mammoth March. Twenty mile hike in 8 hours

[lwt16]

Completed the Alabama event yesterday.



Highly recommended. Very organized event and it was a challenging route that seemed, at times, to be all uphill.


https://www.mammothmarch.com/

Regards.

[littlejerry]

Completed the Alabama event yesterday.



Highly recommended. Very organized event and it was a challenging route that seemed, at times, to be all uphill.


https://www.mammothmarch.com/

Regards.

That's a good day.

If you're hungry for more you might look into the Goruck Star Course. 50 miles on 20 hours

[Mark D]

Completed the Alabama event yesterday.



Highly recommended. Very organized event and it was a challenging route that seemed, at times, to be all uphill.


https://www.mammothmarch.com/

Some serious elevation gain. Great job!

[Stephanie B]

That is really impressive!

(But as for me...

)

[Caballoflaco]

Completed the Alabama event yesterday.



Highly recommended. Very organized event and it was a challenging route that seemed, at times, to be all uphill.


https://www.mammothmarch.com/

Regards.

Nice. Looks like mostly red trail, and did y’all go clock wise or counter-clockwise?

[texasaggie2005]

That's a good day. If you're hungry for more you might look into the Goruck Star Course. 50 miles on 20 hours

Yeah, those are "fun"...

Doing my second one later this year.

[Eric_L]

Completed the Alabama event yesterday.



Highly recommended. Very organized event and it was a challenging route that seemed, at times, to be all uphill.


https://www.mammothmarch.com/

Regards.

Good job. What did you choose for clothing- thinking of the shorts thread- and how did said clothing do? I’m sure it was warm and humid. thank you.

[vcdgrips]

LWT16-Most impressive.



Tell us about the gear- shoes/sock choice etc.

[awp_101]

Good for you @lwt16!

When I read the title I thought "I've done 12 in 3 hours so 20 in 8 wouldn't be that bad". Then I realized that was 25 years and ~75lbs ago...

That is really impressive!

(But as for me...

)

[lwt16]

Nice. Looks like mostly red trail, and did y’all go clock wise or counter-clockwise?

Route was clockwise starting with the lake side trail. Blue trail with a connector to red trail. I have the exact trail names at home on my paper map. My wife and I reconned the park a few weeks ago and I picked up a paper map. I’m a map/compass guy.

Good job. What did you choose for clothing- thinking of the shorts thread- and how did said clothing do? I’m sure it was warm and humid. thank you.

The weather was perfect. I tried on some of the shorts mentioned and just went with a well-worn pair of tan cargos. That thread did turn me on to Body Glide and that stuff seemed to work perfectly. Shirt was a cheap Athletics Works high vis yellow from Walmart. I wanted to be easy to spot if lost, disoriented, sick, snakebite, etc.

LWT16-Most impressive.



Tell us about the gear- shoes/sock choice etc.

I started training 6 or 7 months back for this and bought a pair of Solomon Speedcross 5 trail runners. I had to get size 14 which is a size large for me. At first, I wasn’t crazy about the speed laces but those shoes and my feet were just perfect. Once I got some miles on them on my training hikes (4, 8, 12, 16, 19.3 milers), I purchased a second pair for the event. I wore the new pair at work last week to break them in.

Zero blisters……zero swelling. My Allen Edmonds dress/work shoes fit perfectly today so the Solomons were outstanding performers.

Socks were Merrells …..nothing fancy. I bet I could have skipped socks altogether with the Solomons. Camelbak Rogue with Nunn hydration tablets and Gu packets.

About a month before I retired I did two hospital admissions with C19 double pneumonia with ground glass opacities. Almost went on a ventilator. They weren’t sure how much fibrosis I would have. Didn’t know if my hiking days were over or not.

@blues was aware and offered up support from afar. Thanks again, buddy.

A few days at home on a concentrator drove me crazy. Started doing push-ups, stair climber, etc. a week later I could walk down the street and back. O2 would crash so I’d have to take breaks.

2 weeks later I weaned off of O2 way earlier than the Drs thought I would. I sent my wife a selfie of me on a trail. Her entire office was mad at me. My pulmonologist follow up was interesting. She asked where my oxygen was. Told her I was back hiking and she cleared me.

She was astounded when I told her my latest hike was 5 miles with 900’ of elevation. I’d keep an eye on the o2 and rest when I’d hit high 80s.

Little by little I got stronger. I coughed up stuff on trails.

My buddy (cancer survivor) asked me to do this Mammoth March with him. So I trained hard. Hikes, stairs, treadmill, elliptical, weights, etc.

And Saturday, at 53 years of age, I completed a hike that I never thought I could do.

Thanks for the replies.

Screw Covid and screw cancer.

Regards.