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A few months ago Nick Clark wasn't listed as someone to watch at the 2010 Western States 100. Although he had won a 50K, a 100K and a 50 miler, he was a newcomer to the 100-mile distance, having only raced it one time before at the Bighorn 100 in 2009.
But as the Western States 100 grew closer, his training intensified, and he hit his peak, Clark started to think he just might have a chance to finish in the top five, maybe even win.
Clark didn't win. He placed fourth. And while fourth place isn't usually something people write home about, Clark has a good reason to celebrate. Not only did he run a 16:05, a time that would have won this race in most years, he also fought back from a 45 minute deficit and nearly ran down one of the greatest mountain runners currently competing.
The duel between first and second, Geoff Roes and Anton Krupicka, may have been exciting, but it was nothing compared to the epic battle between Clark and Kilian Jornet Burgada for third.
I caught up with Clark the week after the race to find out more about his experience at his first Western States Endurance Run.
What were your thoughts and how were you feeling in the last week leading up to the race?
Nick Clark: I instituted a much longer taper than most seemed to have done for the race, cutting my mileage in the last three weeks from the 100s to 75 miles to 50 miles, and down to four miles of jogging per day in the five days leading up to the race.
On those jogging days, I didn't feel great, kind of sluggish and everything seemed to hurt, but that is typical for the taper. Most of it was probably in my mind. Mentally, I felt like I was ready, but you never know what's going to happen over the course of 100 miles.
I had the opportunity to hang out with some Western States veterans in the week before the race, so they gave me tons of great tips on how to approach the race, which really helped keep my mind at ease. I felt very relaxed about the whole thing going in.
What was it like out there during the race in terms of the temperatures, the course itself and the other competitors?
Nick Clark: The race starts out with a big climb up to and over Emigrant Pass - something like 4.5 miles with 2,500 feet of climbing on mainly forest service road. This stuff is my bread and butter, and the pace in the lead pack going out felt very easy, so that really helped settle my nerves.
Overall the temperatures were not nearly as grueling as I was expecting. Everyone talks about the oppressive heat in the canyons at Western States, but after Duncan Canyon - the first one - I knew the heat wasn't going to be that big of an issue. I was still very conscientious, however, in cooling myself at all aid stations with cold water over the head and down my back.
The course is very runnable and the track was largely non-technical with loads of downhill running. My quads stayed strong all day despite the incessant pounding, which was a huge factor in me being able to push on the back half of the course.
This is only your second 100 mile race. How were you feeling during the actual race and did it compare to your first experience?
Nick Clark: My first 100-miler at Bighorn last year was a completely different experience. Being my first, it was more fact-finding mission than anything else, plus the stakes and competition were much lower, so I was really just out there enjoying the beauty of the Bighorn Mountains and trying to get around in one piece.
For Western States, I was zeroed in and focused like I have never been before. Where I was taking up to ten minutes at aid stations at Bighorn, I was typically through the aid stations at States in no more than a minute. I was strong the whole day, and the fact that I was able to race and run hard with 90 miles on my legs just blew me away. I've felt worse at the tail end of 50 mile races than I did 93 miles in at States.
Did you have any rough patches?
Nick Clark: Very few. My stomach was strong all day, so I was able to keep fueling and therefore maintain constant energy throughout the race. If your stomach goes south on you in these races then everything else disintegrates from there, so that was a blessing.
On the hydration front, there were no issues either and I was able to keep drinking all day without getting sloshy or anything like that. Mentally I was strong, despite the fatigue, so yeah no major rough patches, although my feet were blistered from 40 miles on, which hurt, and of course my legs were shouting at me through the last third, but that was a given going in.
At one point I think you were close to 45 minutes behind Kilian Jornet. How did you start to make up ground, and what were you feeling when you'd hit another checkpoint and they'd tell you how much you were gaining?
Nick Clark: Getting to the river at 78 miles, we got a time check suggesting that I was 45 minutes back on the top three. I was running in fourth at the time, so I pretty much made it a mission there to hang on to fourth.
By mile 85, we were told that Kilian had imploded, and I got a huge adrenaline rush from that and really hit the gas. I kept pushing until I caught him with about three miles to go. It's amazing how powerful a shot of adrenaline can be - they should bottle that stuff.
In part 2 of this interview, find out how Clark slowly reeled Kilian Jornet back in over the last 22 miles of the race.
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