Tesla Hertz Trail Podium Finish

Race Report by OMR Athlete Thaddeus Nelson

On October 10th 2020, I toed the line for my first in person race since March, the Tesla Hertz Trail race in Mt. Sinai Long Island. In 2019 I ran the 50k, and in 2020 I had spent my time in the quarantine training to run the 100 miler. My goal going into the race was to finish under 24 hours. After months of hard work with my coach, I felt ready.

As the morning started, I watched runners start in fifteen minute waves. I was in the third wave, so I knew there would be runners both ahead of and behind me on the course. My goal wasn’t to race, just to keep moving at the pace that worked for me. This was a local race, and I had run the course many times. I knew a two hour loop of the 10.48 mile loop that I would run ten times would keep me comfortable. I shared the first half of the initial loop with a runner trying his first 100 mile race. He left me at the 5 mile aid station, and I wouldn’t see him again until I passed him at about 5:00AM.  

After two laps, I realized I was going faster than planned, but still felt comfortable even though I was ahead of my 50k pace. After two and a half loops, I finished the marathon distance and hit the hardest point of the race. I knew I was doing well, but my watch started showing a 10 minute pace, then a 15 minute pace, and finally a 30 minute pace. I felt like I was pushing hard and getting nowhere. I knew I was making progress, but I thought I was overestimating myself. Of course my GPS had just lost it’s signal, but it felt like I was the one that was lost. I finished the third lap with a better 50k time than my previous year.

The next few loops are a blur of tailwind, sand, orange slices, and my secret weapon, the McDonalds my wife Suzanne brought me. At Mile 70, I picked up my pacer Jesse, a runner I knew online and who had run Tesla a few years earlier. We started out in the dark and made good progress through the next 20 miles. I’ll admit I fell a few times and had reached the point of scheduled run-walk intervals, but it went well overall. 

At the start of my final lap, Jesse told me I was in fourth place, but reassured me that we didn’t need to race, because the next runner had a 40 minute lead. After about 3 miles, we passed two runners. Jesse turned to me and said that I had just moved into third, but I was convinced they had to be runners from the 100k. Later I found out it was the same runner with whom I had run the first 5 miles.

We kept moving, and when I passed the aid station, I knew I had hit 100 miles in just over 22 hours. There were still almost 5 miles left, but it felt good. Unfortunately, my stomach didn’t and after a few short attempts to run, I lost the potatoes and coke I had eaten. This freed me up to move faster. As we approached the finish, I asked Jesse to run ahead and let my wife know I was almost done. With whatever energy I had left I passed a tree I recognized and launched into the last quarter mile. 

When I finally settled into the chair, I saw that I had indeed passed the third place runner to finish in 23:39. After a few moments more, it became clear that a lap counting error meant that I finished in second. In a year when so many races were canceled, I felt lucky to have a chance to race and to have the ability to reach my goal.