Rhode Island’s Only 24-Hour Ultra Marathon
I started running Ultra Marathons about a year ago. Since the day I learned that ultra marathoners could earn a belt buckle after completing 100 miles, I developed an insatiable hunger for it. Not only did I want the belt buckle, but I needed to earn my first buckle in my home state of Rhode Island. I trained for almost a year to compete in Rhode Island’s only 24-hour race called Anchor Down Ultra (ADU).
ADU is a unique event because it starts at night on the second Friday in August from 7 p.m. to 7 p.m. the following day. This event occurs on a 2.45-mile loop at Colt State Park in Bristol, Rhode Island. The highest point on the course is only 26 feet above sea level, a total of 56 feet of elevation gain per loop. The loop consists of 1.5 miles of pavement, 0.90 miles of trail, and 0.05 miles of grass. ADU also holds a 6-hour race and a 12-hour race that all start at the same time as the 24-hour race at 7 p.m. ADU has a stipulation that If racers reach 100 miles within the allotted time of 24 hours, then they would receive a race buckle.
I imagined my first attempt to reach 100 miles under the 24-hour time limit wouldn’t be too hard. I was wrong. I woke up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. on Friday morning, as I usually do every day—I was hoping to sleep in, but it wasn’t in the cards. The plan was for my friend to pick me up and set up camp at the event site around 2 p.m., which was precisely what happened. Once we set up, it was great. So many running friends were there, which made the time go by quickly.
In the first 10 miles, my right hip flexor started to ache, which made me a bit nervous since there was still a hell of a lot of running left to do. This was when the first thoughts of self-doubt started creeping in. A night start did not help. Everything was gloomy, and knowing that the end would not come for so long made me go deeper into this depressing void of self-doubt. After running for 6 hours and passing the award ceremony for the 6-hour race finishers at 1 a.m. put me even in a deeper hopeless state of mind, I wished that was me. I was ready to go home and sleep, but I drove on. The only thought that kept me going was that even if I walked, it was still forward progression, so I kept going. I was so tired from being awake since 5 a.m., the previous day, but I kept going. The plan for me was to reach at least 60 miles by 7 a.m., but that did not happen. I barely got to 50 miles, but I kept going. The sun’s rise gave me a big boost—I was sick of the night and the multiple headlamps that plagued my forehead so annoyingly.
I dropped off my hydration vest, which I always ran in, and decided I would just use my handheld water bottle for the rest of the race. I increased my stops at camp to about one stop for every 10 miles from the original plan of one-stop per every 25 miles—that only went to plan in the first 25 miles—and it kept diminishing to one stop each hour. In my head, I felt checked out and no longer cared about that coveted belt buckle.
At 11 a.m. my pacer finally arrived, and I told him I was okay with not getting that hundred. At that point, a new plan emerged to not worry about the 100-mile belt buckle but to enjoy the race and to just keep on moving. That’s when I realized that this race was not about the buckle at all but about the experience of self-discovery and perseverance. I realized that 90.65 miles was still the most mileage I’ve ever completed and an accomplishment of its own. The Anchor Down Ultra is not about earning a belt buckle—most runners don’t— but about exceeding our limitations, and I sure have done that.
Watch this YouTube video of My Experience at Anchor Down Ultra 2023
If you’d like more information on Anchor Down Ultra, go to this link: https://www.anchordownultra.com/