#93 Cruel Jewel 100 May 18, 2025 Blue Ridge Georgia

Let's see, Cruel Jewel 100. Mid may in the north Georgia mountains. The start of my big build up of vert for Ouray and UTMB. 2 night race, 48 hr cutoff, 30k plus feet of climb, I felt pretty confident for a solid finish because of all my training days on Froggy Mountain with a weighted pack. The heat looked to be dangerously warm. Remembering last year and the hours I spent fighting fatigue and vomiting, this year I hydrated like crazy, doubled my salt and fluid intake, bought an ice bandana and second neck fan, and got 8-10 hrs of sleep per night leading up to the race. Since it had a 10 am start  and was only 5 hours away I woke up early Friday morning and drove to the start. Got my bib, dropped off my one drop bag with an extra fan, and tried to take a short nap before the start. With no pacer or crew, aside from that fan, I just planned to carry all my lights, supplies and gear to save time and also to prepare for Ouray, the big mountain race, one of the worlds toughest, where I need to carry a lot of stuff!

I ran into some friends before the start and especially cool was Peter who had come out to our 50k at Froggy.

I had decided to try to minimize socializing on the trail, to stay focused and get through the furnace as soon as possible. It was so warm and humid that several runners dropped out as early as the first aid station! I packed my ice bandana full every stop and carried 2 extra bottles of water for cooling which saved me in the heat.

It was a day for snakes as we saw 2 rattlers on the trail coiled and ready to strike, and had to bushwack around them. I tried to stick to very simple easy to digest calories and liquid calories in the heat. Day was hot, and first night hardly cooled off. I was exhausted and running approx the same pace as the last 2 yrs for a 42 ish hour finish. It was honestly kind of lonely. With little phone reception and keeping to myself it was a slog to music through a beautiful steamy forest. I really don't remember anything about the dragons spine that night, only arriving at the halfway point- turn around an hour before dawn which meant I was making great time.

The out and back past Wolfgap on the awkwardly technical terrain was the most annoying part of the course! Just before dawn as I started the never ending climb over Coosa, the warm air, heavy with humidity finally brought in a few hours of cold air with a heavy downpour. It was so refreshing. I was slowly moving up in the slick rocks and mud and passing runners, feeling awake and refreshed and strong in the cool morning. I finally got signal about halfway up the Coosa climb and randomly Kevin called from Froggy and caught  me on the phone to encourage me and distract me.

I felt really strong for a few hrs until the sun started scorching us and the humidity began to boil us again. I ran out of hydration and felt a little bit worried as a touch of nausea kicked in. Amazingly my friend Thompson who helped me at feral mountain was waiting for me at the aid station, maybe 65 ish miles in? I can't remember. They stuffed my hat, shirt and ice bandana full of ice and he got me to drink a full ginger beer, coke and half gallon of chocolate milk. I hadn't realized how thirsty and depleted I was. That combination worked magic and I didn't struggle with hydration or nausea for the rest of the race. 

No snakes on the return trip and with relief finally broke from the dragons spine. At the next aid station I met some veterans who gave me VIP treatment and one of them kissed me on the forehead and said thank you for what you are doing!! It made me tear up.

The night 2 miles were long and tedious, I hated the pointless out and back, 3 miles down and 3 miles back to give the finish 106 miles. I swore to myself that I would never do this race again!

The course to the final aid station felt painfully rocky, long, boring, steep and it went on forever but finally hit the last point and had road for the remaining 3 miles! I ran two of the last 3 miles with a guy whose done some of the worlds most iconic races and it was just a cool enjoyable conversation in the moonlight, but I pulled ahead and finished by myself. About 3 hrs faster than my last 2 yrs running! It was around 3 am I guess.

This finish line is a little anticlimactic . With no crew or pacers to cheer, just a quick handover of the medal and I'm left to myself. Moments like that are really lonely. However, I was thrilled and proud of myself for finishing so much stronger and executing the course very well. I went into the kitchen and downed a plate of bacon and spaghetti, showered and drove home. 39 ish hours.  Cruel Jewel is a Hard Rock, Western States and UTMB qualifier and has a huge buckle. Proud to get my 3rd finish there.

Next up was Froggy Mountain.

I'll hopefully get that post up in a few days.

Struggled through Mother's Day all alone. Trying to sleep, train, eat and work and stay focused on the mission. I go through days where I feel pretty down, but I'm trying to push through life and find moments of joy.