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Warrior 100, Solo run, Berryville Va #8

Writer's picture: Rosie Nanette GagnonRosie Nanette Gagnon

Updated: Sep 7, 2020

Warrior 100


Another 100 miles in the books! This run was a little unconventional. With the coronavirus shutdown my April 100 miler, the New Jersey Devil, was canceled so I decided to do a solo run using home as my start/finish and aid stations. You'd thinking running from home wouldn't be too tough of a challenge but I had as much anxiety for this 100 as I do for any regular race! I was mostly worried I'd get bugged by cops being out on the streets all night. Ha. Since it was Easter weekend I thought about running to the cemetery but decided the major road I'd have to run on was way too anxiety inducing, so I mapped a course of all my regular out and backs from home. I got so sick at Antelope Canyon in March that I was really nervous. I thought maybe the antidepressant I'd been taking was causing me issues so I weaned myself off it to see if that was the trouble. That ended up being a huge challenge... I had some really really rough patches through the month, some nights going to bed, wishing I wouldn't wake up in the morning... it was a pretty dark month for me. But, every day I got up and kept training and like what usually happens, when I get moving I can feel Dexter reminding me of my goals and how much I love to run...so I stayed determined to run my own 100


I wasn't going to put in 100 miles and not get a buckle haha, so I special ordered one from a Warrior sketch that Dexter made several years ago. It turned out pretty sweet and I kept thinking of that every time I wanted to throw in the towel...which was plenty of times this last weekend! :-O


Jason & the boys got me started off the night before with a pizza and donut dinner... not that I needed it. Socially isolating has been more of a snack fest and I swear I put on 10 lbs. I was relieved to be running this alone so I didn't feel like a chub next to a bunch of fit and fast runners, haha. I was hoping for a nice spring weekend... I got dry weather, but chilly temps and high winds. I started out from home at 2:05 am. I was a little nervous being out on the streets at that time of night, but there was literally no one. I think I saw 5 cars in 5 hours. I had pepper spray and my long knife just to be safe. That first 30 miles from 2am till morning was my favorite time. I kept a good pace though HR was a little high. Ate as much food as I could force down while running. I'd dropped snacks and water every 5 miles of the course so my aid stations were out of liter soda bottles and zip lock bags in the bushes, haha. There was a bright moon in the sky...so bright that I turned off my headlamp and just ran in the dark under the moonlight. Sooo beautiful!!! Predawn when the sky was still dark, I was thinking of the heroes I was running for, Taylor, Brandon, Keith, and their loved ones...listening to the Warrior song from Imagine Dragons... I looked over in the Eastern sky and there were bright stars (I later figured out were planets in the sky this month)...it made me smile thinking of them as bright lights in the heavens.


There is one part of my first 30 that I used to run before Dexter passed away. I hadn't been that way for 18 months, so it brought back a lot of memories...it was pretty tough. The last time I ran there was the night he died, passing the spot where I remember collapsing on the ground in a screaming wailing heap... wow. Looking back, its a miracle I survived... I guess time just passes and you learn to live with the unimaginable. I talked a lot to him in those early hours. There is a burned out centuries old house that has always given me the creeps...in the dark, I used to feel like it was haunted and every time I ran past I would get the most eerie feelings. I said a prayer going past that in the dark that Dexter & the boys would help keep me safe from any unsavory elements... I had this flash of inspiration come into my head... Dexter loved the Rocky movies, and there is a scene where Rocky is running down the road with all these little kids running after him, and I just sensed this wry humor as I was running that I had my team of angels running behind me like Rocky. It was kindof silly and I laughed at the image but I think that was maybe the highlight of my weekend, haha.


Well after the sun was up I stopped by home after my first 50k for a hug and cheers from Jason & the boys, they were all out in the cold with a home aid station set up which was so awesome! Headed back out for a 20 mile out and back to make 52 miles. It was my fastest 50 mile distance... I arrived back home in about 10 ½ hours! I was feeling super super confident! Sadly my fastest 50 was then followed by my slowest 50. :-P The temp was perfect but the wind was pretty dehydrating. A racoon or something stole one of my drop bags so Jason drove out and made sure I had food & soda & a change out of my overnight clothes because I'd gotten hot. It was around 65 miles when I started getting sick. Mid afternoon blazing sun, sat down on a tree stump and puked my guts out. Felt better after that and made it home. I layed down on a blanket or awhile on the lawn, threw up some more, then headed back out for a 16 mile loop. I was a bit shaky...Late afternoon -dinner time. To try and take my mind off feeling bad I listening to 2 hours of LDS General Conference and as the sun was going down did a video chat with my daughter Hannah and my little sweetie pie grand baby Ellie. That totally cheered me up and was the highlight of my evening! After that it got dark & I kept on moving. It was still bright with the moon so I ran in the dark with no headlamp. I just love that feeling.


Sometime around 10 I really started getting tired and cold. I thought I'd lay down and try to take a quick nap behind the bushes. I was praying that I could finish these miles because I really really wanted to have a 100 mile medal to send to my hero families. I dozed for a few minutes but laying on the cold ground sucked the heat out of my body, so I spent the next 6 miles or so stumbling along and shivering. I texted Jason and he drove out and I sat in his car warming up for a few minutes, then got back on the road wearing 2 coats and with a blanket around my shoulders. I was feeling pretty nauseous and crappy at this point again, I think it must have been around 12:30 am... I could not get warm & was shivering. Every 2 miles or so I wrapped this black blanket around me and just laid by the side of the road. I was completely covered up so I figured any cars that went by would think I was just a trash bag, haha.


I just couldn't get myself to sleep which I thought would help. I texted Jason and told him I didn't feel like I was safe out there shivering in the dark alone. I was feeling pretty delirious and couldn't really make any decisions I just didn't want to be shivering and throwing up. So, Jason told me he was going to take me home... I was at mile 79 by this point. Jason had me take a hot shower and crawl in bed to warm up. I slept for 2-3 hours and while I slept he threw my nasty sweaty clothes into the laundry, washed and dried them and put them out for me. I got up sometime around 3am and popped a couple blisters, got dressed and headed back out the door on my final 3 loops. The nap did me some real good. I was still nauseous but I was able to drink some ramen broth and ginger ale and get a good pace for 7-8 miles. I watched my second sunrise at this point...Easter morning. My thoughts were on Jesus... his death and crucifixion on Friday, the long dark of Saturday, and the brilliant dawn of resurrection morning. Watching the sun rise my heart was filled with joy and faith knowing one day Dexter, Keith, Taylor, Brandon...all our loved ones, will stand again in their bodies never to die again. I just felt that spirit course through my veins and it carried me through a few more miles.


Finally I was down the the last 6. An out and back from home. The sun had disappeared and it was cloudy and windy and chilly. I was shivering again. I think those are the 6 longest miles I have ever covered. I couldn't go faster than a sortof speed walk or my stomach would revolt, so I just started listening to Sunday music and tried to keep one foot going in front of the other. I had kind of hoped Jason or my boys would come out with me for the last few miles, but the boys were still asleep and Jason still had to play Easter bunny, so I was irritable and feeling alone and miserable... There is this amazing, amazing rendition of “I want Jesus to walk with me” sung by Alex Boye. It came on my player with 4 excruciating miles left to go. That song has carried me through so many dark and hard times and I just felt so full of love being reminded that I wasn't walking alone, even though I was alone. I think its a children's song but if you've never heard Alex sing it... I will just say that you must.

“I want Jesus to walk with me; All along my pilgrim journey, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me. In my trials, Lord, walk with me; In my trials, Lord, walk with me; When my heart is almost breaking, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me. When I'm in trouble, Lord, walk with me; When I'm in trouble, Lord, walk with me; When my head is bowed in sorrow, Lord, I want Jesus to walk with me.”

Finished the last 3 miles at a very slow jog watching Imagine Dragons songs on youtube. I swear I was never going to finish. Took me 33 hours... WAY too long, but at least 3-4 involved sleeping or laying by the side of the road... all in all as a solo journey I was very happy and relieved to finish. Though not perfect, I am very glad I pushed through to finish the miles and didn't quit.

There was one other noteable experience I forgot to add. Around the 28 mile mark there is a field that grows poppies in the spring. It always makes me think of Dexter and our servicemen who have lost their lives when I run past it, and I've felt him close there many times. When I was going past it, I was listening to Hall of Fame by The Script. As I passed I saw this little perfect heart shaped rock and thought, oh great, I can take this to Dexters grave. At that point I looked over at the street and there was this fat squirrel sitting in the middle of the road and I swear I felt Taylor whisper, 'that one is for Gabe.' “Be a champion.”

Just a little tender experience I had to share, a message from a hero to his little boy. <3 <3 <3


My next race is in June, Mohican 100 in Ohio. I may do another solo before then. I was able to determine my medication wasn't making me sick but I think I'll be talking to my doctor about getting some prescription anti nausea medication or my races. I don't know why I'm suddenly having so much trouble. My legs and body have been recovering better than ever, if I can just get this stomach thing figured out. I am so grateful for the health I have to run, and for the support of my family who believe in me and keep encouraging me to stick to my plan, and for my guardian angel Dexter who is always there when I need him.



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