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News >> 02.01.08 >> 09.20.07 >> 09.20.07 >> 02.16.07 |
The Ouachita Trail On December 17, 2005, at 9:37am, Steve Kirk and Greg Eason completed running the 223-mile long Ouachita Trail from Talimena, Oklahoma to Little Rock, Arkansas in 76hrs 33min. The plan was to complete the trail in one continuous push, on minimum sleep, using a support crew and pacers to help keep us on the trail. We did not have a contingency plan; the only plan was to finish as fast as possible! We began thinking about the Ouachita trail project after running the Ozark Highlands trail in 2004. The Ozark Highlands trail is a 165-mile long trail that begins at lake Fort Smith, and ends at Woolum landing on the Buffalo River which we completed in 64hrs 34min. Previously the record for the fastest running of the Ouachita Trail was held by Lou Peyton and Jim Schuler, they slept at night and ran during the day. The planning for running the Ouachita Trail began over a year ago. We had many things to work out to make it a success; including crews, pacers, aid stations, food, and gear. For our crew we choose what I now know is the best in the business, Heather and Wanda Eason also Billy Simpson, Charlie Peyton, Lou Peyton, Liz Kirk, and Courtney Kirk. Heather and Wanda were with us to the finish, they both have the experience to know exactly what we need. Our pacers included Tom Brennan from Oklahoma, Craig Zediker, Jenny Foster, Darin Hoover, Magdalena Font, Tamara Zaguston, and Nate Siria, all of Little Rock. Our first pacer was Tom Brennan; he met us at Talimena State Park at the trailhead. We synchronized our watches, took some photographs and at 5:05 were on our way. It had rained all night prior to the start, leaving the rocks and leaves very wet and slick. Even with these conditions we were able to maintain a very fast pace for the first 50 miles, completing the distance in 11hrs and 30min. This put us at Queen Talimena State Park where Tom Brennan left us, and Craig Zediker took over the job as pacer. We wanted to try and cover a minimum of 30 miles in a 12 hour period at night, and 40 miles during the day. The first night was pretty uneventful, and we were able to follow the markings and stay on trail. At around 4:00am we came into a crew station and decided to sleep for 1 hour. Our original plan had been not to sleep until the second and third night. We decided that maybe sleeping early would allow us to push harder and longer the third night if we felt we needed to make up some time. Craig would take us through the first night, covering 43 miles in around 15 hours. This put us at Big Brushy Camp, mile 94.5, where Craig would leave us, and Jenny Foster would take over the task. On the next section we traversed over Blowout Mountain, which has more bark than bite. We crossed the 100-mile point in about 28 hours. At mile 119 we both had our feet taped by Heather, just as a precautionary measure. Soon we came to Highway 27 where we met Lou and Charlie Peyton, Darin Hoover and Magdalena Font. It was very good to see some new faces and this allowed Heather and Wanda to take a much-needed break. Arriving at mile 124, Jenny’s job was complete for now and Darin Hoover was our fresh pacer for the second night. Darin was very excited about running on the trail at night and had some very interesting stories to tell about his days of guiding hunters into the northern wilderness. We were supposed to meet our crew at Ouachita Pinnacle, mile 147, yet they were unable to access the location due to a locked gate. This meant we had to keep moving for another 10 miles or so to the next crew station, mile 157. Concerned about our supplies, Heather and Magdalena hiked in several miles and met us with water and food. It was great to see them and receive the supplies after having been on the trail for over 20 miles. Here Darin left us and Magdalena took over as pacer. We were now at highway 7, an area that is very familiar to us, where we do several races and a majority of our training. At the next crew stop dazed and confused, we decided we should take a much-needed nap, so we climbed into the truck for a 30 minute snooze. I believe that I was asleep and snoring before my head even hit the headrest. It’s amazing what a 30 minute power nap will do for you; we were still tired, yet the sleep monster had left us. At 9:05am on Friday morning we had ran 165 miles in 50 hrs. We had completed this distance 14 hours faster than on the Ozark Highlands trail. Several crew stops later and still averaging over 2 ½ miles per hour, in good spirits, sleep deprivation was beginning to show. Entering our third night of running things were beginning to get very interesting, we were not having hallucinations just fatigue from lack of sleep and the miles our bodies had endured. Arriving at Highway 9, where Tamara and Nate would take over as pacers, we had been running for over 60 hours and covered 190 miles. Liz and Courtney Kirk had also arrived to begin crewing and brought along a cheese pizza. The section from Highway 9 to Highway 10 is very confusing, crossing several creeks and many sections of private land. We arrived at Highway 10 at 12:37am, Friday night, ate some noodles and insure, changed shoes and were off to complete the last 20 miles. For the next 10 miles we had both Nate and Jenny as our pacers, Jenny with Greg and Nate with me. Our pace was beginning to slow. Approximately half way through this section we were met on the trail by Craig Zediker and Kent Davidson. It was good to see new faces, yet the excitement wore off very quickly. We arrived at the North Shore crew stop at 5:00am to a very large group of people. We ate and decided to take a 15 minute power nap, to regain some strength and mental clarity before we set out. This would be the last time we would sleep before the finish, making our total time slept of 1hr 45min in 76hrs or running. With 10 miles to the finish, we left out of North Shore along with Craig and Elaine, Palo, Kent, Jenny, Nate and a few others. Not to far along we started meeting runners on the trail from Bob Marstons Saturday morning run, all were very gracious and gave tremendous encouragement. It was really great to see all of these people who had been following our progress for the past few days. We arrived at the Maumelle Lake spillway to be greeted by our crew, newspaper reporters and photographers; the excitement gave us a lot of energy to finish. Coming on to Highway 10, just before Pinnacle Mountain, I felt like Forest Gump with the entourage of runners following close behind. The pace picked up as best it could for the last several miles until we could see the finish. At the end of the trail there was a large group of our friends, family, runners, reporters, and photographers. The emotions were flowing very deep, as you looked around it was very difficult not to get a little teary eyed. We had completed what we set out to do. Throughout the entire run, I don’t believe either one of us ever had a negative thought or considered that we might not finish, that was just not an option. Happy to have achieved our goals; some photographs were taken, hugs given to our families, crew, and pacers, and we headed for home to begin the process of healing. What’s next? By Steve Kirk
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