TLDR – Best. Day. Ever.
The rest of the story…
PREPLAN –
I brought up the idea of doing this type of event to Dauber a while back. At that time it was me just bouncing ideas. Fast forward a year or so, and Dauber reintroduced the idea. It took very little convincing to get me on board. He wanted to promote it as more of a personal PR event, rather than a last man standing. I think that helped encourage guys with different fitness levels to participate. However, in order for this type of event to be a success, it would need PAX participation. F3 Louisville showed up, in a big way. While he is quick to designate me as as “race director”, make no mistake, this was a collaboration of crazy ideas, and a few crazy PAX. Like chips with out dip, peanut butter without jelly, or hammer without a nail, it just isn’t the same by themselves.
I don’t want to undersell the work put in, but there wasn’t a lot of heavy lifting in the planning. It was more just building a vision and putting it into action. There were so many thoughts that would spring to mind, and you don’t know if they are good, stupid, or completely crazy. So you send your partner in crime a message. Messages between Dauber and I were along the lines of “What do you think about…”, “I think we need to…”, or “Would it be stupid if we…” I mean, it’s a pretty simple task, right? Run/ruck, recovery, repeat. It requires no direct support to the participant. Logistically all you have to do is make sure they know where the starting line is, and where they are going. Each participant was instructed to bring their own fuel/hydration.
We tested a few options for the location. We wanted to avoid roads that would have vehicle traffic, and we wanted the route to include trails. Initially I thought EP Tom Sawyer would be a good location. However that route proved to have too many opportunities to get turned around. We eventually landed on Pope Lick Park. The park has plenty of parking, and has different running surfaces. There is plenty of room for a support/recovery area, and the golden goose, easily accessible restrooms.
EVENT DAY –
I arrived way too early. Dauber recommended 0715, I arrived at 0645. Dauber had printed directional arrows to place along the course, but I stated, I arrived way too early. So I used a Sharpie, made some arrows, and went out to place them along the course. The shovel flag was planted at about 0700, and the setup of the recovery area started. Before too long, I think there were 45 people there at the 0800 start.
0750 Dauber gave the disclaimer, and instructions. Run/ruck, return. Ring the bell to signify you are finished with the event, and no long plan to run/ruck.
At 0800 the bell rang for the first lap to begin. 45(ish) guys started a process of testing their limits, and seeing if they could go One More Lap than they thought they could.
Lap 1 – 8:00 AM – It was super cool to see the excitement from everyone as we pushed out for that first lap. So cool, I failed to start my watch. I don’t think anyone really knew how they would feel as the day progressed, but lap 1, you know exactly how you’re going to feel. Brown Water and Mannequin actually started at 0700 because they had conflict, but wanted to achieve their goal before they had to leave. Running that course with a headlap is a pretty big flex in my opinion. I finished the first lap in just under 47 minutes.
7 participants ring the bell.
Lap 2 – 9:00 AM – After a short recovery, I didn’t have too much trouble starting the second lap. After about 15 paces, I fell right back into timing, and tried to tuck in behind some guys to help pace me through the lap. I don’t really recall much of this lap. I think everyone was just finding their groove. At one point I was running with Fungi and he asked me a question. He asked if someone who had never ran a marathon, happened to stay in the challenge long enough to cover a marathon distance, could he say he had ran a marathon? My initial answer is that they are two different events. I said that I would say I ran the marathon distance, but not a marathon. I get hung up on the technicalities. For my own personal experience, I want to run all 26.2 miles of a marathon, not slip in some recovery walks or rest. I finished lap 2 in just over 48 minutes.
15 participants ring the bell. At this point there are 32 participants.
Lap 3 – 10:00 AM – The short recovery in between laps is starting to feel shorter already. I wanted just a few more minutes. I don’t remember much of this lap. At this point it is almost like Groundhog Day. You try to find someone new to run alongside, so you can have a different experience. But I notice myself feeling like a NASCAR driver, hitting the same spots on the trail. Step over this root, get to the left – the right side is muddy. This muddy spot is just short enough that if I plant my right foot here, I can leap across and land in that dry area. I finished lap 3 in just over 48 minutes.
13 participants ring the bell. 17 participants are finding out how far they will go.
Lap 4 – 11:00 AM – Again the recovery time feels short. But I’m consuming electrolytes, and carbs during the recovery time. I’m taking additional fuel on the course to slowly consume while running. I don’t remember if it was this lap, or the prior, but I remember making a comment to Meter Maid that I felt as if lap 1 was just as challenging as the current lap. Which in the grand scheme of things, is probably a good feeling as we start out on mile 12+. As we made our way out of the trail portion, Meter and I mixed in some walking and running. This made for shorter recovery, but took some of the stress off my legs too. I don’t know which is the right way. But both are forward progress. I finished lap 4 in just under 51 minutes.
3 participants ring the bell. At this point, there are now 14 participants digging in for the long game.
Lap 5 – 12:00 PM – Recovery at this point is just as much stretching to make sure I don’t tighten up. I start looking at the group of guys left. Some guys I know will go a lot further, they don’t even look winded yet. For me, this lap is one more than I thought I would be able to do. Halfway around the trail I remember joking with Feet First that I hoped to manage to make it to the top 10. It just seemed like a good goal at the moment. But after a quick scan of the guys left, it was clean, I was the weakest link. While we weren’t in a tight group, for the most part the remaining guys had a fairly similar pace. As we exited the wooded trial portion, I took a moment to suck down a gel. Which put the pack a good distance ahead of me. In hindsight I think this hurt me. I didn’t try to catch up, but I wasn’t able to maintain the distance between us either. This introduced some walking recovery at times, and that was when I started to cramp. While on this lap, I started pontificating. I circled back to Fungi’s question on lap 2. I needed to amend my answer. I pulled out my phone. I sent him a video. I told him that if I happened to cover the distance, I was most definitely going to consider it a personal record. So yes, if you covered the marathon distance, I feel like you can tell people you ran a marathon. I finished lap 5 right at 51 minutes.
2 participants ring the bell. Now 12 participants remain.
Lap 6 – 1:00 PM – After having the cramping on lap 5, I start lap 6 uncertain. The pack easily pulls away from me. During the wooded trail portion, I slow down. Not necessarily from fatigue, but my steps are slower, and I’m trying to concentrate on placement. Hitting those marks I mentioned earlier have become challenging. That muddy area I used to be able to hop over, now requires an extra leap, or a zigzag. Coming out of the woods, because of the extra effort put into not tripping, I felt like I earned a little walk. That was a mistake. Like, Julie Roberts in Pretty Woman, big mistake, huge. It opened the door to more cramping. I started getting in my head, there was lots of math going on. I needed to pick up the pace in order to finish the lap in the required time. I give it a little BigBird push, last one, best one. No where close to being the best one, but if I could make it back in time, it would be the last one. I finished lap 6 in just over 58 minutes.
I knew there was no chance of making the next lap within the time, so I rang the bell.
1 participant rings the bell. 11 participants will start the next lap crossing into that marathon distance.
Lap 7 – 2:00 PM – This lap was spent in the chair, recovering. I had completed 6 laps, which was well beyond the distance that I thought possible just a week prior, double any distance I have completed since April 2025. I sat in my chair and popped the top on my victory dance beverage, then waited for runners to return so I could encourage them. Being a spectator in this time period was almost as much fun as running. Specifically watching Dauber. It was like watching a clip from Rocky. He’d hit the chair, and his cut man (wife) would have his Perpetum ready. She followed his meticulously laid out plan (seriously, he had a spreadsheet) with 6 bites of watermelon, a protein ball, and whatever else was scheduled. Then just as I would make my way to the start line to ring the bell to start that next round, he would spring up from his chair and make his way to the starting line.
3 participants ring the bell. 8 beasts, still digging deep.
Lap 8 – 3:00 PM – As the guys were refueling, I told them I would be leaving once they started the next lap. I rang the bell, sending them off for miles 29-33.
3 participants ring the bell. 5 lunatics push on.
Lap 9 – 4:00 PM – At this point I’m having to text guys that are still there to get updates. The anticipation is bigger than March Madness.
1 participant rings the bell. 4 heroes remain.
Lap 10 – 5:00 PM – I don’t know what conversation took place here, as I can only assume these guys were delirious. Probably questioning life choices. I assume it sounded something like… “I think I might be done, what about you? Sounds good, just One More Lap.”
The bell ringing probably sounded better than that of a bell from Santa’s sleigh. The day was done, the challenge complete.
RACE DAY + a few days:
There were a few PAX that had morning conflicts, so they joined late. By the end of the day, there were 53 PAX that completed at least one lap. I believe there were 13 ruckers, 35 runners, and 5 that did a hybrid of rucking and running.
I think there were 10 PAX that hit a PR for distance. I’m probably missing some. Iron sharpens iron. It didn’t matter if your PR was 4 miles, or 41. The guy next to you was there to push you. There were just fewer guys pushing the further they went. There was a joke along the way that the event, while having over 50 PAX in attendance, was mathematically going to have the smallest COT.
It’s hard to describe the felling/vibe this day created. If you tell an “average” person what took place this day, they would probably ask if you have lost your mind. Who voluntarily pushes their limits, for fun. But it was just that, a day packed with fun, fellowship, and brotherhood. The perfect recipe, for the perfect day. Discussions are already taking place for next year. Only 358 days until next year (assuming we do it at a similar time of the year.)
F3 Louisville 