Ultra runner shares peaks and valleys of 50-mile ‘Mountain Masochist’ race

Twenty miles in, cramps seized both of his legs.

Lynchburg runner Chet White was less than halfway through the Mountain Masochist Trail Race, his first ultra marathon. Before him lay grueling climbs, rocky trails, creek crossing, fallen tree trunks and other unforeseen obstacles.

“There was no way that I was not going to finish,” said 34-year-old White, a wiry runner with a red beard.

White crossed the finish line in 8 hours 36 minutes and 59 seconds, placing him 18 in a field of 266 runners. (Of those 266, only 227 finished.) The cramps shadowed him for the better part of the race.

Founded in 1983, the Mountain Masochist begins in the pre-dawn darkness at 5:30 a.m. at the James River Visitor Center off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Bedford County. Runners traverse the mountains of Amherst and Nelson counties to the finish line off of Virginia 56 in Montebello.

White trained for months with three local ultra runners. They hit the trails on Candlers Mountains, and ran for hours on the Appalachian Trail. At the peak of his training, White logged more than 70 miles per week.

The race marked a crossroads for White, who worked as a photojournalist at The News & Advance for more than three years. Less than a week after the race, he packed up his Subaru and headed to Shelbyville, Ky., to join his fiancée for the next phase of his life.

Last week, The News & Advance sat down with White for a Q&A about his race.

Why did you decide to run the Mountain Masochist Trail Race?

Personal triumph. Running can be the most solitary sport. This is possibly going to be one of the greatest physical achievements that I’ll ever accomplish in my life. It feels so good to go out and put your body through hell on the mountains and then to finally get done.

The Masochist has the reputation of being one of the toughest trails races on the East Coast. What was the most masochistic aspect of it?

I would just say climbing in the mountains. On top of running for 50-plus miles, there’s a lot of climbing … Usually, when you’re running up hill, you can’t wait for the downhills. Halfway through, I didn’t even want downhills. I wanted flat land to run on.

When I crossed the finish line, the first thing I said to David Horton, who is the founder of the race, was, “This is the silliest thing I’ve ever done.” It was silly to go out and do that. That’s the way I felt during the race and that’s the way I felt right after the race.

Now that you’ve run more than 50 miles in the mountains, do you consider yourself a mountain man?

(Laughing) I do not consider myself a mountain man. Although, having lived in the mountains and having a long red beard, I have been called a mountain man before.

Do you aspire to be a mountain man?

I aspire to live a simple life like a mountain man one day.

Can you talk about how trail running differs from road running?

There’s nothing like trail running. I’ve seen so much of Central Virginia and so much of the Appalachian Trail that I wouldn’t have seen had I not started trail running. When you do your weekend runs, it’s typically early in the morning. You’re up in the mountains and the sun’s just coming up. You just have some of the best views.

It took my feet a while to get used to the rocks and the surfaces. But after that, after my feet hardened up, I never had any of the nagging injuries that I got from running on roads.

Did you have any special encounters with bears or wildlife while training or during the race?

Never saw any bears. But probably two or three months back, running at Candlers (Mountain), I came within about two steps of a snake.

You’re scared of snakes, right?

Yeah. I don’t dig snakes very well. (laughs)

In the days leading up to the race, did you have any doubts about getting out there and doing it?

I started waking up a couple mornings prior with a kind of sick feeling in my stomach. I was kind of scared, actually. Scared that I was going to be on my feet, running through the mountains, for a full day of work.

What was your lowest point of the race?

Probably the low point was around mile 40. You start climbing and your legs hurt and you run with people who are in the same amount of pain as you … And then you just keep climbing and you keep climbing and you keep climbing.Was that a point where you thought about quitting?

No. I never really thought about quitting … I was just worried that the cramps were going to take over and force me to quit.

What were some of the things you told yourself to keep pushing forward?

Whenever I’m hurting really bad, I think about my dad, who I lost tragically when I was a freshman in high school. I rely on him a lot and I talk to him a lot when I’m in pain because I know that I’ll never be in as much pain as he was in. So that’s pretty much what keeps me going whenever I’m hurt like that.

Tell me about some of the high points, the best parts of the race.

Some of the best points were getting to the areas where my mom and my fiancée, Laura, were ... I was able to see them four or five times throughout the race. Getting to see them was nice. It kinda gave me a boost.

One of my other favorite parts was meeting about six other people throughout the race that you would run with for a little bit … You know you’re not the only one who’s out there hurting. You form this quick bond with somebody, and then you move on or they move on until you come up to somebody else.

You burned a ton of calories out there. What did you eat during the day?

I probably consumed close to 18 gels. (White opted for Gu Energy Gels. They come in a variety of flavors and contain 100 calories each.)

What about the food at the aid stations?

I tried the little potatoes and I dipped then in salt to get some sodium. I got one piece down and was about to eat another and I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t eat anything.

Did you throw up?

I did not.

How did it feel to cross the finish line?

It was one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had. It was done. It was finished. I didn’t have to run anymore. You accomplished what you’d set out to do five months ago. All those long training runs, all those long miles, everything finally paid off.

Did it hurt to walk after the race?

It did hurt to walk. It hurt to walk the rest of that day, all day the next day on Sunday, and going up and down steps was the hardest. Going down steps, I would have to take two steps per step. One of my friends told me that I look like I had just ridden a horse halfway across the country because of the way I was walking.

Has it totally sunk in yet?

I feel like I haven’t been able to comprehend everything. Being in the process of moving and finishing up my last day at work, I’ve got a thousand things on my mind. I’m getting ready to start a new life in another state … This kind of coincided with a new phase in my life.

The next phase. And it was a nice way to go out. Definitely a nice way to go out.

What would you say to someone thinking about doing the Mountain Masochist?

Train. Go out in the mountains. Take advantage of what’s in you backyard. … Log lots of miles. Put in the time and effort that it takes to do something that’s as serious as the Mountain Masochist. … It’s a serious thing and if you don’t put in the time and the effort, then you shouldn’t do it.

I probably should have started out with a 50k or some shorter races. But I kinda jumped into the Mountain Masochist being my first ultra marathon.

But it won’t be my last.