Grindstone 100 - Running an Ultramarathon in a Tropical Storm

Back on my 46th birthday in September I ran my most difficult ultramarathon to date. Traditionally this race is considered to be one of the most difficult on the east coast due to it's 20k plus elevation gain and loss, and loose, technical terrain (although there are several runnable sections). This year there was the added challenge of a tropical storm rolling through the area throughout race weekend. I've never been so wet! If you've been following me for a while you'll know that I had a series of setbacks leading up to this race. My wife got Covid and then got into a car accident just a few weeks later. Right in the middle of that I got a really bad case of poison ivy. Luckily we've been able to recover from all of these issues, but I did take time off to take care of my family which affected my preparedness for this race of course. Going into the race I vaguely hoped to finish in the 30-32 hour race but my only goal was to finish the race under the cutoff to get those (previously) coveted UTMB stones (not sure how I'm feeling about UTMB right now, not great). This would also give me a qualifier for several other next level races including Hard Rock, Western States, Leadville, etc... Umstead, which I ran in the spring was a qualifier for some of these events but Grindstone would give me even more options. I knew I wasn't in top shape going into this race and I made peace with that long before race day but to be honest I've never been more disappointed in the organization of event like this before. I'm not sure how much can be blamed on UTMB taking over this race but the aid stations were poorly staffed and stocked (and running out of water 2/3rds of the way through the field), the conditions were dangerous (a tree almost fell on my pacer), and people were sliding off the course and having to climb their way back up. Follow along as I uncharacteristically "coast it in" during this otherwise train wreck of a race. Special thanks to ‪@ScottRunsnStuff‬ for filming and pacing! I couldn't have done it without him!