Jay Mountain Marathon by Tom

Jay Mountain Marathon
Saturday July 29, 2006
8:00 a.m. Start

www.jaychallenge.com
• Location: Jay, Vermont
• Port-a-potties at the start / finish and aid station 2/4
• Food and beverage available at the finish
• There were a total of 8 aid stations. Everyone needs to carry a water bottle with them. (I carried a 16 oz bottle; it wasn’t big enough)
• Airports: I flew into Boston and drove up – appx. 200 miles interstate
• There is a Super 8 motel in Newport, VT about 30 minutes from Jay or several lodges in the Jay, VT area
• Weather; 68 to 85 with humidity except on top of the mountain where it was pleasantly cool for runners and cold for my wife who took the ski lift to the top.

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The race starts off running up a grassy slope of around 6 degrees, similar to the hills where I live in Georgia. It wasn’t long until the race went on to a trail that maybe three people could run abreast, soon many portions of the trail would be single track. This started the real stringing out of the race. By the time we got to the first real hill, where ropes were provided and needed by all runners, I started to think maybe this would be a tough run. In the race literature it talked about their being some mud on the course, this was flat out wrong. There was mud everywhere, you know the stuff that you sink into about half way up your calves and tries to suck your shoes off and maybe your feet also.

Arriving at the first aid station in 1 hour 20 minutes I had to ask how far we had come, to which they responded: 4 miles.

To get to aid station #2, the course goes into a creek for a mile (?) or so. Sometimes you could run on dry rocks, sometimes the water was inches deep, sometimes it was thigh deep. It was refreshingly cool.

The next stage involved the climbing of Jay Mountain, approximately 2000 vertical feet. This was pretty much up a jeep path that was steep enough for all of the people I was with to walk. Coming down off Jay Mountain was done on a ski slope. Some people did run, but I walked most of the way, as I really didn’t want to fall and break every bone in my body on the roll to the bottom.

Then back into the woods, the mud and the occasional creek. All told, I guess there are 4 to 5 miles of the race that are in the creek. There’s a 50-foot river crossing that one uses a rope to pull yourself to the other side. You lie back in the water; let your feet float up and use arm power.

I wanted something different. I got it. 10 hours, 2 minutes and 34 seconds after the race start, I crossed the finish line. They gave me a metal, pointed to the showers and food service, but I walked over to the river and sat down in it for 10 minutes to relieve the fire in my legs. Then upon trying to stand, my left calf cramped for what must have been the 6th time that day and I was just glad it was over and that I had survived the run. It was a fantastic day!

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About Jerry Schaver

Personal History of Jerry Group Director of the 50 and DC Marathon Group from 2002 to 2011 Jerry was born and raised in a small community in Albany, Illinois along the muddy Mississippi river. Jerry still resides in Albany today. He is the youngest son of three boys. He graduated from Fulton High school in 1977. He has one daughter, Nichole and grandsons, Hunter and Nolan. Jerry works for Alcoa Mill Products in Bettendorf, Iowa. Jerry also does volunteer work for the Special Olympics, YWCA, and local races in the community. His life lessons were learned from his grandfather on how to be compassionate with others and to make life simple. Jerry enjoys many hobbies. Hiking in the woods, enjoying the nature and wildlife, or viewing the mountains, and maybe climbing a few too! Motorcycle riding has became his new passion, along with bicycle riding. Jerry bikes either to help recover from injuries, or for an alternative to training. Recently he has got his grandson involved in bike riding with a trail along bike. The two of them enjoy riding on the local bike path. Weight-lifting is an important hobby but also a great tool for marathon training. Jerry was a heavy smoker and overweight when he decided to take up running to get back into shape in 1994. He first tried out small races but went on to do his first marathon in 1995 in Chicago. He had no experience and no one to give him advice and learned that day he had a lot to learn yet. Jerry became determined that running marathons was something he wanted to continue to do. Jerry became a member of the 50 and DC Marathon Group in 1999 after completing 20 states as in the old rules. After being in the group a few years he felt there was a need to have a website to help with the growing number of members. Jerry with the help of his web-designer friend Bob developed a website for the group in 2001. He also is the web host of the website, taking care of all the members’ stats and etc. Jerry was the Group Director of the 50 and DC Marathon Group since December 1, 2002. Through his travels on marathons, he has developed many friendships around the world. Jerry has traveled twice to Cuba with World T.E.A.M. Sports to run marathons, but the main goal of the trips was to help the disabled Cuban athletes with hand-cycles and medical injury prevention. His compassion for helping the disabled has enabled him to help them with their goals of doing marathons by allowing them to join the 50 and DC Group under special rules. Long term goals for Jerry include running marathons in Russia and Ireland. And hopefully in the future have his two grandsons by his side running a marathon with him. Jerry lives by his motto of “I can, I will, I’ll try, I do.”