“A race is a work of art…” ~ Steve Prefontaine

Oct. 30, 2023

Steve Prefontaine’s words applied equally to Lazarus Lake’s race idea that he thought up decades ago as it did to vegan runner Harvey Lewis’s performance!

The race concept is brilliantly diabolical and attracts the best of the best. For this race, Harvey Lewis was defending his title from 2021, when he set a course record and distance/time record at the “every other year” world championship event in Bell Buckle, Tennessee at Laz’s property and on some adjacent roads. Harvey’s mind boggling run was over 354 miles in 85 hours! Returning to the scene, two years later, Harvey was one of the top runners to outlast, although during the prior two years, a few runners had gone 400-420+ miles. 102 yards was the new world record, but on a course with less hills and rough trail than Laz’s. Satellite races around the world are all unique, but follow the same rules. 4.16666 miles per hour, which is a sub 24 hour pace for 100 miles!! Only one runner can finish, and that runner’s limit is capped by when the “assist”, drops out. When it’s down to just two competitors, one has to “tap out” and the winner must complete the final lap/yard/hour to earn the win, at the championship race that includes the single gold coin. 75 runners from 35 countries started this year’s World Championship race, sort of an international “Olympic” level event for this modern genre. 74 earned silver coins. A record number of runners completed sub 24 hour pace 100 mile, 200 mile and 300 mile milestones. RD Lazarus Lake was eager to celebrate each runners PR distance with a big gold bell to be rung by the runner. Ideally 75 times!!

Personally I’ve completed 26 official 100 mile foot races and have only once came in under 24 hours, so these efforts are unfathomable. There are several great articles already published about this race, but this blog is more focused on Harvey and my experience “crewing” for him. Laz commented on the Livestream that this event shaped up to become probably the “best” if not most competitive multi-day running race of all time. Based on the numbers, and what I could see; 100% agreed.

Both Lazarus Lake/Gary Cantrell and Harvey Lewis turned this race into an art form. It’s simply blown my mind what Laz’s creation become from the first race in this format back in 2011 to the “viral” explosion in participation globally and Harvey’s victory again this week.

When Harvey calls, something crazy might happen. An example, me being in Death Valley for his 2020 Badwater 146 FKT and me talking with Marshall Ulrich and listening to the 29 year record holder encouraging Harvey to carry on from Portal on Mt. Whitney just at the moment he didn’t think he could. Harvey did. In 2021, I was at the entire Big’s World Championship crewing for Gavin Woody, 150 miles/36 hours, then assisting Judd Poindexter’s efforts to crew Harvey to the win. In 2022, Harvey found a last minute crewing opportunity for me at the Barkley Marathons, another surreal experience at the epicenter of ultra running that week and I crewed for the entirety of the 2022 Team USA simultaneous satellite Big’s Championships by country. But, solo crewing the first 53 hours/yards this year was a first. One mistake and it can be game over for Harvey’s dream. I had to be 100% on board and focused.

After the ball dropped this past New Year’s Eve, I was online registering for the ’23 Rim to River 100 Nov, 4-5. It sells out fast. Then Jan. 2, as soon as Yeti 100 on Sept 29-30 opened, I registered before it sold out in a few hours. This plan got me into two bucket list 100 milers for the year and left October open, just in case Harvey called. This year, I’d be healthy and ready. Last year I was coughing and miserable after running the IT100 the weekend prior in cold temps. 2023 has been a challenge, as my father passed away four days after registering for Yeti 100. My world changed forever and my training was limited by all the changes to plans. Joe Kreill, I miss you dad.

But, Harvey called.

His primary crew chief, Judd Poindexter, gave me many pointers on solo crewing, and set up the gear for Harvey’s spot at the race, half of a canopy. With so many athletes in a limited space, a strict rule was in place for only one crew person per runner. Judd’s plan was to get back from his other obligations on Monday around noon. The race started at 7AM, Saturday Oct. 21st. Essentially, I was there for the “warm up”, just over 212 miles and over two days of what was likely to go beyond four days. In fact, on lap 201, Harvey put on his celebratory Hawaiian shirt and charged ahead at sprint speed from the start! This was fun and tiring. While there, I had good energy. After passing the crew shirt and ID badge to Judd in the offsite parking lot on Monday just after noon, fatigue caught up. Driving Harvey’s vehicle back to Ohio was a slow process with a long coffee stop and a nap somewhere in Tennessee or Kentucky.

Tuesday around 3AM, I woke up in the dark, no idea where I was or why. With a moment to think, I realized I was in the guestroom at Harvey’s and needed more rest before driving my vehicle to a dental appointment! I felt so tired and I didn’t run, it’s hard to imagine how Harvey felt at 108 hours and 450 miles at a sub 24 hour 100 mile pace!! Super human. “Impossible” even?! Harvey has a life centered around running, more so than anyone else I know. He may not own a snow shovel, or lawnmower, at least not where his primary residence is. A third story condominium in an old mansion, it has great views and provides a perfect place to run to and from working as a high school teacher in what’s likely the one of few public performing arts school in America. Harvey’s always teaching by the way, not just in the classroom. If you pay attention to his interviews, podcasts, etc., you can learn how powerful his vegan diet is, how and when to stretch mid race, how to regulate body temps, sleep tips, etc. etc.

The day before the race, I picked up the groceries Harvey wasn’t able to grab, and got to his place before 2PM. He runs home from work, after running to work and hustling all day. That’s the norm, for Harvey anyhow! I often take a week off running before most 100 mile races.

I loaded up Harvey’s gear and mine, a good warm up with all the oak stairs from the third story! During the long drive to Gary and Sandra’s place for bib pick up, Harvey made many calls, to his fiance, parents, Mike Fremont and his wife Marilyn, and other accomplished ultra runners. At bib pickup we dropped off much of the food and drinks, several hundred dollars worth of vegan nutrition! Mike Melton gave us race shirts, Harvey’s race bib, etc. Getting to sleep early was quickly top priority.

This year felt different, Harvey was managing his energy even more meticulously. Extra aware of everything, very dialed in, and even more serious. On one of our team pre-race video chats, I asked how long he thought the race could go, given the nice weather forecast and incredible field of athletes. He grinned a bit and said, “Ask the assist”.

For most of the first 200 miles, Harvey was starting and running mid pack, low key, and sometimes didn’t seem quite himself. Turns out the rough patches were earlier than usual, but my thinking was that Harvey was putting on a master class in energy management. He knew that to outlast, outplay, outwit and survive to be last runner moving forward, he had to be as efficient as possible for an unknown amount of time. As we know now, the magic number was 108 hours; four days and twelve hours, with only brief rest periods to close his eyes and lay on a cot, sometimes with no real rest break, just gear changes and nutrition were handled. For the first two nights when I was there, Harvey used no “torch”, only moonlight to guide him on the road course. Daytime was mostly a trail run, after a brief out and back on the road to start the day course. This provided everyone a boost as athletes came back thru the camp area a few minutes after the start at the “There is no FINISH” line, an opportunity for me to get some photos. And, a chance for runners to implement strategy. How’d they look, did they change pace? Crew and everyone studying their body language, fatigue, etc. Photographers, videographers, media people, cameras, drones were “everywhere”. Game play, head games are part of the race.

History was made and hopefully a documentary will be pieced together someday from all the footage. This was the first year without Big, the dog this race was named after. Big passed earlier this year. I missed seeing the dogs this year. I did not see “Little”, the Cantrell’s current pup. This year I needed to skip the first lap trip back to Laz’s home to see runners coming past on the trails. Maybe Little was present then. I had piles of stuff to organize, therefore little time to be in “tourist” mode. The livestream was generally from 15 before the top of the hour till 15 minutes after the hour.

Tuesday is a bit of blur for me, but I kept up with race via the livestream on our desktop. On Wednesday, myself and thousands of others were obsessed with the livestream race coverage. I was clapping and cheering from home. Being sleep deprived, I probably wasn’t good for much more anyhow! It felt like I was still crewing remotely, as I was busy connecting the Road ID photographer with the WLWT TV person covering the story, promoting Harvey’s Fundraiser link for Brighten, sharing the livestream link, texting various people, including Judd with nutrition ideas, things Harvey loved to each early in the race.

At the top of an hour, when it was down to three runners, Harvey, with game face on, said “I’m not stopping”. He meant it. I was very confident he could go many more hours. That’s when the third runner tapped out. While Harvey is humble and congenial, he has incredible confidence and faith.

And with each blow of the whistle, I felt like I was still there in Tennessee. Before the 107th hour, Laz and many in the Facebook Chat group were favoring the second remaining runner, Ihor Verys, a 29 years young former Ukrainian, now Canadian. That’s not what I was seeing. I saw Harvey with the edge, even at ages 47 vs 29. Most race directors and athletes do not fully understand the power of food as medicine, specifically PLANT POWERED nutrition. Harvey is trying to show the world, teach the world. I’m going on 13 years vegan, while Harvey’s going on about 8 vegan after 20 or so vegetarian. I recall being very happy to hear he was giving up dairy, etc. Only wish I’d changed my food sources decades ago!

Ihor’s foot steps looked and sounded heavier and he was going faster than needed, then sitting too long in my opinion. Harvey was pacing a bit slower and using his break time wisely. Again, a master class in ENERGY MANAGEMENT.

And we all should know, life is all about energy. We are simply energy gifted with emotions, thoughts, etc. Harvey has been running competitively since the mid 90’s. That’s many more years than is typical for a runner to perform at such a high level. Best I could tell, Ihor is a “low carb – fat adapted” runner. Generally that means a lot of meat and eggs, possibly little or no dairy and low or no processed sugar. Naturally I wanted “my” runner and the plant powered runner to prevail.

When out running races near or far from home, when I mention experiences traveling with Harvey, it seems nearly everyone knows him. I think of “six degrees of separation” and Harvey being the “Kevin Bacon” of running.

Hopefully Harvey will get back onto the Rich Roll podcast and have other big media opportunities to spread whatever positive messages he’s teaching. And more importantly, I truly hope more people will listen and be open to learn. While Harvey seems super human, he’s a human who’s super focused. He’s taught his mind and body to adapt and go 450 miles at a super pace. That’s like running from Cincinnati, Ohio past Chicago to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area!! Learnable and teachable.

This new record could be like Marshal Ulrich’s 29 year BW146FKT. Will the record last 29 years?When will the talent and weather lineup like this again? Will Laz be hosting this race on this course? Will some runner in the future be at 108 yards getting an inspirational call from Harvey, maybe livestreamed?

“A little madness now and then is relished by the wisest … ” ~ Willie Wonka

After the BW146FKT, I thought I’d never personally witness an athletic feat of that caliber again, much less participate. Then Harvey ran 354 miles in 85 hours and I though the same thing again. Not sure what to think now, but Laz’s race is about pushing human limits and finding new heights. Anything can happen in 2025!

Another adventure in my fave footwear from Xero Shoes. Trail Shoes and sport sandals, kept it light this year with only two pair.

#paidxeropartner