Chasing 400

John

From a young age, I've always just had an undeniable, I guess,

unexplainable urge to test my limits, to seek the best version of myself.

For me that has very organically come in the form of ultra running.

So I guess the grand slam for me was simply the next logical step in

that process of testing my limits.

So I am running for 100 mile races in 14 weeks.

First one will be old dominion, 100 June 5th, Western states, June 26.

Leadville 100 August 21st.

And then the last one, the Wasatch front 100 September 10th.

Just find out so much about yourself in the course of covering a hundred miles

on foot with every ounce of my being.

I know that I won't stop until I reach that.

Finish that 400 mile

My name is Justin Kynar.

I'm from Casper, Wyoming, and I am 34 years old.

So I've been running since high school.

And then in college went, went to college and skied for the club, Nordic ski team

at the university of Wyoming, and then really got into the ultra scene, um, trail

running kind of found it late in college.

And then, um, did my first ultra in 2012, my brother John was definitely the one

who, um, I blame the most for getting me into ultra big mentor mind, big idol of

mine that, um, started this whole process.

The ultimate goal from a personal level is to just get it done.

You know, whatever, whatever that entails.

I mean, I don't concern myself with how fast I'm going to run it, or like

racing people in a race too early.

I mean, it's a hundred miles a lot can happen over the course of a

day or however long it takes you.

As long as everything goes, goes well, physically.

And you know, I don't injure myself.

I'm going to finish the grand slam.

Being the first race I've done on the east coast.

Um, there's always a lot more unknowns being, being somewhere where

you've never been doing something in an area you've never been to.

There's so much unknown with how my body's going to react physically,

mentally to putting these four together in a summer nutrition.

And it, it changes a lot based on the time of day, how hot it is.

I'm going to be sticking.

As long as I can just liquid calories tomorrow.

So in the form of tailwind, grabbing stuff at the aid stations, that that looks

good, maybe it'll be something salty.

Maybe it'll be something sweet.

You, you look at like the six months that you've put into it.

Like then you're talking about doing a hundred mile race in a day.

I mean like six months versus a day.

I mean, like where's the, you know, that's, that's the experience for me?

Not that, I mean, obviously the race is why you're doing that

training, but my why isn't racing.

My, why is.

Putting all this stuff together, you know, like your drop bags, you know, like this

is, this is this, this is the snapshot.

Like I've tested all of this stuff in my training.

I wouldn't be using any of this stuff.

If it wasn't in my race, I truly do believe that I could be finishing around

20 hours if everything's going great.

Um, which that's the hope, but, um, yeah, I'm not giving myself the option of

finishing beyond 24 hours for this one.

So that's just something.

Got in my mind and I'm not going to let it happen.

The racers, the crews, the volunteers, the race directors, the ultra

running community is, is the same.

You know, it doesn't matter where you're running in this country.

Everybody wants everybody to have to find that success.

Um, we'll do anything they can to get you to that finish line.

Maybe we have a beautiful day and maybe we all gather back here again, later on

with great stories and your holy name.

We.

Amen.

So in the, in the course description, they mentioned that there'd be pavement.

They missioned there'd be gravel.

They actually mission.

Twice in their course description, the gravel roads were like packed gravel.

I mean, it might as well.

Yeah.

That'd be kind of want to switch my shoes.

It is just a lot of pavement.

It was definitely more than I was then I was expecting the course description.

Um, like I said, informs you about it.

It doesn't tell you that there's like 80% of the course is what that is though.

I got myself into kind of, not a negative head space early on in the

race, but I did allow myself to get.

It's space where it's like, I don't care about 24 hours.

I just want to get the finish, you know, get it under 28 so I

can keep the grand slam alive.

The struggle bus.

That mindset kind of stayed honestly from like mile 30.

When I switched out of my trail shoes into the road shoes, really

until, probably about mile 86.

I was just, I was just kinda like just moving along forward progress.

Like I said, I'd never had a mindset that I wasn't gonna to.

But I'm kind of was turned off to the idea of being competitive.

But I think the biggest thing with the unknowns at an event

like this is just being adaptable.

I mean, being able to not let little things ruin your day, just to be able to,

you know, embrace the experience of what.

Therefore, you can either let those changes those hardships defeat you,

or you can just keep moving forward.

Oh, it was on my crew for old dominion has, uh, my mom and my

dad, the stalwarts of my crew.

Um, obviously it goes without saying it wouldn't be here without them, but,

uh, having that experience crew that.

Is what I value the most.

That is literally what gets me through those moments is having that crew there.

Just knowing that they're there at the start finish, they're waiting for you.

The mental aspect of things is, is huge.

I mean, you hear all the sayings about like it's 70% mental and 30% physical.

And I have, I have absolutely experienced that.

Um, you reach a point where your body is physically exhausted, but your

mind just keeps you moving forward.

Having cramps on my, in my like abductors I'm, which I never had before.

So I don't know what that's all about, but I am so ready for

that freaking sun to go down.

Seeing justice set as goals and, and, you know, support him in all of his training.

And you know, all the trips, you always want your children to set high goals,

set high expectations, and you do everything you can to help them reach it.

They get to that point where they're like 60 miles in and you

see the energy level that he has.

Then you get this level of comfort, knowing that he's going to have.

Make that time cutoff so that he can continue the grand slam.

I thought he seems pretty good.

Yeah.

You know, we won, you know, you get, you know, there's coming to the one.

That'd be nice.

Cause he had originally said, give me a headlamp here, any, when she said

you got two hours to get 10 miles and he goes, don't get me the headlamp

that'll motivate me to get better.

Yeah.

Okay.

Good.

Initially just thinking about it.

I, it just seemed like a lot, but I, I just knew that because of how

strong he is, that he could do it.

I could see the toll that, that took on his body.

Just the pounding of, of pavement, which he was not ready for.

Did not have any idea.

It was going to be like that.

I don't think I can really call it doubts, but it was, it was hard.

To see, you know, to see him go through some of that.

We see any snakes out there.

It wasn't until like 14 miles out.

So like 86 miles, there was an aid station.

Or I looked at my watch and I was a little over three hours.

So it was like little over three hours and 14 miles left.

I'm like, all right, I'll have to push.

At that point, I knew that the rest of the race was going to be on pavement.

So I was like, well, if you want to go get that Sterling silver buckle.

To get under 24.

This is the, this is the time to do it.

Yeah.

Hey buddy.

All right, buddy, pick it up a little bit.

All right.

No, no, no, no.

As you get into town, as he got into Woodstock, they had the last

aid station, which was a little under two miles from the finish.

Then you're just running through the town of Woodstock, you know, it's middle of

the night, nobody nobody's out there.

And so the only thing they say is to go to the next, the next intersection

where you see the flashing sign, turn, whichever direction that arrow is.

Are there

that made sense?

I was doing that.

It was all good.

And then as I got to the fairgrounds where we started, which was also the

finish, um, they had one of those flashing signs, have one of those

flashing lights, um, pointing me into the fairgrounds and for whatever reason,

I mean, they didn't have the entrance to the fairgrounds, um, lit up or anything.

So I kind of, was I, not that I was thrown off by it.

I think it was just kind of the fatigue of being on my feet for

almost 24 hours at that point.

Um, for whatever reason, I just kind of ran right by the entrance

to the, to the fairgrounds.

And then.

Kind of the silver lining blessing in disguise was that

they had a carnival going.

And I remember looking at looking at my ride, I, as I'm running by them,

like I just passed a Ferris wheel and watching him jog by the entrance,

into the end of the fairgrounds.

So I'll be like, oh my gosh.

And knowing that he was, you know, he's going to be within a minute.

Making it

Old dominion was June 5th and.

Tomorrow's June 26.

So 21 days between all dominion and Western states spa valley Dobber.

Recovery was pretty typical.

At least for me is as far as a hundred miles ago, about a week out,

I was still kind of feeling like a tingling sensation in my toes.

And I'm sure that's probably due to the amount of pain.

Fact gravel I was on excitement would be a vast understatement.

Um, I mean, this is, like I said, this was the race that promised myself

that if I, if I got into Western, that would be the year that I would

go for the grand slam and happened in my fifth year of putting in for it.

So Adam will, will pace me from forest hill, uh, mile 62 to Rocky Chucky.

My brother, John will be with me from 70.

Rocky Chucky too pointed rocks mile 94.

Naggy will take me from well 94 to, um, Robey point 98.9 from 98.9.

The plan is for all three of them to, to hop in from Robey point to the finish

to be sitting here before the race I've been planning for for the last five years.

Pretty surreal.