An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Major Smith and the ultramarathon: rocks and sleep deprivation just for fun

  • Published
  • By Joe B. Wiles
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  One T-38 instructor pilot is leaving the warmth and comfort of Vance July 18 for a training run to prepare him for a longer race in Colorado this August.

Saturday's race is the Crow Pass Crossing, the toughest marathon Alaska has to offer. The 24-mile course partially follows the route of the historic Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The longer race in August is the Leadville Trail 100-mile ultramarathon, which is 100 miles running on trails and dirt roads through the heart of the Rocky Mountains.

Why does he want to enter a 100-mile race with a 30 hour time limit?
"I don't know," Maj. Jason Smith "Santini" Smith, 25th Flying Training Squadron at Vance.

Major Smith first heard about the Leadville 100 from his wrestling coaches at the Air Force Academy. 

"They had both run the race, and I thought it sounded interesting," he said.
But his focus at the academy was cycling, so it would be several years before the 1995 graduate pursued long-distance running.

After earning his pilot wings, Major Smith went Elmendorf AFB, Ala. for three years where he flew F-15 Eagles. From Elmendorf, Maj. Smith went to Tyndall AFB, Fla. as an F-15 flight instructor. After three years at Tyndall, he finally came to Vance to train new pilots to fly T-38s. 

While at Vance, the long-distance running bug bit him.

"I ran my first race, a 50-kilometer run, in February 2007," he said.

The 50 kilometer, or 31-mile, race was almost 5 miles longer than a traditional marathon.

Major Smith entered the Dallas White Rock Marathon Dec. 9, 2007, placing 207th out of 4,019 finishers in 3:14:13.

Next came the Route 66 Marathon in Nov. 2008 in Tulsa, Okla. This time he placed 48th out of 1,004 finishers, running the 26.2 mile course in 3:16:54.

"The Dallas marathon qualified me for the Boston Marathon," he said.
"I thought the Dallas run was big with more than 4,000 runners. But almost 23,000 finished the Boston Marathon," Major Smith said.

He placed 2,417th out of the 22,843 who crossed the finish line, with a time of 3:08:15. He was running a mile every 7 minutes and 11 seconds.

"The entire course was lined with people cheering you on. It was crazy," he said.
But marathons are warm-ups for the runs to which Major Smith is drawn. Every one is building up to the Leadville 100, scheduled for Aug. 22.

He ran three 50-mile races so far -- the last one was the San Juan Solstice, June 20, in Lake City, Colo.
"I needed to run at altitude, to see how it would affect me," he said. Keeping up a pace of one mile every 13 minutes, 46 seconds, he finished the race in 11:28:19, placing first in his age division.

The course covered trails and fire roads, ranging in altitudes from 8,600 to 13,334 feet.
"It was a tough run," he said.

The next step in his training for the Leadville 100 is the Crow Pass Crossing in Alaska July 18. The race begins in Girdwood and ends in Eagle River. The course rises 3,500 feet in the first 3.5 miles as it crosses the Chugach Mountains.

"The run goes over a mountain pass, then down into the Eagle River Valley," Major Smith said. "Then you cross the Eagle River, which is glacier-fed, about a quarter mile wide and waist deep. From there you follow the river to the finish line."

During his F-15 assignment at Elemdorf, the major hiked the trail twice, taking two days each time. 

"My goal is to run the trail in under four hours," he said.

The run through the mountains is important in his training for the Leadville 100.
"There aren't any hills in this part of Oklahoma to train on," Major Smith said. "So I do my hill training on a treadmill in the fitness center on Wednesdays and Fridays."

He runs an 8-mile loop around Vance on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. The major completed the first of two night runs July 11 to prepare for running in the dark in Colorado.

"The Leadville run has a time limit of 30 hours. My goal is to complete it in under 25 hours," Major Smith said. 

By running four miles per hour, he plans to average a mile every 15 minutes, running without sleep for more than 24 hours.

"There are eleven aid stations along the course -- checkpoints you have to complete within set time limits or they pull you out of the race," he said.
Water and food will be available at the aid stations. 

"You have to eat during a long run. You can complete a marathon without food, but not a long run," he said. "During a marathon, you are running pretty hard for about three hours. During longer races, you have to keep the intensity down to sustain your pace throughout the run." 

Staying hydrated is critical, Major Smith said. When he runs around the base, Major Smith carries two 20-ounce bottles of water, which he refills every eight miles. He will follow a similar pattern during the Leadville 100.