A Belt Worthy of My H.U.R.T. 100 Buckle

I recently received the Ultrarunning magazine issue with the results of the H.U.R.T.100 in Hawaii with my name listed as one of the 60 finishers of the race. See my race report here.

Results for the H.U.R.T.100 in Ultrarunning Magazine
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

After finishing, I was handed a H.U.R.T. 100 Finisher's cap, and the coveted H.U.R.T. TRAIL 100 MILE FINISHER's buckle. This would be a treasured keepsake for me. Unlike some other runners that keep their buckles in a shoe box, I actually wear mine. I like that they are functional and good looking, and they're always a good conversation piece.

So I got to thinking about what I should do about a belt for the buckle. For my previous buckle I had ordered a generic belt from belts.com -- a quick online order and I got a basic functional leather belt that worked fine with the buckle.

But the H.U.R.T. buckle was special. I wasn't even sure if I was going to be able to earn this buckle what with the lore of the difficulty of the H.U.R.T. 100 course. Now that I have it, I want to treat it with the respect it deserves. I had seen an ad in Ultrarunning magazine for some nice leather belts from California Bohemian Leather, and I had previously visited their website. However, after looking into ordering a belt from them, I got dissuaded by how cumbersome it seemed to be to go about ordering a custom ultrarunner belt. I had to take measurements and then send an email to them and couldn't just do it all on the website. What I was not considering was the fact that it was a custom belt, and I was looking for instant gratification.

Ordering the Belt

So, I figured I'd see how it goes and I shot off an email to BohemianLeather@gmail.com and mentioned that I was interested in a custom belt for my H.U.R.T. buckle and asked whether it would be possible to design a custom belt pattern that incorporated some aspect of the race. I mentioned that the race was known for its roots, but there were also ferns and bamboo, and I sent a link to some photos of the H.U.R.T. course so they could see what I was talking about.

Roots along the Pauoa Flats Trail at H.U.R.T.100
(Photo by Gilbert Gray)

Later that same afternoon, I received an email back from Marisol Martinez. She congratulated me on the H.U.R.T. 100 finish, and thanked me for considering them for making the belt for it. She then wrote the following:

"We generally only do belts in the designs we offer on our site, mostly because we are a small outfit here, just myself and my boyfriend Lance. Everything we make is made entirely by hand and it takes time as you can imagine. However, the root concept is somewhat in line with some of the stuff we make and offer so I am including a very quick and rough mock-up of some root carving that I made for you to see if it might be something you're into. This carving is free-form and will be done entirely by hand throughout the length of the belt. It is obviously not dyed and stained on this mock-up, just the natural hide but you can select a color of your preference as long as long as it is one of the colors we make. We formulate our own dyes and stains to come up with the tones we offer but we have a pretty wide selection."

She goes on to say

"...all of our belts are entirely hand made one at a time by
me and my boyfriend Lance. I'm also an ultrarunner and know how
important and meaningful earning one of these buckles is, and so our
work is done with that in mind. We try to be as meticulous and as time
efficient as we can without sacrificing the integrity of our craft. we
hope that what you get in return is worth it."

Attached to the email was a photo of the "mock up" she had carved upon receiving my inquiry.

Marisol's mock up of my concept!
(Photo by Marisol Martinez)

As you can imagine, I was blown away by the fact that I got a response to my email right away, and that she had actually gone ahead and prototyped the design idea on a strip of leather! Are you kidding me? This was awesome! I suggested that I would like the "roots" to be a little larger to capture how formidable the H.U.R.T. roots were, and we had some discussion about the color and shading/dying that could be done on the belt to give it more of a 3 dimensional look. In the end, I was confident that Marisol knew what I was looking for and I left it in the artist's hands to execute the idea beautifully.

All I had to do next was send her the measurements that they required for their custom belts. They needed the length of the belt, indicating how to measure it, along with the following measurements of the buckle:

Length of the buckle
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

Length of the rail bar
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

Length of the fastening post to the rail bar
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

Once they had all the ordering info, they added an item to their etsy store site that showed up as a "Special Listing Reserved for P.E." with the associated price indicated on the item. I don't have a screen shot of that but it shows up somewhat like the following, with an associated price printed alongside it. The price listed is the quoted price before any discounts.

A special listing for the custom order is added to the etsy site to facilitate the payment.

When you are ready to place the order, you select the Special Listing that was created for your custom order and it takes you to Paypal to transact the payment. At this step you can apply the discount code provided for Ultrarunning magazine customers or general ultrarunners. This is a whopping 20% discount off the quoted price. This is a tremendous service to the ultrarunning community that you will fully appreciate when you read on and see what is involved in producing one of these belts.

And that's it for the ordering process. Marisol then emailed me with an expected delivery date based on their workload and schedule.

The Making of the Belt

I was interested in the creative process, so I asked Marisol to take some photos of the making of the belt, and she and Lance were happy to oblige. The following set of photos shows the construction at each step. All belts are crafted entirely by hand, one at a time, from the cutting of the belt strap directly from the hide to the final polishing and conditioning.

All photos below of the construction process are courtesy of Lance and Marisol of California Bohemian Leather.

The whole process starts with a European vegetable tanned hide ready to be cut.

A strap is hand-cut to the exact width of the rail bar measurement that I had provided.

The buckle end is cut, punched and skived. Skiving is a process which
thins out the leather on the flesh side. This allows the buckle end of
the belt strap to fold and accommodate the buckle.

The borders of the strap are beveled.

Here Marisol is pre-burnishing the edges with canvas. I really like the beveled and polished look and feel of the strap that this process produces.

More burnishing with wood.

My initials are hand stamped into the leather at the buckle fastening end.

My initials and the California Bohemian Leather logo stamped into the leather at the buckle end.

The root carving begins. There's no do-overs on this step.

The carving of the roots runs the full length of the belt, all carved by freehand.

The carving is all done by freehand and for the entire length of the belt. I can imagine this might have gotten quite tedious after a few inches!

One can see how labor intensive this carving is.

The base dye and stain is applied to the strap.

At this stage, with the base dye applied, the carved portions look lighter.

The next step is to add a darker "antiquing" stain to the carved portions.

Rubbing off the upper dark antiquing stain then reveals the two toned pattern with the brown base.

The reverse of the belt is stained black.

Burnishing the underside of the belt with glass for a smooth finish.

Next the beveled edges are burnished further with beeswax.

The billet end holes are punched into the belt.

Finally, the belt is hand polished.

And the masterpiece emerges after two-tone hand polishing.

Ready for its close up. Look at that beauty!
(Photo courtesy of CaliforniaBohemianLeather)

Root detail along the full length of the belt.
(Photo courtesy of CaliforniaBohemianLeather)

The belt finally mated with the H.U.R.T.100 buckle.
The belt is shipped Priority Mail with a canvas tote bag and a complimentary personalized key ring.
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

I'm going to wear it proudly.
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

The belt has a feel of genuine quality to it. It is one that you will want to keep for a lifetime. Even the belt holes exude quality in the sense that they are not just punched holes but they are an oval shape with the edges stained black and are very clean cut and polished.

Another example is how the buckle is fastened to the strap. Rather than just snaps that are used by cheaper belts, this one uses screwed rivets to secure the buckle. A spare rivet is also provided, just in case.

Screwed rivets secure the buckle to the strap.
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

The time it takes to receive the belt depends primarily on the workload and backlog of Lance and Marisol at the time you order. In my case I got the belt in 4 weeks and was advised along the way on when to expect it. Was I satisfied? Absolutely! Not only did I find the quoted price very reasonable, but they also offer a 20% discount to all ultrarunners. I almost felt guilty availing of this discount after seeing how much work goes into the making of the belt.

I am 100% satisfied with this product and the interaction with California Bohemian Leather was an enjoyable part of the process. It's a small operation and you will be interacting with fellow ultrarunners that understand what that buckle means to you.

The belt brings back memories of the roots on Mount Tantalus at HURT 100.
(Photo by Paul Encarnación)

Credits

If you think you might be interested in ordering a custom belt for your 100 miler buckle, visit Lance and Marisol's website listed below and/or email them at BohemianLeather@gmail.com.

California Bohemian Leather website:
http://bohemianleather.craftlaunch.com/shop/

Associated etsy site:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/BohemianLeather

Lance Anderson and Marisol Martinez in front of their Altadena Workshop
(2012 Photo by Ibarionex Perello)

California Bohemian Leather is a small leather crafting business run by Lance Anderson and Dr. Marisol Martines, who is also a practicing chiropractor, in Altadena, California, literally at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. The course of the Angeles Crest 100 runs literally through their backyard. Marisol herself has completed the Angeles Crest 100 three times, placing 5th woman in each of these years.

Thanks so much, Lance and Marisol! And thank you for letting me share the story of how you created my custom belt as you've done for countless other ultrarunners before me.  It was so worth the wait. Love my belt!

2015 H.U.R.T. 100 Race Report

Race Day January 17-18, 2015

Well this is way past due, but since this was such a momentous accomplishment for me, I thought I better write this up. Better late than never.

I had tried to get into the 2014 HURT 100 race, not really knowing much about it at the time, other than it was to be in Hawaii in January. I figured it would be a good way to get some vacation time in paradise while Washington DC was freezing.
I didn't get picked in the lottery that year, and after reading more about the race, I was somewhat relieved that I wasn't selected.

However, the next year, I decided to try for the lottery again, not seriously feeling that I would get selected. On the evening of the lottery selection, I had my iPad at the dinner table and was checking the progress of the lottery when I saw my name printed on the screen.  I thought, hmm, okay are those names of people that applied? Is there a glitch? After rubbing my eyes and double-checking, I turned to my wife and with no expression, said "I got selected for HURT". I was in a bit of shock, and wasn't sure if I should celebrate or plan the funeral.

So I knew that I had to be in the best condition in my life to complete the HURT 100. I set about putting together a training plan interspersed with other races to lead up to HURT in January 2015. All was going well until one evening in August during a night run on Maryland Heights that I rolled my ankle pretty badly and heard something pop. Within seconds, the ankle swelled up and I had to hobble down the mountain.

Long story short, I missed the following two races I had intended to run - the Maryland HEAT 50k and the Call of the Wilds Mountain Marathon. I did go up to Pennsylvania to crew for the Eastern States 100 though. It took a while for the ankle to heal, but I went to physical therapy at BodySense PT in Boonsboro, MD to hasten my healing and was able to run the Pinecreek Challenge 100k a month after the sprain.

The following month, I was scheduled to do the Oil Creek 100 Miler. In fact, when I got selected for HURT 100, I thought to myself, "All of a sudden, the Oil Creek 100 has become a training run"!
My ankle was still not 100% at this point, and I think compensating for its weakness caused strain on my IT band and it flared up causing so much pain that I slowed considerably on the 3rd 50k loop at Oil Creek. With the course sweepers nipping at my heels at 3am in the morning, I dropped at 70 miles.

Nevertheless, I kept up my training and after Oil Creek I focused on doing nothing much else than hill repeats up to the Stone Fort on Maryland Heights. This is a steep 1200 foot climb up and back down over a 4 mile loop. I did more and more repeats of this over several sessions until I did 8 repeats there, 5 weeks before the race. The following week, I did similar repeats with Alex Papadopoulos at Buck Hollow in Shenandoah National Park. Then the week after that my final long training run was running the VHTRC Boyer's Furnace 40 Mile Fat Ass. So I had some pretty good final training runs, and did not injure my ankle and further, and my IT band problems disappeared.

Repeats at Maryland Heights (10 hours)

Repeats at Buck Hollow (10 hours)

I was fortunate to have my good friend Gilbert Gray offering to pace me at HURT 100. The rules allow a pacer to join the runner after 60 miles, or at 5pm on Saturday. With my pace, 5pm on Saturday would be about 40 miles for me. Gil said he was willing and able to run with me for 60 miles (despite the fact that 2 weeks later he was to run the Arctic Ultra 160K in Sweden)!

We arrived in Hawaii the Sunday before race weekend, to settle in and have some vacation time on Oahu. We attended the Luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

My and my wife Telly enjoying the Luau. Photo by Paolo Encarnación

Fast forward to race day!

There are 3 aid stations for each loop at HURT. Each loop is 20 miles, and you do 5 loops. My plan was to use Tailwind for nutrition and supplement with Humagel chia energy gels. I kept a 10 oz. flask of Tailwind syrup holding 1,000 calories in each of the 3 aid stations. I would use up 2 oz. of syrup at each stop and fill up the rest of the water bottle with water to dilute the syrup for each leg. This, plus any goodies I decided to sample at the aid stations was the plan for nutrition. And the aid station fare was fabulous, I might add. Not to mention the fact that the aid station volunteers are the best I've experienced in any race.

The awesome pirates of the Paradise Park AS. Photo by Paolo Encarnación

The race began at 6am Hawaiian time, in the dark. Immediately there is a conga line up the first climb up "Hogsback". The ground was dry this year, and with all the runners ahead of me, lots of dust was kicked up and entering my lungs. I was living that expression "eat my dust".

Breaking of the dawn.  Photo by Kalani Pascual

But the running was easy and slow and I thoroughly enjoyed the trail between the 3 aid stations. There were different traits along the way. There is the rooty climb up hogsback, grass lined single track, bamboo forests, the root infested Pauoa Flats, stream crossings, a few road sections, and the groomed trail for tourists to Paradise Park and the Manoa Falls. And of course the beautiful Nuuanu Ridge.

The bamboo forest. Photo by Laura Casner

Among the roots at Pauoa Flats. Photo by akabill

There was a lot of energy on the first two loops and volunteers at various points and intersections of the trail, guiding the way and taking photos. The first two loops went by in no time, and back at the Nature Center, I was eager to pick up my pacer and good friend, Gil.

Getting ready to head out on Loop 3 with Gilbert Gray on Saturday evening. 

Photo by Paolo Encarnación

Gil and I headed out for the 3rd loop (mile 40-60) and I enjoyed pointing out to him different features of the trail, and warning him about steep drop offs and places to be careful as the darkness set in.

Heading up Hogsback with Gil as the sun begins to set.

Photo by Nick K Xiv

My training paid off well, as I didn't experience any points in the race that I felt like quitting. I thoroughly enjoyed the trail, with the exception of the metal stair risers that they had on some steep climbs. The soil had eroded from the step areas so the metal risers were potential tripping traps, not to mention the fact that some steps were 2 feet high. I would grunt each time I had to climb up each step. Nutrition went well too. No stomach issues experienced. The weather was perfect and there was no rain. So the muddy experience was not to be had this year.

My only scare happened on the second day, on the 5th and final loop. I decided to lighten my load as much as possible and dumped a bunch of stuff. At the Nature Center I dropped my trekking poles that I had used on the 4th loop.

Trekking through the roots on the 4th loop. Photo by Gilbert Gray

I also dropped off my headlamp, extra batteries, jacket, and everything else I could dump. Unfortunately, I also felt I could do away with my cap, and left that.  Later in the day, at the Nuuanu ridge, the sun was beating down and I was beginning to feel queazy. I took a peanut butter ginger chew, doused myself with cold water, and slowed down a little to make it to Nuuanu where I then fashioned a hat out of a wet towel and my wife's visor.

My hat fashioned from a wet towel. Photo by Telly Encarnación

After cooling off at Nuuanu and fueling up for the last leg back to the Nature Center, Gil dragged me out of the AS. You can see in the photo above that Gil is all business, wanting to get me back out on the trail and making sure to avoid any cutoffs. On this final leg, I had some renewed energy and ran several sections quite briskly, passing several runners decisively. I was happy to be able to run to the finish line, looking and feeling good. I got a high-five from Gary Robbins in the final stretch to the finish line, trying to keep my emotions in check. All my family was waiting at the finish line and it was just one of the happiest moments in my life.

Finished, in 34:45:27. Photo by Augusto de Castro

Other Tidbits of Interest

• I am so appreciative of the advice and training assistance provided by 8-time HURT 100 finisher Alex Papadopoulos
• I was happy to meet Candice Burt in person at the pre-race briefing. Her 10 minute core workout for ultra runners was something I used to strengthen my core for this race.
• I was happy to see Yoshiko Jo at the prerace briefing and appreciative of her offer to pace me if needed. I also saw her volunteering at the Paradise Park AS and she was very helpful along with the other volunteers
• Glad to meet "Croc Man' Efraim Manzano at the prerace briefing after having seen him succeed in this race in a previous year from his youtube video.
• Met/startled Steve Clemons in the middle of the night on the trail heading into Nuuanu AS. Steve's youtube video inspired me so much.

Race Video

I normally put together a video to remind myself of the events I run. We had a particularly fun time in Hawaii for HURT 100, and especially since it was a successful outcome. Here is the video capturing my HURT 100 experience.

More Photos
I have more photos from HURT 100 on Flicker, here.