BUCHANAN -- He sat on a stool facing his wife, and just for a second, leaned his head against her arm in exhaustion.

Someone in the crowd asked how he was feeling.

"Sore," David Christen answered.

"You're doing it," wife Lindsay Christen reminded him.

She tried talking her husband, 23, out of it when he brought up the idea of running an ultramarathon. But Lindsey Christen soon learned that with these people, the words "you can't" only make the desire to run even stronger.

Now, it was Saturday morning at aid station 7 -- 42 miles into the race that began one minute past midnight.

Here in the gravel parking lot, David Christen swallowed electrolyte tablets with blue Gatorade, stuffed soggy ham sandwiches into his mouth, tossed the crusts into the campfire behind him.

"Conquest sucks," he told his wife. "There's nothing good about conquest."

It was a night of no sleep, biting cold wind and temperatures in the teens, of crossing an unavoidable, ankle-deep creek three miles in where a few fell, got soaked, then had to keep running. It was a night of sprinting uphill on unlit grass and gravel forest paths. And the toughest section, where leaf-covered rocks made it impossible to find footing, led to aid station 7 at Bearwallow Gap, where steam rose above pots of soup and the sandwiches were frozen courtesy of Mother Nature.

There were still 20 miles to the finish line.

And David Christen's seat by the fire was feeling too comfortable.

In the 11 hours since the race began, Christen learned why this 100K event is called Hellgate. Its 66.6-mile trek through George Washington and Jefferson National Forests is the length of more than two marathons, the equivalent of running from Roanoke to Bedford -- and back.

It's the longest race of its kind in Southwest Virginia, and since Hellgate began in 2003, its midnight start in December on paths described as "the worst section on the planet" are what keeps racers coming, and coming back for more.

"This is a humbling experience," said Perry Edinger, a runner from North Carolina who last ran an ultramarathon in 90-degree Arizona heat. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

On a night cold enough to freeze water in runners' bottles, 25 of 95 racers dropped out before 8 a.m., said Hellgate founder David Horton.

"It's tough, but they like it that way," said Horton, whose resume includes running the Appalachian and Pacific Coast trails, as well as a 64-day race across the country.

Some ran strong, simply happy to scarf a hamburger as they tugged fresh shoes and socks on dirt-smudged feet and blistered toes.

There were those determined to keep going, such as Josh Calhoun.

The 27-year-old from Norfolk spit out a bite of salt-covered potato that his sister, Meredith Calhoun, offered at a checkpoint.

"I don't know if I can keep anything down right now," he said.

He turned down his sister's offer to walk with him as he continued up a gravel hill, determined to finish before the 18-hour cutoff.

She followed him anyway.

"It's hard to see your loved ones doing something like this that hurts them," said Meredith Calhoun.

There also were those who knew when to quit.

Some 20 miles into the race, Bethany Patterson, 27, began losing her vision. She could see the ground, but she couldn't tell the difference between leaves and rocks.

She followed another runner to the 42-mile checkpoint, where she sat wrapped in a comforter and was diagnosed by a doctor with frozen corneas.

"What's your number, Hon," a volunteer asked.

"Fifty-two, and I'm done," she said, gulping the final swig of her cocoa.

But for Eric Grossman, 38, it was a day for victory. He was first to cross the finish line in 11 hours, 3 minutes.

He does not even recall being cold, although his wife has photographic proof of icicles on his dark beard.

About the same time Grossman crossed the finish line, David Christen rose from his seat at checkpoint 7.

"Arrgh," he moaned, sliding his red Adidas jacket over his head.

He stretched his legs, picked up his MP3 player, then pecked his wife on the lips.

"Do it," Lindsay Christen told her husband as he continued his Hellgate path.