Western States 100, part 2

Part 2

(see part 1 here)

So it's about 9:15 or so on Saturday night - I walked back along the trail about a mile to meet M, and left Tom to collect himself and get together anything he would need for the night, plus put together a bag for me to bring to the aid stations for him.  Once M came up the hill and out onto the road, we ran the mile back together as it was getting darker by the second.

Quick pitstop at the Forest Hill school aid station

At this point he's run 62 miles, and it's time for Tom to head out with him through the night.  I saw them off, getting to walk a bit down the road with them before they turned down the trail.  With lots of people out waiting for the runners, it was fun to run down the road with all of the cheering for them.  

Back in the car for me, I had a bit of a drive over to the parking lot for the next station.  Once I got there, I had big plans to get a couple hours of sleep....but once I got in the lot, the line for the shuttle was ridiculous.  At this spot, you took a shuttle for a couple of miles, then you had to walk another mile or so to one aid station, and then 2.5 more down to the river.  Most people didn't go all the way down to the river, but I wanted to see it.  So the attendant told me to plan on a couple of hours from the lot to the river...which meant my nap would be cut severely short.  

Parked, car off (and yes Mom, locked), I snuggled up in the front seat to get as much rest as I could.  I set my cell phone alarm and woke up about 90 minutes later.  I checked the line, and luckily it had gone way down.  So I packed up all of the stuff, chair, and layered up to head out.  He was expected to be to the river around 2am, so it was about 11pm now.  I waited for a while for the bus with other crew members, who were all starting to get a little cranky.  Apparently one of the 2 buses they had for this station had broken down, so it was taking much longer than expected...

We finally got on the school bus, drove the mile or so, then started the trek down to the aid station.  It's pitch black, and we're walking down what seems to be like a fire road, down the hill.  (you know what going down means...)  Luckily I met a couple of other crew members to chat with, so it wasn't a bad walk.  Once at the aid station, I set up the chair and some stuff with the others, and set off to the river...about 2.5 more miles down the mountain.  In the dark.  

My new friends were at the river already when I got there, they didn't stop at the aid station.  It was really dark - you can see in the photo below the lights from the aid station across the river, and then the runners in the water.  There were people in wet suits stationed along the way to help, and a big rope to hold onto.  I waited for a while, and we all kept trying to see who was coming...finally I heard from across the river "LINDSEY!!!" I shouted back "TOMMY!!" and was so excited to know they had made it, and were on their way across.  They had been 16 miles since Forest Hill.  

The best part about walking down to the river was that I got to walk back up with them!  I was very impressed with the energy and excitement that they both had - it was great to really spend some time the three of us together!  I know it motivated me for the rest of the evening, hopefully it did them too.

Once up at Green Gate aid station, we did a little changing, put on a jacket, gave the camera our 'hard face' and headed off into the night.  

I think this was about 3am, if I remember correctly...I packed up our chair and all of the gear and walked back up to the bus stop.  Again, only one bus was running, so the wait was a long, cold one.  

While they ran on, I drove back down the mountain to the next spot.  We were supposed to shuttle again, but I decided I was over the shuttling, so I found a parking lot along the highway, right next to where the aid station was.  Perfect!  I had some time to kill, so I snuggled up for another 90 minutes or so of sleep.  Once I got over to the aid station and started talking with a few of the other crew members, I'm so glad I got that parking spot.  Again, apparently they'd stopped the shuttles for a few hours, and had issues with them.  What a mess!  

The runners came down along the hill up where the fence is, and crossed the highway where the flags and cones are.  We are at mile 93.5 here at Highway 49 aid station.

Of course he had to be weighed in again.  He was very consistent with his weights throughout the night, but it was a little off from the very original one the day before.  This woman, appreciate her concern, was a little over zealous ... 

So just to appease her, we made sure he had quite the array of food before heading on.  At this point, "I've run 94 miles, I'm finishing this race!" was our mentality.  I think this was about 7am, if I'm remembering correctly.  

Buffet of goldfish, strawberries, smoothie, some Coke, and freshly grilled pancakes did the trick. 

93.5 miles in, just over 6 to go!  I packed up the car and drove over to the town of Auburn.  The race finish line was set up at the high school.  So I took some time cleaning up and rearranging the car, getting out clean, post race clothes, and then made the final trek to Robie Point, about a mile from the finish line.  

A couple of awesome pictures from Tommy's camera out on the course.

Robie Point is an area in the town of Auburn that is a mile from the finish line.  The neighbors all come out the weekend of the race and have an all night block party, decorate, grill, sing, and cheer on the runners as they make their final climb out of the woods.  

Up the hill he came, smiling and clapping for all of the supporters who were out cheering him on.  Tommy was close behind, taking photos along the way.  What a moment, and super cool sight to see.  In my attempt to get both a video and photos at the same time, this is a bit blurry....

99 miles 

So we all ran the last mile through the town together to the finish line, chatting and laughing every step of the way. 

When we got to the track at the high school, T and I bailed off to the left to run across the field and get in position while M went around the track to do his 'victory lap.' 

They announced each runner as they went around the track, saying where they were from, if this was their first Western States, or first 100, or some other fun facts that you had submitted.  

At 9:42am, he crossed the finish line of the Western States 100.  

Once he received his medal and posed for a couple of photos, he was weighed in one last time, and gave blood.  They were doing testing on every runner to study the effects of 100 miles on the body.  

After we hung around the track for a bit and the boys showered, we loaded up the car and headed over to Sonoma for a couple of days of celebration and rest! 

2012 Western States 100 miler

28 hours, 42 minutes and 17 seconds. 

Western States 100, part 1

This is a bit of a long post...but so many people ask about M's races, so I wanted to try to be fairly detailed without having numerous posts about the race.  I'm going to break it into 2, just so it's not ridiculously long...

Part 1

At 3:30am on Saturday, June 23, our alarm went off.  Ugh, early, yes, but we hopped out of bed with some nervous excitement - it was race day! 

All of the pre race events and the start were at Squaw Valley in Tahoe.  We stayed in a time share right next to the village, and it was fantastic to just be able to wake up and walk to the start line.  Once we did our final check in, our runner rested while I paced...I might of been more anxious than he was!  It was super dark at the start line...since the sun hadn't come up yet.  The race started at 5am...so by the time they got to the top of the first climb, the sun should have been up...

As soon as the race started, Tommy and I waited for a few minutes to see them go up the mountain and headed back to the condos.  As we walked back, we turned around and looked up.  What. Was. That!? A huge black cloud covered the top of the mountain.  Rain was something no one expected!  

We snuck in an hour nap before packing up the condos, loading the car, and heading off.  We had to go way down the mountain, across, and back up to meet him at the first stop.   It was cloudy, foggy, and pouring rain on us most of the way...if we were getting this weather, what was it like on the edge of the mountains?

Thank goodness for that stump.  I thought the girl directing traffic was going to send us over the edge of the world!

Shuttling to aid stations was something new to me...the races we've done on the east coast weren't nearly as big and crowded as this one.  I was certainly not prepared for the wait times associated with the added element of shuttles.  Poor Tommy was great at calming my nerves...the worst time for me is before the first aid station.  Once you see him the first time, you have a much better gauge on the pace to expect.  He gives us a chart of times to expect him at each station - fast, goal, slow, and cut off.  We we go along, we note what times he arrives and leaves each aid station.  After 50 miles or so, we have a good feeling of when to expect him at each spot.  

We nervously waited in line with other crew members, all who were concerned with missing their runner too.  The hour plus that it took between parking and getting to the actual aid station was not a fun one...

Luckily we got to Robinson Flat aid station about 5 minutes before our runner.  At this point, he was 30 miles in.

In line to get weighed in.  They had to stay within 7% of their initial weight throughout the race. 

Aid station buffet line.  These aid stations were 'full service' - they had a volunteer for each runner.  This was great for the runners, but very strange for crew.  Normally I can meet him as he comes in and I take care of getting him some food and his pack refilled...at WS the areas were roped off and no one was allowed in. Definitely took some getting used to.

Now that's friendship...

We set up a chair for him at the end of this aid station.  He had requested new shoes at this station, and with the rain, sleet, snow and hail that he ran through, the new and dry shoes and socks were a welcome change.  He snacked on a plate of chips and a bit of soda while Tommy and I got his shoes changed and refilled his pack with gu and salt tablets. 

and love...

It was much colder than anyone expected, and very damp and rainy.  Luckily I made him start with his jacket, and he kept it with him after this aid station.  

He's heading back down the trail - see him in the very center of the photo above the broken tree.

After saying goodbye here, we had another long wait for the shuttle back to our car...and he had to run 25 more miles before we would see him again.  

We had a bit of a drive (and some 'site seeing') back to Forest Hill and a couple of hours to kill before making the trip to Michigan Bluff.  We saw the leaders come through right as we got back to the aid station...they are crazy fast.  (the winner ended up finishing in 14:45 and setting a new course record)  

We had to take another shuttle over from Forest Hill High School to Michigan Bluff.  I was concerned after the first shuttle experience, so insisted that we were ready and over there early.  Luckily, this shuttle was super quick and easy...and we had lots of extra time once we got there!  

We cheered as each runner came in.  One really cool thing they did was have a radio guy who sat probably 1/4 mile up the hill from the aid station and announced runner numbers as people came through.  This way, you were totally prepared when your runner came through.  We also watched the very busy medical tent...which seemed like the black hole.  Runners who went in tended to not come out...

So 55 miles in, they called #83 and we were so excited to see him looking strong.  In the aid station he was weighed again...

And then taken by hand to ... the medical tent.  Not being able to go past the rope, I was totally uneasy. I waited for about 2.5 minutes before I bucked the system and ducked under the rope to see what was wrong.  

Better her than me!

Come to find out, he just wanted to get some blisters checked out.  Apparently the guy who wrote the book on blister treatment was in the tent working on feet...and our runner was star struck and wanted him to check his feet!  And he needed a little rest...

After new socks and coming out of the 'tent of doom,' he stopped at our chair set-up.  The sun was starting to go down, so we swapped a wet, short sleeved shirt for a dry one and new, dry hat.  He also munched on some more coke and snacks.  He took his headlamp and headed on.

I walked up the hill with him...and only had about 5 miles before I'd see him again.  It was nice to have a few minutes of time to chat.  They come in and out of the aid stations so quickly, it can be really tough on crew.  You schlep all of the gear around and wait and wait...and the runner comes buzzing in and out of the aid station...and then you pack it up and move on to do it again.  It's nice when you can walk along the race path with them and catch up for a few minutes.

After he left, we shuttled back to our car and got ourselves organized.  We moved the car from the parking lot across from the school to along the road where the runners were running.  I left Tommy to get himself together and ran just over a mile along the course to meet him.  By this time, the sun had set and it was getting dark.  Once I met him, we ran the mile + back to the Forest Hill aid station.  It was about 9:30pm and we were 62 miles in, night had set, and Tommy was up - it was time for him to leave me and head off with M!