Prognosis: Good

I saw my foot doctor yesterday, and he was very happy with the progress over the last two weeks. Instead of a 4 inch wide area of tenderness with my tendonitis (Posterior Tibial Tendonitis), it is focused on a very small area, about an inch. He told me that means it's healing up very well, and that this tender area is focused on where I did the tear. I'm still going to have to live in the ankle brace for another 3-4 weeks, and he showed me how to tape the ankle for added support. It will help at Heartland, just 3 weeks away. I wanted to get his opinion on whether I needed to cancel the run, or go as planned. He told me if it hadn't improved much from two weeks ago, he would have advised against running it. He believes I will be fine. But I'll have to 'baby' it for awhile still, and I'll need to avoid rough and rocky trails for the time being, at least until it's healed enough to deal with the uneven side-to-side terrain of trails. Looks like more boring flat dirt and rolling dirt roads at least until Heartland.

At least I can still proceed with focusing on the 3 100's scheduled the next few months for my Fall of Pain Series: Heartland, Motherroad II and Javelina.

Pain In My Foot

It seems I have a sprain in my right foot, on the left side this time. I've had it for awhile now, I just didn't realize it. In fact, I had it while running Lean Horse a few weeks ago. Originally I thought it was Plantar Fasciitis, but it seemed a little higher up than usual. I wrapped my foot with tape for the run for plantar type issues. I was a bit alarmed when I took off the tape and saw it slightly swollen and some bruising, down along my big toe.

I finally got to see my podiatrist to take a look at it, and he was puzzled as to why I had it. I didn't feel a pop, hear a pop, or hit it on anything. He told me to wear a brace for two weeks 24/7 and see how it feels then. He allowed me to go back to normal running (good thing, as I was going to anyway) but take notice of any pain in that area. This is a little more serious than my other sprains of late, which are usually on the anterior (outward) side of my foot and are easily braced. This sprain could lead to fallen arches and surgery if the tendon does rupture away from the talus of my foot. Since I've been running on it for the past 3 weeks (albeit taped) I'm not overly concerned. The pain is also not a lot (a 2 on a 1 to 10 scale). He thinks I'll be okay in a few weeks. I already feel a lot better with the brace supporting it. I was going to run this past weekend, but I opted to let the foot heal up a bit and besides, I had a ton of shit to do around the house this weekend anyway that had a higher calling and larger pull on me. I was going to run today but it's raining and cool out, so I'll opt to run tomorrow when it's supposed to be back into the 70's and sunny again.

Lean Horse Came Up Skinny

Not an auspicious start to my fall slam. In fact, you can say it’s over.

“Over?! Did you say ‘over’?! Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?” -– Animal House

Okay, I didn’t manage to finish Lean Horse, the first leg of my four 100 miler slam this year. I still have three to go. So it ain’t over yet.

I had a lofty goal of finishing in under 24 hours, but realistically was hoping for a finish under 28 hours. I haven’t done the kind of training of late needed to finish a 100 miler. Although Lean Horse is not an overly difficult 100, it’s still a 100 miles and, as I know all too well, anything can happen over the course of something like this. I was about to experience something new on the journey that I have never had to deal with before, but have heard about from a lot from other 100 milers: stomach bloating. Severe stomach distress. Dry heaves.

I drove up to Hot Springs SD early Friday morning and got there around 1 in the afternoon. Checked in and got my race packet, talked with Ulli Kamm and his wife Traudl, and met up with Pat standing in the doorway. So I went out and met his mom Mazie and Karen. They would meet me after the pre-race briefing and we would go out for dinner in town. Got to the hotel room and started sorting out stuff. Eventually I left for the briefing. Dropped off my four drop bags and talked to several people before going into the auditorium for the briefing: very low key and it was mostly a question and answer format. The RD Jerry mentioned that although cutoffs are published for the latter aid stations, he wasn’t going to enforce them too severely. “You guys came here to run so why should I stand in your way”. At the end, met up with Pat, Karen and Mazie and we did a brief tour of the first 16 miles of the course, which is in town and eventually along a rolling dirt road that takes us to the Mickelson Trail, a “rails to trails” trail which is very smooth and a gradual uphill.



Along the way we saw a wild turkey with her chicks. I hurried to get out of the car and snap a picture, and managed to get the chicks in mid-flight. After that we headed back to town and we picked up Pat’s brother Mike and we all went to the Mammoth Grille for dinner. Dinner was okay, and I got dropped off at my hotel to get ready for the next days’ run.

Got up early and did the usual pre-race stuff. It was a bit cool out, so I opted to layer: a short sleeve under a long sleeve shirt. I decided not to bring gloves or a warm hat, as I knew I would warm up quickly once started. Put on my regular ball cap, and was ready to roll. Filled up my two bottles with my energy drink, and stashed another bag of mix in my waist pack that should get me to the first drop bag at the Argyle Road aid station 16 miles in. Drove over to the race start and hung out and talked to various runners. Soon we were herded outside and behind the civic center building for the start. I tried to position myself towards the back so as to not get swept up in the early fury of the start.

Then we were off with the word “GO!” from Jerry. The first mile and change took us through town. I looked at my watch at various times and saw the pace was about 10:30. Not overly fast, but not slow either. It felt good so I kept it there for a while. We then made it onto a dirt road and the start of many rolling hills. I opted to walk the hills, as it afforded me the opportunity to take it easy early and not shoot my wad early. I was amazed though at the number of runner, most of them 50 milers, but there were a good number of 100 milers, who were running the hills. I thought to myself more power to them, as I’m going to run my race, and not theirs. I had written down splits for what I thought would be a sub-24 hour pace, and I hit the first aid station at Coldbrook at 4.1 miles in 42:39. This was right on the split I projected. So far so good. Not needing anything I breezed on through.


We soon came to a nice open meadow that connected us from the dirt road we were on to the Argyle Road that would take us to the Mickelson Trail ahead. Jerry had mentioned that there was one less aid station on the road, making the aid station distances around 4 miles, 10 miles, and 16 miles. At this point the road meandered through open country of farms and neighborhoods. It really reminded me a lot of Heartland, in that the road was a constant up and down of rolling hills, nothing steep and long, but without Heartland’s rocks and lack of trees.


I had projected a time to the next aid station of around 1:48. I hit it in 2:01, 10 miles into the run. I was okay with that, as it was starting to get warmer and I was walking more of the hills. I did take off my long sleeve shirt by this time. I got to the aid station and refilled both of my bottles, figuring an hour to the next one.

I was glad I scouted out the road with Pat and Karen the day before as I was able to get a better feel for this part of the course knowing where the end was. I was now in my run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute mode for nearly an hour. Unfortunately, the hills made it difficult to stick to it too rigorously, as I wanted to walk the hills, not run them. With each hill being completed, I would switch back to running and run for either 4 minutes or the next hill. This seemed to work out fine.

I reached the Argyle aid station, mile 15.7, in 3:06, just 6 minutes behind my split. I spent about 5 minutes here, changing into dry clothes, refilling bottles, refilling my pack, downing an Ensure, etc. until ready to go. It was getting hot by now. I didn’t have my ice hat or bandana until the next drop bag at the Pringle aid station 8 miles distant. I’d be okay until then. Bobby Keough was here helping out so he helped refill bottles for me.



I returned my drop bag and headed out onto the Mickelson. It was a gradual up and so I walked it a bit, then started running. The section between here and the next aid station at Lime Kiln Road was fairly rolling. I ran most of it, but was able to stick to the 4/1 plan easier here as the uphills were very slight. Got to Lime Kiln in 45 minutes, 12 minutes behind my splits. Still okay. Refilled my bottle and went out on my way to Pringle.

I got to Pringle in 4:42, still behind a bit, but feeling pretty good about my pace and hoping I would be able to keep this up, but I knew I was going to slow it down some as it was getting warmer out and the sun was unrelenting by now. Bobby was here to help me and I gave him my ice hat to fill up with ice. I probably spent about 5 minutes here changing stuff and refilling.



“A man drink like that and he don’t eat, he is going to DIE!” -– Blazing Saddles

The next few miles were pretty boring, as the trail was parallel to the main highway leading up to Hill City. I was running with another runner who asked me if I was doing the 50 miler or 100 miler. I said 100. He was doing the 50 and upon reaching the 25 mile mark, he jumped up in the air and came back at me as I cruised on through.

Soon the trail veered off to the left and into the farmland, and I found myself walking more and more due to the heat. I was feeling great but feeling the heat so I wanted to take it easy during the rest of the day.

“How about a Fresca?” -- Caddyshack

Got to the next aid station at Carroll Creek (mile 30) in 6:16, about 25 minutes behind. Bobby was here waiting for his runner Dennis Drey and I decided to sit down and get some ice cold beverages, refill the ice hat and bandana, and ate a sandwich. I think I was here about 10 minutes, so I decided it was time to head on out.

From here on, it was mostly a walk. I kept looking at my watch for the pace and I was hovering around 14:30 minute miles, so not too bad. It took me about an hour and a half to get to Custer and the next aid station, at mile 36. I was here about 10 minutes, getting my hat and bandana refilled with ice, sucked down a few ice cokes and refilled my bottles with mix. Got up and headed out through town.

“Am I going mad, or did the work ‘think’ escape your lips?” -– Princess Bride



The next 5 miles to the Mountain aid station was all walking, although I was able to keep up with a few runners ahead (who were jogging) and passed several people walking. I guess my forward progress is okay. I had been doing a lot of powerwalking on my training runs this year to try to improve my walking. I guess that was paying off. By the time I got to the Mountain aid station at mile 41, I was starting to feel a little off. Not sure what it was, so I sat down and downed a few ice cokes, had my hat and bandana refilled with ice. The aid station volunteer was really taken with my hat and bandana. The hat has a zipper compartment that allows you to add ice to it, so the ice stays in the hat and doesn’t fall out over your head. The bandana is a specially made item that is a bandana sewn together in half, with a chamois inside and little openings on either side to add ice. So again, the ice doesn’t fall out and stays inside. I decided to use one bottle of mix and one bottle of ice water at this point.



It was now 9:05 into the race, and I was hoping to be able to make the 50 mile turnaround in under 11 hours now. As we left, we had another mile or so of uphill, then a nice gradual downhill for several miles until the next aid station. As I was walking up to the top, I noticed Crazy Horse Monument to my right. Pretty cool sight. As my eyes were a little dry and fuzzy, I couldn’t make out the intricate details, but enough to see what it was. I also kept seeing helicopters flying back and forth overhead, which I found out later was a helicopter tour over the area.

“A Man’s got to know his limitations.” -– Dirty Harry

By now I realized I may be having some trouble. I couldn’t run much of the downhill, and my belly felt really full land bloated. I looked down and noticed it was a bit distended and sloshy. Shit! I have been electrolytes regularly every hour, and was peeing about once every 1.5 to 2 hours, so normal for me. I wasn’t sure what was going on here, but it was pissing me off as I couldn’t run much here. I’d run, but only for a minute or so and had to revert back to walking. So I resigned myself to walking for awhile. I was hoping I would feel better and be able to run more as the daytime sun started setting and it got a little cooler.

“I guess sometimes the past just catches up with you, whether you want it or not.” -– The Green Mile

I got to the next aid station at mile 47 in 10:38. I was really feeling bad by now, I saw Bobby and he offered me some ginger to try. I took it but it didn’t really help. I sat down for a bit and took in some ice coke. I asked the aid station people what mile it was and they said 45 miles. My GPS said 47.2. Shit! So I got up and left thinking it was going to take another 90 minutes to the turnaround (12 hours). To my surprise there was the last aid station in this direction just ahead. I looked at my GPS and it read 49.7. It was only 2.5 miles, not 4! I got here in 55 minutes, or 11:34 total running time.

“Wipe your face before you get up Dean.” -– The Green Mile

I sat down and was really feeling like shit. They offered me a Sprite and a cracker to help settle the stomach. I took them, and not long after I had the urge to vomit. I ran over to the side of the road and puked a ton of liquid out and some chunks of potato I had eaten at the Mountain aid station 2.5 hours earlier. Fuck! I wasn’t processing anything I was eating for at least 3 hours. No wonder I felt like shit. I was going on no calories and just burning my glycogen and fat stores. I sat here for about 23 minutes farting and hoping to feel better with each one, but it wasn’t, so I decided to try to go out and go to the turnaround ¾ mile down. I was hoping I might start feeling better and be able to finish this journey.

“Hey! Did somebody step on a duck?” -– Caddyshack

I got up among much cheering from the aid station folks (who were witnessing my condition) and walked out. I actually was feeling okay, but slow. Got to the turnaround and headed back, then I started getting sick again. More puking. I laid down on the trail for a minute or so hoping the cramping would stop. I even stepped off trail to take a dump. Still didn’t feel good. About 20 feet from the aid station, the cramps were unbearable and I started dry heaving. I don’t like dry heaves, as they really take all your energy away from you. I hunched over the fence for about a minute and decided this was it. This was as far as I can go.

My race was done.

“Percy fucked up, Hal. Pure and simple.
Is that your official position?
Don’t you think it should be?” -– The Green Mile

I finally got a ride out of there with one of the aid station volunteers with another runner who had also dropped. I got back to Hot Springs and my car, and spied the Dairy Queen next door. So I limped on inside in my smelly dirty clothes and ordered a large chocolate malt and a regular cheeseburger. Took them back to the hotel room just a block away and fell on the bed. Man, that malt and burger tasted so good! To my surprise, I kept it all down.

Pat called me not long after wanting to know where I was. I told them I was back at the hotel. They were waiting for me at the Mountain aid station on the return leg. He said they would be there shortly with beer. I got up and took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and waited. They arrived and we took our beers over to the picnic table by the river and talked about the days events, while watching runners come in for their finish.

So…..what went wrong? It took me awhile to figure this out, and I may be wrong, but I believe my problem was too much energy/calorie drinks per hour during the run. What a stupid mistake. This was something I’ve never done before, and knew better. I think the scenario was this: at the start I was drinking a bottle an hour while it was cool. This consisted of my energy/calorie drink mix, which I have used for over a year now, with no problems. Well, as it got warmer, I was drinking about 1.5 to 2 bottles an hour, all energy/calorie drink. My normal routine for hot runs is to alternate my mix with water. So I’d have one bottle of my energy/calorie mix and then I’d have a bottle of water, and I’d continue this routine until it got cooler and I was down to 1 bottle an hour and I’d either go with the energy mix or still alternate, depending on how things were going. I didn’t do that here. It was all energy mix. I did switch to water late in the race (at Mountain) but it was too late by then. All the stuff I had taken in was just sitting in my stomach and not getting processed. The body is an amazing thing. If it gets too much of something it just shuts off and waits to get rid of it via drastic means. All things being equal, this is the only logical explanation as it was something that I normally don’t do but I did. Other than that, at the end and afterward I was feeling alright: no aches, no soreness (except for the feet), no blisters. Just the stomach issues. Like they say, never do anything during the run unless you've trained for it on your training runs. Doh!

In any event, at least I got a good lesson in not what to do, and got in a nice 51 mile training run. I now have 6 weeks to get ready for Heartland, which should be enough time to work out the issues and get back in the swing of training.

One thing’s for sure: next year “I’ll be back” -– The Terminator

Off To South Dakota

I'll be heading out to South Dakota Friday morning to start my Fall Odyssey Slam with Lean Horse 100. I'm as trained as I'll ever be, so I hope it's enough. I did 40 minutes on the stairmonster Sunday afternoon after the Leadville Rainfest, and I did an easy hour on trails Tuesday, and about 35 minutes on trails and dirt roads Wednesday. Since it was in the 80's both days I wanted to get some acclimatization done before the weekend race, which looks to be in the low-80's as well. At least no rain, according to the latest forecasts for the area. I need to get a few last minute items from the store so I can throw them into my various drop bags for the race. Perhaps tonight I can actually watch some Olympics instead of packing things for the trip. Hopefully my race plan is good and I can get in a decent finish there.

Git 'Er Dunn!

It was a wet and wild weekend up in Leadville this past weekend: snow, thunderstorms, hail, rain, wind, rain, thunderstorms, hail, rain. Did I mention rain? Oh, it was also cold.

Vince Gerber and I went up to Leadville this year to help our good buddy Ron get a tenth finish in. Along with his crew: Norma, his wife, and Jan and Chris (loyal crew members for years) we all wanted and said one thing: “Dammit Ron! Get that big 1000 mile buckle!” In other words, ‘Git ‘er’dunn’.

This was one year I was hoping my weather forecast during the race would be wrong. Actually, I thought there would be snow at the start, and it was quite nice for the start of the race, where 452 hardy souls took off into the cold dark. From then on, it rained off and on all morning and into the afternoon. There were periods of breaking clouds and blue skies, and it wasn’t until Saturday afternoon that it finally cleared up enough to make a favorable impression of all involved.

I got up to Leadville Thursday afternoon in time for the pasta dinner, but no Ron to be found. So I went ahead and got my dinner and ate, talking to some familiar faces (Larry Hall, Beth Simpson-Hall, Paul Schoenlaub, to name a few). Finally Ron, Norma, Chris and Jan show up and we have a nice conversation. I notice Ron is coughing a bit, remnants from a cold he caught a few weeks earlier. I was hoping it wouldn’t be a problem come race day.

We got back to the RV and found the digs I would be using for the weekend: a smallish tent. At least I would be dry. Ron was supposed to bring up his big family tent for Vince and I were to share. He forgot. So after a few beers and talking, it was time to get some sleep. Got in the tent and found myself fast asleep. I woke up around midnight feeling very cold. I awoke to find the tent door flapping in my face and my head partially stuck outside. Thankfully no rain. I discovered the zipper had failed and the door came apart. I tried to fasten it together with safety pins, but found that wouldn’t keep the rain out, so I decided to take all my stuff into my Pathfinder and sleep in the back. Ron would hear no end of this all weekend.


I got up around 5:30 and took a shower and noticed Jan was up so I decided to go to the RV and see what’s happening. Norma was up making breakfast but Ron was still asleep. Not for long as Norma set off the smoke alarm in the RV getting a pan ready for eggs. After breakfast Ron and I went over to the race check in for the runners medical baseline measurements and such. We ran into Scott Olmer while waiting in line. After Ron and Scott were done, Ron wanted to go back and get some sleep. I went over to Scott and Steph’s Café for breakfast with Scott. We then went driving around afterward, Scott in search of a new housing development in town. We ended up taking a tour of the old mining roads and abandoned mines before finding the new development on the south part of town, located near the town landfill.


Got to the pre-race talk with Scott. Couldn’t find Ron. We were sitting in front of Scott Snyder and John Hobbs. Scott Snyder just coming off a great Badwater run, and John is here for his 13th finish (unlucky 13?). After the talk, went back to Ron’s RV and waited for Vince to show up. He was stuck in traffic on I-70 towards the tunnel due to an accident and crappy weather. The weather here was improving, and sunny so Ron and I ate lunch outside on the picnic table waiting for Vince. Vince finally showed up (bringing the rain with him) and the fun began. Vince gave Norma some zucchini bread his wife Karen made, vowing Vince to let only Norma have any. We then went to Quincy’s for dinner. I had already made alternate means for housing, having begged Karen Pate and Pat Homelvig to allow me a place to stay for the night(s) ahead. I took solace in that I was much more warmer, and comfortable, than Vince in his little one-man tent he brought up.




Went over to Pat and Karen’s around 8:00 PM, Karen and I went over to Rosie’s for takeout waiting for Pat, then went back to the house. I got up around 2:30 and headed over to Ron and Norma’s at 3:00 AM, trying to get some positive vibes in Ron’s direction while he ate breakfast. So far, no rain. Ron, Vince and I walked to the starting line at 3:20. Saw lots of people and made the social rounds with everyone. Soon it was time to start the race, and with the blast of the shotgun, all 452 runners were off. Vince, Norma and I headed back to the trailer for breakfast.


Jan took off for the Fish Hatchery, and Norma left for Twin Lakes around 6:30. Vince and I hung around until 7:30 before heading over to Fish Hatchery to meet Ron, 24 miles into his journey. His estimated time of arrival here was 8:45. While we were waiting, Vince and I had fun calling all the runners going in by nicknames. “Way to go green Mohawk!”, “Looking good tank top!”, etc.. Scott Olmer runs by calling us the ‘Banana Boys’ with our yellow rain jackets on. Scott Snyder comes by, with his wife Katie next to him, and I yell out “Scott! You are looking like shit!” I later checked with Katie if he was okay with that, and she assured me he’d much rather hear stuff like that rather than ‘looking good’ comments. In fact, he actually looked quite good. It was now after 9:00 AM and we were a bit worried. We heard from Jan that Chris saw him at Mayqueen 13 miles in and he was muddy, some blood on his knee and a lost flashlight after a good tumble along the Boulevard 3 miles in to the run.


Vince and I keep our eyes out for Ron. We saw a guy coming in who had on the same shorts, jacket and ugly floppy hat Ron has and so go running up to him and find out: not Ron! Man, it’s daunting to realize there are people out there who look like Ron, much so in the same race! Finally, Ron shows up at around 9:30 AM. I take his empty bottles and Vince goes up to the aid station with him. I grab a rain poncho and some filled bottles and run up there to meet him. I put his bottles into his fanny pack and off he goes after a change of jackets.




Vince and I decided earlier that we would go to Treeline to meet Ron while Jan goes on to Twin Lakes. Vince remembers he left his jacket at the RV, but we dedide to get it after we see Ron at Treeline since it is such a short distance. I have never been here crewing for someone so I was happy to go and see all the runners go through this unofficial aid area, that through the years has become a crewing area and a tradition. After getting lucky and finding a close parking spot, we head up to Halfmoon Road and wait. Soon Ron comes flying by looking great (the break in the weather helped too) and declining any help. So we head back to the RV, get Vince’s jacket, and head on out to Twin Lakes.

We got there around 11:00, and Ron’s expected arrival time of around 12:45 gave us time to take it easy and relax a bit. Vince decided he was going to get his pacing clothes on so when he goes to Winfield to pick up Ron he’d be ready. I find Norma, Jan and Chris hanging out under a canopy they put up near the trailhead and over a picnic table. I’m hungry, so Jan cooks up some burgers for all of us. Now it’s wait time. Since Ron was late getting into Fish, I figured 1:30 PM was our window for his arrival. Well, when it came to 2:00 PM, we were a bit worried. Looking at my watch, I figured Ron’s chances of finishing in time were evaporating which each passing minute. Ron projected a 7.5 hour out to Winfield and back to Twin Lakes. With his slowness and the weather, I figured 8 hours minimum. That put Ron into Twin Lakes after the 9:45 PM cutoff. And the cutoff for coming into Twin Lakes at 2:30 PM was not far.

Ron showed up at around 2:20, so we hustled him through the aid station and to the crew area where we had food ready for him. Molly Barnes was there helping as well, and after Ron sat down to eat she told Ron to get up and take his burger with him. Ron got up without complaint and headed out, in what was probably the quickest rest break for Ron here, about 3 minutes.

Chris was anxious to go to Winfield after Ron left, and he and Vince left about 30 minutes later. I opted to stay behind at Twin Lakes and keep the crew company. While waiting, there was an obnoxious crew person on some other crew who'd yell out "Git 'er Dunn!" each time a runner came by. I wasn't annoyed with it but Jan and Norma were getting tired of hearing it constantly. Finally, Rickie Redland runs by and starts yelling "I'll get it done when I get it done!". At the time I didn't make the connection, but later it became apparent she was rather annoyed with this guy. Runners can get pretty cranky during these things. It did shut him up for some time, but then we had a chuckle when he started back up with it later in the evening. Matt and Anne Watts showed up that afternoon to watch the festivities and wait for their runner Beth Simpson to come in, and I had a nice chat with them while enjoying the now sunny weather. Turned out Beth dropped out at Winfield and Matt ended up pacing Davy Crockett to Fish Hatchery, where he had issues with the rain and cold and dropped as well. It wasn't a pretty sight for seasoned runners this year.

When Ron left Twin Lakes, the weather improved dramatically enough to allow us to see Hope Pass. It stayed fairly clear in that direction for the remainder of the afternoon and evening. Norma, Jan and I made a decision to tear down the canopy after 7:30, since if Ron did make it to Winfield in time, Chris would be back by then and we’d know whether or not to tear down. We finally made the decision around 7:30 PM to take it down. We were bummed but not surprised, since the weather took a toll on Ron’s breathing. Ron soon showed up around 8:30.


Bummed, we headed back to the RV and had some champagne and zucchini bread while watching Michael Phelps win his eighth gold medal. Ron was getting sleepy, so I decided to head over to Pat and Karen’s and Joann Beine arrived and we had a nice conversation till 10:00 PM. Got up early, took a shower and went over to the RV around 6:45 for breakfast. By 8:00 AM we headed over to the finish line to see the last runners come in. The last runner crossed the red carpet in 29:59:35 with much commotion and shouts of “GO! GO! GO!”

Vince, Ron and I went back to the RV and talked a bit, and I decided to head on back before traffic gets too heavy. It was a fun weekend, although bittersweet, but I know Ron will come back to get his 10th finish in. It may not be next year, but I’ll be there and ready whenever he decides to do it, whenever that may be.

Addendum To My Global Cooling Post Below

The photos were from a training run with Ron last year in prep for last year's run (which was an utter failure for both of us). Some other slacker, who will remain nameless, managed to ike out a finish by running over everyone's backs in the process. So much for "sportsmanship".

Looks Like Global Cooling in Leadville This Weekend

Well, I'll be heading up to Leadville shortly to help out a good friend, Ron Wright, get his tenth Leadville finish this weekend. I've known Ron for a good number of years, and have paced/crewed him there off and on the last 7 years. This year will be his third time at getting that elusive tenth finish. I feel confident, as does my other running buddy Vince Gerber (who also is on Ron's crew this year), that he will "get 'er done" this year. He's been training like a madman all year. The last few years his training suffered and consequently his attempts to finish came up short. But this year Ron is focused and determined to finish it this year. Barring any unforeseen calamity, I feel pretty good that he can get it this year.

As for the weekend's weather, well, so much for summer in the high country. A very potent system from Canada looks to rush south into our area by the end of today (Thursday) and bring with it a nice taste of Fall to the Rockies.

This last comment brings a chuckle, as it reminds me of the days long ago when I was a lowly 1st Lieutenant in the Air Force doing weather briefings at NORAD HQ in Colorado Springs. I was told by my bosses that we can't refer to systems coming down from Canada as "Canadian Lows" or "Cold Canadian Air". We had to refer to them as "Arctic systems" or "Arctic cold air" as to not offend the Canadian senior staff, who were many at NORAD. But since I don't work there anymore, I can call it what it is, "Cold Canadian air". Yeah baby! Reprimand me!

It is very likely that there may be snow falling up in Leadville for the start of the race (it starts at 4 AM Saturday). It won't be massive amounts, but it could very well be snowing. It won't be warm up there this weekend, and Ron says the cold doesn't bother him much more than crappy footing on trails. It looks to be a rainy/snowy mix on Saturday morning turning more rainy as the day wears on. It will be cold at night, dipping into the low-30's. If it clears out, it could get even colder. I'm glad I'm running it this year, as the cold really does a number on my breathing and would seriously impact a finish there for me (sorta like last year).


My pacing duties originally include me taking Ron from Mayqueen (mile 87) to the finish. Vince's plan is to take Ron from Winfield (50 miles) to Mayqueen. However, Vince's knee may play a factor in how much he might be able to pace. I may have to take Ron from Twin Lakes (mile 60) to Treeline or Fish Hatchery (mile 77), but it depends on how Ron's progress is and how Vince feels. Ron likes to have a pacer over the Fish Hatchery to Mayqueen segment, as that involves a rather nasty climb up to Sugarloaf Pass at 11K elevation that really takes it out on a lot of runners in the race as it is a big climb so late in the run. I also have Lean Horse the following weekend so I am not wanting to do a whole hell of a lot of running, but am willing to break up portions to get Ron motivated through his low spots in the race. I may have to forego Mayqueen and pick him up the last 5 miles at the Dam at Turquoise Lake. I can see me doing the Twin Lakes to Treeline segment if Ron is getting close to the tight cutoff at Halfmoon Aid (mile 69), then picking him back up at Fish Hatchery to Mayqueen and the last 5 miles. If Vince's knee is okay, then this is all a moot point. I would like to pace Ron on the Treeline to Fish Hatchery segment as this is all road and similar to what I'll be experiencing at Lean Horse the following weekend.



All in all, a pretty fluid schedule. I'm looking to have a ton of fun (it's always a blast crewing and pacing versus running the race anyway) and help a good friend in the process. Vince and I (and Ron's wife and crew) will do everything it takes to get Ron his number "10".

My Upcoming "Mini"-Slam

I am starting to wind down on my training this summer (if I can REALLY call it that) and entering ‘taper mode’ for my own little version of my summer/fall Slam: Lean Horse 100, Heartland 100, Motherroad II, and Javelina Jundred. For the super observant, you’ll notice that there aren’t any mountain 100 milers in my list this year. Yep. I'm taking a break from the mountain climbing 100’s of the past and focusing on more low-key, mellower 100’s. A 100 is still a 100, regardless whether it’s at high altitude, tons of climbing, or flat and straight. They are still tough and a long way to go.

My reasons for this list of four are varied, and oddly enough there is some logic and reasoning to it:


I have been intrigued by Lean Horse since it started a few years ago, but it conflicted with the Leadville 100. It is held the week after Leadville, Aug 23-24. Well, I’m not doing Leadville this year, and decided to say “Yeah”! I also saw the finishing belt buckle award from my friend Nattu and what a kick-ass buckle it is. I gotta have one of those. I originally had visions of a sub-24 hour there (which is very doable), but realistically, with my lack of proper training, I think that is a lofty goal. Right now I want to finish under 26 hours. The course is mostly on the Mickelson Trail in SD, a “trails-to-rails” project that is a gradual up to the 50 mile turnaround and back to the start in Hot Springs, SD. Lorraine and I plan on going out a few days early and do some sightseeing.


Heartland, Oct 11-12, is an old favorite. This will be my third time there, and I always love the support and venue. Having grown up in the area as a lad also brings to me a special appeal. I ran it 2 years ago in memory of my mom and dad, who both passed away earlier in that year due to complications with pneumonia. It was probably one of my more emotional finishes in memory. Both of them grew up and lived the bulk of their lives in that area of Kansas. I’ve heard people ask me if it is an easy 100. Well it is, and it isn’t. It ain’t flat by any means, but the climbs are short but they are many. I always struggle to finish the last 10 miles or so. I always get a kick when I run into a herd of cattle blocking the road, and the prairie chickens scare the shit out of me at night, as they tend to roost near the ground at night and will fly up and make a commotion as you run by them, sight unseen at night. I’ve also seen the glowing eyes of cows staring at me at night as well. I also like the non-traditional pre- and post-race feeds: no pasta in Kansas, please! Meat and potatoes! And lots of it!


Motherroad II, Nov 8-9, is a race that originally didn’t offer up much appeal: 100 miles of asphalt running on an old highway along I-40 in Oklahoma. Having down a fair amount of storm chasing in this area while at the University of Oklahoma (working on my B.S. degree in Meteorology), I figured I might want to revisit the area. Like Heartland, it ain’t flat, but rolling. Two years ago the race ran on the eastern route of Route 66 from Arcadia to Sapulpa. This year, it takes the western part of old Highway 66: Elk City to El Reno. An odd connection there is my brother, who currently lives in El Reno, used to live in Elk City. The other nice thing about this route is that this part of 66 is basically a frontage road to I-40, so not a lot of semi-truck traffic will be an issue, unlike the run two years ago which was crawling with semis and a lot of scared runners. I also want to try my hand at running 100 miles on asphalt, as Badwater is a run I want to try but not sure of the asphalt aspect of that race. Why not try it out and see?


Last but not least is Javelina, Nov 15-16. You’ll notice it is the following weekend after Motherroad. Is this logical? Dunno. We’ll see if I can muster it up to do it. I won’t know until after Motherroad is over if I can. My race plan for these two are simple: run easy, run slow, and have fun. So, no PR’s or visions of great times are in my strategy here. If I can finish Motherroad under the 30 hour time limit and feel like I didn’t kill myself in the process (meaning, going slow and easy and limiting injuries) then I can do the same for Javelina. I have to put blame on this last run on my running fiend, er, friend Vince Gerber. We both have 5 finishes there. In fact, we are the only ones who have completed all 5 runs of Javelina. Well, much to my chagrin Vince decided to sign up for number 6. I can’t let him get the best of me, so I did the same too. But the only way I can finish it is I HAVE to go easy on MR II AND Javelina. I’ll let Vince go ahead and kick my ass there this year (he's been mega-dosing with Viagra in prep for this race), but at least he won’t have the bragging rights of finishing Javelina a week after a 100 mile run in Oklahoma, or four 100's the previous 3 months! I guess the gauntlet has been thrown. Ker-plunk!

Don't Drink the Water, It's 'Badwater' 2008

For the second straight year, I helped out at Badwater to help a running friend conquer the heat and cross the finish line. Last year I helped Nattu finish, this year I helped Bob Becker, who, as it turns out, was also on Nattu’s Badwater crew last year.

Friday evening, July 11, 2008
Arrived at Las Vegas airport and was greeted by Bob and two of his Florida buddies, Bud and Jared. After talking a bit and getting acquainted at baggage claim, my luggage finally appeared and we headed out to hail a cab. The line was a mile long, snaking back and forth like security lines at DIA. I could hear the cattle mooing as we inched our way forward. I was able to get in a little heat training waiting for the cab, as it was quite hot out. We finally got a cab and got a ride over to the hotel and got settled in, then got on the hotel shuttle to the Mandalay Bay casino for some evening eats.


We found a nice little eatery with nice waitresses, and decided to eat here. The lowest steak fare on the menu was an 8 oz filet, at $48 a pop. They did have some nice Kobe 6oz fillets for $170. They also had caviar on the menu for $445. We went cheap so we could have more beer. We came up with Bob’s nickname for the race during our beers: Bobby Z. Too dirty and long to explain, but somehow it stuck. After dinner we walked around a bit and then headed back to the hotel for some sleep.

Saturday morning, July 12, 2008
Got up at around 5:30 AM, and decided to get up, shower, and check the e-mails on the hotel PC downstairs. While logged on, a couple of sweaty, stinky guys came up from behind. It was Bud and Jared. They just got back from a 5 mile run on the strip. We all had breakfast, joined by Nattu (helping this year) who arrived very late the previous night. We then took the shuttle over to the car rental place to get the vans. We had a nice conversation with the shuttle driver, who thought Nattu owned his own taxi and inquired whether taxi drivers in California could own their own cab. I know Nattu isn’t a cabbie, but the shuttle driver sure drove like one. Actually, he drives like Nattu, taking turns at 40 mph and weaving in and out of traffic. I looked over at Jared and he had a look of total fear on his face. I think I saw a puddle under his seat as well. Bud and I were laughing hysterically, mostly out of fear ourselves. I always like to laugh in the face of death rather than show my fear. More manly that way.


We checked out the vans, one a full size cargo van for crewing during the race and the other a minivan for shuttling crews to and from the course. Since the crewing would consist of two crews, 3 people each on 8 hour shifts, we needed a shuttle van to move crews to the course and off for sleep. We made sure we could use the minivan as a crew van in case the cargo van went tits up on the course (or as we commonly say in the military, Tango Uniform) we could use this as a backup if need be. While Nattu and Bob took the cargo van to WalMart to get a couple of ice coolers, Bud, Jerod and I went to the airport to pick up the remaining crew members Ed and Terri. We agreed beforehand that we would meet at the Pahrump NV WalMart for a supply run before heading to Death Valley.


We all got to Pahrump, filled up, ate lunch, and did the mad WalMart run for supplies. This is always a trip, as one shopping cart is filled with jugs and jugs of water. We also get any food items that Bob, as well as crew members, would want to eat out there. Juices, snacks, soups, butt wipes, batteries, misters, chairs, medical supplies, boxes to hold it all, and of course tons and tons of ice. Stuff we will need while we are crewing cause it will be tough to find it all in the Valley.

Saturday afternoon, July 12, 2008.
We made our way to Death Valley and decided to stop at Zabriskie Point just inside the park. A slight little walk uphill to view the hills and distant valley ahead. The boys from Florida were complaining about the uphill climb, only about 100 yards long and about 50 feet climb. The views were incredible though, and we all took it in. Really breathtaking. Or was it the heat doing that? We then piled into the two vans and headed to Furnace Creek, which is the first checkpoint in the race to get our park passes for the vehicles. We then charged on ahead to Stovepipe Wells to check into our rooms. We also unloaded the van of its contents into my room to keep things from melting in the vans.

Saturday evening, July 12, 2008
After having a beer and some food at the only restaurant in the place, we proceeded to chill out. Before dinner, Terri decided she wanted to go run a bit. Not long after, we were watching a big dust cloud moving in from the north east. Soon it was windy and dusty, and we were a bit concerned for Terri. But she showed up not long afterward, and shortly before the big thunderstorm dropped a ton of rain and lighting all around. While we were eating, we noticed the lights had flickered. We also found out during dinner from other runners there that some crew members had to divert and turnaround near Panamint Springs due to road washouts. Little did we know at the time this would be a major impact come race day, or could have been.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Ed, Bud, Jared, Terri and I decided to get up a bit early and run up Mosaic Canyon road, just a few yards west of Stovepipe. As we were making our way up the canyon, I decided I wanted to run on the paved road instead of the rough dirt road, so turned around and hit the pavement. As I was running along the road, I spied two runners up ahead about 200 yards or so, so I decided to see if I could catch up with them. Turned out it was Bob and Nattu. I did catch up with them and we turned around and headed back to Stovepipe. Took a shower and then we all met for breakfast. After taking a little break, we all jumped in the shuttle van and headed back to Furnace Creek for Bob to check in and get his race stuff. While waiting in line to enter, I saw Alene Nitzky and her crew of Stephanie Willingham, Katy Cotton, and Ken Eielson. Alene was kind enough to allow us to get some of her Mt Whitney permits for after the race. Also saw Phil Rosenstein, who was running (amazingly, he was coming off of major lung surgery from complications with pneumonia),


Scott Snyder and his wife Katie and John Hobbs and his wife who were crewing Scott. Also met up with Scott Weber and had a nice chat with him. After Bob had his check in and his mugshot taken, we then headed back to the restaurant for a mediocre lunch. Since the race briefing wasn’t for another few hours, we all decided to head to Badwater and check out the salt flats. Then we headed back, via the Artist’s Loop route, to Furnace Creek and the race briefing. Bud and I decided to go get ice before the briefing ended, and good thing we did as the guy manning the ice house and gas station was about ready to close. We all headed back to Stovepipe for
dinner, and afterwards get the crew van ready for the race the next day’s journey for Bob. We put “BOBBY Z” on the front of the shuttle van with blue painter’s tape.

Ed, Terri and I, being the second crew to be on duty at 4 PM, saw Bob and Crew 1 off to the race start around 7 AM. Since we had time to kill, we ate breakfast then headed over to the General Store for lunch items (since the only restaurant in the place wasn’t open for lunch). Took it easy and tried to get some sleep, then got ready to go crewing around 3 PM. Headed out around 3:30 and caught up with them about 30 miles into the course, 12 miles from Stovepipe Wells. We decided that the pacing rotation would be Ed for 3 miles, then Terri for 3 miles, then me for 3 miles, and repeat as necessary. While it was hot out and sunny, it wasn’t as hot as it could have been. We heard 114 degrees during the heat of the day was the max. We got briefed by


Nattu’s crew how Bob was doing, what he was eating, drinking, the procedures during the day. With that, Bud handed me the key to the van, attached to a necklace, so as not to lock ourselves out on the course. As was mentioned in the pre-race briefing the day before, we were trying to avoid a call to the off-duty highway patrol officer and his ‘AAA’ rescue: a rock painted with ‘AAA’ on it to be used to bust through a window. I likewise handed Bud the key to the shuttle van and we were now in charge of Bob’s progress.




Ed took over pacing right away, while Terri and I drove to the next mile marker and waited. We got things in order: filled bandanas and buffs with ice, filled Bob’s bottles with ice and water, sorted out where the food was, the drinks, etc. were and waited. Before long, Ed was radioing in what Bob’s needs were: usually a fresh ice bandana and ice buff with two bottles of ice water. Bob was looking great and moving well. Soon it was time for Terri. Ed made a comment that Bob needs to eat more, and we radioed Terri what he might want to eat. We found it was easier to offer a menu of items to Bob rather than ask him what he wants. Usually his answer to what he wanted was “I’m fine right now.” His other responses were stern looks or “No fucking way!”. This was going to be our main ordeal with Bob, getting him enough calories to get him through the race. Day 1 was much tougher than day 2.
Terri radioed ahead that they were going to come to the van and deal with his tight calves. Ed and I set up a chair in the van for Bob to sit in while Terri rubbed out his calves (I was jealous!). As Ed and I were lifting him into the van (man this guy was light!) his calves seized up immediately as we put him in the chair. Terri got to work immediately and seemed to get the calves to loosen up. Both Ed and I thought if we don’t get this dealt with fast his race may be over. Luckily, we weren’t far from Stovepipe Wells checkpoint, which had a medical station there as well. It was my turn to pace him, and I tried to get Bob to think of other stuff than his calves. We all took turns pacing him and reassuring him he will be okay, and trying to figure out what was going on. I paced him on the final leg to Stovepipe, and as we were heading in a nice chap handed me a map of the altered course due to road washouts near Lone Pine. We spied Bud and Nattu ahead and told them Bob needed to go to the med station to have his calves and feet looked at.





Bob spent about an hour and a half at Stovepipe. Part of that was having his feet looked at, taking a shower, eating and getting off his feet for a few minutes. Denise Jones was in the station and ascertained Bob’s calf issues were due to not broken in Baer shoes. Bob said he had another pair more broken in, but opted to wear his older shoes with the toebox removed. She suggested coming back to have his feet taped after his shower. During this time I was looking at the map. Nattu came over and said that the new course would have the runners turn around before Keeler and head back up Father Crowley’s and finish at Panamint. No Whitney Portal. As we were waiting for Bob to get his feet tended to, Don Meier came running out saying the original course was back on. No detours.

Not long after, out came Bob and Nattu, and Ed took over pacing Bob. It was still light out, but we would have to take out the flashlights soon as Bob was heading up Townes Pass. We made our way along the ever climbing road to Townes’. We managed to keep Bob moving, but still struggled with getting him to eat. He was eating, but not to our liking. It is quite impressive looking back along the long stretch of road and all you see is car lights on the left, and little specks of light from runners on the right. All runners and crew are required to wear reflective vests with lighting attached. Some runners went pretty elaborate: I saw some vests totally illuminated with blinking lights all the way up and down. Thank God for the radios as it was very difficult to see the van at night. We ended up jury rigging a blinker on top of the van to see it from the pacer point of view, which worked out fairly well.

Soon it was time to be relieved by the first crew (although it was a little early for our liking). We briefed them on Bob, trying to get him to eat. His feet were okay but still sore. No tight calves. Bud and I switched keys and we headed back to Stovepipe Wells for some sleep.

Tuesday, July 14, 2008 – Day Two

I got up fairly early, took a shower, then made sure we were all checked out of the rooms as we were responsible for taking all the bags out and leaving them for the relief crew to check in at Lone Pine. In order to meet them by 7:45 AM, we had to forego breakfast as they didn’t open until 7:30. As we made our way toward Panamint Springs (another runner check point) we noticed a lot of water in the valley right up against the road. I guess this is where the road washed out several days earlier. We stopped at Panamint Springs to get some breakfast. Walked in and talked to some other runners and they said be prepared to wait awhile. We opted to get some junk at the convenience store instead. We did notice that gas was $6.51 for regular. We opted not to fill up here. We did pick up some ice (10 bags @4.25/bag). Turns out the other crew picked up some as well. We left going up Father Crowley’s and met the crew a few miles before Father Crowley’s Point. It was about 7:15 AM. We discovered that we didn’t need to get any ice, so we decided to go back to Panamint and off load to others who may want it. Bob was also in the mood for popsicles so we would get a few there as well. Got back and met the crew at Father Crowley’s, exchanged keys and once again Bob’s fate was in our hands.



Bob was in pretty good spirits, but was complaining a lot about his feet. He was still in his toeless shoes, but was planning on switching to his other more worn in Baer shoes on the descent into Darwin and Lone Pine. We all took turns pacing Bob, getting him to eat what we could talk him in to eating. It was already 9 AM and it was getting hot out. We found out Bob’s sense of timing was way off, as every 45 minutes we would remind him to take salt. His standard reply was “I just took some not too long ago!” We would radio ahead and refer to the log entries for each mile and they verified that it was time for some salt. Terri was great in reminding Bob, whether she was pacing or on the radio, that Bob needed to eat something. We would throw out menu items for him to think about and he would choose something. A new item we threw out there was cashews. He loved them!



About a few miles east of Darwin checkpoint, we had an F-18 flyover heading toward Lone Pine. He was probably about 500’ above the deck. He did wave his wings as he flew by. About 10 minutes later, he came back, but this time heading up the valley towards Darwin at about 50’ off the deck and a few hundred yards away. AWESOME!



Then a miracle happened: the clouds started building in, dropping the direct sunshine down to tolerable and the temps down considerably. I noticed Terri was wearing a long sleeved shirt as she was getting chilled. The other miracle included Bob running more. Since the downhill he started running more and more. Here is where he would pick up some of the lost time back at Stovepipe tending to his feet. He was also eating more now. Maybe it was the clouds and temps or he was just hungry, but he was eating more, and it didn’t take a cattle prod to get him to do it. Bob’s big concern was getting rained on. He would ask me a number of times if I thought the rain that was behind us would catch us. It never did, so we were all happy.



We were having so much fun it was a bummer to see the relief crew show up. Nattu was happy Bob was doing so well and making wonderful progress. By this time, we were just a few miles from Keeler, which meant 12 miles to Lone Pine (108 miles into the course). We gave the relief crew the rundown on Bob, exchanged keys, and told them we would meet them in Lone Pine at the hotel.



We headed back to the hotel to clean up and get some late lunch. We settled on the pizza place. We met some nutcase 10K-marathoner who was trying to tell us how to run Badwater while he was questioning the staggered start system, crewing every mile, etc. I noticed Terri and Ed quietly walking away leaving me to deal with this clown. Thanks guys! [Just kidding] After we all had our meal, we then headed back to the hotel to relax until the gang arrived (we estimated around 7:30 PM). I was watching TV and chilling out when I got a call on the phone from Nattu: he was at the back door of the room wanting in. Bob was coming in. We all went out to greet him and offered any assistance we could. Soon, he was off again into town and the final 15 miles of his journey. Nattu suggested we meet them around midnight. Since no more than two crew vehicles on the road at the same time, we would have to drive all the way to the finish and run down to meet them. Ed and I left Terri with the crew while we drove on up to the top. Ed decided to stay awhile, I opted to run down to meet them. I caught up with them about 3 miles from the end. Bob was really moving well in here (not bad for a flatlander Floridian) despite having been running for nearly 40 hours now. It looked like he was going to be able to beat Nattu’s time from last year (which was 41 hours). I decided to just stay and crew and not pace anymore.



As Bob was nearing the finish line, we drove on up to the top and walked down to meet Bob and Terri. Met up with Ed and caught up with Bob and ran the last few yards in with him. Bob did it: Finished in 40:48, beating Nattu’s time by 12 minutes! Way to go Bob!!



While we were driving back, Bob immediately passed out in the front seat. He was entitled. After dropping everyone off, Ed and I wanted to find and meet up with Alene’s crew and figure out how to get the Whitney permits. After driving for 20 minutes we decided we must have missed them and headed back into town. We saw her crew vehicle just ½ mile from downtown and stopped and talked with Stephanie and Ken about Alene and when to get the permits. Earlier yesterday afternoon Alene had to stake herself off the course due to horrible blisters. She had her feet worked on in Lone Pine by Jon Vonhof and Denise Jones, for nearly 2 hours. Well, you’d never know it seeing Alene cruise on by like a BMW sports car smiling and laughing. One tough gal! After talking with them we met up with Scott Weber and chatted with him a bit as well. It was 2:45 AM and time to get back and get some sleep. Breakfast call was scheduled for 6:30 AM.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Got up and showered, then went to the front lobby and checked e-mails. No one from our gang yet, and ended up talking to some of Scott Weber’s crew. Ed and Terri showed up and we started trickling outside for our breakfast run. Had breakfast, came back and started cleaning out the vans. We sorted out the throwaways from the keepers or donations. Jared and I took over to the race HQ in Lone Pine leftover water, unopened food and beverage items, as well as two coolers and assorted items for the local charity. I drove by later that day and found it was all gone. Glad someone found use for it all.

Nattu had to leave to catch a plane back to San Francisco, and I had to move my stuff from my current room into Bob’s room. But as he was asleep, I waited before making a lot of noise. Hung out for awhile and decided to meet up with Alene’s crew to see about Whitney permits. I got there and Stephanie was not feeling well, but we went over to the ranger’s station in town to wait in line to pick them up. We noticed on the info sheet Steph had that permits needed to be picked up by noon. It was now 1:30! Luckily, we were still in the system and got them just fine. We took five for our bunch. Bob decided earlier that he was not going to be in any shape to climb, and with Nattu out of town five covered everyone else. Got back and everyone was ready to eat. We then went into town for nice, cheap hamburgers and fries. Now it was time to chill out for the awards dinner.





This year they moved the awards to an air-conditioned building. Chatted with lots of people: Scott Snyder and his wife Katie, John Hobbs, Phil Rosenstein, Alene and her crew Steph, Ken, Katy and Nick and lots of others. Saw a pretty good movie put together for this years’ race…very well done. Afterward we went into town for ice cream, then headed back to the hotel for sleep for early morning wakeup for Mt Whitney. Before turning in we did a surprise birthday celebration with Terri, and dolled her up with beads, tiara and balloons. Happy Birthday Terri!



Thursday, July 17, 2008



Woke up around 2:30 AM and got ready for the climb. We all met at 3:30 in the parking lot and loaded up the van and headed out to the Portals. We arrived at the Portals around 3:50, so everyone headed to the John for last minute rituals. Katy Cotton showed up, the only one of Alene’s crew to climb, so she joined our party. Ed was leading, then Terri, Bud, Jared, I and Katy. I wanted to take it easy on the climb so Katy and I let the lead pack continue on. Katy and I chatted away about this and that, and had a good time doing so as it made the time pass so much quicker. Saw an awesome sunrise. We lost sight of the gang but continued on up. Mt Whitney isn’t a terribly hard climb, it’s just long, about 11 miles.



I was having some breathing issues as we were approaching the crest trail at 13,650’. Katy was having some headache issues, so I offered her some pain meds. After another couple of miles we got to the top around 9:45 AM (about 5 hours and 45 minutes), and saw the gang up there taking in the views.



It was starting to cloud up so we left pretty quickly, but not before Katy signed the guest book at the shelter. Ed, Terri, Bud and Jared had already left. Now I was feeling great and decided to run.



Katy and I passed everyone as we picked our way down the trail. Some we had to walk as it was pretty rocky and somewhat steep. Ed and Jared soon joined up with us. Terri and Bud were walking. On the way down we met several Badwater runners (Bob Haugh, John Radich, Alex Nemet, Mary Gorski and her crew, and Lisa Smith-Batchen and her crew. We got down to the middle lake and stopped to refill our water packs. As we were filling, we were trying to get a glimpse of Terri and Bud. It was now cloudy and starting to rain lightly. I was getting cold, and wanted to leave. Katy joined me as did Jared. Ed said he would wait for Terri and Bud. I asked him if he was okay with us leaving and he was. So we made our way down, but ended up walking a lot of the wet rocks as they were quite slick. By the time we got to the trees, the rain had stopped and we were able to run again, this time on dirt and not on rain-wet rocks. Katy and I would hammer down, then wait for Jared who was having issues with his feet. We did this all the day down, except for the last few miles when Jared told us to go on ahead. It was raining again so we were happy with getting down to the cars. Katy and I got to the gift shop/restaurant around 1:40 PM. It took us 5:45 to get up, and 3:55 to get down, for a total time of 9:45, give a take a few minutes. Katy and I ordered a hamburger and waited for Jared to arrive. It wasn’t too much longer when the rest of the gang showed up. I looked at the temperature gauge outside and it was 60 degrees. When we finally left and got back into Lone Pine, the temperature was in the mid-90’s.

I chilled out in the room (Bob was gone). Bob came back and was surprised to see us. I started packing up stuff. We later went to dinner at a local Mexican place. Not great, but it wasn’t awful. The service sucked though. Then we went for ice cream, then to the bar for an evening beer. Bob got picked up by a local biker gal and she showed him off to some of the local guys at the bar.

Then it was time to get back and get some sleep for the trip back to Vegas.

Friday, July 18, 2008
Vegas bound baby! After having breakfast and getting the vans gassed up, we left Lone Pine around 9:00. On the way back we saw Danny Westergaard heading toward Darwin for his Badwater double. Not far ahead, we saw Anita Fromm running uphill for her double as well. We stopped in Stovepipe Wells briefly to retrieve a left item, then got back on the road. Stopped at Pahrump for lunch. We got to Vegas around 2:00 PM and dropped off Terri at the airport. We then guessed our way back to the rental place to drop off the vans. Took a shuttle back to the hotel we were at on the previous Friday. After getting ready for the evening, we took a shuttle to the MGM Grand for dinner and the show, Cirque de Soleil ‘Ka’. The dinner was great (Asian) and the show fantastic. After the show, we headed back to the hotel to dress down for the indoor skydiving that Bob was able to arrange for us afterhours. Took a cab ride (the cabbie was trying to find out if we wanted to hit any strip shows) to the place.



Got a briefing and decided after watching that I wasn’t going to fly…my chronic back issues played into my decision and I opted to be safe rather than throw it out. So I watched as the others suited up and flew in this tall cylindrical room with a jet engine down below. It was loud and hot.

We got back to the hotel around midnight.

Wrapup
The week seemed to last forever, but was over before we knew it. It was a pleasure to help Bob reach his goal of finishing, and finishing under Nattu’s PR of last year. We all had a good rappor, and Bob made us all feel like part of the family. The whole experience was very intense: what with the heat, the schedule, the shifts, the pacing, crewing, all that is involved with getting Bob to the finish line. This was my second time out here in as many years, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So mush so I would like to take a stab at it myself. Not sure when it will be, but I’d like to put this race on my calendar in the near future.