| W e s t e r n S t a t e s 100 M i E n d u r a n c e R u n S q u a w Va l l e y, CA June 26-27, 2004 page 2 of 4 |
| EVENT DAY -- The High Country Saturday morning arrived quickly and Joe, Alex and Brian took off early for the Escarpment as planned. I had my breakfast of a can of Boost and 3 packets of instant oatmeal like I had last year. Around 4:30am, Mike and I left the condo to go get our bib numbers. After getting my number I retreated to a corner in the room to pin it on, and found Sammy also retreated in this area. Sammy and I sat there and relaxed for about 10minutes. Then I headed out to the main area for some water, and to drink a second can of Boost. Around 4:50am, I walked out to the start area. It felt cooler than last year. David Gordon and his wife Laura found me in the crowd. They introduced me to Kelly Solverson : the runner that they would be crewing for and David would later be pacing. I checked that my watch timers were running okay. They were set to beep every 60minutes as a reminder to take an S-cap. Shortly after that, RD Greg Soderlund counted down the final 15 seconds. 2004 WS then started . One more time I said my prayers for a good day, to run wise, and to have strength to meet challenges that would undoubtedly pop up the over the next 30 hours. The climb to the Escarpment was fun, I focused on 'power-walking uphill with a purpose'. Slowly sunlight entered the Alpine scene. I leapfrogged several times with Robert Tavernini from NTTR-Dallas enroute to the top. The wildflowers were wonderful this year. I reached the Escarpment aidstation exactly on schedule. Continuing on to the high point, there was about 75 feet of slippery iced-over snow to contend with before reaching the top. At the top, I saw Joe, Alex and Brian. I was content with my progress so far. Staying relaxed, and hydrating. About a mile or so before reaching Lyon Ridge I heard my name being called from behind. Carlos Ibarra and Joe Constantino from Houston were just in back of me. We ran together to Lyon Ridge. I arrived to Lyon Ridge right on schedule to my plan. Leaving Lyon Ridge , I stayed with Carlos and Joe for only a few tenths of a mile. They were moving faster than I felt was comfortable for me. I watched them climb one of the ascents ahead , as Rena darted up the hill past both of them. The high country was again much fun this year. To be surrounded by granite is special. About halfway to Red Star Ridge(RSR) , a runner behind me started talking. He was from New Orleans and for the next half mile we comisurated about the heat and humidity along the gulf coast , and how challenging it is to do adequate hillwork living on a coastal flood plain. We went up Elephants Trunk together. Later, we then reached a downhill section and I picked up my pace. Five-ten minutes later I could hear voices and noise coming from RSR . I arrived to RSR just a few minutes ahead of plan. I retrieved the Boost from my dropbag. I drank one can and poured the other can in a water bottle. Then I let the volunteer cap off my bottles with water. At the table, I took some PB&J. I had reached the 17mi mark without any problems (Old Pueblo and Zane Grey had left me a bit paranoid about the 17mi mark), and felt a sigh of relief. I saw Britt just outside of RSR, and he soon picked up his pace and disappeared around a bend in Soda Springs Road. I then met up with another runner, Jim from Connecticut, whom I would see on and off from this point to about Dardanelles. Given that I was a few minutes ahead of schedule at RSR, I decided to relax to Robinson Flat (RF). It was nice to have the extra time, and I did not wish to be greedy . Initially I had planned to pick up the effort between RSR and RF. But now I did not need to. At this point, I only needed to run the same split to RF as I had last year. On Sunday afternoon of the Memorial day weekend, after the training run, I drove up to RF and then drove the rental car toward RSR until I reached impassable snow. Then I parked car and ran-walked for about 23minutes. I wanted to refresh my mind of the 2 miles or so into RF. Eventually I began recognizing landmarks from that run-walk 4 weeks earlier and realized I was closing in on RF. I knew that once I made the left turn at the sweeping vista, that there was only downhill remaining to the aidstation. When I reached this point I picked up my pace to take advantage of the downhill. It was seemingly turning out to be the good day I had hoped for. I reminded myself to stay focused and believe. I arrived to RF around 10:05am… The first person I saw was Tim Hicks. I weighed in at 143lbs. My weight on Friday had been logged as 135lbs. The volunteer only said that I was doing a good job of staying hydrated and let me go on. Getting my drop bag, I once again downed a can of Boost and added a second can to a water bottle. I took some potato from the table , an extra cup of water and some GU20 and moved on. I did not see Joe or Alex in the crowd, but I did not look that hard to find them since I had not planned to need anything from them there. Just before I left RF, I heard someone saying hello and it was David and Laura Gordon. It was nice to see them. I made a pit stop right outside of RF. I was urinating, this was good. Now being about ten minutes ahead of plan, I decided to relax for the next section. I was having the good day that I had hoped for. I especially like the jaunt around Little Bald Mountain (LBM). Last year the scenery was spectacular ; there had been more snow on the distant peaks. Despite the lack of snow this year, the panoramic vistas were still wonderful. I ran briefly with Monica Scholtz. Joe had told me if I saw her, to wish her happy birthday. So I did. Like last year, this section from RF to LBM seemed to pass by quickly and rather effortlessly. Soon I was on the dirt serice road which led downhill for a ~0.5mi into LBM. Arriving to LBM at 11:00am, I could not find Alex. Again I saw David and Laura Gordon here. I also saw Kay Blom. A volunteer capped off my bottles with water, I grabbed PB&J and some fruit then headed out. I figured that Alex and Joe must have gotten delayed in their drive from Squaw to RF. (Alex later told me that they had been delayed, and he arrived to LBM just a few minutes after I left). |
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