It really was crazy... that rain at 5:00 AM was some of the worst I've ever seen in such a short amount of time. My team and I were driving through it, going 25mph down the interstate and not able to see a thing. Nuts! Billy even started 5 minutes late because it took us so long to get there. I've run in rainy, muddy conditions. It sucks. My wife had a good race, and came in at 10:32 in the 50. She was pretty happy with that. She crossed the line saying "I couldn't even think about doing 100, this is nuts, why would anyone ever subject themselves to that much pain for so long? Never again!" And guess what? She signed up for her first 100 last night. (We're both doing Graveyard 100.) My buddy Billy, who I started pacing at 60, had pneumonia for the past couple of months of training, and still hasn't gotten over it. It messed him up pretty good. He was moving slowly but consistently, and still in good spirits. We headed out at 60 and he immediately hit one of those dark mental spots. I kept him moving through it and we made it to Damnation. We did the out and back loop there, and he ran almost the whole loop. He knew he was against the cutoff and needed to pick it up. We made it back to Damnation and refueled. As we were about to head out, he said he was light-headed and needed to sit down. Of course, I told him no. He stood there for a bit, then said he really needed to. In the tent we went. He got a bit worse from there.He wasn't able to breathe well, and struggled to catch his breath even sitting down. He was pretty messed up. It was the right call to drop there. Lynn ferried him and a few others with much lamer excuses to drop (I gave them all a hard time) a ride out and I ran back. Somehow, I beat them. Anyway, Billy spent an hour in the med tent, and then we got him out of there and back to the hotel. Once he warmed up and stopped moving, things settled down. He doesn't regret dropping... it was the right call. But, he hates that the whole pneumonia thing happened. Billy's wife Kim also ran fer first 50 in 11:43 and was as happy as could be. Good times all around! Lynn, it was nice to meet you. You run a great aid station! Thanks for your help and your commitment to stay out there in crap weather.
It really was crazy... that rain at 5:00 AM was some of the worst I've ever seen in such a short amount of time. My team and I were driving through it, going 25mph down the interstate and not able to see a thing. Nuts! Billy even started 5 minutes late because it took us so long to get there.
I've run in rainy, muddy conditions. It sucks.
My wife had a good race, and came in at 10:32 in the 50. She was pretty happy with that. She crossed the line saying "I couldn't even think about doing 100, this is nuts, why would anyone ever subject themselves to that much pain for so long? Never again!" And guess what? She signed up for her first 100 last night. (We're both doing Graveyard 100.)
My buddy Billy, who I started pacing at 60, had pneumonia for the past couple of months of training, and still hasn't gotten over it. It messed him up pretty good. He was moving slowly but consistently, and still in good spirits. We headed out at 60 and he immediately hit one of those dark mental spots. I kept him moving through it and we made it to Damnation. We did the out and back loop there, and he ran almost the whole loop. He knew he was against the cutoff and needed to pick it up. We made it back to Damnation and refueled. As we were about to head out, he said he was light-headed and needed to sit down. Of course, I told him no. He stood there for a bit, then said he really needed to. In the tent we went. He got a bit worse from there.He wasn't able to breathe well, and struggled to catch his breath even sitting down. He was pretty messed up. It was the right call to drop there.
Lynn ferried him and a few others with much lamer excuses to drop (I gave them all a hard time) a ride out and I ran back. Somehow, I beat them. Anyway, Billy spent an hour in the med tent, and then we got him out of there and back to the hotel. Once he warmed up and stopped moving, things settled down. He doesn't regret dropping... it was the right call. But, he hates that the whole pneumonia thing happened.
Billy's wife Kim also ran fer first 50 in 11:43 and was as happy as could be. Good times all around!
Lynn, it was nice to meet you. You run a great aid station! Thanks for your help and your commitment to stay out there in crap weather.
Yeah. I had the pneumonia thing too, Nov-Dec. It really sucked.
Thumbs up to Billy for doing what he could... made it farther than I did.
That rain was a pretty typical Texas thunderstorm... but not in February. Yikes.
Kalsarikännit
The further/farther I am removed from my decision, the dumber it seems. Weird how that mental bargaining process works.
I think what really separates us from other people including some other runners, is the "runners memory". We don't remember how bad it was. I have met people who have done a marathon and say never again. They don't have the runners memory. None of us would be where we are at if we didn't have it. It is like the Frank Shorter quote: "You have to forget your last marathon before you try another. Your mind can't know what's coming."
Your runners memory has already started kicking in.
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
When?
Tell your wife congrats for me! She did fantastic. I have no idea why she would want to be part of any of this nonsense after witnessing the general hell that was the 2010 Kettle Moraine.
Speaking of Hal... who won... he must have showed up late or something. Anyway, he parked illegally. While he was running, they towed his rental car. Even more fun? He had stashed his keys in a wheelwell, and those went poof forever.
Great way to spend your day after running 100 miles. Finding the proper impound lot and then dealing with a rental car company on lost keys, towing damage etc etc.
You'll ruin your knees!
Dustin,
I totally just now realized that it was you who was pacing the runner with pneumonia! I know we met earlier in the day, but didn't put it together... I think it was about 4 am while we were on the way out. I slept in a tent on the ground on Friday night as we experienced thunder, lightning and light rain until time to get up at 4:30 am when the bottom dropped out. I didn't sleep until the 2nd quarter of the Super Bowl... who won? I had six runners in my truck on the way out and had to stop and let one throw up. It was impressive how fast those guys who could barely move earlier were in getting out of the way when the dude started heaving! Your runner DEFINITELY needed to stop. I was concerned that he may have had fluid building up in his lungs on the way back out.
Why you beat us back? We were driving on a jeep road that was mud soaked which happened to be on the course with runners... in the dark. Could have shot video out of my windshield to use in a zombie movie!I also had to stop for throw-up dude, to open a gate, etc. etc.
As for the others in the truck, throw-up dude had ground beef feet, one of the women in the front actually passed out in my arms and had really low blood pressure, I would not let her proceed... she talked about getting up and leaving and I had to stop her. I don't think I have ever seen anyone so white that was actually living! The other lady in the front was actually in the 50 mile event... so she was at hour 21 and was still in her 2nd of 3 loops!!! Another had come into our aid station in what I call the "question mark formation". His back muscles had seized and he literally was walking while holding his body in the shape of a question mark! He could not straighten up. I can't remember all the other malady's that we experienced... for some reason things get a little foggy.
Here's a pic of one of the better feet I treated... In addition to the tape on the foot, we also wrapped two toes. Under the tape you see is a blister I drained and super-glued... stings a little, but keeps from ripping the skin off! FIrst time ever I came so close to using up all of my superglue! I saw several examples that were MUCH WORSE than this. The moisture and sand really took a toll!
Oh, what the heck... here's the other foot (you see it on the cardboard "clean surface" in the photo above...
This guy finished... this was probably 4th loop.
""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)
GO!
Results...
Congrats John Maas 14th overall in 18:19:31!! Outstanding in those conditions! He even took time to say howdy at DamNation!
I know John - Really nice guy and tough runner. Ran 83.69 miles at FANS in the 24 hour race in 2010.
Results... Congrats John Maas 14th overall in 18:19:31!! Outstanding in those conditions! He even took time to say howdy at DamNation!
Long dead ... But my stench lingers !
I was so unhappy that we couldn't track the 50 milers. I wanted to see how Bonkin was doing! I am so happy to see (after some log snooping), that Bonkin did his 1st 50 miler. Not only that, he spent the night before helping to set up the DamNation aid station.
What a guy! Congrats.
I was so unhappy that we couldn't track the 50 milers. I wanted to see how Bonkin was doing! I am so happy to see (after some log snooping), that Bonkin did his 1st 50 miler. Not only that, he spent the night before helping to set up the DamNation aid station. What a guy! Congrats.
He ALSO was there in the late morning on Sunday to ferry back drop bags and a few runners (including the one from my Seattle group who dropped around M86) back to the finish. WOOHOO!
Good Bad & The Monkey
I blame monsoon monkey...
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Imminent Catastrophe
"Typhoid Trent"
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
Speaking of Hal... who won... he must have showed up late or something. Anyway, he parked illegally. While he was running, they towed his rental car. Even more fun? He had stashed his keys in a wheelwell, and those went poof forever. Great way to spend your day after running 100 miles. Finding the proper impound lot and then dealing with a rental car company on lost keys, towing damage etc etc.
Those elite athletes all think the rules don't apply to them, with their multimillion-dollar salaries and big endorsement contracts.
Thanks, ya'll!
It was quite the experience finishing my first and only 50 in that nasty mud. In a way, I'm glad I couldn't be tracked. I ran pretty well for the first loop, sorta well for the second loop, and walked all but a few hundred yards of the third loop. My feet weren't quite hamburger, but they sure felt like it! I still have several unpopped blisters on each foot, and now that the swelling in my feet has gone down, I can feel where my toes hurt from tripping/kicking on roots. I have never been more glad to see a finish line.
Anyway, I had a blast, got to meet/see lots of folks - both at DamnNation and out on the course. I had a weird thing where 3 or 4 times, this guy would pass by me going the opposite way on a couple of the two-way trails and yell - "HEY MIKE", I had NO idea who this guy was, but would respond, "HEY DUDE - Nice job" or something else equally generic. I even thought maybe my name was on something, so I checked here and there as the roots allowed. Nope. Nothing. I finally, asked the timing folks what his name was. Sounded familiar - but still didn't click. But at least I knew his name, now. I saw him for the final time on my final loop and I finally remembered that I met this guy at a local 8 hour race called Run From the Ducks, and Bill and I had run nearly the first 20 miles together. Turns out Bill was running his first 100 and just barely made sub-24!
I got a little tear in my eye (don't tell anyone, cause I'll deny it) when a first time 100 runner missed the cutoff on her last loop. She cried like a baby and I wanted to cry for her.
Not only did I give SRL's friend a ride back on Sunday, it turns out we had run together for a little while on Saturday. She was super nice and had the best attitude of anyone I've ever seen that had to DNF that far into the race.
And I definitely had a lot of fun helping out with DamnNation, I really did it for the free beer and so everyone could laugh at how I was walking on Sunday.
Thanks for the thoughts/encouragement/thank yous!
I MIGHT be thinking about running another one, but first we have to get some weight lost and get my running and weight lifting balanced. I said, MIGHT!
When it’s all said and done, will you have said more than you’ve done?
You were awesome on several counts, Bonk!
Your friend,
HardAss Aid Station Captain who made you (and just about everyone else) cry...
MTA: ...and it sucked.