RP, sorry I missed you and your runner. I grabbed an hour of sleep btw 4 and 5 am, and I see that's when you came through ALT. Nice job to both of you getting it done!
Over 33% drop rate, highest since I've been doing this beginning in 2012. Very unusual distribution of runners along the course too. Very light and scattered at my AS until the last 3 hours, 4 am - 7:15 am, which is when almost half the field showed up. There wasn't a big influx of people around the 24 hour pace, which was odd, so it's not surprising that the silver buckle count was low. The radio operators knew how many runners had cleared the prior aid stations, so we knew they were out there and heading towards us. We called it the flash mob.
Sometime Saturday evening, one runner just arrived:
Alan, that heat was brutal. It might be a good call to cancel Sawtooth unless conditions improve a lot. It's a bummer, but nothing that a few beers and fist pounding can't solve.
5/11/24 Grizzly Peak Marathon, Berkeley, CA
7/20/24 Tahoe Rim Trail 56 miler, NV
9/21/24 Mountain Lakes 100, OR
Problem Child
All good. Aid station was good. Runner and I were looking for the giant penguin (I missed it last year) and I explained it was okay when they said the last breakfast sandwich had just been taken....by my runner. MY runner asked if I wanted anything and commented on how good the breakfast sandwich was. I said "yeah you got the last one. We aren't waiting 10 minutes for another one." The aid station workers (actually...the guy in the Santa hat) even said leading up to 1:30 am it wasn't busy. I forget what time we showed up, but it was well behind schedule and the rest probably helped my runner avoid walking the next section as much as possible.
Runner tracking was MUCH better than in 2019. The first few aid stations were obviously SWAMPED so the updates took longer. Seems like they were about 15 minutes behind actual entry time. This is why it's good to know what time of day a runner should show up.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
Sorry we didn’t have the giant penguins this year! The guy on kitchen detail did a great job (as he does every year). One of these years he’ll be selected for WS (currently 16 tix) and I’ll miss him greatly. Glad your runner got one of the breakfast sandwiches. They seemed to be a hit. I think slowing down and rethinking goals helped get a lot of people to the finish line. A friend said there were more golden hour finishers this year than she’s ever seen before.
Hey friends. Not running much at all lately - just not feeling it mentally or physically so I've thrown out almost all my running goals and I'm just trying to get out there 5-6x/week.
Fun tidbit: while Kaci was out there fighting her way to F10, her mom was running the Black Hills 100! That race looks incredible - although if it's hot it seems like it could just be miserable despite the unreal scenery.
king of the non-sequitur
hey RW thanks for checking in. i follow Kaci on strava, maybe her Mom would be a better follow, Kaci such a little thing makes me feel like a sasquatch
Sawtooth was cancelled so my friends i told to scatter my ashes from wherever i died to the finish are off the hook...for now. that heat was incredible. 108 at Seatac crushed the all time record of 104 set a day earlier. i think i am suffering from delayed onset heat exhaustion.
proximal hammy feels better after doing no stretching there and quitting cycling. anyway trying to figure out what to do now.
questions in my head:
how do you do polarized training for an old fart?
it gets less and less safe to do z3 so can i substitute z2?
how about 400's at MP?
to prog or not to prog?
Bridle Trails 50k 1-13-24 5:39
Cottontail 6 Hour 4-13-24
Cougar Long Series (May,June,July,Aug 2024)
Carkeek 6 Hour 10-19-24
Good question. I like Opeth, but I don't like Rush, so I'm kinda all over the map on prog.
King Crimson FTW!