| Event Map | Elevation Map | Parking Lot Map |
|---|
I don't think that I mentioned the "completing the full arsenal" thing in the 100 miler report so I'll just cover it here. The pistol ultra weekend has quite a few number of races and some really cool swag to go with it. On Saturday, you have the 50K, 50K Relay, 100K and 100M in the morning as well as the 50M at night. The next day you have the 10 Miler and the 1 Miler. Besides that, you have the concept of the double barrel. Anyone who does either the 100M, 100K or 50K in the AM and then does the 50M in the evening, besides getting their finishers stuff, also gets the coveted Double Barrel Award. Since the weekend is called the Pistol Endurance Weekend (due to the fact that it's near the Pistol River), all the swag is pistol themed. The hundred miler has a buckle with a 38 special on it with a revolving chamber. The 50K, 50K Relay and 50M all have finisher medals. The 100K has a mini gun. The double barrel gets you a pirate gun with 2 barrels which is actually a butane lighter. Completing the arsenal means you did the all the races not including the 10M and the 1M. You can click their award link to actually see and read what they have to say. Once you complete the arsenal, they actually give you a shadow box to show case it.
Spoiler Alert: I now have the 100 Mile buckle and the Double Barrel (I did the 50K/50M). I still need to do the 100K.
Going to jump to the end for a minute. After the race, Will (the RD) came over and congratulated us. He then asked Jamey what he thought of the Double Barrel compared to any hundreds he did. Jamey at this point has done one hundred miler but not this one. He deferred to me. I think I gave Will way more than he bargained for. My opinion, which he completly agrees with, is that the double barrel is MUCH MUCH harder than the 100 miler. Why you ask? I mean the double barrel is really only 81 miles as opposed to 100 miles... In reality, perhaps less is more. Let me explain...
The hundred miler is exactly that. You do 100 miles. You could stop but my thing is to keep moving. Always keep moving. Once you stop, it's hard to start. Yes - I do stop for food and bathroom and chafing issues and perhaps wardrobe issues but overall you keep moving. Always moving. The double barrel has a built in break whether you like it or not. How long of a break completly depends on you.
I actually thought of doing the 100K and then the 50M but realized I would not finish the 100K in time. Turns out the Helen Yang talked to the RD who had her start the 50M a bit later and she was the first person ever to double barrel with the 100K. Last year, a woman attempted the 100M and 50M but ended up dropping in distance on the 50M. That kinda sucked.
So, I signed up for the 50K/50M option. Bill decided to do get another buckle. Jamey decided to join us as it would be good training for his 100 miler later in June. This doesn't violate his 1 hundred miler per year restriction. Kate decided this would be hers and signed up for the buckle too. I tried to convince Mikey to come with but he couldn't.
Sidebar: David Drebsky wanted us to take him and Shannon with us. Shannon eventually decided not to go. David wanted a ride and a place to sleep which would not be with me as I don't share. Bill initially said yes but after much praying and meditation decided against it. David is convinced I told Bill to say no. I didn't.
Walked around, talked, did what I could. I found a pair of compression sleeves I liked at the give it back table and took them.
Jamey and I went for a walk so he can see the beginning of the course. I also took him to the start/finish aid station. If you read last year's race report, you will have seen that I liked them MUCH better than Woody's. I wanted to see if any of them were there again as I wanted to thank them again for everything. Last year was a chafeing nightmare also known as a SNAFU. We walked over there and there were some women talking. We got there and the volunteers stopped talking and asked if they could help us. Here's how the conversation happened:
ME: Good morning. Sorry to interrupt but were any of you here last year?
ONE OF THEM: You're the guy from last year...!!! The guy who got all blistered
and chafed!
ME: <*Covering my eyes*> Not the way you want a woman to remember you.
JAMEY: <*Busy cracking up*>
OOT: Don't worry. We have an industrial size tub of vaseline just for you!
JAMEY: <*Still busy cracking up*>
ME: <*Covering my eyes*> Really not the way you want a woman to remember you.
OOT: We got you covered...
ME: I just wanted to say thank you, to introduce my buddy Jamey to you and if it's ok
to hug you before I'm all in pain.
A hug later to all. Turns out my principal savior AKA Michelle Nuchols was making a refreshment run but I did thank everyone else. They all really saved my butt. Now that I know her name is Michelle, I can stop refering to her as my guardian angel.
We continued burning time and nerves away both in and out. People were eating breakfast. I grabbed something small. While I was in the kitchen the 2nd time, I asked a voly a question and this guy turns around and says:
GUY: Hey, are you the guy from last year who got all chafed?
ME: <*Once again covering my eyes*> Damn... Really not the way a guy wants to be remembered...
Yeah, it's me... Are you the dude who ran with
GUY: YES!
Once again a hug and a thanks and then his wife comes in. Will and Alicia Gates were awesome. They both volunteered a huge time last year. When Will got bored he would go and run the 10 mile loop with people. He ran loop 9 with me and then joined his wife in volunteering again. Later, I saw him lead another group of runners. A hug and a big thank you to her too.
It's nice to be remembered but this isn't the way to go.... Still better than the guy who fell and broke
Took a picture with the Marathon Maniacs and the Half Fanatics and then went to line up. Quick run back for yet another nervous bladder pee and ready to start. I should mention all the start times so let's get that out of the way.
| Race | Day | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 50K | Saturday | 7:55 AM |
| 50K Relay | Saturday | 7:55 AM |
| 100K | Saturday | 8:00 AM |
| 100M | Saturday | 8:00 AM |
| 50M | Saturday | 8:00 PM |
| 10M | Sunday | 8:00 AM |
| 1M | Sunday | 8:00 AM |
My personal opinion is that it's pretty smart having the 50K and 50K Relay start 5 min early. It's the smallest of the Saturday races distance wise and I think the reason is so that they don't flood the course with people and thereby congest it. In any case, last year when I did the hundred, I started at 8am and got to watch the 50Kers go early. This time, I went early while Kate and Bill waved. It was weird but I knew we would see them soon enough.
We went out, made the right turn and headed down the hill to the first right turn. From there small ups/down until the next right turn with a very steep short downhill into the course.
Jamey and I were running and talking and joking around. Just another day in Alley Pond Park. Just another run...
You never know if you're gonna hook up with people so it's always interesting (to me) to look around and wonder who you may bond with later.
We eventually caught up to a group of 3 women running together. I told Jamey that I think I'm ready to drop to the 1K from the 5K (we were about 1-2 miles in to the course) and that this is the longest 5K ever. He agreed. Nothing from the ladies tho. I remarked that it was a tough crowd. One of them answered. It was Michelle Frew, our new friend. The other 2 ladies also talked to us a little but eventually left us. Michelle stayed with us and a new friendship was born. I don't know why she stayed with us. Maybe the other 2 weren't her speed (fast or slow) or when she found out that we were also double barrels or whatever clicked in. I don't know but as I said before, during these things you bond. You just do. We did. Right away the personalities clicked in. It was awesome.
HUGE surprise to me: Perhaps I wasn't listening during the almost mandatory mandatory meeting or didn't read the emails but there was another aid station!!! It wasn't great or anything but it had fluids, snacks, human contact and best of all it was a break in the course. They did have a pail of rocks that was spray with gold color and had a sign that said "POT OF GOLD". Went right along with the St. Paddies day theme. It was awesome. Things like this, in my opinion, make a race memorable and exciting.
We left there, got out picture taken at the jump line (none of us jumped) and eventually got to the Woody aid station. Last year they were OK I thought. This year, I had a much better experience with them.
I should take a minute to describe what I was wearing at this point. When we left NYC, it was in the 40s or basically cold. As we drove down there, it got into the 70s. Race morning it was in the 40-50s and heading into the 60s. Most people wore shorts. Not me...I wore compression sleeves, compression shorts with basketball shorts on top, singlet with a long sleeve shirt over that, cap and light gloves.
I think another reason why the double barrel is harder than the hundo is that you have to bring extra clothes. During a hundo, I typically don't change clothes and certainly I don't change shoes. Here, I brought 2 pairs of shoes just in case of a torrential downpour in the AM. If I already have down time, why would I not change shoes?!?
Anyway, first loop went well enough. We came back, went through the Main aid station (start/finish) and continueed on to the turn around. I guess I should mention the only difference in the course between the K-course and the M-course. It's essentially the same loop EXCEPT at the end. Once you hit the main aid station, you have an out and back. Both the M-course and the K-course go down the hill BUT the M-course has their turn around at the bottom of the hill while the K-course has to continue further down, make a left, continue straight and another left over a small bridge a U-turn not too far after that.
Jamey stopped at a port-a-potty so it was just Michelle and me. We got our picture taken again. Later, Jamey remarked that we looked like bosom buddies who knew each other for a long time. We really just clicked together. I like to think of her as the female Mikey which is both a compliment and an insult all at the same time. Do you get yet that I really (platonically speaking) like Michelle?
We finished the first loop. Yay...
I think at this point, I actually got warm and we all went into the school for a minute to take care of things. I took the opportunity to take my long sleeve shirt off and the light gloves off too. No matter. Damage was done. We went on. I don't remember where, but they had popsicles and they were delicious. The damage I spoke of? I felt a chafe. At the main aid station, I needed some loving. I was really trying not to repeat but oh well. Once again I needed to show everyone my bloated stomach and back, thank goodness I gained a little weight too to make it a little more embarassing. They took care of me. We went on.
Our goal was about 6+ hours for the 50K and we were on track. Third loop went well but of course the chafing only got worse.
So what did I do different this year to avoid the chafe you ask? Donald turned me on to Nivea moisturizer that is awesome after a lot of chlorine and long hot showers. I made sure to put some all over the night before and also pre-race. Oh well...
Third loop was uneventful except for the chafe. It only got worse. Got to the Leprechauns and also to Woody and then back to the main aid station. We started heading down the hill to the out and back when Michelle spotted Greg, her husband. He was wearing a U-Conn shirt which apparently did not make any friends down there during March Madness. I'm not sure what exactly took over me but I'm pretty sure Michelle screaming Greg... triggered it. I screamed Greg too and took off sprinting right at him even tho he was on the side of the course. Greg or U-Conn from that point on is a big guy. He's 6+ feet tall and looks pretty muscular and again, I'm not sure what exactly happened but I did yell his name, sprinted at him and jumped right into his arms. Jamey later asked me what I was thinking and what if he just had back surgery or something like that... I realized that if he was a NYer, I could have just sprinted right into a knuckle sandwich. In any case, I found myself in his arms lifted up. It was awesome. My response to Jamey was that thinking did not occur at that point in time. A truer statement could not be.
We got our 50K finisher medals. Got our pictures taken. Got food and sat together to eat. It was Jamey, Michelle, U-Conn and me. It was nice.
What to do next? Hm.... Michelle told us that she was so exhausted and that she planned on U-Conn holding her up in the shower so she can wash up and then sleep. Nice. They came from Arizona and since U-Conn wasn't doing the race, had a hotel room. Jamey and I didn't. What to do? what to do? Answer is shower of course... Unfortunatly, the silly logistics weren't dealt with and to be honest, I am not sure they have any plan of fixing them. What am I talking about? The showers are in the Old school which in English means you climb a small but steep hill to the school, shower and then walk down the steep hill. Hm... That sucks. Well, being a NYer AND having a big mouth helps. I asked about a potential ride to the showers. They had a rental car so they didn't care if we stunk it too much and gladly gave us a ride. COOL!
Last year there were shower stalls and not it was a communal shower. Not happy about that. Still, while Jamey showered, I took the opportunity to use indoor plumbing. Jamey has used the port-a-potties plenty of times while I held things in.
Anyway, shower over and we weren't looking forward to the climb down but then... Someone had just brought a runner to the showers and big NY mouth took over and I asked about a ride down the hill. Cool... We thanked the dude and walked into the school for a little more food. I was eyeing the medic/aid thingie. In prior years, they had compression suits available to use. This year they did not. They had this chircopracter who was MIA and eventually didn't really want to help me stretch. I wasn't tight per se but I figured it couldn't hurt. Oh well. I took a small nap on the cold floor which I felt was like ice-ing and felt good. Jamey rested also on the floor. Eventually a massage person came and she stretched me and a little massage too and I felt awesome. We checked on the status of some of our runners. Bill was doing exceptionally well... A PR perhaps? Dipak and Meghan were doing fine. Kate was going very very slow. Then my phone rang. Quite the timing. Didn't sound like a good ring either. I took it out and it was Kate. Oh boy... She was crying hysterically. In major pain and suffering. She wanted out. She was by Woody. I told her to get back here and we will see then what to do. I guess no more rest for the wicked. I was worried. Very worried. I went outside with Jamey to wait. The weather was in the 70s or 80s and hot. I should have stayed inside and drank more and rested but a friend in need. So we went outside to help.
We waited. We waited. We were told they were short of cheer leaders and can we ring some cowbells. Sure... Started cheering people on and ringing the bell and collecting high fives from everyone. Some hugs too... I really got into the whole thing. The music was good and I was feeling the vibe. All my worries and troubles were temporarily gone. I was dancing and singing and the photog took a ton of pictures of me by myself and me with other people high fiving them and hugging them.
She looked better. She felt better. She lost time but perhaps can still do this. She went back out to officially finish her 3rd lap with the out and back. She came back after that and she was done. She couldn't go on any further. Sucks. She hung out while we started getting ready for our next race.
Meanwhile, the skies turned dark and gray. We knew there was a chance of a thunderstorm but it did not look good. We then heard the rain. Nice and easy. People started coming in all wet. It then started coming down harder. It then started coming down even harder. Now we would see the outside suddenly lit up and then hear a boom. Seemed like the thunder started coming faster and closer. The storm was upon us. Literaly.
I was in the bathroom peeing (again - thank you nervous bladder) and suddenly there was a very loud boom and the lights went out for a second. That was fun. People looking at their weather apps. The storm was on top of us. We were supposed to start at 8pm and it was around 7:30pm and things did NOT look good. It was then that they informed us that they are pushing the start by 15 minutes to 8:15pm. Seemed like the storm was moving fast and the hope was that it would just pass us and be done with it. I was not happy. I was stressed. I DO NOT LIKE RAIN RUNNING. We asked but didn't get an answer if they will also push the finish time and much later informed us that they will not do that. That sucked. I wasn't worried about us but I don't think that's exactly fair to people who need the full 18 hours for the 50M. I know that sounds like a lot but remember that some of us are doing only a 50M and some are doing it on the heels of a 50K...
Bill came in completly drenched. Just to paint a picture without trying to insult: Bill can stand to gain about 40 pounds. He is very skinny and after being out there for so long and now completly wet, he didn't look that good. Still, he was making good time.
I was wondering if Michelle would show up. I cannot stress enough how much harder the double barrel is versus the 100 miler. She took a nice shower and slept in a nice comfortable bed. OK... Fine. But then to leave your comfy hotel room and drive during that crazy storm... Took a lot of gumption to get in the car in my opinion. Mad respect. I think many people would just DNS the 50M at that point. I think the fact that we were there, hotel-less and on-site, made it easier to actually start. She showed up!
Finally they told us to come out and line up. They informed us that they are starting late because a lightning strike actually hit the school and some of the equipment. I realized that was the loud boom we heard but didn't really understand what it was all about at the time. More on that later tho.
We started... Fell into the same rythem. Joking around. Singing. Talking. The three besties. BFFs and all. Someone later in a Facebook post called us the 3 caballeros. One of the many nice things about this course is that it is lit up so no headlamps to carry. No spare batteries to carry. So, even tho it was dark, we never had issues.
Slowly, we progressed. Jamey every so often either used the indoor plumbing (start/finish and at the further turnaround) and then caught up. I would stop at the main aid station to deal with my chafes. Oh well.
We need to talk about aid stations for a minute and the food selection offered. Pretty much the 2 big aid stations had the usual ultra things but we had a few surprises. The main aid station offered Nutella tortillia which was basically nutella on a tortillia instead of the cheese variety. It was AWESOME. Woody had the BBQ set up and offered burgers and cheese burgers which is also standard fare BUT in the middle of the night or as Jamey says "Things only happen around 2am", they offered a culinary masterpiece. First I need to set up the scene. It was in the middle of the night and they asked us if we want some eggs. Now, I LOVE EGGS so of course I said yes but instead of just saying yes, I responded with "Yes on a stick". They got the Jeff Dunham reference and we all laughed. We went to do the out and back and when we came back, they had eggs ready for us in a cup with a small stick sticking out of it. LOVE IT!!! Took a form tho. Next time we were there, I asked for a lot more egg in that cup. Perhaps they used 2 eggs but it was still way too small for me. I was still thankful. By the way, eggs done on a BBQ are awesome tasting. The next time we were there, they had the culinary masterpiece. Someone went and bought glazed donuts (Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts or whatever brand). They then sliced them in half (like a sandwich) and put an omelet there. Oh. My. God!!! Sweet sticky outside and awesome protein inside. All in all, that night I had 3 half donuts. Not enough. They also had eggs and ham for people in there as well but ham is not my thing. Still it was awesome.
We finished what we thought was lap 3. I talked to a volunteer manning the finish line. He told me that the timer can't tell anything reliably right now and should NOT have said anything. The lightning strike that hit the school... Did damage. He showed me the hole in the concrete. He told me that it wreaked havoc on the timers stuff. That they made sure the mats work but that's it. He also told me that if we "think" we need to do more, then we should do more. Wonderful. This preoccupied our loops. We weren't happy. I told other runners out there about what happened. Didn't want anyone to get screwed up by this.
When we were at the turnaround, near Woody's aid station, my phone rang again. It was late at night or ealy in the morning depending on your perspective and my phone should NOT have rang. It was very ominous. I looked at who it was from and it was Bill. I thought he may have finished. I kinda thought he had 1 more loop to go as I was loosly tracking him but calling me, I thought, meant that he was done or fooled by the timer that he was done. Well, I was kinda right. He was done... But he didn't finish the race. He was in the car and couldn't move. Completly cramped and exhausted. The kicker? He had 1 last loop to go and a LOT of time. I told him to rest until we get there and then he's going to finish this. There is no DNFing when you have 1 last lap and a ton of time to do it in.
He said ok. I was worried about him but I also knew he was safe so I was relieved. I figured he did the out and back before he got into the car so the plan was to wake him when we get there, let him stretch and warm up while we out and back and then we do the last lap together.
We continueed on. We got to his car and woke him up to tell him we are going to do the out and back and that he should warm up. Turns out he did not do that section yet. Oi... He was a mess. Couldn't get out. Couldn't even walk. Completly frozen and cramped. Here's what happened...
Earlier that rain hit and all runners were advised to shelter in place. They knew it was going to be bad but wold blow over real quick. Bill thought it was ridiculous. Who stops because of a little rain anyway? They do have rain in Connecticut which is where he's from and he doesn't stop. So, he didn't stop. He went out and in a single second was completly drenched. Soaked to the bone. He continuued until the first overpass and hid there. As soon as he stopped, he cramped up. Took all his will to stay upright and then all his will to make his way back 4.5 miles. He got to the car and tried to change clothes but again cramped out. He then passed out. Well, he actually fell asleep but he didn't mean to. He was cramped up again when he woke up. That's when he called me. He was glad we were there. It was a horrible scene. I already mentioned that he could use another 40 pounds on his frame but compared to Jamey, he looked even smaller. I HATE this analogy but imagine your WWII movies where the soldiers liberate a death camp and you see them together. The soldiers in the prime of their life, full of vigor and muscle and the nearly dead skeletons walking around. That's what he looked like and I couldn't look. He literally leaned against Jamey or perhaps Jamey just basically supported Bill's entire 50 pounds of weight. As I said, I couldn't look. Other people looked on with Pity. I couldn't have that either. I told Bill to start warming up. Start taking steps. Start moving. He did. Kate had just gotten there so while I was being lubed, they took off. As he warmed up, he got faster and soon they disappeared. Took us a little while to catch them. We were together and wanted to finish. I thought Kate would stop walking with him soon, so I had a great idea which worked last year. I told him that we were gonna go and finish this damn thing and when we finish, I would come back for him. I knew that would motivate him. It did. They chased us. She stuck with him and they just chased us. Couldn't believe it while completly rejoicing in my idea.
We got to the main aid station and the out and back. I then took off. I couldn't take it anymore. I finished. Went back to get Michelle. Hugs and pictures. Went back to get Jamey. Went back to get Bill. Kate didn't do the out and back with him. The rest of the crew got the race photog pics. I didn't. That's ok.
We ate and drove to the showers again and from there started our way home. Bill drove first to more food while Jamey and I napped. He stopped when he had too many times on the rumble strips. Jamey took over and we stopped for food. All in all, Jamey drove the most. I drove about an hour but Jamey with a cup of coffee drove by far the most. I talked to him most of the time but took small 10 minute naps here and there. I made sure we stopped constantly to pee and basically get out of the car. Bill, just like on the drive down, stayed in the back, mostly napping. That was good. He needed help getting in and out of the car but wasn't as bad as last year.
We got to NJ and switched cars for the final push home. Yay... Mission complete.
Michelle, Jamey and I talked a lot during this event. Obviously right? Some serious stuff. Some fun stuff. Lots of stuff happened as well. Let me see what I can do here... When we first met Michelle and we were all trying to figure out our relationship and what we can say and do (I guess me especially with my big mouth), we talked. One of the first things that Michelle told us was her Ragnar Relay team name. It was "We Don't Wash Between Our Legs". What an awesome name!!! I loved it...
One of the runners that we saw was Michele Brackett. She did the 50K and her bib number was 11. I included her picture in the usual place. Why is she getting a special mention here? She had an awesome running shirt on. She looked like a bar maid with a low cleavage but in reality it was the shirt. Take a look at the picture yourself. I loved it and told her that everytime I saw her. Later when she finished, I was already cheerleading and a big hug was shared.
Diane Romero-Lopez was a fellow double barrel and she was awesome. She already did the 100Mile last year and will be coming back next year to do the 100K like me. Nice. We ran with her a little during the 50K. We took pictures with her. Later during the 50M, we were together for some of the time but she was hurting and we wanted to be done. Later she finished the 50M not too much after us. Jamey and Michelle took pictures with her while I was out waiting for Bill.
Toward the end of the first loop of the 50K, during the out and back section, while we were going down the hill, Jamey and I started kicking a can of soda. Just dribbling the can to each other. Later loops, we continuued on. Apparently this was noticed. Later during the 50M, in the middle of the night, at the leprechaun aid station, a volunteer named Gisele Junior Kalunga Santos asked if we were done with soccor. I wasn't sure what she meant until I suddenly got it. It was awesome to see someone appreciated it. Later after the 50M, I did my pick up the garbage with 2 feet in a jump and throw it up to someone. She even mentioned it on FB. If it's on FB, then it must have really happened.
Perhaps I was a bit delirious or giddy on the course. I talked to people. Everyone I could find actually. I told Nicole White and others of course, that they added a 4th loop to the 50K. They didn't. Another FB friend.
I don't remember who it was anymore but there were 2 women running together. Turns out one was pacing the other on her first 100 miler. In any case, I made a comment to my crew about some photographer who didn't take our picture. He wasn't one of the official photographers (random dude) and don't you know those 2 women passed us later and told us that he just wanted to take a picture of "this" as she smacked her butt. LOVE IT!!! Later we ran by and I corrected her that he wanted to take a pic of "this" as I smacked my butt. Little things like this make you laugh at these things.
A little out of order but toward the end, one of the volunteers, I think it was Katie Walters, at the main aid station asked me where I was from. I asked her to guess and she said, "You're not from Ontario, right?"... I immediatly answered demonstrating my command of the Canadian language by saying/asking, "AAY? What's this Abooot?". I spelled the reply phonetically to demonstrate my canadian. I asked if it wasn't obvious that I was from NY and they all said YES! Not sure who or how they got Ontario. Oi...
Kate full update: We saw her during the 50K and she looked all good. Hugs and smiles and cheering. I'm not sure when it was that the crap hit the fan but certainly after we were done and she called me crying hysterically did things really go bad. I'm not sure if she was not ready or if she underestimated the course because they sell it as flat but things certainly went sideways. She ended with an unoffical time since it was an unplanned dropdown. She eventually went back to the hotel and felt amazing the next morning enough to escort Bill on a full lap. What's killing her now above and beyond everything is that she in theory could have gone back to the hotel then come back and do perhaps a dropdown 50M or 100K. Who knows. Oh well...
Last year and this year and perhaps every year there's a team of 2 women who are superstars. One is wheelchair bound with only 1 good leg. The other is legally blind tho I'm not sure how much she can actually see. So, the blind runner pushs while the wheel chair steers and tries to help on the hills. During my cheerleading stint, their male companion comes up asking if I saw them. I didn't as of yet. Turns out they got a flat and he ran ahead to get a new tire to pitcrew them. Hats of to them and especially to him.
In the middle of the night, we thought we saw a scorpion. A weird one but nonetheless. Turns out we probably saw a crawfish out of the water. U-Conn told us what it was and that he probably got washed out because of the rain. Still, how could he survive out of water? Probably dying. Still, a picture is there.
We saw interesting birds and ducks but in the lake we actually saw beavers. How cool is that?
I don't remember when, perhaps it started in the 50K, but a volunteer had a clacker and we joked that it sounded like wildlife. Later he left it on the course when he left. Michelle took it and used it on and off. Eventually she let it go and I took it. Still have it. Memories...
During the 50M, Jamey at 1 point got real tired as in starting to lose focus. He really lost focus in that he actually asked us if he should take a caffeine full gel. D'uh.... That helped him for a while. Later it started wearing off and he approached Woody's and he asked if they can give him one with the most caffeine. Clearly the volunteer was losing steam too because she gave him a caffeine free one. He went back and she was shocked she did that. It woke him up tho.
Right about that time, we come across 2 older women on the big bad hill right after Woody's while still going out. One of them was laying on the ground. We stopped. I asked what was going on. Apparently she felt light headed and decided to get closer to the ground while she still could. I asked if she needed help and she said no. I told her that if she's still there when we come back fromt he out and back (5 min) that I would call help for her. She wasn't there so that was good. I was worried.
By the way, we saw Atlee volunteering at Woody's at one point and I remembered his name and he told me that I looked familiar. Reminded him about the Naked Bavarian 40 Miler and he said he remembered me.
Dan Oh, a fellow Maniac, was there doing the hundo. He actualy brought trekking poles. Well, he came in drenched from the rain. I mean drenched. Later we didn't see his car. He dropped. Wow...
The Kilt dude from last year was there and it turned out that this year again we were parked right near him. Saw him on the course multiple times (of course) and we talked...
The 50M started right after the storm and occasionaly we saw lightning in the distance. Bad lightning. Every so often, we would sing "Thunda Thunda", the line from the Imagine Dragons song.
Lastly, for now perhaps, when I got home, I realized that my pistol was slightly broken. I wasn't going to say something but the RD contacted me about something else so I mentioned it to him. He asked if he can send me a new pistol and a postage free envelope so I can send the other one back. WOW!!!
I will probably remember more but I guess that's enough. I still have to proof read it but that's all she wrote. Pics tomorrow.