Crewing at Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run

[ultramickeymouse]

Crew = Cranky Runner Endless Waiting

This is my report of what to do(and not do) when crew at Western States 100. Especially for a contender. Very long

Part 1:

Our day started at 4:00 as we got up, dressed and got the final items together to hit the road. We make a quick stop in Safeway in Kings Beach to get 40 pounds of ice for the day.

6:30 We head to Auburn to meet Bev's pacer. As the pacer(Matt), he will run the final 38 miles with Bev. He is there to help keep her going and for safety.

8:15 We arrive in Auburn at the High School(which is the finish line). We were supposed to meet at 8:30. 8:40 still no pacer so I call him. Oops, he went North instead of South at the turnoff from the freeway. He turns around and he finally arrives. We had told him the day before when we met him and Bev Friday at Squaw Valley Race briefing that we had little room and pack light. Guess he didn't get the message. He pulls out this huge paper grocery sack of food for the day. He than pulls out a huge duffle of running stuff, and finally he pulls out a huge wheeled suitcase . I am like what is that for??? We were really running late so we put it all in so we get on the road.

9:00 we finally leave the school and make the drive to Robinson Flat Aid Station(mile 30). This was told it would take only 45 minutes. I never believed them and thought an hour was more online. If we left on time we would be there around 9:30 leaving us about an hour to get setup and ready for our runner. As we are driving it is clear that we are barely going to have much time. Also, we learned at how disorganized Matt is. He told us in his suitcase, he had a down jacket! What, I said it supposed to be 90 and low around 60. Plus he would be running at night with Bev! Along the way he states that he forgot his spare shoes and than 5 minutes later said he forgot his chair???

We arrive at the parking area where we are to take a shuttle to the aid station. Instead we are backed up in traffic. The Race Director the day before said they would allow cars in convoy of 20 cars to the top. The crews could drop their stuff at the top, drive back down the road, and walk back. We sent Matt down the road to the roadblock to see what is going on and I jump out trying to get stuff together as we are afraid we will miss Bev. He comes back and said as soon as the bus comes down, we can drive up. 15 minutes comes and goes and we are let up the road. We get to the top and planned to jump out and grab some items. We were told by a volunteer we couldn't stop. If we didn't stop and drop stuff of, we would certainly miss Bev. I have Linda pull over as Matt and I jump out and try to get things together. Bev gave Matt a new list of what she might want at the different aid station. She also gave him a bunch of new food. Scrambling to get stuff out, a Ranger says we can't stop. I tell him what the RD said at the briefing and he left. Almost done and he comes back and said he will give Linda a ticket if she doesn't move immediately. She drives down the road as Matt and I try to find her husband Alan's crew(Mark and Cyndi). I didn't know what they looked like but Matt met them the night before. We find Mark and said Cyndi is setup down the trail. It is like a circus with people everywhere. We hurry over drop the stuff and get things together. Bev gave us directions that she will be wired and not to spread stuff out as it will freak her out. She also said don't touch her! We have bottles in hand, Gu's in pockets, and some food in hand. 5 minutes after we get ready here she comes. She runs to us get 2 new bottles, one Gu, and a cookie. We tell her how far behind the leader she is and off she goes. In their for 30 seconds max. Matt runs down the trail with her while she takes in 1/2 a slim fast. Linda didn't even make it back to us before Bev was gone She had asked us previously to find out who and how far behind the next few women would be. This was our job to do the whole day. We did this and saw Alan come in and helped his crew. Gather the stuff back, walk back to the car, and now on to the next aid station. Bev was in and out at 10:15 which was faster than last years time by 16 minutes! She is still 20 minutes behind the leader. Alan was in & out at 10:35

10:40 We leave Robinson Flat and make the 30 minute drive to Michigan Bluff(mile 56). This is when endless waiting comes in. We will have over 5 hours before we see her again! We get to MB before the shuttles are going so we decide to see how far the aid station is. We walk down this steep road to the aid station. It is a 1/2 mile. We look around to see where we will want to setup. We stay there for about 15 minutes and head up the road to get our stuff. Linda and I had a piece of pizza and water to keep fueled. Grab a wheeled ice chest, several bags and 2 chairs and were off. We stand in line for a few minutes for the bus and take the 3 minute ride to the aid station. All shade spots near the chute out of the aid station are taken so we find a great spot but in the sun. The only bad thing is my sun burned quads from the day before at the briefing. I put sunscreen on my upper body and face but not on my legs. Thus my quads are burnt like a chicken As we sit there I am in pain for the next few hrs. We watch the leaders come in and the first women Nikki come in. We get ready for Bev as Alan's crew finds us and setup with us. We had watch how the top crews grab the bottles from the runners as the get weighed. They than walk with the runners up the road giving them aid. We were ready but we made the mistake to listen to Alan's crew. They said she likes to sit??? Bev told us last year she spent 10 minutes at this aid station. Way too long and we vowed not to let her spend more than 5 minutes at any aid station. I put the stuff down and her she comes. We grab the bottles and get her ready for our setup when she says walk with me. Regrouping, I ask what she wants as I hold her new bottles. She wants a sandwich which was back on the table. I run back as Cyndi lags behind. Crap, I am going the wrong way and I have Bev's bottles. I yell to Cyndi to grab them and take them to Bev while I get the food bag. I get it and thought I will never make it back to her as she is too far ahead. I run to catch up. I have not run at all(and mean not 5 feet) since both my Achilles in 2003. This is where she likes to eat. We gave her 1/2 a can of slim fast, her can of beanie weenies(that we had to remove the weenies- the freak her out), fruit, and sandwich for the road. I give her a re-wetted hanky which she doesn't want. Linda is stuff Bev's bra with ice. She loves this at races. I grab cold bottle of water that I had and ask her if she wants it dumped on her head. I dump it on her head while walking. She loves this. We tell her where everyone is. Nikki has a 26 min lead and the 3rd place women at the time was 13 minutes behind her at the previous aid station(mile 30). We part and the local Auburn newspaper asks my name because he took the picture of me dumping the water on her head.

Great pic!

We get back to our staging area and say bye to Alan's crew. Matt went back to the car an hour before Bev came in to get some rest and ready to run. There is only 6 miles between this and our next aid station so we have to get on the bus, load up, drive the 10 minutes, unload, get Matt ready(big problem), make up her 2 new bottles, get her next set of food, and find a good spot to crew her. This all has to be done in just over an hour.

Part 2 later…..

 

[nucpharm29]

All I can say is WOW!

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Part 2:

3:30 pm Foresthill(mile 62)- We find a spot to park and do last minute adjustments. This aid station we know well as we worked it from setup to breakdown(12 hrs) for 6 straight years in the past. We haul the ice chest, supplies, and chair to the chute coming out of the aid station. Matt goes back to the car for some extra stuff. He comes back and said I forgot something and asks Linda to go get it He is very high maintenance but this is the last spot we will have him with us. He begins his job from now on out. Matt was getting restless and looked stressed so we sent him back down the street to meet Bev and run her into the aid station. This gets him a few minutes to run with Bev(he was a replacement pacer for Bev as her last year one is injured) plus gets to tell us ahead what she wants while she gets weighed. She left the aid station and we walked down the road with her. She had some slim fast, some sandwich, 2 Gu's for the road, and some more electrolyte pills. Linda stuffed her bra with ice while I dumped water on her head. We told her that Nikki now had a 30 minute lead and she had a 20 minute lead over the 3rd woman at Michigan Bluff. She shrugged off worrying about catching Nikki. She was running for 2nd place now. Bev was 50 minutes ahead of her last year time in here. Off she went down the road to get back on the trail and head for the river crossing. We had some time so we hung with Alan's crew who had set up waiting for him. They made a comment about how relaxed Bev was compared to other years. They thought we had something to do with it Alan pulled in and sat down for a planned sock and shoe changed. We chatted with him while Mark and Cyndi worked on Alan. I told him where everyone was and he was glad. He gets foot problems so he took care to prevent issues. He ate his food and left with his pacer. He was about 33 minutes behind Bev. While we were talking to Alan the 3rd place women passes by. Bev now had a 30 minute lead over the 3rd place runner. We had packed and loaded while waiting for Alan so once he left we hopped in the car for our next stop.

5:00 We start the hour drive to the Green Gate(mile 80) aid station. Linda and I were starting to get a little tired now but the hard work was yet to come. We know this aid station as we worked it 2 years ago so we could see how it worked. We were going to be taking over as Captains. However, politics between the RD and the HOA along there ending up with this HOA getting it instead

This is a big aid station for Bev. She will sit and change her socks and shoes after crossing the river a couple of miles earlier. She will pickup her 2 headlamps. She puts one on her head and puts another around her waist. We arrive at where we will turnaround and park along the road. The is already a long line of cars here. We now start mixing her R4 in one bottle and one with the usual HEED in the other. Before here both are HEED. We grab all the gear bags, food bags, beverage bags, and a couple of chairs. From here we will have a long 1 1/2 mile walk down a steep and dusty road to the aid station. We had been playing leap frog with part of Nikki's crew and caught up with them as we left our cars. We walked down and chatted with these 3 women. Nikki had a crew of probably a dozen. Some hit different aid stations while others were just floaters. Discussing how everyone was doing helped pass the time. We arrived at the aid station at 6:30 pm and started to get setup. While we were doing this, someone driving down the road didn't like the aid station blocking the road the runners come up. The aid station crew jumped in front of the car and a heated argument began. The guy finally turned around and peeled out. No Class!

We set our stuff up along the trail out. We spread everything out here. We get the chairs and her 2 pairs of shoes ready. She wanted us to pack both trail and road shoes so she could make the decision there. We grab a couple cups of soup so they would be ready. They need to be cold. She also wanted a Starbucks can espresso ready for this station. We also had an energy drink ready. We sit and watch some of the other runners come in and go out. One guy came in had some food and a cup off soup and left. Not more than 50 feet outside the aid station he stops and feeds the trail. Bad sign for him with 20 miles to go. We looked down the road as the runners came up. We finally saw Bev and Matt at 7:57 pm. Grabbed her bottles and guided her to our setup. She started taking her shoes off while we asked what she wanted to eat, which pair of shoes she would want, what food for the road. She wanted the road shoes so we got them ready. She took her socks so I could take a wet towel and wipe down her legs and clean her feet. Oh no! Blood blisters on both second toes. Bev gave us nothing for foot care so we asked the aid station and they had nothing. We finally took a safety pin and stuck both blisters. I had the pleasure to squeeze the blood out of both toes. She cringed in pain as I did this. We tore the loose skin so they wouldn't fill again. Nothing to wrap the toes between anyone including Alan's crew which just showed up. We just get her socks and shoes on while she eats. She has a slim fast, cup of soup, and espresso. We get her up with new bottles and 2 Gu's for the road. Matt was to busy talking with people at the aid station to notice Bev is ready to go. Linda yells to him do you have everything he needs. Linda said do you have your light? Oops he almost left without it. This would have spelled disaster. We give her the second cup of soup she sips as she leaves. We told Bev that Nikki had a 50 minute lead now and she had a 30 minute lead for 2nd.

We hang around to see Alan come in. He now is about 38 minutes behind Bev. He isn't doing as well as this section is his weakness. He gets them worked on and we head back up that steep 1 1/2 mile hike back to the car. With about 30 pounds of gear each we had to carry, it was a very slow death march. The sun is now setting and the mosquitoes start to come out. The line of cars is really long now. New crews have about a 2 mile hike to the aid station. Only one more stop

Side note: This aid station was so less organized, smaller, and staffed with inexperienced volunteers. They removed some great things we came up with including a walkie talkie system so crews had a 1/2 notice their runner was coming. They removed crew waiting and staging area???

Part 3 later....

 

[westcliffemom]

Fascinating! Thanks for the report!

 

[Hockeychic]

Wow Robert that is amazing!!!!!

 

[kareneast]

Robert - Absolutely Amazing! I look forward to reading more.

 

[Honeibee]

Robert! OMG! Wow! Don't leave us hanging!

BTW...most excellent picture!

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Here is the final chapter It's as long as the race!


9:00 pm we now drive to go to the next and last aid station. The 49 aid station is mile 92.5. You have to park in the town of Cool and then take a shuttle to the aid station. We arrived at the parking lot and knew we had some time as it was only 9:30 pm. We rested for about 20 minutes. It is now dark and getting cool for non runners. We put some long sleeve shirts under our Team SunSweet shirts and started getting all of the gear back together. Bev will only use only one bottle with R4 the rest of the way. We get her Starbucks drink and Energy drinks. She will want a couple of cups of soup here for her main food. We ride the shuttle and look for a place to setup. We see an area at the end of the aid station before it takes of into the darkness. This is another big aid station where they have an RV and lights everywhere. As we setup, Mark and Cyndi come along and setup next to us. I get up and move around and see a friend of mine in the aid station, sitting down and bent over. We chatted with him the day before and met his wife. They ate where we did in Squaw on our advise. While we were eating Nikki, and Tim Twietmeyer(now president of the WS Board) with some big wigs came in. Tim Twietmeyer retired from running WS last year after 25 straight Silver buckles(under 24 hr finishes). He also won the race 5 times! I told Jon that if Nikki was eating her pre race meal, you could.

Back to Jon, we watched as they moved him to the back to work on him. Very bad sign. The is a member of the run club that puts on this aid station so lots of worried people. He was 3rd at one point. We went and sat in our chairs to rest when we hear Nikki's name called that she was entering the aid station. It was now 9:55 pm. She was running even stronger and knew she was going to win the women's race. After watching for a while we were getting poised as it approached 11:00 pm. At 11:01, we hear Bev's name being called. We grab her bottles, give her a new one, and give her 2 cups of soup. She eats one, gets some Starbucks, and takes the other one ready to leave. We told Bev where Nikki was(over an hr ahead) and the 3rd place women was still 30 minutes behind. 2nd looked pretty good. Bev had also given us a special request at tracking runners at this aid station. She wanted to know how close the last man was. She want to move up in the Overall rankings. We tell her the last guy passed 8 minutes earlier and off they went into the night. Matt her pacer thanked us for getting them out so fast. Bev had another agenda for the next 7.6 miles.

We hung around for a few minutes but we knew from Alan's crew that the wheels had started to fall off and we couldn't wait to see him. We crossed the road to wait for the shuttle. There was a huge group this time with only standing room only on the bus. We were 1st on and as people passed, we saw Jon's wife walk by and sit down. As we leave she yells over others that Jon had left the aid station walking again and trying to finish. She said Jon perked up as he heard Bev's name called out. He couldn't stay there any longer. Jon finished 8th overall last year just a few minutes ahead of Bev.

We dumped the gear and knew the real work was done. Now to the finish line at the high school to celebrate with Bev We arrive and look for Bev's car to dump off her gear. Cyndi gave me the key at the Robinson Flat and told me where she parked the car with a description. We wander around for a while but find it and dumped the stuff. Now all we have to do is ditch Matt's stuff after they finish. Nikki finished before we arrived. We put a couple of chairs where the runners will enter and make a lap around the track. Midnight comes and passes and we are tired but restless. We head out on the road figuring it wouldn't be long. You can see headlamps come down the road but not who they are. We walk back towards the track and here is Bev and Matt. Bev had offered us to run with her on the track. I told here only in a car. She and Matt decide to run hard as we shortcut the grass and watch her finish with a time of 19:31(12:31 am). She is 2nd female overall for the 3rd straight year, 1st in Masters for the 3rd straight year, and 13th overall. She gets her medal and has to have her blood pressure taken and weighed. They want her to sit down but she refuses and asks for a blanket. My last job of the night was to be her bodyguard. She told us before the race, she wants to walk a victory lap to cool down and for us to chat. We walk around the track and see a food stand. Bev wants a turkey burger which will take a few minutes. The NBC television crew which has been hounding the runners for the last few days wants an interview with her. I told them after she eats, I will bring her over. We all had some burgers and Bev so more soup. She is getting chilled but ready for the interview. She is a very humble and shy person who didn't like all the interviews she had to do. She sits down and gets interviewed while we get more blankets. Alan's crew comes by and we get Bev ready to lie down. She is shaky more now and she gets so help from the pros. I get Matt from wherever he was to dump his goodies back in his car. I go back and chat with Bev looking very tired and cold. Linda and I mentioned we needed to get headed home as we had almost another 2 hrs drive home. She says aren't you going to watch Alan. Well who needs sleep anyway, its overrated. I chat with Bev for a while and we hear Alan has entered the track. We all get up and cheer him to his finish of 21:09(2:09 am) and 27th Overall. We chat for a few minutes but say goodbye as it is way late for us. Alan's crew was going to hang around for a few more minutes with them as Alan and Bev were staying at a friends down the road.

Linda and I start the drive home. She drives as I have bad night vision. We chat with each other going over about the highs and lows of the day. How close we came to screw things up but how well we helped Bev finish. She shaved 39 minutes off last years time. We talk about what we would do different, bring with us, etc to keep awake. As we drive Crystal Bay(Stateline North Lake Tahoe), I see a Sheriff with someone pulled over. They have been cracking down on DUI's and I thought oh no. We drive another r couple of minutes and guess what we see in our back window. You got it, the Sheriff has decided to pull us over. We grab her backpack and he says stop. It is 4:00 am. He says Linda crossed the line(she didn't) and was wondering what we were doing. Told him we have been up 24 hrs crewing at WS 100. He didn't smell alcohol and thought what drunk would make up a story like that! We were just 2 miles from home so he let us go. We grab my laptop and go down stairs to bed.

We are getting old to be up 24 hrs straight. I have worked at WS for over 10 years from be Race Managers, Aid station captains, worked aid stations, Safety swept(ran 1st 32 miles), and ran in the race in 1997. I only made it to Michigan Bluff(56 miles) due to a viral infection. This was the hardest physical and mental thing we had to do. Working with an elite runner is a great experience. Looks like she won't let us off doing this all over again

Next year we will pay for a motel so part of this won't be repeated again. We can than rest, shower, get breakfast with the runners, and watch the awards ceremony.

BTW, Rumor is that NBC will be airing this on August 11 as part of the Jeep Outdoor Series. Someone please record it for me as Linda and I will be helping another friend who is RD'ing her first ultra. A 12 hr race that starts at 7pm and ends at 7:00 am at Cool . We will be doing the results and lap counting. Each lap is a 7 mile trail loop. I gotta find more friends that just want to sit and drink some beer That's right we found Dave(windwalker)

 

[CACruisin']

Great report on WS 100! I love your definition for CREW - Perfect! We crewed for my dad when he ran back in the 80's. Your report brought back such memories. I remember being so impressed with how quickly the elite runners were in and out of each aid station. Dad got his silver buckle, but hasn't done any ultra's for awhile. At 70, he does still run everyday though.

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Jeep World of Adventure coverage of the 2007 WS 100 is scheduled for Saturday, July 28th at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.