Crew Report: WS 100

First, Eric DNF'd. It was a tough call, but one he is at peace with. He, Rob and Steve are sleeping right now - I've had more sleep than them, so I'm up and writing. If you are interested in the crew side of things, read on...

My previous crew experience has been for at CCC100 last year and the year before, and for Rob and Eric at the White River 50. In those experiences I drove on unmarked gravel forest service roads, parked within sight of the aid station, there were no porta-potties and at CCC had around 50 other crew members waiting with me at aid stations. At WR50 there were about 20 other crew waiting. Not so at WS. At the two aid stations we experienced there were literally hundreds of people. The roads were paved, there were traffic jams and shuttle buses and porta-potties. (Only a few, and they were nasty by day's end!) This was an entirely different experience.

We left Jimmy and Suzy's house in Reno at 3:01 am, arrived in Squaw Valley by 3:35. We went into the Olympic Plaza to stay warm, visit with other runners and check in. We saw some big names in ultra-running and ran into TC, then Karen and George joined us. About 4:45 people started moving outside. Rob took the camera and went up the hill to catch a picture of the crowd climbing. Steve and I found a spot on the hillside. The sky was just beginning to lighten when the gun went off. The front runners sprinted off the line, with the rest of the pack jogging behind. We spotted Eric - it looked like he was looking for us, but never saw us. After standing and watching the mass move up the mountain, we finally went in. Rob came in a few minutes later. We had a good six hours till we could expect to see Eric, so we drove to Truckee, filled the gas tank and found a little cafe that was open for breakfast. It felt funny to be sitting and eating breakfast while Eric was running - yet another difference from CCC. At CCC we could get to quite a few more aid stations, and see a lot more of our runner.

After breakfast, we made the long drive back to Auburn - about 70 miles - then to get to the course, we had to catch Forest Hill Road and drive about 50 miles back towards the start. We made it to Robinson Flats in good time. We cruised in, got a spot and rode the shuttle up. I had a full and heavy day pack, Rob had a soft-sided cooler and Steve had our three chairs. We had our first surprise as we entered the aid station and discovered more than a hundred crew already there. We found a spot in the shade and set up. We soon learned the first lesson of the day... follow the shade. As the sun shifted, runners came in and crews left, we moved to shadier and closer spots. Our goal of the day became shifting to the best place for Eric (shady and close) each time we could. George (Karen's husband) eventually showed up - by the time he drove in there was a line up - it took him two hours to get to the parking area and on a shuttle because of all the crew traffic. We lucked out when we got there early. We spent three hours at this aid station. Lessons learned: take lots of food, water and sunscreen for ourselves! We had everything Eric could possibly want, but had only packed a single bottle of water and half sandwich for each of us.

Eric came in looking good. We swapped out his bottles and one gu bottle, sprayed him down with sunscreen, doused his cool-down scarf and he was gone. As we were waiting for the shuttle down, we saw Karen come in. She looked good too. Now we had about eight hours till we could expect to see Eric again. Contrast this with CCC where I could see Rob every two to three hours.

We drove back to Forest Hill and signed Steve in as a pacer. We stayed long enough to see the front runner come in - it was obvious that if everything stayed on track, he'd be setting a new course record. After that, we drove to the Michigan Bluff aid station. We knew we'd be early, but we did not want to experience the same traffic jam George did. This time we loaded ourselves up with more water and a little more food. We weren't too worried, because at the pre-race briefing we'd been told there was a group that would be selling burgers as a fund-raiser at Michigan Bluff. We foolishly decided to walk down to the aid station instead of catching the shuttle - a volunteer told us it was only a half mile. It was more like a mile, it was hot and my pack was heavy. I was whiny - especially when the bus passed us twice. We got into the aid station and found our first spot. We worked on moving up here too. A breeze had kicked up and it was a little cooler. Rob had his turn to be whiny when we discovered that the group had elected not to do the burger fund-raiser. After a while, Rob and I caught the shuttle back up to the car so we could get more food and water. George was getting off as we were getting on and we chatted for a minute or two. I forgot to mention that we were parked 3/4 of a mile up hill from the shuttle drop off. On the walk up we spotted some primo parking spots. Of course, by the time we got to the car and drove back down, they were gone, so we ended up improving our car parking by about 50 feet.

Back at the aid station, Rob checked on Eric's progress. Our best guess - best possible time coming in would be 7:15, worst would be 8:30. We got excited and laid out all the stuff. Rob and I went to the corner where you could see the runners coming in to wait. The minutes ticked by. I started to worry at 8:15, then really was worrying by 8:30. Rob decided to go check again and came back to tell me he was out - the aid station guy thought he'd been pulled for weight. We jammed everything back in the pack and started the long walk to the car (the shuttle stopped at 8:00). It was a silent car ride back to Forest Hill, interspersed by worried comments from me. We got to the school and started looking for Eric. A volunteer said he was in the medical area with Karen, but they weren't there. I ran back to the car to get the cell phone (we finally realized there was reception at FH). Just as I was locking the car door, I heard Eric yelling for me. I ran over to him and was extremely relieved to find out he was okay. He'd pulled himself out. He felt sick and wobbly and had dry heaves. Read here for his story.

Now we had to figure out what to do for the night. It was about 10:00 - the first thing we did was try to get a room in Auburn - we thought Eric would be running all night, so we didn't have rooms. That was a no go. We went to the track and watched the first runner come in and set a course record. We discussed food, but finally decided to take turns sleeping in the car. Rob and Steve sent Eric and I off - we laid out the front seats and went to sleep. About two hours later, we woke up and were just talking about going to get the guys when they tapped on the window. They had been freezing in the bleachers and kept trying to find somewhere warm to hang out before they gave up and came to get us. I can't quite remember the order of things after this, but we went to Denny's for some food, then sent Rob out to sleep in the car while the other three of us sat in the booth. Then we all went out, found a parking spot near the school and tried to sleep with all four of us in the car. Rob gave up on that pretty quick and went back to watch runners come in. I'm not sure how much later, but Steve and Eric woke up and wanted to go see the 24 hour runners come in. I told them I was going to keep sleeping. A good hour and a half after that I finally went back to the stands. We made a Starbucks run, then spent the rest of the morning watching runners come in. We finally got checked into the hotel about 12:45 and now everyone is showered and sleeping.

It was emotional watching the racers enter the field - I really hope we get to do this again someday and that it will be our crew escorting Eric around the track. This was a hard ending to months of training and anticipation, and yet, it's an ending that each of us know is possible whenever we enter a race. I've already told Eric I'm on board for whatever he wants to do next - another 100, another WS, anything. I'm also on board for Rob and Steve. Their support has been incredible and I'm ready to pay it back in full. Yesterday was a lot of fun thanks to those two.

I second what Eric said in his post - many thanks to all of you - the best running group ever - the Y Run Club - the great ultra-runners in our local running community, Jimmy and Suzy for hosting us and our friends, to Riley, for holding down the fort at home, and to our great blogging community for your support. You helped make the journey exciting and fun, and we thank you all! And special thanks to Lorri, for taking over my Pilates class for two weeks (two-a-days!) and loaning us Steve for the weekend.

Signing off from sunny Auburn, California, where the crew is resting, the runners are recovering, and the big event is finished till next year...