Saturday, August 7, 2010

INAGURAL FAT DOG 100 - Voley/pacer experience

INAGURAL FAT DOG!! 100 m/100 km.
 Should be called the MAD dog!
 because you would have to be MAD to do it!!! ( as per my opinion...but I used to think anything longer than a 10k was too far, and now I'm doing 50k's )

How hard is it? the numbers tell the tale:
The 100Km was reported to be more like 130 km, and took 19-30 hours to finish.
The 100 mile, also longer than expected  .
NOT to mention the elevation gain!!! 17500 ft gain and loss!
Several Veterans of 100 mile races DNF'd at this race!!! WHO IS TOUGH ENOUGH!
Only 13 of the 35 entrants finished the 100 mile.  Hassan Lotfi-pour  won the 100 Mile in 27 hrs 59 min..  This guy had the BEST attitude, and the best sense of humour when he hit my aid station! The longest runners took about 41 hours- thats a long time to be running!
But luckily, most runners got in the beautiful views from Cathedral Mountain and/or  Heather trail (above)
  
VOLUNTEERING ROCKS! :  LOOK at all the water! not to mention the volunteers who packed each and every container!
The  4X4 trip up to my aid station had beautiful views .  Just me, Amber, watermelon, and the bears. Totally worth it!  As a runner, it felt great  giving back to the running community .

DOING THE CALCITE AID STATION ( 2nd one in)  ... felt kinda like a first aid station.

The first runners were to arrive at 7:30.but did not arrive till 11 am!
EVERYONE was out there longer than expected

Several wide eyed, salt laden faces-They either looked like they were in ADVENTURE HEAVEN.. Or, like they had bitten off more than they could chew!!!

One guy said he did not pee for 7-8 hrs. We fueled, and watered him till he was good (and speak in full sentences) and I am happy to report he FINISHED the 100 miles !

Once ALL runners were thru I went ....Back to the finish line to find my HUBBY !!


MEANWHILE, BACK ON THE TRAILS:
Jim was Pacing his  100 km friends for the last 50 Km:  
 I expected them 8 hrs later. so..

I Sit at the finish line:
Expected arrival- 10 pm ... but I knew it would be later.
3am... STILL no runners!!! Did they call it off??
Staring int the darkness for the slightest  headlamp flicker...

Some Pictures Jim took :
Great volunteers , good friends, and a crazy photographer
                            


HOT DOG!
I catch word that my gang of guys  hit the last aid station  at 10 pm  in good spirits..When everyone else was ready to puke at that point and could only stomach liquids,  apparently  Gary Robbins offered Jim  a hot dog and Jim scarfed down 2 or 3 of them!  Since then, he has been coined  "HOT DOG JIM". LOL !

RUNNING AT NIGHT:

It was a beautiful FULL MOON!!

Meanwhile, me.. 5 am... I'm starting to stress a bit: Twelve hours ! omg, Jim must be F'd by now! He just go over plantar faciitis, he must be crawling by now. Or are they all lost on the mountain?? I start to get mad- thats it! our holidays are now wrecked!

7am.. ish- The most beautiful site! Jim lumbering in. He is walking !! (not limping) and laughing!!! The guys finish in around 23 hours.



Jim Doesn't even cross the finish line... He yells "Food!"  B-lines  right to the food table. Too funny!  glad he is only a pacer.  In the end they all make home ! finishing 4th and 5th !!  and all the guys had a great adventure together ... though I hear  'what happens on  the trail stays on the trail' - and I really do NOT  want to hear the details.

So, after running all night, they get back to the campsite.

Jim Quote: " Nothing says breakfast like soup,grill cheeze, 3 freezies and 2 beer"  
I think the neighbor campers were jealous and wondering where they got this girl to bring them food and beer in the morning.. let alone the massages . LOL.



BIG THANKS:
All runners who were BRAVE enough to attempt an inagural event, fully knowing there would be glitches.
Heather for taking on this gargantuan task.
Gary Robbins for offering Hot dogs to Jim ( which probably kept him alive)
Nicola and Peter for their nonstop support and enthusiasm for this great event.
Amber- for putting up with me at the aid station.. for my arts and crafts moments, and nonstop chatter
All volunteers- many of who's long hours were an endurance event in themselves!

Heather
This was a bit late as I was on holidays with no wifi for 2 weeks..

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ahh Heather! My life saver! I couldn't believe my luck when I saw you at Calcite and the funny part is for several hours I kept thinking to myself as the pain was shooting down my leg "Oh if only I could run into Heather at some point" I can't explain that feeling I had when I saw you. haha Thanks for doing more then calming us down and feeding us.
Kristie

EricG said...

Nice Heather. Volunteering feels great does'nt it!!!

Hassan Lotfi-Pour said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hassan Lotfi-Pour said...

Hi Heather,
Thank you so much for your help with my Fuel at Calcite, you girls were amazing and life savior.
Happy running!!