This is one of those races I wasn't terribly excited about from the get-go, but it ended up being a lot of fun. I signed up to go with Justin. Originally I said I'd only do the 6 hour, then eventually I sent it and registered for the 12, but let's be honest, I never had any intention of actually running for 12 hours. What I set out to do was run another 50K, 31 miles and change. And what I actually did was quit early and eat. And I'll tell you all about it.
The Setup
One of my favorite parts of this race was the setup. We got really lucky when we arrived. There happened to be two amazing spots open, so I backed my truck up next to Justin's and we created a cool little base camp. And here's how this race works: it's a 2 mile loop, and every single lap you run right past your own camp. Every 2 miles you can stop, grab something to eat or drink, or just keep rolling, whatever suits your fancy. I really enjoyed that, and I made VERY good use of it over the course of the day, as my day slowly transformed from running a race into being a crew chief.
The Race
The race itself? Actually a lot of fun, and the loop was fantastic. I was, once again, back to being poorly trained for this one. But the loop was flat and friendly. One uphill you walked, one downhill you could jog, and the rest was cruising. The conditions were great, no mud, everything reasonable. And while a good chunk of the course was exposed, there were some genuinely shady sections with real tree cover, and getting out of the sun on those stretches was really, really nice. As loops go, you couldn't ask for much better.
I've Got That Quitting Feeling
I remember stopping after 12 miles, which is six loops, and saying, you know what? I'm going to get my Jetboil out and make myself something to eat. So there I am, sitting at camp eating beef stroganoff, which was DELICIOUS, when Justin comes cruising by again. He's two laps ahead of me now, around mile 16. And I did the math on myself: I'm not well trained, I just ran essentially a half marathon, and this seems like a really good place to stop. I told myself, I'll finish lunch, and if I feel like running a little more, I'll run a little more.
The mood never came back. 🙂
Instead, I made myself a SECOND meal, chicken fajitas, which was somehow even better than the first. Then I made a cup of coffee, sat back, and listened to some music. And right there, somewhere between the stroganoff and the fajitas, I officially transitioned from racer to crew chief. Little did I know how important that transition would turn out to be, because this was the lead-up to the Badwater Salton Sea, where I'd be crewing Justin for real.
First Time Crew Chief
So yes, I DNF'd this race. No way around it. But it wasn't all for naught, because I turned every bit of my energy and attention to supporting Justin and making sure he felt incredibly backed up. And this race MATTERED for him. He needed to run at least 50 miles within the 12 hours to qualify for the Badwater Salton Sea. So lap after lap after lap, I'd hike up to the trailhead, and it was a warm one that day, meet him at the top, run him back down to the car, get him whatever he needed, and send him on his way. I did that for another 30 some odd miles of his race. It was many hours of work and I loved it.
Eventually, somewhere around his mile 50, I had to cut out. Claire had a flag football game and I wasn't going to miss it. So I checked with Justin, "hey man, you cool?", jumped in the truck, and headed home.
The Final Tally
It ended up being an incredible race for Justin. He ran 60 MILES in the 12 hours, one of the best performances that race has ever seen, and he probably would have taken first place had he not been hit with a severe cramp on one of the laps. The winner logged 64, so it was right there. The cramp shook him a bit, but that's the thing about these races, every single one teaches you something about yourself and how to run the next one. Bottom line: he crushed it, he qualified, and he headed into Badwater ready and confident. Mission accomplished.
And one last note, because the coolest thing I saw all day deserves its own paragraph. There was this really skinny kid named Keely Miyamoto absolutely RIPPING through the course, and I started watching him work his pit stops. Turns out he was running the 24 hour race, and he ended up covering 130 miles. That's 65 laps of that loop. Absolutely insane. Watching how intentional he was at every single stop was a masterclass. In and out, every item planned, not a wasted second. That kid was definitely NOT winging it, no question about it. A really fun final note from a really fun day. Even if I did quit early to eat fajitas.