Javelina Jundred 100 mi

I met up with EKP, Paul, and the rest of the crew to drive out to Arizona at lsdchris' favorite Denny's in Beaumont, CA. We had a grand time driving out in an RV that EKP had rented for the occasion. You could literally smell the excitement in the air, or maybe that was my pair of recently broken in Golites waiting for their inaugural race alongside the standby pair of tried and trues from AC. EKP and Paul were both excited and nervous about their first 100 miler. We arrived shortly after 7pm. The official party had ended, but we were warmly received and dinner was thrown together for us. Jamil, the RD, was in good spirits. He made some comment about me seeming to enjoy Arizona races. Hey, if that's where the good desert races are being held. While I was digging through my goody bag and comparing the bib # I had received with the shirt I had on, Running with the Devil, which depicts a devilish figure with a bib #666 pulling a penguin in a rickshaw, Kirk walks up with a lovely brunette who says, "Hey, I know that face and that shirt, too!" To which I responded, "I get to play the devil in this one!" Kirk was a bit taken back that the gal who had asked for his assistance in the parking lot that he was guiding to the registration area happened to be Joyce, the well-known RD for Running with the Devil and a dozen other races in the Nevada area that go under the banner of Calico Racing. An accomplished triathlete, she was here to run her second 100 miler; having just run Boulder in October. Welcome to the dark side! It wasn't long after we hit the sack that it was time to get up and make our way to the start area. Yeah, the night went that fast. Hail, Hail, the gangs all here! The usual pre-ultra excitement was electrifying as we all gathered around the start area waiting for the word that would begin a run whose end was so far out in the future it wasn't worth considering at this point in time. When they say go - just run. Worrying about finishing a 100 miler is like worrying about what you will wear tomorrow and you haven't even gotten out of bed today. Old friends, new friends, runners, pacers, crew, iMichelle, Robo, EKP, Tracy, Paul, Josh, Ashley, Jill, Joyce, Leigh, Gabor, Kirk, all had gathered around for the festivities. All are anxious for the experience of a lifetime. 100s are like births, deaths, marriages, and baptisms. They're profound experiences and you only get so many of them in life. God put two things on this earth to excite, inspire, and humble men; women and 100s, and not necessarily in that order. Substitute whatever floats your boat for any noun in that last sentence except the 100 part. That's the part that united us all on Saturday, the rest are incidental. 3 - 2 - 1 - GO! Off we went - 147 runners into the dark morning in the Arizona desert. What a rush! Tapering sucks! We were like school children heading out onto the playground for recess - such glee! Excited chatter could be heard for hours as we headed out in a clockwise direction that would be experienced three times (for 15.3 miles each) as well as three times in reverse, followed by the oh-so-fun 8.7 mile "victory" lap with a glow necklace wrapped around your neck that bounced around and found its way into your mouth more often than not, but, I'm getting ahead of myself. There are 2 aid stations out on the course, as well as the start/finish area, each separated by approximately 5 miles of various types of desert terrain. There's the long rocky steeper part, although nothing's steep on this course this part is as steep as it gets and it seems to get steeper each visit, regardless of which direction you're headed, and there's the long sloping sandy part followed by several small washes that have slightly deeper sand in them that seem to suck you in like beach sand. It's a beautiful desert. You see enough of it not to get bored, but see it often enough that you start naming places and things; a rock here, a cactus there. As the runners begin to spread out, you become familiar with their placement on the course relative to you, as well. Ok, there's dude with the arrow in his head, should be seeing dude with the wonder woman costume any minute now, yeah, there he is, "Hey baby, couple more passes like this I may just propose, you're looking so fine in those stars and stripes with the little fruit shaped..., Oh, hi Michelle, did you get a look at the guy in the Wonder Woman outfit just up ahead? Silly, huh?!" Did I mention this race was also a costume party? After the first loop I determined that gatorade just wasn't going to be the drink de jour. I ran a 5 mile section without drinking anything just to settle my stomach, don't kill me Dawg, and after a whole banana at the next aid station switched to pure iced water with S-caps for the remainder of the run. It was working. I didn't touch a single Gu on this one. Heading out on the 3rd loop, the midday sun really began to lay in on us. Lots of runners became visibly distressed. One, who will remain nameless, commented that now it was starting to become not so fun anymore. She managed to finish off a nice 100K finish, however. It was about this time that Rob began to have trouble with his hamstring. I found him like the Pirates of the Carribean, sitting on a barrel, sharing a bottle with Kirk, singing drunken sailor songs near the start/finish area at the end of lap 3. Darn Kirk, such a bad influence. Gonna have to send him back to that wild west Inland Empire from whence he came, contributing to the delinquency of Coto's finest; shameful. ...and in front of his young son on his birthday, too! Rob went on to finish another lap for a respectable 100K finish. Heal well and heal quickly, my dear running friend! BTW, loved the star pasties! Somewhere along the way a huge rattle snake found its way onto the course. I counted 8 rattles and guessed him to be about 6 feet long; big fellow. After alerting others, I continued on, only to be startled by a loud shriek that got me turned around just in time to see a runner about 3 feet in the air looking like he was trying to fly. Wow, dude, that's gonna take a toll on your run, probably ended up costing him about 20 minutes off his time in spent energy. He was just so focused he missed the 3 runners standing nearby pointing at it and wondered what the word snake meant - oh, you mean SNAKE! I thought about draping him around my neck and bringing him back to the start/finish area to keep Kirk company during the hours his runners were out on the course, but decided the extra weight wasn't worth it. Sorry Kirk, I'll put some extra cross fit into my training so I can accomodate you next time, especially after your lovely offering of little potatoes so delicately handled with a rubber glove; such a touching moment, umm, never mind. At the end of the fourth loop it began to get dark. I'm not sure how they got there, but someone had left a half dozen horses to hang out in one of the washes. Going on my experience from Man Against Horse, I made sure that I spoke loudly and "let them know I was a person." Rave dude, with his Reggae music blaring, saw me talking to the horses and stopped to ask what it meant. I think he may have thought I had found something good to smoke out there and he wanted to get in on the action. A little further down the trail, I asked Mexican Bandito dude if maybe he had lost his horses. About this time I came into JA aid station and could see some runners were down. One was laid out in a cot and the other was sitting hunched over in a chair draped in a blanket. I didn't want to look. I knew what it meant. Unfortunately, as I reached out to chow down on those pieces of burrito I had craved for the last 2 miles, I heard a voice say very quietly, "LT, it's me I hurt my ankle and can't continue." I knew that voice. It was EKP. It hurt to look up into his face and acknowledge what was. He looked and sounded very dejected. I consoled him as best I could. What does one say in a moment like that? I hope he finds the opportunity to make another attempt. The night came, cool and bright. I had a waist, head, and hand lamp to guide me if necessary. I only really needed them through the rocky section of the course. For over 10 miles in either direction I ran in the dark, allowing the moon and my night vision to keep me upright and headed in the right direction. I shared the night with Scrappy and didn't see too many other runners heading in the same direction. She seemed to thrive on the darkness as I did. We didn't speak much, but did share a few words. We arrived at the aid stations around the same time and she would lead out only to have me catch up each time. It became a game with neither one of us trying all that hard to break away, but eventually I moved on ahead and didn't see her again until the end. She was so cheery - smiled right to the end. No cranky runner there. Three miles out from the start/finish area a group of runners passed me in the opposite direction. It was hard to tell who they were in the dark, but my "howdy" received a gruff, "pick it up LT, quit goofing off!" It startled me and I almost fell over my own two feet, that was Kirk with Michelle. Before I could reply, they were gone. Good luck, Michelle I spoke into the night. At 23:30 hours into the run I came into the start/finish area to begin my "victory" lap. Nonstop I came in and looped back around to head out. I was chased down and told I needed a glow necklace to make the turn onto the shorter trail back to the finish. After taking almost a full minute for it to be attached, it turned out to be nothing but a pain. 'nuff said on the glow necklace. I was about 3 miles into this loop when I came across Jill Childers. We stopped to chat for a few just about the time the sun was beginning to rise. This woman is incredible. How does anyone run so many miles and look so fresh? With not a sweat stain to be seen, no salt rings around her face, a freshly pressed pink running skirt, and a bright and cheery hello, she looked like she was simply running down to the local Starbucks to have a cup of coffee and a scone for breakfast somewhere in San Diego. What a doll. She was pushing mile 88 at this point. She asked me how my run was going. Great, I guess! I still have the shinier side up. I'm ready for the finish, though, I said. Further up the trail I came across Team Spew, Rick Bearden. He had twisted his ankle and was making his way back to the start. I've run several races with Rick, including AC and Running with the Devil, and it was a tough break to see him hobbling along. He's a tough cookie. Heal quickly, running man. Then, in what seemed like the first time in the entire run, I came across Paul E. He seemed a bit quiet, casually mentioned a little blister problem, muttered a few words of grit and determination, and headed on in to get his necklace. I guess it's one of those things that you want and when you get it you wish you didn't have it. I'm not mentioning the necklace again. Finally arriving at JA aid station, I chastised them for moving it further out on the course since I was last there, but thanked them for being such gracious hosts for the last 24 hours and following the man's final instructions I headed 2.7 miles downhill to the Pemberton trail that we had been running on for the past day and then made a left for the final mile to the finish. TQ was an angel. She helped me out after the finish, making sure I got something to eat and drink. She even helped me carry my stuff back to the vehicle. I whined about having to carry my number another couple hundred yards. Only 72 runners finished the full 100 miles. This race has got one heck of an attrition rate for being so "easy". Beware of the Javelina!