Pacing the Queen

My first Western States adventure started several months ago when, during a run in the foothills of Colorado, I told Meghan that I was interested in crewing for her at the next WS.  I also mentioned that if she found herself needing a pacer and thought I would be a good pacer for her, that I'd be happy to do that, too.  Fast forward several months, and Meghan was picking me up from the Reno airport on the Thursday before Western States to crew and pace for her (you can read Meghan's race report here:  http://runningmegleg.com/2013/07/29/western-states-100-2013/)

We got a decent amount of sleep (though I still felt guilty that picking me up from the airport kept Meghan up late two nights before the race).  After lazily eating breakfast and checking email, I headed down to find Meghan at check-in, and found myself in some version of a runner's paradise.  Everyone who was in the village was either a runner or a supporter of runners.  While there was definitely some anticipatory anxiousness in the air, over-all, the mood was mostly seemed to be excitement.

Wandering around, I ran into several of my Oregon-running-friends.  Although I no longer live there, I still feel the pride of being from a state with such a strong running community, especially in the women's field.

From the top of Emigrant Pass

I had been struggling with how to manage my training prior to the race.  On one hand, I thought that I should treat it like a race and be sure to taper so I'd have fresh legs.  On the other, I knew that there would be much higher temperatures when I was running than I typically run in (I'm normally a morning runner) so I wanted to get in some heat training miles.  I decided to do a combined-
approach, getting in some longer miles in the heat early in the week, and backing off the mileage later.  I originally planned on just going for a short, flat run on Friday, but Meghan encouraged me to head up to the top of Emigrant Pass with Hannah (one of Meghan's friends from Eugene and her 'crew chief').  This climb was the first 4 miles of the course and from the top you can see west into the canyons that the course runs through.  I was so glad I followed her recommendation.  The views from the top were gorgeous and it was fun getting to know Hannah better.  The fairly steep run down from the top actually felt pretty good. I was happy with how well my quads were feeling and just hoped that they wouldn't be too sore the next day.

With Meghan a few minutes before the start.

At 4am Saturday morning, I woke up to, "It's 4 o'clock" and "my alarm didn't go off".  Crap!  Only 1 hour to race time!  The amazing thing was that despite this, Meghan was calm (or at least did a good job appearing calm).  Shortly before 5, Hannah, Larry (Hannah's boyfriend), Jason (who would take the second pacing leg), Blaine (Jason's wife), and I joined the crowd of people near the starting line. We hugged Meghan, got a few photos, wished her luck, then found our spots overlooking the starting line.

As soon as they were off, so were we.  Meghan had estimated her splits, and we had 3 hours to pack up the cars, drive down to Auburn, do our shopping for the day, then get to our first aid station assignments.  As Jason and I started heading down to Duncan Canyon after the stop at the store, we realized that we were cutting it much closer than we had intended to, and it was hard to drive any faster because of the narrow twisty road we were on.  Jason started making up Meghan's water bottles and packing the portable cooler on our approach to the parking area.  As soon as we got to the trailhead, Jason jumped out of the car and sprinted to the starting line.  I was able to find a parking spot within a few minutes, and followed him.  I saw the crews for Pam Smith and Aliza Lapierre coming down the trail as I was heading up - they said that Meghan hadn't come through yet, but would be soon.  I was lucky - I got there just as she came in.  Water bottles exchanged, Powergels handed over, and she was back down the trail. Feeling relieved that we didn't miss her, Jason and I went back to the car, then headed to our next stop, Dusty Corners.

We had a bit of a wait at Dusty Corners and were able to see the first 10 or so men come through the aid station.  Things were already heating up - it was over 80 degrees in the shade - so high on everyone's list was getting cooled off with water and ice.  Pam Smith came through first - a lead that she expanded on all day.  The rest of the top women were spread out over the next 10 minutes.  Meghan looked good coming through - we repeated the crew duties, then headed down to Forest Hill.

The race course goes down the Main Street in Forest Hill.  We found a shady spot on a side street just a few blocks from the aid station and occupied ourselves with eating, trying to stay off our legs, and checking the race updates on UltraLive.net and IRunFar twitter feeds.  After Meghan got through Michigan Bluff, Jason headed down to Bath Road to run with Meghan into Forest Hill and I positioned myself about 50 meters up the road from the aid station.  It was great to run into April (Trucha), Craig (Tibarron) and their new baby Linnea while I was waiting for Meghan to come through.

Then there she was and my pacer duties started.  After making sure she got what she needed in the aid station, we headed down the road to the Cal Street section of the trail.  It was awesome to hear so many people cheering for her.

Crossing the American River

Pacing Meghan was awesome.  The section that I got to run with her was beautiful - mostly rolling single track above the American River. Meghan took the time to hug some folks she knew and saw along the way.  It didn't seem to take long at all until we reach the American River.  The volunteers holding the cable across the river pointed out every rock and hole.  Taking Meghan's lead, I dunked myself all the way in - after the heat and dust of the day, the cold felt amazing.

Heading up to the Green Gate

At the other side, the rest of the crew met us and we went as a group to the Green Gate Aid Station, after which Jason left to pace Meghan to Auburn.  We all met up again in Auburn, a few miles from the finish.  It was amazing to run with Meghan onto the track. 

The next morning, we all sat and watched the last few hours of the race unfold.  It was so inspirational to see some of those last finishers - some coming in on their own, others surrounded by family.  Some who found the ability to truly run from the entrance to the track to the finish line; others who I wondered how they kept moving.  Watching it all unfold, I decided that I was going to try to qualify for the race next year.  I'd been struggling a bit with motivation the last few months and my WS weekend reminded me of why I fell in love with ultras - Dean Karnzes described it in Ultramarathon Man, when he wrote,“Struggling and suffering are the essence of a life worth living. If you're not pushing yourself beyond the comfort zone, if you're not demanding more from yourself - expanding and learning as you go - you're choosing a numb existence. You're denying yourself an extraordinary trip.” And if I don't qualify?  I hope to be back at WS next year anyway, because being supporting others in that pursuit is an awesome thing.