From owner-ultra@caligari.Dartmouth.EDU Thu Jul 17 14:38:13 1997 From: Dana Roueche To: , Subject: Tough Women of Hardrock Date: Thu, 17 Jul 1997 17:36:45 -0400 When I think back on my experience this weekend, the thing I was most impressed with, was the women of Hardrock. I'd like to share some of my experiences that I had with those women, my hat is off to every one of them. They all contributed to making my own reality richer. At the top of Virginious Pass there was a 150 foot fixed rope to lower yourself down a steep ice and snow slope to a lesser grade that continued for another 900 feet or so. I was feeling my testosterone at the top of this pass so I grabbed onto the rope, jumped over the edge and let it rip. The rope was flying through my gloves, zzzzzip, until I came to the end of it, then zing it was gone as I continued to slide down the mountain on my butt at an alarming rate. I said to myself, oh shit, here goes and slid pushing speeds of 25 to 30 mph on snow and ice in a pair of nylon pants and a nylon jacket. In a matter of seconds that seemed like an eternity, I was over 1,000 down to the bottom of the pass. I slowed back into control then stopped and got up. The adrenaline was pumping and I thought I had the biggest pair around. I turned around and who did I see but Ginny LaForme from New Mexico. She was right behind me the whole way! I looked at her and she had this huge grin. I smiled back, not a word was said and off we ran. We didn't have to say anything, all the while I'm thinking, wow, she is TOUGH. Ginny and I stayed together from that pass at 35 miles until Engineer at 53 miles. Just before the aid station, Ginny slipped on a rock, fell in a creek and got soaking wet. It was below freezing so they held her at the aid station until she warmed up. Finally she was able to convince them to let her go and she went on to climb Handies. Shortly after leaving Ginny on Engineer, Carolyn Erdman caught up to me at mile 60. We stayed together only briefly but she too made an impression. The reason is that Carolyn runs a lot like me, with her heart. She was at mile 60, still smiling and cheerful giving it everything she had. The next climb was Handies which goes up to 14,000 feet and really does a job on people physically, mentally and spiritually. Carolyn was not spared from Handies. Yet she continued on to Sherman at mile 70, then on to Pole Creek at mile 80 only to find that she missed the cutoff by 10 minutes. In spite of the bad news, she continued on over the continental divide to Maggies Gulch at mile 84 before finishing her run. Those who have run Hardrock understand the enormous effort she put out to go 84 miles but even more so, the effort she put out in the last 14 miles is mind boggling. There isn't a person I know who would not have quit at Sherman. I have to mention Carolyn's pacer at this point, Jay Hodde. I wasn't there to see the last stretch but I'm convinced Jay helped Carolyn tremendously with her strength in the last 14 miles. Jay also helped me considerably throughout the race. Since I was close to Carolyn for a lot of the run, I saw Jay at many of the aid stations. Jay went far above the call of duty to not only crew and pace for Carolyn but he helped me as well. It wasn't the fetching of water and food that really helped me, but the caring of a friend that gave me such a boost. Jay, thank you for your tremendous support. The next woman I ran with started the conversation with, "Dana, do you want to have a pissing contest?" This question was asked while I was actually watering the side of the trail. You can guess this came from no other than Suzi T. This was at mile 60, I was down in the dumps and it really lifted my spirit. Suzi and I stayed fairly close together for the last 40 miles of the run finishing a few minutes apart. Suzi's energy is absolutely incredible. I am amazed at how much power comes from that tiny package. During the second day when your spirit is low and the ultra test continues, Suzi was a constant source of energy. Then when I was totally impressed by her strength over the last 20 miles with only 20 to go, after a little debate, I convinced her she was going to finish. Well, see you later Suzi, she took off like a rabbit and it took me 15 miles to catch back up to her. What impressed me the most about Suzi is knowing that she has come back to Hardrock for 5 years before becoming an official finisher of this run. The raw tenacity of pushing towards a goal like that for 5 years is just incredible. Suzi is not only incredibly tough physically but even tougher mentally. It was a great pleasure for me to have these women show me what it really means to be tough because there are few men or women I know who are tougher. They all have my greatest respect and admiration, I wish more would follow their example and congrats to all of them for a great run at Hardrock. Dana Dana Roueche Boulder, Colorado IBM Mail: danar@ibmusm50 Internet Mail: danar@us.ibm.com