Subject: Kettle 100 pacing report (VERY LONG) From: Jeff Wold Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 00:05:31 -0500 I know this is late, but it took a lot of work to get it as short as it is: Where do I start with a report like this? When Bob first told me way back when that he was doing his first 100 at Kettle Moraine last weekend, I knew it was a matter of time before I had myself committed - to pace. That time came last February or so and it was time to start training! Pacers at KM100 start at 100K and I had not ran over a 50k since 1998 so I knew that 38 would be painful if I didn't step up my training. Of course I knew that the first 62 miles of the course would wear my runner down a bit but still - I had an obligation to fulfill and I could not let him down by not being ready! So I spent the rest of the winter being sure to have a 3 or 4 hour snowshoe or trail run every weekend, ramping up in April. My training culminated over the first two weekends of May, May 4 and 5 when I ran the Whiskey Row Marathon on Saturday followed by another 3 hours on Sunday. The following weekend saw 5 miles Saturday morning, 3 hours of night trail running that night, 90 minutes Sunday morning and "as fast as you can" 4 mile lunch runs on Monday and Tuesday. I must say that my legs and body were extremely tired and ready to taper. I hoped it would be enough..... I arrived in Whitewater WI from St Paul as Bob and crew woke up for the long day(s) ahead, and managed to get a full "days" sleep from 6:00 AM to 2:00 in the afternoon. I woke up and found the day wickedly hot and humid. Driving out to one of the aid stations to check on Bob and Crew, I spied a bank thermometer advertising 92 fred. Oh My. I caught Bob at the 36 mile aid station shortly after 3:00 in the afternoon and he looked good, holding exactly the same pace he was doing at that station during the out portion of the out and back. He sure didn't say much, just hey, and filled his camelbak, grabbed food and off he went. On to the 39 mile aid station were Kathe and Anna (worlds best crew, the A Team) were hanging out. I told them "watch for Bob, he's 2 minutes away" - Anna the Scientist checked her spreadsheet.... and Bob trots in 2 minutes later! Same deal as last time: all business, sweating like a pig, out with a minimum of fuss. Since I was going to be up all night I didn't want to stay on my feet any more than needed, so I decided to go back to the room, stay cool and maybe catch a nap. The nap didn't happen but I did rest and eat, and made my way to the Bush Rd aid station, 54.5 miles just as the sun was setting and Bob was arriving. A Team and I filled his water bladder, fed him, and sent him on his way. At this point the girls looked beat, so we agreed that they would catch some rest and not meet Bob at the turnaround, where my pacing duty was to begin. It made perfect sense, a chance to be away for about 4 plus hours before the long night began! So I'm at the 100K mark which is also the start and finish for both the 100m and 100k. 100m runners were coming in, some of them taking an official 100k finish and calling it a day. 100k runners were finishing, being glad they were done after a day in the hot hot sun. I'm chatting with other pacers and 100k finishers and snacking at the aid station table at about 10:25 when Bob says "hey". I completely missed him coming in! The ladies in the aid station are all over him like a pack of mother hens making sure all his needs are met. Bob eats melon, soup, and soon we are on our way out. "7 out" I say to the scorer's table as we pass by - runners are required to check in and out of every station and making sure this happens is one of my jobs for the night. Runners and crew turn to clap and offer up encouragement as we head off into the night. Right away I want to find out what kind of shape he's in, physically and mentally - I want to know what to expect for then next 12 hours. I ask him if he has any major problems or if anything hurts like it shouldn't and he just tells me he doesn't want to think about it. Well that's the most he's said to me all day so that's not too bad! [;)] Our first out section is 5 miles to Tamarack aid station and is plenty wide for the two of us to run abreast. We've ran a few thousand miles of trail together and most of the time we are yacking away but not yet. So I tell him that his wife Chris called me earlier in the day with the message that son Ari did well in his big state qualifying meet - 4:36 in the 1600, good for 4th place but not good enough for the state meet, and that both mom and son were pleased with the performance. Well this brightened Bob up and the gab fest is on. We are seeing a lot of runners coming in at this point, both 100k and 100 milers until we are 3 - 4 miles out, but we still see a few. At this point Bob tells me he's having a bit of G.I. trouble and needs to hit the woods for a minute. OK, we are in a nice place so I wander up the trail a bit, turn of my headlamp and gaze at the 14 - 15 bazillion stars in the sky. What a nice night, it's cooled off and a nice breeze is blowing and only a few clouds in the sky. In to Tamarack on schedule and there's a female runner taking it easy in a lawn chair. Says she's doing OK but it's a nice place to take a break with care from the aid people, yet away from the hub-bub of the turnaround. OK, we are all business at every aid station so we fuel up, grab one of the aid station lady's home made brownies (it would be rude not to, right?) and as we leave they tell us there will be pancakes waiting for us on the way back. 2.5 miles to Bush Road - Tamarack did not allow crew access so the A Team would be waiting for us there. The next section was nicely runable and we made good time. We did stop to turn off our lights and star gaze a couple of times, but I was settling in to my role as a pacer. Bob found his spot 16 - 18 feet behind me and I speed walked at around 16 mpm with a few running breaks. My goal was to keep moving and adding a few minutes to our 90 minute cushion that we had on the cut offs. Coupled with making sure Bob ate and drank and peed and keeping him company over the next several hours I knew what my job was: Get my runner to the finish in good health. We had not discussed what my rules of engagement were prior to running, but Bob seemed to know that I had the same priorities in terms of finishing. It's not a do at all costs situation, if there is a potential for injury we would need to closely evaluate the situation and make a call. This was an important race for Bob and he was very well trained and prepared. Now that he had successfully made it through a brutally hot day, we just needed to avoid doing anything stupid. Of course lots of things can happen in 38 miles, but by being prepared for any situation we could think of (blister kits, spare batteries and lights, etc) we had a pretty good chance of success. Sure enough, Kathe and Anna were at Bush Rd and we were all pleased to see each other! They had little Star Wars light sabers for us, we took a few pictures but still the mission was to refuel, check for other needs, and get moving. We bid good bye to the A Team and headed out for Duffin Rd aid station, another crewless stop and 2.6 miles away. This is a part of the course I remembered well from my trips to Ice Age Trail 50M in 96, 97, and 98. In 97 (I hope I have my years right) it was another brutally hot day just like the one we had, and I was racing through this section to make the hard cut off at 34.5 miles. I did not make it that day but returned the following year well enough ahead to enjoy it. The terrain was fairly hilly and a portion of the forest had been burned out which made for eerie images in the head lamps. It was amazing how the trail I had not seen for 4 years was so familiar to me, even in the dark. I was able to anticipate where the road crossings and other landmarks would occur. The trail was very well marked until one spot in the pines when it just seemed to end. These pines were 8" in diameter and obviously planted in rows - and the trail just ended. It took us a couple of moments to figure out the way and off again we go. Into Duffin Rd, 10 miles in to my adventure (72 for Bob!) and I was now craving some soup, but this was a "cold" aid station so I made a PB&J. There was a runner having difficulties - wrapped up in a blanket on a lawn chair and not very awake. His pacer was trying to convince him to move on but his words only took effect on me. So off we go again, headed for the Hiway 12 aid station. Hwy 12 was our longest stretch of trail at 7.5 miles, but my favorite part of the Ice Age 50 course. A nice combination of forested and not too hilly and open meadows along some pretty lakes. I kept to my regimen of 16 mpm walking at a little running to keep limber, and Bob kept to his 16 - 18' interval while we chatted away the night. We were passing a few runners here and there, as well as seeing some on their return and I realized that Bob looked as good or better than any of them. We made another comfort break, stopped a couple of times to star gaze when the deep forest allowed and generally had a good time. At about the same time we broke into the open meadows, the 3/4 moon rose above the tree line and was greeted by a chorus of not too distant coyotes. I think at this time Bob and I both realized we were having one of those great runs, and unless something stupid happened we would have a happy ending. Just as I was wondering out loud where the boardwalk was, we turned and there it was! Man it seemed like I had just ran that section of trail 4 days before, not 4 years. Soon we were across the marsh and into the hills again when we broke into the clearing at Hiway 12. We had made great time, and advanced 15 minutes on the schedule! A Team was there, always nice to see them but for some reason one of the aid station guys kept asking me our numbers. I must have told him 4 - 5 times "he's 7 and I'm pacing" and started to get upset. Luckily one of the A Team got things straightened out and I hunted up a cup of soup that I had been craving over two hours previous. I also made a turkey sandwich as well as the usual topping off of the Camelbaks."7 OUT" I yelled and off we go, across US12 and up the hill to Rice Lake, 4 miles away and the point where we turn around and head back. This is the toughest part of trail we would see on this stretch, I'm not sure if Bob had seen anything that gnarly during the day but I'm sure the darkness compounded it. I was running in road shoes (a long story) and was turning my ankle nearly every other step (it seemed). They call this part of the Ice Age 50 course "Ankle Buster" for good reason, it's like running across babyheads. Finally we decide to slow down the pace a bit - it's like 4:00 in the morning and we have 15+ miles behind us since I joined the battle. Plenty of time in the bag and no reason to get hurt. We are seeing more and more returning runners as we approach the turn around and continue to pass an outbound runner now and then. The early morning birds are warming up their pipes as we climb the one last big hill before the turnaround. We stop for a brief minute at the top to observe the graying of dawn and head back down, about a mile to the turnaround. Anna and Kathe have ran out a 1/4 mile or so to meet us, as this last little bit is a real neat section of trail. We blow in to Rice Lake aid still about 1:45 ahead of cutoff, and I'm really happy with how we have done over the first half of my mission. Bob is in great shape and we are moving well. The weather was perfect over the night, and the forecast was looking good for the morning. I was really glad to not have big thunderstorms overnight after such a sweltering day as it usually happens here in the midwest. The A Team fuels us and fills our Camelbaks, I have another cup of soup and a sandwich as Bob negotiates a roll of TP from a volunteer. I shoot a look at him and he shrugs. "7 OUT". The runners making their way toward us generally don't look so hot. Somewhere in the first mile out of Rice Lake Bob makes his pit stop again. We encounter Scott and pacer Larry on top of the previously mentioned hill and Scott is not looking too good. A few moments later we are half way down the hill and at 4:59 in the blessed AM we finally turn out the headlamps for the last time. The sunrise has a nice effect on our spirits and we are moving pretty good and still running a bit. It's still a little dark in the deep parts of the forest but we make it back to Hwy12 at 5:45, 90 minutes ahead of the first hard cut off. I'm not at all concerned that we lost those 15 minutes as Bob is moving well and to this point has been absolutely effortless in terms of care. As we are refueling I grab our headlamps and turn to give them to the A Team and realize they aren't there! I look to where the cars are parked and I see Anna stirring awake in Bob's wagon, so I shout a good morning. They hop out but we send them back, our mission at Hwy12 complete, "7 OUT". We won't see them again until Bush Rd, about 10 miles away so we hope they get a few more winks of sleep - they have to drive us home later in the day! Back through my favorite section of trail again, the sunrise over the lake is great. The birds are noisy, and for some reason I'm noticing that the squirrels seem to be bolting away from under our feet just as we approach. It's a little weird but having ran 23 miles through the night almost everything was starting to get a little weird. I still felt good, but this whole thing was a new experience to me! Bob and I continue, I'm speed walking and he's 16 - 18' behind. Pee breaks keep coming and that's good. We probably should have planned on a snack in the middle of this section but didn't. We did maintain our hourly regimen of Karls Kaps though. (Maybe) unknown to Bob, I had been marking our spot every time we got 5 minutes out of an aid station. This way I wouldn't be taken by surprise by available support and I could plan our aid station agenda. Bob and I had talked a few times about his goals, and I knew that if he had a chance to he would like to finish in under 28 hours. I checked my watch and we were about 1:45 in front of the cutoff again (28 hours is 2:00 ahead of cutoff) so I checked him out. "How you doin" "I'm tired" "Wanna run a little" "OK" "If we pick it up a bit we can break 28 hours" "I dunno" "It would hurt, I'll have to push it a bit but it's do-able" "not worth it". OK, that's fine with me but I wanted to make sure that he knew what the options were. At this point, Kathy Weix passes us, the first person all night to do so. She's looking a lot better that when we met here going out! She must be one of those who is really revived by the sunrise.... So in to Duffin Rd, we fill the bladders after a long 7.5 mile stretch of trail and head out. Secretly I'm a little glad Bob didn't want to go for a sub 28. My legs felt fine (amazingly) with 28 miles on them but I was pretty tired. But here we are on that dastardly section of trail again and Ice Age 97 comes back! We moved through here fairly quick but not a lot of running until we made it through the burned out section. Then it's about 3/4 mile of mostly downhill and runable trail, so we do. It actually felt good to be moving faster again, and we are in to the Bush Rd aid station in no time. The A Team is waiting, they are in great spirits and it's good to see them again. We take an extra minute or two here and are then on our way. This is the one point where Bob and I both agree that we have this one in the bag. Checking my watch it looks like 28:15 or 28:20 at this pace. But Bob and I are both pretty wore out and we agree to do a lot more walking - the urge to run after 92.5 miles on the trail (for Bob) isn't there. So we speedwalk, not quite as fast as the last time through Bush Rd, but still at a pretty good clip. We overtake an elderly couple walking their dog and she asks if we are in the race - I indicated that I'm pacing and Bob's the 100 mile man so she asked him "what do you do with your mind for 100 miles?" and Bob has the ultimate answer. "Ignore it". Soon we return to the Tamarack aid station and as promised, breakfast is waiting. Bob gleefully wolfs down several fried discs of dough slathered in butter and dripping with syrup. Meanwhile I've convinced the cook to spear me several breakfast sausages with a fork. They smelled sooo good! We spent a lot of time here, just enjoying the morning and what's about to happen. Finally I get to say "7 OUT" for the final time. We are a couple hundred yards out of the aid station and Bob remarks that he wished he had some more TP. So I trot back to Tamarack, unspool about 1/4 of a roll and dutifully deliver it to my runner. Once business is accomplished (an awesome feat if you consider squatting in the woods after 95 miles on your feet) we head to the finish line. It seemed like days since we had ran it last, but it all came back to me when I recognized the several steep up/downs that must have had Bob's quads screaming. Finally we are through the whoop-de-doos and I can hear cars on the road so I know we are near. A runner passes us for only the second time all night/morning and soon after Bob breaks into a trot. OK, I'll play so I catch up and pull in along side. It's not too fast but it's running! In a short time I look back and here comes Scott, still zombied but his knees are high and his arms are pumping, and Larry the pacer has a goofy grin. Wow, what a great surprise and our spirits are really high now. It's another 1/4 mile in to the finish and we manage to run it all in. I was so proud of Bob when the finish line came in sight. There were about a million words that could have been said but none of them needed to be. We shook hands as we ran the last 50 yards and it was done. 28:28:55 for 2nd place Senior Masters division, but it wasn't the placing that was the reward. This was the culmination of many hours on the trail and in the gym for Bob and he did what he set out to do. 'nuff said. This was the first time I've ever paced a runner, and it couldn't have been better. Of course it helps if your runner is as well prepared and focused as mine. I hope to do it again! Jeff Wold Mendota Heights, MN