Subject: Western States 100m report - 2002 From: Karen_Claire@gillette.com Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 13:20:40 -0400 I participated in the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, on Saturday, June 29th-30th. I am happy to say that this year I covered the whole distance - 100.2 miles - which means I finished - kind of! The Western States run starts at Squaw Valley, CA, and finishes in Auburn, CA, with the Sierra Nevada mountain range in between! This means that runners are treated to approximately 18,000 feet of climbing, and 23,000 feet of descending over the 100 mile course. (An elevation profile is shown at http://www.run100s.com/profiles.htm for anyone interested in seeing more on this). There is a time limit of 30 hours to complete the course, and runners finishing in under 24 hours receive a special award. Runners are treated to quite the warm-up, with the first 5 miles running uphill (2500' of climb) at the Squaw Valley ski resort, up and over Emigrant Pass, the high point of the course. Once again, we were treated to gorgeous views of Lake Tahoe and the trail ahead, the scenery on this course is just amazing. I did *not* take a camera with me this year, to avoid losing time (however brief) to take pictures! I was very happy with how I felt on the first climb, I think that running the Mt. Washington Hill Climb (thanks to CRC!), or at least the half that we got to run this year, really helped me - it was a great simulator of that first climb, and since I ran it harder than "ultra" pace at the road race, the climb up Emigrant felt relatively easy in comparison. I just can't say enough about how gorgeous the scenery was as traversed along the ridgelines in this run - unbelievable! (Anyone interested in some photos from the race can check out http://www.run100s.com/wsphotos/index.htm). I was happy to find myself somewhat higher up in the "pack" this year, in terms of runners I knew who I was running near. I was also happy with my new (for this year, but tested in previous races) fueling strategy, which was to drink diluted Ensure Plus (350 calories a can) to try and pack in the calories - last year I had trouble with nausea and therefore eating, I wanted to make sure I stayed fueled this year! I thoroughly enjoyed running all day (really!) - my husband, Helge, was kind enough to fly out to California with me to crew and pace me (ok, he was bribed with a vacation trip to Glacier National Park after!) - which meant he met me at some of the earlier aid stations (miles 24.6 and 28.6) to make sure I was doing all right and to assist me if I needed it. I was thrilled to make it past my point of "DNF" (due to a time cut-off) from last year (mile 36) feeling very strong, and doing well vs. 30 hour pace - was very happy to say hello to the aid station folks who gave me a ride out from my DNF last year and move on! I was also psyched with how I felt relative to the heat on Saturday, temperatures were in the 90's, but all things considered, I felt ok. I wore a long sleeved white travel/tech shirt - with roll up sleeves, and big pockets on the front - scoops of ice cubes in the front pockets at each aid station (and in my ice hat) helped keep things cool, and the protection from the sun helped, too. I had spent time in the sauna at my gym in the weeks leading up the race, too, I think that probably helped my body with the heat, too. I spent the day trying to survive the heat and the climbs, and to make it to the next crew point at Michigan Bluff (mile 55.7), at which I could pick up my first pacer, Shelly, a friend who flew out from Maryland with her husband Nik, to help me with the run. I was definitely spoiled with crew at this event, and am so glad they all made the trip out to help me! This section included the dreaded Devil's Thumb climb (1565' of climb in 1.6 miles) which I survived in one piece, happy to have not tipped over on any of the switchbacks, and the climb out of El Dorado Canyon to Michigan Bluff (1830' in 2.8 miles). Devil's Thumb is definitely the harder of the two since it is steeper, but the climb out of El Dorado starts out quite steep, too, and is a long haul! I was thrilled to pull into Michigan Bluff and pick up Shelly, who would accompany me over the next 24 miles of the course. She would be running the "night shift" with me - it was still light out when we left Michigan Bluff, but the sun set on us fairly quickly. In some ways it was a shame, the views into the next canyon are so wonderful, and Shelly, who had traveled so far here wouldn't be able to see them, but having night fall was a blessing as it cooled things down for the next stretch. Shelly and I held off on turning on our flashlights to see the trail as long as possible, as once we started using lights we knew we'd need them until sunrise (Shelly also paced me at Vermont 100 in '00, so she knew what she was getting into!) At the next crew point, Foresthill, mile 62, we met Helge and Nik, who gave us our headlamps for more light on the next section of trail, then we dove on into the next canyon, and our trek along the American River. It was hard to see out into the canyon (obviously, it was dark!) but you could sense the presence of the big open space, and the drop-offs to one side forced us to pay good attention to our footing! All went well running with Shelly, this section of trail includes the river crossing at the point known as Rucky Chucky - this is a serious river crossing! The day of the run a cable to hold onto is stretched across the river, and amazing volunteers stand in the water to help runners as they make their way across the rocks - at it's deepest point the water was about waist deep, and extremely refreshing! (A good pick me-up at around 4 in the morning!) There were glow sticks placed in the water among the rocks to help us see where to plant our feet, and lights decorating the path up and away from the crossing. At the aid station after the crossing I changed my shoes, into a bigger pair to accommodate my swelling feet, after some professional treatment of my blisters from a podiatrist working that aid station (yes, he was volunteering in the middle of the night to help care for people's feet!) After that we climbed up and out to Green Gate (mile 79.8) to meet Helge and Nik, and to have Helge take pacing duties over from Shelly. Of note is not only the fact that these two got up at 3am to meet their wives on a trail in the middle of the night, but that on this particular day this time coincided with the World Cup soccer finals, and these two Germans were not allowed to watch the game even though they were up at 3am, as they needed to drive to the aid station parking and hike in an additional mile to get to the aid station! (They did at least get to see a beautiful sunrise over the canyon for their efforts). Helge accompanied me on the remaining 20 miles of the course, encouraging me to keep moving, and helping me with my course questions "How long again to the next aid? What's 30 hour pace time to there? What time is the cut-off?" using the course information card we had laminated prior to the run. I was now running just behind 30 hour pace, and just ahead of the cut-off. (30 hour pace and the cut-offs are within 15-20 minutes of each other near the end of the run). I had been near or ahead of 30 hour pace most of the day Saturday (after being behind initially Saturday morning) but had fallen behind 30 hour pace in the evening, came out ahead of pace from the river crossing, but lost my "cushion" to the podiatry care and the climb up to Green Gate. So, Helge and I ran a stressful 20 miles together! I ran as hard as I could to "stay alive" ahead of cut-off and hoped that it wouldn't fry me so that I would be unable to finish! The heat really turned up in the midmorning, and since I was in such a hurry I didn't really have the time to grab as much ice, etc. as would have been ideal to cool down. We made it through the Highway 49 (mile 93.5) aid station/cut-off with 2 minutes to spare, and I ran as hard as I could on the descent to the last aid station with a cut-off, No Hands Bridge (mile 96.8) - we made it through No Hands with 7 minutes to spare. And headed out and across the open exposed bridge, and into the 100 degree temps awaiting us on our final climb out of the canyon up into Auburn. Making it through the last cut-off meant that I would be allowed to finish the course (assuming I could get my body across the finish line somehow!) - unfortunately on the final BRUTAL climb out of the canyon the heat, the climb, (and the previous 97 miles!) took their toll, and I was reduced to practically a crawl. (Possibly crawling would have been faster). The clock ticked to the 30 hour finish time as I continued to make my way up and out of the canyon. It was such rough going, I wanted to move as fast as I could, (which meant moving forward, period), but I was afraid I might not make it those final few miles. Helge continued to encourage me to keep moving, and we slowly made our way up the climb. We passed the last aid station, Robie Point (mile 98.9) where I attempted to take in some cold fluids, and where the course transitions from trail to a paved residential road, and continued up the climb. As we headed up this final stretch I walked (staggered, whatever) past a group of people hanging out in front of a house - in the group was Ann Trason, the woman who had won the event (the day before!) in 18:16:26! That meant she had finished the event around 12 hours prior, and had the benefit of a night of sleep and even better at least one shower before seeing me stagger on by! She and the crowd were awesome and cheered me on as I made my way by. I wished I could have feigned running for them, but no deal! Finally we finished climbing, and came to a level portion leading to the small downhill stretch to the finish. Temperatures had cooled off once we got out of the canyon (maybe 90 degrees instead of 100?) and I tried to run/shuffle my way to the finish. We entered the stadium at Placer High, and made our way around the track, with me doing my best imitation of a run! It was wonderful to see Nik and Shelly waiting for me just outside the track, and many friends inside the track as I made my way around, with the remaining crowd cheering me on to finish. (OK, I am tearing up right now just writing this!) They announced my finish as I came through, crossing the finish line in 30:38 (I think) and put my finisher's medal around my neck for me, earned for making it through all 100.2 miles! Since I did not finish in under 30 hours, I am not considered an official finisher of the race - six runners, including myself earned the status of unofficial finishers at this year's race. Of the 372 runners that started the race in Squaw Valley, there were 255 official finishers, plus the six of us that made the last cut-off but not sub 30 hours. The organizers were kind enough to recognize us at the awards ceremony, giving us a great North Face back pack to recognize our efforts. Official finishers are given a belt buckle (bronze for sub 30, silver for sub 24 hour finishers). I'll have to head back another year to earn that buckle - but for now I am absolutely thrilled that I managed to go the distance!