"The park service is going to close the race." Last year's Prairie Spirit 100 couldn't have been more different from this year. (Read about it HERE - a post by our good buddy TZ). A great tale to tell for sure, but one problem. No bling. No sparkle. No 100 mile buckle. I know, I know - do it for yourself, it's the journey that matters. But when Eric Steele says he'll give everyone from last year the 2013 "Blizzard Buckle" if they finish this years race, it's time to head for KS again.
We had quite the crew this year. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 GOATz and known associates, with several going for their first 50 mile race or 100 mile finish. One thing I was really looking forward to was a chance to meet David Horton. We had a chance to visit with him at packet pickup and also listen to his motivating presentation at the meal. One thing that brought a smile to my face was when David was out on the course riding around during the race, he would yell "Go GOATz!!" every time he saw me.
Lindsy (crew extraordinaire), Amanda, Bill, David Horton, me and the BW
Partial group at the supper on Friday.
Back: Rick, me, Bill, Larry, Scott, Morgan & Troy
Front: Amanda, JDP, Rachel, BW & Lindsy
We're all just a cartoon of ourselves - 100 milers before the start.
Me, Paul, BW, Amanda, Bill & Kristina (MN Snowmen Rick & Wayne & our OK pal K2 not shown)
The weather was absolutely outstanding for the beginning of the race and I settled into a nice trot with Wayne and babbled ultrarunner lies and general nonsense until we hit the first aid station at 9.5. I cut Wayne loose there and spent the few miles until the next aid station feeling pretty comfortable. To my surprise I caught up to Bill, Amanda & the BW at Richmond and we paired up - Amanda & the BW and Bill & myself. The girls led it into Garnett by a little, but Bill & I were feeling pretty frisky and rolled into the train depot aid station with smiles and enough to do a little "lawnmower" for the cameras. A boost here by the fact that Annie, Jeff, Lindsy, Richelle and the kiddos all came out to see us!
The trip to the next aid station at Welda (Trail Nerds) went without incident and we were once again greeted by the travelling crew to bring a little fun to the race. A short fuel up and we were on the road to Colony. Last year it was in this stretch where the weather really changed - cotton ball sized snow and sleet that came down like a summer shower. Bill & I hit the turnaround in decent time and rallied with outstanding crew girl Lindsy and were able to pick up our pacer, Kickass (aka AnnieLadashaLori). Now all we had to do was hit everything in reverse. The trip back to Colony (mile 61.xx) found us pretty close to the return cutoff times. I signed up for the race, read the rules and agreed to it all, but I'm still a little confused on the middle cutoffs for the return trip. Seems they are a little short compared to what you could realistically finish the race in. In any case, Colony was the start of "beat the clock" and come in under the grace period. During this stretch we caught back up to Amanda and the BW, who had Lindsy out with them. We powered on to see about making that next cut. Our arrival to Welda (69 roughly) saw us on the edge of grace. We were told we could still go on, but 15 minutes exactly was the grace at the next aid station.It's great to have advocates out there as well. Ken TZ Childress kept putting in the good word just so people knew there wasn't a doubt we were going on and going to make 100. Kickass towed us out of there and we found out a little later that Amanda had picked up Richelle as a pacer and the BW decided discretion was the better part of valor and stayed put as the next cut would have been very difficult. She beats herself up, but I'm proud of my wifey. I love her no matter what and am never disappointed in her.
Kickass, Bill & I finally start seeing the lights at the edge of Garnett (77) and think we're home free. About 4 turns later it becomes apparent that this is going to be REALLY close. Look at my watch and it's ten after. We gotta go......we gotta go now! We drop the hammer and are running about an 8 min pace to get to the aid station in time. I yell our numbers as we're coming in. One minute to spare!
Amanda and Richelle also made it in so one more down and still in the game.
So, what about that pacer? It seems like I short change Annie a bit, but she was OUTSTANDING. Really, it comes down to a number of inappropriate comments, maybe a fart, inside jokes and carb depleted laughing that comes with being up and on your feet for that long. Rest assumed, Kickass is AWESOME and she got us through that chunk of the race.
Unfortunately for The Big Sexy (aka Sexy, Jeff), the fun had about run out when he picked us up at Garnett for the final run in. 4:30am and Bill & I were really starting to feel tired. At the unmanned water stop between Garnett and Richmond, Bill sat down and I think would have been asleep in 30 seconds, but Sexy barked out the command and we were on our way again. Shortly after that I thought we were about .5 from the next aid station and busted into my imitation of moving to get there. Bill & Sexy catch back up with the WTH? look and I said I just had to run my own race and get there. Uhhh...that's good...but it's about 1.5 miles. Oh man, that let the wind out of the sails. Luckily for us, the sun was coming up and it totally makes a world of difference in your mental outlook. Still just under the grace period we push on to the next and final aid station. Just out of Richmond, my left hip really starts to bother me to the point of almost hobbling. Bill is moving better so I tell Sexy to get up there and make sure Bill beats the cut. This would be Bill's first 100 finish and there's no way I'm going to stand in his way for that. Like a fine wingman, Sexy will have none of that and stays with me and Bill just ahead. Sad thing for Sexy is this is where he has to listen to my sniveling some. Not vocal, just head down staring at my shoes, grunting and groaning. I do my best imitation of jogging and what do you know - we get to the final aid station less than a minute before the actual (no grace) cutoff! TZ and Dana were there handing out food and offering encouragement along with the BW and crew wonder Linds. A very short break and we're off. Now last year the course was 102.5, so I thought we had 9.5 miles left even though everyone is saying 7.xx. Sexy gets busy on gathering intel and yes, indeed, we only have 7.xx miles left!!! That might not sound like much, but that is HUGE at the end of a 100. So after all the barely making cutoff, we have 3 hours to get in. Bill's feet were really hurting, and seeing as how we had more than ample time, we basically had a victory lap from there on in. A couple of miles outside the last aid station Amanda & Richelle caught up and we all hoofed it in for the "W". Making this infinitely more enjoyable was the GOAT travelling road show that met us at a number of intersections and cheered us in.
And what about that pacer? Again, we could not have done it without Sexy. Considering he was trying to pace two people at different rates, keep them awake and motivate them to stay on top of things, he went above and beyond. Annie & Jeff - I love you guys. Thanks for being in our corner and making this a success!
And finally, the finish! It was awesome to finish with my right hand man Bill in his first 100 finish along with Amanda's first as well. This is what it's all about to me.
Amanda, Eric Steele (RD), me and Bill at the finish
The bonus "Blizzard Buckle" along with the 2014 finisher buckle
POST: Sorry my report is so narrow in scope. There were also great runs by a ton of GOATz in the 50 mile including firsts for JDP, Rachel, Morgan and Bones (Did I forget anyone?) and solid runs by Scott, Troy, Joshua, Mindy, Larry & Shannon. Wayne, Rick and K2 (huge PR) all beat us to the finish in the 100, and we found out Paul & Kristina dropped at 77. Thankfully Kristina caught some problems early and totally pulled out of some potentially serious issues. I hate to leave out so many friends, but this post is long enough as it is. We absolutely couldn't have done it with the selflessness of crew woman Linds, and pacers Kickass, Sexy & the Shit (Richelle).
A special shout to Gary Davis who also finished his first 100 at Potawatomi today! (4/6)
In the end, I'll let these pictures speak for themselves. We've had some great times with this group. These aren't merely people I run with (behind), these are friends. Friends that are there for you and share in the pain and the glory. Not afraid to act goofy, shed a tear or give you a hug.
