On the morning of the race it was in the high 30's at the
start and I didn't even bring a long sleeve or gloves (It was supposed to be
hot? Still, I am a jackass….moving on).
I mentioned to the volunteer handing out the bib numbers at 4:15 am that
I wish I had gloves.
He went to his bag and gave me HIS gloves. I was surprised and not surprised all at the same time. Ultra runners are like that, they will give you the shirt off their back or their gloves. He told me his name was Barry and that I should look for him at the finish. This was a nice vote of confidence from a total stranger that I would make it all the way to the finish too. (I didn’t find him there but was able to get his information through the RD and get them back.)
He went to his bag and gave me HIS gloves. I was surprised and not surprised all at the same time. Ultra runners are like that, they will give you the shirt off their back or their gloves. He told me his name was Barry and that I should look for him at the finish. This was a nice vote of confidence from a total stranger that I would make it all the way to the finish too. (I didn’t find him there but was able to get his information through the RD and get them back.)
We took off running...for a short bit, and then settled into
a nice power hike. I started way in the
back since apparently I was standing with the families and friends taking
pictures! The line didn't move and then
I had to get around all of them. Anyway,
after the start I don't think I ran more than 2 minutes on the climb and passed
60 people maybe?
Michelle got me all set up, I changed shoes, and I was off
with Christine who was going to be my pacer from here to the finish. She and I have worked well together in the
past and I had 100% confidence that she would help me reach my goal.
My #1 goal was to arrive in Foresthill feeling good. The second part was to run efficiently from
there to the river crossing at Rucky Chucky (78) so that after Green Gate (80)
I could RUN to the end instead of death shuffling. I have done that..not fun.
We hit the river crossing at 78 and it is truly one of the
coolest experiences ever. The line is
manned by volunteers and there were glow sticks in the river zip-tied to rocks
so you could see. The water was chest
deep, cold, and felt amazing on the tired muscles.
We continued out of the water and right through the aid
station on the other side. The volunteers
seemed bummed that we didn't stop but there is an aid station 100 yards before
on the other side and Green Gate is a short hike from there. I think they were more surprised that I
didn't have/want dry clean clothes in a drop bag which a lot of people do. We sloshed the water out of our shoes on the
hike and quickly warmed back up on the uphill.
We saw Michelle and Tim for the last time at Green Gate and
we were quickly back on the trail. I
felt like everything was going just about as good as could be expected at this
point. I got to Foresthill in good
shape, ran decent down to the river, closed the gap on the 24 hour pace, and
was now RUNNING, sans death shuffle.
When I got to Brown's Bar at mile 89 I finally caught up to
24 hour pace. Hal Koerner, ultra-stud and two time winner of Western States,
was the AS captain and he was the first to greet me. Dude, you are Right ON 24 hour pace! You have
to go! Sweet, I think to myself while I try to graze the aid
table....Seriously, you have to leave, NOW! My bottles were now filled and
handed back to me while Hal had his hand in my back pushing me out. I wish all the aid stations were like that
(so did Christine!). Late in a race it's
comforting just to see other humans and you get lulled into staying for a few
minutes...which add up when there are lots of aid stations.
Somewhere along in here I tripped over two GIANT half inch
rocks. As the day wears on they seem to
get bigger and bigger. Anyway, the first
time I went down it mostly theatrical. Flailing of arms, saying naughty words,
and nothing got hurt. The second time
there was flailing of arms, naughty words, I cracked my right knee, and pitched
my water bottle over the edge of the steep trail. I heard the bottle roll in the dry leaves and
was sure it was a goner. The trail is
very steep on the downhill side but thankfully the bottle got caught in the
underbrush. Christine collected my
bottle and I popped right back up. This
one must have seemed worse than the first one because she was surprised I got
going so quick. We were so close to the
end I figured I would run what I could and deal with the consequences when I
finished. Truthfully, walking probably
would have been worse. Staying moving didn't let it stiffen up.
After a long grind up to Hwy 49 (93.5) we made a quick stop
kept on moving. Just out of the AS there
is a sign that reads SHORT CUT TRAIL. I
told Christine I wanted to go that way!
After a short climb we began an easy descent into No Hands Bridge
(96.8). Through here there is a spot
where you are going through waist tall brown grass in a field surrounded by enormous
oak trees. I was thinking it was a few
miles further and just after I was telling Christine we entered the field. It was even beautiful at night!
No Hands Bridge is like an oasis in the desert once you can
finally see it. As you clear the trees
on the downhill the bridge has been lit up with Christmas lights and rope
lighting. They had music playing and
they must have been pumping out BARN smell because I could smell the barn. My watch said I got there at 3:51 and 24 hour
pace was 4:10. I don't recall filling
water there and just flew through. I had
one full handheld and a pocketful of gels.
Christine was trying to get some batteries for my headlamp since the
cheap-o batteries I brought were dying fast.
I continued to walk across the bridge and remembered she brought me a
spare headlamp that had good batteries.
I took the two good ones from the backup and put them in my headlamp
that holds three. Two good and one bad
was 100% better and we were off.
From here it is just over a 5k. There is a 2.1 mile climb to Robie Point
(98.9) and then 1.3 to the finish from there.
I wasn't super confident at this point and put down a gel right out of
the aid station. We started the climb to
Robie Point and it just got steeper and steeper. At some point we could see the
lights of the aid station way up on the hill to the left...and then the trail
goes to the right! GAH! I took another gel.
I didn't want to be the guy that just missed it because I ran out of
gas. Christine was doing an awesome job
of pulling me up the hill but once the time crunch was feeling too close I
wanted to be in the lead and push myself as hard as I could. I kept grinding up the hill trying not to
look at the lights. Once I could see the
aid station was right ahead I looked back and was happy to see I had put a
little gap on Christine. She was taking
care of my battery issues at the last aid station and hadn’t had a chance to
refuel so she didn't have a sea of sugar running through her veins like I
did! Somewhere in the last push I took a
third gel.
The aid station asked me how I was doing and I told them it
was the best day ever, couldn't have asked for more. I cruised through at 4:25 (15 minutes ahead
of 24 hour pace) without stopping and began to powerhike the pavement. Christine caught up to me and I realized that
barring a broken leg I was going to make it.
We had been running all the minor uphills for the last 20 miles and I
told her I was content to walk this last one and she agreed.
Just as we crested the final hill there was a handmade sign
left on the street that said, ‘Pacers are People Too’, that made us both smile. We trotted the final downhill toward the high
school and I was hoping to see Michelle so she could run the lap around the
track with me. She was in the stadium
ready to take pictures though.
The feeling entering that gate to the track is something I
wish everyone could experience. It was
truly magical. It’s just an everyday
ordinary high school track but on one day a year is something much more than
that. Just after entering there is a mat
that reads your bib number and then the announcer calls out your name, Ryan
Anderson from Boise, Idaho is entering the track.....and then they rattle off
all your accomplishments. Before the
race they had us fill out a form for the finish line announcements and one of
the questions was to mention some non-running achievement. I wrote down that I used to weigh 318 pounds
and if I can do this anyone can do this.
They announced every 100 miler I have done and left the weight loss out
unfortunately.
On the backstretch of the track I told Christine I was going
to go nice and slow to enjoy this little victory lap. She looks back a second later and I am
stopped...walking backwards! What are you doing? I found a lucky penny, heads
up, AND amazingly had the strength to bend down and pick it up. Normally anything less than a 20 dollar bill
gets shoved to the nearest non-runner with a, 'hey can you pick that up for
me?' It was a funny moment.
Christine took my stuff and I cruised to the finish with a final time of 23:42:06. It was wonderful to see Michelle and give her a big hug and kiss to say thank you for supporting my crazy goals. After sitting around at the finish for just a few minutes I turned into a 95 year old man that needed a hip replacement which was OK because I was done!
I have told my weight loss story to lots of people but one of the most gratifying times I have ever had the opportunity to do so was just after Tim Twietmeyer (25 time finisher) gave me my silver buckle I shook hands with Craig Thornley who is the current race director. He asked me what the deal was with the Don't Mess with the Fat Kid shirt. I told him what I used to weigh and his response was...are you serious? Holy crap! Amazing job out there today!
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