Subject: J100 First Time Volunteer, First Time Poster, Plus Some Photos (Very Long) From: "Will LaFollette" Date: Wed, 12 Nov 2003 08:36:09 -0700 To: ultra@listserv.dartmouth.edu Long story...photo link at the bottom. There's no way I can mention all the great people I met and all the experiences I had, but here's some of what happened. After experiencing the J100 over the weekend as a volunteer, I had to sign up for the Ultra list and find out more about the wacky bunch of people I had the pleasure of meeting, watching, and admiring out there. So here I am. I'll post my answers to the intro questions later. I volunteered as soon as I heard about the race and saw it was going to be held in the park. I do most of my running there; I ran the Pemberton Trail 50K this year (my only ultra); I live 10 minutes away. I've only been running again for about 2 years but had been reading all I could on ultras and ultra runners in books and on the Internet. I figured I was lucky to have a race in my own backyard. I only knew Geri through e-mail until Friday before the race. She seemed really nice and she seemed really excited when she found out I have a truck. I should have been suspicious but I wasn't. I went out Friday afternoon to meet her and see what was going on. I ended up hauling water and ice and helping Woofie and others set up Jackass Junction. Oh, now I understand the truck thing! =) She had signed me up for 4:00 p.m. at the Coyote Camp aid station. Then she asked if I could come out a little early on Saturday...say about 4:00 a.m. I said sure. I wanted to see the start anyway. I ended up at the end of the road with a cool red tipped flashlight waving people down to the parking lot. I was already having fun. (It doesn't take much to entertain me.) Through the day Saturday, I got to haul stuff from town to the park and up to the aid station. Also, I learned how to help out at an aid station. All the while, these amazing runners were piling on the miles. They finished 15, they finished 30, they finished 45, they finished 60. They wore me out and I went home to sleep, eat, and shower. I came back to catch the end of the eclipse and got to run out to Coyote Camp under the full moon. That was special to me because if you noticed the trail signs, they say the trails close at sunset, so I don't usually get to go out on the trails after dark. Plus I got a tiny taste of what the incredible runners were experiencing, minus the pain and lack of sleep. I had a blast out at the Coyote Camp aid station over night and through the morning. It was so much fun to spend the night with Julie, Duane, Connie, Don, and Brian. Don taught us the fine art of whooping and hollering encouragement. It was such a treat to help the runners. Some were in and out and I don't know much about them. Some stopped to rest and fuel up or clean rocks out of their shoes, so we talked to them and learned a bit about them. I don't know their names yet, but I hope to learn who they are. One was an officer from the Coast Guard who has a goal of Female Elite Athlete of the Year. She thought this race would add to what I'm sure is already a long list of accomplishments toward her goal. It was great watching her head off down the trail for her final four miles. She's another example of the highly motivated people we have serving our country. I think she's great. Another runner swore he was going to hug me after he went down Pemberton Trail on his sixth loop and returned to Coyote Camp on his final loop. Sure enough, I got that hug. I'm sure if I had the chance to talk with every runner, I'd have an interesting or amazing story to tell about each one. One of the best parts was helping out the "loopers", the name we made up for the the runners making the final Pemberton/Tonto Tank loop. We were whooping and hollering as soon as we saw each of them coming up the trail. Many of them raised their arms or yelled back to us. We did feel kind of bad because our encouragement made some of them speed up and I'm sure that wasn't easy after almost 98 miles! But they all seemed to enjoy the energy coming from the the aid station. The look in the runner's faces when we told them they had 4 miles to go down a trail with no rocks was something to see. We had to swear up and down to some of them that we weren't lying about the distance or the rocks. As I left the aid station for the parking lot around 10:30 a.m. I came upon Lou finishing his race. I asked him if I could go in with him. He said sure and I got a chance to talk with him. You guessed it, he was amazing too! He was the oldest finisher at age 71. He was finishing his 99th marathon or ultramarathon. He has a marathon in every state and he's such a rebel he even counts trail marathons in some states even though the purists tell him he can't do that. I feel fortunate to have met him. I had no idea volunteering at a race would be so much fun and so rewarding. It was something special to spend the weekend with all the great volunteers and all the highly motivated ultra runners. It's a fantastic group of people. I'm already signed up to work at next year's race. I'm thinking of volunteering at other races too. I met Gary Cantrell and heard he puts on a race. Maybe I can work at one of his aid stations some day. =) I've posted photos at: http://www.pbase.com/fhwillaz/javelina_jundred Congratulations to Geri for putting on such a wonderful event. Congratulations to all the volunteers. And most of all congratulations to all the amazing ultra runners. You are very inspirational! Finally, I'm sure most of you already have, but if you haven't ever volunteered at a race, sign up as soon as possible. I guarantee you'll have a great time!