Subject: WS Report (Belated and Long) Date: Tue, 03 Jul 2001 10:56:28 -0600 From: Dale Perry Never have I worked so hard for a 100 mile finish as I did at WS this year. What's funny is that I was probably in the best shape I've been in since Leadville two years ago. The bad thing is I got more than my money's worth: finished in 29:41:51! Western States is a really beautiful course! Several people I've talked to in getting ready for it said it is a real scenic and relatively well-groomed course. The roughest section was from Emigrant Pass to Robinson Flat. The course was rooty, some rocks, numerous wet spots, and the largest pine cones I've ever seen in my life. These things would pass for footballs! After Robinson Flat, the course mellows out quite a bit, switching from single track trail to dirt roads and back again. I changed my shoes at Robinson, dropping my trail shoes there and opting for my more forgiving road shoes for the remainder of the course. Who needs a crew at Western when there are the excellent aid station people who cater to a runner's every whim. I was grateful, and a bit surprised to have a dedicated volunteer "latch" onto me and see to my every need until I left the station. This was particularly true at Robinson, Devil's Thumb, and Foresthill. To say the aid stations were nothing less than heaven is an understatement! I was simply amazed as to the organization and the level of volunteers needed to pull this off. Truly wonderful! Coming from a relatively cool climate, I was pretty concerned about the heat here. And looking at the weather reports from several weeks prior, I was REALLY concerned. I got into Sacramento on Wednesday and it was 101! It got to 105 on Thursday. Luckily for me and the other runners there was a cold front that moved through the area late Friday that kept temperatures in the 80's. There was a thermometer at El Dorado Creek Aid Station that read 86. Combined with a moderately cool breeze all day these conditions kept me from roasting. As with any 100 miler, I just wanted to finish the damn thing, but in the back of my mind, I was hoping for a sub 27 hour finish. I was actually ahead of my projected splits for such a finish up to Michigan Bluff at 56 miles, but soon started to lose time with each subsequent checkpoint along the course. On Saturday morning I was a bit nervous getting to Squaw Valley and getting my bib number on time. As with any 100 miler, I also had to deal with numerous potty visits. As the countdown winded down to "go!", we were all off on our way up the pass. My game plan for the day was to take it easy the first 62 miles and save my legs for the big downhill stretch to the finish. I wanted to go at a moderate pace the first 30 miles or so to Robinson and then save myself for the hot canyons in between Robinson and Foresthill. I found myself a bit ahead of my projected splits at each check point up to Devil's Thumb. I took it easy as I made my way up to the Escarpment in less than an hour. I had a great time chatting among other runners, ran a bit with fellow Coloradan Steve McClung (who finished in a respectable 27:08) before he left me after Lyons Ridge. Got to Red Star Ridge 30 minutes ahead of schedule. Met up with Tucson runner Ken Greco and he commented we were doing well. I would meet Ken at just about every aid station between here and Foresthill. The course between Red Star and Robinson was pretty dusty. I had to back off the distance from runners so as not to breathe a lot of the dust that was getting kicked up. The footing was great, but the dirt was this sort of pulverized silt that hung in the air forever. It's amazing that a runner can kick up that much dust. By the time I got to Robinson, my legs were black with all the dirt. Finally got into Robinson Flat in 7 hours. I changed shoes, shirt, and picked up my ice hat for the next hot 32 miles or so. I broke the race up into three segments. I had just completed the first third (fairly easy running and not too aggressive). The middle third consisted of the canyons between Robinson Flat and Foresthill. The last third consisted of the 38 miles from Foresthill to the finish, with a nice steady downhill on the California Trail. I made pretty good time to all the canyons, managing to stay ahead of the projected splits. I ran into Dave Capron from San Diego a few miles from Deep Canyon. We kept each other moving for the next 20 miles. For the section that I was dreading all morning, we were moving pretty well. By the time we got to the climb to Devil's Thumb, I was feeling pretty well. I counted the switchbacks up to the Thumb (36 of them!). I pulled ahead of Dave a bit here, as I was feeling good climbing. After a brief stop at Devil's Thumb, I started to feel a bit tired, and actually lost Dave halfway up the climb to Michigan Bluff. I got to Michigan just under my split time, but decided to stay a bit and refuel and hydrate. I saw Dave briefly, but later he was gone. I headed out feeling a bit tired and ran down the canyon to Volcano Creek. After a short climb out of the canyon to Bath Road, I was happy as I got out of the canyon before dark. By the time I got to Foresthill, it was dark. Spent some time changing clothes and eating, then arranged for a pacer to take me to the finish. I met up with a great pacer, Jon, from the San Fran area. For the next 38 miles, or 12 hours, he would make me eat, drink, and move my ass. The sign of a great pacer is someone who you want to strangle at the end of the run. He really kept me moving and fueled, and I owe him my finish. He was there because his original runner dropped earlier. He introduced me to her at the finish, and I said to her thanks for dropping, cause Jon is a great pacer! The next 38 miles was probably the low point in the run. I steadily kept getting slower and slower, and my old foe edema reared it's ugly head yet again. I managed to keep ahead of it through most of the day, staying 2 pounds over my baseline. By the time I got to Foresthill, I was 9 pounds over! My hands were pretty swollen by now, but didn't really affect me much at this point. I got passed by Molly Barnes from Leadville a mile or so out of Peachstone. Soon, another Leadville resident Alan Cohn passed me. We got to the river crossing at 2 AM. The river was only 2 to 3 feet high, and felt really great. The person in the water mentioned that Rucky Chucky in Native American meant "Damn Cold Water". I thought it felt wonderful. I picked my way slowly along the glowstick illuminated rocks on the river bottom. Soon we got to the other side and made our way up the hill to Green Gate. By the time I got to Auburn Lake Trails Aid Station, I stopped and talked with a medical person there about the edema. She took my BP (normal) and listened for congestion in the lungs (found none). She recommended I lay off the salt entirely and just push water. This made real sense to me, as I had been really pushing the salt during the day, and didn't really back off much during the night. So the excess sodium was causing my excessive water retention. I also wasn't peeing as much as I usually do with these episodes. She gave good advice, as I was only 7 pounds over my baseline by the time I got to the finish 4 hours later. I was starting to lose weight again (3 pounds) and peeing more frequently. This is when I really started hating Jon. He kept reminding me to drink water. I'm glad he was there, and kept reminding me. Although I hated his nagging, he was entirely right in keeping me hydrated though I felt like crap at the time. I'm probably not alone in this category, but after 24 hours of nonstop moving, one tends to get a bit grumpy. Jon was good about it and still nagged the hell out of me. I started to feel a bit better, but was worried about time now. Leaving Brown's Ravine around 7 AM, I realized I needed to hustle more to get done. It was going to be tight. There was an excellent downhill for about a mile that we really made some time on. Got to Highway 49 Aid at 8:15. After a bit of a climb to the high meadow, I started running again (slowly). Though we were only talking increases of a minute or so here and there, I was on the cusp of not making the 30 hour cutoff. So they were very important to me. Any minute I can shave off, the better. About 1/2 mile from No Hands Aid, I had a big scare. It was 9:17 and there was a runner there pissed as hell. He said he was going to miss the 9:15 cutoff. I looked at my watch and thought, God, I missed the cutoffs! Turns out he and a few others had missed a turnoff onto trail to Highway 49. He was talking about going back to meet the cutoff there, not at No Hands. I asked Jon the cutoff time at No Hands: 10:30. Whew! Not a realistic cutoff in hind- sight, 30 minutes for a tough 3.5 miles!! Got to No Hands at 9:35, and hustled outta there as I only had 1:25 to get it done. I initially figured I had an hour to make the 2.2 mile climb outta No Hands to Robie Point, leaving 25 minutes to do the last 1.3 miles to Auburn. I was still unsure as to whether or not I'd make it, so I pressed on hoping for the best. I knew I was going to finish, but with what time? I really felt like shit here, but managed to run and powerwalk the climb to the top. Got to Robie Point in 45 minutes! That left me 40 minutes to finish! Right there, I knew I had it done. Power walked the last 1/4 mile or so climb out of Robie Point, and started shuffling along on the downhill to town. Jon pointed out the noise from below is the stadium of Placer HS. I got to the stadium entrance to the track, and actually started weeping. I never thought I'd make it this close, much less finish at times. But here I was, jogging on the track. Jon stayed with me to the finish banner. 29:41:51. only 18 minutes to spare. I immediately sat down and was catered to by Jon and a fare damsel at the finish. As the clock ticked down to the final minute, the announcer said another runner was coming in. Everyone was shouting and cheering, but she was moving like the rest of us at that point. Unfortunately, she missed the 30 hour finish time by about a minute! She ended up with a finishers medal, but missed the buckle! I thought to myself how I would handle that, and decided I'd do the same thing. At least finish it, say you finished it. You just don't get the buckle. What's 30 hours versus 30:01? It's an arbitrary time limit anyway. You still finished it. A great run, a great course, great volunteers, and a great experience. Thanks Jon for getting my fat ass over the finish line and for putting up with my grumpiness. Thanks to Greg Soderlund and others for putting on a premier race! Dale