I'll be driving to/from Silverton, CO on July 6th (Tuesday) and returning on
Sunday afternoon, July 11th if anyone needs a ride from Denver, CO Metro area
to Silverton on those dates. E-mail me directly if you are interested.
Heidi Schutt
Wheat Ridge, CO
www.RunningDelights.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Saturday June 26 looks like good weather for the Sunlight 50K. (I know
this is short notice, but I warned you). I will be camping at the
Purgatory campground on US550 (20 mi. S of Silverton CO) in a rented white
Grand Caravan with temp. tags (07/07/04) on Friday evening. We can discuss
preferred starting times then. The route is described at
http://mattmahoney.net/sunlight/ Bring an FRS radio if you have one and
set for channel 3.
=====
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@...
In a message dated 6/24/04 12:10:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
matmahoney@... writes:
Saturday June 26 looks like good weather for the Sunlight 50K. (I know
this is short notice, but I warned you). I will be camping at the
Purgatory campground on US550 (20 mi. S of Silverton CO) in a rented white
Grand Caravan with temp. tags (07/07/04) on Friday evening. We can discuss
preferred starting times then. The route is described at
http://mattmahoney.net/sunlight/ Bring an FRS radio if you have one and
set for channel 3.
=====
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@...
Good luck to all, Bill Losey and myself will shoot for the following
weekend. I fly out to Colorado today and Bill is coming out on July 1st.
Thanks,
Bob Combs
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Dear Steve,
there were more than Deb and Steve warming up at
Bighorn 100 for Hardrock:
Rickie Redland,
Scott Brokmeier # 12 WL
Jeff Heasley # 35 WL
Hans.
May be even more ?
Some run 50 miles (only): John DeWalt.
Some run 50 km NN (I don't know the name of that guy,
sorry).
Some run just 30 km NN (I don't know the name of that
guy either, sorry too).
See you and family Saturday 0900.
Hans
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish.
http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
I know a lot of you are up here now, but I got an email from another
willing pacer.
His name is Jorge Arias and his email is jorgedelplata@...
Feel free to contact him directly if you are looking for a pacer. He
has just finished Lake City 50, so he knows what types of conditions
you can encounter at HR.
Andrea
Hopefully this name will carry some status.... Jennifer Roach.
jrhigh@...
Feel free to contact her directly if you are looking for a pacer.
She is a veteran of all things having to do with the Colorado
mountains (as the co-author) of two mountain climbing guides, so you
will be in experienced hands.
Andrea
Sunlight 50K: 1 starter, 0 finishers. The speed record still stands at
22:03.
Nobody else showed up at the Purgatory trailhead on Friday evening so I
went by myself. I climbed Windom under mostly sunny skies, but turned back
on Sunlight about 50 ft below the summit in a snowstorm. I did not attempt
Eolus. My splits were:
12:41 AM, Purgatory TH, 8800 ft.
2:12 AM, Animas river, 4.6 mi, 7700 ft.
4:00 AM, Needle Creek TH, 11.3 mi, 8300 ft.
6:20 AM, Top of Chicago Basin, 15 mi, about 11,000 ft.
9:14 AM, Windom, 16-17 mi, 14087 ft.
11:10 AM, below Sunlight, 17-18 mi, about 14,000 ft.
1:00 PM, Chicago Basin
2:24 PM, Needle Creek TH
6:19 PM, return to Purgatory, about 32-34 miles.
The route is described at http://mattmahoney.net/sunlight/
It was in the 40's and partly cloudy at the start with no moon. The first
15 miles of trail was easy, but skirted within inches of some 300 ft.
cliffs where I could point my flashlight down and see treetops. The nest
1/2 mile climbed 1000 ft to Twin Lakes at about 12,000 ft. There are many
side trails that dead end, one of which I took by mistake, so I bushwacked
up through willows and occasional class 3 slabs to the right of the
waterfall. The lakes were frozen and the basin was filled with hard packed
snow. Since I was closest to Windom, I climbed it first. This was a 30
degree snow climb, which I could walk up without an ice axe in my Walsh
fell running shoes even though the snow was frozen solid. The final ridge
to the summit was mostly dry class 3 scrambling over huge boulders with
occasional patches of ice and exposed snow.
I descended to the high basin across snow and traversed left up the mostly
dry face of Sunlight to meet up with a steep class 2+ trail as dark clouds
gathered. The final 50 ft. was class 4 and it was here that pellet snow
started falling and I heard distant thunder. I descended by the quickest
way down, which involved glissading on snow up to 45 deg. where an ice axe
would have helped. But since I didn't have one, the only way to stop was
to hit the rocks at the bottom with my feet out. Below 13,000 ft. the snow
had softened and I was postholing. Below treeline the snow turned to rain
which continued off and on for the next 4 hours.
I don't plan to attempt this again this year, so if anyone wants to attempt
the speed record, let me know and I will post a trip report on my web page.
If you do go, the campground has been torn down but the trailhead is still
open. (I just parked my van there and slept for 3 hours before the run).
I suggest choosing better weather. I plan to stay in the Leadville hostel
and climb a couple 14ers, run the marathon on Saturday, then go to
Silverton for the 10K on Sunday and Hardrock next week.
=====
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@...
Hi Matt,
Nice writeup !
See you at HR100.
Rock.
--- Matt Mahoney <matmahoney@...> wrote:
> Sunlight 50K: 1 starter, 0 finishers. The speed
> record still stands at
> 22:03.
>
> Nobody else showed up at the Purgatory trailhead on
> Friday evening so I
> went by myself. I climbed Windom under mostly sunny
> skies, but turned back
> on Sunlight about 50 ft below the summit in a
> snowstorm. I did not attempt
> Eolus. My splits were:
>
> 12:41 AM, Purgatory TH, 8800 ft.
> 2:12 AM, Animas river, 4.6 mi, 7700 ft.
> 4:00 AM, Needle Creek TH, 11.3 mi, 8300 ft.
> 6:20 AM, Top of Chicago Basin, 15 mi, about 11,000
> ft.
> 9:14 AM, Windom, 16-17 mi, 14087 ft.
> 11:10 AM, below Sunlight, 17-18 mi, about 14,000 ft.
> 1:00 PM, Chicago Basin
> 2:24 PM, Needle Creek TH
> 6:19 PM, return to Purgatory, about 32-34 miles.
>
> The route is described at
> http://mattmahoney.net/sunlight/
> It was in the 40's and partly cloudy at the start
> with no moon. The first
> 15 miles of trail was easy, but skirted within
> inches of some 300 ft.
> cliffs where I could point my flashlight down and
> see treetops. The nest
> 1/2 mile climbed 1000 ft to Twin Lakes at about
> 12,000 ft. There are many
> side trails that dead end, one of which I took by
> mistake, so I bushwacked
> up through willows and occasional class 3 slabs to
> the right of the
> waterfall. The lakes were frozen and the basin was
> filled with hard packed
> snow. Since I was closest to Windom, I climbed it
> first. This was a 30
> degree snow climb, which I could walk up without an
> ice axe in my Walsh
> fell running shoes even though the snow was frozen
> solid. The final ridge
> to the summit was mostly dry class 3 scrambling over
> huge boulders with
> occasional patches of ice and exposed snow.
>
> I descended to the high basin across snow and
> traversed left up the mostly
> dry face of Sunlight to meet up with a steep class
> 2+ trail as dark clouds
> gathered. The final 50 ft. was class 4 and it was
> here that pellet snow
> started falling and I heard distant thunder. I
> descended by the quickest
> way down, which involved glissading on snow up to 45
> deg. where an ice axe
> would have helped. But since I didn't have one, the
> only way to stop was
> to hit the rocks at the bottom with my feet out.
> Below 13,000 ft. the snow
> had softened and I was postholing. Below treeline
> the snow turned to rain
> which continued off and on for the next 4 hours.
>
> I don't plan to attempt this again this year, so if
> anyone wants to attempt
> the speed record, let me know and I will post a trip
> report on my web page.
> If you do go, the campground has been torn down but
> the trailhead is still
> open. (I just parked my van there and slept for 3
> hours before the run).
> I suggest choosing better weather. I plan to stay
> in the Leadville hostel
> and climb a couple 14ers, run the marathon on
> Saturday, then go to
> Silverton for the 10K on Sunday and Hardrock next
> week.
>
>
> =====
> -- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@...
>
www.RunningDelights.com will be giving a Carabiner Compass to all HRH
entrants. Be sure and see Heidi Schutt at the Merchandise tables.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
That is wonderful Heidi
----- Original Message -----
From: <hr100@yahoogroups.com>
To: <hr100@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 30, 2004 4:03 PM
Subject: [hr100] Digest Number 358
>
> There is 1 message in this issue.
>
> Topics in this digest:
>
> 1. Carabiner Compass
> From: rundlts@...
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2004 21:10:41 EDT
> From: rundlts@...
> Subject: Carabiner Compass
>
> www.RunningDelights.com will be giving a Carabiner Compass to all HRH
> entrants. Be sure and see Heidi Schutt at the Merchandise tables.
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
> ________________________________________________________________________
> ________________________________________________________________________
>
>
> To Post a message, send it to: hr100@eGroups.com
>
> To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: hr100-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
I sent a note to Jennifer Roach, in response to Andrea's recent
post. I had a tentative pacer drop out this week, so I'm looking if
anyone knows someone willling to pace.
I'm in Ouray right now and only checking e-mail periodically. I can
be reached by cell phone (my dad's phone) at 717-676-2561.
I can use help pacing anywhere from Ouray to the finish. I have
family here to crew for me, so I'd just like someone to run with
me. I'm guessing that I'm a mid-40s runner, but I simply want to
finish. I'm a first-timer here.
Damon Lease
All,
What follows is an experimental (I used to be a forecaster) weather
forecast for 23 points along the HR100 course for a 48 hour finisher
timeline that I put together for my runner (I'm a pacer). This is
based on NOAA data and forecasts as of Tuesday morning, July 6, 2004.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
===================
Looks like typical HR100 (or LT100 for that matter) weather for this
year's event.
I hope this is helpful to you !
Here are the details:
Name Cumm 48-hr-pace elevat temp
=================================================
Silverton 0.0 Fri 06:00 9600 37
Putnam-Lime pass 7.0 12400 57
KT 11.5 Fri 10:10 10640 62
Grant Swamp Pass 14.7 12920 52 shwrs
Chapman Gulch 18.3 Fri 13:05 10160 63 shwrs
Oscar's Pass 21.1 13140 52 shwrs
Telluride 27.6 Fri 16:45 8750 72 shwrs
Virginius Pass 32.7 Fri 20:15 13100 48
Governor Basin 35.9 Fri 21:25 10780 57
Ouray 43.9 Fri 23:00 7800 62
Engineer AS 51.9 Sat 4:25 11800 34
Engineer Pass 53.3 12910 31
Grouse Gulch 58.4 Sat 7:25 10710 30
Handies 63.7 14048 42
Sherman 71.8 Sat 13:45 9640 67
Cateract 77.0 12200 52 shwrs
Pole Creek 80.9 Sat 18:05 11460 57
Pole / Maggie 84.3 12540 52
Maggie Gulch 85.2 Sat 21:00 11640 57
Bugle Boy 87.3 13060 50
Cunningham Gulch 92.1 Sun 00:55 10380 36
Little Giant 94.3 13000 36
Silverton 101.4 Sun 06:00 9600 38
If anyone is still online, Thursday I can provide an updated forecast
upon request.
Rock Cogar,
Colo Spgs, CO.
My Fellow Fiends,
Unless I am *that* totally out-of-touch (of which I have in
fact been oft accused) there's a whole bunch of super-fine
folks out there in Colorado someplace who started this day
with a little wade through a creek.
A fa-fa-fa-FREEZING creek.
And when they finally do get done with their day "today,"
it'll be Sunday.
[Ah, for some maybe (like yours troubly, once); for
others--the even more highly touted fiends--their "day" may
conclude in something under 30 hours. --which is like most
days, eh?]
ROCK ON, YOU HARDROCKERS!!!!!!!!
You folks are all "awesomer" than I can fathom....
Ah, an' Love* I've got for all of "ya."
=======
( O_O )
(*Some ancient high school English teachers MIGHT possibly
*stop* agonizing in their graves after they realize, as we
realize, that some apparently ungrammatical written
expressions CAN, in fact, BECOME grammatical with proper
punctuation. :)
[rock on, Dan! :-]
Rich Limacher
TheTroubadour@...
Yankee Folly of the Day:
If the sun's rising and falling determines "a day," but the
sun wasn't created until the fourth day, then how in the
heck did Genesis figure out that it was, in fact, the
"fourth day"?
UC-Yankee Corollary:
Don't try and tell a Hardrocker how long a day is.
There are so many of you out there to thank so VERY VERY much. You ALL made
this years HRH a fantastic success. Thank you for your help at aid stations,
we loved and appreciate it. Your help at the gym before, during, and after
the race was truley energizing. Thank you from all of us here in Silverton
we hope you will return again, soon.
Thank you all you truley are the spirit of Hardork.
Carolyn Erdman
Pul-leeeeeze someone tell me they captured our adventures in sheep
herding on camera this weekend.....
Andrea
....kicking myself for not carrying my camera!
While I wasn't above Cunningham to get the pics of the 1000 sheep, I do have
many pictures and video clips of people during the course marking, morning of
the run, and some good pics/video clips of Apt, Kalmeyer, Simpson, Eppleman ,
Garrisonccoming in and kissing the rock. We caught the last 2 verses of Roch's
folk song too.
Email me and I'll send pics/videos to you. I do have some problems figuring out
how to send a large file with sound so I will take suggestions too.
Melody Varner
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Thanks Melody, I'd love to have a copy of the pics. Are you talking
about e-mail, or sending a CD?
Ken Ward
Corvallis, OR
-----Original Message-----
From: MELODY VARNER [mailto:melstrails@...]
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 7:29 AM
To: hr100@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [hr100] pictures-video clips for 2004
While I wasn't above Cunningham to get the pics of the 1000 sheep, I do
have many pictures and video clips of people during the course marking,
morning of the run, and some good pics/video clips of Apt, Kalmeyer,
Simpson, Eppleman , Garrisonccoming in and kissing the rock. We caught
the last 2 verses of Roch's folk song too. Email me and I'll send
pics/videos to you. I do have some problems figuring out how to send a
large file with sound so I will take suggestions too. Melody Varner
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
To Post a message, send it to: hr100@eGroups.com
To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: hr100-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links
Wow. Congrats to Blake and all the finishers!
Wow. Congrats to Blake and all the starters!
Hey. Wow and congrats and THANKS to all the absolutely
fabulous folks who put this thing on each and every year.
You people ROCK (hard) !!!!!!
Me? I'm jus' sittin'.
Thinkin' also about a few more fabulous folks who are
running Vermont this coming weekend (you know who you are
that I'm thinkin' about--Rock On! Go Get 'Em!!) and even
some more fabulous heat-resistant folks who are (I think)
running Badwater right now!!
You people SWEAT!!!!!!!!!
00
V
OK, back to work.
Rich Limacher
TheTroubadour@...
Yankee Folly of the Day:
Herb's actually the only guy I know who's ever laughed at
one of my jokes and EVERYBODY else said, "It wasn't funny."
----- Original Message -----
From: Blake P. Wood
To: Just About All of Us
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 1:44 PM
> I haven't seen much on this past weekend's Hardrock
Hundred on the list...
[I'm thinkin' everybody must've been training for VT or
Baaaaaad-Iwouldntdrinkit-water. --RL]
Hello 2004 Hardrock Runners,
I've emailed out the 2004 Runner Feedback Questionnaire as an
attached file to all the runners whose email addresses I have. The
purpose of the feedback is to gather information that the Hardrock
folks can use to improve the run in the future so please take a few
minutes to complete and return it.
Some of you set up filters that think such files are spam and they
don't get through. So, if you have not received the file by
tomorrow, please send me an email (thorn@...) off line and I'll
send it to you individually.
Thanks to all for a great Hardrock.
Charlie Thorn
Thanks, Charlie. I look forward to receiving it. Thanks again, too, for
all your efforts in such a fantastic run this year. It was a banner for
me to finish in under 48 hrs (finally) Without Gerry's pacing, I might
not have made that cutoff time. YOU made the course possible and we are
all very grateful for the love and devotion you've have put forth to
this event year after year.
Thanks again!
Jennifer Roach
Charles T. Thorn wrote:
>Hello 2004 Hardrock Runners,
>
>I've emailed out the 2004 Runner Feedback Questionnaire as an
>attached file to all the runners whose email addresses I have. The
>purpose of the feedback is to gather information that the Hardrock
>folks can use to improve the run in the future so please take a few
>minutes to complete and return it.
>
>Some of you set up filters that think such files are spam and they
>don't get through. So, if you have not received the file by
>tomorrow, please send me an email (thorn@...) off line and I'll
>send it to you individually.
>
>Thanks to all for a great Hardrock.
>
>Charlie Thorn
>
>
>
>To Post a message, send it to: hr100@eGroups.com
>
>To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: hr100-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
>Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
----- Original Message -----
From: carolyn erdman
To: hr100@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, July 12, 2004 11:11 AM
Subject: [hr100] Volunteers and All
.....the spirit of Hardork.
Carolyn Erdman
and here I thought we were all so cool....
deb
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
would love to get the pics.... thanks!
deb and steve
----- Original Message -----
From: MELODY VARNER
To: hr100@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2004 10:28 AM
Subject: [hr100] pictures-video clips for 2004
While I wasn't above Cunningham to get the pics of the 1000 sheep, I do have
many pictures and video clips of people during the course marking, morning of
the run, and some good pics/video clips of Apt, Kalmeyer, Simpson, Eppleman ,
Garrisonccoming in and kissing the rock. We caught the last 2 verses of Roch's
folk song too.
Email me and I'll send pics/videos to you. I do have some problems figuring
out how to send a large file with sound so I will take suggestions too.
Melody Varner
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
To Post a message, send it to: hr100@eGroups.com
To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: hr100-unsubscribe@eGroups.com
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Hi Hardrockers!
As we start to wrap up the 2004 HRH; I though you might like to see a
few things that were written about this years event. You can go to
http//www.durangoherald.com and click on the sports link to see write ups on
this years run. as soon as the video that was being shot is done, I'll let you
know how to get a copy.
thanks for a great event!!
Dale Garland
HRH
Is anyone aware of any sort of chart comparing the 100s of North
America? (i.e.: Name, approx. dates, average elevation, the gain,
the loss, cut off times, number of aid stations, record times, etc.
etc.)
Thanks for any help on this...
-Nute
PS - thanks once again to the HR100 run management and volunteers!!!
--- harpnute <harpnute@...> wrote:
> Is anyone aware of any sort of chart comparing the 100s of North
> America? (i.e.: Name, approx. dates, average elevation, the gain,
> the loss, cut off times, number of aid stations, record times, etc.
> etc.)
Try http://www.run100s.com/ultra.htm
It lists 100s by course record and finish rate. Note that Hardrock (64%
finish rate, course record 26:39) is easier than Plain (9%, 32:00). The
table omits Barkley (1%, 56:57), which also has more elevation gain (53,000
ft vs. 33,000 ft). It also omits Nolan's 14 (14%, 54:47, 44,000 ft).
Based on finish rate, the easiest 100 is Susitna (89%). :-)
=====
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@...
harpnute wrote:
> Is anyone aware of any sort of chart comparing the 100s of North
> America? (i.e.: Name, approx. dates, average elevation, the gain,
> the loss, cut off times, number of aid stations, record times, etc.
> etc.)
>
> Thanks for any help on this...
It's not a chart, but it has links to most of what you want:
http://www.Run100s.com/ultra.htm
Stan
--
Stan Jensen, 327 Greenway Dr., Pacifica, CA 94044-2920
http://www.Run100s.com/ mailto:StanJ@...
Well let's begin with the good news. My Mother , several co-workers
and lots of close friends, non-runners all, are all really, really
proud of me for stopping and not going on and hurting myself. They
are truly beside themselves with pride, which must make it very
crowded wherever they are. Super. So anyway I didn't make it to the
finish. I thought I really wanted to make it to the finish. The gap
between wanting and doing was never so wide before. I was slow-ish
from the start. I couldn't seem to relax and run. It seemed very
early on that I was going to be a lot slower than I had planned. I
kept telling myself that I wouldn't stop until I was timed-out.
Up-hills were marginally better than the down-hills. However, I
couldn't seem to recover from each climb. This began to wear on me
mentally as well as physically. A short way up in Grouse Basin I
realized that I wasn't going to be able to keep going. I returned to
Grouse and dropped. I had a great race report outlined in my head. I
even had statistics to include so as to broaden the appeal.
The day of the run started well. I was awake at 4:00am and decided
to stay home and eat rather than going to the 'nooga for pancakes and
indifferent coffee. Lance Goss was there and we both ate and chatted
a bit until it was time to head down the street to the gym. I checked
in and tried to relax and wait. The start finally came and I jogged,
slowly, up and down to South Mineral and splashed across. On a good
day the first bits are picturesque. This didn't have the hallmarks of
a "good day". The miles seemed to pass slowly and finally we topped
out and headed into the saddle above Cataract Basin. Here, I
encountered a smallish snowfield. I slipped, twisted, stumbled, and
somehow made my way across it and an adjoining area of rock without
falling. I had vivid images of broken bones and vast areas of scraped
flesh. This was when I found out that I couldn't run. I couldn't move
my feet fast. I could only jog. Oh boy!
Up from KT and on down Swamp. I chose the middle grassy "links" as
I wasn't confident that I could keep my feet under me on the snow to
the right. This is where I lost sight of Lance and Andrea Feucht.
Chapman was it's usual friendly, buggy self. I moved out after
talking with Carolyn and Eric. The climb up Blix's road to Oscars
Pass was a grind broken near the top by the sight of what looked like
a 15 meter glass sail plane slipping along the ridge toward Ophir.
Surreal: It was totally unexpected. Totally out of place. I slouched
down into Telluride. Pat McKenzie was there again this year. I
rested, ate, and talked with him. Soon I pressed on up and out of
town toward Virginias. I passed Nancy Halpin again. She seemed to be
doing better on the downs and I assumed she would catch me before
Ouray. The climb didn't seem as bad as in years past. It was long
just not as steep. After Mendota I really started to drag. The final
scramble was a trial. On top all was calm. The aid station crew were
in good form. Soon, Roberta Orr arrived. We ate some and put on
pants for the long slide down that first pitch. I got really cold
here and took a minute to bundle up before attempting the next two
pitches. . Once on the road Rho-berta jogged off toward Governors. I
picked my way down the last one above the parking lot and tried to be
positive about my progress so far. I was about 90 minutes slower than
2001 and was trying my best to be philosophical. It wasn't working.
The best I could cultivate was an air of relaxed resignation. There
was no Zen angle in this at all. I tried to "become" the trail, "be
one" with the road. No way I was going to "become" the trail. I might
fall off the trail. I might fall off the road. I wasn't going to
achieve Satori today. Nope. Close, but no banana.
I ate and rested in Ouray. I was able to trade two 9 volt
batteries for four AA ones. I never realized how similar the package
containing two square 9 volt batteries was to a package of four
cylindrical AA batteries. I felt like a dope. I was not in the
curious mood I try to adopt when being enlightened by life and all
it's intricate marvels. It made me wonder if the two AA batteries I
had waiting at Cunningham were indeed AA's. I met Matt M. going out
of town and he quickly walked off and left me stumbling down to the
river. I had expected the water level to be lower. No big deal. They
can call it a river all they want to; it still looks like a creek to
me. At the tunnel Cathy L. helped me change the bad battery in my
headlamp. That was another little surprise. The battery wasn't new
after all. Oh well, up, up, and away. Nancy H. and pacer, I think,
passed me early on the lower shelf part of the trail. Someone not
too far up the Bear Creek Trail ahead of me kept stopping and heaving
every twenty minutes or so. I wondered how long that would go on. I
mean, after you throw up erasers you ate in the second grade there
isn't really a lot left to toss. I am always amazed by the tenacity
of fellow runners. Engineer aid station came and went. Uli Kamm was
there. He was having stomach problems. It didn't seem to be affecting
his progress. I never saw him again as he walked off and left me.
About mid-way up the basin toward the road I got off trail to the
right. The night was clear and I could see where I was heading so I
didn't make a strong effort to move left. I slowly angled over and in
doing so I seemed to climb every bit of vertical real estate in the
area. The Milky Way was out and it was a real treat. I reached the
road and headed on down. After a while Cathy L. and Jim B. passed me.
Both looked frisky and awake. I reached that beautiful bauhaus-like
minimalist BLM toilet near Animas Forks at about 6:30am. Much
relieved, I ambled on down into Grouse. I sat and ate. I sorted
through my drop-bag and pondered my situation. Things were not
looking all that rosy at this point. I was still three or so hours
ahead of the cut-offs but still wasn't recovering. I rested and ate.
I thought about napping a bit but John Cappis came in and I thought
this might be my last, best chance to make it to the finish. John is
very tough. He has completed more hundred mile trail runs than I will
ever attempt. I left Grouse ahead of John at shortly before 8:00am. I
checked out and started up the seven switchbacks above the road. A
short way into the grassy part of the basin I started the pattern of
taking a few steps and sitting down for a minute. This went on for a
while until I just turned around and started that long shuffle back
to Grouse.
None of us take failure lightly. It seems that in our play we take
it even less well than in our professional lives. The people that
enter the Hardrock are successful people. They succeed at what they
attempt. This run and those like it are another area that they can
show themselves that they can succeed at whatever they turn their
efforts to. I like to include myself in that group. Like that old
joke where the famous sky diver is asked why he jumps out of
perfectly good airplanes with only a bed sheet on his back. Was it
the adrenalin rush? Was it the conquest of his deepest fears? Nope,
he did it because he liked the people that skydive. Well I wonder why
I do this when I seem to make it to the finish on a rather random
basis. I thought about it some on that trail back to Grouse. Maybe it
is because I like the people that do the Hardrock.
Oh yeah. Statistics: I blew my nose sixty-four times and went to
the bathroom eleven times. It would have been a really great race
report. Next year for sure!
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Hi all...after reading Steve Pattillo's report, I thought i'd send this along
that I wrote up yesterday.
Deb and I began our year training for a completion of the Rocky Mountain Slam,
which would have been a finish at Bighorn, Hardrock, Wasatch and the Bear. It
didn't quite work out as we were hoping.
Bighorn went well for me...it was one of those almost effortless runs when you
feel really good almost all of the time. The only problem I did have was at
around mile 5 or so, I felt a hot spot developing on my heel. I stopped at the
first aid station and the medic slapped some duct tape on it and it was fine for
the rest of the run...but the shoes causing the blister were a new pair of
Vitesse I was wearing. It seemed to have a lump on the backside of the heel cup
that rubbed me wrong, so at mile 30 I switched to my older pair, which had a
gazillion miles on them. Because of this I bruised some metatarsals in the final
20 miles which bothered me for most of the course marking in the San Juans
leading up to Hardrock.
Deb had some really strange problem that caused some of her toenails to fall off
from the nail bed. We aren't sure if it was some electrolyte imbalance that
caused this or what, but she was wearing her Leona Divide's which fit her well.
She wore these shoes (not the same pair) in the Ring last year and didn't so
much as have one hot spot. You know the rest of the story from there...she took
her shoes off with 8 miles to go and put her insoles inside the socks and went
with that until 4 miles to go, where an aid station worker duct taped some
sandals to her feet. At one point after the turnaround Deb was within 20 minutes
of me and I thought we'd be able to finish together...but after I finished I
started to hear the stories. She finished to be able to continue on to the Rocky
Mountain Slam...Deb is one tough runner.
Which brings me to Hardrock...I was having the run of my life there. The weather
was perfect, I was acclimated and feeling strong, leaving Ouray at around 42
miles, then climbing up Engineer's my lungs started to burn and I was coughing
up lung junk. When I got into the Grouse Gulch aid station, Bert Meyer was there
waiting to crew me. When I started to talk to Bert to tell him what I wanted, I
coughed and rasped some words out. The medic heard this and ushered me into a
chair in the warm tent beside Kevin Black, who was also hacking and coughing. He
spoke to me to get some response and I answered him fine. He then stuck this
gadget on my finger and after getting his readings, strongly advised me to not
continue. My blood oxygen level was at 84%...he then did the same to Kevin after
hearing him coughing and looked at him and said "His is bad, but yours sucks!"
Kevin was 81%...he advised us to sit for awhile and see if it got better, but at
that point and knowing Handies was ahead, my bruised feet were starting to hurt,
I went along with it. Not Kevin though! He continued to cough and lube up his
feet to continue with his pacer. I had arranged to drive Russ Evan's pacer,
Kerry Owens' car back to Silverton and told Kevin that I would wait for him if
he decided that the climb was going to be too difficult. Other runners, seeing
what was happening to us, hurried out of the aid station tent, coughing as they
went...
I sat in the heated car and watched Kevin's light slowly bounce up the 14,000
foot climb. AT the first switchback, about 200 yards from the road, the lights
of he and his pacer stopped. There was a short pause and I then saw them
bouncing slowly back down the hill. It was the end of the day for Kevin, also.
He made a very wise decision as all of you know what Handies could have done to
him.
On to Deb....she just seemed to never get it going from the start and we just
can't figure it out. She was fine most of the week and even had a good day on
Handies during the course marking, running hard to the base after the climb.
This was going to be the year for both of us! Looming over near Delta, Colorado
was a small forest fire that was burning and sending it's smoke our way. Many of
the Hardrockers, including grizzled vet Rollin Perry, 7 time finisher, were
brought to a standstill due to their lungs not working right on the climbs.
Could this have been the issue? Maybe because my feet were sore from Bighorn, I
was looking for an out? Maybe running a 100 mile run in the Rockies three weeks
before Hardrock is not a wise thing to do? Especially for two old people?
Questions, questions....one thing for sure. The RMS made be toast right now, but
we will be back at Hardrock, again trying to complete what I consider "the most
difficult 100 mile run in the country, maybe the world". Right now we are
withdrawing from Wasatch, but may still run the Bear in late September.
Our 40+ hour drive home was fun (yeah, right), but the slam of all for me this
year was yesterday when I returned to work. I was immediately told I was laid
off...so here I sit, unemployed and playing Gramps, watching my 4 year old grand
daughter color and cut out paper dolls wishing I could retire...
see you all next year!
Steve and Deb
PS: I have many, many pictures that I took during the race and will put them on
the website and post the link here soon.
PSS: Deb and I are seriously looking at relocating ot the Durango area.
Hopefully we can accomplish this within a few years :-)
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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