onepinkfuzzy

I can see Twin Peaks through a window framed with white plantation shutters as the sun casts a muted glow through the room. I am comfortably ensconsed in a soft rocking chair with my feet up on Jessica's bed. We want to go to the beach before I fly out today, but first, we are sorting through the hundreds of photos we've taken over the last three days while attempting to capture some of the exhaustion, excitement and joy of organizing (in Jess's case) and volunteering for (in my case) an ultra race. I am sipping a Coffee Bean mocha (made with whole milk instead of the requested skim milk - it is so damn rich!) and trying to figure out where to start this story...

I was "roamer" or "gofer" for the day; driving Jeff's Xterra was fanTAStic. I was thinking that Wendy and Jess couldn't have given me a better job for the day. I love and am in love with Jeff's truck. Bouncing over the rocky dirt roads, laughing out loud even though I was the only one in the car. It was a roller coaster that I was in charge of.

In the dark, meeting Anne was a fun moment. This car pulls in, and a woman gets out. "Can I park here?" she asks, worried about being towed. "I think that's okay," I say. I wonder why her sillouhette looks familiar. "I have food," she says, digging into her trunk. "Anne?" I ask, remembering that she is bringing brownies. "Yes," she says. "Angie?" We run toward each other in the dark, arms outstretched, and embrace. "It's so nice to meet you!" I exclaim, and pick up the box of brownies to carry over. She launches into conversation; I love listening to her talk.

People prep for the races, I take lots of photos and joke around with everyone. The excitement is contagious and everyone is ready. I love ultra races; the runners are so inspirational and there are so many stories out on the course. The grit and determination, the look of relief on runners' faces as they come into an aid station.

I meet Matt, who is so sweet and just a pleasure to be around. (At the end of the day, I reach the start/finish line and Darrell says, "Matt just got on the bus; he wanted to see you before he left." I run toward the shuttle bus as it leaves, waving my arms. The bus stops and I launch onboard. "Where's Matt!" I yell. Matt pops up, and I give him a giant hug. He tells me, yes, he finished, and at about 8 hours (30 minutes faster than he projected when I ran into him on the course). Another run says, "What, don't I get a hug?!" so I hug him too. Then I get off the bus and let Matt get home to his wife and son.)

I am excited to have met David Goggins (I did a double-take at the pre-race dinner the night before when he checked in. I think he noticed my double-take; it was pretty obvious. Hey, the guy's a semi-celebrity in the ultrarunning world, I'm so psyched to have met him!), and I meet Kirk, who introduces himself and says he reads my "interesting" blog.

I have fun hanging with OC Trail Runners - Kiera (who is funny and cute and full of energy and who ran her first 50 mile and smiled the entire time) and Greg (who got Dean Karnazes to sign his forearm the day before the race) and Charlie (who with is two cute sons helped with the course marking; he is truly funny) and Wendy (who has two kids and a full-time job and still managed to coordinate all the volunteers and who - along with Jess - was attempting to get me to move out to CA) and Kyle (who is fast and an awesome runner and who we dropped off the day before with a ten-pound bag of flour to mark nine miles of trail and then he was a course sweep on race day).

I get to see Nattie again too. Nattie is sweet and beautiful and has a slight accent that is gorgeous. She smiled the entire day, even at the end of the very long day she was smiling as I fell asleep and we talked with the RD of the Antelope Island Buffalo Run (which I've wanted to do for awhile).

After both races start, Jess comes with me for a coffee run (I need my Starbucks!) and we drop supplies off at Holy Jim - mile 27 of the 50m race. Then I head back out to get ice and drive to the top of the peaks.

First stop: Harding - the first and last aid station for both 50k and 50m, 9 miles from the start/finish line. I drop off ice and take pictures. Then I head to Santiago Peak, the high point of the course. The 50k runners turn around at this point and head back down, while the 50 milers head out for the lollipop part of the course from here. I hang out here, taking tons of photos of runners and volunteers. Skip does boot camp workouts in between runners while blasting Republica and Cat Stevens and Jethro Tull on his stereo and Jen files her nails and Eric mans the ham radio.

A few hours later, we get word that a runner is vomiting and is not feeling well. I debate driving down the course to him. On one hand, he could be going through a rough patch and seeing the car might tempt him to DNF when in actuality he'd be fine. But on the other hand, it could be medically serious. I decide I'll take him some water and S caps and see what he thinks. Better to tempt him and be safe. I drive down the course, passing four runners who all say the same thing: "He's looking bad, he's down a ways." I find him and he looks relieved. He says he was going to walk to Santiago and drop there, but since the car is here, he'll gladly take the ride. I am glad that I was able to help him.

His name is Sam and we pick up his mom at Harding, where she was waiting to pace him to the finish. I drive back down, stopping once to let him out to emptly the contents of his stomach. Back at the start/finish, I chase down Matt in the school bus, eat a bunch of pizza, talk with Darrell forEVER (as he says at least three times, "Really, I have to be going now..."), cheer on finishers, meet Eric (handing out medals) who says he'll check out my blog, talk with a gentleman named Bill who is doing the 6-day race to be held soon in Douglas, AZ, and in general have fun.

By the end of the day, I am falling asleep on the table. I got to meet and hang out with so many genuine and awesome people, and I am surrounded by what I love most: nature, food, running and fantastic folks. I feel like I hit the wall, and there was nothing left inside me to keep me going. I love that feeling.

UPDATE: Some Photo Links
Meeting Jessica
Race Prep
Pre-race Dinner
Course Marking

The race day photos are still to come...