2007 Zane Grey 50 Mile Crew Report

Notes from a race:
- marking slashes in my notebook for each woman who crossed the finish line before Olga, because I know Olga will kick serious ass in the last eight miles despite her "just shoot me" comment at the last aid station and I want to know where she places when she crossed the finish line
- watching a precocious two-year-old girl with blonde curls escaping from her ponytail shout to her mama - who is 100 feet away, in deep conversation and unable to hear her - "mama, turn around, turn around!" throwing her whole body into large, emphatic arm gestures - as though that would help carry her voice across the grass - so her mama would watch her run across the finish line and cheer for her
- listening to Modest Mouse as I drive my little car over dusty back roads and the sun plays hide-and-seek with textured clouds that hold the scent of rain that intermingles with the scent of sun-heated pine and drifts through my car to carry me back to sunnier days with Johnny, when we used to go on long rides through the backcountry of the eastern Sierra in our pale green Nissan pick-up truck
- watching an almost unconcious older man being brought to a blanket at the foot of my chair at mile 33 and feeling a sense of fear as the paramedic comes over to check his vital signs and feeling a sense of relief as he wakes up a little and starting talking and moving
- laughing with volunteers as I pull out my laptop to work on a story I'm writing while I'm waiting to Olga to arrive (apparently, had I just hiked "a couple hills over," I could have had Internet access)
- watching Olga arrive at the first aid station, a few minutes behind pace and - gasp! - limping, and hoping like hell she's okay
- "Hey now, he's mine!" Patricia censures Ali and I as we tell Wayne - Patricia's husband - that's he's "lookin' good!" at the last aid station
- dipping my feet in cold, snow-melt-fed creek water at a waterfall as I wait for runners to arrive so I can take cool photos of them crossing the creek and then feeling bored because they are spaced so far apart that I end up taking oodles of water/feet/trees/sky photos
- not sleeping much the night before because I am so excited and I also want to make sure Olga does not miss her wake-up time
- getting an ulcer as I drive to the Phoenix airport alone for the first time in my life, freaking out because I can't figure it out and I'm trying to follow signs and where do I go and oh shit, I left Olga's flight info at home and where's terminal 2? and what in the world is economy parking, why are they directing me to economy parking? these signs don't make sense and finally finding the right spot
- seeing Olga pop out from behind other passengers and shout, "Angie!" with her blonde hair sticking out from her head and longer than I expected it to be
- oohing and ahhing over my new North Face hydration pack and then it feeling like Christmas when Olga gives me all her old running clothes ("I could have donated them to Goodwill, but then I thought, no - I'll take them to Angie!")
- non-stop talking as we drive up to Payson, shop for dinner, attend the pre-race dinner (with our own food) and meet Luis Escobar and wonder where the fast guys are and I introduce Olga to the Tucson runners and I scarf down a slice of cake
- "I'm not fast; just stupid enough to stay out there all day." - Luis Escobar (race photographer)
- Olga laughing at my notorious sweet tooth as I eat Cinnastix as post-race dinner, and then syrup on my sauage/bacon/potatoes at Dennys the next morning (where they got so many things wrong again and again with my breakfast, I got it free, yay!)
- salivating over Kyle Skaags' quads
- fun talking with a girl from Oklahoma via Utah (I wish I had gotten her name!)
- wearing a pink fuzzy (I especially liked it clipped to my orange sun hat; I felt like a pirate!)
- oh, the utter joy at the end when I realized that my girl did indeed pass tons of people on the last stretch and had finished the race and we screamed and jumped up and down and she threw her bottles and end-of-race packet on the ground and just stumbled around while I laughed and then I told her she was in the top ten for female and when we confirmed it on the results, screaming some more
- cheering on the Tucson runners and laughing when Geno passes by me at mile 33 and points and says, "Tucson person!" then glances to my book and says, "Bill Bryson, right on! Love him!" and then continues on his merry way
- giving 70-year-old Joe a hard time for running Zane Grey after sweeping with him last year and both of us swearing we'd never run it
- wondering where Anton Krupicka is - his name was on the entrants list (aka Naked Guy - he won Leadville 100 last summer with the second fastest time ever)
- grumbling that "these aid stations need bathrooms!" as I trip through the underbrush to find a decent, out of the way spot to do my business and then laughing at myself - this is a trail ultra, the whole wilderness is your bathroom :)
- admiring the sleek runners' physiques and realizing mine is nowhere close to that but then thinking I love my body and I will be running more - if I can just find the discipline again - and will get back into shape by summer - right? right!
- wondering why my left hip is aching and then laughing about it with Olga the next morning as she tells me I had sympathy pains - her left hip is the one she hurt!
- wondering why this event didn't inspire me to want to run more like attending past events has
- feeling blissful to be surrounded by such fun community
- feeling so happy that Olga came out to AZ and let me crew for her and feeling so blessed that she is in my life and delighted that we can just talk and talk and talk and talk
- hearing Olga drop random Russian words into our conversation - not so much that I can't follow the story, but enough that I notice
- looking forward to visiting Olga this summer for PCT 50/50
- feeling honored as Olga gives me her Zane Grey finisher's buckle, and smiling as I prop it up on my bookshelf at home, knowing it will remind me each day of the fun and joy and laughter I shared this weekend with a beautiful friend
- photos