Maggie Gulch 85.2mi 19:23-19:35 12 minutes in the aid station (2:44)
Sherman to Pole Creek
Rick Hodges left before me, and told me that I would catch up to him…I said ‘yeah, right!’ I knew it was time to leave as I started actually shivering like I was cold! I finally did leave, thanking everybody at the aid station as I left. I felt like crap the first 20 or 30 minutes out of the aid station, I thought I was overheated or even that I might have the flu. I seriously considered turning around and heading back to the aid station, except that would be a D.Q. I finally realized that I was a bit dehydrated and drank a little bit more. Paul Gross and his pacer passed me while I was in this funk but I managed to catch back up to them by the top of the gulch (this section went much faster downhill last year, earlier in the race.) I started to really wonder about the course marking once I reached the top of the gulch, I just followed the footprints (there weren’t really any other obvious choices) until I found another course marker and yelled back to the guys I had just passed that we were on course - but it was windy and I doubt that they would have heard me. I figured that they would catch up to me, and a few times I saw them when I looked back, but they never seemed to get any closer. I, on the other hand, happened to see Rick Hodges in the distance. I know he is an awesome climber (which is why I said ‘yeah, right’ when he said I would catch him when he left Sherman) but I didn’t think I was moving that well on the downhill that I would finally catch him. I remember passing the lake on the Continental Divide and remembered the thought I had here last year (going the other direction) that I would be out here for the rest of the day, and that night, and the next day, and most of the next night then decided right there that I would stop thinking like that and just concentrate on aid station to aid station – after that the race went relatively well for me. This year I realized that I was already on the second day and that just a few more hours and I would be done. When I did finally catch up to Rick, he was standing just off the side of the trail getting something out of his pack, he told me to go ahead. I knew he would catch up on the climbs, so I went ahead. I really wanted to stay with him as much as possible, though, knowing how many times he has finished this race. I shuffled along then walked for a bit and noticed that Rick was just walking along and catching up to me. We slogged through the muck and crossed Pole Creek too many times to count. Finally we saw the aid station across the valley (and up another climb…)
Pole Creek to Maggie Gulch
I saw Paul Grimm as I entered the aid station…he told me that he was going to do the ‘d’ word but I caught him short and told him not to; I have had negative energy from other folks in a race drag me down before, I wasn’t going to let that happen here! I did try to offer words of encouragement, like “you don’t look that bad, get your ass moving now!” unfortunately I could not talk him in to coming with us (he obviously had plenty of time…) I grabbed some crackers and left with David Goldberg and Markus Mueller; I stayed with them for quite a ways. Just before we started the final climb to go over the hill to Maggies, we seemed to have lost Markus and gained Jack Jewell and his pacer. We stayed with them until Maggie aid station. The one thing that stands out in my mind here was how I had been in these trails for the last several hours that were like streams. Oh well, such is Hardrock...and to think that when I first started running trails that I was almost afraid of getting my feet wet...I fell behind Jack and David, but arrived at Maggie Gulch just a couple of minutes behind them.
No comments:
Post a Comment