Hardrock 100 2009 Engineer to Ouray

Mile 48.6 to mile 56.5
Arrived 3:17 am
2:49 from Engineer, 52 minutes in the aid station (ouch!) (1:45 total in aid stations)

-“45 in, with pacer”
-I didn’t even realize that the friendly person welcoming us to the aid station was Stu Gleman! He said he would be on the course, maybe even volunteering at an aid station, but I had no idea he would help these fine folks hump in supplies and then hump them back out after the race (and after being up all night!)
-
-Mark Heaphy caught us here. Last year he caught me at Telluride (he usually stays with his wife Margaret for the first few miles and then they part company) He must have been taking it easy since I was not breaking any speed records here…
-Had some Ramen noodles – they were hot but I asked for some cold water to top off the cup with. It really hit the spot. I knew we were taking too much time but surprisingly it wasn’t that cold (I made sure not to get too close to the fire or I wouldn’t want to leave)

-Had some stream crossings – expected for this section - but kept the feet mostly dry
-While climbing Bear Creek trail last year, I completely missed Yellow Jacket mine; this year I saw it and had an easy shuffle down the trail from there; only a couple of creek/drainage crossings and then a lot of dry drainages to negotiate. We crossed over the trail work we completed a week before (a little over a quarter mile uphill from the Grizzly Bear mine ruins) and it didn’t look as scary; of course I warned Chip about the re-bar, but it didn’t seem like as much of an issue now as it did in the daylight.
-we saw lights ahead of us and eventually caught up to them, it was Bur and his pacer. I don’t know how I caught up to him again (he was climbing well and I was downhilling well I guess)
-We finally arrived at the top of the switchbacks – the ones with slate all over, that sound like you are walking on dinner plates. I counted the switchbacks on the way down to stay focused; Rick Trujillo had told us there were 13…I counted them on the way down after our trail work but must have missed one or counted twice – during the race, however, I counted them exactly, finding the sign-in box at the bottom right on schedule.
-We crossed over the 550 tunnel and finally made it down to the road. I had covered this section twice before, in this direction two years ago as well as in the other direction last year. During the race it seemed to go on forever. A few days before the race, Mike Dobies, Bob Combs and I did a recon trip (Lori and Olga and Larry went with us part of the way) Just like knowing how many switchbacks to cover, it was nice to know that there were 4 downhills and 4 climbs (I think it was 4, maybe it was 5 ;^) In any case, I knew what we were in for and eventually we were on the road that went past the box canyon park and into town. Turned left at the Best Western and down a few blocks to the park.

Hardrock 100 2009 Grouse Gulch to Engineer

Mile 42.1 to mile 48.6
Arrived 12:21 am
2:53 from Grouse Gulch, 7 minutes in the aid station (:53 total in aid stations)

-slow climb, Bur caught up to us…we stayed together for a while then he passed us
-kept seeing lights behind and ahead of us, though with the turns it got awfully dark at times as the moon hadn’t risen yet – we were resolute that we would not take any wrong turns, particularly with the confusion of the darkness
-The drive up this road was long (and bumpy) when I rode up with Corey Johnson for the trail work a few days ago…it was literally taking us HOURS to walk up it now.
-We could finally see the silhouette of the pass ahead…it didn’t take long from there to the pass itself
-I saw the last flag before the drop and then…the drop. I swore we had switchbacks on the way up here last year, but in this direction we dropped almost straight down into the basin.
-I apparently had put the wrong set of batteries in my headlamp and it was starting to become an issue: the Brunton L3 will maintain a lower, reduced power setting if the batteries are dying, which they obviously were. We stopped just past a stream crossing before Engineer aid station and I changed the batteries in my headlamp. I don’t know if it was here or on the climb up the road but somehow I had lost my sunglasses (I had them on my head but under the headlamp strap, somehow they got lost

Hardrock 100 2009 Sherman to Grouse Gulch

Mile 28.7 to mile 42.1
Arrived 9:08 pm
5:30 from Sherman, 20 minutes in the aid station (:46 total in aid stations)

-John Sharp pulled ahead of me
-Jody caught up to me, we walked into Burrows together
-saw Karen again, at Burrows, she asked if there was anything she could get for me and I said ‘heroine’ (jokingly) and she said ‘here I am!’ it took a few seconds to click but then I agreed with her. She filled my bottles for me while we conversed

-Jody followed me up Handies, I thought she would pass me but she seemed content to let me pull, which I did as well as I could.
-When we got to the point where the lower group had done some trail work in 2005, I pointed it out to Jody.
-it took forever to get to tree line
-we caught up to John again, Jody was stretching and John asked her what she was stretching (I forgot what she said) and he started showing her some stretches, I kept climbing…eventually they caught up at the higher stream crossing
-Bur caught up to me just past the trail work we had done in 2005 (he mentioned it not a minute after I had pointed it out to Jody)
-Olga caught us; I jokingly asked where the bungie cord was that she could use to pull me up the hill and she said ‘Fuck You’ and went on ahead. She did stop to take a photo of me just before she turned on the afterburners and flew up to the summit
-I managed to summit just ahead of Bur and Jody, perhaps by 2 or 3 minutes
-After the summit I cruised down the trail, the steep part down to the saddle, then through the switchbacks through the tundra then to the rock field and then to Sloan Lake and when I looked back, I saw nobody there

-I looked back while climbing Grouse-American pass and saw what looked like Jody’s jacket still high up on the trail…
-caught up to Frank Banton climbing Grouse-American pass and we actually made it to Grouse Gulch Aid Station without turning our lights on (though it was a little dicey going down those last few switchbacks)
-I arrived at Grouse to find Chip Tuthill, ready to pace me. What a surprise (he later told me that he had paced Dobies in this direction 2 years ago and Dobies dropped him on the climb up Engineer…there was no danger of me doing that to him this day…)
-Naresh was also there to help, and he actually untied my shoes and pulled them off for me while I was eating so I could reapply Desitin, change socks and put my shoes back on after I ate – the guy is so dedicated, friendly and helpful I couldn’t believe it. I thanked him profusely. He stayed after I left to continue crewing for John Sharp. I also saw Jim Sweat, who jumped in to help by getting some food while I was taking care of my feet and repacking my calories.
-I was telling those around me about Jody and that I hoped she would be in soon. I saw a green light coming down the switchbacks and thought it was her. I never did see her before I left.

Once again, I'm certain that I spent way too much time here,

Hardrock 100 2009 Pole Creek to Sherman

Mile 19.6 to mile 28.7
Arrived 3:23 pm
2:36 from Pole Creek, 15 minutes in the aid station (:26 total in aid stations)

-left the aid station right behind Liz and Rickie, Rodger had left about a minute earlier


Liz passed Rickie and took off down the hill toward the creek, she was running well downhill and said that her plan was to walk the ups (power walk, I'm sure she wasn't doing any 'mall strolling') and to cruise on the flats and the downs. It looked like she was keeping well on that plan.
-Rickie and I stopped at one of the creek crossings to wash off our legs, the mud was starting to get to the consistency of hardening plaster
-Followed Liz but finally lost sight of her about 3 miles before Sherman
-Dobies got ahead of me here as well, I lost sight of him before Liz
-It started getting a bit gloomy, then it started raining with lightning off in the distance, fortunately not too close judging from the flash to bang time. It rained consistently all the way to Sherman
-ran with Fred Abramowitz once I caught up to him. We kept seeing Liz just up ahead of us and wondered why we couldn't catch up to her...


-Fred and I crossed the boulder fields above cataract gulch then started the numerous stream crossings. Since it was raining, I wasn't nearly as concerned about getting my feet wet; that and I knew that I had more Desitin and a dry pair of socks at Sherman.


-Fred and I caught up to Rickie Redland just below tree line and she let us pass her by.


-As we descended the switchbacks, I started to tell Fred about how two years ago they had signs for about the last half mile or so before the aid station advertising their menu and giving the runners (who would read them) encouragement. Once I saw the first of these signs, I told Fred ‘it is as I have foretold.' I couldn't tell if he thought it was funny, but we continued on just the same.


-There was a radio person about ¼ mile before the aid station and asked my number. He also asked if I had a drop bag and I told him I did and thanked him for being there for all of runners, especially standing in the rain (even with the cover of the trees it was clear he had been getting wet for probably several hours...)
-I arrived at the aid station and my drop bag was on the table with all of the contents on top of it, neatly laid out
-I ate and drank, then ate and drank some more
-Saw Dobies at the aid station, he asked ‘do you need any malto?’ I said ‘what are you still doing here?’ and he said ‘stuffing my face’…he left about 5 minutes before me and I never saw him again
-Saw Karen waiting for Pat
-Said hello to Annette Anthony (she comes down to AZ occasionally for training runs, usually in the winter time, when the AZ weather is nice)
-I was getting ready to leave and Jody rolled in. I asked if she felt better and she said ‘about 10% better’ so I said ‘you look 25% better!’ I knew I had to hurry out of there or she would get ahead of me (which I figured would happen eventually, I just wanted to put it off as long as I could)
-As I was leaving I noticed a table with some smoothies on it and a bottle of tequila. I asked if there was any tequila in any of the smoothies and the volunteer said that they wouldn’t let them. I said that maybe it would make them better. I debated but finally grabbed one, drank about half of it and dumped it into the trash (I didn’t want to waste, but I really was full.)
-I guess the smoothie put me over the top (or maybe it was the veggie quesadilla, all the food I ate from my drop bag, the potato soup, etc.) because my stomach started to bug me quite a bit for about the next 45 minutes or so; I knew I was going to walk the shortcut trail that links the road to Sherman with the road to Burrows, but I was reduced to walking the easily runnable road. I decided that it was alright to walk a bit and let the food digest; and not wear myself out so early in the race.


Once I reached the top of the climb to the Burrows Park road, John Sharp caught up to me..

Hardrock 100 2009 Maggie Gulch to Pole Creek

Mile 15.3 to mile 19.6
Arrived 12:43 pm
1:18 from Maggie Gulch, 4 minutes in the aid station (:11 total in aid stations)

-I left the aid station and somehow was ahead of Bur and Dobies again
-it seemed like there was a lot less water and muck through the willows between the pass and the traverse (as opposed to last year)
-Stepped into the mud puddle that Howie Stern told me about from last year, just about a ¼ mile before the aid station Right leg up to the knee. I saw Rickie Redland behind me, and she was a bookend (her left leg found the mud hole)
-Dobies asked if I needed any malto, at the aid station, I said I was O.K.

Hardrock 100 2009 Cunningham to Maggie Gulch

Mile 9.1 to mile 15.3
Arrived 11:23 am
2:28 from Cunningham, 2 minutes in the aid station (:07 total in aid stations)
Finally got walking out of Cunningham, and noticed that Blake Wood's crew was changing a flat on his VW camper van. It seems that they have the worst luck on race day, though I guess they are experts on repairs and flat tires now...


The road didn't seem so far, fresh, in this direction, and in the daylight. I almost missed the turn until one of the volunteers (or maybe just somebody crewing or spectating) pointed me in the right direction - I thanked them profusely.


I started up the insane switchbacks - the part of the course that worries me more than Bear Creek into Ouray does...you are on the side of a hanging valley with a fairly steep fall (which is higher and higher the more you climb)


After a few switchbacks, I looked back and saw...Jody!


I caught up to Wendell Doman just before we topped out and headed up the basin toward Green Mountain. I seem to recall catching him in this same location 2 years before, and mentioned that this year he would finish. He thanked me for the support as I passed him on the climb. The funny thing was that this year I was downhilling well but hadn't seemed to train too well on the climbs. Of course, this was early in the race, the slow climbing would come in abundance as the race wore on and I knew it, so was happy with whatever climb rate I could sustain.

I crossed a stream and looked back and saw that I was actually ahead of the Mikes (Bur and Dobies!) They caught up just before the climb over the upper part of Green Mountain

-As we started climbing Stony Pass, I heard Liz Hodges cheering for ‘Poppie’ (I guess she had one or more of their grandchildren with her) and I noticed that Rick was right behind me

-Andy Hewatt caught up climbing Stony Pass, we cheered each other on...and he promptly left me in his dust...

-Rob Hacker passed me and mentioned that this time last year he was following my progress online. I didn't recognize him in the daylight, because the first time I met him was at Angeles Crest in 2005 or 2006 between Chilao and Shortcut Saddle. We slogged along for a while but he made it clear that his day would be done at Shortcut, in spite of my encouragement (once the switch is flipped, it's hard to switch it back on...) It was great to see him doing so well here, though it was early. I had a feeling he would do well and finish, and he did.

-It started getting a little windy on the ridges, enough to pull my sleeves up and even put my jacket on at one point.

-We crested Buffalo Boy ridge and descended into Maggie Gulch, I could see runners strung out ahead of me. A few passed me on the descent.

-I spent just enough time to fill my bottles (I started explaining that it is better to fill the bottle half full, then shake it, then top it off, that way things are a ‘little less lumpy’ I hoped that I had done a service for those behind me coming through the aid stations who had to fill bottles with various sport drink powders in them.


Probably too much time in the aid station again, especially since the next section was the shortest on the course.

Hardrock 100 2009 Start to Cunningham

Mile 0 to mile 9.1
Arrived 8:50 am
2:50 from Start, 5 minutes in the aid station

I arrived at the gym with enough time to check in, though not as early as the past two years. As usual, everyone sort of milled around the High School, preparing for the race, shaking hands and wishing "Good Luck" to old friends and new and taking photographs. I have learned that the nervous energy before a race can really drain a person, so I have tried in recent years to let it add to the energy I have before a race rather than just burning it off. After I had dropped my finish line drop bag, applied sunscreen, set up my bottles, checked my clothes and generally made sure that I was ready to go, I started looking for friends to take photgraphs with:

Joe took a photo with 5 of the 6 WMRC runners (we were missing Jamil)

Photo (courtesy of Mike Bur) with a few VHTRC members (missing John DeWalt and Joe Clapper)

We started walking outside when Dale said '5 minutes!'

Everybody sang 'Happy Birthday' to Honey Albrecht (what a present for your 50th Birthday, run Hardrock!)

I decided to just go with a handheld bottle and a throw-away bottle for a backup until Cunningham and then pick up my pack there. In fact, I decided to leave the camera; this meant that I would not take any photos, but it also meant that I would be lighter and a little more focussed (I hoped) on moving forward.

Started the countdown...3, 2, 1 Dale said "Get Out of Here!"

Shuffled slowly down the street and turned left and followed the crowd.

Down Reese, turned right, passed the Wyman (waved to Tana, Jimmy and family as we passed) It was great having everyone cheering, but it made it too easy to set too fast of a pace from the start.

-got ahead of Liz as she pulled off the side of the trail, I knew that I would see her fly by me later, it was just a matter of time.

-stayed with Kirk a while, though he pulled ahead before Arrastra crossing

-Kept up with a group, though some pulled ahead and some fell behind.

-met John Sharp from Texas, the guy that Joe Prusaitis had mentioned calling him from the top of Grant-Swamp pass on a training run

-Don Platt must have gotten ahead of me, I thought I was ahead of him

-caught up to Jody just before the first pass, She obviously wasn't feeling well, since I caught her...normally I wouldn't see her after the first mile or two after the start

-As we dropped down toward Cunningham, Jody was behind Rickie Redland and they had quite a line of runners stacking up behind them. I finally got past on a switchback and flew down into Cunningham hootin’ and hollerin’ and singing ‘Blazing Saddles’

-I crossed the creek, saw Nick and told him to take care of Jody because she looked and sounded bad…

-Naresh (who paced me at Cactus Rose last year) was at the aid station crewing his fellow Texans, and he even helped me out along with Chip Gosewich, who was crewing and pacing for Andrew Heard. I thought I asked Naresh for some Fritos, but apparently I said Cheetos, so he got a bag of those for me to take with out of the aid station. I knew I wasn't going to eat them and handed them back, apologizing...Naresh took it all in stride. While Naresh was getting my Fritos/Cheetos, I had the bottles in my pack filled, loaded up my pockets with gels, shot blocks, etc. and made sure that everything was ready to go. I knew I spent more time than I alloted at Cunningham, but I wanted to make sure that I brought what I had planned since the next drop bag wasn't until Sherman, 19.5 miles away (with Maggie Gulch and Pole Creek in between)