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Coach's Corner
The last three weekends have been packed with long distance endurance events.
First we had the 24 hr of Old Pueblo Mountain Bike and the Lost Dutchman Marathon and Half. The next weekend was Ragnar. Last weekend was the Old Pueblo 50 (52) and the Phoenix Marathon and Half.
Participating in events like these takes much more than just being physically prepared for them. When you are exposed to such long hours out in the open, you need to be ready to deal with unexpected situations and have contingency plans. There comes a point where decisions have to be made. Many great accomplishments have been possible because of people taking risks and going for the unexpected, but safety always has to come first.
We started the weekend of the Old Pueblo 50 with a group of 11 well prepared and ready-to-go racelabbers, eager to conquer this beast of a race. We gladly adopted two friends (friends of racelabbers are always treated like racelabbers). Every Friday prior to the race we carpool to the packet pick up in Tucson, eat lunch and gelato, and then drive to the hotel to enjoy a nice team pre-race dinner. Andy organized this beautifully, as he does every year.
Those who don't know much about this race:
It starts in Kentucky Camp, a very small cabin (3 rooms) out in the wilderness. The course is one loop on a variety of single tracks, over mountain, jeep roads, crossing some streams and finishes at the same cabin.
During the race there are only 4 stops where the crew has contact with the runners; mile 7, 25, 29 and 40. There are other aid stations out there, but not accessible to the crews and spectators. The runners have "drop bags" for each aid station with clothes, food, and other things they may need.
We knew it was going to be wet and windy, but the temperature was warmer than last year, so that was a good thing.
Everybody did well and looked great at mile 7. By the time we reached mile 25, it was already wet, cold and very windy. Everybody changed clothes by the xterras, put on a poncho or a very fashionable garbage bag and continued on. Nora, unfortunately, had to drop out due to stomach issues. On the way to mile 29, we stopped by a young lady who was clearly on the verge of hypothermia, put her in the car, took the wet clothes off, wrapped her in Nora's Bronco's blanket and drove her to the finish line. By the time we reached mile 40, the weather was insane. After 8 plus hours, some runners would collapse from the cold, sleeting rain and wind. When Andy arrived, he was in an extremely good mood, strong and happy. He had been running with a guy for most of the race and they were helping each other out. He had the most improvised trash bag outfit out there! Then came Nate. This was his first ultra and he was handling it like a champ. It helped that, besides being in great shape, he was very well prepared with fantastic water proof clothing. Plus his wife Heather was a master supporter and sherpa! Then we saw Johann, who was clearly determined to redeem himself from last year's race. He ate something and went on. Lito and Ron were right there with him... focused and handling the situation really well! They took their time changing in the xterra before heading out to the cold again.
Mike and Mauricio made it to mile 40 in much colder conditions. They tried to warm up in the car, but didn't get warm enough and without the right gear at that point, decided to call it a day. This was not without struggling, since for an athlete of that level, it is always difficult to make this decision. We inquired about Sara and Daryl and were told that they had dropped out due to cold at mile 33.
We headed out to the finish line to wait for everybody that was still running. One of the volunteers told us that Louis was missing and never made it to mile 29. They had swept the course till mile 25 and didn't find him. They also said they had sent a search party. On the other hand we didn't see his car, so we thought he had dropped out and gone to the hotel. Then his friend told us that he had seen him after mile 29. All in all, there was a lot of contradicting information, so we followed the race organizers around to see what else we could learn and what they planned to do.
Finishers continued to trickle in wet and cold. The rain kept beating down and the temperatures kept dropping. After finishing the runners piled into the cabin to change clothes, eat hot soup, warm up by the fire place and tell their race story.
All racelabbers, except Louis, were accounted for. Some finished and the others were transported to the finish line. Everybody was helping everybody out, bringing food, helping get dry clothes, making sure everybody was ok. At one point there were almost only racelab people in the cabin. Plus all the friends they had made throughout the day.
We told everybody to go to the hotel while Gus and I, together with Louis' friend Chris, stayed to find out what was going on. At this point the race organizers started calling the fire department and the police. They couldn't give us any information on where Louis could be. We analyzed the course and the only place we could go in the car to look for him was around mile 29. We prayed he would be in that section, otherwise it was impossible to look for him. Gus and Chris drove out and honked and yelled until finally Louis came out to the road. He was cold and wet, but in good spirits!
He had turned the wrong way between 25 and 29 and by the time he came back to aid station 29 they had taken it down. He made the difficult decision to stay there, and wait to be picked up, even though he knew it was probably going to take a long time. He stayed there, covering himself with the trash bag we had given him at mile 25 and without a light. He didn't see a single person or car for over 4hrs! What a trooper!
By the time we left the finish line they were still looking for other runners. Thankfully, everyone was found by the next morning. Other runners together with some volunteers had to spend the night at mile 40 (in cars) since the river had grown so high that there was no way out of there.
At the end everybody was safe...wet...cold...and exhausted!
I want to congratulate our finishers:
Andy Krebs, Nate Finden, Johann Warnholtz, Ron Pina and Lito Silla.
Also a big congratulations to those who started and didn't finish. It takes a lot of courage to drop out and make the right decision in situations like these:
Nora Carrillo, Sara Cline, Daryl Teo, Mike Cruz, Mauricio Valdez, Susanne Lafferty, Chris Brown and Louis Core
We all have a huge amount of admiration for Louis Core. For being so tough, not only physically to endure hours in the cold, but for the mental toughness and great judgement out there!
Big thanks to our fantastic crew:
Stephanie Warnholtz, Katlyn Evans, Heather Finden, Vera Lopez, Nora Carrillo, Cindy Rash and Ruth Ann Teo
And to our rescuers: Gus and Chris
During times like these you really see what people are made of, and again I'm extremely impressed on how everybody reacted, helped and kept a positive attitude.
You are the best!
Bettina
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