Pre-Race: Coming into this race I had quite a bit of nervous energy. After all of the craziness that encompassed Western and the fact that I would be leaving our girls for the first time ever; I was feeling pretty anxious when it came time to leave on Thursday. We were planning on driving all through the night on the way up and the way back so we laid our second row flat and put up the third row so that whoever was in the back could stretch their legs and then later on we could inflate the twin size air mattress and use it to sleep. Nathan, Dennis, Daniel, & I loaded up in the car and after lots of goodbye kisses from the girls and some tears from me we finally got on the road about 7:25pm. Now anyone who knows me knows that I hate to drive; if it is over an 8 hour drive time just put me on an airplane. But I can honestly say that the drive up to VT wasn't bad! We had ice cream, learned a lot about Genghis Khan (thanks to Daniel's podcast series), and everyone was able to have some decent periods of resting and driving.
We made it up to the Start/Finish around 2:00pm and got Nathan all checked in! We had some time to kill before the 4:00pm mandatory meeting so we were making our way towards the trail to see what the last mile of the course looked like when we stopped to chat with a man named Paul and his horse Adam. Paul had explained how the runners and the horses were really similar when it comes to endurance races. They have to watch how much the horses are eating/drinking, keep their electrolytes in check, and make sure that their bowels and such are still functioning. Here are some of the things that we learned: the horses have mandatory rest points at certain aid stations where they are thoroughly checked over by a Veterinarian who determines if they were well enough to continue on, that further along in the race he would actually dismount his horse and hold the horse's tail and hike behind him to give the horse's back a break when going up climbs, that if you're passing a horse at night to talk to the horse/rider as soon as you get the chance as to not spook him, and to not look at the horse with your headlamp on when passing because you can blind him for a few seconds. I know I was pretty curious how the race would go with runners and horses racing together so I was thankful for the chat and the information!
We finished with the mandatory meeting, picked up some dinner on the way back to the hotel (which wasn't as easy as it seems because there isn't a whole lot in Springfield, VT), and finally got into bed at about 8:00pm.
Race Day: We woke up around 2:00am and got ready for the day ahead of us! It was raining pretty good and didn't let up until right before race time. When we got back up to the Start/Finish we met up with the rest of our Crew and lined up to cheer the runners off! Now that the rain had stopped the weather was spectacular, despite the warnings for humidity from some of the Northerners, (clearly they have never been to the South) and soon enough they were off!
The Vermont 100 is mostly run on private property so they have some pretty strict rules to keep all the landowners happy. One of the biggest rules had to do with Crewing. You are only allowed one Crew vehicle (which is checked in the day before with your runners number written on the windshield) and they don't give you any Crew directions until your car is checked in with their staff. I assume this is to keep people from going up and trying to pre-run sections of the race before race day. But, as I am a planner, I was a little stressed because I didn't have any directions or information. Well let me tell you - their directions were amazing!!!
We made it to the Pretty House aid station (mile 21.3) in plenty of time and everyone took about 20-30 minutes to rest before we got our stuff out and ready. Nathan came cruising into this aid station and was looking great! He hit the bathroom, had us fill up his water, switched out his bottle of perpetuem for a fresh one, and grabbed some pickles and a banana and he was back on the move! I was thrilled to see him feeling good and smiling!
The next aid station was Stage Rd (mile 30.3) and with it being so close we packed up pretty quickly and made the short drive over there to get set up. (We made quick friends with the parking crew when we offered them some of Gramma's famous homemade chocolate chip cookies all the way from Tennessee.) At this aid the runners have to run down the road and around the corner to get to the aid station so part of our crew went over to the turn to see him coming down the road (and ring the cow bell so we knew he was coming, thanks Annabelle!) while the rest of us stayed with our stuff. He came cruising into this one much like the last one and headed straight for the bathroom. (Which is a good thing!) We made quick work getting him the things he needed and he was in and out pretty quickly!
From here we went on to Camp 10 Bear for the first time (mile 47) - we revisit this aid station again at mile 69.4. We found a nice spot right past the aid station with easy access to both the aid and the exit. It's always so nice to have a runner in the front of the pack because then you get all of the good parking spots! We knew we had some time to kill and so Kristin and Daniel went to check out some later parts of the course that she would be running, Deborah and I tried to catch a little shut eye, Deming took some pictures, and Dennis & Annabelle played some card games!
It was only 11.5 miles between that aid station and the next aid station at Margaritaville (mile 58.5) but there were some harder climbs so we took the opportunity to stop in at a little general store called Watroba's and get a sandwich from their deli! It was a cute little family owned store and since they didn't have a restroom the lady even let Daniel use her personal one upstairs where they lived above the shop! It also worked out nicely since the day before Nathan's mom & stepdad, Deborah & Deming, had left their car here (they weren't going to get to stay for the whole race) and we were able to see where we would be dropping them off after the next aid station.
Back in the car and on to Margaritaville we went! We didn't have to wait too long for Nathan to come into this aid station since we had used up quite a bit of time getting lunch so we maybe only waited about 10-15 minutes before we saw him... walking in. Immediately my mind flashed back to Western when he came death marching into mile 55. I knew that he had gotten off track because of the bottle we had left out and no matter how many times he "tries" to reassure me I know that was the reason. He walked in and went to the bathroom where he spent a little bit more time than at the previous stations. When he came out we gave him some plain Lays chips and those almost immediately came back up. Oh crap. After Western we had gotten him some rub on Zofran cream in case he wouldn't be able to keep anything down so I grabbed it quickly and rubbed some on his arm. The only problem with this was that as he sweat it would come out of his pores or would not get absorbed well from the beginning. He said he wanted to keep moving so he grabbed some puréed chicken noodle soup and kept moving on down the trail.
From this point on my nerves became crap.
We left Margaritaville more worried than we had been all day but with the hope that he could turn it around. I remember saying a lot of prayers on our way to Watroba's to drop off Deborah & Deming. We got them set and on their way and headed back to Camp 10 Bear (mile 69.4) for the second time. I was afraid that the parking here would be an absolute nightmare since that is where the 100k runners also meet up with the rest of the race and with all the 100 mile runners who would be coming into Camp 10 Bear for the first time... but as we came in from the opposite direction as everyone else we saw some prime spots right by where we had parked the first time and were able to just drive by everyone else (sorry to all those people walking half a mile in) and got a great spot! This was also the aid station where Nathan could pick up his first pacer, Kristin! While Kristin was getting ready and we were waiting the sun decided to make an appearance and it got HOT, quick! I took a second to thank God that it hadn't been this hot all day and then Annabelle, Dennis, and I got to work stuffing ice into some jimbo bandanas, for Nathan & Kristin, that his mom and I had made! I knew he would probably not be feeling great when he came into this aid after getting sick at the last station and then now with the heat. Down the hill he came where he had to weigh-in again and then came over to us where he asked for Coke in a bottle and no more perpetuem. Crap again! We put his arm warmers on, stuffed them full of ice, wrapped his bandana around his neck, and he & Kristin took off.
Over to Spirit of 76 (mile 76.2) aid station and Daniel was going to be picking up running with Nathan from here so he got all his stuff ready and we had to walk a 0.25 mile or so down to the aid station. The sun was still out and it was still warm so we brought along another jimbo bandana and bag full of ice. Thankfully the aid station was in the shade with plenty of tree coverage so we didn't have to sit there and roast while we waited for them to come in. Of course the aid station was at the top of a climb and before too long we saw them coming up the hill. We had everything ready to go into his pack but as he gets to us he tells us he is ditching his pack and just wants his hand bottles. So we scrambled around a bit to get different bottles ready and while we were working on that Nathan throws up again. For whatever reason he doesn't do well with stopping once he's been sick. So we finally get him the things that he needs and he and Daniel get moving. Back to the van we go!
Kristin fills us in on her leg of the race as we head over to Bill's aid station (mile 88.3). We even got lucky enough to see Nathan & Daniel on one of the "gravel roads" on our way there! Once we got to Bill's we took some time to clean out and organize the back of the van. I remember feeling weird that it was this early and we were already this close to the finish. We started the short walk down from the parking area (another grassy field - more on that in a minute) when we looked up at the sky and saw a dark, dark rain cloud. Right after we got down there I forgot that I was going to grab a baby zofran from the van in case Nathan needed one and so I turned around to head back to the van when it started raining. I ran to the van, grabbed everyone's rain jackets, and ran back down to the aid. It monsooned for a good 20 minutes and we got soaked. Head to toe we were just wet. (For the 3rd time that day!) It quit raining and was getting mostly dark when I saw Nathan's headlamp coming down the road. His Nao headlamp is so bright it's easy to pick out from a distance. He had his last weigh-in at this aid station and he grabbed some fresh coke and told me that he expected me to run at the next aid station before heading out.
So we get back into the van and peel off our rain coats to try and dry out some on the way to the last aid station when we have to exit the grassy field out of a small uphill section. After that momentous downpour the grass was so soggy and slick! We got close and then would spin. Back up and try again; keep spinning. Kristin did great and with some coaching from Dennis and some praying we finally made it out of the field and onto the road. I can't imagine how bad that field was by the end of the race and just how many cars got stuck!
Oh, Polly's. Polly's aid station (mile 94.9) is officially the last Crew aid station before the Finish and also the point that I was supposed to start pacing with Nathan. I have always been wary of pacing Nathan. I mean I run at a tortoise pace and he is, well, the hare. I always joke that it takes him running 95 miles before I can keep up with him for 5 miles. At the beginning of the race I was actually looking forward to running this section with him, but as the race went on I knew that the smartest decision would be to let him keep running with Daniel. If he decided to push it those last 5 miles (which he did) there would be no way that I could keep up and as much as I wanted to run with him - making him slow up to my pace was out of the question. So as they came rolling into the aid station it was pretty clear that I wasn't going to be running with him. I told him it was the better decision and that I would see him at the Finish line shortly!
It took just a few minutes to drive from here to the Finish and when we got there we made sure to park Kristin on a downhill so she wouldn't have to worry about getting stuck and started to unload our stuff out of her van and back into my car. We had just finished when Dennis said that we should probably make our way over to the Finish line in case Nathan decided to pull some crazy 10 minute miles out of his hat for these last 5 miles. (Which, funnily enough, is exactly what he did!) We literally were at the Finish line for about 3 minutes when I saw 2 headlamps making their way down to the Finish. I knew that it was Nathan and Daniel because right before the Finish Daniel pulled off the trail, shut his light off, and then Nathan crossed the line! (Daniel is so thoughtful about letting Nathan cross the finish line alone, which is one of the things I really appreciate about him! Plus, his awesome race videos!!) I couldn't believe our luck and am so thankful that the good Lord put us down there right on time! So completely and utterly proud of him! Vermont 100 complete!!
#twodowntwotogo
Many blessings,
Nate's Kate
Keep up the great posts!!
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