The Final Chapter
Ahh... The Wasatch Front 100 - the coveted last race of the Grand Slam series! Boy was I happy to be at this point! This is the race that Nathan had most been looking forward to from the very beginning and me too, I guess, since this meant that the months of planning and stress were about to be finished! Just kidding, but really!
The little bit of time that we were able to spend at home in between Leadville and leaving for Wasatch (12 days to be exact) were busy with trips back and forth to Heidi's preschool as her classes had started again while we were in Leadville, gymnastics classes, and Wasatch strategizing. Before we knew it, it was time to leave again to head out west for our final trip. Our girls are complete pros at flying now and I couldn't tell you how many times people told me how amazing they were on the plane rides!
We arrived in Salt Lake City on Sunday night and made the quick 40 minute drive to our condo in Park City. Our amazing friends/family Josh & Candice Cole and their two cutie kids, Jude & Erin, had made the trip out the day before and we were all going to be spending the week together out in Park City! Josh and Nathan have been best friends since high school and Josh was actually the one who introduced Nathan and I all those years ago! (We owe him a lot more than just the thanks and praise for this race, I assure you!!) He was also the one that convinced Nathan to run his first ever Ultra back in 2010!
The week wasn't all sunshine and rainbows though. Everyone had a touch of some kind of cold, we dealt with 24-hour stomach bugs, lost luggage, and stolen bank information. But no matter what cards we were dealt, just being together for the week was a wonderful blessing for all!
On Thursday we got the opportunity to go and explore the walking trails around Silver Lake - Cottonwood Canyon and we actually got to see some Moose!!! That was a highlight of the trip for me! It was beautiful up there and the company made it even better!
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| Female moose on the left and bull moose antlers on the right |
After we left the lake we made our way to SLC and the pre-race meeting and packet pick-up. There was a playground nearby and Candice was a trooper and watched all four of the kids so that Nathan, Josh, & I could go to the race meeting. The meeting was short, sweet, and to the point! Just the way I like it. After the meeting we went back to the condo where Joshua Holmes joined us and our parents (who had just gotten into town that afternoon) for some amazing pre-race dinner. Candice and I cooked up some homemade fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and rolls! It was delicious and the boys ate well! With bellies full it was time to try to get some sleep before the last race start in the morning!
It's officially race day!
Once again, it was time for the 10 second countdown, and this one was going to be the last one. 3...2...1... and they were off! We cheered for all the runners and then headed back to the condo to try to get a little bit of rest!
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| Josh fueling up to do some pacing! |
Fast forward a few hours and it was finally time for Dennis, Josh, & me to make our way to the interim parking lot to wait for the okay to head up to the Big Mountain (mile 39) aid station. It was a quick 20 minute drive from the condo to the interim parking. They had a big mobile command center set up and you had to get the okay from them that your runner had made it past the last aid station before they would sign your pass to send you on to the crew aid station. (Although, to be honest, I never saw anyone that was checking passes at either of the aid stations.)
In the short amount of time between Leadville and Wasatch I tried to set out my hopes and intentions for Nathan's last GS run. I was hoping for no sickness, to feel great, and really just to have fun! With no more pressure of more races to come and finally being able to visualize the completion of the 'Summer of Slam' I was just hoping that this race might be different from the last three. So when we finally made it up to the aid station I was full of excitement and energy! They could pick up pacers at this aid station and Josh was excited and ready to go! He and Nathan had decided beforehand that if Nathan was feeling good when he came in here and didn't necessarily need Josh yet then he would save energy and just meet him at the next crew station. Well, the aid station was situated at the bottom of a short decent and if you knew what to look for you could pick out your runner coming down the switchbacks and Nathan was easy to spot because of his orange R/C race shirt. He was jogging and not walking (which is usually a good sign) but gave me a shake of the head when he came in that told me he wasn't feeling good. Already?? I mean come on! He checked into the aid station and then made his way to the port-o-potty where he spent the next 5 or more minutes throwing up, dry heaving, and struggling in between both to tell me what he needed to continue on. When he finally came out of the bathroom he went to sit in the chair and said he had started throwing up around mile 30-33 and that it had hit him out of nowhere. He wanted to lay down and rest already but after sitting for a few minutes and managing to keep down a popsicle he decided to keep going and that he would rest at Lambs Canyon (mile 52) aid station instead. He wanted Josh to go on and start pacing and I was glad. I told him that he was doing great and could pull out of this. We filled their sleeves up with ice, wrapped their Jimbo bandanas around their necks and they checked out of the aid station to tackle the next 13 miles before they would see us again.
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| Big Mountain Aid Station - mile 39 |
My Mom was hoping to bring the girls and meet us at the Lambs Canyon aid station and it broke my heart to call her and tell her that I thought it would be best if the girls weren't there. It was terribly hard on them and Nathan at Western when they were there when he was so sick.
Once we got our ice and some soda for ourselves we made the quick trip back to the interim parking lot to set in and wait for permission to head on over to Lambs Canyon. Around 6:00pm I got a text from Josh that said they were about 1 mile from the Alexander Ridge aid station. Dennis and I patiently waited for the tracking website to update so that we could go and get our pass. By 6:45 the website still hadn't shown they were to the aid so I went over to the command center to see if they knew more than me. The man was really nice and said that he was expected to be through almost 45 minutes ago and he would go on and sign my parking pass so that we didn't miss him at Lambs Canyon! I was extremely grateful.
Lambs Canyon is only roughly about 5 miles and 1 exit away from the interim parking and situated on the road that runs underneath the overpass for the interstate. We made a quick pass by the aid station and decided to park just on the other side of the overpass pointing the direction that the runners were going. Dennis did some quick calculating and told me that the sun was due to set soon and we needed to say some prayers that they would make it to us before it got completely dark because they didn't have any lights with them. I quickly passed along the prayer request to our wonderful prayer group and sent up a bunch of prayers myself. When it started getting close to time for them to come in I walked down to the aid station to watch for them. The runners come up a dirt road before hitting the aid station so it should've been easy for me to see them coming. Well, all of a sudden I catch a glimpse out of the corner of my eye and there is Josh almost to the aid station. I ran over to meet him and tell him where we were parked and so forth. He said Nathan should be coming so I ran back over to the ledge to watch for Nathan. I had only been standing there a few minutes when I hear Josh calling my name. He tells me that Nathan had already been through the aid station and was heading towards the car. Crap! How had I missed him! Josh and I head towards the car and find Nathan leaning against the car losing what little stuff he had in him. He was cold and wanted to rest. I threw his dad's jacket on him and got him situated in the backseat of the car. It was about 8:15pm. I asked him how long he wanted to rest and he told me 15 minutes. As if! I told him I would wake him up at 9:00pm. He agreed and was asleep in seconds.
While he slept I tried to help Josh any way that I could and get them both prepared for the long night ahead of them.
It's taken me a long time to write this next section because the emotion is still so raw. I am finally at the point that I can retell this part of the race with only a few tears streaming down my face.
It was getting close to the 9:00pm wake-up mark and Josh and I were talking in the front seat when all of a sudden Nathan woke up in the backseat and quickly threw open the door to throw up/dry heave onto the road. He was in awful shape. Even worse than his worst at Western. He said that he needed to get moving. His entire body was shaking... and I don't mean like a little shake, I mean like big uncontrollable shaking all over. His eyes had big dark circles under them and he had a spaced out look on his face. I would have to repeat some of my questions because he would look at me all spacey like he didn't even hear me the first couple times. I was worried. Big time. I started out with polite suggestions like "are you sure you don't want to rest a little longer?" and "you've got plenty of time, maybe you could just stay here a little longer." But he was resigned to leaving. He just kept saying that he just had to get moving. My whole body was in knots. I didn't know how I was going to send him off into the dark night abyss and the hardest part of the race when he was so sick and out of it. It just didn't feel right. I remember walking to the trunk of the car where Josh was getting some final stuff together, putting my arm around him, and telling him that he had final call. That Nathan wasn't in the right state of mind to pull himself from the race and that it would be in Josh's hands to make the decision if it got to that point. I remember Josh looking at me and telling me that I was putting a lot of pressure on him and I said, "I know and I'm so sorry." I went back to Nathan and helped him get his warmer clothes and stuff on. I remember feeling so torn. He was so close to his end goal - the thing that we had all worked so hard for and put so much into this summer and I just wanted him to stop and stay here with me where I knew he would be safe. Every single race of this GS series he has been sick and every single time I have tried my best to build him up and tell him he could do this, just keep pushing! But not this time, one more look at his confused face and I said the thing that I had promised myself that I would never say, "Please stop. Please just stay here with me." But he just kept saying that he had to go, he just had to go.
I held Nathan's hand and walked with him & Josh up the road about 20 yards or so. Had Josh not been there to go with him I never would've been able to let him leave that car. There are unique times in our lives when God puts the right people in the right place at the perfect time... and that is exactly what he did when Josh decided to pace Nathan for this race. We said a quick goodbye and Josh promised me that he would take care of him for me.
When I got back to the car I was crying. I had held in the tears to try to be strong for Nathan but I couldn't do it anymore. Dennis was packing things up and when he saw that I was crying he looked at me and asked me if I could catch them. I said, sure I guess. He told me to run down the road and tell Josh that we would wait here for 30 minutes. If Nathan got worse or wasn't any better then he was to turn him around and bring him back. So I took off down the road, running with my crappy headlamp once again, trying to catch them. My lungs were burning and I didn't know how long the road went before they got back on the trail. I finally saw two headlamps up ahead of me and started calling out their names. After a few tries they seemed to finally hear me and stopped so that I could catch up. I was sobbing as I threw my arms around Nathan and told him I was sorry and asked him if he was sure that he was okay to do this. He held me while I cried and told me he didn't know. He didn't know if he should keep going or if he would make it to that finish line. He suggested that we say a prayer because he didn't know what else to do, so the three of us huddled together in the middle of this dark road and asked the Lord for the wisdom to know whether he should keep going or stop, here and later on; for energy and a calm stomach; for peace with the decisions either way; and for overall protection and safety. That would have to do for now. I relayed the message about staying for 30 minutes to Josh and then I left them there, continuing their way on the road and I turned and took my time walking the mile or so back to the car. On my walk back I had a deep, sincere, honest heart to heart with God. I asked him to take all of it from me because I just couldn't do it anymore. I was so worried that it was literally making me sick. I had a headache that was entering into migraine land. I could feel every heartbeat in my eyeballs and temples. I was so sick to my stomach I felt like I was going to throw up at any minute. I asked the Lord to give me that 'Peace beyond all understanding' (Philippians 4:7).
I got back to the car around 9:45pm. I don't know if Dennis will ever understand what this next hour and 15 minutes would mean to me, but let's just say that I have am blessed with an amazing, God-fearing Father-in-law that was able to talk me off the cliff. Another answer to prayer from God I do believe. He told me that a lot of times when we put our trust in God (like the prayers that we had prayed after Nathan came through the first aid station sick) then we expect things to get better or, at the very least, not to get worse. So when things get worse it's easy for people to think that God doesn't care or isn't listening; when really, God wants to know: Do you still trust me? Those simple words were exactly what I needed to know that God had truly heard my crying out to Him. He knew that I still trusted Him and I knew that He would take care of Nathan. Dennis said lots of other wonderful things to me during this tense time while we waited to see if they would turn back and most of the things he said I can't clearly recall. But I know what that time meant to me and it is special.
We ended up staying until 11:00 (1 hr 15 min from when I got back to the car) before deciding that since we hadn't heard from Josh that they must still be moving in the right direction. We drove the 15 minutes back to the condo and once we got settled God answered my prayer for peace. Normally in a race I am too anxious to sleep. I was still feeling rather ill and as I laid down in bed I prepared myself for a long night of worry. But the good Lord allowed me to sleep - which ended up being the greatest distraction for me. I fell to sleep almost immediately. I remember waking around 3:30am, looking at the clock and turned over when I got a text message from Josh. (God had woken me up right on time!) He told me they were through one of the aid stations (I honestly can't remember which) and that Nathan was craving a cold peach or apple and a slushy. I forwarded the message to Dennis and Candice and we decided what time we would need to leave to head up to the Brighton aid station. Mom came down and stayed with all of the sleeping kids so that Candice could come with Dennis & me to this aid station.
About 4:30am we headed out to see them at the last Crew aid station Brighton (mile 75). Half a mile from our condo was a 24-hour Fresh Market so we ran in quick and got him a peach and a nectarine to throw into the cooler and around another corner was a gas station where we got him a cherry slushy. Hopefully these will be what he needs to keep some food down! It was about a 35-40 minute drive from our condo to the Brighton aid station. It's only about 13 miles but it's mostly curvy mountain roads and I felt bad for Candice because she got a little car sick on the way up. While we were driving Candice and I saw a real life porcupine. It was weird and cool all at the same time. That is officially the first and only time I've ever seen one in real life!
When we made it to the aid station we sat in the car to wait for a little bit. We had been following the projected times on the tracking website and they had been pretty accurate so far. We knew that our friend, Joshua Holmes, was a little bit ahead of Nathan so we decided that once we saw him come into the aid station then we would get our stuff and get set up. I saw someone come in that I thought might be Joshua so I got out of the car and walked up the stairs into the aid station to see if it was or not. Lo and behold it was! He looked good but really sleepy. He had already gotten his drop bag so I helped him get some food and washed out and refilled his bottles for him. I talked with him for another minute then headed back out to get Candice & Dennis so we could get all our stuff ready. I had just made it back to the car when Candice and I both thought we saw our Josh walking inside the aid station. All three of us grabbed our stuff and ran up to the aid station. Nathan was only a minute or two behind and we worked quickly to get all of their supplies refilled. Nathan was looking forward to the slushy but a couple sips in it ended up coming back up. So we quietly put it in the garbage. Joshua Holmes stopped to say hey for a second before he headed back out and offered Nathan a sweet tea that he had in his drop bag. It was perfect for Nathan! We knew not to keep them any longer than absolutely necessary at this aid station because it was indoors and they say it is a bad trap if you stay too long. You get all warm and comfy and don't want to leave. So after a few hugs and kisses and lots of praise we got them out the door.
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| Leaving Brighton |
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| Dennis took this picture at Brighton and at the time I had no idea that he even took it. It is the most special picture of this entire race and GS series to me! How hard it is too send the one you love back out... "Love lifted me" |
"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:5
The rest of the morning was spent getting our stuff together since we had to check out by 12:00pm and constantly refreshing our phones and tablets to see how he was moving through the aid stations. We left the condo and made our way towards the finish line, stopping on the way at a McDonald's so the kids could eat and play for a little bit. We got to the finish line in plenty of time to find a nice spot in the grass close to a huge tree and relax a little in the shade while we waited. The runners have to run about a 0.5 mile on the road to the finish and Dennis had his big zoom on his camera so he was able to see when they were coming! Before long we saw them making their way up the road and the happy tears were streaming down all of our faces as we ran over to see them cross the finish line!
In conclusion:
This summer has been one of the best and worst summers of my life. We got to travel to places we had never been and see beautiful and amazing things that some people will never get the chance to see. I also had to see the one that I love go through some really tough times and I had to learn to deal with the fact that I couldn't do anything else to help him. The only way I can put that into perspective for myself is to see the similarity between this and natural child birth for me. I now know how Nathan must've felt to see me in so much pain but still resigned to my final outcome.
Above all else this summer, my faith has grown exponentially. I have learned to truly and wholeheartedly trust God with everything and anything. The things I can control and the things that I cannot. As I was recounting this story to my good friend Jenny (you may remember her from my Leadville post) she told me that she has often heard stories from others about God really showing up and showing what He can do and she wondered to herself how she could get that to happen in her own life. Her conclusion was that a lot of the time these people (including us) were taking some really big risks without being completely certain of the outcome, but putting our trust in God regardless. I agree 100%. Our shirts say it all - "God's Glory - Our Joy"!!
I want to say a quick thank you to everyone and anyone, people we know and don't know, for all of the prayers, thoughts, and well wishes through this entire journey! We couldn't have done this without y'all!
It still doesn't quite feel like it's actually over. Maybe once we stay in town for a solid 6 weeks with no traveling it will finally start to set in! ha ha
Now I am going to go take a nap!
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