(Miwok 100K Trail Race - Official Website)
I was up at 4:00 a.m. and out of the house at 5:00 a.m. for my hour long drive to Mill Valley. My first assignment, after arriving at 6:00 a.m., was to get the numbers of all the runners as they came into the Tennessee Valley aid station at mile 11.9. I'd say it took about 1-1/2 to 2 hours for all 322 of them to come through. Now they were all on their way and would not be back until mile 58.4. So, after the last runner came through, a few of us went to The Dipsea Cafe for brunch. I had a pear, walnut and brie omelet with a very nice buttermilk biscuit. Quite yummy!
Welcome to the Dipsea Cafe!
When I got back, I changed into some running pants and went out to check a very small loop of the course (3.75 miles) to make sure there were enough pink ribbons for the runners to see when they came back through.
Here's my view of the ocean: (Nice, huh?)
Here's what I looked like all day:
This is why bright pink ribbons were VERY IMPORTANT:
Below the fog and not raining for a very short period:
Oh, here comes Rick (365me) at mile 58.4:
And......... there he goes:
I was taking the numbers of the runners again and waiting for a few of my friends to show back up. After Rick, Andy Kumeda showed up. I asked him about Catra. He assured me she was back there. I was still waiting for Mike Bohi who was supposed to be picking up Victoria to pace him. Right before I was getting ready to leave, I looked up the trail and heard Victoria's voice. However, Mike was not with her. She was running with Suzanne (sp). Apparently Mike had to drop somewhere. I'm sure we'll find out what happened. At this point I heard 52 runners had dropped from the race. I sure as hell don't blame any of them. Some people say they wouldn't have made it through 90+ degrees at Diablo? I wouldn't have lasted very long at all in the conditions yesterday. I guess we all have our limits.Okay, there was some sunshine in my day. Hal Koerner, (an awesome ultrarunner, Western States winner, etc.) pulled up in the parking lot. He tethered his doggie to his waist and headed out for a short run. I was completely star struck. The aid station captain, Stan Jensen, grabbed my camera and asked Hal if he'd mind standing next to me for a picture. He was very nice as he agreed to do it. Alas, my work there was done.
Until later.............
17 comments:
I think I might have taken the foggy wet mess over the weather you had for Diablo....but most people think I'm nuts!
Good for you for volunteering! I may volunteer for the LA marathon-I know it's not the same but it's the least one can do....
I am sure the volunteers appreciated your smiling happy face! Volunteers rock!
Yay YOU! Volunteers ROCK!!
And it looks like you had a lot of fun doing it too. :-)
Hello you ball of positive energy, wrapped in a pink weather proof jacket. It was great hearing you call out my name at Tennessee Valley. Woohoo. Isn't the Dipsea Cafe fun. They have yummy pancakes the size of plates. Nice views of the ocean:) Thanks for volunteering. Stan's awesome.
Thanks so much for being out there! You are hard-core!!! (And it cracked me up to hear you yelling, "Victoria, you have the wrong runner!" as though she had picked me up by mistake instead of Mike.) Oh, and you spelled my name right -- thanks!
Oh, and, if I had known there would be a photo-op with Hal, I might have spent the day at Tennessee Valley too! Lucky girl!
I haven't yet volunteered at a race, but I think I'm going to at this year's RnR since I have friends running it and I'm not...looks like a different kind of fun (and a way to give back).
PS...I always buckle my helmet. I actually had it off and only put it back on for the photo :-)
Excellent report!, I am planning on becoming a volunteer on a race this year, just to know what it takes to organize one.
My main objective is to be able to organize races next year!
Great job!
web.me.com/amaurydeleon
Thanks for volunteering. I meant to say hello, but was too frazzled trying to get in and out quickly. Anyone who volunteers is an angel!
The weather was unpleasant, but that in itself didn't bother us much (cool is better than hot). Somehow the conditions were much slower than expected - something about not sliding off trails or falling on your butt, and for those of us with glasses, just hopelessly blurry with the rain blowing onto both sides of the lenses! Really lost a lot of time up on the ridge.
Glad you had a good time and didn't freeze.
Cynthia
Nice job! Looks like you had a blast there. I'm hoping to get some volunteering in at WS. Maybe I'll bring my acoustic and play some.
Talk about hallucinations! :)
It was so good to see you! You spend a TON of time out there, and after waiting around for a couple of hours, I can tell you that I thought it was better to be running than volunteering. Thanks so much for helping out yesterday!
It was great seeing you at Tennessee Valley. I was on a big-time high at that point and was glad to see you were meeting runners there. Body was frozen to the bone at Bolinas (mile 28) and I had to drop. Pissed off, but under the circumstances, not totally unexpected.
I do love the little brushes with 'fame' that get us all excited. Doesn't mean much to some but I totally know what you mean.
What a crap ass day, you get a prize for volunteering...oh right, you got that breakfast! Sounds killer good.
You are so stinkin cute I love it! YAY for volunteers! Looks like a lot of fun . . . it also helps when the famous peeps (with nice leggers might I add LOL) roll up ;-)
OMG it was such a soggy day, but you look pretty and cheerful in pink!
Jo Lynn-
Thanks for helping out it was great to see you out there.
I survived like always ;)
Don't think that I wasn't, thinking of a way I could get out of finishing ;) But I'm to stubborn to quit.
We all had a tough day. I'm happy I had my gortex jacket ;) it saved me.
What's next up for you??
Love ya,
Catra
Give boomer a kiss from me.
This reminds me that I need to do some more volunteering. Great report.
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