Continued from Page 1 . . .

NOW WHAT?

What we did for the rest of the race was completely up to us: go back to net control, go to Fish Hatchery, or go to one of the other aid stations to see if the ham(s) wanted to take a break.

Jim's first choice was Fish Hatchery since no hams had been there all morning. The timing and location were also convenient for us there. The aid station would be open for returning runners from about 3 PM Saturday to 3 AM Sunday. The fastest previous time into the aid station on the return was about 4 PM, and the way Tony had been running, he'd probably beat that time. We'd better get out there!

We packed the truck for a long day and night at one or more aid stations. Cody got to come with us this time, since we had no clue how long we'd be out there -- possibly at Mayqueen (the last aid station on the return) until mid-morning Sunday if we moved over there during the night.

We arrived at Fish Hatchery (above) at 3:30 PM Saturday. I was afraid we might have already missed Tony or one of the other fast fellas, but no runners had come in yet.

The aid station was all set up and ready to receive over 300 runners who were still known to be in the race. The AS captain, Ed, was surprised to see us because "we never needed radio folks before" but he welcomed us fairly graciously and by the end of the night, he'd found ways we could be useful.

Jim parked the truck in the shade about 100 feet from both the building used for the aid station and the timing tent. You can barely see our gray truck in the photo above, toward the left and behind the blue timing canopy.

Runners have to come up a paved driveway into the hatchery, past several buildings and the timing tent, continue in one end of the building and out the other (for their weight checks, drop bags, food, and fluids), then back down the parking lot, past the timers, and down to the road.

The view from the Leadville National Fish Hatchery lawn

This is a great location to crew and hang out during the race, with ample parking, the long approach to set up chairs, nice cool grass, some shade, a scenic vista to the northeast (above), and interesting fish hatchery ponds and a visitor center to go in.

WHERE'S TONY?

After Jim and I introduced ourselves to the timers and got the radio set up in the truck, Cody and I found a shady spot in the grass about 50 feet in front of the timing tent and waited for Tony to set another "fastest time into an aid station."

We waited and waited and took little walks and talked to crews waiting for their (fast) runners. Four o'clock came and went -- there would be no new record fastest time at Fish Hatchery Inbound. I was partly disappointed and partly glad that Matt Carpenter's course record might stand.

Tony Krupika, his pacer, his next pacer, and Karl Meltzer approach
the Fish Hatchery aid station on Saturday afternoon.

Jim heard Tony's time at Box Creek, the aid station about eight miles before us, and knew that he was slowing down. In fact, Tony lost a considerable amount of time because he had to walk quite a bit. It was an unusually warm day for Leadville, reportedly the second hottest day this month and the hottest in the race's 27-year history. I'd venture to guess it was also one of the few years there was no rain, sleet, hail, or snow on Hope Pass during the race. It was very dry by LT100 standards.

That was both good news for some runners and bad news for others. No rain made the footing excellent and runners weren't likely to get hypothermic at night. Those who were adequately heat trained, paced themselves conservatively, and took enough fluids and electrolytes had a good race. Folks who weren't so well heat-trained, didn't pace themselves properly, or got dehydrated ended up with cramps and worse.

L-R: Tony, current pacer, Karl Meltzer, next pacer

About 4:35 PM Tony and his pacer could be seen walking along the road to Fish Hatchery. His next pacer and Karl Meltzer (coach? mentor? friend?) joined the procession up the driveway and into the aid station.

It was a shock to me to see this lithe young man walking and not running up the driveway (two photos above). He was still walking with determination, though -- and he was still the first one to reach that point.

After spending eleven long minutes inside the aid station, Tony came out with his new pacer for the next section over Sugarloaf Mountain and the infamous "power line," Karl Meltzer, and a young woman (below). He was smiling and looked more chipper, although he was limping a bit as he walked down the driveway to the road.

Not long after this Duncan Callahan, Timmy Parr, and Nick Lewis came into the aid station in that order within a few minutes of each other (their photos are all below). They all ran up most or all of the driveway, spent very little time in the aid station, and ran back down. It was obvious to those of us in the aid station that one or all of them would probably overtake Tony fairly soon unless he miraculously recovered from whatever was ailing him.

About an hour after Tony left the aid station, he came back on an ATV that he requested via another runner's crew person, who had a cell phone. He officially withdrew from the race and was last seen walking slowly down the driveway to a vehicle. I don't believe he was at the awards ceremony. I read later that he was having such bad cramps from dehydration that he was unable to recover enough to resume running. It's probably best that he quit so he didn't end up in the hospital. You can check our Tony's blog about his take on the race; I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Timmy Parr (L) and crew at Fish Hatchery (76.5 miles). 
Third at that point, Timmy later took the lead and won the race.

Later on, we heard on the radio that Timmy Parr finished the race first in 17:27 hours (well off the course record but a good time in the heat). Nick Lewis passed Duncan Callahan for second place in 17:44. Duncan held on for third in 18:26, twenty-four minutes slower than his winning time in 2008.

You can see all the results and times in and out of the aid stations on the LT100 website.

MAKING OURSELVES USEFUL AT FISH HATCHERY

Jim's main job was to man the radio in case of an emergency or to relay information. Since the radio  he borrowed wasn't portable, he had to stay within earshot of the truck. And since it wasn't dual-band, we could hear only half of the aid station reports. It was a little weird hearing net control ask questions or make comments to the hams at Hope Pass or Mayqueen but not hear their replies! But we heard enough information from Winfield, the finish line, Twin Lakes, and Box Creek (the two aid stations before ours on the return) that we knew who finished the race, who dropped out, and other interesting information that very few other people were privy to in real time.

Nick Lewis runs into Fish Hatchery AS at 76.5 miles. He finished second in the race.

I had more freedom to roam around so I helped out a bit in the aid station, ran errands for Jim, relayed messages from the AS captain, and hunted for crew members and pacers whose runners dropped at other aid stations and needed a ride.

We weren't very busy until after dark. Although runners were in the aid station over an 11-hour span between 4:30 PM and 3:30 AM, the bulk arrived just before and after midnight. That's not surprising when you consider that about half of the finishers cross the finish line in the last two hours of the race.

Duncan Callahan, last year's winner, walks up the fish hatchery driveway
to the aid station. He finished third this year.

At night crews also started worrying about why their runners were so late getting to Fish Hatchery. Jim handled several "inquiries" from crew members who discovered either that their runner had already dropped out or had just slowed down after the crew saw them last and would be coming along shortly. Jim was also able to help with transportation issues of runners who dropped at our aid station and didn't have rides back go Leadville. He relayed various bits of information to net control and to Bill Moyer, who acted as "The Facilitator" during the race. (Bill wears many hats in the two weeks he and Jan are in Leadville.) Jim also read some numbers and times from one of  the timers' sheets that was unreadable when it was faxed to net control.

Although we didn't have a lot to do and weren't critical at Fish Hatchery, we had fun talking with friends, cheering on the runners, and helping out as needed.

Jim talks with Robert Andrulis, who dropped at an earlier aid station and was crewing for friend.

There were also some funny moments, especially late at night and in the early morning hours when a couple of the ham operators were getting a bit punchy from being on the job so many hours. Marsha, who was relaying times from Box Creek, kept referring to her aid station (the one that was relocated from Half Moon) as Rock Creek so many times that Anne, working the radio at net control, started calling it that, too. And one of them referred to Bill-the-Facilitator as "The Affiliator."

Maybe you had to be there! Jim and I were getting a little silly by 3 AM, too.

That was the cut-off for our aid station. Anyone coming in later was supposed to stop because their chance of finishing the race was almost nil. However, one fella who came in right at the cut-off was allowed to continue a few minutes later. We were happy to discover at the awards ceremony that he finished.

Right about when all the runners were accounted for at our aid station and the timers were packing up to leave, net control informed us that another one or two sheets they faxed in were unreadable. I relayed that information to the AS captain so he could send them again. Instead of doing that, or asking Jim to call in the numbers and times again, he simply left the aid station when it closed and took the sheets back personally to net control.

That pretty much left Jim and me "holding the bag."

Front entrance to the fish hatchery handsome visitors' center, where you can see tanks
of baby fish in various stages of growth. Check out the antique bathroom fixtures, too!

At most races in remote mountainous terrain it is the responsibility of either the AS captain, someone (s)he designates, and/or the ham radio operator to remain at a closed aid station until all the runners have either made it safely to the next aid station or have passed the "point of no return." We had had no conversation with Ed about this prior to our arrival at Fish Hatchery. Since no hams had worked there previously, we were a bit surprised to discover he assumed we'd be staying and he could leave!

Guess he finally realized what an advantage it can be to have a ham at his aid station!

When Jim radioed this information to net control, Bruce (the ham radio director) and the timing coordinator (who is also the aid station director) were not happy with Ed but asked us to stay until they had word that the last runner had made it to the top of the power line on Sugarloaf Mountain; after that, it was easier for runners to continue on to Mayqueen than return to Fish Hatchery if they wanted to drop out. It didn't matter that four ATVs were sweeping the course behind the last runners and could carry one or more of them to Mayqueen if necessary; we were asked to stay until further notice.

Two of our favorite young runners:  Nick Coury (L) and his brother Nate
(his pacer for the next section) run up to the Fish Hatchery aid station.

We weren't real happy about that but we knew it was important for someone to be out there in case a runner ended up back at the Hatchery. We chose to do the responsible thing.

Around 4 AM Bruce called us in. We went back to the courthouse so Jim could return the borrowed radio and talk with Bruce about our day (and night). Bruce thanked Jim for staying at the aid station even though it was ultimately Ed's responsibility to do so since there is cell phone service at that location. 

We finally got to bed about 5 AM, totally exhausted. I went to sleep thinking that it's almost easier to run this race than to crew or volunteer!

ODE TO VOLUNTEERS

There are many unsung volunteer heroes of this race. Bruce and Marsha Talley are two of them. Not only did they come all the way from Illinois to coordinate all of the radio volunteers and do a lot of work before both the bike and foot races, they also helped to set up the Box Creek aid station and were out there all the hours it was open during the race.

After their aid station closed and all the runners were accounted for at Fish Hatchery (about 3 AM), Bruce and Marsha went back to help out at net control. We didn't expect to see them at the awards ceremony, but there they were, helping to put the times on the finishers' sweatshirts! They're in the center of the next photo, which is fuzzy because I took it from so far away:

I'm amazed at their stamina and commitment, and I hope race management knows what gems they are. Same with Jan and Bill Moyer (who come every year from Michigan to work hard for two weeks) and several other very dedicated volunteer leaders at this race. Their loyalty and commitment are outstanding and it is a pleasure to work with them.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3: NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS (AWARDS CEREMONY) AND FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT WORKING LT100

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, and Cody the Ultra Lab

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© 2009 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil