(Continued from page 2.)
SCENES FROM THE TWIN BUTTES AID STATION
We drove back the forest service roads toward Burgess Junction,
turning on FSR 156 to this new aid station location. We could
see the buttes before that turn:
The runners used a 3+ mile jeep track through the sage and
forest between Dry Fork and Twin Buttes to reach the aid
station.
Search & Rescue and aid station volunteers were camped out overnight Friday and Saturday in
campers, trucks, and tents:
This aid station (and most of the others) is smaller and simpler than the one at Dry Fork:
Jim (standing in center, below) went over to talk with the S & R guys while we waited for
Matt:
Runners approached the Twin Buttes AS from a trail through the
sagebrush and returned to Dry Fork the same way:
Matt came through about 15 minutes after we got there and seemed
happy with the new 3+ mile section of trail:
Anne greets Matt as he comes into the Twin
Buttes AS.
The Search & Rescue guys working the aid station surprised
everyone (including the course crew) by building a bridge
over knee-deep Fool Creek before the runners got there. That
helped make this new section easier to negotiate.
Jim and I haven't seen any of this trail and won't tomorrow,
either, since our race will begin at Dry Fork as usual. If the
road hadn't miraculously cleared enough by now, we would have
begun the 30K at this location. Although
I was hoping to see some new trail the 30K distance is better
for me than an additional 3+ miles since I haven't run/hiked
that far in a while.
Matt hustles out of the aid station. Anne
won't see him again until tomorrow.
We returned to Dayton after Matt went back out. There wasn't
much point in driving back to Dry Fork since he was doing well
and had a drop bag there.
Anne won't see him again until tomorrow. She's in the 30K but
will wait on Matt at Dry Fork if he hasn't come through before
our race begins at 10 AM, then run the remainder of the race
with him. They both have until 9 PM to finish. That may make her
race time longer but she doesn't care; her focus is on
helping Matt get through the last 18 miles.
A DOG'S TALE
Earlier in the afternoon when we were at Dry Fork one of the
runners (our friend, Davy Crockett) came down Freeze Out Road toward the aid station with a
muddy female yellow Lab that reminded us of our dearly departed
Tater. You can see her close behind Davy's legs in the next
picture:
At first I thought he brought his dog and she ran out to greet
him as he approached the aid station (Davy's son was crewing for
him). But right after I took that picture the dog
peeled off to the side of the road and ran
around looking confused.
That's when we realized she wasn't
with Davy but had followed him from somewhere. I don't think
she followed him out of the aid station to Twin Buttes.
I took this picture of her as she briefly sat on a rock near us,
trying to get her bearings:
Soon after I took that picture she loped off and we didn't see
her again.
A couple of hours later at the Twin Buttes AS a volunteer who
had been at the Lower Sheep Creek AS -- a good ten
miles from Dry Fork and thirteen from Twin Buttes -- came
by looking for his dog.
Yep, the one we saw at Dry Fork! Appears to be another good
ultra-Lab like ones we've had.
The volunteer had the dog with him at Lower Sheep Creek AS. She
took off after the first runner, Zach, went through that station
and the owner couldn't get her to come back. She apparently
couldn't keep up with Zach because she got to Dry Fork with
runners who were behind him. I wonder how many runners she "paced?"
We told the volunteer about seeing her at Dry Fork. I don't know
if she continued on to Twin Buttes. We didn't see her while we
were there.
Addendum: The owner did find her somewhere, though, because we
saw them together at the awards ceremony Sunday morning in
Sheridan. I don't think Cody would ever do that. He sticks to us
like glue.
OUR OWN RACE PREP
We relaxed at the campground in the afternoon, talking with
other friends who arrived during the day in time for the 30K, 50K, or
50-miler tomorrow.
Jim (R) talks with Tom Hayes (L)
and Tom Rowe from Bozeman, MT;
they are staying in the Foothill CG cabins on race
weekend.
The campground was quite full by this afternoon, as all the
runners for all four races have now arrived. Some of the tents
have been moved farther from the river in case it continues to
rise this weekend.
We got our clothes, gear, and supplies ready for the race,
something I haven't done in over a year. I remember the drill
very well, however, after running trails for over 30 years.
It's no different than going out for a long hike since
I'll do very little running, if any, in the race.
I'm kind of nervous, though, hoping my knees will allow me to finish 18
miles. The course isn't quite that long but Jim and I will
walk at least a mile before the race begins (to the start at the high school
from the campground, and from where the bus lets us out to the
start). Although I've been
gradually building up my distance since I got my Orthovisc
injections a few weeks ago I haven't gone this far
in a while.
On the other hand,
Jim is more than trained for the distance; he
recently ran/walked 50K on the rugged Jemez Mountain course.
He knows his knee may hurt more this time, though, and he knows
he probably won't get an age-group award this year. The pace
that age group winners run in the 30K is much faster than guys
run in the 50K, the race where he won his age group last year.
Jim's not trained for speed, and he's got one bum knee. I'm not
trained for speed or distance; I've got two bum
knees. Neither of us is gonna just give up and play dead,
however!
We both just want to go more slowly and enjoy the awesome
scenery in places we haven't been able to access this year
because of all the snow.
Next entry: our 30K race experience
Happy trails,
Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil,
and Cody the Ultra Lab
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© 2011 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil
