2011 RUNNING & TRAVEL ADVENTURES

 

   
 
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   DAY ONE OF THE BIGHORN MTN. 100-MILER, p. 3:
  SCENES FROM THE TWIN BUTTES AID STATION,

A DOG'S TALE, & OUR OWN RACE PREP

FRIDAY, JUNE 17

 
 
(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

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