Western States 100 Pseudo Race Report

I had the absolute honor of accompanying my high school coach, mentor, best friend, and inspiration for the rest of the week to partake in her adventures as one of her crew and pacers.

Jorge's inspiration. A quote of mine

The week was awesome. When we got up there Wednesday night, Mary and I went for a short jaunt on the bike path to get accustomed to that mountain air; it was so unbelievably beautiful! We took some action shots in front of the Olympic Rings and picked flowers by the Truckee River.

Thursday morning I hiked up with many to the top of Escarpment, the highest point of the WS course at nearly 10,000’! We went up there as part of a long tradition for the flag ceremony. Along the hike up, I met many amazing athletes! Ian Sharman, a couple from Denmark, other racers, pacers and crew. My most exciting celeb moment was meeting and talking to Ellie Greenwood, last years champ and CR holder!! Wow. My heart is still racing; it was so exciting.

The Escarpment

The Champ and I!

After the ceremony, I went out for a “long run” out and back on the course. It only ended up being around 14 just because how tough it was! It was hot, high, and tough terrain. But man! The views!

Friday morning was the traditional Montrail “hill” climb “fun run”.  3 miles up that same mountain route. Racing.  I gunned it at the start, was right behind Stephanie Howes in F2 for the first mile. But then Ellie Greenwood passed me, and then some more women… I half ran/ half hiked basically the next mile and a half. But then I learned that it was only 3 miles and not all the way up to the top, so I sprinted the last ½ mi in. I think I was F10 or F9? Holy goodness; that was a tough one.

I spy a Girl with Green Spanx... Someday I'll start for 100 miles...

The rest of Friday was spent hanging out with Mary and her family, planning out the crewing, and getting a good meal in before the race.

I found a four leaf clover at the pre race meeting. Good Omen?

The morning came after no sleep whatsoever on my part. I was too excited! Mark, Mary’s husband, and I took her to the start. Mark and I raced up the hill before the gun went off and cheered her on. We started our journey soon after to the Dusty Corners (mile 38) aid station as it was four hours away and we had to bring the kids (Mary’s 6 mo old and 3 yr old).  It was a SCORCHER out! Once there, we sat around in the heat playing the waiting game. Mary ended up dropping there, but boy, was she tough! I am so inspired by her and her achievements! She is exactly what I want to be in the future.  It was a bit disappointing not getting to pace or fully crew, but that is selfish.  I really wanted to see her finish the race more than ever, as she has wanted to run this for a very long time and has waited patiently and sacrificed much to get in the lottery/necessary training.  She will have her day soon though!

Jorge, my coworker and Salomon International athlete, went on to tough it out and conquer the course after succumbing to the second hottest race day in history. Mad props. Huge respect and admiration for finishing!

We left for home soon after.  Liz and I drove home together and we decided we wanted to have a sweet ending to an epic morning; we were going to run my mile PR.  We picked a great road course, mapped out exactly a mile, warmed up lightly, then set off! I came away shattering my PR and building confidence for summer training.