Crewing and Pacing Western States 100

Western States...we all know this as one of the most prestigious ultramarathons in the USA and the grandfather of trail ultras in the world. Each year, thousands of people try to get in through the lottery, some by obtaining a golden ticket which they win by placing in the top 2 positions at a select number of difficult races. However, every year only 369 people are lucky enough to run in this race. But that doesn’t mean it’s small or that it is any less competitive than say, a race that has thousands of runners running. Actually, some would argue that it is even more competitive because of those that run in this race range from the super fast elite to the seasoned ultrarunners with thousands of miles on their feet. Both are forces to be reckoned with! My point is, people who get in generally know what the hell they are doing and don’t take the race lightly!

Like last year, I knew I was going back to this race to crew. I originally thought that I would just help out with the CTS athletes. I had so much fun last year and enjoyed helping so much that I knew I wanted to do it again. So when a running friend I knew from Finland asked me if I would be his crew chief, I, of course, said yes. He was number 13 on the waitlist and based off of previous years, we knew that meant he was going to get in. It was only 3 weeks prior to the race that he knew for sure though when his name was pulled from the waitlist and he was a confirmed runner in Western States. It was a little after this when Jukka was contacted by another guy who is originally from Finland but has been residing in San Francisco since attending university many years ago (sorry Risto, I assumed it was many). Risto saw that a guy from Finland got off the waitlist and he wanted to help his fellow countryman out so asked to be part of our crew. It was a perfect and much-needed addition to the team and would allow me to not only crew but also pace. There were so many things that happened around this trip that was serendipitous - the first was that at the same time I was messaging Jukka to see if I could pace as well as crew, Jukka’s other pacer who was originally going to pace the entire 2nd Half of the race was emailing Jukka saying he would only be able to pace until Rucky Chucky. So it worked out perfectly...Will Cooper would pace from Foresthill to Rucky Chucky and I would pace from Rucky Chucky to the finish. Since I was bringing Addie along with me I hired a babysitter. Ellery is an 18-year-old about to head off for university and agreed to come along and help me for the trip during the times that I would be preoccupied. The plan was for Risto and the kids head to Auburn after leaving Foresthill. Will would pace Jukka and I would take Will’s car to Rucky Chucky so he would have it when he finished his pacing duties. This was all ironed out a couple days before the race.

Me after winning the
Altra Uphill Challenge

Two days before the Western States race, Jukka mentioned to me that there was a race for anyone who wanted to join on Friday morning at 10am and that I should run it. He said that was an uphill race called the Altra Uphill Challenge and that it was only 6km. I was not aware of this event until they mentioned it so I wasn’t sure if I would want to run it last minute but the morning of the race, which was the day before Western States I messaged my coach and asked if I could do it...his response was “yes, win it”. So a couple hours later I toed the line and what do you know, I did! It was so much fun and I won $100 gift certificate at Altra and a Suunto 9 GPS watch...I believe this to be the second stroke of serendipity as this was not even on my radar but ended rather well for me!

Sunset the night before the
race at Robinson Flat

Addie and I snuggling
in the tent

After the race and a quick meeting with Team Jukka crew, Addie, Ellery and I met up with Jason and Liz Koop as well as a guy from our area named Josh in Foresthill and we all carpooled to the first aid station where we would meet and crew for the runners - Robinson Flat. After last years crazy adventure down the road to Deliverance, I thought it would be best to follow people who really knew how to get there. We got to Robinson Flat a couple hours before dark, met up with John Fitzgerald, who is also a CTS coach as well as Stephanie Howe. We all ate our dinner and fell asleep in our tents or in Stephanie’s case, a kickass van so that we could rise early for Western States race-day. It was a super cold night especially for late June but I was lucky because I had Addie to snuggle with and she’s always so warm! 

Addie and Liz being cute

Team Jukka at Robinson Flat

A quick pic with Mr. Bill
(Previous RF Aid Station Captian)

The next morning we set up our support area right after the Robinson Flat aid station tent and waited for our runners to come through. This aid station is fun because the front runners come flying in...very exciting to spectate. I find it inspiring to watch the front runners putting themselves out there and really giving this race all they've got. I find it even more inspiring to see the mid and back of the packers doing the same, giving it all they've got. Since everyone in our little group had their own runners they were supporting things started to thin out as the morning went on. Since we were Jukka’s crew, we had to wait for him to come through Robinson Flat which happened to be around 12:30pm. 

Team Jukka at Foresthill

Once Jukka left Robinson Flat, Ellery, Addie and I got in our car and headed to Foresthill. Risto and Jon also drove in their car and met us for “linner” (lunch and dinner) at Maker’s, which was a restaurant with bar food options...nice and greasy, just what we needed after a long morning of standing out in the sun. Shortly after getting to the restaurant, Will joined us. The whole crew was finally all together. After we ate, we found a spot on the ground and watched runner after runner pass through. It was fun to cheer everyone on and see how the different athletes were looking. 
We had gotten word that the lead woman, Courtney had dropped, Clare had moved up and CTS athlete Kaci had jumped to third place. We also saw Amanda and her man Zach walking in the opposite direction of the course on their way to drop from the race. So much was happening in the woman's race at this point and it was very exciting! At around 10:30pm Jukka came through Foresthill aid station. When he came into the aid station he was feeling really low, so low he fell to the ground and was a little out of it when asked a couple questions by the medical staff. Will had just picked him up as his pacer right before Foresthill and by the sounds of how Jukka looked and felt we all kind of thought, his race might have been over. But Will did what a good pacer does and he told Jukka to EAT and before we knew it, Jukka was back and ready to go! 

After Jukka and Will left Foresthill we all left for our next stations...Risto, Ellery, Jon (Jukka’s 16-year-old son) and Addie headed to Placer High School while I went to Rucky Chucky. The plan was that I would go there and catch some sleep in the back of Will’s car and that I should be ready to pace 30 mins before the 30hr cutoff since Jukka was getting closer and closer to the 30 hr cutoff....actually when they left Foresthill they were only 15 mins ahead of it. At Rucky Chucky I set my alarm for 3am the fell asleep somewhere around 11:30pm however with the excitement of the race, I woke up on my own at 2:30am. I immediately grabbed my phone to see the last checkpoint they had passed through and it showed Cal 2, this meant they had one more aid station, Cal 3 to pass through before Rucky Chucky. I kept refreshing the timing website but it kept showing Cal 2 as their last aid station. A number of things went through my head such as, maybe they are moving really slowly (since he was looking so bad at Foresthill), or maybe they dropped, or maybe the website didn’t pick up their last aid station passing. At 3am I decided just to head down to the pickup point which is near the river crossing. I saw that there was a bus that ran every 15mins so I got out of the warm car and headed to wait at the cold “bus stop”. For whatever reason this bus did not come within 15 mins of the last bus - it was more like 20+ mins. But since I was expecting to have to wait for them, it didn’t really bother me that I had to wait a little longer for the bus. When it stopped, I jumped on and took the ride to the river. When I got off, I thought about using the toilet since I had to pee but for whatever reason, the third serendipitous thing happened. I kept walking to the aid station, passing the bathrooms and when I did, I saw Will! He was going through his bag which was on a table and I yelled: “Will, what are you doing here already?!” He said, “hey, tell Gordy you are here!” I then said “ok, here are your keys” holding them up to Will’s face. He didn’t grab them at first because he looked over at Gordy, yes THE Gordy Ainsleigh and said: “hey, she’s here!”...I said “Will, the Keys!” shaking them so he would take them. As he grabbed the keys from me he said: “tell Gordy you are here and will pace Jukka”. As I was about to head down the stairs, I saw Jukka at the bottom getting a life vest on and Gordy was at the top about to head down. I patted Gordy on the shoulder and I said: “I’m here”. I didn’t realize until we were in the boat, crossing the river that Gordy was going to pace Jukka! I apologized and tried to explain what had happened. Jukka said he was just glad it worked out. I then apologized for showing up because how cool of a story would that have been to have Gordy Ainsleigh pace you to a Western States finish?!?! Jukka agreed but was happy I showed up just in the nick of time!

Sunday morning sunrise
before ALT aid station

As the morning hours ticked by I really had to remind Jukka to eat and drink. I had to be a little tough at times and told him if he wanted to make the cutoff and get that belt buckle he needed to get in enough nutrition. So I paid attention to the time and reminded him every 30 mins. I also had to make him run when I knew he was hurting - I felt a little bad at times but we were so close to the 30hr cutoff that we didn’t have a lot of time to play with. Everyone says it’s all runnable after Foresthill, those people are crazy! Sure, there are lost of rolling sections, flat and descents but there was also some good sized hills that we had to climb! Jukka couldn’t run the hills, I remember I ran a little tiny climb and he said, “I thought you said we weren’t going to run the hills”. I had to remember he was coming at these little climbs with 80+miles already and I was fresh! We had fun though, I tried to talk a little about other things to keep his mind occupied.

Dean being awesome and taking
a quick pic with Jukka

Right before daybreak, we ran by some runners and in a small group. One guy was in the middle of the trail bent over stretching his legs. As I went to go around him, I looked up at the voice who was politely asking us to go around the guy cramping up, and I noticed that voice was Dean Karnazes. So I yelled out “Dean!” I then said hey “this is my runner, Jukka, he’s a big fan, do you think I could get your photo?!” Dean said “of course” and then he thanked me. He said, “hey, that was super cool of you” and then something along the lines of some people not liking him as much.  That’s when I said “well, I don’t know about that, you are the reason MOST of us are here!” That’s when I had to remind Jukka that we had a cutoff to chase and we took off. 

Later in the morning it really started to heat up. I kept reminding Jukka to drink and eat and encouraged him to run every chance we got. He never really complained. He just did what I asked. After we crossed No Hands Bridge I could tell it was really hard for him. At one point he said he felt nauseous so I told him to puke - sometimes as a runner, you feel you need to try and hold it in but what I’ve come to realize is once you get it out you feel so much better! Plus, I knew that if he puked whatever it was making him feel so bad, we only had less than 2 miles to go so it would not have been the end of the world. After he said he wasn’t able to vomit, I told him to just keep going then...no time to waste! As we crossed a little stream I told him to get wet, wet his hat and splash water on him as best he could. I could tell he couldn’t really bend over well so I helped him out. As a pacer, it’s your job to get the runner to the finish line in whatever goal they have set. We were meeting his goal of finishing but we weren’t quite there yet. As I started to pick up the pace on a flat-ish section he said I think we can just walk to the finish but that’s when I had to remind him of the time and how close we were to the 30-hour cutoff. We passed through the last little aid station and I remember telling him, this is it, just one more little hill but what I didn’t know is that little hill just kept on going...it wasn’t anything crazy but at mile 99 of your run, a little hill can seem like a 14er! It wasn’t long before we could see the track and Jukka was running to his Western States finish in the Golden Hour. 

It was such a special and fun experience - I loved pacing...I think I will continue to pace until I get in the race myself. The course seems like it would really suit me well and oh my gosh, coming into the neighborhood and stepping on the track was sooooo much fun! I freakin’ loved it! Western States is definitely something special! Congratulations to all the runners who gave it a shot, whether or not you finished...be proud you were able to get there. And to all those amazing runners who keep kicking butt year after year...you are something special!

Thank you to team Jukka for all that you did to help get him to the finish. As Jukka and I joked on course...Finnish guys/gals Finish!

Western States 100 - From Newb's Perspective

Last weekend was a whirlwind of excitement. Up all night and day, little food, going going going all day, dirt everywhere, sore feet, extremely hot, some crying....and I was just spectating!

Friday night Addie and I landed in Reno, Nevada, picked up the rental car, a VW Passat and headed to Robinson Flat, California. Right as I turned off the interstate, I stopped at a convenience store to pick up water and snacks for the weekend ahead. Addie was fast asleep and we all know what a pain it is to wake a sleeping toddler just to carry them into the store. She was so tired that I was able to get her out without waking her...only to walk up to the door 3 mins after 10pm to be waved away...they closed at 10! Dang...Oh well, I had some water and a few toddler snacks so I figured I'd get some food once at Robinson Flat. As I continued down an unseemingly harmless road called Soda Springs Road it quickly turned into a dirt road, on the side of the road was a sign that said something about only 4 wheel drive vehicles should continue on that road. I stopped for a min, looked at my phone, realized I had no cell phone reception and that this was indeed the way my GPS was telling me to go. What to do, what to do...It was late, I couldn't call anyone (believe me, I tried) and my GPS wanted me to continue down the road...so I did. I kept thinking that the dirt road would eventually run into the main road, a paved road...heck at this point, I would have even appreciated a gravel road. The road that I was on was beyond scary. I crossed over three streams, it was so rocky, with small boulders, huge divots, and very uneven terrain that it caused me to bottom out about a bazillion times.  I kept thinking that I was going to get a flat tire or puncture the gas tank....that would have been the worst case scenario. If I would have broken down, my plan was to stay the night in the car and hike with the baby backpack carrier in the morning to civilization. Best case scenario, I continue blindly following my GPS and trust it knows how to get to Robinson Flat and at some point in the night, I make it. The road never turned into a paved road but eventually, after 28 miles on a rugged mountain offroad road, we made it. It was a little after 12:30am when I arrived and instead of waking everyone with me setting up the tent, I decided to lay out my sleeping mat, lay my sleeping bag on it and sleep under the open stars. Addie had woken up from her deep sleep right as we arrived so I had to ask her to whisper, not cry and lay in the bag with me. She was so good. She did just that and her and I looked up at the beautiful, unobstructed sky until we fell asleep.

The next morning, I was like a kid in a candy shop so at 4 am I was awake, waiting for the action to begin. I kept poking my head out of the bag, waiting to see people moving around. Finally, around 5am, people were waking up and getting the aid station set up. I went over to our CTS tent and started talking to the "old timers" at that aid station. I told them about my previous night's scary adventure and before long, I had a bunch of people coming up to me asking how I made it up that road in the little "white car" and heard more than once that they "had only been up that road once in our life" and they were from "around here". I was the talk of Robinson Flat for a bit. I think my favorite comment was "you must be an ultra runner cause you're crazy as hell!"

The CTS crew showed up and begin preparing for our athletes. We had 14 running the race and so there was a lot of excitement to see who would be in, how they would be feeling and what they would need. Coach Jason Koop knows exactly what needs to be done so I just tried to help out where I could.

Somewhere around noon a bunch of the CTS crew headed to the Forest Hill aid station (mile 62). We set up, got ice, more food and cheered all the amazing athletes as they came through. This aid station was happening! There were people lined up and down the road and it reminded me a lot of a European style race. People were excited, cheering the athletes on as they picked up their pacers (or not) and were on their way. As someone who would like to run this race one day, it was really neat to watch. I was itching to be out there with them...I can honestly say, I much rather be running and suffering through the miles than sitting under a tent watching all the action from the sidelines. With that said, it was also really cool to be able to help out and watch how professional the CTS coaches and athletes were when it came down to taking care of the athletes! Liz Koop put in some really long hours but did it all with a smile on her face. Coach AJW was all over the place, cheering all the athletes on as they ran by, helping out in any way he could. For someone who had hip resurfacing surgery recently, he didn't let it stop him from carrying nine 20lbs bags of ice so that our athletes wouldn't go without. Coach Adam had the honor of pacing John Fitzgerald who was running in top 20 position but he didn't let that stop him from making sure the other athletes were also take care of. I was impressed and honored to be able to help out even if in a small way.

Around 6:30pm, Addie, the CTS "Media Guy" Cory and I took off from Forest Hill to head to Auburn. When we got there we found it incredibly difficult to find a spot to park and because of that we had to drive all over the place before we finally found a spot...and in those 15-20 minutes, we missed Jim Wamsley finishing. As we rushed up to the Placer track we heard him speaking in his finishing interview and realized he finished the 2018 Western States in record time! That guy is a beast! Just incredible... Cory and I set up shop at the end of the track and cheered all the other finishers in. It was amazing to watch and made me want to run that race even more! They were all so inspiring.

Addie had fun playing on the pole volt jump landing mats with a lot of other kids until about 10pm which is about the time when I forced her to lay down on the mat and sleeping bag so she would fall asleep. She did not go down easy because she wanted to keep playing but I knew she was tired by the emotional state she was in. Laughing and crying all at the same time for no reason. When she was asleep (which didn't take too long) I drug her on the sleeping mat and in the bag to the finish line area so I could continue to cheer people in and keep my eyes on her. I waited to cheer in the top 10 men and women and then sometime around 2am I curled up beside Addie and crashed hard. It didn't matter that the bright football field lights were shining on me or that John Medinger's voice was a constant in my ears all night long. I slept like I had just run a 100 miler!

The next morning I woke up around 5am and continued to cheer people in. It was so much fun to cheer the runners that were finishing in the "Golden Hour" and if anything could be as good as seeing the first guy/gal finish, it was seeing the last. They were cheered in as if they were winning the race and it was so much fun to be apart of that!

This race is obviously amazing and anyone who gets in it knows that. I now see what the hype is all about and want my chance to run it more than ever! Western States, Baby!

UTMB 2014

With all the excitement of UTMB happening in about 3 weeks I can't help but reminisce about my first 100 miler (actually it was really 106 miles). I wasn't ready for it due to injuries that I had the entire year but, I got it done!

Friday 
 The race started around 6pm on Friday. It was raining at the start and continued to rain all through the night. The rain made everything so muddy and added another level of difficulty descending the mountains especially in the beginning when we were coming down a ski-resort hill...people were slipping and falling all over the place. It was actually kind of funny to watch!

Saturday 
A little before sunrise, while I was on top of a beautiful mountain ridge, the rain stopped. As the sun rose, I was so grateful to be where I was...it was beautiful! I reached Courmayeur, Italy a few hours later on Saturday morning, it was the second checkpoint where you could get assistance from your crew. I changed out of my soaking wet clothes and then continued up the next climb. At this point, I was beginning to feel a lot of pain in my feet. The injuries I had leading up to the race were really starting to bother me. I tried finding ice at some of the checkpoints but didn't have any luck. Since these checkpoints were up in the mountains, they were not fully stocked with aid. I continued on throughout the day and at some point in the afternoon I entered Switzerland. Since the race started in the evening I didn't get much rest prior to the start so as the afternoon turned to night I had already been awake for 36hours. I realized that if I were going to continue racing I would need a quick rest so at Champex Lac/24 hours into the race, I took a nap. About 1.5 hours later my crew woke me and it took all I had to regain the motivation to continue on. But once I got moving again, I felt like a new person!it was incredible, I couldn't believe how good I felt!  I was able to run again and was passing headlamp after headlamp. The night went on with lots of climbing and descending in the mountains. 

Sunday 
As the sun rose again on Sunday morning I began my final big climb up Flegere. As I reached the top, I saw an amazing sight...a bright orange North Face tent with volunteers checking bibs and Mont Blanc across the valley with the sun hitting the Mont Blanc Massif. I was so happy to have made it that far and knew that all of the hard parts were over. The next (however) many miles would be easy in comparison to the past 2 days. The finish line was so close I could taste it...it all started to sink in as I was descending (still several miles out) and people were congratulating me. It was surreal, the cheers of encouragement had turned to cheers of congratulations even though I hadn't crossed the finish line yet. As I entered the town, my amazing crew met me and we all ran in together. I crossed the finish line in 41:00:40 hours. I'm so happy I stuck with it and completed this adventure. My time wasn't anything to write home about but all of the memories I have are unforgettable! 

I can't wait to be back there to run it again! Until then, I'll be cheering on all my friends who are running it :) good luck to all of you :)

Here's a little video of my adventure. It's not professional by any means but it does have some real photoage and some nice shots of the trail and mountains. https://youtu.be/Jd4_4kh6QGo 

UTMB 2014

Campsite at Le Mer de Glace

I went up to Chamonix the week before the race with my boyfriend Bj and friend Colin. We decided to camp early on so that we could be out in nature more and enjoy the beauty of the Alps. It worked out really well because right outside of the campground were some trails that I was able to get out on a couple times for some short runs. The three of us also hiked up to Le Mer de Glace which is the longest glacier in the area which is 7km long. The next couple days after that we just hung around the campground, cooked food on the fire, worked on our balance using the slack line and ventured into town a couple times to eat or pick up some goods.

Inov8 Group Run

The whole week before was just spent relaxing, meeting up with my ultra running friends, meeting some new ones and finding the best places to eat. Our criteria for the "best" was cheap but amazing. We found some pretty cool places that really surprised our tastebuds and didn't break the bank! A couple days before the race on Wednesday I got a message from a running friend Robbie Britton letting me know that there was going to be a little run with the Inov8 team so I decided to join them. It was fun chatting with other runners about their preparation, races they've ran and nerves about the race that lay ahead.

Enjoying lunch after picking up race Bib

On the day before the race which was a Thursday more of my crew showed up. My crew which were really all just my friends who volunteered to help me out along the way were Bj, Brittany, Owen, Tyler, Sherene, Ryan and their son Nathan. Thursday morning Brittany and Tyler showed up. After they got all settled in we took them out in town to get my gear checked and to pick up my bib and then we went for a bite to eat then on Thursday afternoon my friend Owen showed up. After he got his tent up and he was settled in, we went back out on the town for dinner and drinks....and no, the drinks were not for me. However, everyone else partook in tasting the local brews.

Team Dreama!

The day of the race started like any other. I woke up around 8am, poked my head out of the tent and had room, I mean tent service which consisted of scrabbled eggs and hashbrowns. After I ate I tried to go back to sleep but my mind was racing with last minute details. I was finally able to around 9:30 and slept until 12pm. Getting ready in a campground took a little more organization but it all worked out.

Thanks to Elevationtat

Earlier in the week I had messaged the guy in Colorado who designs race profile tattoos called elevationtat and asked if I could get one for UTMB. He told me that either Jason Schlarb or Mike Foote would have then so I messaged Jason that morning and asked if I could get one from him. He of course said no problem and so after getting ready we all drove to the next town over to get the tattoo. When we arrived at the hotel we were greated by his lovely wife and son. After chitchatting for a couple minutes we were on our way to Chamonix, passing UTMBer hitchhikers trying to catch a ride to the start of the race. We had a full carload so all we could do is drive past them.

We ended up finding a parking spot pretty close to city center. We decided to eat a sandwich right away so that I would have time to digest it before the 5:30pm start time. As we sat down to eat, I had to use the toilet since I was hydrating appropriately. Bad thing is, when I went in to use the toilet I was greeted with my monthly visitor! I kinda thought this would happen so I came prepared but it still added a little extra annoyance to the already high stress situation. Oh well, that's what ultra runners do, we adapt and overcome...so that's what I did.

Ready to go!

After eating we all walked down to the startline and even being 1.5 hrs early the shoot was already filling up with anxious runners. My crew decided to round the corner so they could see me run by so they left me to find my place in the crowd. About 10 mins before the start it started to rain and so everyone donned their rain gear. Before long we were all counting down in French or at least those  who could speak French and we were off! There was hooting and hollering from both runners and spectators. The energy felt amazing! The crowds that showed up to cheer us on were huge, it felt like everyone in the Chamonix valley was out and lined up along the street!

The first several kilometers were easy, it was pretty flat and on a paved trail. It was still raining as the hours went by. People were slipping and falling every couple minutes on the muddy, sloshy ground. I thought it was pretty funny at times because as we were coming down a hill, that people ski down in the winter, runners were falling every couple minutes. I almost fell several times but I used my poles to catch me, I would laugh a little and then someone else would fall, then I would kinda laugh again.

The hours in the evening went by pretty quickly and right as darkness came I arrived at Saint Gervais checkpoint. I quickly filled up my pack with water, grabbed a banana and was on my way. As I was running out of the checkpoint I bumped into a man wearing a blue sweatshirt that was facing away from me. As he turned around and I looked up, I realized that I had bumped into Seb Chaigneau an elite runner for The North Face. When our eyes met, all I could say was "Oh, hi" and I'm sure the look on my face said it all because everyone, including Seb just started laughing. It was pretty funny and I thought about it for several kilometers.

Friday Night

I arrived at the first checkpoint that I could have assistance at called Les Contamines at 10pm about 4.5 hours into the race. I didn't stay long but just enough time to use the toilet, get replacement gels for the ones I had taken and to fill up my pack. Bj was at this checkpoint helping me out as best as he could. After about 15 mins I was on my way running back into the rain where it was cold once again. Once you stop, you always got to give yourself a couple minutes to warm back up.

Refuge of Bonhomme, Italy 

The night hours went on and so did the climbs. After leaving Les Contamines, we climbed and climbed and climbed. The climbs seemed to be never-ending but I kind of expected that. I guess I'm a pretty decent climber. Once, I start I don't stop for breaks and I can usually pass people on the way up. I just keep the same pace, slow and steady. I remember reaching a checkpoint where people were surrounding a bonfire, drying their clothes and keeping warm. I believe this checkpoint was the refuge of Bonhomme. I didn't stay long, just filled up my pack, drank some soup and was back on my way. We climbed all night long. As morning was approaching I was starting to feel the effects of the elevation. I had a headache that wouldn't go away and I felt as if I needed to puke a couple times. since I didn't have much in my stomach all I could do was dry heave. But, after a couple sessions of those, I started to feel a little better.

My headlamp started to die about 1 hour before daybreak so I had to replace the lithium battery with some triple A's. As, I was resting my pack on a rock, fumbling to get the batteries in correctly, I heard my name. I looked up to see an Icelandic guy named Barke that we had met several days earlier from Norway. He asked how I was doing and I told him good other than my headlamp dying. He waited for me to finish putting the batteries in and then we headed down the mountain together. Thankfully, he was there because my headlamp was very weak even with the new batteries and was putting off very little light. He let me lead the way so that he could share his light and I was very grateful. At the next checkpoint, I sat down to pull out my other headlamp, filled up my pack and drank some warm chicken noodle soup. I didn't see Barke around so I just headed back out on my own. The next portion was more climbing but it was amazing because as I reached the top of the mountain the sun was rising and the Mont Blanc massif was to the left of me. It was enormous and beautiful. I had to stop for a second and take in the moment.

Saturday Daybreak in the Italian Alps

As I descended down the mountain I was anxious to get to the next checkpoint that I could have assistance at which was Courmayeur. I new my crew would be there waiting for me and I was really excited to see them and to change my shoes which were wet from it raining all night long. As I ran in, I saw Owen, Bj and Tyler...they cheered me on and told me that Brittany was inside waiting on me. I walked in to the sport center and sat on the cold concrete floor. Brittany was great and started getting me all squared away. She had me change my shirt, my socks and shoes. My legs were a bit shaky from the long 8+ km descent we had just made so I had to keep moving. I told Brittany that I had dry heaved a couple times but that I felt pretty good now. She replaced my gels with new ones and had my pack filled up with water and once again I was on my way, up once again.

I really started to feel a lot of pain in my Achilles so once I reached the refuge of Bertone, I asked the medical staff if I could have some ice for my feet. They said they didn't have any ice, so I asked if they had the freeze spray. Again, I got a big negative but what they did say I could do is soak my feet in a water trough. So, I sat down for about 10 minutes and soaked my feet in the ice cold mountain water. As I was sitting there I heard my name and turned around to see a Turkish runner by the name of Alper Dalkilic. He is the boyfriend of a running friend Elena Polyakova. She is a Russian woman who lives and runs in Turkey. Alper asked me how I was doing and I told him good except my Achilles were starting to cause a lot of pain. He gave me some words of encouragement and I told him, I would see him at the finish!

Italian Alps

The next kilometers were pretty flat but also very beautiful. As I left the Arnuva checkpoint at kilometer 95 I sat down at a glacier river and soaked my Achilles once again. This time, I took a little longer and it really seemed to help. Once I put my shoes back on and started climbing the pain that I was feeling before wasn't there. The day slipped by, before I knew it I was in La Fouly and then on my way to Champex-Lac. In the three hours between La Fouly and Champex-Lac I began to feel really weird. When I would look up from the ground the runner's shirts that were in front of me were lighting up like a blinking light. I thought it was strange and I knew it was because I had been running for 24 hours and awake for 30 hours but I also knew I still had a good way to go before reaching Champex-Lac. I got there right before sunset and it was great to be with my friends and crew once again. The rest of my team, Sherene, Ryan and little Nathan showed up to help support but I was so out of it, I barely even got to say anything to them. I told them all that I was really tired and wanted to take a quick 30 min to 1 hour nap. They reassured me this was the right decision and that even one of the elites had to take a 2 hour nap because of stomach problems. So, they hurried and got my camping mattress, some sweatshirts and covered me up. Even though, I was really tired, they said that I just kept talking, mumbling about people passing me since I was laying down and that I had passed a lot of people. They said it took about an hour for me just to fall asleep but once I did, I was out. They woke me up at about 10:45 which was about an hour more than I wanted to sleep. At this point, I didn't want to wake back up. I felt groggy and like I wouldn't be able to continue on but as I started getting ready and waking up I started to feel awake and focused on the mission at hand. Brittany and Owen walked with me for a little ways and then we said our goodbyes. As I started running again, I felt good. My feet didn't hurt as bad and I felt rejuvenated. I began passing people in the dark, power hiking strong up the climbs and running downhill with less pain.

In the Swiss Alps

The hours that night slipped on by. I met my crew at Trient where Brittany, Ryan and Bj helped me get my pack in order. As I left this checkpoint and started heading up the mountain once again, I had to stop because I felt as if I were going to throw up again. So, I stepped out of the line of runners onto a side path that had a fallen tree laying down beside a tree that was still upright. As I bent over to puke someone asked me if I was alright. I told them I was and thanked them. But all of a sudden I felt urge to pee so I turned off my headlamp, ducked behind the upright tree and pulled down my pants to pee. But, as soon as I squatted, I also felt like I had to poop. I didn't feel like I could wait so I just went. I could see runners power hiking up the hill only 4 feet away from me and I was hoping they wouldn't look my way. And because this was not planned I hadn't prepared and gotten toilet paper ready which meant I didn't have anything to use to wipe with. I also knew I had ran out of TP and forgot to grab more at the last checkpoint so I was trying to think if I had anything I could use in my pack. After a couple seconds I couldn't think of anything to use. I also couldn't see very well because I turned my headlamp off so as to not bring attention to myself. I was in a dilemma. I didn't want to turn my headlamp on and have everyone shine their light on me and I knew I didn't have any TP with me because I had ran out. So, what was I to do?!?! Use a leaf or something, right? I mean, that's the only thing I could think of and I didn't want to waste any more time trying to figure it out so I quickly turned on my headlamp to grab something to use and the only thing I could see was a pinecone. That's right, a pinecone. It was a small slender one that was kinda soft from the rain so it would have to do. Plus, as soon as I grabbed it, I turned off my headlamp so I was committed. My legs were hurting and I needed to get back out on the trail so I just held it on one end and wiped. I know, it's pretty gross and as soon as I got to the next checkpoint I used the appropriate material. But, its all I could do at the time. Yep, I used a pinecone to wipe my butt!

Tëte aux vents

An hour an a half later I made it to Vallorcine where my crew met me and it was the last time I saw them until the finish. They helped with my pack, gels and getting me soup. Before long I was on my way. Ryan and Bj were outside and gave me some last words of encouragement for which I was grateful to have. The sun was rising at this point and once again I was making a climb. This time, I was climbing up to Tëte aux vents, the last peak before the finish. I was pushing hard, passing people along the way. As I reached LaFlégère I felt it, I felt the finish not far away. As I ran down the mountain, people were hiking up for their Sunday morning mountain hike and congratulating me on along the way. It was surreal. People were no longer cheering but congratulating me. It was a great feeling, I made it. I was only about 2 km out from the finish but I was there. I had made it and it felt amazing! As I ran into the city I was met by my crew who ran the last bit in with me. It was great because they had American flags that they were waving, they had an American flag for me and they were getting high fives and cheers from the crowds! It was a wonderful feeling to run in with my friends who helped me get to the finish. We all crossed the finish line together because the journey was all of ours.

UTMB Finish 41:00:40

I want to thank these very special people: Bj Howell, Owen Olsen, Brittany Wheat, Tyler Fulling, Ryan Schweitzer, Sherene Schweitzer and Nathan Schwitzer. I couldn't have done it without you! Thank you so much :) Now, I owe each of you and promise to crew for you when the time comes.

It was also great running into running friends. Until next race!

Stats about the UTMB 2014 race:

Distance: 168km or 103 miles
Positive Vertical Gain: 9600 meters or 31,496 feet
Number of runners who started: 2434 of those there were 200 women
Number of runners who finished: 1578 of those were 114 women
Total number of runners who abandoned the race: 856