This past weekend, I had the joy (and pain) of pacing my good friend Scott Olmer at the Hardrock 100 in Ouray/Silverton, Colorado. What is the Hardrock 100 you may ask??? Well, for some reason, some folks think that the marathon distance is not quite enough nor is a 50-mile run. Nooooo, they have to run, walk, trot 100 miles in 48 hours! Honestly, I can't fathom the idea but that's what folks, like Scott, want to do in their spare time. And they enjoy it....
Several weeks ago, I was approached by Bob Rayburn (one of the regulars at our Thursday night Southern Sun Happy Hours) and he quite simply asked "would you be interested in crewing for Scott at the Hardrock this year?" Crewing a runner means that you are a pacer, a motivator, a drill sergeant, a nutritionist, a stop watch - all for the purpose of motivating the runner to the finish line. Being a runner and an avid mountaineer, I was curious and asked what it entailed. Bob's reply..."well, all you have to do is do 2 legs - one is on Friday night and the other is taking Scott to the finish line..." Sounds like fun - count me in! What did I get myself into....
Friday, July 11th, 2:30 PM - Ouray - the little Switzerland of North America. Ouray is probably one of the prettiest places in Colorado with a small town surrounded by majestic peaks. Google it sometime, you'll see... I call Bob to learn that Scott is progressing nicely from his 6 AM start and should be in Ouray around 8 PM to pick up his first pacer of the race - me. My leg with Scott consists of "Ouray-Engineers Pass-Grouse" - 15.8 miles (5785' gain/2775' loss) in about 6:30 hours in the dark...with headlamps...through Bear Creek Canyon...average trail width 3' ...narrows to 1.5'/2'...with exposure...watch your step...or it's down the canyon with a not so good outcome. Apparently, there has been no injuries - serious or mortal in this section. I'm still a bit leery at this section b/c my new flashlight (in the LED section at Target) is not an LED rather it's the old fashioned yellow bulb (like the ones from childhood) and I've got a serious case of vertigo at the moment. While focusing on this one yellow beam, my equilibrium is not cooperating at the entrance to the canyon. Fortunately, Scott has a great LED light to brighten the path and the vertigo goes away. We proceed over up the mountain to an aid station around 12,000' and continue for the next few hours to the pacer hand-off at Grouse. We reach Grouse - it's 2:30 AM Saturday and Bob continues with Scott for his 32 mile leg that will take him until 4:48 PM Saturday...
Saturday, July 12, 3:30 AM - I'm back in Silverton at the cabins Scott has rented for everyone. I'm tired, my feet are wet from numerous stream crossings, and all I want is sleep. I crash hard for 5.5 hours and awake to the noise of Bob's wife, Jana, stirring in the main room of the cabin. We head over to the Brown Bear Cafe for pancakes/sausage/OJ/lots of coffee. We have the rest of the morning and afternoon to follow Scott's progress at "Hardrock Central" as well as play tourist in Silverton. About 3:30 PM, Jana and I decide we better head to Cunningham Gulch for the "pacer hand off" we believe to be around 5:30-6 PM. Much to our surprise, Scott has made up an hour over the day and arrives in at 4:48 PM. Scott and I leave the aid station at 4:49 PM and were on our last leg to the finish line in Silverton. The leg consists of 2700' gain/3840' loss - better than 14 hours ago. We work our way up the mountain - hiking slowly and gain the summit ridge in 2 hours. From there, the race is on - running down 3840' to Silverton! We run on goat trails (even saw one!), we run on Jeep 4WD trails, we run on single track trails, we run through streams filled with snow melt until we hear noise from the motorcycle rally at the old ski resort in Silverton. We're close! We break through the trees - the last 0.5 miles to the finish line! I slow down to run with Scott rather than ahead of him - no need to pull him through, he knows the finish line is there. We chat about being done, about his accomplishment. He thanks me for crewing him. We near the finish line and I slow down to walk into the crowd - the pacer does not cross the finish line - only the Hardrock finisher. Scott finishes another 100-miler in 38:35 ranked #30 out of 98 finishers - damn good!
Sunday, July 13th, 9 AM - the awards presentation at the Silverton High School Gym. There are hundreds of people here for breakfast and the awards program. Family members, volunteers, pacers, athletes - you name it. The breakfast is great - eggs, sausage, fruit, sweet rolls, OJ, coffee - the awards program entertaining. Bob and Scott ask "sooo, now that you've experienced a 100-miler as a pacer, what about as a runner?" My answer - quite simply - no. I enjoyed the experience as a pacer - would do it again if asked. But running/walking/sleep walking 100 miles - nope...I'm interested in altitude, going higher...
Climb On my friends!
