All kinds of CRAZY!

Continuing the running post...When we walked in to retrieve his registration packet, it was sort of like sign-up at a 5 or 10K.  When they ask if you're here for the 10K, you reply the 5K and they look at you like you're a wimp.  Jay felt the same way here.  "Are you here for the 100 miler?"  "No, the 50."  "Oh, well, YOUR stuff is over THERE."  Uh-huh, because running 50 miles is soooo pathetic.  Oh well, we were not discouraged.  Jay was going to be running 50 miles!

When we arrived at the start/finish line on Saturday morning, we were quite shocked to see that some runners had tent-camped.  It was 18 degrees at 7:15 am.  I cannot imagine how cold it was during the night.  This observation supported my initial theory that these people are all crazy.

Jay got dressed and took a stroll, I waited in the warm car until start time.  No need for me to get cold, right?  When it was time to begin, I got Jay's cell phone ready and clicked a couple pictures of #364 amongst the rest of the crazies.

I had brought along knitting projects and a case of water.  I was set.  My job as Jay's 'crew' was to meet him at the checkpoints and have his stuff ready: shoes, endurance drink packet mixed with water, salt tablets, snack, ibuprofen, etc.  Jay asked his parents to come down, so they assisted me in my duties. Ha.  (Can you tell I'm trying to make myself sound important to make up for my total lack of desire to do something like this?)

I raced down to the 11-mile checkpoint and squeezed into a good spot up close.  Jay would pass through this one twice, and then I would return to the Start/Finish line for the halfway point.  I thought Jay looked pretty good after 10.9 miles, but he was done with the hat for a while.  It was 'too hot.'  

10.9 miles in.

I was glad when Jay picked this bright yellow/green to wear because I just knew he would be easy to spot amongst the crazies.  Fact is, a lot of crazies wear this color...and are bald...and wearing black running tights...But he always found us.

Jay's parents arrived in time for him to come back through this checkpoint.  He sat down, ate a snack and headed back towards the Start/Finish line.  I should have explained that the Tunnel Hill Trail is an old railroad bed they transformed into a really, really nice and beautiful trail for runners and bikers. It is absolutely gorgeous.  There are several bridges along the path and some huge rock walls (at least that's what I would call them) and then the super cool tunnel.  In the day, they didn't want to build a train track over a very large hill/mountain, so they tunneled through it.  Hence the name of the trail :)

That is a picture of the tunnel along the trail.

At the halfway point, I could tell that Forrest was struggling a bit.  I also knew enough about him that if he sat too long, he might not be able to get up.  He sat long enough to change shoes, eat a snack, and get a refill of his water bottle.  Off he went.   And more prayers I sent.

26.2 miles in - that marathon he was not interested in running.

I met him at an in-between checkpoint to see if the change in shoes helped and he gave me the 'thumbs up' signal and away we went.  Next stop was the Tunnel Hill.

40 miles down, 10 to go.  Hat back on.

It was at this point, 40 miles down, that I knew he would finish.  I told his parents that sheer determination would carry him the remaining 10 miles.  It was also at this point, his dad suggested he take his headlamp and he refused.  By 5:00, it was completely dark and I was debating on whether I should try to meet him at a small aid station and hand over the headlamp, but decided it was sort of his fault he didn't take it...so he would just have to finish in the dark or find a running buddy.

Jay's parents and I got out of the car at about the 9 hour 30 minute mark.  Jay's goal had been to run the 50 miles in 10 hours, but no more than 12.  We had no idea where he would fall in that window, but decided to be safe and get out in the cold and wait at the finish line.  Because it was completely dark, it was very hard to tell if that next runner was Jay because he did not have a light.  It started sleeting/snowing, which was just fantastic for the spectators...and the runners, of course.

At 9 hours and 58 minutes, we were worried he was running out of time.  You just never know what has happened in the last 10 miles, if the darkness was a problem, if his knees finally gave out, etc. And then I saw that runner with the distinguishable swinging of the arms.  That is how I could pick him out of the crowd of crazies.  His actual finish time was 10:03:01. I wanted to take a picture of him crossing the finish line, so the picture I took of the clock was a little late.

Just crossing the finish line.

I'm 10 seconds off.

I was so proud of Jay.  He did what he set out to do, which is so like him.  He is determined.  He was only over his time by about three minutes, which he probably could have squeezed out at the end, but hey, when you're running ten hours, what is another three minutes?!  He finished in a vertical position and we didn't have to visit the emergency room, which is seriously what I was afraid of.  It was a victory.

#364 with his medal.

As soon as we were on our way back to the car, he says to me, "You know what this means, don't ya? I've got to do the 100 miler next."  (I suggested he pick a spring or early fall run for that one.)  I really don't get it. I guess it's like an addiction or something, I don't know.  But let me tell you, these runners are all kinds of crazy.