Observations from the sideline

Over the course of the ten hours I was waiting on Jay to finish his run, I made a few observations about these people I call 'the crazies' and this race.

First off, other than that initial feeling of discrimination so-to-speak at the packet pick-up, I never once felt like the runners were judgmental or comparing one another.  I asked Jay about that and he agreed.  He said he never noticed someone acting like they were a better runner than someone else.

At around the 30-mile mark, Jay found a running buddy, an older fella named Keith who was from northern Illinois.  They ran the last 20 miles pretty much side-by-side, which was great for Jay when it got dark.  He said that having Keith with him made such a huge difference.  He really didn't know if he could have gotten through the last 20 without him.  Keith had intended to run the 100 miler, but opted to stop at the 50 finish. He, too, thought that Jay had been a great encouragement to him and was glad to be able to run with him.

Jay mentioned this one gal he passed toward the end of his race and she was going the other direction.  He said she was running alone and had that look of defeat, like she was about to break.  "I could tell she just needed someone to run with her and encourage her." He so wanted to turn around and run with her a couple miles, but he was just trying to finish and battling his own exhaustion. Plus, he was running with Keith, and they also seemed to need each other.

I'm sure there were other stories like that from the race.  I heard lots of encouragement and cheering from everyone around.  No one was pushing or shoving or being rude at the check stations.  You didn't see looks of disgust from other runners if someone was in their way.  You saw a bit of exhaustion, lots of determination and encouragement.

The family and friends who were waiting at the check points were friendly and considerate.  Again, I didn't see any nastiness from them either.  The volunteers did great and the race coordinator, or whatever he is called, did a wonderful job putting together this event.  I assumed it was something that had been put on for a few years because of how smooth and professional everything was...nope, this was the first year for it.  Even the various businesses around the town of Vienna had words of welcome on their signs.

I found myself feeling guilty when I would need to go use the restroom at these aid stations.  I would try to wait until there weren't many runners passing through, but that didn't happen.  I would let someone in front of me, then another and then decide, okay, I cannot wait...and would try to hurry.  I never considered how everyone would be at a different pace and constantly running by.

There were about 150-175 runners registered for each race.  (That is a bunch of crazies.)  The winner of the 100 miler was a female from Indiana.  In August she set a world record for most miles run indoors by a female in 48 hours...242 miles. She ran this 100 miles in 14 hours and 45 minutes. Amazing, right?  Well, she now holds the American record for fastest time EVER run by a female in a 100 mile trail run.  She beat the old record by 13 minutes!

There were 27 states represented, along with Great Britain, Japan and Canada.  (I guess there are crazies all over the world.)  The oldest runners I saw on the registration sheet were two men, 73 and 77...and they were signed up for the 100 miler.  Can you imagine?

All in all my observations from the sideline were positive.  I really had a sense of respect for every single participant out there, regardless of whether they were running 100 miles or 'just' 50.  I can run to the bathroom and maybe to a buffet line, but that's where I draw the line.  These folks have a serious passion for running and overall health.  I'm glad that Jay is doing enough for both of us...I think I'll just keep observing from the sideline.