I have been so excited to pace Scott W. for the Wasatch 100 today. I was invited to a BBQ last night at Matt W.'s house, along with some other runners and their pacers. There I met new friends and soaked in all the advice I could get. I knew I could cover the distance and be fine, but I really wanted to be a helpful pacer in any way I could. I owe Scott so much for mentoring me this past year on the trails. He and his friends have been so good to me, even when I have been trailing behind, huffing and puffing.
I was a little nervous about the heat. We would be running exposed in the hottest time of the day, for several hours from Big Mountain to Lambs Canyon. I've never really given much thought into hydration before, because I have always planned routes with water. I never carry water with me, either. We expected to be out there around 4 hours with one pit stop over half way into the run. I ended up going to Wasatch Running and buying a Nathan hydration running vest with a 2L capacity. I also had an additional 10 bottle stuffed in the front of my vest. I grabbed a few Gu's and ran out the door.
Steve was nice enough to take the day off to transport me to the different locations. We drove separately to plant a car at Lambs, but had issues in the canyon. Our sweet 1998 Minivan had other plans and died. We pushed it off to the side and left it to die, I needed to get to Big Mountain! Steve dropped me off a couple hours early and left- I waited with Aaron W (pacing his brother Matt who was with Scott) and his sister-in-law, as we waited for them to come in. I was happy to see the temps cooler than expected, but still hot. We also got lucky with some cloud coverage at times.
Scott and Matt came through the station looking good. I immediately went into robot mode and grabbed his bag and handed him over a couple of ice waters. I filled his bottles and tried to anticipate his needs, the best I could. They looked great and were in good spirits, especially for having nearly 40 miles under them!
The next 4 hours was really fun, at least for me. Aaron and I cracked jokes and sang lots of songs as we ran up and down the trail taking pictures, talking to others and helping Scott and Matt. Scott was having a hard time with the down hills, due to blistering feet. Although cooler in years past, it was defiantly still hot. Scott was able to keep his fluids down for this part and was a good sport staying up on his nutrition and hydration. It was clear that he definitely knew what he was doing.
We met some fun people along here, namely DJ and Kenzie. They were awesome and we had a train of fun runners as we passed the half way mark in the race. At one point, we took a sharp turn off the trail up the mountain, something DJ has missed and ran ahead. Aaron chased him down, sprinting up another mountain and yelling. They eventually got back on track (rather fast) with neither one of them out of breath. That alone was amazing. The scenery was breathtaking! The fall colors on the Aspens with a lake in the distance, was just incredible.
Filling the time was not tooo hard, but maybe borderline annoying at times. Scott told me to practice my gabbing skills, to take his mind off the race. I tried to find things to talk about and told lots of dumb stories. Then when I had nothing to say, I just talked...about anything. "Oh, a bug! This is fun! Are you okay? We're doing good! Look at us, a choo choo train! Choo Choo!" When I got annoyed with the sound of my own voice, I sang : Gangsters Paradise, I Feel Good, Let it Go, The Sound of Music, as well as a few jute box favorites. I even joined Aaron in a duet of this. I tried really hard not the be the most annoying sound in the world... despite, the guys had a great spirit and were really moving on this section.
We made it to the Lamb's Canyon aid station. I saw lots of familiar faces there and Scott and Matt had a ton of support. I passed my pacing duties off to Jennilyn E., who is a natural and was going to pace the final 50 miles with him. They went on to run into the night and Scott and Matt finished with a Wasatch 100 PR in a time of 28:29:12 Amazing! I walked away so inspired by these athletes. I couldn't believe their good attitudes and the level of commitment they showed. I loved it!
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