So, here's my non-racer's take on the weekend of fun. First of all, I woke up in the middle of the night Thursday with the sore throat and sniffles that indicate the onset of another lovely allergy flare-up. I spent the whole weekend scarfing antihistamines and feeling kind of fuzzy. Wheee!
At any rate, I picked up Stuart from work on Friday at noon and we headed out. We took the 22 most of the way south and it was beautiful. The "Cowboy Trail" wends it's way through true foothills country, so there were green hills and blue water as we passed the Chain Lakes. Stuart took a nap and I took it easy driving and listening to tunes. The sky was bright blue and full of white, puffy clouds, which I realized is what I associate with summer, more than just a big blue bowl.
We got to Blairmore in lots of time to check into our hotel (old, small and dark, but cheap and air conditioned!) and head over to the arena for the pre-race dinner. As usual, it was pasta - ahh... runners and their carb-loading! In this case, served with Prego that someone had added chili flakes to; bland and spicy may seem like an oxymoron, but believe me, they achieved it. The race meeting was pretty normal - follow the ribbons, don't get eaten by bears, have fun.
We managed to get some sleep, particularly since this race started at the much more humane hour of 9am. We went to see John start and then went back to the hotel to repack Stuart's run bags again and just relax. I won't bother trying to guestimate their run times, if you really want to know, check out the leader boards, whenever they get them updated. John made good time on Legs 1, 2 and 3 although he complained about the heat (and he wasn't the only one - it got up to about 26 degrees that day.)
We sent Stuart off on Leg 4 and I headed off for TA (transition area) 4. He rolled in about 15 minutes later than I'd expected, but he wasn't doing well. He plunked into the chair, demanding fluids and a medic! He took about 10 minutes to rest, gulp water and have his blood pressure taken, because he was experiencing nausea and difficulty drinking enough. His veins were still up though, so he was pronounced healthy enough to run. He took off on Leg 5 doing his "military stride".
Obviously, I was a bit worried about him, so I got to TA5 way too early and had to sit around reminding myself that there was no way he could be showing up yet. He did roll in at a very respectable time and obviously in a much better mood. He changed into a long sleeve shirt, decided to do without his poles and off he went. As I got off the mountain and into cell range, I found several messages indicating that John was already at TA6, so I headed straight there.
We sat around until about 1:45am waiting for Stuart. We saw two soloists roll in, who took quite a long break before heading out to start Leg 5! We saw Jack Cook, the racing machine, stagger in and DNF. (I'd seen him at most of the TA's and he never stopped longer than it took to refill his clutch bottles and maybe scarf some orange. That works for marathons, but I think he needs to tweak his strategy for ultras. Just my opinion.)
Stuart came in strong and fired off his tradition flare - fortunately before he got right into the TA! - but still managed to give everyone an adrenaline rush. John took off for the last leg and we packed up to head into town. We stopped at the hotel long enough for Stuart to shower and get into some warmer clothes, then headed for the finish line. We got there in good time to see John power in and for both of them to get their green "you finished" medals. Then it was back to the hotel to fall into our well-deserved beds at 3:30am.
The Cobbs headed out in good time for family commitments in Edmonton, but we slept in. By the time we dragged ourselves out of bed, packed and checked out, it was 12:30. We probably would have slept longer, but the need for food was keeping us awake. We ate and then headed to the town pool for a leisurely float in the pool. Then we got ice cream cones and drove down to the Frank Slide Interpretive Center. The Center itself was closed, but the paths and "info" boards were still there. From the highway, it looks like a big slide, but with the higher perspective, you realize that a substantial chunk of the mountain came down. If you weren't in immediate danger of being crushed, it was probably pretty spectacular!
By then, it was time to head back for the awards dinner. Pasta salad, bean salad and overdone roast beef - if you'd been running stupid distances it was probably great, but otherwise... The boys did well, but not well enough to win anything. Likewise, we didn't win anything in the draws, but then again, the last thing we need is another freakin' water bottle! We hit the road home at about 5:30pm. The outstanding points of the trip home were Stuart picking out which hills he wants to buy when we win the lottery and all the idiots on the road. The posted speed limit is 100km/hr. I was doing 110, just to avoid being flat out run over and everyone passed me, doing at least 120 and most were going faster. God, I hate people sometimes.
So that was it. All in all, a pretty fun trip. Stuart's dilemma now? To run "Lost Souls" or to volunteer? And should we use the vacation time to do the "Mantario" ultra?
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