I had originally signed up for the GTR 50 to tag along with Marcia for her first 50 miler. I knew that there was no way to tackle the 100 a mere three weeks after Headlands Hundred, but I hoped that maybe I could bluff my way thru 50 miles. Well Marcia notched her first 50 at Headlands so I was even less motivated for GTR, but the plans had been made and I had never been to Jackson, WY or the Tetons, so why not? It was to be a nice group of HCTR folks there. Guarav, Jeff Linwood and Larry K were also in the 50 miler. Joe was going for his third summer mountain 100 and Joyce was also signed up for the 50. I could feel the altitude immediately upon arriving, especially when we got to the Targhee Ski Resort which was the base of operations of the GTR Races. The course is comprised of a 25 mile loop that is made up of three interlaced smaller loops. This meant minimal drop bags and (relatively) close distances between aid stations. It was a bit warmer at the start (7 a. m. for the 50 and 6 a. m. for the 100) than expected and we were soon warm climbing up “Fred’s”. Joyce and I paired up nearly at the start and began the long hike up this climb. Fred’s is 2.8 miles up a rocky jeep/SnoCat road that twists and turns up to the top of the mountain…. 1800 feet of climb in that 2.8 miles. The altitude had me sucking wind quickly and halfway up, Joyce left me behind. I caught up to her about 3⁄4 of the way up and we hung together for the next 28 miles. We managed to get up in a mere 50 minutes. We had seen Joe coming DOWN Fred’s on our way up and it had taken him 53 minutes to climb up it. After a brief stop at the top, we headed down. Dropping 1800 feet in 2.8 miles is much more fun than climbing it! We hit it pretty hard and got down in 26 minutes for a total of 1:16 for this first 5.6 miles

I ditched my vest and grabbed a hat and we were off on the next segment known as Mill Creek. This was a 14.4 mile “loop” out and back to the Base Aid Station with a couple of aid stations and water only stops along the way. We climbed up again on rocky, dusty jeep road. It was very dry and the powdered dirt was soon permeating into my shoes. This created problems for everyone with blisters and skin issues. We finally hit some single track along a ridge which afforded beautiful view of the mountains. While I was grateful for the single track, it was cambered toward the downslope which made footing a bit tricky. The single track was short-lived and we hit an intersection called Hurricane Ridge and were back on to rocky jeep road. Down we went as it snaked down to a water only tent. It was getting warm so we re-filled quickly and took off. This was the first time that Joyce and I saw the eventual 100 miler winner coming back the other way from his loop. He had gained a remarkable amount of miles on us. In less than 3 hours time, he had covered 18 miles of mountain. He had effectively gained ten miles on us in 2 hours time. The next 3+ miles section down to Ski Hill Aid Station was blessed soft single track and very shaded. The views were gorgeous and the running easy. After a bit of climb, we had lots of downhill and Joyce took advantage of it. I hung with her until just before we got to the park road where I slipped past and lead the way down. This was the yucky part. Dirt road with lots of cars stirring up the dust. We put bandannas over our mouths to try and cut down on the pollution, but it was a lost cause. Indeed when we got to the aid station, the RD (Jay Batchen) was there and I whined about the lack of signs to warn drivers of runners. To his credit they put up signs while we were still at the aid station! Joyce and I both stopped here for a bit to repair blister and foot issues. It seemed the prudent thing to do since the next section was 3.3 miles of climb up a paved road. This ended up being not as bad as it sounded. I was dreading it, but it was actually a pleasant change from the dry, dusty, rocky jeep road. Joyce and I got a good power walk going and motored up this section surprisingly quickly for such a big climb. We were now 14.6 miles and 3 and 1⁄2 hours into the adventure. The next section pointed us back toward the Base Aid Station and was again soft single track. It was now getting warm and we had little bit of up and a little bit of down before we got back to the water only stop 1.9 miles from Base. Here we got to climb back up that rocky jeep road that had snaked down earlier. It was a tough climb and took us a while. We agree that it was our least favorite portion. The up seemed relentless and it was very exposed. We finally got up it and then it was a long downhill into the aid station. It was hot and my legs were tired. After 20 miles, I knew that I was not recovered enough from Headlands to be climbing 50 miles in the mountains. We decided to go ahead and finish the 5 mile “Rick’s” section before eating lunch. The last loop of the three sub-loops was nearly all single track except for the start and finish. It meandered through mostly open meadows with a few patches of woods. While the slope was fairly gentle, I was relegated to a walk most of the time. Joyce was still moving well and left me about 2/3 of the way through on a downhill in order to get around another slower runner. She got in a couple of minutes before me back to Base. We took a lot of time here to recover and get ready for the big climb up Fred’s. Neither of us was very optimistic about our chances to finish the race. Joyce was undertrained and I was beat. We convinced each other than we should at least go up Fred’s and back to get a 50K. The climb was interminable. It was warm and Joyce’s stomach was uncooperative. My hip flexors were getting tighter and tighter and hurt. We plodded along, taking frequent stops to sit and try to revive ourselves. It had been a lot of fun to run together, but we were both pessimistic. Somehow we lurched on and got to the top of Fred’s. What was a 50 minute climb in the morning had taken us 90 minutes in the afternoon. It was cooler at this elevation. While we had both sat down to rest at this spot, I was starting to get a little chilled so we headed back down. Shortly after rounding the first big switchback, we ran into Marcia who had her own struggles back at Base. We chatted briefly and commiserated and then went our separate ways. We started walking down. We had flown down this section in the morning. Eventually we started running a little and then a little more. Joyce had decided to drop when we got down. I could completely understand and considered it too. But I decided to wait and get through 30 miles and reevaluate. We finally got down and were glad.

(Joyce and I after 30 tough miles) We both plopped into chairs and sat. The aid station volunteers at this race were some of the best I have ever encountered. They tended to us as much as we could have asked for. I had not been hungry earlier, but now I was. The volunteer fed me turkey roll ups and Coke and it REALLY hit the spot. It felt so great to sit for a bit and I took advantage. I ate and drank Coke and decided that I didn’t have any excuse to quit. After nearly 20 minutes, I decided to go on. When Joyce learned I was going to continue, she decided to keep going too. I waited a few minutes for her as she hadn’t really prepared to go on. As I was standing there waiting for her, the volunteer who had been helping me asked: “Are you two married?”
“Nah, she’s my best friend’s wife. I’m her boyfriend.” I smiled . “And he’s in the 100 miler so we have plenty of time.”
He chuckled (at least I think he did).
Joyce got ready and we walked up the first little knoll. We stopped at the top and Joyce decided she didn’t want to go. I completely understood. She went back and I trudged on. It was 5 p.m. as I headed up the jeep road. I had little energy and less enthusiasm for the task at hand. As I began to climb again, the hip flexor and quad in my right leg screamed for me to stop. I had limped part of the way up Fred’s it had hurt so much. I walked from side to side on the climbs and even walked backwards in an attempt to ease the pain and stretch it out. No luck. I had gone for a massage with Teresa Ritter on Thursday before the race. Teresa has worked on me for the last 7 years and knows my body pretty well. She had asked me if I was really committed to the race. “Are you willing to stop if you have to?” she had asked me. “Sure” I replied. She definitely didn’t think I was recovered enough from Headlands to take this on and it appeared more and more that she was right. I plodded on and felt okay on the little bit of flat and downhill of this section. Shortly after Hurricane Ridge, Marcia caught me. I was moving down the long rocky jeep road and she ran to catch up. She had managed to put herself back together at mile 25 after asthma and leg fatigue from Headlands had nearly taken her out. Lisa Smith-Batchen (RD), Olga and Annie (Medical) had spent lots of time with her and she was still going. We walked along. Marcia couldn’t run downhill and I couldn’t go up hill. We were pretty sad. Marcia wanted to keep going but didn’t want to be in the dark by herself. I couldn’t blame her with all the wildlife and the rugged terrain. She was going to at least try to make it to Ski Hill. And so we did. It wasn’t quite dark yet and we sat to try to regroup. I decided that I was going to go on and take it one aid station at a time. It was all I could do. Marcia wanted to stop, but she also thought that 40 miles would be better than 36.3. So we strapped on our headlamps and headed up the paved road. It was a gorgeous sunset with brilliant orange colors as we climbed up the paved road. We could look down and see the valley below suffused with orange light as we climbed. Very cool. It was getting darker and darker as cars passed us on the road up to Cold Spring Aid Station. We finally got there and Marcia was done,. Her lungs sounded bad at this point and the folks at the aid station were concerned. She had already decided not to go on. I was pretty much done, too, but the aid station captain, Brooke was a massage therapist. She had her table set up and offered to work on me. She said whether I went on or not, I needed relief. No argument from me on that and so I crawled onto the table. As she attempted to work on me, my hip flexors were so tight that she couldn’t massage them. “Wow! Normally I get into these, but see how my hands just bounce off of them?” she said. Hmmmm, maybe Teresa was right………She worked on me for about 20 minutes as Marcia hung around with a Colleen, the volunteer who offered her a ride back to the Base. Brooke worked on me a bit and then finished. I decided I was done. I just couldn’t see making it up the Mill Creek climb to Hurricane Ridge without not only taking forever, but also hurting myself. I called it a day at 13 hrs and 40 miles.

Part 2

After 7 hours of rest, it was off to breakfast. We saw Joyce and found out that she had gone with Joe for 20 miles during the night and had gotten a finish. She also mentioned that she had told Joe that I might go out with him. I was really sore from the day before, but I was fully fueled and had gotten a little sleep. Joe was out climbing Fred’s again for the last time. I went back and put on running gear and my dirty shoes. We waited and waited for Joe. He finally came in right before 10 a. m. after taking 2 hours to get up and down Fred’s. I didn’t know if I would be able to do him any good, but I figured I would give it a shot. Joyce said he wasn’t running so I thought I could hang with him. He was beat up, tired and his feet were trashed. But he was going on. We left together at 10:09 in the morning. We walked slowly but steadily up the first climb. It was hard, but I only felt sore, not incapable. We walked and walked and about 2 miles before Ski Hill Aid Station, Joe started to get a shuffle going on the downhill. We ran for the next couple of miles, sometimes pretty well and sometimes where I could walk as fast as we ran (which I did do a few times). We got down to the park road and Joe dunked his head in the creek to cool off. We walked up the dirt road and finally go to the aid station. We had actually made decent time for this 5.7 miles, arriving less than 90 minutes from when we started from Base. Indeed we were already climbing up the paved road, when Guarav and Joyce drove by us on their way to meet us. We were over 30 minutes ahead of where they thought we would be. We hiked up the paved road, talking some, but mostly just hanging on. Joe didn’t really know how far I was going to go with him and neither did I. Joyce and Guarav were going to Ski Hill in case I dropped out there. We made it up to the Cold Spring Aid Station and it was hot. I gave my jacket to Joyce and we pressed on. I switched to Coke and water in my bottle to try to keep going. Joe and I got going a little on the single track as we watched the clouds creep in. “It’s coming” I told Joe who was praying for rain and cold to revive him. We started to hear thunder about the same time that we heard some crashing and noise in the woods. This was near the spot where Joe and Joyce had soon a moose that morning. The clouds got darker and the breeze picked up. While I didn’t mind the cool or even the rain, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be out on the mountain with no jacket in a storm. I pushed the pace a bit as I lead Joe toward the water stop and the last big climb. The rain started before we got to the tent and the water. Joe asked it I wanted to wait it out in the tent. “Nope, let’s keep going. ” And we did. We were pelted by sleet/hail and rain and the wind picked up and grew cooler. It motivated us and went steadily up the last climb and to the downhill. The rain came harder and we were getting wet. I could still move pretty well downhill, but Joe couldn’t. We pushed on and soon spotted the Base Station. A cheer went up from the crowd huddled under the aid tent as we came down the hill. The whole gang was in there. I had already told Joe that I thought my legs were done and I would let him do the last 5 miles on his own. But by the time Guarav took my bottle and filled it and Joyce gave me my jacket, we were soon both off on the last segment.

I guess I was going to get my own multi-day 100K after all! Joe (as is his way) was revived by the weather and the nearness of the finish. He ran all the downhills on the last 5 mile section and I hung on, certain that he would drop me at any point. He didn’t and we pulled out jackets on and off with the breeze and the sun and the drizzle. We pushed and pushed and made it thru the 5 miles in 1:18. A roar went up as Joe made it to the finish chute. We had done the last 20 miles in 5:50, 17:30 per mile pace…… Truly remarkable considering the terrain, altitude, the amount of walking and the level of fatigue. What Joe did to persevere was amazing.

This was my first time to pace anyone. I certainly had an “easy” runner to pace in that there are few runners out there as stubborn as Joe about finishing. I didn’t really have to encourage him to go on or try to finish. All I had to do was hang out with him for those 20 miles. Pretty easy job, except when you are lousy at altitude and your legs are beyond fatigued. All in all it was a great experience. I still consider myself to have DNFed, despite the fact that Lisa and Jay gave me an unofficial finish and a finisher’s medal. More important to me was that I got to go with Joe for those last 20 miles and to see him finish a really difficult 100 miler.

Congrats to all the Tetoners: Guarav had a great run and was an inspiration to see throughout the 50 miler. He always looked good and it was encouraging to see him do well. Jeff Linwood spent the first 22 miles with Marcia and had a great finish for his first 50 miler. Larry King burned through the 50 in 10:30 and was 4th male and first in his age group. Marcia went out on Sunday morning and got her last 10 miles for an unofficial finish, but awfully tough after her first 50 at Headlands. It was so great to be able to spend 30 miles with Joyce on Saturday. We haven’t gotten to spend that much time running together since training for Western States 3 years ago. She kept me going and it was fun to be with her all that time…….. even when it sucked J The nice thing for me was that I have learned in the last two races that I CAN still RUN at the end. Noelle and Meredith helped with that over the last 25 miles of Headlands and pacing Joe showed me that despite hurt and battered legs, I can still manage to RUN and don’t HAVE to walk at the end of a race. As Joe says: “you can finish anything, its just how much is it gonna hurt to do it” As many have said: “pain is fleeting, glory is forever. ” I rank this at the top of my DNFs. It was a glorious DNF.