Silver Rush 50 Weekend

Well you saw the video from the start of the 50 Mountain Bike.  I slept through the start of the run.

My job was just to sweep the last 25 miles of the 50 mile run, so I knew I had some time.  I went down to the start/finish and helped where I could.  Unfortunately, I don't have any good pictures from this event.

My run in particular ended up being more akin to interval training than anything else.  I gave the last participant through the turnaround point a 50 minute head start, but should have waited longer.  I caught him with the first 25-30 minutes, and had to basically walk with him for about an hour.  He had gotten to the start line about 30 minutes late, and tried to give it a go, but he was in poor shape.  When we got to the first aid station on the way back in, they pretty much made him drop as he would not be able to make any other cut offs.

At this point I could run hard again, so I did.  The medics and some race administration were waiting when I got off that stretch of single track, and met with me on the road.  The weather was getting worse, but there was one more piece of trail they wanted me to sweep.  I was really moving at this point (it was mostly down hill), so I kept going.

When I got with that section, they were waiting again, and asked if I wanted a ride in.  Despite the rain, there was no lightning, so I told them I'd keep going.

I caught our next guy pretty quickly on the long climb towards the Mt. Sherman road (California Gulch?).  Before I could even start talking to him to motivate him, or check to see how he was doing, he sat down in the middle of the road and gave up.  He was later taken to the hospital for High Altitude Pulmonary Edema.

So I got to run again, and caught some guys after about 10 minutes, and they were about 20 minutes from making the turn down on to the jeep road.  This is a mostly downhill section where I tried to motivate them to at least trot a little bit, but they would only walk.  Eventually the medical crews caught back up with us, and took them to the next aid station.

After a very short run I caught the last 2 women.  These two just barely made the last cutoff.  They could not run anymore either.  This basically turned into a 7-8 mile walk...downhill.  I can't explain how mentally taxing it is to have to walk downhill, when it is so much easier to run.  Despite this fact, I have been inspired by the last finisher in each of the races I have swept.

This day was no different.  Melissa would be the last person to finish this race, and it would be after the cutoff time, but she is a true champion.  This was her first 50 mile race.  By the end, her IT band was so stiff that she had to swing her leg out to the side to keep going.  She had raised a good sum of money for a great cause as part of the race.  She works for an international organization that rescues children from the sex-slave industry.  So she was doing this both as a fundraiser, and I feel symbolically to show her devotion to helping those around the world that cannot help themselves.

No matter how much I hate having to walk those last few miles, I would not trade it for anything.  In both the marathon and the 50, I met folks that have inspired me to train harder, and to look for causes that I can believe in, and help to benefit.

Cheers to Melissa!!

(I leave tomorrow morning for Tahoe to work the last qualifier for the 100 Mountain Bike Race.  I have been in Leadville every night this whole time, and it is starting to get pretty small.  The cabin fever is setting in, so this could not have come at a better time.  Hopefully I can get some good running in while on the road.)