It's race day! I'm super excited and so is everyone else. Ailsa is cool and ready to run, not a great sleep last night but no different than Sinister 7 last year. She ran for 19 hours on a bad sleep last year, no big deal lol.
We set our alarms for 3 a.m. to give everybody time to eat and finish packing as we are loading up this morning and not returning to the condo. We got everything loaded up and all 5 people in the Expedition and arrived at Squaw Valley by about 4:30. Ailsa has to pick up her race bib and then we just hang out until the start time at 5:00 a.m. We got a chance to meet another female athlete Courtney Dauwalter and her husband, her and Ailsa know each other and she is also a favourite to place high at the finish.
This is the part we really enjoy, I call it "race juice". Ultramarathoners are competitive but they are pretty relaxed and really wish each other well out there. Leslie and I get a real charge out of being around the whole atmosphere. That may sound weird but if you have ever experienced it you know what I mean.
Anyway we just hung out and cracked a few jokes about her being warm enough. The forecast high is 38C/100F. Keeping warm ain't a big problem for today.
Love our support crew gear, black was a great choice!
Close to 5 a.m. we all grabbed spots by the start to cheer on the athletes about to take on this massive challenge. The start is a 4 mile hill to the top of the ski hill with a huge elevation gain. This is what Ailsa likes and, yeah, she's a little crazy! We have to get in the truck and get going because the first aid station that we will see her is closer for them to run (30 miles in) than our drive. We have to drive from Squaw Valley, out to Truckee and then I-80 to Auburn (about 2 hours) and then backtrack to Robinson Flat Campground on winding roads. Of course all the other support crews are doing the same thing. Roads that don't usually see a lot of traffic are getting lots today. The last 10 miles was a paved logging road that wasn't incredibly wide and had a huge drop-off on the passenger side of the truck. Not Leslie's favourite type of road I should mention. Of course we made it there and got parked by the awesome volunteers and loaded up on the bus for the last mile to the aid station. We all have backpacks with everything we need for Ailsa at the aid station.
They glow in the dark!
Very Canadian, black is slimming ;)
Shannon is cold?? But shaded.
Another thing when you are crew is that you hurry to the aid station annnddd you wait. We watched some of the lead fellas come through, the race leader was crazy fast! Soon after, the female leader came through, Lucy Bartholemew from Australia, first time in a100 mile race and running first! The folks in front of us were also from Australia and so is Shannon so of course we all cheered as she continued. About 9ish minutes later.... guess who? It's Ailsa running second place after 30 miles, yeah buddy you rock!!
Get the pack off and start cooling her down.
All the gear fits in 4 packs, Barry is very organized.
Ice in the bandana, sunscreen, some clean dry feet and we'll see ya next stop.
We are getting better at the crew thing. We all have things we know but Barry is the team captain for sure. We try to tend to the cooling, shoes, socks and sunscreen etc. while Barry does blisters and more medical stuff. He also talks to Ailsa and asks questions to gauge how she's feeling. He ensures she's coherent and happy or if she's hurting somewhere. He crews lots of races and he also does marathon and Ironman Triathalon too so he knows the signs better than us. It's all part of the "juice" that makes us excited to go to these events. Oh and we really like these guys, athletes that drink beers and wine and eat chocolate. Yep that's our people!
Okay so she's off and running and we have to pack up and get moving to Michigan Bluff, the next aid station, at 55 miles in. The nice part is with a fast runner we get to move on sooner than most. The tough part is we are going against the traffic driving out to the next station. That first 10 miles was tight! We got parked on the road at Michigan Bluff and the awesome volunteers waved us over to another school bus shuttle to the aid station. This bus has air conditioning, thank you! They dropped us at the aid station and we started looking for a shady spot to set up. It's already broiling hot out and we aren't running, we're just waiting. We carried in a bunch of water and ice in but we are going through it quickly.
It's hot and this fan sucks.
A patch of shade by the road, aid station?
There was a hot dog stand and water for sale, we bought 10 waters while waiting.
We managed to get progress reports at a station down the road by the hot dogs. Ailsa was slowly dropping back so we suspected something had gone wrong. The heat is not usually a huge issue for her so what's up? She came in a few places back of second (can't remember exactly) and told us that the long downhill (about 28k) had beat the crap out of her quads.
Elevation profile, look at the downhill !
We put Icy/Hot on her thighs and did the usual cool down and fresh shoes that had more cushioning for the next part of the trail. We had to pack our gear and get moving to Foresthill, the next aid station. It's at 62 miles so we don't have much time to get there and find a spot to set up plus we need more ice and water before she gets there. We found a great spot that another truck had pulled out of right in front of us. We got set up and Ailsa was there not long after. She's hurting for sure now and saying she just wants to finish. She's a champ and there's no stopping part way. She'll finish absolutely. It was at this point she pulled the signature ultra move.... she had a beer at the back of the truck. It's a hot day and it's carbs right? It's only fair, Leslie and I had shared a Chelada (beer and clam juice in a can) before she got there. We're all over 12 hours into this day, it's allowed.
We have some time now because this next leg is a long one. We have to drive from Foresthill to the other side of the American River at what they call the Rucky Chucky Crossing. Ailsa gets to cross the river and run 3 miles in wet shoes and gear until we meet up. Great chance to cool off but soaking wet brings blisters and mud from the dust on the trail. Does this sound like fun yet?
So while we were driving I noticed some signs to Placerville California, we met Steve & Debbie from Down the Road (link here)blog last winter in Quartzsite. They are from Placerville but I know they are in Oregon from reading their blog. They live in a beauty spot. This area has everything, hills, mountains, rivers, really windy roads. Oh wait; the windy roads are getting old. There was so many corners that the speed signs said 10 mph and they meant it. Then throw in a few 6-8% grade hills. Oh yeah man, this is great! I'm not towing the trailer, who cares. Oh and there is a town called Cool, California, are you kidding me, so cool !
We get to the next stop, Green Gate aid station at 80 miles in. Ailsa is still running about 10th female and 34th overall on burning legs. Really shows how tough she is and just no quit in her ever. We park on the narrow road again and we have a "1.25" mile hike to the aid station. Well I know Canada has been metric for a long time but I also know that trail/road was much more than 1.25 miles! It was all downhill getting to the station but hot as blazes. I'm being nice it's a public blog, hot as well, you know.
All smiles heading down, sweating
Beautiful views, we're hiking down within 3 miles of the river
We carried all the gear down that long dusty hill and got set up for the wait. Some really nice folks gave Les a ride down the last 1/4 mile while I hiked. She took the heavy bag in the car with them, nice! We brought food and water down there for us as well. We all had a beer too. We carried it all this way so damn right I'm having one. We kept one for Ailsa but she declined. She got to us at about 8:30 at night and in 34th overall. Not too bad for this race and having sore legs. We washed her down and gave her dry shoes and socks and cheered her on as best as we could. We're all tired and hot but she is way beyond us and still going, tough as nails buddy. Now we have the trek back up that long dusty hill to do and it's getting dark. Bonus part is that it's cooler but it's uphill now, awesome. We made it back to the truck and squeezed our way out of that narrow road and back through the twisties to the Cool Fire Station, our last stop for carrying gear to an aid station. Leslie and Shannon had enough walking after the hill trek and Ailsa didn't need much gear for the last stop. She only has 10k after the last stop. Barry and I loaded what we needed in the packs and did the 1 mile hike to the last aid station before the finish for us. We sandwiched ourselves with the packs, one in front and one on the back, but we took out lots of stuff so it wasn't as heavy. It was after midnight when Ailsa walked/ran into Pointed Rocks station. She changed shoes once more and tried to eat some cold pizza but ended up throwing that away. She asked me to dump her Gatorade out of the race pack and fill it with water, just sick of the sweet taste and just wanted water. We gave her a hand up off the mat and cheered her on for her last 10k. She's exhausted and hurting and we'll see her at the finish line. This was a real test of strength and determination and she's going to finish under 24 hours. That's more than most people can achieve ever! We're bursting with pride to have been a part of this run, epic in so many ways. Now Barry and I have to hike back to the truck and get to Placer High School to watch her cross that timing mat.
Boy do they ever glow in the dark!
Leslie and Shannon were napping in the truck when we got back, long day. We played "stuff a bus" for the last time with the packs and got back on the road to Auburn and the finish line. While we waited on the field which, by the way, is a beautiful high school field and track, Leslie found a booth that was giving away hamburgers, hot dogs and grill cheese sandwiches. OMG I could have eaten a dozen. I only had a burger but it was fabulous. Big thanks to whatever group did that for us all!
Not long after we heard the announcer call "Ailsa MacDonald on the track to complete her first Western States 100!
Not a great pic but here she comes!
She's beat but she jogged the length of that track to the finish line and crossed in an amazing time of 20:59:06 at 1:59 a.m. So proud of her !!! That's true determination and guts right there.
We have the time clock on video, stole this from Barry
Looks tired and that cold water feels pretty good, that's band aids on the toes
Well that's another amazing run in the books. She officially placed 13th female and 45th overall in this gruelling race. Really amazing when this race really wasn't on her schedule until she won Black Canyon 100k back in February and got a Golden Ticket to Western States. Her focus is on Whistler Ironman Triathlon at end of July to try to qualify for Kona Ironman again, a challenge she wants another shot at because last time she had a strained Achilles. We took some time and got some fluids into her, chicken broth. Then some time with her feet up and a blanket to keep warm. Then off to Auburn Motel 6 to shower and absolutely crash for several hours. We are all exhausted and want shower and sleep. Great day though, so glad to be part of it. You're a champ Ailsa!! And of course a big shout out to our crew captain Barry and his daughter Shannon. Shannon flew from Melbourne to Sacramento and then with all the time changes she was a trooper for a long day. Barry did an awesome job as always and we look forward to whatever crazy race crew gig we have next. Can we do one at 21C/75F ??? Just sayin' that might be nice.
Race leaders : Men, Jim Walmsley 14:30:04
Female, Courtney Dauwalter 17:27:00 (we met her at the start!)
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