Ozark Trail 100 (aka The Steve 88) race report - crew view

The weekend started out really great. We got to Bass River Resort in plenty of time and were headed to the pre-race meeting and spaghetti dinner (runners know what I mean). Found out my camera didn't need new batteries, my camera needed replaced. Thank goodness for the droid. I mentioned Steve's water bottles to him, and his face was priceless. He forgot his water bottles. The town of Steelville, MO does have a grocery store, but does not sell insulated water bottles with handles. I got out medical tape and a tube sock and Paul, Aerospace Engineer, triathlete, rock climber, marathonner and pace runner (and he's single ladies) came up with this. Worked like a charm. Jed had the extra yellow one. Crisis averted.
Race morning we were up at 2:30 (2:00 for me) to get Steve to the bus for the starting line. I decided I wanted to go to the starting line so we jumped in behind the bus to follow them. Ozark roads with names like CR 2336 and Route 8 and Junction T had me confused. It was 26 degrees at the starting line, and dark like only a moonless night miles from civilization can be (the stars were incredible, though). This is Steve at the starting line.
I left Steve and headed to the first crew accessible aid station at mile 17.6. I knew once I got there I would have to wait for him, so I left my coat and hat and gloves on and pulled two fleece blankets over me and took a nap. I love naps. Then I headed to the aid station to wait for my runner. I got to meet a lot of runner's crews, some really nice people. And hear all kinds of stories. Steve eventually showed up and took off his running tights and changed shirts to running clothes suitable for 60 degree weather. He said he was feeling good and left his flashlight and headlamp and took off. I watched several runners come in with their legs and knees bloodied and dirty which told me how difficult the trail was.

The next aid station was at mile 43.5 and before that aid station I had to meet up with the rest of the crew (Patrick, Joni, Jed and Paul) and get Paul to the aid station to run 25 miles with Steve. We had heard of the Bixby General Store at the prerace meeting, and decided to meet there, because we didn't know of anything else. The Bixby General Store is smaller than a QuikTrip, selling everything from gas, auto supplies and hard liquor to milk and cereal. It also had a restaurant in it. I got the best cheeseburger and fries I have ever eaten. Unfortunately I couldn't eat it all and had to pass up the homemade pie. When the rest of the crew got there, they had meatloaf sandwiches, (they looked so awesome) and pie. Of course, they were running, not staying in the car. We all left Bixby and went to aid station to wait for our runner. We got to see several runners come in and leave. This was the first aid station where we saw runners in distress.
Steve came in and got his running tights and jacket, lamp, gloves and pace runner Paul for the next 25 miles and was ready to run again. He was tired, but this leg was not as technically difficult as the first 17.6 had been.
The next crew aid station was at 68.5 miles and had a 3:00 a.m. cut off. Jed (marathonner, triathlete and ultra runner) and I head over there for his turn to pace Steve and Patrick and Joni went for a nap before she paced Steve. Jed and I parked at the campground and as it was getting dark and I only had two short naps under my belt for the day I made a pallet on the ground next to my car, huddled under two fleece blankets and napped until I heard the shouts "runner"... at the aid station. Jed was up from his nap in the car and so we started to get things together for Steve. And we waited, and waited.... eventually I was so cold we went back to the car and ran the heater and seat warmers to get the cold out of our bones.
There was a point I started getting worried about Steve. I expected him around 11:00 and he wasn't there. I checked with race officials and they told me what time he had checked out of the last aid station so I recalculated when he should be there and set myself to wait again. And he didn't show when I expected him. I stood at the juncture where the trail ran into the campground/aid station and stared into pitch black, looking for the bobbing light that signified head lamps. The runners kept trickling in, and eventually the lights were Paul and Steve. I didn't recognize them till Paul was passed me and Steve was next to me. Steve was cold and his legs were dead. The back of his right knee was hurting pretty bad. He was fine, just really tired and dead. It was also 24 hours since he'd gotten out of bed. We got some soup in Steve, some dry shoes food, repacked his belt pack with GU and S Caps and tried to move him along. We ended up telling him he was within the hour of cutoff time and he might want that hour on the trail, not on the aid station. And him and Jed were off. Paul and I packed the car and headed to the next aid station at mile 81.5. I got Paul's report that the first 12 of the 25 went great, but that was where Steve started to struggle. He said it was a blast running (in the dark on treacherous trails) and it was an experience of a lifetime. He also said that for a while something was tracking them in the brush next the trail. Since we had been warned of feral hogs, that was a little disconcerting.
We got to the 81.5 mile aid station and took another nap. Jed and Steve rolled in later than I was expecting, but since I was asleep I wasn't worried. Until I talked to Steve. He was in pain. Legs were definitely starting to fail and the back of his knee was hurting worse. Again, his great crew stepped in with soup, potatoes and dry socks and we repacked his belt pack and Joni and Steve took off. I didn't want to let him go. If he had shown any signs of defeat at that point, any indication of quitting, I would have not only encouraged it, but probably forced the issue. Since he didn't, I hugged him, prayed for him, and let him go. Jed told me that they came to a creek and Steve looked for a way around it, but there wasn't want. Jed carried him across the creek. One pacer willing to fight feral pigs and another one that will carry you. How great is that? He also said Steve got a little cranky with him, but he told him to keep it up, he'd run faster.
From here we headed to aid station 95.
We had an idea of what time to expect him, so we were all there hanging out and waiting. I was very concerned for Steve.

I walked back up this trail (I was looking for Steve, and I needed a port a john and there wasn't one and the only convenience store in the Ozarks was too hard to find) and did something I haven't done ever and peed in the woods. Twice this weekend. I hiked a little further to get a feel for the trail and headed back out. As I was getting close to the aid station I saw Joni and Jed coming in after me, Steve had made it to the aid station at mile 88 and pulled himself. It was not mental, he had decided if he couldn't stand up out of the chair by himself at the aid station he was done. Joni, being another phenomenal pace runner (and triathlete and marathonner herself) did her job and tried with everything she had to convince him to continue, but he was done. As in poke him with a fork done.
I got to the car where he was waiting and I could see it too, he didn't have it in him to go on. Not mentally, he could've beat that. But the physical toll it had taken on him was evident. There were runners who have run other 100 mile races and they said this was the hardest they had run. The hills were crazy insane, the trail was covered with leaves and under the leaves there were rocks and roots, and I almost fell twice just walking. There were 88 registered runners and last I heard, less than 40 still on the trail. I'm waiting for them to post results to see how many finished.
Of course Steve really wanted to finish, but was at peace with stopping. He said when we were leaving the aid station that he would never attempt the Ozark Trail 100 again, or even a 100. But after food (three times) and two catnaps in the car, he and Jed were talking strategy for building his own training plan and how to build on this experience and which races to run to gain more experience running shorter and/or easier ultra's so he can go back and beat the Ozark Trail 100. I expected this.
While we didn't know Jed and Paul before this run, Jed is my new BFF as I subjected him to hours of girl talk because, well, he was captive in my car. (It is okay to feel very sorry for him). He has a beautiful family and we will consider him a friend for life. Paul managed to avoid my girl talk, but he is planning to run some training runs with Steve. I may show up at the same ultra Paul is planning to run and try it myself. And Joni and Patrick, friends from Newspring, we just love all these guys. They were awesome crew members. They looked out for Steve, the runner, and made his goal their goal and worked hard to get him there. (I on the other hand looked out for Steve, the man I love and I didn't want to see him hurting. It's a good thing they were there.)
I would crew for anyone that needed someone, and be a pace runner in this kind of endeavor. I thoroughly enjoyed this experience, even with the peeing in the woods, sleeping under the stars, 40 hours living in my car on diet coke and pb crackers (other than the cheeseburger). The people were interesting and fun. It was a friendly and positive environment. I'm looking forward to a chance to be the runner, not the crew.