Western States Days 4 and 5 - This is getting REAL!

Yesterday was the calm before the storm. We woke up to rain and 40 degree temps and were really glad we had made the trek up to the Escarpment the day before. I finally got to sleep in!

The morning was spent watching the USA vs. Germany World Cup match then driving into Truckee to pick up last minute supplies - extra batteries, towel, sponge, ziplock bags, and more food. John's friend JC and his family got into town. JC is going to help crew with me. The three of us then went to a Crew Meeting at 2 pm and a Trail Meeting at 3:30 pm.

This is our plan for Saturday...

 

1. We'll see John off at the start at 5 am

 

2. We'll take 2 cars to the finish line at Placer High School in Auburn and leave my car there

 

3. JC and I will then drive to the mile 29.7 aid station at Robinson Flat and wait for John there

 

4. We'll then drive to the mile 55.7 aid station at Michigan Bluff

 

5. We'll then drive to the mile 62 aid station at Foresthill

 

6. John's other pacer Mike will meet us at Foresthill and start running with him there; John's family will try to meet us there too. You are only allowed one crew vehicle at all of the aid stations except this one so, from my understanding, Foresthill is a big party.

 

7. JC and I will then drive to the mile 79.8 aid station at Greengate. We actually have to park our car and walk 1.25 miles down to the aid station. I will stay at Greengate and JC will walk another 1.5 miles down to the aid station at Rucky Chucky Far. Rucky Chucky is the major river crossing. JC will have dry clothes, shoes and socks for John and Mike after they cross the river. The 3 of them will then run up to Greengate. John and I will then run to the finish at Placer High School. JC will drive Mike back to the Foresthill aid station to get his car, then the two of them will meet us at the finish line. Depending on the time, John's family may be at the finish line too.

 

There is a 30 hour time limit for this race. A 24 hour runner will get to Greengate by 11:20 pm. A 30 hour runner will get there at 4:55 am. I expect John to be somewhere in between. We'll have a better idea as the day goes on. You can track the race live HERE.

 

After our meetings, John's family got into town so all of us went out for dinner then retired to our rooms to try and get a good night's sleep.

 

Today, I met John at 9 am for runner check in.

 

 

This is where all the runners got weighed, got their medical bracelets, photos for the website, and their swag bags. They will get their official race numbers when they check in again tomorrow morning. I think the average BMI in the room was about 15...

 

Race Expo

 

 

Next stop was to drop off John's drop bags. They hold supplies for some of the aid stations that the crew either cannot access or will not be at. Some runners actually run this without a crew!

 



 

 

We then went and picked up John's family and drove into Truckee for brunch. We ate at a local restaurant called the Squeeze Inn. It was actually featured on an episode of "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." HERE is the Throwdown episode if anyone is interested.

 

Squeezing in at the Squeeze Inn

 

I went to get my pacer number after brunch.

 



 

This is getting REAL!

 

We then went to a final Runner Meeting at 1:30 pm. This was mandatory for all the runners so everyone was there. We got some final comments by all the various directors and the top 10 men and women runners plus some of the other top contenders were introduced. The conference room was standing room only (luckily we had a seat but I was too far back to take pictures). The ENERGY in that room was unbelievable. It was a bit surreal being there.

 

This is the starting line for tomorrow morning.

Under it is the countdown clock to race time.

 

This is a view of the Escarpment that we climbed on Wednesday.

 

After the runner meeting John and I packed everything for tomorrow and put most of it in his car. We then met some other runners for an early dinner. Now we're back in our respective rooms trying to get some rest. I'm meeting him at 4:15 am for the final runner check in. The gun goes off at 5 am.

 



Let's DO this!!