Lucien Rhodes
Hello Friends and Family,
Recently Nancy and I had an exciting experience I thought worth sharing in a story.
On Saturday December 3, we were volunteers at the Endurance Challenge Ultramarathon put on annually by North Face and Goretex in the Marin Headlands in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Nancy and I were part of a crew maintaining an aid station for marathoners running in both the 50 mile Open Trail Ultramarathon and the only slightly less challenging 30 mile Open Trail Marathon.
We got this assignment from Rob Rhodes. As you know, Rob is himself an accomplished marathoner and, indeed, he ran that Saturday in the 50K event. Rob is also founder and editor of BayTrailrunners, a focal point for open trail runners throughout the Bay area.
This year Rob's credentials attracted the attention of the North Face folks and he was invited to organize and maintain an aid station at the race on a try out basis with the understanding that if all went well he would be invited back the next year. Rob was highly motivated to do a good job because such an association with North Face is well respected by the marathoner community. And given this motivation wouldn't you know Rob would think of two people who he knew would never let him down.
Right . . . Mom and Pops.
Since we are a bit past our own ultramarathon prime, Mom and Pops naturally had reservations that the assignment might prove too much. On the other hand, there was that allure of hanging out for a day in the Marin Headlands, that spectacular, mind-blowing patch of protected open space hard by the San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco itself. We also calmed down a lot after Rob told us there would also be some 12 other volunteers in two shifts at his aid station all pitching in under the direction of Rob's friend and fellow runner, Carl, who would act as crew chief.
The BayTrailrunners aid station was more inland in a sheltered valley but with Stinson Beach just over the next rise. Most of the time, this spot is complete open country just the dirt hiking trails and forests and meadow grasses and the wind from the sea. But on this day, there was tremendous energy and activity concentrated into a tight knot of runners and spectators in and around our aid station. Cars lined both sides of the road for a couple of miles approaching the aid station area and the dirt parking lot there was full to bursting and the portapotties were busy. It was Max Yasgur's farm becoming Woodstock. That was the feeling. Intense energy and excitement.
Nancy and I had to get to work right away.
But let me pause to explain a few of the extraordinary facts about what was actually going on. Two races were underway at the same time both the 50 miler and the 30 miler. They had different start times. And here's my first incredible fact . . . the 50 mile Ultramarathon began in the pitch dark at 5 a.m. and the runners had to wear headlamps. You can see this start in the dark by following this link to a wonderful video of the 50 miler that shows the course, conditions, and runners very well. The video is especially cool because it opens with a blank dark screen and what appears to be only a tiny pin prick of light in the upper right hand corner of the frame. And you can't figure out for a while what's going on but gradually the light grows and differentiates itself and you realize you're looking at individual runners and that they're wearing headlamps. At this point a question can strike you very forcefully as it did me and one that caused me to puzzle over it throughout the whole day. You will ask yourself . . . what kind of people are these people!?
I mean many people I know regard DRIVING 50 miles in a car as too far, taking too much time, and a distinct inconvenience all around. But here we have people who want to RUN for 50 miles starting out when they can barely see where they're going. And another incredible fact . . . you are given 14 hours to complete the 50 mile Ultramarathon which means that you may even finish the race in total darkness again wearing a headlamps. Which is indeed what happened and Nancy and I were there to see it because we had to stay at our station until the last runner passed. But consider what I'm saying . . . you could be running for 14 hours up and down hills in the wilderness. At the other extreme, it's equally amazing to realize that the Ultramarathoner elite runners in this race would finish their 50 miles in roughly 6 hours.
Somewhere in all this I think there a lessons for us all about persistence and dedication and human endurance and what we're capable of achieving if we push ourselves. Anyway, as I say, I think there are lessons but I don't want to get too heavy handed and I myself am a slow learner.
The BayTrailrunners aid station was located exactly 5.7 miles from the finish line. We were set up on 3 folding picnic tables and one wood table. The race course brought runners right alongside the tables but first they had to cross over an electronic sensor on the ground that would record their race identification number letting the race chiefs know these runners had been accounted for and weren't still out there on the course lost in the hills. Not too far away for our tables, Rob had put up a large BayTrailrunners Banner.
Nancy and I were assigned to manage one of the tables. It was a dieter's nightmare but a runner's delight. We had M&M chocolate candies, potato chips, pretzels, grape flavored gel candies, boiled potato chunks to be dipped in an open bowl of raw salt, a large serving tray of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and a lot of other quick energy stuff. The next table in the line offered various soft drinks like Mountain Dew and Gatorade and the final folding table had the crucial water fill-up supply. On the dirt access road just behind us there was a paramedic emergency truck and 2 paramedics from Marin and Jeff, an affable "roadie" from North Face, who helped us keep things organized.
Just as we arrived around 11:30a.m, the first shift of volunteers, who had arrived at the race site at 4:30a.m., was getting off duty and they were tired. So Nancy and I jumped right in. Our orders were to keep our table full of goodies, tell runners how far they had left to run, point them in the right direction, describe the course ahead, and call in paramedics or North Face people if needed.
As the day progressed Nancy and I sorted out our specialties. She proved particularly good at making P&J sandwiches and keeping the tabletop organized and presentable even after I had managed to mess up the chips and M&M's. In turn I discovered I had skill at a task I had not known was an essential part of marathon events. This is the preparation of warm chicken broth. Many, many runners said they wanted to drink the broth because it was salty and tasty and warm. On the wood picnic table, I had set a kettle on top of a small cookstove burner powered by a propane bottle. I'd pour some ready made chicken broth into my kettle, get it nice a warm, and hurry back to my post to laddle out the broth in paper cups for runners. It was very popular stuff and it was tough keeping up with the crowd so for most of the afternoon I was quick back and forth from propane burner to laddle.
Sometimes a group of runners came by in a bunch but other times in onesies and twosies. But the table always had some business and Nancy and I were on our feet all through the long day. It was pleasant out there, though, with the sun out full yet cool and dry and the breeze carrying the distinctive wilderness signature of the Headlands and the Bay. And occasionally the afternoon offered entertaining surprises such as watching a runner stop near the station to dress up in a colorful Captain America costume so he could finish the race in style.
Even more memorable, though, was the following moment. At one point about mid-afternnon, I heard someone behind me saying how much he wanted to thank us volunteers for our work and I turned around to meet the speaker. There was this good looking young guy about 20 years old, tall, blond haired and lean. And there he was thanking Nancy and another girl Nancy had just met for being volunteers and shaking their hands. But it appeared Nancy and the other girl had lost the power of speech and instead were just looking up at this young man adoringly as if overwhelmed by his good looks and manner. I haven't seen Nancy look like that since she first met me 47 years ago. I was getting a little jealous and finally had to break the spell and introduce myself to thank him in turn and to ask him if there was anything I could do for him. He explained that he had lost his windbreaker and wondered if anybody might have turned it in. We had a cardboard box that served as our lost and found department and amazingly there was his windbreaker. That made him even happier and he started thanking us all over again. Then I think Nancy asked him which race he was in and how he had done. He paused for a moment and told her that he was in the 50 mile Ultra and that he had finished 2nd. With that, a respectful silence settled on all us volunteers because we understood then that we were now talking with an extraordinary human being. Then the other girl asked him if this was his first race. He paused for a longer moment this time because I think he realized we did not know who he was. "No, not my first," he said politely. "I've been in others before this." So it was, as we were to learn later, that we had just met Dakota Jones, one of the most famous and successful Ultramarathoners in the country. And let me ask you, how is it that someone gets to be that talented, that handsome, that young and also gets a name like Dakota Jones!
Given the drama of our Dakota Jones encounter you might expect the rest of the day to merely tapered off peacefully. But not this day. In fact, there was another high voltage moment in store for us.
Twilight was coming on and there was a chill in the air for jackets and sweaters. Fewer and fewer runners were passing the aid station and many of those that did looked completely exhausted yet still pushed on for the glory of it all. Then, the sky got darker still. Early night. Soon no runners showing up at all. The volunteers, now joined by Rob Rhodes, were unconsciously grouping closer together as we packed up supplies getting ready to go home. But then Carl's walkie talkie handset started crackling with messages from the race command post somewhere saying that there were still two runners out on the course and giving their numbers. Have they passed through yet? Have you seen them? The wait began.
Now completely dark. The volunteers huddled together with electric camp lamps and flashlights and looked out toward the hills. Then we heard someone calling out to us in this darkness from a nearby trail. A volunteer turned on his car headlights. It was a hiker coming in off a trail. He came up to us asking, "Have you heard about the mountain lion? Yeah, someone said they saw a mountain lion. Could've been a bobcat though. Anyways, it was a big cat. You guys gotta watch out." And he wandered off to his car somewhere. We all looked at each other. And wouldn't you know that at that exact moment and just about simultaneously we heard fairly close by the bark of a dog, the whinny of a horse, and the howl of a coyote. I kid you not.
Then not a moment too soon we all saw two tiny, tiny lights out there in the darkness bobbing up and down obviously coming down the distant hill. It was the two missing runners and on they came to the aid station accompanied by understandably enthusiastic applause because now we could head for home.
But wait . . .
The walkie talkie radio crackled again. "'The Sweeper' is still out on the trail. Wait for 'The Sweeper'." I confess this was an unsettling, and vaguely ominous, development for a marathon volunteer newbie such as yours truly. First, I had never heard the term used before and did not know what it meant until Rob Rhodes explained that a Sweeper is a race volunteer who runs the course way behind everybody else expressly to make sure that no one else is out there and in trouble. Even so, I still wasn't entirely comfortable because to me 'Sweeper' kept sounding like "Reaper" as in "Grim Reaper" and there we were in the pitch dark waiting for it. Plus, let's not forget about the Mountain Lion. You will understand that the thought did cross my mind that there might very well be something wrong with this picture?
But, oh happy day, all ended well. The Sweeper showed up in short order. The North Face roadies loaded up the supplies for the races on Sunday. The paramedics left to save lives somewhere else. And Lucien and Nancy drove back to their bungalow there to get in their jammies for a good night's sleep.
Finally, and in closing, I can tell you with some satisfaction that Rob Rhodes and his BayTrailrunners were indeed invited back for next year's Endurance Challenge.
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, Lucien
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