MST 100/50 Miler Crew/Pacer
💥📄🏁Race Report🏁📄💥
MST 100 (Crew/Pacer)
March 20-21 2021 Durham, NC
Strava Link: https://strava.app.link/MDhYRkROIqb
After the racers took care of pre-race meetings and packet pick up we all meet up at the air b and b. We all chatted for about an hour had a beer and got things ready for a 3am wake up call for a 5am start. Gustavo and Maribel made a great pre race meal. Bean soup, pasta, meat and mushroom sauce and French bread. But someone forgot the empanadas. 😧 We then went to bed for some much needed rest. About 1am I heard commotion outside the house on the side I was sleeping and looked out and there was a full on party. About 10 kids out front smoking and listening to music. I toned it out for a few more hours of sleep but wondered how it would affect the resting runners. Then 3am is here. Everyone quickly but quietly moving around the house. It’s race day. It’s a great day! Marcus and I are off to the start with Luke. We get to the starting parking lot and Luke gets out to put the finishing touches on his gear. Gaiters and the vest and we are ready to roll. Gustozo calls for directions and pulls in right as we are walking down to the start. Aaron is waiting for us at the start and now the crew is together and ready for a day and a half in the North Carolina wilderness. After getting the drop bags situated in their proper location the RD tells us a few important directions and they are off. 5am-5:15am was the start window. We headed back to the house to get our gear ready for pacing and make sure we had the truck loaded up with everything Luke and the other runners needed. Anxious and wanting to run I decided now is a good time to go for a few mile run around the neighborhood to get everything loose for the miles later that evening. Knocked out two easy miles hopped in the truck and we were off headed to meet Luke at the start after a marathon distance. First I saw Lindsay who was making killer time. She was looking strong and was in and out! Then next coming in was Matt who was looking very strong and radiating that sense of humor of his. Next in was Gustavo then Luke then Raj. Gustavo told me at this point he had fell in the lake lost his headlamp gotten lost twice. So he was just trying to calm the mind get his clothes changed and back out on the course which he did with great precision and concentration. At that point we headed up to the truck with Luke. He had some soup and a few wraps and a shot of Makers Mark. Him and Marcus we’re on their way. I went back down to check on Raj and he was getting ready to head back out on the course for his final 20 miles. Got his shoes tied up for him because I think the cold was affecting his fingers and he was not looking super strong but the mind was very confident. He was in for a pretty good fight that last 20 miles. Now that everyone was back on course I gathered all drop bags and it was time for another short run to pass the time.
Three more miles but this time on the MST trail. I hopped in the truck and was on my way to get Chick-fil-A for Luke’s lunch and to meet Luke at the aid station from which I would pace him for 25 miles through the night. One thing I must say is the Chick-fil-A in Durham, North Carolina is the most perfectly orchestrated parking lot of food pick up I have ever experienced. So two chicken sandwiches with no pickles per Luke‘s request for lunch. And I forgot the chick fila sauce....fail. Onto the next aid station to set up and get ready for Luke’s arrival around mile 43. Once I got there and got set up I started to pack my vest for a long evening. At this point Lindsey has already blown through the aid station and is crushing the course at an impressive pace. Building that time gap in case anything goes wrong. I hear at this point that Matt finished third place overall 10 1/4 hours in the 50 miler. Next we get a phone call on our group messaging app it’s Raj he’s lost or so he thinks. Aaron directs him to just keep going to find the turn around and a few hours later he finishes the race and a new PR distance of 54 miles. In comes Gustovo and is systematically in and out of the aid station in 10 minutes. Maribel is awesome at crewing him.
Then Luke pops out of the woods looking strong and confident. Marcus and him in great spirits. He’s in and out of this aid station after some good solid food we are off into wilderness. We have a 9 mile section, a 10 mile section, and a 6 mile out and back. Once we were on the trail Luke handed me his run walk timer as the plan was to walk for four minutes and run for one minute. The first few times they started going off it seemed to agitate Luke so from then on I decided to turn it off and put it in my pack. A few miles in Luke realized he hadn’t charged his watch at any of the aid station breaks. At this point some quick Google map navigation allowed us to find a point where Marcus could meet us with the charger and the battery. The Loplolly aid station. So after a short detour back on trail. Around 4-5 miles in it started to get dark. So we get ourselves equipped for the darkness. Luke used a Kogalla and a headlamp while I lead the way with a headlamp. At this point we know Lindsay and Gustovo are pretty far ahead. Once we began fighting the darkness our pace began to slow. After we reached our first aid station after about 9 miles we were in and out pretty quick and back into the night. For the next 10 miles I would slowly try to talk to Luke about his nutrition and how we needed to pick up the pace so that we didn’t encounter problems later.
Then we passed first place runner on the out and back, who is absolutely demolishing the field. He was headed to the finish and we decided to start counting runners on this out and back to keep our minds busy. The brain fog and lack of sleep between the two of us caused us to lose count after about 15. Then I saw two lights ahead and I heard a female voice say it looks like Donnie‘s walk. And we met Lindsay and Aaron for a brief conversation and quickly back on our way. Lindsay looked great, Aaron looked focused and I was pretty confident in both runners at that point. Luke was starting to get into a dark place, blood sugar was dropping and he was starting to get frustrated with the pace. We make it to the last aid station before the out and back and we had a brief discussion about nutrition and pace and what we needed to make up. For the next 6 miles Luke would run almost 80% of the trail. This effort saved his race. He was possessed with determination. We were running at 10-11 minute pace a few points I actually had to stop him on hills because he was climbing at an unsustainable pace. Once we get to the turn around we both let out a collective yell of satisfaction, it was a huge relief, we were headed back to the finish line. I think the running in those 6 miles aggravating some foot chafing so once we got back to the aid station the first priority was to get Luke’s feet ready for the next 35+ miles. Marcus got food for him and got ready to start pacing as I helped him take care of his foot issues. He briefly put on speed goats but went back to his Solomon shoes he’d been using the entire race. I briefly went over what was going on with Marcus and I said he was running the last 6 miles. Marcus looked at me in astonishment. I hope I can keep up he said.
About 5 to 10 minutes before Luke was getting ready to leave the aid station I got a text from Aaron it said Lindsey wasn’t doing very well and she was probably going to drop. I told him as soon as he got to the aid station to get her somewhere warm and I would be there with the truck for her to regroup. After getting the guys out on trail I threw my pack in the truck and headed to the aid station to meet Lindsay and Aaron. I found Lindsay in a chair with a blanket that luckily someone had given her and Aaron was standing guard. We got her into the warm truck as quick as possible and left her alone until Caitlyn got there. Once Caitlyn and Maribel were there we let them take control of Lindsay‘s care and Aaron and I awaited the guys. Lindsay told her she was done but I knew when she saw Gustovo and Luke pop out of those woods and realized this was one big group effort to the finish she would be revitalized. Once the sun came up she was ready. Up and moving and getting some fresh Ramen we had cooking and awaiting the other two runners. I decided to run down the trail and see if I could find them and less than a quarter-mile in there they were still moving forward with relentless forward progress. We were all united again for the first time since 5 AM that previous morning. It was time to go get these badass runners their buckles. Marcus took over crewing after pacing for an impressive 35 miles. Caitlyn and I got ready to pace the crew to the finish. During the next six or seven hours and 15+ miles it was awesome to watch them share the lead. One would break trail until they were tired and another would fall into place. No more talks of quitting only great conversations and smiles. Gustovo was telling me stories about harvesting ice with air bubbles in it and saving penguins.
The pain train was coming for their buckles. In what seemed like a short amount of time we were back on the road in the park and walking towards the last piece of trail that linked us to the parking lot and the finish line. Once we popped out of the parking lot Gustovo said let’s run and from there and we all five ran to the finish line. 33+ hours later they made it! 100 miles will test you in so many ways but camaraderie and friendship will always carry you through. It was an honor to pace such a great group of people to such a great accomplishment. Congrats Runners!