Oops, we did it again.
nadra and I helped to man the Lambs Canyon (baaaaa!) aid station at approximately mile 52.48 this weekend. Once again we were on food duty and helped keep everyone well-stocked with watermelon, bananas, swedish fish, m&ms, a SHIT TON of pickles, etc.
I love being on hand the whole day for these to observe the ebb and flow throughout the day; from the lengthy window between setup to the anticipation of the frontrunners, to the steady trickle, to the chaos, to the slowing down and then the cleanup. The flow was a bit different this year due to the heat, leading to a lighter flow early and then getting slammed later in the evening, which was a little crazy. The demand for ice was high, but fortunately people were generous with donations - virtually all of the coolers in the above picture were filled with ice.
Following the action up front, it looked as though we'd have two runners coming in neck-and-neck. then a 25 minute gap, then another two neck-and-neck. Except the first two guys evidently made a wrong turn and took a long time to get back on track, so we ended up with four guys all coming in within a few minutes of each other and went into chaos mode right off the bat.
It was leader and eventual winner Chris Schurk (Wyoming represent!!), who ultimately made it in first, setting things in motion...
He took his time refueling and left in 3rd or 4th, but looked the best out of anybody and was my pick to win. He bantered with us a bit and naturally said "I just want to finish"....
He quickly reclaimed the lead and built a bit of a gap, but the second guy fought tooth-and-nail over the last 15 miles to close it up, before running out of room and losing by ONE MINUTE! I regretted not sneaking out early and heading to the finish at that point.
Most of these top runners have fairly large entourages with them, so most of their basic needs were already met; we mainly helped by refilling bottles, drenching them with cold water, and shoving ice in every place imaginable. It was the calm, punctuated by the sudden burst of activity and tons of people scurrying around that made things seem chaotic. After this early burst, it settled down over the next couple of hours.
Our duties, similar to last year, were keeping the food plates well-stocked, which mainly involved cutting up watermelon & PB&J sandwiches, and later on, keeping a steady flow of broth & noodles. It's always fun to see the progression from the top guys who blast right through, to the latecomers who take 20-30 minutes and up at the aid station to take care of themselves and are just happy to be there.
We typically expect the top runners a bit before 3pm (it was around 3:15 this year after the navigational issues), then a steady trickle until business picks up around 5, with the bulk of the 24 hour hopefuls coming through, then gradually increasing later into the evening with the 30 hour hopefuls, and then dying down a bit after 10, as the last of the runners trying to beat the 36 hour race cutoff come through. This year, it didn't really pick up until 8ish, but then became super chaotic all at once, which had us feeling a bit frantic for awhile, as we were inundated with requests for broth and noodles. I was a bit worried, as we came quite close to running out of cups, but then managed to dig up a few extras. Most people were very appreciative and surprised by how much we had, some even commented that it was the best stocked aid station they had ever seen. But of course no matter how much stuff you have, there's always the odd request that you can't accommodate. Always the drawback of an aid station budget.
After 11, things finally got a little less crazy, so we began roaming around a bit more, trying to assist the runners who didn't have much crew help and get them up and moving before the midnight aid station cutoff. This is always a tough time, because based on the historical data, folks who leave after 11 probably aren't going to make it, but are electing to continue for as long as they can, which you have to respect. Actually we did have a few hailmary-type comebacks this year, including one guy who left at 11:53 and made the final cutoff with 10 minutes to spare! Anything is possible.
After midnight, the calm finally hits again and we're able to hang out by check-in with the aid station captains and reflect on the day while we wait for the last arrivals and the sweepers. The course winds along on a ridge across from us before arriving, allowing us to see the runners at certain spots from ~30 minutes out; a process much easier at night because of the headlamps. Then comes the glorious takedown process of our miniature city, which I can tell you is tons of fun at 2am after being on one's feet for 12+ hours.
Another year in the books! If I volunteer for one more year, then my name gets put into the reaping/lottery an extra time the following year, so that's something to consider.
