NOTE: This race report from Jeff Genova (@oneday100miles)was originally posted as a comment to the ‘My Western States 100 Mile Death March‘ Monumental Effort story. But we felt it was so great, it warranted it’s own place as a Monumental Effort unto itself:
Jeff say, “And yes I am going back to finish what I started last year!”
My race report from the 2009 Western States Endurance Run.
I have been waiting to do this race for 4 years. The first year I applied for the lottery like most I did not make it in to the race. So the next year I applied for the lottery and was lucky enough to be selected but once the race day arrived so had the smoke and fires. The race had to be cancelled due to safety concerns. But finally this year was the year. I had done all of the training built my speed, lost some weight, cross trained, heat trained did everything I thought to get ready for the big race. I was ready travel was scheduled and I was ready to run.
The race is a wonderfully orchestrated event with tremendous volunteers like no other. I found this out first hand. The registration was well run and very efficient. I quickly made it through the process and the pre-race briefing was informative and held to one hour as promised.
The race morning start was full of tension and anxiety for myself as well as the other racers. Then at the stroke of 5 with a blast from the shotgun we where off up the slope in to the darkness. As I ran up the slope I passed friends new and old Chrissy Ferguson, Jean Pommier, Xy Weiss even the man Gordie. Half way up the slope there is Andy and Catra cheering us on. Wow I thought they must have gotten up early to get way up here this early. Finally I make it to the top and the Escarpment aid station, wait that is not the top the is a hand over fist vertical climb and a short run to the top. Then is is down to Lyon Ridge along some beautiful single track trails. All along the way I am thinking about how I am going to describe these hills to everyone back home in Arkansas. We just don’t have anything this long anywhere we have the steep inclines and declines but not the length.
I arrive in to the Lyon Ridge aid station feeling good but wishing that I had worn my Cascadias since the start and not the Inov-8s that I had on. After a refill of the bottles I am off through a rolling section to Red Star Ridge aid station where my first drop bag is located. Along this section I get to talk to one of the HURT runners she is very lovely and I realize that I like running with people way more than the solo thing. So I decide to try to find someone to talk to during each section until I get to Foresthill and my pacer Tom.
My long toes are already sore from the down hills so I walk the last downhill section into the Red Star aid station. I hear the guy on the PA say walk the down hills that is what I teach all of my protege runners. Ha Ha I laugh but don’t tell them the real reason for the walk. I restock my fuels in my belt and filled the bottles then off to the next aid station. Down, Down, Down into the Duncan Canyon wide open to the sun and step down hills again. I am beginning to wonder if me toes are going to hold out for the next 70 some miles… Then it is up to Robinson Flat and the first time that I get to see my crew(my wife and youngest daughter) who have pushed me to the finish of all of my other 100 mile attempts. But before I get to see them I have to climb out of this crazy steep canyon. Little do I know it is only the start of even steeper and longer canyons. Once I get close to the top of the climb there is a runner on the ground with medical and aid station volunteers assisting him. The heat and the climb had taken its toll on many along the way. Then I emerge out of the woods to see medical check, my weight is right on .5 lb under. Then I see my crew happy to fill my every need except the one to stop. My feet are killing me. I tell them I need my other shoes and that it is crazy hot out there. They get my shoes and help me cool down with some ice and sponges. I want to just stay with them but they tell me that I have bothered them about that damn buckle for three years get up and get back out there.
The next 15 miles to the top of the canyon is a big blur of rolling trail and aid stations filled with runners in the medical tents feet destroyed and glazed looks from the sun sucking the life out of them. Then at the top of the Devils Thumb canyon I think wow this is going to hurt and it is steep! I found that the biggest thing that I will need to work on for future mountain races is how to protect that damn long second toe on the down hills. I finally make it to the bottom and
then it is the big big climb to the top. The climbs I can do well they don’t hurt my toes very much and I can pick up some of the time lost from the down hills.
Then out of that crazy climb to another mash unit aid station. I try to spend as little time as possible in these aid stations for fear of being sucked into them.
Another canyon and I make it to Michigan Bluff and my crew again. They lift my spirits when I see them and then they tell me I need to pick up the pace I am getting close to some of the cut offs. “This is not what I had planned for, I was supposed to be faster than this” I tell myself. It is a moral blow but the crew gives me the spare headlight that I put in for Michigan Bluff as a worst case scenario that I would be that late I might need it. Leaving Michigan Bluff I pick up the pace and start talking to a runner from Illinois who tells me that he would be surprised if he made the 30 hour cut off at this pace. “Holy Crap what is going on how am I
racing the absolute cut offs” I think to myself. I have to pick up the pace I am almost to Tom, my pacer, he can help me pick up some time. I do pick up pace through the volcano canyon and up to Bath road where in the dark I can not see the small sign and do not know which way to turn at the street left or right how am I losing
more time CRAP! Finally after a minute a runner comes up and shows me the way. Then about a 1/4 mile down the road I meet up with Tom. What a lift he gives me a red bull shot which my team has sent to me as a pick up. It tastes good but does not’t last long, I throw it back up. This is the start of the downfall, from this point on I cannot keep anything down except plain water the rest of the night. We make it in to Foresthill school the crew is there and ready to please. They give me some fruit (which I do keep down) and my good headlight. Tom gets the bottles filled and with the some words of encouragement from the running store at home “Finish no matter what!”(I guess that puts no stress on me but it does become my mantra when the low points come) Tom and I are off to Cal street into the night.
Once we make it on to the trail I tell Tom have to pee and when I get back he is laughing. He tells me that there is a baggie of urine on the trail. I tell him that they are everywhere some kind of study. He still thinks it is funny. The next 8 miles to Peachstone went by fairly quickly it was dark and hilly my feet started to
hurt more and the vomiting started to pick up. Once at Peachstone I let the podiatrist look at my feet and there where blisters coming out from under the first two toe nails on each foot. He said that he could lance the blisters and give me instant relief. I told him “what are you waiting for do it!” The lancing helped as far as
instant relief but it was not a long term fix. From then on when we left an aid station I had to walk almost a quarter mile so that I could get used to the pain in my feet and could run again.
We started to pick up some time on the clock though the night from here to the Rucky Chucky crossing. I told Tom that if we had time once we got across the river I would like for a podiatrist to look at my feet again. He said we had gained some time and that we could. We made it to Rucky Chucky with 45 minutes of time between us and the cut-off. I got on to the scale and my weight was .5lb under. After all of the puking and running I was amazed that I had kept my weight up.
We went down to the water and as soon as I put my feet in the water they where on fire I knew they where bad but not this bad. Once out of the water I found a chair and podiatrist who basically wiped of my feet and put a small bandage on my right foot and said that is all I can do. I felt this was a bad decision and a great loss of time for us. We left the aid station and ran up the hill to the Green Gate aid station and sunrise. Tom and I both thought that the sun might give me a second wind. I hoped it would too. We where supposed to meet the crew here with dry socks but they did not make it down the hill in time to meet us. So off to the next aid station with the sun rising we pick up the pace a little once I get past the sore feet from the stop.
When we get to Auburn Lakes Trails aid station I have lost 5 lbs and the medical team makes me sit and drink (and hold it down) until I gain some of the weight back. Well by the time I do this it is 6:55 and the absolute cut off is 7:00. Five minutes ahead of the cut off we need to pick up speed. Just before we make it to the Hwy 49 crossing I hear the PA announce 14 minutes to cut-off. We picked up a couple of minutes and I have kept my weight up, it is back to .5lb down. They let us through the aid station with no delay and there is my crew screaming at me to go go go. They know I can do it.
Tom and I push up the big hill out of the aid station and the sun starts beating down on us now. We make it to No Hands bridge with 25 minutes ahead of the 30 hour limit. Tom fills our bottles and I have to walk across the bridge to get past the pain in my feet to start running again. Just after the end of the bridge we are passed by Tim Twietmeyer and another runner going the other way. They gives words of encouragement and head on. Tom says if that does not’t get you moving nothing will. It did and we picked up the pace a little but by this time the sun was really baking me good. I could feel the wafts of heat sucking the life out of me. We made it to the top of the hill so we thought at Robbie Point. Tim was there offering water to drink or he would pour it on you, I said over the top please. Tim said”You have made it, it is in the books.” I wish. The road from this point has orange feet on it leading to the finish line at the track. But it seemed like the road was all up hill to the track I was getting hot. I could see a group of runners ahead of us and they just kept going and going. I told Tom I thought we only had a mile to go he said less than that and we where done.
From this point I don’t remember much but Tom tells me that I told him I had to sit down and I did on a curb next to a driveway about 3/4 mile from the finish line. That driveway is where my race and a three year dream ended. I remember Tom trying to get me to stay awake and talk to him. I remember trying to get up but I couldn’t make my muscles work. I felt as though I had not bones in my body. I finally told Tom I just wanted to go to sleep and he wouldn’t let me. Tom tells me that Tim Twietmeyer who had been running with us took off for the medical tent at the finish line when I collapsed and sent back a truck to get me. My wife tells me that Tim when he ran past them near the finish he yelled at them that there runner was in trouble. This upset her and my daughter started to run back to see what was the matter with her Dad but my wife stopped her for fear of the worst. The medical personnel arrived and loaded me in the truck. They drove me to the finish line and then carried me across the finish line and I remember hearing my chip going off as I crossed it. Once in the medical tent Randy the medical person who I remember took vitals and started packing me in ice. Then a female nurse hooked up an IV to me and then another.
I remember seeing my daughter crying and telling her “don’t cry baby it will be okay.” She said she new it would be okay but she could help being scared and sad. After a couple of hours but the medical staff finally let me go back to the hotel to get a shower and rest. I felt a lot better after that. Since our flight was out of SFO early in the morning I made my wife drive us to the hotel near the airport. She tells me this because I do not remember the 4 hour drive back to Auburn to get my drop bags and then to San Fran. All I remember is throwing up non stop into a bag for the first 30 min. I guess I threw up the whole way and my daughter fed me ice chips to try to keep me hydrated she tells me. Once we get to San Francisco the bellman wheeled me to our room in a wheel chair and I went to sleep. I the morning we returned the car and flew home to Arkansas I don’t remember much of these travels either. According to my wife I started turning a yellow color and looked really bad so she tricked me into going to the hospital straight from the airport. She said I needed to get some real wound care for my feet. I am glad she did. Once in the ER the Dr. read me the riot act about my “100 mile run to your death” race that I did. He was mad that he had to deal with me and let me sit for over 2 hours in a room with no orders. Finally the nurse got mad at him and he ordered some lab work which came back “BAD” according to him. I was turned over to an internist and a nephroligist. They told me my labs showed Acute Tubular Necrosis with kidney function of 20% and a CPK count of 26,000 and it should be 150. They sent me to the ICU and over the next 4 days ran 13 bags of IV fluid through me. I am getting better now and according to the Doctors I will recover fully. I want to thank again everyone who helped me through this ordeal. I want to thank all of the people who wished me well and had me in there thoughts the past couple of weeks. Also I want to apologize to all of those that I may have let down or scared these past weeks. I am going to take a couple of weeks off and then start back running slowly, I already miss the running. Just remember when you are out there running be careful we think we are invincibly but I found out at least I am not.
