Burning River 100 Mile Crew Report

This is my second opportunity to crew for my husband, Jason and I can't begin to tell anyone how truly great an experience it really is. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has the means and ability to either crew or assist at an aid station. You see a whole different aspect of running and what it truly means to accomplish this great task.

It definitely helps that I feel like my crew is part of my family. Jesse is listed as my brother on Facebook so of course anything that's on the Internet MUST be true! I was sad that our former crew member, Mark, ditched us to run a marathon but we had our own adventures with a Stand In. I came up with this dorky idea when I first found out he couldn't make it. We had such a good time during the last race we crewed together so I found a way to include him. Insert, Barbie Ken.

I'm not much of a crafter so I came up with the worst bandanna ever donning Mark's name atop the Ken doll. I uploaded pictures to Jason's account along with captions but here are a few of my favorites!


We picked up a new crew member, Art. This was my second time meeting him. We donned him our token "serial killer" since Mark was our first (story from my husband's Mind the Duck's race report). We picked him up in Michigan and were on our way.

Many laughs were had in the car. I hoped we weren't offending Art too much since we tend to have a very juvenile type of humor but he seemed to fit right in.

We arrived in Ohio and checked into our hotel. I had way too much fun with "Stand-In Mark". I took many pictures of him along the way and got lots of stares. I probably embarrassed my own crew more than anything because I would stash him in my purse and take random pictures. The picture of Mark waiting in line at the hotel is probably my favorite. I was laughing so hard my hands were shaking while taking the picture. I was worried it would be too blurry but luckily it turned out.
We met up with others at a local bar & restaurant. Some were running the race, some crewing and some were other barefoot runners. It's so great to actually meet those people in person after talking to them online for so long. I met Shelley and her crew - her husband was running the next day. He completed this amazing feat! Rachel & her crew who were also from Michigan. Rachel is only 23 and finished strong. She is such a sweet and personable person so it was so much fun being able to see her come into aid stations and help out in any way possible. We also met Johnny-O who was working two of the aid stations. Thanks for helping our stops go by so smoothly! We also saw him again at the finish line.

Everyone was excited about our upcoming adventure so we left the restaurant in hopes to rest up before the race. We ended up drinking too many beers and staying up later than we meant to. I myself, blame "Stand-In Mark" and his bad influence ways : )

Unfortunately, 3:30 a.m. came way too quickly. I slept like a rock, probably an alcohol induced rock. Not the smarted pre-race plan we could have come up with. Everyone got up and we were on our way to the start line. After crewing last time I got the idea of coming up with "Crew Shirts". Luckily, I got a discount from our school store. Jason said it was helpful because he could always pick us out of the crowd. I said I liked his kilt, one because it was pretty darn sexy but also because you could always spot him....at least until it became dark.

The beginning of the race started at Squire's Castle, which we visited the day before in the light of day (picture below). At the start (5:00 a.m.) it was still dark out. I love the atmosphere of ultras. There is such a camaraderie. Everyone is working together towards a common goal instead of people competing against one another. A great example of this was at the finish line we watched finishers coming in. Two guys came in the exact same time with smiles on their faces. There was no vying for one guy to finish ahead of the other just a shared happiness that they had both completed their goal.

After the start of the race, we headed to the first aid station. Just prior to the race, Jason purchased a GPS system and programmed all the aid station coordinates into. This is the single, best investment we have ever made. It made getting to each aid station so easy. All we had to do was punch in Covered Bridge Aid Station and followed the directions.

This crew experience was a little different from the first time since this race was a point to point race (one start and one finish) and the other race was 6 loops around the same course. There were pros and cons to each type of race. I felt like we had more time between aid stations which was handy if we wanted to hunt down food, take a nap or find oil for the car - thanks mechanic Jesse! Some of the cons would be finding the actual station which wasn't a problem with our GPS and estimating the times Jason would arrive (one we almost missed!).

The first aid station or two it usually takes a little while to get a rhythm down but honestly it was really easy. We divided tasks the day before which helped tremendously. We went over the assignments on the car ride again and it all went pretty smoothly.

Prior to the race, Jason gave each crew member a list of his demands....um er I mean, requirements : ) On the first two aid station lists was a trip to McDonald's to pick up a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. Those addresses were also programmed into the GPS so it was a matter of a few right & left turns and we were there. Unfortunately, the McDonald's wasn't open until 7:00 a.m. and it was only 5:30 a.m. There was no way we could wait for it to be open and get the sandwich to Jason in time so we made an executive decision......Speedway it is! They didn't have any breakfast sandwiches so we decided to try the tornados which were stuffed with sausage, egg and cheese in some crunchy unknown outer shell. It turns out Jason didn't want them and opted for Slim Fast instead. Jesse was the lucky eater of the tornados, which he said weren't too bad.
Our first aid station we set up shop and waited for Jason to come in. While waiting, we saw 3 college aged kids standing around wearing running clothes. We chatted with them for a bit until a runner approached them. They chatted with him and we didn't think anything of it. Then one of the kids asked him "So, do you think you could run these things without your mustache?" He was a very heavily mustachioed man and without hesitating said "No". After the runner left, I threw in "It's probably like his Kryptonite. If you shave off the 'stache his running abilities are gone". We kind of laughed and started talking again.

They asked us if we were at the start of the race and said yes and they said they didn't see the start of the race. I realized they were only watching the race and not actually crewing for anyone. Jesse asked them if the mustachioed man was who part of his group and they said no which made it even that much more funny that they randomly asked him about his mustache. Needless to say, the ultra atmosphere is a much different running atmosphere.

There wasn't a whole lot that Jason needed at the first few aid stations. Other than hydrating, refilling his S-caps, Gu and lube. Downside to wearing a kilt....you need privacy when lubing up. he got creative with facing walls, trees and using a hat as a cover up.

Some of the behind the scenes things you see are also quite amazing. You see runners coming in strong, lots of vomiting - there was a stretch of bike path near the end that I called Vomit Trails because every other step you could see where someone had recently vomited. You knew it came from runners because you could see all the staples at the aid stations....ramen noodles, chips, sandwich materials.

There was one particular guy that really stuck with me. It was at the Covered Bridge aid station at mile 80. His physical physique was what I would nickname "The Adonis". He was tall and muscular but lean at the same time. He staggered out and sat down on a chair. His significant other brought him a grilled cheese sandwich. Keep in mind this was around 2:30 a.m. and he had been running for 21.5 hours so his mind was probably in a whole other place.

He tried eating the sandwich but immediately threw up. He asked if the sandwich had pepperoni in it. I'm guessing he didn't want pepperoni. Maybe at this point he was seeing things. I know that has happened with Jason and my experience was to roll with it. I once pretended to kill bees because he thought they were swarming around him. No use arguing with someone who's hallucinating, right?

I sensed tension between the two. She got mad and said "I think I know what the hell pepperoni look like" and stormed off. After she left he started to sob. It was the saddest sound I have ever heard. This poor man was broken down and probably at one of the lowest points. When she got back he was asking about cut off times because he wanted to make sure if he started out on the next loop that he had the possibility of making the cut off time. The aid station volunteer gave him the times and told him to rest for a few minutes and think about it.

He continued to sob and his significant other seemed irritated. I'm sure she had good intentions but my heart went out to him. She went on to say "You ran more miles today than you have ever run before. Hotel check out time is 11. If we leave now we have time to shower and get back home. What do you want to do?" He still wasn't sure if he wanted to quit or not. His head was down and he continued to quietly cry.

At some point, she went to the aid station and pulled him out. I have never before attempted to run this far and cannot say if this man should have stopped or not. I was very tempted to ask him if he would like a pacer so he could at least give it a try. If he got pulled because of times, at least he gave it his all. If my Vibram's had been right next to me I probably would have at least offered. He did not appear to have any pacers and this is only based on my limited experience but I think that would have helped him out tremendously. It just saddened me to think he might have had it in him to go further.

At the Station Bridge Road aid station we thought we had timed it out exactly (or close) to when Jason would be arriving. It turns out he was a little faster than we anticipated. At this particular aid station it was the farthest away we parked from the actual aid station. We were walking up to the bridge where we planned on setting up shop. Shelley and her crewing were waving at us. I thought "Wow, these guys are so friendly. How nice of them to want to share a spot" and started walking to them. It turns out they were waving frantically because Jason was coming! Ooops! Mad dash to the bridge.

When he came in he asked where his Injinjis (toe socks) were and his huarache sandals were. The only problem is he never told me he where they were. Unfortunately, they were still in the car which was about 3/4 of a mile away. Since Jesse was the fastest runner we gave him the keys and he sprinted to the car. Jason told him the socks were in the black bag and the sandals were in another bag. A few minutes later Jesse came back with 2 really big bags. He said "I couldn't find the sandals so I just brought both bags".

Turns out Jason meant to say they were in the large Rubbermaid tub. Oops #2....um, Jesse....do you mind sprinting again? Jason's feet were a little on the rough side after having to walk the last 2.5 miles over very large and very sharp rocks. I knew we were taking up too much aid station time but luckily like I said Jesse is a very fast runner! Finally, he got both socks & sandals and was off!
At Pine Hollow aid station, we saw one of the most strange requests I have seen during an ultra. There was a man, dressed head to toe in what appeared to be a white compression suit with black shorts on the outside. At first I thought he was trying to appear to be a super-hero but I think it was all functional in some way. There are so many different ways that people dress for ultras and I can't tell you what that might help other than it was supposed to be very hot and it would have reflected light. The strange part was when he came and sat down. One of his crew members brought the usual stuff...water, food, lube and bug spray. The last can she pulled out was Axe Body spray. I can honestly say I have never seen anyone put on body spray during an ultra. I guess it's also nice to try and smell nice for your fellow runner : )

I paced Jason two times during the race. The first time was around mile 54.5. I was his first pacer. The first part (approximately 4 miles) was on some pretty gnarly trails. There were some very steep inclines and declines. We crossed a small stream over rocks and had some zig zag turns. During this time Jason was laughing and talking with me. We go to the aid station where he fielded many kilt questions. It's funny that people notice his kilt and ignore his feet when he's wearing it.

The second half of the loop (approximately 4-5 miles) was a low for Jason. I've seen him during his low's before at Hallucination so I tried the usual things...make sure he eats, drinks and pees. I can always tell because he'll stop talking and (I'm guessing) is focusing on getting through this point. I always feel like I should do something more but I kept on running/walking with him to the next aid station. I talked about him afterwards to see if there was anything I should have done differently but he said that's exactly what I should have done. I'm pretty good at knowing what motivates him but if there is anything I could do to improve I wanted to know for next time.

From here Jesse paced him. They are two peas in a pod so I knew he would have an easier time of bringing him out of his funk. They share the same goofy sense of humor and make references to obscure tv shows.....it works for them : ) At this point it was getting dark and Jesse paced him for the rest of the night sessions. Art and I made it to every aid station after that. At the next aid station I saw Jason at he was looking better so I very happy about that.

At this point there was little talking and lots of cat naps. I wanted to sleep whenever I could because I would be driving home the next day. At mile 93 (the second to last aid station) I paced Jason until the end of the race. The next 3 miles to the aid station is what I dubbed Vomit Trails. We walked the entire time and were in the home stretch!

The last stretch was all Jason needed to complete his goal of finishing Burning River. We started out by walking but I really wanted to see if I could get him to pick up his pace. I knew if I told him to do it...not ask but tell in a firm manner he would be more likely to try it. So that's what I did. I told him "Let's run to the next cone"...there were various orange cones set up along the way to mark the course about 1/4 of a mile apart. The first cone we started at was on the left. The second cone was on the right hand side of the road and even farther up was a third cone.

When we got to the second cone Jason asked "This cone?" To which I replied 'No, the other cone". Evasive measures were needed at this point : ) When we got to the next cone I asked if he thought he had another cone in him. He said "I'm tired" to which I replied "But you like hills. Let's keep running". That's when he started running and didn't finish until he crossed the finish line!

We picked up Jesse & Art about a mile from the finish line and we all ran in together with Jason. I couldn't believe how fast he was running. I had to catch my breath running up a hill just before the finish. He looked back at his Garmin and said he sprinted at a 6:45/mile pace!!! No wonder I was out of breath. He never ceases to amaze me. Here this guy ran 100 miles (finish is actually 101.1 miles) and he's smoking me!

It was truly an awe-inspiring finish. I was so proud of him for accomplishing his goal. Throughout the whole race, pacing, crewing and getting supplies he was always a gentleman. Not once did he yell or complain even at his lowest points. He was his gracious self that he always is and I loved being able to share this experience with him.

I cannot wait until our next racing adventure! And again, to anyone who has the chance to crew or provide aid station at an ultra, especially 100 miles, it's a whole different animal and gives you an experience of a lifetime.