2010 11 14 javelina 100 running in disguise

Susan Donnelly Ultramarathon Trail Runner. Motivational Speaker. http://www.susanruns100s.com

Javelina 100 - Running in Disguise Date : November 14, 2010

Cavewoman runs the desert.

October 23-24, 2010 It’s a tight turnaround but the weekend after directing the Cumberland Trail 50k, Rob and I fly out to Phoenix to run Javelina 100. This is a pretty fun race and a nice change of scenery but the main reason for running it is to see my parents and share what I love with the people I love.

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The day before the race, helping mom fix something - never know when headlamps will come in handy.

In a beautiful coincidence, my parents live in Fountain Hills where the race is held and I get to run some of the incredible network of trails there when I go to visit. Each trip I explore a little more and I’m getting to the point that I know a lot of the trails and land around the race course.

This area – McDowell Mountain Regional Park and the adjoining McDowell Sonoran Preserve – are well worth running in if you’re ever in the area.

Pre-Race We make it to the pre-race briefing dinner and immediately ran into Nattu Natraj who is there this year crewing girlfriend Karen Bonnett instead of running. I rarely get to see him because he lives on the west coast and has been running a lot of road ultras lately (including an awesome shot at the Spartathlon in Greece) so this is a great bonus. We also see Tammy Massie, Bruce Tanksley, and eat dinner with Janette Maas, who ran the inaugural Cumberland Trail 50k as her inaugural trail race. Her parents have a house in nearby Mesa, so she’s familiar with the area and is here for her second 100-miler (Burning River 100 back in August was her first). This course isn’t my usual cup of tea – loops with lots of not-so-technical stuff – but there’s usually a big field here and seeing friends is another feature that makes it totally worthwhile.

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With Nattu at the pre-race briefing.

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Janette, Mom and Dad listening to the briefing.

Mom and I walk over to the awards table to look. There is the coveted costume award. Maybe this year…? Then again, where in the heck would I put it? It’s not exactly my style and I’m seriously decluttering my house these days, and I have a pile of good-memory awards and buckles that I’m not displaying and enjoying as it is. On second thought, let’s let this one go to someone who will really appreciate it.

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The awards.

Race Morning Okay, here’s the drill – 6 15-mile laps, washing-machine style, plus a short, truncated lap at the end. The three aid stations (including the start/finish headquarters aid station) are five miles apart and you can have a drop bag at two of them. There’s tons of food and wide variety of it at each station. It doesn’t get any easier than this.

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The Murfreesboro, Tennessee, posse - Bruce Tanksley and Rob.

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Tammy and a scary cheerleader.

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Getting my drop bag ready with Mom.

The race website describes the course well: “gently rolling single track and jeep trail through the desert surrounded by beautiful mountain views The trail combines many aspects of desert running including sandy washes, rocky trail, and thorny vegetation.�

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Eric Clifton in skirt and tights, leading the charge at the start.

Lap 1 – Clockwise For me, this is purely a fun race where the goal is to finish in great shape so I can enjoy the time with my parents, so Rob and I run this together. That said, it’s still a little anxiety-provoking to be last (well, almost last) at the start. This is where experience comes in. Too many people see the course as easy and go out too fast, but it’s still 100 miles. Patience…

One of my favorite parts of this race are the sunrises. Each morning, the sun comes up over distinctive Four Peaks across the valley and because you can see so much sky here, sunrises are an event. Clouds rolled into the area yesterday, so we have an excellent chance for a gorgeous one this morning.

Sure enough, it’s worth stopping to take a few photos and becoming absolutely last. This sunrise only comes once – there will never be another like it and it’s worth enjoying. It reminds me of reading that some indian tribe believes each day, a brand-new sun rises. You can believe it here.

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Wow.

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It's going to be a great day!

We pass the turnoffs for the Coachwhip and Dixie Mine trails, which I’ve run from my parents’ house, then arrive at the Coyote Camp aid station as the sun finally bathes the McDowell Mountains to our left.

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The McDowell Mountains in the morning sun.

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Heading toward the fence line.

Onward across the top of the loop, we pass through a memorable set of saguaro columns and past some hill-sized piles of Star Trek-y looking rocks (you know, the big, faux, styrafoam kind?). We reach the pond, which actually has water in it this year – everything is so green compared to previous years! Then along the fence line, take a right when you’re almost at the houses, and the sandy double-wide road winds ever-so-slightly down to the Jackass Junction aid station. There, we call Mom and Dad to let them know we’re on the way in.

Just out of this aid station, we see the first runners coming back on their second loop. The washing-machine format – reversing the direction of each loop – is another feature that ups the fun because you get to see everyone and their costumes, every loop, making it a hugely social run. Plus, it’s a mental relief because the scenery is always changing with the alternating direction and the different lighting combinations throughout the day.

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He swore the buckle wasn't as heavy as it looks.

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Pink flamingo and bunny friend.

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Scary guy - he kept the costume on the whole time.

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Spidey!

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Clowning around at a road crossing.

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Holy cow!!!

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Elvis is leaving the aid station!

Down the gradual hill on the way to headquarters.

We continue the long, gradual downhill toward the highway, and make the equally gradual right turn toward the headquarters aid station. It always seems to take forever to get from the start of this turn to the headquarters aid station but we make it, hear our timing chips beep across the mat, and see Mom and Dad waiting.

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Me and Dad.

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Cruising the buffet table for something vegan.

Stops at this aid station are leisurely, and easily the longest I spend in any race. Nattu’s there to greet us. Mom and I cruise the food tables (ooh, dill pickles! and pumpkin pie for Rob!) while Dad goes over to our drop bags with Rob. We all sit down together and chat while we eat and Rob changes his socks. After the race started, Mom and Dad went yard sale-ing in town, but no real finds this time. We talk about the costumes, the flowers we’ve seen, trail conditions, plans for after the race, anything and everything. After a while, it’s time to go. Rob and Dad calculate when we’ll likely get back here on our next loop and we head out on our next loop.

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Nattu, me, and Mom and Dad.

Lap 2 – Counterlockwise Sunglasses on this loop. It’s a day loop, and though I slightly prefer the other direction, it’s all good in the sunshine.

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Still running...

Everything is the same in reverse but we see so many little details differently from this direction – flowers we didn’t notice, odd rock formations, different vistas. There’s enough difference to keep us entertained.

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Notice Rob is walking while I'm running.

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Helpful saguaro, pointing the way.

As the field spreads out, we see returning runners earlier in the loop. The cavewoman costume (technically it’s Raquel Welch in “One Million Years B.C.” but I won’t quibble) gets plenty of thumbs up on and the wide range and creativity of the costumes is fun to see. I especially like the pink flamingo, with the itty bitty wings on the back of her shirt.

We run amazingly equal splits on this loop and arrive back at the busy headquarters hive of activity for another check-in and visit with Mom and Dad and Nattu.

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Mom and me.

Lap 3 – Clockwise Another daytime loop. The air is so dry here that once my costume gets sweaty, it’s actually cooling. Plus, the leggings really do help protect against the stray thorn cuts I’m prone to. It’s actually an amazingly functional ensemble.

Everything goes smoothly again. I’m happy to find that the dill pickles I’ve been eating have probably counteracted the usual effects of sugary Gatorade and GU I’m also consuming.

Thank goodness, though, for the Gatorade. I can’t tolerate Heed but I do well on sports drinks.

It’s the way to go here, both for easy digestion in the heat and for the electrolytes. I’d have to be a lot more careful about eating, drinking, and electrolytes if the Gatorade weren’t here.

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Proof that Rob has to run to catch up after walking.

About the only thing of note on this loop is that after two years of speculating, we decide yes, that actually IS a house against the foot of the McDowell Mountains. We can kind of see a light there at night and see glints of sunlight on metal occasionally in the day but the shape and color of the house make it pleasantly difficult to pick out of the surrounding rocks.

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Speedy Jim O'Brien loving the heat.

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Karen Bonnett, looking way too fresh after a few loops.

Janette is still about the same ahead of us this loop but Tammy Massie (pink hula girl) is widening the gap. She’s only planning to run the 100k distance because she flies straight from here to Italy to make a professional and very technical presentation on one of her projects at the FDA (in her words, “the government is trying to kill me”). I can’t imagine functioning well in that particular two-fer. This simple 100 miles makes me feel like a wimp.

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Pink hula girl Tammy, with camera.

We come in right at the gorgeous, cloud-swirled sunset. Time to pick up our headlamps.

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This is why I love being here!

Sunset. Time for headlamps.

Lap 4 – Counterlockwise It’s dark and the crowd of runners coming back the other way thins out noticeably as people ahead of us drop at the 100k mark. I never think about how many miles I’ve gone at this race, and barely mark how many laps we’ve done. I just focus on the trail and aid station directly ahead of me, so it’s surprising to notice we’ll be reaching that distance at the end of this loop.

The loop goes uneventfully and we are welcomed by Mom and Dad into the aid station. Nattu’s still there as well – Karen is still going past the 100k.

Lap 5 – Clockwise This is a dark loop but with a full, silvery moon. I’ve run here without a headlamp before with the moon this bright, but Rob wants to use a headlamp so we both do. The coyotes are

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especially loud tonight.

The loop goes uneventfully except that after the last aid station, heading toward the start/finish, out of the blue I pick up a hotspot that needs to be taken care of. This time, we roll into the headquarters aid station with no Mom and Dad. We had all agreed on the previous loop that there were excused from this 4:00 a.m. stop.

There are some medical staff near our drop bags so I go over and ask if they can do something about the hotspot. They must have been looking for something to do because one guy jumps up to assist and before I know it, the hotspot is probably protected against nuclear armageddon and I’m ready to hit the trail.

Not the way it looks - just getting the hotspot fixed.

Lap 6 – Counterclockwise “Goodbye” Loop We say goodbye on the early part of this loop to the things we’ve seen for six loops now that we won’t have to see again on the next half-loop. Things like the Scenic Trail trailheads, the “hugging” saguaro, the Jackass Junction aid station, the fence line, the pond, and the rock piles.

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We’re almost to Coyote Camp aid station when the sky lightens enough to turn off our headlamps about halfway through the loop – exactly the same spot as last year. I work to get to a place with a clear photo of another spectacular sunrise. It’s another beautiful day.

Another great sunrise - better than caffeine!

We call Mom and Dad at Coyote Camp to let them know we’re on the way in, so they’re there to greet us when we arrive about an hour later. Rob says our splits, except for the dark loop, have been pretty even, which is nice on Mom and Dad and us as well.

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Coming into the headquarters aid station.

In the parking lot on the way to the headquarters aid station, a woman who turns out be the runner who was dressed as a nurse, stops me to thank me for being so encouraging on the course. She has multiple sclerosis and made the 100k mark, a solid accomplishment for anyone. My tired brain responds in slow motion and I don’t get her name, but talk about inspiring! That short conversation is a surprise high spot in the weekend.

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The "nurse."

We have another welcome, leisurely stop with Mom and Dad again. As we cross the timing mat, we get funky glowstick necklaces that “brand� us as half-loop runners, so the Coyote Camp aid station will know to direct us off on the shortcut (not that I’d let them make a mistake on that). Tammy Massie and David Hughes are parked in lawn chairs in spectator mode near the timing mat, looking entirely too pleased that they stopped at 100k. Karen is already done (great job!), and we get to see her and Nattu before they leave. Over at the drop bags, Rob changes socks, we eat, we talk some more, and then we head out on the funnest loop of all.

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Tammy and David Hughes, in spectator mode.

Lap 7 – Victory Loop Finally, time for the half loop. Janette’s still the same margin ahead of us, and without either of us consciously deciding to do so, we speed up and eventually catch her on the rocky uphill toward Coyote Camp. If there’s a person out there with 100-miler grit, realism and can-do, it’s Janette. It’s fun talking with her on the way in, and kind of a sneaky way of catching some of her still-new-to-100s enthusiasm.

We make it to Coyote Camp and instead of continuing on the normal loop, take the lookedforward-to shortcut onto the Tonto Tank trail. We have the sun in our eyes but I’m straining to see something I hope will be there. Minutes go by without spotting anything until I finally think I see what I’ve been looking for – a pink mirage. Sure enough, a cheerful and talkative Tammy has come out to escort us all in. It’s almost too much to take in. Tammy and Janette quickly settle into a conversation in front of us and it’s not long before I’m laughing so hard I can barely run.

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Our motley crew on the Tonto Tank trail. Janette's got the lean.

Soon enough, the parking lot comes into view with Mom and Dad cheering for us. We trot across the parking lot, and around the corner to the timing mat, Tammy diverges off, we cross the mat with Janette in front, and we’re done. Goal accomplished. Another fun weekend!

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Coming into the finish, Janette still leaning.

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Apres Run After a shower and a nap and a soak for my legs in the pool, we go out for dinner at an italian restaurant in Fountain Hills. Sitting out on the veranda, it’s surreal to look up at the McDowell Mountains and think that 24 hours ago we were buckling down for the night loop.

Rob and I fly out the next day. I hate to leave but will be back to see them at Christmas. No races then, just fun day runs exploring the nearby trails.

Time with my parents and time running was a much-needed “vacation” after the work on the Cumberland Trail 50k and too much time not running. I come home tired but still refreshed.

Much-needed!

Saying goodbye to Dad - we had to drop him at the ER on the way to the airport. Hard way to leave, but it turned out to be something easily fixable.

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Saying goodbye at the airport. I hate to leave!

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