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Badwater 2010 – Part 1

It’s coming on to exactly one week from Jimmy’s spectacular finish at Badwater, and I’m still struggling to put it all in words. I had such a fantastic time crewing for Blake Benke at the race last year and from the moment we left Lone Pine I started thinking about getting back there this year. My full report from last year is in three parts: here (part 1), here (part 2) and here (part 3). Thankfully, I become close friends with Jimmy Dean Freeman earlier this year and was invited to be on his crew for his rookie attempt at the race. Just like last year, I didn’t know any of my fellow crew members – Pam, Gareth, Eric and JB – before Badwater. But just like last year, I knew that if these people were the ones Jimmy trusted to help him through Badwater, they would likely become good friends of mine well before the race was over. Another advantage about going back to the race for a second time was that I would be seeing a bunch of racers and crew who I’d met last year.

It was an exhausting, sweaty, dirty trip, but it didn’t disappoint one bit! I’m already thinking about next year! First though, I’ve got to put my 2010 experience into words.

I’ve included a bunch of pictures that I took in this report, but I beg you to check out the pictures that our crew member Gareth took. They’re all in an album on facebook that you can find here. He’s not a professional photographer, but after seeing what he did last week, I’m thinking that maybe he should be.

Sunday:

Early Sunday morning, Kate, Gareth, JB and I drove to Death Valley. The first stop was in Stovepipe Wells to check into our hotel and get anything perishable out of the car and into the hotel room. We met Jimmy, Keira, Pam and Eric at race check-in at the Furnace Creek Visitors Center. After race check-in and lunch at the Furnace Creek Inn, we went back to the Visitors Center for the pre-race meeting. The highlights of the pre-race meeting are CHP Scotty’s speech about safety on the course and when they bring all of the racers on stage for a huge photo opportunity.

By the time the meeting ended, it was time to jam back to the hotel and start setting up the support vehicles. Our crew chief directed the operation and we would be using her SUV as our primary crew vehicle and a rented minivan as the secondary one.

We also went over our roles and responsibilities. Eric, JB and I would help with those duties, but would be splitting up the majority of the pacing duties. Gareth was our “floater” – he did everything, whenever it was needed, and he also took about 2,000 photos during the race.

After getting the vans all set up, it was time for dinner and then bed. Not surprisingly, by this point, all of us on the crew had already become close. We were joking and horsing around – maybe a bit too much for Jimmy’s sanity’s sake.

Monday – Day 1 of Race:

Since Jimmy was in the 10am wave, we could get a good night’s sleep and not get up too early. On Monday, we had breakfast and at around 8, Jimmy, Pam, Gareth and JB took off for Badwater Basin. Since only one crew car is allowed to go to the start, Eric and I volunteered to hang back, finish packing up the van and go to Furnace Creek (mile 17), where we’d meet everyone else (and Jimmy). We figured he’d be there sometime around 1pm. Eric and I got to Furnace Creek and hung out on the grass in front, chatting with some members of Oswaldo Lopez’s and Nick Hollon’s crews. It was fun to see the racers from the 6am and 8am waves pass by the hotel. Furance Creek is the first place where racers are allowed to have two support vehicles and the first time that they are allowed pacers. It’s also a hotel, with a restaurant and general store, so there’s a ton of action going on there during race morning and early afternoon.

Jimmy got to Furnace Creek right on schedule around 1pm and I was the first of our crew to pace him. I was feeling great. Excited. A little nervous. Comfortably hot. And ready. Jimmy was in great spirits, talking about his first 17 miles. Moving along at a good, steady, conservative pace. We stopped every one to two miles to trade out water bottles, get calories and electrolytes, get sprayed down with cold water and trade out ice-filled bandanas. Jimmy stopped for at least a few seconds at every crew point, which made it very easy for the crew to take care of him.

I ran with him for about an hour before I tapped out and Eric joined him.

The whole process of crewing and pacing came back to me pretty quickly. It was less stressful than last year, when I didn’t know what to expect. Jimmy races differently than Blake, so there were those things to learn, but the crewing experience paid off huge the second time around.

For the next five or six hours, that was just how it went. Eric, JB and I rotated pacing Jimmy for a hour-or-so at a time.

 In between, we helped out with other crewing duties and tried to stay hydrated and fueled for the next pacing turn. Gareth took a ton of photos and JB shot video.

Jimmy was certainly feeling the heat, but he ran well through this whole section. Last year, I feel like I remembered more specifics from the race. This time around, day one was just about keeping up with Jimmy. There were definitely spots that were tough for him. The roads are just so damn long.

The cross-winds in the Devil’s Cornfield were blowing like crazy and there was an absolutely awful headwind battering us on our way up to Townes Pass. We passed a few other runners, played some back-and-forth with others and chatted with them and their crews. At one point around here, we got up with our friend Brian Krogmann, another super experienced ultrarunner and Badwater rookier. He was looking awful – walking with his head down, saying that he’d already lost 11 pounds. Even though Jimmy was running great at the time, we slowed to walk with Brian. Jimmy encouraged him to take care of himself and stop, rest, hydrate and cool off. We left Brian at his crew vehicle, hoping we’d see him again later in the race.

At around 6pm, we hit Stovepipe Wells (mile 42). Stovepipe Wells, represents the end of the hottest section of day one but it also represents the beginning of the hills. Between Stovepipe Wells and Townes Pass (mile 58.7), you climb from sea level to about 5,000 feet. It’s a long steady uphill hike. At 7pm we got to put on our reflective gear. Trust me (and check out Gareth’s pictures), it looked hot.

At one point I got Eric to take a couple pictures of me in front of the sunset.  I climbed up a little dirt hill and the first one went great.

Then I decided to get silly and show off for the camera.  What the below shot doesn’t show is me falling off the crumbling dirt hill, nearly knocking myself out of the race… phew!

We ran, walked and hiked through the night. Jimmy stopped at Panamint Springs (mile 72) at about 1:30am to sit down for a little bit and have his feet checked out. Thankfully, his feet were in amazing shape. The crew took advantage of a few minutes of down time and had some real food ourselves. Through the rest of the night, we continued our process of crewing and pacing Jimmy. We took turns getting a little bit of shut eye. JB and I drove ahead and rested for about 90 minutes. I tried to sleep and think I did sleep for little bursts. It wasn’t particularly restful, but just putting my legs up and shutting my eyes was definitely refreshing.

Dawn came too soon. I don’t want to speak for Jimmy, but this was probably the time that he suffered the most. I was pacing him during a couple long stretches before and after Darwin (mile 90) and the poor guy couldn’t keep his eyes open. I repeatedly hit him on the shoulder to get him to wake up. But he kept moving forward. Sometimes, he’d stop to stretch or rest for a second and then he’d be back moving again. Such a testament to perseverance. It was sometime during this early morning stretch that we looked up and there was Krogmann running – nearly sprinting – up to us. Brian had fully recovered and was running like no one else on the course at the time. Jimmy was resting for a few minutes in the shade next to the cars, and now Brian stopped and gave Jimmy the same support that Jimmy had given him so many hours before. It was probably my favorite and most memorable part of the race.

A little after mile 100 (which Jimmy hit in just over 24 hours – friggin incredible!), after watching Jimmy struggle through the early part of the morning, Keira told him to get into the air conditioned truck and shut his eyes. He did and was instantly asleep.

Part 2 coming soon!