Baseball Books and More: Chimera 100 2017 - AKA Don't Mess with Ultrarunners

A friend from work agreed to stay at my house with the dogs while we worked radio at the Chimera 100 in Orange County. So Dad and I left Saturday morning from the desert. I was nervous about Slugger being nice until Jacob sent me this picture.

Traitor

Anyway, Dad and I were working at the Bear Springs aid station. Runners came in at about 60 miles, went out and back about 18 more miles and came back to us a second time. This was my first time seeing runners twice at the same spot. It could have been chaotic but it wasn't really too bad. For the most part, all the runners had shown up the first time before the majority started coming back the second time.

We had 6 runners drop at our spot all together. The first four dropped on their first visit. The fifth was sometime in the middle of the night and I honestly don't remember. The sixth did not make it by cutoff the second time. Actually, he got there the second time in a "transport" vehicle. We, of course, knew who we were waiting for and he was taking quite a long time to arrive. So the nice transport driver drove up the course to find him. So glad he did. Even by car, it was at least 30 minutes, if not an hour before they got back!! We were completely packed up and ready to go, helping the aid station folks do the same.

Some memorable runner moments before I get to the excitement of the night:

- I actually missed two runners! One going up (the first time through) and one coming down (the second time). What?! It's not like we had oodles of runners at one time. Oh well, I was tired, and we were able to figure out where they were. As in, they weren't lost.

- #132 was the last one to go through the aid station before us before coming back to us the second time. He is memorable because he came FLYING in to Bear Springs, stayed a moment or two and flew out again. He knew he was very close to cut off and didn't want to get stopped. Happy to report he finished. Also, I believe he had the fastest split before us and after us!

- I don't remember her number but I am still giggling at the woman who came running in for her second visit. She said her pacer had stopped to pee so she sprinted in so she'd have time to sit down before he got there! I did note that her pacer let her sit a few minutes even after he got there. But he did seem like a slave driver. Which reminds me of another pacer who was very very perky. I told Dad I totally would've slapped her within the first mile or two. Pacers are supposed to be perky. That's their job but I'm not sure I could handle it at that point.

- #166 is memorable because he truly did not seem as though he should be roaming the woods alone at night. And that was on his FIRST visit. He actually appeared to be kinda loopy. He was a bit worse when he came through the second time. We then happened to see him at about 82 miles and he looked even worse. But he finished! We decided that perhaps he always looks like that - the out of it part, not the tired, sweaty part. I do know people (mostly teenagers, and this guy was 23) who look loopy as a way of life. Loopy is SO not the right word but the right one isn't coming to me. I don't mean it derogatorily (is THAT a word? yeah, I'm gonna move on now).

- We knew no names. We didn't have an entrant list or anything so unless there was a reason to "introduce" themselves, runners were just bib numbers to us. When we got home and were looking at results and such, we realized that we actually knew one of the guys who dropped AT our aid station!! Well, I sort of know him - he graduated a couple years before me and his brother graduated with me I think - and Dad has interacted with him in the running world of Big Bear. Small world. Bummer we didn't know it was him at the time!

I think that's about it for runner stories worth noting. On to the EXCITEMENT of the night. Not like getting gifts exciting but like I'm never gonna sleep now kind of excitement.

At some point mid-evening (never thought to keep track of the time on our end but I'm sure someone did somewhere), the aid station after us (2.5 miles down the dirt road) reported a drunk driver zooming about their location. To make this story as short as I can while making sure you, the reader, get the gist, I'll sum up some parts.

This gentleman in the green jeep left and came back to the ITT aid station a couple times, the last time running into a fence post and one of the station's canopy tents. Luckily no one was hurt. Unlucky for us, he left there and headed toward us. I want to say it was about midnight. Who knows. All sense of time goes away once it gets dark. Anyway, thanks to our radios we knew he was coming. We started preparing ourselves...

Exactly what Dad thought he would do with the hammer, I'm not sure, but I'm glad he was willing to protect us. I am not sure when I have been quite so scared. This maniac (we had LOTS of names for him, most not suitable to print) had a jeep, was mad and drunk and possibly high (the first report over the radio stated this was true), and we were parked on the side of a mountain, literally. There was nothing but a steep mountainside behind our tents!! We heard him coming and all kind of scattered so that if he missed the turn (on purpose or not) we might be spared. I'll post pics of our set up at the end. Just know that my chair would've been the first over the cliff. Thank God, he went zooming around the corner, only sliding a tad, and went on up the road. Dad guessed he was going 30 mph. Dad would've taken it at no more than 5 mph, I am sure. Yes, the guy was a lunatic. I hate drunk people.

Anyway, we calmed our hearts and called in the sighting to warn the others. He didn't get to the next aid station for quite some time. Dad guessed (probably correctly) that he got lost in the "antenna farm" on the top of the mountain. He did eventually get to the aid station, circled and basically tormented them for a few minutes before moving on. He eventually got to the final aid station before the runners turned around. Thank God he kept going.

This was all even more scary because the road this idiot was traveling on - oh did I mention that at times he turned off his lights? - was covered with runners!! Runners who were tired, etc. I spent a good hour or more sitting in my chair praying for their safety. We had ended all radio traffic except about this guy. So for the most part I had nothing to do but listen and pray. I am VERY happy to say that the prayers worked. All runners stayed safe. All stations had been warning runners about the moron so they knew to get off the road, turn off their lights and such. Seriously scariest night I've spent in a very long time.

Think I'm done? Nope. The next morning as the two aid stations above us were driving out, guess who they saw stuck in some trees?! YUP!! Now, we at Bear Springs were mostly voting for leaving the "poor guy" there. They didn't. They pulled him out and then followed him to the highway until CHP caught up with him. They pulled him over, ruined his morning, gave him a sobriety test and HE FAILED!! Now, it'd been a while since we'd seen him so not sure how he hadn't sobered up but I'm okay with it!!

When asked why they bothered helping this guy out of the trees, we were told "Karma goes both ways". Quote of the weekend for me!!

Now, let me tell you something. I LOVE ultra runners and their community. You know that and you know how awesome they are if you've read any of my posts about them. So all I can say now is:

DON'T MESS WITH ULTRARUNNERS!!!! :)