Dinosaur Valley Backpacking Excursion

First, I must apologize to my faithful (2) readers! It's been SEVEN months since I've written anything! I think about it sometimes, it just doesn't happen. SORRY!!!

Slugger bought me a new backpack for Christmas. For our three year adoptiversary, I bought him a backpack. We intended to backpack two nights during Spring Break but mother nature decided that'd be a bad idea. We stayed home and did yard work instead. But we were anxious to try out our new packs overnight!

Prom sales went faster than usual so I ended up with the capability of taking a day off in April. Slugger and I took advantage of the good luck and escaped to the woods! Our destination was a "primitive" hike-in campsite at Dinosaur Valley State Park. I made a reservation for just one night, Thursday, because the weekend was full. Of course, I worked on Thursday, so it was kind of a hectic couple hours to get home, get the pooch, and drive the hour plus to the Park. I had the packs all ready to go so I changed my clothes in a jiffy, loaded the car and took off. We got to the Park at about 5:30. We had a good two hours of daylight to hike the mile and a half to our site and pitch the tent.

I had been to Dinosaur Valley before, once, on Thanksgiving 2011 (I think). Back when Texas was in a severe drought. I do not at all remember crossing a river about half a mile in. Or that the crossing was THROUGH the river, not over it on a bridge. I don't know what I thought when I looked at the map - I guess I was thinking bridge. Yeah, there was no bridge. And we're no longer in a drought. In fact, it rained just this week!

I stood here, halfway across, for a good five minutes trying to decide what to do.
The water was flowing pretty good the rest of the way even though it wasn't deep.

I made it halfway... between the weight of the pack, the pull of the pooch, and the fact that I'm a klutz on dry, flat ground, I decided to turn around. I pictured myself soaking wet, injured, and miserable!

On the walk back to the car, I had the brilliant idea to camp in the campground! I mean, we were prepared!! I didn't technically go through the process of telling the ranger types I was doing this though. They were closed before I even got there. And I wasn't about to pay them for the campsite if I didn't have to. I'd already paid for the primitive spot! I picked a site as far from people, and with tent space "in the woods" so Slugger and I would still get a fairly "primitive" experience. I had the tent pitched and the dog fed by about 7:15. 

Checking out our spot.

Woodsy-ish

Protecting our little home away from home.

"Your sleeping bag is soft, Mama"

I read my book (which I'd left in the car cuz it's big and heavy so yay perk of car camping!) and Slugger watched for critters and people and bears and such. Funny story... Dad is a big fan of head lamps. I am not. I don't like hiking with one (the very very few times - once - I've tried) cuz I get weirded out by shadows so close. That sounds stupid. It's hard to describe but it has to do with my extreme fear of the dark! Anyway, while checking out the camping aisle at Walmart, I saw this for $9.95.

I figured why not?! Ten bucks, a flashlight and Dad's know best. Turns out that headlamp came in very handy! It was my night light to read by, my friend walking into the woods in the dark (cuz you know, necessities), and well Dad, you were right! I still don't want to hike at night though!! 

I didn't sleep very well, but I don't think it was the tent situation. I was actually really quite comfy on my new camp pad. I'd had caffeine on the drive; I was a little worried about the fact that technically we were in the spot illegally; the dog slept okay, but on top of me; etc. We finally got up at about 8:30. Just as the ranger stopped by and gave me a stern "You need to go to the office!". I packed up and we were there 30 minutes later. The very nice lady at the desk did not charge me for the "extra" campsite. She seemed to sympathize on the river issue. I paid the daily fee (which I don't think should be extra on top of the campsite but I don't make the rules) and we were off. To hike!! 

Now, remember, this whole excursion was to escape into the woods, but also to check out the packs and stuff. I did not use the campsite water for anything because I wanted to see if I had enough in my pack - I had plenty. So for our morning hike, we went to the SOUTH trail, where we didn't have to cross a river, and I wore my pack. I didn't make Slugger wear his. He puts up with it, but I don't think he actually likes it. 

Anyway, we went about 2.5 miles. It was a loop. I had hoped for 4 or so but that's okay. My shoulders were ready to dump the pack! On the loop are a couple primitive campsites that we checked out for the future. They're right on the trail, but still better than being where there are cars and kids and such! We saw lots of Indian Paintbrush and a few Bluebonnets. Texas is known for its Bluebonnets but what outsiders might not realize is that the red Paintbrushes are almost as prevalent and often they're together in fields. They're a little different red and shape from what I'm used to in CA. 

After our hike, I went in the gift shop and bought myself a new visor - on sale for $5!! - and a magnet. Then we went down to the main Dinosaur Track site. The Park is known for its dinosaur tracks. They're in the river so I've never actually seen them. Or maybe I don't know what I'm looking at. Anyway, Slugger played in the river a little. I think the water was too cold for him cuz he wasn't his usual self in the water. 

The tracks are supposedly on the other side of those rocks.

The other "better" (according to the ranger) place to cross the river. 

 

And then we went home. So I could mow the lawn. I had 10,000 steps by 12:30 :) Now we're recuperating!! 

We look forward to going back and trying the actual primitive sites. Perhaps in the fall. And I'll take my hiking poles. 

Today is a HAPPY Day!

I've been in a bad mood for weeks it seems like. Since about the second week of school. And, of course, I'm tired. It's reminiscent of bad thyroid levels. But I think it's really just life. So I took today off to have a happy day! Slugger and I started by going to Starbucks and McDonalds. I got a Pumpkin Spice Latte and some Cinnamon Melts. He got ice cream. We both thoroughly enjoyed our special treats!

After a little puzzle time to digest the treats, we went for a hike. I really needed some quiet thoughtful time in the woods. I packed my Bible and journal and a water bowl for pooch. We took our favorite trail which has the perfect bench for thinking and reading and listening. It worked. I have a plan to make life happy again. Okay, I have a list of things I am going to do or continue to do to attempt to stay on the happy path. And then we hiked the rest of the trail. It was hot but it was beautiful! The pictures don't do the colors justice. The sky was perfect blue.

Now we're home and will work on the puzzle some more. Yay for HAPPY day!!!

CA2015 By the Numbers

It was a STUPENDOUS summer in California for Slugger and I! Since the big stuff got separate blog posts, I thought it'd be fun to talk about everything else we did with numbers :)  It's the math teacher in me. Here it is...

2 months, or 8 weeks, 3 days

4438.2 miles in the snowflake (oh, plus about 25 cuz I forgot to set it on our way out until Weatherford or so)

15 recorded walks in the woods (probably a few more that I didn't record) which equals about 39.5 miles. I received several new badges on Fitbit pertaining to "floors". That is recorded as about 6137 feet of elevation gain. (The recording device is an app on my phone called My Tracks.) All this on 6 sections of Pacific Crèst Trail and other trails/paths in and around Big Bear. Just one reason I call it paradise!

2 meals each at Himalayan and Teddy Bear, and at least 4 at Broadway Cafe! Plus many other yummy meals out. I don't know how many meals of chili with rice. So so yummy!

12 trips down the hill, 9 of them driven by me in the snowflake.

5 excellent visits with friends - a camp reunion, 4th of July with the Floyds, playing baseball with Thomas (and his folks), a walk in the woods (unrecorded!), and an Astros game. Good good times!

8 meals and such with family (other than Dad). That'd include 4 Moose Lodge meals with Dave and Loni (if you count steak night when Dad and I sold 52 steaks!); 1 40th birthday lunch with Aunt Mary, Uncle Charlie and the boys; a drive down to see my niece; dinner with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Patty and the kids; and a paddle fest afternoon with the Charlie crew. Oh, not included is the race event which started and finished at the Moose Lodge and was directed by Dave.

1 jump from an airplane

81 videos from new students, though there are 10 more who didn't get it to me

2 seasons of Cheers with Dad

5 radio events - 2 100 mile foot races, 2 mountain bike races, 1 parade

1 trip to MD/VA which involved 5 airports, 3 flights, 17 family members, 1 good friend and her hubby, and a lot of missing Slugger!

2 occasions to haul Special Olympic athlete and coach luggage

1 funeral and a second that I missed by only 24 hours. Relatives of friends. Death sucks.

1 scrapbook made of 40 new things, 1 party and a WHOLE LOT of stickers and such. I think 8 trips to craft stores. Hehe. I'd love to show you the book!

7 finished books and 2 half finished.

6 pounds lost by Slugs. He gave them to me :(

Okay, that's all I can think of. Except for the loads and loads of not quantifiable good times that Slugger and I had just hanging out with Dad and Tuck. We're happy to be home but we're both felling pretty darn lonely. Excited to see them in 4.5 months in TX!

It was an amazing trip with lots of adventure and memories. Thanks to all who journeyed with us, in person or virtually!! Now to get stuff done here in our last 1.5 weeks before school starts. It'll make 2.5 weeks at home since school got out!

AC100 2015

(note: you might want to read this post from 2013 before reading today's, if you don't know much about ultra runs!! It has terms and history and stuff)

This year's Angeles Crest 100 mile endurance run set out to be a record year in terms of numbers. Due to a little glitch at registration (registration opens at noon the day after the race and fills up in just a few hours), there were 238 runners registered to race. It is usually capped at 200. Sixty-six didn't show to start on Saturday morning. With about 170 on course, we could have seen almost double last year (74 finishers), by mile 95. We didn't. It was hot! Skies were clear and it was beautiful, but it was  hot.

A cool aspect of this year's overnight at Millard Campground is that we had all the same volunteers back from last year! I guess we showed them a good time :) So it was our regular Aid Station Leaders Bob and Jeff, plus returning were Steve and Lexi (father/daughter) and Irene and her 8yo daughter Coco, plus they brought 12yo Sam (Irene's nephew). And, of course, Dad and I. A few more showed up the next morning.

Lead runner, Erik Schulte, ran in at exactly midnight. He had been playing mouse with Michael Carson for many miles, but Erik ended up the victor. Last year's winner, Ruperto Romero came in shortly after the first two left. Then we saw NO ONE for about 2 hours!! And who was 4th? The first female, Ashley Nordell! She had led the women's race most of the day. The second woman was 8th in. This is not a man's sport that women think is fun - women COMPETE!!

We had a steady stream, every 15-20 minutes until dawn or so when it was more like every 5 minutes. At several times during the late morning, we had 3 and 4 runners there at the same time. Made for a busy and fun morning. So did the fact that the software kept disconnecting us! We always got it back up and running. Except the last time I hit the wrong button (though it's usually the right button) and all our data left us - just us, not the main database, luckily! But we dealt with it and all was well.

Late in the morning, we heard over the radio about a downed runner. Apparently he had fallen, hit his head, and was lying in a patch of poison oak. That's what you call a bad day! He got to the next aid station and refused medical aid and set out, toward us. The gentleman was none other than the legend Jussi Hamalainen, who had finished this race every year it was run - 27 years! You might recall a story about him from last year's race posts. Well, he didn't make it to us. Search and rescue types happened upon him, crawling down the trail. He got in the vehicle and rode to the finish. The hard part, for me, was that I had to be the one to put in that he'd dropped out!! The aid station before us, who technically was where he dropped, had already closed up their computers!! Oh well, it added to the memories of the weekend. I really hope he's okay and that we see him next year!!

There were other memorable runners, of course. Here are a few:

#143 lives in Fort Worth TX!! He'd also taken some time getting to one of the other aid stations, so I asked him about it. He stopped and took a nap :)

#223 was the last person who left us for the finish. She didn't think she had time but we assured her, based on the few people before her, she totally did. And she did!! She finished with almost 15 minutes to spare!!

I can't remember his number but Hugo left us thinking he could do it in 24 hours but it was going to be close. He did it! #107 behind him did not. 24:08 is still a really good time though!!

#149 took 3.5 hours to get to us from the previous aid station. We started asking runners after about 3 hours and one said they'd seen someone taking a nap but the pacer said all we well. When he finally got to us, it was obvious he was hurting. He stayed maybe 5 minutes and went on. He finished!!

Actually, my track record is such that every runner who leaves my aid station has finished. I'm proud of that! (it helps to work the late aid stations!)

Oh, #114. He'd been last into the last couple aid stations. He left the one before us with almost 20 minutes before their cutoff. Before he got to us, we'd been told he would drop and his family was waiting for him at Millard. Sure enough, he came in looking very tired, past cut off. His family looked happy to see him though.

There are so many others. We saw 98 runners this year - 2 dozen more than last year! Every one of them has a story. First 100 miler, first AC100, aiming for a PR or 24 hour, and I can only imagine the personal stories of why they do this. It's not easy (I'm assuming cuz I can't run a block) but they do it anyway. My favorite runners are the ones who show up at mile 95 looking like they rolled down a mountain, but smiling and laughing like they're having the times of their lives. I sure know I enjoy my time at AC100!!

As usual, Dad and I got home and collapsed. Tomorrow (Tuesday), I must leave paradise and drive back to the furnace that is TX.

40 4 40 #40 - FINALLY!!

As you might recall, over a year ago, I began a journey to try forty new things before my 40th birthday. The culmination was to be skydiving ON my 40th birthday. I had this wild idea on my 30th birthday, while parasailing. To make a long story short, I did not get to jump on my actual 40th birthday. But, Dad had the idea that I could do it in CA - at a location that he picked out :)

So I got to CA and we talked about it and I looked into it and just never seemed to actually schedule it. I started to run out of time! Since last week was so busy (I really should blog about it!), and this is my last week, this was the time! I made an appointment at Skydive Perris which has an excellent reputation, and is the place where Dad's former student jumps all the time.

Just like when it was planned in Texas, I was not worried about the risks and all that. However, this place made me watch a video and sign waivers that sure could make you worry about all the risks!! But when we got there, Dad and I decided this place knew what they were doing! There were parachuters everywhere - landing, packing chutes, wandering around, etc. Everyone was very nice and encouraging.

The whole process was quite easy, since I'd already watched the video and signed the mega waiver on line. Dad and I waited and watched lots of people land, until it was my turn to get suited up. Each plane took about 20 jumpers - most of them just jumping for fun - students and such. We saw probably half a dozen planes go up while we waited - for only an hour or so!! I got called and we went to the garage to meet Emmanuel and put my suit on. Dad got to be there for all of it which was really cool. Here are some before pics.

My favorite support crew :)

Suited Up

Harnessing

There was one other tandem person on my flight. His name is Chris and he was celebrating having finished his USC MBA! He was a little nervous but he did just fine :) The rest of the pics will tell the rest of the story...

Saying "see you in a few" to Dad.

Waving Hello to Josh, the videographer.

Emmanuel and I ready to board the plane! First on, last off.

On the plane, ready to GO!

The screaming was involuntary!! It was an excited, holy heck, kind of scream!

Free falling - REALLY fast!!

The chute opened!! YAY!!

I'd be attached to the yellow dot! Dad took this from the ground.

Coming in to the landing zone.

Almost down!

We made it!!

Wow!! Actually the quote of the day was "OH. MY. GOODNESS"!!

#40 done!! This is my favorite on the ground shot!

I jumped out of an airplane today! Not many people can say that! I enjoyed the experience and I'm glad I finally did it. I don't need to do it again though. I was never scared. It was definitely a rush of excitement when the wind slapped you in the face at 120 mph! And getting to see the world from that perspective was way awesome. I asked my videographer to take more video of what I was seeing than of my face. I'm really glad he listened. The video is pretty darn cool. There's me, but there's also the scenery which I'm glad I get to relive. You can too! Anytime you want to watch it, I'd be happy to share :) Oh, actually, it's supposed to go on Youtube... I'll keep you posted on that. 

The moral of this year long journey is this: KEEP TRYING NEW THINGS! You never know what you'll get out of it. 

The Penultimate Week of CA15

I just said to Dad that just because I haven't blogged doesn't mean I wasn't having fun! His reply was that we've been busy!! I decided I should write about last week, the penultimate (full) week of this epic visit to California. I figured out how to post date it though so it'll be in chronological order :) Fancy me!

I will start with the 2nd Annual Fawnskin Ride-n-Tie. Last year's ride was my first ever radio event. Now I'm an old pro ;) This event is put on by my big brother and takes riders/runners through the hills above the "suburb" of Fawnskin (it's across the lake from the "big city"). The race grew by 50% - from four teams to six!! Also, it rained. Stormed. Poured. Now, if you remember, I just spent at least 6 weeks wet in Texas. This was different. This rain was COLD!! It was quite exciting to turn on the heater in the car mid-morning in July!! In fact, this may have been the first time it was on in the new car!! The other memorable experience is that we had a team, so a rider and a runner, not me through our checkpoint. They left the one before us... After about 20 minutes thinking they'd be around the bend any second, we called in and the Race Director was alerted. They were found (they'd made a wrong turn but had turned around again) and headed back to the finish the way they'd come. We moved over to the first checkpoint and followed them in, basically. They were cold and wet and tired. I got home, took a hot shower, and slept curled up on the couch with Slugger while it rained. All afternoon!! Dad went to the airport and had some fun practicing direction finding, in the rain.

Sunday Dad and I drove down to Aunt Mary's in Temple City. Aunt Mary and Uncle Charlie were supposed to go to my birthday bash but I told them to stay home because of the weather. To make this  re-do as authentic as possible, I ordered a vegan hot pink cake from a bakery on the way. I also took tablecloths and napkins. I forgot the tiara in Big Bear though :( It was a fun afternoon of family visiting, sandwiches and a really good cake! I think the cake was better than the first one!!

I don't remember Monday, but I think I did laundry...

Tuesday, Dad and I had volunteered to help with the Special Olympics World Games team(s) that would be spending a couple days in Big Bear. Cities around the area hosted teams and showed them good California hospitality. We were on tap to carry their luggage from buses to their hotel room. The time frame was quite fluid so that took up all day, even though we didn't actually do it until the evening! I actually went and had dinner with the other volunteers while Dad went to Search & Rescue training. I think I carried half a dozen bags. Glad to help though!

Wednesday was the big day! The team in Lake Arrowhead was being honored with a parade. Dad and I went to help with radio. I got to work "parade control" which is where all radio traffic goes through. I think I was supposed to just be the one to write it all down, but I ended up doing all the radio!! I was told I did so well at the beginning that they just let me go with it. It was a confidence builder when the other two guys kept walking off :) OH, and one of those other guys is a legend in the Ham radio world! He is a leading name in Ham instruction (like to get your license) and even has books and stuff. He was impressed with my abilities :) I still say it's just in my blood and I'm only doing what everyone else is doing. Dad says I'm crisper and more direct. Okay.

Thursday we got to sleep in and hang out!! We went for a nice walk in the woods with the pooches. On the drive back, we passed Uncle Charlie and family on their way to their campsite. We knew it was them by the gigantic RV pulling the jeep with all the kayaks! We ended up going to dinner with them that evening. Family spontaneity is good!

So, I'd been hoping to paddle board again while here this summer. It was new thing #2 and I remember it being incredible, but it just hadn't worked in to the schedule yet. Turns out that Cousin Sam has a paddle board instead of a kayak. On Friday, I rented a board and we all paddled around together!! I must add that I stood up and she did not. But I went in, and she did not! It was great fun!!

Oh, before that, on Friday, Dad and I went back to the hotel and helped load luggage ON to buses. Took all of 20 minutes. And that included watching the buses back up the driveway!

And then there was Saturday. I spent the day riding in a car going from Heaven to Hell and beyond. And back, of course. What? I was radio in a SAG vehicle for the Grizzly Gran Fondo, a mountain bike race of varying lengths that was all over the mountain. Heaven and Hell were two stops on a long, steep, gnarly dirt road. Dad was in the other SAG vehicle and he spent his day driving to the hospital. THREE level 1 (meaning hospital needed) incidents. This group of radio workers hadn't had that many combined until now! And dad said the hospital was flowing with even more riders who got there on their own! It was a LONG day and we were very glad to sleep late on Sunday!!

Sunday wasn't all about sleeping in though. Slugger and I enjoyed a great lunch with my dear friend Sarah, her hubby and their two dogs. Then we had a nice, warm walk through the woods to the lake. All three dogs enjoyed getting their toes wet. Of course, Slugger got his whole self wet, cuz, well, he's Slugger. Actually, we met another dog who's dad had a ball that he threw for Slugs. It squeaked. Next year I think Slugger needs more lake days!!  That evening, Dad and I had a very nice Emig dinner with Uncle Charlie, Aunt Patty, Cousins Sam, Tyler and Steven, and Dave!

It was QUITE a week!!

(This turned in to a really long post - guess I should have blogged as it happened. Oh well!)

An EPIC 2015 Western States Endurance Run

I've been in CA for a little over three weeks now. A week of that time was actually spent in MD/VA visiting friends and family, and Ma. Apparently nothing notable happened because I didn't feel the need to blog it. Perhaps eventually!

This past weekend, Dad and I travelled to Auburn, CA. Auburn is a small town Northeast of Sacramento. I hadn't been there in about 30 years. It has grown up a lot but the quaint downtown and hilly streets with cute houses are still there. We made the trek so that we could work radio communications at the 2015 Western States 100-mile Endurance Run.

When I was a youngster, my family attended the event several times. We would crew for runner friends and my dad even paced a couple the last 40 miles. All the aid station names were familiar to me but it had been a long, long time. Too long!

Our aid station, Brown's Bar, was actually one I had never been to. It is down a long dirt road with very little space for cars or extra people. Crews are not allowed anywhere near it. Dad has been doing radio there for several years and was able to get us there without incident. My uncle and cousin met us in Auburn and also made their way to our spot. Actually, they left their jeep about 1/4 mile up the dirt road. Only two cars stayed all night at the station. Not much else would fit!

The aid station personnel were all from a running club in Ashland, OR. They were obviously all runners - some even came in on foot down the trail! One of them was famous. Well, famous in the world of ultra runners - Hal had won this race twice. Runners would take selfies with him as they stopped to eat and fill up water bottles! It was kind of entertaining.

Our first runner, Rob Krar, came in at about 6:10pm. He was a little under the record pace. He didn't stay long. He lost time after he left us and ended up finishing in 14 hours and 48 minutes - 3 minutes slower than the record. The next few runners trickled in every 10-30 minutes until the middle of the night when it seemed we had one every 5 minutes or less. There was never really a lull. Runners came in until about 8am or so.

To me, the notable thing was that there were a LOT of runners!! At the AC100, the only other one I've done, we saw less than 100 runners. Here at Western States, we saw 255!!! And that was a low number. At the start, there were 371! It was a VERY hot day on the trail and that likely knocked out a few more than normal.

The other difference of this race, for me, is that we call in, over the ham radio, EVERY single runner that comes through the aid station! This year, Dad let me do most of it. Like probably 200 of them!! And when we got back to Net Control - the people I'd been talking to all night - they were very complementary on my radio skills. I think it's my math background. I wasn't about to call a zero an "o"!!

A few memories stand out from the all nighter at the curve in the trail...

- Most of the women wore skirts. Fancy running skirts, but still. I need to get me one :)
- Many of the pacers looked worse than the runners. The aid station folks even commented on it. Not sure what that was about! They'd run no more than 27 miles by the time they'd reached us - the runners had run 90!
- The youngest runner on the course was just 19 years old. And he was from Austin, TX!!
- Women need port-a-potties. We had one at the aid station (thank goodness) and many women looked quite excited when we told them that!!
- Beards are in. I already knew this. I just don't get it.
- This footrace began as a horse race and is still raced as such in August. The sweep teams are horses. They were very nice ladies who were also ham radio operators. Their antenna is on their helmet! Wish I'd taken pictures.
- About 1/2 mile from us, the sweep ladies came upon Alvin, #254, who was not wanting to go on. They walked with him to our aid station. He was my first drop. He had to walk UP a long hill to get to the cars of the aid station people so he could get a ride to the finish. He seemed happy to get to the cars!

Overall, we saw 255 runners. Alvin stopped, so we sent 254 on their way, and all 254 of them finished in under 30 hours.

The most memorable part of the run was definitely Gunhild Swanson. She wore bib #70 because, well, she's 70 years old! She ran the race in 2005, at 60 and finished in 25:40 setting a record for her age group (60-69). I happened to hear her number called in from the station two before ours, at about 4:30 am (I think). A couple hours later, I kept saying she'd be there any minute. Then the station before ours called in their final 5 runners. She was on that list. So she was coming, eventually! She ran in about 7:30 or so, looking pretty darn good! She didn't stay long, she was cutting it close to finishing before the 11am (30 hour) cut off.

Dad and I pondered heading to the finish line to see her finish but decided it'd be an hour that would put me home to Slugger in the dark. And we were both exhausted and ready to get going on the long trek home. As we drove in to Sacramento and I got internet back on my phone, I kept an eye on the website for her finish time. We were eating our In-n-Out as she finished. In 29 hours and 59 minutes. The website didn't give us seconds, but SHE DID IT!! We have since read several articles and watched a video over and over. She finished with SIX seconds to spare before the official cut off. She is officially the oldest woman to finish the WS100. What an inspiration!! Here's a link to the npr article and video.

I have said it before and I will say it again... Ultra runners are awesome people. They are incredible athletes. And they are so very nice. They thank US for being there, they joke and have fun, and today most of them are back at their normal jobs where very few people understand what they just accomplished. And this weekend, they'll be back on the trail, looking forward to the next event!