The story of Leadville 100 - Pre-race

This story begins last Wednesday at 3:45pm when I left work a few clicks early to go home and begin loading up the Plastic Porsche for it's big jaunt up to 10,000ft. The plan was to drive approximately halfway that night, find a spot to throw out the sleeping bag along the way, then get up Thursday morning and drive the rest of the way to Leadville.

Along for the ride with me

were Mike E

and my original SuperCrew skirt-wearing Jen.

Oh, and Fuzzy Buddy came along too.

We took off at 5:30 and made it all the way past Steamboat Springs, farther than I had planned, finally stopping at a pullout on the side of the two-lane highway to catch some Z's. It was clear and cold, but I knew the forecast was calling for chilly weather over the weekend that included thunderstorms and possibility of snow. Thursday morning, we woke up and hit the road again for the quick 3 hour drive remaining to Leadville.

We got into town around noon and immediately checked into our home for the next two nights: The McGinnis Cottage Bed & Breakfast

Next on our agenda? Drive out around the course so Jen could get familiar with it before she would have to get in the car at 4am on Saturday and begin the 100 mile journey with me and the other 455 runners and hundreds, maybe thousands of other crew members.

The directions were a bunch of seemingly incomplete, confusing, snarls of unmarked roads and incorrect details. We hardly found it worth all the time going out there, but figured it was good to at least get a look at the area even if it was the wrong way to go. We'd been warned about this and come to find out, it was just as we'd been warned. The consensus for Jen was to simply get in line and follow the leader. That was my plan too. While we were out, we experienced roughly four separate thunderstorms... in less than 2 hours... with sunbreaks in between. Sheesh...

Mike E and I went for an easy 50 minute jog that afternoon along the first few miles of the course which started right in the heart of downtown Leadville. I liked the town's vibe and atmosphere. It didn't feel like we were at 10,000 ft especially with all the higher peaks surrounding the valley we were in. It was fun looking at all the fascinating and questionable decor on the houses in town.

Jen had been feeling under the weather all week and was showing signs of deteriorating so she went to the hotel to sleep and attempt to begin to feel better. At this point, I was concerned she would be getting worse and may not be fit to crew for me which was a horrible thought. My heart was a bit heavy for her. I knew she was really looking forward to this trip and being a part of the race and to come down with a bug at just this time was very difficult for her, but God bless her, she kept her spirits up and still had faith she would pull out of the funk before Saturday morning. She had a day and a half.

Friday was a delicious homemade breakfast by Donna, the owner of the McGinnis Cottage, then the medical check for the race, the pre-race briefing, then the drop bag delivery that afternoon. We each realized there were a few things we needed from the store so we went out to the car and there it was...

Either an extremely large or extremely ill avian beast dropped a direct hit onto the hood of my car. Jen was disappointed. I was disgusted. Mike said it was lucky. So we left it there to show it off as we drove around town. I still can't figure out what could have created that kind of mess.

After running all around town getting a few last-minute items (a 3-pack of cheap, lightweight gloves, a small towel to wipe my face off during the race, fresh batteries, peanut butter, Tylenol, reflective tape, and a bling bling bright yellow-as-the-sun poncho for Jen to wear out in the storms she was sure to encounter), we got some food in us back at the hotel, watched a bit of the Olympics, and hit the bed around 7pm, ready for a 2am alarm for the 4am start. There were two other groups in the house running the race so there was sure to be much activity in the wee hours. I had a difficult time sleeping. It was stormy. Lots of thunder. Flashes of lightning all over. Rain. And then... finally... the alarm: Mike E stating "Wake the f up dude, it's time to run."