Transrockies: Today's Blog Post -- Day 2 of Volunteering (and Racing)



Making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

Day 2: Vicksburg to Twin Lakes (and stay over in Leadville)

We're Going UP!

Today the racers and crew alike had a long day even though it's the shortest day (mileage-wise) for the runners.The runners were treated to 13 miles of "up and over" Hope Pass - a total of 3000 miles of climbing and stunning views which included a few Llamas.



Finish area at Twin Lakes.

We at finish line catering didn't have enough time to get water to the start, grocery shop, get to the finish at Twin Lakes, and set up in time for the first runners to arrive so another team covered the water at the start and we B-lined it to the grocery store at 7am and were setting up at Twin Lakes by 8:30am.

The first runners came in at a blistering pace of just under 2 hours and from there it stretched out until the last runners of the day some 7 hours later (finishing around 3:30pm). It was another great day of volunteering and everyone really stepped up to make the day great for the athletes.



Beef Jerky - a huge hit with the runners!



I had a request at breakfast from one of the athletes for a sirloin steak at the finish line. While we couldn't exactly meet that request, we came up with the next best thing - beef jerky. We bought a few bags as a "pilot test" and the runners descended on the jerky like vultures! Needless to say we've already stocked up on 4.5lbs of jerky for tomorrow.

Today we went through:

- 12 loaves of bread

- 10 watermelons

- 2 big jars of peanut butter & 4 jars of jelly

- 10 bags of salty chips



- Gummy bears, peanut and plain M&Ms



- A LOT of Coke
- Several cases of Michelob Ultra (thank you sponsors)

- Other snacks, fruit, and "stuff"



My attempt at getting the runners
to stop sticking their hands in bowls.
It worked!



Today we enforced the "wash your hands" policy and provided hand santizer and cups for food for the athletes. It just grosses me out to watch someone with who-knows-what on their hands reach into a bowl of M&Ms and grab a handful.



I was able to sneak in a mountain bike ride as we awaited the last 10 athletes. It was spectacular to ride around



Twin Lakes - beautiful rolling terrain! Tomorrow is the longest stage - 23 miles from Leadville (elevation 10,100) to Nova Guides/Camp Hale. And it's going to be a LONG day for everyone! But it's the final day for those running the 3-day Transrockies event so we will lose about 100 runners after tomorrow.

NOTE: Rumor has it there is no cell phone coverage AT ALL in Nova Guides so my next post may not be for a couple of days. Stay tuned!



Runner getting some rest and shade post-run.