Transrockies: Today's Blog Post -- Day 5 of Volunteering (and Racing)

Day 5: Red Cliff to Vail - 23 miles
Back to civilization & cell phone coverage!



Finish line catering crew!



I actually overslept this morning and did a "holy-crap-what-time-is-it" jump out of my sleeping bag. I had 15 minutes to dress, put my eyeballs in, stagger down to the food tent, eat, and meet Cam and Roxanne out in front of the catering van. Believe it or not, I made it. And I discovered that rushing around took my mind off of how flipping cold (40 degrees) it was outside. What made this day feel colder is that it was very damp outside due to the rain showers from last night.



On a side note, I am glad for my van and van camping is working well. Last night I was woken up by a bunch of howling and yapping coyotes who were having some type of party outside near the lake. It was amazing to listen to them but I was glad I had steel between me and them rather than just a nylon tent wall. I made sure the doors were locked too...just in case.



Future runner "carbing" up!

The runners seemed excited for today's stage and we sent everyone off running at 8:30am to the tune of "Highway to Hell" by AC/DC. We headed to the finish line in Vail and my car did not overheat so I was VERY happy about that. 8,500 feet seems to be the tipping point between smelling antifreeze in the car or not.



Vail is a beautiful little town and sits around 8,000 feet. The air actually feels a little thicker "down" here. Since we did grocery shopping yesterday we were able to take our time getting to Vail and settting up without the usual rush. We found the finish line area and set up literally right under a ski lift. By 10:30am we had everything set out and the start line had been torn down in Red Cliff and magically reconstructed on the ski slopes of Vail.



Altitude is not only affecting the runners. One of the crew members was having issues with altitude and had to go to the hospital. The race director was talking to him while we were setting up the food and was telling him to really take it easy. I added to their conversation, "Yeah, you don't want to die up here and then be THAT guy who died during Transrockies." Thankfully everyone laughed after I realized what I had actually said. As my friend Richelle calls me -- over fourty and unfiltered!



Quick run in the mountains - LOVE it!



Runners started coming in and we were there to feed them. Today's "different" foods included skittles and Doritos and we also brought back Peanut M&Ms -- all of which were a hit withs the runners.



Hedgehog? Porcupine? Cute!



I actually got in a 90 minute run today which was FANTASTIC! I ran up the mountain to the top and en route took photos and cheered on the runners as they came barreling down the mountainside. As usual I got off course and ended up running along "Berry Patch" single track trail where I came upon a sculptured wooden hedgehog (or porcupine - not sure which). Those who run with me know that I have a tendency to say, "Hey, I wonder where this goes" and I end up either bush-whacking or in a completely different place. It only took me 30 minutes to descend and I had a real sense for how beat up the runners must feel because my "fresh" legs were tired from all the downhill pounding to the finish line. As one runner put it, "I'm SO over downhills!"'



The runners were definitely looking beat up today and many of them lost the twinkle in their eye they had at the day's start in Red Cliff. 23 miles of mountain running will do that.



A couple of runners got pulled at the last check point at mile 19.1 (didn't make the time cutoff) so we were able to start packing up food a little earlier than we intended and by 5:15pm we were pretty much done for the day. The big concern was packing up all the food because of bears. I made extra sure there were no scraps of food or empty bottles left sitting around the van since I would be sleeping in it and didn't relish the thought of waking up with a bear on the roof, even if the doors were locked!



Finish line in Vail.





Tomorrow is the last day of Transrockies and the runners and crew alike are ready for it to be done so we can celebrate at tomorrow night's banquet AND sleep in beds not on the ground or attached to four wheels. At tonight's post-dinner meeting and video show, all the volunteers were called up on stage and all the runners cheered and applauded us. It felt nice.

Tomorrow: Vail to Beaver Creek - 19 miles



Some of the amazing Transrockies volunteers.