Rocky Raccoon 2010 - Crewing for the Mystery Woman

I recently had the immense pleasure of crewing for my good friend Liza Howard at Rocky Raccoon. Based on Ultrarunning Magazine's historical records (I emailed them) Liza's Rocky Raccoon performance made her the 8th fastest 100 mile woman of all time and possibly the 2d fastest 100 mile trail performance of all time. Granted Rocky is very flat for a trail course but it is still a great indicator of the type of race Liza had. I thought I would write a race report from a crewing perspective which turned out to be much more eventful and entertaining than I could ever imagine,

Background: Liza's husband, Eliot, was unable to perform his normal crewing duties due to work demands so I volunteered to be the crew for Liza with the main job of getting her in and out of aid stations as quickly as I could and not screw up her race (no pressure). The other advantage of this was that this got me out of pacing duties, which in hindsight was a huge blessing, because they would have been carrying me out with a stretcher from running Liza's pace

On the way down to the race we discussed her goals/objectives etc. Going into the race we were really curious to see what Liza could do. This was the first time that she was running a 100 miler on a flat course trained and somewhat rested (she is a mom so the rested part is a challenge). She finished 3 minutes ahead of Ryan Loehdig at Cactus Rose and Ryan had run several Rocky's in 16 hour range. But Rocky was also a different course than Cactus Rose which is more technical and Liza is an outstanding technical runner. Liza said her goal was to run a 10 min/mile pace which would put her at a 16:40 finish. I asked what pace her coach, Amanda McIntosh, suggested she run her early miles and she said Amanda told her to "run comfortably". At the time I thought the lack of specifics was odd but I really think Amanda didn't want to put any restrictions on Liza since her and Liza are still discovering Liza's upper limits. Liza then showed me her multitude of pace sheets covering all possible scenarios which turned out to be some of the most complex pace sheets I had ever seen. It took me a few minutes to decipher them but the 4 calculus classes I had in college paid off and I was finally able to. Ironically, her pace sheets didn't cover the time she eventually ran.

Also adding some excitement to the race was the presence of 2 elite female ultrarunners, Jamie Donaldson and Connie Gardner. Jamie is the women's record holder for Badwater 135 and was Ultrarunning Magazine's runner-up for female ultrarunner of the year. Connie has recorded many impressive 24 hour mileage totals (including 145 miles for 24 hours) and 100 mile times. Her specialty is flat courses. I asked Liza if she wanted to know where she stood in relation to Jamie and Connie during the race. She didn't want to know where she stood unless she asked me.

She also spent some time discussing her refueling strategy. In summary, she would be carrying a 1.5 liter camelback filled with only 1 liter of water and a handheld filled with nutrients and some gels tucked into the pocket of the handheld. This would minimize her aid station stops. She also had an extra camelback and handheld so it was my responsibility to prepare those, allowing us to swiftly swap out her old camelback and handheld for her new camelback and handheld at the end of each 20 mile loop. She then told me that I need to burp the air out of her camelback so it wouldn't jostle. This got my attention because my camelback always sloshes/jostles and I just thought it was part of the price for wearing a camelback. Confused, I looked at her and said, "Burp?" Liza said, "You know...suck the air out". I said, "oh yeah...right". With my mind still on burping the camelback Liza then explained where her clothes, lights, emergency goodie bag, blister kit, ibuprofen, and Ipod were located in her bag. Liza had also given my number to all her family members so they can call me for updates. Wow, this was getting complex and I have actually run these races. My respect for the job Eliot does as crew person has started to grow.

During our planning I mentioned to Liza that I would be wearing a yellow top so I would be easy to find. For some reason she found this to be extremely funny. I thought it was very practical that she quickly identify me from all the other 6'8" crew members standing around.:-)

Pre-race: With close to 700 entrants for the 100 mile and 50 mile races we decided to get to the race early to ensure parking. On the way we listened to "Stand Up For the Champions" (great pump up song and great lyrics for an ultra---check it out on you tube) to get Liza and her friend Jake (who had flown in for the 50 miler) properly motivated. We got there around 4:50 am (race start at 6) and parking lot was filling up. We got a good spot strategically located right by the restroom. Then while Liza and Jake were checking in I scored a good spot for crewing and we went back to my truck to get warm. While at the truck I noticed I had really poor cell phone reception. This was stressful because of all the people I needed to keep updated. Additionally, Liza's pacers (Brian Ricketts, Kelli Newlon, and Kelley Anz) would be coming up later and would be calling me to find out where I was. Liza gave me her I-Phone to use which got much better reception. At 5:50am we headed to the start line and the race was underway at 6am.

Loop 1. This is a good time to briefly explain the RR course. It is five 20 mile loops. Crew members are only allowed to go to the Nature Center (mile 3.1) and Park Rd (mile 15.6) aid stations. The Dam Road Aid Station is not crew accessible and must be hiked to (about 1.5 mile). Even if one hikes there crew members are not allowed to crew so instead spend time helping the aid station. Because I knew Liza would be fine early in the race, I decided not to meet Liza at either Nature Center or Park Rd because I didn't want to risk not getting a parking spot back, I was afraid I'd miss seeing her for the camelback/handheld swap out at the end of loop 1. Instead I ensured Jake got situated for the 50 mile start at 7AM and then went to my truck to snooze a bit and attempt to figure the I-phone out before Liza's expected return at the end of Loop 1. She had guessed her first loop to be between a 2:50 and 3:00 hours. I went out there at 8:30 and see the male leader Greg Crowther come in at 8:38 (2:38 hours). Several more men come in and then right at 8:50 here came Liza, first female, with Jamie Donaldson right behind her. We quickly swap out handhelds/camelbacks and Liza started loop 2.

Loop 2: One thing that struck me about Liza when she came in at loop 1 was her Focus. She definitely had her game face on and was all business. She was here to race. I had to remind myself of that because when I run ultras I have a habit of talking at aid stations and wasting a couple of minutes. In fact, one year at Cactus Rose Joe Prusaitis gave me the Motor-Mouth Award. I needed to keep that in mind every time I saw Liza. With the exchange complete I set about the task of refilling her old camelback and handheld (with her nutrient mix). I got in the habit of doing this immediately after the swap with Liza. I figured if something were to ever happen and I wasn't at the main aid station then her camelback/handheld would still be waiting for her ready to go at our crew location spot. Of course filling the camelback meant I had to figure out this "burping the air" out thing. First I carefully measured a liter out per Liza's instructions and poured it in the camelback. I then tried to suck the air out and ended up with nothing but water. I then unscrewed the bladder lid a bit and tried to squeeze the air out. In the process I ended spilling a bunch of water all over the place. Well now she no longer had a liter of water so I had to read water to the camelback. I then made a couple more timid attempts to get the air out of it and then gave up thinking I would be the first person FIRED from crew duty for failing to properly "burp a camelback". After that comedy of errors was done, I fired off some text (which turned out be a challenge due to my 6'8" hands not liking the virtual keyboard) messages about Liza's progress. Once that was done I headed to Park Rd. Aid Station (mile 35.6) to wait for Liza to come through. I didn't think she would need anything there but wanted to give her words of encouragement and see if there was anything else that she would need back at the start/finish aid station (known as Dogwood) that I could have ready for her.

About the time I got to Park Rd I got a text from Brian saying he had a flat so they were taking Kelli's car but they would be here on time for her to pace. However, Liza was moving fast and I was a bit concerned that I would be putting on my pacing clothes. I hung out at Park Rd for awhile visiting with other crew members and scoring some homemade sugar cookies in the process (there were some perks to this). I also enjoyed watching runners come through. Olga V. came through on her first lap grumbling about the lack of hills and the fact she had to run everything. Finally I see Greg Crowther, the lead runner come through. If Liza was still running well I figured she would be through about 20-25 minutes later. Sure enough she comes through right about that time looking very strong. She saw me and said, "Ibuprofen". Uh-oh that didn't sound good. I hurry back to the main aid station expecting Liza to be there in about 40ish minutes. I find parking and hustle over to our crew spot to get the ibuprofen ready. I open it and find it's a new bottle. I spend a good two minutes digging the stupid cotton ball out (thank goodness I was doing this now rather than when Liza got there-don't think she would've been very happy standing around while I'm trying to get the cotton ball out of the ibuprofen bottle). I grab the "unburped" camelback, handheld, and ibuprofen and keep an eye out for Liza. Right at 11:48 am (2:57 loop pace) she completes her second loop and several minutes faster than we had projected. We do the swapping of the camelback/handheld and I give her the ibuprofen. She also asked for her Ipod. I asked her how she was doing and she said her right glute hurt. I quickly reminded her to drink her water (in the previous swap I noticed she still had water left in camelback) because it was getting warm and she was off. 13 minutes later, elite female ultrarunners, Jamie Donaldson and Connie Gardner came in. Liza had opened up 13 minutes on loop 2.

Loop 3: Once again I went through the drill of filling the 1.5L camelback with 1L of water and attempting to "burp" the camelback with the same miserable results I had last time. Then while stuffing her handheld bottle pocket with gels the zipper on it broke. Drat! Hopefully the gels were crammed in so tight they wouldn't move otherwise I would likely get fired for her gels flying all over the place while running with a jostling, sloshing camelback. Once again I fired off some texts about Liza's progress (including telling Brian to get here fast with the pacing crew because Liza is moving fast and she is allowed to pick up a pacer after loop 3). However, I made the mistake in my texts of mentioning Liza's glute was bothering her. This concerned me. I knew Liza could handle the glute pain but was concerned that she would overcompensate for it in her running form leading injury elsewhere. However, because I mentioned Liza's glute in my text I kept getting calls/texts the next few hours asking me how Liza's glute was doing. I began to think that Liza probably wouldn't be real excited about the big interest in her butt.

Eliot's dad, John, showed up so we hustled over to Nature Center (mile 43.1) hoping to cheer Liza on before she disappeared off back into the woods. Just as soon as we pull up we see Liza flying through the aid station. I then see Liza's coach, Amanda, who was working the aid station and we talk about how great Liza is doing and wondering if her glute (it was THE hot topic) would be okay.

Amanda and I then started discussing Melanie Fryar and Meredith Terranova's 50 mile race. They both were on a low 7 hour pace and I mentioned to Amanda that it looked like they were going to shatter the old course record of 7:44 which I thought was kind of a soft record anyway. Amanda looked at me and exclaimed "I'm the one that holds that record!". I turned about 18 shades of red and while figuring out how I am going to get myself out of this mess, Amanda tells me that it's okay because she agrees it is a soft record and she frankly can't believe it is still standing (she set it in 1999) and she hopes Melanie and Meredith both shatter it. Whew...that was a close one and thankfully Amanda has a great sense of humor. Size 15 shoes don't taste so great.

Eliot's dad, John, and I waited around to see Jamie and Connie come through to see how they were looking. Both look steady and determined. Connie look like she was in some pain but she has such a powerful stride that I thought she might be a bigger threat. After seeing them we then head over to Park Rd to measure Liza's progress. We had a good wait before the leaders arrived. So I utilize the time to score some more sugar cookies, call Eliot (it was KILLING him not to be there and it was all he could do not to call me every 30 minutes for updates), and nagging Brian to get here in time to pace Liza. Eventually, the lead male comes through and if current trend holds then Liza should be about 35ish minutes after him. Sure enough she came through (still lead woman) looking strong and not yelling at me for not properly burping her camelback. No more than 30 seconds later Brian, Kelli, and Kelley came walking up. Very relieved they are here, we head back to Dogwood.

We got Kelli Newlon ready to go and it was very nice to have some help! I gave Brian Ibuprofen/texting duties and Kelley Anz photo duties. Liza had been getting in and out so fast that I had failed to take pictures. I also showed Brian Liza's pace sheets and he couldn't figure them out but he didn't have 4 college calculus courses either. I also busted Brian's bubble telling him that crewing for Liza was 10 times more stressful than crewing for him (which I help do at Wasatch) because Liza has a chance to win. Brian was good natured about it. We got ready for Liza's arrival and she comes in around 2:45 PM (another 2:57 split). We did the swap...I explained the zipper on the handheld bottle holding the gels was busted and she and Kelli take off on loop 4.

Loop 4: Unfortunately, it was time to refill the camelback (to get it ready for loop 5) and make pathetic attempts at burping the air out. I asked Brian if he knew and he didn't. Good, at least I didn't feel so stupid. Amanda happened to be there so Brian suggested we ask her. Of course Amanda knew exactly how to do it (it involves turning the bladder upside down and then sucking the air out). Just as I was feeling smug about ensuring that Liza's last loop would be "slosh" free Amanda noticed that I was putting the bladder in the camelback holder backwards so the tube would be in Liza's back which wouldn't be very comfy. Drat! I think the camelback I just gave her had the bladder put in backwards. Boy, if sloshing camelbacks didn't get me fired then surely a hose in her back will. We were going to wait to see how big of lead Liza had but I told Brian and Kelley that we need to get to Nature Center (mile 63.1) so I can give Liza the camelback I just filled so the one I had given her at the end of loop 3 wouldn't have the tube rubbing her in the back anymore. About 5 minutes later, Liza and Kelli came through. I ran up to Liza babbling about needing to swap camelbacks because the one she is wearing has the hose in her back, etc. Liza looked at me strangely, said she was fine and took off. We hung around there talking to Amanda some more. After a bit, Eliot's dad came up telling us that Jamie came in 28 minutes behind Liza at the end of loop 3 and Connie was 41 minutes behind. We were excited that Liza's lead was growing. We decided to hang around some more at Nature Center to see how Jamie looked when she came through. Jamie came through still about 28 minutes behind Liza and she looks strong and focused. Jamie runs very high mileage in training and it was a concern that if Liza struggled a bit at the end that Jamie could pass her. There were still 37 miles left and a lot could happen. Of course it didn't help when Amanda was telling us how she (Amanda) made up an hour one year at Leadville in the last 13 miles.

Starting to get a bit concerned, we headed over to Park Rd (mile 74.6) to await Liza. On the way Kelley mentioned she had brought brownies. I asked, "homemade or box?" She said they were from a box but they were the best box brownies around. Very skeptical, I tried one and it was very good!!! This made me happy because the gal supplying me with sugar cookies had left. I grabbed Kelley's brownie container out of the car and we waited on Liza. Paul and Meredith Terranova (who ran a very fast 7:12 in the 50 mile race) were there. Paul was to pace Greg Crowther (the Terranovas know everyone!) and Meredith was telling us about Jamie's resume and how mentally tough she was. Meredith and Jamie were very good friends. She also mentioned how her crew was telling her to pick up the pace. Naturally, this started to concern us. While I was confident Liza would win if she didn't degrade too much, I also knew how quickly things could unravel if she started to struggle and Jamie had the ability to take advantage. While talking to Meredith and eating Kelley's brownies I get a call from Amanda saying that she had to leave to get her daughter but to keep her informed of Liza's progress. I made a mental note to add Amanda to my list of folks to keep updated.

We continued to wait for the lead female to arrive and based on my estimate if Liza was still running well she would come through Park Rd around 5:15ish and should have a solid lead. We spottted Liza coming out of the woods right at that time (she was amazingly consistent) and running strong. However, we didn't see Kelli Newlon, her pacer. Where was Kelli? While Liza was running past she yells, "Kelli twisted her ankle at Dam Road. Needs help!" Liza then disappears back into the woods.

Brian, Kelley A, and I stand around for 30 seconds staring at each other wondering what should we do. I then realized as Lead Crew person I needed to make some decisions. As much as I liked Kelli, I also knew there were several hundred runners on course and if Kelli needed help someone would be able to assist. Furthermore, I knew Lynn Ballard, the Dam Road Aid Station Captain, was very competent and could handle any crisis. Liza was due to be back at Dogwood in about 40 minutes and Kelley A was scheduled to pace her so we would ensure Liza got taken care of and then go back and help Kelli. On the way back to Dogwood (and making sure we didn't leave the brownies at Park Rd), I was thinking of all the stuff that had gone wrong (improperly burped Camelbacks, broken zippers on handhelds, Brian's flat tire, Kelli's ankle, me having to use Liza's I-phone because I can't get reception, forgetting to text some people etc.) and wondered if Eliot had to deal with this when he crewed for Liza. My respect for Eliot goes off the charts. We head back to Dogwood. Brian who was pacing Liza the last 8 miles changed clothes and Kelley A. and I prepped for Liza's arrival. I told Henry Hobbs (assistant Race Director extraordinaire), about Kelli's ankle in case he heard anything. It was about 5:40 pm and we expected Liza in around 6.

While we waited Kelli N. shows up!! She was able to limp back to Dam Road Aid station and got a ride from the Aid Station back to Dogwood. What a relief! But she felt terrible about spraining her ankle. She did say Liza was struggling a bit on loop 4 when she paced her but was still pushing herself to run as much as she could. I told her Liza looked pretty strong coming through Park Rd A/S. We waited a bit and right at 6PM Liza comes running in completing loop 4. At this point her cumulative time was 12 hours for 80 miles. She had averaged and amazing 9 min/mile pace for 80 miles!! While she had slowed down a bit on the last loop (3:15) it was still sub 10 minute pace. I was pretty sure her lead over Jamie probably wasn't any less and had likely grown. The other thing that impressed me is that while she knew she was ahead of Jamie and Connie she didn't allow that to freak her out and think, "I don't belong here." Liza wasn't afraid to "go for it" and put limitations on herself. Also exciting was the fact she had now moved into 2d place overall! All the other men ahead of her, except Greg Crowther had either dropped or been passed by Liza. Greg did have a 47 minute lead on her and while it was likely Liza wouldn't catch him, if he started to have issues then it wasn't out of the picture that Liza would win the whole thing (for the record, I have corresponded with Greg a bit after the race. He is a really good guy and it was good he finished strong).

It was starting to get cold and dark so we got Liza equipped with extra jacket and light. I was also relieved because with this being her last loop I didn't have to worry about burping any more camelbacks. After about a 1-2 minute stop, her and Kelley A took off in the darkness for the final 20 miles.

Loop 5: After Liza took off, I knew her friend, Jake, was due to finish his 50 miler in 20 ish minutes. I wanted to wait for him to tell him congratulations and give him the keys to my truck so he could get his warm stuff. Brian and Kelli N. went to Nature Center to cheer Liza through. Jake did finish his 50 miler about 20ish minutes after Liza left. He soundly beat his goal of breaking 12 hours and I got him squared away with the truck. I also gave him instructions on relocating our chairs and other crew stuff to the heated runner recovery tent that Liza would need to go into after finishing the race. I then called Brian and Kelli N. and asked them to come pick me up so I could get Brian to the Dam Road Aid Station for pacing duties. During this time we got word that Liza's lead over Jamie had now grown to 44 minutes. We are starting to really get pumped!

Getting to Dam Road Aid Station was a bit tricky. First we had to park in a dark secluded parking place. Hike about a 1/4 mile to trailhead and then hike about 1.25 mile through dark, creepy "slasher movie" woods. I grabbed a couple of more brownies to help fuel me for the hike. Parts of the hike are not on the course and very secluded, I could sense Kelli N.s vast skepticism that I had any clue as to where I was going (she didn't say anything but later admitted she WAS very skeptical). Brian made the comment that he was glad I was leading the hike instead of Tom "Wrong Way" Bowling. We finally get to Dam Road Aid Station (and I could sense Kelli N's relief). We found out Liza has already been through and was starting the Dam Road inner loop. Because I wasn't allowed to crew for Liza (only her pacers were allowed to assist) I sought out Lynn Ballard and he had me assist with runners finding their drop bags. It was amazing how organize Lynn had the drop bags. They were organized by bib number (no small feat given the number of runners) and were very easy to find. However, given the darkness and the exhausted physical condition most runners were in, it was difficult for many of them to find or even open their drop bags. While helping the runners with their drop bags, Jamie Donaldson came through Dam Road to begin the Dam Road inner loop. I could tell she had slowed down some but she was tough and was pushing herself. I estimated we should see Liza comeplete the Dam Road loop and be back in the aid station in another 50 minutes.

I continued to assist runners and it hit me how cold it was getting. It was a damp cold and runners who were now walking were having a hard time staying warm. Lynn was getting many requests for trash bags to wear, extra gloves, jackets etc. I was real impressed with how Lynn went out of his way to help the runners. Before I knew it, 50 minutes had gone by and I hear Brian say Liza is coming in! Liza looked good but said her hands were cold. Brian had planned ahead and had scored a pair of throwaway gloves from Lynn. He assisted Liza with what she needed and they were quickly off. Kelley A, Kelli N and I grabbed Liza's Dam Road drop bag and started the hike back to the car. At Lynn's request, we also had a couple of runners with us who had dropped out and needed a ride bike. One of them was shaking uncontrollably and appeared borderline hypothermic. I offered him my jacket and he said he couldn't take it from me because I would need it. I pointed out that he was the one shaking and I wasn't. He took the jacket and was much warmer. On the way back Kelley A said that Liza was running well and in good spirits. The darkness was slowing her down but it slows everyone down. The only question was whether she would break 16 hours or not. We got back to the car, drove to Dogwood and helped our two runners find the right person to tell they were dropping out and turn in their timing chips. I saw Jake had moved everything to the heated runner recovery tent. Looking around at the other runners I noticed many of them had fairly thin blankets. I had a really big thick one in my truck so I grabbed it to put on Liza. I knew she would be freezing when she finished and her body would be shutting down. About 9:44ish I was on the phone with Amanda telling her that Liza had it in the bag barring injury but I didn't expect her for another 10-15 minutes. I looked up and see Brian and Liza coming in!!! Drat I didn't have my camera!! I told Amanda Liza was done and quickly got off the phone. Her time was an amazing 15:45 (9:24 min/mile pace). Her last lap was 3:45 which was the same split as Greg Crowther, the male winner had run. In fact, her time was faster than the time ultra legend Andy Jones Wilkins had in winning Rocky last year. Amazing endurance and consistency! Liza hugged a bunch of people and was very excited. We got her quickly into the tent...she was glad to see Jake...and I threw the blanket on her. Joe gave her a very cool looking trophy and congratulations. You could tell Joe was very happy that Liza had the race she did because she is so down-to-earth and a local runner. I took care of some more mundane crew type things and Brian, Kelley A.(and her brownies) and Kelli N hit the road. They were very helpful to me and had great attitudes. Liza waited around for Jamie to finish and she finished in a very fast 16:54. What was impressive was Liza had increased her lead every single loop and led wire-to-wire. They exchanged congratulations and we headed back to the truck calling it a day.

Before he left, Brian shared with me that only with about 3 miles left did Liza even ask him what her cumulative time was. Brian told her that they could essentially walk it in and break 16. Liza said, "well let's get this over with" and proceeded to run the last 3 miles at a sub 8 minute/mile pace. Amazing. It was also very gratifying because although she won Cactus Rose Liza really didn't finish the race as strongly as she would've liked.

In summary, it was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever been a part of. What was really cool about it was in many ways I felt like I had done the 100 miles myself without all the soreness!!! But the experience really did make me appreciate the challenge of crewing. Not that it is mega difficult but with the race Liza was having I didn't want to do anything that would throw off her focus, rhythm, or cause her frustration. Having done a 100 miles myself I know how fragile emotionally a runner can feel when they are hurting physically so the last thing I wanted Liza to worry about was not having her physical needs met. Plus, I had big shoes to fill with Eliot not being there and I knew Liza missed him not being there. I felt very honored to be a small part of Liza's incredible performance.

Can't wait for Western States!