Miwok 100k

This past weekend was Michaela’s “long training run” for her upcoming race in June…essentially she was using a race as a 62-mile training run, fully stocked with aid stations and spectators. While I say 62-miles (which is what a 100k race typically is), this race ended up being 63 miles and some change according to most of the people than ran it (with about 13,000 feet of elevation change). They had to change the course this year and while it is typically known as a challenging run, this year’s course was called a “monster” by most people, including the elites. For example, Dave Mackey who has won this race several times and won it again this year, ran it last year in 8:03’ won it this year in 9:13’…over an hour slower! The race is aptly named Miwok, which can basically be pronounced as “Me-Walk”, and if you have “run” this sucker before, then you know that you gonna’ be walkin’ (or hiking may be a better term)…

We headed out to the Bay Area on Friday afternoon…Michaela, Rachael, Landon, and myself. Our friend Chris was running it as well (he’s also training for Western States 100), so we met up with him and his wife Allyson and new friends Elke and Todd for a great Italian dinner in nearby Mill Valley. Everybody was excited about the race so it was early to eat and early to bed…of course Michaela, Chris, and I managed to sneak off to the hot tub for a few minutes to relax the legs before their big run (and I don’t really need a lot of excuses to have a beer and sit in a hot tub)…

Saturday morning came very early for everyone as Michaela woke up at 3am (the race started at 5am)…while she was getting ready to go she turned on the hotel coffee machine, not knowing it was the loudest kitchen appliance ever created. Within minutes both Rachael and I were up staring at the sputtering machine, wondering if she really needed her coffee that bad. Since she was running so far that day we elected to let it go. It turns out we weren’t the only ones with appliance-issues that morning as Chris and Allyson had brought their toaster from home and they managed to set off the smoke alarm in their room…when you’re an ultra-runner and your pre-race routine is so essential, little things like smoke and noise are a small price to pay!

After that they all piled into the Conwell’s car and headed to the start, which it turns out was an EXTREMELY windy 10-mile (30-minute) drive away from the hotel. The reason that I bring this up is because I became very familiar with that drive, having to go back and forth multiple times while crewing that day…it’s a good thing I don’t get car sick like my wife and son or I would have been cleaning up that car all day.

I wasn’t there to see it but apparently the start of the race was awesome. As it was still dark at 5am, the 350+ runners had their headlamps and the largest moon of the year to guide them up the trail. I didn’t end up seeing Michaela until she came into the mile 26 aid station. At that point I was a little concerned as I had seen several of my friends (who are very strong runners) come through and many of them looked visibly shaken or just come flat out and said “this course is TOUGH!” so I had no idea what sort of shape Michaela would be in. It turns out my fears were warrantless as she came flying into the aid station with her typical winning smile.

Mere minutes later Chris came through in similar fashion and I got to experience how a “real crew” operates. Allyson is a total rock star when she crews, laying out every supply/snack/random thing you could ever want on a run. Everything is neatly organized on a towel and she has little organizer bins for everything…it made me feel a mixture of jealousy (at wanting all of her cool toys), embarrassment (for not supporting my runner nearly as well), and pride (at having such cool friends that take this sport so seriously). Needless to say, I’m now going to completely bring it when I crew Michaela at Western States! It was also clear that this wasn’t Chris’s first time at the rodeo either, as he very efficiently grabbed what he needed, outlined his requests to Allyson, and even had time to work on a previously-made sandwich that needed some fine-tuning.

The next few stops were more of the same, where we got to see more of our friends and helped out our runners (who were just killing it and looking very strong).

While all of this was going on, Rachael was helping us out with Landon, which included taking him for an unintended several mile-long walk, a couple of hours of swimming in the hotel pool (in his Captain America underwear as we had already packed up the clothes), and helping to smooth over innocent insults that our 4-year old happened to throw at an extremely pregnant lady (apparently he was saying stuff like “What did you eat? Because your belly is huge!”…makes me so proud).

After Michaela passed mile 38 I went back and picked up Rachael and Landon so they could drop me off for my portion of running with Michaela (we were allowed to run with them from mile 50 on), as she was going to take Landon and the car to wait for us at the finish. I didn’t envy her having to take Landon on that windy road and we ended up surrounding him with plastic bags in case he lost his cookies, but he ended up making it through without an incident. She was a lifesaver for us this weekend and we wanted to thank her for all of her hard work and endless amount of patience.

The last few miles were great as it was a blast to get to run with Michaela. I was so impressed by how strong of a runner she has become. This course really was no joke, and even in the last 12-13 miles there was quite a bit of hill-climbing involved and I was ready for it to be over by the time we crossed the finish line. As you can tell, we  managed to catch some really great pictures as we chased the Sunset to Stinson Beach. There is a ton more that I could go into about the race but this post is already too long. Either she can post a race report or we’ll just let the pictures do the talking. Either way, the weekend was a complete success in my book and we had a great time with old and new friends.  It just makes me that much more excited for Western States in a month!