By now everyone knows that Craig is the RD in Waiting for Western States. Craig’s been so busy he didn’t even notice I slipped this in the blog queue only a few days after the announcement. Only the Board knows what was said in the interview, but here are 10 things I think Craig probably didn’t say to get the job.

10. I think Prepaid IVs would be a really good idea!
9. This whole tradition thing is overrated- Let’s just do a Friday night check in and start a couple hours later. Get your buckle at the finish line and we’re out of here!
8. We have to offer more prize money than any other race.
7. Instead of silver and bronze buckles, how about we go bronze and pewter?
6. No one will ever know how many we send through Granite Chief- Let’s raise the number of entries by a couple hundred.
5. Water and gel only for remote aid stations- if we can’t drive to it, runners shouldn’t expect full service.
4. I have prepared a 30 minute speech on my opinions on mandatory volunteerism. Here it goes…
3. I’m going to create a “Wet Western States” and “Show us your Western States” award. Cannonball off No Hands anyone?
2. Did you know I have a blog?

And finally…
1. I really need this job because I’m getting crushed in the Ten Year Bet!

Anything else you think Craig didn’t say?

1000-Miles 10-Days Buckle

If you get ten finishes but not all are under 24 hours you can take a 1000 Miles buckle (that does not say Ten Days) or wait until you get ten sub 24-hour finishes and be awarded the Ten Days buckle.  An additional 32 runners have received the 1000 Miles buckle.

1000-Miles Buckle

Back in 2001 it wasn’t very difficult to get into the race. The odds of getting picked in the lottery were over 50%. It’s a different story today.  With over 1500 names in the lottery the last few years for the coveted 369 starter spots, the hardest part of getting a Ten Days buckle in the future may indeed be getting ten bib numbers.  Body willing, I expected to earn my Ten Days buckle in 2013 along with my friend AJW.  We, as you may recall, have a ten-year bet to settle – we’re both at eight finishes.  But that dream and that bet will have to be deferred until after I retire as RD.  Can I come back and do my last two in my 60s?  I expect that the mind will be willing and hopefully the body will be too. Can I figure out how to run while also being race director? Regardless, I guess I’ll start fresh in 2014 and try to get a Ten Years RD buckle in 2023. Only two of those have been given out and I got the inside track at the quest for the third. Maybe in 2025 I can be the first to get both a Ten Years finisher buckle and Ten Years RD buckle?

Dave Terry got his 1000-mile 10-day buckle in 2007

Here are the 30 runners who have earned 1000 Miles/Ten Days buckles.

2011 Kenneth Gregorich
2009 Kevin Sawchuk
2007 Rob Byrne
2007 David Terry
2005 Dean Karnazes
2005 Rick Simonsen
2002 Jussi Hamalainen
2002 Scott Mills
2001 Jim Scott
1999 Don Aycock
1999 Bill Davis
1999 Ray Scannell
1999 Joe Schlereth
1999 Dave Scott
1998 Ann Trason
1997 Alfred Bogenhuber
1997 Ian Maddieson
1997 Gordy Ainsleigh
1995 Gard Leighton
1995 Bernd Leupold
1995 Mike Pelechaty
1995 Dan Williams
1994 Bill Finkbeiner
1993 Dave Hudson
1992 Rae Clark
1991 Tim Twietmeyer
1990 Bjorg Austrheim-Smith
1990 Charles Savage
1989 Jim Pellon
1988 Doug Latimer

A few runners have even gone on to earn 2000 Miles buckles (Twiet, Gordy, Dan, and Mike).

There are five people in this year’s race going for their tenth finish: Jerry Bloom, Michael Huss, Bruce Labelle, Luanne Park, and WSER President John Trent. Only Bruce has nine finishes under 24 hours. Interestingly, he got his first silver buckle in 1982! That’s when I graduated from high school. It will be the longest span between buckles number one and ten. Good luck to Bruce and the others going for number ten.

It would be pretty cool if AJW deferred his dream to get ten so we could finish together like Ray Scannell and Bill Davis did in 1999. This picture is loaded with emotions. We could do the same, AJW. What do you think?

Friends Ray Scannell and Bill Davis finish their tenths together in 1999

Yesterday was an interesting day, and I found myself bouncing around between jubilant, reminiscent, puzzled, reflective, and probably several more moods that I can’t articulate right now.  Here’s how the day shook out from my perspective.

Beginning at about 6:30 am I started prepping for the opening. I double-checked the settings at UltraSignup, got the word out via social media, made some coffee, and sent an email to Asst RD Meghan telling her I think we’re ready.  Her flippant response didn’t surprise me, because, frankly, a queen doesn’t have to show deference to a lord and she seldom does: “Something happening today?”  Uh, yeah, your majesty, your little phone is about to squawk at you non-stop.

At 8:01 am the first email confirmation came in. Then the second, third, forth – all at 8:01am.  And they kept coming and coming.  There were 61 registered by 8:15am.  99 by 9:00 am.  The queen sends me a text: “Gonna fill by 10!”  I didn’t think so and I wrote back maybe 10 pm as I really expected the pace to drop off.  The pace of entries did slow and by 11:00 am (3 hours) we had 125 registered.  I tweeted that there were 35 spots left and then got on the bus and went to work (yes, I have flexible work hours).  That tweet got retweeted by Devon Crosby-Helms – who has a bazillion followers – and the rate starting picking up again.  Seemed like a bit of a frenzy at the end as the last spots were gobbled up.

From an RD’s perspective this is fantastic.  We know exactly how many people and what their sizes are six months before the race.  Makes it much easier to order supplies many months in advance, instead of waiting until close to the race, at which point there are many other details that need tending to. It makes you feel good because you have a product that is in demand.  Whether that demand is due to the growth of the sport as a whole or not, we take it as a sign of success.  That we must be doing some things right. But, the unfortunate consequence is that many people will not be able to run the race.  That is not a good feeling, and while we have left a little wiggle room, there are already many disappointed people.  Guess it’s probably good training for my next job.

Several times yesterday I found myself reflecting.  Remembering the early years when entries were delivered by the snail-mailman. We would go days and sometimes weeks without an entry.  When we’d finally get one we’d be so excited and I’d immediately tell Curt and Laurie who it was.  I also thought about how many years we didn’t even come close to selling out.  The first five years we averaged about 50 starters and we knew we had a good thing going.  “Where are the runners?” we often asked ourselves.  I thought about the first year when we did trail workout without chainsaws because we hadn’t gone through the certification process.

The first Waldo trail work party - Summer of 2002

2002 trail work party. Enjoying a cold one.

I thought about all the people who have been involved in making Waldo what it is.  Those who stuck with us when others expressed concern that the race was too labor intensive.  Nine aid stations, including three fully-stocked remote aid stations, for 50 runners?  “You gotta change the course and make it easier,” we were told on more than occasion by people we respect.  Of course, we didn’t listen.  Yesterday I got – like nOrm Klein often did -  emotional about all the volunteers who have been involved with Waldo.  Those who believed as we did that what we had going was good and worth keeping.  I often thought nOrm got it a little backwards at times when he would go on and on about the volunteers who had helped him.  I remember thinking at Sunmart 50 miler a long time ago when he was up crying at the pre-race meeting as he introduced a friend who had helped him for many years, “nOrm, the race is about us, the runners, not the volunteers.”  I still think the race is about the runners.  We put the race on for runners not so volunteers have something to do.  But, looking back at these ten years, it’s hard not to get a little emotional.  I think I get what was going on with nOrm those years ago.

If you want to take a stroll down memory lane, check out the history of Waldo 100K, from our website.  Below is an excerpt from the first year, 2002.

The inaugural event was not without incident. Thirty-seven bold solo runners showed up ready to test the course. At 3:30 a.m., the early starters were off. Craig attempted to radio the course marshals stationed along the way to the first aid station, but didn’t get a response. When two locals, Ken Sinclair and Bill Montgomery, both 5 a.m. relay runners, got to the Gold Lake aid station (#1), they informed race personnel that four runners had been sent off course! Familiar with the course, Bill and Ken educated the misinforming marshal so no one else would be led astray, but the damage to the first four was significant and resulted in DNFs.

Up near the Fuji Mountain aid station (#2), Craig encountered some (gasp!) hunters?!? Turns out it was opening day of deer hunting season. Fortunately, no one was shot at. It was also fortunate that Craig, having listened to his wife this time, decided not to give out an award to the first runner to finish the course wearing antlers.

Regardless of the reasons for filling up so quickly yesterday, I like what Greg Soderlund, my mentor told me yesterday, “The sport is in full stride and we’re lucky to be along for the ride.” Right you are, Greg.

In my previous life I used to be a rock climber. I enjoyed all kinds of climbing from bouldering, to multi-pitch cracks, to big walls, to sport climbing. Climbing, like most sports, requires attention. It is different from the other sports I’ve done or do in that it could consistently focus my attention without much effort on my part. Tie in, start climbing, and I could be right in the moment immediately, not thinking about what I was going to have for dinner or issues at work. This is generally a good thing as climbing is a serious activity that requires one to control emotions while also executing athletically, with potentially serious consequences for errors.

But, sometimes that focus can be a detriment. One of the mental techniques I used to employ, thanks to author and climber Dale Goddard, was the concept of zooming in and zooming out. When doing a difficult move that required complete concentration and focus I needed to zoom in, ignoring everything else. All of my attention would be focused on the tiny edges of rock my feet and hands were on. But spending all my energy executing single moves could have resulted in missing good rest opportunities or not knowing where I needed to clip the protection. Should I climb above the pro, clip, and then come back down and rest? This type of attention, while equally important, required zooming out, or changing the focal point of my lens to a perspective a little farther away from the tiny edges I was standing and holding onto. Finding that perfect combination of zooming in and zooming out is when I would climb my best and what I always strived for.

I pulled out this climbing reference last weekend at a senior patrol medical training session where the emphasis is on managing medical scenarios with multiple patients and/or distracting bystanders.  Not sure I did a good job articulating it, but I wanted to get the point across to the candidates that this technique could be used when leading multi-patient scenarios. Zooming in for their assessments, when listening to patients, or splinting a broken bone. Really paying attention and focusing. But they can’t stay zoomed in indefinitely as they have other things going on which also require their attention. Zooming out to make sure they have a plan for the whole scenario, and evaluating if it is working or not. Is the other patient crashing? Do all their helpers have a job, and are they working efficiently? I suggested that they needed to be able to zoom in and zoom out many times during their 20-minute scenario. It’s finding the right combination of the two that is the tricky part.

Can this same technique be applied to ultrarunning, either training or racing?  How about race directing?  Or life in general?  Are you good at plugging away at the day to day minutia without paying attention to the bigger picture?  Or perhaps you can’t zoom in and focus long enough to concentrate on the now?

What do you think?  Who’s zooming who? Or is that whom?  Should I leave this philosophical stuff to AJW?

Thankful for my wife of 25 years who is fully supportive of this big change in our lives.  She not only has put up with my obsession with Western States for 25 years, but she has also listened, counseled, and encouraged me in all my endeavors.  I’m sure there are several clichés I could use right now, but suffice to say I wouldn’t be here without her.  No doubt in my mind.

Thankful for all the people who made Waldo the special event that it has become.  To Curt Ringstad who was my co-RD for the first ten years and also the co-founder of the race.  To all the volunteers who believed in the event and stuck with us through the early years when we didn’t have many runners.  Nobody in their right mind would create an event with three remote hike-in aid stations.  1.5, 2.5 and 3.0 mile hike-ins to setup full service aid stations?  That’s crazy.  To all the runners who have come and run the race and made all our efforts worthwhile.  To the other Oregon Trail Series RDs who have been instrumental in the success of this event from day one.

Thankful for the Willamette Pass Ski Patrol and the Oregon Region of NSP.  To all the instructors who spent time teaching me skills in the specific disciplines the last 13 years.  To my fellow patrollers who I’ve learned so much from and who trusted me and believed in me to be their leader.

Thankful for my training group and Team Sunsweet.  I get just as much out of watching my training partners succeed as I do myself.  Maybe it’s because I’m old and can’t run fast [anymore].  When the book gets written, no doubt there will be a chapter on the Wednesday workouts, the Tuesday night hunts, and the weekend runs that always begin at my house at noon.  Oh, and the secret “Barkley Training” we’ve been doing lately.

Thankful for my family.  If we didn’t move to Cool or camp down in the canyon that hot June 1978 night the obsession might not have ever been born.  You can’t make up stories better than that.

Thankful for all my friends who make my life fun and fulfilling.

Thankful for the ultrarunning community.  To the readers of this blog.  To AJW for giving me something to write about all these years.  To all the guest posters and people who contributed to the conversation here.

Thankful for those who wrote letters or otherwise supported my candidacy for the job.  You know who you are.

Thankful for the opportunity to truly live my passion.  To the Western States board for trusting me to take the reins of this incredible event.  To the WS community that we are about to immerse ourselves in.  To current RD Greg Soderlund for creating a plan to ensure a smooth transition and for showing me the ropes.

Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that I am thankful for Black Suede.  “It smells like chest hair and gold chains with just a touch of Aqua Velva.”  It’s the secret to interview success.

Black Suede

Final Result of Poll

While there have only been 55 votes cast so far, probably because his huge fan base doesn’t know about his new blog yet, Oregon is leading with 42% followed by Colorado at 28%, California at 21%, and Virginia at 8%.  No other states are listed in his poll.  I’ve been known to poke a little fun at AJW once in awhile, and his polls are something I’ve mocked in the past.  But, I find this question interesting.  No, this isn’t a scientific poll by any means, and it is possible that a couple of tweets by Oregonians yesterday have swayed the results in favor of the Beaver State (as a Duck it is hard to write that).  That said, perhaps it’s worth exploring what makes a state a strong ultrarunning state?  Is it the total number of ultrarunners?  Number of fast ultrarunners?  Number of races?  History? Access to trails?  Climate?  Or is it something that is not quantifiable like community or passion or panache or chutzpah?  I doubt any of the people who voted thought about it much before casting their vote.  It was probably more of a visceral reaction.  I’ll admit that I went there and immediately voted (guess how I cast my vote?)

With the history and populations of California and Virginia one might think that hands down they would be leading, but they aren’t.  I wrote a post titled Oregon Ultra Domination a couple of years ago where I listed all the fast runners in three different regions of the state (Willamette Valley, Southern Oregon, Central Oregon). In addition to the fast runners, I listed the championship races and the Oregon Trail Series.  In the comments I sparred with a pesky Californian about why California was losing its edge.  Perhaps this question shouldn’t even be asked?  It’s not like there is anything to be gained by “winning” the first poll on AJW’s new blog.  That said, I will attempt to make a few generalizations about Oregonians:  We are passionate.  We don’t take ourselves too seriously.  We have fun.  We just get the job done.

The Big Guy reenacting his Mt Blanc adventure

Obsession with Western States 100

This is not AJW here, but rather LB, one of the “anonymous” Oregonians who has been friends with AJW for quite a few years. Last weekend I suggested he let me guest blog, and I was surprised when today he gave me the password and said have at it. Really? Should I write a post in third person pretending to be him? That could be fun. Should I tell you about the AJW that I know? Nah, we’ll just all keep our own view of the guy. Who knows, maybe when you’re around him he’s a quiet, shy, unassuming, selfless, muscular, fearful, self-effacing, weak-willed, athletic, self-sacrificing, following, modest, giver. Or maybe not.

Instead, I decided I’d write about something that he and I share in common: an obsession with Western States. Last weekend before the ICS run we were sitting in Michigan Bluff talking about the race when a guy we call Tapeworm, a skinny 2:26 marathoner who raced his way into States at Way Too Cool by outkicking Jurek in the last 1/4 mile, said reluctantly, “There is more to life than Western States…” The room went silent (which is a very difficult accomplishment when AJW, Monkeyboy, and I are together), and we all just stared at him. What? What planet do you live on? It’s May 2nd, the day before the ICS run, the 9th day of our 10 day training camp in Michigan Bluff, and less than 60 days before the race. What else could there possibly be?

AJW and me

My obsession dates back to 1978 or 79 when I was a wee bit of a lad growing up in Cool, California. I found myself inadvertently camping at about the 85 mile mark of the WS course. These guys kept coming by all tired and dirty asking us where the aid station was. I was just a high school mile and two-mile runner back then, but the allure of the event had captured me. For the next 20 years I found myself working at Dusty Corners, crewing, pacing, and sometimes just watching. Even before I ran the race for the first time in 2001, I would camp at Devil’s Thumb or Michigan Bluff or Driver’s Flat, and go for runs on the trail. When I would come home to visit my mom in Cool, I’d almost always include a run to Auburn from ALT. This year I’m going to attempt my 6th States, and at 44 years old I’m just as excited about the race as I was as a 16 year old.

So why does this race have such a hold on me, and why would I want to share this?

I’ve thought about the first question a lot over the years because I’m often asked it. The course is definitely a big part of it. The history of the miners and the booming towns is fascinating. Running through Deadwood and into Michigan Bluff it is easy to imagine the life of the miners who gave up easy lives elsewhere in the hopes of striking it rich in California. Some might see the greed of those miners, but I see the adventurous spirit. A willingness to put it all on the line to make a better life for their family. Look at the headstones at the Masonic Cemetery in Michigan Bluff sometime.

Headstone at Michigan Bluff

Then there is the high country … the river canyons … the oak and pine trees … the bears, cougars, ticks, foxes and rattlesnakes … the trail is an authentic path through the Sierras. Start in Squaw; go to Auburn. Sure there are some other 100 mile courses that are point-to-point, but none that follow a less-contrived path. Yes, I love the course.

The training is also a huge part of the reason for my obsession. My wife and I have taken a 10 day vacation in Michigan Bluff for each of the last five years. Before that I used to camp in the area alone. For what? To train for WS. Classic group training runs such as the ICS (Cal2 to Swinging Bridge and back) and the Peace Run (Robinson to the River). Solo runs around ALT, Browns Bar, and No Hands. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve run Cal St. The camaraderie of the group we had for ICS last weekend was pretty cool. There were nine of us. We all ran our own pace, but we frequently regrouped at agreed upon places: Foresthill, MB, Pump, Swinging Bridge, Pump, MB, Foresthill store, the car. The faster folks had to wait for the slower folks, but nobody complained. There is also a group of runners in Eugene who train together each year for States. We meet regularly on Wednesdays for workouts. Each year we have one or two new folks, but there is always a core training for that race in California at the end of June. Yes, I love to train for States.

But the race is also a big part of the obsession. 1300 volunteers, many of whom are not, never have been, and never will be runners. The competitive field. The number of runners who peak for this race. The pre-race hype which is often too much. It’s exciting to watch the first timers, whether they are 19 hour runners or 29 hour runners. I enjoy racing with the veterans. Twietmeyer, Terry, Nielsen, Fitzpatrick, Trason, DK, and AJW … If you’re running the race this year, take some time to recognize how many people are out there to help you get through. Pacers, crew, aid station workers, etc. It is a staggering number at the river crossing alone. For me, this is the race that matters most.

So why did I choose to share this instead of doing the other 100 things waiting for me in my Inbox after a 10 day vacation? Especially when the race is getting harder and harder to get into, and as the field gets more competitive it gets more and more difficult for me to get into the race? Hmmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have shared that. Because, as AJW has told me, I’m a connector, and look forward to sharing the trail with you on June 28. Thanks, AJW, for letting me post.

So what happened on the blog in 2011?  In short, I finally switched to a new domain and moved the blog off the UO Computer Science webserver in July; we had a total of 43 posts including guest posts by SLF, lc, and White Trash; and the comments continued to be one of the best aspects of this blog.  I thank everybody who read and/or participated in discussions here. Now for what I think are the top ten posts from 2011 on Conduct The Juices.

10.  Let’s start with one of my favorite things to do and that is competing with my friends.  While AJW has been kicking my butt at 100 miles the last few years, we still are close at shorter distances.  We didn’t race a mile on the track this year, but we did meet up at American River 50 mile and each had a great race.  Pretty sure we were the only two in the race the last five miles.  And, of course, the story telling afterward at Auburn Ale House was just as entertaining.

Two Big Mouths at Finish of AR 50

9.  Next there was the Big Loop Around Sisters. After doing almost everything imaginable with these three mountains in the Oregon Cascades, I ventured out on a solo trip on a very hot September day with my camera/phone in hand.  A very fun day, despite the 60-something year old woman who didn’t offer me any food at Obsidian Falls.

The Objective: Run around these mtns tomorrow

8. My eighth Western States wasn’t my best by any stretch, but the buckle looks similar to my other seven.  My WS race report and subsequent WS Recovery Discussion make number eight on my list.  Yeah, 100 milers are hard.  Isn’t that why we do these things?

At Michigan Bluff 55 miles. Photo by Marianne Bush

7. The infamous Voices in Lord Balls’ Head post comes in at number seven.  Yeah, this pissed some people off, but the public name calling of a friend of mine irritated me enough that I wrote this post. The subsequent comments and post retractions and repostings were just bizarre.  First AJW responds with a post, then both the original post and AJW’s post are removed.  A week or so later, after healthy dialog here, the original post reappears.  Finally, a new post with a retraction is made.  I’ll leave the rest of the story for the reader to figure out.  If there is a lesson in here for all us it might be that if you are going to be critical of people publicly then be prepared to take some heat back yourself.  If you read the comments of this post you’ll see that I took a lot of heat for what I wrote.

6. I think one of the reasons many of us run 100 milers is to test ourselves.  To get to the point where we physically and mentally want to quit but we push on and make it to the finish. I have yet to get tested like White Trash did at Barkley.  After finishing the third lap with an hour to get out and begin his fourth:

Are you sure you want to stop? You still have time.” In the back of my mind I know I should take that hour, and just start on that fourth loop, but my mouth keeps saying NO. After several minutes, the bugler steps up, looks at me and says “Done?” I say “Done,” but as he raises it to his lips my mind says “No!” yet nothing comes out of my mouth. As Taps is played I don’t look at anyone, and as it finishes I look at Laz and he’s standing at attention with his orange hat over his heart. I think to myself that I should have been standing at attention as well. As I walk back to camp, I start crying because I realize I had given up when I had been telling myself for months that I would keep going out while time allowed.

Three Lap Failure

5. Next up on the list is the infamous pre-paid IVs offered at Leadville 100.  The public uproar was loud, including my Bad Message post saying how bad of an idea I thought it was.  Fortunately, a few days after this post (and several others) the option to purchase pre-paid IV recovery fluid was pulled down from their site.  Glad the right thing was done.

The short-lived pre-paid IV idea

4. One of the goals of mine on this blog is to bring to the attention of the community some of the stuff that happens behind the scenes to make these ultras happen.  While I started this post in February and didn’t post it until December, my Ham Radio at Ultras post is one of my favorites of the year.  Ham radio operators are hardly ever recognized publicly, but they play a vital role in mountain ultras.

Matt Dillon and other ham operators at start of 2011 Waldo - Photo by LongRun Picture Co

3. Any regular reader of this blog knows that in addition to Western States, I put my heart and soul into Waldo 100K.  This being our tenth year of the race, it was bittersweet in that my co-founder and co-RD for all ten years is retiring.  The 2011 edition was arguably the best of all ten Waldo’s, not only because of the fast performances by the front folks, including Dave Mackey who set a new course record for men, but because of all the runners that challenged themselves and the volunteers who make this event special.  Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came from 75 year old Peter Fish who finished DFL.  Here is my Waldo report that appeared in Ultrarunning Magazine.  And below is a slide show of pictures from the race put to music by LongRun Picture Co.

2. Each year a group of us head down to Michigan Bluff in April or May to immerse ourselves into the Western States world. All we do is live and breathe States.  For the second year Lewis Taylor (lc) couldn’t join us so he tried to simulate our runs in Eugene and blog about it daily.  All the posts are very well done (yeah, he’s a writer by profession) but lc’s Olive Oil Joe Run tops them all.  He found out we had done “heat training” with Olive Oil in the morning after he had already run for the day.  The creative man that he is, lc was able to come up with the idea, recruit some friends, execute and then document his OOJ run later that afternoon.  Damn funny stuff.

Like this Northern California olive oil, lc is intensely fruity and flavorful with overtones of pepper

1  And finally what I think was the number one post of 2011:  A Hypothetical Conversation between Fast Dude and RD.  Sure, this one agitated some people, but if you read it more than once and were able to look at it through different prisms, you’d see that it captured some of the struggles that ultrarunning is dealing with this year.  Long time, “egalitarian” races, vs the commercialization and infusion (or desire for infusion) of money into the sport.  This conflict continued through the year, and ultrarunning will likely continue to struggle with these seemingly incompatible philosophies.  None of us knows where this sport is headed, but I think we all recognize that changes are taking place.  Below is lc’s xtranormal interpretation of my hypothetical conversation.

Looking forward to seeing what happens in our sport in 2012.  If you care about the direction of the sport, please continue to speak up and stay (or get) involved.

10.  After watching how much it helped LB at Grindstone, I will try an ice quad massage at Michigan Bluff during Western States.

9.  I vow to be more accepting of other points of view except when it comes to DNFs.  Only weak-minded people DNF.

8.  I will blog about female ultrarunning at least once a month in 2012.

7.  Even though I’m really liking the clown shoes Karl sent me, I promise to go the whole year without changing sponsors.

6.  I am going to attempt 24 hours of oral “fasting” on the words “Western States”

5.  I resolve not to burnout like a supernova from the manic blogging I’ve been doing at iRunFar and AJW’s blog.

4.  I’ll try not to respond to every barb from LB by mentioning the 10 year bet.

3.  I promise to take a “family” vacation some place other than Auburn or Silverton.

2.  I will crew at least one of my friends this year … at a 100 miler of his or her choice, not mine.

1.  Even though this one got me through eight Western States which all but guarantees my ten year buckle, I will buy a new jockstrap this year.

The Lucky (and old) Jockstrap

Got anymore for him?

Smoke Signals.

While I probably shouldn’t have been surprised that ham radio equated to delivering messages via smoke signals to a guy who works in high tech communications, it did strike me that what I do on the weekends is obviously very different than what he does.  I tried to explain that ham radio is alive and well and used all the time to support events and rescues in the mountains.  That all of the new modes and methods of communication he works with are reliant on access to a functioning internet or other permanent infrastructure.  That ham operators come with their equipment and set up a complete communication infrastructure in a short period of time.  But, eventually I just let it drop, and the conversation quickly moved to cloud computing, iPad/iPhone apps, or something equally as cutting edge and modern.  Ham radios?  They still do that?

If you’ve run an ultra in the mountains you’ve probably benefited from radio communications, either on the professional or amateur frequencies.  Professional frequencies are purchased through the FCC and used by police, fire, forest service or other government agencies, and commercial enterprises like ski areas.   At Waldo 100K we make use of the professional frequencies used by the ski patrol, and we also benefit from the dedicated and passionate support of about 30 amateur (generally referred to as ham) radio operators from two groups: Lane County Sheriff Amateur Radio Operators (LCSARO) and Valley Radio Club. Their leader is Matt Dillon.  No, not the actor, but a man with more than 50 years of radio experience who wears a red hat emblazoned with “W7ARD”, his vanity call sign licensed to him by the FCC.

Matt Dillon and other ham operators at start of 2011 Waldo - Photo by LongRun Picture Co

What do the ham radio operators do at Waldo?  They come with all their cables, antennas, batteries, repeaters, radios, etc., and setup a complete communication infrastructure that covers the entire course, a broader area than our ski patrol radios can reach.  They recruit and staff all the operators needed for each aid station and the many shifts required to cover the 18 or so hours at the finish line.  They are self-reliant and need little to nothing from us, except an event.  They help us with the following:

1. Emergencies.  For example, if someone were to become injured or ill and needed to be evacuated, the ham radio operators would provide the communication lines to facilitate that evacuation.  If the injured person was immobile, we could send a ham radio operator in with other rescue personnel so we could maintain contact.
2. Problem Solving. Hams have helped us solve many problems over the years.  This could be as simple as figuring out how to get extra ice, coke, or GU to an aid station that needs it to something more serious like discovering and correcting course sabotage.  Because radio transmissions are broadcast, other operators (and even people with scanners or radios not associated with the race) can also hear the transmissions.   For example, in 2007, the year Waldo was sabotaged, the lead runner was sent off course with at least 30 others.  He was still unaccounted for between the 3rd and 4th aid stations long after all the other lost runners got back on course.   The first intersection where the 30 had been directed off course was “fixed” by another runner (actually, The Queen herself), and despite reports from her and others, we still didn’t know the extent of the vandalism and where he might be until one of the ham operators who was hiking into a later remote aid station came across him running in the opposite direction he was hiking, a good four miles off course.  The operator had heard all the radio traffic so he knew we were looking for this runner.  He turned the runner around, and the information that we got from his location and direction helped us figure out what had happened. He had gone through a second vandalized intersection that sent him even further in the wrong direction.   With the new information we were able to locate and correct three other intersections that had also been vandalized, averting what could have been a major catastrophe.
3. Tracking Runners.  Runner bib numbers and times are recorded at each aid station and transmitted to “net control” where the master database of every runner is maintained.  When the sweeps come to an aid station a reconciliation of runners occurs. If all runners are not accounted for, we (race management) have to figure out where the missing runner is.  We also used this data this year to feed the online webcast through ultralive.net, but I’ll write more about that later.

Mobile ham operator at waldo

Could we accomplish the same objectives with cell or satellite phones?  Yeah, probably to some extent.  But, even if we had great cell coverage, which we don’t, the broadcast nature of voice radio is much more powerful than one-to-one communication via phone, especially during emergencies.  The cost is also a consideration.  Satellite phones are still not cheap, and ham radio operators work for nothing – their amateur licenses don’t allow them to work for pay.  While we can and do give their clubs the occasional donation to help offset the cost of equipment, they do not and cannot charge for their services.  The same goes for chips or GPS for tracking runners and meeting objective number 3.  At this point, the technology is still prohibitively expensive for most ultras, but I expect we’ll see “advances” here in the very near future.

So why do the ham operators work our race?  Matt says amateur groups use events such as Waldo to practice and hone their skills.  That’s good for all of us in the county as they help support SAR and other county missions.  Perhaps more importantly, when and if our normal communication infrastructure fails to work, they will be called upon to setup and provide emergency communication.  And, they also like to give back.  As Matt says, “Working at Waldo is a way to benefit others with my hobby of 50 years. I know that our communications efforts enhance safety for the race participants and make the management of the race more efficient.”

We are very grateful and appreciative of the 30 or so ham operators who work at Waldo, and I couldn’t imagine directing this race or any race in the mountains without them.

Waldo is a relatively simple race in terms of ham radio infrastructure. Although we upgraded to multiple repeaters in order to spread out the radio traffic this year, we can actually cover the entire course from a single repeater location – Wolf Mountain.  A repeater, which can be owned by a group or an individual who usually let other amateurs use it, is basically an unmanned device that is positioned on a high point (a mountain), receives radio signals on a frequency, boosts up the signal, and transmits it back out on another frequency.  This allows for communication over a much wider area than just simple line-of-sight communication (such as when you use family or CB radios).  Radios are programmed to send and receive on the frequencies of the repeaters (fixed or portable) that are used at the race.

A simple diagram of a repeater. Image from www.lcsaro.org

The ham radio infrastructure at Western States 100 is significantly more complex than Waldo’s (http://comm.wstrail.org/).  It is the result of many years of tweaking and supporting both the horse race (Tevis) and the running race (WS).   Ralph Lucas (W6RWL) has been the leader of the “comm” folks at both Tevis and WS since 2004.  He puts in about 40 hours/month from August to May and 40 hours/week for June and July.  He estimates that on WS race day about 125 operators and $185,000 in equipment, including 17 repeaters, are used to setup and track runners from the start at Squaw Valley, through the high country, deep in the canyons, through the river crossing and the horizontal canyons to Net Control at the Auburn Dam Overlook.  Both races have mounted sweeps who are also licensed ham operators.  In all, there may be 150 ham operators working in some capacity on race day.

With a race like WS that has resources beyond almost all other ultras, you and my smoke signal friend might think other technologies would be used to track runners.  Tim Twietmeyer (KG6UHV), former WS Board president says, “We have a communications team that tries to move a bit forward every year. Over the years, we’ve tried to use other means to track runners (electronic mats), but ham radio seems to be the best option. It has room for error in numbers, but generally it’s reliable. We’ve taken the money we’d pay for someone to track runners with chips and given it to the ham guys. That way they can develop the comm capabilities in the canyons and we can also use it in a disaster scenario (like a fire or rescue that has nothing to do with the event).”

That said, WS does employ many different methods of getting runner split info into the live webcast, from laptop computers connected to the internet, to smart phones, to digital ham packets (WinLink200), but the majority of aid stations still use ham voice to transmit bib/split pairs to Net Control where they are entered into the webcast.  The webcast system, just like the ham infrastructure, has evolved over the years.  The current system is ultralive.net, developed by California ultrarunner and software guru Ted Knudsen. Ted, who ran his first WS in 2006, recalls, “My mother-in-law was watching me during the day via the webcast, but there were no updates after 7am until about 11am so she thought I had dropped (I finished just before 9am).  So I was determined to help out the next year.”  After helping in 2007, he developed a newer, more modern system based on Web 2.0 technology.

The new system was ready to go in 2008, but the race was cancelled due to fires.  In 2009 the system was still being hosted on ws100.com, a shared server.  During the race, which Ted was running, the site was quickly overwhelmed by the traffic and automatically shutdown thinking it was being attacked (denial-of-service). After that unfortunate debut, Ted was determined to build a system that could handle the traffic – ultralive.net received 1.5 million hits during the 2011 event!  Perhaps a bit over-engineered, it is now hosted on the Amazon cloud and employs sophisticated caching methods so the database doesn’t need to be queried for every hit.  Data can be entered via a web browser on a laptop or desktop computer or via the mobile version on a smart phone.  For those locations that have internet capabilities, the data can be entered directly on location.  It’s still not chip or GPS tracking, but there are many fewer points for errors to be introduced.

ultralive.net data entry at 2011 Waldo

We used ultralive.net this year at Waldo (http://ultralive.net/waldo/webcast.php), and it worked extremely well. We used ham voice to transmit all bib/split pairs from nine checkpoints, and had two people entering data at the finish. It was a success, not only for people watching their runner or the race, but it also served as our runner tracking database.  The tools are powerful and allow management to track DNS, DNF, missing runners, etc.  If you are the RD of a 100 miler, Ted is making you this offer: “From the start, I designed it for all 100 mile races to be able to use it for free.  There are a lot of WS100 specific features, but I also made it general enough to work with just about any race.”  On behalf of the whole ultrarunning community, thanks, Ted.

ultralive.net admin view

Does this get you interested in taking a ham radio class and getting your technician license?   If so, look for a radio club in your area where classes are offered and the tests are administered.  You can get a technician license by passing a 35 question test that costs $15 to take (the book is $30).  The license is good for ten years.  If this doesn’t entice you to get a license perhaps next time you’re at a race you’ll be inclined to go up and talk to and thank the ham radio operators for their efforts.  Or when you’re anxiously watching a webcast from home you’ll have a better appreciation for what it takes to get that information to the screen in front of you.

73, KF7IMJ