Dirt Diva

"When everything seems like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top"
Pacing and crewing the Angeles crest 100. So this year I didn't sign up for AC 100 since I was suppose to be fastpacking the John Muir trail. That didn't happen so I decided to come to Sierra Madre and hang out with my boy friend Andy Kumeda.
I also volunteered to pace him the last 25 miles of AC 100 and crew him.
I have only crewed and paced a few times for him, since we both are usually in the race.
He had a goal of under 27 hours and I knew I could help him reach it. With me crewing I could get him in and out of the aid stations so he could just focus on running.
Andy ran a great first 50 miles. The only issues he had was cramps because it was hot out there. He also wasn't eating a lot but I know that can be hard when you don't feel well. My friend George was running but didn't make a cutoff so decided to join me and help me crew along with Rocky ;-) he was a huge help as always.
Andy picked up his pacer Sharon at mile 50 she is fast and would keep him on his goal. I really knew since this would be the fastest Andy had run AC in, that by mile 75 he would have some issues. He is tough but I knew having run this race 7 times myself that the real race begins at mile 75. You have a few more huge climbs in there and it's tough because you are tired and sleepy.
I picked Andy up around 11pm.
I knew I had to let Andy regroup on the climb up Mt. Wilson and not push him hard just listen to him and keep him moving. He only stopped a couple times but only for a few seconds. He kept saying he wanted to sit at the top. He had rocks in his shoes so I told him at the top he could sit and take his shoes off. We got to the top and he sat and cleaned the rocks out of shoes and got moving again.
I just kept talking to keep him to keep him moving. I brought along an IPOD and little speaker so I played music and sung along to him.
I finally decided it was time to push him the last 9 miles. I looked at my watch and thought I needed to pick up the pace. He kept saying he didn't care about his time. But I did ;-) he trained hard for this and it was up to me to motivated his ass. So away I went running ahead singing out load dancing on the trail. I would run ahead and wait for him to catch up ,just like a game of cat & mouse. It clearly worked because he got going.
Andy worked hard and he trained hard and it all paid off in the end. His time was 26:33 a huge PR on the course for him he placed 18th overall.
I was very happy I was able to give back to Andy and help be a part of his success. I was also proud of Rocky for being such a good dog while crewing the first 50 miles. It was truly and honor watching Andy and all my friends run AC 100 congrats. to all who finished and to those who didn't finish you all gave it your best.

Next up for me Headlands 100 on August 6th. I guess I better train hard this week ;-)))