Wow. What an incredible weekend! I’m going to split the weekend into two posts, so today will cover Friday and the race start, and tomorrow will cover the rest of the race, the finish, and getting home!
I could keep you all in suspense….but since I’m nice, I won’t. ; ) Jake CRUSHED his hundred. He ran the Arkansas Traveller 100 on Saturday and finished in 20:30:47…with a sprint finish. Yes, he’s crazy. I will share all of those amazing details tomorrow! Here he is, right under the Finish sign. Who ever heard of sprinting a finish after 100 miles?
Okay, rewinding to Friday. We left the house about 7 AM. Made a stop to get ice and coffee, then hit the road!
I made chicken wraps for us to eat for lunch.
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Then we had ALL the cookies.
We camped all weekend and got to the campground a little after noon. It was so pretty, but I have never seen so many spiders. EVER. It was awful. At least the views were beautiful.
We checked in and got settled. I’m so proud of this guy.
Here was our set-up for the weekend.
It was pretty comfortable, but it was SUPER hot. It was too hot to be camping, so no one slept all that great. Also, the spiders. Did I mention there were a million spiders? And they were HUGE. My nightmare.
Here’s one that was in the bathroom. It was the size of a plum (including its legs). No joke. I hated it.
We enjoyed some down time and then decided to get our hammocks out.
Best. Decision. Ever.
You can’t beat this.
After a little while, Jake’s Dad and Derek (they were two of the three pacers Jake used) showed up. Derek and Jake shared a hammock for awhile. So cute.
When we finished relaxing, we got ready for a little shake-out run.
It was HOT.
After our run, we went to get Jake checked in. He had to weigh-in, too.
The pre-race meeting was short, but super informative. I was VERY impressed with the race director and the race crew of Traveller. If you’re into running hundreds (HA), I highly recommend checking out Arkansas Traveller. It’s been around for 28 years!
Jake was ready. <3
After the race meeting, they fed us. It was delicious! Spaghetti, salad, and garlic bread.
Jake got two plates and then finished off mine.
And dessert!
After dinner, it was time for more relaxing.
Then we went back to our campsite and went through nutrition stuff again for the last time. I knew exactly what Jake wanted each time he saw us. The ounces of water in his pack, what hydration mix went into his bladder (always Skratch), when he wanted a handheld instead of a pack, what went into the handheld, how many GUs and what kind, etc. There’s so much that goes into making sure your runner stays hydrated and has enough calories. I really enjoy crewing for Jake! I’m glad he trusts me to help.
When we got everything squared away, it was time for beer and then bed.
UGH. Tarantula! NO. None of us slept very well. It was HOT. But I think everyone managed to get a few hours of sleep. Jake, his Dad, John, and Derek got up at 4AM, I got up about 4:30. The race started at 6AM.
Jake took this before we left the house, but this is what he wore/carried.
Before the race started, Jake got some calories in with Perpetuem.
Getting lined up to start.
Jake found some other Altra Red Team members at the start line! The gun went off and they were off!
I’ll share the rest of the race tomorrow! I hope you enjoyed reading this little recap. It seriously was a weekend to remember. I’m off to run…not 100 miles…HA! Jake is home today, so I’m looking forward to spending the day with my ultra runner.
Happy Monday, friends!
He killed that course! All the updates we saw reported it was HOT! My friend Miguel finished in 23:28, Ami and Tesa finished in 28:55 (all those times tell me the hot weather was rough, and our Gary finished in 29:20. Gary has completed soooo many 100’s, he said this was probably going to be his last. I an 99% sure his back is in your pre-race photo :). Oh, and we received so many spider photos in the updates!!!
You both should really check out Hawk marathon, 50 miler, and 100 miler in September. RD’s are working to get it as a Western States qualifier. I know, it is in Lawrence, KS… not super Mizzou friendly 🙂
Hi, Rebecca! I remember hearing your friends’ names being called at awards!! Congratulations to them!! Oh man. It was SO hot. And the dang spiders. Awful.
Jake and I were actually just talking about Hawk yesterday! I think we would both like to do one of those races at some point! I’ve always heard great things. I think I can look past the location. 😉 HA!
I hope you have a great day! Tell your friends we said way to go!
They probably don’t call the hogs before the race in Kansas like they do in Arkansas.