Not *exactly* what the Doctor ordered... Leadville or BUST!!

So when you go through chemotherapy and your doctor tells you that you shouldn't spend long periods of time in a vehicle (risk of blood clots in the port), you should avoid the sun (potential interaction w/chemo), and get lots of rest (duh), what do you do? Well, I'll tell you what I do. I hop in the car with an awesome friend and take a 1600 mile roadtrip to Colorado, spending most of the trip 2 miles closer to the sun and getting very little rest. Why on earth would I do that? Because I knew something the doctor didn't. It was a commitment I made months ago and I knew the whole weekend would prove to be the healing kind. And of course I was right ;)

Gu demons be gone!!

CF's got nothin' on this guy!

In April of this year, my good friend Brooks came to Kansas City from Colorado Springs to race in the Brew to Brew ultramarathon, a 44 mile race from Boulevard Brewery to Free State Brewery. The race benefits the CFF, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Brooks has CF and came here to win this race. I helped to crew him through, with my super-freaking-fast friend Andy (and his gf Lizzie <3) pacing him. Aside from expelling a serious Gu demon around mile 36ish, he kicked ass, finishing more than a half hour in front of the #2 runner. Watching someone like Brooks literally run for his life is beyond inspirational. He is an amazing example and truly one of the nicest people I know. When the opportunity arose for me to travel to Leadville, CO and help crew him through a grueling 100 mile race, I couldn't say no. So that's how I ended up in Colorado.

I was so excited that Kelly wanted to come with me, because that's a long haul to make alone and having her with me gave me the confidence that it was the right decision. And I just really love spending time with her! :) She had never really visited Colorado so it was so exciting to share! Two years ago, I made the trek to Leadville to crew for one of my closest friends, Andy Henshaw (Brooks' pacer), in the LT100. He took 4th place that year and it was an incredible experience for me. I have such an affection for Leadville...hell, the whole damn state of Colorado!!

So we packed up the car and headed West...

We spent the first night of our trip in Manitou Springs with our friend, Chris, who was running the Pike's Peak Ascent the same day as LT100. We were going to push on to Leadville, but it was a necessary stop to give Chris his Gu Demon t-shirt and wish him well on his race (which he kicked ass in!). After a quick night's sleep, we got up early to have coffee with Chris and haul ass to Leadville to catch the pre-race briefing.

Off Hwy 24 from Colorado Springs to Leadville 

We had such an amazing drive, it was really pretty surreal. From hot air balloons to picturesque vistas of the Rockies... so amazingly beautiful. It's safe to say that we were lucky to keep the car on the road as we were trying to hurry to Leadville and get pics at the same time. I'm pretty sure at one point, Kelly was hanging out of the sunroof with her iPad, snapping pics :) It was awesome.

High Mountain Pies...yum!

Mayqueen aid station!
We'll be back here in the wee hours of the a.m.! 

Eric and his kindergarten class on a field trip :) 

No one was hurt in the making of this picture.

So we boogied on to Leadville to meet up with the awesomeness of Team GUTS (aka Gu Demons). I was so excited to see Brooks and meet his amazing girlfriend, Holly and our team gear supplier, Eric ;) They had already set up camp (about 50 yds from mile 95 of the 100 mi race coincidentally) and Andy and Lizzie were close behind, driving in their minivan from Denver :) When the team was united, we took a drive to check out the first few aid stations, had a reenactment of the Gu Demon, ate some pizza at High Mountain Pies (yuuumm!!) and just relaxed by the campfire, preparing for the craziness that a 100 mile race brings.

Ahh...Simpler Times :)

A thunderstorm rolled in that night and although it was only about 4 or 5 hours, I got the best night's sleep I have had in WEEKS! Maybe even months... It's amazing how therapeutic the rainfall and fresh mountain air can be. All the damn 'anti-anxiety' options and sleeping pills my doctor has given me can't touch the effects of the sounds and smells of nature.

So we got up at 2:30am and headed to town for some coffee at Provin Grounds before the 4am race start.

Holly, Brooks, Kelly, Andy, Eric me and Lizzie

What happened from this point forward is only best told in a race report. I don't think I can really do Brooks' race justice.  I will do my best to hit some  highlights, but you should really check out Brooks' blog to see his perspective on this race. He is amazing, talented and put himself through complete hell over the next 21 hours, 21 minutes and 31 seconds. And I couldn't be more honored to be part of it.

Mayqueen aid station again...at roughly 5:30am
Brooks was in first place at 13.5 miles and looking good!

To make a long story short, Brooks led the pack for the first half marathon of the race, coming into Mayqueen in 1:43...what!?  Yup, he's crazy fast. In the dark with headlamps on, the 'RUNNING SUCKS' on his shirt reflected so clearly. We were all so excited but not quite ready for him! We knew we wouldn't see him for another 10 miles so we got him what he needed and sent him on his merry way.

Yo Fish Hatchery. 

Fish hatchery shenanigans

  Fish hatchery aid station was next and by now, the sun had come up and we were really having fun. Unfortunately, while we were goofing off at mile 23.5, Brooks' body was revolting and caused him some grief on his way to us. Regardless, he flew through ahead of his goal pace and was still looking good! We got to see him a few miles later at a quick little crew access and sent him again on his merry way. Next stop, Twin Lakes, mile 40.

                                       

Kelly taking salt duty at Fish Hatchery

I don't have any pics of Twin Lakes because he did a quick blister fix and got right the hell out of there.  We had a long haul to the 50 mile turnaround at Winfield so we got out there and set up shop.

Maybe now would be a nice time to remind myself that I was still feeling some backlash from round 1 of chemo, but as hard as I tried to nap throughout the day, I just couldn't! It was far too exciting!!

So we went to Winfield and chilled, counting and watching and waiting for Brooks to come in and Andy to pick up his pacing duties.

Mount Hope from Winfield Aid Station

Winfield Aid station, mile 50!

Ryan Sandes, team Salomon, who eventually won the race

As we waited, we got to see the top 10 roll in, with Brooks holding strong in 11th place. Ryan Sandes, from South Africa, came through and his crew made us feel slightly inadequate. We didn't have a HUGE umbrella with which to shade Brooks from the beating sun, no buffet of refueling foods, no hot blonde in white spandex to pace him through Hope pass... but we did have heart, passion, Eric and the Fembots crewing and Andy pacing. Somehow I think that it was more than enough :)

Winfield pit crew

We saw the guys at Twin Lakes, looking good and after a quick blister fix again, they headed out for a 15+ mile stretch.

Twin Lakes blister fix crew station

Heading out of Twin Lakes looking good!

The intention was to give Andy a 4 mile break and have Kelly pace when we met them at the Tree line access 11ish miles later. Brooks was feeling pretty crappy at this point and since Andy knew exactly how he felt, Kelly bowed out gracefully, not knowing how important her role would be in the near future.  

   

Brooks stepped up to a 8:30 pace for the 4 miles into the Fish hatchery. Yes, that's after running over 70 miles...

What happened next is a blur. We saw the guys through the Fish Hatchery, Brooks still in 11th place. There was a 10 mile stretch where we wouldn't see them and with headlamps on, they headed into the power lines. To be honest, in retrospect, Andy wasn't even himself at this point. So we went to Mayqueen (again) and waited. When the guys came in, it was obvious to us that Andy was done. He had gotten really dehydrated and needed to take care of himself. Like the amazing friend he is, he would have continued on, but as a crew, we knew better and had a backup plan. Kelly had been ready to run since the 4 mile stretch before the Fish Hatchery. She didn't skip a beat, running to the car to throw on a sports bra and pack up like Brooks' sherpa to get him to the Tabor boat ramp, 6 miles from Mayqueen, 7.5 from the finish. Have I mentioned lately how amazing Kelly is? Yeah, the day before we left for CO, she had her last fill from her mastectomy reconstruction. I doubt her doctor 'ordered' a late night run in the mountains, but she did it because someone had to...and because she's awesome. Brooks wasn't really running at this point. His body was saying NO when his heart was saying YES. When we caught up with them 6 miles later, he was in pretty bad shape, and desperately needed a 10
minute nap.
He had us set an alarm and seriously got up 10 minutes later to finish the last 7.5 miles of this race. Amazing.

Lizzie paced Brooks for the last 7.5 miles and kept him busy with her high kicks and sparkling personality. Another amazing example of stepping in when needed and just doing what needs to be done. She is such an amazing person and I'm so lucky to know this whole bunch :) 

We all met Brooks and Lizzie about a half mile from the finish to walk him in to the red carpet in Leadville.

The LT100 buckle, his 3rd consecutive. Impressive beyond words. Congrats Brooks!!

Andy, Lizzie, Kelly, Me
Eric, Holly, Brooks

In 21:21:31, Brooks finished the LT100. It goes without saying that most people won't even lace up their shoes and consider a race like this. I know Brooks was disappointed in his time-his goal was super aggressive and sub 19 hours. But to be honest, to watch someone like Brooks, who literally runs to keep his lung function and stay alive, have his body revolt and tell him to quit, take a nap at mile 92.5 and get up and finish...now THAT's impressive. It's easy to have a good race when everything falls into place. To have the obstacles that Brooks had and still finish NINETEENTH overall, with such an impressive time, I am humbled to have been a part of it.

Brooks, Holly, Andy, Lizzie, Kelly, Eric...and all the amazing runners, crew and pacers I met in Leadville...YOU are AWESOME!!!

Ok, so the story is over right? Oh, noooo...

So Kelly and I left while Brooks was in the medic tent with his amazing girlfriend and friends and went back to camp to get some sleep at about 2am. At about 7am, I woke up in the tent to the crisp mountain air and had a crazy thought. Our friend Laurie was also running and might be on pace to hit the 95 mile point any time now... I heard Kelly rustling around, told her my crazy idea and we both jumped up, bolted to the car, and planned to sit in the car by the road watching for her to come by. Keep in mind that well over 600 runners started this race and over 350 finished within the 30 hour cutoff. We knew our chances of catching her were slim...

As we drove the 50 yards to the road, we caught a glimpse of Laurie's boyfriend, Nick and his gigantic mountain man beard. NO Freaking way!!! We jumped out of the car and ran to her, hugged her and then quickly realized that we probably freaked her right the hell out. I mean seriously. You run 95 miles in Colorado and two of your friends from Kansas come barreling out of the woods at 7am in wool socks, pajamas and glasses with shoes untied, chasing you down the road. Poor girl!! But it was so amazing to see her! And she looked so damn good, we forgot she had just run 95 miles! Anyway, we brushed our teeth, cleaned up a little and boogied to town to catch her brilliant finish. 

Woohoo Laurie!!

And NOW the story is over. We stayed to say goodbye to our friends, but both Kelly and I had to work on Monday morning so we packed up the car and headed East...

Sigh. I miss you already, Colorado.     

So you tell me...should I have stayed home and rested, out of the sun? Yeah, didn't think so :) I feel amazing and got home in just enough time to get a few good days of work in before my Dad came back to hang out with me for chemo round #2. Stay tuned! It's coming up next!

xoxo 

Shelley