Well, today I'll start putting drop bags together for the Arkansas Traveller 100. Nope, no Barbara this year to pour Boost on me, or give me epic hugs. I haven't had to do this since 2002. What? 2002? 'At's right. Vermont 2002 was the last time I did a 100-Mile run without aid from a crew.
Shoot, I used to love the technical part. Getting everything together, what am I gonna need, all that jazz. Extra Flashlights, extra shirts, extra batteries, extra Boost. Yeah, I used to love that! Used to. Oh, of course I always screwed it up. Always. First 100-miler, had the wrong size batteries for my flashlights, when the original batteries ran out of juice, I was left in the dark. This caused me to make several wrong turns until I hooked up with someone with a light. I also had my long sleeve shirts in my daytime drop bags and my short sleeve shirts in my night time drops. Poor planning. It's ok, I'll improve, I thought.
Second 100-miler: Sharing drop bags with Jon Docs. Great idea, cept Jon's a little (about a feature length movie, make that a Lord of the Rings feature) faster than I am. Every time I got to a drop bag it was ripped to hell. And those pesky batteries that I knew where the right size, yeah, he kept stealing them! Er, so I thought. Turns out I put them all in a side compartment that he didn't know about so he wouldn't take them. Yeah, only after running for 14 hours, I wasn't thinking straight, I forgot about the compartment and just blamed Jon. Anyway, I ran out of batteries again, and had to bum a light (again.) Hey, buddy, got a light? On the plus side, running with someone with a good light is how I met Scott Hunter who told me about the Grand Slam (I didn't even know there were other 100's besides Vermont!) Yeah, thanks Scott, I guess!
Anyway, so this time, I'm going to do better, I hope! Regardless, I'm going to start putting them together now. Oh, I just love the technical nature of putting together drops. Chase, help!
3 comments:
Number nine is just about the coolest thing ever, I promise.
Don't think I'd get number nine in an eight man race.
Don't forget extra batteries.
And, oh yeah, don't forget extra batteries.
Bah, less is more. I never touch most stuff in my drop bags ... this time, I'm just putting out a can of Boost and a can of red bull (for the wee hours) in each, maybe a long sleeve shirt at the nighttime turnaround, and that's about it ...
BTW, have you checked the weather?
89° for a high, 64 for a low ... I'm not thinking we'll need too much in the way of warm clothing ... maybe some bug spray.
Steve,
Thanks for them kindness of wordies. Yeah, I'll bring Batteries, let's hope I put 'em in the right place and make 'em the right size.
Chase (Slug),
I'm with you on the sparse bags. The weather may be changing, I think a light rain jacket may be in order (I used the Big Horn Jacket last year)
Be cool. See you Friday.
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