Vermont, 6th Edition

We made it back after having Made it at Vermont.

I will detail the heroic efforts of Patrick, A2 and David, later today, along with some groovy
pictures :)

But it was cool as mountain stream (for those of us that grew up in Florida, think, cool as the other side of the pillow!)

Vermont, Here we Come!

Well today I make my 6th trip to Vermont. I have run the race 4 times and this is my second trip as a pacer. I can't wait.

And my BLF takes this as a very good sign, I really wish I was running the race. I'm all kinds of antsy. I feel I could go up there and give it a great go, I really feel confident that I could finish; however, I am up there to crew and pace Patrick and Andy B, and that is what I shall do!


But, it's good to have a little eye of the tiger back! I have a creed to be a survivor!

Badwater Bad@ss!

Yall, give it up for my friend, and yours, Alisa Springman!There's all kinds of tough: There's tough like an old boot. There's tough like a Western Sizzler Steak. There's tough like Chinese Arithmetic, and then there's Springman tough!

Two Badwater Finishes in two years. Two Badwater Belt Buckles in Two years! This year under 36 hours (they give you 60! and a she beat the 48-hour Buckle requirement by more than 12, shoot my daughter can read Harry Potter 7 in less than that amount of time!), a scosch behind our boy Dean Karnazes (crewed and paced by the lovely Michelle Barton ).

Here's Dean and our friend Michelle Barton Pacing at B'Water

Alisa, my hat is OFF to you!

Alisa, Dave, and I at the Keys 100 2008, yeah, she won that race, oh, not just first woman, but won overall!

Not bad for Leigh Turbo Corbin either, 53 hours and change.

What's Next to Next?

Fortunately, my good bud Andy Barret (aka AB, aka A2) answered the "What's next?" question for me. He answered this not once but twice!

First Next- Andy Mathews, come on down, you are going to Vermont! No, no, I'm not running, I'm not going for the DFL slam, but Andy convinced me (which was real tough, "What do you think about? And I'm like, "I don't think I do, I'm in" and in I am!) It gets to be first next because, we leave on, er, a, Friday! Yeah that's less than a week away. I'll be crewing for Andy and Patrick Bene. I'm hoping I get to pace them for a mile or 35 as well. It'll be a stone cold hoot though. We got the June Bug going up, David "in the" House, Mo's new squeeze Gentleman John, Andy, Patrick, and I'm sure a host of my ultra buds from across the US.

Second Next- I did it. I'm going to Maryland. I signed up for the nation's biggest 50-Miler, the JFK 50. Andy B struck again. "What do you think of..." "Hey Man, my app is in the mail!" And so it was.

Now gall dern it, this ought to help get me in shape for whatever is next-next-next before March's Umstead 100 (which I figure is Next-Next-Next-Next).

So, What's Next?

Now that the two year odyssey of Western States is over, I'm asking: What's Next?

Well, the next big goal is Umstead on the last Saturday in March. I want/need to run that race in under 24 hours, I'd love to run it well under 24 hours. I've got to have a run with my good buddy Woody to clear my head. See a couple of years ago Woody was all down and out, he'd had a couple of DNF's in a row and was wondering, "Is it over?"

Well thank the good Lord, no it wasn't over for Woody, he's reeled off a string of finishes since he's last DNF at Vermont in 2007. He's flat nailed, Rocky, Umstead, Vermont, bang, bang, bang. I'm sure I've left some out, but the point is, he's been back and doing great.

I went from being 11 and 0 in 100 milers to 11-1 and now, I don't know what to call WS. Maybe I'm 11-1-1. I'd like to call it a finish, but really, I didn't complete the course in the time frame, and well, I liked what I did, but while I can count it as a personal success, I was not successful in the race. I can admit that (ouch!)

..................me already in trouble at Cougar Rock, mile 12.............................

So, now I set up for Umstead, it's far enough out that I have time to get in tip-top shape, but it's too far out to keep me interested, so I need some intermittent goals. I'm open.

Send me your thoughts.

Ta-Ta Ho

Well, Tahoe, I was there. It is lovely.
The only thing more lovely than a Tahoe, is a Tata.






Tata V Tahoe, you decide!

Buckle Down Award

To follow is and e-mail from the WSER Race Director about a nice little tid-bit I didn't know that the slowest dumb guy at Western States received (also is a copy of my heartfelt response to the race director).

This is great and all, but I would love for my next award to be for being fast, zoom, zoom!

-----Original Message-----From: wser100 To: AndyManMathews@aol.comCc: davidmthws@yahoo.comSent: Wed, Jul 1, 2009 2:36 pmSubject: WS100 finish line results
Hello Andrew,

Congratulations on the completion of your WS run. I am sorry you missed the 30-hour finish-line cutoff and were not able to earn the bronze WS buckle. I hope to see you back at WS sometime in the future. In spite of not earning the buckle, you should be very proud of your accomplishment Your mental and physical toughness is representative of the WS spirit.

This e-mail is to confirm your completion time of 30 hours and 37 minutes. Having cleared all the cutoffs, including the 10:15 cutoff at No Hands Bridge, you became an official winner of the "Never Give Up Award" and were so recognized at the awards ceremony. Had you attended the awards ceremony, you would have received the award, a framed quote from Bernard De Voto, which will be mailed to you. Those who qualify for the "Never Give Up Award" are not deemed official finishers and are not shown as such on the official finisher list because they crossed the finish line after the 30-hour cutoff. They are awarded the medallion for having completed the entire course. The results page on the Web site will be amended to reflect your status as neither "finished" nor "dropped."

Sincerely,

Greg Soderlund, RDWestern States 100 Presented by Montrail

My Response:
Dear Greg,

In 2005 I was the last person from Florida to run WSER in less than 24 hours, hence the last to receive the coveted Silver Buckle. My friend from Tampa, Ryan Thomas achieved that distinction this year. 2005 was a special year; however, 2009 was more special!

I just can't thank you and the 1000's of volunteers enough! I have NEVER felt so much support in my life. The staff and volunteers were so supportive, giving up was never an option. Due to injury, heat, and altitude (yes, even at 8,000 this Florida boy had trouble breathing), my finish was always in doubt, but every time I pulled into an aid station, sometimes with just a minute or two to spare, the staff lifted my spirits enough that I actually believed I could finish.

It wasn't until my pace succumbed to heat exhaustion, and had to be carried out by a horse, at mile 97 that I knew I wouldn't be getting a sub 30 hour buckle. Yet, when I reached Robie Point, the long-worked, weary volunteers there filled me with soda and water and sent me down the road to a standing ovation in Auburn!

I've finished in the top-ten, I have many sub-24 hour buckles, in 2006 I was the Florida UltraRunner of the year, but YOU and the people at Western States made my race in 2009 the most memorable and special of my life!

Thank you for everything!

Sincerely,

Andy Mathews
ps, please pass on my special thanks to Tim Tweetmeyer, he'll never know how much it meant to me that he ran out and encouraged me just before No-Hands. He had to know I wasn't going to finish in under 30 hours, but he really helped me keep on trucking when it was the last thing I wanted to do.