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.