We attended our first official engagement of this years WS100, a briefing and overview by former RD Mo Livermore for those running for the first time. Mo wears her Buckle with pride, and has been involved in every race since the very beginning in once capacity or another.
It was a well spent hour for both runner and crew in what is going to be a unique running this year due to lack of aid and crew access. Many wise words were dispensed but none more so than the fact that so many great athletes enter this race with high expectations and the mountains take it away.
It is how the athlete adapts on the day that makes it such a unique experience that will last many years after crossing the line. More specifically, Mo went on to advise not to sweat the small stuff, and to look out for your crew and pacer, who will be putting in a similar level of energy albeit more mental stress than physical.
Her final thoughts were to the great mountains in which this race is run. The effort expended trying to outrun the snow is futile, but the rewards of all this snow melt is cooling streams in the hot canyons, which we all know, are often the death knell of so many runners race. A few seconds dipping your bandana in the ice cold waters makes all the difference on the haul up to Devils Thumb.
The atmosphere is starting to build still further as the finishing touches to the infrastructure for the start are put into place. It is staggering to see how many people are involved in putting this event on.
We take for granted the 1500 individuals who volunteer their time for all the runners, crew and pacers to be rewarded with long lasting memories.
Further signs of the race start approaching is the myriad of hungry looking individuals walking around nervously clutching a handheld water bottle looking for something to do. Also, the WS100 merchandise store has finally opened and Andrew was like a kid in a candy store. There is nothing they haven’t branded with a cougar. The rest of Ultra168 will be delighted with their gifts on his return!!
Darrel, I cant wait to see you use the WS100 Cheeseboard and knife set……. 😉
I don’t think cheeseboards have reached the Central Coast yet Marcus. Good work.
GUN IT!
But surely you can’t receive goods with said ‘cougar’ and not have run the course!?
That’s like dns’ing and wearing the race shirt. :p
Hey Spud, Andrew has put them in escrow until Sunday! 😉 And if the wheels fall off check eBay later in the week!
Hey Marcus, any sign of the grandfather of 100 mile trail running – Gordy Ainsleigh?
Not yet Spud, I think tomorrow will be fun when all the legends come out. Both he and Cowman are making an appearance.