Wasatch Back 2010
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I love this event! This was my fourth consecutive year running this race and I must say, it was probably the most interesting to date. The excitement stems from the vehicle mentioned in my previous post. It was a piece of sh**. (Sorry, there's no other way to describe it.) We really weren't sure the ancient maroon and white striped beast had what it would take to cover 188 miles, plus the trip home. We managed to make it up and down the mountains and through the rough terrain without too much difficulty. It seemed to do just fine on the flat paved roads in the residential communities but I wondered how it would handle the freeway on the way home, because when we were doing 40 mph on the course, it felt like we were flying at at least 90 mph.
As I've mentioned, this van was OLD. I think it was the oldest and rattiest looking vehicle out of the 2400 vehicles participating. Despite the age, we did have the luxury of air conditioning. Oh wait, we couldn't turn it on though, because the van would overheat. We had to keep cool by cracking the windows and dealing with the dust and exhaust from other cars.
Before leaving for the race, I debated taking my car charger for my cell phone. I didn't want my battery to die. I decided to leave the charger home, thinking the van was so old, it may not even have a place in which to plug a charger. (In all fairness, I did discover there was a charging outlet.)
The back seats had only suicide seat belts, no shoulder straps. So those of us sitting in the back had to decide if we were safer with or without a seat belt. In the end, we chose to buckle up on the way home because we'd had some really close calls. The girl that brought the van did most of the driving and she was not what one would consider an attentive driver. At one point during the night, we were on a narrow road and were looking for a place to pull over so we could check on our runner. We found a spot with only a little bit of shoulder and when the shoulder ended, it was an instant drop off into a ravine. Driver almost didn't stop soon enough. The girl in the passenger seat swears the front tire was over the edge. A minute later the vehicle in front of us left and we saw that there was a little more space ahead. Driver pulls out to claim the slightly bigger spot and once again, we almost go over the edge.
Driver had a bad habit of turning her head to look at the person talking to her from the passenger seat. I know we all do this, but for most of us, it's a really quick glance and then our eyes are back on the road. Driver's glances were a little too long and more than once we drifted past the center of the road. Once we came really close to a head-on with a white suburban.
On the way home, Driver missed the exit ramp that would take us to Ogden from I-80. She realized she needed to turn seconds before the ramp and slammed on the brakes and started to swerve. We were skidding and grinding, but luckily she realized she was going too fast to safely make the correction and she took the next exit and backtracked. We're so lucky there wasn't a car behind us or to our right side, there would have been an accident.
Aside from all the vehicular drama, it really was a good race, at least for me. We had some people in van 2 get sick and they struggled with their final legs. Two of the girls in my van were dealing with injuries so that slowed us down a little. But we were there just for fun so it wasn't a big deal. I really enjoyed the legs I ran this year. I did the same legs the first 3 years I ran and I got to do something different this time. I ran a bit faster than I expected, but not as fast as last year. I didn't get hurt or sick and actually got a couple of catnaps in this year, which really helps. The conditions were almost perfect. The temps were a little cooler than years past, although I could have done with a little less wind. All in all, it was a good couple of days. This truly is a grueling event, it really tests one's limits, both physically and mentally, but I love it, obviously, because I keep going back for more. Looking forward to next year!
As I've mentioned, this van was OLD. I think it was the oldest and rattiest looking vehicle out of the 2400 vehicles participating. Despite the age, we did have the luxury of air conditioning. Oh wait, we couldn't turn it on though, because the van would overheat. We had to keep cool by cracking the windows and dealing with the dust and exhaust from other cars.
Before leaving for the race, I debated taking my car charger for my cell phone. I didn't want my battery to die. I decided to leave the charger home, thinking the van was so old, it may not even have a place in which to plug a charger. (In all fairness, I did discover there was a charging outlet.)
The back seats had only suicide seat belts, no shoulder straps. So those of us sitting in the back had to decide if we were safer with or without a seat belt. In the end, we chose to buckle up on the way home because we'd had some really close calls. The girl that brought the van did most of the driving and she was not what one would consider an attentive driver. At one point during the night, we were on a narrow road and were looking for a place to pull over so we could check on our runner. We found a spot with only a little bit of shoulder and when the shoulder ended, it was an instant drop off into a ravine. Driver almost didn't stop soon enough. The girl in the passenger seat swears the front tire was over the edge. A minute later the vehicle in front of us left and we saw that there was a little more space ahead. Driver pulls out to claim the slightly bigger spot and once again, we almost go over the edge.
Driver had a bad habit of turning her head to look at the person talking to her from the passenger seat. I know we all do this, but for most of us, it's a really quick glance and then our eyes are back on the road. Driver's glances were a little too long and more than once we drifted past the center of the road. Once we came really close to a head-on with a white suburban.
On the way home, Driver missed the exit ramp that would take us to Ogden from I-80. She realized she needed to turn seconds before the ramp and slammed on the brakes and started to swerve. We were skidding and grinding, but luckily she realized she was going too fast to safely make the correction and she took the next exit and backtracked. We're so lucky there wasn't a car behind us or to our right side, there would have been an accident.
Aside from all the vehicular drama, it really was a good race, at least for me. We had some people in van 2 get sick and they struggled with their final legs. Two of the girls in my van were dealing with injuries so that slowed us down a little. But we were there just for fun so it wasn't a big deal. I really enjoyed the legs I ran this year. I did the same legs the first 3 years I ran and I got to do something different this time. I ran a bit faster than I expected, but not as fast as last year. I didn't get hurt or sick and actually got a couple of catnaps in this year, which really helps. The conditions were almost perfect. The temps were a little cooler than years past, although I could have done with a little less wind. All in all, it was a good couple of days. This truly is a grueling event, it really tests one's limits, both physically and mentally, but I love it, obviously, because I keep going back for more. Looking forward to next year!
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