I have been informed that when I finished and was dizzy and falling over the guys that helped me into the dining hall were Sam Price and Frankie Viar. Thanks guys, I was not functioning well and was very cold! Sam also told me as well as Kevin that it was not Kevin who gave me a slice of Pizza (although he did buy it) it was Sam. Like I said...I was out of it as far as cognitive skills were concerned. My comments about the way the course was marked the first and last few miles, and the first two and last two aid stations were not intended to bash anyone, especially not the race director, Clark Zealand. The volunteers thought they were doing what was expected, maybe they need a little coaching? The fact that an aid station 15 miles in at the beginning of a hundred mile race ran out of water needs to be thought about, and measures taken to try to not have that happen again. I want to make observations that will contribute to improvements and enhance other participants experience.
We all have room for improvement and adjustment. Inbound, those aid station workers were probably nearly as tired as I was, and I don't fault them for being tired, I wish there was some hot soup or broth and hot chocolate at those last two stations and that the people there would have acted more helpful to the mid and back of the pack runners. It seemed to me that these were mostly college students who just came to have their own little party and since they were tired they just wanted to go home.
I hope that if there was someone who was moving or taking down markers, that person will be found out and will come to their senses. I don't know how more security or patrolling of that section might be accomplished but given the delirious state of runners and the sparse markings on the last few miles I am surprised that I haven't heard more stories than I have of people getting lost there. Jeremy Ramsey told me he went back through the last five miles to add markers but I would swear on a stack of Bibles to tell the truth, the markers were very sparse. For an extremely tired runner at night any marker that is not reflective is difficult to see. My opinion is that more reflective markers would be a great idea...about three times as many. At turns the markers should be on the same side as the direction of the turn to attract your attention that way, not the opposite side of the direction of the turn. There should be three markers before the turn and three after within 20 or 30 feet of each other.
I know the course is marked during the day by people who know where they are going, but it needs to be marked with this thought in mind...there are people who don't know where they are going, and they will be extremely tired, and it will be dark, maybe raining, maybe foggy. I don't want to think of a worst case scenario here but let your imagination go and you might come to some of the same conclusions as have I.
As a race participant we have spent good money for registration, shoes, hydration gear and clothing, to say nothing of the hundreds of hours and miles of training that we took away from spending that time with our families or other less painful pursuits. We expect a good race experience. Overall I had an ok experience, but I would like for others to have an excellent experience. Getting off course because of too few markers or markers on the opposite side of a turn in the dark, as I experienced is not good. Coming to an aid station that is out of water is not good. My purpose in bringing that to light is hopeful improvement so that others may have a better experience. Not intending to step on anyone's toes...just making observations.
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