Western States Crew/Pace Report Part One:

 

 

by Craig Luebke

After a few weeks to digest the experience, I’m looking forward to reliving all the fun that was my Western States experience crewing and pacing for my good friend Dave Nichols. Dave was fortunate enough to get in with his one race lottery ticket, and I was fortunate he welcomed me to the team to share the weekend with him.  

 

The crew Dave assembled  included his brother Don, Bob Yehling and I. We came together as a group for the first time upon meeting up in Tahoe City on Wednesday before Saturday's race. It turns out, Dave puts together a great team and we had a solid camaraderie based in our common goal of getting him across that finish line at Placer High School on Sunday morning.
 

Staying on the shore of the Lake Tahoe, and just fifteen minutes south of the race start at Squaw Valley made for a great location for us to settle in, enjoy the views, and do some very quick adjustment to the elevation. At around 6200 feet, Tahoe City sits at essentially the same elevation as the Western States start, and handily served me up a side of “oh boy, what have I gotten myself into” when Dave, Bob and I trotted off on shakeout runs both Wednesday and Thursday.


Fortunately, the weight on my chest seemed to lift after the first half mile each time and my trepidation about the wisdom of this whole endeavor subsided. In addition to those shaky shakeouts, the team took in the scenery of the lake, gathered crew supplies, talked a bit of strategy, and rested while enjoying the buzz of the adventure that stretched out before us. I'll confess that each of us probably had some concerns about how the weekend would come off as well.

Friday morning presented Bob and me with the opportunity to preview the first 6K of the course with the Montrail Uphill Challenge event. A fun run that many of the support crew members took advantage of.  Heading straight up Squaw Valley ski slope to the Escarpment aid station, the route climbed from 6200 to just over 8200 feet. This was no day to rush. Mindful that Bob and I had serious responsibilities to Dave in our near future, we kept a pretty solid handle on our effort and took note of the course layout to advise Dave.


I'll note that my 15 minute mile one had my heart rate spiking regardless of our conscious effort to not race. Our course advice was that other than a small stretch of a couple hundred yards after mile one, the rest should be hiked. Put simply, the start is steep. Once at 6K finish line, we took in the stellar views over the valley and all the way to Lake Tahoe, before opting out of taking the ski gondola back down. Two running junkies really didn't even consider that idea and we enjoyed a great run down the mountain in about half the time it took us to ascend.  

Upon racing back across the start line, we walked right into all the pre-race energy of runners, crew and volunteers at race central and packet pickup. The great vibe that was present here ended up being a solid preview of what the next two days held in store for us. Dave checked in, while Bob and I did the same as pacers. The rest of the afternoon was consumed by race meetings, which again held the energy of the event. This was affirmed by the RD reminding everyone in the room to look around and know that these are your people. Everyone in the room is a bit off to think of something as crazy as Western States being fun. This mutual understanding and respect was present with every person you met around the race.  

After race meetings were complete, we enjoyed an excellent spread of pizza and pasta up the road in Truckee. Racers, marked by a yellow wrist band, were given special reverence as everyone know what it meant and what they were staring down. After a possibly overdone feast, we returned to home base at the lake, convened to review our preliminary race plans, then turned in for the last extended sleep we would have for some time.   

Saturday morning greeted us at 3 am as we had to get up the road to Squaw Valley in time for Dave to do final check in before the 5 am start. Driving into the valley, everything was still dark, but the course to the mountain was lit up, emphasizing the challenge that lay ahead of Dave. Neat, but maybe a little daunting. Even more so than Friday, there was a buzz in the air with all the support teams and racers together and truly ready to get started. We had plenty of time for Dave to get finalized, resulting in 20-30 minutes of just killing time before assembling at the start line. Watching the focused faces of all the runners, the room felt a bit like a prelude to a prize fight. I suppose there are some common threads.
 

 

 

 

Upon moving to the starting gate, and with the final minutes ticking down, the glow of sunrise began to trickle over the Sierras to the East. With that, the gun went off and nearly 400 determined runners set off for Auburn. Don, Bob and I watched them begin the climb for a bit, then started following our plan, which was to return to the hotel for a bit more rest and check out before our first appointment with Dave at mile 29.7 (Robinson Flat) sometime around noon. Bob and I particularly were on guard not to let the excitement of the event lead us into wasting energy we would need on our pacing stints, which were still many hours (nearly a full day in my case) away.

Stay tuned for all the fun of race day in installment two.