WASATCH 100 - LAMBS CANYON (~52 MILES) AID STATION REPORT
So what can I say about working an aid station? Well being a major aid station at a relatively major 100 miler, there was definitely a steady flow of activity and a wide spectrum of emotions covered over the entire day (I was there from 1 to midnight).
Andrea and I were helping to work the food table, which meant lots and lots of sandwich making and keeping the bowls with sugary & salty treats fully stocked. Once everything was set up, there was the anticipatory window of tracking the top runners online, waiting for the frontrunners to arrive, and seeing what had transpired from the last aid station. The leader finally came through at ~2:45 to the usual round of applause and cowbells, sparking an early trickle of runners at 1 every 5-10 minutes or so. Naturally, most of these early runners had crews with them and were well taken care of, so our role was mostly moral support and informational; letting them know how far ahead the next guys were and where the next aid station was.
Action started to pick up around 4, as the 24 hour hopefuls were starting to stream in. We kept a good amount of sandwiches ready to go, with a whole bunch bagged to keep them fresh and rotating them out onto plates at about 8-12 'quarters' per plate. We kept things pretty well organized into sections for fruity stuff, salty stuff, sugary stuff, and sandwiches. If you heard a guy saying "PB&J over here, turkey over here", it was probably me ;) . Hopefully this made it easier for the overwhelmed runner on sensory overload. Inventory-wise, I thought we made out pretty well. We ended up with just about the exact right amount of gu (one of the last 5 runners to depart cleaned it out), which was pretty impressive. The only thing we ran out of was potatoes, but were able to get a refill pretty quickly (apologies to anyone who showed up in between batches!). The only real trick was churning out the sandwiches fast enough to keep up with the demand - we did have a person or two come up and snag an entire plate at once, which was pretty epic. The other main challenge was fending off the little beggars who would hover in front of the sugary stuff and look up at us with big eyes. We may or may not have given in a few times 
It was so interesting to see the wide ranges of stories and personalities present. There were those up front, shooting for a certain place or time goal, many of whom were seasoned veterans or young studs with exceptional talent (or both!). There were the hopefuls who were simply trying to get to the finish line. There were the regulars, who had participated in the race several times and seemed to know everybody. And dearest to my heart, there were those bringing up the rear, who were flirting with the absolute cutoff, but were nonetheless determined to carry on for as long as they'd be able to, even with the knowledge that they would almost certainly run out of time.
Crews were another interesting element. Some people had large entourages with them to offer support, complete with signs, cowbells, shirts, and everything else you could imagine, which definitely kept things fun. Fortunately the aid station was large and had a sizable seating area, which kept it from being overcrowded for the most part, but it was amazing at times to see how much it would clear out after just one runner departed. At the other end of the spectrum, there were also those with little to no outside support, whom we tried to be as attentive to as we could, even if it was simply holding onto stuff for them and giving them a bowl to put things in, or unscrewing some caps for them. Regardless of the mass of humanity we encountered though, the one big constant was that most everyone was extremely thankful and nice, sometimes even able to laugh at their own ridiculous predicament.
Things probably hit their peak as darkness fell and the 30 hour time window came and went, with the meaty part of the pack descending on us. After around 10:00 or so, things started to dwindle, leaving us with the true Wasatch grit; those who were in for the ~36 hour long haul. This is the part that is always emotional for me. Over the course of the day, you develop a unique bond with this athletes to whom you're providing aid and naturally, I just wanted everyone to make it to the end. But by the laws of nature and variance, that's just not going to happen in an event like the Wasatch where so much can go wrong. Many of the back-of-the-packers have been racing against the clock all day - at Lambs, this race ends when the clock strikes midnight. To maintain 36 hour pace, the runner must leave by 11:30, but the reality is that most runners who depart past 11 likely aren't going to make it to the end. Yet this didn't stop people from doggedly pressing on within minutes of the midnight cutoff. The most powerful part of the day for me was watching these people who had been in motion for 18+ hours, spending more time out on the course in between aid stations because of their slower progress, and obviously quite worn down from the day's toils. They probably knew they didn't have a realistic chance of making it to the end and could have easily called it a day at Lambs and departed for some rest, yet they chose to continue back out into the darkness for as long as they'd be permitted to. I only wish I had half their guts. As I was checking my phone for updates later, it really tugged at my heart strings upon seeing that some of these last people we checked out had been pulled from the course - some of them having timed out only one or two checkpoints (6-13 miles) from the finish. I really hope they felt as though they gave it all they could've on the day and leave with pride in their effort.
For the second straight year, I came back to the finish line to photograph the finishers in the closing hours of the race to capture more of the Wasatch grit. It's definitely an inspiring and uplifting experience to see so many people having finally achieved their objective. As with the aid station, many of these late finishers had large entourages with them - literally running and filming beside them as they ran down the final stretch. But some had only one or two supporters, if that. Not knowing each finisher's story and what the experience means to them, I wanted to make sure I could capture the moment for as many folks as possible, even if it's with a poor quality iphone camera
Definitely plan on being back next year, unless I actually sign up for this race in a temporary fit of insanity....I guess it's only a matter of time!
Gratuitous imagery time. A small sample of the heavenly offerings at the Lambs Canyon Cafe...
Leader and eventual winner George Grygar materializing from the wild abyss....
Early afternoon chaos....
Night time chaos....
Some of the last runners heading off into the night....
Ultra fanboy moment: Current Wasatch and former Western States CR holder Geoff Roes getting ready to pace....
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