The day started early again with alarms going off at 4am. A quick morning organizational routine and we were off to the group breakfast at a local Princeton restaurant. Quick breakfast, a couple cups of coffee to try and shake off the cobwebs and then the 15 minute drive to the run start.
The morning was cool for a change as some donned light jackets for the first time during the event and enjoyed the 10c air temperature...even though we knew it wouldn't last, as the forecast was for more heat as the day went on.
We spoke about how great it would be that the first marathon would be done before the heat hit for the second marathon, and at 6am the competitors were off and running.
everyone settled into their respective paces and tended to run the first sections of the rolling, traffic free course with another competitor who happened to be running the same pace. This race also allowed for 'pacers' on the run....which meant that members of an athletes crew could run with the athlete for any or all of the race to help them mentally keep pace and make it through the ridiculous distance. We had decided that Barbi would run the first 20k on her own when things would be 'easy'...and then one of Susan, Peggy or myself would try and be with her running for the rest of the way.
As we had hoped, the first marathon went by fairly uneventfully...the air stayed cool, nutrition was going well, Barbi's mental state was great and she only needed to stop once for some chiropractic work on the achilles and glutes. We had also rigged up an ipod in some mini speakers with some tape so when I ran with Barbi we could listen to music since earphones were not allowed in this race similar to other triathlons. She came through the first marathon at 4:20:00 which was right in the ballpark of the planned pace for the day..and in second place behind Amber Monforte.
The second marathon was where things got significantly more challenging...not just for Barbi but for every competitor we came upon. The cumulative fatigue was starting to take its toll, the route became very hilly and it was now hot so keeping core temperature down and electrolyte levels up became crucial. Barbi's stomach wasn't able to handle anything sweet any longer ...so nutrition became things like pretzels, banana, beef broth (given to us by Conrad and Graham..thanks!), little pieces of cookie, grapes and water. Several chiro stops were being made as everything was now screaming with pain (knees, glutes, quads, achilles, shins etc..) Dr.Peggy was also offering treatment help to other competitors who we came upon that were suffering badly as well. By this point it wasn't clear what was worse...the nasty uphill portions or the screaming pain in the quads as she ran downhill that brought on tears.
Kilometer 63 to 71.4 was a particularly nasty hot climb with switchbacks and from this point to the end was to be pure survival. There were many mental and physical lows....we could see that Barbi was suffering likely more than she ever had in her life. Each time there was a breakdown she eventually fought it of and kept running ...or even walking occasionally....the mantra for the day was 'just keep moving forward, the finish line is worth it.'...and she did.
The descent into Summerland was a particularly cruel 9% grade ....many competitors spoke about the physical pain in shredded quads on this descent...and many were reduced to tears.
Finally we turned a corner into Summerland with 3.5k to go and we knew that the end was in sight. Even these last km's were a huge struggle...there was just nothing left to give...but we just kept moving forward. As instructed, the crew van drove ahead and Barbi and I ran through the last km together to finally meet Peggy and Susan with 100m to go and we all ran through the finish line together. The emotion was overwhelming. The voice of Ironman Steve King welcomed Barbi across the line and the challenge was done.
I can honestly say that I have never been witness to an athletic event that I feel required participants to dig as deep as what I saw over the last 3 days...and especially this last day. I have the utmost respect for every person who attempts this event and the amount of pride that Peggy, Susan and myself feel for Barbi's accomplishments here is indescribable. She is a shining example to everyone and especially her two girls Brea and Kayla that anything is possible with hard work and determination....there are no limits you can achieve.
Barbi's double marathon time in the end was 9:38:08 for second female and 7th overall in the run. She broke the previous female run course record by a long shot as did the female winner Amber Montforte.
So...to sum up....over the last 3 days of Ultraman Barbi:
-set a new female swim record by over half an hour!!
-set a new day 1 female swim/bike record...and was only 90 seconds behind the male race leader
-broke the day 2 (274.3km) female bike record (as did Amber)
-broke the day 3 (84.4km) female run record (as did Amber)
-broke the cumulative 3 day female course record (as did Amber)
-finished 2nd female and 7th place overall!!
--travelled 512.6km in three days with a time of 27:16:00....and the majority of it with a smile on her face.
The customary tequila shot our team shared with Barbi at the end of each day tasted particularly sweet on this day. What a great event.
It was easy to see here at Ultraman the positive effect Barbi's infectious smile and bubbly personality had on all competitors. She has come away from this event with the greatest prize of all....a great number of life long friends from around the world.
Blog by Steve
Amazing post, Steve! You had me hanging on every word.
ReplyDeleteBB, you are inspirational. I hope you keep up the blog even though the Ultra is done. I love hearing how you're doing while I'm over in Oz.
Recover well.
kvk