The Road to Badwater–Pt 6 Stovepipe Wells

 
This is part 6 of a series highlighting an ultra-marathon run by my friend Gregg Geredes
By Gregg Geerdes

Stovepipe wells to Townes Pass (42 – 59) - Uphill and into the wind

Coming out of Stovepipe I was a new man, but the continuous uphill and brutal hot wind of this section quickly beat me back down. From here on out I would have a pacer to keep me company. Cal, Gord and Mike were my primary pacers. They each switched off with me on my way up the mountain and throughout the rest of the race. Each of them would run over a marathon in addition to all their additional duties as crew. Having a pacer gives you that comfort feeling that you’re not going into battle alone, and that is a good feeling. (Note: pacers are allowed after the 17 mile mark, but must stay behind the runner, I had opted to run alone up to this point, since I knew I really would need them for the next 95 miles.)


Photo: Uphill and into the wind with Mike

Dave was doing his best to keep me eating. I had eaten an almond butter and jelly wrap during the last section and now he was trying to get me to eat a humus wrap. He talked it up as the greatest humus sandwich EVER. I didn’t have an appetite, but Dave was talking up the sandwich so much I had to have it for his sake. That is an important part of crewing, knowing how to motivate your runner to eat. By the way the humus wrap was horrible, Dave had poured have a shaker of salt on it. It hurt his feelings a little when I spit it out, but he made me another wrap and we were buddies again.
While hiking up with Cal (I said hiking, since my general strategy is walking uphills, running downhills and running as much as I can on the flats) some small clouds came out. It was a great relief to finally have the sun off me, even if for only a few seconds. The temps were still very high and so those moments were golden. At about 3,000 ft elevation, I went back in the ice bath. In retrospect I should have had my first ice bath at around mile 25 – 27, but since I waited till mile 42, I needed this 2^nd dunk on the way up the mountain. During the climb Gord asked me what I needed, I yelled back that I needed him to get me to the top of this miserable mountain and he did, but it cost him dearly.

Gord had been pushing himself extremely hard for the past month at work and with his new baby. He was beat down coming into this and in giving me everything he had to get me up the mountain ended up putting him down. Cal and Mike would need to carry me through the night. (Note: my crew didn’t let me know this happened until a couple hours later, possibly hoping he would come out of it. When I found out I asked him to rest, because I knew I needed him to be strong for the finish.) Nanc took Gord for a rest at Panamint springs. She became the caretaker for the team. Whenever they needed rest, physical or spiritual, she was there. A blessing I didn’t even think of.

• Lesson: Two are better than one
• Lesson: There are some really tough hills out there
• Lesson: Having people who really know you and your needs is vital
• Lesson: If you make a mistake, learn from it
• Lesson: You need a strong crew who will not only take care of you, but also take care of each other

The Road to Badwater Part 2

This is Part 2 in this multi-part series featuring my friend Gregg Gerdes and his inspiring tale of running the 135 mile Badwater Ultra-Marathon

The Day Before the race

On Sunday, we drove to Furnace Creek, CA, stopping along the way in Pahrump, NV for Breakfast. I can’t say we were big fans of the city of Pahrump, although we did learn about the ‘Chicken Ranch’ and came to the conclusion that Pahrump appears to be the ‘XXX’ center of NV, that being said the Pahrump Café has a great skillet Breakfast and the waitress there was a lot of fun, she even prayed for me and my upcoming race. (Interesting fact: Pahrump was in the movie ‘Rainman’.)

Before we left the city of Pahrump we picked up a few more groceries and our last Starbucks Frappacino. (Note for would be travelers: If making the trek from LV, this is the closest Starbucks to Death Valley.)

Photo: The last Starbucks
We arrived in Furnace Creek and were welcomed by an intensely bright sun and exhausting Death Valley heat. I mean it was REALLY hot. We checked into the Furnace Creek Ranch and soon found out that the hotel ice machines were broken and so we would be paying $3.50 per bag of ice – how convenient. And believe me, we went through a lot of ice. The hotel was nice, has a good restaurant, general store, and even a golf course – Yes, a golf course in Death Valley. I didn’t get to play a round (this time), but I highly recommend the ranch if you ever find yourself in Death Valley.
I’m not sure what the temperatures were that day, but as I said it was REALLY hot. As we waited for the pre-race briefing we were all feeling the heat so it was nice when the doors finally opened for the pre-race brief. The pre-race brief is quite an ordeal as they acknowledge all the volunteers, the runners as well as lay out the race rules. As you look around the room you see all these people and their crews, (most crews were between 4-6 people) who are making this huge sacrifice to be there in Death Valley to challenge themselves, it is quite inspiring.

After the pre-race brief, we enjoyed a pre-race dinner at the FC Ranch. I announced that I believe everything happens for a reason and that each of my crew members were on my team for a reason and I was blessed to have each one of them with me, I also announced that I was making Dave Strauss my Crew Chief. You need to have one-voice if . . . when things go bad. Dave had already crewed me in the Viaduct Trail 100 miler last year and we had run the Oil Creek 100 miler together. He had the most experience on the crew on what a pain I can become during these events.


Photo: Pre-race briefing
MY CREW:
Janet Geerdes, my wife – Prayer warrior and my #1 Cheerleader
Gordon Geerdes, my brother – The Finisher
Calvin Baker, my uncle – Long mile man
Nanc Baker, my aunt – Prayer warrior and crew caretaker
Dave Strauss, friend – Crew Captain
Mike Densley, friend – Downhill Pacer

After dinner we all wanted to check out the infamous BADWATER. We all packed in the Van and drove the 17 miles to Badwater. Along the way we realized that we had no water in the Van with us. Now in any normal situation I wouldn’t care about not having water in my vehicle, but with as intense as the heat was I was hoping we didn’t have any vehicle issues. Badwater is an amazing location, it humbles you when you realize that if you were left here and had to make it back to any form of civilization, 17 miles away, you would surely die. For those who don’t know, Badwater is the lowest, hottest, driest place in the Western Hemisphere and the 2^nd hottest location in the world. Word has it that Charles Manson came there to find a doorway to Hell. Believe me, you need water.

We spent about one hour walking around the area, taking photos and taking in the beauty of the area. Death Valley is mind blowing, the question that came to my mind is why did God create such a desolate place, but yet make it so breathe-takingly beautiful.

By the time we left we were all feeling the intense heat and were drying out, (I even allowed Dave to run the air conditioner on the drive back). We returned to the hotel and everyone drank at least 2 bottles of water/Gatorade trying to recover from our 1 hour Badwater experience, and then we drank even more in preparation for tomorrows adventure.


Photo: Badwater Basin

That night I debriefed the team one more time on all my supplies, which I had set up in clear bins and then I gave them my ‘penciled-in’ race strategy, knowing that the heat could ruin all strategies. When I run 100-mile races I usually have 3 goals, bronze, sliver and gold. For this race my bronze goal was to just finish, and I figured I could do that in 36 hours. My silver goal was to finish in under 33 hours which would mean I would need to average better than 4 miles an hour, a little more challenging especially for a rookie. My Gold goal, which I admit I rarely tell anyone, was to finish in less than 30 hours and in the top 10, not very probable unless everything came together.

• Lesson Learned: There are diamonds hidden everywhere if you are willing to open your eyes to them, even in Pahrump
• Lesson Learned: Pick your crew wisely
• Lesson Learned: You need a strong crew captain. He won’t always be right, but you need a single voice when things go bad.
• Lesson Learned: Enjoy it
• Lesson Learned: Know your environment and stay hydrated
• Lesson Learned: You need to have a strategy and you need to share it with your team, once you get started you aren’t the only one making decisions