Western States 100

...Also known as:  You guys go ahead and run 100 miles.  I'll hang out here and drink beer.

My brother JT and I took a road trip to Tahoe City to help crew a buddy who had won a spot in the Western States lottery.  Hard to believe anyone would consider running 100 miles to be winning anything, but hey, whatev.  I had never crewed/witnessed an entire ultra before, so I was pretty excited to be part of it.  Most of crewing, unless you're pacing, involves sitting around at an aid station waiting for your runner to come in so if you ever find yourself in this position take my advice and be sure you're stocked up with plenty of beer, and maybe a book and/or fully charged iPod. 

 The race starts at Squaw Valley, and finishes in Auburn, which are two parts of CA I had never been to before.  The interwebz told me it would be about a 3 - 4 hour drive.  Thanks to me needing to stop at every brewpub on the way, and JT needing to stop at every In N Out, it took us a mere 11 hours to make the trip.

 The race started at 5:00 a.m., which means we were up at 3:30.  It's definitely easier to stay awake until 3:30 than it is to actually drag your ass out of bed at 3:30, even if that ass is smooshed into a hotel room with a bunch of other stinky runners.  After the check in and start, we headed to the aid station at mile 55 to wait for our runner.  The highlight (for me) was seeing Kilian Jornet, who is actually my boyfriend.  Sort of.  I mean, he's definitely my boyfriend in my mind.  I just have to figure out a way to meet him and let him in on this little secret.  I'm sure he'll be thrilled.

 John C. finished, with some pacing help from my bro and his buddy Dave.  Watching people cross the finish after running 100 miles was pretty awesome and inspiring.  Not "I wanna run 100 miles" inspiring, but it has been a little easier getting out the door for my few mile jaunts since then.