Vermont 100: My Volunteer Experience

This weekend was the Vermont 100.
  
I went up this year as a volunteer with a couple of folks from my road running group, Adena and Shaun.  

The Vermont 100 Endurance Race is one of the oldest in the US and one of the only races that still have horse race.  I got turned onto this race a few years ago when I started following ultrarunning.  It is a part of the Grand Slam Series which attracts some fast people.  Some of these folks can run 100 miles at a faster overall pace than I can run a 5k!  Really exciting.  The race is put on by and supports the Vermont Adaptive, a local conservancy group.

Wowee. What an experience!  See the slideshow for pictures from the weekend.




We arrived at Silver Hill Meadow Friday late afternoon just in time to set up our tents and get down to the runner briefing.  We were all welcomed by Race Director, Amy Rusiecki and instructed of weekend logistics.  Immediately after that meeting was a smaller pacer meeting where spur of the moment I volunteered to pace a runner for the last 24 miles.  I was definitely a little nervous about this since I had never run an ultra before nor have I ever officially paced anyone before. David, my runner, seemed really easy going and just happy to know that he would have some company during the last part of the race.  He was also planning on a conservative pace which made me confident I could keep up.  

Still, 24 miles on the trails is far for someone who has only ever done a road marathon.  I was supposed to meet up with David at the Spirit of 76 aid station (mile 76) and run with him to the end.  I had running shoes and clothes with me but I only brought my hand held water bottle and my dinky headlamp for getting around the campsite.  It would have to be enough.  Thankfully, I had a long sleeve running shirt with me.  I threw an extra shirt, a pair of socks, and a granola bar in a grocery store plastic bag for a makeshift "drop bag" which would be taken ahead of me to the mile 88 aid station (Bill's) in case I needed them. I prepped myself mentally.  I was nervous but happy to help!

Saturday morning saw a really early race start at 4am!

The horses started at 5am!

Volunteering
My main reason for going up this weekend was to help out any way I could.  I was assigned to the dinner shift on Friday and to help at one of the aid stations, Camp 10 Bear on Saturday.  TARC was heading up the Camp 10 Bear aid station came at mile 47 and 69.4 of the 100 mile race.  100k-ers and horses also went through 10 Bear.  My shift began with setup at 5:30am and I finally tore myself away at 5:30pm.  I was tired but it was so much fun!  We were mainly helping runners refill their water bottles and packs and find the food or help they needed.  Watermelon was by far the most popular item at our station.  I cut so many I lost count.  I met some really cool people and had some great conversations with my fellow volunteers.  We all got along well and had a great time serving the runners.

About 5pm on Saturday, I learned that Dave (the runner I was going to pace) had timed out on the course.  He was no longer in the race.  He made it 32 miles before the heat of the day and the hilly course slowed him.  Great effort, Dave!  It was a tough day out there.  Let me know if you go back next year!  

After learning that Dave dropped, the pacer coordinator asked if I would be willing to pace someone else.  I told him I would go get a nap and come out later in the night to see if anyone needed a pacer.

Rain and late night waiting

After leaving 10 Bear, I went back to the start/finish area at Silver Hill to see the first finishers come in around 7pm Saturday night.  There is nothing like watching finishers come in.  Even though I was tired, I didn't leave for my tent until around 9:30pm.  It was almost impossible to fall completely asleep with all the celebrations happening but I managed to doze from 10-midnight.  That's about when the rain started.

Rain?  What rain?!  It's not supposed to rain! :\  

There I was sitting in my tent seeing the lightning and listening to the thunder.  I had two thoughts: "I really don't want to go out there" and "if I were a runner running through the woods at night in the rain, I would really want company".  The latter got me out of that tent and into the shuttle van over to the mile 88 aid station, Bill's.  Bill's was about 11 miles from the finish and open until about 6:30am.  I figured I could wait there and help someone run through the night if needed.  I waited at Bill's until about 5:30am watching the downpour from the safety of the barn.  Many runners came in tired and soaked but I didn't find any runners that needed pacers.  I was kinda bummed not to have the opportunity to pace but ultimately it wasn't about me.  Everyone seemed to be doing fine; either matched up already or running solo!  The race offered a special prize to runners who completed the race without a pacer.  There were a few people who dropped at Bill's but it was a better decision for them than trying to continue with a pacer.  Running a hundred is tough stuff.  I made my way back to the Silver Hill and the soggy comfort of my tent for another 2hr rest from 6:30-8:30am.

When the sun made it too uncomfortable to sleep longer in the tent, I packed up my things, left my tent to dry and went down to see the last few people finishing (it was Sunday morning at this point and we would be leaving soon).  What an inspiration! These final finishers have some grit.  The last runner crossed the line at about 4 minutes before the 30 hour cutoff at 10am! It was an emotional finish for everyone. See the official results here.

Runners, you inspire me every day.  I don't think I ever want to attempt a hundred miler but I will definitely be back out to help with one.  Thanks to the organizers of this event and RD Amy who I'm pretty sure high fived all 500+ volunteers and 300+ runners at some point over the weekend.  Camp 10 Bear organizers, Mark, Mike, Carolyn, and Josh and the Bill's volunteers and G.A.C folks for letting me just hang out all night waiting for runners.  Thanks to Shaun and Adena too for the ride up to VT.  I had a blast.