... is measured by success (Bruce Feirstein).
And in this case 100 miles of success. I'm sure (hope) that Pete will post details of his amazing success once he has sufficiently recovered enough and finds the time to do so. I'd like to tell you about the run from a spectator's point of view.
The USAFit/Philly portion of Pete's run began in November 2010, even if we didn't know it at the time. On Philadelphia Marathon day, 2010, Pete completed his own 26.2 miles and then came back out on the course to run each of us to the finish line. I heard from enough of the group to feel certain that I speak for us all when I say to be near the end of 26.2 miles (tired and yes a bit cranky) and be greeted by Pete's smiling face and words of encouragement was a memory we will carre with us for a long time. Well, spring forward to April 2011 and it should come as no surprise how many Phillyfitters wanted to support Pete in his quest to complete 100 miles in under 24 hours. Now, Phillyfitters are an exceptional group of caring folks to begin with so I am certain the support would have been there anyway; but the events of November 21, 2010 only made it more personal for all of us.
As soon as Pete had his schedule ready, Jeff Ledbetter took the lead in getting pacers organized so that Pete had company on all 12 of his loops. I debated being a pacer and in the end decided that I was better suited to providing sideline support. I was curious to see how one accomplishes 100 miles and to document the run with pictures. If you'd like to see a chronological photo report with captions of the event, click here. What follows here are my ramblings of the experience. It is not necessarily in order by time but rather in the order that things come back to me as I reflect on it.
First and foremost congratulations to Pete for finishing. As the day and night (and day again) wore on I had the chance to see each of the partcipiants as they finished their loops. With the exception of a 20 something runner, Pete was by far consistently the strongest. As the number of loops grew he continued to look confident and in good shape. Just attempting this feat is awesome. Still Pete seemed to be holding up better than most. This is a testament to his discpline and training. He had a plan and up to the final 2 of 12 loops around the Art Museum loop he was bang on schedule. The final two he was early!
I watched as each runner came in from a loop and prepared to go out again for the next. Most had a routine that became predictable. Like the woman next to us who stopped to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to carry with her on each loop. For the first several loops her parents made the sandwich for her as she approached. The parents stopped coming later in the night and she had to make it herself. Another runner had to mix new batches of sport drink from powder between loops. He would kneel down on a towel and scoop powder into bottles whose openings were too small for the scoop. I should have taken a picture of the little piles of red powder around his campsite. Some runners had a routine of stretches between loops. Others simply sat and took deep breaths. One woman, Miriam, took her frustrations out on her husband and children who were there the entire day and night. She was very demanding of them each time she came in; to the point of being a bit bitchy I thought. Her family took it in stride (or seemed to). They sort of silently rolled their eyes as if to say "This is just the way she is when she runs these things. This too shall pass." Another woman, Marina, sat on the ground and drank diluted grape juice after each loop and wrote her time for each loop on pre numbered 3x3 cards she kept in a ziploc in her pouch. This, she said, was how she kept track of her loops. She did not have any family or friends with her.
There were a total of about 12-15 paricipants. Several of them, like Marina, were there alone. The USAFit/Philly folks made sure to cheer for everyone and especially for those how didn't have anyone. Renee had gone out early in the morning to put up signs for Pete along Kelly drive. Many of the runners came back saying "Who's Pete?" or " I'm pretending to be Pete, today". Neat! I think Pete had more supporters than there were particpants in this event. Cool!
Most of the runners, as did Pete, kept going with out sleep through their loops. A few though did take sleep breaks; in cars or in a chair. Family and friends went back to cars between loops. One supporter fell asleep on the sidewalk near where we sat. Mary put one of our blankets on him. I heard there was a runner sleeping on the sidewalk along MLK, his wife standing guard while he did.
A word about Mary and her "Mary Poppins" style bag. You name it, she had it. It was amusing and amazing a the same time. From space blankets to gus and gels to the string of neon green lights that Steve wore for the final dark loops.
I was amazed at the helpfulness of the runners to each other. Whether it was bandaids and moleskin or water and food; everyone chipped in when someone else needed it. There was a sort of community table around the corner from us where folks put leftover food and drink for everyone.
I was repeatedly amazed at the determination of these folks. All of them. I, and the other fitters who were there focused on Pete and marvelled at everything he was doing from his bang on pacing to his lists of what to do between loops. I watched some of these folks literally hobble in loop after loop thinking they had to be finished. Yet, a few minutes rest and off they went again; hobbling still. How does one do that? It hurt to watch some of them. One woman started out to walk with her husband on his 11th loop. She came back 15 minutes later alone. "Is he alright?" I asked. "No," she said "he sent me back so I could come get him with the car if he needs it". She looked concerned. She had told me earlier that morning that the 100 miler was on her husband's bucket list and that next they were going to Spain so he could run with the bulls.
Pete never hobbled. At least that I saw. He came in from each loop with spring left in his step. Between loop 11 and 12 he jumped the curb even. Me.. i would have tripped on the curb and landed with a twisted ankle (ask me how i know). Pete never hobbled. More than one person commented - He knew the approach he wanted to take on this run; he worked it out in training; trained accordingly and stuck to the plan. It worked AND it showed. I don't think I want to run ultras, but I would like to be that disciplined in my training.
I've mentioned the willingness of fitters to be a part of this event. Whether they ran with him, showed up to cheer or commented from afar on FB - they were a formidable presence throughout the day and night. I feel blessed to be part of this group. This 'race' was a non event really. The entry fee was $0 and you get what you pay for. No race number, no finish line, no aid stations and NO BLING..so Sammy made Pete his own "100 miles of insanity" medal. Mary Kay brought confettie, pom poms and noisemakers to ring in Pete's finish. Several folks worked to make a finish line tape made out of linked together glow in the dark necklaces. We didn't use that though since there were too many other runners going by at the same time - they got in the way. LOL
You had to be there but it was an awesome finish to an awesome achievment.
One last commnent - I wish I could have recorded - in time lapse fashion - the changing 'mood' of the spot where I watched all of this. From 7:00 am Saturday to 9:30 am Sunday it was neat to watch the area come alive, get real quiet but never quite asleep and come back awake again the next day.
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