Orcas Island 50k first ultra of 09

My Orcas island race report is a little over do so I better get to it. On Friday the 6th Barbara Jeffery and I headed to Orcas to take part in some trail running mayhem along with 250 other crazy trail runners. It seemed it had been forever since I had done and Ultra. In fact it's been 4 months, way to long. A good deal of my friends are ultra runners and few of them live in my neck of the woods so I was extra excited to see the gang again and make some new ultra memories. But to tell the truth this weekend was all about my good friend Barbara's first ultra. She doesn't like all the attention but She's going to get it. This race wouldn't have been the same if she had not stepped foot on the island to take on the 50k. And all odds were against her as the race approached. Several weeks ago she had sprained her ankle from running in all of the snow and was just on the mend as the race drew near. She hadn't ran a Wednesday night run in over a month and when she did come out just three days before the race she reinjured it right at the end of the run. She was determined to do the race and I for one was not going to get in the way. this year instead of bivying in the wet grass the night before the race or running with James until 2am I had luxury accommodations from Barbara who had rented a cabin at Rosario. It came fully stocked but was missing a few common items like a hair brush and the hot tube had been set to warm, nothing 20 pots of boiling water couldn't fix. Babara did just fine with out a brush and instead resorted to the trusty dinglhopper. Now onto the race! we arrived at Camp Moran an hour before the start and I got busy passing out hugs and hand shakes to all my ultra friends, to many I found out where sidelined from running do to injury. Barbara was struck with first time runner nervousness but still manged to introduce herself to the gang. Before long James spoke up and gave the pre race talk and said 5 minutes to start. We headed out the door and up to the road for the start. 54321 and we were off. I had a good feeling from the start that it was going to be an unforgettable day. I was going to run with Barbara as long as she would let me it was my secret plan to keep her running slow. for the first hour she would shout out every time another 5 minutes passed. it's going to be a long day I kept thinking. As the early morning fog lifted the sun came out making for a perfect day to be out running. With 7,000ft of gain there was some hiking too, which Barbara wasn't to thrilled about since she's more of a runner. She took it in stride though and didn't complain. Running in the deep woods on Orcas is just awe inspiring. the moss covering everything and the fog and sun mix just made you wish you could run all day, wait that's what we were doing. after a few hours we came into the first aid station back at the camp. I chatted with the volunteers and after a bathroom break Barbara feasted on chips and PB&J an ultra runner staple. Back on the trail and now 5hrs into it Barbara commented on how 5hrs just seemed to fly buy. A good sign that she is and Ultra runner. We reached the top of Mt constitution aid station just in the nick of time since James had put in a cut off at the last minute. No worries though we were doing great. I spent more time chatting with the volunteers and taking in the view of Bellingham with Mt baker and the cascades dominating the landscape over the water. I also did my best to get Barabara refuelled for the last leg of the race, a mostly down hill 9 mile sprint to the finish. She was feeling good and wanted to run the rest on her own. So I headed out to enjoy the downhill cruse to the finish. knowing she'd be not to far behind I sprinted across the finish line and ran into the lodge to grab her camera to make sure I get her finish shot. But when I looked up with camera in hand there she was outside the window waving at me looking like she had just finished a 3 mile jog. She had only been 3 minutes behind me. I felt bad about missing her first ultra finish but it really made my day to have run with her and to see that she finished. In the end it was a great weekend for all. Some fast times and some great times. And of course thank you James for a great race. I am many things but I love being an Ultra runner and now Barbara is too. Congratulation B! Later on that night she discovered that she didn't come away completely unscathed when after further inspection. she discovered she had some good blisters between her toes. That's the life of an ultra runner if it's not one thing it's another. if you are on facebook you can see some of the pictures from Orcas in my picture album.