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How to Be a Good Pacer & 20 Hikers Rescued off Mt. Washington · Run Mountain Peaks

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All right, welcome back to another episode of Run Mountain
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Peaks. Last night I was at the Hamster
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Wheel Ultra Marathon event located in New Boston, NH.
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There is a six hour, 12 hour, 24 hour and 30 hour event where
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hundreds of people were out there running four mile loops
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over and over and over until they didn't want to go anymore,
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hence the Hamster Wheel name. And I was there pacing one of my
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buddies who successfully ran 100 miles on the hamster wheel.
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So I wanted to share the story from last night and then I
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wanted to talk a little bit about pacing people, how to be a
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good pacer. I've paced a bunch of people.
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I've had pace me, I've had Pacers pace me, and I've learned
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some things over all these different experiences.
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You always learn something new when you pay somebody and when
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you do an ultra. And I just wanted to share on
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some of the stuff that I've learned about being a good
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pacer. And then we're going to talk
1:02
about the Javelina 100 course records.
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Tara Dauer and Will Murray Smash.
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The previous course records have just insane showings at that
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race. Next up, we'll talk about the 20
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hikers that were rescued off of Mount Washington last weekend.
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Let's get into shoulder season here.
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And a bunch of hikers were caught off guard.
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So we'll talk about that. Last night, the Blackout 5K10K
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run, the Whites event took place.
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So do a brief recap there. And then I wanted to do a little
1:34
PSA for the podcast. Yeah, we'll just, we'll just
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jump right into this. This is a little PSA.
1:41
If the podcast in the next week or so gets taken down, the
1:46
YouTube channel gets taken down. Just know it was not me, it was
1:51
big pharma earlier this year. Well, over the past couple years
1:56
I have developed seasonal allergies and finally this year
2:01
basically started taking medication.
2:03
And so a couple months ago I started taking medication.
2:06
I saw a doctor and they were pretty much like, yeah, there's
2:08
a handful of over the counter stuff that you can get,
2:10
Claritin, Zyrtec, Allegra, you know, try a few of them, see
2:15
which work for you. Some, you know, 'cause
2:18
drowsiness in some people, some work good for others.
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So try a few and just start taking it daily.
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So I started taking Claritin daily.
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The official name for it is Lorat Lauritating.
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Oh gosh, oh gosh, this is bad Loratadine 10 milligrams.
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And I looked online, I did some research and like some other
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runners take that. I mean, it's a cat.
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I mean, tons of people have allergies.
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It's just something that I never experienced growing up and I
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didn't really have anyone like in my family who, who had
2:50
allergies. So didn't you know, did some
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Googling some online stuff and I started taking Claritin.
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It worked for me. It was all good.
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I took the doctor said, hey, take a 10 day pack, see if it'll
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work for you. Start, start that out.
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And so I did and it was good. So I was like, all right, we're
3:08
going to go with Claritin. I ended up going back to the
3:11
store and I just got like a maybe like 60, a 60 count bottle
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of Claritin and the price was about a little over a dollar
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each. It was $1.11 each to be exact.
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And when I first bought it, I was like, oh, that is kind of
3:26
expensive, like $30 every month, but I would pay a dollar every
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day to just not feel slightly sick.
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So I was like, eh, we're good. So I started taking Claritin
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was, you know, the allergies got better.
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And last weekend one of my buddies said, hey, you know, we
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were kind of chatting. He was like, oh, I, I developed
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seasonal allergies too. And I started taking stuff for
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it. Now I just take it all the time
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and it, it's awesome. But he's like, hey, if you go to
3:54
Walmart, you can get the generic brand version of whatever you're
4:00
taking. I think that he was taking
4:01
Claritin too. Go to Walmart, get the generic
4:03
brand. It'll, it'll save you money.
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And so I was like, sweet, I should do that.
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Like I'm going to be taking this in bulk.
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I should obviously get a better price on it.
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So I was like, oh, it might be, you know, half or a third amount
4:17
of the money because you hear about some of the big pharma and
4:20
stuff, you know, jacking prices up.
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And so I go to the store and I get the same Loratataine or
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however you pronounce it, 10 milligrams, the exact same thing
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as Claritin, the Equate brand. And I look in the bottle and it
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is four cents, four and a half cents a pill.
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So it is 30 times cheaper than Claritin.
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When I saw that I, I was, I almost started freaking out in
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the store. I, I don't even understand how
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that is. I was, I was immediately on my
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phone was like, how is this possible?
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Like there must be something different about it.
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No, it is literally Claritin jacks the price up 30X what it
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costs. So this is a PSA.
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If you have been taking Claritin or have taken it in the past, no
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longer you got to go equate. You can get it at Walmart.
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It is 30X savings on your money. I I felt I yeah, I felt
5:20
violated. I, if you hadn't heard this
5:24
story, I had my catalytic converter hacked out of my truck
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basically a month ago at work, broad daylight.
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And that was obviously like I, when it, when it happened, I was
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like very much shocked, felt violated.
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I think I was more violated seeing that I had been paying 30
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times more for Claritin than this other stuff.
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So yeah, I wanted to get that in the at the beginning of the
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podcast. If this gets taken down, big
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pharma got me. And if, if there's like a
5:52
Claritin Rep that is listening to this right now, car drive by,
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if there is a Claritin Rep that is listening to this podcast,
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like, Oh my God, this guy's slandering our brand.
6:04
He's giving away our secrets. Just know that I could be paid
6:08
off for way cheaper than you think.
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We can make this a Claritin podcast really quickly.
6:15
No, screw Claritin. This is an Equate podcast.
6:19
Get on Equate Lortatane 10 milligrams and save yourself
6:26
some money. All right, that's enough
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rambling there. Jumping in to the Hamster Wheel
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100, so my buddy, he was he. So I guess there's there's like
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a hamster wheel 100. There's a 24 hour race and a 30
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hour race, both of which you can do, you can sign up for either
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and you can do 100 miles in either, obviously depending on
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your paces. And I think if you do 100 miles,
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which would be 25 four mile laps, you get 100 mile buckle.
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So it's basically kind of just a free for all on this track in
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New Boston. And so, yeah, my buddy had
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basically reached out a couple weeks ago and said, hey, you
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know, this is close by you. I'm doing this, this race.
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I'm going for 100. The goal, I think his goal was
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24 hours. You know, would you be willing
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to pace me? And I was, I was all in.
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He's one of my buddies. I've ran with a bunch and I had
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never, I'd heard of the Hamster wheel, but I had never been to
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the event I had. I've been to Ghost Train, which
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is in Milford slash Brookline, and it's a similar style.
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It's kind of out and back on a rail trail and there's a bunch
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of different distances and there's a ton of people that go
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to it. But I'd never been to the
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Hamster Wheel. So usually when you're pacing
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people, you are signing up for a late night or a super early
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morning, lots of miles. And basically I was going to the
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for the 8 to midnight slot. So this was the race started at
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9:00 AM, so he was going to be about 12 hours in and then kind
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of at the beginning of the night.
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So honestly, at that point in a race, usually, I mean, that's
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what when it starts to get pretty hard, but it's he was
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going to be fresher than if you're pacing somebody at the
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end of a race. So yeah, I basically, I went
8:20
there expecting. Yeah.
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I didn't know really what to expect by expected kind of a big
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event. And I think his goal was to
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still be running at that point when I met up with him, which he
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was. And so honestly, just go run
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around the hamster wheel for a while.
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And so yeah, we'll talk about the we'll talk a bit of the
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experience first. When you're pacing someone
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usually like, you know, I like to bring maybe some some extra
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things that they might need on course, you know, depending on
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where you're pacing. But for this course it's a four
8:53
mile loop and every loop you basically get back to your aid
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station. I mean they have an aid station
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at the start finish line and then you can set up tents.
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And so he pretty much had like all the food equipment, you
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know, clothing, Lube, everything that you really need every 4
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miles. So every pretty much hour at his
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gold pace. And so really like as a pacer, I
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didn't really need to bring a lot.
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Like I didn't need to bring anything for him.
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You know, I had a handful of things that I figured I wouldn't
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need just in case. But I showed up just ready to
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run enthusiastic and yeah, just there to support.
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I just, I just had a belt. Like I didn't even have, I
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didn't have a vest. I had kind of a pull over, some
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snacks, my water and a couple things of Lube and that was
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pretty much all I rode with. Yeah.
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And so I show up, it's at, I forget what the name of the
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track, but it was at some sort of like kind of fairground.
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And you pretty much you run around the fairground and then
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you do an out and back on the New Boston Rail Trail.
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So the out and back's maybe like a mile or a mile and 1/2.
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So a mile, mile and a half out mile, mile and a half back.
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And then you do a big lap around the kind of the fair venue and
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it's a ton of space. Like they have fairs there.
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So there's a ton of space. It was loaded with cars, tents,
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people. Like when I pulled in, there was
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like a dozen headlights coming at me on this little stretch of
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the, of the fairground. And I was thinking like, if
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there's that many people here, like imagine how many people
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were on the four mile loop. So immediately you're pulling,
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there's cars everywhere, there's tents everywhere, there's people
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running. They had kind of like a little
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concert stage area. They were blasting music.
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So it was just like a good ultra environment.
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Yeah. Everyone enthusiastic, lots of,
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you know, nice work, good job, Let's get it.
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That kind of things as you pass because you're passing runners
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the whole time. So show up there, get to the
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start finish and they had a live tracker going and so I didn't
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know exactly where he was set up.
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So go to the start finish and they have a live tracker.
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So I went online, I found that I was 15 minutes behind him.
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I got there at 8. And so I was like, all right,
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you know, it's probably going to be 45 minutes till he gets back
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to the start finish. I'm just going to start running
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the other way and I'll run into him and then commence the
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pacing. So that was a plan.
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I started running backwards. Honestly, at a lot of these
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events, it's kind of like they have like rules and you know
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everything you need to follow and obviously you have to follow
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all the rules, but sometimes it is kind of a free for all.
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So I'm just running backwards. I'm the only one running
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backwards into just hundreds and hundreds of headlights.
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I don't know how many people were at the event.
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I think in the 24 in the in the 24 hour, in the 30 hour there
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was like 2 or 300 people total. So there are at least that many
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people on the course when I got there.
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So I start running backwards. I'm just running at everyone in
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headlights. I think a lot of people with
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that point are probably getting a little bit delusional too.
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So they don't even care. They're no one's like
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questioning, Hey, you're going the wrong way, like, or they
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probably know that I'm looking for somebody, but I'm the only
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one running backwards and I'm trying not to like blind people
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are coming, coming at me. But as I'm running, I have my
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headlamp on and then everyone else has their headlamps on and
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it's dark outside and it's kind of hard to see to see the
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people. Like obviously you can see kind
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of like a little, you know, their frame and their, you know,
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running their cadence, whatever gate, but there's a ton of
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people. And so I'm thinking, Oh my gosh,
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I better not run backwards and miss my friend.
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And then it's like, and then it's just going to be a cluster
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to go find him. So I start doing math like, Oh
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my God, if he's moving at X pace, he was 15 minutes ahead.
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I'm moving this way. So for every 10 minutes I move
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this way, he's moving 10 minutes forward.
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And eventually I get to the pocket where I'm like, all
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right, I should be running into him soon.
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And it ended up being when I was on the rail trail out in belt
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out and back section. So finally I run into him and
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honestly he was in a group and they were kind of all chatting
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and I almost missed him. But I was kind of doing like a
13:04
side eye, like I was trying to shine my light at everyone to
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get like a good make sure I could see them, but without
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blinding them. And eventually I saw my buddy.
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So I spun around and I linked up with him.
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He was actually running with somebody else at that point.
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So we had a little little group going for a little bit and just
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caught up with him when I, when I ran into him, I think he was
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50 or 55 miles in. So he just elapsed the halfway
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point and he was running. He was still running.
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I guess he, yeah, when I ran into, he was running, he was
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doing like a little bit of like walking intervals, but he was
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still running very strong when I ran into him.
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So picked him up, started running.
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And I think whenever you whenever there's new company,
13:48
you see somebody pick up a pacer, it kind of just like
13:50
lists your spirits, you talk about, you know, how you
13:52
feeling. Give me the recap of the day.
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So we kind of just start chatting.
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And I hadn't seen him in a while too.
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So we're kind of just catching up.
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He was telling me how I was feeling, like if he was saying
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everything was going pretty well.
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So that was good. And we just started going on
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this hamster wheel. And yeah, like I said, his goal
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was 24 hours and he was definitely, he was over halfway
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and it was at like 11 hours. So he was he was on pace, he was
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doing running strong. And so ended up just running
14:22
with him. I think every time you get, you
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get into these ultras and you're pacing somebody, you learn
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something new. You see somebody having facing
14:32
some sort of maybe difficulty that you haven't seen before.
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So it's always like a learning experience.
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But when I'm going there, I'm just trying to keep the energy
14:40
up and I'm just trying to keep him moving.
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So we did that pretty well. And honestly, he he did super
14:48
good. So I ended up doing 4 full laps,
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so about 16 miles, and his laps were super consistent.
14:55
He was running like 59 minutes flat, so like 14 something
14:59
minute pace each mile. And that was going to get him to
15:02
his target. And when I was with him, things
15:05
were all good. Like I showed up and the weather
15:07
was cool, but it wasn't like super cold.
15:10
There were lots of runners out. He was eating a lot.
15:13
So which is always something that's going to help you in an
15:15
ultra. So he was having like, I think
15:17
he was saying like a hundred, 120 grams of carbs up until that
15:20
point. So that was good.
15:23
And so for me as a pacer in that scenario, it was pretty much
15:27
more just a fun run for me. Like I really didn't have to do
15:30
anything for him. Didn't have anything like on the
15:33
aid, he was eating good on his own.
15:35
He was running like he was kind of setting his pace, his run,
15:37
walk pace. And so for me, it was just kind
15:40
of like enjoying his company and keeping him company like energy
15:43
up. And so, yeah, the first couple
15:45
laps we were just catching up really nothing major.
15:48
Like he was moving super consistent.
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And then I think the last couple laps it started getting colder.
15:55
So when it gets cold, when it gets a little bit windy and your
15:59
legs aren't moving as fast, I think they start to shut down a
16:03
little bit and it starts to get a little bit tougher out there.
16:06
And so he was, and he was starting to hurt a little bit.
16:09
You know, if you're running in the mountains, if you're running
16:12
on trails, there's lots of like undulating terrain, lots of
16:15
rocks, ups and ups and downs. But this is a flat four mile
16:19
dirt track. And so he's running the same
16:21
pattern, same gate for he had been doing it for 60 miles.
16:26
So we started having some things pop up, just the pain, foot
16:29
pain, nothing crazy. Like he wasn't really
16:31
complaining. I was just asking, you know,
16:33
everything good. And he would kind of be like,
16:34
yeah, just starting to hurt a little bit.
16:36
So we started to slow down, to start to get colder.
16:38
And that I think the period when it starts getting towards that
16:43
midnight time of the night, like you're just thinking, oh, my
16:46
God, I've been out in the night for hours now and I still have
16:49
hours until daylight. Everything's hurting, It's
16:52
getting cold. And so you're starting to 6070
16:55
miles is like that pain cave of like, oh man, like I'm in so
16:58
much pain, but I have 30 miles to run left.
17:02
So he was, he was definitely starting to feel it a little
17:04
bit. But we strong, we, we kind of
17:06
pushed through those last couple laps and he was still doing like
17:10
5960, I don't think. Yeah, I think the last lap was
17:13
probably like an hour flat. So he was still running good and
17:18
midnight struck. And that was pretty much my time
17:21
with him. He had a little, a little crew
17:25
and he had somebody meeting him to pace after that.
17:29
And so there was pretty, it was pretty uneventful.
17:31
Like I said, it was pretty chill crew.
17:33
All I really had to do at the aid station, I would make sure
17:36
that he got the food, the calories that he needed.
17:39
He had everything like, you know, if you oh, this next lap,
17:42
I want to grab this from the thing, just remind him to get
17:44
that. And that was my whole job.
17:46
And then I just got to run around and see a bunch of people
17:48
pushing themselves out there. So at midnight, that was the end
17:52
of my shift. He had another pacer lined up.
17:54
And so they went into the night. He, like I said, it was getting
17:58
cold and he was like, I think I got to go night mode right now.
18:02
So he grabbed like an extra shell.
18:03
He grabbed some pulls, I think he grabbed a little bit of music
18:07
and he was going night mode. He was entering the pain cave
18:11
and he was getting prepped for it.
18:13
So that was the pacing experience there.
18:16
I guess a little bit more about the event or and I guess to talk
18:19
about. So we ended up doing the 100
18:21
miles. I think his last tracker was 25
18:23
at 25 flat almost hours. So I think he was a little bit
18:27
slower than his goal pace, but still crushed 100, ran 100 miles
18:31
in a day on the hamster wheel and he got his belt belt buckle.
18:35
So congratulations to Kevin and yeah, a little bit about the
18:39
event. I think it's always it's it's
18:42
it's cool to see events where people are localized in one
18:46
area. So if you have like a last man
18:48
standing event where you pretty much see it's four mile loops or
18:53
if you have something like this, it's not last man standing, but
18:55
it's just four mile loops. So it's like every hour runners
18:58
are coming in, you're always passing runners.
19:01
There was like a a mile and a half, like I said, out and back
19:03
section. So like runners are always
19:05
passing you either going out or back.
19:08
So there's lots of people around.
19:10
If you're new to ultras, if you're new to running 24 hours,
19:14
100 miles through the through the night, this is a great kind
19:17
of style race to do it at. Like you're just always
19:19
surrounded by people. Everyone out there, a lot of
19:22
people are suffering and everyone's like willing to like
19:24
have a buddy if you don't have a buddy, so you can link up with
19:26
people, you can chat with people you see people for, you know,
19:30
every lap. So it's a cool environment.
19:32
And the one thing that I was thinking out there was I don't
19:36
know how many runners there are. And I don't think we should do
19:37
quick math right now, But if there were like 250 runners in
19:42
the 24 and 30 hours, let's say like 100 of them run 100 miles,
19:48
what is that math? 10,000 miles.
19:50
That's the equivalent of 580 through hikes in distance.
19:55
And I'm probably way underestimating how many miles
19:57
are done out there. So like when I was out there, I
20:00
was just thinking of like, wow. People are moving miles, the
20:04
humans are putting in work at this track.
20:07
So it was cool to see. And any, any time I go to these
20:11
events, like if you're in like a running low, if you haven't
20:15
raced in a while, if you're just kind of feeling mad uninspired,
20:19
let's say go volunteer or go pace or go jump into one of
20:24
these ultras. Because just seeing so many
20:26
people out there pushing themselves, it always fires me
20:29
up. Like I got to get, I got to be
20:31
doing more, I got to be getting better.
20:33
I got to get something on the on the race schedule.
20:37
It's a good motivator. I can pull you out of funks.
20:39
And so I definitely recommend like going out to some of these
20:42
events if you have any, any, any local near you, It's always a
20:46
good time and it always gets me kind of firing.
20:49
It's, you know, seeing people gridded out is just cool.
20:52
Because honestly, I was there in that the first half of the night
20:55
shift and people were starting to hit that mode.
20:57
Like a lot of people were in the pain cave pretty much looking
21:02
like they were having a horrible time, but still moving forward.
21:06
And so it was cool to see. So that was a hamster wheel 100,
21:11
a bunch of finishers of that at that event.
21:13
I mean, go on second wind timing results and they have all the
21:18
live results. So I think it's concluded about
21:21
now, but or maybe they still might be finishing up 30 hour,
21:24
but you can go on there, check out, see who put down some some
21:27
crazy efforts. It was a good time.
21:30
And so, yeah, so we talked a little bit about the pacing.
21:33
Like this was an easy pacing gig for me.
21:34
It was really just running with a friend.
21:36
It wasn't like I had to really do much.
21:38
But I want to talk about what a good pacer is, like how to be a
21:43
good pacer, because I have been a good pacer and I've been
21:47
probably not a great pacer. I've had different people pace
21:51
me and so I think there's like some do's and don'ts of pacing
21:56
that I want to kind of a brush over.
21:59
So I guess like what is the goal of a pacer for anyone who
22:04
doesn't know, like in ultra marathons, usually at like 50
22:08
miles and definitely 100 miles plus you get most races will
22:13
allow you to have a pacer, which is pretty much just a friend to
22:16
run with you and kind of support you when you're hurting.
22:19
It's usually late at night, etcetera.
22:22
So it's it's just a buddy that you can run with.
22:25
And there are kind of requirements like usually Pacers
22:27
have to have, you know, the same kit that the race requires the
22:30
runners to have. You know, they can't carry food
22:35
and gear for somebody at a race like unfairly.
22:40
Although I think at ghost train they say you can mule for your
22:42
runner if you carry a 50 LB pack or something like that.
22:46
So, but so you can't mule usually at these races, but it's
22:49
somebody to kind of keep, keep you moving and a little bit
22:53
watch out for you. So like if you're on a trail, so
22:56
this was obviously a four mile loop, but if you're like out in
22:58
the mountains or on a trail, like it's someone to like help
23:00
take care of you, kind of like make sure that you you get to
23:03
where you're going. So I think the goal of a pacer
23:06
is just to be a buddy to honestly ultimately kind of make
23:09
sure that you're safe and like making good decisions.
23:12
But being a good pacer. I think a good pacer is somebody
23:17
that wants to be there. So is enthusiastic and like
23:21
understands your goal and wants your goal.
23:24
Obviously not as much as you, but like wants it really bad.
23:27
Like understands what you're trying to do and is going to
23:30
make it happen. Whether that just be a finish,
23:33
whether that just be I want to come out here and have a good
23:35
time for X amount, whether that's a goal time.
23:38
Like they need to be all bought in.
23:40
They need to be hyped to be up at in the middle of the night
23:43
and not getting sleep and running a lot.
23:45
You know, they need to be to want to be there and
23:47
enthusiastic and then they need to keep your momentum.
23:51
I think when you are running an ultra and you're hours and hours
23:55
into running, everything hurts. Little things can slow you up.
24:00
If you got to tie your shoe, if you got to get something out of
24:03
your pack, if you got to mix a drink thing, if you got to grab
24:06
your poles, if you got to get something, oh, I dropped
24:09
something on the ground. Like I got to fill my water up.
24:12
Like all of these things just get very hard to do because
24:15
you're like cognitive function is like deteriorating because
24:19
you're pushing your body so hard.
24:21
So the goal of the pacer is to take care of all of those things
24:24
that would prevent you from moving forward.
24:28
One, so keep your momentum in that regard.
24:30
And then two, make sure you're fueling, right.
24:34
Make sure you're drinking enough.
24:35
Make sure you're hydrating, taking caffeine, like all of
24:39
those things. If you don't do it properly, it
24:42
will slow you down and we'll kind of get you off that
24:44
momentum. But if you keep the carbs
24:46
coming, if you keep drinking like you're going to be able to
24:49
keep moving better. So that's another thing because
24:52
in these ultras, your mind kind of starts to go, Oh, when's the
24:54
last time I took this thing? Oh, I was thinking every 30
24:57
minutes. Right now it's it's one P 1:15
25:01
AM when was a lot like your brain just can't do math good.
25:04
And so it's good to have like a fresh brain to like remind you
25:06
to do all these things. And then three, like keeping the
25:12
enthusiasm high and doing a little bit of motivation, like
25:15
pushing a runner a little bit, which is something we'll talk
25:18
about. Like you don't want to push your
25:20
runner too much because then they'll just like burn out and
25:23
like have a bad race. But you don't want to just let
25:26
them run like with how they want to run because they pretty much
25:29
want to stop. So yeah, I think like all of
25:34
those things to just like keep the momentum going is the most
25:38
important thing when you're pacing.
25:40
And now it's going to it's going to differ you're pacing
25:43
responsibilities in your style, like on the event.
25:46
So like last night, a four mile race, like I said, I don't have
25:49
to really take care of anything on the trail because it's so
25:51
short in between your aid station stops.
25:54
But what I would try to do is to be a good pacer.
25:57
Hey, you know, as we're going in like maybe when we're a couple
25:59
minutes out. Hey, Kevin, what do you need?
26:01
Do you, how many gels do you have?
26:03
You need a gel. When's the last time you eaten?
26:05
All right, so we got to grab 2 gels.
26:07
You do you want to do water the slap?
26:08
Do you want to do a seltzer? Do you want to do like a mix?
26:12
He was drinking a little coffee concoction.
26:14
Like what are you feeling like? I'm going to get all that
26:17
prepped When we get to the aid station, I'm going to take care
26:20
of all of those things. You grab a little snack.
26:22
If there's something you got to do or take care of or adjust,
26:25
you do that. But I'm going to do everything
26:27
else. I'll know what we need.
26:28
We can get in there. We'll get your kit and then we
26:30
get you back out moving. So in a short race like that,
26:35
that is the biggest like as far as gear, keeping the momentum,
26:38
momentum, that's the biggest task.
26:41
But if you're in, if you're running a mountain ultra, if
26:44
you're doing a Jigger Johnson, if you're doing a Kill Canyon or
26:47
something along those lines where you're Backcountry, you
26:50
know, long distance, that kind of responsibility is going to
26:54
change. So pretty much at the aid
26:56
stations, you're going to have to grab a lot more things.
26:59
So you're going to do what I just said, but like on steroids,
27:01
like we need to grab, you know, 8 gels or whatever it may be if
27:05
we're going to be out in the mountains for four or five hours
27:08
And then on trail, like you should be doing these things
27:12
pretty much on trail and you have the runner keep moving.
27:15
So like if you got to fill up water in a stream here, give me
27:17
your bottle. I fill up, you keep going.
27:20
If you need me to mix tailwind or whatever into your drink,
27:23
give me the tailwind, give me the water.
27:24
You keep going, I'll do it and I'll catch up.
27:26
Oh, you need to grab your your something out of your jacket.
27:29
I'll do it. I grab it, I put it in.
27:31
Let me give that put it in. You keep running.
27:33
So it's like all of these things that like I'm going to take care
27:36
of every task, the runners task. Your only task is to keep moving
27:40
forward. And so the longer stretches you
27:43
are in between aid stations, the, the more that stuff that
27:46
you'll just have to do. But it's the same idea of like
27:50
keeping the momentum going with all their gear and what they
27:54
need. And then the nutrition.
27:57
So like reminding them the nutrition, you know, everyone is
28:00
going to have their own strategy.
28:02
So like asking them, Hey, what is your, you know, what are you
28:05
eating right now? How are you getting calories in
28:07
what is working? And usually in an ultra at the
28:10
beginning, you can eat anything. You can eat solid foods, you can
28:14
eat gels, you can eat water and it's all going down good.
28:17
As you start getting longer in the day, like as you're, you're
28:20
putting on more miles, your legs are getting pounded.
28:23
Like all of the blood goes to your legs and your feet and
28:26
everything is starting to swell a little bit and you're not
28:29
getting as much blood to your stomach.
28:31
So you cannot digest food as much.
28:33
So like along the day, your nutrition is probably going to
28:36
have to change. And usually it goes from like, I
28:39
can't really do solid food anymore, you know, maybe like
28:43
gels are working better now and like gels are kind of getting,
28:46
if they did a ton of gels, maybe I just got to do tailwind.
28:49
And so kind of like understanding, try to figure out
28:53
how the runner is feeling and then trying to get them to keep
28:57
fueling in a way that's not going to upset their stomach
29:00
because basically they're just not going to want to eat
29:02
anything. And so and and this doesn't
29:05
matter what format it is, you need to keep calories going in.
29:08
Look up food doping the Roach. I mean, high carb is the rave
29:12
and ultra running right now. One of the reasons why these
29:14
times are getting so fast. And so, yeah, just pushing them
29:18
to keep eating is probably one of the other biggest things as a
29:21
pacer and you want to do it. So I think in the past, like I
29:26
remember I paced somebody at ghost train and I showed up and
29:31
I think they said their legs were hurting, but their stomach
29:33
was good. So that was all good.
29:36
And, and I was kind of pushing them to eat a little bit and or
29:41
no, what happened? No, I show up, they said their
29:43
legs are good, my stomach is good.
29:44
We run for about two miles and she just starts puking
29:46
everywhere and I'm like, Oh my gosh, this is going to be
29:49
horrible. And I remember when that
29:51
happened, I was like, Oh my gosh, this person has 20 miles
29:53
left. They're not feeling great.
29:56
Like they need to eat. You're going to need calories to
29:59
run 20 miles. Like I need to get them to eat
30:01
even though that they can't. And I remember I think I was
30:04
trying to get her to eat maybe a little bit too soon.
30:06
Like when you puke, you need like 45 minutes or an hour to
30:10
like let your stomach settle. And I think I was maybe like 1/2
30:14
hour later, I was like, oh, you want to try to like eat a little
30:16
bit till one or drink a little bit of this.
30:18
And I remember trying a bunch of things and I think like, if you
30:21
puke and your stomach's gone, just getting like an hour reset
30:24
sometimes can be good. So you need to find a balance of
30:27
like, what can my stomach can my runner digest in their stomach?
30:31
That's not going to make them puke or not going to make them
30:34
like get an upset stomach, but that's going to keep the
30:36
calories flowing. And so I mean, honestly, just
30:39
offering different kinds of food, like suggesting, oh, you
30:42
haven't had a salty chip in a while, This salty chip sound
30:44
good to you? Nah, it doesn't had this, this
30:48
gel, this gel that you've been liking, Do you want that?
30:50
Like, yeah, I could probably slip that down my throat quick.
30:53
So just experimenting and just making sure that they're still
30:56
getting calories is going to keep them moving forward.
30:59
Also, caffeine I think is another thing that's definitely
31:02
helpful. It'll help, I think help keep
31:04
their brain a little bit together and help, you know,
31:07
their legs and their energy, their perceived exertion feel a
31:09
little bit lower. And so reminding them to take
31:12
caffeine if they haven't taken it as well, that is going to be
31:15
super helpful. So that's like, as far as like
31:20
taking care of them, taking care of their needs, That's pretty
31:22
much what you got to do to be a good pacer.
31:25
Another thing that that you have to do navigating so like on a on
31:29
a trail like yesterday, a four mile loop, Kevin hadn't run it
31:34
ran it 13 times before I got there.
31:36
He knew where to go no navigation needed.
31:39
But on a trail, if you're in the mountains especially, or any
31:42
kind of trail as a pacer, you got to make sure that they don't
31:45
go down any wrong turns. Because when you're in that pain
31:49
cave and you go down like even if it's just 50 feet, you're
31:53
like, ah, or like, you know, if it's .1 miles or .5 miles, like
31:56
a mile, like it can be devastating.
31:59
And so you got to keep your hunter on track for their mental
32:02
and for obviously like keeping them at the lowest mile that
32:05
they have to run to get it done. So I would always, if you're
32:09
pacing, have AGPS on GPX file on your watch and then have your
32:13
phone out whatever offline map that you use, make sure you have
32:17
the, the race course on your, your phone and you have that
32:21
before the big turns. You know, in the mountains,
32:23
there's not too many turns. So like make sure you, you do
32:26
not miss a big turn because that can be detrimental and your
32:30
runner will not be happy with you.
32:32
So that's another thing that that, and I also can kind of
32:36
keep the, the momentum going, right?
32:37
Like little things that even if you have to, you know, go, go on
32:41
a trail, look at a sign like, oh, where am I going yet?
32:44
Like that stuff. We just need, hey, left here,
32:47
left here, don't even stop, just take a left.
32:49
That's what you got to do as a pacer.
32:51
So that's kind of like keeping them moving and keeping their
32:56
momentum. Mulling's another thing I'll
32:59
talk about quick. So like I said, in these races,
33:02
you're not allowed usually to carry anything for your racer.
33:05
They have to carry everything that they're going to drink, eat
33:08
or use. Now you can mix a drink for them
33:10
or take out their thing, their clothes or or whatever, but they
33:14
actually have to be moving that along the course for it to
33:18
count. But for an FKT effort, a
33:21
supported FKT effort, which is kind of those are getting like
33:25
very racy and very lots of effort of going into those you
33:29
can mule. So if you're doing like an FKT
33:32
anywhere and it's supported and you want to get a faster time, I
33:36
would plan about mulling most of a runner stuff.
33:39
Now, one water bottle, a couple snacks, that's fine.
33:43
But if you have a long sections to go on a trail, like if you're
33:45
out there for three or four hours, you're carrying a lot of
33:47
food and that is weight, especially the water.
33:50
Water weighs the most. Give me the water, give me
33:53
everything. Holy smokes, you got three, you
33:56
know, jackets in your vest. Give me those jackets.
33:58
I'm going to carry everything because obviously they're not
34:01
running as fast, like they're running slower, so it's easier
34:04
for you. So you should be mule in their
34:06
gear on a supported FKT effort. So always offer.
34:10
Some people are like hesitant. They don't want you to feel
34:12
pressured to, but if you feel like you can do it and you can
34:15
keep up with them, offered a mule, but not during races.
34:20
So I think that's all, all the things that you got to do to be
34:23
a good pacer, you know, for those kinds of things.
34:28
But another thing I want to talk about was pretty much the
34:32
motivation, the keeping the runner going forward, pushing
34:37
them a little bit, but not too much.
34:40
I think there are different, Everyone's going to have a
34:43
different style of like what works good for them, like tough
34:46
love versus soft love or whatever.
34:49
But I think all around keeping the enthusiasm high is just
34:54
going to be like good vibes. You got to get good vibes yeah,
34:59
you don't want to be negative as a pacer.
35:01
Here's some things do not ever do do not ever complain yourself
35:05
like Oh my ex hurts or oh I'm tired or oh, because all these
35:10
things you one you should you should not be complaining.
35:13
They have been running for X amount longer.
35:15
So don't complain about all this core this.
35:17
You know I don't like this or I'm feeling bad.
35:20
Never say anything about you. It's always the runner.
35:23
They're in so much more pain for you.
35:25
You do not complain, you keep no matter how bad you're hurting,
35:29
you keep your chin up high and you say nothing because that
35:32
would be something like if a runner was like, oh, I'm tired
35:34
of every like, I would be like, shut up.
35:37
Like OK, so no complaining. Don't ever comment on like how
35:43
they look. If they look bad.
35:45
Yeah, if they look bad. If they look good, say look
35:46
good. If you look bad, say look good.
35:48
Do not ever say, Oh yeah, you slowed down a little bit here.
35:52
Oh, you're behind your paces. Like do not mention any of that
35:55
things always. You're looking good.
35:58
Keep it going. They're like supportive positive
36:01
reinforcement. I don't think any of that other
36:02
stuff will work for for anybody. Maybe it will, I don't know.
36:06
But always keep it positive. And then pushing your runner.
36:14
There's like a fine line of in an ultra, you don't want to go
36:19
out too hard because you'll blow up in the end will stink.
36:22
There's a fine line of like pushing to discomfort, but not
36:26
so much that you are going to destroy your body.
36:29
So like last night when I was when I was with Kevin, he was
36:33
doing kind of like a run walk. And he when I first got there,
36:36
he was, he was good. He was more fresh and he was
36:39
kind of setting the pace. But as the night progressed, I
36:43
would start when we were doing a walk section, I would start
36:47
jogging when I felt like, all right, let's get him jogging
36:49
again here. And then he would kind of jog
36:51
with me and then he would stop when he was done jogging, I
36:54
would and I would kind of stop. And so like I feel like it was a
36:57
subtle and then maybe the next time he started running on his
36:59
own and I didn't. So it's a subtle like I'm going
37:01
to push you a little bit. And I think he understands too,
37:04
Like I'm trying to get him to go here.
37:07
Like, hey, we got to run. We've been walking for a little
37:09
bit, Let's pick it up because his body does not want to do
37:12
that. But he understand, like when he
37:13
gets that little push, he's going to do it.
37:16
But you don't want to do it too much to where a runner's like,
37:19
hey, you know, stop. Like you don't really ever want
37:22
a runner to have to tell you like, hey, we're doing like that
37:26
just means that you're not kind of reading the situation as good
37:29
as you could be. So that's kind of one way to
37:31
like keep them pushing, but not overdo it.
37:34
Just little nudges here and there.
37:35
And then when you do the nudges, like crush it, like moving
37:38
miles, Let's get it, you know, little motivational stuff.
37:41
You got some quotes dropping. If you got some jokes, drop
37:43
them, but that's how I go about it now.
37:47
Some people will say, hey, I want to run X pace, I will run X
37:50
pace, you lead, I'll follow you, boom, perfect.
37:54
And then you got it. Get a pace on your watch going
37:56
and you just hold it there and that works too.
38:00
And then some people like to lead, like usually when I'm
38:02
running ultras, if I'm feeling good, I do like to lead a little
38:05
bit as long as I'm moving well. And so it all depends.
38:09
Just like good communication with your running runner
38:11
beforehand and during the race is always going to help.
38:14
And then another thing about like overall vibes in these
38:20
events, people are going to hurt.
38:22
They're going to feel like crap, like it's going to get super
38:25
hard for them. And if you've run ultras, you
38:28
know, you know what that feels like.
38:30
Sometimes people just need some quiet.
38:33
And so some people like, you know, hey, I, some people like
38:37
to talk the whole time. It distracts them.
38:38
Some people like you to just talk and tell stories about X or
38:41
whatever. And then some people, sometimes
38:43
you just need some silence. So I can definitely be in all
38:46
three of those moods while I'm running.
38:49
And you know, runners can be in all three of those moods while
38:51
they're out there, while you're pacing somebody.
38:54
So trying to just like read like how they're feeling if they're
38:58
getting short, little less talking, a little more grinding,
39:01
like no one is ever, don't ever feel like you're going to have
39:05
an awkward silence because usually if people are quiet,
39:08
they're just really hurting and they're not thinking, they are
39:11
just thinking about one step forward at a time.
39:13
And so if silence is like helping them roll with the
39:16
silence. So, and again, this is more like
39:19
you can communicate this too. It's really good if you
39:21
communicate everything with somebody before you pace them.
39:25
That is like the best thing. Or if you run with them a bunch
39:29
that you don't even need to do that.
39:30
You kind of know how they how they how they run.
39:32
So that's kind of like the the keeping the vibes up.
39:35
And then I guess one other thing that that I've done in the past
39:38
that I think is kind of like a no, no, but I actually don't
39:41
know. So maybe if you have like
39:42
comments in the OR if you have any opinions, comment them.
39:45
But I think a no no is like touching your runner on the
39:51
trail is a no, no. And so here's here's a
39:54
situation. I remember the first time I
39:56
paced somebody like I said this, this woman was vomiting every
40:00
two miles. And when when it first happened,
40:03
This is the first time I was pacing everybody.
40:06
She ran a 19 hour, 100 mile. She was the first winner at
40:09
Ghost Train when I paced her. So she was a crusher and it was
40:12
my first experience pacing somebody in something like that.
40:16
And the first time she puked, I remember she gets up and she
40:19
wipes it, she wipes her, her her face and then she keeps moving
40:23
like robotic behavior. I was like, Oh my God, this is I
40:26
need to be tougher. And she did that for a long
40:29
time. But there were a couple times
40:30
where she was just puking for so long and I didn't know, like I
40:33
didn't know this woman. So I was like, I don't know.
40:36
And I think I ended up just like Pat or rubbing her back just
40:38
like a little bit, just like trying to like, you know, make
40:42
them feel better. And I don't know, I think back
40:45
about it like I'm sure she might not even have felt it, but maybe
40:48
she didn't was like, hey, I don't really know, get your
40:50
hands off me. But I didn't want to just like
40:52
stare there and just like stare at a stranger and just be like
40:54
as they're puking like feeling horrible.
40:56
I want to try to like console them a little bit.
40:59
So, but for me personally, I think if I am in that situation,
41:02
like no matter how I'm feeling, if I'm, if I'm banged up from
41:06
not moving, I don't want like anyone like, you know, hey, it's
41:09
OK or whatever. Like I don't want any of that.
41:11
Like that does not help me at all.
41:13
I just need to keep moving. And so that's something like
41:17
kind of, I don't know. And that's another like your
41:20
relationship with the runner. If you don't know someone,
41:22
you're pacing someone for the first time, or if it's your best
41:24
friend, like read the room, read the situation and just try to
41:27
like match their energy in a slightly positive, more more
41:32
positive manner. I would say that's like the key,
41:35
like keeping a good, you know, vibe for the run.
41:39
And the other thing too, like like I said, touched on the
41:42
silence, like when I first got into it, you see these like
41:44
people hallucinating, like making jokes, being goofy on the
41:47
trail, like on Instagram or whatever.
41:49
But it doesn't have to be like that.
41:52
You like, you don't have to be cracking jokes all the time.
41:54
You don't have to be like, oh, this is awesome.
41:55
Like I love hurting. Like if it sucks sometimes, just
41:59
let it suck. Let it suck for the runner.
42:01
That's just what it is. That's what they signed up for.
42:05
And and yeah, just roll with it and be like, hey, just get
42:09
through it, you know, remind them, hey, everyone feels like
42:12
this. Everyone else feels like this.
42:15
You're in that pain cave. Just stay in that pocket.
42:19
Don't, don't lose focus. Just stay in that pocket and
42:22
you'll get through it. And yeah, that is pretty much
42:27
those are those are all of my tips on how to be a good pacer.
42:34
And yeah, I think pacing is a really, it's a cool activity.
42:37
Like I said, it kind of like gives you that inspiration.
42:40
And if you haven't done it, I think it helps you as a runner
42:44
know what you need from a pacer and how to communicate from
42:47
that, how to communicate that to a pacer in the future.
42:51
And so I think seeing an ultra from all aspects is, is very
42:56
important and will help you run ultra marathons, running ultras,
43:00
obviously pacing somebody in ultra is going to help you run
43:03
an ultra. Crewing someone in an ultra is
43:05
going to help you crew volunteering at an ultra is
43:09
going to help like seeing all of these things spectator, you
43:13
should do all of these things. If you're, you know, you're
43:15
going to pull little bits of insight and information from all
43:18
these things, it's going to help you and it will just inspire you
43:21
to get out to these events. It's cool.
43:24
There's a ton of cool people that do them.
43:26
And so you meet a bunch of people out there and it's just a
43:28
good time. So if you haven't paced
43:31
somebody, if you haven't volunteered in an ultra, but
43:34
you've been running them, I suggest you get out there and do
43:37
it. So that was the hamster wheel
43:40
recap, that was the pacing recap.
43:43
And so we'll hit on some of these other topics now, the
43:47
Javelina 100. So this is a golden ticket race
43:50
in the Western states. Very big race, very fast race, a
43:55
fast course and lots of people have gone out and run this.
43:59
Tara Dauer and Will Murray break the course records by 1/2 hour
44:04
each, about 1/2 hour each. That is just next level insane.
44:10
People are getting so fast in these ultras.
44:13
I think the training, the fueling, the pushing, it is all
44:18
getting like absolutely next level and people are going like
44:22
to run these super competitive ultra marathons.
44:25
You cannot save it for the back half.
44:28
Like you have to go full send if you want to compete for the top.
44:32
And yeah, their performances were just super inspiring
44:37
running that fast. Tara, I mean, Tara Dauer wins by
44:40
one hour. She beat the next woman by by an
44:42
hour in a super competitive field.
44:46
She's just a crusher. And I think it goes to show, so
44:49
obviously everyone knows Tara Dauer just takes the ultra seen
44:53
by storm these last few years, the overall ATFKT, the overall
44:58
Long Trail FKT, just an absolute crusher.
45:01
She's DNF twice this year and she's talked about it like DNFS
45:07
happen, they do happen. And she is somebody who pushes
45:11
to the absolute end. And I think it's a good lesson.
45:16
Like, hey, sometimes in these races you're going to swing and
45:19
miss, especially when you're pushing that hard.
45:21
But don't stop swinging, right? You miss all the shots you don't
45:26
take. She comes out, she swings hard
45:28
again and she sets a massive court record at the heavily in
45:32
100. She's going to get a go at
45:34
Western States again next year and yeah, we'll see what she
45:38
does and Will Murray again just in insane performance. 12 hours
45:42
and 10 minutes. That is a 7 something minute
45:45
pace for 100 miles with like 6000 feet of climbing like that.
45:50
That is just absolutely insane. So they have incredible efforts
45:54
there. And like I said, the sport's
45:56
getting super fast. I think it's getting, it's
45:59
getting much more popular. Like even this weekend, there
46:02
are so many people that I feel like 5-10 years ago were not
46:05
running ultra marathons. I think trail running, the ultra
46:09
scene, it's all blowing up. It's going to continue to get
46:13
blow up. It's going to get more press,
46:15
more money coming into the the sport.
46:17
So it's cool to see. And yeah, people are pushing the
46:21
limits, just getting faster and faster every year.
46:24
It is, it is insane. OK, Next up, 20 hikers get
46:31
rescued off of Mount Washington. Like this happened like a week
46:35
or a week, 1/2 week and a half ago, one of those cold days.
46:41
And I think this was one of the biggest like rescue missions
46:44
they'd have to do, or at least the biggest group of hikers that
46:47
they that they've had to do every even every summer and
46:52
every spring, every fall, there's people that have to get
46:56
rescued off mountains in the Whites.
46:59
And you know, this just happened to be a big one.
47:02
So let's talk about like unprepared hikers, tourists.
47:07
I think the White Mountains are getting extremely popular.
47:12
They are more visited than Yellowstone.
47:14
There's a ton of people in New England, you know, hiking the
47:17
48, the list. Everything is getting so popular
47:20
online. Like social media is going crazy
47:22
right now. Like everyone is doing them.
47:24
And so I think it puts out this image of what it's like to hike
47:30
in the White Mountains. People are only posting the
47:33
nicest clips. Oh, it looks so nice.
47:35
These views are amazing. It's sunny, it's clear, it's
47:38
beautiful. And a lot of people just
47:41
underestimate these mountains and just don't know how intense
47:45
the weather is up there. I think it's the easiest to do
47:49
in the summer where it's 70° six.
47:53
It could be 60 and 70° in Lincoln, NH, beautiful sunny day
47:57
and it could be 30s wind chill on Lincoln and Lafayette, one of
48:02
the most popular hikes. And so I think people, they
48:05
don't understand the difference. Once you get up two or 3000 feet
48:10
higher than you are down low, the weather is insane above tree
48:14
line, right? Like wind, wind is in.
48:17
Wind is scary when you're above tree line, especially in the
48:21
presidentials. Relentless wind is a very
48:28
underestimated element. Everyone can look at the temps,
48:34
but when you're just getting wind blasted, sometimes they use
48:39
the word wind blanked. Won't say it on here but when
48:44
you're getting wind blasted it is relentless and if you are
48:48
you're not getting below tree line soon.
48:50
It can freeze you to the bone quick.
48:53
And so I think wind chills are very much not understood by,
48:58
like, you know, your casual person just looking at a view on
49:01
a hike and then how quickly the weather can change.
49:05
Mount Washington is one of the worst weather areas in the
49:08
world. That is not, I think, the
49:10
highest recorded temperature, the highest recorded wind speed,
49:13
lowest recorded temperature. That may be wrong, but I know
49:15
the wind speed is on Mount Washington.
49:18
Something about the weather and pattern of the Whites basically
49:21
brings all the fronts right on the Mount Washington.
49:24
And it can happen quick. If you don't like the weather on
49:26
Washington, wait an hour. It happens quick.
49:29
And so I think those two facts leave hikers very much
49:35
unprepared. And so like, what is there to do
49:40
about that? Obviously, education is like
49:42
very much important online. I think there's lots of
49:45
education, you know, trailheads, there's always, you know, on the
49:49
busy trailheads at the busy mountains, there's always Forest
49:53
Service people kind of spreading the information.
49:57
But I think it really is just like unknowing and understanding
50:01
how insane these mountains are to like a casual hiker that
50:05
thinks, oh, I'm just going to go hike today.
50:07
That is like probably the number one thing that that will help
50:11
people. And so it's a tough one.
50:14
Like I think how you know, you don't want to tell these
50:17
tourists to stop hiking, but you also need to make sure that
50:22
they're fully informed. Like you can say words to them,
50:25
but they don't know what 0° wind chill feels like.
50:29
They don't know what 20° wind chill feels like in a long
50:32
sleeve shirt and cotton, right? So I think it's hard and like
50:35
you can't look at somebody like everyone has seen people on the
50:39
trail that are thinking like this person is in for a long
50:42
day, like they do not have what they need up there.
50:44
It was freezing and my, my usual strategy.
50:48
It may not be the best, but I was just say like, you know,
50:52
have. I always try to, sometimes I
50:54
just say have fun, like have a good day.
50:56
I never am Like the mom on the trailer was like, hey, did you
50:59
know XYZ? Maybe that's a bad, bad thing.
51:03
Maybe I should be more like that.
51:04
But I don't. I just try to keep the
51:07
positivity out because I think that can help people if they get
51:09
in a bad situation, like, hey, yeah, it's a great day up there
51:12
or whatever. But yeah, it's a hard line
51:16
between seeing these people that are just under prepared and like
51:21
telling them, hey, you know, you can't just tell them, hey, you
51:24
got to go back. And sometimes they don't even
51:27
get seen by people, right? Because, because sometimes too,
51:29
people look at me and I'm sure running like he doesn't have
51:32
enough stuff on him, but I don't know, I, I think everyone has
51:38
their own mindset of like what keeps them safe and, and taking
51:41
their own risk. Like I think every time you go
51:43
into the mountains, you are taking a risk and you have to
51:47
manage, acknowledge, manage and mitigate risk as you see fit.
51:52
And I think just, yeah, educating people is probably the
51:55
best that you can do, but the best educating for what you
51:58
know, 2020° wind chill feels like in the summer is feeling it
52:04
themselves. So yeah, obviously people are
52:08
always going to go out, people are always going to need rescue,
52:12
getting rescue. But luckily this one, I think
52:14
everyone got down on the cogs. So that was like very
52:16
successful. That's like an easy, you don't
52:18
have to get people lugged off the mountain.
52:20
But something to think about in the fall with the foliage season
52:24
coming, the shoulder season coming on these fringe spring
52:27
and fall seasons, be careful when you go out in the lights.
52:31
If you're not experienced, take more than you think always,
52:35
because time and feeling that kind of exposure is just going
52:39
to be the one, the one teacher. So if you don't have that, be
52:42
more prepared than less prepared.
52:45
But I encourage everyone to still get out.
52:48
I think lots of these popular hikes now are very popular.
52:51
So there's always people on trail.
52:54
If you're hiking the 4000 footers on the weekends, it's
52:57
very rare you're not going to see somebody unless you get a
53:00
really late start or something. So yeah, take your own risk.
53:06
And if if something goes wrong, there's probably going to be
53:10
people out there. But shout out to the search and
53:13
rescue volunteers out there. Like those guys, I mean, put
53:17
themselves at risk in some of these scary situations like over
53:19
the winter. That's like a different
53:20
ballpark. But so shout out to them,
53:23
support them as as much as you can.
53:26
And yeah, just pass along information.
53:29
If people that aren't used to hiking or asking you about
53:31
hiking or they see like a lot of people that I know that don't
53:35
hike a lot are always asking about it.
53:36
Just make sure you convey to them it is, it is a different
53:42
space when you're 4000 feet up on a mountain.
53:46
So that was the the hikers being prepared.
53:51
Yeah, those are my thoughts there and yeah, you never.
53:56
Another thing we can touch on quick as I pull up these results
54:00
here for the blackout is hike Safecard.
54:05
So this is a lot of people may not know this.
54:10
If you're if you're a hiker, you do know this, but a hike safe
54:13
card is required if you get rescued in the state of New
54:16
Hampshire and you need search and rescue to come.
54:18
If God forbid you need a helicopter evacuation, you are
54:24
liable to pay for those expenses.
54:26
If you don't have a hike safe card or you don't have a a
54:29
fishing game, hunting and fishing license.
54:33
If you do not have those things, then you can get stuck with
54:37
these expenses. And this can be if you have to
54:40
do a helicopter ride, this can be $10,000.
54:44
And so anytime you go in the mountains, it is recommended get
54:48
a hike safe card. And also, I don't know how this
54:53
plays into the hike safe card, but there are 10 essential
54:57
items. I do not know them offhand, but
55:01
look up the 10 essential items and always bring those when
55:06
you're getting out in the mountains.
55:09
Have your hike safeguard and just make smart decisions.
55:13
I think conditions, they can always be a little bit worse or
55:16
better than you expected, but I think the biggest thing to
55:19
mitigate the risk like I was talking about is making smart
55:22
decisions out there. Do not do something you're not
55:24
comfortable with. Stay within your realm of
55:29
experience and you'll be all good.
55:32
Outside of that, enjoy. Okay the last topic I just
55:39
wanted to run on briefly. This was run last night, the
55:42
blackout 5K10K race, North Conway run the whites.
55:47
I think it's Cranmore Mountain. You go up and down twice for the
55:49
10K, once for the 5K, and it occurred last night.
55:53
So we'll just rattle off the top 3 here for the 10K.
55:57
Pierre Pennoyer, Crusher, absolute crusher.
56:01
He's been crushing mountains for a while.
56:04
He comes in 1st 53 minutes flat smoking time.
56:08
Second Steven Young, he comes 56 and change.
56:12
And then third, Benjamin Lane, he comes in 5820.
56:16
Yeah. So Pierre wins by three, 3
56:19
minutes. That is a blazing time.
56:20
I don't know what the course record is, but that's blazing.
56:23
Lots of fast times. So seven people at like an 8
56:26
people at like an hour, a little bit under at that race.
56:31
So that is super cool. The winner for the female, so
56:33
the female race, Nicole Faschetti, she runs one O 5.
56:37
Mackenzie Wesson runs one O 6. And then Kendall Gray in third
56:43
runs 113. So that was the women's race
56:47
there. So yeah, lots of people came out
56:49
for that race, 5052 total people.
56:53
So that's always a fast one. There's been some fast people
56:55
running that race. I think Jordan Fields has a top
56:57
time in that. Kempson's been on that race,
56:59
Pierre's been on a bunch. So there's been some some super
57:02
fast times at that race. I think the 10K is the more
57:07
popular 1. So I think that's like 6.4 ish
57:10
miles with like 2200 feet of climbing on ski trails.
57:15
So it's pretty fast, but in the dark.
57:18
So we'll rattle off the 5K results and then I'll do touch
57:21
just quick about the running in the dark.
57:23
So 5 KJP Kroll comes in 1st 2850.
57:27
Thatcher Brown, 13 year old, holy smokes, is that right?
57:32
Thirteen years old comes 3125 and then Matthew Edwards comes
57:37
3224. So that's the top three for the
57:40
men's and then females. Sylvia Brown, 10 years old wins
57:46
it 3456. Holy smokes, 10 in crushing.
57:52
That is awesome. Abby Fox in 2nd 35 O 5 and then
57:57
Jennifer Johnson 3625. So that was the 5K and this
58:03
event is cool. So there's obviously some kind
58:06
of 10K ish. You know, you have loon, you
58:10
have the Sun of Peace scramble, you have some of these shorter
58:13
races on on ski slopes. Loon.
58:15
Yeah, like I said, loon Canon, the circus series went to Canon
58:18
this year. You have some of these up downs,
58:20
but this is an up down, obviously blackout in the dark.
58:23
So they start at like sunset when it's getting dark out and
58:28
it adds a good element to the race.
58:31
I think the uphill pretty much is going to be similar.
58:36
I don't think running in the dark is that much slower going
58:41
uphill. I think as it gets technical it
58:43
can get slower. But on ski slope, well marked
58:46
trails, I don't think there's too much of AI.
58:48
Think kids kind of like a cool atmosphere.
58:50
But coming downhill in the dark is a doozy, especially on a fast
58:55
a fast course and a shorter race.
58:57
So if it's if it's really technical and it's dark, you're
59:00
probably moving slower. If you're running an ultra, it's
59:02
dark, you're probably moving slower.
59:04
But in a fast ski slope, a downhill, you are flying into
59:10
the abyss. I think there was a Strava
59:12
segment that is like blackout into the abyss.
59:15
If you have a headlamp, you'll want a good headlamp obviously
59:18
that shines a light out as far as you can.
59:21
But then also I think for these races a waste lamp is a huge
59:25
game changer. Last night at Hamster Wheel I
59:27
saw a bunch of people rocking the waste lamp.
59:29
Ultra Spire is usually the the big go to there a lot of people
59:33
rocking those. They help a ton.
59:36
Like having two sources of light.
59:37
You just get two different streams of like perception on a
59:40
trail. So it just helps you see the
59:42
trail better. But when you're flying down at 6
59:47
minutes, 7876, even quicker minute paces.
59:52
You you just can't you, you don't have a light.
59:54
I mean, people aren't wearing a massive like a miner's
59:57
headlight. You don't have a light that goes
59:59
far enough. So there's a bit of risk in
1:00:01
that, in that bomb downhill. So you just got to kind of lean
1:00:05
forward and if you're really going for it, hope that you get
1:00:09
that you stick the footing and nothing goes wrong.
1:00:11
But I think on the ski slopes it is.
1:00:15
It's lesser of a chance that you get a big, big ankle roll or
1:00:18
something like that. So, but all right, we just had
1:00:22
now a mark. That is all I have for today.
1:00:24
So a little bit of pacing talk. It's an ultra event and then one
1:00:29
of the last trail races, the blackout 5K10K in the whites for
1:00:33
this season. So fall is upon us.
1:00:36
O deer season update. No deer.
1:00:39
That's the that's the update. We go again next week, but
1:00:44
that's all I got Yeah, we're we're in November now.
1:00:46
That is insane. Time is just absolutely flying
1:00:49
by. We're in November.
1:00:52
Holidays are coming up, but it is a good time to this is a good
1:00:57
time, I think to switch to roads a little bit.
1:00:59
If you're a Turkey Trot enthusiast, maybe jump into a
1:01:03
Turkey Trot this year, start working on that speed.
1:01:06
Like this is a good time. The trail, the ultra season,
1:01:09
it's getting icy up north. Now is a good time to like, hey,
1:01:13
maybe maybe I'll throw a little speed effort in there.
1:01:16
Maybe do a 5K, maybe do a marathon, 1/2 marathon build
1:01:18
this fall. Because locally, I mean, the
1:01:21
trails Southern New Hampshire, Massachusetts, like are still
1:01:25
obviously not icy and really good running.
1:01:28
So it's a little bit leafy out here.
1:01:30
So trail efforts are still a little bit meh.
1:01:32
But yeah, right now is a good time to throw down like a fast
1:01:36
Rd. effort. So if if the trail season is
1:01:39
wrapping up for you, coming to an end, mixing a little Rd.
1:01:42
stuff, it's a good time for it. But that's all I got another Run
1:01:49
Mountain Peaks podcast down episode 8.
1:01:52
If you made it this far, holy smokes.
1:01:54
Appreciate you. Hopefully you guys are enjoying
1:01:58
and we'll see you next time. Peace.