Rocky Raccoon Aid Station Volunteer

I just got back in town from volunteering at the Rocky Raccoon 100. This was my original target race, so it was strange going down there and not running. But volunteering at the aid station was almost as much fun as running the race itself!

My best friend, Nathan McMartin, met me in Huntsville on Friday night and we camped out in the state park where the race is held. We camped next to Chris Lubert and Matt Crownover who were both running the race. We built a nice campfire and chatted with the guys until turning in around 11ish.

Nate and I woke at 4:45 and made our way out to the Dam Road Aid Station where we worked for the next 12 hours. I had never worked an ultra aid station and it was a surreal experience to say the least. I ran the hydration table while Nate worked the drop bags. We were at the busiest aid station in the race because the runners past our station twice each loop. Lynn Ballard was our aid station captain. He is an experienced ultra runner and ran a great aid station. We took great pride in making sure the runners were well taken care of. We gently nudged the guys and gals out of the aid station who were lingering around around too long and helped out the folks who had to drop from the race due to injury.

It's amazing to see how good someone looks early in a race and how awful they look later that day. We were out there 12 hours so we saw a complete transformation of some people. I remember the guy who had a complete dead look in his eyes as he staggered out of the aid station and how good he looked just 4 hours before! Nate had to dodge projectile vommit from a lady who was suffering pretty badly. I saw some badly blistered feet, lots of folks were bleeding after taking some nice falls, and I saw quite a few people puke. But for all of that suffering, everyone just dealt with it and kept moving. It was quite inspiring.

There was a guy there who weighed at least 300 pounds. I saw him last year when I ran the 50 mile race. I talked to the guy this year and this is his 5 year in a row to do this race! He walks the entire course and it takes him a long time, but he finishes every year! He just blew me away!

After our shift was over, we went back to our campsite and had a nice dinner and a few beers. We congratulated Matt Crownover on finishing the 50 mile course in under 8 hours! He had an amazing run! He is running the Western States this year as well, so we will be doing some training together. He is a much more talented runner than I am and he has given me some great advice. Our other campsite mate, Chris Lubert was still on the course but we found out the next morning that he had done the 100 mile race in 21 hours. That is an incredible time -- and it was his first 100 mile race!

Volunteering at the race was a really fulfilling thing for me. It fealt great to finally give a little back to this sport that I love so much. I wanted to help those runners so badly. Especially the folks who were suffering so much. We ran into an older guy later that night, who was just begging for someone to pace him for a loop. I would have done it if I could have. In fact, the 8 beers I had drank at that point actually made me think that I could do it without further injuring my IT Band. But common sense (and my buddy Nate) made me realize that it would be foolish to do that - no matter how bad I wanted to help the guy. So I went to bed instead.

This morning we packed up and I headed back to Dallas. As I was leaving, I was watching those few runners who were still on the course and would be finishing shortly. I could not imagine what they were feeling after running for over 26 hours. I'll be in their shoes (God willing) in 4 1/2 months and then I'll know what it's like. I've got a lot of work to do before that time.