Today I skipped out on work and volunteered at an aid station for the Bear 100, our local ultra trail race. I was at the Fish Haven Road aid station, which is near Mile 34. I left Logan at 10AM and started setting up a little after 11AM (it's a long drive). It was just me and two ham radio guys from Bear Lake, who turned out to be pretty cool. Karl Meltzer came roaring through at around 12:15 PM. I've gone through marathon aid stations slower than he went through this one. Probably 3 seconds between check in and check out. He is trying to break the course record. Best of luck to him. He must be around Mile 75 by now (9PM). Running the aid station was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot. It was painfully obvious at times that I was a rookie, but hopefully I will do it again next year with a year under my belt and be more polished and have more of the "little things" right. It was enlightening to be on the "other side" of a race and serve rather than take. I will definitely never get mad a volunteer ever again, that's for sure. What a neat experience, I hope to do more of it. Toward the end of the day, when there were only 4 runners left to go through our checkpoint, I started doing little mini-runs to get my miles in. I ran the course backward on Old Logan Road until I saw the next runner, then I would run back to aid station before they got there. After 3 times of doing that, I had 6 miles in. The last runner had dropped out, so we didn't have to wait any longer, and it was time to pack up, at around 6 PM. After packing the car, I did a little out-and-back down Fish Haver Road, which is a nice dirt road that goes to Bear Lake. I caught some really nice vistas of the lake. The aspen are peaked, and it was a wonderful, glorious day to be outside in God's creation. Definitely lifted my spirits. I love fall. (Hardrock: 89 miles)
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