Crewing Emily at VT100

Such a fun weekend at VT100! 

But first, a quick wrap-up of the rest of the week, and the adorable baby fox that joined the two adults out back on Monday evening 😍 Adorable!

Took a walk on Tuesday morning before heading into the office. Foggy with a side of deer flies and a few wood lilies in bloom. (2.75 miles walked)

Wednesday, we got out for an after dinner walk. A bit of spitting rain to start and muggy at the end. (2.6 miles walked)

I had taken Thursday off to get all the regular errands done and get ready for our VT trip. Got out for a mid-morning walk on the powerlines. Toasty, but a trifecta of berries plus a few beautiful monarchs on the milkweed! (3.0 miles walked)

Friday, I got out for a quick walk around the block for a bit of movement before we headed down to Portland to pick Emily up and drive to VT. Beautiful out. (2.0 miles walked)

After lunch at the South Woodstcock Country Store, we drove to Silver Hill to check in. A gorgeous blue sky day!

Then it was off to the Air BnB to meet Emily's parents and settle in. After an early dinner of pizza, we all headed to bed early, as the alarms were going off bright and early!

Race day dawned crisp and clear, with temps in the high 50s and no real humidity. Lovely weather for a 100 mile run! 😊

We watched the runners take off into the darkness, a line of headlamps snaking down the hill, and then as we were waiting in the tent for some of the traffice to die down, a runner ran in, about 10 minutes late, looking a bit frazzled! I helped him pin his number on and we walked him over to the start, calmly telling him he had plenty of time to catch up and not to rush. Guess it was good we had decided to hang out for a bit!

Then we headed back to the house to pack up the car and enjoyed the sun rising over the hill before heading out for the rest of the day. 

From there, we headed to the first crew stop, Pretty House, where there is indeed a very pretty house, with a lovely garden! We set up and watched runners as they came in, and then Emily  was in view, looked great coming through, nice and steady. We got her set with new bottles and fuel and off she went.

En route to crew stop #2, we made the requisite stop at Teago Country Store for breakfast sandwiches. Yum! Out at Stage Road, we saw Nick, and our AT friend Beantown, who we saw the last time several yeras ago back at Lincoln Covered Bridge when he ran the race! Always fun to see friends 😊 It was definitely warming up and we put the ice bandana around her neck to keep her cool, but once again, Emily looked great and after a quick stop, she headed on down the road. 

From there, it was off to get lunch at the Woodstock Farmers Market and then to Lincoln Covered Bridge for an hour or so to help at the TMR aid station. Always fun to see friends and get to chat with and help the runners on their way through! But our stop was short and sweet, as Emily came through quickly and once again, looked great, so we didn't stay long. 

Next stop was Camp 10 Bear. We found a great spot in the shade and relaxed a bit, chatting with other crews for a while before Emily came through, right on time. She was doing amazing, very calm and collected and looking strong. 

After a quick stop to get gas and some water at a convenience store, we headed up to Margaritaville, where we had shade and service enough to get out a few updates. While we waited in the shade along the road, we ran into Niki, Russ's wife, and it was fun to chat with her and hear how his race was going. We also saw Coree Woltering and some of his Race to Survive teammates crewing for their runner. We had seen them a few times already, but I finally worked up the courage to say hello 😂😂 They were very cool, but I can't believe I did not get a picture!!! So here is one of us instead 😉

Between Margaritaville and Camp 10 Bear 2, we headed back into Woodstock to pick up some pizza for dinner and then it was quickly back at Camp 10 Bear, we met up with Ian, who would be pacing Emily from mile 70 to 88. She came in right as expected and after a quick stop with a few adjustments to the fueling, off they went!

We made it out to Spirit of 76 before night fell and watched the moon rise over the aid station. Such a cool sight.

A very quick stop there and then it was off to Bill's, where Ryan got himself ready to pace and I ate a snack, drank a cold brew and took some Tums. My stomach was definitely a bit off after so many hours awake and an odd eating schedule, but I felt better after a bit of food and caffeine and perked right up! After a quick wait, in they came, running strong. We knew Emily had a good chance to get under 24 hours by the point, and Ryan said he was planning on them running the final 12 miles in 3 hours. 

The final crew stop was at Polly's and then it was onto the finish! We got there a little before 3:00 am, and headed up into the trees to the finish line. It was fun to chat with Amy as runners came in and to cheer everyone on. Always an exciting place to be 😊 and soon enough it was Emily running up the finsih chute, in with plenty of time to spare before 24 hours and to earn that big belt buckle! So proud of her for running such an amazing strong and steady race. She was a joy to crew, there was no drama, and we had a blast! Congrats, Emily! What a race!! 🎉🎉💗💗

We bundled Emily up in the car and headed back to the house, where she hopped right in the shower and then into bed. Ryan then did the same, and once everyone was in bed, I got clean and into bed too, right aroun 5:15 am, after 27 hours awake and right around the time I'd normally be waking up the day 😂😂

Slept for a few hours and then after sitting around on the couch for a while, finally got antsy and decided to go out for a walk after an early lunch of leftover pizza. The house was right near the AT and in looking at the map, I had decided to walk up the road, connect with the AT and then back around on the road for a nice loop. Ryan decided to join me, which was a nice surprise, as he had technically done his run on Sunday, even if it was like 12 hours prior 😆

After a short walk up the dirt road, we hit the white blazes, right into some overgrown grasses. Classic!

Then the trail came out into a clearing at the top of a field filled with light purple bee balm. It was such a pretty view, and there were many eastern swallowtails and bumblebees flitting about enjoying the blossoms. So lovely.

We arrived down at the paved road crossing much sooner than I had expected, so we decided to cross the street and climb up to the clearing Ryan knew was up the hill from a run on the trail in that area during one of his ski conferences. It was a steep climb, but it felt great to be out in the woods and sweat a bit! I really enjoyed it but Ryan might have been a bit less than enthused 😁😂

The field in the clearing was filled with goldenrod and bee balm. Truly so beautiful! We chatted briefly with a thru-hiker sitting on the bench at the top of the hill and then retraced our steps to the paved road and back to the house. It made me happy to be back on the AT for a short bit, and to get in my own mini adventure during the trip.😊 (2.8 miles walked)

Emily had woken up from nap #2 when we got back and then a bit later, we headed into Woodstock for a delicious very early dinner at The Worthy Kitchen and a maple creemee at an ice cream place in town. I managed to stay up until just 8:00 pm and then it was to bed with me! 

It truly was such a fun weekend, and such an honor to crew Emily at her first 100 mile race! We had a blast, it was great to see friends, cheer on the runners and be a part of her experience! 💗💗Also, I would be remiss if I didn't mention I am also so proud and happy for Ryan, as he is back running and feeling good and was able to pace Emily for 12 miles. I wish I had been able to do some pacing too, but such is life, and regardless, it was a blast. Grateful to have been able to enjoy the weekend with such a fun crew, meeting Emily's parents and see friends doing amazing and crazy things!! 

Meanwhile, at home, Sam had a fun two days with Lauren in Old Orchard Beach, where they hit the beach, the rides and Funtown, and then two days with my parents, where they walked to get gelato, took a walk at Potts Point and enjoyed Fielder's Choice! 😊