From Marathoner, to Official Pacer, to Ultra-Marathoner in 13 hours!

A few months ago, my brother decided that he was going to become an "ultra-marathoner" (someone who runs farther than a marathon-26.2 miles) and he was going to sign-up with one of his friends for the Inaugural Daytona-100 in November.  I told him that I thought that was very noble, but severely crazy.  Then the question came...

"Do you want to be my pacer?"  ...Um...what...repeat that again and explain what a pacer actually is....

  He explained that a "pacer" is someone who is allowed to start running at the 50-mile mark and basically runs with to keep you on "pace" so you 1. stay on target to finish in your goal time 2. motivate you while you run and 3. won't let you quit.  He told me that I would probably ending up running around 30 miles (which isn't that much over a marathon, which I have already done) AND I got a vacation to Florida in November!  Well that didn't sound so horrible or difficult, so I agreed without giving it much thought, printed off my marathon-training log, and started training.

This is where Divine Intervention started to really kick in and I declare this whole run a "popcorn moment" (where God is sitting up in his recliner, eating his popcorn, watching how this whole thing plays out with a mischievous, all-knowing smile on his face).  So I went online to purchase airplane tickets and the tickets were $79 one-way so I quickly asked my husband "Should we make this into a family vacation?"  Well sure, why not?  So we booked the whole family to go to Florida!

(Now watch how this all plays out)

So the time came, the kids did all their homework, we packed our suitcases, and OFF TO FLORIDA!  We went down a few days early so we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom, Daytona 500 Race-track, Joe's Crab Shack, the beach, shopping, the pier, and all the fun tourists things that you are suppose to do while in Florida.

 

Then the day came for the big race.  My brother started off about 90 miles north of Daytona in Jacksonville, FL.  He and his friend started running at 6am on Saturday and his friend's wife and friend were the crew car (the crew has all your supplies that you will need in the race and meets you at every check-point along the way).



My brother and his friend running in the heat around mile 19

 So I rested up that day, laid by the pool with the kids, walked on the beach, and got a big nap in because I was going to START running at about 7pm that night.




Getting my running gear all set and ready right before my brother came around the corner at mile 50

So at 5:30pm, we loaded up our rental car (which is a story in itself-it was suppose to be a cheap, small mini-van but my husband got talked into an upgrade of a brand-new 2015 suburban) loaded the kids up with stuff to do, and met up with the crew car about 35 miles north of our resort that we were staying at.  Right at this point we learned they were only at mile 47, and I was HOPING they would be at least at mile 60...enter nervousness...so we met at exactly mile 50.  I got my running gear all ready, did some stretching, last-minute checks, and then came the runners!  My brother looked good, but his friend was already nursing a strained IT Band so you could tell he was feeling uncomfortable.  So I jumped in at mile 50 and we started running together.  We planned to meet the crew car and also my family at the next stop and then my husband was going to take the kids back to the resort and swim while the crew car stayed with the runners all night...well, that didn't happen.

At the next aid station we met up with the crew, got our water/gel squeezes, and then took off running again but my brother and I started to lose his friend after a few hundred yards. He just couldn't jog anymore with his IT Band and my brother was really stressing because now his friend was behind us, and he felt like he left him behind.  We continued on for a few miles until the next check point where we met the crew, and there beside the crew car was my brother's friend who was suppose to be running behind us!  He had decided he wasn't going to push his IT Band and decided to not finish the race.  Then the crew started putting all of my brother's stuff in our rental suburban.  At first I didn't understand what was going on, and then quickly realized that my husband and kids were now becoming the crew car which meant 4 kids stuck in a car all night, and no swimming at the resort  So my husband quickly ran to the grocery store to stock-up on supplies and snacks.  Then through-out the night he met us every 2-3 miles, refilled our water/electrolyte bottles, got us snacks, gels, Tylenol, new clothes, and entertained 4 small children in a cramped suburban.  But I have to say, the kids were phenomenal.  They played their electronics until they got tired and then all sprawled out over the whole car and slept because of all the activities we had already done in Florida, they were pretty tuckered out. 

This is the 'Crew Car' complete with all the kids

It is almost a surreal experience when you are running at night.  It was pitch-black when I started running so you get your headlamp, your reflector vests, and blinky lights all on and then it is just you, your brother, and the trail/road.  One thing I have to say is some of my best memories with my family in the last decade is when we were running together.  Whether it is in a race, or just a early morning "hollow-leg" run before a holiday meal, or the kids training for their first race.  It is a time where it is just you and your companion, visiting about life, sharing a time together where all the noise of the world dissolves away.  It's a place where you can find solitude, clarity, and a higher purpose.  So that night it was me, my brother, the moon, the crashing of the waves on the surf, and the methodic sound of our footsteps in the middle of nowhere striving and pushing for a goal that neither of us had accomplished before. 

At mile 75 (my 25), my legs started to really cramp up.  Up until that point I had only drank water and then gel squeezes so I started drinking Tailwind to replenish my electrolytes and within 2 minutes I felt a thousand times better and I think that was because God knew what was coming...the dreaded wall was just around the corner....

At mile 78-79, my brother really started breathing hard.  He started almost sighing every 30-45 seconds (mind you it is about 2am).  I thought it was just low energy and we were going to meet my husband at mile 80 which was a big check-point in the course.  The race officials were going to be there with an aid tent stocked-full with almost anything you could need.  So I thought that if we just make it to the next checkpoint then he would be fine.  Well, he wasn't.

My brother had told me up until this point that if I get him to mile 80, then he should be able to make it the rest of the way by himself.  Well when we rounded the corner into that aid station my brother had a defeated look on his face, his energy was shot...and then he sat down.  I let him sit to catch his breath and then he said "I am thinking about quitting".  Now if you don't know my brother he doesn't quit, I don't quit, my family doesn't quit, we are all very competitive.  But after running 80 miles in 120 degree heat index all day, blisters are formed and breaking open, your body is exhausted, your energy depleted, it's 2am and you still have 20 miles to go... your motivation is gone.  I told him that he had already run 80 miles and there was no way I was going to let him quit.  Up until this point we had run without our IPOD's so I told him to put his earbuds in, turn on the music, and lets start moving.  He really didn't argue.  So he got up, put his music on, and off we went with the plan that we just had to meet the crew car 2 miles down the road.  I also put my music on but only in the ear away from my brother so I could monitor his breathing and listen to how he was doing.  From there he did get some life back in him.  He started singing every once-in-a-while to his music and he seemed to settle back into a more relaxed cadence.

When you are running an ultra-marathon you have to take the race in small chunks.  From mile 80 on, we both spent most of our time looking for that blessed suburban that meant a small rest and replenishment.  I periodically asked him how he was doing and if he was injured (my biggest fear is that he was going to strain or pull something like his friend did) but he kept saying that he was tired, sore, but no injuries so I knew I could keep pushing him onward.  At 3 am I was exhausted and needed a break so my husband who had his running stuff on, jumped in to run with my brother for 2 miles while I drove the crew car 2 miles down the road, parked, and rested.  I ate a piece of bread to try to ease off the nausea pains from gel squeezes and electrolytes and tried to recover.  Because in that suburban, at 3 am, I realized that if my brother was going to finish then I was going to have to run the rest of the race with him.  There was absolutely no way that I was going to let him run alone in the dark, wondering whether he would make it to the next check-point or not.  So I turned and looked at my sleeping babies in the car, did another prayer for protection and strength to not only my brother, but for myself and my family that we could get him through this the next 4-5 hours.

At mile 84 we finally made it to Daytona Beach where our resort was that we were staying.  We were about a mile away from it when we met my husband again at another check-point and my brother sat down and slowly took his shoes off.  His socks were wringing wet and he had blisters on both of his feet that were getting extremely painful.  My husband and I just let him sit, we didn't say much, and let him rest.  Up until that point in the race my brother and I had been the one passing other racers.  We ran strong, kept to our plan, and left a lot of other runners behind us.  But while sitting on the grass berm of Daytona, 1 racer finally passed us.  I told my brother to use some band-aids or duct tape to cover his blisters, but neither of them would stick to his wet skin.  Then I remembered a complete saving grace that was sitting in my purse!  I had a large piece of 'new skin' that the doctor had given me for my son a few months back after he broke his arm to prevent any chafing from his cast.  I grabbed it out of my purse, we bandaged him up as best we could,  got him fresh socks, pulled him to his feet, and very slowly started walking down the road.  At this time in the race, my brothers timer would go off where we would walk for 1.5 minutes, then run for 1 minute so you were constantly listening to the beeps as to when to run or walk.  I was really nervous what my brother was going to do when the beep went off signaling us to start running again. But I think he basically was on auto-pilot; when the beep went off, he started jogging.

We ran past our resort to the next check-point and once again my husband ran with my brother so I could change my socks, put Band-Aids on my feet, and regroup until we had to do another stretch of running on the beach where our crew car couldn't go.  The kids were starting to wake up at this time and groggily asking where we were and what time it was.  Too soon my brother and husband ran up to the car and I motivated myself to get out and resume running with my brother.  This was considered the "home stretch" because once on the beach we could finally see the Ponce De Lion Lighthouse that signaled the tail-end of the race (but man, did it seem like it was a long way off still!) For the next few miles we ran together in silence, and watched the sun come up around 6:30 am.  My brother had officially ran for over 24 hours straight.

This is a selfie I took as the sun was rising and we were on the beach running about mile 92.

The kids all woke-up at sunrise and wanted to get out of the suburban so they ran with us on the beach for about a 1/2 mile

 At mile 93 we went past the last aid station, and were in Ponce De Lion community that was a really pretty area with nice trails and even nicer houses.  People were up doing their morning routines: walks with their dogs or on bikes, looking refreshed and ready to greet the new day.   We, on the other hand were panting, soaking wet in sweat, bleeding, and just trying to remain upright to the finish.  At mile 98 we finally made it to the iconic landmark that shows the homestretch...and neither one of us barely took the effort to even look up at it.

 At mile 98.5, we turned off of suburbia and back to the beach.



My brother and I off in the distance powering through while my youngest kids run to catch up to us

 We were both straining to see the finish-line.  Some people that were out walking or riding bike were yelling "almost there", "you can see it", "great job", "keep going" and when I could finally glimpse it, that is where I started to tear up.  The weight of what I had just done finally sunk in.  I had just ran all night with my brother, running farther than I ever thought I could ever go (47 miles), with my loving husband doing whatever was asked of him all night, my babies cooped up in the crew car, being the rock for my brother so he would finish that a few tears ran down my face.  At mile 99.5 I could finally make out my kids, my husband cheering us on, the crowd cheering, and finally that finish line that we spent all night running to cross.  I dropped back a few steps (I had been about a stride ahead or beside my brother the whole time trying to cut the wind for him) and let him lead.  This was his race, this is his moment, and this was his finish-line to cross.



Coming into the finish-line with my brother in the lead

The kids ran up to us and we at 8:22 am in the morning watched my brother complete 100 miles and cross the finish line.

He did it!  He accomplished his goal of running 100 miles and becoming an ultra-marathoner!  The pride I felt towards him was overwhelming.  He had dug deep inside himself and found some way to keep putting one step infront of the other even when every part of his physical body (and even mental) told him to stop.  That right there is a person of value, of character, and that's what champions are made of.

 But in turn....I also did it. I accomplished MY goal of not letting him quit and getting him across that finish line!  From running 47 miles, to my whole family crewing, to the whole 13-hour experience I found out more about myself in that moment in time that I can ever put into words.  So I think the perfect way to say it is that now I too, am an ultra-marathoner.

So the next day, my brother stayed in the resort while I limped around SeaWorld with my family, which I'm so glad I did because it was an amazing day, topped off with All-You-Can-Eat Seafood Buffet (I must have had 5 lobsters and 40 crab legs...no joke).  The day after that, which was our last day in Florida, we convinced my brother to go to Universal Studios and Island of Adventure.  We bought the extra FastPass to go to the front of the lines, and I threatened to get him a wheelchair.  But once we got to the Harry Potter World and got some ButterBeer in him, this was the result:

Needless to say, I don't think he had a great time at Universal Studios...but he was there anyway!

But it is an experience I am beyond excited that I was able to be a part of.  So thank you to my brother who believed in me enough that he asked me to be his "pacer".  Definitely, definitely will go in the books as one of my top 5 life experiences, and now I can cross it off my bucket list.

(I wonder how much God was entertained watching this.  How did that popcorn taste???)