And the Race Begins

The next morning we got up at 3:45, packed up the kids and headed to Squaw Valley to watch the start of the race.



Will had a bite to eat
and then at 5:00 they were all off and running. The first part was almost straight up the hill. You could see runners all along this tiny trail going up the mountain.

While Will was running the first 60 miles of the race, we went back to our room, slept, had a little more pool time and then packed up the cars and headed to Auburn, CA. We checked into a our rooms there, swam in the pool, ate lunch, bought groceries, slept and waited out the day till we could meet up with Will at Forest Hill School that night. He would be there sometime around 8:30.
Tessha and I walked up the trail a little watching for Will but it was so dark we couldn't tell one runner from another. As they passed us going down the hill we would say something like, "Good job" or "You're almost there." They would usually reply back. One man answered us and we both said, "Will?" We had recognized his voice and he ours. He came over and gave us both hugs and then we walked on down the hill where Dan, Jenni and the boys were at. He looked good and didn't seem to be having any problems. He said his body weight had stayed the same and that's really important. If a runner loses too much weight he's disqualified. We met up with his pacer, Hugh and they walked on into the check station.
Jenni had some hamburgers for Will (We found out later he could only eat one of them because his stomach couldn't handle more than that - after running 60 miles, I would guess so.) Will adjusted things for his night-time run and then they were off again. They were in and out of that station in about 10 minutes. Only 40 more miles to go (can you imagine?) We went back to the hotel to sleep :-)
The next check point where we could meet up with Will was the next morning at Horse Crossing.



After a minute or two he was off again.
We only had to wait about an hour before we could see him again. Just down the mountain at El Dorado was the next checkpoint and it didn't take him long to get there.


After that he was in the home stretch. We drove on down the mountain to Robie Point and Jenni went on to the High School track field. Tessha and I left our car about two miles from the field where we met up with Will and Hugh and ran with them to the finish line. Will was so kind as to slow down a bit for us to run with him. It was so exciting to enter the field with him and watch him finish off 100.2 miles in 28 hours and 32 minutes. He was even still smiling at the end. He truly is amazing!! We're so proud of him.






With a mind that says "Keep going", feet that can carry you, and a heart that can endure it, I guess Will can go just about anywhere he wants to go. But then, we knew that before the race.

From Reno to Truckee

We got to the Reno World Mark at almost the exact time that Will and Jenni got there. Will was just walking out from registering when we were walking in. We had reserved a two bedroom condo and it was large enough for all 8 of us - no problem.


Thursday was Jenni's birthday so Gr&Gr watched the boys while they went out to dinner.
The next morning the boys entertained theirselves with DVDs, swimming with Granpa and eating the yummy breakfast that Jenni and Tessha made everyone.






And Will packed all his little baggies for the race. He had meetings at Squaw Valley that day and needed to have everything ready to go.

Then we packed up the cars for another drive, this time to Truckee, NV. The scenery was beautiful; reminding us of our beloved Oregon. Will and Jenni went on ahead and our car found the Reno WalMart for an oil change and a stop to buy T-shirts and paints. We were going to be making our "crew shirts" for the race.
When we got to Truckee we found our motel and got our rooms (side by side so the boys could be together) and got unpacked and settled in again. It was almost like the times we used to go camping as a family. We would get to a campground, set up the tent, lay out the sleeping bags and spend the night. The next morning we would get up, eat breakfast, fold up the sleeping bags, take down the tent and drive to another fantastic campground. We got to go lots of places and see lots of things that way. It was a fun memory during this trip, too.
Will had reserved a large room with two double beds and a sofa bed for all of us to share. Again, we spread out and slept. But of course we had to enjoy the pool










And Jenni painted everyone's T-shirts



And Will made a map of how to load up the car for Jenni. He was going to be running while we were to move our troop down to Auburn. (It reminded me so much of Granpa Harmon and his attention to details and his concern for others.) That tub beside him was filled with pasta salad for Will to eat for dinner. He had to fill up on his carbs because he would burn off 12000-15000 calories during the race.

Tessha and I went for Chinese and filled everyone's tummy before crawling under the covers for a fairly short night.
We had to be up by 4:15 the next morning to get Will to the starting line by 5:00 so we put a DVD on for the boys and all climbed under the covers.

Let the Games Begin

If you've followed Will and Jenni's blogsite "Sleepless in Seattle" you will already know that Will (our Adventure Runner) was picked to run in the Western States 100 Mile Adventure Race. He qualified for this honor by completing a previous 100 miler adventure race during the past year. You'll want to read all about it on their blogsite.
Anyway, when we heard the good news we took about 2 seconds to talk it over and decided that we needed to be there to support this fabulous event. I was able to take time off from the pharmacy and Tessha thought she could go with us. We asked for and received permission to take Sitani with us to cheer Will on.
We left IF Wednesday June 23 after I got home from Summer School and went straight to Orem where we had a room for the night. We met up with Kristi and the kids at Red Lobster. Dinner was fun but not near as fun as eating with the Sugies
and holding Larry the Lobster.
After dinner we all went swimming at the hotel. In fact, Mark, Peggy and 3 of Afton's girls came over and swam with us.



The next morning (Thursday)

we drove to Reno, Nevada. Of all the times we've driven that road, I've never taken the opportunity to walk out on the salt flats
so during a rest stop that exactly what Tessha, Sitani and I did.

















And of course, Sitani watched DVDs while we drove.

All this fun and we haven't even gotten there yet. More to come....