Dirty Dozen: The Sequel

Like most sequels, doing this year's Dirty Dozen 12 Hour Endurance Run wasn't as "good" as the original... but while it lacked in areas that excelled last year, it brought its own new variables that were quite impressive. For anyone new here, last year I ran 31 miles to complete my first 50K for my 31st birthday last year, finally bringing my 7 year old goal to finish a marathon to completion. It was huge in its own right... this year was a lot of big moments that, in hindsight, made this one huge as well.

First, I want to say another congrats to everyone that completed their own huge goals this year! I am glad I got to be in the finish area for most of they day to be able to witness everyone's triumphs.. and if I didn't get to give you a hug, I owe you one!!

Going into this, I kind of just wanted to get out on the trail, so I ended up asking to be signed up for the 12 hour. That way I could just go out for a lap whenever I wasn't engraving medals. Then I thought I could take Phil out and got permission to make my own course on the pavement, but due to some lingering problems with the front tire, that went out the window the day before and I decided to take Saber and my cane and do whatever I could.

Saber and I started with everyone else, then I headed up to the pavement. It was lonely being on my own for a while, but I did have a short stretch where I was on the same trail with everyone else.. going against them first, then with them as I headed back. It was the heading back that was hard; on the way out I was going mostly downhill and with the crazy wind that had decided to join us for the day, the way back was into the wind and mostly uphill. That includes a long incline that gets steeper the higher up you get. My first lap ended up being 3.2 miles in about an hour. And I knew I would not be able to do that again for a while, but since I still had time before I would start engraving, I decided to head out on the official course with my cane-turned-walking-stick.

When the race started, some people had said something along the lines of "you're doing this?!", and not surprisingly, I got the same reaction with the cane. I remember saying "yeah! I figure can do three miles, right....?" I was then cheered out of the start/finish area. Less than a mile out, I already had my doubts. A couple friends had cheered as they went past, one stopped and walked with me for a bit, but my leg was already expressing its disbelief at what I was attempting. I passed the 1 mile marker in defiance. More friends passed by, building me up again and got me into the aid station, where I stopped to rest... and to learn some things about about making PB&J in mass doses. After leaving the aid station, I ignored the 2 mile marker.

Somewhere in the stretch through the grove of eucalyptus trees, it hit me that last year I had run through there nine times and now I was struggling for just once. That took me down for a bit, but a few more friends passed by with varying degrees encouragement/letting me work through. I did finally settle my mind with the knowledge that I was still moving even though I should not be able to. Then I gained a walking buddy, who distracted me with talk of his own 50K goal for the day and getting lost in the subject of bike tires and the mechanics of racing wheelchairs. I missed the 3 mile marker and we took each other into the finish, then he headed out again while I went to sit down..... and eventually found my Rabbit friend (Sheriff Rabbit for the day!) to lay on her shoulder for a bit.

I stuck around the start/finish area after that because I didn't have enough time or will to go back out quite yet, and it was nice to visit with others hanging around.... then I was engraving medals as fast as I could. At some point, I wanted very much to get out on one more lap with Saber. It took a couple tries to make it away from the tent, but I finally made a break for it with the encouragement of my helper for the day. This lap was better than earlier, but also harder when I turned back into the wind again. I was tired from the first two laps and when I left we were going into the 9th hour of the race, 10 hours for volunteers. I haven't looked at my Garmin yet, but unofficially I believe it was still my fastest lap of the day. I crossed the finish line with a total of 9.82 miles on my Garmin and was quite done. I handed Saber off to a friend, then went back to the race director, who was concerned... I'm not entirely sure if it was my limp or if it was just the fact that I had just come through the arch and was now heading towards him. I reassured him with "I'm done, gimme my medal!" He then very nicely laughed, carefully unwrapped my medal, and presented it to me with a cupcake on top.

I spent the rest of the day engraving medals and cheering on the amazing finishes. At the end of the day, I believe that everyone who had a goal met it.. and I don't know the final count, but I engraved at least 103 medals! I like the medal part because it gave me a moment with each friend and I got to see the miles they were going to remember for a long time.