George's VT 100: Non-fanfic Part One: Pre-Pacing

 Sorry.  I know this is late, but it's gonna have to be in installments:

I just had a discussion with my Ryan as to why I would be titling this "non-fanfic".  He said it's not like you've been writing fanfic...well, yes, but I also haven't been writing other people's race reports.  I know I could just do a pacer write-up... but...I'm such a George fan and especially a fan of his VT 100 race that I thought it more appropriate to call it fan-non-fiction.  It is a fan's take on what actually happened from my perspective.

Let's get it down from the start....

I was secretly(?) jealous of all the TMs heading to the VT100 in either capacity, running or assisting. The Peak experience was so special; I think cause there were so many Monsters involved.  Even though we each had our own races, it was a team event.  I just wanted to keep that feeling.

At Erik and Brenda's (p)reception (what I've been calling their fun run/party the day before their real event), people were discussing the VT100.  Rick mentioned he'd be in NJ that weekend; that I should go to VT!!!  Then, I think, George made some comment about maybe pacing.  Could this really be real?  Are you kidding?!  Do I want to pace?!  For George??!!!  Hell, yeah!  Then Ann asked for a confirmation that I was serious before almost tearing up that George would have a pacer; she'd have way less to worry about.  It wasn't George's regular 100; it was pretty close to MMT.  He normally likes a little more time between 100's, but his DNF from last year's VT was gnawing at him too much to not run it this year.  Yay!!! I was going to get to be part of it.

I'm not sure how long it took me to ask Xar if she wanted to come along.  I knew she'd love to soak up the 100 vibe and, as well as loving her company, knew I could use someone along for the miles.  I don't sleep well, but tend to fall asleep driving.  Not only was she game, but she emailed the race director to see about volunteering for pacing.  Yup, she's that cool.  So she'd be along for a lot more than just the atmosphere.

I'm not sure now if there was a reason I didn't sleep the Thursday night before the big weekend.  I don't usually need a reason, but it was a particularly bad night of sleep.  Grrrrr!  I didn't even get four hours.  Xar was coming to sleep over Friday night so we could just get up and go Saturday.  We traded emails about what we were bringing, what we were thinking, how we were feeling.  By the time we settled down (after I'd introduced Xar to old "$25,000 Pyramid" shows), it was 11pm.  We decided to leave at 8am, unless people were still sleeping.  After all, we really had no duties till 9pm-ish.

I was able to go right to sleep.  No interruptions, till, BOING!  My eyes opened with a start.  It was 4am exactly by my clock.  They were off!!!  I tried to go back to sleep, but it was not good.  When Spot started stirring, I just got up.  I puttered around packing what I hadn't and doing the odd house-hold chore.  I couldn't stand it.  I knocked on Xar's door, "Time to wake up; I'm bored."

We still weren't really on our way.  Besides what it took to get us in the car, we had some stops.  I needed to buy some money.  Xar needed to buy some Gels.  It took us a few stops to be successful.  Oh, and throw a stop in for some good coffee into the mix; I don't think we left Portland till 9:30am.  We didn't stop again till just before the NH/VT border where we stopped for lunch at a Subway at a gas station.

From there we didn't stop till we got to the start/finish area of the VT100.  OK, now what?  This wasn't where we needed to be.  Not much was gonna be going on at the finish area just 10 hrs after the start.  We did marvel at all the horse trailers and electric fencing.  There were some brief directions from George showing how to get to the B&B that Ann was staying at from where we were.  Guess that's where we'd head.  I tried to call Ann, but had no signal.  Xar got out her phone.  Though there was no signal showing, we were allowed one phone call before it would also be done.  At least Ann knew we were in VT and making our way to where she was - at least that was what we tried to do.

We drove here.  We drove there.  We asked various people how to get to Bailey's Mills Road.  No?  How about Bailey's Mill Bed and Breakfast?  Damn.  No one knew where anything was even if it was just a few miles away.  We drove more.  At least we were seeing runners.  We cheered them where ever we saw them.  Again we saw a person to ask directions.  "Are you from Vermont?"  "You mean originally?"  I thought that was a weird reply, but I guess my question was a bit odd.  It's just we'd asked a lot of people for directions recently who were only in VT for the race.  "Um, no.  Do you live here?"  Yup, she did.  Turns out she was originally from ME, but she had a Gazatteer :)  I picked up her black and white, friendly kitty while she retrieved the map.  She wrote down the directions for us.  Thanks!  In probably 15 minutes, we were approaching Ann who was standing on a corner cheering on the runners.

I'm wound down my window to say something to Ann, as I notice Xar wound down her window to yell out to a runner, "Are you M?"  Unbelievable!  We'd gotten there just as her runner was coming through!!!  She communicated that she thought she'd be at 10 Bear at 9pm, the place and time Xar would join her on her journey.  Holy Shit!  WoW!  It was just a moment, and then she was gone.  Ann said we could go put our stuff in their room.  The B&B lady was sweet.  We dropped our junk and headed back to Ann.  As unbelievable as our timing had been, it was that off.  We'd just missed George go by :(  He told Ann that I should expect him around 9:30!  That was 1/2 hour earlier than his pre-race estimate!!  He must be feeling good :D

OK, now what?  We all decided we should try to get a nap.  Ann had been up since just after 2 am with George.  Sweet, little Ann took the short sofa that was in the room.  Xar had brought a camping mat.  I got the bed :)  We debated on what time to set the alarm for.  Xar thought 5:15 or 5:30.  Both
Ann and I thought 6.  So six it was.  I thought I might sleep.  It was dark enough.  It was certainly cool enough.  Maybe too cold?  Ann was the first to bail on sleep.  She left the room to go back to her corner of the race.  A little after 5 I could tell Xar was awake.  "Have you slept?"  Nope.  We decided we might as well get up, get supper, and get at it.

This time when we found Ann, she told us we just missed Ian.  Shit!  Time to get some dinner.  We asked the B&B lady about the restaurant at the end of the street.  Yes, it opened at 5, but it was pricey.  She recommended the general store 4 miles away.  Xar asked about veggie options.  Huh?  Xar decided to check in at the restaurant to see what they offered before heading to the general store.

Ann and I were happy with the GS offerings.  I ended up with a TBLT.  Ann insisted that George was treating Xar and I to dinner.  :)  While Ann and I ate, Xar drove back to the restaurant.  Mmmmm.  My supper was very tasty.  Xar ended up with a salad and an order of the kid's pasta.  Very smart.  We drove back to the B&B trying to decide how to get to 10 Bear.  We heard it was just 1/2 mile up the dirt road from the corner Ann had been manning all day.  Yeah, we could walk or run, but then we wouldn't have access to all our junk.  Finally we decided to drive there.  If there was no parking, we had plenty of time to drive back to the B&B and run to 10 Bear.  Luckily there was a spot or two.  Still, we were at 10 Bear early.  It was exciting, but we spent a lot of time standing.  I think we were there by 7:30 or so.

Good time to stop...