Most Reversed

So, I"m going to stop my catch up at the BBU.  I did a few runs the week before, but...gotta get back to the present. 

Like I said, I was awake at 2:35am even though the alarm would have let me sleep to 3am.  It was a good thing.  I seemed to take forever to get out the door.  I didn't want to forget anything.  I was so happy to learn that the Xtra Mart in Lisbon Falls is open 24hours.  I got a large, decent coffee. 

I pulled into the school to find Ian already setting up.  I wonder what time he woke up.  The big tent that Erik had brought and set up the day before had been destroyed in the weather.  Poor Erik.  Meanwhile, we had to take that apart just to get the Start/Finish area to look ok in addition to getting everything else set up.  Mindy not long after I did.  So much activity.  Then runners started showing up.  Yay!!! The BBU was a reality!

Registration.  A 50-mile sign up the day of.  Pre-race meeting.  The start!  The lighted tiki torches were the perfect touch leading the 50 milers up Lunch Break.  Ian lead them out.  I was to follow behind, drop Steve off at the summit to direct returning traffic, then continue on and change the flagging/signs from the 3.5 mile loop to the big 15.7 mile loop.  Holy Shit!  It was hard to see.  The mist reflected off the headlamp lights.  I know those trails.  I know them well.  I had to concentrate to know where I was going.  I picked up several runners that were drifting in the mist.  I lead a couple of shifts of them to the Terrace.  Then I ran back to make sure Steve was set before setting back out the course to change the marking.  I changed the arrow at the bottom of Terrace to point towards the east side, pulled up the flagging that lead the runners up Northern loop to the Boundary and was working on getting the arrow to point up the Ski Trail when I saw a headlamp coming down the Terrace.  Wow!  Already?  It was Ian.  We talked about what needed to be done.  He went off towards the east side.  I finished my marking/picking up then ran back to the start.

I was all worried about the part of the course that the 50 milers would cover in the dark if they were still running after 5:30ish.  I'm sure I was overly worried, but I had to act.  I found Nathan and Xar.  We went out with flags.  We pulled all the reflective ones that were on the little loop and the big loop, but wouldn't be part of the final miles and replaced them with regular flags so we could reflective-flag the hell out the the final stretch.  After that, I ran back to help/hover around the registration area for the 50K.  It was all very exciting all over again.  Then there was a little lull.

I'm not sure when, but we got word that perhaps some of the flagging/signs had been removed from the power line area.  I drove out to Sweeney Rd. armed with flags and arrows.  I ran along the power line to the connector.  Everything looked good to me.  I slightly adjusted the angle of one arrow, but it really was fine.  I ran back to the road and dropped a second arrow pointing from the road to the power line.  Again, I'm sure it was superfluous, but I was there and had the signage.  Then it was back to the Start/Finish to watch all the excellent efforts by the very first competitors in the BBU <3 p="p">
All in all, I think I got in nearly 10 miles on the trails.  That was the easy part of the day :)  Thanks to all the wonderful, wonderful, excellent volunteers.  Thanks to Mindy and Ian for being the perfect team to RD with.  Thanks to the school for being the perfect partners, holding down the s/f aid station, creating the coolest trophies, and the best ever post-race food.  Most of all, thanks to the runners for their efforts on our challenging course.  I love the comment Mindy heard:  "It was brutally awesome!"