89 Bears Looms

89 Bears 100 developed from a crazy thought Bucky had after we decided that Riverlands 100 was running for the last time in 2026. While Squirrel and I love what we created and had so, so much help from our amazing TMR community, it was still, well, a lot. Rick had had enough, too. Bucky and I considered for a minute continuing with him as my co-race director. Then we realized that wasn't going to work. Squirrel and Rick could never really be out if it was still running, especially Rick since we stage it at our house for weeks before the race and then all the dirty pots, pans, tents, Gatorade jugs, etc come back to be cleaned and packed away. Bucky's new job also ate up much more of his time. Yes, the 2026 race would be the last. I was amazed at how relived I felt when out course marking I thought, "This is the last time." As much as I loved most everything about the race, I could say goodbye. Though when people tell me it was their favorite weekend of the year, I can still feel the tears welling up.

One day, Bucky said he came up with a 100 that would be easy to put on. His name was The Fruit Loop 100. He thought about racing 100 laps of Knights Woods trail at Bradbury. Only one aid station would be necessary. We wouldn't have to rely on another club to help (Riverlands was made possible by the Turner Timberland ATV club's amazing dedication to helping ferry aid station volunteers and supplies out to Middle Earth in addition to bringing in dropped runner). Of course the name wouldn't be able to stay because we were sure Kellogg's would have an issue with the name. 

As I mulled over whether that was too crazy, I began thinking about runners and crews/family. The location had issues. Then I remembered something Jedi said to me when TMR first held its end of the year party at Lost Valley, "You could have a 100 here that would get so much vert." Lost Valley! So much parking, bathrooms, a brew pub, great people to work with... I pitched the location to Squirrel and Bucky. We could divest of sooooo much gear. That would relieve us of our storage issue (so much gear was required to put on Riverlands). 

They liked the location. It made sense. I started going to LV to find a loop. It needed to be short enough that the vert gain would be crazy. If you are going to do short laps, there needs to be a challenge, one might even say a gimick. There is good single track at LV and even a cross country course...but those trails added too much distance to a loop to yield the elevation gain we were looking for. Ok, try the downhill slopes. The Beaver is steep, but whoa! So much poison ivy!!! Next I tried the Bear. Using it and the gravel access road, I hit on a 1.15 mile loop that gives right about 300' of gain per laps (26,000' total!).  

Being a bit of a nerd from a very nerdy family, I loved that 89 Bears ensured us of 100 miles and it was a prime number!!! The 89 Bears 100. Yup. I think Mindy and Bucky took a little time to warm up to it, but they came around. The buckle design existed in my mind without any thought. I drew it up rough and sent it to the company that made our buckles for Riverlands 100 and the 100 Mile Wilderness. It took a couple of back and forths until it look exactly like what I saw in my head. Imagine my delight when Ann exclaimed it to be the best buckle she's ever seen (I brought it to TWMiH to display)!!!

We pitched 89 Bears to Lost Valley. It didn't take any convincing. They loved the idea! We chose the long weekend in October 2027 for its premier. We already put on a 100 this year and Bucky was taking over the dirt series from Ian so we felt waiting for next year was the smart move.

Being a race director, you don't get to run your own ultra. You have too many responsibilities. However, even though I said Run Rabbit Run was my last 100, I really want the Bear buckle. Bad. Ok, I decided I'd do the race this October to determine the cutoff. I don't think you can argue for more time if you can't do it faster than a nearly 67 year old woman. Originally, Bucky said he'd run with me the entire time (he had said we should do a 100 together even before this), but then his life took a dramatic turn and he was out. 

I developed my own training plan that focused on building miles and gaining vert. I ran at Lost Valley twice a week. Sunday was my longer plain old run, leading OSGR. Monday, I would back that up with Bear loops. Tuesdays and Thursdays were yoga. Wednesdays were moving days, either easy runs or walk/runs. Fridays were Big Bucks. It was a longer, steeper climb at Lost Valley where I get more vert for less miles than a Bear. Saturdays were supposed to be home yoga/ab work, but I rarely did it. 

I felt like I was getting stronger. People joked at OSGR that I better stop doing hills or they wouldn't keep up. Yup, going really well. Then one day on a day during lots of Bears, my left IT band started complaining loudly. I made it through the scheduled Bears, but it continued to complain. My Big Bucks on that Friday were not pleasant. I was dreading Sunday's OSGR. I felt pain with every footfall, what would the Sunday miles do? Well, it was only sore for the first mile or so. At the end of the run, my IT band was pretty quiet. I just had the ordinary aches and pains. The band still popped when I bent my knee, even audibly during yoga, but without pain. 

The next week of training went well. Taper next. The next OSGR I tripped landing on my left side. The upper part of my leg pretty much slammed into a big root. That hurt the most. I didn't even feel the scrape right below my knee. I hobbled for a bit but was able to keep running (we did all the trails on the east side except the O trail cause we're dumb, but not extra dumb). Things seemed fine.

Until my next run. My IT band was angry. Then I realized that my fall was pretty much right along the band with focus at the upper and lower insertion points. Both Bears and Bucks were painful. It didn't like ups or downs where before it was just the steeper downs. Huh. At TWMiH, it hurt for the run, but felt fine when I went up and down Big Buck to fetch things. The next day it hurt pretty much all the time, even just sitting. I still went to LV to walk a Bear and run a Bear both Wednesday and Thursday. Not happy. Doing yoga and using a ball to dig into my glute seemed to help some. Yesterday there was no pain unless climbing stairs. Today, it seems to be ok. I'll do more yoga and ball work today and tomorrow. Fingers crossed it holds up or at very least is pain I can tolerate without altering my gate.

Yesterday, Friday, it hit me. My nerves became obvious. I made lists and packed things. Rick and I loaded the car with my "aid station." Lost Valley offered, without being asked, that I would use the ski patrol building, so we brought what we could so there would be less to do on Monday morning.

Yes, Monday morning. Lost Valley (good for them!) was booked every weekend of October with events. The Brew Pub is closed on Mondays. We decided I would run on Monday and hopefully finish in time to have a beer and burger at the Pub on Tuesday. Did I mention I had 36 hours in mind for a time to beat or meet? I'm looking to start at 6am, just like the real race will. 

Before I knew that I'd need to do the run on a weekday, so many people told me they planned to turn out and support. Then I told everyone it was during the week. But our TM family is amazing. Without asking, KB said she could crew/pace me from 2am to 6am (she'd have offered more, but she's working Monday and Tuesday!). Soon, Craig told me he took Monday off so he could crew/pace me. He's in from 8am to 6pm! Janel, coming home from a vacation on Monday, said she took Tuesday off to help. So KB would hand me off to the capable hands of Janel. It wasn't long till Don texted asking what he could do. When he learned of the gap from 6pm to 2am, he was instantly down for that shift. Talk about feeling the love! Rick will be going back and forth from our house to LV since he'll be on animal duty. With access to home and stores, I feel a little less pressure to get the packing and aid station stocking perfect. Then! A little package came for me. Brian and Manuela sent me a morse code bracelet that says "mamma bear" just to say they're with me in spirit. Yup.

Just yesterday I heard from Brian. He was getting time off from work on Tuesday. I told him how I was covered, but I was 100% certain that his company and help would be appreciated by my team. And besides, I would love seeing him there. He paced me for 50 miles of my last Never Summer. I did tell everyone I probably won't want someone with me for every lap. Maybe at night, but we'll see; it's such a short lap.   

Now I'm just nervous again. I'm packing clothes for after. With no worries about checking luggage, I'm packing anything I think I might want. Hopefully my next post will include the cutoff time for the 2027 running of 89 Bears 100. Wish me luck!