MARATHON & BEYOND l July/August 2015
Twenty-Four Hours, Minute by Minute
A race director’s job is never done.
BY DAN HORVATH
Saturday, September 20, 2014
6:25 a.m.
“You mean they’re really going to run for 24 hours?” Reluctant Race Director Dan (RRD for short, because RRDD has too many letters) patiently answers yes, they will. RRD has had to answer this one, as well as the inevitable follow-ups, like how do they manage to eat and use the restroom, many times before. He understands that a 24-hour race seems unusual, perhaps even extreme, to those unfamiliar with the format.
This time the inquirer is Tiffany Tarpley of WKYC Channel 3, the NBC affiliate in Cleveland, Ohio. The camera isn’t rolling yet. Tiffany is merely trying to get some talking points in order to introduce the event and the location from which she will be breaking in during the Saturday-morning news show. After also explaining that the runners may stop whenever they want for any reason but the top finishers will stop very little, RRD also volunteers to introduce some participants who may be of interest. He’s thinking of Dr. Andrew Lovy and Leo Lightner, among others. Tiffany says that she would like to interview them, as well as RRD himself, during their on-air moments, which will be at roughly 6:30 a.m. and then every half hour from 8:30 to 10:00.
RRD is excited about all this, not because he wants the fame and fortune of being interviewed on live TV but because he has been trying, often unsuccessfully, to get more local recognition of the NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run (NC24) since its inception. This is the first time there has been television coverage, and RRD believes it will help the event enormously. NC24 surely ought to get more exposure; it’s the national championship, after all.
RRD notices that Tiffany is now broadcasting live, telling her audience that WKYC is here at Cleveland’s Edgewater Park for the NorthCoast 24-Hour Endurance Run. She explains that it’s the USA Track and Field National Championship.
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| NC24 tent city and Edgewater Park in the foreground, with the Cleveland Skyline in the background. (Greg Murray) |
Good job, Tiffany, thinks RRD as he proceeds to help unload the supply truck, which has only just arrived.
7:25 a.m.
“Check-in is open.” RRD makes the announcement and thinks: Five minutes early. We’ve exceeded expectations once again. The first couple of runners wander up to get their packets. Volunteers Michelle Wolff, Nancy Danisek, and others handle this with friendly efficiency.
Elsewhere, Scott Stuetzer and Kenny Welch seem to be everywhere at once: unloading the truck, setting up tables, erecting three tents—one for the aid station and one each for the podiatrists and the medical crew. NC24 and its participants are quite fortunate to have Dr. Kathy Siesel, DPM, along with her podiatry students; Dr. Scott Haggerty, chiropractor; Matt Stevens, physical therapist from Elite Health and Wellness; and Dr. Andrew Lovy, DO; along with his medical crew of doctors, fellows, residents, and students from A. T. Still University in Kirksville, Missouri. Every year, Dr. Lovy arranges for his team to come up to NC24, and the race organization can never thank him enough.
Roy Heger had rented and driven the truck and was now getting breakfast somewhere. Besides serving on the race committee since NC24’s inception, he has also run the race each year. It’s the same with Frank Dwyer; he manages the race’s finances and registration and also runs it every year.
Shannon Fisher, Jan Roe, and Crystal Friend are organizing supplies and getting the kitchen area in the shelter ready. These three will be around for the entire 24 hours. Shannon is another individual who has helped organize NC24 since its beginnings. Barb Clutter wrangles all of the volunteers and will also be here for the entire time. She is at the moment helping to set up the aid station. Most of us organizers and volunteers are members of the Medina County Road Runners, the NC24 host club.
Speaking of beginnings, NC24 was conceived in 2008 when RRD had a conversation with local ultrarunning legend Connie Gardner. Connie was relating her story about being denied the American 24-hour record due to a measurement error at a race in Texas. RRD mentioned that he would like to run another one himself as well, and one or both of them exclaimed, “We should have one here!”
RRD reluctantly became the race director for the first running of NC24 in 2009. Even though other folks were involved as well, no one else wanted such an exalted position. RRD likes to say that when people were asked to volunteer, everyone else took a step back. He has been around ever since. Although he has run other ultras, he has never run NC24 himself. Don’t feel too sorry for him, though. He’s had his chances.
The sun is beginning to rise above the downtown Cleveland skyline. Edgewater Park is a spectacular location. The skyline is to the east, beyond the marina; the lake is to the north (hence the name NorthCoast); and the adjacent beach stretches out to the west. There had been talk about choosing a different location, and RRD listened and tried to keep an open mind, but eventually he had to chime in. Yes, there may be other good locations, but nothing is as awesome as Edgewater.
8:00 a.m.
“Sorry, but we have to leave to cover a breaking news story. The man arrested for the rape of the female runner is about to be charged in court.” The rape had occurred not too far from Edgewater Park. Tiffany Tarpley also informs RRD that some of the taped interviews with runners would be on the noon or 6:00 p.m. news. The interviewees turn out to be Blondell Hinton and “Fast” Eddie Rousseau, excellent choices, both. Fast Eddie had just celebrated his 75th birthday the day before. RRD manages to take the sudden loss of media coverage in stride; easy come, easy go in the fame and fortune department.
RRD continues to greet runners as they show up to check in. Here come Newton Baker, Lynn Newton, and Rosie Evans. Ultrarunners are a close-knit community. RRD sees some of these folks only once a year, and yet he considers them close friends.
8:45 a.m.
“NC24 could not exist without our volunteers. Make sure you stop and hug them as you run by. In fact, give them a kiss. In fact . . .” RRD trails off, afraid he will say something inappropriate. There will be plenty of time for inappropriate remarks as he begins to become sleep deprived. The runners give the volunteers a round of applause, and RRD introduces Charles Moman. Charles ran NC24 in 2013, was badly injured in a terrible auto accident, and was miraculously here to run again. Charles sings the national anthem, and the runners and volunteers join in.
9:01 a.m.
“C’mon, get going! You think we got all day? … Oh, maybe we do,” yells RRD to the back-of-the-pack crowd as the runners slowly shuffle past the start line. He says something to this effect every year, and he thinks he’s funny. The runners, intent on getting going, merely put up with him.
As RRD sounded the starting horn a minute ago, a few runners took off like bats out of hell. But some of these folks in the back will also run quite well. A couple of years ago, Roy Heger walked the first three laps and then proceeded to run the rest of the day and night, for a total of 108 miles.
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| RRD (center) kibitzing and schmoosing just after the start. (John McCarroll) |
10:00 a.m.
“Harvey’s doing 7:30 miles,” says Charles Elkins. Charles has run NC24 several times, but now he is our timer. A couple of years ago, he thoroughly researched the best timing system for this type of event and then bought one. He then proceeded to work with software developers to ensure that the data—seen in the real-time display of each lap and total mileage as the runners cross the mat, the leader board, the interface with the online tracking, and the reports—all does what it’s supposed to do. Charles also serves on the race committee and helps with several other aspects of the race preparation.
“You mean 7:30 laps,” RRD says knowingly. A 7:30-per-lap pace would equate to 8:33 miles, still fast, but not suicidal. No one in his right mind would be doing 7:30 miles an hour into a 24-hour run. “No, he’s doing 6:45 laps,” corrects Charles, who really ought to know. “That works out to be 7:30 miles.”
Harvey Lewis had asked whether we had missed one of his laps as he ran by. RRD dutifully checks each such query out with Charles. Charles’s equipment has almost never missed a lap, and it hasn’t in this case either. RRD informs Harvey as he comes by a couple of minutes later.
Harvey won NC24 in 2013 with 150.5 miles. He also won the Badwater 135 earlier this year. He’s a big promoter of NC24, bringing a large entourage of runners, crew, family, and friends up from Cincinnati. He even spoke at the Friday dinner last night. Everyone admires him, including the other runners, RRD, and the NC24 Race Committee.
11:25 a.m.
“Harvey just ran a 3:20-something marathon. He probably qualified for Boston,” observes Charles. RRD just shakes his head.
It’s getting quite warm. Frank Dwyer has been running shirtless since the start, but he would be doing that even if it were 40. Today’s high is supposed to reach 79 degrees, and with the sun beating down, it feels that warm already. The adjacent beach is becoming fairly crowded already—unusual activity for late September in Cleveland.
RRD is beginning to have enough time to pick out and cheer on some of the individual runners. Here comes Jameelah Abdul-Rahim Mujaahid, dressed every bit as fancy as her wonderful name. A minute later, RRD says hi to Harold Dravenstott, a fellow club member who has been an enthusiastic supporter of the race. And speaking of enthusiasm, here’s another big cheer for Angela Demchuck, who is well known by all. Angela is wearing a tiara and a huge smile.
1:00 p.m.
“A Shop-Vac will suck ’em all right up,” says volunteer Keith Johnston. “I do it at home all the time.” RRD asks some volunteers to run over to the Home Depot to buy one. The yellow jackets are driving the volunteers at the aid station completely crazy, and RRD is willing to try anything. Up till now the best strategy seems to be the one that Jack McDaniel came up with: the bottom third of a two-liter soda bottle filled mostly with Mountain Dew and a little oil. Jack has been shooing the bugs into the concoction, and they can’t swim out.
A year or two ago, a yellow jacket stung runner Larry Orwin on the lip as he took a drink. His wife told RRD that he took on a distinct Angelina Jolie appearance until the swelling subsided.
1:50 p.m.
“Let me try it.” Jack and RRD are not having much luck with the Shop-Vac. The bugs just seem to fly away when the hose is presented to them. Keith grabs it and eventually gets one. “See? It works,” he says proudly. RRD replies, “Great. You can keep at it,” thinking that at a minute or two per bug, it’ll take Keith a long time to get them all.
2:35 p.m.
“I almost forgot about the 24 hours of yoga.” RRD had decided to take a walk around through tent city, where he came upon Darla Sedlacek and the NC24 Warrior Heart Yoga (NC24WHY) group. This group would be going at it for the entire 24 hours alongside the runners, who were also invited to stop and participate at any time.
3:30 p.m.
“We’re only a little over six hours in, and we’ve gone through half the water in this heat,” says Shannon Fisher. She goes on, “On the other hand, the runners will stop drinking so much and there won’t be as many of them as the night approaches.” The impromptu meeting includes Scott Stuetzer, Kenny Welch, and Charles Elkins, who towed the couple of hundred gallons of water in a trailer.
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| Edgewater Park Pavilion, along with the NC24 aid station and the timing hummer. (Dan Horvath) |
RRD doesn’t really want to have a lot left over, but running out in the middle of the night when stores aren’t open would be much worse. Kenny and Scott make a water run.
5:30 p.m.
“Harvey thinks he may have missed a lap when he stepped off the course to puke,” says one of his crew members. RRD excuses himself from his conversation with Howard Nippert to check Harvey’s lap count with Charles. Others had been checking their counts as well. The lap total (and therefore the actual distance) never matches one’s GPS distance, and this always seems disconcerting to some runners, especially those unfamiliar with the format.
Howard is the USATF liaison. The national-championship designation is important for NC24 because it helps the race attract some of the best ultramarathon talent in the country, and even that of other countries. USATF runners who place well and also post a large number of miles may be chosen to represent the United States on the national team at the 24-Hour World Championships. So the competition is keen. Jean Pommier and Isaiah Janzen are now tied for the lead.
Charles says that although Harvey did have some slower laps, none were missed. Puking, it seems, takes time.
6:00 p.m.
“He hasn’t peed in 10 hours; it may be renal failure. I recommend that you call EMS,” states Dr. Lovy. RRD does so immediately. If Dr. Lovy had recommended that RRD stand on his head, he would do so immediately. The runner is near his tent and is wrapped in a blanket. Dr. Lovy, one of his student interns, and RRD stand by until EMS arrives.
6:30 p.m.
“I’m going in, and I’m taking it all off, baby!” yells Tim Arendt, as he sprints away from the aid station, across the beach, and toward the lake, shedding articles of clothing as he goes. His wife, Debi, rolls her eyes. Barb Clutter and RRD avert theirs, laughing as they do. Debi explains that she and Tim would try to get a decent night’s sleep and then come back early in the morning for more. Tim is still yelling as he returns, wet but seemingly refreshed. He has some of his clothes on at this point.
8:05 p.m.
“Take some to the ranger,” says RRD. About a million pizzas had just arrived, and RRD had promised the ranger some. “I’m on it,” says Kenny Welch. RRD thanks him as he leaves and wonders not for the first time where we would be without him.
The park rangers direct pedestrian and automobile traffic at the one place where there is a slight danger: the point where the all-purpose trail crosses the driveway to the parking lot. These folks are invariably friendly and helpful, and the runners love them. So does RRD.
This year park employees have erected a huge and extremely bright lighting apparatus at the crossing. It’s almost like daylight over there.
8:50 p.m.
“We think Jeannie has the record!” Jeannie McDaniel’s crew member is ecstatic as RRD informs him that he will happily submit the USATF paperwork for the potential 12-hour women’s 65–69 age-group record.
He reminds Charles Elkins to take a 12-hour snapshot of the standings. Charles says that it’s not truly necessary, since he can go through the data at any point in time, but that he will nevertheless provide a printout at 9:00 p.m.
10:10 p.m.
“Isn’t Angela doing a little too good?” asks RRD. Angela Demchuck may have slowed down a bit, and she’s taken a few breaks, but she remains as ebullient as ever. Even so, the kid’s only 13 years old, he thinks. Her mom, Felicia Fago, agrees. “I think we may need to stop her for the evening,” she answers. “She’s got only two laps to go before she hits 50 miles, but I’ll let her know now that after that she will have to stop.” Felicia goes on, “I’ve talked to Dr. Lovy and his crew, and they told me that as long as she’s not hurting or sick in any way, it won’t hurt her to keep going. But even so, I want her to get a decent night’s sleep.”
Everyone in the running club loves Angela, and now everyone in the race does as well; she seems to have become best friends with every other runner. And she still garners the most cheers each time she comes by. Felicia had given her the NC24 entry as a Christmas present, and she said it was the best present any kid could have ever gotten. And now she is proving herself right by having the time of her life out there.
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| Angela Demchuck appears to be enjoying herself immensely in the race. (John McCarroll) |
She isn’t disappointed when her mom asks her to wrap it up at 50 for the night. She had never run more than 13 before, so 50 is pretty darn good.
RRD is as thoroughly impressed and enchanted as everyone else. He figures that Angela most likely won’t be running any more in the morning. Most mortals, once they lie down, don’t come back for more, even when they have the time to do a few more laps in the morning. For most mortals, 50 would be plenty.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
12:00 a.m.
“She’s a Harvard physicist, and she took eight years off to raise kids. Now she’s back to ultras.” That last bit is somewhat of an understatement. Jenny Hoffman had taken the lead fairly early in the race, and she is not letting up. RRD met Jenny at the Friday dinner but at the time thought she was just another nervous runner trying to make a comeback.
2:00 a.m.
“Keep smiling!” RRD yells this, not for the first time, as Blondell Hinton and others go by. Blondie, like many of the other runners out there, just seems to smile the entire time. A few have determined looks on their faces too, but almost everyone smiles when RRD shouts at them to do so.
3:41 a.m.
“I’m sticking to him like glue!” Technically, pacing is not allowed; but it is permissible to stay with or follow a runner for safety reasons. Kenny Welch is doing this for Leo Lightner. Leo is 87, and he almost didn’t make it this year due to health problems. Here at NC24, he has set national and world age-group records, including 81 miles when he was 81 years old and just over 100K last year at 86.
This year we are all happy just to have him out there at all.
But he’s not just out there, he’s actually doing quite well, finishing his 38th lap for 34 miles at this point.
4:00 a.m.
“He wanted his urine tested. I told him we have no way to test urine but to wait for a moment for us to examine him. But he just left.” One of the medical people was referring to Jean Pommier, who is now back out on the course. The aid-station folks also inform RRD that Jean didn’t look too good as he ventured out into the darkness.
RRD isn’t sure he could catch Jean from behind so he took off in the opposite direction to try to find him. He does find the runner about halfway around, walking fairly slowly. RRD accompanies him back. It is beginning to rain.
4:16 a.m.
“I need to change first,” Jean tells RRD as they arrive back in the pouring rain. “Just get yourself into that medical tent—I insist,” says RRD. He doesn’t usually come on this strong, but it seems like the right thing to do right now. The runner has been shivering and does go over into the tent.
5:37 a.m.
“John Hnat is a beast.” RRD couldn’t agree more with whichever volunteer made the observation. RRD’s sleep-deprived brain isn’t working quite well enough to tell who said it, but he doesn’t miss John as he passes by. John was a director of NC24 one year and is always a positive force for the event. He’s also one of the biggest, tallest guys out there and is approaching the 90-mile mark. If that doesn’t qualify for beastliness, nothing does.
“Jenny Hoffman is a beast too,” observes RRD as she passes by as well. She does not have a large frame, but she does seem to keep going and going with a very determined look on her face. RRD doesn’t think anything will stop her.
The rain has subsided. It had been coming down fairly hard for a while. Most of the runners didn’t seem to mind, although the volunteers had to scramble a bit to keep the food covered and also to keep stuff from blowing away.
6:48 a.m.
“Go Angela!” Much to the excitement of everyone, Angela Demchuck is back out there, adding to her previous night’s mileage. Her smile is as big as ever. Tim Arendt is back out again as well. He appears, so far, to be staying out of the lake today.
The early-morning darkness is wearing away, and so are last night’s rain clouds. It’s going to be bright and sunny again today.
8:00 a.m.
“Go, Isaiah!” By now everyone knows who Isaiah Janzen is. With only an hour to go, he has a very comfortable lead. Harvey Lewis, running hard to stay in second place, also encourages Isaiah and the other top runners. Things are closer for the women. Jenny Hoffman is in the lead, but if she were to stop and second-place runner Eileen Torres were to pick it up, things could change.
8:35 a.m.
“Hold on to the block, and drop it when the horn blows.” Volunteers Veronica Dancer and Debbie Horvath are handing out blocks with numbers corresponding to the runners’ bibs. This will give them credit for a partial lap as the time expires.
Meanwhile, RRD is announcing names of the runners as they go by. Several are just now achieving their goal of 100 miles or other milestones. This generates much excitement from the spectators.
Time seemed to be going by slowly during the middle of the night, but now it’s just whizzing by.
9:02 a.m.
“Let’s roll.” Two minutes after the end-of-race signal, RRD leads a small team of block collectors. They begin to traverse the course, picking up the numbered blocks dropped by the runners, carefully noting the number of measured 100-yard segments for each one that they pick up.
9:35 a.m.
“I started entering the extra lap segments for some of the top men, but it was taking too long, so now I’m just making sure that we have everyone’s placement correct. I’ll enter the rest of the lap segments later,” explains Charles Elkins. He’s in a hurry to get the awards going, as are RRD and most of the runners and crew members. For some reason, everyone and their brother want to hit the sack ASAP.
9:45 a.m.
“We’re ready to begin the awards,” announces RRD. The runners are finishing up the excellent breakfast that was made for them by the Boy Scout troop. The scouts really did do a fine job, but at this point fried worms probably would have tasted good to most of the runners. The awards proceed as well as they can, considering Charles’s and RRD’s sleep deprivation. Howard Nippert helps as well.
Isaiah Janzen had finished with an amazing total of 154 miles. He is in the medical tent, and Howard makes a special delivery of his award. Jenny Hoffman is in the pavilion, surrounded by a blanket and several other runners. She finished with an equally amazing 127 miles. Most of the second- and third-place finishers are around. They are Harvey Lewis and Jean Pommier for the men and Eileen Torres and Debra Horn for the women.
Debra has been on the national team several times, and RRD had hardly noticed her running, much less her excellent podium finish. But she does have a way of sneaking up on people, as she did this day.
10:10 a.m.
“Is anyone driving toward Chicago or other points west?” RRD may have announced this question just a little too late. Most runners were already on the road. According to Dr. Lovy, Isaiah Janzen is dehydrated but doesn’t need hospitalization, only rest. “But he shouldn’t drive,” he had added. This is unfortunate, since Isaiah had been planning to drive home to Iowa after the run. He is alone here with no crew. Now he can’t drive anywhere.
“I can get you and your car to a local hotel for the night,” says RRD, “but we have to finish packing everything up first.” Isaiah, sitting at a picnic table and wrapped in a blanket, indicates that he’s fine with waiting.
11:35 a.m.
“We’re finally ready to go.” Packing up the truck and cleaning up had taken longer than hoped, but with only a few tired volunteers around, it’s really about as expected. It’s a good thing Scott Stuetzer got at least some sleep. We couldn’t do any of this without him.
RRD drives Isaiah’s car and Isaiah himself to the Holiday Inn, helps him check in, and helps him up to his room. Isaiah promises to call RRD and Debbie when he arrives home tomorrow.
It’s time to get to bed. Good night.
Aftermath
“That was more than 24 hours, you know.” Yes, some astute readers will have made such an observation. It takes about three hours to set up for the race and another three to take everything down and clean up. And of course this is not to mention the months of preparation and planning that go into an event such as NC24.
Much to the chagrin of RRD and Charles Elkins, the paper containing those final lap segments was lost before the information could be entered. Charles and RRD had handed it back and forth several times as the results were being tabulated, and afterward, each thought the other one had it. After a week of scrambling to try to find it, the search had to be abandoned. RRD sent an apologetic letter to the runners to inform them that for the small number who ventured out for a final partial lap, some of the information was lost. He assured them that none of the placing was affected. The vast majority of the runners were understanding and supportive.
In fact, the runners continue to relate their positive experiences regarding the race to each other, as well as the race organization and volunteers. That feedback makes RRD think that he may (reluctantly) stay on and direct the race for one more year.
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