Following is Carries account of Matt Session adventure at Badwater:
Oh my, where do I start?....
It's almost 11:00pm tonight and I'm still tired. It has been a
very busy day today and this evening and alls I have on my brain in
Badwater. It was such an overwhelming experience in every possible
way that to try to describe it is difficult. I am having a hard
time trying to describe events to even make them come close to the
reality that we experienced in the desert. There was 5 of us who
traveled to Las Vegas on Friday July 8th, Matt and his long time
friend Don (we had his wife Jacquie with us) were already in Furnace
Creek (note the name.....need I go further?). The 5 of us hit the
Hard Rock Hotel for the night, get up, pickup the van at the airport
while on the lookout for other "dudes" as Jacquie would call
them....she would say....look, "he looks like a runner dude" meaning
he looks fast as would give our Matt competition. We all drive to
the fab Wal-Mart Superstore in Pahrump, Calif. and pickup hundreds
of $$ of food etc. for our trip. We arrive at the resort, crash the
boy's quiet peaceful rest and start the process. We swam, made
10lbs of potatoes, cooked chicken soup, packed bags, packed coolers,
made sandwiches, made snacks for Matt, cut out toes in shoes,
arranged race clothes, decided on strategy, who was to do what,
decorated the vehicles with the race #'s and Matt's name, checked
out all the other vehicles, met other runners and crew and had the
greatest time. It was the night before the run and we went to the
pre race meeting were Matt got his pix taken, got up on stage, met
his fellow competitors, exchanged stories, picked up his very
generous race bag and we watched a few films from the year before's
race....in that room they were all equal.
Then friends of ours from Leah Pells running group show up on
Monday morning early at the resort we were in just before the race
and off we went. Got to the start of the race in the parking lot
and there were my parents beaming from ear to ear. We drove to
Badwater which was 17miles from the Furnace Creek resort and the
start of the race at 282 feet below sea level. It was the most
amazing place. It looked as if (while sitting in our air
conditioned vehicle) a polar pack of ice. WRONG. It was the most
amazing place. It was all salt, completely white and hard packed
salt. When you got out of the vehicle you were hit with a brick
wall of heat. Unbearable as you stood and practically melted. It
was amazing. I keep saying words like amazing, but I really can't
think of others to describe what we experienced. We stood at the
Badwater sign for the photo shoot with 100's of photographers as I
cried behind my sunglasses that Matt was finally here amongst all
these amazing athletes. There was a buzz around us. Finally we went
straight for the start line and off on the opposite side of the road
a large group broke out in "O Canada"...how cool was that? I'm sure
you can imagine as we ran across the line and joined in with them.
Then came the bottled sounds of a recording of the American
anthem....not one of them sang. It was rather eerie. 1 2 3 bang and
they were off.
Hours passed like minutes and we were so busy I can't tell you were
the time went. Seeing the website now I see how it must have been
confusing to follow, but being there actually made all the sense in
the world to us. There were 3 starting times and they were all
based on real time to take the runner from start to finish. Matt
ran from the start to the 90 mile marker and then to the top of
Townes pass....."we" were in 8th place somewhere in the middle of
the night, all flanked in flashers, neon lights, reflectors and a
great sense of excitement and lack of sleep. We were really here.
Matt was one of many in a study on ultra endurance athletes so at
each station they took a blood sample and his vitals. All was great
as he leapt out of the chair and up the hill...not having his weight
checked, Clarence and I hopped in the van and met him a mile up the
hill and had to take the scale with us, weigh him and bring the
results back to the Doc. There was no stopping him......until he
bonked. We were desperately lacking sodium and did not know it.
With early morning upon us and the beautiful break of sunlight over
the sand dunes we could tell he was hurting. I'm at a loss for time
in spots as during the entire time of the 43 hours I got a 45 minute
nap in the back of the van.....due to excitement and worry I just
couldn't let go. Constant changing of ice bandanas around his neck,
from atop his head under his hat, spraying him till he was soaking
wet, lathering on sunscreen, changing water bottles, changing
shirts, hats, sunglasses, peanut butter & ham sandwich, newtons,
chicken soup, glycocarb, YUK...throw up about 5 times.....better.
We were busier that we could have possibly imagined.
The time passed so quickly and Matt faded and passed out at one
point when the medic team happed to pass by, this was a godsend as
we really were about 50 miles from NOWHERE. We found out that he
was drastically low in sodium and slightly hypernitremia was setting
in. Dr. (very cute) Lisa fixed him up with a smile and he was off
again....a little slower mind you, but off and determined. He still
had his sights on catching the leaders at this point. Hours passed
and back into the night and into the next day. It was sweltering,
but that doesn't even give the heat a proper description. Matt had
run that evening up to the top of the 2nd mountain range and really
had very little calories to run on and it did him in. With a lack
of salts, sleep and nutrition he needed a rest. Just before this a
group of tourists decided to take picks by swarming him and
interviewing him. It was very strange to say the least. I have
found pix of him on another website from someone that was there! We
were 2 1/2 hours ahead of the "Major from the marines" and Monica
Scholz (lovely lady) from Canada. Both of them caught us and Major
ended up dropping out from dehydration (2nd time for him in 3 tries
at Badwater...how devastating!) He also came up to me later after
he dropped from the race and said "If I had known you all were going
to be singing O' Canada I'd have brought out my tape and sang
along! And Monica came over to the van to give her fellow Canadian
some well needed nutritional advice. I have nothing but wonderful
things to say about this lady. She could tell that I was worried
and she left the race course, held my hand through the van window
and told me what sort of food sorts to give him to help him on his
way as she could tell he was having troubles. We did just this, she
touched my head and told me he would fair well. (Monica finished
3rd last year (14th this year).
Not soon after that Matt crossed the highway to have a rest in our
cool van, but collapsed in the chair. We brought him to and
convinced him that the best thing to do would be to "stake out" and
have a rest...he really needed to be seen by medical we thought and
we wanted to save his race. He would have been devastated if he had
to DNF. I drove like a mad woman 17 miles to the nearest aid and
got him help. We very quickly needed to lower his core temperature
and hydrate him equally with sodium as well. They took very good
care of him there. The good Dr. (very cute) Lisa had a serious chat
with him in front of the documentary cameras and we were all very
happy, notably him to be heading back on the course after an ice
bath, core temp check (rectal...ouch!), McDonald's vanilla shake and
2 cheeseburgers (ick). Scary situation solved. Back we went to our
staked spot where #40 stood at the side of the road ready to be
taken down by him....back 17 miles where we left it...it wasn't
about time, or racing anymore, it was all about finishing...and the
buckle in less than 48 hours now.
All in all we were staked out for 7 hours which is included in his
total finishing time.
The next 30 miles he was able to do in a fast walk, but the "run"
had left his legs for the time. It was getting darker and the heat
was settling into the asphalt once again on night #2. Donned once
again in flashers and neon away we went with out Canadian flags
waving and hoots of excitement for each and everyone out on that
lonely road with us. As the night came upon us we could see a trail
of tail lights headed up to the town we had not so many hours ago
left and back we came and then off he went up the dreaded climb up
to the Whitney Portals with only finishing determination on his
brain. He was back with us and with his smile and good sense of
humor aboard we were off. I got to spend hours with him as I could
finally keep up with him on the flat stretches..... Even at a
walking pace.
Each marker in the dark we noted to him....Matt, were at mile
129.6.....as he met this with a huge sleepy grin and the next
monument.....we are 131.2.....just around the corner now....just
around the next corner. As we approached the base of the
switchback and 3 miles to go I get an excruciating pain in my left
femoral artery. It is so sore that I tell him that I just need to
get something from the van and would be right back.....right back to
Matt at this point in his journey with us singing, dancing and
telling off coloured jokes all night into the wee hours once again
didn't even faze him till about an hour later and he says "Where is
Carrie, I haven't seen her is so long".
Once I left his side with my leg pain I jumped into out 2nd vehicle
and told Clarence who was driving that I didn't feel quite right to
go get Candace our nurse right now to help me. She gets into the
jeep and FREAKED OUT. I was going into shock. Turns out we were
4,000 feet up this mountain and I was severely dehydrated. She took
one look at me and shoved a power gel into my mouth, 4 bottles of
Gatorade, a bottle of water and down the mountain we flew to medical
attention. My body was shaking uncontrollably, feet upon the front
windshield and being make to squeeze Candace's hand as I would tell
her I was still with her. 3:00am of the 2nd morning we get back
down to race headquarters to find all race medical up at the top of
Whitney Portals waiting for all the runners. Needless to say Matt
finished without me or Candace by his side. (Very sad for both of
us). We get to the bottom. I run into a hotel room and grab a
blanket, wrap myself up and lay in the middle of the sidewalk with
my feet up on a couple's table calling for a Medic. 911 show up
within minutes and off to the local hospital we go (3 blocks away).
I show up looking like Linda Blair in the Exorcist, hair and all,
goo all over my face and with a resting heart rate of 53-58 and my
heart is over 120, it was pretty scary. In goes the IV bag and
instantly I stop shaking. Dr. (Dreamy) Moses and his wonderfully
silly nurse (had us both in stitches with laughter) and an hour
later our team, including Matt shows up to see how I was. Hours
later I'm released back to the "fun".
The winner Scott Jurek breaks the old record by a record time and
local White Rock Ferg Hawke breaks his own time from last year to
place 2nd once again! Go Canada!!! Monica (Canada) places 14th and
Ray Zhab (world adventure racer) from Canada DNF's. The awards were
so exciting and the mutual respect from each runner to the next was
nothing I have seen before. We as crew were treated almost the same
as the runner (from the runners admiration of their crew for taking
care of them on the course). One note on Scott Jurek
(winner)....what a truly outstanding person he represents. He was
an eloquent speaker and upon shaking the hand of the race director
and before turning to all of us for accolades he shook the hand of
each and every other runner beside him. He also after he finished
his run, he went back to the top and waited for as many of the other
runners to finish as well. Pretty cool indeed. Each and every one
of the starters deserved to be there, race completed or DNF'd, they
are all remarkable people.
I'm so proud of Matt and I know he wants to do it again, when asked
during the race we were met with a quick array of expletives. After
the race he with his crooked smile, that's all we needed to see! It
was the most extreme experience I have ever had. As scary as it was
I would not have changed one thing of it. As the good Dr. (cute)
Lisa took care of him said he just needed some time to regain and
regroup all the things that he was lacking. In the middle of no
were, in the middle of 128 degrees heat in the desert...some things
are just so much bigger than you can deal with rationally. I am
truly in awe of the strength of the human mind, spirit and
determination of these athletes, it was a remarkable experience I
won't soon forget.
Our crew laughed uncontrollably, fell upon each other in the van in
the night, ate gross things and showed each other what we had in our
mouths, marveled at the stars above, the sunsets and the sunrise
each day. I have a new appreciation for the colour of pee, the
amount of it and why I should care. I know that one must have salt
in one's diet or really bad stuff can happen. I have so many things
to be thankful for and one of them is that we are both here to tell
our stories. I have learned the knack of doing my business 2
abreast off the side of a van in the middle of the desert day or
night and then having that be a great sense of accomplishment....go
figure! I can run and tie a bandana in 4 seconds flat and squish a
1/2 avocado into someone's mouth while running backwards...whoda
thunk...and little did we know that although as good as avocados are
for you make sure to nix them from your diet while Ultra running.
As we found out the avocado coats the stomach and takes a very long
time to be digested hence hindering the absorption of sodium to the
body......another lesson learned.
At the end of the day there were many of those "knowing looks" that
we all shared as we passed fellow crew, runners and onlookers who
had witnessed the events unfold.
The run put on a great pizza feast for all runners and crew/family
on Wednesday and a big sit-down buffet breakfast the following
morning before we all left.
I also know that when I complain and say "Oh %*&($&#(&...it's
hot".... I will stop and remember back to this weekend of what hot
really was.
That was one hell of an adventure (in hell) that I am so honoured to
have been a part of, Don, Jacquie, Candace, Barb, Clarence, Laurie,
Coleen and especially Matt...I thank you!
Thanks for listening, letting me share and those who followed online
while Matt was running. I know he was glad you did.
Carrie
