The G Running Diary

Non-Running Fun at WS: Friday: 7/1/04

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Don and I went to the Western States 100 Miler even though neither of us was running. This was the first time in three years that we wouldn't be at the starting line. Months ago, Don had agreed to pace Steve Reagan. I decided that I wanted to give back to the race in a capacity that involved something not everyone could do. I would fix feet. The year I finished the race (2002), Denise Jones (the Badwater Blister Queen) and John Vonhof (the Fixing Your Feet guy) had repaired my major blister at Foresthill and done such a great job that by the finish I was cured. I hoped to somehow return the favor.

In the meantime, we had come up with foot care kits as ZombieRunner, and Greg Soderlund, the race director for Western States, wanted to provide these kits in the Western States store. We tried it out during the Memorial Day weekend training camp, and all went well. Greg even let us set up a booth at the WS start. Us and The North Face and GU. We even ordered a ZombieRunner banner for this. I was excited.

We drove up Thursday night and stayed in Auburn. The drive from Auburn to Squaw Valley the next morning was quick. It's a bit more direct than the race route. We set up as quickly as we could. I had a special promotional item showing Steve Reagan that drew comments from people, whether they knew him or not. While Don searched for Steve so that they could deal with sandwiches for the race, I sold some items and told people about the foot kits in the WS store. Many people asked questions and I got into my groove of explaining why you needed certain things. The popular items were the flashlights and Succeed! Caps. It was great fun seeing people I knew and meeting new people. I wished all the runners luck. It's funny how you start to look for that yellow hospital bracelet on people's wrists, indicating that they are running in the race.

After the pre-race meeting, which is held out on the lawn, Don and I went to Steve's room so that I could tape his feet. The taping job took about an hour. I did Micropore on his toes, and Elastikon with Micropore lining on the balls of his feet, big toes, and over the arch of the foot that needed the gel pad applying to it. After that was all set, we went to dinner for some good pasta. Don got a beer and I had a glass of wine. It was so relaxing not to have to worry about getting up for the race! We sent Steve off so he could get to bed early. We were heading back to Auburn. It was all up to him now.