For my race report, I would have to say it was definitely a day I will always remember for a lot of reasons.
We started out the day with it being a little cool, at about 65 degrees. That would not last for long. The reported high during the run was 94 degrees. With the course having less than half of it shaded, it made for a challenging run in the sun.
We started out with race instructions from the Race Director, Marc Reddy, who was absolutely hilarious. His last instructions to us was, "We don't want to hear any bitchin' or complaining, cause we don't give a damn!" He pretty much had the same attitude the rest of day and was a hoot.
They sounded the horn at 7 AM and started the 8 hour countdown. I started out at a good pace, was doing OK on my 2nd 3.29 mile loop, when we heard at the Margaritaville Aid Station that we had a runner collapse at about the 2 mile marker. When I turned down the road, all the EMT's were either working on him or more were arriving. When I got up to him, they were lifting him up with the stretcher doing CPR and bagging him. This was a very hard time for me and a lot of us. We hurried up and got out of the way, but the spiritual side of you wanted to stay and help out. We later learned that that he had passed away after only running 2 miles. The gentlemen's name was Scott Hathaway and was known by a lot of the local runners. The race director said that next year's run would be known as the Scott Hathaway Memorial Howl at the Moon. A very, very, tough time for all.
As I kept running through the loops, I felt pretty good, but things started to get tougher as things heated up. When I made it to my 8th loop, 26.32 miles, I was getting dehydrated. I took a break off the course and re-hydrated and felt a lot better after awhile. I started back out on the course and was running good, but at this point in time, most of the people were walking as it was hot. You relished any shade or wind you could find. A lot of people at this point finished for the day as the heat was getting to a lot of people. I was on my 11th loop at the mile marker, when the EMT's showed up again for a person who got too hot, they ended up taking him to the E.R as a precaution. He turned out to be OK, as everybody was glad after the earlier incident. Another runner at the end, had to have 1200 cc's of fluid as he was dehydrated also. You really had to pay attention to yourself and not try to push too hard.
At the end, if you did not want go back out on the course, you could do 1/4 mile out and backs in field. We could not start until 2:30 pm and it was like driving a herd of cattle in a field trying to get more miles in. At 3 pm exactly, it was all over.
The KRR group kept everything going afterwords with music, food, and fun. We all sat around and re-carbed and waited until the award ceremony. For those of us who traveled aways from out of state, they gave us a little clay pottery wolf. It was quite a nice gesture towards the three of us. I ended up getting a medal for my age group, which was quite a surprise. I had planned on doing more, but with the heat, I was happy with the results. In perspective, just finishing, being able to be with my family and fellow TATUR's , and enjoying the atmosphere with the other runners, was more than enough when you have a tragedy like we had happen that day.
Overall, it was a great run. It was nice to be so far away and see familiar faces on the course like Trail Zombie and Uno. The race was well put on, very organized, great volunteers, and one great race director. I would recommend it to anybody who walks or runs as a race to do for next year. I am sure it will be an emotional one.
Uno was able to get another marathon in and TZ had a great run to get another ultra in. I will probably go back next year and hopefully all the other TATUR's will consider it also. Thanks for reading such a long reply. Have a great day!