..... a huge expanse of asphalt appeared before us. You thought something exciting was about to happen huh? Gotcha!!!
Alex Eaton stretches while others ready their gear at 4am. This is in the McDonalds parking lot right before we started our training run.
Ten of us met at the in-town McDonalds at 4am. Several of us were training for the Mother Road 100 mile race on November 11. We wanted to simulate conditions and get comfortable with running at night on a severely canted road that sometimes was shoulder-less. We introduced ourselves to Stan, Bill, Mike, and Brian from OKC and used the outdoor bathroom at McDonalds, since it was closed till 5:30am. After putting on our headlamps, reflective gear and checking the batteries in our flashlights we headed off into the darkness.
We chatted in a large group as we ran sometimes 3-4 people abreast. We ran for about 45 minutes before we encountered our first moving vehicle. It was nice to have the road to ourselves. It was almost chilly out and we could see our breath in the pre dawn stillness. Kathy Sager had to leave us about 5:30 am to meet and coach the Runners World Training Group on Riverside Drive. We were down to nine runners.
Dan had stashed a couple of styrofoam ice chests in the bushes on the side of the road. We would stop, refill our water bottles with ice, water and Gatorade, then continue on down the road. Setting the pace was Brian from OKC. Clicking off ten minute miles, we moved along at a pretty good pace till the sun came up. Bill Myers and Stan Carrier talked about some of the 100 milers they had finished including the Rocky Raccoon in February of 2006. They are amazing athletes who usually run together during their races. We really enjoyed their company and experience. Another interesting and well rounded athlete we met was Michael Talbert. Mike bikes long distances as well and runs very fast. Mike had done the Atoka 50K and Alex recognized him from there.
After the sun came up we were able to take off our reflective gear, and lights. We were met at a convenience store by Dan's wife JoAnn Threlkeld and Emma the Pugh. We left our night gear and other nonessential items in the the "Yellow Truck" that JoAnn was driving.
Taturs and friends from OKC refueling in Depew.
L-R (Brian ?, Alex Eaton, Bill Carrier, Stan Myers, Emma the Pugh, Dan Threlkeld , Ken Childress, Randy Ellis, Michael Talbert. Not pictured, Brian Hoover, and Kathy Sager.)
We continued on down the road and it was very interesting to listen to Randy Ellis talk about the old sections of Historic Route 66. He would point out areas he would branch off of the newer parts of Route 66 and follow the old alignments during his run across the United States back in 1998. Randy followed most of the route taken by Andy Payne in the 1928 Bunion Derby, a grueling foot race from Los Angeles to New York City as chronicled in his book "Running with Payne".
About 7am Randy's wife Marci Ellis and and twenty-one year old daughter Nicole Ellis met us on the side of the road with cold drinks food and encouragement. Marci is a teacher and wonderful person who supports Randy in all his "crazy" endeavors. Nicole hopped out of the car and ran about five miles with us. She is a a 5'11" senior forward basketball player at Tabor college in Hillsboro Kansas.
We were getting close to Bristow (about 20 miles into our run) We were still moving pretty fast and stopping only to answer natures call and to refuel. Brian from OKC told us about his bad luck in three of his 100 mile races. He said that Leadville kicked his butt at about the 77 mile mark. He had taken a wrong turn at the Heartland 100 and got lost. The temperature had dropped 40 degrees within a short period of time at the Rocky Raccoon and he passed out. The doctors said that his veins had constricted and decreased his blood flow. It really makes you appreciate all the unpredictable variables that can trip you up during a race of the 100 mile distance.
Route 66 is never a boring place to run. Along the way we ran into a car that was set fire to earlier that morning. Marci and Nicole told us that the owner of the car came back to the vehicle later in the day and explained that he had gotten into a fight with another guy and had driven to the side of the road to get some sleep. He woke up and his car was on fire. He thinks that someone had soaked a rag and intentionally set his car, with him inside of it, on fire. What a way to wake up huh? We also met a bicyclist in Bristow who was very interested why ten runners were running through his town. He was very nice and explained that he knew all the runners and cyclists in Bristow and knew we were from out of town. We explained that some of us were training for the Mother Road 100. He wished us well and we started running again. We saw three different traveling clubs go past. First about 30 Mazda Miatas passed us. Then the PT Cruiser Club came by and later a motorcycle club with about 50 Hawgs went by.
At about the 25 mile mark our friends from OKC had to leave us as they had things they needed to get done in the afternoon. We thanked them for coming and they hopped in the "Yellow Truck" and were transported back to Stroud.
The Yellow Truck. One of our mobile aid stations L-R (JoAnn Threlkeld, Alex Eaton Ken Childress (obscure red bandana), Randy Ellis, Michael Talbert, Marci Ellis, Stan Carrier, Nicole Ellis, Bill Myers (white cap), Brian ?.
We were down to the five Tulsa area runners. Alex, Dan, Randy, Brian, and Ken. Alex Eaton is running his first 100 mile race, the Arkansas Traveller in October . Ken Childress has already completed one 100 miler at Lean Horse in South Dakota and will split pacing duties with Kathy Sager, at the Traveller. At about the 28 mile mark Randy had to leave us to spend some time with some special needs children that he works with. We thanked Marci and Nicole and said by to Randy.
We were down to four. Long distance running with friends really makes the time go by fast. Before I knew it we had passed the marathon mark and and had even passed the 50K distance (31.1 miles) The temperature had topped 90° and the heat was becoming a factor. We stopped at a convenience store west of Kellyville and Alex and Ken both wanted to run the next day, Sunday, so they decided that 33 miles was enough for them. They hopped in my truck, which had been parked there at 3am. and headed home. We were down to two.
Dan and I decided to try to make it all the way to Sapula, which was still another eight mikes away. After filling our bottles again we headed out with ever increasingly sore legs. Without the wind and the sun radiating off of the black asphalt it became more difficult to keep up a good pace. The heat was really getting to me and we would run about a half-mile then walk about a quarter mile. JoAnn kept driving ahead two miles ahead of us since we were going through our water a very rapid pace now. We slogged our way into Sapulpa and I told Dan that I could not go anymore. I was cooked. We had gone 42 miles and traveled from Stroud to Sapulpa Oklahoma. Dan was fine with stopping as soon aswe saw the "Yellow Truck" in downtown Sapulpa. I know that Dan easily could have ran the two more miles to the Frankoma Pottery Factory, which is where the Mother Road will end, but we called it a day at about 1:45 pm . We had run for over 9 1/2 hours and traveled about 42 miles.
I really want to thank Marci Ellis and JoAnn Threlkeld. There is no way that we could have done a run of this nature without them. They used a lot of gas and for 7-9 hours drove up and down Route 66 handing out drinks food, supplies and basically tending to our every need. THANK-YOU!!!
We all had a great time, met some new friends, enjoyed some great scenery and gained some of the mental toughness needed to run ultras. I will not soon forget the camaraderie we shared and invaluable training that we gained. I would highly encourage more people to join us on our next training run.
Please check back at the TATUR website and be sure to go to dan threlkeld.com for more updates,
Brian Hoover
918-244-6918
brian@tatur.org
www.tatur.org