Ultramarathons

This photo was taken at Elephant's Trunk in the Western States 100. Professional photographers were stationed at the end of a section of trail that is flat rock, and looks like an elephant's trunk from the air.

Salesman, smoker, tennis player. Started running to get fit. Dropped 43 pounds. Started in 1972 maybe. Ran for 23 years. Ran over 54,000 miles.

24,901 miles is the circumference of the earth.

I was out running a six miler by myself, at the corner of Webster Street and Careswell, late on a gloomy Saturday, when a runner pulled up alongside of me and asked if I was “doing Falmouth.” 

"How long is Falmouth?" I asked. 

I ran Falmouth on the Cape. Running that race was the exact moment I became hooked on running.

I was a slow -- embarrassing for all my efforts -- marathoner at 3:30 - 4 hours. Two NYC, 8 Bostons, some others. Embarrassing is an excellent spelling word. Excellent ain’t bad either.

Decided to try 50 milers and did better. Makes total sense, right? Eight hour finishes. Ran in Maine at the college that Joshua Chamberlain, one of the heroes of Gettysburg, taught at. Bowdoin. His wife found out he had joined the Union by reading the newspaper. 

Decided to try 24-hour track ultras and found my calling. Makes total sense, right? Came in third in Rutland Vermont on my first attempt, and came in sixth in Framingham Massachusetts. Probably because no one else thought it was a good idea. 

Note: You cannot get lost in a 24 hour track race. Someone said, “You must feel really good after a 100 mile run, and you must sleep really well.” No! Number 5. You feel like you were hit by a truck is the correct answer.

My first 100 was Vermont in 1990. I ran with Roger Welch's friend for the first 70 miles, but got lost -- alone on the trail -- three times at night with just me and my flashlight … but I finished. One  NY woman remarked, “Right at this moment my friends are at the opera in NYC and I am here.” They hang little green lights in the trees and bushes along the course. You become very religious in praying to see the next one. They schedule the VT 100 during full moons.

The Marshfield Road Runners of Massachusetts took notice. We only did marathons up till then. Marathons and bike riding. I started the trail running ultras. Eventually most of the Marshfield Road Runners took part in the 50’s and 100 milers at Vermont. Mary Kate Shea completed a 50 by doing a cartwheel over the finish line. Now she handles all the elite foreign runners for the BAA. Spelling again: elite -- good one.

Roger and I formed an “Ultra Running Society." You could get in only by running 50 miles within the particular race cut- time. One guy finished a half hour late and we barred him. He is in Heaven now, laughing at this dumb e-mail. Amazingly, we all still have our original knees and hips. Finish WS one minute late and you are not acknowledged.

We had some really good runners in our small club. Roger Welch did 144 miles in 24 hours in a NYC track race. Rich Boretti did 21 hours at Western States. Tom Donovan did 17 Bostons. Mike Coleman switched to race cars.

I met Rich Busa at a 50 miler in Essex Junction Vermont. He was 60 and it was his very first 50 miler. I was 44. We stayed at the same B & B. We also have stayed friends for 30 years. He is kind of an interesting fellow. It took me 5 years to learn that he had won the Silver Star for Valor in Korea. He was a left-handed pitcher in a Texas league, and -- oh yeah -- he won 17 snowshoe races from Syracuse to Alaska . . .  but now back to me. Only kidding. We had coffee in Marlboro last Saturday. He is still sharp as a tack, still married to his original esposa. Me too. In October he will be 90 years old. He has a Korea sticker on his vehicle. People are always coming up to him and thanking him for his service. Little do they know what a hero he actually was, and still is, to all of us who know him. He still goes to VT 100 to work the aid stations for 24-30 hours. That is nearly as hard as running 100 miles. Recently a 22 year old female collapsed into tears at Bill's Place around 80 miles in. She just could not go on. Her feet were loaded with huge blisters and her knees were killing her. Rich consoled her, and told he she had many years running ahead of her, and she would improve and finish.

Two DNFs (did not finish) at Western States 100 Mile Trail Race. I was pulled out at the Rucky Chucky River crossing for dizziness, by the clean up crew, who were on horseback. I did this with the support of my family. We stayed at the Super 8 in Truckee California. My daughter Kezia said, “Dad, if this is the Super 8, I would hate to see the Regular 8."
  
Not far west of the cowboy town of Truckee, named after a local Indian chief, is where the famous Donner/Reed covered wagon Party in 1846-47 became snowbound and stranded. Out of the Sierras, not that far away, is the San Joaquin Valley where there are palm trees growing. In October the tractor trailer rig drivers can be seen putting on tire chains to help them get over the mountain. The Lake Tahoe area gets some serious weather.

WS was originally a horse race on a mule trail. Watch out for cougars. But the second time, four years later, I was ready. I had done my 8th Boston as a training run and it was a breeze. Weight down to my high school football days. Brought three experienced runners with me. Rich Busa would run with me from Forest Hills mile 70 to the end. Elephant's Trunk, feeling good. At Robinson Flat, I still felt strong. Red Star Ridge -- nice. I made my worst running decision ever in my running life at mile 55. No blisters, more than half the race complete. In only 15 more miles I would have a handler to run with me. He couldn’t be a mule for me, but he could think for me and encourage me. In a 100 mile race your thinking becomes difficult. Your fingers swell. Don’t wear your rings. You will lose ALL your toenails no matter what. Even your nipples hurt. The 100-120 degree heat  in the canyons heat was over. The snow  at 8,800 feet was only at the start at Squaw Valley. No more painful down hills. You actually pray for uphills. The downhills kill your quads. The hardest part was over and I stopped. I just stopped. 

Currently only 3% of the entrants get accepted into the Western States 100. Crazy! Only 4 % qualify for the Boston Marathon. One million 400 thousand water cups are ordered for the BAA marathon this year. Only 1% are ultra marathoners.

I then decided on a total whim after a wedding in Springfield Massachusetts to run home from the base of Mount Greylock, the highest mountain in Massachusetts, across the whole state, to Marshfield on the coast where we live. I ran by myself. No GPS, no cell phones, no brains. My wife Sandy would try to find me and meet me with food and drink along the way. We used a road map. It took three days and four hours before I ran into the Atlantic Ocean at Fieldston. It was Halloween time, and I only ran from 7am to 5 pm per day because of the darkness. Some would say it was a bonehead decision. All are correct. The Springfield marriage did not last. We are still going strong after 52 years.

The Magnificent Seven  movie, 1960. In the movie someone asked one of the stars, Steve McQueen, why he did a another bonehead thing in the movie. His response was, “It seemed like a good idea at the time."

In Mexico, on a small island last Febrero, I met for the first time, Alexandro, at his store on Calle Hidalgo. He played a child in that movie in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City, way back when. The name of his shop is Ek Balam. He asked me how old I was. That happens a lot lately. Usually asked to me by old men. Comparing themselves to me? I don’t know for sure. I’m 74 now. I have outlived everyone in my familia except my great uncle George Washington Bacon and his esposa, Georgina.

Do not worry. There was an article recently in a Heath magazine that equated miles run to longevity. Do the math. I will make it to age 147.

ycmtstuff u

Robert Francis Bacon  AKA 
Roberto Francisco Tocino    
Junio  siete  2019