A post for the Byxbee parkrun curious

 Let's get these bits out of the way up front:

• There are no race medals. 
• There are no race shirts.
• There isn't even a race bib.
• The only distance is a 5K. A pretty much flat 5K.
• And it's always the same course.* Always at 8 AM, every Saturday**. 
• And, technically, these aren't actually races, but timed events.

* Actually, Byxbee did change the course. See below.

** Holidays can mess this up, and there is a bonus event on Thanksgiving and New Year's day.

I started running races back in 2009, and am now creeping up on 400 events (not counting those I've volunteered at). (Yes, there is a spreadsheet.) I have a LOT of race bibs, shirts, and a wall of finisher medals. And some really impressive coasters. 

But I had never run anything like a parkrun (yes, it is lowercase) event until they started up at the nearby Byxbee Park in Palo Alto back in 2019. (They just held their 70th event on April 30, 2022.)

I knew all of the above facts, and I knew one other fact—parkrun events are free. And almost as good, you don't have to enter or signup for them - just show up and run. Or walk. Or dance. (No bikes or skateboards though. Dogs and strollers are fine. Hoverboards are right out.) The only thing you have to do is to go to their website and sign up for a bar code that you show when you finish so they can give you a finish time.

Some details

There are 46 parkrun sites in US—surprisingly, there is only this one in California. (There was one at Crissy Field in San Francisco, but after the COVID shutdown, they were unable to restart.) 

It amuses me that California has fewer parkrun events than Colorado.

The Byxbee parkrun averages about 50 participants per event. There are a group of regulars as well as a fair number of out-of-town visitors. Like from WAY out-of-town. parkrun is wildly popular once you get out of the US, and there are people that collect parkruns while vacationing. (It's funny when a fast British person is trying to stick to the left while all us locals are sticking to the right. I've not seen any deaths yet.)

Worldwide, there are a bit over 2,000 events every Saturday. Some events will have nearly 1,000 participants. And all you need to run any of them is your barcode. Well, and to actually be there.

When you look at a map of all the parkruns in the UK, it looks like you can't swing a soggy brolly without hitting one.

The race start

First, there is a pre-race briefing where the Run Director for the day explains the rules and course, then welcomes visitors and recognizes anyone hitting a milestone (more about these later). Depending on the RD and the weather, these briefings can be really short or fairly detailed.

"How many of you want to pet a goose?" (Tip: Don't try it. It will not end well.)

There is also a bag where you can leave any jackets and such you don't want to run with. (It's very informal, so leaving car keys or phones is ill-advised.) Additionally, Byxbee is blessed with a proper set of toilets right at the start, along with a fountain for filling your water bottle.

A rainy pre-race briefing - that building is the bathroom (which is often the pre-race star).

Once that's over, the participants all wander over into the start chute, the RD yells "GO!", and the time keepers start their clocks.

Once the runners leave, the finish line volunteers move the start line back about 100 yards and set up the finish line.

The course

When the Byxbee parkrun first started, it used a single out-and-back course.

Note that "bridge." It becomes important in a bit. The "S/F" is the start/finish.

You went out 1.55 miles, turned around, and came back. There was very little chance of getting lost, and it was all fairly flat. 

Then the park people said that the bridge (which is actually a tidal inlet of some sort) needed to be replaced, and parkrun needed to modify their course. 

And this is what we use today:

Note how much shorter the red line is. Also note the impossible to see green marks that indicate parking areas.

We start at the same place as before, and well before the bridge, make a turn and follow the water for a bit. (What's funny about this stretch that the above map doesn't convey is that there are small hills that limit your view of the trail, so you don't see the turnaround point until you are nearly right on top of it.)

After the turnaround, we retrace our steps to the start, except the start has been moved about 100 yards further away, where there is another turnaround, and you get to do all that over again. You will swear on that second lap that the turnaround you're looking for has been moved even further away.

A fun thing about this double out-and-back is that you get to see all the runners several times - the fast ones, the slow ones - everyone! Another fun thing is that you are near the bathrooms when you are at the halfway point - that can be quite handy. 

The finish line! Or the halfway point! 

The start/finish area has two close but small parking lots. A condition of getting to use these trails is that we have to avoid parking there, leaving them for the normal people. The hard to see green marks above show the places we are allowed to park.

So how is the timing done?

I've done a number of DSE races, which are somewhat similar ($5 fee to cover the finish ribbon and such, but with varying distances and race sites), and never really understood how they did timing. I get it now and parkrun turns out to be similar, with some key differences. 

When you finish the parkrun, there are two time keepers, who each launched a parkrun app on their phone when the race started. Every time a runner goes through the finish chute, the time keepers tap on the app to enter a finish time. At the end of the chute, the runner is handed a finish token with a barcode on it - this token defines what place they finished in. 

The runner then takes that token and their personal barcode to another volunteer that scans the two, tying a person to a finish spot, and after the event, that place is tied to a time keeper time.

So, what could go wrong? You can probably guess at the issues that can come up.

Someone comes through the finish chute but has nothing to do with the race. There is always someone that thinks it's funny to pretend to be in the race, who will play up the finish, then walk away laughing. An advantage of the two lap course is that the time keepers get to see all the runners at the halfway point, and this can help you recognize the humor-challenged twits. But not always - and sometimes one or both time keepers will get tripped up by that. So you end up having to remember what number is bogus. (You can't delete the time on the spot.) This can cause the results to be off by a runner, which can take some time to sort out later.

Note that the runners have no bibs or, like with DSE, ribbons pinned to their shirt. There is no way, other than memory or shouting at them "ARE YOU WITH parkrun?" (remember to shout lower-case), to know who is actually in the race. 

Someone finishes but has no barcode. This is fairly common; either they forgot it or didn't understand the need for it. This isn't a huge issue - they get a time as UNKNOWN and it doesn't affect anyone else's results.

Phantom touches. This is also fairly common - it's really hard to not accidentally tap the phone (or to tap it twice) sometimes. With two time keepers though, this generally works out OK, with the phantom touches sticking out a bit. (You can also use the phone's volume controls to enter a time, but I haven't tried that enough to feel comfortable with it.)

Rain. I just found this out at a run a few weeks ago; smart phones with touch screens are incredibly clever, especially when they are waterproof. But a wet screen can react in unpredictable ways when it's tapped. Mine would put in double taps, or ignore a tap then do a double tap when I tapped again. Mine, ironically, kept switching to the Weather app, or going into the delete app mode. (Next time I will have an umbrella to prevent most of these issues. Fortunately, the second time keeper was wise and had an umbrella and ended up with solid results. And the rain seemed to have kept the twits at home.)

Someone gets a finish token and then goes home. This is pretty bad since those tokens are used every week, and a missing one means extra math for the person who is trying to sort out all the times and barcodes. Generally, it's just that people don't understand and assume it's like a finisher medal. A small, boring, weird, plastic finisher medal. 

Your finish time

At some point after the race, usually within a couple hours, you will get an email that tells you your finish time and a few other bits about the race, plus a link to all the results. It's really nice that they track what your parkrun personal best is (both forever and this year).

Volunteering

I'm sure this varies wildly at the other parkruns, but Byxbee has these volunteer positions:

Run Director: There is a small core that rotate this duty around. These people are superstars. They have to make sense of the time keeper times, the barcode scan, and the twit rejection.

First Timer Briefing: This person gathers the people that have never run at parkrun together and explains the course, timing, needing a barcode, and that they should NOT take their finish line token home. This person can get a volunteer and run credit if they also run the event.

Parking Guide: This person stands in the road and explains the parkrun parking rules to people unfamiliar with them. This person can get a volunteer and run credit if they also run the event.

Tail Walker: This person is the guaranteed last runner. (A fun bit at parkrun events is you will never be last, and you can go as slow as you need to - there is always the tail walker somewhere behind you.) This person gets a volunteer and run credit. It is a highly sought after position!

Mrs Notthat as the most adorable tail walker ever!

Far Course Marshal: This person walks out to the turnaround point (about 0.75 miles) and sets up cones along the way. They then stay at that point until the tail walker comes by a second time, when they return to the finish area, picking cones along the way. This is the person that benefitted the most from the course change. (I like this job - you get to see the whole course and cheer on the runners. I usually bring my camera and take a lot of pictures while out there. You do have to get there a little early though.)

"Which way do I go?" Everyone loves seeing the far course marshal!

Close Course Marshal: There is really only one turn that a runner could miss (although there are many cones, so you would have to try pretty hard). At that turn, there is a course marshal. It's maybe 0.25 miles from the start.

"Which way do I go?" You go past the close course marshal four times!

Time Keeper: There are two of these. You need a phone that has the parkrun volunteer app on it. This is one of the more challenging volunteer positions, although you quickly get into a rhythm and, barring a flock of twits or a surprise rain storm, this can be fun. 

Time keepers are not allowed to take bribes.

Token Hander Outer: This person is at the end of the finish chute and hands the finish tokens to the runners as they come through. They also try to keep an eye on anyone that doesn't immediately go to the token scanner and might walk off with the token. (Once you are handed your token, it really doesn't matter when you go to the token scanner, and sometimes people leave their barcode in their car, but it's good to know that's what's going on.)

Token Scanner: This person scans each finisher's barcode and finish token, using the same parkrun volunteer app as the time keepers.

Photographer: This person takes pictures of the runners. They are posted on the Byxbee parkrun Facebook page.

Milestones and shirts!

parkrun recognizes several milestones, both as a runner and as a volunteer. In the past, you would be sent a shirt for free when you hit one of these milestones, but today you have to pay for the shirt (in pounds, or farthings, or something like that). It's actually fairly cheap and is a fun thing to wear.

I reached my 25 run milestone earlier this year and ordered my shirt. You don't get to choose the color - that's defined by the milestone, and for 25, that color is purple.

Me after finishing, walking past the telephone pole ranch. (Or perching poles, depending on  your point-of-view.)

It has been great to see more and more purple shirts showing up at the Byxbee event - Mrs Notthat got hers a few weeks ago.

And then you see someone with a 250 shirt (green), and you wonder, how is that even possible???

My next milestone is 50, and I'm a long ways away from that. I hope to hit the 25 volunteer milestone before then (I'm at ten, as of today). 

There are other shirts you can purchase just for fun, along with a variety of things to personalize with your barcode so you don't have to dig it out of your wallet when you are all sweaty at the end of a run. 

Is parkrun for you?

Probably.

Byxbee parkrun is all on gravel and is pretty flat. (There is a gradual hill, but you likely only notice that hill when you need to find a reason for going so slow.) The course is the same every week, and some will get bored with that. A fun thing though is that there are a number of other trails in the area (including some small hills), and a number of runners will spend post-race time on them.

There are geese that seem to live to taunt the runners, many other waterfowl, and jack rabbits. These trails are also popular with normal people and bicyclists, but that never seems to be an issue. (Well, other than the twits mentioned earlier.)

"I know turtles that run faster than you!" The geese can be cruel.

The lack of a medal or bib may be a deal-breaker for some of you. That lack of an entry fee maybe will put that deal back together again though.

There are a core of 30 or so people that seem to show up nearly every week, so you do get socializing opportunities. There are some that are fast (well under 20 minutes) and some that get their money's worth (take about an hour). 

The casualness of these events is really nice, and removes most normal race day pressure. It's not uncommon for someone to show up, run the first lap, then drop for one reason or the other - maybe they brought their kid or dog and that kid/dog is not up to doing a second lap. If you wake up and are not feeling it, that's fine; you aren't wasting a race fee if you decide to sleep in.

Byxbee Park is maybe a bit of a drive if you live in the East Bay. I'm surprised at how many people drive down from San Francisco or from the East Bay, but, well, it's a free 5K!

Should other races be nervous?

I don't think so. And actually, parkrun events serve as a bit of an introduction to racing and trails for many. They help remove the fear of "what if I'm not fast enough" and "will I get lost." People will start to get curious about other courses and distances. You see a wide array of race shirts at these events, which often end up starting conversations. 

And that's about it. If you've read this far, you are likely a bit more than "Byxbee parkrun curious." You should come out and give it a try.

Just leave the dang geese alone.

That's it - move along… 

Coyote Hills 2022 - now with hills!

The Brazen Coyote Hills trail race is a very popular, fairly flat (for Brazen) race in Coyote Hills park. For me, it's the closest race Brazen puts on. Additionally, it has had some of the greatest shirt and medal designs. 

I really like this race.

Except for two things:

• Since the race is so popular, there are not nearly enough parking spaces. So you end up parking in a nearby business park and ride a shuttle bus to the start/finish area.
• The Half course is two laps. (The Half course does have a short but fun hill thing that the other distances don't have, which nearly makes up for the two lap thing.)

Then something odd happened between the last time this race happened in 2020 (2021 was a virtual-only race) - most of the office parks were emptied and fenced off; there was no place to park any cars for the 2022 race. The race was on the verge of being cancelled.

Then an alternative start/finish option became available.

The park had added a small campground last year, and in that campground, they added a couple parking lots. Additionally, there is a lot of parking on the road that leads to this campground area. So this alternative option meant we didn't have to deal with shuttle busses. (It also meant that the dozen or so RVs that were camping there woke up Saturday morning to see a thousand or so trail runners show up. Fun thing - one of them gave out free pancakes to the volunteers early in the morning! Just because they thought it was fun to do!)

Since the campground is in a different part of the park than the normal start/finish area, Brazen had to come up with a new course. Cool thing about the new course - the Half was no longer a two-lap course. You still had to do that long out-and-back along the shore that nearly takes you to the bridge toll booths twice, but that was it. 

Not quite as cool a thing was that the course now had some hills. Even the 5K now had a significant hill. And the significantest (I know, not a word) hill of them all was near the finish line for all the distances, and was the talk of the post-race buzz. 

Does anyone else get Lagoon Valley flashbacks while looking at this?

As you can tell by looking at the above handcrafted course map (blame me for this), there was one area that was a bit gnarly, congestion-wise (I labeled it the Bermuda Triangle, although it's really closer to being a Bermuda Fiveangle, but I'm pretty sure that's not a word). The congestion mostly affected the Half runners, and there were a couple of course marshals there to direct traffic.

The fun thing was that we were going to be using trails this race hadn't used before. I tried to put together a comparison of the classic course vs. this new course, with respect to distance and elevation gain (based on Brazen published figures), but was hampered by not having access to the classic course details. But I did have data from the times I'd run the different distances, so I think this is mostly correct:

5K: Length went from 3.4 to 3.1 miles; the elevation is a mystery since I don't know the classic course elevation gain, but the new course at 242 feet is definitely significantly harder. So, shorter but more climbing.

10K: Length went from 6.3 to 6.6 miles; the elevation went from 231 feet to 404 feet. So, the course got longer and had climbing added.

Half: Length stayed at 13.2 miles: the elevation went from 675 feet to 861 feet. A bit more climbing, but that was likely worth not having to do two laps.

The Canadian traditionally picks up the It's-Its ice cream for each race, but had a conflict on Friday, so I was pressed into service to be Ice Cream Boy. My reward was a prime parking space!

"Old Timey?"

I ran the 10K, and soon we were off.

Keep the hills on your left. For a bit.

It was sunny and beautifully green. We basically started by heading to the classic course's start/finish area.

That's the classic start/finish area - it was weird seeing it so non-festive.

The first aid station was to the side of the classic start/finish area, at about mile 1.45.

After this aid station, we turned right and headed on some trails not used by the classic course.

Hey! I remember this boardwalk!

One interesting bit - I didn't think we would end up on the boardwalk as on the classic course,  but we did, going the opposite direction of normal! After the boardwalk, we wandered around for a bit and soon ended up on a familiar trail headed to a familiar aid station.

The second aid station was at mile 3.85. From here we follow the bay shore for a bit. This trail along the bay, especially when it's so green out, is one of my favorites.

Surely we will be taking the lower trail. Right? (Spoiler alert: No. First climb coming up!)

Which way do I go? Oh. I see. It's gonna be like that, huh.

Enough with the familiar course - time to attack our first of two climbs. What made this climb a bit odd was that the Half runners also went up it. And down the other side, then back up it and back to here where they turned left and started on that lower trail. 10K runners did not come back this way. That made me happy.

Way to go Oel, not your real name!

The fun thing at this point (for the 10K runners) was that we got to see all the Half runners heading back up that hill. (If you look carefully, you can see a course marshal up ahead. I could have hugged him when he said 10K runners got to make a right and not go back up that hill.)

Any guesses whether we go up that hill or get to turn right and stay flat?

I knew there was one more climb to go. And I had a pretty good look at it. I could dream of going right and avoiding it, but that was not the way to the finish line, and I was ready for the finish line.

Traffic control at the Bermuda Fiveangle. Half runners would come from the right to head to the finish.

Look. These climbs were actually not that big of a deal, especially compared to those on a traditional Brazen course. But, they were climbs on a course that normally only has fairly mild rollers. It was about one mile to the finish, and my legs were ready to be done - this was my longest race since a 10K on New Years Day in 2020. 

Going uphill gives you time to look at the views. WAY down there you can see Half runners on the out-and-back they had to do before they were able to go up this hill and storm the finish.

Picture by Brazen volunteer, taking pictures of runners climbing that hill. I ran exactly long enough for the shutter to click, then I switched back to a slow shuffle.

Eventually, I got to the top of the hill and was able to shuffle a bit faster on the downhill. I felt a nice breeze as Htebazile (not her real name) flew past me.

The finish. Finally.

I was pretty gassed when I finished. My "A" goal was to be sub 90 minutes. I did not make that. My "B" goal was sub 100 minutes, and I made that, with a 96 minute time. So I was happy. And I was about to be happier.

I got an age group medal! Even better, it wasn't by default! (The funny thing is that I'm in the 60-64 age group. If I had been in the 65-69 or 70-74 age groups, I would not have gotten an age group medal - old guys can be surprisingly fast!)

This race was a blast! I liked the new start/finish area, the new trails, and the efforts of all the volunteers. In theory, this will be the only year the race is held out of the campground, but that will depend on whether external parking can be arranged or whether the park rangers feel like this went pretty well and allow this to become the new normal.

I'm all about the new normal!

That's it - move along…

WSER 2021 - My 10th year at Last Chance!

Back in March of 2020, I was working from home and trying to anticipate how much longer this pandemic was going to keep me there. Probably at least until late April or maybe even May. Local races had been cancelled, but this was still feeling like a blip.

There was speculation about Western States - surely it won't be affected. The training runs were in danger maybe, but the race would happen. 

Then came March 27th and the press release that seemed impossible. The race was off. The pandemic became a lot more real. 

And I'm still working from home.

Fast forward to March 2021. Things are looking up. But how far up? Well, far enough up that the WSER training runs were on! And so was the race!

There would be some changes: 

• Fewer volunteers at the aid stations, and those that were there would all be vaccinated. (Initially we were all to wear masks, but loosening restrictions made that not a thing.)
• A reduction in contact between the runners and volunteers, especially with filling of bottles and getting food. 
• And, well that's about it. Crews and pacers were allowed. The finish line would be feel very familiar. This was going to feel like a real Wester States race!

Well, one difference would be the runners. There was no lottery for the 2021 race since all the runners from 2020 were moved to 2021. And there were provisions for deferring to next year for international runners since travel restrictions were still a thing. The end result was that instead of the allowed 369 runners at the starting line, there would be only 316 (and nobody left on the wait list).

One thing that felt normal was that, unlike 2019, it was predicted to be hot. Maybe really hot. 

This tweet opened some eyes. That's 1600 pounds per aid station. Obviously, that's not the right way to look at this - some aid stations need far less and some will need more. But still, this was impressive.

When I showed up at the WSER warehouse with the van to pick up the ice for Last Chance, Lon said we would load as much as we could until the tires started popping. Then fix the tires and remove a bag or two. We ended up putting 1400 pounds in there.

So much ice! Oswald the ostrich (I rescued him - long story) was impressed.

This was a bit more than we had ever used previously at Last Chance, and with almost 50 fewer runners than normal, this seemed to be way more than enough. But we really didn't want to risk running out, and since we are so remote, bringing an emergency load of ice to us later was not really possible. (Spoiler alert: It was more than enough.)

Would a smoke-free propane fire ring keep the mosquitos away? Maybe!

As usual, many of us drove up to Last Chance on Friday - since sections of the road to the aid station are also used as part of the course, it's closed to vehicles at 9 AM; if you don't come on Friday, you better get up early on Saturday. (Another issue is that there is little to no cell service at Last Chance - there is no way to call ahead or get a pizza delivered.)

A fun surprise on Saturday morning was that RD Craig, President Diana, and aid station boss Lon showed up to give Lina and Peggy prestigious Friend of the Trail awards for their efforts captaining this aid station for the last 12 years.

Lina was not sure what was going on.

 

Peggy, who knew what was going on for Lina, did not expect anything for her.

Friend of the Trail awards are a big deal at this race, and they couldn't have gone to more deserving people. Sadly, Lina announced that this would be her last year as an aid station co-captain, which made this a bit bittersweet. (Stevens Creek Striders have run this aid station for 39 years - the longest such run of all the aid stations!)

The crew at Last Chance was between 30 and 40 all told - down by about 20 from normal. We needed to be a bit more efficient this year, but felt confident it would work out. (Yet another spoiler alert - it did.)

Efficient, friendly, focused, and now soaking wet, Jim headed out.

As usual, our first runner was eventual winner Jim Walmsley, who came in ten minutes before the next runner. 

Last Chance is at mile 43.3 of the 100.2 mile course. There are no crew or pacers allowed here, and it's the last aid station before the first of the really hot canyons - Deadwood Canyon - and the never ending switchbacks that take you up to the Devil's Thumb aid station. 

Some runners just saw their crew a little over five miles before getting to Last Chance, and are tempted to just keep going and mostly skip us. These runners are not being smart, and will likely end up regretting that decision. (This year, very few runners skipped us - most found that all the ice they had loaded up with at Dusty Corners was already melted.)

The Last Chance (Mostly) Touchless Car Wash

Normally we have a buckets filled with ice water and large sponges to squeeze that ice water onto the runners. Sponges often came into contact with the runners, and when put back in the bucket, created a less than hygienic environment. Sponges were not allowed this year, so we relied on plant sprayers (filled with ice water) and a last minute addition, plant water cans, also filled with ice water. 

Eric taking the time to get very cooled off. Screams were often heard, followed by "but don't stop!"

Eric also getting ice shoved in many places.

We saw all manner of buffs, bandanas, hats with pockets, shirts with pockets - all places to shove in as much ice as fit. (Talking to several runners later, they said that the ice was mostly gone after just a couple of miles - just as they started their long climb.)

Katie shoved ice in places best not talked about in a family blog.

This runner skillfully keeping their food dry.

An interesting thing is that using the sprayers and watering cans resulted in us using less water than normal (and having less of a mud problem, although the heat might have had something to do with that).

Oh - the heat.

This thermometer was later shown mercy and moved to the shade.

I like to set a thermometer in the sun to make the heat seem as bad as possible, in hopes of convincing the runners to take the time to get ice. It's usually not very hot at Last Chance, which can give the runners a false idea that the heat is not really that bad, so selling them on the idea of getting ice can be tricky. This is the first time in my eight years of bringing this thing that it's pegged out at 130. Yikes!

The goal was to be touchless, but we did end up handling hats, ice bandanas (which often were secured with a tough knot), and other miscellaneous things that need ice. Overall, we were significantly more hygienic than in previous years, and the runners didn't suffer because of that.

The food area was taped off and runners were not allowed to grab things - they were handed what they wanted either by way of tongs or a paper "boat". The variety of food was as normal - grilled cheese and lentil soup in addition to normal aid station fare.

The view as runners come into the aid station.

In the end, everything went nicely. We had two runners drop here (usually we have none), and we never even came close to running out of ice or water.

Something that always fascinates me is what happens to the runners that come through in our last hour. 4:20 is the projected time you need to get here to be on a 30 hour pace (the race cutoff), and we officially close up at 5:25. 

This year, we had 53 runners come in after that 4:20 time - 15 of those ended up finishing (most in the 29th hour, but one finished in the 28th hour and stunningly, one finished in the 27th hour!). 15 didn't make it past Devil's Thumb (the next aid station). 

20 came in after 5:00 - three of those (all women!) went on to finish.

We know the odds are stacked against you if you come in that late, but we also know it's possible to beat those odds, so we will try very hard to prepare you for what's coming and to convince you that you are looking great and you've got this! 

Because you often do got this!

As far as general thoughts about the race, the big story (other than the heat) was the women. Three made it into the top ten overall! Fifteen of the first thirty finishers were women! At Last Chance, there were no women in the top ten and only ten in the top thirty (the first woman we saw was number 19 - there was a ten minute window where we saw twelve women). 

The women didn't have a Jim to try to catch - instead they had a bunch of smart runners that knew not to push too hard too early. They kept each other in sight as long as they could and suffered far fewer drops than the men. They ran smart races. (The winner ran the second fastest time in course history!)

Many of the men ran smart too, but quite a few ended up dropping after pushing too hard too early.

One other factor was that few elite male international runners ran this year - but several elite international female runners did. My guess is that early on, a few international male runners deferred and others followed their lead - and that the opposite happened with the females; a few didn't defer so others also decided not to defer.

Regardless, it was a very unique year in many ways. What will be interesting is to see how many entrants there are next year. The race is allowed 369 runners (due to a part of the course being in a wilderness area), but that limit is averaged over a five year period. By not having the race in 2020 and having a reduced number of runners this year, the next three years or so should be able to go well past 369 runners and still meet the rules. An important point is that it's not as easy as just throwing in more runners - many of the crew areas are already straining at capacity, so adding more crew wanting access to those areas will lead to issues - don't expect the number of runners to go up too dramatically, but do expect it to go up. 

Which will make many runners very happy!

That's it - move along…

PS: I mentioned in the title this was my 10th year volunteering at Last Chance. I'm so thrilled I get to keep coming back each year - it's certainly a highlight of the year. The last thing you want to do is to ask me how it went. You do not have enough time for me to talk about it.

PS: You can see my post about the Last Chance signs here. 

WSER 2021 - the Last Chance signs

In 2011 I decided to volunteer at the Western States 100. I would have volunteered the previous year, but I thought a prank was being pulled on me that there was such a thing as a 100 mile trail race.

I didn't know much about what to expect, but I knew one of the runners in the race - Sam from Brazen Racing. By blind luck, I happened to be parked just outside the aid station and my back window was covered in dust. So I made my first "sign".

Sam actually saw this and wrote "thanks!" My day was made!

The following year I decided to up my sign game. After you leave the aid station, there is a small hill you have to get over. The sights and sounds of the aid station are well behind you and you are still getting used to the ice and food you just loaded up with. I figured this would be a perfect place to post a few encouraging signs for the runners I knew in the race.

The view in 2018.

In following years I started adding more general purpose signs so that all the runners would have something to read. This year I ended up with around 40 signs. Some were made by Oscar, some were suggested by Mandie, but most were for people I knew in the race. (I always offer to add signs for others if they would like - this generally leads to some puzzled looks as runners try to work out who made that sign and put it there.)

Here are the signs for 2021.

In 2019, I wanted to create a set of signs along the lines of the Burma Shave signs from the past, and put them before the aid station. This year I added a second set of signs to this area.

As you get close to the Last Chance aid station.

This first set was in honor of Tony, whose dream had been to run this race for many years (he volunteers at the Rucky Chucky crossing). He is known for telling very bad soda-based jokes when he gets to aid stations, so I thought I'd tell it before he had a chance to.

Sadly, Tony didn't make I this far, so he didn't get to see these live. Even more sadly, several runners told me they thought they were funny. (So long as they don't tell Tony that.)

Here is the original set of entry signs.

Much better than the soda signs.

Now here are the signs that appeared after you left the aid station. (Sadly, more than once a runner has completely missed seeing their sign.) 

A side note - the signs on this hill actually make an appearance in the Billy Yang film Life in a Day (about the 2016 edition of the race)! Go to about the 34th minute - Devon is in a low point but sucks it up and heads out. Then sees the signs. Wonderfully (and not by my doing), there is a sign for her. This is what makes me keep doing this - hopefully I can perk someone up with some dumb random sign. 

(I do worry that someone may end up disappointed not to see a sign for them. I stopped adding bib numbers and started only using first names once it occurred to me that there may be multiple people with the same first name, and possibly someone might think a sign is for them when it's really for someone else. Or I might be over-thinking this a bit.) 

Josam did not get a silver buckle, but did get a bronze one and has confirmed that silver tequila goes nicely with it too.

This is an Oscar sign. I didn't know Jack, but he managed a fine finish of the race.

This one is more confusing than necessary, but I wanted to tease him that Stephanie has a WSER Cougar trophy and he doesn't. On the flip side, he hurdled a police motorcycle on his way to winning the SF Marathon a few years ago, and I don't think Steph has ever done that.

I have lived in Redwood City for over 30 years. I was stunned that three runners were also from Redwood City. And that I knew none of them. (One finished, one made it past this point, and one didn't quite make it this far.)

This was suggested by Mandie - Katie is one of my new favorite runners who ended up finishing fifth!

A general sign. That is the lousiest outline of a buckle ever. I'm curious how many people work out that that's what it is.

I don't do many signs for the elite runners since I don't know many of them. I don't really know Kaci, but she is always a blast when she comes through and she is from Nebraska - I was born in Kansas so that makes us cousins of some sort I think! She is my perpetual favorite runner here.

This is the same Sam from the original dust sign. Happily, he got to see this sign, but unhappily, he did not finish. 

I can't imagine going for eight years of lotteries and not getting in - every year you have to run a qualifier. Daigo aced this race (as I knew he would!).

An Oscar sign. Oscar did not know Joe, but was set to pace him later in this race. So he took the opportunity to have this sign for him. This was a case where Joe was extremely puzzled how this sign  happened. (He had a fine finish too!)

An Oscar sign. Some lucky people got two signs!

This was another Mandie suggestion. Jackie had not finished a 100 mile race yet, and Mandie was pacing her later on. (She has now finished a 100 mile race!)

An Oscar sign. Josam is now up to two signs!

I just marveled at all the people that finally got into the race with 128 tickets! All but one of these finished (and that's the same Calvin as on the Redwood City sign).

This general sign has been around a while. It still makes me smile.

An Oscar sign. Ram finished in fine style.

I got my start in San Jose Fit. I don't actually know Satpal, but Georgianna does and suggested he get a sign. Fun thing about this sign - it's the first one to do a lap around the track at the finish line!

Mike lives on Oahu, and I mostly know him from the HURT 100 race there. He got to see his sign, but was not able to finish.

An Oscar sign. Josam is up to three signs! A new record!

Another general sign. The mosquitos are way more terrifying than any dragons would be.

Sadly, Tony did not get to see this sign either.

A general sign from the first year I started this. (Yes, I thought stars looked a lot like snow flakes.)

This was for Dwight, the Stevens Creek Striders Last Chance representative this year. Sadly, he did not get to see this sign. (Or the fine antelope-looking thing that stretched my drawing skills.)

Actually, in the canyons, I hear it can be a muggy heat.

Another Sam sign. (He's a popular guy!)

This was a Mandie suggestion. Apparently Matt shares my issues with poison oak. Unfortunately, apparently you can't outrun poison oak and Matt did not finish.

Mandie belongs to this SWAP team that weirdly talks about running like a T-Rex with a herd of cats chasing you. Or something like that.

An Oscar sign. Sadly another one Tony didn't see.

In 2019, Loren was very close to the top of the wait list, so he showed up at the start, ready to go, just in case someone didn't show up. Everyone showed up. He finished this year though!

This one is just as you are about to leave the aid station. It's heartbreaking when we discover that a runner has left something behind.

And a final general sign. I don't think Karl has ever seen this or it might have been destroyed. But it cracks me up.

And that's it for 2021! It's a fair amount of effort making these, putting them up, then taking them all down, but it makes me happy. If anyone ever wants their sign, let me know. (I have a box full of the previous signs that takes up a lot of room in the garage.)

That's it - move along…

PS:  You can read my general thing about Last Chance this year here.