Western States 100 2024 - Last Chance Aid Station

The big question on my mind this year was whether we would be able to take the normal route to the wide spot in the dirt road that is the Last Chance aid station, or would we have to take a round-about route that nearly involves crossing state lines, as we did last year? 

The winter was pretty generous, so the doubts were justified, but the winter had been nothing like the 2022/2023 winter that had washed out chunks of the Mosquito Ridge Road, making it impassable. 

So yes, we got to use the normal route, and it was interesting to see the several places that had been extensively repaired as we drove in.

My motel room for the night, heading out on Mosquito Ridge Road.

Some Last Chance Basics

Last Chance actually shows up on some maps, although you may have to zoom in a bit. Maybe a lot. Find Foresthill, and just before it is Mosquito Ridge Road. Trace that road for about 24 miles and you may see something called Greekstore. Before that, there was an easy to miss left turn towards Dusty Corners (which will not show up on any maps) and Last Chance. Back in the gold rush era, Last Chance was a boom town. Now, all you see are random scattered mining bits here and there - it's really hard to envision anyone living here.

As major medical aid station, Last Chance, at an altitude of about 4700 feet, is on mile 43.3 of the Western States 100 course. It's remote, with little to no cell service, no electricity, and no Starbucks. It also does not allow runner crews and is before you can have a pacer. This means we have the complete attention of the runners. Especially due to what comes next - the first of the really hot canyons.

Out of the 50 or so volunteers that make up the Last Chance aid station, probably 30 or so show up on Friday and camp out. (People coming in Saturday have to get there fairly early since the road between Dusty Corners and Last Chance is closed due to it being part of the course. But those people didn't spend Friday feeding the mosquitos, so there is that.) Also, since that road is closed, you can't leave Last Chance until the last runner comes through, about 5:30 PM.

Friday Set Up

For the 13th straight year (not counting the 2020 cancellation), I headed up Friday morning, stopping at the WSER warehouse to pick up and fill a bunch of water jugs, as well as some other supplies. As has become normal for us now, our ice was taken in a trailer to the Dusty Corners aid station, where we could grab it in the morning, reducing the melt waste we would normally deal with. One change though was that, instead of a trailer bringing up a large water tank for us, we would rely on about 40 5-gallon jugs to supply drinking water and the water for the Car Wash, where we cool off the runners.

Eventually, I arrived at Last Chance, and was surprised to see a fair number of people already there! I was not surprised to find that the mosquitos were also already there - they had really missed us and wanted to make up for lost time.

After unloading the van, it was time to start putting up the signs. I set up two sets of "Burma Shave" style signs at the entrance and many personalized signs a bit after the aid station exit. (Click HERE to see a post about the signs.)

After all that was done, it was starting to get a bit dark, so the gas campfire was started and the circle of chairs around it started to fill with volunteers. 

Photo by Peggy. All campfires should have a set of porta-potties close at hand!

Saturday Morning - Getting Ready for Action!

My normal breakfast for this event is yogurt with granola. That may change now - about halfway through eating it I heard and felt a tooth fracture on a particularly stubborn piece of granola. The good news was that it only hurt if I chewed on it. The bad news was that this was going to make eating just about anything a challenge. (I've since had several dentists look at the tooth and the consensus is that it has to go. And that granola is evil. But tasty.) Fortunately, I was able to mostly just ignore the tooth during the day.

Fairly early in the morning, three of us drove back to Dusty Corners to grab the ice we would need (spoiler alert: It was a lot, like well over a thousand pounds a lot). Then, while the food prep started to get serious, we set up the Car Wash.

Runners can get sprayed, showered, or sponged, often all at the same time as ice is being shoved in their sleeves, hat, bandana, or other, ummm, creative places.

This year we were back to embracing the ice water buckets (which were strongly discouraged in '21 and '22). Alert readers will note, in the above picture, we've learned to cover the area in front of the table and ice buckets with pine needles, which greatly reduces the mud we would normally see. 

Then it was time for the pre-race briefing. As a surprise, Lon, the longtime guru who organizes all of the 20 aid stations, showed up for the briefing. There was the normal overview of how Last Chance works, along with descriptions of the various volunteer positions available.

Lon, along with Last Chance captains Bonnie, Peggy, and Eric. I like how it looks like they are all looking at a particularly fierce mosquito.

After that, Peggy gave Friends of The Trail awards to the two longtime medical volunteers, Ted (the dad) and Andrew (his son). The family that pops blisters together, well, they get awards together?

Finally, it was time for Lon to take the stage. Lon is stepping down from his role with the race after this year, so we thought maybe he was just visiting his favorite aid station one last time. (I'm sure he thinks of all 20 of the aid stations as his children, and as such, would never pick a favorite. But if he did, it would be Last Chance.)

It turns out that Peggy hit a milestone this year - her 15th as a Last Chance aid station captain. Lon presented her with a copy of John Trent's book about the race "Second Sunrise" and the highly prestigious Stationmaster Award. 

Eric, Peggy (holding the Stationmaster Award, which I feel like she should have to wear like a badge), Bonnie (holding the book), and Lon (doing a jazz hand?).

Now it was time for the group shots. 

Group shot I took with my phone.

Group shot Jill took with my 35mm camera (which was acting up) that included me (on the far right) and the radio grandkids (in front). This was our "be goofy" shot.

Group shot of all the Stevens Creek Striders members.

Shot of the Last Chance captains by the new Last Chance flag!

It was about this time that we heard that the leaders were going to show up soon, so we all headed off to make last minute preparations.

The Runners Start Showing Up

In the past, we would typically get two, or maybe three runners near the course record pace, then we would have some time before the next few showed up. 

Not this year.

The first 17 runners came in within a 16 minute time span. There was no time to geek out over the elites - and while many of them skipped the buffet, they all wanted ice and to get cooled off. 

We were like a NASCAR pit crew, minus the power tools. Tyler would go on to finish seventh.

Mandie the greeter snagging Anna's bottle as she entered Last Chance.

Kaci, the Pixie Ninja, double-high fiving another runner at the Car Wash!

Eventually we would get short breaks between runners, which allowed us to get fresh ice and fill the buckets and sprinklers. It was really starting to warm up by this point - I put a thermometer in the sun and it was up to 100º, which is a bit unfair until you realize that the climb up to Devil's Thumb is going to be completely exposed as a result of the wildfire a couple years ago. So, 100º it is!

Some running friends started showing up as well - I missed a few as I was busy restocking the ice and such, but managed to capture a few.

John on his way to his third finish, looking WAY too perky still!

Liz gulping a Ginger Ale before heading out. (I am NOT going to point out that she let out a massive belch at about this time.)

Brazen Sam also on his way to his third finish! 

Franco may have been the only runner we saw wearing gloves!

I hadn't known it at the time, but Loren was carrying the bib of a runner that sadly passed away before the race started. An amazing gesture that captured the spirit of this race so well.

Loren: "I'VE LOST MY SUNGLASSES!!!"

And before we knew it, it was all over. We ended up with three runners missing our cutoff, which is about average. 

As has become my norm, once everything was packed up and ready to go (not a trivial process), I chose to head straight home without stopping at the track to see the finish (the winners had long since crossed the line), in part because of my tooth, but mostly because I was exhausted.

Some Stats Most Will Find Wildly Boring

Like all aid stations along the course, there are several times posted that a runner can use to gage their pace and chances of finishing, either under the 24 hour finish pace or the 30 hour pace. These times are based on historical averages, but I've always been curious how it actually works out. The following covers all runners that came into Last Chance from 4:00 on (79 runners, 42 of which finished, although two of those finished after the 30 hour cutoff).

Curious note: Last year, we had 92 runners come in after 4:00, and 69 of those finished - a 75% finish rate. This year's numbers were quite different (79 runners with 42 finishing - a 53% rate). Overall, in 2023 there was an 86.5% finish rate, while in 2024, there was a 76.3% finish rate. I'm not sure what might explain this difference between the two years.

For Last Chance:

• 24 hour pace: 2:05
• 30 hour pace: 4:20
• Final cutoff: 5:25

Here is a chart that shows the finish time of each runner that entered Last Chance after 4:00 and managed a finish (two of these finished over the 30 hour cutoff).

Gaps are runners that didn't finish. Click or tap this to see it larger, if you find such things irresistible.

Note the one runner that finished in just a bit over 26 hours - that runner had a heck of a finishing kick!

This chart shows how far each of the 79 runners managed to get before either finishing or dropping.

Of the 31 runners that came in between 4:00 and the 4:20 pace time, 25 finished. From 4:20 to 4:59, 29 runners came in and 14 of those finished (one past the 30 hour cutoff though). That's nearly a 50% finish rate of people that were officially behind the finish pace. Those runners closed very nicely.

From 5:00 up to the last runners to enter Last Chance, 19 runners came in, and three of those finished (one past the 30 hour cutoff though)! The last runner to come into Last Chance and managed a finish came in at 5:07 - 47 minutes past the projected 30 hour pace!

The lesson is that it isn't a fantasy that those runners coming through so late have a realistic chance of finishing - they really do! Maybe they will get to soon start working with their crew and pacers, and that makes the difference. Maybe night running is their thing.

Maybe that second scoop of ice in their bandana and that third piece of watermelon is just what they needed, and it's now game on!

And That's About It!

As always, a huge thanks to Stevens Creek Striders for managing this aid station (astonishingly, their 42nd year doing that - the most years of any of the aid station by a fair amount!) and allowing myself and many other non-Striders to become honorary Striders for the day.

It really is a pretty amazing experience to be there helping the runners all day - it's a fair amount of work, but there is fun to be had as well. And you get the chance to make connections with so many runners - working with them at a critical moment in their race.

That's it - move along…