Not THAT Lucas: WSER 2025 - The Last Chance signs

For a number of years now, I've been making and putting up a variety of signs at the Last Chance aid station for the Western States Endurance Run. It started with a few for a couple people I knew in the race, and has grown to be around 50 signs total, including several that are made by others.

One question I get is who gets a sign? Sadly, there's not an easy answer to that.

First, there are obvious people that I know. This year had few of those.
Second, there are people that I think are fun or somehow otherwise worthy of a sign. You'll see those below - it's hard to define who these people are, and it can depend on whether I have time and materials left over to put them together.
Third, there are requests from friends (or sometimes friends of friends). This is a growing category - I encourage anyone that knows about these signs to contact me if you would like one next year. I just need to know something that would be inspiring or embarrassing to put on their sign.

There are also a lot of signs that are general purpose and apply to everyone. If you would like to see a walk-through of all the signs in place, click here to see a YouTube video.

In any case, here we go, in no particular order.

Signs I made.

A small note about the signs I make - I generally only use a first name don't include a bib number. I really don't want anyone to feel disappointed by not seeing a sign for them, so a tiny bit of my brain chooses to believe that maybe, just maybe, someone will see a sign that's not actually for them, but think it could be. I know, that's pretty unlikely, but keep in mind the runners have been going for over ten hours by this point, and thinking clearly can be a bit of a challenge.

This is an example of a sign I chose to make even though I don't know this person. His story was amazing though - while serving overseas, he had a large chunk of a leg blown off. He was the first above-the-knee amputee to attempt WSER. (He ended up making it 70.7 miles before having to drop.)

Mandie is a prolific sign requester, and she requested this one. (Jeff finished in the 22:00 hour! Mandie knows fast people!)

Another Mandie request. Chris apparently has a mustache that bugs her. (Chris finished in the 20:00 hour! Even more amazing, two weeks later, he ran and finished the Hardrock 100!)

Another example of someone random person I made a sign for. Greg was the only person with 512 lottery tickets, which means he has been qualifying and entering the lottery for ten years and finally got his chance this year. (Greg finished in the 27:00 hour.)

William is a friend that was number 53 on the wait list. Normally, if you're that high on the list you'll not get in, but this year was different, and William not only got in, he finished in the 23:00 hour, earning a silver belt buckle!

Another Mandie request. Mandie showed me a picture of Tara after she had fallen into a cholla cactus at a previous race. Fortunately, there are none of these along the WSER course. Tara is also from Durango CO, which is only an hour from my hometown of Pagosa Springs! (Tara sadly dropped at mile 73. The important thing though was that she got to see her sign.)

Peach requested this - Ken is a local guy but I don't know him. (Ken finished in the 28:00 hour.)

Janette requested this one - Nathan was part of a group that could not find the ninth book at the Barkley Marathon this year. He also got in with 256 tickets! (Nathan ended up dropping at mile 62.)

Ben is the brother of Sam of Brazen Racing fame. Twice Ben has gotten in via the raffle (as opposed to the lottery). Sadly, Ben had failed to finish in his three previous attempts. Happily, he nailed it this year, finishing with 12 minutes to spare!

This was the first year that I wasn't able to make a sign for Kaci Lickteig - she was not among the starters for the first time in ten years! I mentioned to her how sad this made me, and she asked if I would make a sign for a fellow Nebraskan friend of hers. (Mindy finished in the 28:00 hour.)

I don't know Karl very well, but I know Simone Flowerrunner, so I wanted to make him a sign. (Simone always wears a wreath of flowers in her hair when she runs.) (Karl finished in the 25:00 hour.)

As a sponsor of the race, Brazen Racing gets an entry. This year, that entry went to Amy, who often works at Brazen's medical tent (and she has worked at the Last Chance medical tent!). (Amy finished in the 29:00 hour.)

This was a request by Andrea. Wednesday is a German short haired pointer dog. I am not an artist, but I gave drawing Wednesday a shot. (Sam ended up dropping at mile 24.4 and didn't get to see his sign.)

Kiran got this year's Last Chance/Steven's Creek Striders entry (each aid station gets a spot). I apologize for the very bad yoga pun. (Sadly, Kiran dropped at mile 34.4 and did not get to see his sign.)

Sign made by Theresa.

Theresa found out from one of her friends that I do this sign thing, and contacted me about a sign that she wanted to make. The funny thing was that I was considering making a sign for this person, and she ended up doing it for me! Sort of! (I added the wait list bit at the top.)

It's not often that a bonafide rock star runs a 100 mile race, but Ben Gibbard, of Death Cab for Cutie fame, is not a normal rock star. Theresa included many fun references to various DCfC songs in this sign. (Ben finished in the 27:00 hour.)

Signs Oscar made.

Oscar knows some of the same people I know, but he knows a LOT of others that I don't know. It's become a tradition that he makes a set of signs that I post up at Last Chance.