Pace Report Wasatch 100 -
Paced Tyler Shepherd from Lambs (mile 52.5) to Brighton (mile 74.5).
7500' vert climbing 4800' vert descending
T- 6:28 or so
Tyler came into Lambs in pretty good shape. He had totally sandbagged the first 2 aid stations in the race and had progressively picked up the pace and also picked off people all day long. He was shooting for 30 hours and that was looking very good for him. He came into Lambs canyon right on 30 hour pace but with momentum to be closer to 28 hours by the end. He was down 10 pounds or so but looked WAY better than everyone else coming into that aid. It was HOT (96 degrees) and exposed. Carnage was everywhere. His father and friend were crewing for him so the three of us got him fed and cooled down then off we went.
The hike up Lambs over to Millcreek was slow as he took it easy to conserve. Time was really unimportant as the goal was to finish. At that point it looked like an done deal. Little did we know the stuggles ahead. Right as we left Lambs a huge cloud of dust came and turned day into night. Very crazy. I loved the trail and will have to visit it again soon. We hit Millcreek canyon right before dark and set to hiking up the 3 mile asphalt stretch.
Ugg, really? Asphalt? At least the road was closed to crews so that the cars were at a minimum. We kept it at a hike and as such the road was slow and boring. Once we hit the aid, we needed to turn on our lights. Fed and watered we then proceeded to tackle the nearly 3 mile stretch to Dog lake. Yep more uphill. We proceeded to pass plenty of folks as we made it to the lake. The short descent to Blunder fork was rocky and uneven. Tyler kept things pretty conservative. He was around 12 min/mile pace on the downhill. Yet, it wasn't too soon after that downhill that Tyler began to complain of knee pain. No big deal, pain is normal at this stage. Try and ignore it and continue. He did just that. More climbing up past Desolation Lake and up to Red Lover's Ridge (10,000'). He got things rolling on the flatter stretches along the ridge. We continued to make decent time, but was generally slowing down. We continued to pick off a few runners every so often. One of them was not looking good at all. Weaving and bobbing and generally looking pale and wasted. I stopped to chat for a bit to check on him. He seemed to be ok and coherent but definetly in a bad way. In contrast, Tyler was still bouncing along and eating well and drinking plenty. The only issue was the now near constant gritting of teeth and slowing to a walk as his knee bugged him.
Scott's Peak Aid (mile 70) was a welcome sight. 5 miles to Brighton with most of it downhill. I figured we could jog it slowly and still make up time on his 30 hour splits. Normally, that would have been fine but with the knee thing getting worse, it became a battle to keep moving at all. He ran some, walked some until it finally became too painful to run. So walk we did. The last 2 miles into the aid, he was in real serious pain and was not looking like he could continue. I tried to keep things light and hopeful for a miracle but knew that the acute pain he was experiencing was unlikely to stop until he did.
Brighton was a zoo. Bodies and crews all over the place. We worked to give first aid to Tyler and get the knee better. Any movement caused pain at this point. Walking was near impossible. Poor Tyler, his wife and crew disappointed, but mostly Tyler himself was so sad and mad and just plain irritated that his leg would not allow him to continue. We tried everything we could think of for about 90 mins before we decided to call it a day. DNF. Another victim to Brighton. Only it wasn't for nutrition or hydration or poor pacing. He tackled both of those perfectly. It was out of his hands.
My first "failure" as a pacer. Technically, I got him to Brighton and Dan was to take him to the Finish. So, its Dan's failure. Ok, not true. Did he run the downhill too fast to mess the knee up? No way. I pretty much walked to keep up on that downhill. I think it was the hours and hours of climbing he did on severly tired and worn out legs. A doctor visit should shed some light on the final diagnosis.
Rest well and hope you are back running soon Tyler. Thanks for the opportunity to experience the joys and pains of another 100 mile run.
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