Hellgate…my fourth year in a row. I even ran it once!Year One, I crewed El Toro. It was cold, snowy, icy, dark, scary, and exhausting. Guthrie was there to crew Mr. Bimble. We quickly got separated and I was “thrown to the wolves”, alone. Unfortunately (?), I got some unexpected company when Loopy exited the race at Bear Wallow Gap. She was very disappointed, tired, cold, and sore, but happy to have a warm place to stay in the car, I was happy to have an (unhappy) co-pilot, and we got to speed El Toro along to an outstanding performance. It was hard to imagine ever crewing this race again, let alone running it!
Year Two. I crewed Loopy. This time, I had no company at all. Fortunately, I had managed to learn a little bit the prior year, so I wasn’t totally terrified. Loopy had an outstanding performance, just like El Toro had the year before, and the weather was ever-so-slightly less frightening. Maybe this race is not quite as unimaginable as I thought ?
Year Three. How did it come to this? I found myself running the race with Mr. Bimble, Loopy, and Spuds. Loopy, Spuds, and I were completing the Beast series. Chipper and Booman were there to crew Spuds, but also provided awesome support for Loopy and me. The weather Gods smiled, the weather was even better than the year before!
Year Four, 2012. Back to crewing, for Loopy. Despite my endless marketing of Hellgate, no other crew came along. The weather got even better: Global Warming is for real!!!!! Runners complained about the heat. Crazy stuff. Unfortunately (?) I got unexpected crewing assistance when Spuds had to withdraw, literally, at the “11th hour”. So, I not only had company, but I was able to pace Loopy from Bear Wallow Gap to the finish, while Spuds took over crewing duties. Thank you Spuds! Loopy performed awesomely again, by finishing well under the cut-off despite her supposed unpreparedness. It would appear that training is overrated, as Mr. Bimble managed a PR under similar circumstances ?!?!?!?
Year Five, Six, … I have some thoughts, some combination of running / crewing, but I sure know that I hope to be there for years to come.