"From the other side of the table"

We drove over to Huntsville the night before, Joyce, Henry, And I. We found RD Paul just to let him know we where here and then left for our room in town. Joyce & Henry where running the 50km as part of their training for Western States. I was working an aid station with Robert & Moogy, who would arrive in the morning.

We left the hotel at 5am and stopped at our location first. The truck was full of stuff: tables, tents, ice chests, plus all the personal gear for Joyce & Henry's run, plus my weekend gear. I was going to have them just dump me and the gear and then take them selves to the race start, but Robert & Alex show up as we started to unload. We laid out all the pieces for the big tent and then gave instructions on how to put it up. I left them to put it up while I took the kids to the start. They needed to get ready while I helped Paul with packet pickup. It's pretty much just Paul, his wife Abby, and his daughter Erin. Max helps him a lot, but he's taking care of course stuff right now, so I pitch in and assist. Henry's ready to run and bored, so he comes by to take my place such that I can get back out to the aid station. First, we load up all the aid supplies that Abby has laid out for us. Then I leave the chaos at the lodge and head back to our station.

Moogy is there with Robert when I arrive. The tent is up, chairs and tables also. We unload and start setting up. One table for drinks: coke, water, and PowerAde. The other table for everything else: candies, bananas, hammer gel, electrolyte caps, chips, pretzels, Fritos, bagels (that we cut and smear with peanut butter or jelly), and medical stuff (Vaseline, Ibuprofen, and so on) We load 100 cups of water and 100 cups of PowerAde, but only 10 cups of water. Moogy takes a few boxes up the trail for trash, then sits his chair out front to collect times for each runner when come in. We're expecting 300+ from two races that are both starting at the same time, so it should be complete chaos for an hour and then real slow for the duration.

Robert's craving coffee so we send & Alex him into town to fix his habit while we sit and wait for the rush. Moogy has to go find a pen to write down the numbers and then sits out front. They're both back just before the lead runners come down the trail. True to form, the leaders want nothing. They simply turn and head back away from us. The first 5 come in alone, one at a time, then the next 5 in a pack, then a pack of 10, then a mass of 100, the cups on the table are almost gone when we rally and manage to just stay ahead of the table going empty. We manage to cut up a few bananas and make some PB&J bagels, then reload the other supplies. We hear that a runner is in trouble on the trail between us and the start, so we promise to go check as soon as we can spare a warm body, but we cannot do this just yet. The packs keep getting smaller until we have enough room to send somebody after the downed runner. As we're making ready, she comes in and now we don't have to go. Small groups are still coming in, walking mostly and they all want to visit. Eventually they get bored with us and leave.

Alone again, with all the 25k runners done with us, and the 50k runners a ways off til loop two. We restock the table, fill more drinks, and clean up the mess. Cups and trash litter the trail past the bend and around the corner. We pick it all up. We also collect discarded clothes and send it back to the finish line with Robert. He's going for a water cooler but instead brings back an ice chest filled with ice. He goes back again for a water dispenser. A few friends drop by after finishing the 25k. We talk them into giving us their hammer gels so we can restock for the runners.

And we wait.

For the 2nd loop, they come back in ones and twos. Mark first, then the others. We can now wait on each one individually, taking care of them, offering advice, filling bottles, picking up the trash, and then sitting until the next one. Alex goes for a short run as it is now very slow. We manage to avoid running out of anything that we started with. Robert Beck comes through and says he thinks he last but he isn't sure. I need to know for certain as I don't want to tear down until the last runner has gone by. I send Moogy to run the first section to see who if anybody is still out there. Robert waits 15 minutes and then drive's down to the trail head to pick Moogy up. Alex and I tear down the tent and consolidate all the goodies onto one table. One more runner comes through and she is the last one. Soon after Moogy and Robert come back and confirm this. The four of us clean up the mess, wash down the tables and reload them in my truck. Then the tent next. Robert hikes the trail picking up trash and clothes. We load 4 large bags of trash into Robert's truck, the empty 5 gallon water jugs, the tub of race stuff from Abby, and abandoned clothes. Everything else goes into my truck. One last check and there is nothing left behind. Looks like we weren't here today. Heck, it's probably cleaner than when we arrived.

Moogy leaves from there to drive back to College Station. Robert & Alex haul the trash to a dumpster and then the other stuff to Abby, and then they too head back home to Austin. Joyce & Henry are at the finish area waiting for me. They had both run well and where thoroughly used up. I talk with Paul for a few minutes: he needs my list of runners and times, but also needs to know who the last runner is and what time they went though our station. I gave him my assessment of what was used, what we needed, how much of each, so that he can adjust his plans for next year. The race has wound down to slow motion but is still an hour from over when I load Joyce, Henry, and their gear in the truck. I take them to eat some real food and then drive them both back home to Bastrop and Austin. I am as tired as they are when I get home. To bed by 5pm and sleep like a rock.