To fly or not to fly, that is the question. For me it is big because I am the worst flyer ever. To put it in perspective, I have had flight attendants give me drinks for free so as not to spook the other passengers. It is a fear I despise, but a fear is a fear nonetheless. (I guess that nixes anyone in the group ever wanting to fly with me.) I decided to face my fear and fly mainly because I get sleepy driving from here to Round Rock so I figured driving all the way to Amarillo would probably take me 12 hours with all the coffee breaks. I survived the flight, as did the people sitting around me, with the help of some wine that my dear friend Shan had so thoughtfully brought me and by holding my Pope coin that I got when the Pope came to St. Louis. I always figure I’m safe if I’m holding the Pope. I don’t really enjoy drinking in the morning, especially the day before a race and I’m sure everyone sitting around me is thinking, “Oh, that poor alcoholic woman” but hey, whatever gets you from Point A to Point B.

The Amarillo airport is great…those luggage carts are free as opposed to the $3.00 that the Austin airport charges and I had enough luggage for 5 runners as I had packed for every conceivable weather change. If it was 95 degrees, I was ready. If it dropped to 15 degrees, I was ready. Did any of that happen? No. The only thing I changed during the entire race was bandanas. I opted to stay in Amarillo rather than Canyon since the pre-race dinner was in Amarillo and I had to be at the airport early Sunday morning anyway. It’s only a 35minute drive from Amarillo to Palo Duro Canyon.

I got in early enough to head to Palo Duro Canyon to make sure I knew where I was going the next morning. It’s true what people say, that there is nothing but flatland and all of a sudden you see this huge canyon. It was absolutely breathtaking, unlike anything I had ever seen before. I pulled over to take some pictures because the afternoon sun hitting the canyon walls was incredible and met Jerry from San Antonio who was doing his first trail run. We were both in awe of the spectacular view. I drove a little further to find the starting line and that is when I got sandwiched in a convoy of old-timey cars out for a drive. It was just fine because I wanted to go slow to enjoy the scenery but I’m sure they didn’t appreciate my rental car messing with their ambiance.

I hated to leave the park but it was time to pick up a few last minute supplies from the grocery store and head to the pre-race dinner at The Gathering Place. I met up with Robert and Diana Heynen and we were later joined by Robert Melendez, Chris Chandler and Donna Squyres. The food was delicious and afterward Red Spicer, the race director and Bill, the assistant director gave us some pre-race information. Bill informed us that they had had 5 weeks of rain and that parts of the trail were pretty muddy but that it had already dried up quite a bit. After deciding where and when to hook up in the morning, we all headed back to our hotels.

Does anyone really ever sleep the night before a race? I kept looking at the clock thinking O.K., now I only have 6 hours to sleep if I fall asleep right this minute, then it became 5, then 4, then 3 and then oh, to hell with it. At 4:30 I was up drinking coffee and still trying to figure out what to wear. At home you can just go outside in your robe and see what the temperature feels like but when you’re in a hotel, it’s probably not too classy to go through the lobby in your robe to see what it feels like outside. I just opted for peelable layers and it was off to the races.

I parked right by Robert and Diana, Robert M, and Kelly Heath. Robert and Diana told me about this great spot to park because it worked perfectly as a transition area since it was right next to the trail. We were able to leave our drop bags in the car, which I was thrilled about, since I had brought everything I own with me. The temperature was 41 degrees, cold but not brutal and it was the most beautiful sky full of stars that I had ever seen. We checked in at the start as requested and then stood by the fire until the race started. I was worried that I had not seen Tracy Holland the night before or this morning but then someone said they had seen her so I was relieved to know she was there. We wished each other well and started off together in the dark. I was surprised at the number of runners that didn’t have flashlights since it was dark for about the first 30 minutes but I guess they figured everyone else could light up the trail.

Diana and I ran the whole first lap together stopping at times to admire the beauty of the morning sun on the canyon walls. I wonder if the elite do that? The first water crossing on the road was underwater so they had made a temporary footbridge with cement blocks. I remember thinking Joe P. would think we were such weenies for not just running through the water. The mud was only really bad in a few spots but it was enough to make you feel like you were running with ankle weights for awhile. After about mile 4 of each loop (50 milers did four 12.5 mile loops), the mud wasn’t a problem and by the 3rd loop, it had already dried up a lot. Diana and I visited the whole first loop and time seemed to fly by. We met up with a gal that was in the Air Force who was stationed in Wichita Falls and Alaska before that. This was her first trail run. We finished up the first loop, refueled at the car and headed back out.

We soon separated but I was sure that we would hook back up at an aid station since we both had similar goals of just breaking 11 hours. The aid station folks were just great but they certainly can’t hold a candle to the kind of spread Joe P. and his crew puts out for his races. We are all just spoiled. Now I never remember the names and mileage points of every aid station like Joe and Henry do in their reports, but I do know my favorite aid station was the last one of the loop, Dos Locos Senoritas. Those 2 ladies were so uplifting and I looked so forward to coming into their aid station each loop. The 3 miles or so from their aid station to the start/finish area are the hilliest so it was so nice to be sent off with their smiles and encouragement.

At the start of the 3rd loop I picked up my headphones from my drop bag on the off chance that I might be able to pick up the Texas-Missouri game. Now some would say, a true runner would never wear headphones, but again I come back to whatever gets you from Point A to Point B and besides it was the Texas game for crying out loud. I always took my headphones off when I encountered another runner, which was rare and always at the aid stations so as not to be rude. Amazingly, I got perfect reception for the game so I was in heaven. I’m sure I looked pretty strange yelling damnit whenever Texas would fumble the ball and woo-hoo whenever we scored. At about mile 4 of the 3rd loop, I saw a big green snake with horizontal stripes cross the trail right in front of me, which scared the begezzes out of me. I mentioned it to the aid station folks and they said be glad it wasn’t the rattler 2 guys had just seen by the cliff wall where I had just been. They said the guys had gotten a stick and tossed it down by the creek. I was a little more alert after that but not spooked or anything.

Having the game to listen to made the third loop go by so fast and before I knew it, it was back to the car to refuel for the last time. Something about starting that last loop of a race that feels so good knowing you are done at the end of it. By this time, the aid stations were all out of Coke, but my drink mixture of GU2O and plain Hammer Gel was working fine so it was OK. I asked for Advil at one aid station and forgot what I put in my mouth and started chewing them thinking I had eaten M&M’s…yuck, not a pleasant taste.

When I got to the cliff wall where the guys had tossed the rattler I decided to be on the lookout just in case. I was running and looking and then all of a sudden did my best impersonation of Janet Leigh in Psycho. There curled up in an inset of the cave wall was the rattler. He was small mind you, but a rattler just the same so I ran by him as quietly as I could not believing what I had just seen. It was a couple of miles to the next aid station and I couldn’t wait to tell them about it since the couple working the station said they had been coming to the canyon for 60 years and they had only seen 2 snakes in all that time. I had been here for only 7 hours and I had already seen 2 myself…what luck! Needless to say, I was MUCH more alert after that. I passed a lady hiking in the opposite direction and stopped to warn her but she already knew about it so I guess other runners had already told her or maybe she heard my scream from miles away. About a mile and a half past the aid station, I again screamed “holy sh**!” for all the world to hear (sidebar here…I never cussed before I became a trail runner…go figure). There lying across the trail was the biggest rattler I had ever seen that wasn’t in the zoo. It was a 3footer and I’m NOT exaggerating! Of course there was not a soul in sight and definitely not within earshot since my scream would have woken up the dead. The man at the last aid station had told me that they won’t bother you if you don’t bother them, but I’m thinking to myself how the hell do I know what bothers him. If somebody jumped over me while I was napping, that would probably bother me so I wasn’t taking any chances. I opted to throw rocks at him to get him to move off the trail…pleeeease. I threw 6 or 7 rocks before he finally rattled his thing at me and slowly slithered off the trail. Well, let me tell you, Michael Johnson couldn’t have caught me for the next 50 yards. I wanted to make sure I was as far away from him as possible. After that I was slightly paranoid and was trying to decide if I should keep listening to the Texas game or turn it off and listen for rattlers. I decided I was being silly and surely 3 snake encounters would be it for me. Let’s just say I was looking down the rest of the race.

I slowed quite a bit those last few miles but I knew that I would beat my goal so it was all good. It was so great going by my car and knowing I didn’t have to stop to refuel again and that the homestretch was just around the corner. The finish line at Palo Duro is really cool and I could hear Robert H., Robert M. and Kelly Heath cheering and how heartwarming that was. It was so nice of them to wait hours for us to come in when they didn’t even have to…well, Robert H. did, but it was still nice! I finished in 10:17 and Diana came in just a few minutes later and we all shared a finish line burger and basked in the warm sun.

All in all, I had a blast despite being a snake magnet which I’m sure was just a fluke because of all the rain they had had. It’s a great course, not flat like Sunmart, but not mountainous like Bandera. I guess you’d call it slightly rolling. Palo Duro Canyon is absolutely beautiful and that alone made the trip worth it. We all enjoyed a wonderful Mexican food dinner that night and from what I remember, margaritas were involved. I enjoyed a nice visit with Chris Chandler at the airport the next morning and cracked up over all the runners that were walking the terminal so they wouldn’t stiffen up. Great race, great scenery, great weather, great friends…what more could you ask for.