Tales From the Aid Station

The inaugural North Coast 24 Hour Endurance Run was held this past weekend at Edgewater State Park in Cleveland. It was also host to the U.S. 24 Hour National Championships. A very cool event to bring home, let alone in it's first year. The Medina County Road Runners Club was involved with the production of the event, led by Race Director Dan H., whom I get to run with on a regular basis. In fact, a number of people I know were entrants in the race. Eight runners, to be exact. Some had a good day. Some not as good as they might have hoped. But to even show up at the starting line for such an event is an accomplishment in itself!


My Saturday began with my long run for the weekend. On tap was a 12 miler. However, because I needed to shift my days to accommodate working the event, and due to Mrs. P being slapped in the face by a Christmas tree on Friday (long story), I missed my pace run on Friday and decided to lengthen my long run to 14 miles. They were supposed to be 14 easy miles but I ended up running them a bit harder, an 8:11 average pace. This left me a little more tired than I was hoping to be, knowing I was going to be up all night. I tried to take a nap Saturday afternoon, but wasn't very successful. So, without being able to rest much, I decided to head up to the race a little earlier than I had planned.


I arrived at the race and was put to work around 6:00 PM. The runners had already been running for nine hours by the time I arrived. That alone is longer than any race I've ever competed in! My first job was to make some peanut butter sandwiches (how fitting!) which were then cut into quarters. From then on I helped maintain the aid station. We needed to have not just water cups ready to be grabbed, but Gatorade and HEED as well. While also watching the levels of the 5 gallon coolers they were dispensing from. We also had a selection of pop including Coke/Pepsi, Ginger Ale, Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, and 7-Up. Some of these were kept ready to be grabbed as they were favorites among the runners. They were also favorites among the yellow jackets. We were swarmed from the time I arrived till just after dark. Other beverages we provided were coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Those became more popular after dark when it started getting cold.


On the food side of things, soup and broth were popular due to the mild flavor and high sodium content. We also had rice on hand for most of the race. Pizza Hut delivered a ton of pizzas at one point and were gobbled up by not just the runners, but the volunteers as well. The coolest part of the food service was what would come out of the prep area behind us. There was always someone back there working on the next round of food. Always something different so the runners wouldn't get tired of eating the same thing. Some of the offerings included: Grilled cheese sandwiches, grilled peanut butter and jelly, scalloped potatoes, sausage egg and cheese wraps, egg and cheese sandwiches, french toast, and probably others I've forgotten already.

I ended up working the aid station the entire time I was down there, save for a walk around the race course to make sure everyone was still moving forward, which turned out to be 15 hours. 24 hours is a long time to run, but 15 hours of standing at a table busying myself with odds and ends is long enough to start getting stiff and sore in spots. I never felt sleepy, just a little tired towards the morning. I could tell I had gone too long without sleeping. The night flew by, bringing us a full moon which would occasionally break through the clouds hugging the shoreline and all the stars out over the lake which was perfectly clear. The overnight was comfortable, dry, and relatively quiet. Some of the runners stopped to rest and the yellow jackets were non-existent. They returned just before dawn though, just like clockwork.

My experience helping out at the race was amazing. I'm glad I had the chance to do it. I would surely do it again next year, but I may want to run it too! Watching the elite runners pass by all night was awe inspiring. As was watching everyone else who was tackling the event. I also got to meet some great people who were also working the table from time to time. It was truly a group effort! My work wasn't over when the horn blew at the end of the 24 hours. I was able to give a lift to a trio of out-of-towners after the race. Tim (70 years old/53.1miles) and Suki (61 years old/72.3 miles) were headed to their hotel which I was going to drive right past, and Newton (67 years old/97.7 miles!) was heading to the airport to fly back home. I think he may have been able to sleep on that flight!

The top male ran 151.5 miles and top female 136.3 miles. There were multiple age group records set including female 60-65 and male 80+. Leo Lightner is 81 years old and ran 82.7 miles! Absolutely amazing to watch! Congratulations finally to all the runners whom I knew: Connie (116.19 miles), Roy (108.09 miles), Kim (123.19 miles), Ladd (107.44 miles), Bob (100.88 miles), Suzzanne (89.86 miles), Frank (94.57 miles), and John (74.95 miles), who drove up from Columbus by himself for the race. I'm sure I'll see him back up for the 2nd annual event next year! Way to go everyone! Had NBC been here with their film crew like they do for the Hawaii Ironman (which is this Saturday), there would have been a moving and inspirational sports special as a result.