Monday

7 24 2000
     Just left the
Oncologist's office and was given the thumbs up to run the race. Levels are
going up and things are looking good. Five weeks ago I had experimental
liquid radiation & three weeks before that 3.6 million stem cells
harvested
& frozen for a possible bone marrow transplant in the future. But all I
can
think of is Death Valley. Non Hodgkins & B Cell Lymphoma have to ride in
the
back seat for this one. Chris Kreyer is coming in from San Diego. We'll pick
up the Ford Expedition, load in the
two big coolers and get a couple hundred pounds of ice then swing by the
airport and pickup our 2nd crew person Joe Steltenkamp from Wisconsin &
make
final plans.
Tuesday 7 25 2000

     Lionel Gruen and

Francisco Davis just arrived from the West Side, so now the whole crew is
here. We'll pack up the SUV and head out for our adventure. Enjoyed the
drive through the desert. I took them to Lone Pine and we drove the course
in reverse so they could see what we would be doing in the days ahead.
Checked in at Furnace Creek and took a swim.
Wed. 7 26 2000
     Got up had
breakfast, hung around the pool and waited for the race meeting. Was
wonderful to see many faces from last year and meet some new one's. Ben
Jones totally caught me off guard (at the pre race meeting) when he asked me
to stand and told of my fight with Cancer and my determination to finish
the race. We were all invited up on stage for a pre race picture. It was
amazing standing up on the stage and have all the flashes popping for what
seemed like a few minutes while all the pictures were being taken. Then back
to the room for some foot taping & hopefully some sleep before the 3 am
wake
up call.
Thursday 7 27 2000 
Race Day

     Drove to the start

of the race, took photo's and got ready to run. Adam  (Bookspan) played
the
national anthem & we took off running. I tried to hold back because it
was
my plan to take it easy till Stovepipe and the first night. Just outside of
Stovepipe I realized I had some blisters that would need to be looked at.
Lionel, who is an EMT, has never done what us Badwater racers need as far as
cutting, draining, re taping & getting us back running in quick
order ... so
my prayer was, "God, if you could have Denise Jones (aka "The
Blister
Queen") around with nothing to do and her blister kit that would be
Awesome,
Thanks." Well I got into Stovepipe, my crew was getting gas & ice.
A man
came up to me and asked if I needed any help. I said my feet need some work.
Had he seen Denise anywhere??? He said she just left but sit down I'll take
 care of you. He opened a large kit & started right in on my feet. About
five
minutes into it I asked his name, he said John Vonhof, my mouth dropped
open. The guru of blister care who wrote the book "Fixing Your
Feet." I
bought the book right after I started Ultra Running. This was a sign, this
was going to be a Good Race. Continued up the 5,000 ft. climb to Town Pass
&
down to Panamint. Other than the car load of midgets, we saw things were
going smoothly. Turned out to be our crew but Chris and I swore it was a car
load of extra small midgets with a little bitty car.
Friday 7 28 2000
     Went straight to
the hospitality room provided by Panamint this year. Normally Ben Jones
rents it for the racers out of his pocket. Went in, laid on a bed and let
Lionel go to work while the rest of my crew got supplies and my breakfast.
Ate scrambled eggs and hash browns while my feet were being worked on. Then
Joe said I need to take at least a 20 minute rest. I laid down, closed my
eyes and to
my surprise got a little nap. Looked at my watch, was right about 20 minutes
so jumped up (not really, got up slowly) and walked outside. They were just
coming to get me. Now it was another climb to 5,300 ft. past Father
Crowley's. This was the most cambered road I ever ran/walked
on. Constantly angled to the left, then the right. This is were I came up
upon Chris Moon. It was awesome, meeting one of the people I have great
respect for. I myself was running this race for AHA (Athletes Helping
Athletes) the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The money I would be raising
is a way of helping athletes with a disability gain independence & live
a
healthy and active lifestyle. Then an extra treat with jet's (Tomcats out of
Lemoore Air Force Base) screaming
around Owen's dry lake bed. Now down towards the 4th check point and Darwin.
The smoke from the forest fires was really starting to get bad. Got to the
check point in the late afternoon and my crew went off to get fuel &
more
ice. Joe stayed with me and kept me in R.F.M. (Relentless Forward Movement)
things were still going good and I was having a blast. Around 3 AM is when
things started to unravel. My crew pulled together and opened the doors on
the crew vehicle and Francisco started the jams. They all were jumping
around getting me pumped up in half-mile intervals. This is where my crew
really pulled me thru. By sunrise they were getting tired & I was
getting my
third or forth wind.
Saturday 7 29 2000
     We got into Lone
Pine and Shannon (Farar Griefer), Kari (Marchant), Denise & Ben were all
there to meet me. These are all some special kind of people. Denise offered
to look at my feet, while my crew got me breakfast again. Here I am,
beautiful women working on my feet, eating breakfast, 120 miles
into the run & Ben nudges me and says, "Isn't this GREAT?" We
smiled. Then
if it couldn't
get any better than that Denise and I made eye contact a few times that said
it all. She had helped me so much in the prior year deal with my cancer and
I considered her my prayer
Captain," God really speaks thru her to me like no one on this planet. We
both
new how important this goal was & how tuff of a road it was to get here, but
thru Faith & Hard work I was living my Ultimate Dream ...  Our eyes
welled up
with tears of joy .... and I was off up the Portal Road. It was a tuff 13 miles
but I didn't want it to end. My crew worked in unison to keep me moving along.
Now I could see the Finish and I started running to finish with a good stride. I
DID IT !!! 135 MILES a PR .... 55:04:18 but that wasn't it. My goal was to take
the extra time & not buckle because for me I wanted the Summit. I got to
summit
with my Coach (Scott Weber) and his wife Theresa last year and wanted that for
myself. For me I needed to go from Lowest to Highest, not just the 135. Now back
to Lone Pine for a Filet Mignon dinner, get some things ready for the mountain,
and hopefully some rest, before a 3 AM wake up call.
Sunday 7 30 2000
     Chris, Lionel and I
left at 4 AM for the Summit. Joe drove us. He was going to check us out of the
hotel & get the vehicle ready for our trip back to Torrance. Francisco was
picked up after the race by his wife Cathy because he had to be at work on
Sunday. Lionel made it as far as Trail Crest before the altitude really got to
him, a valiant attempt on his part, but decided to go back to Trail Camp and
wait for us. He knew I needed to keep going to achieve my goal. Chris decided to
stay with me, which was nice, since I was getting pretty spacy due to lack of
food and  water ... a real friend and trooper ... future Ultra Runner ... I
think. Chris and I got to the Summit @ 1:52 PM, 79:52 after leaving Badwater. I
would like to thank all the people who helped near the top and at the summit,
especially Barbara Elia and her crew. I bonked badly about an hour before the
summit, and all the way down due to lack of food. I learned never pack after 135
mile race with no sleep, for an important summit attempt. Figure how many
calories and how much water you need from the last lake or run off you can
purify from. I definitely learned a lot for next year and Thank God for getting
us down safely.
Basking in the light of my
accomplishment,
Rick Nawrocki