FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND

BADWATER TRAINING CLINIC

06-29-2001 to 07-02-2001

Dear Badwater People,

There were 21 people

who participated in the Fourth of July weekend Badwater training clinic.
Most
of us met at Stovepipe Wells Village (SPW) in the late afternoon on
Friday 06-29-2001 at the registration
area or at the swimming pool. We had a separate section reserved for
us in the dining room
which was nice as some of us had never met before. The menu listed a
good range of selections and the food was
reasonably priced and very good. The salad bar alone was almost all that one
needed. After dinner, we met in an auditorium and became better acquainted.
The proposed weekend activities and workouts were discussed. I showed the
video of "Running on the Sun" for those who had not yet seen it.
Denise gave
a demonstration of foot and blister care. Those attending were
as follows: Ben and Denise Jones Russell (Rusty) Bishop,
Des Moines, Iowa, first-timer (invitee) in 2001 and first-timer to clinic
Frank MacMillan, Silver
Spring, Maryland, finisher in 2000 and returnee to clinic Rick Nawrocki,
Torrance,
California, pacer and crew member in 1999, finisher in 2000, invitee in
2001, and returnee to clinic Geoff Scott, Darien,
Connecticut, first-timer (invitee) in 2001 and first-timer to clinic Mike
Trevino, San Diego,
California, first-timer (invitee) in 2001 and first-timer to clinic Shannon
Farar-Griefer,
pacer and crew member in 2000 and first-timer (invitee) in 2001 and returnee
to clinic Phil and Kari Marchant,
Bishop, California, multiple times crewing and pacing the last five years
and supporting Shannon this year Alexis Wasserman, Deff
Armour, and Hayden Hubbard, all video crew for Shannon Greg Minter, Los
Angeles,
California, first-timer (invitee) in 2001 and returnee to clinic Mark
Gilmore, Mark and
Patty Giebel, pacers and crew members for Greg Larry Mann, Los Angeles,
California, first-timer (invitee) and returnee to clinic Felicia Hesler,
crew
member for Larry Matt Palocsay, Los
Angeles, California, pacer in 2000, first-timer (invitee) in 2001 and
returnee to clinic Andy Cohen, crew for Matt
 

Ben
and Denise Jones provided a major support vehicle with a convenient open-
top
trailer with large ice
chests full of ice and other supplies. The runners had their own smaller
ice chests filled with their special
 fluids and snacks. Each one would refuel at two-mile stops and take off
and do the next segment.
Denise trotted along and coached everyone at different times during the
two days. The entire
weekend was a very fulfilling encounter bonding with the course and all
of the participants as well
as enjoying the magnificent views. We supported Rusty Bishop. He had a
warm smile the whole time.
He was generous with letting us use his vehicle for sweeping the course
from time-to-time making
sure there were no stragglers and also to go ahead to see how the people
in the front were doing.
Frank MacMillan had just done a 24-hour track run in Minnesota the weekend
before and experienced
jet lag as well is usual training "crash" at around 30 miles.
He successfully completed the Race
last year with six minutes to spare and wanted to experience the magic
of the Valley again by returning.
Rick Nawrocki, still recovering from a bone marrow (stem sell) transplant
along with extensive
chemotherapy and irradiation therapy, inspired us all with his enthusiasm
and stamina. Mike

Trevino
was very organized with his supplies and was full of knowledge about heat
training. Shannon Farar-Griefer
provided glamour for the event and seemed to relish the stories filtering
back to her about
how things were going (or not going) up ahead and
at the same time trying to avoid blisters and trying to stay
"subbarf."
She enjoyed having two support vehicles. Greg Minter was here for his
second training weekend had a different crew and pacers with him this
time. I hope the others return as well for the "Big One" as
I really enjoyed them last month. Mark Gilmore did some pacing. Mark
Giebel
set up some amazing cairns which seemed to defy gravity along the way.
This gang goes digital. Expect something very nice in the next few days
going up to his website. Larry Mann in his spare time is an animal keeper
at the LA Zoo. He brought Sharon Stone's husband's toe from the Komodo
dragon incident for our interest. We waited until after dinner for the
viewing. His handler again was Felicia Hesler, who is becoming very adept
at performing her job on the course and keeping Larry toned down. She
has great music and presented me with a beautiful "Enya" tape.
On Saturday, 06-30-2001 we left SPW for Badwater. Before we left, Geoff
Scott arrived after having been up all night with his flight from
Connecticut
and travel to Death Valley. The Minter party arrived late the evening
before. They were already familiar with the proceedings. In order for
things to work out we needed 7 vehicles to handle the 21 people. We left
Rusty Bishop's
vehicle at Furnace Creek Ranch and continued south to Badwater. Everyone
got to witness the stench from the brine pool at Badwater which was more
powerful than to odors from the solar toilets. After a picture-taking
session, I yelled
"Go"
and eight of the invitees and one returnee and the pacers took off to
the north at 0815. Everyone seemed overly vigorous at first, but later,
 the pace settled down to a manageable 15- minutes-per-mile. Mike Trevino
was capable of blasting off at a 7 or 8-minute-per-mile pace. He would
go a little further than the two-mile leap frog section and then double
back to meet us. Rick Nawrocki held back some and occasionally we would
shuttle him forward so that the solo, otherwise unsupported runners would
all be in the same two-mile bracket. As he puts it, he is expecting to
be "the last of the last" in the Race. He has a remarkable
attitude.
Come out and cheer him! Matt Palocsay did a 0700-start and had a quest
for going all the way to Panamint Springs Resort 72 miles away. He reached
the "barf level" at 35 miles when it reached 128 degrees. That
was near the Devil's
Cornfield and Stovepipe Dunes area and short of SPW itself at 41 miles.
Larry completed the 41-mile trek to SPW. Mike Trevino did the equivalent
of the same distance by staying with us and doing out- and-backs from
the trailer. Everyone seemed to be quite pleased with the temperature
reaching 128 degrees. A month ago it reached 117 for the high. There was
some wind mostly from the south and west and the usual dust devils near
the Stovepipe Dunes occurred. A dip in the pool at SPW was a nice reward
at the end of the day. We had a more casual dinner in the restaurant that
evening. We didn't meet in the auditorium Saturday evening as we were
able to conduct visiting and some business in our section of the
restaurant.
Sunday
morning we met in the front of SPW and had another picture-taking session
rewarded by some fancy posing by Shannon. She should get some good
residuals
from Slim-Fast after they review to coverage. Shannon and her gang leaped
ahead to Panamint Springs Resort and started a trudge up the west Panamint
grade for a reported 15 miles to Darwin Flats before heading for home.
The rest of us headed westward 9 miles to Emigrant Station (the Oasis)
at 50 miles on the course. We visited with some interesting
"immigrants"
at Emigrant. These gypsies, as they appeared to be, were broken down and
on their way to Nevada. Interestingly enough they said they had recently
bee rescued by "Death Valley Scotty" himself in his Model A!
This is rather remarkable as "Scotty" has been "gone"
for a number of years. I envisioned some impending coroner's
cases but had no notice about this on the answering machine when I
returned
home. We turned around at this point and trekked back to SPW. We took
a nice dip in the pool and then did some out-and-backs further eastward
to the Stovepipe Dunes area to take advantage of the 125 degree
temperature
that day. Then more swimming and lounging at the pool. We were down to
four for dinner as Denise and I dined with Rusty and Rick.  The
others
had headed home.
We
are all looking forward to the Badwater Ultra as we assemble on Tuesday
07-24-2001 and have the Race itself starting at 0600 and 0800 and 1000
on Wednesday 07-25-2001. See you all there. Sincerely, Ben and Denise
Jones