Furnace Creek 508 2006

Furnace Creek 508

This was one of the hardest races I have ever done!  The grueling 508 miles with 35,000 feet of climbing through Death Valley almost made me quit again this year.  Last year I quit this race and I wanted to just as badly this year; however, I did not and I also won it.  This race made me cry tears of pain where RAAM did not.  Why?  I pushed myself and stayed on the bike. At RAAM, you have a problem you stop and fix it.  I was the leader and I knew that Monica Sholtz (bad water runner) was somewhere behind me.  I did not know where, so I was afraid to stop. It seems like the wall for me in Ultracycling is between 250 and 300 miles. This is where I begin to ache and hurt.  This year I started getting “Hot Foot” (a nerve problem in your feet) at Furnace Creek. I rode with it all the way to the finish, which seemed like forever. If you go to the website, you will see pictures of me crying.  The last 50 miles my crew did not know what to do so I cried like a baby and even stopped and accused them of lying about how far the finish was.  I acted like a big baby, but I finished and Monica Sholtz was over an hour behind me.  If I had known that, I would have stopped and fixed my “hotfoot” before riding 250  miles in pain.

The 508 is a very special race to me.  It is what turned me on to the Ultra Cycling World.  There are great athletes with great crews on the course and it is one of the most fun, exciting, and challenging races I have ever done.  I could not have done it without a great crew.  Keith Burt from DFC was with me along with Jeff Born (Steve Born’s brother) from Hammer Nutrition, and last, but not least, Charlie Liskey, who has done the race four times.  It is because of them that I was successful.  To finish a race like this you need a great crew and I had the perfect crew.  They are the reason I finished this year.  Furnace Creek 508 is a great race mostly because it is organized well by Chris Kostman.  He is a great race director and the race has grown so it makes it more exciting. With more people racing, there is more excitement on the course. 

It is so fun to experience the race at night.  One of my biggest thrills is seeing a line of lights and knowing there are other people suffering like you.  Passing towns at night is a most magical racing experience. I have ever had.  Do I think I will do this race every year?  Nope, but I will be a part of it every year crewing or something.  This is one race I don’t ever want to miss.