#14 on right leg of shorts. #BWSS

BWSS: Team Coyote

Each step I take while standing in one spot is slowly compacting the ground and the sea is starting to come up [This is gross and I want to get out of here before I sink in]. The ground is made up of mostly, if not entirely, fish bones. It's the starting line of the Badwater: Salton Sea  Race. I am here with 14 other teams, 3 runners each, and we are listening to the National Anthem which is followed by the count down...Three....two...one...and we are off.


Start Line - Time Station 1

Chris Kostman pulls along side of us in a black SUV with a confused look and asks Jimmy, "I thought you guys were racing." Jimmy looked back at Chris and reassured him that we were racing. Team Coyote was hanging out in the pelatoon, while Sole to Soul and Miami Thrice had taken off. Jimmy used this opportunity to chat with the other runners, while Ray used this chance to hang out with team AAA Sugar.

 I didn't talk much as I was in my own world absorbing the moment. We would run along the streets of Salton City until and not see our crew until a little past 6.5ish miles, but first we would have to go under a bridge [I hope there is no troll that asks 3 questions before you can pass].  We past the bridge, with no troll present [thank god], and saw our support crew, Kate & Angela, for the first of many exchanges (every 3 miles). We turn right onto Borrego Springs Seaway and run for a long time. This would be the last time I would see any of the other teams, except for Sole to Soul and Miami Thrice.

Time Station 1 - Time Station 2

After 14ish miles we finally arrive at the USN Microwave Tower and team Sole to Soul and Miami Thrice are within sight. I am slowly watching Miami Thrice close in on team Soul to Sole and it will not belong before they eventually pass. We are all still relatively fresh and going through our routine exchanges with Angela & Kate, who by now have everything down to a science. We eventually pass Sole to Sole and catch up with Miami Thrice. From here on we would adopt the phrase "West Coast vs East Coast" as we would be constantly changing lead position. We would eventually see life as we pass by the Anza-Borrego school. The kids would cheer us on as they waited in line to enter there classroom. From here we would turn left by the school and [BOOM!] I had my first issue with my nutrition plan. My stomach could no longer take the jelly beans/gummy bears. I wish I still had gels, but used them up earlier in the race. I figured i would hold off on the solids and eventually try to re-introduce them slowly later on.

Time Station 2 - Time Station 3

We had just passed Borrego Spring Resorts lobby when my earlier decision came and bit me in the ass. I reluctantly had to ask Jimmy and Ray if we could walk for a minute. I really needed the time to mentally prep myself for the suffer-fest that I was about to put myself through knowing that my legs just wanted to walk. Miami Thrice caught up during our walking an break. Luckily for me, they had my shades that i had dropped, only they know where. I'm feeling slightly happy which changes to happier when I see Angela & Kate. Now Miami Thrice is in the lead and we decide to follow them to the trail head and through the trail. From here we would eventually go through Borrego Springs main shopping area were Jimmy would eventually be yelling at a Lady who would NOT hear him and almost hit Ray.

Time Station 3 - Montezuma Valley Road

It is now around 46 miles and my suffer-fest has left me dazed 'n confused. I wonder if Angela & Kate can tell? I ask for my recover rite mix and my pack since it will 8.5ish miles before we see them again. I rinse myself off with water to cool down and get the recover rite that I poured on myself earlier thinking it was water. I throw on my pack and follow Jimmy and Ray up the trail.

The trail was beautiful as he hiked up the switch back trying to keep up with Miami Thrice, the only team who KNEW the trail. Miami Thrice is charging up the trail and gaining distance on us [CRAP!]. I no longer refer to them as East Coast, but now call them [B]east Coast. I eventually tell Jimmy my nutrition issue and he shares his vitargo mix with me. All of a sudden a slight breeze hits us with sprinkles of cold rain drops. Everything is starting to change for me; I am cooling down and feeling my energy come back. [B]east Coast is out of sight and we are only reassured that we are on the right track when the trail decides to give us a peak of them here and there. We follow around a bend and [BOOM!] ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE. The breeze changed to gusts of F'n COLD wind and the sprinkles turned into as FULL onset of FREEZING WATER. Now we are throwing our shirts back on and running, still only catching glimpses of [B]east coast and now foot prints. Jimmy had become our official tracker like the Native Indians in the old western movies.

Montezuma Valley Road - Times Station 5

So happy to see the road and even happier to see Kate & Angela. Jimmy yells at us to change into dry clothes which I am all too happy to oblige. Crap! it is so cold I'm starting to shake and now my teeth are chattering [I feel like my teeth want to crumble from the chattering]. Thankfully the crew helped me get into dry clothes and into the van where we would wait for team Miami Thrice to make a move....like now...or now...how about now. Okay apparently Miami Thrice was probably hoping that we made the first... oh wait they are out of their van and running.

THANK YOU SO MUCH ANGELA

Side note: They said we were in the van for 20 minutes, but it only felt like 5 minutes before I had to jump out into the frey.

Of course we jump out and pursue the leaders, who would disappear when we hit the crest of the road. At this moment I thought, "There is no f'n way they just bombed this downhill and gained that much lead." I notice the van on the right and realized that they had jumped back in. I don't recall if this was the moment Jimmy went to give the Miami Thrice's crew advise or if he would tell them later. What i do recall is that we would keep on running in our feeble attempt to get warm. Fortunately it was downhill from here for awhile.

Time Station 5 - Time Station 6

Jimmy's screaming "NO" over and over again as if he is talking to Spirit. I am also screaming "NO" and squirting water [my precious water] at this Pit mix is chasing us. I am thinking in my head..okay this dog is going to stop now... okay, now...oh my god dog stop chasing us and go HOME. This dog would chase us for almost a mile and only stop when it ran by a fence with other dogs, in which it turned and barked at them. The dog would eventually look back at us, but just stare at us as if debating to pursue us once again. After the dog incident we would shuffle along with no major occurrences till the end of the race. Ohhh yeah... my legs are sore but am somehow able to keep up with Ray and Jimmy.

Time Station 6 - Finish Line

CLIMB...climb....climb....is what we will be doing from here on out. It is dark and every mile after it is getting darker, foggy, misty and Cold. Fortunately we were able to get warm from between station 5 - 6, when the Mother Earth decided to grace us with the presence of the sun. We are walking and I feel bad because I cannot walk as fast as the other two so I ask if we could do more running. Jimmy ups our intervals and I am able to keep a better pace were I feel like I am not holding them back.

Side Note: By now I have to take deep breaths [with a grunt here and there] because it is starting to hurt more as I run, but do not want to walk because I feel to slow.

Chris Kostman pulls along side and takes some photos, even manages to find a cat's face on the street. He then takes off to wait for us at the Finish Line. We are finally met by Kate & Angela, by the fire station, who literally run us [PLEASE RE-VISIT SIDE NOTE] into the finish. There is no more deep breathing, but only pain being released with every exhale I take. BUT as in any race it didn't matter anymore as we crossed the finish line as the TEAM we are. West Coast may have been the Best Coast, but the East Coast will always be the Be[A]st Coast.

I would like to THANK Angela and Kate for being the foundation of our successful journey that day. They literally had all of our stuff ready and were able to get a quick turnaround and keep us progressing forward.

I would also like to thank Nike for supplying our race uniforms. There has to be a law against coming out of an 81 mile race with no blisters on my feet.

I'm pretty sure Jimmy won the first set

Of Course Ray still has ENERGY to burn

I would also like to thank Chris and Laurie Kostman for their hard work and diabolical ideas which give us an adventure and great stories, as well as their Staff.








Other awesome/BETTER reads for BWSS:

• Jimmy Dean Freeman [Team Coyote]
• Dave Krupski [Miami Thrice]