Chimera, the home stretch...

     I reluctantly left the Indian Truck Trail aid station to begin the descent to Corona, seven miles of cruise control nice and easy down the mountain. I was feeling solid and my confidence was growing. In spite of the marathon that still lay in front of me, I felt good and could start to smell the finish line. Jeff was doing great keeping me running when I could and walking when I must.
     The first half of the descent went by uneventfully...then some up all night math caused our first real mistake. Jeff looked at his watch and knew the distance was 18 miles from the turn around at Corona. So in our "been running over 24 hours" minds we needed to maintain a 20 minute mile pace for the remaining 9 hours just to make it under the cutoff. I didn't come this far to let the clock beat me, so knowing that we were on the best place to make good time...we took off. We were FLYING down the mountain in what was almost a state of panic! Running a sub 9 min pace for a couple miles, while I was still trying to work out the time distance problem in my head. Finally, a moment of clarity came and I convince Jeff to walk for a minute. OK so a 20 min pace is 3 miles per hour...and with 9 hours to go that would equal 27 miles, not 18. So, we backed off and went back to cruise mode, but some damage had already been done. The extra pounding downhill had ruptured the blisters on both feet and I was in some serious pain now. Also, the spike in my HR and activity meant for the first time in the race I started to have some leg cramps and I was bonking a bit, feeling a little dizzy and lightheaded.
     We were over an hour behind my projected arrival time at Corona, but we were plugging away at it. My mental state was turning positive again and as we neared the aid station we came across a couple young ladies on the trail and surprisingly...they knew my name! "Shane your friend is waiting for you!!! GO GO GO!!!" I was a little shocked and asked if he was worried....they said "Nope, not at all....he told us you would make it!" Hearing those words from strangers, and knowing that LCDR Alota had that kind of confidence and faith in me boosted my spirit. My confidence was back, I was going to make it! Those two ladies ran with us cheering all the way to the aid station! I came in relaxed and relieved to see LCDR cool and confident, he reassured me that there was plenty of time, and there was no doubt we were going to make it. So I relaxed and got pampered by yet another awesome aid station.

     Leaving Corona behind was bittersweet...I had a MASSIVE climb ahead of me totaling over 3500 ft after already running over 80 miles and climbing over 18000 feet thus far, but this was it...the LAST big climb of the race. As we started up we passed Melissa and Hugh still headed down. I pressed onward and upward. My feet were in pretty bad shape, and the persistent cough was really beginning to give me problems on the way up. Each time I tried to push a little, I would have another coughing fit so my strategy was now just steady even effort to prevent the attacks as much as possible.
     The sun was shining and I had left my cold and wet weather gear behind and as we climbed Mr Alota kept peppering me with distracting questions. "What kind of crap is this? Is this coyote crap? Are you a tracker? I bet you're not a tracker? Have you ever tracked an animal?" I was humored and somewhat annoyed by his questions, but I did notice that while I was trying to come up with answers to ALL those questions...I did forget the pain somewhat. Then he said something I'm certain he now regrets "Man, I wish it would RAIN! I mean not a little sprinkle, I want it to storm!" I told him to shut up...and glanced at the sky. It was warm and sunny on the trail, but around the mountaintops there were dark clouds gathering...CRAP! Maybe It'll hold off till the finish???
     Although it took me the better part of 2 hours to climb Indian Truck Trail...it seemed to fly by. As we neared the top we started closing in on another runner and her pacer. We had passed Susy Gutierrez and her pacer as we entered Corona, they were headed up. They stayed just ahead of me and got to the ITT aid station first. I sent LCDR ahead to find out if they had anything to bandage my blistered feet. I came in and took a chair and he tried to tape my feet back together. He gave a valiant effort, but he has no future in medicine...

     We spent too much time at the aid station once again...but so be it! I was having fun again, so onward and upward we went. I struggled and coughed the rest of the way up Trabuco. Upon reaching the top we finally reeled in Susy and her pacer John Arnold. She was miserable, and a little pissed off. To make matters worse. LCDR had gotten his wish...it was beginning to rain and the temperature was dropping once again.
The rain was building steadily and so was the wind. I had left all my cold and wet weather gear at Corona, so I was stuck. I noticed that LCDR had a plastic rain pancho in his pack so I threw it on. I had Susy tuck in behind me so that I could keep the cold wind off her and we kept moving the best we could. We made the decision to finish this thing together!
     LCDR was still trying to distract me with his silly questions, for some reason he was fascinated with finding coyote crap??? I started to hallucinate a bit and I swore I saw a goose just sitting by the trail at one point???
     We were at mile 90 something when out of nowhere Melissa passed us the final time. She looked like a woman possessed and was moving really well. Susy's competitive spirit kicked in and she tried to chase her down. I could not follow, she finally gave up her chase and we proceeded with our methodical march toward the finish.
     When we finally reached the LAST aid station at Trabuco trail, we had just shy of 3 miles remaining and it was almost all downhill. I bypassed the aid station and pushed on. The storm was getting worse, and the truck trail looked more like a small river. I was soaked to the bone and shaking badly, but I could feel the finish line and was able to muster up a pretty good downhill shuffle. I glanced back to see that Susy was gone. I stopped and LCDR told me that she had gotten in the truck back at the Aid Station. My heart sank, and I tried to go back. He told me that she was in bad shape, and that we needed to press on. I still regret that decision, although I know it was the right one. I cried a little, but behind the rain and sunglasses...no one could tell.
     LCDR had called ahead to Jeff with 5 miles remaining, and we got word that my wife Sheila and my kids were waiting for me at the finish. Just knowing they were there was all I needed. In spite of the pain and weather my pace was steadily picking up. I was really moving when we noticed Jeff coming up the trail to meet us from the finish. We hit the pavement and I was able to actually RUN! We hit the singletrack leading into Bluejay and I began to sob uncontrollably. I was emotionally wrecked, and had problems seeing through the tears running into several branches, then I stumbled and fell over a fallen log. WHERE THE HELL IS THE F@#$%^& FINISH LINE?!?!? When I hit the pavement once again I was disoriented for a moment, the arrows on the road just didn't make sense? Finally, I looked up and there it was...THE FINISH LINE! I ran like hell and finished into the arms of my wonderful family.

I finished in 32 hours and 47 minutes...I could not have done it without my badass crew, and the wonderful volunteers. Hugh came in not long after me, and Susy warmed up and came in as the final finisher of the 2011 Chimera 100.

Thank you all for reading my report...I know it went long, but I was using it to relive the experience. I have 4 100's planned for next year. We'll see? Most of all I look forward to a rematch with the beast we call Chimera next year...with the lessons learned and a little luck, maybe I can become a 2 time finisher? I discovered that the 100 mile mystery isn't at all what I thought it would be. All it takes is some hard work leading up to the event, a little luck, a whole lot of determination and the support of your awesome family and friends...oh, and almost 33 hours.

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