2018 Leadville Trail 100 MTB

The experience at Pipeline aid station was really rewarding. The racers, for the most part were very thankful and polite. After we broke down the aid station is where my experience got more personal, I transported two racers back to Leadville, due to them not continuing. We were able to chat about their stories and that was cool. I shared a beer with them and they were very thankful. I was waiting at the finish line for four friends in the race that were going to be close to the 12 hour mark. I was out in area right by the finish line, with my volunteer shirt on and someone from Lifetime asked me to give a racer a water, then a racer needed assistance getting to a place he could sit down, another needed assistance with a bike, and it just happened that I was helping out at the finish line. This was a really cool experience, I congratulated racers, helped them gather their stuff and thoughts, and at 12:00:04 a young man with a below the knee prosthetic rolls across the finish line in a desperate attempt to beat the count down, he collapsed on the ground and lay there. He was disappointed that he didn't "Buckle" I assured him, as long as he wasn't in the first starting corral, that he probably got his buckle based on his chip time. He said he would need help up in a minute, so I helped him up, gave him a hug and rolled his bike over to his awaiting family or friends and then suggested he hold his bike up in the air for a picture. That was awesome! I teared up and thought he had grits, guts and determination. Very inspiring!! In the mean time, my four friends finished, two buckled and two finished under 13 hours. See the below link for the finish I described( about 13:32 into the video clip)-

https://www.facebook.com/leadvilleraceseries/videos/1975668279165525/?hc_ref=ARSfmAKYTbZn_WmREzZouoRc5mokXQFYGT2x5UHME9a1BNhADR9aNi12dYxeW-cMQ2Y

Could have used a couple more tables at Columbine aid station. It all worked out though. Loved it.

It was awesome! Was super excited to be a part of the energy of the race. Gave lots of hugs, encouragement, and snacks to those who needed it! At the end of the day, it was so awesome to see racers come across the finish line, who at top of Columbine, didn't think they would make it. They did it! It was so rewarding to be able to help racers and be a part of their experience.

All went smoothly except the dispensing of the coke. Opening individual cans was not bad at first but after opening over 100 cans one after another was bad. Having a pressurized dispensiing system would be a huge improvement! This would also allow more coke availability since we ran out leaving some disappointed athletes.