#Kodiak 100m

[wine4me]

Kodiak 100M

The following is the story of Willem's run in the Kodiak 100M at Big Bear Lake in October 2024. It will be told from the perspective of the runner and his 2 very capable crew/pacers (Amanda and James).

Spoiler: finished in 32h20 (155th out of the 210 that finished, 299 started)

See results here

Pre Race:

3 months of almost 1000km in training, including a 4-day block of 100km (2/3 of total run in 4 days). Training was not intense, but lots of vertical, with lots of walking too. The walking was key, I think.

The usual planning went into the food prep: lots of gels, lots of stroopwafel and most importantly lots of Tailwind. Also some liver for altitude sickness and some chicken broth, since broth worked so well on the 100km.

The main thing about this race was that it only became official a week before the run, since there was a massive fire that made it impossible to run the original route. They devised a new route, and only sent it out on the Sunday before the run (Friday). The good news was that the new route looked easier than the original one.

Race Trip:

We drove down to Big Bear Lake early on Thursday, and got there around 2pm. The heat was a shock, since it was only 21C, but it felt like 30C. After picking up our bibs, which included Amanda and James getting Pacer bibs, we hung around town waiting for the racer briefing at 6pm. At 6pm it became cold, and I mean very cold. So cold that I got very worried about the next night when I'll be out on a mountain somewhere. We had BBQ and beer and went to bed fairly early.

Race:

I slept okay, and thankfully the race only started at 1pm, so lots of time after getting up. Problem was I got up with back pain! Lots of massaging from Amanda and eventually it felt okay, but not great. All the devices got charged, we had a big breakfast, and we waited. 

Crew/Amanda : While we waited, we tried to get a crew plan in place by working out times to aid stations from the projected times on Willem's schedule. Since we needed to take a shuttle to Doble camp x3, we needed to figure out how much time it would take to get there and also what we could carry with us. Food to take depended on the time of day. Would he want warm or cold food? 

Eventually we left for the shuttles at 11.30. An important point was that the start/finish you could onl;y get to by shuttle and also one of the only 2 aid stations where I could see my crew you could also only get to with a shuttle. I got on a shuttle quickly, since they got runners off first, and eventually my crew only got to the start about 3 mins before we went off.

Crew/Amanda: While we waited for our shuttle to get us to the start, I tried to track Willem on Life360 and realized his phone was still at the house. I panicked and rushed back to the car and drove as fast as possible to the house. Some roadworks did not help. At the house, I ran like a headless chicken trying to find Willem's phone, calling it, not hearing anything. Up and down the stairs 3 times and checking under everything. Eventually I realized he must have switched off his phone to save battery and that's why it shows it's still at home. I rushed back to the shuttle and made it in time to get on the shuttle with James. At this point Willem realized his phone was off and switched it on and we could communicate again. What a relief! We got to the start just in time to hear the countdown and realized we could just wait next to the road as the runners would come past us. Willem luckily saw us and we managed a quick "high-five" and off he went. This felt like a momentous moment as it was...

James and I decided to go find a lunch place and good beer and we did! Big Bear Brewing company had great beer and we ordered 2 starters (Avocado & Brussel sprouts) that were very good. We ordered a 2nd beer each, which might have been an overkill, but we had a few hours before we needed to crew, so we could each take a nap and then get ready for our first crew session. We also bought some beers for home. We went to Stater Bro's for some groceries as we think a big breakfast Sunday morning might be a good idea. Willem will need it. 

It was great that Willem had a GPS tracking device, but it's not the easiest to figure out when he will be at the next aid stations, so we downloaded the UTMB tracker too and managed to see Willem's progress and estimated aid station times. This gave us a better idea as to when to start getting ready. Luckily there was reception for the UTMB tracker most of the time. The GPS tracker will be a back-up when reception fails us.

The first 3 aid stations were the same aid station, with loops coming back to it: Delamar 1, 2 and 3. You could leave a drop bag there, which I did and that helped a lot since I could leave all my food in there and only take what I need till I'm back there.

The start was exciting and we quickly started to climb. I remember the first climb as quite easy and not difficult under foot. 32 hours later I would curse my memory, since we ran it again at night and I felt it was almost impossible to run, due to all the rocks, ruts, drops, etc. When we got to the top around 4km, we came around a corner and there was Jim Walmsley! Standing next to the trail, about 30 mins later we saw him again and another spot. He was clearly out training. After the first up, we had a nice down for about 7km and a 3km up before Delamar 1. I planned for this section to take 2hrs and I got there at 1h48 and left almost exactly at 2hrs. I spent much more time at the aid station getting my tailwind out, filling the bottle, getting water. I badly underestimated how much time I was going to spend at aid stations, all through the race. 

Next loop back to Delamar was basically 7km downhill on a trail and then 7km uphill on a dirt road. I loved the down, but did actually fall, not badly but did scrape both knees, thankfully I wore my knee braces. The up was harder and I took my poles out for that, and then never put them back for the next 145km! The aid station stop was quicker this time, however I was about 20 mins behind my 2hr/loop schedule. The next loop started on a trail, actually the Pacific Coast Trail (PCT) and went for about 3 kms, then we were back on a dirt road that first went down sharply and then went up sharly for about 7 km. It got dark and I realised I'd need my light before getting back to Delamar 3. Luckily I got a fellow runner to poke his hand in my vest and he grabbed my "bad" light, but it was going to work for the 30 mins I needed it for. I got to Delamar 3, about 30 mins behind schedule. I had to put my jacket on, beanie on, my good light (Fenix), all of this took at least 20 mins. I left the aid station probably around an hour behind schedule.

Next stretch was about 9km to van Dusen, and it was all at night. It was mostly downhill which helped and I ran a fair bit. At this point I was heavily reliant on my watch to tell me where to turn, even though the course was very well marked. The problem was that somehow my watch lost almost 10% battery before I even started, so I was a bit worried something was wrong with it. I made the big mistake to saying "yes" to a software update the day before...don't do that! 

van Dusen was a quicker stop, and as I left I was behind a few people including a women with a headset that just didn't want to move over, I eventually barged past her and got into a good rhythm, actually running quite a bit on mostly flat terrain. I knew a steep down was coming at some point to get to Doble Camp, but it took quite some time before that happened. When it did happen it was a bit of a disaster, since there were these slate rocks from a mountain side slide, and it was very hard to keep your footing. Just before getting to this stuff, I passed 2 guys and the one could not stand, and the other one kept him up. I very much doubt he made it beyond the next aid station. All of this section was on the PCT. Eventually I saw the lights of Doble, and after a nice downhill I ran into the aid station where Amanda and James waited.

My crew was amazing. They sat me down in a chair and Amanda started to wash my feet in order to replace my socks. James took all my gadgets for charging. We had a small incident of the chicken broth tipping over and I sat in it. The one thing was that this stop took forever, and I only left at 11h45 whereas my original plan was to leave at 10h30 (note I only got there around 11h00 so everything was still about the same time behind as I fell behind at Delamar early on). Also had a quick toilet stop. I had many pee stops along the race, but this was the only number 2 of the whole race at 62km.

Crew/Amanda : At around 9pm we started warming chicken broth, liver and potatoes and packed it in flasks to keep it warm. We filled water bottles with Tailwind. We packed: Yeti cooler with all the food, water and the supply bag that reads Doble 1, warm clothes, socks and a water basin with a flask of hot water and a first aid bag. We left the house at around 9:30pm to get on the 9:45pm shuttle. Got to Doble camp around 10pm and set up camp. Chairs ready, now we wait. We see headlights coming down the hill all the time, but had no idea when it would be Willem as the tracker will be telling us his arrival is imminent, but that status will be on the tracker for anything from 10-30minutes, so we just waited and had some guesses as to how the headlights bounced, if it bounces fast up and down, it was a good candidate that it might be Willem. He finally came in. It was so good to see him and also see that he is looking strong and most importantly seems very motivated still. Washed his feed, got him long toe socks on, long sleeve shirts and his Patagonia jacket. Charging devices, feeding him (chicken broth, and warm potatoes works great. Liver is too hard to eat), tailwinds replaced in his vest pockets. Neck gaiter, beanie and headset on, and his off....

We got back home around 12pm and Amanda started laundry so Willem can have his short toe socks back on tomorrow morning. Got to bed at 1am-ish. We both had a tough time sleeping as we just got in from the cold and some excitement of crewing and tracking our runner. The idea of Willem not sleeping at all, kept us from feeling too sorry for ourselves:).

Next stretch was back on the PCT and I really enjoyed this section, I ran completely by myself here, just a few lights behind me but nobody within about 200m. I listened to music, since I got my headset from the team at Doble. I will never think of "I will do anything for love..." the same, since that became a very annoying earworm when I no longer had the headset. Right near the aid station 2 people came flying by and I realised they must be some of the leaders since this part of the course was on a loop. I got to the aid station at Burns Canyon feeling good, since I also knew the next section would be on a road. I got in and out quickly and was again on my own. 

The next section to Smarsh Ranch 1 was downhill and a few people passed me, but then it turned steep uphill and I passed people. This section was tough, but not nearly as bad as what was just around the corner. Besides getting out of the way for trucks on this section, nothing eventful happened.

At Smarsh Ranch 1, I again managed to be relatively quick but there were a lot of people at this stop, I would soon learn why. This was a stop we'll return to after a 2 mile out and 2 mile back up a mountain called table top. I started off on this stretch and the nightmare quickly unfolded. It started off fine, gradual up, then it turned miserably steep, and rough underfoot. Psychologically, it became very tough, since you can see in the very far distance much higher up the mountain a string of lights coming your way so you know you need to go far and you need to go up. At this point, when I looked up, I saw the most impressive shooting star I have ever seen. It looked like a near earth comet or a meteor that just hit LA. Unbelievable. After about 1.5m you actually start going down and the terrain gets much worse, and then after I saw the last person that passed me, I was on the long stretch to the turnaround, which felt like it would never come. At last I got to a fire truck with two guys sitting there and marking my bib. On the way back I saw a guy lying in the road cursing and crying, but he didn't want help. He clearly fell, and just said "this damn course, I hate this course". It took me forever to get down, and I never ran here I just walked back to Smarsh Ranch 2. Again the stop was reasonably quick and Ieft for Cactus Flats where I was to see my team again.

I left at around 4.30am. I sent a message on my Garmin InReach messenger to the team that I left and should be at Cactus flats around 6.30am. Which turned out to be spot on. It was 10km, but the first 2 km were the worst road of the whole thing. I thought since it is on a road it will be easy, but OMG, it was horrendous. Luckily it got better and I even ran a bit. Rest was uneventful and at the end I even removed my beanie and light. James came back a bit on the road and actually ran in with me the last 500m.

At this stop they could drive the car in so I sat next to the back of the Lexus in a chair with all my food in the boot. All my gadgets were charged again, and I got my feet washed again. I got a new shirt, new socks, and hat. I was a new me. I chowed down some broth, liver got my bottles replaced and was off with James by my side for the 7km around back to Doble Camp.

Crew/Amanda: James got up at 3:45am and woke me at around 4am. James got the tumble drying going as we need those toe socks to be dry. We filled tailwind bottles, warmed and packed food, packed clothes, packed everything for both Cactus Flats and Doble camp. James will be running with Willem from Cactus to Doble and I will be driving back to Shuttle station to catch a shuttle back to Doble. Luckily we can drive to Cactus Flats, which makes crewing so much easier. We got to Cactus Flats around 5:30am, managed to get a good parking spot and sat in our warm car watching runners run by while tracking Willem. James decided to start walking towards Willem and see if he can run/walk a bit more with him towards the crew spot. At the crew spot, we washed his feet, new socks on, tailwinds in vest, fed him, put sunblock on, hat on, new shirt, ect. I kept Willem's watch to charge it fully in the car. Off the 2 went. 

James you should tell your experience on this run here:

Amanda packed the supplies to have it sorted for Doble camp and drove off to the shuttle stop.

Amanda had to charge back to the shuttle stop and get on the shuttle to meet us back at Doble. She made it with time to spare. James and I meanwhile started climbing up a ravine, with barely no trail to speak of. If it was not for the orange ribbons we would have had no idea where to go. We were with a lot of other people and kind of took the lead in this bunch and made very good time. Stepping on the rocks was hard, climbing was tough, but eventually we climbed out to where a white gate marked the end of the bad part, then just a nice wide and winding road down to Doble. We got in there and Amanda took some video of us coming in. Since I didn't need new stuff this stop was pretty quick. I did have time to get some bacon which was very good! This was now just past 105km, which was roughly the distance of Canyons, so this was my new longest run at this point.

Crew/James: A bit dubious at first but thought it’s only a 7k hike.  We trekked this section initially with another runner behind us but then leaped frogged with various runners.  At one point, one of the runner’s ahead of us started to go the wrong way and the gentleman in front of us kindly gestured the path was to the left while pointing out the red ribbon.  There were a couple sections the poles would have helped.

As we approached the last incline to the top, we took off our outer layer and continued to the top.  We took a selfie and inhaled the view.   Double Camp looked quite small from the top.  The descent was a nice stroll but none of the terrain was easy on the feet.

Leaving for Burns Canyons again on the PCT, this time in daylight I felt good. Not long after though I felt my left calf twitch and I realised I had a bit of a strain. That was roughly the end of any significant running for me. I just walked at around 12m/km pace, i.e. 5km/hr. Turned out I walked faster than I ran the previous night! Note this part was the exact same loop of the previous night, but without the out-and-back up the mountain, thank goodness!! Burns Canyon was uneventful, sat down, got my tailwind filled up and left.

This was roughly when I realised it was getting very hot. This was now around 10.30am, and I started walking to find shade wherever I could. I was struggling here, but was still making good time. I got to Smarsh Ranch 3 just after 12, 12.05 to be precise. That was what I hoped I'd make so I was quite happy. I filled up, this time mostly on Naak stuff, since I ran out of my own tailwind at this point. This was okay since I could handle the Naak. I was not looking forward to the long 10km slog to Cactus Flats in the heat, since I knew there would be little shade.

I was right it was now blazingly hot, and shade was very scarce. I stopped frequently and just rested in the shade, when I could find some. I had the same 2 people ahead of me, a young couple, and the same 3 behind me, a group that included a 63 year old woman that has done more than 100 ultra marathons. She eventually came passed and chatted to the 2 in front and then went on ahead. Thankfully Amanda ran back even further than James and probably walked in with me about 1.5km to get to the aid station. I insisted we be pretty quick here and we were. Maybe too quick since my watch could have done with more charging.

Crew: We got ready to go to Cactus flats around 12pm. We would be early, but had nothing better to do than to watch runners coming in. It was hot and this time I remembered the Ice neck gaiter. We made sure to pack colder foods, bananas, yogurt, water and tailwinds, more sunblock. Also water for the crew. Also packed for Doble camp as that is when James will continue to run with Willem. James will take my Nathan bottle at Doble to continue. We finally have this crewing down to a T now.

The 7km back to Doble, my crew switched places and this time Amanda ran with me and James had to rush back, drop the car and get the shuttle back to Doble. Amanda enjoyed this run a lot, although i should say walk, since I walked. I also stopped very frequently in any form of shade to rest. We actually did this bit faster than I thought we'd do it, and took only about 15 mins longer than when James and I did it. We were mostly alone with only a guy behind us about 100m. When we got to the very last part of the downhill Amanda slipped on loose rocks and fell down. She jumped up, but was dazed for a few seconds. James caught it all on video! 

Pacer/Amanda: Doble 7km's: We started around 2:45pm in blazing heat. Got the poles, thank goodness! This terrain is not for the faint hearted. We started the gradual climb almost right away and I remember the profile of this 4 miles as I am walking with Willem and all I can think of is that Willem has been doing this for more than 26 hours now and it's tough for me and I have fresh legs and energy.  Without the orange ribbons, marking the route, we would certainly get lost. Lots of rocks, ravines, sharp turns, ups and down, but more ups. The rocks are the most beautiful colors and textures and it intrigues me at the start, but as Willem noted, you will not appreciate them for too long. Willem took rests at every shaded opportunity and I got worried that he would not be able to make it to the end. He was breathing shallow and fast at the heat and exhaustion he was experiencing. I got him to slow down his breathing in the shady spots, before continuing. He has only 20km left after this stretch. He has to finish, is all I can think. I'm also so grateful knowing that James will be going with him to the finish. Making it to the top and seeing the aid station at the bottom, was such a relief. I'm thinking, how many of these moments Willem has experienced by now. We now descended down to the aid station and just as everyone was sitting waiting for runners and looking up at us, I stepped on a loose rock and fell sideways! I immediately said, I'm good, (last thing Willem needs). I got up fast, maybe too fast, as I felt a bit dizzy, but luckily it went away quickly and I was good to go. I just had my ego crushed as I know everyone saw me tumble. We do have video evidence, thanks to James :).

Crew/James: The last Cactus flats went smoothly and my race back to the staging area was slightly delayed by a slow truck ahead of me.  I arrived about 5 minutes before the bus departed.  Whew, because the driver was on the phone during the ride saying they were reducing the buses to two so the rides were going to be delayed.  When I got to Doble, I overhead other people chatting saying the buses were taking too long so they drove to Doble.  There were more cars parked on the road than previously.  The stars were aligned for us.  I did have about a 40 minute wait but much better than the alternative.  I did enjoy being the veteran crew member amongst this 100k family who were just guessing on their runners approach time and what direction they would be coming.  I kindly pointed out the runners to our right were the 100milers and their runner would be approaching from the left.  I also showed them the UTMB online site and how to track their runner.  They were very grateful.

After your call, I was able to watch your descent to Doble camp.   Unfortunately, I had the camera rolling for the infamous fall.  

Earlier James hatched a plan that he would run the whole last 20km from Doble back to the finish with me, and after sorting out that this was in fact allowed, the 2 of us set off. The stop here was again quick, since I just set lets take some gel some tailwind and be off, this was the second last aid station so no need for too much stopping.

James made a brisk pace up the mountain, and the slippery slate rocks were somehow not as bad as I recalled from the previous night. By now the 100km runners were on the same stretch and since we were walking and they were running, we had to get out of the way of them often on the single track. We went up the hill very quickly and I had to slow James down for a rest every now and then. Eventually we realised we'll not make it back to van Dusen before dark so we had grab our lights. James used the prezi core and I used the Fenix. After a brief scare when James' light didn't want to turn on, it started working and we were off again. It took us another 30 mins to get to van Dusen. By now it was around 7.30pm. van Dusen was almost deserted, but we grabbed some drinks, including Coke and made quick time out of there.

Crew/Amanda: After leaving Doble Camp, I went home, had a nice shower, cleaned up at home a bit as we need to leave before 10am the next day. I realized that the last 20km will be mostly walking for the runners, so I have time, but I also love seeing other runners finish as it's so inspirational, so I decided to pack some warm clothes as it will be cold when they finish and a few water bottles. We will hopefully get back and still be able to order food. Not sure at this time when they will finish, but the tracker estimate is 8:20pm.  I got on the shuttle after waiting for very smelly and struggling runners to get off the shuttle first...phew! At the finish line I saw a few people that we have made friends with over the last 30 hours in shuttle buses and crew stops. I also saw runners that I now recognize from crew stops. The air is dry and freezing cold, so everyone is moving to the beat of the music as they are cheering on the finishers with cowbells and clapping. The atmosphere is great. Mostly it's 100km runners finishing, but every now and then a 100 miler comes in at a bit slower pace than those 100km runners. We cheered even harder for those. I get a message from the GPS tracker that they want Pizza for dinner. I'm thinking how tricky that will be after 9pm as most places are closing down. My tracker shows imminent for Willem since 8:45pm, so I'm ready with the GoPro and my Phone camera. 

The climb to the top out of van Dusen was a breeze and then we started looking for when the downhill back to the finish would start. It just never came, and we looked forward to it so much. It was supposed to be only 4km to the downhill but it took forever! We were looking forward to the downhill since I told James it was a nice wide path and was going to be easy. Sadly, I had a very bad memory, it was a disaster when we eventually got to it. It was these massive drops and without poles I have no idea how either of us would have gotten down it. With about 2km to go and us being essentially down, my watch ran out of juice and died. We didn't charge it at Doble, which in hindsight was a mistake.

The last 20 mins we didn't have a watch to tell us where to go so we just slogged on, until we could eventually see the Hoka signage. After a minor wrong turn,, which was quickly corrected by runners walking in the opposite direction, we ran down the shoot to the finish. James recorded all of this and sang along to the tunes too. He was, btw, singing for long stretches on the trail too, that helped a lot. We passed over the line and Amanda fought her way to the front to take some pictures of us, since there was quite a crowd just beyond the finish line waiting for their runners. Usually I feel quite emotional near the end of a run, but probably because James was with me, I didn't feel any major emotion beyond relief that it was done.

Pacer/James: I can’t believe they would do this to a person.  This last stretch started off on this nice mountainous trail then developed into these loose rocks that sounded like rattling bones.  The views were awesome as you hiked between the mountains.  The fun started when the sun set and the headlamps came out.  It seemed like we were never going to get to the Van Dusen aid station.  We filled up our bottles and had the best coke ever.  This jolt helped us for about 15 minutes then reality hit us.  This section was up and not suppose to be that tough from what I recalled.  However, we had more rocks and our poles did not appreciate them.  We both got ours stuck a couple times as well as our shoes entertained us with a few stumbles.  Good thing we had our lamp blinders so we did not noticed the steep drop off on the other side of the narrow trail.  We looked after we caught ourselves. 

Getting to the top and starting our descent should have been a joyous occasion but not really. The trails were still rocky and the sides were still steep and inviting us to fall.  We did not give in to their hazardous nature.  I did get annoyed by all the 100k runners we had to step to the steep cliff side to let them pass.  It was easier to do while cruising through the flatlands.

The last 1k was a bitch and we tried to wait until the last minute to run.  At this point, I felt I could sing Willem’s mantra from playing Sequence, V I victory…V I victory!

Crew/Amanda: They came in at 9:20pm and I had to rush through the crowd to get my video and a few pictures. I'm so relieved! It's a bit surreal thinking how long Willem has been running. 

We struggled our way back to the shuttle bus, got on quickly and were the only people on the bus. We got home at around 10pm and Amanda ordered pizza. I was told to go to the bath, but not fall asleep in it. Amanda was worried I would not die on the run, but then drown at home. Fortunately I didn't and made it back down for the pizza. We also had some IPA, but I was strangely not super hungry nor thirsty. I almost fell asleep at the table and was ordered upstairs to go sleep.

Crew: We managed to get pizza delivered from Dominoes and ate at 11pm with some IPA to wash it down. Off to bed at 11:45pm  

Next Day:

I slept well and we got up around 7am. Getting up was tricky, but after warming up the legs a bit walking was not too bad. Had a nice breakfast and coffee and eventually left for San Jose at around 9am. The ride was great, since I slept in the back while my crew did the driving. We stopped at Murray farms near Bakerfield as we always do and I got a nice pie and some fudge, as I always do. Walking around after sitting in the car for 2+ hours was a bit non-trivial and I mostly shuffled along. We were back around 4pm. We went next door and I did cold plunge and hot jacuzzi 4x times, which I am sure helped a lot for recovery. We also got dinner from Tony and Mary, so quite a nice homecoming. I should not forget to mention they had a present for us at the door, with balloons spelling 100 and a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket. 

Week After:

No running since my calf that I pulled around 100km, is still far from fine. I tried to run on Friday, one week after the race started and my calf pulled right away. I forced o and then the other one pulled, so no running for another week.

In the end it took about 3 weeks to run again.