This was the Ultra Marathon Pocatello 50 Race day. When we got out of bed it was below freezing. When Jim and I left the house to go to our aid station, it had warmed up to a balmy 38° … and raining HARD. The race course was roughly a figure 8 through the mountains west and south of Pocatello and our assigned spot was about a third of the way into the race. We were set up and checked in with net control about 7:45 am and ready for the first runners to arrive. The wind was blowing quite hard (as can be seen on the side of the tent in the picture to the right) and it was pelting rain. We were sure that meant it was snowing and probably hailing up higher on the race course.

The first runner came into the aid station at 8:23 am. He was finished at this point as he was running in a three-man relay. His partner took off as soon as he arrived. The first female runner arrived at 8:58 am.

By this time the weather had gotten much worse. The winds up on the ridges were in excess of 40 mph and where we had rain, they had pea-sized hail. The wind and hail were stripping the route markers away and a group of 12 runners lost the course and eventually made their way down the mountain where they were picked up. Their race was finished.

One of the race organizers was running at the back of the main pack of runners and came into the aid station about 10 am very beat up, carrying in another runner who was showing signs of hypothermia. After consulting with the race doctor and the other race officials, the race was called off at 10:30 am. Anyone who had continued on from our aid station could continue to the 32 mile mark at Mink Creek, but no one else was allowed to leave. No one was complaining about that, though, as most everyone at this point were more concerned about surviving than racing. A number of runners turned around and made their way back to our aid station.

From there our task turned from reporting on runners and their time out of the aid station to accounting for all of the entrants. The radio communications were essential to getting that done in a timely fashion. We finally got everyone checked off at our aid station by about 2 pm when the last two runners on the course came down the hill to be greeted by their wives. Again, neither were unhappy that the race was finished and they couldn’t continue!

The City Creek aid station was close to a Pocatello highway and the location was very well known. More than a hundred people crowded around the aid station waiting for runners, cheering runners on, or assisting runners change clothes and get something to eat or drink. Some came well prepared for the wait (see the picture to the left) and others were not well prepared for the weather conditions. Our small tent, because it had some shelter from the rain and wind, became a favorite gathering spot. We sometimes had very little space to work in.

However, by about 2 pm, the sun had come out, the front had passed, and the weather turned quite nice (although very chilly). Jim and I drove over to the start/finish line, got a bite to eat, and visited with some folks. There was a lot of pot-luck food, particularly deserts available. One of the female runners was loading up her plate with goodies and said to me, “This why I run … so I can eat!” I’m still not motivated…!!

Had all gone as originally planned, Jim and I would have closed up shop at City Creek about 2:30 pm and moved from there to the last aid station on Scout Mountain to provide communications there. That aid station was about six miles from the finish line. So, we drove up to where we would have been and saw how much snow had fallen on Scout Mountain. That would not have been a good place to run and I’m sure there would have been some serious runner issues, including broken bones and serious hypothermia. We got to the spot and found about three inches of snow / grapple on the ground. We were also not disappointed that the race had been called off.

All in all, it was a very interesting day. We started out in a routine race communications capacity and ended up working with Bannock County Search and Rescue to get all of the runners accounted for and off the mountain. I’m looking forward to next year!

TTFN!