This was the perfect event for a flashaholic runner.
I was a runner before I was a flashaholic, in fact it was running that turned me on to this site and showed me there was a world beyond Mag lights. Over 2 years ago there was a thread on my running club BBS asking what the best light is for running at night. (some of these people run 100 mile trail races. they know what works) Head lights were ruled out since they were worthless in rain or fog. The Fenix P3D was the winner. I bought one for my girlfriend (a trail runner) I took it to work before I had a chance to give it to her (I work around a lot of large machinery) After one night at work I decided she wasn't getting it (Yeah, I bought another one for her)
I have since added several 4 sevens lights, an illuminaTI, an HDS executive clicky I also modded a 2C M*G to accept a phillips 5761, this is my current primary work light.
So, Last Saturday night at 8:30 PM I and 750 of my closest friends boarded a bus near the Las Vegas strip, for a 2 1/2 hour drive into the Nevada High desert, to the middle of the ET highway, the official name of Nevada Highway 375, there are supposedly more ET sightings reported here then anywhere else in the world. the official speed limit is Warp 7, though most of us would be going a little slower.
For the bus ride, my RA EDC Clicky programed to always start on Low (.08 lumens) proved perfect. plenty of light for our night adjusted eyes. perfect for rummaging through gear bags, helping a seat mate find his dropped earbuds, and helping runners see what they were doing while attaching timing chips to their shoes..
At about 11 PM we arrived at the "Black Mailbox" on the ET highway, a well known land mark near "area 51" since it is the ONLY object in 20 miles.
Yeah, I know the mail box is white, but it used to be black.
We were all instructed to carry lights and wear glow sticks (passed out at the start) wear something reflective and carry water bottles, We were also advised to keep our MP3's turned down low enough that we could hear rattle snakes
. Many of the lights I saw were single weak LED's clipped to the bills of hats, Not many flashaholics in the crowd. The people reading this missive could have really shown them the light. I gave a lot of thought on which light to carry, Finally opted for the old standby, Fenix P3D with fresh primary batteries. Long run time, multi modes, I didn't know which mode I would use, it turned out low (about 12 lumens) was plenty for night adjusted eyes, 50+ a click away and 200+ a twist away was sweet.
A friend found me shortly before the start, She ran a 12 hour race (47 miles as I recall) in 97º heat the previous weekend. she was using this as a training run for her upcoming 100 miler (night run after 24 hours with no sleep)
We started the race running together.
Midnight, under a full moon, On a cloudless 75º night, about 250 us us lined up at the black mail box, these were the marathon (26.2 miles) and 51K (31 mile) runners, the other 500 or so runners were bused to other points on the ET highway for the 1/2 marathon(13.1 miles) or 10K.(6 miles)
There is no shoulder. we were instructed to stay on the north side of the highway (facing on coming traffic) but there really was no traffic. you could see miles up and down the road, only a handful of cars or trucks went by all night. We saw the lights of the first aid station but it never seemed to get closer. that was repeated all night.
I saw lots of ET's on the course, there were some clever costumes. One guy that I often crossed paths with wore a fuzzy white suit, antennas and a prosthetic rear end. It looked hot. I overheard him tell someone, "Quit looking at my ***" (hey, it didn't look that kind of "hot" ):tsk:
I jumped over one snake early in the race, not scarey at all since it was very obvious that the car had not jumped over the snake.
We were told there was only 1 hill on the course, actually there were two. the first hill started at the black mail box (at about 4500' elevation) and for the next 13 miles it climbed to about 5700' I had forgotten how much elevation hurts. My friend and I found ourselves taking frequent walk breaks during the first 1/2, one of the deceptive things about this course is that since you are running by flashlight, you don't really see the hills, but you still can feel it.
My friend commented that she expected to see more stars in the high desert, but the full moon kind of got in the way. at the 1/2, She and I parted ways, she was having some issues and I wanted to run the downhill, I told her I would see here later. the next 7 miles were downhill to the town of Rachel Nevada.
Nearly every report I have read of 100 mile races, I read of hallucinations. I can now understand, I saw a couple of weird things, Not people sitting on stumps kind of things, really more tricks of the light. at one point running on the left side of the highway white line, It looked like the right lane had turned vertical and was more like a retaining wall that was next to me. when I focused my light in that lane it turned back into a normal road.
At another point I saw very faintly what looked like a person on a bicycle. That would have been totally out of place in this empty desert. This also corresponded with one of the few vehicles going by so I had to look away to try to save my night vision, after the bus went by I looked back and saw "something" off the road on the other side of the highway, I put my light on it and couldn't quite make out what I was looking at, some kind of an animal I was wondering if there were any deer around, I clicked the light to 50 lumen and saw it was some kind of large animal a couple hundred yards away this was open range and I wondered if I was looking at a cow? so I went Turbo, (200 lumens) then it moved and I realized it was a woman who had been crouching behind a bush starting to stand up
At mile 20 we went by the little town of Rachel (too small even for a gas station) where we would eventually finish but first we had a little 3 mile out and back, up hill for 3 miles then turn around and run back to the town. I passed one runner that was struggling, after I passed him He raced to catch up to me. breathing really hard he asked if I heard that? He said he thought there was a rattling behind us. At first I thought he was joking, I put my flashlight in turbo mode and swept the area behind us, I assured him there was nothing there. a few minutes later I caught up with and chatted a bit with an acquaintance that was doing the 51 K, We started walking for a few minutes and the same guy came running and panting up to us, he asked if either of us heard that? He said heard some rattling following us. I again went turbo, we both assured him nothing was out there (I guess sometimes you can hear hallucinations)
Soon after that, I got to the turn around the moon had set and the stars were out in all their glory. It was beautiful, I saw a couple of shooting stars leftover from the recent Persids. I haven't seen a night sky like that since I lived in Montana about 25 years ago.
Two miles from the finish was the low point in the race. runners were going out and back in the same lane of traffic, by this point the glow sticks had faded, many runners had lights that worked about as well as a candle, and I saw a couple runners that had removed their shirts so they had nothing reflective. during the day, when meeting other runners, I can indicate which way I plan on going to avoid collisions, this is tougher to do at night, and there was at least one time meeting 3 running abreast toward me that it was a little bit dicey, You really had to pay attention when meeting other runners at the time in a marathon where it is hardest to pay attention. At mile 24, I heard something, looked up and saw a runner sliding across the asphalt. When I got to him, he was laying across a lane of traffic, clearly in a lot of pain. I didn't yet know if it was safe to move him, or if we would need to move him, but had a car come by, it was reassuring to know I had bright strobe a click away.
two other runners were already there. After he could talk, He said "that guy hit me, He didn't stop, see if you can get his number" One of the runners said she was with him, He said he was OK, and she told us to go on, When he stood up, he was clearly hurting and limping badly, I suggested the other runner tell the aid station (He was closer to it than I was to the finish) The injured runner said that was not necessary but he wanted to see if someone could get the bib number of the hit and run.
I don't know what good it would have done to get a number if I could have (by then the runners were well ahead of me, and I couldn't have known which runner it was) still it sucked that he didn't stop. As far back as we were from the front, It's not like we were racing for awards or anything. I did write to the race director about this incident to make a couple of suggestions, I don't know if it will help or not. I will let her decide.
the last two miles to the finish were uneventful. we finally finished at the Little A'LE' Inn where a pretty awful breakfast was served.
Shortly after I finished, I saw an ambulance go by. I suspect for the fallen runner, the one down side to an otherwise very fun, very different event.
After breakfast I boarded the bus and got back to the Las Vegas strip about 8:00 AM, 12 hours after I started this adventure.
If you are still here, thanks for taking the time to read this,
Dave
I was a runner before I was a flashaholic, in fact it was running that turned me on to this site and showed me there was a world beyond Mag lights. Over 2 years ago there was a thread on my running club BBS asking what the best light is for running at night. (some of these people run 100 mile trail races. they know what works) Head lights were ruled out since they were worthless in rain or fog. The Fenix P3D was the winner. I bought one for my girlfriend (a trail runner) I took it to work before I had a chance to give it to her (I work around a lot of large machinery) After one night at work I decided she wasn't getting it (Yeah, I bought another one for her)
I have since added several 4 sevens lights, an illuminaTI, an HDS executive clicky I also modded a 2C M*G to accept a phillips 5761, this is my current primary work light.
So, Last Saturday night at 8:30 PM I and 750 of my closest friends boarded a bus near the Las Vegas strip, for a 2 1/2 hour drive into the Nevada High desert, to the middle of the ET highway, the official name of Nevada Highway 375, there are supposedly more ET sightings reported here then anywhere else in the world. the official speed limit is Warp 7, though most of us would be going a little slower.
For the bus ride, my RA EDC Clicky programed to always start on Low (.08 lumens) proved perfect. plenty of light for our night adjusted eyes. perfect for rummaging through gear bags, helping a seat mate find his dropped earbuds, and helping runners see what they were doing while attaching timing chips to their shoes..
At about 11 PM we arrived at the "Black Mailbox" on the ET highway, a well known land mark near "area 51" since it is the ONLY object in 20 miles.
Yeah, I know the mail box is white, but it used to be black.
We were all instructed to carry lights and wear glow sticks (passed out at the start) wear something reflective and carry water bottles, We were also advised to keep our MP3's turned down low enough that we could hear rattle snakes
. Many of the lights I saw were single weak LED's clipped to the bills of hats, Not many flashaholics in the crowd. The people reading this missive could have really shown them the light. I gave a lot of thought on which light to carry, Finally opted for the old standby, Fenix P3D with fresh primary batteries. Long run time, multi modes, I didn't know which mode I would use, it turned out low (about 12 lumens) was plenty for night adjusted eyes, 50+ a click away and 200+ a twist away was sweet.A friend found me shortly before the start, She ran a 12 hour race (47 miles as I recall) in 97º heat the previous weekend. she was using this as a training run for her upcoming 100 miler (night run after 24 hours with no sleep)
We started the race running together.Midnight, under a full moon, On a cloudless 75º night, about 250 us us lined up at the black mail box, these were the marathon (26.2 miles) and 51K (31 mile) runners, the other 500 or so runners were bused to other points on the ET highway for the 1/2 marathon(13.1 miles) or 10K.(6 miles)
There is no shoulder. we were instructed to stay on the north side of the highway (facing on coming traffic) but there really was no traffic. you could see miles up and down the road, only a handful of cars or trucks went by all night. We saw the lights of the first aid station but it never seemed to get closer. that was repeated all night.
I saw lots of ET's on the course, there were some clever costumes. One guy that I often crossed paths with wore a fuzzy white suit, antennas and a prosthetic rear end. It looked hot. I overheard him tell someone, "Quit looking at my ***" (hey, it didn't look that kind of "hot" ):tsk:
I jumped over one snake early in the race, not scarey at all since it was very obvious that the car had not jumped over the snake.
We were told there was only 1 hill on the course, actually there were two. the first hill started at the black mail box (at about 4500' elevation) and for the next 13 miles it climbed to about 5700' I had forgotten how much elevation hurts. My friend and I found ourselves taking frequent walk breaks during the first 1/2, one of the deceptive things about this course is that since you are running by flashlight, you don't really see the hills, but you still can feel it.
My friend commented that she expected to see more stars in the high desert, but the full moon kind of got in the way. at the 1/2, She and I parted ways, she was having some issues and I wanted to run the downhill, I told her I would see here later. the next 7 miles were downhill to the town of Rachel Nevada.
Nearly every report I have read of 100 mile races, I read of hallucinations. I can now understand, I saw a couple of weird things, Not people sitting on stumps kind of things, really more tricks of the light. at one point running on the left side of the highway white line, It looked like the right lane had turned vertical and was more like a retaining wall that was next to me. when I focused my light in that lane it turned back into a normal road.
At another point I saw very faintly what looked like a person on a bicycle. That would have been totally out of place in this empty desert. This also corresponded with one of the few vehicles going by so I had to look away to try to save my night vision, after the bus went by I looked back and saw "something" off the road on the other side of the highway, I put my light on it and couldn't quite make out what I was looking at, some kind of an animal I was wondering if there were any deer around, I clicked the light to 50 lumen and saw it was some kind of large animal a couple hundred yards away this was open range and I wondered if I was looking at a cow? so I went Turbo, (200 lumens) then it moved and I realized it was a woman who had been crouching behind a bush starting to stand up
At mile 20 we went by the little town of Rachel (too small even for a gas station) where we would eventually finish but first we had a little 3 mile out and back, up hill for 3 miles then turn around and run back to the town. I passed one runner that was struggling, after I passed him He raced to catch up to me. breathing really hard he asked if I heard that? He said he thought there was a rattling behind us. At first I thought he was joking, I put my flashlight in turbo mode and swept the area behind us, I assured him there was nothing there. a few minutes later I caught up with and chatted a bit with an acquaintance that was doing the 51 K, We started walking for a few minutes and the same guy came running and panting up to us, he asked if either of us heard that? He said heard some rattling following us. I again went turbo, we both assured him nothing was out there (I guess sometimes you can hear hallucinations)
Soon after that, I got to the turn around the moon had set and the stars were out in all their glory. It was beautiful, I saw a couple of shooting stars leftover from the recent Persids. I haven't seen a night sky like that since I lived in Montana about 25 years ago.
Two miles from the finish was the low point in the race. runners were going out and back in the same lane of traffic, by this point the glow sticks had faded, many runners had lights that worked about as well as a candle, and I saw a couple runners that had removed their shirts so they had nothing reflective. during the day, when meeting other runners, I can indicate which way I plan on going to avoid collisions, this is tougher to do at night, and there was at least one time meeting 3 running abreast toward me that it was a little bit dicey, You really had to pay attention when meeting other runners at the time in a marathon where it is hardest to pay attention. At mile 24, I heard something, looked up and saw a runner sliding across the asphalt. When I got to him, he was laying across a lane of traffic, clearly in a lot of pain. I didn't yet know if it was safe to move him, or if we would need to move him, but had a car come by, it was reassuring to know I had bright strobe a click away.
two other runners were already there. After he could talk, He said "that guy hit me, He didn't stop, see if you can get his number" One of the runners said she was with him, He said he was OK, and she told us to go on, When he stood up, he was clearly hurting and limping badly, I suggested the other runner tell the aid station (He was closer to it than I was to the finish) The injured runner said that was not necessary but he wanted to see if someone could get the bib number of the hit and run.
I don't know what good it would have done to get a number if I could have (by then the runners were well ahead of me, and I couldn't have known which runner it was) still it sucked that he didn't stop. As far back as we were from the front, It's not like we were racing for awards or anything. I did write to the race director about this incident to make a couple of suggestions, I don't know if it will help or not. I will let her decide.
the last two miles to the finish were uneventful. we finally finished at the Little A'LE' Inn where a pretty awful breakfast was served.
Shortly after I finished, I saw an ambulance go by. I suspect for the fallen runner, the one down side to an otherwise very fun, very different event.
After breakfast I boarded the bus and got back to the Las Vegas strip about 8:00 AM, 12 hours after I started this adventure.
If you are still here, thanks for taking the time to read this,
Dave
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