Yesterday began the 2nd annual Pinhoti 100 run. www.pinhoti100.com/ DH and I work aid station 17 at the 89.6 mile mark which is on a dirt woods road near a small church. We have a wonderful time and all (most) of the runners and their crew are really great. We set up and have warm soup, roasted potatoes, PBJ sandwiches, sliced fruit, cookies, first aid, and encouragement to the runners as they pass through. The runners were supposed to begin in Heflin at 6am, but got a late start due to transportation problems that morning. We were to have our station set up at 7:15 and plan to stay till 9 Sunday morning. Since we were going to be there all night, I had everything planned. There were 3 others who were going to help out till about midnight, and a ham radio operator from a local club. To keep us going I fixed 2 pounds of tuna salad and fruit for dinner. I precooked biscuits, bacon, and sausage for breakfast. I made banana nut muffins, oatmeal cookies and hot chocolate to supplement the food provided for the runners. I had everything packed into the RV so I would have the generator, tables, chairs, utensils, bed for runners who needed a break, hot water, lights and music ... . Weather was great, no rain expected, a bit cool, but we had a heater in the RV.

DH who hates to get anywhere early waits till 6:30 to leave the house. It is a 15 minute drive in the car, 25 going slow in the RV. We hop in, crank it up, and........no headlights. Fuses are ok, can all blow at the same time? Nothing worked, so grab the truck, start repacking things...what do we have to have? Runners food, tables, get the little generator, pop up awning, oh yes, gotta heat their food, so crock pot (will the generator handle it?) no refrigeration, so tuna has to stay home, plates, cups, spoons, knives, hot chocolate, paper towels, water, chairs, thermos bottles (where the heck are they?) ..... Hope we grabbed it all. Jump in, take off.

We get there right at 7:15, radio operator is waiting on us and she and her son graciously help set up. They had updates for us. There were 69 registered, 3 no shows, and 20 had already withdrawn. Thank goodness I had pre-cooked some potatoes so they were ready to go. DH had gotten his old camp stove and it worked (for a little while) to heat the soup and water for the hot chocolate. Our friends remembered to pack some fire wood and DH gathered some dead fall in the woods to keep it going. The first runner came through at 9:30. He had run 89 miles over mountains on trails and woods roads in 15 hours. Next runner was at 10:30, then our friends left about 11, so it was all ours after that. More and more runners withdrew and a few made it through before sunrise, but most of them made it to us after sunrise.

Seems we managed to pack enough to make it, ended up having to heat the soup in the pot on the fire, but that worked. The sweepers came through about 8:40 and let us know the trail was clear and we could pack up and go home. We packed up, too supplies back to the organizer, and got home about 10. I couldn't stand it, so I tried the lights on the RV and they worked perfectly. We put away the our tables, chairs, etc, fixed lunch for MIL, then went to bed for a few hours.

We are already making plans to do it again next year. Life is an adventure, or it is nothing at all.

beverly