Humand Endurance - Incredible finish at Leadville Trail 100 (Long)

["Shirley Dennis" <sdennis@warrengroup.com>]

My husband subscribes to a mailing list for clydesdale runners but since
he also rides and pit crews for me, he thought you would enjoy this story of
true human endurance .............

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--
this forwarded to you with permission of the author:

Date:    Tue, 25 Aug 1998 10:21:03 MDT
From:    "KEITH D. WOESTEHOFF DTN 522-3792"
<woestehoff@PEAKS.ENET.DEC.COM>
Subject: Incredible finish at Leadville

  There was an incredible finish at Leadville this year. I
wrote a short
  description. I hope you enjoy it.

        Keith

  There are certain moments in sports where time seems to
stand still and
  the impossible becomes reality. Those moments make us
cheer and they make
  us cry. They are so special and so rare that we never
forget them. For me,
  the list includes the Immaculate Reception, Bob Beamon's
long jump
  in the Mexico Olympics and Kordell Stewart's Miracle in
Michigan.
  But this weekend, I witnessed another unforgettable finish
which must be
  added to this short list. The setting was not in a high
profile sport. It
  did not include a millionaire athlete and you won't be
able to see reruns
  of the event on Sports Center. But the impact was felt at
the bottom of
  everyone's heart who witnessed it. The names are unknown
as as I write this
  but the passions and emotions and the love are real.

  The event was the Leadville Trail 100, an extremely tough
100 mile foot
  race through the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The racers
must deal with
  long climbs, steep descents, rocky trails, stream
crossings, a sleepless
  night, high altitude and a 30 hour time limit.

  As the 30 hour time limit approached, more than half of
all runners had
  dropped out from exhaustion or injury. The winner had
already crossed the
  finish line 11 hours earlier. But now the crowd was much
larger to watch the
  drama of the remaining racers struggling to reach the
finish line before
  the final gun.

  The excitement seemed to start when a man crossed the line
for his first
  successful finish after 6 failures in previous years. He
received a
  champagne shower from his friends and family.

  With 9 minutes before the final gun. A woman was
staggering up 6th avenue
  to the finish. Her eyes were glazed, her legs were stiff
and she wobbled
  and staggered from side to side. She was having a hard
time keeping her
  balance. The cutoff was not a problem but everyone could
tell she was in
  real danger of collapsing before reaching her goal.
Everyone held their
  breath as she staggered those last final steps, finally
collapsing as she
  broke the ribbon. She was then carried to the medical
tent.

  For the next few minutes, more runners crossed the finish
line, hearing the
  cheers of the crowd and then celebrating with their family
and friends.
  Then, the nearly 1/2 mile view up 6th avenue showed no
more runners.
  It became quiet. We started to wonder if there were any
other runners who
  would know the joy of reaching the finish line before the
final cutoff.
  The race announcer said "3 minutes left". Still, no more
racers in sight.
  Suddenly, a racer and his pacer appeared at the top of
hill. The announcer
  broadcast his number and his family and friends ran down
the street toward
  him to see what they could do to help.

  I honestly didn't think he could finish on time. He had at
least 200 yards
  of downhill and then 300 yards of uphill to the finish. He
would have to
  run the whole thing and after 100 miles of heaven and
hell, I didn't think
  he could run up that final hill. As he was running slowly
down the hill,
  you could see his family and friends running towards him.
They were too
  far away to hear what they were saying but it was obvious
they were telling
  him to hurry. Instantly, he started to run faster and it
was obvious that
  everyone was frantic. If everything went well, there was a
small chance he
  could make it but the odds were against him. As he was
nearing the bottom
  of the hill, suddenly another racer appeared at the top of
the hill. Again
  we see family and friends rushing to a new racer. But, he
had no chance,
  he had too far to go and not enough time. Another person
would have their
  heart broken on 6th Ave with the finish line in sight.

  As the 1st racer reached the bottom of the hill, we knew
this would be his
  moment of truth. Could he run it ? As each second passed,
I kept waiting
  for him to stop but he kept running. People started
running out of the
  stands and off the sidewalks to form a human tunnel for
him to run through.
  Everyone was yelling "GO, GO". As he reached the tunnel,
we were hoping the
  final gun wouldn't sound. He sprinted the last 20 yards
and fell through
  the tape, doing a face plant into the red carpet. Medical
people ran to
  help him. The race official was standing nearby, looking
at the race clock
  and the gun pointed to the sky. Everyone was worried about
the condition of
  the fallen racer and then I glanced back and saw the 2nd
racer putting on an
  unbelievable charge. SOMEONE FORGOT TO TELL HIM HE
COULDN'T MAKE IT.
  There were people on both sides of him holding a ski pole
in front of him.
  He was holding onto it and they were trying to drag him up
the hill. The
  human tunnel scattered to give them room. The gun was
going to be fired
  at any second. GO, GO, GO came the cheers. He broke the
ribbon and as he was
  crashing to the red carpet, the gun sounded. He didn't
move. The medical
  staff, who just barely had time to help the previous racer
sit up, were
  rushing to the final finisher. The cheers suddenly turned
to silence as he was
  surrounded by the medical staff and family. With each
second, our fears
  for his safety grew and grew. And then after what seemed
like an eternity,
  we see a hand come up from the mass of humanity and a
finger pointed to the
  sky. Everybody started cheering and most were also crying.

  After he had time to recuperate, I introduced myself and
talked to him. I
  told him that I knew how he felt since I finished next to
last the previous
  year. But in all honesty, my 3 min 33 second margin was an
eternity compared
  to his official finish time of 29:59:58. I told him that
what he did was
  better than taking 1st place and he would remember it for
the rest of his
  life. His final charge up the hill was an incredible
display of courage
  and determination. It was as impressive as anything I've
ever seem in the
  world of sports. It doesn't get any better.

  I looked back up 6th Ave. There were no more racers on the
course.
  This year, there would be no broken hearts with the finish
in sight.

  The last 2 racers had 2 of the shortest margins ever in
the history of the
  Leadville Trail 100. They trained hard and made many
sacrifices before racing
  for 100 miles and giving every ounce of energy they had.
There were no cash
  prizes and fame and fortune will elude them. They did it
simply for the
  love of the sport.

  There is a heart that beats strongly in the world of
sports. The heart won't
  be found in the boardroom of an NCAA meeting or in the
Olympics or in the
  Superbowl. But it will be found in a neighborhood
playground with children
  who have boundless dreams playing a pickup game with a
tattered ball. It will
  be found in backyards with fathers and sons playing catch
football. And it
  will be found with a weekend warrior, who in many ways is
just like you
  and I, lying on the red carpet in Leadville with his arm
raised and his
  finger pointed to the sky.

        Keith


************************************************************************
Shirley A. Dennis					   sdennis@warrengroup.com
The Warren Group,
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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