The Western States Endurance Run is billed because the world’s oldest “official” 100-mile path race. And to place such an occasion on, 12 months after 12 months, takes lots of people and a variety of consideration to element. One of the well-liked spots on the epic run from Olympic Valley, California, to Auburn’s Placer Excessive College stadium, is the Rucky Chucky checkpoint, at mile 78, the place the path crosses the American River just under class 6 rapids.
After a season with low snow, water circulate charges will be managed by retention at an upstream dam. When the water ranges will be lowered, runners cross the river on foot, with cables and volunteers to assist. However for years like 2023, after epic snow within the Sierra Nevada mountains, circulate goes over the dam and can’t be managed.
This 12 months, like different large snowmelt-induced, excessive river circulate years on the American, rafts had been required to move runners throughout. Chris Thornley, the youthful brother of race director Craig Thornley, is accountable for all issues that should do with the river crossing.
“Since Craig took over 10 or so years in the past, he put me accountable for river crossing security,” Chris says. On race weekend, Chris makes use of his personal private raft, after which they hire further rafts and rent guides from an area business rafting firm to drift runners throughout the river.
Craig and Chris may know the course and the world higher than anybody else. In 1978, once they had been 14 and eight, the 2 boys set out on a solo tenting journey alongside the American River. That 12 months they woke to runners shuffling by on their method to the mile 85 help station. “We noticed this man come up working, he was tremendous soiled, and he was asking if we knew how shut the help station was. We had no concept what he was speaking about,” Chris mentioned. However the second caught with each brothers as a sort of magical factor.
“Craig and I didn’t speak about that have till a lot later,” Chris mentioned. “We each bear in mind it being an vital second—witnessing the headspace that somebody was in after working greater than 80 miles. We each felt the identical method.” Chris and Craig’s household went on to volunteer at help stations for years. Each brothers skilled each inch of the course and have since understood what these first runners they noticed as youngsters had been going by.
Apart from working, Chris has additionally been rafting and boating his complete life. He now has an professional degree of water rescue expertise. “[For Western States 100] we run 4 rafts on the peak instances, beginning at about 10 P.M. by about 4 A.M. And we’re simply working 4 rafts in an egg beater style so now we have a relentless circulate.”
Chris ran Western States in 2006, and recollects that being a raft 12 months as effectively. “I needed to wait 40 minutes or extra for a raft, and I used to be behind the pack so it wasn’t actually about racing, however I used to be considering, I’ve to get in below 30,” he says, referencing the 30-hour cutoff time for the race. When runners exit the water they’ve 22 miles left to the end.
“So after I grew to become answerable for the river crossing, I instructed Craig it’s actually price the additional cash to have extra rafts. This 12 months the longest anybody needed to wait to get in a raft was perhaps one minute.” The entire raft crossing solely takes two minutes, so it’s very environment friendly today.
What’s Extra Well-liked: Raft or Rope?
The primary time a ship was used to cross the river was in 1980. “It was an outdated aluminum fishing boat,” Chris mentioned. “The captain of the boat in 1980 was Bob Suter. And since then we’ve used boats about 12 instances.”
After his a few years stationed on the river, Chris thinks there’s a fairly even cut up amongst runners who would slightly cross the river on their very own versus being in a raft, and it normally has quite a bit to do with the climate and the time that they’re crossing. Throughout a sizzling 12 months, the leaders may favor to chill their core down and absolutely immerse within the river. However in case you’re crossing in the dead of night, when issues have cooled down considerably, being fully moist even for a couple of minutes may take a variety of power and depart you chilled throughout the ensuing miles.
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Athletes even have to consider chafing—in the event that they get fully moist, they usually lose the entire advantages of their lube. Along with being a raft and water security man, Chris Thornley and his spouse Stacy are the founders of Squirrel’s Nut Butter, an anti-chafing and pores and skin restoration salve firm.
“For the leaders, typically, they don’t actually care about being drenched or having moist sneakers,” Chris mentioned. “It’s extra these later within the day and additional again within the pack which can be sort of pleased to maintain their toes dry.” No matter whether or not it’s a raft 12 months or an in-the-water 12 months, Chris all the time has a stash of Nut Butter on either side of the river.
Having fun with the Journey
Throughout this 12 months’s race on June 24-25, Chris observed that many athletes appeared pleased in regards to the raft trip. “It was a cooler climate 12 months, and I had a bucket within the raft stuffed with river water, so they may quiet down with that. For lots of runners, I feel they felt prefer it was very cool {that a} boat took them throughout the river.”
Chris normally movies his raft motion with a GoPro, which he did this 12 months as effectively, however he was additionally featured within the first ever live-feed of the race on YouTube. Though in earlier years he’s seen some athletes in darkish locations by the point they attain the river, this 12 months appeared usually very optimistic, with runners in good spirits and pleased to be there. Thornley forgot to put on his GPS watch to trace what number of journeys he made, however says it looks like no less than 100 crossings.
“Courtney [Dauwalter] was by far essentially the most current and coherent and pleased and bubbly,” Chris says. “Plenty of instances, particularly with the leaders, they’re grinding so exhausting. However Courtney stood out. She was clearly within the zone however so in a position to present her appreciation. And never only for the cameras. It’s a real appreciation. And it’s magic. Everyone can see it.”
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When Issues Go Fallacious
In 2016, Jim Walmsley notoriously “took a swim” whereas crossing the river. When he arrived on the river it was inconceivable to maintain toes on the rocks, so he opted to swim with out the help of the cable. And he ended up being swept a brief distance downstream and exited on his personal. On the time, there was some dialogue as as to whether Walmsley could be disqualified if he had been helped out of the water. (He wouldn’t have been.)
However that was a uncommon and by no means repeated occasion, partly attributable to how briskly Walmsley arrived on the river. Two years in the past the race signed an settlement with the state that the water could be lowered early sufficient in order that runners would all have the identical expertise. Beforehand, the water circulate had been left excessive sufficient for leisure customers to have a full day on the river, after which the water could be lowered within the night, across the time that the majority runners arrived. However Walmsley ran so quick that when he arrived in 2016, the water was nonetheless raging.
“We signed a 40-year settlement that claims decreasing the bottom circulate will occur method earlier [in the day] to permit these 14-hour of us which can be crossing at 4 o’clock within the afternoon to have a a lot safer crossing,” Chris mentioned. And in years when the circulate can’t be managed, Chris is on raft responsibility.
The Way forward for the Crossing
Whereas this was a record-breaking 12 months for California snowpack, may a fair larger snow 12 months change the river crossing totally? What occurs if the river circulate is so heavy that Chris and the opposite rafters can’t presumably row throughout?
“If we had wanted to do the crossing in circumstances like they had been on our Memorial Day coaching weekend, that will be very tough,” he says. “The circulate was considerably greater—for certain double if not triple what it was for the race—and that truly would have been very difficult.”
In such a scenario, Chris says they must give you a brand new system for getting throughout the river. “We almost certainly must go to some kind of tethered highline system, with a tether on the raft, as a result of in any other case you’d be pushed downstream.” Chris mentioned that as a result of the race is effectively into the season he’s not fearful about that sort of factor taking place. “This was a record-breaking snow 12 months, so it will take one thing even past that.”
Local weather change is prompting increasingly intense variations of all totally different sorts of climate, so large snow seasons most likely received’t be uncommon, however for now, the runners at Western States are fortunate to have Chris Thornley ensuring they make it to the opposite facet.
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