I was very much looking forward to doing the pace timing for the elite runners for the 2010
L.A. Marathon. I did it
last year and had a great time. Essentially pace timers get on bicycles and ride in front of the elite runners and go to certain mile markers and call in the top three runners split times to the media. As a cyclist, it is a lot of fun riding the streets of L.A. with no stoplights or traffic to worry about. As a runner you get to see some of the world’s best long-distance runners up close throughout the entire marathon. However, this year was slightly different.
I went to work very early last Wednesday and so, I was able to come home early. I happened to be at my computer when I got an email from the
L.A. Tri Club coordinator of the pace timing cyclists. She asked for a volunteer to ride with a hand-cyclist who had cerebral palsy. I hesitated for a moment because I had such a good time last year with the elite runners, but then I thought, “I’ve had that experience, it is time to try something else.” I volunteered and almost immediately the job was mine. I must admit that I was a little scared. I have only really talked to one other person with cerebral palsy and it was difficult. I asked my Bible study group to pray for me.
I soon found out that my athlete’s name was Scott Gellerstein. My task was just to rid with him and assist him if something were to go wrong. If he got a flat I would change it. It was estimated that he would finish in about three hours and leisurely pace on a bicycle.
The Great Magnetic Wife was kind enough to get up really early and drop me off at the Marathon starting point at Dodger Stadium. We got there at about 5:30 am and the wheelchair and hand cyclists were scheduled to start at 7:00 and 7:05 respectively. I met up with a few of my fellow L.A. Tri Clubber and we were all quite excited.
At about 6:30 I went to the hand cyclist corral to try to meet Scott. He was not there yet. I was a little worried. At 6:45 I went back to the corral and met him. He was with Jeremy Newman, who I later found out is also in the L.A. Tri Club. Jeremy said that he was going to ride in front of Scott and try to provide some opportunities for Scott to ride in his draft. I asked Scott if he wanted me to do anything specific and he said, “no, just ride with me”.
The start was delayed because the busses bringing in athletes had not been able to get all of the athletes to the starting line in time. That is something they will have to work through in the future if they are going to keep using this point-to-point course. The wheelchairs left at about 7:20 and the hand cycles about five minutes later. I was stationed about 200 yards in front of the starting line and picked up Scott as he rode by. The course goes uphill very shortly after the start and Scott was struggling a little bit, but with grunts and determination got up the hill. What goes up must comedown and so as we were going downhill he asked me to let him know when hills were coming, both up and down.
We left Dodger Stadium through the Sunset Boulevard exit and there was a sharp left turn onto Sunset Boulevard. I know this exit well and that it is a little steep. I let Scott now that we were coming to a big downhill and a sharp left turn. I got behind him to give him as much room as possible to turn. As he was making the turn his left-rear wheel left the ground a little bit. Oh, no! It went back down. Relief! Then he swung a little wide and hit the curb! He wiped out and was on his side. One of the reasons I was there was to try to keep Scott safe and less the two miles into this thing he was laying on his side after having wiped out. Before I could even dismount from my bike there were a couple of spectators who were with Scott. He kept saying, “I’m okay, I’m okay”! We got him upright and he wanted to keep going.
Having studied the course, I knew there were going to be at least a couple more downhill runs into turns. I told Scott to listen to me when I am warning of a turn and to slow down. He certainly didn’t want to crash anymore either. This started a good downhill section that allowed him to rest his arms a bit. But the first four to five miles of this new L.A. Marathon course are quite hilly. As we were going up hills Scott would ask, is it downhill soon”?
The biggest hill of the race was going up Grand Avenue towards Disney Hall. I remember it from the L.A. Triathlon and it is a killer. Scott was struggling a lot. I kept telling him that he could serpentine the hill. I must have said, go back and forth ten times, others were certainly doing it. But Scott was determined to just go strait up. At a certain point he asked me to push him, but I said that I couldn’t he would have to do it all on his own. But I kept encouraging him and he kept trying. I would call out, “200 yards to go…100 yards to go…50 yards to go! This is the hardest hill on the course, they will all be easier after this!…20 yards….you’re almost there”! He made it, but was clearly exhausted. We had a bit of a flat and some downhill before the next climb.
It was around this time the Jeremy Newman, who I had met in the starting coral mostly stayed with us. He kept talking to Scott about his form. Scott kind of jerked through the motion of the hand-crank and Jeremy reminded him to go in circles. As we were going downhill Jeremy would get in front of Scott to provide a draft. It didn’t usually work; Scott would not always put in the effort to go with Jeremy. Both Jeremy and I kept telling him that if he put in the effort to get into Jeremy’s draft, it would be ultimately easier, but I think Scott saw the downhill sections as an opportunity to rest his arms. Since he was going for a personal best time, both Jeremy and I felt he was going to have to work smarter to achieve it.
Jeremy continued the advice on the hand cycling. I continued to let Scott know about the terrain, up and down and upcoming turns. We both shouted a lot of encouragement as did the spectators along the course and the cyclists who were doing the pace timing for the runners.
For ten minutes or more I could see the camera cars for the elite women runners coming up behind us. The women start about twenty minutes before the men, so they are the first ones up. In Hollywood on a long up hill section they finally passed us. I let Scott know to stay to the right as they passed. But soon after that there was a downhill section and we passed the women runners again. We played cat-and-mouse with them for a while, but they finally passed us for good in Beverly Hills. Not very long after that the men passed us on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City. There was not cat-and-mouse with the men. When we were passed we stayed passed.
Scott was clearly getting very tired at this point. We continually reminded him about his form, but as one gets fatigued, form often goes out the window. He was making a lot more effort to move himself along. The last hill of the course was in the Veteran’s Administration hospital in West L.A. When we got through this it would literally be all downhill for the last five miles. But there was a short hill that Scott was having trouble with. He again asked for a push and I again told him he had to do it on his own. He rested for a few seconds and then gave it another try. He got up the hill and then we were off.
We still had five miles to go down San Vicente Boulevard and Ocean Avenue and although they were all downhill, it was a subtle downhill. I have ridden by bike along this route a lot. I know this well. The downhill is nice, but you still have to work and Scott was getting very tired. He was starting to drift and Jeremy recognized this as Scott closing his eyes to give more effort. So Jeremy had to correct him and shout to at Scott to keep his eyes open.
We finally made the turn onto Ocean Avenue and were just over a mile from the finish. Scott was going to get his PR, but we wanted to make sure he was going to finish as strong as he could. We continued to encourage him. The crowds were getting pretty big and they were screaming for him. We could finally see the finish line about a half a mile out. I kept shouting, “What are you saving it for? You can rest when you finish! Go harder”! Jeremy was saying much the same. We were flying down Ocean at about twenty miles an hour.
Approximately two hundred yards from the finish line I had to bail off of the course. Unfortunately I bailed off of the wrong side off the course and had to navigate through a very crowded Palisades Park and through many closed streets of Santa Monica to get to the wheelchair and hand cyclist finishing area. I met up with them and met Scott’s parents. Scott thanked me and I let him know that I had a great time.
I headed to the L.A. Tri Club post race party to check in and get my volunteers t-shirt. Why did I feel I had to get my t-shirt? I don’t know. I already have dozens of event t-shirts that I never wear. But for some reason I have to have a t-shirt from every event I participate in. I then headed to the aid station at Mile 23 for the L.A. Leggers to cheer on my friends who were running by. I saw barefoot running guru Barefoot Ken Bob run by and snapped a photo.
After a few hours there, I rode my bike about ten miles to the spot that The Great Magnetic Wife was to pick me up. When she picked me up I was tired, but it was a good kind of tired. It was off to the dog park with
Rango. I sat and watch him run around. I went to bed early and slept well.
