From Pittsburgh, Virginia and North Carolina we assembled at the Wingate in Lynchburg Friday night.  The Oxendale Crew, four rookies and one veteran were ready to mobilize and help catapult our runner to the race goal and improved time he had set for the 2005 MMTR.  We should have known when two of the crew members broke the door knob leading out of their apartment and arrived 1 1/2 hours late, that things were going to get tough, but not to worry, it was only 10:30 Friday night.  The alarms were set and morning came fast.

We were up and ready to go, almost meeting our departure time of 5:15 a.m. from the Wingate parking lot.  After a last minute strategy session covering how to cram 6 people, running gear, chairs, lunch cooler, and extra clothes into a 5-person vehicle, we really leave at 5:30.  Our runner at this point is mildly anxious but remaining fairly cool, because he now needs us for a ride to the start.  We arrive at the start and leave our runner off just as his name is being called because he has not checked in yet.  We are forced to park far away, throw together the remainder of what our runner needs and one of us sprints to the start to equip our runner, minutes still to spare.  We are ready and in place as the race begins.  Our official group timer is ready to press the start on our timing watch and oops, no watch; it’s in the vehicle.  That’s ok; we will synchronize at the next aid station.  Our runner starts the race stressed and hyped up.  So far the crew is doing ok in helping him improve his time.  A high anxiety level equates to a faster start for our runner.

We are now in position at AS2 and we cheer as runners come by as we wait for our runner ready to spring into action when he appears.  He arrives, sheds his gloves, throws on his camel pack, grabs his wrist bottle and asks for his goo pack.  Oh no, we forgot the goo packs!!  Away he goes and off we head to AS3 with a cliff bar.  We’ll get it right soon.  We stop for coffee, a little time at the country store, and soon arrive at AS3.  On the walk back into AS3 we are passing a stream of people coming back out and the thoughts start to arise, are we going to miss our runner?  It’s a long walk back into AS3.  Good news, our runner is ahead of schedule but we are ready.  He’s in and out and we are clicking as a crew.  Back out and we head for AS4.  AS4 is smooth and we got this down now as our navigator and assistant head for AS8. 

No problem as we arrive at AS8, pull out the lawn chairs and set up next to the buses and all the drop bags lined up.  We wait for our runner to arrive at his projected time for AS8.  He is late, later, and it’s looking bad.  We walk back in the gravel road to meet him and our runner does not show up.  Back out and check with the timer to make sure he has not dropped.  He has gone from a twenty-minute lead to falling behind 40 minutes off his projected time.  Once again, back to the gravel road to wait.  He finally shows and we are expecting to see him limping or injured.  He comments he is feeling strong and we break the news to him that he is now 40 minutes off his pace.  He questions the fact that he has been through several aid stations since he has seen us.  We give him the benefit of the doubt, and figure he might be tired and mildly delirious by now.  Previously instructing us to have his shoes and socks powdered and ready to change at AS10, he surprises us and asked for them now at AS8.  We scramble, square him away, one of the crew joins him for the next segment of the trail, and off the runners head to AS10.  The runner and crewmember that has joined him start to confer on the race and the upcoming strategy for the crew and the aid stations.  The crewmember says he is going to hop back off the course at AS10.  The runner informs the crew that he just left AS10 and is now headed to AS11 at the top of Buck Mtn.  Runner and crew member (strong willed brothers), are now involved in a discussion as to where they are on the course, soon to be settled by consultation with a veteran runner and the “Rocky Theme” drifting in from way off in the distance.  Good news: the runner is no longer behind pace by 40 minutes as he had been informed by his crew.  This is a boost to the runner and once again, the crew has come through with a huge morale builder.  The bad news is, the remainder of the crew has just left AS10, now looking for AS10.  Wow, what a crew!!

The realization finally comes to the crew as they are wondering through the countryside trying to make sense out of the directions and the panic now sets in.  We’re turned around, we have a crewmember out running with our runner, and we are not going to make AS12.  We are now going to have 2 unhappy runners!!  With minutes to spare we pull it together and show up at AS12.  One crewmember has readied herself, in a frenzy, on the way in to AS12 to run the loop with our runner.  Oops, wrong station for the loop.  We equip our runner at AS12 and away we head for the loop.

Our crewmember who has just finished with the runner was given specific instructions, ¾ bottle of Conquest and ¾ bottle of water for our runner at the loop, both with hand straps.  Our runner shows up at the loop and we have his belt ready for him with the 2 bottles.  Minor problem, our runner wants his hand straps just like he asked for, not his belt.  We send a member of the crew racing back to the vehicle to retrieve a hand strap.  Runner says never mind, he’ll just carry one bottle without the hand strap.  Our runner seems to be a little fussy after 33 miles.  Maybe it’s because they’re Horton miles!!  The loop is completed, AS13B goes without a hitch, and our runner is off headed for the finish.

As a crew, we stand proud at the finish.  Sister, daughter, brother, son in law and niece, are there for our runner as he crosses the finish line bettering his time by 25 minutes over last year.  The way we have it figured, it must have been the crew!!

Yes Roger Oxendale, we are proud of you.  We are also thankful that you are a gracious and forgiving guy.  We do have to mention that this crewing stuff is a little more complicated then one might think.  All our runner had to do was follow white ribbons for 50 miles, a stress free and uncomplicated day compared to that of a crew member.

We had our post race crew meeting Sunday morning, and you can look for us in 2006.  You’ll find us Thursday evening at AS8 having our pre-race orientation.  Our runner feels as though we may need a little more attention prior to the 2006 MMTR and next year, we are hoping he will even remind us to bring our map.

Thank you David Horton, and all the other individuals who make this race possible and giving us the opportunity to support “our runner” throughout the race.

The Oxendale Crew