Wednesday, August 30, 2006

You thought you were tough running 100 miles?


This last weekend while helping crew Kyly at CCC is met a very interesting person. I was at the Meadow Mountain aid station. Which by the way, I ended up having to take over as the volunteers left. Don't get me wrong I was happy to help out but this is one more reason why I think this race needs a lot of improvement.

Anyway, back to the story. I met Scott Williamson. He was thru hiking. No not just the Oregon section of PCT. Not Oregon and Washington but all of PCT. No it doesn't stop there. He is Yo-Yoing it!!! That's right. First North and then turning around and heading South to Mexico.

Scott, (I am sorry I didn't get his trail name.) is the only person to have done this. He finished last year for the first time in 205 days. Last year he turned around at the Canadian border in 106 days. This year he turned around in 88 days and is doing fine.

His pack is customized Go-Lite pack weighing in at a light 8.5 pounds. (Not counting food.) He does not carry a stove. He wears trail shoes and running type shorts. He uses a blanket that he made for warmth. Sleeps on a ground cover. Tarp overhead to keep off the rain. He will go through about a dozen pairs of shoes on his trek.

For nurishment he eats dried foods, protein shakes, dried fruit, refried beans, crackers. He eats two to three pounds of food a day. His dad will mail food to him at 42 different drop sites along the way.

Right now he carries a small video camera to document his story. During this day there were three camera men on the trail documenting his progress. They will put together a documentry for next year on one of the Discover channel I believe he said. I will be looking for it.

And on this day he said he hasn't seen this many people in 2000 miles! This day he also gets to see his friend complete a 100 mile run.

One more reason why I like our sport. We get to meet the most interesting friendly people.

3 comments:

Tony C said...

Interesting! Let us know if/when they put the documentary on the Discovery channel. - Tony C.

Stephanie said...

i agree, i'm very much drawn to runners because they are "doers". I have never been much of an observer myself...There are many people who talk a lot about what they want to do, but there is nothing cooler and more inspirational than someone who just does it and is quiet about it! A lot of runners are like that.

seagull junker said...

Kyly is a person that likes to go unnoticed. I admire her for this. She is very modist. And she is a great runner to boot. What a great inspiration she is. I just love watching her on runs. She does fantastic. It is fun.