Monday7 24 2000     Just left theOncologist's office and was given the thumbs up to run the race. Levels aregoing up and things are looking good. Five weeks ago I had experimentalliquid radiation & three weeks before that 3.6 million stem cellsharvested& frozen for a possible bone marrow transplant in the future. But all Icanthink of is Death Valley. Non Hodgkins & B Cell Lymphoma have to ride intheback seat for this one. Chris Kreyer is coming in from San Diego. We'll pickup the Ford Expedition, load in thetwo big coolers and get a couple hundred pounds of ice then swing by theairport and pickup our 2nd crew person Joe Steltenkamp from Wisconsin &makefinal plans.Tuesday 7 25 2000     Lionel Gruen andFrancisco Davis just arrived from the West Side, so now the whole crew ishere. We'll pack up the SUV and head out for our adventure. Enjoyed thedrive through the desert. I took them to Lone Pine and we drove the coursein reverse so they could see what we would be doing in the days ahead.Checked in at Furnace Creek and took a swim.Wed. 7 26 2000     Got up hadbreakfast, hung around the pool and waited for the race meeting. Waswonderful to see many faces from last year and meet some new one's. BenJones totally caught me off guard (at the pre race meeting) when he asked meto stand and told of my fight with Cancer and my determination to finishthe race. We were all invited up on stage for a pre race picture. It wasamazing standing up on the stage and have all the flashes popping for whatseemed like a few minutes while all the pictures were being taken. Then backto the room for some foot taping & hopefully some sleep before the 3 amwakeup call.Thursday 7 27 2000 Race Day     Drove to the startof the race, took photo's and got ready to run. Adam  (Bookspan) playedthenational anthem & we took off running. I tried to hold back because itwasmy plan to take it easy till Stovepipe and the first night. Just outside ofStovepipe I realized I had some blisters that would need to be looked at.Lionel, who is an EMT, has never done what us Badwater racers need as far ascutting, draining, re taping & getting us back running in quickorder ... somy prayer was, "God, if you could have Denise Jones (aka "TheBlisterQueen") around with nothing to do and her blister kit that would beAwesome,Thanks." Well I got into Stovepipe, my crew was getting gas & ice.A mancame up to me and asked if I needed any help. I said my feet need some work.Had he seen Denise anywhere??? He said she just left but sit down I'll take

care of you. He opened a large kit & started right in on my feet. Aboutfiveminutes into it I asked his name, he said John Vonhof, my mouth droppedopen. The guru of blister care who wrote the book "Fixing YourFeet." Ibought the book right after I started Ultra Running. This was a sign, thiswas going to be a Good Race. Continued up the 5,000 ft. climb to Town Pass&down to Panamint. Other than the car load of midgets, we saw things weregoing smoothly. Turned out to be our crew but Chris and I swore it was a carload of extra small midgets with a little bitty car.Friday 7 28 2000     Went straight tothe hospitality room provided by Panamint this year. Normally Ben Jonesrents it for the racers out of his pocket. Went in, laid on a bed and letLionel go to work while the rest of my crew got supplies and my breakfast.Ate scrambled eggs and hash browns while my feet were being worked on. ThenJoe said I need to take at least a 20 minute rest. I laid down, closed myeyes and tomy surprise got a little nap. Looked at my watch, was right about 20 minutesso jumped up (not really, got up slowly) and walked outside. They were justcoming to get me. Now it was another climb to 5,300 ft. past FatherCrowley's. This was the most cambered road I ever ran/walkedon. Constantly angled to the left, then the right. This is were I came upupon Chris Moon. It was awesome, meeting one of the people I have greatrespect for. I myself was running this race for AHA (Athletes HelpingAthletes) the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The money I would be raisingis a way of helping athletes with a disability gain independence & liveahealthy and active lifestyle. Then an extra treat with jet's (Tomcats out ofLemoore Air Force Base) screamingaround Owen's dry lake bed. Now down towards the 4th check point and Darwin.The smoke from the forest fires was really starting to get bad. Got to thecheck point in the late afternoon and my crew went off to get fuel &moreice. Joe stayed with me and kept me in R.F.M. (Relentless Forward Movement)things were still going good and I was having a blast. Around 3 AM is whenthings started to unravel. My crew pulled together and opened the doors onthe crew vehicle and Francisco started the jams. They all were jumpingaround getting me pumped up in half-mile intervals. This is where my crewreally pulled me thru. By sunrise they were getting tired & I wasgetting mythird or forth wind.Saturday 7 29 2000     We got into LonePine and Shannon (Farar Griefer), Kari (Marchant), Denise & Ben were allthere to meet me. These are all some special kind of people. Denise offeredto look at my feet, while my crew got me breakfast again. Here I am,beautiful women working on my feet, eating breakfast, 120 milesinto the run & Ben nudges me and says, "Isn't this GREAT?" Wesmiled. Thenif it couldn'tget any better than that Denise and I made eye contact a few times that saidit all. She had helped me so much in the prior year deal with my cancer andI considered her my prayerCaptain," God really speaks thru her to me like no one on this planet. Webothnew how important this goal was & how tuff of a road it was to get here, but