05-29-2001Dear Badwater People,     The Memorial weekend clinic was very successful andwas attended by 36 people of whom 15 will be starters at the 07-25-2001 BadwaterUltra. All of these people and 12 vehicles had to be shuffled around so no onewould be lost in the effort. Denise and I had our Dodge Raider and pulled anopen-topped trailer which is always really convenient for crewing a half-dozenor more otherwise non-supported runners. Our accountant, Leslie Chapman, isgetting back to running and has become inspired by the event and the desert. Sheadded valuable assistance during the weekend. I am not expecting any discountseither. Many of the family members, pacers, and crewmembers were able to get ina lot of exercise along the way.     Most of us met at Stovepipe Wells Village in the lateafternoon on Friday 05-25-2001. The swimming pool is very inviting with theoutside air temperature reaching around 115 degrees F. We were able to gather ina separate area in the dining room for dinner at 1830. After a nice meal we wentinto the reserved auditorium for pre-event planning. Denise and I made somebrief announcements. The main rules have to do with safety and not impairingaccess of the tourists to the National Park as well as to the areas of the BLM,DWP (Department of Water and Power), USFS, etc. NPS, County of Inyo, andCaltrans roads are involved in getting from the start to the finish. All ofthese agencies have to be satisfied during the training sessions and the Raceitself. Then we had questions and answers before Denise, the blister queen, gavesome foot-taping demonstrations.     We left SPW before 0700 and traveled to Badwater 41miles away. There was a lot of picture taking with video cameras, regularcameras and especially digital cameras. The runners headed out at 0817. Thecrews leap fogged ahead at 2-mile intervals in order to be ready for therunners. After the last of the so-called 15-minute-per mile people went by Iwould pull out and do the same all over again. The second day started at SPW at0803 and progressed 18 miles westward to Towne's Pass and back. There were notakers for the third day’s climb up Telescope Peak. A few stayed to do workoutson their own. I had to get back to do autopsies on some decomposed bodies butthey were not from the clinic.  I do have a couple of interesting coroner’scases to report on later, which originated in the Panamint Range during the lastyear.     Jim Bravo was a very enthusiastic member in attendanceand he kept saying how much he benefited from the experience. He is a buildinginspector and was able to forget his work – there were very few buildings toremind him of his job. The second day he was listed as MIA (Missing in Action).We had forgotten he was only going to be with us the first day. He was there inspirit and informed us later "rumors of his death have been greatlyexaggerated."     Connie Corson arrived a day late and joined us for theclimb up and down between SPW and Towne's Pass. She is a psychiatrist and saidshe would assist runners with mental disorders at the various psyching boothsalong the way. We enjoyed hearing her tales of many endurance events all overthe world over the last two decades.     Barbara Elia has dedicated her life to running andathletics. She returns this year after a very successful run in 2000. LeePeterson has also returned to crew her. She has to fight off potentialcrewmembers, as she is such a delight to be around. I am told she averages 20miles a day in training or racing. She did the 41 miles the first day and choseto go on to Panamint Springs Resort the second day to complete 72 miles and halfthe distance of the Race itself.     Shannon Farar-Griefer is also known as Miss Slim-Fast.She runs for charity to help children with cancer and disabilities. She hasbecome enthralled with the desert. We have to keep reminding her of her family

obligations but she is clever in working out arrangements in order to train outhere. Phil and Kari Marchant from Bishop are also the same way so it alwaysseems to work out in the long run. It will be quite a fashion show out here withShannon and Anne Langstaff on the course.      Jim Hamilton arrived a day early and did workouts onhis own schedule with Norm Haines and Merry Berry.     Andy Humphries and his wife Sally came all the wayfrom the UK to do the clinic and will return again for the Race. He was stillsuffering from an eight-hour jet lag and the London fog when he flamed out thefirst day and did very well the second day. It is always nice to hear theBritish accent.     The star performer of the weekend was Anne Langstaff,elite runner and exotic dancer. She was a surprise attendee and was accompaniedby her future mother-in-law, Joyce Schreiber (the ‘writer”). During the Raceitself she will be assisted by her fiancé as well as by her ex-husband. RememberRodney King's expression, "Can't we all get along?" She will beattracting theattention of the media come July. She completed the course each day with runningand no walking – quite remarkable. She is very anxious to perform in the Raceand is definitely “race ready.”     I call Larry Mann "Tarzan" as that is whom Ithought Iwas seeing on the Angeles Crest course last fall when we were crewing ShannonF-G. As it turns out he is a zookeeper.  He seems uncomfortable with verylittleclothing and doesn’t mind his picture taken while peeing along the roadside. Itwas the glint of long purple hair that caught our attention and it must be whatinterests Felicia Hesler, his girl friend who had some trouble reeling him induring the first day.     Vilma Mejia returned this year as she has a score tosettle with the course. She made it to SPW in 2000 and obviously wants tocomplete the distance this year. She and her husband, Oscar, are Peruvian. Weenjoy talking about their country and the Inca Trail each year.     Rick Miller is the next closest resident besides theJones' to be a starter. He and Barb are from Ridgecrest. They became familiarwith the Race last year by crewing Michael Styllas. Mark McKinney joined us thefirst day and paced Rick to SPW. Many other OTHTC (Over-The-Hill-Track-Club)members will be seen out there in the future. Rick has been the ordinancebusiness and has offered to help us clean up the nuclear waste (mostly thedepleted uranium and by products strontium, and plutonium) out there. The Germantourists often think that is what we are doing anyway as they have heard ofYucca Mountain which isn't to far away.     Greg Minter had a fully equipped and very efficientcrew: Nancy Shura, Larry Durbin, Steve Matsuta, and Diana Rush. Greg will beappreciated for his talents at digital graphics when it comes to documenting theevent in a pixel format.  I want him to enhance some of my photos.     The real hero of this event is Rick Nawrocki. Hecrewed Scott Weber two years ago and completed the Race last year. In themeantime, he had a recurrence of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Only three months ago,after full-body radiation and extensive chemotherapy, he under went an auto (hisown) stem cell transplant at UCLA. He has had an amazing recovery and is stillexperiencing muscle and skin irritation as he is about 70% recovered from thetreatment and is cured of the disease. He has dumb-founded his oncologists aswell as all the rest of us.     Dan O'Donnell was not accepted into this year's racebecause of his lack of experience. He took on the challenge by coming all theway from New York to do the clinic and this will have a great bearing on hisgetting in next year. He will also add more distance and races to his portfolio.