The rest of the story...

I promised to finish the story from my previous post about what happened after the 5K, so here goes.

After the race & ceremony, my coach was going to drive myself & another coach back to our cars at Starbuck's. On the way, we called another coach who was helping out with the fall season's 21-miler to see if she wanted us to pick her up. That's when we found out the disaster that was the fall season 21-miler. It was almost noon & there were several people still out on the course. By this time, the temperatures had risen to the 90's & it was pretty damn humid. We drove to the 1st/last water station to see if G (the other coach) had been by yet, but she hadn't. We then drove the course to find her. It was there we came across 2 TNT participants, only they didn't look too good. One girl in particular looked like she was about to pass out from heat stroke. We asked her if she needed help, but I don't think she realized we were with TNT. She said "no, I'm fine" & told us to leave her alone. We knew she needed water so we drove to one of the other water stops, only to find it had already been taken down. THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE ON THE COURSE!!!

We called G to see where she was & she said she was with 2 other participants, one of whom was in desperate need of Vaseline for her horrible case of chaffing. We drove to meet them at another water stop (which thankfully was still set up, but was almost out of water/Gatorade) & the water stop had no vaseline in their first-aid kit. Thankfully E had some in her car. We all gasped when we saw the extent of this poor girl's chaffing. Her under arms were so bad they were almost bleeding & it was almost worse under her breast area. She was in so much pain that she'd been walking holding her boobs so her bra didn't rub against her skin. I just imagined what that was going to feel like when she got in the shower & I cringed! We couldn't believe it when she said nobody had ever told her about the benefits of Vaseline & Body Glide. She was a real trooper, insisting on finishing the run. We left them to see if there was anyone else out on the course. We found 2 more people out there & there was not a fall coach to be found anywhere! We called back to the park to let them know that they still had people out on the course & they seemed shocked to hear that. WTF??? It is their JOB to know where every single runner is & to make sure they are ok & make it back safe & sound. E was so. f'ing. pissed.

We made our way back to the 1st/last waterstop & on our way there, we found the 1st girl we'd come across (the one that looked like she was about to have heat stroke) on the ground. Her partner had called their coach to come get her. When he finally showed up, E told him he needed to get her cooled down & hydrated STAT! He just looked confused. They took off & the girl's partner kept on going. A. jumped out of the car & kept her company for the rest of the way. When we got back to the water stop, G was just getting there w/ the 2 other girls. G had already run 21 miles the day before & had done at least another 12 w/ this group (AND SHE'S NOT A FALL COACH!!!) She was exhausted & we took her back to the park. She told us she got an ear-full from the fall participants. Most of them said that it was the most dissapointing experience of their lives & that they would never EVER do it again. When G helped them & stayed with them on the route, they asked her why she was doing it. She said "because you NEVER leave anybody behind. It's a coach's job to keep up with everyone & make sure they are ok." They said in the whole time they'd been doing this, their coaches NEVER did that. They would just run the route & never go back to check on anyone.

When we got back to the park we saw that some of the coaches had actually gone home! I have never seen E so furious. We decided that we were going to file a formal complaint about the whole event. There was no excuse for the lack of support these participants received. They had all raised thousands of dollars for the LLS & got absolutely no support in return.

We stayed until the very last runner finished & we gave them all a pep talk & tons of advice... advice THEIR coaches should have given them. One of them even yelled "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T ANYONE EVER TELL ME THAT BEFORE???" She said she wished she'd had us as coaches/mentors instead of the ones she was stuck with.

I realize just how incredibly lucky I am. I have the BEST coaches. They made me want to stay with the program & get more involved. If I had just joined during the fall season, I would have quit after only a few weeks & never looked back. Instead I got an incredible group of coaches who supported me (& continue to support me) & made me want to make a difference. My experiences changed my life for the better, giving me a sense of true accomplishment & meaning to my life. It breaks my heart that the fall group is being broken down the way they are. It just breaks my heart. :(