The "So Not Normal" Relay

Lisa made an incredible effort during the 2007 Badwater 135. The 10am starters went out fast and she was one several women trading places at the front of the pack. Around Panamint Springs, about 60 miles into the race, she began experiencing terrible stomach problems. By the time she was approaching Lone Pine, stomach issues had slowed her pace to about 1/2 mph. She made the decision to stake out for several hours and try to recover. When she resumed she felt much better and was able to maintain a pace of 4mph or more through Lone Pine. Soon after starting up the Portal Road to the finish line, late Tuesday night, she again began having severe stomach problems which compounded other issues; most critically she'd only been able to keep down about 2000 calories since the start of the race on Monday morning. She was very surprised when the race director told her that her time was under 42 hours.

As previously reported, she and her crew waited to make a Whitney summit attempt until the weather on the mountain cleared. They set out about 8pm Wednesday. Even with heavy summit gloves and many layers of clothing, within 2 miles of the summit she was nearing hypothermia. Lisa was prepared to rest on the mountain until sunrise brought warmer temperatures, but after assessing the condition of herself and her crew, she felt any choice other than descent would endanger the team.

After a safe descent and a couple hours of rest, Lisa was still experiencing stomach pain whenever she stood up or walked. She felt that she could not finish the Double as a solo effort, but she and her team are committed to completing the Double and continuing their effort to raise money for the MPD foundation. In that spirit, they've decided to run a team relay back to the start line in Badwater with Lisa crewing them.

The rules are there are no rules, but at least one runner will be on the course the from finish line at Whitney Portal to the Start line. Lisa ran the first 135 mile leg of the team double, now each crew member will run 25 miles or more on the way back. George and Scott ran down from the Portal finish line to Lone Pine late this afternoon. Laurie and Mike are running the next leg.

The team members all made prediction times for the 135 mile relay:

Scott - 28:30
Mike - 30:00
Laurie - 31:00
Leigh - 32:33
Lisa - 34:00
Marie - 35:00
George - 37:32

Okay, finally...we have told you so much about Marie Boyd, crew chief extraordinaire, but now you can watch a video clip of her describing the recent turn of events. Enjoy and watch how this amazing TEAM is sticking together, guided by Lisa's strength & spirit.