The Shoes Off His Feet

Ryan is running his second 100 mile race, and if he finishes, it will be his first completion. The race, called Cactus Rose, is in Bandera, TX, and it’s not an easy course. Joe Prusaitis, the race director, basically planned a course, took out all the flats, and called it good. The race is completely self-supported, meaning that if you want anything besides water, you have to provide it yourself. That’s where I come in, and I have a little help crewing for Ryan. His brother Alan flew in from California for the weekend to help me and to surprise Ryan. When Ryan came in at mile 34, Alan was sitting in a chair waiting for him, pretending to read the newspaper to hide his face. Ryan couldn’t believe it. It was great. Ryan’s friends Heath and Ben are also coming in to help us through the night.

The last we saw Ryan, he was at mile 50. He’d been complaining of a little bit of pain in his left ankle, the same pain that stopped him from finishing in Arkansas. Joe said that he thought Ryan would do better in a wider shoe and told me to offer Ryan his shoes if he needed them. I thought it was fortunate that Joe had an extra pair of shoes in his car and wears Ryan’s size. When Ryan came running in at that aid station, he still had that pain. We called Joe over, who immediately took the shoes off his feet and gave them to Ryan. He’s just standing there on the rocks and dirt in his socks telling Ryan to get going. Ryan headed off with a pacer, who’s a running friend of his named John. Joe then handed me another pair of his shoes to give to Ryan at the next aid station if the current ones don’t work. I’m not even sure if he’s got any other shoes with him. This group that Ryan is a part of is pretty amazing. Joe should advertise for his next race by saying that it’s put on by a great race director - he’ll do whatever it takes to see you finish, even give you the shoes right off his feet.