The race organization provides no aid, so the runners are on their own for food, water, and general assistance. This would work out to the right number of carbs and fluid per hour. Ian's race start was at 6am, and because this year's field was so large, the race started in three waves. The first hour or so was in the shade at a comfy 99 degrees. Gary Kliewer, a crew member for '99 2nd place finisher Marshall Ulrich, was standing on the side of the road with a meat thermometer.
Death Valley is off the scale of most thermometers.
Despite the intense heat, the three top runners from the Russian Sports Club took off like they were doing a 50-yard dash. We all agreed they'd never be able to keep up that pace. In the first hours of the race, Ian stayed on schedule with the nutritional plan, and we hopped out to run with him from time to time. As the meat thermometer crept into the 115 range, Ian complained of feeling queasy, which we had expected. Ultrarunning-great Lisa Smith was sick.