The thought of not being engaged in the Yeti 100 after such a fabulous running experience the year before was down right depressing.  I was definitely not ready to run but wanted to give back.  I reached out the Jason Green, Yeti Trail Runners, and he said he would love for me to run the Alvarado Aid Station.  I was immediately onboard and the planning began. My first recruit was my running buddy and pacer Anj. She was all in!  Next was Tracy, who contacted me for my Yeti race plan.  Once she realized she was unable to run she drove down from PA to help at the aid station.  Pretty awesome.

One of the great benefits of this race running along the Virginia Creeper Trail is the availability of trail side pit toilets.  Close to a port-a-potty but one step up with permanent walls.  I took advantage of each one I ran by the previous year.  Alvarado Station happened to have two potties so we went on a quest to  make this a little more like home and a lot less like a composting toilet. We got rave reviews.  Not only did the candles make it smell better it also heated them up nicely.

Corney our 5ft Unicorn was a huge hit and was part of many selfies. He also gotten ridden a couple of times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had such a great time. Who knew staying up all night would be so fun.  The runners were all so appreciative and it was a blast helping them out and pushing them along their way.  Many struggled to leave as the atmosphere was pretty electric.  We pushed them out and reminded them the real party was at the finish line.  The neighbor stopped by and let us know if we needed anything to just drop by.  So nice of him.  Unfortunately, he was not so happy with our return in 2018 🙂 as we took the party up a notch. ( not intentional or cool on our part:)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26 hours later we were done! We had so much fun , still not ready to run, we committed to Alvarado Aid Station for 2018!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2018 Alvarado Aid Station Crew was top notch!  Not only did we have Fireball but our buddy John cooked up Pizza Rolls and Netta served up hot grilled cheese and pancakes! We had a huge speaker and microphone ( which later brought us trouble) but we had fun with it while it lasted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteering is so much fun and such a great way to give back.  If you get the chance to volunteer at a race take it and embrace it.  Sadly I was planning to run the Yeti 100 again in 2019 but my Plantar Fasciitis squashed that plan.  I am disappointed that I cannot volunteer. It is such a wonderful event!  I know it will be great!  Have a blast!  Run Yeti Far!