When my best friend asked me to crew her for the Pine to Palm 100, I was excited and very nervous– but fast forward, it was one of the most incredible weekends and something I’d do a million times over.
I had to work on Friday of race weekend, and the race was a good 4–5-hour drive away, so we decided that flying me down to Medford was the fastest way to get there. I arrived after the shortest flight of my life and took a Lyft to our Airbnb in a little town called Rogue River. I arrived a few minutes before Tonya and her partner, Devin, so I went in and checked out the Airbnb. Once they arrived, they brought dinner, so we quickly ate and got to work preparing for an early race morning. We brought all the food in from the camper and put it in the fridge, Devin filled a gigantic water jug for us to use over the weekend, we got Tonya’s bottles and bladder all filled for her race start and got in bed as soon as we could. I tossed and turned a lot because I was nervous and so excited!
We had an early awakening with a 3:30AM alarm clock but I was excited and ready to get the day started. Between making breakfast, loading the camper, taking our last showers for a little while, getting fully packed and checked out of the Airbnb, and getting Tonya all ready, somehow, we got a little behind on time. As soon as we were out the door, we drove off in their F350 camper combo– Devin driving, Tonya trying to get fully ready, and Ginger (their pup) and me in the back! For a while we were on winding back roads and then hit dirt road until we arrived in Williams, Oregon, where the start was. Unfortunately, we were about 4 minutes from the race start when we arrived and had to run to the start line! It was dark and uphill, but the head lamps and start line beckoned us. Running late was not the best way to get Tonya’s 100-mile adventure started, but thankfully the race director announced that there was a shuttle of runners running late so they pushed the start back by 10 minutes.
Tonya was off and Devin and I back tracked a little bit to Grants Pass to get a few logistical things done for the camper. After a few hours of trying to charge the camper battery and trouble shoot battery issues, we left for a small town called Ruch where we met our third crew member, Mark. We loaded up Mark’s bags and reorganized a bit before heading to Mile 28.5 at the Seattle Bar aid station. At this point Tonya had gained 4,835 feet of elevation and lost 5,390 already!
We pulled into the parking lot at a little river park at Seattle Bar and found a convenient spot to set up our little aid station next to the official one. Prior to the race, Tonya had created the most well-organized, highly detailed Crew Handbook you’d ever seen! She had a table of contents with the race overview, her goals and strategy, crew contact info, aid stations and crew access points, drop bags, her food preferences, pacers, crew well-being and sanity, emergency and safety, and final notes and over all schedules. To say we knew where to be and what to do and have prepared is an understatement.
So, once we had our spot, we began to complete our tasks to have everything prepared for Tonya’s arrival. We filled the next round of flasks, bladder, prepared all of her fuel, sunscreen, Squirrel Nut Butter, and any clothing changes she may want. There was no cell coverage, but Mark had brought a Starlink, so we were able to connect and have Wi-Fi to text our families and friends while we waited.
When I spotted Tonya, she was coming across a big bridge with a few other runners and the relief I felt to see her was palpable. I was so happy to see her smiling and to have met some runner friends! It sounds silly but 100 miles is no joke, and I was really hoping she would have some other runners to talk to and pass some of the time with. Tonya was quite a bit under the cutoff time and much earlier than she predicted, so that was super exciting!
We began our first change over and emptied Tonya’s pack of her old snacks, bottles, and bladder, and put fresh in and got her out relatively quickly. At this point she was feeling really good and was in good spirits! I tried to plan a surprise for her at every aid station and the first one was a hat we all wore with the logo she put together for her “Tonya’s 40th Birthday/Midlife Crisis!”
We drove onward to Acorn Woman Lake which was only about 14 miles away. At this aid station, Tonya was ahead of her predicted time again and we had the opportunity to run the 3-mile loop around the lake with her, so that was awesome! While we were getting things all finished up at the camper, Tonya took off for the lake. Mark and I had to run 8:30 min/mile pace to catch up with her! When we finally did, we all enjoyed the beautiful lake and getting to run together. Tonya completed her loop; we loaded her pack back up and she was off into her first stretch of running in the dark.
The roads we drove to the aid stations were really rough and many were single lane, which was pretty scary while riding in the huge F350 camper duo- thankfully Devin was a great driver! We hit Hanley Gap and it was dark and we did a costume change into our unicorn onesies- it was at this aid station where another runner’s crew was trying to come up with the perfect name for a group of unicorns. After a little while we dubbed ourselves Crewnicorns! Tonya came in pretty exhausted and really cold– she had just seen a bear and thankfully she was with another runner friend, so she wasn’t alone! We focused on getting her out of her sweaty running clothes, into fresh, dry running clothes and warming her up with blankets, a hat, and hot hands. She was hungry and she had some ramen and cookies here. Getting Tonya out and back on course in the dark when she was tired and cold was our first foray in the more challenging parts of the race, but that brave, strong girl marched on.
At Dutchman Peak, it was very windy and cold, and the aid station was at the very top of the peak. We parked on the road below with the other crews and Devin ran up to the top to meet her. This was about 1 or 2 in the morning at this point and Mark and I waited for her to come through the truck aid station so we could get her fresh, warm clothes, new bottles and bladder, and fuel. When she came through, she was in better spirits because the food had kicked in, but she has just run 14 miles in the dark up 2,700 feet by herself.
Devin was able to step in as her first pacer at this point, so that was awesome. Devin’s driving duties were passed to Mark and the road was about to turn to the worst roads I’ve ever seen. I was so tired and wanted to sleep, but was way too nervous and stayed up to help navigate the roads. Thankfully no one was coming towards us on the road because they were barely wide enough for us and the divots and pot holes were insane! On one side of us there was almost always a cliff or a little drop off. We thankfully arrived at Grouse Gap where I was able to get my first actual sleep- about an hour and 15 minutes in the cozy camper bed.
I awoke to pouring rain on the top of the camper and it was cold!!! I had to rethink all of my gear for my pacing duties- I was up next, and thankfully I had brought some running tights and though I left my running rain jacket when trying to lighten the load, I had my Patagonia rain jacket that worked well. When we met Tonya at the aid station she was sitting in a chair and a little defeated, she wasn’t sure if she should go on because she was thinking she was close to the cutoff time, but she really was fine. I got her in dry clothes and she and I start hiking up a little hill to finish mile 80 to 100!
We hadn’t had cell service for a while and it was too rainy to set up the Starlink, so I was happy to see I was getting texts. My parents were following along with Tonya’s race and were texting me, so we Face Timed them! It was so fun to see them, and they gave Tonya a little pep talk! We laughed and cried a little. Getting to be a part of this experience was so incredible and to be able to reflect back on all of our adventures since we were teenagers was so special!
The first part of my pacing Tonya was about 2,000 feet uphill. Tonya had to make it to the top of McDonald Peak which is a pretty rocky and technical trail to the intersection of the Wagner Butte and Wagner Glade trail where there was a flag at the top that she had to summit the peak and bring back a flag. When we made it to the top the flags were gone but I took a photo of her for evidence and then we made it back down to the most downhill part of the race.
For the last bit of the race, we descended about 7,000 feet! Tonya had run about 90 miles and both of us had barely slept, so we were sort of seeing things in the trees and it was pretty funny to call out the silly things we saw. As we hiked and ran, we noticed that the forests and trees changed really frequently. One minute they were be lush green pine trees and the next minute we would be in more arid high desert looking forest- it was so pretty!
At one point we could see a city below us a long way away and we didn’t think it could be Ashland, but we kept making our way down and it turned out it was! We got to the edge of the forest and then a fire lane met us before turning into a neighborhood! When we turned a corner, Devin and Mark and Ginger were waiting with Tonya’s Happy Birthday Sign!
It was so crazy to have gone through so many weather patterns, forest types, and down to a neighborhood and that was just the 20 miles I ran! Tonya had seen so much more than that! She made it to the finish line area and ran to the finish! We all were basically in tears but so dehydrated we couldn’t really cry! Tonya did it! She showed so much grit. determination, and strength and ran 100 miles with over 20,000 feet of climbing!!!!
After the race we sat in the grass and just processed! We ordered burgers and had them delivered to the park! There is a river flowing through Ashland near the finish line and we were able to go put our feet in too, so that felt great! The race director held a post-race award ceremony where each runner received their buckle and was able to share a bit about their experience or share their story. That part was long but it was so inspiring, and I went away with much bigger dreams and goals!
I will forever be proud of you, Tonya!
General crewing tips:
Communication is key- ask your runner for all of their preferences on fuel, hydration, bottles, clothing- Tonya had it written out specifically for each aid station, detailing what she would want for sure at each and what she may want to have.
Organization wins- keep your vehicle organized! We used labeled bins and that was incredibly helpful. We had a bin for Tonya-only food, her cold weather and night gear, her regular running clothes, first aid, and batteries/tech. We knew where to grab each thing easily and quickly. She was so sweet and made each crew member a goodie bag of food and filled the fridge for us too!
Emergency/safety- while crewing a 100 mile race, you’re likely to be in the middle of nowhere– make sure to have a safety plan of how to get help if needed.
Make it fun!- we had fun with a few costume changes and a birthday banner since it was Tonya’s birthday! I think the crew and Tonya enjoyed this and it was super fun to have matching onesies!
Be aware you likely won’t sleep- I for some reason was under the assumption that I would be sleeping, but that isn’t likely the case when crewing. Try and take cat naps when you can!
There is so much more I could share, but this is really long, so if you are going to crew a runner and have questions, please reach out! My brother had crewed his girlfriend in her first 100 the month before and he shared a lot of his experience with me, which was so helpful. I think the more prepared you can be the better the experience it is for everyone!
Katie Cope Running 
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