As the sun sets on the weekend, I have a 50k finish but no Subaru in the driveway.
I had to work most of Friday, my day off, and set out for Oak Mountain 50K in Birmingham, Alabama, later than desired. Around 6:30pm, just past Chattanooga, the gas light went on. Several exits later, I finally stopped at the Lookout Valley, TN, exit. As I pulled up at the BP, there was the sight you never want to see – smoke poured out of the engine compartment and the air ducts inside the car. Not good. In fact, very not good. As unbelievable as it was a nearby, an easy race for me was history before it even started.
After a little (ok, a LOT) of stressing, multiple cell phone calls to Rob and AAA over an hour and a half, the tow driver and his girlfriend finally arrived (his day off). This is east Tennessee, where I barely outpaced a guy driving his riding lawnmower on the road this week, so I was expecting worst.
Turns out, the guy and his girlfriend, despite outward appearances were great. They were surprisingly fun and easy to talk to, travel being the common conversational interest. They took me to the airport, carted my stuff in to the car rental desk, promised to drive my car to the dealer 110 miles away in Harriman and park it in the secret, narrow back road that was insanely hard to find and drop the keys in the lock box with my name and phone number. I was a little sad and stressed to see them go.
It actually took a while to find the rental car in the lot. Does ultra-brain start before the race or after? When I finally located the car at the furthest point imaginable, I loaded up and headed out…but to where? There were no road signs to the interstate. Rob was called again (like he could help from down in Birmngham).
It was 9:30 pm when I found the interstate and pointed the car toward Birmingham. Even fast food places were closing and food was needed. In desperation, I stopped at a Subway just one exit past where the Subaru had taken ill. With sandwich on board, hurried back out to the interstate…only to suspect, then realize I was headed the wrong way, back into Chattanooga AGAIN. I exited at the same exit I’d already sat at for an hour and half, got back on the road and headed to B’ham, 10 more miles out of my way.
I walked into the hotel at midnight. To his credit, Rob was still awake. We got a full 5 hours of sleep before the alarm sounded again Saturday morning.
The race itself went great. I’d forgotten how beautiful this course is. Rob had a great run and got to spend time with some young ultrarunners who understand the spirit of the sport (12 miles into the run the girl said “there’s no place I’d rather be”). Shane, my training partner from Knoxville, took the trail in stride and had a fantastic 50k despite the new heat, and met a lot of new friends along the way. I felt the dirt road mileage of the last two weekends in every step but ran comfortable all day and arrived safely at the after-party.
We drove back to Oak Ridge late and got up again the next day to retrieve work papers out of the car for Monday. We drove the 30 miles to Harriman only to find that the key fob did not unlock the car. I had a key but using it to unlock the car would set off the alarm. We drove back an interstate exit, bought a new battery for the fob and returned only to find that the car still did not respond. Staring at the papers in the car, we decided that the alarm might be tolerable if it didn’t last too long. After a support call to mom and dad, who checked online and called their local Subaru dealer (who was still open, miracle of miracles),it sounded like the alarm would only last 60 seconds at most. I was willing to endure it and Rob nodded yes.
I stuck the key in the lock. Turned it. Pulled it out. Lifted the door handle. Pulled the door open…silence. In fact, when I put the keys in to turn on the car and close the sunroof, no response.
The battery was dead.
In the end, I finished the weekend tired with a 50k finish and a car that was out of town, out of battery, out of gas, out of front differential gear oil, and possibly out of clutch (that’s another story). Subaru and I both need a weekend off.
