Imagine the scenario it's the middle of the night, you're so far North it never actually got dark last night and you have a wee fire burning to welcome runners as they run down the hill towards you. A car stops, a runner has DNF'd at the previous CP and his wife has picked him up and driving him back to their hotel. They wind the window down and I lean in to speak to them, "there's a runner about a mile up the road, she's being sick lots and says she's vomiting blood" - ok thanks - (heart sinks slightly as yes you have your outdoor first aid certificate but I don't think it covered vomiting blood other than that's pretty darn serious - and remember we're in the middle of nowhere)
About 10 minutes later the runner appears, head torch bobbing as she runs down to the CP, slowing to a walk as I go out to meet her... "you okay?" There's a genuine petted lip trembling slightly as she shakes her head "no" was the pitiful response... "I keep being sick and it's horrible, there's loads of bits of blaeberries and then it's like dark blood" - blaeberries? I ask her to confirm that's what she said, "yeah" - it was hard not to laugh out loud and I tried not to sound too incredulous as I said "ok let's get you over here and you can sit down and we can check you over."
Seated in the camping chair she's lucid, bright eyed and really happy to see us, telling us how pleased she is to see us "I love you guys!" then in the next breath she asks "am I going to die?" We did laugh out loud at that point!
John asks her lots of questions, all of which elicit a rapid fire response, I have seen this particular lady in a far less lucid state on a couple of occasions and in my opinion, she's in pretty good shape. She wasn't the first runner to arrive with us 60 miles in to a really tough race who had been sick - it sort of goes with the territory, you're pretty wiped, you've not got much left in reserve and your body is too tired to process what you do put in so tends to eject it fairly rapidly after it's been eaten/drunk. Anyway back to said runner we were tending to, after we agreed she was in pretty good nick and she'd drunk a can of pink fizzy lucozade and eaten a banana and we had managed to reassure her that she wasn't going to die, at least not at this point in time, her friends appeared in their van and one of them agreed to run to the finish with her. This lifted her spirits, she announced she would "just have a quick pee behind the van then we'll get away" and off they went heading into the darkness.
Jeni is an amazing lady, a damn good runner who has struggled in the past with nutrition but is working on strategies - just not blaeberries!! - or if you must, then remember they look like blood on the way back up :D
Thank you for giving us the best laugh of the night Jeni after giving us probably the only wee fright that we might have a medical issue that couldn't be cured by a wee bit of tough love and a mtfu pill - believe in yourself, we all believe in you and you were AWSUM!
(photos with kind permission of and credit to Jeni Rees-Jenkins)
Seated in the camping chair she's lucid, bright eyed and really happy to see us, telling us how pleased she is to see us "I love you guys!" then in the next breath she asks "am I going to die?" We did laugh out loud at that point!
John asks her lots of questions, all of which elicit a rapid fire response, I have seen this particular lady in a far less lucid state on a couple of occasions and in my opinion, she's in pretty good shape. She wasn't the first runner to arrive with us 60 miles in to a really tough race who had been sick - it sort of goes with the territory, you're pretty wiped, you've not got much left in reserve and your body is too tired to process what you do put in so tends to eject it fairly rapidly after it's been eaten/drunk. Anyway back to said runner we were tending to, after we agreed she was in pretty good nick and she'd drunk a can of pink fizzy lucozade and eaten a banana and we had managed to reassure her that she wasn't going to die, at least not at this point in time, her friends appeared in their van and one of them agreed to run to the finish with her. This lifted her spirits, she announced she would "just have a quick pee behind the van then we'll get away" and off they went heading into the darkness.
Jeni is an amazing lady, a damn good runner who has struggled in the past with nutrition but is working on strategies - just not blaeberries!! - or if you must, then remember they look like blood on the way back up :D
Thank you for giving us the best laugh of the night Jeni after giving us probably the only wee fright that we might have a medical issue that couldn't be cured by a wee bit of tough love and a mtfu pill - believe in yourself, we all believe in you and you were AWSUM!
(photos with kind permission of and credit to Jeni Rees-Jenkins)
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| She did It! |
