Tortola Torture should be on every runners’ bucket list of races. The Torture is held mid-April every year in the British Virgin Islands. The race is a point to point 54k, road race.

“Babe, after Saturday everyone is going to know who you are. You’re going to surprise a lot of people.” Western States 100 was only a few days away and I was half asleep laying on Avery’s chest. He was right.

No crew. No pacers. Those are the rules. Despite the fact that my crew would only see me at the start and finish, they still flew out from three different states to be a part of my race. Even though I wasn’t able to have them physically on the course with me, they were still with me every mile along the way. For the past 5 months they’ve been my training partners, coaches, shoulders to cry on, stress relievers, and encouragement givers. At Malibu State Park at 3:19 in the afternoon, on February 4th, we were shouting to no one in particular, “We’re going to Western!”