As a mother of two, Soquel's Ashley Lindsey is on her feet all day. As a waitress at Shadowbrook Restaurant in Capitola, she is often on her feet all evening. And, as an ultramarathon runner, she sometimes is on her feet -- without sleep -- for more than 28 straight hours.
Lindsey, who considers herself a distance-running rookie with just a handful of races of 50 miles or more on her resume, has a tenacious streak that has helped her keep moving, despite pain, exhaustion and heart problems. That determination will likely play a part as she tackles 50 straight miles in the Rock'n River cross country race from Auburn to Sacramento on Saturday, and as she prepares for her ultimate goal -- the Badwater.
"It's just the way she is," said Lindsey's mother, Deanna McCarthy. "She drives through [these races] and I don't know how she does it. She has an incredible focus and goes beyond the pain somehow."
Lindsey, 29, has experienced a range of physical pain in her life.
After running her first 50-miler with her hips out of alignment in 2010, she thought she'd never run more than a marathon again. She refused drugs while giving birth to both her children, Elle, 5, and Wade, 2, even when doctors had to move Elle from breach position. She also suffered a tibial plateau fracture -- basically a broken knee -- in a skateboarding accident in high school.
That injury kept the three-year Soquel High varsity soccer player and cross country runner -- then known as Ashley Duncan -- from competing as a senior in 1996. That was the year husband Randy met Lindsey. He said she wasn't even close to running then, after having had surgery to reconstruct her knee with bone marrow. For three months following the procedure, she could only get around in a wheelchair or on crutches.
"The doctor had told my mom that I would never be able to run again," Lindsey said. "I was like, 'What the [heck] is he smoking? There's no way I'm never going to be able to run again.'" Boy, has she proved him wrong.
RISING TO THE CHALLENGE
Lindsey underwent lengthy and intensive physical therapy, starting where a machine had to move her leg for her. But by her mid-20s -- after she had obtained an art degree from Cal State-Monterey Bay -- Lindsey could complete the occasional half marathon with friends. One of them finally talked her into trying a full marathon after Elle was born.
At that time, ultramarathon running was something of a fantasy for Lindsey. She researched races online and printed some material, knowing in her gut that it was something she wanted to do, but she didn't sign up for one until after Wade was born.
After that first race -- the Pacific Trail Runs' Headlands 50 in Marin, which she finished in 11 hours, 8 minutes, 39 seconds -- she was hooked.
Lindsey suffered intense pain from misaligned hips and blisters, but her enthusiasm for the sport quickly overrode her memories of discomfort. Within a week, she was already ready for the next challenge.
She signed up for the Lake Tahoe Midnight Express Ultra 72. Not only was she one of only 20 people to start and finish the race at 6,225 feet above sea level in September last year, but she passed the midway point two hours ahead of organizers' expectations and won the women's division in 13 hours, 32 seconds. She was third overall.
"I had never won anything," Lindsey said. "It was insane. Just, like, that feeling of accomplishment."
SETTING AN EXAMPLE
The Ultra 72 also happened to be a qualifier for the 38th annual Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run, one of the events Lindsey had researched three years before. Aside from Lindsey's dream ultra, the Badwater -- a 135-mile desert race from Death Valley to Mount Whitney -- the Western States was one of the top [read: toughest] long-distance races on her list.
The Western States, which goes over the snow-covered Sierra Nevada Mountains with more than 18,000 feet of net ascent and about 22,000 feet of net descent, has an involved sign-up process that includes a lottery and a $350 registration fee. "I think it's huge," Randy said. "With the world turning with less people being less physical, I think it's great for [the kids] to know that the human body, that people can do that. That you can walk down to the store.
"That doing this is going to open up the minds of our children is great."
Lindsey said Randy's continued support is vital to her running career. Together, they schedule time for training runs -- which add up significantly, especially once she is doing 18-23 miles, or about four hours, in one outing. They plan around work schedules so one of them can be with the kids.
"It's hard because I have two little ones," Lindsey said, "so it's challenging to find time to be a good mom and keep them at the center of my world."
Still, she manages. She'll run around the park while they play or volunteer at their schools. And they're a bright light at the end of a long run.
At the end of the Western States, after Lindsey had been going for more than 28 hours, she ran through the small town of Auburn to the finish line at the local high school. Little Elle, about waist-high with straw-blonde hair, raced out to greet her mom and they crossed the finish line holding hands.
"Some were really spent," McCarthy said of watching the runners come down the final stretch. "When Ashley came through the finish, she just looked like she'd run around the block."
Lindsey's time was 28:31:04. Of the 375 runners that started the race, 310 finished. But that number was almost 309.
RUNNING INTO TROUBLE
Lindsey was nearly pulled in the middle of the race.
While some runners suffered injuries through the snow-covered terrain or pulled out due to extreme exhaustion or dehydration, Lindsey dealt with something different altogether.
McCarthy -- who expected Lindsey to finish near 23 hours, well under the 30hour limit -- said she knew something had gone wrong when her daughter slowed down significantly.
"We were watching online and couldn't figure out what happened to her," said McCarthy,whofollowedLindsey'sprogress via GPS on the Western States' website.
About 47 miles into the race, at one of the mostintenseclimbsoftherace --themountain calledDevil'sThumb --Lindsey'sheart rapidly accelerated due to a medical condition called arrhythmia that she's been aware she has since she was a teenager.
While an average person's heart may beat around 80-90 beats per minute normally and increases with exercise, Lindsey's can -- especially when under stress -- kick up to over 200 bpm due to an extra valve flap.
As a result, Lindsey's energy was sapped and she couldn't catch her breath.
"I know how fragile my life is when it happens. It really just takes me down," Lindsey said.
Lindsey has declined to undergo heart surgery, which doctors recommended when she first found out about the condition in high school. Instead, she tries to manage the condition on a case-by-case basis. The trick, she says, is to squat and thenbeardownasmuchasshecan,which naturally slows the human heart.
But Lindsey's focus remained steadfast with the intent to finish her race. So even as she was in the remote wilderness of the Sierra Nevada, dizzy and swaying and trying to catch her breath, bearing down with all her might, she was still trying to keep moving.
"I reflect on it now, not being in it, and I know what I should have done," Lindsey said. "I should have stopped. ... But when I was in it and in the race, it was, 'The longer I stop, the longer it's going to take me to finish.'" A Western States safety patrol found Lindsey along the path and stayed with her until they reached the next aid station. Once there, though, the episode was over, and, medically, there was no longer a reason to pull her.
And Lindsey was determined to keep going.
"I'm much too free-spirited to live afraid of living," Lindsey said. "If some day I were to croak, I'd just feel so lucky that I got to experience it and live and not be afraid to live."
STILL A WAYS TO GO
Brother-in-law Bob Ballard joined Lindsey as a pacer at mile 62 at 8 p.m. Ballard saw her at her most vulnerable emotionally. He described her as raw, just laughing about stupid things and cussing through a bout of runninginduced delirium, which is not unheard of for ultra runners. Beyond that, though, he said she was just in awe of nature and the world around them.
"That's the thing about Ashley," Ballard said, "You know -- even when she's hurting and you know it just sucks -- she'll have this, constantly, 'It's so beautiful. We're so lucky to be out here doing this.'" Lindsey finished with a 17:09/mile pace time. Completing the Western States also added one more star on the running resume that could eventually lead to admittance into the No. 1 ultra on her list.
The Badwater is an invitation-only event for the top 45 rookies and top 45 veterans who apply. Organizers look for applicants who have completed several 100- or 135-mile races and recommend at least a couple years of preparation.
"It's just another challenge for Ashley," McCartney said. "I have no doubt that she's going to give it her best shot, and, if the time comes, I'll be just as anxious."
Lindsey knows she still has a long way to go, but, luckily, that's becoming her specialty.
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