Each year, the second week in September, an event known as the Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run brings together a group of intense, well-trained athletes. All summer long they plan and execute on grueling training runs, some through the night, then meet up to test their endurance skills. Each individual must cover the course that starts in the foothills north of Salt Lake City and traverses four counties in northern Utah--on foot. The distance includes an elevation gain of 24,000 feet, as well as an elevation loss of 23,300 feet, and provides a premier challenge for those crazy enough to take it on. The motto for the Wasatch says it all: "100 Miles of Heaven and Hell".

But as the start of the race loomed six weeks away in the summer of 1994, Carlie was scared. Her husband, David, father of their six children, seemed determined to run the race for the fifth time. David's father had died at the age of 42, of a heart attack after water-skiing on Pineview reservoir near Ogden, Utah. David was only four. David had inherited his heart disease. A disease that took his cholesterol count well above 300. He'd decided that the long, steady trail running provided safe exercise to assure that he wouldn't die the same way. But this summer Carlie wasn't so sure. Carlie had two marathons under her belt but had been happy to crew for David, rather than step into running the Wasatch 100.

However, out on a training run together a week earlier, David had stopped, unable to breathe. He said he felt a tightening around his chest. He said he didn't know what was happening, but Carlie, standing next to him, clearly saw the signs of angina--the precursor to a heart attack. Then she remembered that it was the summer of David's 42nd year. Meanwhile David's older sister was in the hospital, having undergone a heart transplant, emphasizing how swiftly the heart disease can come on. Their heart surgeon confirmed that David was playing a game of Russian roulette with this heart disease and advised preventive open heart surgery. Even that didn't deter David. Carlie came up with a bargain so she won't end up a widow. She offered to run in his place--taking on something hard--if he'd agree to go in for surgery the day after the race was over--another hard thing. As the signal for the race to begin was heard, setting 144 athletes into motion, Carlie was full of doubt. She'd had only six weeks of training. Carlie had to finish in 36 hours to qualify as an official finisher. A lively true story that doesn't disappoint.