After a 12 hour drive, and a speeding ticket, we arrived in
Virgin, UT where I was to run my first 100 mile run (and finish). We arrived
when the evening sky was bleeding red onto the surrounding mesas and deserts.
Gorgeous colors on the multicolored rock formations. Really an amazing sight
that we never got tired of…even when I was running the race.
We drove directly to the packet pickup/checkin area in
Virgin, UT, which seemed to be a park about a block down off of the main highway.
Virgin is surrounded by mesas and desert. A harsh backdrop that was starting to
get me a little nervous now that I was seeing it with my own eyes. The check-in
itself was really laid-back but well organized. We were there around 4pm and my
crew was not supposed to arrive until 6pm so we had some time to kill. I picked
up my packet and we decided to take a short drive to do some race scouting. My
crew arrived a little late but they were there for the briefing and we all went to dinner afterwards. We talked
about the race and mostly outside subjects to help keep my mind off of what I
was going to be doing the next day.
A little background…In December of 2013 my name got drawn in
the lottery for the prestigious Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run which was
to be run in June of 2014. I spent the next 7 months training in the canyons,
hills, and dirt in and around Auburn, Lake Folsom, Lake Natomas and Lake Tahoe
areas. I met great people and ran 100s of miles to prepare along with those
others who were running and supporting the event. Two weeks before States I
developed a virus that was leaving me run-down, chilled and I even broke out in
a rash. When I visited my doctor, and a dermatologist, they both told me it was
a Pitoriosis Rosea. This is a harmless rash/virus that I would get over in 5-6
weeks. There was no treatment and I just had to “let it run it’s course”. I
still showed up at the starting line, anyway, and by mile 30 had lost 11 pounds.
I was run down, light headed and dehydrated. After that I was chasing cutoffs
all the way to Devil’s Thumb before I was pulled at the top for missing the
cutoff by 15 minutes. Three months later I attempted the Pine to Palm 100,
which was my backup 100 if I didn’t get into States in 2014, and after climbing
the first 10.5 miles up 5000 feet I rolled my ankle going around a corner on
the way down. At mile 15 I dropped from the race because it was getting worse
with every step and I knew I couldn’t go 85 miles on it. 0 for 2! So “Third
Time’s a Charm” became my mantra.
I make my way to Dalton Wash and there is my wonderful crew
waiting for me at the entrance to the AS. They walk me over to my chair
and Mary is there with a big smile and words of encouragement. As I walk to the
chair I notice that they’ve put it in the ditch at the side of the road and I
ease my way down and climb on. I remember complaining about it a little as I
exited…but I think I was just trying to advise for the next placement…I think
it came out kinda’ negative. Amazing how things sound when they are laced with
hot fatigue. Then I tried to eat one of my Hummus and Avocado Wraps here
with some Pepsi. I have trained with the HAWs before but today it wasn’t
hitting the spot. I ate it anyway as I headed out of the aid station pausing
just long enough to thank my crew and kiss Mary (an aid station tradition as
the event continued…I’m glad I never mixed those two up ;)).
Back at Goosebump for the second time now. I tried looking
at things being brought to me by my crew to see if anything looks appetizing.
I see someone with a fruit cup (yes like what was in your lunchbox
as a kid) and I ask for one. It went down great with the sweetness of the syrup
and the chunks of fruit. Also,
I try some top ramen that looks good from the aid station. Both go down well
and I didn’t know it then...but these became my staples for the remainder of the
race. I wasn’t scheduled to get my first pacer until mile 53.5 but I’m told
that Barbara will join me on the road between here (47) and there. I get my
night gear put on, which includes a new shirt, headlamp, and my favorite
beanie. The latter feels so comfortable and warm when I put it on that it
brings a big dopey smile to my face that gets a laugh out of my crew. It’s the little things that make a big
difference in events like this...the small luxuries. I get up and we take off
down the road. Mostly walking but we add in some jogging here and there. It’s a
rolling dirt road, with cars travelling down it every couple of minutes kicking
up dust. It wasn’t too bad, though, and the conversation definitely made the
road go by faster. At one point Barbara tells me that someone has sent me a
video and she hands me the phone. It’s Sunny, Nicole, KC and Cathleen in their
car driving to Zion for their 50k run later the next day. I won’t transcribe
the content here but suffice to say it basically was telling me that there is
no dropping and not to be a “pussy”! Hah! I get a huge kick out of this and has
me laughing on the trail, feeling a knot form in my throat. Such great friends
and encouragement! Priceless. I got many texts and posts throughout the event that really helped keep me going!
We get to Grafton Mesa Aid Station next, mile 53.5. Here I
change out Barbara for Veronica as pacer and get more top ramen and a fruit
cup. I even tried a pancake before I took off and it actually tasted pretty
good. My stomach could only handle a few bites of it but my stomach seemed to
be turning around finally. Veronica and I head out on the road that quickly
turned into single track towards the cemetery aid station at 57.5. There is
what seemed like a long single track rolling trail to the top of the rocky
trail that heads down to the ghost town of Grafton below. As we finally reach
the top we can see lights from other runners down in the valley below. It looks
like they stretch on forever and I’m wondering just how far it is. We head down
the trail, which is about a mile, over rocks and through ruts until we make it
to the bottom and eventually to the aid station. There is a nice fire going
here, it’s about 39 degrees out, and I stand there a second to get warm. Then
we sit down and I have a fruit cup and some top ramen. We don’t hang out
long…it’s cold and there is a little breeze down here…and I long for the climb
out so that I can get warm. So we take off. Going up the hill Veronica points
out the people that we are passing. She later tells me that she was purposely
pulling me along at a faster clip so we could pick some people off. It works as
we pass several runners on the ascent. As we get to the top and start heading
towards Grafton on the single track Veronica gets a text, announced as it was
several times during the night by the “ding ding” alert. She stops behind me
and yells “keep going”…hah like I was going to stop. She catches up with me and
says “Mary says she wants you to start doing 17:30 miles as opposed to the
18:20s you’re doing now”. So I respond “you tell Mary this is all she’s gonna
get right now”. I was trying to conserve and had a certain effort-level I was trying to keep. Run a little, walk a little. You have to admire the patience that crew shows in moments like
this. There was no more discussion about pace.
We make it back to Grafton…more food…and quickly head out
back on the road to Goosebump. More cars, more dust, more great conversation
and constant movement.
We reach Goosebump aid station at mile 68.5 and I can hear
Mary in the distance yelling “they’re here…they’re here”! We come into the aid
station and I find Mary there getting
things ready. Then in comes a bleary-eyed Roger and Barbara. I think I caught
them napping :). So glad they were able to get some rest…but I harassed them
anyway ;). I get some food and a jacket here and Veronica and I strap our shoes
tighter to prepare for the long decent down off the mesa. I had been dreading
this descent ever since I ascended it several hours before. Roger and I had
both been talking about it and by the time we reached it Veronica was nervous
about it too. We start heading down. In the end it was not
as bad as either of us thought it would be. I think we descended it in about 34
minutes. Considering the rockiness and pitch it was a really good effort and we
were both surprised how quickly we reached the bottom. Way easier than going
up.
The road between the base of Goosebump to the Virgin Desert
AS is only about 8 miles but it felt a lot further. Veronica and I passed the
time with more conversation and joking around as usual. Veronica was also pointing out
other runners on the trail, identified by their headlamps, and then increasing
the pace to catch and pass them. We made quite the game out of it and it kept
us occupied. We must have passed 8 or 10 runners on that stretch. Our other
goal was to reach the next aid station before the sun came up. So we moved
quicker and quicker as we got closer. At this point we are jogging here and
there but mostly walking a fast pace…or at least what felt fast. This part of
the trail is rolling and is mostly soft road to run on. It was so much nicer
than the slick rock and rocky terrain that the earlier part of the course was
made of. On this stretch we hear our first wildlife…a coyote howling and then
the answer mewling from his buddies. It’s an eerie sound to hear as we round a
corner and see the moon peeking out from behind the mesa. A beautiful site and
definitely a “moment” during the run.
We reach the Virgin Desert Aid Station at mile 76.5 just as
the sun is coming over the horizon. Veronica and I end this stretch jogging
down the long straight final half mile of trail pulling into the aid station just
in time to see the sunrise. Another amazing moment out there. I was so glad to
be able to share these moments with the wonderful people that made up my crew.
Veronica had said that Roger was chomping at the bit to get started and she
forecasted that we would see him there hopping up and down ready to get going
on his stretch of pacing finally. I came into the aid station feeling pretty
good and had a seat next to the fire where others are gathered. Some pacers and
some runners. I see my pal Emily Yu sitting here, who is waiting to pace her
friend when she arrives. Emily and I got pulled at the same time during Western States in 2014
and shared a ride to Foresthill. We’ve seen each other at many races since then and have
been Facebook friends. I am
sitting here quickly eating and taking off my night gear to get ready for the 3
laps in the desert, followed by the final stretch to the finish. Cathleen is
here also, now, and has joined my crew. It was so nice to see her and she
brings a whole new energy to the team.
Loop 1 is about 5 miles and Roger and I take off to cover
the rolling desert course as quickly as possible before it gets too hot. The
trail is a mountain biking trail, mainly, and so it is rutted and rolls up and
down as if it is providing “jumps” for the bikes. Hard to get a rhythm here…but
we keep moving. A few minutes into the loop Roger says back to me “Is there
anything special you need me to do for you back here while we are running?” I
say back to him “Well Barbara and Veronica both ‘flashed’ me as part of their
pacing duties (not really) so you have a lot to live up to”. We both laugh…and
he says that he may not be able to compete with that. The goofy things you say
when you are on the trails. We finish the first loop and get back to the aid
station and Mary walks up with a BIG bag of MacDonalds food and announces that
she spent the most she has every spent for breakfast at a MacDonalds…she has
$40 worth of food. I immediately rummage through the bags and find an egg
mcmuffin and hashbrowns and sit down sand start woofing it down. Mary brings me
an orange juice and it seems like a FEAST at this point in my adventure. I get
two bites in on each and Mary says…”Okay…it’s time to go!” I say “geez I haven’t
even been able to eat anything! (grumpy)” Mary says “eat as you walk” I say “I
can’t carry all the food and orange juice and I need the orange juice to eat or
it will be too dry” I know…what a primadonna right? Mary volunteers to carry my
orange juice and out we go to loop 2.
Loop 2 is around 5.9 miles and is much like the last
one…rolling mountain bike trails cutting through the desert. There are many
mountain bikers out now and we pass many and have many pass us. Some slow and
some don’t. A couple ask us what we are doing out there…how long the run is. When
we tell them 100 miles it’s always the same reaction…”HOLY CRAP”! Others pass
by and say “nice job” or “keep it up”…every little bit helps! It’s during this
lap that I really start to feel that I might be able to finish this. Up until
this point I was wondering if I could even complete such a crazy task. You try
not to think about it but those doubts sneak in here and there. Loop 2 ends
with a long, winding trail, where you can see the aid station way off in the
distance as you make your way towards it. It seems to take forever to get
there. We finally do and I tell Mary that that particular food really didn’t
seem to give me much energy and that we need to try something different. I eat
a breakfast burrito with a little more orange juice to see if that has different results.
The Final Loop is approximately 6.8 miles…the longest of
them. This loop heads in the opposite direction of the others on the other side
of the road. Still dirt and rolling but it heads up and down some larger hills.
It makes its way towards the river and I come across Fast Cory and his pacer
and we play leapfrog for a while on the trail. Eventually Roger and I get to
the river and we run along the ridge for a couple of miles heading back up the
hill towards the aid station. Now it is hot out here and each mile seems like
5. I start to play mind games with the miles. Every mile I tick off as another I don’t have to run! Eventually I say to Roger…”we are in single
digits!!”…meaning we are under 10 miles to go. At this point we are painfully
stepping off the trail often to let mountain bikers go by. I try not to let it
get me riled-up…but its hard when you have over 90 miles on your legs. We roll our way up and over
the last hill and I can see Veronica and Barbara yelling about a half mile
away. Roger turns to me and says “well we can’t let them see us walking right”?
So we take off running again, towards the yelling. We get to them and we all
head down the final stretch to the aid station together. I get there and
Cathleen and Mary are there waiting for me with some food and words of
encouragement. I quickly eat and talk to them about the final stretch to the
finish. Mary tells me it’s 6 miles and if I hold my current pace we will be
comfortably below 32 hours. I repeat back to her “So if I just do the same pace
back I will break 32 hours?” She says yes and this brings a smile to my face.
I’m gonna do this thing! The race cutoff is 34 hours, my goal was under 30
hours…but under 32 would be just fine for my first 100.
I give all my crew hugs and thank them and give Mary one
last kiss before the finish. Roger and I take off towards the finish line. At
this point I turn on my music on my phone for the first time and pick up the
pace running our way in. I am saying to myself that there is no reason to hold
anything back any longer and I am going to finish this thing…so I don’t hold
back and pick up the pace more. I can hear Roger behind me breathing hard as he
catches up after texting an update to the crew. He say’s “what’s gotten into
you?” I say “there’s no reason to hold back and I feel great right now!...let’s
finish this bitch!” We both laugh and continue to push the pace. This stretch
starts in the desert but eventually connects with an exposed dirt road that
leads to the highway. We get to the dirt road intersection from the trail and
Mary and crew are shocked to see me so quickly…they all start yelling
encouragement and I start to get choked up. Another great moment in the
run…still being able to surprise my crew after 96 miles with a
faster-than-expected pace…somewhere around 10 min miles. It feels like I am
sprinting and after all the slow plodding feels like sub 8 min pace ;)! It
feels great to let loose. The dirt road seems to stretch on forever, though, and has a
constant incline. I am determined not to walk again, though, and continue to
push up the hill towards the highway. We make the hard right on the asphalt and
it is stretched out in front of us. We have passed many other runners since the
aid station and there are many out in front of us on the highway. We pick off
one after another and in typical ultra fashion each runner I pass yells
encouragement to me and I yell it back to them…we are almost there. I am looking ahead on
the road trying to see the hard right turn down the last street to the finish
but can’t see it. The highway is rolling as well and the small hills feel like
mountains at this point…but we keep pushing. I say to Roger “I’m feeling it but
I am just going to fall in behind you…pull me in Rog’!” So I fall in right
behind him and watch his feet as I keep pushing. A couple minutes later Roger
say “I can see the street where the finish is…can you see the cars?” I look up
and about a quarter mile away there they are. The heat is radiating off of the
highway and it almost looks like a mirage in the distance. Passing more runners
we eventually get to the turn and we both turn right, together, down the street.
I can hear the finish line now…the screaming and yelling and the announcer.
This is one of the best things in ultra running…at least for me…the sound of
the finish line. I run down the street and see and hear Mary yelling for me. I
run towards the finish line and there is Cathleen, Nicole, Sunny and KC forming
an arch with their arms, which we call a “power arch”, to run through as they
are yelling for me. I run through and immediately am engulfed in a pile of arms
and hugs…a great way to end a run. I look around for Mary and my crew and I
finally see Mary and give her a big hug and kiss and thank her. She and the
rest of the crew congratulate me as I find them and hug them all.
Two beers later, and some toasting and story reliving with
my pacers/crew, and Mary reminds me that I need to get out of my comfy chair
and select my belt buckle. I had totally forgotten about this…just happy to be
done and alive at this point ;). I get up and Barbara and Mary follow me over
where I pick out my buckle. An Orange-ish buckle that “spoke to me”. There
seemed to be hundreds to choose from to my addled brain. All of the buckles, of various colors, have
some piece of the course incorporated into them. Mine had sand from the course
in it and it looks really cool. I go back to my chair and continue to celebrate with my crew. Eventually the celebrating comes to an end and we all head out.
I want to thank Barbara, Veronica and Roger for making the
long drive out to Utah to crew and pace me. I couldn’t have done it without the
great support you provided throughout the long day, night and day. Thanks to
all my family and friends that provided encouragement during training and
during the race. The texts, videos and FaceTimes I received during the event really helped
and reminded me of all the people who were rooting for me. And of course a
special thanks to my wife, and crew chief, Mary who I definitely couldn’t have
done this without. Your support during training and the race constantly
inspired and assured me that I can accomplish crazy things like this. Your
love and support makes every day better than the previous.
100 Miles completed in 31:41:22. Would have preferred sub-30…but
you don’t know how hard to push until you’ve completed one. I’ll be ready to go
sub-30 in the next one.
Note: Matt Gunn, who is the Race Director, does
a really good job putting these events on. I encourage you to attend one of his
beautiful races. My only wish is that they sold more swag to help commemorate
your success. I would have loved to leave there with a Zion 100 sweatshirt or T-shirt
or something that said Zion 100 in addition to my belt buckle.
