Races and Adventures

Congratulations to Scoobie (1:24:14) and Jonathan Carlson (1:10:47) on their finishes at the Madison Tri. Jonathan was only just outside of the top three in his age group, while Scobbie won hers!

Race results

Not one of these Slam events has seemed to go to plan and last Thursday our trip to Wasatch looked like it was headed the same way. Our flight was delayed and we didn’t arrive in Salt Lake City until 2 am on Friday morning! But that was the sum total of the mishaps (so far!) and the race went off promptly at 5am on Saturday.

The previous day Ultra showed us the start location  and an indication of the dusty trails that made up the majority of the course. When the race started, the sun still hadn’t yet poked over the horizon, so it was a quiet dark, dusty run over undulating trails before we began to ascend bigger hills. These were not your standard gentle undulations! Pretty soon, the eye balls bulged and the lungs sucked in as much air as possible. By the time we crested the higher ridges, the views out of the Salt Lake were spectacular and the quality of the vistas continued for the remainder of the day in perfect weather conditions. I would have added pictures but Guthrie soaked my camera with sports drink so we’ll have to see if it can be salvaged on our return home!

The Wastach course is by far the hardest course I’ve ever taken on, the hills were relentless. I had quietly set my race goal as a sub 30 hour finish but hadn’t voiced it after my experience in Colorado, in fact I was a little nervous about a similar outcome. Around mile 40 my stomach started to play up on every climb until I was trying to avoid eating between aid stations. At each stop I would spend a little longer than I had planned in an attempt to eat and drink as much as I could tolerate. However, on some of the longer legs, the intake wasn’t enough so, with a few miles still to go before the next stop I was forced to try and eat my regular snacks. On three occasions I deposited the content of my stomach by the side of the trail.

Guthrie was only able to get access to 5 aid stations and we decided not to use drop bags at the others. Everything worked out fine and as always her enthusiasm was always a welcomed sight. Despite being out for so many hours the race seemed to pass quickly and while 30 hours might appear to be a long time, it was long before the sun was rising on Sunday morning and the views across the salt lake reappeared. All through the night we had been treated to winderful start filled skies (you’ll notice that unusually for me I did try to pay attention to my surroundings!).

As I approached the final stages, I didn’t think that I would be able to finish under 30 hours, but a race volunteer suggested that the penultimate stage was only 5 miles and I wondered that I might afterall be in with a chance and upped my pace. This section had some particularly steep downhills covered in small loose stones that offered no grip whats so ever. Several times I came close to flying head long. I then discovered that either I was having difficulty juging distance of the stage was nearer 8 not 5 miles – it dragged and I was close to developing an upset stomach again; I eased back. When I started the final leg, I again played it safe as we began to climb. The trail twisted and turned and there was no way of knowing when it would turn towards the finish. When at last we popped out of the trail onto a road, I started to run believing that a sub-30 wasn’t possible but wishing to at least appear to finish strong. I crossed the line believing that my time was 30:07 but as the awards were presented realized that it was in fact 29:07!

Ultra didn’t have such a good time, he had retuned to Utah to revenge not finishing last year but Wasatch as I’ve already said is a tough course and there might be something to be said for not knowing what is coming next. When things weren’t going well, Ultra decided that maybe it wasn’t going to be his day. That might sound disappointing but I now from experience that making such a decision isn’t always an easy one to make and he will at least be fit and well to run another day.

For 31 years every Labor Day our friends the Baron and Master Po have joined the start field of the New Haven Road Race and then proceeded to finish the 20 kilometer course. In case you can’t work it out that equates to 620 kilometers or a little over 385 miles, and they’re still going strong! The commemorate this year’s feat they were presented with ‘jurassic’ bones, compliments of Iggy, and then made to wear them around their necks for a photo shoot. [Read more…] about Jurassic Runners

As we drove up into the mountain region where the small town of Leadville sits, my head wasn’t feeling very good at all. Every since we got of the plane in Denver, all the signs of trouble were building and by the time we checked in I knew I was going to have a problem. I’ve been fortunate this year not to have blighted with migraines and this one caught me off guard. From the time I woke on Friday I wasn’t able to eat or drink without my body rejecting it. We did go out for breakfast but I had to leave Guthrie to eat alone and during the race brief I made a hasty exit before the end to throw up. For the rest of the day I stayed in bed getting progressively more dehydrated. In the evening we ordered room service and I managed just 4 mouthfulls of pasta that miraculously stayed down. At 2 am the next morning I drank a cup a black tea and ate half a bagel with PB before the start. The weather was decidedly cooler than the conditions we left in CT and the weekend forecast was for possible snow showers. As it happened, race day brought hail, rain and chilly temperatures.

Because of the my disaster the day before my intention was to simply survive the day and finish, the start was a stampede and I was careful not to get caught up in the rush. The first aid station was 13 miles out and after leaving town we followed a trail by a lake that yeilded a cold off water breeze. I took a digger in the dark but thankfully didn’t do any damage. The aid station was chaotic as runners and supports squeezed into the shelter out of the weather. On the way to the next aid station thunder rumbled around us. The trail followed some power lines and they buzzed in the damp atmosphere. Suddenly a huge spark flashed above us from the cables as lighting flashed. With a few screams from the runners below everyone seemed to pick up their pace!

Despite the topic of handling the altitude at Leadvill, there is a significant amount of road running in this race before the ‘highlight’ climb up to 12,000 ft and Hope Pass. The climb up was brutal and the thin air quickly left you gasping and I felt quite helpless several times as I stopped to catch my breath. Just below the summit is the aid station know as the Hopeless Aid Station. All the equipment is packed to the summit on lamas and a collection of about 40 animals were tethered around the grass meadow around the station. From the top it was a quick descent to the half way point.

By now I was definitely struggling and contemplating calling it a day. My stomach was sore from heaving the day before and the feeling of nausea was still there. I trudged into the aid station and chatted things through with Guthrie, naturally she pushed me to try and make one more aid station, so I set off. Of course this meant revisiting Hope Pass! Just shy of the summit we passed a runner in distress complaining of pulmonary oedema, a complaint often brought on by the bodies inability to cope with high altitude. He declined assistance but asked that we advise the medics at the aid station. At the top I stopped for soup while the runners I had crested the summit with continued down, I caught them well before the next stop and was pleased for taking the time to take on nourishment. By now though my lengthy stop at the half way point was taking its toll. Leadville has a tough time cut off considering the difficulty of the route and as I arrive at the aid station after Hope Pass I had just a few minutes to grab supplies and leave before the cut, I then had to make the next station by 12:45 am. I made it with 15 minutes to spare. Again a quick re provision and out with a need to make the next cut before 3:00 am. Earlier in the night it hailed and the air was remained chilly, plus once I got wet I couldn’t warm up. No matter how much I tried to pick up the pace to generate warmth or drink warm soup, I shivered and my lower back around the kidney region started to ache. My inability to raise my core temperature was a worry and every time a took a drink from my drink bottles the cool liquid made it feel worse.

I arrived at the penultimate aid station having made the decision to call it a day, I knew the next section involved a 2,000 ft climb over 10 miles and the final stage was 13 miles of chilly lake side trail. Guthrie tried to encourage me to continue but afterwards said she was relieved.

So, the outcome means that my Slam quest is over although I still intend to do the other races. Would I do this race again? I found the volume of road mileage to be disappointing, The Bear 100 in Idaho is a much more scenic course. I would be much more alert to the amount of time spent at aid stations, this is a race where you can’t afford to squander time at the rest stops and I would also spend more time doing hill work, there was nothing ‘gently undulating’ about Hope Pass!

Scoobie ventured off to the Big Apple last weekend to run the New York Half Marathon. Not only did she finish in a respectable time of 1:53:40 but she also placed 4th in her age group. [Read more…] about Tutti Fruitti