Saturday, June 3, 2023

MUC 50: June 3rd, 2023


MUC is short for Marin Ultra Challenge and as mentioned in previous blogs this is my favorite race in the Bay area.  Not only does the race start and end at Rodeo Beach which is just 15 minutes from my place but the 50 miler hits all of the best trails in Marin county which I train on and there is not overlap in the course.  The race is usually at the beginning of March and I decided to skip out this year since it was so close to Black Canyon 100K and I could not recover in time.  Mother nature intervened as she really wanted me to do MUC and there was an atmospheric river event going on the same weekend as MUC so they decided to move the race to the beginning of June.  This actually worked out really well because it lined up perfectly with my training schedule for Fat Dog 120 in August.  So I joined the waitlist to get into the June MUC 50 and immediately got in as some that couldn't make it in June for the race had to drop out.  I always thought that early March was a bit to soon for a 50 miler anyway but I guess if people are training for a spring or early summer 100+ miler it would work.  


I arrived early to the race because parking is at a premium for MUC.  If you show up late you have to park quite a ways away.  Shaun and Ram had arrived shortly before me and we hung out for awhile before the race start.  My goal has been for quite a few years to run a 50 miler in under 12 hours.  MUC would be a challenging course to do this because it has over 11,000 feet of climbing but my training was going well so I decided to give it a shot.  The race started and Ram and I noticed that we were right behind someone that we both recognized by the voice and lingo.  It was someone that used to be on a podcast that I listened to.  I was surprised that he was running MUC but I was not a big fan of his anyway for a few reasons so I kept my distance.  After the first climb I was still with Shaun and Ram and we bombed the smooth easy downhill on Miwok trail.  In fact, I think we went a little to fast because we were doing 7:30 miles and wasting a lot of energy.  The upside of this is that we were able to get our average pace down to a nice number.  On the next uphill Ram separated from Shaun and myself as he is a lot faster than us.  We had a steady pace on this climb and all the way to the stinky bathroom aid station.  The next section was uneventful and we bombed down our favorite downhill in Marin county, Marincello trail.  TN valley aid station was a quick stop to refill water and go.  In the next section on the Pirates cove trail Shaun and I got separated.  I was determined to get my sub 12 hour MUC and I pressed on.  Quickly got out of the Muir Beach aid station and started the long climb up Donkey Kong (Heather cutoff) and the Coastal trail all the way up the Cardiac aid station in Mt Tam state park.  On these long climbs I met Nizar and we discovered that we have some mutual acquaintances.  I was able to run most of Heather cutoff which proved to be valuable for later on when my pace slowed on the tougher climbs. 


Nizar and I stayed together for quite awhile, after leaving the cardiac aid station we bombed down the Dipsea trail into Stinson beach and then we did the dreaded super steep climb up the Willow Camp trail.  We kept a steady pace along the Bolinas ridge headed back toward Pantoll campground.  Nizar was feeling good in this section and I was starting to hit a wall.  Once we got on the Matt Davis trail he took off which I encouraged him todo since he was feeling good.  I got back to the Cardiac aid station and then kept a steady pace down to Muir Woods.  I started feeling good again on the climb up Ben Johnson trail which was the second toughest climb of the day.  I was able to bomb downhill to the Deer Park aid station.  Kept a steady pace up the single track switch backs of the Miwok trail.  By this time I was starting to feel pretty beat up but had to keep pressing on to get sub 12 hour.  I managed a speed just over a shuffle on the Dias Ridge downhill back to Muir Beach aid station.  On the next climb up middle green gulch trail I met someone named Shelly who was doing her first 50 miler.  She mentioned that she had overcome some health issues in the last few years and at one point couldn't even walk.  Through a lot of hard work she came back and started running with a new lease on life.  She still had a hard time running downhills but could crush the uphills and keep a steady pace along with being a really fast hiker.  She moved ahead of me toward the end of the uphill.  Then I passed her on the downhill into the final aid station at TN valley.  

There was only 4 miles to go and I was surprisingly on pace for my sub 12 hour MUC.  I made super quick work of that aid station as I only filled my water and bolted.  Nizar was at the aid station refueling and I said hi to him as I left out.  Although feeling pretty rough I was able to manage a shuffle after getting to the top of the last climb up the Old Spring trail.  Shelly must of ran up the entire Old Spring trail because she passed by me after getting to the top.  Only a few more steep little uphills and I was on the last decent into the finish at Rodeo Beach.  I was relived to know that not only was I going to get sub 12 but I ended up finishing in 11:37 and it was still light out so didn't even need my head lamp.  Pretty happy to set my PR on this day and in my favorite 50 mile race.  Only a few more months until what will be the hardest race I have ever attempted, Fat Dog 120.

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Black Canyon 100K: February 18th, 2023

I had my eye on running Black Canyon 100K (race is just North of Phoenix) for quite a few years.  The idea of running a 100K in the desert during mid Feb temps on what I thought were non technical trails just sounded great.  When a few of my OG running friends from Ohio asked if I wanted to join them for the 2023 race I didn't hesitate.  We rented a huge house in Phoenix with pool and hot tub, it was going to be a fun trip.  The only thing I wasn't too excited about was training through the holidays as this is usually the time where I dial back the miles and try just live as a normal human.  Although, I didn't train for anything between July and October so I figured that was a long enough break for the year.  I started to get serious about Black Canyon in mid October.  I ran a training kickoff 50K (Mt. Tam 50K) at the beginning of November and got sub 7 hours which was my goal.  My training mileage was slowly building thru the holidays.  I ran a 6 hour event at Chrissy Field with Jessica on New Years Eve during a monsoon and that turned out pretty well as I got 5th overall and 3rd in my age group.  I felt in peak shape throughout January and was ready to run the race.

A work trip to Florida got scheduled for the beginning of race week so I went a few days early to spend some time with my parents who were renting down there for a month.  I didn't like the idea of traveling across the country and going on Eastern time for a few days during race week and throwing my sleep schedule off but not much I could do about it.  On Wednesday morning of race week I got a call that my Grandma Farley had passed away.  This was the same day that I was flying to Phoenix to meet up with the guys.  I was told that the showing was on Sunday and the Funeral on Monday.  This was sad as my Grandma lived a few houses away from me growing up and we spent a lot of time with her.  I went to Phoenix but got a plane ticket to go back for the funeral the day after the race so I could attend the funeral on Monday.  I got to Phoenix Wednesday evening and was pretty burnt out from the travel, time zone changes, and news of my Grandma but having a few beers and hanging out with the guys was good for the soul.  Friday we went and got our race packets and were all set to rock on Saturday, this race would be for Grandma Farley.

The Race:

Race morning was a bit chaotic.  We got to the shuttles early as the race crew had asked of the runners; however, not a lot of people heeded the advice so the buses were late for leaving to go to the start line.  Our start line wave had already began as our bus was pulling into the high school where the race begins.  It was frantic as when the buses parked everyone was scrambling around to get to the track and get started.  A few in our group had to use the bathroom and we were trying to stay together in order to get some miles together as a group.  After the delays we were finally underway.  The start had us weaving through some of the streets in the little town of Mayer, AZ. Then we were on a smooth dirt road for a few miles before turning onto the Black Canyon trail which goes for many miles all the way back to the Phoenix area.  We stopped at the famous windmill which is on all the race logos etc...  After the second aid station our group split up.  I was running with Chas and Pete and Ron and Johnny were together.  This is when we linked up with the single track portion of the trail which goes on for the rest of the race through the desert and offers some great views.  I thought for sure the trail was going to be fairly non technical and I thought I would do pretty well at the race since my training was going good.  My ultimate goal was sub 14 hours but I would be pretty happy with a sub 15 as well.  We had to get under 17 hours in order to count for the Western States qualifier.  The first 5 or 6 miles of singletrack was pretty smooth and mostly a slight downhill so it's easy to crush some early miles. Then the trail started to get a little more technical with loose medium size rocks strewn about.  Around mile 15 or so I took my first tumble, rolling my ankle on a rock and eating dirt was not fun so early in the race.  


The sun was out around mile 19 or 20 and it wasn't a super hot day but I started to not feel good and struggled to keep up with Chas and Pete through the next 4 or 5 miles.  I think my nutrition was off (not enough gels!) and lack of sleep from time zone changes along with the sun was all hitting me at once.  We did one of three river crossings somewhere in the first half of the race I believe and feet were soaked.  Around mile 25 or so I encouraged those guys to go on without me as I needed to do some walking to get myself right.  I came into the Black Canyon aid station which was around the half way point of the race and Chas and Pete were just getting ready to leave there.  I changed socks here and ate some food while sitting in a chair for a little while.  It was good to get a nice reset at this point.  After leaving the aid station on my way back to the main trail I saw Ron and Johnny heading toward the aid station, they were not too far behind me and they told me that Chas and Pete were not that far ahead of me.  I was feeling better after my reset and kept a steady pace in the next few sections although the trail had turned a lot more technical than I ever anticipated.  There were an extraordinary amount of those medium to large size loose rocks everywhere.  Kicking toes on them and tripping on them was getting old.  I had fallen another time out there.  Also, having dry feet after changing socks was nice but it wasn't long before we got to the second of three river crossings.  We finally got to the afternoon hours and the sun was starting to go down.  This is usually when I get a second wind, cooler temps allow food and drink to circulate through my body.  I was moving quite well in miles 40-50.  I came into the mile 50 aid station right when Chas and Pete were leaving so I could tell I was gaining on them.


I didn't spend long at the mile 50 aid station as I just wanted this race to be done.  We had some climbing to do after this one and it was nice to change it up.  I felt better and better and was moving well into this section before the last aid station at mile 58.  I finally caught up to them at mile 58, and with only 3.5 miles to go I just filled one water bottle and was ready to bolt.  I was so happy to be in the last section that I sprinted out of the aid station.  The race had not gone as planned so sub 14 and sub 15 were both out of reach.  Chas, Pete, and myself were running with a few others to the finish and seeing the Hoka blue lights I was ready to push on the gas and get there.  Chas and I were moving pretty good to cross the finish line and there was a little dip in the trail which I proceeded to trip on and fall right right in front of the live stream and a whole crowd of people that were cheering us on.  AJW was commentating at the finish line and I ended up getting my 15+ seconds of fame as he interviewed me on the live stream.  Yes, there is video evidence of me doing a spectacular fall across the finish.  The three falls in the race beat me up pretty good so I went to the medical tent at the finish to get some of my wounds cleaned out.  Ended up coming in under 16 hours which was good for a western states qualifier.  Johnny and Ron came in a little later and by the time we got back to the AirBnb it was around 2:30 am.  Shower and sleep for 2 hours and then get up and organize all my crap to repack my suitcase AGAIN.  I'm glad I got to go out to breakfast with the guys before my flight to Ohio for my Grandma's funeral.  It was a really short but super fun weekend.  We need to do this kind of thing more often.



Saturday, December 31, 2022

2022: My Ultrarunning Year in Review

 I have done a terrible job in keeping up with my race blog this year.  In fact, I have not completed one single race report.  I decided to summarize the year in one post so here it goes:


March 12: MUC 50

Johnny Rutherford traveled west from Ohio to take on this challenging 50 miler with me in the spring.  This is an awesome race because it takes place on all of the best trails that Marin has to offer.  It does have a fairly decent amount of climbing, around 11,000 feet which is the most challenging aspect.  The morning was nice and cool, but the sun eventually came out however it didn't get to hot.  John and I had a pretty steady day out there.  The willow camp climb at the half way point really kicked our ass, which is pretty normal for this race.  We finished just over 13 hours and had a great time.  Had a Dean Karnazas sighting because he wasn't to far ahead of us.  I was really glad that John came out to see the MUC course.  I feel that one of these years he will be back to try and go sub 12 hours!

















April 4: R2R2R (Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim)

This has been on my bucket list for quite some time.  Ram put the wheels in motion but he had to take an emergency trip to India so he was unable to make it.  Jess and Shaun's wife Jessica did a successful hike down to the river and back up the day before Shaun and I attempted this R2R2R. We got an early start, maybe around 4:30 am.  Packs completely loaded with supplies to last the whole day in the Canyon and we set off going down the famous Bright Angel trail.  The sun was rising as we were descending into the Canyon and it was about as close to a religious experience as you can get.  We made it to the river after a few hours and then filled up with water at Phantom Ranch.  Then began the section across the canyon floor and to the start of the first major climb to the North Rim on the North Kaibab trail.  The trail on the North Rim was more rugged then Bright Angel.  We ran into elite ultra runner Jeff Browning (Bronco Billy) as we were filling water before the steepest section of climbing.  Made it to the North Rim and took a little break in the leftover snow from the season..  The descent down from North Rim was in the heat of the day and it was pretty rough due to being technical.  The sun was bearing down as we made our way back across the Canyon floor to Phantom Ranch.  Upon reaching Phantom Ranch we refilled our water, took a break, and then began our climb back up the South Rim.  We took the South Kaibab trail up and it was a lot steeper than Bright Angel.  It was seriously tough getting out of the Canyon.  Some nausea set in and after it got dark the wind picked up and blew gravel and sand in our face.  Finally we reached the top and the day was complete.  This was an extremely tough 46 miles and 9,500 feet of climbing.  However it is one that I can now scratch off the bucket list.

               






April 23: Canyons 100K



This was my second time doing Canyons 100K.  It's actually a pretty fun and challenging course going the reverse direction on some of the Western States course.  There is around 15,000 feet of climbing with some of the steeper sections in the second half of the race.  Ram was still in India so he could not come to Canyons this year.  Pancho came into town to run it with Shaun and myself.  Jess also came and ran the 25K and unfortunately tore her meniscus but did end up finishing the race. It was a nice cool day which is great for running.  Pancho was off to a fast start.  Shaun and I stayed steady for the first half of the race.  We were both feeling pretty beat up during the second half.  The wheels completely fell off going around the Deadwood Canyon loop.  Then we started the last long stretch before the finish which is around 10 miles.  I started feeling decent on the first big climb and Shaun said to go ahead.  I was doing the old man shuffle in the flat parts and slowly climbing the rest.  The last 3 miles was nothing but slush puddles from all the snow they got in the higher elevation a few days prior.  The puddles were unavoidable so our feet just got soaked and we had to deal with that reality.  Hearing the sounds of the finish line mic for a mile or 2 before you get there is also challenging but if you keep plugging along then eventually the finish line appears, and it did.  Finished in 17:24 which is longer than last year but good enough for a Western States qualifier and a tough but rewarding workout.   
  







June 25: Broken Diablo 50K

Shaun and I trained for Broken Arrow 52K which took place near Lake Tahoe on June 18th and that race has more than 10,000 feet of climbing.  Things went sideways for Broken Arrow as I decided to withdraw because Jess got COVID and I had some minor symptoms and thought it would be best if I didn't take any chances.  Shaun ended up not finishing by choice.  We both wanted redemption so we decided to emulate Broken Arrow by running a 50K with similar ascent but at a different location...Mt. Diablo.  Thus the name that Shaun came up with..Broken Diablo 50K.  There was one major difference from the weekend before and that was the weather.  Up near Tahoe they ended up getting snow and high winds on race day but a week later at Diablo it was 90 degrees and full on sun.  Neither of us do well in the heat but we gave it a go.  Got an early start when it was a bit cooler but it didn't take long for the sun to come out and do it's thing.  The hottest part of the day is when we were climbing up mothers trail which is an extremely tough climb.  I don't think you can possibly move any slower then the speed we were going.  We got back up to the summit for the second time and Shaun downed 3 gatorades..lol.  Then after getting snacks and resting for a bit we struggled down to eagle peak and back to the cars.  It was a tough and hot day which was perfect redemption to make up for Broken Arrow.       









November 12: Mt Tam 50K


This was one of my best races ever.  It's a tough 50K with around 6,700 feet of climb.  This race was going to be a kickoff to my training for Black Canyon 100K in Feb. 2023.  I set a goal for myself to go sub 7 hours in this one and I knew that was going to be a tall order.  I had a few decent training runs leading up to it.  Jessica, Shaun, and Shaun's wife Jessica all did the half marathon.  When the race started I was just trying to get into a groove.  Pushing myself up the first climb as I knew that would be key to setting the pace.  My plan was to make quick work of the aid stations as I knew I didn't have much time to spare and that's just what I did.  I was being aggressive with my pace uphill and especially downhill all day.  There was not a single point in the race where I just relaxed and leisurely walked to recoup.  This was difficult because I had never pushed like that in a race before.  Normally I just go with the flow and have fun but this time it was all business.  I listened to hardcore music the whole day and it was fitting for my effort.  I knew it was going to be close as I came into the last aid station.  So I pushed as hard as I could to the finish and ended up beating my goal by about 5 minutes.  This was very rewarding in it's own way.

 




Dec. 31: New Years One Day 6 hour event

I have wanted to try an official timed event for quite awhile.  This particular race fit in well with my
training schedule for Black Canyon 100K and the course is at Crissy Field not far from where we live.  There is not a lot of climb at Black Canyon so I figured running around a flat 1 mile rectangle loop course for 6 hours would be perfect training.  I also thought maybe it would be boring so I que'd up some podcasts and music to keep me entertained.  Jess also signed up for the event which I thought was really cool.  Little did we know what we actually had in store for our day.  An atmospheric river which set a record for rain in SF happened to take place in the exact 6 hours of our event.  Talk about raining sideways!!  There was flooding everywhere and it rained hard the whole time.  I could only laugh at this fortune and just go with it.  My first 18 laps or so went pretty well.  The wheels really started to fall off about 23 laps in when my legs were tired from all the running!  In normal ultras I am hiking uphills so working different muscles but this was just straight running the whole time.  I maybe only walked a total of a half mile all day.  There was one particular puddle that was about 20 yards long and no going around it.  When the race started it was about ankle deep but after a few hours it was knee deep cold water.  Had to go through that thing what amounted to 31 times as that is how many laps I got in.  Total mileage was 31.8 miles and that was good enough for 5th place overall out of 52!  Maybe my best finishing place ever in a organized event.  Got third in my age group as well.  Jessica also ended up getting third in her age group!  Pretty great day for the both of us so we celebrated by getting sushi and watching the college football playoffs.  I wouldn't mind exploring more races like this in the future as it was nice doing something different for a change and I think I can do a lot better if I strategize more.  I mean I wasn't sure about the logistics of nutrition and stopping etc.. I think I could of had time for another loop or 2 if I didn't waste so much time going to the bathroom and stopping to drink water.  There are some things to figure out for sure.  Maybe next year I will try the 12 hour event.  We shall see.   

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Mt. Tam 50K: Nov. 13th, 2021

The famous steep ravine trail ladder

This was my second time running this race and it turned out to be very memorable.  I floated the idea out to Jessica's cousin Joe and his wife Debra about this race and to our surprise they thought it was a great idea!  Debra was going to run the half marathon with Jessica and Joe was going to run the 50K with Shaun and myself.  Also, two of Debra's college friends decided to come and join the fun in the half marathon as well!  Paaaartaaaay!  I was a little nervous about my ability to train for this race because it was less than two months after Bear 100.  Mt. Tam 50K has the some incredible scenic views but is a tough race with 6,800 feet of climbing so I knew that it was something I had to be prepared for.  I took a week off after Bear and started to put in a few miles.  Running was not easy as my body wanted a longer break.  I slowly increased mileage over the following 6 weeks or so although the amount of long runs I did was very minimal.

Joe working his way up Dias Ridge

Race morning arrived in a flash.  The race started and Shaun, Joe, and myself were sticking together at the beginning and having some good laughs about random topics.  We hit the Steep Ravine trail and there were some trees down after rare October storms.  Shaun and I slightly pulled away from Joe in this section but it was a conga line so he was always in sight.  We regrouped at the first aid station and then headed down to Muir Woods.  The first climb up Ben Johnson was a grind as it always is.  We were talking to a girl who said she has not drank a beer in 4 months because she had been training for the race!  Then we got to the next aid station where we refueled and I encouraged Joe to eat some food as he was looking a little down.  Next we slogged up the easy grade Miwok climb to Dias Ridge.  This is where Joe started to feel the grind as he wasn't use to all the climbing.  We got up to Dias and Joe had told me a few times at this point to go ahead.  He was also talking about possibly dropping out or reducing his total distance on the day.  I knew that he needed some calories and also knew that he was just going through a rough patch.  I told him that it's possible to get out of the funk etc..however he was pretty convinced that it was not his day etc.. The pace we were going at on this downhill was not really sustainable in order to finish within the cutoff.  

One of many epic coastal trail views

I asked Joe several times if he was sure that it was ok if I pressed on and he assured me that he was cool with it.  I felt like he needed to be by himself so he could find a rhythm or pace that worked for him.  I could tell it was stressing him out because he felt as if he was holding us back.  So I gave him a gel and told him to eat that and it would help him feel better.  Then Shaun and I took off on the smooth downhill on Dias Ridge trail leading into Muir Beach. We were flying pretty good and making up some time.  I struggled mentally from leaving Joe as I was not sure if it was the right thing to do.  We got to Muir Beach and made quick work of that aid station.  On the way out Joe passed us as he was on his way to the aid station.  He actually seemed as if he was in decent spirits and that gave me a little mental boost that Joe might rally.  Shaun and I started up the Donkey Kong climb and we were doing a rhythm of 300 steps running and 300 steps walking on the uphill.  This really helped save our pace from dropping to much on the climb.  As we were getting pretty high up I'm pretty sure I saw Joe coming across the field before the Donkey Kong climb.  This made me happy that he didn't drop at Muir Beach.  On the way up coastal trail toward Cardiac Hill I really started to feel drained.  Shaun beat me to the aid station but I wasn't too far behind.  Then we set off to do the second Muir woods loop of the day which was longer than the first one.  

More excellent views!

We came across a random aid station in the woods that some people had hiked in and set up.  They had liquor and beer available but I settled for some coke (a-cola).  We made our way down to Muir Woods and then grinded out the second climb up the Ben Johnson trail.  Finally we reached the top of the last long climb of the day at Cardiac Hill.  I started to worry a little bit about Joe because he didn't have his cell phone with him so if he dropped it might be logistically tough to communicate.  The three miles back to Stinson Beach went by pretty quick as it's almost all downhill.  Shaun was feeling good and he ended up beating me by a couple minutes to the finish line.  I was happy for the day to be done as the 50K worked me a lot harder than I anticipated.  I thought I might see Joe at the finish as he mentioned possibly skipping the last loop that went down to Muir Beach but I didn't see him there.  I was greeted by Jess, Debra, and one of Debra's friends.  I asked them if Joe had called and they said no and Debra checked with the timing table who mentioned his status is currently still on course!  This gave me some excitement that he was pushing on but we still didn't know what his status was.  They were out of veggie burritos so I settled for a few bags of chips and sat with Jess in our chairs cheering on runners as they were finishing.  Jess had done really well in her half marathon just like she always does.  Debra and her two friends had a really good time on the trails.

The girl who had not had a beer in 4 months came by and I yelled "time for that beer!" and I could tell she was super psyched to be finishing what I assumed was her first 50K.  Honestly this is a pretty tough 50K for your first one as there is 6,800 feet of climbing which is no joke so kudos to her.  Another guy was coming into the finish shoot and some older gentleman turned on the jets to pass the guy in the shoot.  When the guy who got passed realized what happened he turned on the jets and passed the older guy right at the last second to beat him.  There was no reason to pass someone like that when you 8+ hours into a 50K, I mean if it was a battle for the first 5 spots or something I could see it but at this point it's almost an ethical issue.  I'm glad that guy didn't let him finish ahead.  Anyway I was nervous about Joe as we didn't really know what was going on with him.  Debra and her friend had gone down the road a little ways looking for him.  All of a sudden he appeared and was coming down the road to finish!!!  He rose up from the ashes like a phoenix!!  I was so psyched that he stuck it out and was finishing the 50K.  He had joined forces with two other girls who were also struggling and they stuck together and helped each other out.  I started yelling as he got closer and I could tell he was super stoked to be crossing this finish line.

During the race Joe said he would be mentally cool with not completing it.  Afterwards he realized that wasn't true and said he would of been so bummed if he dropped.  I am so proud of him for gutting it out and getting it done.  Joe, Debra, Jess, myself, and Debra's two friends went out for some food and drinks to celebrate and we had a really great time.  This was definitely one for the ages!

Friday, September 24, 2021

The Bear 100: Sept. 24th, 2021

View From Starting Line

The Bear 100 is a tough mountain race and a Hardrock 100 qualifier.  It's a point to point race that starts in Logan Utah and traverses single track trails along with some dirt jeep roads ending at Bear Lake in Idaho with roughly 22,000 + feet of elevation gain.  There is a 36 hour time limit to complete the course and get an official finisher belt buckle.  I've had this race on my bucket list for awhile now and when registration opened early this year I signed up and glad I did because it sold out within a week.  Shaun Woody also signed up to run the race as it would be his 10th 100 miler and coming full circle as in 2012 it was the first 100 miler he ever did.  Ram had already gotten into Western States and Cascade Crest 100 through the lotteries so he was doing those two races this year since they were cancelled in 2020.  So, we could all train together this year for our respective events and we could crew for Ram in his 100s and he could crew for us in our 100.  Since Bear was going to be the toughest race I have ever attempted I wanted to be sure that I was as prepared as I could be coming into it.  We ended up having a great year of training which included two tough 100Ks, a 50 miler, a 43 miler, a 41 miler, a 38 miler, and several tough 50Ks.  All of these massive training runs were well targeted to Bear 100 as some of them were at altitude and all of them involved a lot of climbing.  We wanted to have an additional crew person to help Ram during our race and luckily it worked out to where my long time friend and trail running OG Lucas Hardbarger could make it out for the weekend.  This was awesome news as it's always great to catch up with Luc and I was super psyched up to have him in our corner.  I give him all the credit for getting me into this crazy sport several years ago.

Dropping off the drop bags

Shaun and I finished up our last long training run of 41 miles exactly three weeks before the race.  I think we were both a bit beat up from all the training.  Shaun was dealing with an ankle / foot pain and I was dealing with a nagging pain in my shin.  Throughout the taper I was doing short runs and just hoping the shin pain would subside.  With less than a week to go before Bear my shin pain seemed to have moved to my calf.  I was actually ok with that because the shin pain was so bad that it had hurt with every footfall however the new calf strain was manageable.  Shaun had reported that his pains and injuries also subsided during taper so I was glad that we were both in a good place to start the race.  The race starts on a Friday morning at 6:00 am.  Shaun and I arrived on Wed. afternoon before the race and proceeded to organize our drop bags and make sure we had our overall race plan in order.  The drop bags were tricky to piece together as it was going to be hot during the day but get pretty cold at night so we had to be sure we had the right clothes available at our estimated arrival times into the different aid stations.  On Thursday we picked up Ram and Luc from the airport and went over the race day plans with them.  Then went to bed early in hopes of getting some decent sleep the night before the race. 


Last minute strategy session


Epic Mountain Views

As usual, the night before a 100 miler, I was unable to fall asleep.  I tried reading, counting backwards from 1,000, and meditating.  I have an issue with anxiety and nothing seems to quiet my mind when staring down the barrel of a mountain 100.  I think around 1:30 am or so I was able to doze off but then woke back up around 3:00 am.  I couldn't get back to sleep after that.  Great, I thought to myself, going to start the toughest race of my life on 2 hours of sleep at best.  Nothing I could do about it at that point so I accepted my fate and got ready to start this thing.  We arrived at the start line and there as a fairly large crowd as 300 runners started the race.  We both decided to start the race with trekking poles because there was around 5,000 feet of climbing within the first 10 miles or so.  When they yelled go we ran a mile or so on pavement until we got to the actual trail to start our climb.  As we got higher in elevation the sun was coming up and we were treated to some pretty great views of the valley below where we started.  I was feeling decent on this initial climb.  About 6 miles in I got bit/stung on the back of my leg by a hornet or some sort of wasp and it hurt pretty bad.  Several other runners reported stings or bites in that same spot and on other parts of the course as well.  I guess I fared pretty well as some people were stung multiple times!  As we crested the first part of this long climb we could see some of the most amazing views I have ever seen.  The serenity of the mountains and fall colors awoke me to the fact that this was going to be an epic adventure.

Just got done with the Floating On Section


After completing the first 10 miles we had a bit more climbing and then a very long downhill on beautiful single track trail.  Our overall pace was not to good from the amount of time it took for the first climb however this downhill allowed us to make up a lot of time.  In fact, we arrived at the mile 19 aid station right on Shaun's estimated arrival time.  It was the first place that we got to see our crew.  Lucas and Ram took great care of us and got us everything we needed.  I ditched the trekking poles for good here as they were more annoying than anything, I like to have free hands to eat gels and take sips of water etc..  We had 18 more miles before we would see our crew again.  The sun was starting to do it's thing at this point and temps were rising.  We power hiked the next section which was a very gradual grade climb up a smooth gravel road.  Figured it would be good to not waste energy running this even though it was totally doable.  I think our strategy paid off later in the race.  We got to an mini aid station three miles later and they were out of water.  This was ok with me as I still had a full bladder from the last aid station.  Then we began another large climb out of this aid station and eventually another nice downhill to the next aid station at mile 30.  By this time the heat was taking a toll and we made sure to eat and refuel for the next 7.5 mile stretch.  I got some ice in my ice bandana to help keep me cool.  Also, one of the aid station workers asked me if I could help her open this huge jar of giant pickles.  I agreed to help as long as I could have one of those large pickles!  They had been cutting them up into smaller pieces for runners but made an exception as I assisted in opening the jar.  

The views and trails continued to be incredible for the entire race to this point.  We had another climb out of this aid station up a jeep road where a lot of 4 wheelers kicked up a generous amount of dust for us to breath and then had a nice long gradual downhill next to a river.  We were both flying pretty good through this section.  Shaun said it reminded him of the Modest Mouse song "float on" as it seemed we were kind of floating along this section of trail.  We got to mile 37.5 and were still pretty close to Shaun's estimated arrival time.  Ram and Lucas were there and they brought us some special food..Shaun had some pizza and I got some McDonald's fries which hit the spot.  We needed to stay on top of calories especially getting ready for night time and the second half of the race.  I had also been feeling some hot spots or possible blisters on my right foot.  Upon inspection I discovered there were a few blisters.  This has not been an issue for me in my whole ultra career up until the last year or so.  Since we still had a 100K to go I knew these blisters would have to be addressed immediately so they didn't become a larger problem.  The only thing I could think to do was put some duct tape on the blisters to prevent anymore friction and that's what I did.  Lucas helped me cut some sections of tape and I applied them directly over the blisters, not sure if that's the most sanitary thing in the world but all bets are off when your in the middle of a 100 miler.  I threw my injinji sock back on over the tape and I was good as new!

We left this aid station feeling good as we had a complete reset.  The next section of trail meandered through some large meadows which were really cool.  Eventually we made it to mile 45 aid station where we filled up our water and went on our way.  We had a long steep climb out of this aid station and at this point in the race it was a grind but then we were treated to a nice section of trail along a beautiful mountain stream.  I remember seeing some people fly fishing and thought it was probably a really great way to spend a Friday evening vs running 100 miles..hahaha.  By the time we got to mile 50 aid station it was getting dark.  We had drop bags here with warm clothes and it was a good thing we did.  In the time we sat here and ate food the temperature dropped big time as the sun disappeared for good.  We were warned to make sure that we filled up with water and food because the next aid station was 12 miles away!  Shaun and I left out of here and kept grinding away at the course.  This was a pretty long stretch as we settled into the nighttime miles.  Our crew was waiting for us at the next aid station which was mile 62 and we took care of everything we needed to including getting some additional cold weather gear.  Lucas joined us at this point to pace for the next 14 mile stretch.  It was nice to have someone that felt a bit fresh to help us watch for course markers and keep us going in the right direction as we were both very tired at this point.  Although, the temperature had dropped quite a bit so the cold was keeping us awake.  It was great catching up with Lucas and truly a pleasure to share some trail miles with him just like the old days!

These night time miles were a series of climbing through the woods and also high altitude meadows where the stars were out in full force.  The sky was really quite a sight to see out there in the middle of nowhere Utah.  We got to the mile 69 aid station and knew better than to sit down by the heaters.  Didn't want to get to comfortable because that would make it harder to continue.  We both ate some food here and refilled our hydration vests.  Then we started doing math which is not the best idea on a mental level to start doing in the middle of the night during a 100 miler.  We were contemplating that fact that we had about 12 hours to do a 50K and still had a lot of climbing left to do.  At this point we were reduced to hiking everything, even the downhills.  Shaun said that a finish was not exactly a layup and I agreed.  In reality this was far from the truth as 12 hours for a 50K was plenty of time but in our wasted state we did not know any better.  We left this aid station and had to cross a giant river by leaping between multiple rocks and logs to get to the other side.  I think we all made it without getting our feet wet which would not of been cool with the temperature being so cold.  Eventually we worked our way to mile 76 aid station where we would pick up Ram as our pacer from there until the finish.  Even though the sun was coming up the temps were still cold and we had not yet made it to the area near Peter Sinks.

Peter sinks has extremely cold weather in the mornings.  In fact, the coldest recorded temperature on Earth was here at -62 below zero or something like that.  Anyway, the people at the aid station said it was a good idea to take our cold weather clothes with us as we would need them.  We didn't have a place to drop them so we would have to carry this stuff all the way to the finish.  Oh well, better safe than sorry we thought.  Upon climbing out of this aid station we crossed into Idaho as there was a sign that marked the state line right off the side of the trail.  It was still cold for the next hour or two but it quickly warmed up before we got to the area near Peter Sinks.  Upon taking all my cold weather gear off my pack was bulging and I couldn't even get my full water bladder back in there.  It was not comfortable but if we needed these warm clothes and didn't have them it might of turned out in a very negative way.  We got to the aid station at mile 81 and I was not feeling like eating at all.  I tried to tackle a hash brown burrito and was able to eat about 2/3 of it.  By the time we reached the aid station at mile 86 the sun was out in full force.  We had a decent climb out of this aid station and were treated to some more epic mountain views before getting to the last aid station at mile 93.  A lady told us that we were "almost there" upon getting into this aid station.  From a 30,000 foot view this is a true statement however going 7-8 more miles to finish a 100 mile effort is far from being almost there!



We refueled and set out to finish this thing up.  There is a short but very steep climb out of this aid station.  In fact it was the steepest climb of the race.  We took it very slow and had a few rest moments which were cool because we had some of the most beautiful views of the whole race on this section.  The yellow leaves on the aspen trees along with the green pines which lined the mountains were just majestic.  Then we had about 6 miles to go to the finish and it was mostly downhill.  This downhill was not exactly easy as there were some very steep sections that were tortuous on the already wasted quads.  Views of Bear Lake came into focus and reality set in that we were going to finish this thing!  With a few miles to go we knew that a sub 34 hour finish was very possible.  Ram did his best to keep us moving at a fast enough pace to achieve that goal.  We struggled downhill with all the usual physical and mental anguish that comes along with having 90+ miles on our legs.  We finally popped out of the trails and had less than a mile to go on a flat smooth gravel road.  We power hiked it the rest of the way in and ran across the finish line for a 33 hour and 45 minute finish and finished 150th place out of 300 starters.  100 runners dropped throughout the race because it was tough!  Lucas was there cheering us on and it was great to be done and just take the pack off to relax and eat some post race food.  We received some nice plaques and also the "black bear" buckle for a 30-36 hour finish.  It was a better than expected finish for me and I couldn't be happier.  All the training and hard work this year really paid off.  An extra special thanks to Lucas and Ram for all their help during the race.  They definitely knocked the crewing out of the park.  Also, glad we were able to watch some football and drink a few beers with them Saturday night after the race and again on Sunday at the airport bar!  Overall I would say this race went about as perfectly as one could ask for.  Now it's time to enter the lottery for *gulp* Hardrock 100.