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.
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.
