By Steve
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| Zion 100K Map and Stats |
Sweet piggy, I finally did it. I've been wanting and trying to run an official ultra-marathon for over almost 2 years now. Since then, I've run several trail marathons, as well as several bandit 50ks, but this was the first official ultra-marathon I was able to run. Last year, I had to drop out of the Buffalo 50 miler due to some family emergencies and injuries. So it was a personal victory just to finally run the race.
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| Sam at the first aid station |
DJ Loertscher, who I had actually never met prior to this weekend, was running the 100 miler. He hitched a ride down with Sam and I, and I'm sure glad he did. That dude is a riot to be around. He, Nate Younger, Sam, and I were planning on camping up Kolob Canyon at the very free Black Wash camp site, but Nate apparently decided a few days before that paying to sleep on a mattress would somehow improve his performance. To that I say "pffff...." The night before a race you can not sleep in a bed just as easily as you can not sleep on a pad on the ground. At any rate, we caught up with Nate for a bit at the IMAX theater in Springdale where we checked in for the race and ate some pizza, then headed up the canyon to camp and watch Rocky Balboa stand toe to toe with Apollo Creed on the ipad.
Rocky: "I can't do it."
Adriane: "huh?"
Rocky: "I can't beat him."
Adrianne: "Apolo?"
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| Pretty good running form, right? |
After a surprisingly good night's sleep for me, and a terrible night's sleep for DJ, we woke up and drove down to the start line. DJ disappeared somewhere in the crowd, and we didn't see him till much later in the day at the Grafton aid station.
Sam and I decided that we would spend the day running together. Since it was the furthest race either of us have run, we concluded that we would enjoy the day a lot more if we just ran it the same way we do most of our other runs. There will be plenty of races in the future where we can push our boundaries to reach our best times, but this day was not going to be for that. And when I look back and think about it, there were very few moments in the day where I felt like I would rather be doing anything else other than running and hanging out with good friends.
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| Sam running south along the desert wash |
We started out at an easy pace and began chatting away. It was almost too easy of a pace, and by the time we reached the climb to Smith Mesa at mile 3, we were somewhere near the back third of all the racers. Many times the line of people would have to stop while we waited for people to climb up the more technical parts. We came across a girl from California who was absolutely terrified to be up on the side of the mesa. As I passed her, I came to a large rock that someone had attached a rope to in order to help people up. I realized that the girl would not be able to make it up that without help, and in my mind came the famous words of Eek the Cat, "It never hurts to help!" So, Sam and I stopped to help her up that rock. We left her behind after that, and I'm pretty sure she dropped out at the first or second aid station.
Once Sam and I hit the flat on the top of the mesa, we finally let it roll. From there to the aid station, we blew past a bunch of people, and then stopped at the aid station to take a couple photos. After that, we again picked up the pace as we ran down a dirt road and then finally down a few miles of a poor-conditioned paved road, passing a couple dozen more people between the aid stations. With about a mile left, I was feeling a hot spot on my right big toe. This was way too early in the race for me to start getting blisters, so we had to stop at the aid station for me to tape it up. It was a quick job, and not nearly good enough. This would plague me for the rest of the day.
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| Doing his trail king pose with Zion National Park in the background |
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| Sam starting the Goosebump climb |
The run across the desert floor by the virgin river and then approaching the Gooseberry mesa climb were full of Sam and I taking some staged photos and cracking jokes. We made several friends along the way who wanted to be involved for a while. It can get pretty lonely out there. Finally, we reached the climb at around mile 24. At it's worst it gained 1,000' over a mile's distance. Reaching the Goosebump aid station at the top was a big victory, since we were now near the half way point, with the two big climbs out of the way. We stopped for a good while at that station while I ripped all the tape off my feet and started from scratch. This time I got it right and my blisters on my feet would not cause me any more real trouble for the rest of the day.
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| Me, churning up the Goosebump climb |
Leaving the aid station, we got to run over the most fun part of the course for the next 11 miles. The trail went over slickrock out to the gooseberry point overlook and back. Given the awesome views and rolling rock trail, I had a blast. Sam, however, started feeling his first low points here. Back at Goosebump, we ate up and then started out on the 6 mile dirt road out to the Grafton aid station. Going from the slickrock, to this piece of crap, hard, dirt road was mentally draining, and Sam hit another low point. We walked for a
while and started singing as we pushed each other to get to Grafton.
The five mile Grafton mesa loop became the high point of my day and the low point of Sams. Back in the trees and single track dirt trails, everything started feeling really good for me, and I just took off. At around 50 miles for the day, my legs felt really strong, and the blisters were not hurting any more. The climbs felt easy, and the down hills felt fast. Finding myself back at the aid station, I decided to wait for Sam again, and after a little while, we headed out on the 6 mile trek on the dirt road back to Goosebump for the last time.
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| Sam running along the rim on gooseberry |
... It's funny how fast you can go from high to low. Along the dirt road, it was starting to get cold, and the sun was getting low in the sky. My spirits dropped and for the first time in the day, I started getting the thoughts that I didn't want to do this any more and it was no longer fun. I corrected my negative thinking pretty quick, but now it was a mental battle to get to the aid station. The road felt like it went on forever, and even though I didn't want to, I ran the last half of it without stopping to walk.
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DJ missed this sign and went right, adding 3 miles
to his total journey, but I swear it says to go left. |
Finally reaching the aid station, I waited one more time to see Sam. He handed me his car key and I was off down the mesa. My spirits started running high again. I passed several people on the way down, and then when I hit the downward sloped back towards Virgin, I just let it roll. As the sun was setting, I ran one of my fastest miles of the day. Nothing hurt, and I felt like a million bucks. Dusk turned to darkness as I began the last 2 miles of the race. The last mile turned into bone-jarring pavement, and soon I found myself running across the park to the finish line. It turns out Sam had some of his best miles of the day as well and came in 5 minutes behind me. We both felt really good after the race and hung around the finish line for a bit, chatting and laughing with Nate before we headed back to the campsite.
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Selfie on the Grafton Mesa loop high point with Zion
National Park in the background. |
Overall, this was easily one of the greatest running day's of my life. My spirits were high nearly the entire day and my body was behaving itself (for the most part). I have no doubt that I could have shaved off another 45 minutes to an hour had I decided to push the tempo a little. I also have no doubt that I could finish a 100 miler. Now it's just an issue of trying to find $200+ in spare change in the couch cushions in order to pay for one.
On a final note, it was fun to come back to the finish line in the morning and see DJ finish his first 100 mile race. He was exhausted, and looked somewhat like Rocky after finally beating Apollo Creed. Yo Adrianne, he did it! Whether he liked it or not, he was an Orange Trail Monkey for the weekend.
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| DJ's 100 Miler finish with Jeff helping him get the last 50. |
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| Stopping to enjoy the view from the Gooseberry overlook point |
