Second Annual OTM 100mile Bandit Run

Willard Basin

by Sam

Tony and Steve about 6 miles in. The Wellsvilles behind.

The Orange Trail Monkey 100 has been a long time coming. Steve and I wanted to run a 100 mile race last season but couldn't afford it. We both attempted it exactly a year ago but I was still figuring out exactly how to fuel myself during extended periods of running and bonked early on and eventually dropped at the 50 mark. Steve dropped with me because he wussed out. He'll tell you that he had some sort of hacking lung disease but I know better :) Anyway, this year we were back for revenge.

Preparing for a bandit race is a bit different than a regular official race that has supported Aid Stations. No one to ask you what you need. No one to cook you pancakes, bacon or quesadillas. No one to fill your water bottles. No one to do anything! It's the purest form of ultra trail running. The night before the race Steve and I spent about four hours driving out to five separate locations dropping all our gear and food. As we saw the sunset from Willard Basin I reflected on the fact that we'd see the sunrise near that very spot in the morning.

We tried to advertise the event a lot more than last year. Many people seemed interested in the course but we only had one other participant. Tony Christensen, who I met at the tail end of the Capitol Reef 100. He is an all around great guy and was a solid runner. We started out together, slower than Steve wanted, up the eight mile climb to the base of Grizzly Peak. Minutes wasted early on will save you hours later. The trail up Perry canyon is beautiful and provides sweeping views of The Great Salt Lake and Northern Utah. We all arrived at Aid Station #1, a tent at the Willard Campground, about the same time and were basically in and out.

Ben Lomond on the left, Lewis immediately after and Mt. Ogden next followed by a long view of the entire Wasatch range.

Steve wanted to pick up the pace and we didn't see him again until much later in the race. Due to our race being a bandit run we don't mark the course. It's fairly easy to follow until you get to the Snowbasin area. However, I felt obligated to hang with Tony throughout the front 50 to make sure he knew his way, so we stuck together. I enjoyed his company and tried my best to be pleasant. :) We had a good day. It was overcast and not too hot. Neither of us had any trouble with fatigue or other issues worth mentioning.

About mile 13 you come around a corner, having just ran under Willard peak, to a sweeping view of the entire Wasatch range as far south as you can see. I am always amazed at the view and to be on top of it all. More directly you get a good view of Mt. Ogden, which is two mountains over and basically the turnaround point of the course. It's good and bad to be able to see where you're going. Not long after we went right under Ben Lomond and started the long eight miles down to the North Ogden Divide and Aid Station #2. My downhill running is usually pretty fast but I held back to stay with Tony. I feel that it was a good thing because I needed to pace myself for the end of the race.

On Eyrie peak looking south, where we're going.

Tony breaks on Eyrie peak for a look north at where we've been.

The south climb out of the North Ogden Divide is brutal. It's steep and exposed. Anyone who's ran the Skyline Trail knows this. 25 miles into the course you summit a bump on the ridge known as Eyrie peak. It's the perfect spot to look back and see Ben Lomond, where you've been, and look ahead and see Mt. Ogden, where you're going. I love this spot. Steve had texted me about 20 mins earlier informing me that he had summitted. I was glad to know we weren't too far behind.

Look closely at the sky and you'll see lots of ladybugs.

Helping the damsels.

During the descent to Windsurfer's beach on Pineview Reservoir, Aid #3, we enjoyed listening to my phone speak song lyrics that Jeff sent me. Also, we ran through about 3 miles of a mass ladybug exodus. It took a mile to figure out what was going on. After finding out they were not gnats or flies I was less annoyed at them flying into my face and body. Tony and I both picked up quite a few hitchhikers. After fueling and filling water we were about to leave when some damsels in distress approached us. They couldn't get the strap on their car to work. It took us a good 10 mins or so to help them out. They were very appreciative...until they smelled us.

Wheeler Creek is a very pretty canyon. It's just a hair shorter than two miles and is a relaxed trail. If you've never been, take the family. It was mid afternoon and the cloud cover went away. It wasn't too hot but more heat than I'd felt so far and I slowed down a bit. We arrived at Green Pond, Aid #4, refueled and started the climb through Snowbasin just before the sun went over the ridge. I immediately felt better as it started to cool down. I got a text from Steve informing me that he was at Middle Bowl, about an hour ahead now. He had marked the course with clothespins at the tricky spots and I spent a lot of time making sure Tony was aware of all the turns and junctions, because there's a lot. We made decent uphill time and crested the saddle below Mt. Ogden about a half hour after sunset. It was that time where the sunset is red and the city lights are starting to shine brightly.

From there the trail is straightforward, just follow it down five miles until you reach the trailhead. I said goodbye and good luck to Tony and picked up the pace. Shortly after leaving the saddle I felt the presence of a large body of animals. I turned my headlamp up and saw innumerable eyes staring back at me. The largest herd of mountain goats I'd ever seen. Too bad I missed them in the daylight. My descent was not as fast as I wanted. I felt good and wanted to make up some lost time but the trail is overgrown and more of a game trail in some spots so it took time to maneuver it. I came upon Steve about a mile from the trailhead near the waterfall. He was sipping a coke and muttered something about needing to vomit as I flew by him.

I was greeted at Bues canyon, Aid #5 and 50 mile turnaround, by wonderful friends I've collected from the Wasatch Mountain Wrangler's group over the years. Ben Light crewed and brought pizza which hit the spot and refueled me. After resting a few minutes I set off with pacers Jennilyn, DJ and Chelsea. They made the brutal climb back over Mt. Ogden go by quickly and somewhat easily. I don't think I could (or should) recount everything that went on or was said. Something about Chelsea wanting to be a black man and pappaKendall watching over us. Everybody want's a slice o' dat man. Aunt Jemima somehow gave DJ a rebirth as a beautiful butterfly or a fox, or was it a foxy butterfly? Fellow wranglers were given manly ratings on a scale that is impossibly defined. And on an on... After cresting the ridge I felt really good and we ran the whole way down to Green Pond, catching Steve about two miles before. It was cold and we sat a minute too long at the aid station.

Takin' a nap.

The next segment I slowed down quite a bit. Either I ran too fast down Snowbasin or the wee hours were starting to make me tired. Probably both. I typically get tired and sleepy between 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. By the time we made it out of Wheeler Creek and walked the road back to Windsurfer's Aid I was literally falling asleep on my feet. A few times I felt the ground move underneath me like a little rolling earthquake. Most of the group was 1/4 mile ahead the whole time and then suddenly Jennilyn was right there next to me. When did she get there? I needed a nap and when we got to the aid station I took one for about 30 mins. My friends had ran about 20 miles and we said our goodbyes right before I took a nap. Steve went on without me.

It was cold when I left the car. I shivered...a lot, so I pushed the pace and started up the long 7 mile climb. It was about 5:30 a.m. when I noticed Steve's headlamp a few switchbacks up. I started to warm up and pushed a little harder to catch Steve. To my surprise it wasn't 15 minutes until I caught him. He wasn't really moving and was somewhat stooped over his trekking poles. I've never seen Steve like that before. He mumbled about being tired and said something about turning back. I felt quite good after the nap and tried to get Steve moving again. We did ok for about half a mile then he slowed again. In vain I tried to get him to keep moving. We rested on a bench overlooking Pineview at the first sign of dawn. "Why does anyone do this?" Steve asked. I agreed that it sucked but we had to keep going. I couldn't get him to go much further. He kept talking about being done and how tired he was. I wasn't going to let him quit. I was willing to gut it out with him as long as it took...until he called his wife and told her that he was done. At that point I realized he had checked out and was not going to keep going. I overheard him say that he was turning around to go back to his vehicle, which was the last aid station we passed.

I was so pissed off. I didn't realize until this moment that a large part of me was running this particular 100 as a supportive role for Steve. I wanted to finish my own self supported 100 and earn the sweet monkey belt buckle but I'd already ran 100 this year, I wanted to see Steve finish one too. My anger pushed me faster as I brooded over the lost time. It took me the better part of the day to get over this. I considered quitting as well for a minute but I was committed. People were pulling for me. I went on alone. (After the race, Steve informed me that he had blood in his stomach and suffering from stomach issues lasting a good 30 hrs after the race was over. Why he chose not to inform me of that during the struggle is beyond me. No, I wouldn't have treated him differently, I still would've told him to "shut up and run." But, maybe I'd not have been so mad when he finally did drop. At the time I thought it was all in his head.)

Eyrie Peak, for the second time. Only a marathon left. Lomond in the background.

Tony had called me about the same time I left Steve. He informed me that he was going to finish, even if it took him 40 hours. That made me happy. As I crested Eyrie peak for the second time I looked ahead to see the long way I still had to go. It was down to the last marathon but I could see exactly where I had to go and it was a long way off. I ran down to the North Ogden Divide and the top of my right foot started to hurt. So I entered the pain cave. A place where every ultra runner must learn to enjoy or at least tolerate.

Curt and me about 2.5 miles away from Ben Lomond.

I spent little time at the North Ogden Divide and started the last long climb back to Ben Lomond and beyond. It was rather uneventful except for the need to step off the trail multiple times to avoid getting run down by motorcycles. They passed me about a mile from the trailhead, then again some four miles up, again at the last switchbacks to Ben Lomond and finally in Willard Basin itself. About four miles up Ben Lomond a trail runner came around a corner and said, "Hey, you're Sam Jewkes...how are you doing?" He proceeded to apologize for not having any food or treats to give me but said he'd hang with me for a while. How nice. I was at about mile 84 and somewhat delirious. I knew I'd seen him before but we traveled at least a mile and a half before I finally asked who he was.

As we parted ways, Curt snapped this pic just below Lomond summit.

Curt Bentley, I'd met him a few weeks ago on a night run on the Mueller Cave Peak Loop. Today he had already been up to Ben Lomond and Willard and was on his return trip, practically finished, when he turned around and stayed with me the remaining four miles to Ben Lomond. It was a very gracious thing to do since I was moving considerably slower than he was capable. I'm sure his presence helped me move faster and push through the last climb. At Ben Lomond he again apologized for not having any food to give me and said good bye. I was once again alone and would remain alone for the last 12 miles. My wife called to see where I was just moments after Curt left me. Running 100 miles pushes the body to a breaking point, physically, mentally, and emotionally. I choked up and almost couldn't talk to my wife because I was so grateful for Curt's kindness and company. It's somewhat humorous to find yourself crying like a baby over something so normal.

At the last Aid Stop in Willard Basin I laid down in the tent for a minute thinking about how nice it would be to be done. I filled my pack with coke and refilled my baggies of jerky, licorice, snickers and hi-chews (that's practically all I ate the entire race). I forced myself to get up and finish the struggle. Two long miles of uphill and then eight easy downhill miles. I was so happy to be going down. I felt like I'd been going so slow uphill it was a pleasant change to maintain a 12 min average mile pace the last eight miles. As I neared the last three miles I noticed I may finish under 34 hours. I pushed the pace and according to my tracking app I did cross the 100 mile mark under 34 hours but the finish line was still a little over a mile away. My wife and kids were waiting for me about 1/4 mile up the trail from the finish. It was the first time they've come to a finish line and I was happy to see them. My wife told the kids to run to the finish with me and my six-yr-old son sprinted ahead at a pace he's used to running downhill with me. I couldn't keep up with him, but I did keep ahead of the three-yr-old. :) No cheering crowds, no friends, no pats on the back from the race director. In fact there were many people hanging out recreating in the area that had no idea of the ordeal I'd just finished. Just me, the monkey and the kids.

OTM 100 Monkey belt buckle. My wonderful kids reflect in my sunglasses.

Finishing time was 34:10:38. That's 48 mins. faster than the Capitol Reef 100. However, it should be noted that Capitol Reef ended up only being 95 miles and has some 10,000' less vertical climbing. So, I finished this race running a lot of extra vert and about six more miles in an hour less time. I feel pretty good about that. I wanted to stay around and see Tony finish but knew that it would be too late and I needed to eat and rest so I left him a belt buckle under his windshield wiper and tried to stay awake driving home. :) Tony texted me when he was finished around 9:50 p.m. That put his time just under 40 hours. I'm glad he stuck it out and finish. 100 miles is not that far, but it is. I hate that race, but I love it. Until next year...hopefully, we'll convince a bunch of other crazies to do this.

Map of the OTM 100