Go time was Friday at 6 PM at Eagle Island State Park in Idaho just outside Boise. They had already change the course due to flooding on the old course. The loop is 2.62 miles long and you could only run clockwise unlike last year when we could change directions. A nice perk is that every time you finish a loop you can stop at the station for needed fluids and nourishment. But unfortunately it can also be the pit of despair because it enticed you with shelter from the wind, rain, had all sorts of food, chairs and heaters. The longer you stay in the aid station the more time that is sucked away. My goal was to try to make all my transitions as smooth as possible getting in and out fast. Any food that I was eating a took it to go forcing myself a mandatory minute or two walk. The Ding Dongs in the middle of the night rocked.
It had been raining off and on all day long. The rain started again about a hour in to the race. It started easy but then pounded us for hours. It stopped about sunset and a rainbow shined bright, which made for some great pictures. I took the rainbow as a sign from God that he had answered my prays and gave thanks. The rest of the night we dealt with the effects of the rain. The weatherman foretasted it to continue raining till 1 AM. This is the one time I was glad the weatherman was wrong. The rain came down so hard at one point I found myself in a depressive hole wondering it I could last 15 hours more. Your mind can make or break you in an ultra. I am grateful for a friends text that showed up at the right time. "Just keep making it fun and keep rocking out!" I put on some tunes and did just that.
I led the race for the first loop at a relaxed easy 7:30 pace for fun. Jose (a fellow competitor) passed me on the 2nd loop. I was fine to let him go and found my own pace. I didn't see him again for 35 miles. Looking at the tracking I could see how far I was behind him. At first 20 minutes and then 9. I was closing the gap.
only Krash of the race
Parts of the course was better than others. I tried to find the perfect route around the puddles and mud pits. But failed again and again to keep my feet dry. One part of the course started as a small kiddie pool. Hours later it was a 50 meter lap pool mid-calf deep due to a nearby field draining onto the course. At first you could avoid it on the side but soon even that was flooded. Lap after lap my feet would get sopping wet. I had embraced the cold water. One time I even ran down the middle (note video below). Bad idea. Shortly after my dumb idea they changed to course cutting out the lap pool and many water crossings. I was mentally ready to go through that portion of the course but was thankful for the change. The volunteer who told me the news may have received a very big hug from me! What a relief to not have to deal with that! The course was now 2.1 miles long.
Throughout the night I changed my cloths for dry ones. Changing my shoes for dry ones was another blessing. My feet were in bad shape. Going to loose both big toe nails. I have a great picture of them....I will save you from it and not post it! The blisters underneath are so huge it has pooped up behind the nail and over the cuticle. Pretty impressive work (damn water).
Most of the time I ran by myself. I enjoyed the times I ran with someone. It was great change of pace and great company. One lady I ran with was Tess. She was doing the 100 miler as a relay with some friends. I can't thank her enough for words of encouragement and comfort. Some people are just naturals at talking to others and calming them with out trying.
Nanas' pre race game face
At noon on Saturday my daughter started the 6 hour race. It has been a blast training with her. She's a sneaky one. She asked me one day when she could run a marathon. I replied when you turn 18. Days or weeks later she asked if she could run the 6 hour loop race. I told her prove to me you want to do the race by running 3 times a week starting with 2 miles each time. She started with running 3 miles each run the first week by herself. At some point she unveiled her plan. "Do you think I can run a marathon in 6 hours?" She asked. I had been bamboozled. Props to her. We mentioned she doesn't get a medal with this race, but she did get a shirt with her name, race, and distance. She likes that better!
We ran the first loop together and then I picked up the pace leaving her to tackle the marathon on her own. She is amazing and determined. She finished the marathon with 5 mins to go. She paced it perfect. Felt great the whole time and never hit the wall. Her longest run was 13.7 miles a month before the race.
What amazing weekend. I finished with 114 miles and finished in 1st place over all. That is the most miles I have run in one day. Natalie finished her first marathon and was 6th in the 6 hour race among females at least 10 years older older than her. The big question is "Will I do another 24 hour race?" I think so but I don't know when. I have a lot to learn about this kind of race and tweaking to do with my strategy.
I have the best supporters. My wife who volunteered and helped crew Natalie and I. I know she wants to be out racing with us. She even walked a loop with me.
Endurance Athletics has been my go to shop for some time now. I can find every thing I need for training and racing. The staff is awesome to work with and super friendly.
Ibapah peak is located in the Deep Creek Mountain range on the Utah/Nevada border. It's elevation tops out at 12,087'. It is a difficult peak to bag due to the elevation and remoteness. The trail is very rugged and often disappears. The last time Steve and I were there was October of 2013, some three and a half years. We had such a good time bagging Red Mountain, now known to us as Satan's Ass, that Steve was unable to summit Ibapah with me due to cold and fatigue. We vowed to come back and have been cooking up the idea of a winter camp for a few years.
One of our biggest concerns was just getting to the trailhead. The quickest way from SLC is to go through Wendover. Then you head south for a few hours traveling over 50 miles on dirt roads. The remote area does not see snow plows, however the west desert doesn't usually see too much snow on the valley floor. So we set off with high hopes and were able to drive exactly where we needed to. Steve set out the night before with the slower people in order to sleep at the trailhead and get an early start. Aaron, Jon and I left early Friday morning and started hiking a few hours after the first group.
Drew, Jeremy, Matt, Gregg
Hiking up the canyon was relatively inconsequential. The air was crisp and chill with blue skies, perfect for hiking. The first two miles follow a dirt road which turns into a nice single track trail. The elevation gain is moderate. We followed the tracks of the earlier group and didn't need to put our snowshoes on until we caught up to them about four miles in. From there we started tracking out the trail as the terrain started to climb considerably. We still had another two miles to reach our destination for base camp. It is a large meadow near the saddle ridge between Satan's Ass and Ibapah. Not long after we started tracking out the trail the mountain got extremely steep. Fresh snowfall from the week before made it difficult with heavy packs and snowshoes. After about half an hour with very little progress we started to wonder if we had gotten off trail somewhere. In a matter of a few minutes several decisions were made in haste.
Map and stats for Ibapah winter camp.
Off trail, just before it got hard and we all split up.
Jon scouted around a ridge to see if the terrain got any better. Matt, who loves to join us even though he lives at sea level, had been battling altitude sickness and just turned around with his friend Gregg. They planned to return to a flat spot not far back that was camp worthy. Steve, torn between staying with his buddies and helping his brother, frantically tried to divvy up the breakfast food among the two parties. Not a minute after Steve turned around Jon returned with bad news. The terrain was steep and cliffy on the other side of the ridge. It was then I realized we were on the south side of the canyon heading up the face of Satan's Ass. We should have been on the ridge to the north. We decided to head straight down the mountain in an effort to get back on track. Arriving at a flat area at the base of the slope and feeling fatigued from the exertion of the climb we shook off the idea of another mile or so of hard climbing to the meadow. We dropped our packs and started setting up camp. If Matt and Steve had waited just five minutes and stayed with us to this point we'd have all camped in a single area. Life is never that simple.
Base Camp. SamDEW, Skulking Drew, Bomber Stephen, Smuggler Jeremy and Puffy Jon.
The evening was spent collecting fire wood, eating and sharing stories. It was fun to get to know Steve's nephew, Jeremy and his friend Stephen. They were the rookies of the trip and they seemed to be doing well. I haven't seen my buddy Drew for a while either and it was nice to catch up with him. Before turning in Jon had the idea of filling a water bottle with boiled water and stashing it in the sleeping bag. It was a face palm moments for me. I've been doing this for years and never considered it.
In our camp, Jon, Aaron and I were the peakbagging trail runners. We planned to get up around 7:00am and be on the trail to the summit around 8:00am. Drew and the rookies didn't feel up to climbing to 12,000' through deep snow. They also didn't want us to leave before they cooked breakfast. Drew tried convincing me to go down to the other camp and eat with them but peak baggers gotta bag peaks. After we prepared our day packs and had a candy bar for breakfast we wished them well and were off. I worried a little bit about them finding their way back to the other camp or the cars but after about 20 seconds of that, peak fever took over and I left them to their own demise. :)
Has anyone seen a meadow?
Dismayed Aaron and Happy-go-lucky Jon.
We expected about 3.5 miles to summit. We thought it would be about three hours to summit. We hoped the clouds would clear to a beautiful day. We hoped it wouldn't be too windy and the temperature would be somewhat bearable. None of our wishes came true, but we still had a marvelous grueling wonderful time. Aaron's description of the day: "Yikes! One of the hardest single mountain adventures I've ever done!"
We started the climb expecting to find the meadow at any time. After about a mile we angled more north. We were somewhat confused when we reached a ridge. For a moment we almost went down the other side, thinking we were not quite to the meadow yet. Then it dawned on me that we had somehow bypassed the meadow and if we went down we'd be headed toward Nevada. From here we followed the ridge all the way to the summit. I felt really good and somehow ended up tracking it out the entire way. The wind blew a fierce warning of cold death regularly. There were two spots that we were a bit worried about the avalanche danger. We stayed as close to the ridge as possible and didn't have any problems. The cloud cover was relentless and only parted for one brief moment revealing the summit to be still very far off. When we finally hit the base of the last climb there was a rock bench we sat on for a few minutes. Exhausted, we refueled an enjoyed the moment's respite. I think Aaron might have sat down and died there if I didn't poke him with my trekking pole.
Last brutal climb, almost to the summit.
The last ascent to the summit was the most brutal of all. We had about 600' to climb in a half mile to reach the 12,087' summit. Snowshoeing at that elevation was arduous. The fatigue of the climb to get that far made it slower than we had hoped. The sky was still shrouded in cloud and the wind blew. The snow was not deep due to the rocky terrain and constant wind on the ridge. In fact we often saw remnants of the actual trail. The little snow that was there was crusty with a thin layer of fresh powder. The steepness of this ascent was much more difficult due to the amount of sliding we did in these conditions. It was brutal and tiring, often causing us to crawl and claw our way up the slope.
Happy to be on the summit.
It took five hours to summit. No easy feat. It was exhilarating to be above 12,000' in winter conditions. A huge accomplishment. We refueled, drank Dew, Mayurasana, you know, all the regular shenanigans. I had a brief moment of cell service so I sent a few texts to my wife and Steve informing them we'd be really late. The descent was almost pleasant compared to the effort we'd made on the way up. Still, no blue skies and still very cold temps. We decided to cut through the meadow, shortening the return trip. Upon arrival at camp we rested briefly before the cold forced us to keep moving.
Map and stats of the ascent to Ibapah peak from the winter base camp.
Unfortunately, we had to clean up a mess that the rookies left. After getting everything ready and loaded we went straight down the mountainside until we reached the area the actual trail should be. It wasn't long before we connected to the route we had taken up. It was dark when we returned to the cars. An amazing, freezing, tiring, brutal, splendid day. We spent about 10 hours on snowshoes and our bodies were past ready to rest and recover. It will be hard to top this year's beard camp. We'll probably go back sometime. Until then, I have to agree with Aaron, It was "one of the hardest single mountain adventures I've ever done!"
