Summer Trail Series: Squaw & Y Mtn.

Map and Stats of Squaw Peak and Y Mtn.

by Sam

I thought I would change it up on this post and write down the thoughts that pass through my head as I run. Hold on tight. It's gonna be random. Please note that I do not run with music. And, here we go...

Nate on Squaw summit. Y Mtn. in the background.

What is that sound? 3:55 a.m.? Why is my alarm going off? Oh, right, Squaw Peak...Nate. Owww quads, eyes dry...banana, ultraspire vest, hat, shoes. Wait, I better get a piece of bread or something. Oh yeah, a powerade and Mt. Dew Voltage, I'll need those...4:56 a.m. at the trailhead, good I'm a bit early, 'cuz I need to drop a trailhead. Strange, I pooed last night, why must I always poo at the trailhead?...

Last time I was in Rock Canyon there was a snowstorm and I didn't summit. Nate's a good climber, I can't slow him down. "here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten, It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom." I don't even like that song, why is it in my head? I'm sure glad I'm not wading through snow like last time. "the people like
 us, the people like us."... How nice of you to not crop dust me, I'm not sure I would have done the same...

Ah, so this is where the trail goes...beautiful flowers, very fragrant...all dead on the foothills..."come with me now"...wow, cool sunrise, this is why I do this..."come with me now"...Nate's bald, Craig is bald, what would I look like bald? Melanie doesn't like it when I buzz my head for the summer, she calls me a bald monkey...who else is bald? Cy?

"I think I smell something burning." Someone is camping on the summit? I'm gonna ask them if the bacon is done...whoa a chick? She doesn't look happy. They spent the night in the rainstorm? I bet she never calls this dude back...I'm definitely hitting Y Mtn. today too, even if Nate can't go the whole way, it doesn't look that far away...I never get tired of summit views...I was just over there last week...Ouch, my ankle is tender. My right foot is soaked but my left is dry?...scat cat...I'm sure glad I didn't put sunscreen on today. "Walk, come with me now...Whaaaa, come with me now." What do they say there anyway?...

These signs are posted at every
switchback up to the Y.  Really?

Scrub Oak scrubbing my
body as I run past.

I'm sure glad I'm not the bishop. "the people like us, the people like us." It's the 5th Sunday, gotta prepare a lesson...better grab my ankle sleeve for the rest of the run...what a nice day for a run.."here's to the damned"...8 miles already? I'll probably get like 17 then. I haven't eaten any bloks yet ...how do people run up hill?...now we're gonna see fat people...really? .07 miles until the next switchback? Good thing that sign was there, I'd have gotten lost without it (sarcasm)...grandma powder smell, who wears that crap?...

Nate's a great guy... what was that?...hey look a bear cave, or a cougar cave...this part of the trail is kinda like Olympus..."all by myself, don't wanna be"...I hope I don't get eaten by a cougar. Am I supposed to face them down, make myself look bigger? run away? Should I yell at them? "Hey there kitty, run on home now. I'm just a toothpick." funny...this is where big foot comes out and gets me... 

"Elaphant, Ela-if, Rrrhino, I-know. El-if-I-know...what do I have to esplain to you people?" 

I'm going slow, I hope it's not more than 3 or 4 miles to summit. Nate's not here to push me up hill..."drip drip drop little April showers." wet, wet, wet...I'm gonna fall and sprain my ankle and no one will know where I am...they don't call it scrub oak for nothin'... kitty kitty cat... not many people make it up this far...I love aspen groves...darn rain...I hear things...wet feet since winter...ring out my socks at the top...moose moose...why do people carve their names on trees? idiots! people are dumb..."you take the high road and I'll take the low road, and I'll be in Scotland before ye."...

I'm tired, I don't think I'll be able to run with Cherri at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow...Oh good, the top is close...stale blok, how old is this package...31 mins? that was a slow mile...really? no trail to the actual summit? maybe this overlook is the summit..."living on the bottom"...who wants to see the city anyway?...I guess I better summit both, just in case...gonna have to bushwhack...aha, a game trail..."I've wasted time, I've wasted breath, I think I've thought myself to death"...I was just over there, it looks farther, this one's higher...I am soaked to the bone..."walk, come with me now"...

View of Squaw Peak from Y Mtn.

Better let the wife know I'm ok...4 hrs. already? I'm gonna break 5 today...why would you do that?... green ...oooh...dry trail...deer...feet are getting dry...the switchbacks already? I love going down...Stew, I'm so glad you carved your name in that tree, how else would I know you were here, oh, that's right, I wouldn't..."far away, I heard him say." I hear people...Did I summit? of course, I summitted...already back to the Y, that was fast..."I was born without this fear."...wow, those chicks smell really good, I wonder if they can smell me..."whaaa, come with me now."...home stretch...faint on Skyline Drive...BST..."here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten, It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom."... That was awesome, I love this.

Y Mtn. Summit Monkey.

Squaw Peak Summit Monkey.

Squaw Peak on the left, Y Mtn. on the right.

Glad I remembered this.

Moose attack

Okay, so this will be a short write up from last Saturday's experience with a moose.  Yes, we had a close encounter with a moose.  So far the scariest thing I've experienced in my short few years of trail running.

Let me back up.  I have a good friend, Thayne, that loves to run American Fork Canyon.  He also has a lab so we try and run together with our dogs.  We decided to run some of his favorite trails up at the top of AF canyon.  I really need to know the trail names/numbers much better.  We started close to the Salamander Flats campground.

We  made pretty good time up to the ridge just as the sun was coming up (yes, Thayne like many of you likes to get up BEFORE the crack of dawn to run).  As you approached a beautiful meadow I commented how surprised I was that we hadn't seen any moose.  Perfect place for their habitat.

So what happens?  Not a minute later, out of the bushes about 100 feet from us appears a momma moose with her little baby.  The dogs went crazy and ran toward them.  Stupid!  Cosmo barely escaped the front hoof of the momma moose as she made it clear to "Stay Away".

No, I did NOT get a picture of the moose charging us.

We stood there from a distance and watched the two moose slowly head up the train and then stop.  There they stood.  And there we stood.  What to do.  Wait until they leave so we could continue?  Well, one thing was for sure, our dogs were not going to let it go.  They kept barking and charging the moose.  Well, mostly Kono (Thayne's dog).  I had a hold of Cosmo.

What happened next is almost a blur, definitely almost my worst nightmare.  That momma moose decided she had had enough.  She was coming after us.  I couldn't believe it.  This gigantic animal was coming toward us.  So of course we took off running.  It didn't take any effort at all and that animal closed to within 20 or so feet of us.  For a second (or two) I thought "We are in serious trouble".  I was running through the meadow as fast as I could, jumping over bushes, running through bushes, running for my life.  Then by some miracle Thayne and I and our two dogs all ran in different directions.  I can only think that this confused the moose enough that she didn't know what to do.

After regrouping and checking to see if we were okay, we continued our morning run along a different trail. Running in American Fork canyon is just simply amazing.  The dogs were in heaven and we even saw more moose that just left us alone.  I need to learn the trails up there better.  Beautiful country.  Final numbers (8.8 miles and 1837 feet of climbing)

Box Elder Peak

For the last couple of years as I have gotten stronger and more adventurous I wanted to run/hike Box Elder Peak (some would say "bag" Box Elder).  I have tried a few times going up Dry Creek only to be denied by either lack of time or bad conditions.  Take for example last summer I was running up Dry Creek only have to turn back by the biggest rainstorm in 100 years to hit the Alpine area (remember all of the floods)  I was up there a couple of weeks ago only to run into waist deep snow.

So Monday my son JJ had some free time and we decided to get it done.  To assure that we would get to the top I decided to start from the AF Canyon side and the Granite Flats trail head.  There are a couple of different ways you can summit Box Elder.  We decided to go counter-clockwise.  So that meant we started on trail 043 - Deer Creek/Dry Creek trail.

View from trail head - Granite Flats

Since I was with my son I wasn't expecting to set any records on the ascent.  Nevertheless, we kept a pretty good hiking pace and were making our way to the top.  The area up AF canyon is just beautiful.  You can see a number of other peaks as you climb.  We also crossed a pretty cool rock garden (or what ever you call tons of rocks in one area).

JJ overlooking American Fork Canyon

At the top of the ridge we cut across trail #188 (can't remember the name).  This takes you pretty close to the final ridge assent to the top.  Cosmo was having a great time climbing and running around.

Close to the top of Trail 043 - Deer Creek/Dry Creek

The final piece is a pretty decent climb up the ridge. Nothing technical just a little bit of snow and some scrambling.  The weather around us was quickly changing as the cold front set in.  To the south of us (Timp) and the north (Lone Peak) it was snowing pretty good.  We were lucky.

Climbing the final ridge to the summit

Just under 6 miles to get to the top.  It wasn't a beautiful day but I'll take cool weather over the hot sun any day.  My son was happy to get to the top.  It was a good challenge for him.  The peak sits about 11,101 ft (Timp is 11,749 and Lone Peak is 11,253 and Pfeifferhorn is 11,325).

So this is the Orange Trail Monkeys blog.  I thought it was fitting to give the monkey from my shoe a new home.  What a great hike.

Monkey's new home

Box Elder Peak - overlooking Northern Utah County

We backtracked down the summit the same way we came up and then caught trail #188 and traversed across the backside of Box Elder.  There were a number of snow slides that we had to cross which made the run across a bit interesting. If I was 20 years younger I wouldn't mind sliding 20, 30, 40 feet each time on every snow slide.  Trail #188 connects to the Box Elder trail #044 and we headed back to the car.  Final numbers: 10.9 miles and 5003 feet of climbing.  I can't wait to get back up there.

Squaw Peak 50 race report

So....I know most of you have long forgotten about this race.  In fact, no one will probably read through this entire post.  This is my first post ever on OTM.  I have 2 other posts to write so this won't be my last.  I used to blog all the time back in the triathlon days but those days are in the past.

Just to give you a short introduction, I am a happily married, almost 48 year old guy from Alpine, Utah.  I have 7 children and 2 dogs, one of which, Cosmo, accompanies me on most of my runs.  I am not that fast (or strong) of a runner but I try and I enjoy being on the trails.  I have met so many wonderful people across the world and that makes it all the more enjoyable.  This is how I met Sam, Steve, and Matt - the original OTMs. With that, on to the race report.

So this was my third time running Squaw.  It is a beautiful course and amazing staff and volunteers.  Jim runs a great race and this was #18.  I am not a morning person really so getting up early really isn't my thing. Luckily, I have the best wife in all the world and she is a great support. I arrived at the starting point just as the race was starting so I tied my shoes and off I went. I'm not a big fan of the start because you either have to sprint to get out in front OR you run with everyone else and then you are in this LONG chain of people slowly hiking up the first hill.

Squaw Peak (with fuzzy lens)

For some reason I wasn't in any sort of a chatty mood so I just kept quiet and watched as the daylight broke. It wasn't long before I pulled into the Hope Campground aid station.  This is great because I get to see my wife and the amazing scout troop cooks breakfast for everyone. It is pretty cool.

Cool mountain meadow running

 For the next several miles the views of Utah County are simply amazing.  The sun hasn't come over the mountains so it stays cool and it is pure heaven to be running.  Legs are fresh, stomach feels great and you feel like you could go forever.

Looking down into Springville

Soon, I was coming up on the #6 Aid Station which is down in Hobble Creek Canyon.  It's always a good one with great volunteers and lots of good food.  I was looking forward to seeing my wife at this point.  I waited and waited and waited and finally almost a half hour being there I took off for the hills.  Bummer!

Last year I always was slow coming out of #6 and I was determined to much harder all the way to the base of the big climb.  My legs felt good.  I was soon coming up to Aid #7 and this was the best part of the entire race.  Who was running towards me from the aid station???  My wife!  She was SO excited to see me.  She had arrived at #6 too late and really felt bad and decided to drive ALL THE WAY around the mountain to catch me at #7.  But some of you may know that the road to #7 is only accessible by truck.  So she drove as far as she could and started walking.  Luckily, some other crew members picked her up and took her the rest of the way to #7.  It was so fun to see her and I so much appreciate all of her support for my races.

My most awesome wife Aid Station #7

I left #7 and started my climb up the mountain.  It was getting warm and I was ready to attack the big monster.  The first year I did Squaw I had no idea what I was in for on Bozung Hill.  A number of people passed me going up and it was all I could do was to take a few steps, stop, take another few steps.  It was HARD.  Last year, I was determined to not let a single person pass me and not stop at all going up.  I accomplished that and more as I passed a number of people.  This year, I was on pace to beat my best time by well over and hour and so when I started up I was just a tad bit tired.  I was only half way up and I first the first time in a race was gagging and throwing up.  Not pretty.  Part of me knew that I was pushing myself and another part of me just wanted to sit down and rest.  The other thought that kept going through my mind is that there is no way I can do 100 miles.  No way I can do Wasatch this year.  Too hard.  I'm not good enough.  I'm not in good enough shape.

At the bottom of "Bozung" Hill

After another hour or torture I was at the top of Windy Pass and that made all of the difference.  I had conquered the mountain once again and I was heading to the finish line.

Looking at the backside of Timp and Box Elder

Last year I remember heading down the trail on the final stretch and so many runners were passing me.  My feet at that point were pretty trashed and running on all of those boulders was not a pleasant experience at all.  Well, this year, wearing the Altra Olympus it was a totally different story.  Yes, my feet were tired but I could actually keep running.

Soon I was coming into Big Springs - the last aid station.  I changed my shirt to the WMW shirt and from my Olympus to my Lone Peaks for the last few miles of road.  That last couple of times my daughter, Whitney, runs the last few miles with me.  Sadly, this year she was down hiking in Zions.

Coming across the finish line

I simply love this race.  The race director does a fantastic job.  The aid stations and volunteers are some of the best around.  Food and supplies are great.  The course is well marked.  There really isn't a single complaint I have - okay, maybe just a little too much pavement but what are you going to do.

Enjoying one of my 5 Creamies

So here is my gear that I can remember - Altra Olympus, Ultimate Direction SJ vest, Cocogo drink in my bottles, CEP calve sleeves, Feetures High Performance socks, GoLite shorts.  I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things but that's about it.

Back to Back Marathons & Connor's first marathon

January 1st is a time to reflect on the past year and set goals for the new year. This year my son Connor announced that he was setting a goal to run a marathon. Connor is only 12 and I explained to him the amount of time and effort it would take for him to train to run a marathon. His mind was already made up and he was going to do it.

We looked through the race calendar to find a marathon that would be good for him. The Bear Lake marathon was in June, 22 weeks away. It is a relatively flat course which would be perfect for him. I put together a 22 week training schedule for him to follow based on may past experience.

One of the neat thing about the Bear Lake marathon is that they actually offer two marathons. One on Friday and one on Saturday. The Friday race is on the Idaho side of the lake and the Saturday race is on the Utah side of the lake. Both of them are official races complete with timing chips, aid stations, and awards. In past years, several runners have ran both races back to back. I decided that I was going to do both races. The first one by myself and the second one with Connor.

For the first few months Connor did a great job following the training plan. Towards the end of the training, he slacked off, but we still got in some good long runs. Training in Bountiful is great because there are lots of hills. I figured if he could run good on the hills, he would to great on the flats. On our last long training run we summitted Centerville Canyon Flag Rock and Farmington Flag Rock. It was 18 miles and 3600 ft of elevation gain. That's six times more elevation than we would encounter during the marathon.

We rented a condo for the week in Garden City. It was a fun and relaxing vacation before the races. We had time to drive both courses and check everything out.

The Friday race started at Bear Lake Hot Springs on the Northeast end of the lake. There were 57 runners in the race. Most of them were not from Utah or Idaho and were planning on running both races. They also had a half marathon on Friday and there were a few people running half marathons back to back.

Start of first race. I am on the right in yellow.

At 7:00 a.m. we headed out. I was running an 8:30 per mile pace and before long I was in third place. I maintained that pace and held my position for the first 12 miles. At the point, I reminded myself that I would be running another marathon the next day and needed to have some energy left. I change my focus from racing to treating it like I was running an ultra. I ran the next five miles at a 10 min/mile pace. From there to the finish it was very hot. The sun was out and there was zero shade. The heat seemed to take a toll on me and I had to walk a few times in the last few miles. I finished in just over 4:30 which was something like 9th place. I was sore but felt like I would still be able to run the next day.

 About the Twinkies shirts. I have been wearing a Twinkies shirt in all my races ever since I ran my first marathon in 1999. My first shirt got faded and worn out, so I replaced it with a new one (the yellow one). Connor wanted to run in a Twinkies shirt too. So we searched the web to see what we could find. It turns out that back in 2003 that Hostess sponsored a bicycling team in the UK. More surprising than that, we were able to find the shirts in both our sizes on ebay and nabbed them up.




I woke up feeling pretty sore on Saturday morning. This is to be expected as I had just ran a marathon the day before. I have run lots of training runs the day after a hard run the day before, so I was not too worried. Connor was  a little nervous, but probably more excited than nervous. The Saturday race was a little bigger than the race the day before, but still only had 86 runners. Connor was the youngest racer by a ways. The next youngest was 18. We started out at a 10:30 min/mile pace. The first three miles hurt for me, but after that my body relaxed and I felt great for the rest of the race. Connor did a great job of staying on pace and being quick through aid stations. We ran for the first 9 miles, then Connor announced that he needed to walk. We walked for about a half mile, then I talked him into running again. This would be the pattern for the rest of the race. Connor never complained. I could tell that he was tired and in pain, but he never said he wanted to quit and just kept moving. The weather on Saturday was much cooler than Friday. It was overcast and stayed cool for the entire race.

At miles 23 my phone rang. It was my dad. He asks if we were still running and where we were at. I told him we were almost to Pickleville Playhouse. He said he was almost there too. This surprised me because he lives near Rexburg, Idaho and hadn't told us he was coming to the race. It was great to have him there and cheer us on. Connor was really struggling at that point and needed the extra push. When the finish line came within sight, Connor got excited. He has been working on his finish kick all year and still had a good kick left in him.

The final stretch

 We finished with a time of  5:40:38. I am very proud of Connor and the amazing job that he did. It was a great way to start Father's Day weekend.

Like Father, like Son.

Summer Trail Series - Baer Canyon Bushwhack to Francis

Francis Peak in the background. Steve. Sam.

Dude, where's the trail?

by Sam

Francis Peak has been in our sights for a while now. Steve and I tried to reach it last winter but were not prepared with snowshoes. This morning we set out on the Baer Canyon Trail around 4:30 a.m. There's nothing like pounding out 5,000' of vert and 12 miles before work. Well, now that it's summer I don't have to work, but Steve did. Wha ha! The first few miles are nice and runnable. After crossing the river for the last time the trail starts to climb a lot more. Due to our recent snowfall (in June, really?) many of the small ferns and flowers were bent over the trail, causing it to vanish right before our eyes. On our way up I said to Steve that when we came back down we were going to get lost. Sure enough, we did a few times. Also along this part there are many shrubs right at shin and knee level that grab at your legs. I've got a few new long scratches. Awww, such is downhill running in summer.

Summit Monkeys.

If you've never gotten up to the Great Western Trail, you are missing out. It's amazing. You're on top of the Wasatch with sweeping views every which way you look. Ridge running takes my breath away every time. I just can't get enough. Recently, Steve's calf muscle popped off his bone. He finally broke down and started wearing calf sleeves. Still he had to reattach his calf a few times during our run today. We took it easy, enjoying it. We tagged Francis Peak in more ways than one, sledded down the snow bank, did a few laps around the structures and considered climbing a few ladders here and there, but were chased off by some German Shepherds.

On our way back down we decided to tag another nearby peak just north a bit north. Steve took it easy on the way down and I ran on ahead. However we lost the trail and met up with each other about 10 mins later. After getting lost at least one more time I was able to break away from the grab and pull of the shrubs and ferns and finally get some good downhill speed.

Steve about to slide down the snowbank with Cerebro in the background.

Map and Stats of Baer Canyon to Francis Peak.

Bryce 100 Blubber Creek Aid Stationing and Pacing DJ

The View from the Blubber Creek Aid Station.

by Sam

An ultra race is fun, challenging, exhausting, and mind draining. Running 100 miles will take anywhere from 17-34 hours depending on the course difficulty and how fast you are. In order for a large number of people to do this at once, lets say 300 or so, aid stations are vital. At every ultra marathon there are aid stations placed along the course about every 6-10 miles. It was my great pleasure to work in the Blubber Creek aid station during the Bryce 100.

Matt Williams, a fellow Wrangler, organized and headed the aid station. The volunteers were made up solely of fellow Wasatch Mountain Wranglers. Unlike other aid stations that have several shift changes, the Wranglers all decided to work the whole race, which meant about 30 hrs non-stop. What a great group of people. Practically all of us have run ultra races as well, so we know first hand how the runners feel. Besides the usual goodies and liquids for refueling we were lucky enough to add a sound system that played nonstop music selected at random from Matt's iPad shuffle. Les Miserables to Metallica to Katy Perry and everything in between. We received many thank yous from runners for the music.

Lee and I fill up a runner's water bladder.

Blubber Creek is about 27 miles into the race, then again at 73 on the return trip. The quick people trickled in over the course of an hour or two. Then for about four straight hours we were swamped. Lots and lots of people came through needing food, water, rest, and an enthusiastic boost of spirits. Mostly, I just filled water bottles non-stop.  No one ever told me or anyone else what to do. We all just seemed to find something to do and everything worked like clockwork. It was fun seeing a lot of fellow Wranglers and being able to help them on their way.

David Blaylock.

David Blaylock is an old buddy of mine that inspired me to get into ultra running. The dude is 71 and ran the whole Bryce 100. If he can suffer through these insane distances why can't I? Not to mention it was like his 24th 100 to complete.  I was lucky enough to run into him and his wife at check-in the night before and then fill his water bottle and hand him a quesadilla as he was in-n-out of the aid station.

Francesco being helped by Aaron.

I got to help Francesco Perri, another buddy of mine, through a particularly rough moment. He is kind of like me, relatively new to the scene and wants to run fast but his body won't let him because after a few hours it starts to shut down. Over the past year I've been able to find a tolerable balance of eating solid food while running. Francesco is still working that out. He came into our aid station looking like the walking dead. I quickly got him the cot I had used to camp on the night before. He took a good 1/2 hour nap and then slowly ate a burrito and drank some sprite. Maybe if he wasn't vegan he'd be able to eat some real food and get some real energy. :)
















After the rest and a good talk he felt better and decided to carry on. The aid station was starting to slow down so I decided to run with him a bit to give him a little extra encouragement. We went about 1.5 miles together before I let him go. He was looking a lot stronger. I was glad to have ran with him a bit.

After about nine solid hours on my feet and virtually no one at the aid station we all took a rest before they started coming back the other way. Knowing that I was going to pace DJ the last 27 miles when he got back I decided to try and sleep an hour or two. I wasn't able to, but I did lay down and read a book. Then I got to eat a delicious tinfoil dinner prepared by the extraordinary Kristyan. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I might add that Kristyan never stopped cooking stuff the entire time, day and night. She was amazing.

Around 8:15 p.m. runners started coming back a trickle at a time. The rush never got to more than a handful. I filled a few water bottles, roasted some marshmallows and waited for DJ. Around midnight I got this phone call from him. At first I was worried that something had happened and he DNF'd (Did Not Finish) so he was calling to inform me that he wouldn't be needing a pacer. Instead I heard the following:

DJ (sounding scared and confused): "Sam, I've been alone in the dark for about four hours now. I think my watch is off so I don't really know how far away I am but I think no longer than 20 min."

Me: "No problem man, I'm ready for ya."

DJ: "Um yes, there is a problem. I had this rabid squirrel run in circles around me three times then it ran up my leg and jumped onto a tree."

Me: "Really, did you get a picture?"

DJ (voice growing shaky): "I think something is following me, something big, maybe a bear."

Me: "The race director said there were sightings of a few bears around here last night, but you'll be ok. I'll get you some ramen and your drop bag ready. See you in a few."

DJ: "Ummmm..."

DJ gets ready to leave the aid station.

Then I ended the call and got DJ's stuff ready and grabbed my new UltrAspire Surge race vest, which I love and is a ton better than what I've been using, a Camelbak Mule made for hiking. No more bouncy bounce. I sat back down and waited. About three minutes passed by and I realized that DJ is running in the dark, with the bears. So, I set out to meet him where ever he was. The moon was full and really bright so I didn't turn my headlamp on. About a half mile later I started to hear someone calling out unintelligible gibberish like: "moose moose" or "bear there" or "scat cat". Soon enough I saw a headlamp not too far ahead. I turned mine on and met grateful-to-not-be-alone-anymore DJ. We ran about 5-6 minutes together then I ran on ahead to make sure everything was ready.

DJ felt really good and was optimistic for a 24 hr. finish. We set out together for the last 27 miles around 12:45 a.m. We kept a solid pace for about 3 miles as the terrain mostly descended. Then DJ's stomach went south and the terrain rolled up, down, around, repeat. Despite suffering stomach issues we made it to the next aid station with decent time. We stayed long enough to fill our water and eat some semi-cooked potatoes. Just as we were leaving, around 4:00 a.m. another fellow showed up at the aid station. He caught up with us within the first few minutes of leaving. Todd, from Portland, was happy to share the dark lonely hours with us. It was deathly quiet the whole night.

Arriving at the last aid station was rough. We had slowed down quite a bit and I was starting to fall asleep on the trail. With less than a mile to go I left DJ and Todd with a: "I can't take it anymore." and ran ahead. After eating some nice bacon and eggs I felt a lot better and ready to continue on for the last 10 miles. DJ was at an all time low and would remain there the rest of the race, but we pushed on anyway. He started to mumble things like: "feet...owww...abs...why...hips...dulllnosuuu...seize... quads... buick... guffamp...stomach...abs...ink.." I just ignored him and pushed him along. The sun came up and the sights were actually quite amazing during this part of the course.

Over the next three miles, which felt like 9, the course decided that if you had any mental capacity left it would be drained. The trail was relatively easy going but went in and out of about 12 finger canyons. "This is the last one, I can feel it..." "Dang it!" "Ok, this is the last one..." "Dang it!" etc. We actually were quite silent during this time. All we could do was just keep moving. After what seemed like forever we finally made it to the dirt road and last two miles of the course. For a short time we alternated running and walking, then DJ said: "You know, I've often felt like I don't want to run, but I've never felt like I couldn't run." When the finish line came in sight. I picked a spot where we would run to the finish. It ended up being a bit farther than DJ would have liked, but he did it. He ran the rest of the way, finishing as strong as he could.

Despite walking most of the last 12 miles DJ still finished 21st overall with a time of 28:07:37. Not to mention he finished this race only one week after finishing the Squaw Peak 50 miler. It was a pleasure to help him through the last part of the race. It was the first time I've ever ran through the night, which was good training for the time I do my first 100. Hopefully, next year I'll be able to complete one. Until then, I am content to share the joy and pain with others.

Map and Stats of the last 30 miles of the Bryce 100.