I've always enjoyed running in circles. I ran the mile and 2 mile in high school. A few years back I started running the revolution run and didn't mind going in circles for five hours. I have thought about running loop races at the ultra level for a couple years now but just have never pulled the trigger. When I heard about the Pickle Feet race in Boise Idaho last year I thought it was time to jump in and try it. I figured I would start with the 12 hour race just in case I didn't like running in circles for 12 hours much as I did for five. Then I would step up to 24 hours.
Training for a race of this caliber I really didn't know how. I did a little research and never found much on training for ultra distance on a loop. My philosophy was to beef up my daily miles and run my long distance runs faster then goal pace. I did do some training running in circles. I did a marathon in liberty Park in 3:24 and a 20 miler at night doing Swinski 5K's.
In prepping for this race we found out that my wife has a friend that lives in Boise and quickly contact her to see if we could stay with her. This made it easy for my wife and kids to hang out there while I ran.
Laying awake in bed the day before the race I looked at the clock it was 7:30 AM. I had this thought to myself it's going to be dark at 6 AM tomorrow. I then panicked, I didn't bring a headlamp. Last thing I want to do is try to run in the dark the first few laps on borrowed light. While at the store I found a nice little hand held flashlight that had about 60 lumens.
The race started Eagle Island State Park just northwest of Boise. The course was on a 2.6 mile flat loop with little elevation change. My wife was kind enough to drive me to start of the race. She volunteer for a couple hours and crew me in the beginning.
I ran the first two laps comfortably with a lady that was a local and had done the race before. We chatted away in the lead in the 26 degree weather. Loop three was my fastest, after taking a quick pit stop I picked the pace up to a 7:30 to catch the leaders and pass the them.
I managed to keep a sub nine pace for the first 3 to 4 hours. Finished my first Marathon in 4:01 and felt great. Continued on to finish my first 50 K in about 4:49.
My strategy was to rotate directions every two hours for a change of scenery. This also gave me an opportunity to see how the competition was feeling and stacking up.
I made a point to talk to people and learn their names to encourage them. Intern this would boosted there energy. Then their smiles would created energy that that fueled me and boosted my spirit. It was a continual cycle throughout the whole race.
It worked for almost everybody in the race except for one lady. Every time I pass her she would say nothing and looked right past me as if she didn't hear me or I wasn't there. I then made it my goal to make her smile or acknowledge me. A simple good job or you're doing great didn't work. Then I tried something louder "Whoooooo Hooo, you're rocking it". That didn't work either. I think I scared her more then helped her. I didn't think I would break her but near the end she finally told me "good job". She may have found me annoying and obnoxious. That is never my intent. Everyone race strategies are different.
At about 6 hours my stomach went a little sour. I revived it on Mtn Dew and cantaloupe. During races I eat what ever I want. But this time I stuck to PB&j, casadillas and breakfast burritos. I normally drink lots of water. They provided Tailwind for the race. I decided to try it and I think it helped. I need to experiment with it more on my long runs.
My pace slowed a little between 50 K and 50 miler but still felt really good. Finished the 50 in a respectable time of 8:01.
I now only had four hours more to run. I found a second wind and pick the pace back up to 8:30.
In the last hour they opened up a shorter loop about .26 of a mile. This allowed you to get in more miles if you could didn't think you could finish the big loop in the time allowed. With 30 minutes to go I decide to play it safe and join everybody on the short loop.
In 12 hours I was able to get in 73.454975 miles. Finished in first place overall and set a new course record.
I couldn't have accomplish this with out the my many friend helping me train. My super awesome wife for allowing me time to train. Endurance Athletics for supporting my addition to run faster and farther. Tyler has a great running store. You can get everything you need for your next race, grand adventures and every day fitness.
Now to find a 24 hour loop race!
Yesterday, my headlamp was stolen as I stashed it behind a rock up Adam's Canyon. It was there about 30 minutes at 5:00am. There are shady people in the mountains folks. At any rate, my headlamp was stolen. But the good news is that I'm pretty sure that because this was a leap year, we have one day with more sunlight than all the other days, which happens to be yesterday. See... I'm being looked over. So, a day late, we celebrated my stolen headlamp.
At any rate. To celebrate National Ain't Got A Headlamp day, Matt Ricks and I took a jaunt to the church to do some summer solstice soul searching. Unfortunately, the church had been overrun by lepers. But after singing a gorgeous soulless solace solstice chorus about the good view on Grandview, we departed, having returned better men.
Kalina, Aaron, Sam, Jeremy, and Dave on the Bonny Stairs. Pic by Steve.
by Sam
As I drive through Utah's west desert I wonder why there are roads out in the middle of nowhere. The landscape is mostly a drab grayish brown. There is no water. Dry lake beds have turned to salt flats. The vegetation is virtually non existent. The views aren't necessarily that great...until you get up into the mountains. Or drive around a corner and find a random peak that doesn't look like it belongs in the area at all. Or get out of the car to explore the dry lake bed salt flats. You'll find out that among the wasteland there are hidden gems that you will never forget.
Last year's peakfest included Notch peak, which is the second highest vertical drop off (2,200') in the United States after El Capitan. Unfortunately, we were shrouded in cloud and didn't get to see any of the spectacular views. So we decided to return this year with the hopes of better weather. Luckily, we didn't have any cloud cover and were able to gaze into the Notch and the surrounding spectacular views. There were, however, 60 mph winds. Steve decided to bring colorful language but I decided to bring kites. While we were there we decided to loop around to the north on Sawtooth Mtn. I suggest always including Sawtooth. Notch peak can't truly be appreciated until you see it from Sawtooth.
Jeff's throne on Sawtooth, Notch peak in the background.
Map & Stats for Notch Peak and Sawtooth Mtn.
Map & Stats of Fossil Mtn.
After going back down the awesome slot canyon trail from Notch we ate some sushi and hopped in the car to head down to Fossil Mtn. Along the way we stopped at a dry lake bed salt flat to play around in the wind. Fossil Mtn is on the southern end of the Confusion Mountain Range. It's named for the numerous fossils that can be found. At first glance you don't really see any fossils. Of course for a bunch of peak bagging trail runners we don't spend much time looking for them. However, after we found a few and knew what to look for Aaron and I spotted a lot more. The summit is covered in white-orangy rocks that are fun to bound around on. The winds picked up quite a bit while we were there so we didn't stay as long as exploration might allow.
Salt Flats Fun.
Dave, Aaron, Steve, Jeremy
Fossil Mtn.
Our final destination of day one was Crystal Peak. Chris had been nursing a strained Achilles so he chose not to play on the peak and set up camp instead. Crystal peak is located on the northern tip of the Wah Wah Mountains. A peak composed of white volcanic sedimentary rock, it stands out among the drab brown of the west desert. The peak has innumerable small wind blown crevasses that make its cliffs easy to climb but also treacherous since the stone erodes easily. Add 60 mph winds into the mix and that could be a recipe for disaster. We climbed it anyway. Several times I found myself hugging the rock for dear life as the wind wouldn't stop laughed in my face.
Crystal Peak.
Jeff and Jeremy climb Crystal Peak. Pic by Dave.
It was loads of fun. The summit provides spectacular views. After going down the back of the peak we circled around and had a spectacular traditional steak and chicken dinner, sat around the camp fire and fell asleep watching the latest Rocky movie, Creed.
Map & Stats of Crystal Peak.
We spent most of the night tearing off clothes due to how hot it was and also praying the tent wouldn't get blown away. We had a few close calls and it seemed like we didn't get a wink of sleep. A good ultra runner learns to deal with little or no sleep. We somehow find the strength to carry on despite having little rest. After breakfast we broke camp and drove around the corner to Painted Rock, which proved to be somewhat of a let down. If not for the slick rock pots on the south side of the mountain we would have drove away disappointed. Only half our group made it over to the Pots. We could've spent all day exploring that area but after we were satisfied enough we continued in our journey.
Leapin' Aaron.
Logan climbing the dirty slots.
Hot Pots
Map & Stats of Painted Rock
The Hasselhoffs. Pic by Kalina
Our last destination of Peakfest was Kingtop Peak. I have been interested in Utah's top 100 prominent peaks and Kingtop ranks #60. The peak itself is not spectacular. It's more of a bump on a ridge without distinguishing features. Reports usually include driving on bumpy roads from the north to within a mile or so from the summit. However, we took the Bonny Stairs Gulch from the east. Best decision ever! It was amazingly scenic and rugged.
The Bonny Stairs Gulch
As we sat on Kingtop we gave one of the best Happy Birthday renditions in several different languages for Kalina. Logan looked at me and said in his suggestive way, "which way are we going back down?" I pointed to the mouth of the gulch and said, "the fun way, of course." It was by far the best way to end this epic adventure. Even Steve got over some of his aversion to rock climbing and heights as he led the group back down into the Gulch after summitting Kingtop. I'd go back to that area any day. Good times, good friends, peaks, scrambling, wind, fun.
Training for a race of this caliber I really didn't know how. I did a little research and never found much on training for ultra distance on a loop. My philosophy was to beef up my daily miles and run my long distance runs faster then goal pace. I did do some training running in circles. I did a marathon in liberty Park in 3:24 and a 20 miler at night doing Swinski 5K's.
In prepping for this race we found out that my wife has a friend that lives in Boise and quickly contact her to see if we could stay with her. This made it easy for my wife and kids to hang out there while I ran. 
