Ran in the Moab Red Hot 50K+. The "+" is because it was actually longer than 50K - it was more like 54.7K (34 miles). The
race started at 8:00 AM at the Gemini Bridges trailhead, ran along
Little Canyon Rim Road and Metalmasher, before heading back onto Gemini
Bridges to the Gold Bar Rim Trail, Gold Spike, and the Poison Spider
Trail. About 14 of the miles were run on the uneven slickrock, and the
rest was a combination of loose sand and packed jeep trails. As
usual, I started out too fast, running the first couple of miles just
behind the front of the pack. I saw all of the usual ultrarunning
suspects: Dave Hunt, Brian Beckstead, Phil Lowry, and met a few others
from the Boulder, CO area. Knowing that I was aiming for a 5.5 or 6
hour finish I figured I should slow down my pace. Just after aid
station 1 I met up with Dave Hunt and he was nice enough to let me run
with him for a few miles while we climbed up to the Canyon Rim Overlook
(mile 10). Dave talked to me about ultrarunning, gave me a few training
tips, and chatted with me until we finished the uphill climb. When we
got to the top of the climb I fell back a bit to conserve energy and
look out at Arches National Park from our viewpoint on top of the Metal
Masher trail.
Since David had left me behind at aid station 2, I was on my own
and running on a combination of slick rock and sand. My left knee,
which I injured skiing about a month ago, was starting to ache, so I
slowed down my pace until I got to the third aid station. I filled my
water bottle, grabbed a couple of PB&J sandwiches and took off.
With my knee aching I decided to start a combination of running and
walking, especially on the downhill sections. After about a mile and a
half of downhill (and dodging ATVs) I turned off the Gemini Bridges
trail, and onto the Gold Bar Rim Trail. The Gold Bar Rim Trail is
primarily known for jeeping and mountain biking, not running. That
became very apparent as I scrambled up uneven slickrock faces and
navigated the course.
Let me tell you about running on slickrock. It's hard. Really
hard. And not just "hard" like difficult to do, but "hard" like running
on a very hard surface, like a sidewalk. There's absolutely no give,
and it just pounds your body with every step. You have to watch every
footfall, and keep an eye out for what's coming up, because the terrain
is very uneven, and the next step could be down a small hole, or up and
over a rock band. Tripping and rolling your ankles wasn't uncommon. The
constant pounding was really starting to take it's toll on my body. My
left knee and lower back were killing me, I kept looking for places to
sit down and stretch, but I knew if I stopped I would have a hard time
getting back up. It was only four miles between aid stations 3 and 4,
but it was taking a very long time to get there, I wasn't running at
all, just walking. I was in pain, and thought I might have to drop out. Finally,
I got to Aid Station 4, and just in time because my water bottle was
nearly empty. I shuffled up the rock face to refill my bottle, and sat
down to watch other runners come in. As I sat there, I contemplated
dropping, but hated the idea of hitching a ride to the finish, so I
sucked it up, and continued on. The cold water from the Aid Station
helped a bit, and I started running again, but the downhill slickrock
was still pounding my lower back, and I was feeling pain in my knee for
nearly every step. Other runners would pass me and give me
encouragement, but I was wasted. The trail map made it look like
the leg between Aid Stations 3 and 4 would be a flat, or mostly
downhill run, but it turned out to be series of short, steep uphill
climbs. It was until I I got to Bootlegger Canyon, that it started to
head downhill, and it transitioned onto dirt. The soft dirt gave me a
little extra spring in my step (quite literally), and I started running
again. I was starting to feel pretty good until I got out of the
canyon, and hit another stretch of slickrock. I decided to sit down and
stretch a little bit before carrying on. The stretching didn't
really help, but I could see that there was shade and dirt ahead, so I
started off again. At this point I was running on the Gold Spike trail,
and it was flatter and more even than the Gold Bar Rim Trail, but it
was still slickrock. Thoughts again turned to dropping out at Aid
Station 5, but then I came up on a rim and could see all the way out
past the Behind The Rocks Wilderness area and to the La Sal Mountains,
and it gave me strength to continue. I kept up my walk/run pace for the
last couple of miles of the leg until I finally saw the last aid
station. I ran up a small crest to the aid station, and downed nearly
half a water bottle before sitting down for a few minutes. As I
sat at the aid station I asked a volunteer for the time, "Exactly 2:00"
she said. I couldn't believe it - I was hoping to be done in about six
hours, but I still had six miles to go. By now I was determined to
finish, so I took off again with another runner, and we climbed up a
few slickrock faces until we got the Poison Spider Trail. Dirt!
The trail was dirt! I was in love, and I took off, the pain in my back
and knee was gone as I ran on the soft, forgiving dirt. It felt good,
so I kept what felt like a fast pace, and started heading down the
trail. I was starting to pass other runners that had passed me on the
slickrock section; we would shout encouragement to each other as we
pressed on. Soon I was starting to pass hikers who were coming up from
the finish line - I knew I was almost there. Running down the
switchbacks the Colorado River came into view, and I started to have
thoughts about jumping into it's blue water and cooling my body down. I
kept running, and I came out onto a flat section of trail. "Just a mile
to go I told myself" and I started around a bend, but then I heard
someone shout my name "It's Lander!". It was Lissa, and she was waiting
for me at the finish line! I was there! I didn't get my 6:00 hour
finishing time, but I wasn't too far off considering how difficult the
course was. I think I finished around 7:15, and I completed the last
leg (about six miles) in just about an hour - very fast considering how
slow my previous 14 miles were. I made it, and I was happy.
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