Old Pueblo 50 – AZ

I ran again in the Old Pueblo 50 in the Santa Rita Mountains, southeast of Tucson, Arizona.   I previously ran in the 2005 and 2006 editions of this race and was pleased to return.  The race is put on very well.  With new race directors this year, the event didn’t miss a beat.  It is still a well-organized, high quality event with super volunteers.

I met up in Tucson late Friday night with my brother, Bob, from California.  He has now run several ultra marathons and has risen in the standings rapidly.  It would be fun to run the same race with him.  We arrived at the start with little time to spare to get ready and said a few quick hellos to familiar ultra running friends.

I decided to really try to race this event.  There would be no movie production this time like I did at Moab Red Hot 50K a couple weeks ago.  I wanted to see if I could push this race hard.  I knew the course well so fully understood what I could do on it.   My first goal was to break 11 hours.  I was confident that I shouldn’t have a problem doing that.   For my pacing goals, I set them up to come in at 10:25.  That would be a good race for me.   If I had a perfect race, I thought I could break 10 hours.  If successful, this would be my 44th ultra finish.

Course Map

I scrambled to get ready and jumped in at the start line with two minutes to go.  We found out that the course was flagged with two colors of ribbons.  One was for an equestrian race.  I hoped that I wouldn’t take a wrong turn and race with the horses.

Away we went in the dark, up the road to initially run on the tops of several ridges.  I took off and ran with the top 7-8 runners.   We quickly opened a pretty large gap ahead of the main pack.  I started to breath pretty hard, but kept up the blazing pace. None of the front-runners used lights, as dawn would arrive in only 15 minutes. However, I have taken too many face-plants during the first mile of a race, so I held a small headlamp in my hand.   With that thought, I tripped, almost recovered, but ended up on my back, hurting my shoulder blade.  What a great start!   With the large gap behind, no one saw my blunder.  I picked myself up, quickly recovered and continued on a little more cautiously.    As the dawn approached I could hear the sounds of birds greeting the morning light and was thrilled to also hear the hooting of an owl on a cliff high overhead.

The initial three miles are mostly uphill.   A couple runners caught up with me, including the front-running woman.  I would leap-frog with her for the next ten miles.  It looked like she was at least 70 pounds lighter than me and I marveled how she could almost effortlessly motor up the hills.

We arrived at the Granite Mountain aid station at the 30-minute mark and just ran right through it.  I was still running in the top-10 at that point.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Granite Mountain	3.0	0:32	0:31	0:30	0:30

 

After a fast downhill dirt road pounding, we jumped on the funnest portion of the course, a single-track trail on the Arizona Trail.   Once we hit some technical switch-backs, I was in my element and quickly passed a couple runners including the front-running woman.   My downhill speed was good, but I could tell that I still needed to train harder on it.  I didn’t have the confidence yet this season to really blast down hard.  Things continued very well.   I arrived at California Gulch five minutes ahead of schedule.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
California Gulch	7.3	1:15	1:14	1:15	1:10

 

During this next stretch, I exchanged greetings with the front-running woman.  This was her first time on the course.  I described for her some stretches coming up, including a long run down a sandy wash through Barrel Canyon.  She had better speed on the flats than me, so ahead she went.  The sandy wash wasn’t that bad this year.  It was packed down nicely and I concentrated on keeping my speed up.  All day long, sections of the course would remind me other sections on other courses, including Pony Express 100, Leadville 100, and Bear 100.  To avoid getting lazy, I would think about those sections and how I had successfully kept up the speed then, so why not also today during just a 50-mile run.

We hit the turn to start the long climb up Wasp Canyon, a nice steady rough dirt road climb winding up a beautiful canyon.  In past years I walked much of this stretch.  I was determined this year to run all the way up the canyon to the aid station.  I was thrilled to discover that my uphill gear felt good and strong.   I arrived at Wasp Canyon (mile 12.9) 12 minutes ahead of schedule.  I knew that I was on a great pace and still running in the top-10, averaging better than 10-minute miles despite the tough climbs.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Wasp Canyon	12.9	2:15	2:12	2:15	2:03

 

I knew that next up would the tough climb up to Gunsight Pass.  I looked up and could see it high ahead reflecting the morning sunshine.  I recalled the slow walk I made up to the top in 2005.  This year I was determined to run almost all of the climb.   A runner in blue was with me and I was determined not to let him out-do me on the long climb.  When he would run, I would run.  We pushed each other well and no one caught up with us along this stretch.  Wonderful views of the desert below came into view.  This is a very scenic course if you appreciate the beauty of the desert.   

The morning temperatures were perfect.  At the start it had been chilly, you could see your breath, but I opted to stick with short-sleeves and skip taking any gloves with me.  That had been the right decision.  The air warmed up but was still perfect for running.   The rising sun made it very difficult to see on some of the short descents that were facing toward the east.  I had to put on my sunglasses in order to see a little bit better.   We pushed hard with a few runners on our tail and arrived at the top of Gunsight Pass much faster than I expected.  It was a good feeling to think that back in 2006 at this point I was not far from the Wasp Canyon aid station.  This year I was already at the top of the pass!

The runner in blue reached the top first, but with the steep technical downhill, it wasn’t long at all until I passed him and left him far behind.  I looked ahead and could see the second-place woman runner on the switch-backs below.  (I understand the top-two women had a running dual all day.)  I kept the speed up as I rapidly descended down the canyon past several old mines.   The road eventually leveled out as I spilled out onto the desert foothills.   It is funny how I speed up on technical portions of the course and slow down in easy smooth road sections.  As I slowed, I looked back and could see about five other runners on my tail. 

running hard into the 19-mile aid station

We hit a long straight dirt road which I knew took us to the next aid station.  I put on several bursts of speed to stay in front of these runners and arrive at the Helvetia aid station ahead of the pack.   I arrived 14 minutes ahead of my pacing goal and 21 minutes ahead of my PR pace for this course.  I was still averaging better than 10-minute miles.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Helvetia	19.4	3:50	3:30	3:25	3:09

 

My aid station strategy today was simple.  I carried with me two hand-held bottles.  I would fill them up each time and at every station, force myself to eat a gel.  I also drank 2-3 cups of coke at each stop and grabbed a peanut-butter jelly sandwich quarter for the road.  This worked perfect.  I was always fully fueled and was never dehydrated.

At the aid station, I noticed a runner who sat down in a chair stretching out his legs.  It was Mark Cosmas.  I had never been able to keep up with Mark so late into a race.  He gave me some great complements, saying that I was really running strong.  So far I was running a perfect race for me.  I mentioned that in 2006 I really started to fade at this point with the hot desert section ahead.  But a volunteer pointed out that this year is was much cooler.  I thought to myself, “Hey, it is cool!”  I ate and drank well, and pushed on ahead.   On another steady uphill section, I again forced myself to run most of it and caught up to a woman runner.   The runner in blue pushed on ahead with some very strong uphill speed.   With about a half mile to go on this section, Mark caught up to me as we had to hop over a couple fences.   I pushed on ahead and was pleased that I had run this leg of the course 15 minutes quicker than 2006.  I was still cruising.   I arrived at Box Canyon (mile 24.3) at 4:07, 18 minutes ahead of schedule and 36 minutes ahead of my PR time.   I was now certain that I could finish in under 11 hours.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Box Canyon	24.3	4:55	4:43	4:25	4:07

 

Next up is a very long grinding uphill through Box Canyon, climbing from the desert foot-hills back up to the top of the ridges.  In past years, this would slow me way down so I was determined to push it hard.   Paul Grimm caught up to me and we exchanged greetings.  He was looking very strong and I knew he would finish in under 9:30.  Could I keep up?   I don’t think Paul walked a single step up that massive climb.  He had a constant steady trot.  I couldn’t keep a similar trot going, so what I did instead was run shorter spurts at double that speed and then slow for some power-walking stretches.  This worked well.  I passed Mark and the woman runner “Honey” and kept Paul in my sights.  Pam Reed did motor past me. I soon caught with two other runners who I had been leap frogging for the past five miles.   But as I approached the top, my left hip started to hurt bad, the same pain I felt at Leadville last year.   I decided to back off the double-time spurts of speed.   Also, I started to have bad pain in the gut.   Shoot, my perfect race was starting to unravel a little bit.   I arrived back at California Gulch (mile 28.8), completing the 21.5-mile loop of the figure-eight course.   My time in was 5:10, still 15 minutes ahead of schedule. 

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
California Gulch	28.8	6:10	5:58	5:25	5:10

 

Leaving the aid station, I knew it was time to visit the bushes.  After a six-minute stop I was feeling better but discouraged to think that all of the runners who I had been running with for miles were now far ahead.   I was now back on the Arizona Trail, this time heading in the opposite direction back to Granite Mountain.  This return direction is much tougher with more uphill.  I’ve always had a tough time here and it was no different this year.  But despite my long stop, I still finished this leg eight minutes faster than 2006. I was now nearly one hour ahead of that pace and right on my goal pace.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Granite Mountain	33.0	7:20	7:16	6:20	6:20

 

Running up Ophir Gulch, I felt discouraged because my gut still hurt bad and I was slowing way down.  I considered my options and decided at the top to make a long stop in the bushes to solve the problem once and for all.   It was a ten-minute delay, discouraging, but I knew it was just part of this crazy sport.  

Back on the trail, I was now back at top speed as I descended down the very technical trail down Fish Canyon.   I saw no runners ahead and no runners behind, but I kicked up the speed a notch.  Finally I caught up to a runner from Albuquerque who I would run near for the next ten miles.  In fact, we wouldn’t see any other runners for nearly all of those miles.

This seven-mile leg is the most beautiful section of the course, but also among the toughest because there is so much distance between aid stations.  The trail goes down and up a couple canyons through very green sections and then climbs up and over a pass revealing nice views of the desert below.  Then finally it winds down through some wide-open valleys.   

I had a good system going with the Albuquerque runner.  My uphill gear for a change was still very strong, so on all the hills, I would push fast ahead on the climbs.  But he would catch up on the flats and had some impressive downhill speed, pushing ahead of me.   We kept that leap-frogging going for miles until finally arriving at the Cave Canyon aid station.   As I neared the station, there was a lively group of fans cheering people as they arrived.  I crossed a creek and then ran up a short steep hill VERY strongly to the aid station.  (I had to put on a show for the fans!)  I heard someone say that I ran the hill faster than anyone they had seen.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Cave Canyon	39.7	9:15	8:59	8:00	7:58

 

I ate, drank, and regrouped quickly at the aid station.   I was very pleased to see that despite my very long stop on that leg, I was able to make up time and stay on my pace goal.  I was also now a full hour ahead of my PR time!   I left ahead of the Albuquerque runner and set my sights on the long two-mile steady climb up Cave Canyon road.   My new friend caught and we had a chance to talk some more.  He had never run the course before, so I let him know that this section could make or break your race.   We needed to run almost all of this road.  Walkers would really lose time here.   We tried to do that and he did much better than me and disappeared up the road.   At the end of the road the course jumps on a steep trail that switches back and forth over a pass.   Again, the single-track energized me and I pushed hard, running up the steep trail.   

At the top, I caught up to him.  As he regrouped after the tough climb, I explained that for the next section we just had to blast down as fast as possible until we reached the next aid station.   We ran together for much of this, but when we reached a runner who was walking, I stopped to see how he was doing.  He turned out to be a guy who had taken a couple pictures of me during the Moab Red Hot 50K that I put into my movie.   He was struggling and intended to walk in the last eight miles.   I tried to encourage him and explained that there was a very fun smooth winding single-track ahead that might wake up his legs.  He promised to try.  I pushed on ahead and no longer could see my friend from Albuquerque.  

 

Running into the 46-mile aid station

 hit the single-track and really enjoyed it, but just couldn’t push it as fast as I did in past years.  However, I did catch up to Karla Holgers who had passed me about 15 miles back.  Somehow I had caught up.   She was running strong and we descended down into Gardner Canyon, arriving at the aid station at the 9:28 mark.  I was still right on my pace goal.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Gardner Canyon	46.2	11:10	10:42	9:30	9:28

 

Karla and I left the aid station together.   She had not run the course before, so I explained what we had ahead:  A last steep climb of about 400 feet, and then a long level road pound that very indirectly takes to you the finish that you can see down below.   For this entire leg, I kept her in my sights.  I could catch up on the hills, but she had better speed on the flats.  We passed another runner who was walking it in but looking over a mile ahead, I could see no other runners to catch.   I purposely didn’t look down to the finish because it messes with your mind.  It looks so close, but it still is over two miles away by trail. 

Finally the trail descended down a winding technical trail.  I recalled taking a bad face plant here in 2006, so I slowed a little to be careful.   The trail then empties out into a series of beautiful valleys with high grass.  The trail is soft and generally level as it winds through the little valleys.   Karla slowed to a walk, so I was able to catch up and pass.  I told her that we were getting very close.  I picked up the pace with less than a half mile to go, wanting to beat 10:30.

I arrived at the finish to kind cheers at 10:27.  Wow, despite my long delays, I had still finished within two  minutes of my goal and beat my course PR by 1:14.   On every leg I had beat my 2006 split times.  I was pleased and felt very good at the finish.

Aid Station	miles	2005	2006	Goal	2009
Finish	50.6	12:16	11:41	10:25	10:27

 

I decided to wash up, eat a burger, and change into warm clothes as I waited for my brother Bob to finish.  I expected to see him in about an hour.  But in less than 20 minutes, as I heard the cow bell ring, I looked up and it was Bob!   He never ceases to shock and impress me.   For a relatively ultra rookie, old man as he is, he had a very strong race.  When I finished he was only a little more than a mile behind.  Wow!    Just before the 11:00 mark, friend David McOmber finished too.  It had been a perfect running day.   Thanks to race directors Lynda Hendricks/Steve Burton for putting on a great event.