July 10, 2004
This was my first attempt at a running race since Jr. High track days. (In Tucson, ten years ago, I did successfully finish a 110-mile perimeter bike race.) Linda, Connor, and I drove up to Idaho on Friday evening to stay in a motel. The race was east of Preston, Idaho and west of Bear Lake and covered a portion of the route of the Bear 100, a 100-mile ultramarathon.
We arrived at the starting area by 5:15 a.m. and watched all the runners arrived. The bulk of the group consisted of veteran marathon runners, many who ran regularly on the ultra marathon circuit. They would run several long races throughout the summer. There were also some obvious rookies, who came with daypacks loaded with junk. I was the only one with trekking poles and people would ask me how I used them. Many would soon see first-hand as they helped me push up the hills.
The race began at 6:20 a.m., after a late arrival of the race packets. I started with a moderate pace, putting me in mid-pack as we ran up a dirt road, doing a 5.5 mph pace. After a mile we turned left onto an uphill trail which would be the start of a long 3,500 foot climb over the next nine miles. I started using my poles and chugged past several people on the uphill grade, putting distance on rookies who I never saw for the rest of the race. The sun began to peek over the hills, presenting a blinding challenge as the trail headed up directly into the sunlight. For the next four miles we winded through canyons and climbed 1,500 feet. I kept pace well with those ahead and no one passed me.
At the 5-mile mark, we entered into a very challenging area known as Devil’s Den. This was a rough new trail carved in some dense growth, with roots, rocks, and logs to navigate through. Ribbons were hung from tree limbs to help us keep on the trail. In this section the ribbons had to be about every ten yards because the trail was very hard to detect. It was almost impossible to run through this 2-mile section, but my poles did great to give me balance and I was able to keep a faster pace going through this section compared to those around me. Most of it traversed a very steep slope, avoiding a loss of elevation down into the valley below. I slipped and fell once, taking dirt with me for the rest of the race. I passed a couple guys, feeling pretty good, but near the end of Devil’s Den I let three others go ahead.
Finally we dumped out onto a dirt road called German Dugway which took us up a steep 1,400 climb for 2.8 miles. I put the poles to work and kept up a 4 mph pace, passing one guy who was struggling on the long climb. At the top was Paris Pass Aid station (9.5 mile mark), an ATV loaded with goodies. I quickly downed several cups of Sports Drink and goodies. Tony, the guy I passed in Devil’s Den arrived as I left. I would see him later in the race.
The next section included downhill sections, flat sections and some uphill. I discovered that I had a hard time running a fast pace on the flat and downhill sections because of my knee. As I pushed the pace over 5 mph, it would complain as usual and I knew I had to back off if I didn’t want to have terrible pain later in the race. Soon Tony passed me by and also the guy who I passed on the long uphill section. As we hit uphill sections, I was able to close the distance on those ahead, but then would fall behind on the downhills. Two fast guys passed me by on an uphill which surprised me. I later found out that those two guys had been running near the front and had taken a wrong turn, getting lost for a half hour.
At the 3-hour mark, about 14-miles into the race, two women passed me by. One was Mary Workman, the race organizer who kindly asked how I was doing. She went ahead fast on the downhill. That discouraged me because I knew her pace would end her up at 7:30 and it was impossible for me to keep up on the flat and downhills. That would be the last racers to pass me for the next 11 miles, in fact I would run alone. All the fast runners were ahead, all the slow runners behind.
The next section was a beautiful forested section that included great views of valleys below and winded through several mountain basins. I reached Dry Basin Aid station (17.2 mile mark) at the 4-hour mark. I was still on pace for a sub-8-hour finish. But I was starting to feel some fatigue. I did my best to eat plenty at the station and loaded my camelback up. I bid goodbye to the volunteers and pushed on ahead over a mostly flat section over the next several miles. Without other runners around me, my pace slowed, but I enjoyed the hike.
At Green Pass (20-mile mark) I saw Tony ahead in the distance walking. I was doing a slow jog and soon caught up with him. I asked how he was doing and he said terrible. He explained that he was getting a head cold and was all congested, having a hard time breathing. The aid station didn’t have any decongestants. He perked up as I explained I had some and I quickly found them for him. He thanked me and I pressed on through a down-hill section. Fifteen minutes later, Tony caught up. He said he was feeling much better and indeed he was able to press ahead past me, doing a nice 5.5 mph pace on the flat sections.
At the 6-hour mark, I checked my pace and was discouraged to see that I had slowed down so much that an 8-hour finish would be impossible. I was traveling at only 3 mph. If I kept slowing I would be in danger of not even making the 10-hour cut off. I wished that I had had some runners with me to pace against. I decided that I wouldn’t push it, just enjoy the rest of the race and try for a time better than 9:30.
As I neared the third and final aid station at Danish Flat, I saw Tony ahead of me about a quarter of a mile. I stopped at the station (25.6 mark at 7 hours) and asked for some help taping a blistered heal that had slowed me for the past couple hours. I drank like crazy and grabbed a few things to eat. I knew that Linda and Connor would be arriving at the finish line soon. I told them the earliest I would finish would be between 7-8 hours. Well, I still had about 7 miles to go, so they would have a long wait.
I was surprised that another guy arrived at the station. It had been hours since I had seen anyone behind me. We left the station together and ran with each other for a few miles. He was from Hungary and he was intrigued to see how I used the hiking poles. As we hit downhill stretches, he would pull ahead, and then I would catch up at the uphill portions. Finally he ran fast ahead down a slope.
The final few miles went up and down across a series of canyons. The downhill portions were steep and hard for me to go fast, but I appreciated the uphill sections. I maintained a 4 mph pace during the final five miles. The finish came after a steady uphill portion and it was nice to see a kind group of people all clapping and congratulating me. Linda and Conner were there and Connor yelled “Finally!” Tony quickly came up and shook my hand, thanking me for the help. My time was 9:23, and I finished 30th of 42. The next runner didn’t come in for twenty minutes after I showed up.
I really enjoyed the race. I had plenty of gas left at the end and didn’t feel too hammered. Despite my attempts to do better at eating and drinking, I still was dehydrated. I need to continue to learn how to hydrate and feed myself along the way. Also, I missed having my GPS with me. There were several times when I wondered if I had missed a turn and would slow until I convinced myself that I was OK. Also, with the GPS it would help me keep my pace going by identifying split-time location. The pace I maintained would work fine on the Bear 100-miler.