October 12-13, 2007
North Kaibab to Grandview Point and back
You are the first person I’ve seen in two days
— Comment from a backpacker on the Tonto Trail
It had almost been a year since I had run in the Grand Canyon. I was anxious to return and accomplish my 11th double crossing (rim-to-rim-to-rim). Now somewhat bored with the usual route using the mule-torn corridor trails, I wanted to do something new, something that probably nobody had accomplished before.
September 28-29, 2007
“I think they are running some sort of marathon in the mountains”
Overheard at a restaurant in Smithfield
Its 1:30 a.m., at about mile 73, on the 5th climb of the famed Bear “roller coaster.” I’m lying down on the side of the trail, breathing hard, out of gas. My first-time pacer brother, Bob, is leaning over me, “Should I get help?” “No”, is my quick reply. “This is just a bad bonk, part of this crazy sport.” Earlier, Bob was talking about the possibility of trying a 100-miler of his own. Now, looking down at my agony, he’s having lots of second thoughts about that crazy idea. Bob drapes a jacket over me and wonders if I’m going to croak. After five minutes, I feel a little better, and struggle back to my feet. I eat and drink and do the only thing I know how to do at that point – push forward. I lose my lunch several times and I hear Bob exclaim, “Oh boy!” I grin to myself and push forward even harder, feeling a little better. If the stomach doesn’t work, start it over. In another mile Bob starts to complement my strong pace. I was back in the race. How did I get here?
September 8-9, 2007
“Now I look tough.”
My comment after I was covered in dirt after my first trip and fall
When the luck of the Wasatch 100 lottery rejected me, friend Tom Jackson from
August 18-19, 2007
“Oh sure, we could run that fast if we had a green light too!”
Comment from a runner I passed at about 2:00 a.m.
The Leadville Trails 100, in Leadville Colorado, was my focus race for 2007. Of all the 100s I would run during the year, I wanted to do the best at Leadville. Leadville Trails 100 is one of the four “majors” of the ultra marathon sport, one of the four grandslam races. My main reason for wanting to perform well is that I wanted revenge!
August 4-5, 2007 – 70 miles
The Uinta mountain range in
June 29-30, 2007
“Now, you have no more excuses for whining about going up only once.”
Overheard — a scout leader to young scouts
Timpanogos rises above BYU campus during the winter
I again went out to do another crazy training run on Mount Timpanogos (11,749 feet), the most popular hiking destination in Utah. During the summer months, thousands of hikers make the strenuous trek up the mountain, usually taking all day, a 10-12 hour adventure. Tales of my recent exploits of doing repeat summits of this beautiful mountain have been spreading locally. On more than one occasion during a conversation about the outdoors, I have been asked, “Did you hear about a guy who hiked ‘Timp’ five times in a row?” Sheepishly than I have to admit that I’m that crazy dude.
July 21-22, 2007
“Should we check his pulse?”
Comment from a runner or pacer seeing me laying on the trail at mile 93
During my first ultrarunning year, I ran in the 2005 Vermont 100. It was my third 100-mile race attempt. I was trying to do too much, too fast. After a hot and humid day, I quit the race around mile 80 at 2 a.m. My recovery was very tough and I was sick for a week. I knew that one of these years I would return for revenge. 2007 was the year to get revenge.
July 7, 2007
Seven summits in one day (Scott Patterson photo)
1 = Mount Emmons 2 = “North Emmons”
3 = “Roberts Peak” 4 = “Trail Rider Peak”
5 = “Painter Peak” 6 = South Kings Peak
7 = Kings Peak
The highest peak in
June 15-16, 2007
I again ran in the Bighorn Mountain 100 Trail Run near Sheridan,
June 2, 2007
The Squaw Peak 50 is held in the mountains above Provo,
May 11-12, 2007
“Dude, why are you running in the middle of nowhere?”
— A question a guy asked me during the night
As the snows were melting rapidly in the mountains, I decided to do another valley training run. Soon I would be hitting the mountains in earnest as the summer season approaches. For this training run, I again journeyed to a cave/mine region about 30 miles to the southwest of my home.
April 28, 2007
At almost the last minute, I decided to go ahead and again run the Zane Grey 50 this year. I was going to skip it because I ran in the McNaughton 150 two weeks earlier, but my 80-mile DNF left me with a quick recovery time. The following week I ran a leisurely pace at the tough Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon above Salt Lake City. That mountain course left me with sore quads, but by Thursday I was pain-free and decided to go ahead and make the trip to
