My first 50 miler for the year went fairly well, not a PR (actually a PW), but the weather was stellar and not much snow on the course this year.
Squaw Peak 50 Mile near Orem, Utah is probably the third hardest 50 in the US, behind Lake City (San Juan Solstice) and Jemez. I used to list it behind Zane Grey as well, but upon further reflection, it is probably harder than ZG now, since I hear the course there is better marked and not as apt to get lost as in the early years. The race starts and ends at Vivian Park, just a few miles south of where the Wasatch Front 100 race ends. Same mountains, different scenery. We start and end at Vivian Park, but the course goes counter-clockwise in a loop. The race filled up in 1 day this year, and it was a lottery! I had signed up for this race last year but had to withdraw a few weeks before. The race director, John, does a nice thing for those who sign up but can’t make it: he carries them over for the following year. I still had to apply, but didn’t have to shell out the $$$ this time. When the lottery results came out in early November, my name wasn’t among the lucky entrants. I wasn’t even on the waiting list! I eventually fired off an e-mail to John asking what happens to those who were carried over but didn’t get on either list. A few weeks later, he added more runners to the wait list. I was third from the bottom. Now I had to wait and hope I can get off the wait list and into the run. On my birthday this year (May 17) John let everyone on the wait list join in with the other runners. I was officially in the race. I had a contingency plan in case I wouldn’t get to run: I’d pace my friend Bob Rayburn (who was also a carryover from last year) the last 25 miles. Either way, I was going. Now it was official.
As mentioned at the beginning, the weather was great this year. It was a bit coolish at the start, and I was wearing several layers with a long sleeve shirt and gloves. It warmed up enough during the day though that allowed me strip off those layers and wear a short sleeve for the rest of the run. It was fairly warm on the Hobble Creek Road (mile 22-26) but not as hot as it usually is. It did sprinkle on me during the last few miles of the run, but nothing to worry about.
At 5:00 AM we were all off at the start, and I ended up running with Bob and Matt Watts along the 2 miles of bike path leading to the trailhead that would start us on our first of several long climbs during the day. By the time we started on the dirt trail, Matt took off and left Bob and I eating his dust. Bob and I enjoyed a relaxed pace and made conversation as we ambled our way on the many little ascents and dips that gradually then abruptly took us up to the first aid station at mile 5.5 and 1:23 into the race. I stopped briefly to swill some coke offered by the nice Boy Scouts who traditionally run this aid station. They also have pancakes, sausage, etc. but I declined as I wasn’t all that hungry.
After this aid, you continue on single track trail and meander through some meadow like areas until you reach a road. Once I got on the road I was able to run more, but I still walked the hills. Bob and I got to the next aid station at mile 10.8 in 2:49, a bit slower than two years ago when I was here. I decided to strip off the layers here as I wouldn’t get to my next drop bag until mile 22 and it was getting warmer. I put on a short sleeve, refilled my bottles and grabbed some food and left. Bob was right there with me.
There were several turnoffs from the road onto single track trails (which shortcut the winding road sections). Several people didn’t see the flagging indicating a turn, and I ended up catching up to those who didn’t see the turn. One gal realized it was a bad turn, but saw runners up ahead and continued on. I told her watch out for other turns are there are several more. I ended up pulling ahead of her. Bob caught up with me and we leapfrogged each other on the road. By the time we got to the second turnoff, Bob told me he was going to back off on the pace a bit. Being the asshole I am, I said okay and pulled on ahead of him. I wouldn’t see him until the finish line.
The trail was fairly short and we ended up back on the road again. The pace was nice and moderate along the ridgeline road, and I was able to get to the next aid station at Kolob Basin (mile 14.8) in 3:59. I refilled my bottles, grabbed some melon and headed out. I looked back down the road leading up to the aid station I saw Bob coming up the road. I guess it was time for me to leave so I thanked the aid station workers as I left and headed down a nice, rocky trail.
The trail eventually led to another dirt road (probably the same one we were on earlier) that rolled up and down gradually for about a mile. The road eventually turned off to the left and I ran the road down from here all the way to mile 22 aid station. I wasn't hammering it, but the pace felt good and relaxed. As usual with this segment I passed a ton of people here. Some were early starters but a lot were people I was running with earlier. I didn't walk one step these 6 miles. I got to the 21.8 mile point in 5:17. I took a minute to refill and eat. I got into my drop bag and sucked down an Ensure, changed hats, refilled my pack with drink mix and food and made my way out. This year, we had to continue on the dirt road about a mile before hitting the paved road known as Hobble Creek Road. In the past, the aid station was right at Hobble Creek, but due to an asshole property owner the aid was moved up the dirt road a mile. This is by far one of the worse sections of the race: it's paved, it's usually hot, and it's straight and boring. But it didn't go badly here at all. It was warm here, but with the breeze we had along the road made it feel very bearable this year. I ran the flats and downs, walked the ups here. No sense in overdoing it as I knew the next climbs after 26 miles are energy sappers. I ended up running most of the ¾ mile of road leading up to the next aid station at mile 26.3. Before I knew it, there it was, 6 hours and 17 minutes into the run. John was there and threw on a nice, cool towellette behind my neck to cool me off some. I grabbed some melon, coke, refilled my bottles and headed out with a popsicle in my hand up the dusty dirt road.
This section usually kicks my ass so I went easy here but kept the walking brisk. The first 3.5 miles are on dusty jeep, 4x4 roads. About a mile up we had a stream crossing to deal with. There was a log there, but being my balance is shitty, I opted to walk on through it as it wasn’t very deep. The water felt good on my feet! More uphills on the road, and eventually I got to the next aid station at mile 30.1 in 7:29. Again, slower than last time by about 20 minutes, but who cares? Grabbed some more food, got my bottles and sat down to access my last drop bag. I’ve had a history with turned ankles of late, so I put on some ankle braces here to help me down the last 8 miles of steep rocky trail of the race. I also changed shoes, ones that were a little bigger (as my feet swell up) and had a more aggressive tread on the sole to deal with the snow and rocks on the descent in 10 miles. I also grabbed on extra bottle, as I would need it for the 33 to 41 mile segment of the run heading up to Windy Pass. I spent about 10 minutes here but it was time well spent. I got up and left.
This next section really kicks your butt. Right off the bat we had to go along a minor stream which was also a trail leading up to the start of our big climb through a huge meadow. Pretty much an uphill grunt until the last .8 miles leading to the next aid station is all downhill. Got to the 33 mile aid station in 8:40, about 50 minutes before the cutoff. Sweet! Now I knew I had a finish in, as there is no final cutoff for a finish. At this point, everyone who makes it here in time is committed to a finish, no matter how long it takes to get to the end. I like this aspect of the race, since the pressure is off in getting done by a set time and you can concentrate on other things, like tackling the big climb up to Windy Pass at mile 40.
After sucking down a root beer and some fruit, I took off down the trail. A runner up ahead was asking how far it was to the big climb, and I told him about 6 miles ahead. I ended up running with him and talking with him until that climb. Wally Heseltine was his name, and we had a nice chat along the way. Another runner, Andrew Barney, a local, caught up with us and we talked and made the miles go quicker. We got about 2 miles out of the aid station when I realized I forgot to fill up my 3rd bottle. Shit!! Too late to go back now. My mission was to find some goodhearted runner with extra water to lend me, as my 2 bottles weren’t going to last long enough until the next aid station. At one point, the trail headed down and I picked up the pace, as I was watching the clouds overhead build up and I wanted to get off the high point before the lightning hit. I did pass several other runners and asked if they had any extra water, but not enough to spare for me.
After about 2 hours, the big climb was upon me. I now made my way slowly up the rocky trail (no snow here as in the past) and would aim to walk about a 100 feet or so and stop to catch a breath. This was a mile long climb gaining about 1200 feet in elevation along the way. I eventually caught up with an older runner who was bent over catching a breath. I asked him if he was okay, and he mentioned his heart was racing and causing his finger to throb. He then showed my bandaged finger which he sliced upon falling just before Hobble Creek. As he said, “...sliced it open to the bone”! He said he was okay but was going to take it easy going up. I noticed he had two full bottles in his pack. Feeling a bit guilty as to his condition and to what I was going to ask next, I asked if he had any spare water as I was about out. He gladly offered me as much as I wanted. I ended up only taking half a bottle, as I figured this would get me to the next aid station. I also didn’t want to be greedy and take a lot of his water. I thanked him and continued on my way up to the top.
It took about 40 minutes for me to reach the top, and by that time it was much less steep and runnable. The high point, at mile 40.8, topped out on my GPS at 9450’. I looked off to my right and down the valley below and saw the building for the last aid station before the last paved road section to the end. I had to traverse some snow fields on the way down to the next aid station a mile distant. I finally rolled into the aid station, mile 41.8, at 12:18 into the race. It took me 3 hours and 17 minutes to get here from the previous aid station.
I refilled my bottles (all of them this time, although it wasn’t really needed), grabbed some food and thanked the aid station workers for coming out here helping. These guys (gals) had to hike up the trail I was about to run down for the next 6 miles: steep, rocky, and twisty. They also had to haul up all their gear, supplies as well. They had a spring nearby as to fill water containers. I’m always in awe of these folks!
Made the descent down the hill, with a few patches of snow near the top to get over. I kept tripping on rocks as I made my way down the steep and rocky trail. This was getting annoying and after the 3rd trip, I yelled out “Goddammit Dale! Pick up yer fucking feet!!” It didn’t help, but it made me feel better until the next trip. Finally, after about 4.5 miles the trail mellowed out and was more runnable. Hot damn! I can run more now, and got to the open meadow which was a nice paced run now. More dirt road and then the last aid station, at mile 47, was just ahead. I stopped and filled one bottle of ice water, grabbed a coke, and left. It was 13:41 into the run now, and knew a sub-14 hour finish was impossible, so I just jogged the last 3 miles of paved road to the finish. Except for one brief uphill section, I ran the bulk of it. When I saw the houses just ahead and to my left, I knew I was less than ¾ mile from the end. I picked up the pace a bit and ran it in for the finish in 14:20. It took me 39 minutes to run the last 3.5 miles of road, pretty good time for me this long into the run.
While I didn't get a PR this year, I was extremely pleased with how I ran the race, and not be totally trashed at the end.
As I crossed the finish line Matt and Ed Green were there to offer congrats. I was a bit bummed when I went to the food table that most of the food was gone. I sat down and ate a popsicle and chatted with Matt, Ed, Wally, and others I met during the day, waiting for Bob. I was hoping he had made the final cutoff. I checked with the finish line crew who were tracking runners and they said he had just left the last aid station. Bob finally ran in at 15:20, apparently doing 3 extra miles in the process. He made a wrong turn after the 33 mile aid station and had to go back to where he missed a turn to proceed on. If he hadn’t of made that wrong turn I suspect he would have caught up with me on the steep downhill and we could have finished together.
I followed my plan for the most part: take advantage of the cool at the start, go slow and easy while it's warm, and walk the hills easy and run the downhills.
This was number four for me at Squaw Peak.
I'll be back, hopefully, next year for number 5.
