Sunday, June 29, 2008

Doin' Time and running

On Saturday, Peter, Brian and myself did trail work up on the flank of Lone Peak. I have to say that, compared to last year I had a great time. For those that don't know both the Wasatch 100 and Bear 100 require 8 hours of trail service in order to toe the starting line. What's that? You pay $XXX.XX amount for the chance to run and then you have to volunteer for 8 hours of back busting-hand blistering work, all so you can suffer for 20 to 36 hours in September? However it might sound to you, it's the right thing to do. We run on these and other trails all year long, we should help rehabilitate and build these same trails, it just makes sense.

Peter informed me that we would be hiking for a while to get to the trail work section and I was pretty excited about that. Turns out we hiked for nearly 2.5 hours, picked up tools, then started working.
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The best part was that we weren't just clearing overgrowth and widening existing trails, we were actually building new trail. The old trail in this area is called Eagle Creek, and it ascended straight up the mountain, which isn't exactly a problem unless you're a tad bit concerned about straight-up-trail's friend, erosion. Seems the old trail had become a ditch and almost impassable. Long story short, we put in about a half dozen switchbacks, diverted a drainage, built a crossing and blazed about a 1/2 mile of new trail. The best part was that we were able to run on it after we were finished.
Jeff LaMora, Peter, Brian Hamos, Ryan Lauck and myself decided to run down after we were finished and get a bit of a workout in. Turns out we were 4,000' and 2,000 switchbacks above our starting point. We started at a pretty brisk pace and after about 10 minutes ran in to this guy. We had startled this 4' rattler off the trail and into the bush, he didn't seem to happy to see us.
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On Sunday Greg joined Peter, Brian and myself for a run from the bottom of Big Mtn. to Lambs canyon. I have run this section many times, but I have to say that today was the most visually spectacular I have ever seen. Every mountain flower that exists was blooming today. I had a hard time concentrating on the trail, not just from the over growth but mostly from all the color we were running through. The pictures really don't do it justice.
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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wahsatch Steeplechase 2008

Another Summer Solstice has come and gone, and with it, the Wahsatch Steeplechase. The MRC had a good showing with everyone finishing under 3 hours.

3 Kevin 2:20:41
8 Erik 2:31:27
21 Rich 2:42:57
40 Peter 2:53:07
44 Sam 2:54:34

In the 4 years I've run the Steeplechase, I've devoloped a love/hate relationship with it. I'ts a beautiful course, well put together, a variety of all the terrain I love to run and as always, interesting and new people to meet on the trail. These are the things I love. Then..... there's the fact that it's 16.4 miles. Short enough to feel like I need to run the whole thing, and not just at a casual jog, but long enough with brutal terrain to make that long uphill absolute misery. Not to mention the sprint down City Creek trying to catch a glimpse of Shilling the longest 40 minutes of my life. That's what I hate. Go ahead, call me a whiner.

This year was no exception, the uphill was long, brutal and absolutely beautiful. Nothing prettier than watching the sun rise over the Wasatch whilst running through those yellow and purple wildflowers. (If anyone knows their names, please feel free to share your knowledge.) The Crags were as craggy as ever- I'm just glad that I wasn't the lady that forgot she was afraid of heights untli she was on top of the crags and had to be helped off after 3 hours of coaxing- and the descent from Smuggler's notch was as overgrown as ever, (my favorite part of the race) and I never did catch sight of Shilling as I slogged down City Creek. Although... I did pass Karl Meltzer (sorry to hear that Western States was cancelled, I hope the Appalachain Trail isn't burning in August) with 2 miles to go. Never mind that it was just a training run for him, I'll just leave that part out when I tell people since it's the only time that particular event will ever happen.

All in all, what a fabulous race and I'm glad I ran it. One of these years, we'll have to get the MRC together, skip the Steeplechase, and take a stab at the Wasatch Back Relay. Anyone interested?

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Desolation Lake and Wasatch Crest Trail

As usual for this time of year my soul was itchin to get up on the crest. Monday morning I decided to run from Mill D in Big Cottonwood to Desolation Lake. The rail was in great shape with only a few patchs of snow up to the lake. Desolation was almost totally frozen over and the valley to the north had 2 to 3 feet of snow. It was beautiful!!!! When I got up to the crest i figured I might as well check Great Western out. I ran across the crest and it was SNOWY! In some spots it was still 6 feet deep. Then I headed down and back up to Dog Lake. The water level is the highest I have ever seen it. Then I returned to Big down Mill D. What a great run. It will be a while until the snow is gone, but it really didn't take away from one of the best loops in the Wasatch. Happy running and I will see most of you on Saturday. 

P.S. Watch out for the Rattlesnakes. Had a close call Wed on the face a Grandeur!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Squaw Peak Mud Fest

Here's my attempt at a race report. Let me preface this by saying that after waking up with pinkeye and a subsequent cold on the Sunday before, as well as coming off of only 3 weeks of training after being sidelined for 3 weeks, I wasn't too confident coming in to Squaw Peak 2008. I was hoping for a top 10 finish, and that was shooting for the stars. There were some pretty talented runners signed up, and I was planning on taking it easy and hanging on their coat tails.

Well, race morning came around, my cold had cleared, but the skies hadn't. I always enjoy running in the rain, just not standing in it, so once we started, it felt great. The first few miles down the pavement I kept what I felt was an easy pace and quickly watched Allen Belshaw and Rich disappear from sight. I chatted off and on with Brian Price from Idaho and Dave Larsen, a surgery resident at the U (where does he find the time to train?), then as we began the singletrack and it started to get light, I found myself alone to watch the misty rain in my headlamp. Kind of a neat vision to have thousands of tiny droplets sparkling in front of me. As I made the right hand turn onto the steep singletrack, I saw Rich not too far ahead of me. I thought it would be a piece of cake to catch up so I'd have someone to talk to. That's when the mud started. Holy cow, I'd never experienced anything quite like that mud. By the time I caught up to Rich, it felt like I'd pulled both groins slipping and sliding and keeping one foot on either side of the trail. I kept thinking to myself that I was glad I was where I was at and not 245 runners back after everyone else had made the conditions even worse. So Rich and I continued on for the next 10 miles or so having a great time. We watched Belshaw keep increasing the lead until he was nowhere in sight, and then the snow started. It was awesome! I love running in the snow. Rich had other feelings about the snow, he is not a cold weather person, but I loved it. I had on a short sleeve shirt with a long sleeve over it, some thin cotton gloves and my hat and I felt great, except my fingers on the hand holding a water bottle would start to freeze every now and again. Speaking of water bottles, I decided to run with just one bottle to start, then pick up another one at Aid #3, then pick up a waist pack and carry one hand held at Little Valley. I thought that with the cooler weather I wouldn't sweat as much, and I could cut a little weight at the start. So, at Aid #3, I decided not to pick up a second bottle, and continue with one until Little Valley, I'd just stop and drink a little more at the aid stations. As Rich and I finished the bushwack after Aid #3 heading to Horse Mtn, Rich dropped off just a second or two, and I thought he was slowing down to "use the facilities" and he would catch up. Well, I turned around a few minutes later expecting him to be right there, and he was nowhere in sight. That was the last time I would see anyone until mile 49.5. The snow was awesome heading along the roads to aid #4, and Belshaw's tracks kept looking more and more filled in with fresh snow. I wasn't sure if it was the huge snowflakes and near blizzard conditions, or if it was him increasing his lead. Regardless, I was having a great time, and feeling good also. As I dropped down towards Hobble Creek and past the snowline back into the rain, I kept expecting someone to appear from behind, but the rear stayed clear. At Aid #5, I was about 20 minutes slower than last year, and that was perfect, I felt good and planned on running the entire pavement. I managed to keep a good pace along the pavement and at Aid #6 Karl Meltzer was there to tell me that Belshaw was 11 minutes ahead of me, and that I looked fresher than he did. Thanks Karl for getting me out of there quick! I refueled and headed up my least favorite section of the course. To me this dirt road seems to go forever, and I always struggle to run it. This time was no exception, but the cooler weather helped and I only walked two hills. I grabbed a Brownie Bite at aid #7 and kept up my pace. This is where I've had stomache issues in the past, but I was feeling great and my stomache was settled, I think largely due to my slower pace at the beginning and cooler weather. I love this section of the course. Heading up the valley with the lush grass and quakies, I always feel like there should be a herd of elk strung out on the hill, or a moose with his nose in the creek. Anyway, I came into Litle Valley still feeling good, and they said Belshaw was at least 20 minutes ahead of me. I had no thoughts at all of trying o catch him, I just wanted to finish strong and feeling good. I ate a PB&J, grabbed some pringles, picked up my Nathan pack and headed on my way with 3 bottles.

The long climb began. I kept a decent pace, strating to look over my shoulder now and again but the rear was still clear. Making the long traverse before the last long climbs, my legs started to feel pretty tired, and I felt I was slowing a bit. I concentrated on keeping a steady rhythm going, and hoped eeryone else was feeling tired also. As I started to climb the first snowfield, I saw someone just cresting the ridge. I timed him at 13 minutes ahead of me, but I thought no way it was Belshaw. At Little Valley they had said that Matt Hart was out running the second half of the course, and I thought it had to be him. As I started the last climb up Lightning Ridge, I saw the same person again, just heading over the summit. I timed hime to be about 12 minutes ahead of me, but I still thought it was Matt. Hallelujah! I made it. I sat down at the summit and took a minute to stretch my calves and drink a bottle of water, then headed down to Windy Pass. These aid station volunteers are awesome!! Thanks everyone for taking the time to pack everything up and wait on us! Jim Skaggs met me with the news that Belshaw was only 8 minutes ahead of me. I didn't believe him. I was leaning against a tree eating a cookie, when Jim told me the news. I looked at him with a blank look, and he yelled at me to get out of there and catch him! I was excited and a bit surprised that I was that close, but a little bit in despair at the same time. I was looking forward to a nice comfortable pace the last 9 miles, now I was going to have to push as hard as I could.
So I took off and did some creatvie slipping and sliding for the next couple of miles across the snow fields. I managed to stay on my feet through the snow, except for that one time I was twenty feet off the "trail" in about two seconds and the other time I was on my butt sliding backwards, and the other time..... You get the idea. At the last snow field with the fixed ropes, I looked up to see Greg Norrander with his camera. What a great guy! Thanks for hiking up to get some fabulous Photos! He informed me that Belshaw was now only 6 1/2 minutes ahead. I danced through the next section, which was reminiscent of the Pipeline Trail. Exposed, fairly flat, hot and rocky. Trying not to roll an ankle, I pushed as hard as I could to the last aid station. As I came into #10, they informed me that Allen was only 3 minutes ahead. Are you kidding me?! I had planned on stopping and drinking a cold Red Bull, but I instead dropped my fanny pack, grabbed a gel and a bottle and took off. I have never run this entire section before, even the small little rollers seem to slow me to a walk, but I couldn't afford to today. I ran and ran some more and with a mile left hadn't seen Allen yet. Just when I was going to ease my pace a bit, a kid came running up the road and said he wasn't more than 30 seconds ahead. Will it ever end? Finally, I saw his head, then the rest of him. I snuck up to within about 100 yards, and just as he was going over a little rise, with 1/4 mile left, Allen looked back and saw me. After a quick double take to make sure I was there, his arms started pumping a little harder and the chase was over. I almost caught him. I'll be honest, if I had caught him, I wouldn't have had any more gas to kick past. I was spent. I rounded the corner and the best part of the race was there at the finish, listening to Brooke, Sam and Andrew cheer me in.
What a great day and what a memorable race. Thanks to John Bozung for putting the race together and especially to all the aid station volunteers who sat through the crazy conditions and made this race possible. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

MRC Rocks Squaw Peak 2008!

Loads of Photos from Greg.

Way to go guys! That was tough.

2nd - Erik
6th - Christian
8th - Rich
15th - Peter

Looks like those early morning - postholing - sidestepping - cold runs paid off.
How about a report Erik, Rich, Peter? I posted one of my own over here.

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Grandeur Peak Fun Run



The First Annual (Second Annual if you count last years showing of 3 people) Grandeur Peak Fun Run was a great success. After snow and miserable weather earlier in the week, the day turned out to be a beautiful one to watch the sun rise over the Wasatch Mountains. 28 runners started up the relentless west face of Grandeur Peak. Christian Johnson and Rich McDonald blazed the way to the top in 52 and 53 minutes respectively. For the women, Senta Byer was hot on their heels in 56 minutes. Christian and Rich ran neck and neck for the rest of the run, and finished holding hands in a smoking time of
1 hour 58 minutes. Dave Hunt was 3rd in a strong 2:07, with his trademark whooping and hollering and antics as he came across the finish. Emily Sullivan made good time after the initial climb to finish first for the women in 2:13.
Due to poor communication on my part, the aid station at Church Fork was a little late in getting set up and only the second half of the runners were able to refill their water. My apologies to those who were running dry!! Along with the aid station blunder, I managed to mark the course in what I thought was an obvious fashion, but to those not familiar with these particular trails, it wasn’t so obvious. Needless to say, there were a few interesting variations of the run discovered, with one runner managing to make it to the Millcreek canyon road and hitch hike back to the start ( Tom, you get time subtracted for ingenuity). Special recognition goes to Jill Bohney, Bob Adler, Brian Kamm, Aric Manning and Scott Jaime who didn’t think once was enough and set off on a second loop after we were all done!
Thanks to everyone who showed up to run and then stuck around afterwards for pancakes and good times. Thanks also to Rich Mcdonald for helping me mark the course, Rich Baxter for recording names and times at the top of Grandeur, Steve and Emy Storheim for hauling water up to Church Fork, and to Jill Bohney, Bob Adler and Brian Kamm for clearing the course on their second loop! For next year’s event, the only entry requirement will be that you bring a friend that didn’t run it this year. See you there!


Top of Grandeur Finish
1. Christian Johnson :52 1:58
Rich McDonald :53 1:58
3. Dave Hunt :56 2:07
4. Emily Sullivan 1:00 2:13
5. David McKnight 1:01 2:17
6. Sarah Evans 1:00 2:21
7. Brian Hamos 1:00 2:24
8. Brian Kamm 1:07 2:24
9. Brent Mitchell 1:02 2:25
10. Jason Berry 1:15 2:25 (early start)
11. Peter Lindgren 1:15 2:25 (early start)
12. Brian Harward 1:04 2:27 (accompanied by Alta and Steiner)
13. Senta Beyer :56 2:28
14. Bri Badger 1:00 2:35
15. Thomas Nelson 1:08 2:37
16. Bob Adler 1:07 2:40
17. Jill Bohney 1:11 2:45
18. Dan Barnett 1:11 2:51
19. Adam Welch 1:09 2:58
20. Olaf Questereit 1:25 3:03
21. Tony deArcos 1:11 3:05
22. Eddee Johansen 1:16 3:07
23. Scott Jaime 1:21 3:14
24. Aric Manning 1:21 3:14
25. Tom Peterson 1:10 3:17 (Does Hitchhiking to the finish count?)
26. Brad Lewis 1:22 3:23
27. JohnParley Lewis 1:22 3:23
28. Josh Bilanzich 1:20 3:50