Speedgoat 50K Report

I’m a bit ashamed to admit, I’ve never watched an ultra or volunteered at a race. Today at the Speedgoat 50K at Snowbird, UT, I got to do both.

My first assignment of the day was handing out socks at registration with Brian Kamm. I must admit, a task that was rather well suited for my groggy state at 5:30 am – pretty simple, “small, medium or large for you?”

At 6:30 the racers were off. From the starting line I could see Luke Nelson pulling the lead group of runners up the Gad access road. I wasn’t yet sure what my volunteer assignment would be, and was told I would be assigned as needed at the top of the tram. While most of the volunteers took the 7:00 am tram up to Hidden Peak, I wanted to run up to the top. So I set off for Hidden Peak via a more direct route than the runners were taking so I could watch the race unfold from the top.

About 100 family, friends and running enthusiasts were at the top waiting for the lead runners. As I reached the summit an eager aid station volunteer congratulated me on being in first place. Yeah – I wish… First to the top was Luke Nelson, passing Nick Clark in the final yards, with Kevin Schilling close behind. As I ran with Kevin to the top he remarked about Luke, “he’s bustin it…”

There was a considerable gap before the other lead runners started coming in. It was great fun watching my MRC friends and other favorite runners come up the Little Cloud traverse and on up to the tram; Erik Storheim, Greg Norrander, Rich McDonald, Jared Campbell, Jared Inouye (who has finally decided he looks good in plaid) Glen Merrill, Pat McMurtry (who by the way – looks great in tie-dye), Chuck Konopa, and Jeff Bertot.

It was then suggested that the Larry’s Hole aid station might be in need of assistance. So I ran backwards down the course to Larry’s Hole. There I met Kevin Lawlor who was captain of the station and put me to work. At Larry’s Hole I got to see and meet many of the middle of the pack runners. I was surprised at how many were already somewhat wrecked at mile 10?? Yeah – Speedgoat 50K is a definitely a tough course. And Kevin – good luck at Katcina Mosa next weekend!

Almost as much fun as watching the race was listening to Karl Meltzer and Missy Berkel on the radio. Can I just say – the Speedgoat 50K is not enough race for the both of you. And, I’m glad the two of you are good friends – but anything more than that would be DISATEROUS!

Once volunteer reinforcements arrived I ran up to the tunnel so I could watch the runners climb out of Mineral Basin. What a treat watching the distance between Kevin and Nick ebb and flow from a few feet to 50 or so yards. Both looked strong on the climb and looked good at the tunnel aid station. By this time, Luke was about 15 minutes behind. I was impressed to see how Greg Norrander had climbed the hill. He was now in 6th place. He had moved up approximately 20 places since I had seen him at Larry’s Hole. When I asked him how he was feeling he simply replied, “I feel great. This is the race I wanted to run.”

I then ran up to the top of the tram hoping to see the lead runners summit Hidden Peak a second time. Just as I got to the ridge I saw Kevin coming up the trail and ran with him to the aid station. He looked great and said that he was feeling strong. When I inquired if he felt he could keep his lead on the downhill, he said, “I think so.”

After watching Nick go through the aid station I knew I needed to get scooting if I wanted to see the finish. I began following Kevin and Nick down Little Cloud absolutely amazed at how easy they made the descent look and how quickly they gapped me. Good thing I was able to cut the course and make a beeline for the finish in time to see Kevin cross the line.

Kevin finished in a record time of 5:43. Nick was just four minutes behind. As a comparison, last year’s winning time by Erik Storheim was 6:12 (although people who ran both this year and last year, felt that last year’s course route and conditions were more difficult). Luke finished in third place. Greg Norrander finished 5th in 6:28 and Erik Storheim and Rich McDonald fished in 8:38
.

So watch for Speedgoat the long version at Wasatch – where Kevin, Nick and Luke will be duking it out again. I think the goats will be racing...

Working for Weekend

Just wanted to drop a quick note to wish everyone well at the Speedgoat 50k this weekend.  Greg, Rich and Erik will be racing while Jay will be helping out at one of the aid stations.  Give him a shout as you pass by.  Hopefully I'll get up there in time to see some of you finishing up.

Also, one of our friends Missy Berkel penned a good article over at iRunFar.com on the use of NSAIDs (Ibuprofen) during ultras.  Check it out if you haven't already, it's a very informative article.  Good job Missy!

Finally, I've discovered a couple of new bands since the playlist series and I know at least one of them would have made the list had I found them earlier.  I'm really digging this group called Mumford and Sons, give them a listen below.

*Update - Fixed the broken link to the music file.
Mumford and Sons - The Cave

Hitting the Speedgoat Wall

Erik’s description “Speedgoat Death March” turned true for me. I had really been looking forward to this race. I like to climb and I am not a “true runner” more of a steady trail slogger. So this is my kind of race. In last years Speedgoat I went out slow and finished strong, passing a lot of people in the last third of the race. My plan this year was the same. I wanted to run somewhere back in the top 25 and then hopefully pass people on the climb up the Ridge trail and Little bowl in the last few big climbs of the race and try to get myself somewhere in the top 20. I figured a few people would hit the wall after the massive climb from Dutch flats back to the tunnel. What I hadn’t counted on was that one of those people would be me.

As I hit the Dutch Flat aid station I felt in pretty good shape but I just didn’t feel quite normal. I blew it off and headed out on the big climb back to Snowbird. I caught a few people but just couldn’t seem to pull away from them, and then I really had to battle to just stay in touch. As the climb progressed I just felt worse and worse. I started downing gu’s like crazy hoping that I might be just a little low on calories and could rally back. By the time I hit the aid station at Mineral Basin I was cooked. I believed I had officially hit the wall. After the guy running the aid station filled up my hydration pack I think I was just standing there in daze. He finally just kinda of yelled at me “get out of here, get moving” and I did, funny how sometimes all it takes is somebody to just tell you to get moving and you do. Sarah Evans caught me soon after and she made me take the lead, I like running with Sarah, we usually run about the same pace and she is a always a pleasure to be around but I soon had to let her go as I started to cramp a bit and just didn’t have and energy to push at all. I hit the tunnel aid station being run by Jim Skaggs. I asked him what place I was running in and said 18th. I ran through the tunnel hoping I would recover on the downhill before the killer climb up the Ridge trail. Usually I love this trail, it’s a rugged rocky ridge that over looks the cirque and you run on the same basic elevation as the tram cars, but I was doomed. Even on the lower tail leading up to the ridge I just couldn’t make any pace. I stopped at least 10 times up that ridge and got passed by at least 10 people. As I neared the top I could hear Scott Mason cheering people on. I thought to myself, man I must look pathetic, here is a guy that just pulled himself over the Hardrock 100 course and here I am just trying to finish this 50k. Scott gave my some kind words and then I was off for the last real climb of the day, Little Bowl which at the time looked to me like a 4,00 foot climb but in reality is probably more like 500 vertical. I actually sat down a few times climbing up Little Bowl, hoping nobody I knew would see me.. Rich passed me heading down the final descent to the finish looking great, then Christian came buy not to long after, looking not so great but still moving well. I moaned to him about my sorry state of affairs, he complained his legs were shot and don’t believe people when they say this is the last climb, there is one more little ****** climb after the tram on the backside. Then he basically said treat it as a training run and get moving, so I did. I slogged my way up to the top did the ***** little climb on the backside then actually rallied a bit once I hit the hot dusty road to finish. Its funny because all day long I wanted to quite or stop and all it would take is some one to say get going or some kind of words of encouragement and I would respond and keep moving. So about a mile from the finish I caught a runner that had passed me earlier in the race and he was walking on the road going down hill, so as I passed him I yelled at him “come on latch on to me and lets get this thing done” and dammed if he didn’t immediately start running, we both pushed a really strong pace all the way to the finish. A nice way to finish after a long hard run.

After the race I had the pleasure of meeting and talking to Adam Casseday and his wife. My wife had met them when I ran the race at Massanutten100 in the spring. He had placed third at that hard 100 and he had come out from West Virginia on his honeymoon and thought he would try one of our local races. At one point he looked at me and said this race is like the Barkley Marathons of the west. I think he was very impressed with our mountains here in Utah! I want to thank Karl Meltzer for creating one of the harder if not hardest 50ks in the country. Also of course all the great volunteers that helped. To name just a few Scott Mason, Roch Horton, Jim Skaggs, Butch Adams, Dave Hunt and many more I wish I knew all there names,thanks again. Also congratulations to Erik, Rich and Christian who all finished strong and placed in the top 10. Believe it or not I love this race and will be back next year and will hopefully avoid the Speedgoat bonk. To see a few pictures my wife shot of the race click on my link. Also to see some great professional pictures go to Pure Light Images

Greg

MRC Conquers the Speedgoat 50K

Ouch!! What a course. After looking over the map I knew the race would be brutal, but I had no idea.  When the race started the jack rabbits took off and I was not going to be one of them. Erik, Christian and I ran at a conservative pace letting a few runners burn out in the first 5 miles. Erik was about 3 minutes ahead of Christian and I approaching Hidden peak for the 1st time. When we finally crawled over the top Karl and Jared Campbell were there waiting. Christian and I left together and headed over Baldy. I passed Christian while he was picking up e-caps he dropped. After that I never really saw him. I knew he was breathing down my neck a couple minutes back the rest of the race. I ran with a nice guy originally from England named Dominick. To be honest the fact that he was wearing  a pink camelback lead Christian and myself to think he was in over his head. I was wrong he was a strong runner. I followed him all the way to the final decent from Hidden Peak. Mineral Basin was super rocky. I rolled my ankle twice but it never really got swollen or tight. What was really scary at that point was how far down we ran before there was any sign of returning up to Snowbird. The people at the Mary Ellen Gulch aid station were great. Rock Horton was there with a smile. At that point he told me Erik was 12 minutes ahead. The climb up  M.E.G went on forever. It was starting to warm up and the water station in Mineral Basin came at the perfect time. Up,up,up to the tunnel then down, down down to the switchbacks that took us up,up ,up,up to the cirque ridge then up ,up, up to the road just below the tram. We were finally to the Hidden Peak aid station again. NOT! OK, I do not know how the express in words how I felt or what I wanted to do to Scott Mason when he said "Just run down there across Little Cloud Bowl and up through that snow field." I was in shock at how far we ran down just to go up,up,up. On the way up Little Cloud Nate McDowell blew by me then the 2nd place runner. A few minutes later Anita Ortiz ran down past me on the snow. I saw Erik on the road almost to the top of Hidden Peak. My wife and kids were up tops. It was awesome to see them. It really gave me a second wind. Uncle Dave filled my bottle and sent me on my way. Erik had gone through just over half an hour before me so I knew I couldn't catch him. I was in 6th place at this point and I really wanted to finish in the top 5. Dominick was just in front of me and I had one other runner a couple minutes back. I felt great all the way down. I passed Dominick for 5th place and was able to run the decent in about 35 minutes. I had to tell a few runners they were of course. It was sad. They were below Mid Gad restaurant. The climb back up to get on course would have be a killer. I think they all dropped. After it was over I felt really good about the run. Christian finished a few minutes after me (With the Millcreek 50K win on his legs). Greg had a great run as well. I hope the MRC made Dr. Lindgren proud. Jason Berry finished strong and must have taken off to the symphony right after. Congrats to my friend Tom Nelson on finishing his 1st ultra. He was sick the day before and still managed to pull through and have a great race. Greg's friend from Virgina (I think) called the race the "Barkley of the West" That sums it up for me. See you all soon on the trails and Congratulations to all the finishers! -Rich

Unofficial Results (I Think?)

4th- Erik Storhiem 6:09

5th- Rich McDonald 6:33

Christian Johnson Sub 7 hrs

Greg Norrander Sub 8hrs

Jason Berry Sub 8hrs

Tom Nelson Sub 10hrs

 P.S. In light of my recent near fatality, I will be adding the helmet to my running attire!

Speedgoat Deathmarch

Has anyone else looked at the maps for the Speedgoat? Holy crap. I think I'm staying home. And I thought last year was bad.... This year when I take a wrong turn again, I think I'll just mosey on down to the bottom of the mountain. If I do decide to finish, I'm thinking about 8 hours. Have fun ya'll.