Squaw Peak 50+ Race Report 2009

I didn't discuss my true goal time with anyone before the race for fear of jinxing it. When we talked about SP on our training runs I would mention that I wanted to go under 9hrs30mins since my previous best was 10:07. It just seemed like the next logical time barrier. My true time goal, and what I was really planning for was a sub 9. My training had gone better than ever this year so I knew my fitness level could handle the pace but I still had to be smart about managing the race.

Peter and I rode down to the race together and met up with the Erik, Greg and Rich before the start. Greg and Peter had made a plan to stick together and gun for PR's below the 10 hour mark. I knew they were both capable of sub 10 but I didn't really thinnk they would be able to stick together for that long, just too many factors to contend with in a 9 to 10 hour span. We all lined up at the gate to paved bike path to get some last second instructions from RD John Bozung before he sent us on our way at 5am. A few minutes down the pavement and a front group of 10 to 12 of us formed led by Scott Jaime . Shortly before the turn on to the trail the group was down to six that included Scott, Kevin Shilling, Dave Holt, Erik Storheim, Ryan Cooper and myself. The front 3 kept a torrid pace while Erik, Ryan and myself settled in behind and eventually lost sight of them on the winding singletrack. I had briefly met Ryan while we were signing in before the race when Peter had introduced us. I remember Peter saying "stick with Christian, he knows the course well". At any rate, I started chatting more with Ryan as we climbed to the 2nd aid station and got to know him a little better. As with most folks I meet in the ultra world, Ryan was super nice and he shared some of his vast racing experience with Erik and I. Shortly after the 2nd aid station the three of us became separated by a minute or so each and leapfrogged each other all the way to Pole Heaven (aid station 5) because of our frequent nature breaks (I think there was something in the water).

Just before aid station 6 I caught up to Ryan and left just before he did. I checked my watch and I was about 2 mins slower than my pace goal to this point, which made me quite happy since I still felt so good. Erik was no more than a minute behind as I started running up the 4wd road to Sheep Creek. The previous three times I've done this race I always walk this section, but today I felt great, so I just kept plugging along, happy with the pace I was running. I hit the Sheep Creek aid station where Karl and Scott Mason set me up with some red bull and potatoes before booting me out of there. Still feeling good at this point I decided to back off the pace just a little on the climbs and keep my stomach in order for the climb up to Windy Pass. About a mile or so before the descent into the Little Valley aid station Erik caught up to me and we ran into Little Valley together. I grabbed some gels from my drop bag, filled my bottles and picked up a third bottle before I left the aid station for the last big climb of the day. Erik was still getting his stuff together and I remember telling him that I was going to walk for a stretch and that I would see him in a few minutes. That never happened.

I walked, then jogged up the 4wd road, anxious to get to the real climbing. A little over a half mile after leaving the aid station I kept following the 4wd road on a slight right hand bend when I was supposed to bear left onto the singletrack next to the creek. I glanced down at my watch knowing that I should I have been approaching the switchbacks leading to the top of Wallsburg Ridge but nothing looked familiar. I started examining the trail for evidence of the runners in front of me and found none. I turned around and looked down the canyon I just climbed up. Feelings of anger and dread washed over me, I had no one to blame but myself. I looked at the altimeter on my watch before starting to backtrack and it read 8000'. I knew the top of Wallsburg ridge was a little of 8000' but I had no idea which direction I would have to go to find it.

Turns out I wasn't that far from where I was supposed to be.

I ran back down the canyon about 1.5 miles and 700' vertical before I found the trail I was supposed to be on. Anger drove my pace as I passed a few runners on the singletrack and washed out creek bottom. I caught up with Brian Beckstead who consoled me then gave me some encouragement to get after it. I had no idea how much time I had lost but I decided to re-focus on my original goal of 9:30.

My anger fueled pace eventually found reality as I pushed up Bozung hill and slowed down a bit. I heard some voices from behind as I made my way across the small snow patches before Windy Pass, but I refused to look behind until one of them called my name. To my surprise it was Greg and Peter, well ahead of their sub 10hr pace. I explained to them that I felt like I needed some extra training for Hardrock so I had done a few bonus miles. They told me they were still aiming for sub 10 to which I replied bulls**t, we're going under 9:30. I now had some renewed energy as we passed through Windy Pass a little after 1:00 pm, still enough time to get under 9:30 but we would have to press the pace. Jim Skaggs and crew had us in and out there in a jiffy, but Jim was curious where I had been, having been informed by Erik that I should be in front of him.

The descent off of Windy Pass was awful, but the MRC express was like a runaway train as we ran every step to aid station 10. I think it's fair to say that I pressed Greg and Peter on the descent but once I hit the road I was hitting a low patch. Now it was their turn to press me all the way to the finish where we crossed together in 9:27, good for 10th place. Going off course sucks, but finishing up a tough day with my friends definitely made up for it. Erik ended up taking 4th in front of Ryan in 8:43 and 8:51 respectively. Shilling pressed the 2nd half of the course to overtake Dave Holt and close to within 2 minutes and change of Scott Jaime. Rich came through in a little over 11 hours to put the icing on the MRC cake.

Thanks to RD John Bozung and all the volunteers that make Squaw Peak such a great event. Full results posted here .

In the end losing 30 minutes was a pretty bitter pill to swallow, but that's part of ultrarunning. In the grand scheme of things my fitness level made me feel a little more confident heading into Hardrock , currently #15 on the wait list...

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.