Wahsatch Steeplechase 2012

I haven't run the Wahsatch Steeplechase in many years but it stays close to my heart, it was my first trail run and I remember being blown away by the terrain and exposure up on Black Mountain. I also took some of my best early photos of trail running up on the crags in 2009. Even though I should have been out training or doing trail work I was determined this year to go back up and shoot some more photos on the crags. I'm glad I did, I had a great time cheering on the runners and seeing that look of fear and amazement of the rookie runners as they negotiated the crags for the first time. A big shout out to the great volunteers up on the ridge who spotted the two exposed sections of the route for 3 hours in the blowing wind.

I"ll be posting some of the photos from the race on my flickr site, I'll be posting a few more at Norrander Trails Shots

Steeplechase 2009

I was going to write a ling and lengthy epistle of this year's Steeplechase, but I'm tired. Here's the condensed version.

I originally didn't plan on running it, but my brother was signed up and decided to go to California instead (what's he thinking, sun and surf instead of 3+ hours of agony?), so why let a perfectly good registration go to waste.

My legs were definitely not recovered from Squaw Peak the week before, and were tired from the day before's Grandeur loop with Greg and Christian. I was thinking 3 hours would be a reasonable time to finish. As I thought, the legs were tired on the climb up to the crags, I took my time scrambling across the crags, and got to Smuggler's Notch in 1 hour 33 minutes, about 15 minutes slower than usual. The descent to City Creek was as overgrown as ever, with added mud from all the recent rain. Luckily I managed to stay on trail and not have to climb my way back up through the jungle. I got to City Creek leading a group of 5 or 6 that had caught up to me, including Dave Larsen, Chuck Konopa, Mic Jurynek, Mark Christopherson and a couple others. They all took off once we hit the road and I thought I'd take it easy the last 7 miles. After a few minutes and a gel, I noticed my legs feeling a little better, picked up the pace and I started passing people. I eventually got within about 50 yards of Dave, he saw me, sped up and I never saw him again. I finished in 2 hours 38 minutes, only 6 1/2 minutes off my PR, and the run down City Creek was my fastest ever. Maybe those mile repeats are paying off after all. What a great day for a run! Thanks Greg for the pictures!

The only downside to the day was that Shilling decided to sleep in and didn't show up after promising he would be there. Hmmmmm.

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?