Today, my brother in law got married (at Tuscany) and since my family was heavily involved in the preparation, I took the day off work. The wedding wasn't until 5pm and since I am no help arranging flowers, I got a free pass to hit the trails. Sweet. Since the Wasatch 100 started early am I decided that I would be a part of it by running sections of the course. I stayed out of the way by running miles 75-83 way before the front runners. I have always been interested in checking out the course, so today would be a good opportunity since it was marked. I left brighton and started the hike/jog to Lake Mary. I made it less than a half mile and I saw a bull moose (again). Two moose in a week is a new record for me. I took some pics but they are dark and not very good. The run up to Sunset Pass was beautiful, but a bit steep. I was able to admire Lake Mary, Lake Martha and Lake Catherine all in under 3 miles. 1600' in 2.75 miles topping out at about 10,500'. Brutal. The kicker though is the immediate drop of the same vertical in 2.25 miles. On rockier trails. Man, that is tough. So, by mile 5 I was already toast and it was already an hour in. The other bummer, was the trail was not marked well at Ant Knolls aid and I missed a critical turn onto Ridge Trail. I realized it in a few mins and it only cost me 10 mins. Good thing I wasn't racing. This part of the mountain is the very top of American Fork Canyon and wasn't far from the end point of Speedgoat 50K. These races sure make the mountains seem smaller. You get to explore and see how it all connects. I love it. So after a brief climb up to 9400' I was on the "ridge trail" and I was in heaven. It was runnable! And very pretty. I followed it to Pole Line Pass (mile 83.39 of Wasatch) and promptly lost the trail again. No markings in all directions. I failed to prepare properly and print out an actual map of the course so I wasn't sure where to go. I tried 2 of the 3 ways and didn't find a trail marking in a half mile in any direction (including the proper way I found out). Oh well, it has been 10 miles now and I am out of time. Better head back. I was sad because I wanted to explore more of that nice trail. The way back was brutal as the hike from Ant Knolls to Sunset pass is tough. I once again affirmed that once above 10K feet elevation, it is super tough to move at any speed (up hill or even down hill). Back past the lakes I went and I arrived back at the car thankful for the water I had waiting for me there. I got pretty dry the last 5 miles. Doing the math, I ran the Brighton to Pole Line Pass section 7.75 miles (minus the detour) in 1:30. Luke Nelson (2nd overall) ran that section the fastest in about 1:45. I was fresh and he was not! I can't believe that they could run that so fast. And it was dark (for most of them). T- 3:50 (12:47 per mile!) 5000' vertical Profile - 
PICS - Moose - (I told you it was dark)
Lake Mary 
Backside of Speedgoat 50K course from wasatch 100 course 
Oh, the wedding was very nice too.... 
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