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Utah Valley Half Marathon

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Location:

Saratoga Springs,UT,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

2016 Finished 12 100-milers during the year.  86 career 100-mile finishes, 9th in the world.   First person to do 6 consecutive summits of Mount Timpanogos.  Won Crooked Road 24-hour race. Achieved the 5th, 6th, and 8th fastest 100-mile times in the world for runners age 57+ for the year.

2013  First person to bag the six highest Wasatch peaks in one day. First and only person to do a Kings Peak double (highest peak in Utah).  I've now accomplished it four times. 

2010 - Overall first place Across the Years 48-hour run (187 miles), Overall first place Pony Express Traill 100.

2009 - Utah State Grand Masters 5K champion (Road Runners Club of America).  National 100-mile Grand Masters Champion (Road Runners Club of America). USATF 100-mile National Champion for age 50-54.

2006 - Set record of five consecutive Timpanogos Summits ("A record for the criminally insane")  See: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=42

2007 - Summited 7 Utah 13-ers in one day.  See: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=14 

Only person to have finished nine different 100-mile races in Utah: Wasatch, Bear, Moab, Pony Express Trail, Buffalo Run, Salt Flats, Bryce, Monument Valley, Capitol Reef.

PRs - all accomplished when over 50 years old

5K - 19:51 - 2010 Run to Walk 5K

10K - 42:04 - 2010 Smile Center

1/2 Marathon: 1:29:13 - 2011 Utah Valley

Marathon - 3:23:43 - 2010 Ogden Marathon

50K - 4:38 - 2010 Across the Years split

50-mile - 8:07 - 2010 Across the Years split

100K - 10:49 - 2010 Across The Years split

12-hours 67.1 miles - 2010 Across The Years split

100-mile 19:40 - 2011 Across the Years split

24-hours 117.8 miles - 2011 Across the Years split

48-hours 187.033 miles - 2010 Across the Years

Long-Term Running Goals:

I would like to keep running ultras into my 60s. 

Personal:

Details at: http://www.crockettclan.org/ultras/ultracrockett.pdf Married with six kids and six grandchildren.  Started running at the age of 46 in 2004.  My first race since Junior High days was a 50K. I skipped the shorter road stuff and went straight to ultramarathons.  I started as a back-of-the packer, but have progressed to a top-10-percent ultra finisher.  Wish I would have started running at a much earlier age.  Have had several articles published in national running magazines.  Check out my running adventure blog at www.crockettclan.org/blog

Favorite Blogs:

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Race: Utah Valley Half Marathon (13.1 Miles) 01:30:14, Place overall: 26, Place in age division: 1
Total Distance
28.00

I ran the Utah Valley Half Marathon and kind of also ran the marathon too (we’ll get to that).  I decided to run the half marathon, instead of the marathon, because I have Bighorn 100 next week and didn’t want to do anything stupid just six days before that race.  But, I also was determined to race this half marathon hard.  I knew it would be a fast course and that a PR was possible.

I had two goals, break 1:30 and place first in my age group.  I had looked at the entrants list and didn’t see any of the top distance runners in the state faster than me in the race, so I thought there would be no reason why I shouldn’t push for the win.

The course starts up in Provo Canyon near the tunnel before the turnoff to Sundance.  It followed the highway all the way down the canyon, with one of the lanes closed off for the runners and then went straight down University to the Provo Town Mall.  It was straight and fast.  There were a few hills, but the most significant one was at mile 2.

Rain was the big concern.  At the start it looked like we would get lucky and race during a lull in the storm.   To warm up, I ran up the canyon and a little way up the Sundance road.  I then positioned myself among the top 30 runners near the start, looking at all the fast, skinny young Sojourner runners.  The start was late, it waited to start at exactly the same time as the marathon, 13.1 miles behind us, further up the canyon.

It was still somewhat dark as we started, dark enough that I had a problem seeing my watch clearly for a few miles, but I could tell I was doing fine.  I started running right behind Maryann, but before the end of the first mile she kicked it in gear.  Going down the canyon I was passed by quite a few runners as we settled into our pace.  My splits in the canyon (miles 1-5) were 6:13, 7:15 (hill up), 6:22 (hill down), 6:37, 6:53.  I knew that I needed to keep my splits under 6:50 to reach my goal. All was going pretty well. I was breathing hard as usual but the legs felt fine.

However, the weather turned bad around mile three.  A soaking rain started to fall.  I had to slow in order to put my phone/mp3-player in a ziplock bag.  Thankfully, the soaking only lasted about a mile, but we had great fun avoiding puddles.  The course would be wet the entire distance.

I don’t remember any runners passing me for miles, probably the last one did around mile 4. But ahead of me a large gap got longer and longer.  I could see one of the Sojourner girls far ahead.  The gap probably got as wide as 1/3rd mile or more.   I never stopped at any aid station along the way, just used my handheld bottle with Ensure and that worked great, giving me the energy I needed.

By mile 8, I finally felt warmed up and felt super so I pushed the pace a little harder.  I could see that the gap was closing ahead of me, especially on a long gentle hill.  My splits for miles (6-11) were 6:51, 7:00, 6:56, 7:05, 7:08, 7:00.

With a couple miles to go, a guy (Kerry Brock) finally caught up with me.  His first question was, “How old are you?”  I didn’t want to tell him, so I asked how old he was.  “49.”  I let him know I was 51.  He was relieved and so was I, we were in different age groups so didn’t have to really race against each other to the finish.  We both felt confident we were leading our age groups. He said he had been working very hard for the past several miles trying to reel me in. (At the finish another runner said he tried and tried for many miles to catch me, but couldn’t and he finished about 40seconds behind me). We had fun talking for awhile and he was interested to hear that I was un ultrarunner and doing this race as a long tempo run.  I pushed ahead again, feeling energized from the conversation, but by mile 12, he caught up and passed me.   I was watching my watch carefully and could see I had a very realistic chance of breaking 1:30, but then I saw the steep overpass ahead and knew that would slow down my last mile.  We were reeling in the girl ahead but never did catch her.   At the top of the hill I almost caught Kerry but he pushed ahead strongly and I didn’t really want to sprint.

My final two mile splits were 6:59 and 7:07.  The last hill slowed me down too much.   I crossed the finish line in 1:30:14. I crushed my half-marathon PR by over 4 minutes!  My friend was about six seconds ahead of me.  Close enough, I was very pleased.  The finish area was pretty deserted because I finished 26th overall.  I indeed did win the 50-54 age group by over five minutes.  In fact, Kerry and I were the top two finishers for all those age 35+.  Not bad for a huge race with 900 finishers.

I rested and warmed back up in my car for about 40 minutes and then decided to head back on the course and run it very slowly backwards to cheer everyone and see friends.   North of the bridge I was able to watch the winning marathon runner cruising to his finish.  I said hi to Sasha who was in 6th place.  It was great fun to clap and cheer for hundreds of runners and many recognized me.  I planned to run back until I found Smooth and company, but somehow I missed her.  I did stop to help a couple runners who were cramping and maybe missed her during one of those times.  But that was OK.  At times I reversed course and ran awhile with friends.

I ran clear back to the mouth of Provo Canyon and then turned around when Mark Sanderson arrived.  (It was about at the 4:00 mark) I calculated that my total miles were now more than the runners around me.  So now it was time to finish my marathon.  I kicked it into gear to finish the final 6.5+ miles.  It did look rather odd that I was running 8-minute miles while the others around were running 15-minute miles or walking.  People gave me lots of cheers, I felt rather embarrassed.  At each aid station, I stopped and feasted.  I figured since I didn’t use them during the half, why not use them now?  I had great fun and finished my marathon+ at about 4:55.

I congratulated some ultrarunner friends at the finish. I had missed the half/marathon awards, but went  up and they gave me my plaque. It looked nice.

 

Mizuno Wave Elixer 5 - Green Miles: 28.00
Comments
From Kelli on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 16:07:02 from 71.219.93.114

Crockett, that is awesome! Now you KILL the ultras AND every other race you enter. That first place finish was well deserved. I so wish I had seen you, you would have made sure that I did not get lost! I was so confused because half marathon runners were coming in and I though maybe I was confused----but it turns out I was right and should have stuck with my gut!

Way to go on the race, you are incredible. You never cease to amaze me with your distance and your speed and your miles! You beat me today. Maybe I will go run some more.....NAH!!!!!!

From jun on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 16:16:46 from 97.126.230.46

Way to go on all accounts. It sounds like it was nearly the perfect race. Congrats on the win and a new massive PR. Now, it's all about "GO USA". England is looking good.

From JulieC on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 18:37:45 from 168.103.185.123

you never cease to amaze US all!! GOOD JOB!!

From Kelli on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 20:05:14 from 71.219.93.114

AH, I got to watch part of the game while I was running (finally something worth watching while on the TM!) To me, the worst part about soccer is the darn tie---I want a WIN!

From Smooth on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 22:05:20 from 174.23.236.38

Davy! CONGRATZ on the huge PR and

AG win! WOW! So very impressive!!! You are taking names every race you run! Too bad I missed seeing you running back up the course to bring friends in and making it a full, you're simply too cool for words! It was a good day! Perfect race! GOOD LUCK at Bighorn 100! Can't wait to read your report! :)

From crockett on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 22:09:42 from 71.36.73.105

Thanks Smooth, and congrats on your great race. 5th place in your age group. Well done. Huge race of 1,300 runners. Yes it would have been fun to run in with you. One of these days.

I found the results at: http://strideracing.com/2010/june/utahvalleymarathon.html

From catherine on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 22:26:23 from 67.169.248.86

Great job on the win and PR! Thanks tons for posting the link to the results. :)

From Dragonvulture on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 22:31:26 from 75.169.138.134

Congrats on the great race and great PR. A nice warm up for the big one next week which I'm sure you will do great.

From Paul on Sat, Jun 12, 2010 at 23:32:00 from 174.27.230.30

Hmm, I should have looked for you at the start or finish. Would have been nice to say hi and catch up. Great job in the AG win.

From Bryce on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 00:10:42 from 174.52.190.220

Hey, I thought when you got older you got slower, so much for my excuse. Nice job, another PR, and a sppedy one too! Congrats on the win, good luck at Big Horn.

From Jon on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 00:13:15 from 75.169.136.39

I think it's funny that it took you 8 miles to warm up! Congrats on the AG win and go kick butt at Bighorn!

From Walter on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 10:59:54 from 24.10.169.110

Wow, you are going to bighorn next week after a half marathon race? Im not worthy, im not worthy! And I get all the flack about running every weekend! lol Maybe someday Ill run an Ultra and some trail.

From Teena Marie on Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 11:04:27 from 174.52.45.85

Congrats on the HUGE PR and the 1st place!!!

I am so happy for you!

You seriously are amazing! :)

From RAD on Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 10:38:06 from 67.172.229.125

Congrats on a half, full and hardware to boot! Always a great read on the race report. Can't wait for the 100 next week! I love that you finally felt warmed up at mile 8! 'Normal' people don't understand how it takes that long to start feeling good. I'm at about 4-5 right now, someday I hope to get to an 8 mile warm up! :)

CONGRATS again - always amazing!

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