I ran in the Bonneville Shoreline Trail Marathon, a free but very challenging marathon-length run held in the hills above Salt Lake City. Much of this runs on a trail established above the ancient Lake Bonneville Shoreline. This race attracts many of the top ultrarunners in the state. Karl Meltzer, one of the best in the world came to try to beat his course record.
I drove up with Mark Ellison and we both were concerned about the rain falling as we drove up. It could be a very wet, muddy run this year. This would be my third run in the event. I never push hard during this race because I have always run a very long race just the prior week. The same was true this time, since it is just one week since my finish in the Desert RAT 50. The race start up above the homes about 7th East.
We arrived just in time, said some quick hellos and were off. Karl quickly took the lead and I joined in with a group of about eight runners trying to keep up. Within only 100 yards, my left foot slipped a little in the mud, causing it to twist just a little and I again felt the bad pain in my foot that has bothered me this past week. That confirmed things in my mind. It was a foot/ankle sprain on the lower outside of my foot, under the ankle. I had twisted it badly about six weeks ago, but it hasn’t been much of a problem until this week. Today the pain was bad enough that I knew it would be a concern. I slowed down a little, let a couple people pass, but when we hit the downhill into City Canyon. The mud was slick, but I pushed away caution and let gravity take me. I could see that those who were trying to brake, were slipping. I just blasted down as fast as I could.
Once down at the bottom of the canyon, we crossed the road and headed up the shoreline trail. As it started to climb, I backed off a little but tried to keep the pace strong. The foot wasn’t bothering me too much. Eventually the climb became intense and most of us started to power hike. Once up above all the homes above the capital, the trail started rolling and I could kick the speed up a notch. The feet were wet from splashing in puddles. As some descents arrived, I was disappointed to discover that I could not push the speed hard any more. The foot pain held me back. I was again passed by a couple runners. Once over the saddle near Ensign Peak, the road turned into some shoe-sucking mud. Everyone started to slow and I felt sorry for those behind because we were really tearing up the best routes. Finally the road headed down and I started to catch up to some runners, but just couldn’t push it hard. Then the huge climb came. I really couldn’t push a trot up the steep hill because when I push huge pressure on the toes, again the foot hurt. I just power-hiked the best I could and kept my position.
As we climbed higher and higher, we entered the clouds. It was very cool but a bother because I could no longer see the runner ahead of me. Soon buddy Brent Rutledge from Lehi, caught up. It was great to see him. We had not run together since last September. He pushed on ahead and I tried to keep him in sight through the fog. I finally caught up to him as we crested over the top of the mountain, ready for the steep descent back down into City Creek. Brent stepped aside, “Go ahead, you are faster on the downhill.” I encouraged him to keep up and he did a pretty good job staying within about 100 yards. I blasted down as hard as I could and soon passed a woman runner who was being cautious in the mud. Near the bottom of the canyon, I tripped over a rock, caught myself, but felt bad pain in the abs that made be slow to a walk to quickly recover.
Once on the flatter trail, still descending down the canyon, I could tell my foot was not happy at all. I slowed more and eventually Brent caught up again. I cheered him on and complemented him on his great downhill speed. I debated in my mind for awhile, but I knew that I would have to cut my race short and stop after the western loop of the course. The foot pain wasn’t calming down, only getting worse. It wasn’t worth it. So I slowed down some more, and headed back up the other side of the canyon. Mark caught up, I told him the news and retrieved his key to the truck. I complete my 10.6 mile loop of the race in about 2:16 with about 3,100 feet of climbing. I knew I was making the right choice to instead heal from this injury and call it a day.
I drove to the next aid station behind the Huntsman Cancer Institute and had a great time for the next three hours helping at the aid station and talking to the volunteers and all the runners as they came through. It was great fun making fun of the runners covered in mud. When Brent came into view, I decided to make it look like I too just arrived at the aid station. He exclaimed, “How did you get ahead?” I replied, “Oh you must have taken a break or something.” I encouraged him to make a fast stop so we could run together. We left the aid station and I continued to kid him about how I was ahead of him. But then as we climbed, I broke the news that I had really dropped out seven miles back. Ha, ha, great joke. When the trail leveled out, I discovered there was no way I could keep up, the foot was hurting too bad, so I bid him goodbye and hobbled back down to the aid station. Mark later arrived, and he was struggling because of allergies.
A triatholon was also being held on the trail near the aid station. The mountain bikers were riding very fast on the trail. But when the back of their pack arrived, a few started to stop at our aid station and taking drinks and stuff. We just played along. We had so much stuff at the aid station it didn’t matter. A few asked if we were part of the race after they partook, but we just laughed and said we would send them a bill.
After Brent and Mark both return, I drove back to the finish and enjoyed watching runners come in and talked to so many. It was great fun to socialize with this great group. Karl Melzer was there. He did finish in a course record time of 3:47. That is amazing. I still haven’t broken 6 hours on that course. Brent came in about 5:40 and Mark in about 6:20. It was a little disappointing that I didn’t finish the entire course, but it had been a very run morning. Thankfully the rain stayed away during the race, but it was one of the muddiest years for the race. Everyone’s lower legs were caked in mud.
Well it looks like I will have to hit the pool for the next week or so. Pool running, swimming, etc. Booooooring.....keep me away from sharp objects, I may slit my wrists. | 