Made it a camping trip with Linda and daughter Mindy. We had a great time. We were glad we didn't camp with the huge group of runners, but instead had a nice quiet time up in the paid campground and cooked over a fire. In the morning I hitched a ride to the start.
I Ran first 7 miles pretty fast, ignoring all the views since I saw them last week and just concentrated on my pace. I was running somewhere around the top 10. It was so good to be able to run full speed on trails for the first time in almost 18 months. Trace Lund caught up as we were running through the foothills. It was funny that both at Salt Flats 100 and Bryce 100 we stayed close for miles. I saw him for the last time at about mile 70. Phil Lowry caught up around mile 10 moving well and it was nice to be able to keep up with him for quite awhile. At about mile 12, I finally was warmed up and could really run the hills fast, stretching a nice lead over the runners behind. By about mile 18, Craig Lloyd caught up, running ahead of his group. They would stay together all the way to the end, an amazing feat to do for 100 miles. I last saw them about mile 68. This continued to go well. I wasted about a half hour with a bathroom break and foot cleaning, and fell back with the Craig Lloyd group at mile 39. I pushed ahead on the next big climb to the top of the Pink Cliffs, an amazing view. We came in together at the turnaround point, Crawford Pass at about 12 hours. Not bad, but over an hour longer than I hoped. The major factor holding back was the altitude. At 9,000 feet and above I just couldn't push the pace fast because of pressure on my lungs and heart rate. At the turnaround point was Phil Lowry, surrounded by family and friends explaining why he was quitting, "Not worth it, trashed quads." Despite all this preaching there, when I left, I bet to myself that he would still finish. He did. I had a very quick stop at the turnaround and made the next big climb pretty fast. Trace Lund caught up with me at mile 60 and we came into the next aid station together. I spent the next 30 minutes changing into night clothes, cleaning my feet and trying to eat. However, I just wasn't feeling well. Craig's group arrived as I was about to leave. I ran up the road a ways and realized I forgot my flash light, so back down I ran. Kendall Wimmer gave me a wind breaker for the night. I was afraid I would be too cold. Sure glad he did, that was a life saver. I felt rather rotten on the next climb and near the top Craig and the boys caught up. I hung with them for awhile but then stopped to get my music set up to really cruise on the rim. Once I had the right tunes playing, I really stepped up the pace and passed runner after runner, but so had the big group. We arrived at Kanab Creek, mile 66.5 at the same time, running in the top 20. Craig and the boys seemed to take long station stops, but I was in and out fast. I should have stayed longer because soon I started to crash. I stopped and cat-napped in the trail for about five minutes until the boys caught up.
The next section on top, above 9,000 feet was brutal. My stomach shut down, my heart rate too high, and I was breathing hard. I just couldn't run much. The wind really kicked up and as I was mostly walking, I became hypothermic. Eventually I would have to stop, find a warm place out the wind and rest until my breathing rate came down. I was passed by runner after runner. Trace caught up and he too was having trouble. I passed him while he napped, but he eventually went by again. It took me very long to reach Blubber Creek, mile 74. This aid station had no fire to warm by. When I arrived, I said, "I'm having trouble, not in very good shape." But no one there offered any help, so I went to find it. I went down a little row of crew cars and asked if there was a car I could sit in. A lady quickly offered her car for me. She was great, making room for me and offering me help. She turned on the heat and her car seats were even heated. Soon the hypothermic feelings left me, but my stomach was still shot. I talked about quitting to the lady but she wouldn't let me. I went to the aid station to get some food, came back and asked if I could just sit in the car and try to bring my stomach back to life. She even let me clean my feet in her car. Well, after an hour there, I decided to continue on. I knew my race time was shot, but surely I could finish. The next section dropped to 7,700 feet. I felt somewhat better, but had no strength at all on the short climbs. On the long climb, I moved slowly and several runners passed. Jim Milar caught up, good to see him. At the turnaround I had been about two hours ahead of him. I reached mile 80 at dawn. As usual, after a night of stomach issues, when finally the sun hit me, I found life. I could push the pace again and arrived at mile 89, the group campground at about 8:30 a.m. There would be 11 more hot lowland (7000-8000 feet) miles left. I decided to push it hard to see if I could come in under 30 hours. I would have to run the last 11 miles in about 2:45. I walked the first half mile but then really kicked it into gear. My legs were fresh and my lungs were working again. I passed about 8 runners. It was great to see them about a half mile in the distance and cruise to catch them. The finish came into view and I came in at 29:50. There were so many nice people at the finish congratulating me. I was somewhat delirious from the fast miles in the heat so didn't hang around long. I needed to cool down fast and hit the AC in the car. Linda and Mindy drove my back to the campground where I washed up in the bathroom with a nice cool floor to help my feet. We hit the road to return home and without a couple hours I was feeling good again. Recovery is going very fast. Muscles are hardly sore at all. The worst problem is the effect of dust on my sinuses. But I should be ready to rock and roll another 100 in two weeks at Bighorn 100. This was my 55th 100 finish and my 4th this year.
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