The brief version for now:
5th annual race, we had a much more competitve field this year. The race starts in two waves, slower runners at 5:00 a.m. and the faster group at 7:00 a.m. The race is run on dirt roads and is a very fast course with less than 3,000 feet climbing. I am the race director, but again this year I raced.
I started out very fast as usual. I reached mile 16.6 in 2:16, that is 8.2 minute miles, a crazy fast pace to start a 100-mile race. I was in the lead by 17 minutes. I soon started to pass all the early starters from both the 50 and 100-mile races. My lead extended to over three miles, but I became very distracted by race director duties, including greeting all runners I passed and some times slowing to answer questions. I wasted probably a half hour dealing with a safety issue when a runner was ignoring a rule and refusing to respond to direct instructions and warning. He was upsetting several runners. Finally I caught up to this early starter and had to threaten disqualification. It bothered me that he was ruining my own race.
But still I held the lead all the way to the turnaround at mile 58.5. However, I lost the lead at mile 59 when I had to stop. For the past 12 miles the heat (80 degrees) had pounded me. My stomach was in high rebellion and I threw up over and over and over again trying to find something it would accept. Finally at mile 59 I got into my crew car (cars drove along providing support for each runner instead of aid stations along the way). I turned on the air conditioning and rested as I sipped on coke. The first and second place runners passed me as I stopped. Finally after almost 15 minutes of rest, I pushed myself out of the car, feeling much better and started running again. Jun was in fourth place just a hundred yards back or so. When he saw me start running again he commented to his pacer that this would be the last time he saw me. It was. I started running faster than I had since mile 34.
The sun went down and the temperature dropped to 71. At mile 68 I passed the second place runner. I was about two miles behind the first place runner. OK, I was now feeling good and fast, the stomach had recovered and I was able to eat again. I considered, could I regain first place? I didn't really know how far ahead Ed was, but I put together a strategy in my mind. I knew Ed was used to racing pretty flat coursed. Up ahead we and a long nine-mile climb. I had the strength to run uphill and I was sure I could get up that hill faster than Ed. But I knew I had to chase him down without him detecting it. If he did, he would run faster to keep his lead.
So, I figured out a chasing strategy and discussed it with my crew-guy who was driving along. Because a half-moon was out, I would run the entire nine miles without turning on my light so Ed wouldn't see it. (You could see lights for miles across the desert) Also, usually when you catch up with your crew, the crew drives forward a defined amount of miles (in this case 2 miles), so the runner ahead can see the headlights of your crew car moving forward and thus figure out how far behind the runner is. I explained to my crew guy, Josh, that we would use a trick. Josh would not drive ahead until I was a mile ahead of him, and then he would go forward 2 miles. So, Ed would think I was still two miles back from where Josh stopped his car, but in reality I would be back only one mile from that point. Our trick worked. Josh would report that Ed was ten minutes ahead, then eight, and finally four. I would have Josh wait as much as 15 minutes, so it seemed to Ed that I was still 2 miles behind but I was only one-half mile. Josh and I were having great fun with the trick.
Finally I reached Dugway Pass. My friend Carl was at the checkpoint there and he asked, "Do you have a light." I replied, "I'm sneaking up on him" Carl laughed and said he knew what I was doing, he had seen me do similar things before. I looked down below the pass and could finally see Ed's headlamp moving pretty slowly down the steep road. I had told Josh to not go over the pass for 12 minutes. I was going to attack the lead. I blasted down the steep road in the dark, still without my flashlight on. Ed approached his crew car and started to fill his drinking bottle. When I was only about 30 yards away, I turned on my bright light. I really surprised Ed. "Is that you Davy." I replied that it was. All he could say is, "Well the win is all yours now." I passed him by very fast and shortly later Josh started driving over the pass to rejoin me. I flashed my light up to him so he could see that I was now in the lead.
When Josh drove up, as I refilled, I explained that our strategy would now shift. Josh would not drive forward until Ed caught up to him. Josh would then drive forward to me and report how far ahead I was using his odometer. Josh grinned, understanding this new trick. "I'm learning from the master." He said. I laughed, we were having a great time. With each two miles, I extended my lead by a half mile. When I was about a mile and a half ahead, I told Josh that he no longer had to measure the distance. I had "dropped" Ed for good. Now I finally turned on my light and even shone it behind me so he could see my position. I explained to Josh that this was to "demoralize him" making him feel like he could no longer catch me. First place was again mine to keep.
On the stretch of road we were on, in the dark you could see lights over 12 miles ahead. Finally I reached a two-mile lead. My next worry was, where was Jun. I knew that he was smart enough to use similar tactics to sneak up on my. But I soon could see his crew car lights and understood that I was about five miles ahead.
So on and one we went on the long-straight Pony Express road. Friends heading in their car to the finish would stop and report about the runners behind. Ed was struggling, but Jun was moving very well. I knew that if I could finish by 4:00 a.m., I would have the win. So I just kept pushing. I detected that Ed was about 30 minutes behind and Jun way further back. Finally Jun's dad driving to see where Jun was, reported that I was just 1.7 miles from the finish.
I pushed up the last hill and reached the finish at Simpson Springs in 20:53. I won the race again for the second straight year. It is rather embarassing to win my own race, but I wasn't going to hand over the title, someone else would have to earn it. It also was a 100-mile distance PR for me by 14 minutes. Along the way, did my fastest 50K ever and fastest 50-mile ever.
Ed finished at 21:30:00 and Jun came in at 22:46:12. All three of us had broken last year's course record, but I had lowered in by more than two hours. I had hoped to break 20 hours, but the race director distractions and the sickness during the heat prevented that.
For the next eight hours, I greeted finishers and awarded them their belt buckles. I was thrilled that finally a woman had finished the race. The last runner came in at 29:41:24.
The KSL Outdoors show co-host, Russ Smith managed our race headquarters. He and I called into the show. I'll link to a recording later.
Out of the 19 starters, 15 finished. In addition, 19 runners ran the 50-mile race, 14 finished including Maurine, ScottW. Course records were also set in that race.
I went home very satisfied. The race seemed to be a great succcess. The heat pounded everyone, but the finish rate was good and I saw lots of smiles. Thanks to my great race staff of volunteers, seven of them. | 