I'll do a real race report later in the week, but briefly, we had more that 30 runners on the course this year, a huge increase from past years. It made me very nervous and I worried that something would go wrong while we were out in the remote west desert. I don't think anything serious did, although I think the back-of-the pack still hasn't finished. So we shall see if they came in OK.
We run this free race on this historic Pony Express trail in the west desert. The format this year and last year was an out and back over a 50-mile distance. Runners must use a support crew driving in a car. There is really no cost to me to put on this, other than time.
Phil Lowry and I set a blistering pace from the start and he eventually pulled ahead. I reached the 25-mile mark at 3:53 and was well ahead of last year's pace all day and night. Phil extended his lead to about three miles but then got sick and I caught up. Scott Dakus passed us both and never looked back. I haven't heard officially that he finished, but I beleive he did and shattered the 100-mile course record. I extended my lead on Phil by about 3 miles but then he recovered and went on a tear. I reached the 50-mile mark at 9:23, about a half mile ahead of Phil who won the 50-mile race.
We had an early start this year and nine runners took that option. It ended up working great because the slower runners were able to finish 50-miles close to the faster runners. The crews were not as spread out this year.
During the night, the 100-milers who continued past 50 were spread out all over the course on the return trip. At one point from past Simpson Springs I could look back and see runners lights about 16 miles behind. The stars in the moonless sky were amazing. We could see shooting stars all night.
We saw plenty of wildlife. I came very close to stepping on a coiled rattlesnake. Thankfully I caught myself in time. Then I worred and slowed down for the next hour, worried that other runners would run into the snake.
After the 50-mile mark I continued a strong pace until the return to Riverbed at mile 75. I then got lazy and lost motivation. I had been chasing the first-place runner and believe I came within two miles of him before Riverebed on the return trip, but then he must have but on the afterburners. (Nope, turns out he was resting in his van when I passed him around mile 73.) I thought I coudn't catch him. And the runner behind me was at least 3-4 miles behind and fading fast. So I got lazy and just took it easy for the last 25. I even called into the KSL Outdoor show at mile 98 at their request. It cost me 25 minutes because I got put on twice had to stand still with the phone in order to keep the signal in the valley. Gee if I knew I was in 1st place, I would have really pushed hard and probably come in over an hour earlier.
I finished in 22:58 in 1st place which is still a PR for me for a 100-mile race. I have run faster for a 100-mile distance in a 24-hour race on a track (only 10 minutes faster). | 