The Wahsatch Steeplechase is a beautiful and adventure filled race. It was a picture perfect morning: nice temps, blue skies, majestic views, lots of wild flowers... But it's kind of hard to see much of that when watching your foot placement so you don't biff it! :) The race is about 17 miles or so with an advertised total elevation change of 9,000 feet (gain + loss). This course has a bit of everything: trail, road, goat path, sharp rocks, loose rocks, hard pack, a few mud puddles, roots, a couple rattle snakes, craggy ridge lines, steep ascents, steep descents, pink flamingos, a cymbal playing monkey.... You've got to run it to believe it.
I've been putting in some OK training miles but have not followed any specific training for this race. I was not as prepared as I was for last year's race. However, some recent trail maintenance made for a faster trail on the decent, so I probably could have run about the same time as last year. Unfortunately I made some gluttonous choices last night at a picnic potluck for my son's school. I wasn't sick this morning but I wasn't feeling 100%. Oh well, I know better. In addition to my belly aching stomach, my legs felt tired despite my taper. I was just a bit off today. No complaints, I still had a great time but a bit slower time than I probably could have.
2:44:33. 24th place OA out of about 300. (last year I finished 16th OA and was about 3 minutes faster)
Here are my splits, which are completely dependent upon the gradient.
8:18 11:33 9:41 10:30 11:14 12:33 20:35 (and my legs were burning!)
16:29 9:33 8:15 6:27 6:37 7:57 7:45 8:00 7:00 6:58
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