Well, that was fun! I wasn't planning on doing this race, but I got an entry a few days ago and figured why not. My legs were not super fresh, but I just wanted to have fun and push it as much as my legs would allow. This race starts at the top of Butterfield Canyon and goes straight up 1600 feet to Butterfield Peak and then you run a 4X4 road all the way down to Rose Canyon in Herriman and then finishes at Butterfield Park.
I met Craig and we rode the bus together up to the start. It was pretty darn scary on some of those tight turns going up the canyon and I was relieved to get up to the starting area. It was pretty cold up there, but we only had to stand around for a few minutes and then we were off. Craig went out first and I was right behind him for the first half mile. I kept waiting for one of the faster dudes to run past, but they never did and after about a half mile I wanted to push the pace a bit, so I passed Craig and was actually leading the race for about a half of a mile until 4 faster guys went buy.
I was in 5th just before the summit, but I took a wrong turn and 4 people passed me there. Luckily I only lost about a minute of time, but when I got back on the trail I was now in 9th place and that is where I would end up. I hit the summit and the girl that won the race last year passed me within about 30 seconds. She was the only person that would pass me the rest of the way down.
I got into a really good groove on the road and my watch only went above an 8:00 pace once the entire way on the biggest hill. Even though my legs didn't have a ton of juice I was running 7-7:30 pace very comfortably and felt pretty solid all the way to the finish. I ran behind the woman that won last year for most of the way down, but about mile 8 I had to stop to get a rock out of my shoe and she put some distance on me. At the first aid stop a couple of guys were right behind me, so I kicked it up a bit and by the next aid station I had put some distance on them. I carried one handheld bottle and 3 gels and never stopped at the aid stops except to quickly fill my bottle once.
The dirt road ended at mile 10 and from there it was 3 miles on the road to the finish. I just wanted to finish strong, so I kept the pace in the mid to low 7's and rode it out the rest of the way finishing in 9th. It was definitely a fun race and I had a great time, but now my legs are pretty worked. I was able to see Rad and a few other friends come in and it was fun chatting with everyone after the race. I would love to run this race with fresh legs to see how much faster I could be. Next time I won't do it two weeks after doing 100 miles. :) | 