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1/21/2010
This used to mean that I started training hard for the Wasatch Powder Keg ski race (www.wasatchpowderkeg.com). For the last 2 years, it has meant that Emily and I along with our friends Mark and G spend 4 months getting ready to put on the race. Last year, when the race lost its sponsors and coordinators, the 4 of us wanted to see the race tradition live on so we took over the reins. We all had a large interest in the race. I had raced in every race, Emily had been an on-course volunteer in all but the first year, Mark had raced all but the first year, and G had raced 4 years. None of us really knew what we were getting into, but after hundreds of tiring hours, we were able to put on a very successful race. We had underestimated the amount of work, course setting alone to 90 person-hours over 3 days. We weren’t able to get the entire race course set prior to the race, so a friend and I were out at 3:30 AM setting the course under headlamp. They both learned that there is nothing like skiing one of Alta’s hardest lines in the pitch dark with 30+ pound packs on.
2009 Powder Keg: 18V drill – check; 200’ rope – check; course wands – check
2009 Powder Keg Booter: skies secured to pack – check; course wands – check; wallowing in thigh deep snow - check
Well, this year, we created more work for ourselves. We decided to move the race from Alta to Brighton Ski Resort. This means designing an entire new course and building relationships with new Brighton staff all while doing the rest of the planning and coordinating sponsors. We have been very lucky to be able to get great sponsors to provide really good race awards and raffle prizes. Unfortunately, financially, the race depends 100% on racer entries. If we get enough racers, we break even, if not, we lose money. Last year, our payment for the hardwork was a sushi meal. The awards are great, they range from skis to binding to skins and raffle prizes are anything from shirts, ski straps, socks, capilene, ski movies, and more.
2009 Powder Keg: Andy catching a ride while course setting.
2009 Powder Keg: Post Race Beer!
We are looking forward to a great race this year. The course traverses from the backcountry to the north of Brighton (Hidden Canyon) all the way to the backcountry to the south of Brighton (Mt Millicent and Stupid Chute). Throughout the course there are fantastic views of Heber Valley, Mt Nebo, Mt Timpanogos, and the Cottonwood Canyons. For race details see the website.
2010 Wasatch Powder Keg Course Map and Profile
11/23/2009
With the lack of snow in the Wasatch, very little in the forecast, and the need to get away after 6 long and hard weeks of work, we planned a road trip. We packed lots of running shoes and our road bikes and headed south with plans of seeing some of Buckskin Gulch in southern Utah, running Rim to Rim to Rim (R2R2R) of the Grand Canyon, road biking a couple days in Sedona, and then spending Thanksgiving in Scottsdale with Chad’s Grandma and Uncle.
We drove to the Buckskin Gulch Trailhead Friday afternoon and after a very cold night camping (it dropped to the mid teens which our 20F sleeping bags did not handle real well), we enjoyed a 10.5 mile run from the Buckskin Gulch Trailhead up Buckskin Gulch, down Wire Pass and back to Buckskin Trailhead on the road.
Chad Running in Buckskin Gulch
Saturday afternoon we drove through the Grand Canyon and finalized our R2R2R plans. We estimated we would need 12.5 to 13 hours to complete the entire trip down the South Kaibab trail to Bright Angel Campground, up the North Kaibab to the North Rim, back down the North Kaibab to Bright Angel Campground, and then up Bright Angel Trail. In all, this would be just under 45 miles and 2 climbs equaling 11,000’. It would be a different kind of run where you have only 2 climbs, the first being 14 miles (the first 7 being mostly runnable) and the second being 8 miles of pretty steep terrain. We knew we would not be real fast since neither of us had run a total of 40 miles in 6 weeks (since Bear for Emily and Wild Duluth for Chad) and Chad had been fighting knee pain since the Wild Duluth 100K and some back problems the previous 2 weeks. Even so, we decided the slower pace would allow us to enjoy the scenery more. This would also be an interesting run as we have never done a long run like this together before and being that we are different paces, it was sure to be challenging for both of us. We also didn’t feel like we could pass up R2R2R since we would be driving right by the Grand Canyon and this is one of the ‘must do’ runs for any ultra runner.
We hit the trail at 5:22AM after stashing a bike at Bright Angel Trailhead in case we missed the last shuttle bus back to the Kaibab Trailhead and having to walk ¾ mile to the trailhead from where we could park. The initial descent in the dark was much slower than we anticipated due to steep terrain. We reached the Bright Angel Campground in 6.7 miles 1:50 instead of the planned 1.5 hours.
5:22 AM - the start of R2R2R at South Kaibab Trailhead
At Bright Angel Campground, we stashed a bag of food under the bridge for the return trip, filled our water, and head up to the North Rim. The trail to Cottonwood campground was a gradual climb, but very runnable.
Emily running along the Colorado River on descent to Phantom Ranch.
We stopped at the caretakers cabin (1.5 miles past Cottonwood CG) to refill water. This was the only running water between Bright Angel CG and the North Rim (including the North Rim). The last 5 miles of climbing up to the North Rim was tough and took a lot out of us. We reached the North Rim (20.5 miles) in 6:16. We took a much needed 10 minute break for some food and then headed back down.
A North Rim Picnic.
This was going to be a continuous section of running for close to 15 miles, something we never do in the Wasatch.
Chad descending from the North Rim.
We refilled again at the caretakers cabin and reached Cottonwood campground in 1:42. We were a little slower than hoped, but the descent was fairly steep and we were taking it easy as we had a long way to go. After Cottonwood CG, we were able to pick up the pace, it was hard in this section to not really open it up and go. We were back at Bright Angel CG to retrieve our food cache 1:26 later.
Emily and Chad at Bright Angel Campgound.
We felt like we were on track for a 12.5 hour finish – little did we know how much the climb up Bright Angel would take out of us. The flatter section that we had counted on running was beach sand, so it was much slower going than anticipated. After about 6 miles of climbing, we were both starting to get very tired and our pace slowed quite a bit. Instead of the 3 hours we had planned for the climb out, it took just under 3.5 hrs.
The FINISH! 12:56
|
Segment |
Miles |
Elapsed Time |
|
South Kaibab Trail head to Bright Angel Campground |
6.7 |
1:50 |
|
Bright Angel Campground to Cottonwood Campground |
14.1 |
3:50 |
|
Cottonwood Campground to North Rim |
20.5 |
6:16 |
|
North Rim to Cottonwood Campground |
27.1 |
7:58 |
|
Cottonwood Campground to Bright Angel Campground |
34.7 |
9:34 |
|
Bright Angel Campground to South Rim |
44.5 |
12:56 |
Monday morning we are heading to Sedona. We are excited to see the galleries and have a nice dinner out. After a couple of days of road riding and relaxing, we will head to Scottsdale for Thanksgiving.
Click here for more photos of the road trip. 10/18/2009
A 10 day business trip to Minneapolis gave me the opportunity to see what a midwest ultra is like. There is a new fall race in Duluth - the Wild Duluth 100K. This is a fantastic 100K semi-urban race on the Superior Hiking Trail. When I lived in Minnesota, I first heard about ultra marathons from an advertisement for the Sawtooth 100 which is a 100 mile race on the Superior Hiking Trail. This started my interest in ultra's, but it was not until moving to Utah that I started running them. I was curious to see what the race would be like. Unlike the races in the west where we have trained to settle into super long climbs, in this race, the longest climb would be 3/4 mile and only about 1,000'.
One week before the race, the forecast was rain and 35F. Was I destined for another sufferfest in horrible bad weather? Checking the weather daily, the forecast slowly improved and by the day before the race, it was forecasted for 44F and mostly sunny. What a relief.
Becky and Christopher (both who helped me out at Wasatch) along with my old backpacking/climbing friend Jesse all went up to Duluth with me. Christopher ran the 50K race - 2 weeks after Twin Cities Marathon, while Becky and Jesse had the challenge of creweing for 2 runners who would be running opposite directions. It was great to have crew and friendly faces along the course - THANKS GUYS. Jesse has took lots of fantastic photos of the beautiful fall scenery which I will post in the Photo Galleries section in the next few days.
The 6AM race start was chilly with a heavy frost and 30F. There was no moon, so the first 75 minutes were very dark. At the race start, Sean Andrish and I took off setting a hard pace running most of the climbs up to the ridge above Duluth. On the ridge, we were treated to a fantastic sunrise over Lake Superior. Once the sun was up, Sean took off and continued to gain distance on me the rest of the race. He went on to finish in 10:52 which I think will be a difficult course record to beat.
I had an interesting race. The trail was amazing - narrow single track with lots of rocks and roots. In the morning, the trail was slippery with frost and the wet leaves covered lots of hidden treasures that were attempting to trip you up. I had a good race, but it was not without issues. I took a wrong turn which led to a 10-15 minute detour around mile 15. Around mile 28, I came upon a hunter, at 30 meters back I announced myself approaching to which he responded by turning around with his gun raised and pointed at me. At mile 52, I had a German Sheppard dog charge me to which I jumped behind a tree while the owner 'attempted' to get the dog under control. As they say, bad things happen in 3's. After my third, I was really not able to get myself mentally back into the race. Having said all that, the course was fantastic, the race was great, and I was able to finish second overall. My final time was 12:17. I was hoping to finish under 12 hours, but based on the circumstances, I am happy with my time. 10/1/2009
We have completed and posted a video of the Bear 100 race. You can access the video from the Photo Galleries link on the left or directly from this link. 9/27/2009
I finished the The Bear 100, 100 mile race in 28:51. There were 135 people that started, 91 that finished, I was in 27th place overall and 2nd female crossing the finish line. The Bear 100 course is fantastic. All of the leaves were turning and the reds of the Aspen trees were fabulous. The scenery of the course was beautiful. The course has 22,518 feet of climing which is a great amount. I was aiming for a 30 hour time so it was nice to come in before my goal time. I treaded the fine line of semi severe stomach issues for approximately the last 40 miles but dealt with the pain and just kept moving as fast as I could. I feel like in this 2nd 100 mile race that I could manage what I'm feeling better and be stronger. I am feeling good today - just moving pretty slow, really tired muscles and some swelling of the knees, feet, etc.
Thank you so much to my pacers, Chad and Kristin, for keeping every part of my running in check when you were with me. Thank you so much to my crew, Suzanne, David, Chad, and Kristin, for getting me in and out of the aid stations as quick as possible and for all of the positive reinforcement . I couldn't have done it without all of you! Thank you to everybody for all of your support and good wishes before the race.
There will be a video and photos posted in the next week and the photo gallery is linked to the left. 9/25/2009Welcome to our new blog site. Links to all of the old pages can be found in the links section. We hope that our new site will be easier for people to navigate and easier for us to maintain. |
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